Saturday, April 21, 2012

Masculine Birthday Card Made Easy

I was going through my RSS reader this week and came across a great color combination from Color Q Challenge.  If you're ever stumped for good colors that complement each other, this blog is your solution!  The colors suggested are pulled from a photograph and assigned SU! hues.  Since I have my Card Club this Monday--yes, I operate best under deadline pressure--and I wanted to provide a guy card, I immediately gathered scraps of More Mustard, Basic Grey, Cajun Craze (Dusty Durango is retired), and Basic Black.  


I played around with the argyle pattern, substituting black 3/4" squares, made using my 3/4" square punch, for the grey ones.  I decided that the black was just too harsh as part of the pattern and would work better as the accent.


I positioned the squares on the 3.25"x12" textured Whisper White base (scored at 6"), and decided to split open the argyle to insert the greeting.  The greeting is from the Hostess Set Happiest Birthday Wishes.  This set really should carry over to the next catalog; sadly, that is something SU! never does.


The card comes together very quickly and you can decide if you want to add the faux stitching around each square.  I ended up doing it around the interior blocks as well, but I like it just as well without any at all.

Monday, April 2, 2012

April's AMAZING Sneak Peek!

There's something so exciting to share with you that you get not one, but two posts today! There are some changes happening at SU! Most notably, the new catalog is getting an easier-to-say name, the Annual Catalog instead of the Big Idea Book & Catalog, AND AND AND it's coming out June 1 instead of July 1!!!

Even better than this news is this is that SU! has unveiled a Sneak Peek of some items that will be in the new Annual Catalog, and now through April 30th you can get your hands the product that makes these ADORABLE Petite Purses! The Petite Purse Bigz L Die makes making these so easy, they practically assemble themselves!

You can see by the eraser I put in the photo that they're not very big. They're big enough, though, to hold party favor treats--you could still get this in time to crank out a mess of these for Easter, money for cash gifts for graduation, and small presents, such as necklaces or earrings. They're just screaming with cuteness, aren't they!


My monthly club has different hostesses each month, and next month's hostess wants to do a sweatshop of boxes! When I showed her this die, she nearly flipped! We're going to get all the group's Big Shots together and go to town! The cost of the die is $32.95, and now through the 30th, you can order it.

You also may be wondering about the cute Designer Series Paper used to create the purse on the left in the first picture. That's another part of the Sneak Peek--Summer Smooches DSP! It utilizes colors from the Brights and InColors Collections: Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo, Tangerine Tango, and Rich Razzleberry.

I'm pretty picky about DSP; I don't like everything. This paper is so cute! It pairs with a stamp set called Bright Blossoms, which is available in wood mount and clear mount. The paper also has coordinating fabric and cloth covered brads! And you can order every item I just mentioned--NOW--instead of waiting until June 1st! This is an amazing offer is something I haven't seen SU! do on this scale before now. Here's the flyer with all the details and great pictures! Summer Smooches and April Sneak Peek Deal!

If you'd like to order immediately, you can do so two ways: you can contact me via my email, jenn@nahrstadt.com and place an order, or you can go to Stampin' Up! directly, set up an account and name me as your demonstrator (Nahrstadt is my last name), and everything your little heart desires from this special offer will come right to your doorstep!

I'd love to show your friends these great new products! Contact me if you'd like to partner with me to host a night/afternoon of stamping and die cutting at your house.

Sophisticated Treat Boxes for Easter


I saw this little treat box on Amy Celona's blog, and she offers a FREE PDF with pictures for it! All you'll need is a scoring tool, an 8.5"x11" sheet of cardstock, and some Sticky Strip or strong adhesive. I think these are adorable with the clear window, but if you don't have something to create a hole with, like the Framelits Collection diecuts, they'll still be adorable.

What really sold me on these is the cleverly attached notecard! So sweet! I'm making a bunch of these to take to the girls at Jesse's House this weekend. You're never too old for a bit of Easter candy, right?

Thanks, Amy! You're so generous to share your talent freely with the stamping world!