Stamping Intervention

Created by a Two-Year-Old, Loved by Me!

I know you all will probably think I'm crazy...I let my toddler, Jackson, stamp with me when we were in public! (Take a deep breath, he survived with only a few ink stains on him!)

Last Sunday at church, I set up a table for card-making and signing to promote our Card-Making Ministry at First Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor. I had retired ink pads out in case little ones wanted to stamp (that way I wouldn't really care if the inks got mixed).

My husband picked our son up from the nursery and Jackson instantly wanted to be in my lap, "my-doing" what Mama was doing. (My-do is Jackson's way of saying "I do it".) I figured what harm would there be in letting him partake.

Here are my little one's creations, right along with the original of what I made. We both used Baroque Motifs on Confetti Cream card stock and used Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky and Groovy Guava inks.

 To get information about setting up your own Card-Making Ministry, email me at sara@stampingintervention.com.

Working on the April Newsletter!

These beautiful flowers are featured using the Walk in the Park Designer Series Paper in the 2009 Occasions Mini. Items are available for order April 1st! I'll have a link to the template for these gorgeous flowers in my April Newsletter!

If you're not signed up for my newsletter, subscribe today in the left sidebar.

Can I put Decor Elements in the Dishwasher?

A customer contacted me earlier in the week, saying that she'd seen multiple projects that put Decor Elements on dishware. She wanted to know if it was safe to put items that have Decor Elements on them into the dishwasher.

After doing some investigating, I have found that Stampin' Up! suggests that you hand wash Decor Elements with mild soap. So, nope! No putting it in the dishwasher.

Furthermore, I believe someone posted on one of my professional sites that her mug that had a Decor Element on it did not survive the dishwasher's heat.

To learn more about Decor Elements, click here.

Did you know...Stampin' Around Ink Cartridges

Did you know that Stampin' Up! recommends that you should store your Stampin' Around Ink Cartridges in a sealed plastic bag? Apparently, because of their small size, they may dry out faster than our average-sized ink pads.

Do you have dried out cartridges? There's a simple solution: ink refills! The classic ink refill is a little more than half the cost of a standard cartridge and there are MANY things you can do with them other than reinking your cartridge, like using a couple drops to dye white ribbon or using them to watercolor with. To order an ink refill, click here.

How do I use my Watercolor Wonder Crayons?

The Watercolor Wonder Crayons are amazingly versatile; these artistic-quality, highly pigmented crayons coordinate with our exclusive colors and can be used in many different ways.

• • Color directly on the stamp. Then spray either the stamp or the paper with water before stamping. If you spray the stamp, the color will look more faded. Spraying the paper results in more vivid color. You can also stamp an image, then spray the stamp with water and stamp again. This will create darker and lighter images.

• Color directly on a piece of scratch paper to create a palette, and use an Aqua Painter or watercolor brush to color the image.
• Color an image with the crayon, then blend with a watercolor brush. The water-soluble crayons make it easy to blend colors.
• Color an image without using water. Watercolor Wonder Crayons can be used on any card stock. For best results, use watercolor paper. When stamping and coloring line-art images, the Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad is the best choice when using Very Vanilla or Whisper White card stock. Use a Jet Black StazOnT pad with all other card stock, including watercolor paper.

*Information found in Stampin' Up!'s 2009 Product Guide.

Do you have any questions about the Watercolor Wonder Crayons? If so, post them in a comment in this thread. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.    

Copy and Steal Everything? Yeh, Me too!

  If I've said it once, I've said it a million times...I love to CASE! There's a reason why Stampin' Up!'s Idea Book and Catalog is called an "Idea Book". It's meant to inspire and be copied.

I CASE'ed this card this card from the Fall/Winter 08 IBC because I needed to work more with my Simply Said set. I loved how this sample encouraged me to think outside of stamping something on a rectangular piece of neutral card stock and layering on top of a piece of colored card stock.

If you're low on paper, challenge yourself to make a card like this: only one piece of card stock for the card base and the rest are scraps. You'll be amazed at how easy and fun it is!

Crafty St. Patrick's Day activities for Kiddos

St. Patrick's Day doesn't have to be all about adults! As a work-from-home Mom, I'm always looking for activities to spice up my day with my son. As a crafty lady, I tend to want to include him on my art-inspired fun.

I found this article and thought I'd share it with all of you who have little ones out there! As always, keep on creating...

Fun Toddler Activites for St. Patrick's Day

By Stephanie Brown, About.com

Here are some toddler activities you and your child will enjoy this St. Patrick's Day. As with all activities involving cooking and art supplies, remember to give your toddler close adult supervision.

Draw Shamrocks Using Stencils

 

Photo © Stephanie Brown

When your toddler lacks the fine motor skill to produce artwork that -- to be frank -- looks like something besides a bunch of scribbles using a stencil can be fun. It takes advantage of the skills your child already has and gives them an "I Can Do" feeling of accomplishment. Remember, too, that at this age art is mostly about practicing emerging skills and experimenting with new and interesting textures and techniques.

Make a Rainbow with Fingerpaint

Photo © Stephanie Brown

Using finger paint exposes your toddler to a unique sensory world involving sight, slippery touch and squishy sound as well. Add mint or vanilla extract and excite his sense of smell, too. Finger painting helps your toddler gain fine motor control: Each time his hand moves the way his brain directs or expects, he is closer to fully controlling a paint brush, crayon or pencil.

To make a rainbow, paint each fingertip a different color in rainbow order (red, orange, yellow, green, blue or purple) and gently guide your toddler's fingers across the paper in a curve. Take a moment to admire the rainbow and then let him do his own thing with the colors.

Make Shamrocks with Paint and Cookie Cutters

Photo © Stephanie Brown

Like using stencils or sponge painting, a cookie cutter can help your toddler create something he recognizes when he doesn't know how to draw the object. This activity is also a good starting point for the toddler is reluctant to participate in art activities because he doesn't want to get messy or doesn't like the way more tactile activities like finger painting or sponge painting feel.

Play with Green Playdough

Another reinforcing activity for green can come by playing with green playdough. Make it with Kool-Aid and stimulate your toddler's sense of smell. Or make it without, add a drop or two of food coloring and let your child experience the mixing of color as he plays. Playdough is an activity that stimulates pure creativity and does so much to help your child master fine motor control.

To view the entire article, please go to

http://babyparenting.about.com/od/holidayactivities/tp/stpatrickstoddleractivities.htm

Make Your Own Mini Easter Box!

  I made this box at a workshop this past weekend. It's an adorable little box to hold your Scallop Circle Peppermint Patty Treats.

To make this box, take a 5x5" piece of card stock and score it at 1.5" on all four sides. Then, cut on the two vertical score lines from the top and the bottom to the first horizontal score line. Fold on all the score lines and use SNAIL to adhere.

To make the panels layered on the box, cut four pieces 1.5"X2" and stamp on them (or use Designer Series Paper). Use your Crop-a-Dile to set Jumbo eyelets and add a piece of ribbon. You have an adorable little Easter treat box! (Please note, I believe this template was developed by Cambria Turnbow.)

The stamp set I used is the Sale-a-bration set, Polka Dot Punches. To place an order and earn Polka Dot Punches, click here.

Blogging is More Popular than Email!

My stamping business coach, John Sanpietro, posted this interesting trend on his blog.

Click here to read about Nielsen's blogs vs. email research: http://stampingismybusiness.typepad.com/blog/2009/03/blogs-more-popular-than-email.html

I sincerely hope that you're enjoying reading my blog. Please leave comments with post topics that you'd like to see in the future!

Ordinary Household Cleaner with Stamps

Are you ready for this? Go to your cleaning cabinet, pull out the bleach and stamp! I've been playing a lot with bleach the past week  and I'm amazed at what a transformation that is created by using something so simple. (Word of caution here...be sure to not spill it on your clothes or carpet- that would be a sad day...)

  Alright, I had to give you all a sneak peek at one of my classes I'll be teaching in April: bleaching! There are so many things that you can do with it, including creating a shadow effect like this one using Upsy Daisy.

Don't worry, all of you out-of-staters! After my class, I'll post a tutorial with the shadowing technique. For all of you who HAVE to try it right now, just be sure to wash the bleach off of your rubber stamps right away.

I'll be sharing my April class schedule in my mid-month communication with all of you. So, if you're not on my newsletter list, sign up at the left of this post!