Technique Thursday - Rock 'n Roll

Ok, it's time for my first ever Technique Thursday! I make it a point to introduce new techniques at each Girls' Night Out, but I thought this might be a fun way to refresh your memory on some of the things we've already learned. Make sure to check back for new ideas each week!

This week I'll be showing you how to Rock 'n Roll! It's a really simple technique - but it's lots of fun and a great way to add more color and dimension to your stamped images.

Here are the supplies you'll need:

Ink - in this example we'll be using two coordinating inks, Pink Pirouette and Riding Hood Red.

Stamps - make sure to use a bold stamp for this technique. Line art stamps won't give you the same effect. I'm using Petal Pizazz from the new Spring Catalog.

Step 1

Using the lightest color first, ink your stamp.

Step 2

Now it's time to pull out the darker stamp pad. Making sure to touch only the edges of the image to the ink, roll the stamp all the way around. Keep doing this until you reach the desired amount of ink on the edges of your image.

It may be a little hard to see in this picture, but this is what your stamp will look like. You can just see the darker ink on the outside edge of the flower.

*As you can see in the picture, this technique will get ink on your block. Personally, I find this pretty irritating because I like to keep my stamps as clean as possible, but I like the outcome so much that I'm willing to put up with the ink spots!

Step 3

Now, stamp your image onto a piece of cardstock. Isn't it that cute? I love it!

If you plan to stamp more than one image, I'd suggest cleaning your stamp in between. You'll get a much better image that way.

*Variation

You can achieve a similar look with only one stamp pad. All you need to do is ink your stamp, stamp off once (or twice depending on your preference), then roll the stamp in the ink pad. This is the what I did with the leaves for my card.

Finishing Up

I pieced together my flowers on a square of textured Ridinghood Red cardstock and used Stampin' Dimensionals to make them "pop" off the card.

That's all there is to it! Now you know how to Rock 'n Roll :)

*Sorry the finished card isn't pictured here - I deleted it so that I could send it into a contest at Stampin' Up.

January GNO

I was pretty excited about how this month's GNO projects turned out. True to form, I finished them right before the class was about to start. Although, if I stick to my New Year's Resolution, this should be the last month that happens :)

I decided to go with a Valentine's Day theme and I chose to use the Bella Rose DS paper. I really love this paper and it's so hard to decide which side of the paper to use because it's all so cute.

I'm proud to say that I designed this card all by myself! A lot of times I scrap-lift ideas or layouts from other stampers, which isn't a bad thing, but it's always nice when I can design something on my own. It gives me a little ego-boost! For this card I pulled out my brand new Lightbox (thanks Mom!) and we learned to dry emboss. It's a simple technique, but one that is so much fun and adds a lot of texture and dimension to the card. The heart is actually a chipboard shape that we covered with paper. I love the way the brown polka-dots tie into the wide grosgrain ribbon!



Our next project was this adorable little bag. We filled it with Hugs and Kisses - wouldn't you love to get one? I found the idea on the Split Coast Stampers website, and just tweaked it a little to work with the supplies I had on hand. It's actually made from a paper bag - how cute is that? We used the Bella Rose paper for this project as well and I gave my stampers a few different patterns to choose from. Here's a picture of the bags my mom and sister made:

We had so much fun - thank you to everyone who was able to make it! Next GNO will be held on Friday, February 20th due to Valentine's Day. I know you all love me so much, but I'm sure you'd rather be on a hot date than stamping with me - or would you? hee hee!

Hope to see you on the 20th at 7:00 pm!

Long time, no Posting!

Yikes! I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted. Since it's still January - barely - I think I can still throw out a New Year's Resolution or two. Here's a few that I've come up with:

* Post at least 3x a week - I'd like to start a posting called Technique Thursdays where I post instructions and pics for different techniques. (Thanks Kelsie for giving me the idea!)

* Stamp just for fun so that I have samples to post for the rest of the week

* Have GNO samples prepared ahead of time and posted so that you can see what we'll be working on.

Whew! That's a lot, but trust me, there are more things I'm working on. I have some exciting ideas in the works, so as soon as I finish I'll post them here!

I've finally figured out how to schedule a post - which turned out to be embarrassingly easy - so I have more posts already scheduled for this week. Keep checking back and don't forget to comment - I'd love to hear from you!