Archive for January 2012

February 2012 Final Countdown Post

January 31, 2012 Cards, Sneak Peeks No comments

Here we are again, the last day of our Release Week countdown. Tomorrow, you can see all of our new goodies for February. This includes 4 new colors of Stamp School Poptone Cardstock, matching inks and cardstock as well as 2 new stamp sets. Tomorrow, you’ll be able to click on the New Products link at our sister store to see all of our new products. OR you can always search by manufacturer, and see all of our products.

Today Samantha has  a card that has me getting ready for spring.

It’s a bit tough to see, but the large white layer is embossed with small polka dots, the she layered a strip of Cotton Candy and Berrylicioius card stock over that to create a faux ribbon. The text is from the brand new Blessed Easter set, which as you can see, looks great with January’s Natural Landscape set. Coloring just a small area of the tree really gives the feeling of spring just beginning to bloom. Samantha continued her card on the inside with another stamp from Blessed Easter:

She used an acrylic stamp block to apply Berrylicious ink directly to the Whip Cream card stock base.

The faculty has some projects for you to check out too today! Just click on the card to be taken to their blogs to see what they’ve been up to.

 

February 2012 Second Countdown Post

January 30, 2012 Cards, Sneak Peeks No comments

We are on Day 2 of our Release Week posts and our faculty has some amazing card to show you. Just click on the links below to check them out!

 

 

Two Tears in my Bucket

 

 

February 2012 First Countdown Post

January 29, 2012 Cards, Sneak Peeks, Videos No comments

Welcome to Release Week at Stamp School!  The last 3 days of each month, you will be treated to some beautiful creations by our Faculty here at Stamp School! Each month, we release 2 stamps per month.  The first part of 2012 we will be releasing 4 colors of Poptone cardstock and matching inks until we stock all of their 24 colors.  We also will be releasing 100% wool felt along with the cardstock each month.

Our Faculty will post their projects on their personal blogs (which we will link you to at the end of each post) and then during the month, they will post tips, tutorials, inspiration, ideas here on the Stamp School blog.  If you want to be kept up to date on what is going on here at Stamp School, you can keep track of us a number of ways:

1) Our website and blog.  You can subscribe to our blog feed, simply by clicking over on the Subscribe button to the left. You will then get a daily email of what is posted here on the site.
2) Our Facebook Page.  Like our Facebook Page for exclusive content, contests, and chatting about our favorite hobby!
3) Email Newsletter. You can sign up for our Newsletter by clicking on the Join our Newsletter button to the left.

OK, so now that you know how to keep up to date, let me show you what’s going on this month!

My first card for the week highlights our felt. It’s a rather simple card, because I really wanted the felt bloom to stand out.  The flower is stitched to a pin, so the receiver can wear it as a brooch, or a little girl can wear it attached to a headband.  The felt we carry at Stamp School is 100% wool pressed felt. It is so thick and plush and it diecuts like a dream! On the video, you’ll see me diecut a felt flower using a Lifestyle Crafts thin metal die.

To make my card, I started with a Black Licorice card base of 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 and scored it to make an A2 card. Next I cut a 4 x5 1/4 piece of  Sweet Tooth cardstock and then ran it through my Sizzix Embossing Folder. I stamped my Maya Road Cute as a button set on a piece of Kraft cardstock in Black Licorice, and the handmade stamp in Wild Cherry Ink. Next, I poked a hole in my kraft piece for the pinback to go through, and just pinned my brooch to the card. Easy peasy!

Check out what the Design Team has done today!

   Amber made a beautiful card using both of February’s sets.

  Rochelle colored in little Hannah to make a cute little card.

Vicki also brought Hannah to life. Check out that background!

 Judy created a beautiful card, using the branch as her focus point, and check out that border punch on her card

February 2012 Sneak Peek #2

January 28, 2012 Sneak Peeks 2 comments

  This little girl is the first illustration that Elyse sent to us when we started talking about hand-drawn stamps for our line. She is just so very cute and I hope you love her as much as I do.

This little stamp set is the first peek you’ll see into Hannah’s life. We have many more plans for Hannah.

February 2012 Sneak Peek #1

January 27, 2012 Sneak Peeks One comment

  I can’t believe that it’s already time for February’s Countdown week! Our first month has been so much fun around Stamp School. We have introduced you to our Faculty and they have done a fantastic job showing off our new line of stamps, cardstock, inks and felt!

So for February, we are bringing you an Easter/Spring sentiment stamp set. As always, we have some longer verses for the inside of your cards, here is just a little snippet of what you can expect this month.

Teacher’s Lounge – 1-26-12

January 26, 2012 Gift Ideas, Teacher's Lounge 2 comments

Hi Everyone!  Vicki here with my first Teacher’s Lounge Tutorial.  Today, I am showing you a quick Gift Card Holder.  Here is my finished project:

Here are the steps to making this fun holder;

Start with a card stock 4″ by 5″

Score at .5″ and 2.75″ with the 5″ base along the top of your score pad.

 

[To get the For You, I taped off my stamp image from Christian Sympathy]

Cut or punch out a circle and stamp with image [Natural Landscape].

With a dauber, starting off the circle, moving in circles, sponge circle around the edges moving toward the center. Leave some white showing.

Using Spellbinders Labels #21 cut out bg shape and mount circle on it. Mount both on the cover of the closed gc holder, making sure to over lap the bottom flap to hold it closed.

Place your gift card inside, and you are done. For decoration, I used a notebook punch just to add a little ump.

That’s it for me today. Hope you enjoyed my tutorial~ I appreciate your feedback. Thanks for stopping by~


Geometry Class 1-25-12

January 25, 2012 Geometry Class No comments

It’s time for a Stamp School Sketch Challenge! I love sketches, as it takes the guess work out of the layout, and leaves more time to think about color and images! My card today is made using the Natural Landscape stamp set.  I stamped my images with Razzleberry and Hot Fudge ink, and stamped again before reinking to have a lighter hue for each color.

The Rules:

We’re adding a submission form below this post. Make up your card and post it on your blog (with a link to our blog of course *wink*). Submit your card by adding it below. Make sure to post it to the actual blog post and not just your general blog address. You have until 11:58 on the last day of the month to upload any challenge entries.

We will randomly choose a winner from each month’s submissions to win a prize package from Stamp School. I hope you will play along!

 

 

 



Study Hall 01/24/12

January 24, 2012 Cards, Study Hall 4 comments

 

It’s Study Hall time here at Stamp School!  Today I want to share with you a fun technique I used with the Natural Landscape stamps released this month.  I’m only a beginner in the world of Copics, there are people that amaze me with their coloring abilities.  But if you are a stamper, there’s one color you can’t do without:

 

Cool Gray is great for adding shadows and depth to your stamped images and you don’t have to be a pro to use this technique.  Here’s an example:

 

The Cool Gray Copic just adds a hint of difference, takes nothing away from your stamp or coloring.  All I did was trace around my stamped image after coloring it with Copics.  If you are a beginner, or even using different brands of colors, the C-1 Copic is worth purchasing!

 

 

I would love to see your techniques using the Cool Gray (C-1) Copic, just leave a link in the comment section.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Art Room Color Challenge 1-23-12

January 23, 2012 Art Room, Cards, Color 2 comments

 

Hello everyone!  Rochelle here!  I’m so glad that you decided to visit us in the Art Room today.  When I thought about colors to select, I instantly gravitated toward the Hot Fudge, Whipped Cream and Berrylicious color combo.  It’s a multi-purpose combo that works so well with anything from Baby Showers to Bathroom Decor.  You simply can’t go wrong with this combo.  While Pintresting I came across the photo of the muffins sitting on the boxes with various postal markings on them.  To me, it says vintage, retro, modern and chic all at the same time!  I can’t wait to see what you do with this color combination!  Here is what I came up with:

The Rules:

We’re adding a submission form below this post. Make up your card and post it on your blog (with a link to our blog of course *wink*). Submit your card by adding it below. Make sure to post it to the actual blog post and not just your general blog address. You have until 11:58 on the last day of the month to upload any challenge entries.

We will randomly choose a winner from each month’s submissions to win a prize package from Stamp School.

 



Favorite Teacher Facebook Giveaway Winner

January 21, 2012 Facebook No comments

A great big thank you to everyone who took the time to comment, like our Facebook page, and tell others about Stamp School! The winner chosen by Random.org is………..

Ellen Parker

Congratulations Ellen! Please contact Lisa at Lisa@stampschool.com with your name and address so we can get your prize out to you. For more chances to win prizes from Stamp School, you can play along with any (or all) of our Art Room Challenges (every Monday on the blog) and Geometry Class Challenges (Every Wednesday on the blog). A winner is chosen every month for those challenges, too!  Happy Stamping!

Teachers Lounge 01/20/12

January 20, 2012 Cards, Teacher's Lounge 6 comments

 

Hi all!  Welcome to the Teacher’s Lounge!  Today I want to share a quick and easy way to make beautiful felt flowers.  You see flowers all over Etsy and shops ready to purchase, but it’s much cheaper to make your own.  All you will need is a scalloped die like the scalloped Spellbinder Nestabilties and felt.  I used the beautiful Razzleberry Pop Tone felt.  This felt is great to work with, it cuts cleanly without frayed edges.

 

I used my Cuttlebug, but any die cut machine will work.

 

Now you need to cut your circle in a swirly pattern, like so:

 

Then it’s time to begin rolling your flower.  Roll from the outer scallop in.

 

 

When you are done rolling your flower, leave the last bit of felt left when rolling (which will be the center of your circle) as a base for your flower.  Now there’s many options for securing your flower when your done rolling, such as hot glue and sewing.  It’s easiest to add a bit of hot glue to the base and it will hold your flower together.  You may have to trim excess felt from the end and tuck the last bits of felt under the flower to hide them.  Here’s what you get:

 

This technique is so much easier than trying to make “free hand” scallop flowers.  Here’s my card featuring this flower:

 

The sky’s the limit for these little flowers.  Make bows, headbands, cards, etc.  And the Pop Tone felt is so sturdy it’s perfect for altering.  Enjoy!!!

 

 

 

Study Hall – 1-19-12

January 19, 2012 Cards, Study Hall No comments

 

Hi everyone – Vicki here today with another Study Hall.


I used the Direct to Paper technique on my card. What is that? Well, its fun and easy~ simply take your stamp pad and swipe it directly on to the cardstock. On the front I used a separate panel and framed it with a different color cardstock.

On the inside, I made a template and swiped my ink directly on to the inside of the card base.

I hope you enjoyed my Study Hall today! Thanks for stopping by~

 

 

 

Geometry Room Sketch Challenge 1-18-12

January 18, 2012 Cards, Geometry Class, Sketches One comment

The Rules:

We’re adding a submission form below this post. Make up your card and post it on your blog (with a link to our blog of course *wink*). Submit your card by adding it below. Make sure to post it to the actual blog post and not just your general blog address. You have until 11:58 on the last day of the month to upload any challenge entries.

We will randomly choose a winner from each month’s submissions to win a prize package from Stamp School.

I used some Stamp School Felt in the Razzleberry, Berrylicious and Blue Raspberry to create a little flower bow that can actually be detached and re-purposed for a gift or a hair accessory.

The 100lb cover weight Razzleberry cardstockmakes and excellent card base!

Other:  Designer Paper, Twine

 

 


Study Hall 1-17-12

January 17, 2012 Cards, Study Hall One comment

Good morning! Welcome to Study Hall! Today I wanted to share with you a quick and easy card – with a sentiment that is so sweet and comforting.

I used Authentique’s beautiful Gathering designer paper along with one of the beautiful sentiments from Christian Sympathy. I stamped my sentiment with Stamp School’s Hot Fudge ink, and then cut out with a Spellbinders Labels Four die. Before I “released” the die, I sponged Stamp School’s  SnoCone ink around the edges with Ranger’s Ink Applicator & Felt.

I added a little felt “flag” with Stamp School’s beautiful SnoCone felt (I LOVE THIS!), some Melissa Francis Cream Pearls, and a button bow, and mounted it all on Poptone Whip Cream Cardstock. All done!

*** Did you know Stamp School has a Facebook Page? We’d love it if you “liked” us… in fact we’d love it so much that we’re running a Facebook Contest. There will be a Stamp School prize pack awarded to one lucky Facebook commenter (randomly chosen by random.org). All you need to do to enter is like us on Facebook and answer a question. Since we’re Stamp School, we want to know the name of your all time favorite teacher! For additional entries, you can tell others about Stamp School. When your friends like Stamp School they should answer the question AND tell us who sent them (i.e. My favorite teacher was Mrs. Smith, and Samantha Taylor sent me). They’ll get an entry for commenting, and you will receive an additional entry for every friend you send over to Stamp School.

All comments need to be made by 11:59 pm CST on Friday, January 20th, on our Facebook Page. To comply with Facebook rules and regulations, the winner will be announced here on the Stamp School blog on Saturday, January 21st.

Good luck!

 

 

 

Art Room Color Challenge 1-16-12 (and a Facebook Giveaway!)

January 16, 2012 Altered Art, Art Room, Cards, Gift Ideas No comments

 

Happy Monday! We’ve got lots of fun planned for the blog this week. I’m kicking things off today in the Art Room.  Today, not only did I create a project from the color inspiration, but I also created the project for the color inspiration. I love Stamp School’s felt, and I love giving friends bouquets of flowers that are hand made so they’ll last longer. I combined those 2 things I love for today’s color challenge.

 

To create this bright flower, I cut multiple pieces of felt using Lifestyle Crafts Nesting Leaves Die: 5 small from Blue Raspberry Felt, 5 Small from Berrylicious Felt, 5 Medium from Razzelberry felt, 5 Medium from another pink felt (soon to be released *wink*), 7 Large from Razzelberry felt, and 7 Large from pink felt. I mached up the same sized felt (i.e. one small Blue Raspberry Felt leaf with one Small Berrylicious Felt Leaf), and stitched them together. Once all of the leaves were assembled, I arranged them, starting with the largest on the bottom and working my way to the smallest on top, and stitched them together to form the petals of the flower. I used a simple button for the center of the flower and then “planted” it in a vase filled with Sweet Tooth colored glass marbles.

I wanted a card to go with the flower for when I give it to a friend, so I used the colors from the flower (Blue Raspberry, Razzelberry, and Sweet Tooth) to create this card:

The finished card size is 4″ x 4″. I used a technique here called Spotlighting. I promise to do a step-by-step tutorial on this technique soon. It’s one of my favorites, so you’ll definitely be seeing it from me again.  I added a little extra pizazz to the technique by not only spotlighting the flower, but covering it in glitter as well.  I used a 1/2″ strip of score tape to adhere my twine to the card.

Now it’s your turn to make something with this color combo! We’re adding a submission form below this post. Make up your card and post it on your blog (with a link to our blog of course *wink*). Submit your card by adding it below. Make sure to post it to the actual blog post and not just your general blog address. You have until 11:58 on the last day of the month to upload any challenge entries.

We will randomly choose a winner from each month’s submissions to win a prize package from Stamp School.

**But wait, there’s more! Did you know Stamp School has a Facebook Page? We’d love it if you liked us… in fact we’d love it so much that we’re running a Facebook Contest. There will be a Stamp School prize pack awarded to one lucky Facebook commenter (randomly chosen by random.org). All you need to do to enter is like us on Facebook and answer a question. Since we’re Stamp School, we want to know the name of your all time favorite teacher! For additional entries, you can tell others about Stamp School. When your friends like Stamp School they should answer the question AND tell us who sent them (i.e. My favorite teacher was Mrs. Smith, and Samantha Taylor sent me). They’ll get an entry for commenting, and you will receive an additional entry for every friend you send over to Stamp School.

All comments need to be made by 11:59 pm CST on Friday, January 20th, on our Facebook Page. To comply with Facebook rules and regulations, the winner will be announced here on the Stamp School blog on Saturday, January 21st.

Good luck!

 

Felt Flower:

In My Prayers Card:



Teacher Lounge 1-13-12

January 13, 2012 Teacher's Lounge No comments

On one of my Preview cards for the Natural Landscape set, I used a painting technique with Distress Inks. I was asked by a few to show how I did that, so today I would like to share with you that technique which produces beautiful, abstract backgrounds.  I learned it from Kristina Werner.

It is hard to photograph this technique, but I hope you can see enough to try it!

Start with a craft sheet, plastic placemat, or page protector.  Have your watercolor paper, inks, and Mini Mister ready. On my Preview card, I used Spun Sugar and Antique Linen inks.

I have used a page protector here with a white paper underneath so you can see better. Take one color of Distress Ink and stamp several times across the craft sheet.

Stamp again with the second ink, overlapping slightly.

Mist a few times with the Mini Mister filled with water.

Now take your watercolor paper, textured side down, and press it into the misted ink (This part shows Tattered Rose and Tea Dye (the colors in my new sample) and using my Craft Sheet.). You can take a look at where there are “empty” spaces and press into the ink again. I also turn my paper slightly and move it around to blend the two colors. Let air dry, or use your heat gun to dry more quickly.

Mist again, if needed, and press the paper into the ink once more, picking up larger droplets of water for a beaded effect.  I always think it looks weird or awful at this point, but I love how it turns out in the end! Hang in there!

Air dry or dry with a heat gun.

Cut your painted watercolor paper to the size you want. In my samples, my paper is 3 x 3 inches square after cutting.

Stamp your image and voila! I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink for my images. The tree is from Natural Landscape. I stamped my sentiment from Christian Sympathy on a scrap painted piece and then punched out.

Finish off your painted panel by adding whatever other embellishments or cardstock you would like! On this example, I used a Scalloped Rectangle Spellbinders die to cut my Whip Cream felt and only used the bottom edge as a border. I added a little button to my sentiment panel.

On my original Preview card (at the top of this post) I added a few scraps of pink paper, and then mounted on Whip Cream Cardstock. I finished off with pearls.

I hope you will give it a try!

 

 

Craft sheet, page protector, or plastic place mat

Watercolor Paper

Punches of your choice (for sentiment)

 

Sudy Hall 1-12-12

January 12, 2012 Altered Art, Study Hall 2 comments

Welcome to Study Hall!  Rochelle here!  I want to show you a fun lunch bag that I made!  I don’t know about you all but, I save anything and everything that I think can be used for crafty purposes.  So, when my hubby went to buy some bubbly for the New Year…I saved the brown paper bag he brought it home in.  I used scrap Poptone Cardstock and DP (designer paper) for the front of the bag.  I added some scrap pieces of felt and made a couple of felt flowers (check out how to make the flowers HERE).  Then I added “For You” with some dimensional stickers.  Check out my creation!

 

 

 

Other:  Designer Paper, Bling, Button, Circle Die

 

Geometry Class Sketch Challenge 1-10-12

January 11, 2012 Cards, Geometry Class, Videos 2 comments

I’ve always loved sketch challenges. It’s so fun to see how different the cards and projects can be from a single sketch. I hope my sketch today will inspire you to make something wonderful! Remember, you can twist, turn and change this sketch however you’d like to make it your own.

To create this card, I combined today’s sketch with a base made from Hot Fudge cardstock. I combined that with strips of patterned paper from Crate Paper and Simple Stories.  I stamped on a piece of Whip Cream cardstock (did you know that you can get Pop Tone cardstock in both 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheets and 6″ x 6″). The background was created by inking my acrylic block with 2 colors of ink and using that to stamp directly on the cardstock.  I made a video about this technique. Just scroll to the bottom of this post to find it. My felt bow was created with Hot Fudge felt (which also comes in two sizes: 6″ x 6″ and 6″ x 30″).

We’re adding a submission form below this post. Make up your card and post it on your blog (with a link to our blog of course *wink*). Submit your card by adding it below. Make sure to post it to the actual blog post and not just your general blog address. You have until 11:58 on the last day of the month to upload any challenge entries.

We will randomly choose a winner from each month’s submissions to win a prize package from Stamp School.

Happy Stamping!



Study Hall 01-10-12

January 10, 2012 Cards, Study Hall 2 comments

Hi, it’s me Vicki~ Today for Study Hall, I used the newly released Natural Landscape.  I zoomed so you could see the sentiment, since it did not show in the original photo.  See those bright colored flowers?  Oh I am in heaven~ I used Zing embossing powder.  This stuff ROCKS!  It is so vivid and comes in an array of beautiful colors! (yep – available at the store, see below)  I used Pop-Tone Black Licorice cardstock and Blu Raspberry cardstock for framing, and white pigment ink for the foliage.

That’s it for me today.  Thanks for stopping in~

 

Art Room Color Challenge 01/09/12

January 9, 2012 Art Room, Cards, Color One comment

Who’s ready for a little inspiration in Art Room?  This week’s color challenge is:

Thanks to Pinterest for these darling cupcakes.  This week’s challenge is to use bright pink, white, and light blue.  Here is my card:

Here are the details to play along.  Make your card and post it on your blog (with a link to our blog of course *wink*). Submit your card by adding it below. Make sure to post it to the actual blog post and not just your general blog address. You have until 11:58 on the last day of the month to upload any challenge entries.

We will randomly choose a winner from each month’s submissions to win a prize package from Stamp School.

 

 

 



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