Stamp with Elissa

Video: Creative Options with the BigShot

Stampin' Up! has created a nice, quick video to show some great ways to use the Big Shot die-cutting machine for cutting materials other than card stock.  The video demonstrates the chipboard journal you see above, as well as showing a baby bib made by cutting fabric with the Big Shot, and a "Welcome" sign for your home that was made by cutting through 1/16" balsa wood.  You can view the video here:

• Video:  Creative Options with the Big Shot

And just in case you were wondering, there are over 50 different materials that you can cut with the Big Shot.  As a rule of thumb, you can cut a material with your Big Shot machine and Bigz or Originals dies if you can cut it using your Craft & Paper Scissors.  (Please note the maximum thickness of several materials listed in parentheses.)  Here's the "approved" list:

• Thick corkboard
• Thick chipboard (59 mil)
• Colored magnet
• Ruffle board
• Paper wood
• Balsa wood (3/32")
• Bass wood (1/16")
• Metal mesh
• Aluminum (.016)
• Tin (.008)
• Adhesive and non-adhesive mat board
• Drawer liner
• Shelf liner
• Vinyl
• Static cling vinyl
• Shrink film
• Fine sandpaper
• Clear acetate (20 mil)
• Vellum
• Card stock
• Patterned paper
• Flocked paper
• Contact paper
• Textured paper
• Metallic paper
• Linen paper
• Suede paper
• Embossed metallic paper
• Basketball embossed paper
• Faux alligator textured paper
• Self-adhesive glitter paper
• Fabric
• Canvas
• Iron-on fabric
• Soft plush fabric
• Burlap
• Velvet
• Corduroy
• Lace
• Heavyweight denim
• Terry cloth
• Funky fur
• Thin leather
• Quilt batting
• Warm & natural batting
• Fusible fleece
• Self-adhesive craft metal
• Self-adhesive cork
• Self-adhesive foam
• Self-adhesive magnet
• Self-adhesive felt
• Adhesive and non-adhesive rubber
• Pop up sponge
• Poly foam
• 100% pure beeswax (cut with parchment paper on top & bottom of beeswax)

If you have any questions about the video or about the Big Shot in general, please contact me anytime!

Holiday Wishes and Some Demo-Only Fun!

I am very excited to be heading to a Demonstrator group meeting tonight for the first time since I moved to Indiana.  I have hooked up by email with a group of "orphan" Demos who don't have an upline close-by, and this will be my first chance to meet some of them in person.  We're doing a snow-themed card swap, so this is what I came up with:

This card is fairly easy to mass-produce, making it a good choice for a Christmas Card if you have a long list of people to send to.  I had two simple tricks for making the process go a little bit faster.  First, because my background pattern of snowflakes was random, I was able to stamp on a whole sheet of 8-1/2" x 11" card stock and the cut to size (4" x 5-1/4") afterwards.  Second, since the Big Shot is such a powerful die-cutting machine, I cut two pieces of card stock at once (in effect cutting my snowflake-making time in half). 

If you'd like to recreate this card, here's the full supply list:

• Stamps:  Holiday Collection (from the current Country Living promotion)
• Ink:  VersaMark & Not Quite Navy
• Paper:  Not Quite Nave, Baja Breeze (2008-09 In Color), and Shimmery White card stock
• Tools & Accessories:  Big Shot die cut machine, Snowflake #2 Sizzix die

Now I *know* that some of you are thinking, "It's WAY to early to be thinking about Christmas when we haven't even celebrated Thanksgiving!"  And when it comes to putting up lights or decorating the tree, I absolutely agree with you.  But keep in mind that hand-crafted projects like Christmas Cards take some time, and you want to start early enough that you don't feel stressed. 

If you haven't ordered your Christmas Card supplies already, please browse our online catalog and decide what you need.  You can order online 24/7 or email me if you need extra assistance.  I can't wait to see what you will create!

Scrapbooking: Thankful for Family

This is a two-page layout that I started working on last year and didn't really get finished until this week.  I'm submitting it for the "Season of Thanks" Creative Challenge at SoShelli.com, so hopefully Shelli will like it as much as I do!

This page shows most (but not quite all) of my family members who were with us to celebrate last Thanksgiving.  Unfortunately not everyone was agreeable to having their picture taken, so we're missing shots of my Aunt Ramona and three of my cousins.  However I'm happy that we were able to get most of the family on film to commemorate the occasion!

It's a bit hard to tell from the photo, but the accents on this page were created the "poppin' pastels" technique.  I simply stamped the images in VersaMark (our sticky watermark ink) and then used a sponge to dab Stampin' Pastels to add color to each area.  I love the soft, blended look that this technique gives, and I think it worked great for capturing all of the various shades of fall!

Here's the full supply list, in case you're just dying to recreate this page for yourself:

• Stamps:  Whimsical Alphabet Lower (retired), Country Blessings (retired from the 2006 Country Living Autumn Elegance Promotion), Rough Around the Edges jumbo wheel (retired but available on my Retired Items page)
• Ink:  Really Rust, Old Olive, & VersaMark ink pads; Close to Cocoa marker
• Paper:  More Mustard, Really Rust, Old Olive, & Naturals Ivory card stock
• Accessories:  Vintage Brads (retired version), Stampin' Pastels

If this page gets you in the scrappin' mood, please email me and we can set up a time to crop!

Sometimes Simple is Beautiful

We all tend to get caught up in making cards with fancy embellishments or "wow" techniques, but often my favorite cards turn out to be the ones that are just simple & elegant.  Today's card is one that I created for a demo-only challenge on SplitCoastStampers, and I plan to demonstrate it at my Fond Farewell Workshop this Saturday.

(Directions Added 6/28/08):  To create the background strip for this card, I stamped the bold images from Bud Basics onto Glossy White card stock using VersaMark.  Then I used a brayer to apply Groovy Guava ink over the entire strip, and buffed it with a tissue to remove any excess ink.  This technique is called "VersaMark Resist" or "Ghosting". 

The focal point of the card was created using two-step stamping with the bold flower in Groovy Guavy and the flower outline in Ruby Red.  The greeting was stamped in Ruby Red using a stamp from It's Your Birthday.

Here's the full supply list:
Stamps: Bud Basics (retiring in August), It's Your Birthday (retiring)
Ink:  Groovy Guava, Ruby Red
Paper: Groovy Guava (retiring), Ruby Red, Glossy White, Very Vanilla
Tools & Accessories: Corner Rounder Punch.