What's so Groovy about Guava?

It's not pink, orange or peach. It's more mellow than Stampin' Up!'s Cameo Coral (for those who are skeptical). It makes me think of late spring/early summer. It can be wild and tropical if you team the color up with animal stamps, animal prints, fruit or tropical scenes. It can be flowery or feminine. It can be used in a wide variety of color combos. Here are a few:

Groovy Guava + any of the New SU In Colors 2008
Groovy Guava + Chocolate Chip + Certainly Celery
Groovy Guava + Bravo Burgundy + Close to Cocoa
Groovy Guava + Brocade Blue
Groovy Guava + Barely Banana
Groovy Guava + Perfect Plum

Groovy Guava is a great pick-me-up color that is not as intense as any colors in the Bold Brights family and not as soft as the Subtles. I love the color about as much as I love the fruit. I may not be able to get the fruit year-round, but at least I'll be able to get Groovy Guava for a whole Stampin' Up! year!

Faux Metal Technique

I think this technique is for an intermediate-level stamper.. for sure, it is a little more time-consuming than directly stamping on paper and you may need to try it a couple times before getting the desired effect. For the cards in my post below, I first placed my paper on top of a large piece of scrap paper and daubed my Versamark Pad (until the surface was completely covered). Then, I sprinkled copper embossing powder over the entire surface and heat embossed it. I repeated this two more times. As the saying goes: "The third time's the charm." On the third layer of embossing powder, I kept my heat tool above the piece until I was sure the entire surface was still hot. I immediately stamped onto the embossed surface, before the layer hardened. I left the stamp on the surface for about 5 seconds before removing it. On one faux metal piece, the image did not come out clear... so I inked it up again and added a 4th layer of embossing powder. When it was reheated, the old image melted down and I was able to stamp my image again... it was much better!

More Artfully Asian Cards

Here are three more samples of cards I created as a birthday gift for one of my coworkers. I need to find a better way to photograph samples because these photos do not justify the work. The colors are off... they are taken indoors with poor lighting conditions.

Artfully Fun

Today, my coworkers and I celebrated a couple of birthdays for June. One of my coworkers is a tool junkie, so I HAD to get her the Stampin' Up! 4-piece cutting tool... it has a perforator, cutter, scoring tool & 7-sided paper distresser. I could be wrong, but I believe the cutting/distressing product first started with Tonic Studios. The company has a whole line of well-designed cutting and crafting tools. Tonic Studios has cushioned grip scissors that are easier on hands. If you spend several hours cutting and crafting, believe me, it makes a bit of a difference!





I created a set of greeting cards with "Artfully Asian" for the other birthday girl. Even though I stamped and heat embossed a couple images at a time, there were some slight variations. I often prefer to work better intuitively. I cut out the main images, created a second layer or "mat" for some and played with different pieces before deciding how to make each composition. Here's my color scheme: Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Mellow Moss, Sahara Sand and Bravo Burgundy. I used Hodgepodge Hardware, hemp twine and grosgrain ribbon for added flair. Surprisingly, it didn't take much time to pierce a straight row of little holes using SU's piercing guide and mat. I may just start using it more often! Here are 3 samples for now... more to come!

Cool Caribbean

I was very lucky to meet some new friends at the Virginia Beach Stampin' Up! Regional.. They were very welcoming and we all sat at the same table for the presentations and projects. I had brought several little plastic boxes with lids that were SO close to Cool Caribbean. I didn't get a chance to decorate them myself, but offered them to some of my new friends. This is one from Jennifer Einolf of VA: Summer Box. Here is another one by Amber Nelson. Those who have grown to love Cool Caribbean, one of the 2007 In Colors, will be rather disappointed that it will soon be retiring. The closest possible color will be the new Soft Sky (2008 In Color)... however, it is lighter and seems to have a slight tint of green.