Learn to Stamp and Scrap with Lynn Larson

Ribbon Originals Colors

I am often asked what color cardstock coordinates with the ribbons in the Ribbons Originals assortments (p. 191 of the Stampin' Up! Fall/Winter Catalog).  Below is a list for your reference when you are playing around with your ribbon.  I will also be posting some really cool samples using these ribbons over the next month so be sure to pop back and check them out!

BEACH FRONT: White, Sahara Sand, River Rock, Vanilla, Basic Gray

DISTRICT: Pumpkin Pie, White with Celery, Basic Gray, Blue Bayou with Sage, Sage Shadow

FAIRY TALE: So Saffron, Rose Red, Celery, Regal Rose, Almost Amethyst

JERSEY: Black & White, Real Red, More Mustard & Wild Wasabi, Brocade Blue, Wild Wasabi

SHERBET: So Saffron, Groovy Guava, Purely Pomegranate, Mellow Moss, Soft Sky & Vanilla

THEATER: Always Artichoke, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive & River Rock, Old Olive and Vanilla, Chocolate Chip

If you would like to see samples of these ribbons, please check on My Stampin' Up! Website link to the left of this page and you can browse the catalog on line.

Dry embossing with the Crop A Dile

Here is a sample of a card that I demonstrated  at our Stampers By Design Summer Bash.  I had such a blast playing around with this technique and coming up with new ideas for embossing with the new Crop A Dile in the Stampin' Up! Fall/Winter Collection Catalog.  I first saw this idea on the cover of the August issue of our Stampin' Up! monthly demonstrator magazine.  Each month it is full of great ideas, samples, tips and techniques.  This technique was one that I just fell in love with and I wanted to share my samples with you.

For this card, I used Old Olive and River Rock card stock and some a flower and leaf from the On Board Blossoms and Basics chipboard assortment.  The center of the flower is inked up with River Rock Ink and the leaf with Old Olive.  The fun part came when I dry embossed polka dots on the petals of the flower with the Crop A Dile!  Once embossed, I added Groovy Guava ink to the flower and the polka dots started popping right out. 

This technique is not only cool, but extremely easy.  Just imagine the possibilities or better yet, you could attend one of my August workshops or classes where I will be featuring the Crop A Dile and you can see the possibilities for yourself!  You can go to the link to My Stampin' Up! Website for a list of my classes or contact me directly to schedule a class with a group of your friends.  One of my big events in August is my "Thinking Outside of the Scrapbook" class where we will be making gift items using the Crop A Dile.

Thinking Outside of the Scrapbook Event

Mark your calendars for Sunday, August 26th!  Why you ask?  That is when I will be teaching a "Thinking Outside of the Scrapbook" Class at the Marlboro College Technology Center in Brattleboro, Vermont beginning at 10 am. 

This event will be different than other events.  It will be a mixture of a Stamp Camp, Gift and Giving and a little scrapbooking tossed in to create some of the hottest gift items around today.  You will leave the event with wonderful and memorable gift items for you to keep for yourself or to share with others.  When you register, I will send you an email with suggested photo sizes for our projects so you can add them to your projects that day!  How cool is that?

The cost of this event is only $49 when you register by August 10th.  Registration includes all the supplies you will need to complete the projects and light refreshments.  After August 10th, the registration fee will be $55 until August 17th or until the class is full.  Registration is on a first-come, first-paid basis.  Space is limited, so reserve your spot today!  You will certainly not want to miss this!

If you cannot attend the event that day, not to worry, I am also again offering a "Class to Go" kit that includes complete instructions for the projects along with the supplies that you need to make them at home on your own.  The cost of the Class to Go Kit is just $59 and it includes shipping to your door.  Registrations for the Class to Go Kit must be received by August 17th. You can email me at happy.stamper@yahoo.com for more information on the event and how to send your payment. 

Stampers By Design Summer Bash

Tonight was the Stampers By Design Summer Bash.  This is a yearly event where we get together for a potluck BBQ and awards ceremony.  We do a great Make & Take project, have new product demonstrations and spend time with good friends and fellow demonstrators in our group.  We even played two games of "Stampo" (like Bingo - only stamping style) for prizes.  Actually, Maureen Henry played Stampo while we all watched.  She won BOTH games.   Congratulations, Maureen! 

This is a project that I demonstrated at the bash.  It is a 3x3" card that used the new Scallop Circle and Photo Corner Punches with the new Fire Rhinestone brads.  I stamped and watercolored the flower from the Double Line Doodle stamp set onto a metal edge tag and mounted it onto the punched Scallop Circle.  I used one of the photo corners to create the Certainly Celery embellishment on the side of the scallop.  it almost looks like leaves or the tails or a ribbon.  With the addition of some strategically placed gel pen markings, this card was dubbed a "stinkin' cute card"!  Stay tuned for more sample cards from the demonstration in posts over the next few days!

Michelle and Kirsten hopped next to each other and said "take our picture for your blog", so here you go guys.  I told you I would put you on here:))  Such hams...

Stay tuned for more posts of samples from the Summer Bash.  I will be putting up our Make and Take project, samples of dry embossing using the new Crop A Dile and another card using the Pretties Kit.

Thank you to everyone for making this such a fun event!  We truly do have such a great bunch of demonstrators in our group. 

Create Your Own Background - COOL Technique!

This layout started off as a challenge to create.  I had taken pictures on Stone Island in Mazatlan, Mexico.  It was a beautiful there and the pictures were a great representation of the island and its culture.  However, there was a lot of sand, coconut trees, decorated coconut shells, etc. so there wasn't much color to work with in the layout. 

When I began to plan my pages, I had a few different colors of card stock that matched the colors in the photos perfectly.  Unfortunately, they were such subtle colors that the layout lacked interest when I used them by themselves.  I also couldn't add many accents to these pages for fear of distracting from the photos.  Besides, what type of an accent do you put with an Iguana anyway? 

I needed to create something that added interest so that the pages weren't just pictures on card stock in the same tones.  Then it hit me.  I thought that it might be nice to try to combine a bunch of the subtle colors together to hopefully add more interest to my layout.  I decided to play around with a technique to create my own background and see how that looked.  I used Close to Cocoa, Sahara Sand and Sage Shadow reinkers with a baby wipe to create this background on a sheet of Very Vanilla card stock.  I liked the way that the colors created interest without distracting the attention from the photos.  I then tore the card stock to create a page border and then add brads to the crossed over corners to add another subtle element and complete the page.  In the end, I think that this page turned out very well.  There is interest on the page without creating a distraction from the photos.

If you would like to learn more about his technique, and others, you can join us at one of our Mini Stamp and Scrap University nights held at my house every Tuesday or have your own class with a group of your friends in the convenience of your own home.  You can click on My Stampin' Up! Website to see my calendar of events or contact me directly to set up your own Technique Night or class.

How to Use the Crop-A-Dile Tool

Here is a demo using the new Crop-A-Dile tool (courtesy of ScrapBiz.com) that I found and was allowed to post to my blog.  The picture is a little fuzzy, but you can listen to the audio as they go through the steps on how to use the Crop-A-Dile.  Enjoy!

I will be doing classes and workshops in August using the Crop-A-Dile.  There are many things that you can do with a Crop A Dile - punch through chipboard, tin, layers of cardstock, etc.  You can also dry emboss using the Crop A Dile.  I have a demonstration that I am doing Friday night so I don't want to spoil the surprise by posting the samples today.  I will post to my blog before I leave for Convention Sunday morning so that the others that were not at this event can see the samples. 

Please be sure to check out my calendar through "My Stampin' Up! Website" link (on the left side of my blog) for my scheduled events or email me directly to book your own event and learn how to use this incredible tool!

Wasabi Ladybug Birthday!

I am going crazy over this Pick a Petal stamp set from Stampin' Up!  I just love making ladybugs, dragonflies and butterflies out of the petals.  A few days ago, I posted my Wasabi Ladybug card.  I fell in love with that card so much that I decided to use it for my daughter's 18th birthday (which was Sunday).  Because I wanted it to be extra special for her extra special day, I put another ladybug on the corner of the envelope.  The pair are rather cute together if I must say so myself! 

I had a special gift to give her and wanted to create some packaging that would be cute as well, but what should I do?  I sat down to play around with ideas and thought that it might be neat to make a cute little 2,4,6,8 box using that adorable ladybug to match my card and envelope.  i tied the box off with a piece of Chocolate Chip Taffeta ribbon (new from the Stampin' Up! Fall/Winter Catalog).  What a cute presentation the card and gift box made!  I almost didn't want her to open them:)) 

The gift set was a HUGE hit with my daughter.  She thought it was just adorable.  I was very happy that she liked it as much as I did!  Of course, I grabbed them when she was done to display in my stamping studio!!!

Cabo San Lucas Port

Cabo San Lucas was such a wonderful place to visit and to photograph.  There were beautiful rock formations, people horseback riding on the beautiful white sandy beaches, people in boats and jet skis and a beautiful dock of very nice boats and yachts.  There were seals, pelicans and other birds around.  There were many interesting things to photograph and to put into a scrapbook. 

This layout was pretty easy to do.  Most of the pictures had water in them and the ones that didn't looked really nice when put with blue card stock.  I took two different shades of blue (Night of Navy and Ballet Blue) and added Whisper White to keep my layout simple, crisp and focused on the photos.  I love how these photos could really stand out on their own on the page.  Since this layout was depicting different points of interest found in this port, there was not one main focal point for my layout so I really needed to keep the pages simple.  I just matted the photos in a darker blue (Night of Navy) and placed them out on a nice background of Ballet Blue.  I used strips of Night of Navy card stock to the top of one page and the bottom of the other and added faux stitching to add a crispness of white and a subtle accent to the pages.  I stamped my title using the Classic Upper Alphabet set in Night of Navy ink onto Whisper White card stock.  I then used a square punch to punch out each letter and then staggered the letters in the title keeping with that crisp look while adding interest. 

Favorite Port Layout

Since I have recently completed my scrapbook of the Mexican Riviera Cruise that Stampin' Up! sent my husband and I on for FREE, I will be posting a lot of my completed pages here to share.   This cruise was our first trip together without our children and it also happened to be a few months before our 20th wedding anniversary.  It was a special trip for us and I have an entire 12x12 scrapbook completed for the 8 days we were on that trip!  Can you tell that I LOVE pictures?

The best thing for me about scrapbooking is that I am preserving many special memories so that I (and others) can go back and look at them and remember all the fabulous times that we had together.  This layout represents our favorite port on the Mexican Riviera cruise, Cabo San Lucas.  I would definitely go back and visit there again.  There were so many beautiful things to look at there and the shopping is fabulous. 

My accents are again simple on this page as I wanted the photos to do the talking.  I love journaling so I left a nice large area for that to be done.  Since it was our favorite port there was plenty to write about as well.  I kept the colors simple - showcasing the water that was prevalent in all the pictures.  I love the way the title is placed on this page.  It is not placed right across the top or down the side of the page as in most layouts, but showcased around the pictures.  It worked out perfectly this way.  Be sure to click on the photo for a larger view.

Mexican Riviera Cruise Gifts (12 x 12)

Here is a layout that I did to showcase some of the incredible gifts that Stampin' Up! gave to each of the demonstrators who earned the incentive trip (Cruise to the Mexican Riviera).  This was a pretty simple layout.  I used the label from the corn chip bag and two of the gift cards as accents for the page.  I wanted to keep the colors in the Mexican theme and to also enhance the photos on the page.  I added touches of black to the border and to the journaling to bring out the black in the printing of the gift cards.  In this case, I did not just have one focal point so my goal was to keep the layout simple and well balanced.  I wanted a nice, smooth flow throughout the pages. I was pleased with the way it turned out.