Nichol Spohr LLC

By Request: My Favorite Ali Edwards Stamps

I have received quite a few questions wanting to know which Ali Edwards Stamp are my favorites. While I love them all, the following stamp sets are my most used. You may notice that each stamp set has lots of words stamps, lots of combinations that the stamps can be used and have a wide variety of font styles in each set. I find that I am particularly drawn to these sorts of stamps for my scrapbooking because they can be used in so many different ways.

MOST USED ALI EDWARDS STAMPS (click photos for links):

Ali Edwards Loving Words Words We Love Stamps	Ali Edwards Favorite Memories Stamps	Cake & Candles	Kids Are Cool
Ordinary Days	The Family Circle Stamps

To see samples of how I have used the stamps above, I have created some links for each set (some layouts will be under more than one stamp set):

Kids Are Cool Stamps:

• From Start to Finish Series: Celebrate Being a Girl Everyday layout
• From Start to Finish Series: Five

Ordinary Days Stamps:

• From Start to Finish Series: Celebrate Being a Girl Everyday layout

Cake & Candles Stamps:

• Birthday Card

• From Start to Finish Series: Five

The Family Circle Stamps:

• Summer layout

• From Start to Finish Series: Five
• You & Me Layout
• December Daily 2010 Album

Favorite Memories Stamps:

• True Stories Layout
• Top 5 Things I Love Layout
• Because of You Layout (scroll down past first layout)

Loving Words Stamps:

• True Stories Layout
• Day to Day Stuff Layout
• Love You Layout
• You & Me Layout
• Everyday Play
• Scrapbook Stamping January 2011 Layout

Be sure to check back tomorrow for the May Scrapbook Stamping Class. I am very excited to share this month's class and guest designer projects with you. :)

Sneak Peek:

Only 2 days left for the Two Peas FREE shipping promotion:

Receive FREE shipping on orders of $30 or more when you use code: SMSFF9. Offer is good on physical product being shipped domestically through May 1, 2011. 

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

See you tomorrow with Scrapbook Stamping. :)

 

Guest Designer | My Little Shoebox (Home Decor Frames)

Today I have the final projects created for the My Little Shoebox blog this month. 

I decided to create two companion pieces to THIS framed owl I created as a guest designer back in July of last year.

For this first frame, I used foam adhesive to adhere the My Little Shoebox Farmer's Market Stickers (cloud and rainbow) to the cloud background paper (cut to fit the frame).

I die cut the title from coordinating patterned papers (once from the blue and once from the brown) and slightly offset the blue to give the quote a "shadow". I used the following design from the Silhouette America online store:

phrase_you_1548 

The hearts were punched using a Stampin' Up punch. A button sewn on with Divine Twine finishes the frame.

For the second frame, I die cut an owl from MLS patterned papers. I used the following design from the Silhouette America Online Store:

 
owl_C20090921233448_20509

I only cut the body, wings and legs from patterned paper.

I layered MLS die cuts for the eyes and owl body decoration. I punched a heart for the nose and sewed black buttons on for the eyes. A MLS apple sticker finishes the frame.

SUPPLIES (click photos for links):

Silhouette SD	Bumblebee Boutique Buttons	Circles Foam Tabs	Beetle Black Boutique Buttons
Heart to Heart Punch	Farmer's Market Journaling Die Cut Sheet	A Place To Nest Paper	Home Tweet Home Stickers
Fresh From the Field Paper	Home Tweet Home Journaling Die Cut Sheet	Farmer's Market Stickers	Cotton Candy Paper
Sweet Pea Paper	Lemon Divine Twine	Bird House Paper

To see these projects on the My Little Shoebox blog, click HERE.

Don't forget there are just a few days left to take advantage of the 2Peas FREE shipping promotion for orders $30 or more being shipped domestically. Love free shipping!!!

Two Peas currently has a great FREE shipping promotion:

Receive FREE shipping on orders of $30 or more when you use code: SMSFF9. Offer is good on physical product being shipped domestically through May 1, 2011. 

Thanks for stopping by!

From Start to Finish | Celebrate Being a Girl Everyday

This week's layout and video features 4x6 traditional photos (from a film camera) and of course, stamping (as part of 2Peas cardmaking and/or stamping event this month).

I had previously scrapbooked these photos of my daughter when she was just a toddler on a 2-page layout that although was pretty, it definitely didn't tell any sort of a story whatsoever. There was no journaling and the entire focus of the page was on the "stuff" and not the photos + the story. I decided to give these photos the do-over treatment. Because I had added some eyelets to the corners of a couple of the photos, I cropped the photos down to 3.5x5 for my page. The smaller size allowed me to line them up and still have room for the lovely aqua blue border around my page.

I added a stamped title using Ali Edwards Kids Are Cool and Ordinary Days stamps (colored in with Faber Castell Big Brush Markers in Scarlet Red 118, Orange Glaze 113, May Green 170 & Light Cobalt Turquoise 154). The words "everyday" was inked with CTMH Tulip ink.

The accents were created using the MME Stella Rose doily stamps and punching out the stamped images with circle punches. 

I also included a stamped word in the journaling using another new Ali Edwards stamp set, Ordinary Days. I love the way stamped words highlight journaling. The rub-on is from an old Lily Bee Collection.

HOW TO

 

SUPPLIES (click on photos for links):

Tim Holtz Scissors	2.75 Circle Punch	Tiny Attacher	2.5 Inch Circle Punch
2.25Inch Circle Punch	Circles Foam Tabs	Circle 1.5 Punch	Thrift Shop Word Stickers
Mabel Stella Rose Collection 6x6	Red Stamper's Big Brush 3Ct.	Light Blue Stamper's Big Brush	May Green Stamper's Big Brush
Orange Glaze Stamper's Big Brush	Chicken Feed Jenni Bowlin Ink	Girly Lace Stella Rose Collection	Kids Are Cool
Corner Chomper @2Peas	Premium Paper Trimmer 12"	Little Lady Posies Stella Rose Collection	So Sweet Buttons
Lovely Sticker Tags	Fancy Buttons	Girly Stamps	Play Silly Stripe Stella Rose Collection
Delightful Sweet Stripe Stella Rose Collection	Love Letters Stella Rose Collection	So Sweet Herringbone Stella Rose Collection	Doily Lace Edge Craft Punch
5 & Dime Label Stickers	5 & Dime Word Stickers	Kids Are Cool Stamps

To see this layout and video at 2Peas, click HERE.

To see the entire series of From Start to Finish layouts + videos, click HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Fun Links

I am busy finishing layouts/classes and uploading videos to youtube this afternoon but wanted to take a couple of minutes to share a few links.

First, Two Peas currently has a great FREE shipping promotion:

Receive FREE shipping on orders of $30 or more when you use code: SMSFF9. Offer is good on physical product being shipped domestically through May 1, 2011. 

Next, Kerri Bradford has two awesome new kits for sale on her blog:

• Borderlines #2 Digi Die Cut kit 

• Storyboard #3 Kit

Hope everyone had a fantastic Easter on Sunday. I will be back tomorrow with this week's From Start to Finish layout + video!

Have a good one. :)

From Start to Finish | Hello Christmas

I know a Christmas layout seems like a strange choice during these Spring months but I was wanting to update my "Christmas Card Photos from Friends & Family" album using the photo cards we received December 2010 and just felt like getting it done. This is probably my most favorite album. I absolutely love looking through it every year!

I will still need to do an additional layout with the remaining photos (I will share that layout in another layout some other time). 

You can see that the layout focuses mainly on photos but I was still able to add some fun embellishments and a lot of stamping to customize my page.

The title is one of Kerri Bradford's digital die cut designs from her Yuletide Greetings Kit (also linked below in the supply list). I love how she supplies the file to layer the script word, thus giving the title more dimension.

I stamped the edges of the journaling block with Lawn Fawn snowflake stamps.

To create the postage stamp accents, I stamped the snowflake squares (Hero Arts) on ledger paper and punched out the image using a 1" square punch. Then I layered the stamped square on a punched postage shape. A button sewn on with Divine Twine completes the simple embellishment.

The journaling consists of listing who is each photo. I dressed up the journaling with some stamped greetings from Hero Arts.

I used stamped words and a date (Lawn Fawn) on October Afternoon label stickers to finish the page.

I also used a Lawn Fawn snowflake stamp on the circle tabs along the top border.

HOW TO:

 

Want to see more of my album?

Here are my layouts for past years:

• Title Page
• 1998 Layout
• 1999 Layout
• 2000 Layout
• 2001 Layout
• 2002 Layout
• 2003 Layout
• More 2003 Layout
• 2005 Layout
• More 2005 Layout
• 2006 Layout
• More 2006 Layout
• 2007 Layouts
• 2008 Layout
• Another 2008 Layout
• 2009 Layout
• More 2009 Layout

SUPPLIES (click on photos for links): 

Echo Park Wintertime Collection	Silhouette SD	Tim Holtz Scissors	Very Merry Label Stickers
Very Merry Word Stickers	Very Merry Label Stickers	Circles Foam Tabs	Premium Cut Line Paper Trimmer
Brown Sugar Dye Ink	Love Printed Decorative Tags	Say Cheese Too	Cough Syrup Jenni Bowlin
Brown Sugar Divine Twine	Cherry Divine Twine	Yuletide Greetings Digi Die Cut Kit	Hot Chocolate/Pine Green Wintertime Paper
Journaling Cards Wintertime Paper	Berries Wintertime Paper	Very Merry Label Stickers	Wrap the Presents Very Merry Paper
Four Framed Snowflakes Stamps	Corner Chomper @2Peas	Frosties Clear Stamps	Everybody Loves Christmas Collection
Holiday Sayings Clear Stamps	Smitty's ABC's

Thanks for stopping by!

1 Stamp 3 Cards | Coloring in Stamped Images

Sorry for the hiatus in blog posts.I was super burnt out after an exceptionally busy month and a half and decided to take several days off to rest and recoup. However, I totally forgot about sharing my 1 Stamp 3 Cards class and projects for 2peas for this week. Dang it!

Here is my project, showcasing different mediums to color in the exact same stamped image. For my samples I used watercolor pencils, Design Memory Craft markers and Copics.

I love the different results you get with each medium.

Sample colored with Design Memory Craft Markers:

Sample colored with Copics:

Sample colored with Watercolor Pencils on watercolor paper:

HOW TO:

 

To view this project at 2Peas, click HERE.

SUPPLIES (click photos for links):

Scoring Board	Ink Blending Tool	Memento Tuxedo Black	Copic X-Press
Tim Holtz Scissors	Antique Linen Distress Ink	Premium Cut Line Paper Trimmer	Find Joy
Neenah Solar White Cardstock	Copic Sketch Markers @2Psinabucket	Violet Stamper's Big Brush	Cobalt Blue Stamper's Big Brush
Blue Stamper's Big Brush 3Ct.	Green Stamper's Big Brush 3Ct.	Yellow Stamper's Big Brush 3Ct.	Red Stamper's Big Brush 3Ct.
Chrome Green Stamper's Big Brush	May Green Stamper's Big Brush	Chrome Yellow Stamper's Big Brush	Orange Glaze Stamper's Big Brush
Scarlet Red Stamper's Big Brush	Pink Madder Stamper's Big Brush	Find Joy	Thank You Definition Stamp
Flower Corsage Stamp	Flowers & Leaves Cling Stamp	Daffodil Layering Papers	Grenadine Layering Papers
Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink	Ink Blending Tool @2Peas	Blue Aquarelles	Green Aquarelles
Yellow Aquarelles	Red Aquarelles	Blue Pitt Artist Pens	Green Pitt Artist Pens
Yellow Pitt Artist Pens	Red Pitt Artist Pens	Essential Tools	Mini Misters

Thanks for stopping by. Check back tomorrow for a new From Start to Finish video.

Night!

Guest Designer | Denami Design (Easter Projects)

This is my second post today. If you're looking for today's MLS Guest Designer Projects post, click HERE.

I am thrilled to share some fun Easter/Spring stamped projects as a Guest Designer for Denami Design. 

Denami Design has darling wood block stamps that are so fun to create with. I am particularly fond of these cute little chickies, perfect for the upcoming holiday.

For my first card, I created an Easter card using this darling chick border. Aren't those ears on the chickies cute?!!! I colored in the image with Copics. Minimal shading was required for the small images. So easy to add color to.

I used tone on tone stamping for the stamped cardstock pieces. I stamped the base of the card with the heart background using Stampin' Up Baja Breeze Ink and added Glossy Accents over the hearts.I stamped the stripe border using Jenni Bowlin Chewing Gum ink over the PTI Sweet Blush cardstock. I used the JB Chicken Feed Ink over the PTI Lemon Tart cardstock.

I die cut the border using the PTI Double Ended Banners die (my favorite). I stamped just the greeting part of the stamp on the banner and added faux stitching with a white pen. Buttons finish off the banner.

Copics used for the card projects.

For my next project, I created sweet Easter tags to tie them on the Denami Design Boutique Boxes to give to the kids in my son's Pre-School class.

To stamp the tags, I colored in the image with Memento Markers, used the Stamp-a-ma-jig for perfect alighnment and stamped the image on the die cut tags. Such an easy way to create a multi-colored stamped image.

I placed pastel m&m's in the boxes, wrapped Divine Twine around each and tied the tag on.

My last Spring-themed project is the sweet square card featuring a custom stamped plaid background.

I stamped the clouds and cut them out and colored and cut out the stamped chickie in the hot air balloon. A vellum overlay helps mute the background so that the images really stand out. Pretty pink satin ribbon gives a soft pop of color and dimension on the front of the card.

I created the background by stamping the stripe border on a piece of PTI Rustic White cardstock.

I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to help line up my stamping.

I used four colors of Jenni Bowlin Ink to get a nice plaid background.

The finished plaid background.

SUPPLIES (click on photos for links):

Scoring Board	Stamp-a-ma-jig	Sizzix Big Shot	Memento Tuxedo Black
Tim Holtz Scissors	Tiny Attacher	Glossy Accents	Circles Foam Tabs
White Pen	Premium Cut Line Paper Trimmer	Corner Chomper	Neenah Solar White Cardstock
Copic Sketch Markers @2Psinabucket	Soap Powder Dye Ink	Chewing Gum Ink	Lemon Drops Ink
Teeny Heart Background	Stitched Border	Three Line Border	Chickie in Balloon
Small Cloud	You're Tweet	Hoppy Easter	Stick Candy Dye Ink
Memento Arizona Canyons Markers	Memento Camp Fire Marker Set	Girls Night Out Marker Set	Greenhouse Marker Set
Ocean Marker Set	Rustic White Cardstock	Designer Buttons Subtles	Chicken Feed Jenni Bowlin Ink
Grass Folding Cards	Cotton Candy Divine Twine	Sweet Blush Cardstock	Lemon Tart Cardstock
Aqua Mist Cardstock	Sweet Blush Satin Ribbon	Fillable Frames #9	Clear Boutique Boxes 2 1/4" square

Thanks for stopping by!

Guest Designer | My Little Shoebox (20 months Layout & Hello Card)

Happy Thursday friends!

It's time for a couple more projects featuring My Little Shoebox's newest collections: Farmer's Market and Home Tweet Home.

Here is a super simple layout I created for my youngest son's album. I used one of Kerri Bradford's Collage Templates to simplify the photo design process and then added my elements around it. 

Because this layout is very simplistic in design, I opted to add layers on top of the photo collage to blend the collage and background into a more cohesive design. I added a die cut from the Silhouette Store (I only used the "20". Don't be afraid to customize your Silhouette designs to make them work for your project) and letter stickers from MLS right on top of the largest photo for my page title.

20-ten_C00807_19547 

I printed my journaling on kraft cardstock and secured it to the photo collage with a staple and a fabric brad. Simple punched clouds were sewn on with my sewing machine. Punched hearts add a simple pop of color.

I used borders cut from the Farmer's Market border paper and a punch out to add color and layers to the top of my page. The sticker banner is an easy embellishment addition. Machine stitching dresses up the border.

SUPPLIES (click on photos for links):

Silhouette SD	Cloud Large Squeeze Punch	Cloud Extra Large Squeeze Punch	Premium Cut Line Paper Trimmer
Kraft 12x12 Cardstock	Heart to Heart Punch	Fresh From the Field Paper	Sweet Pea Paper
Tutti Fruitti Paper	Farm Fresh Die Cut Cirlce	Farmer's Market Stickers	Portrait Collection Brads
White MIni Alpha Stickers	Picture That

This card reminds me of Spring with it's bright fun color palette.

I stamped an easy border using the flower stamp from the MLS Farmer's Market stamp set, then colored them in with Copics. Hero Arts pearl gems add texture to the flower centers.

I created the simple color blocked background using scraps leftover from my other MLS projects.

I stamped the greeting in Versamark using the MLS Home Tweet Home stamp set. Heat embossed with white powder. Simple, easy and fun!

SUPPLIES (click on photos for links):

Memento Tuxedo Black	Tim Holtz Scissors	Zing Opaque White Embossing Powder	Versamark
Premium Cut Line Paper Trimmer	Precision Heat Embossing Tool	Neenah Solar White Cardstock	Copic Sketch Markers @2Psinabucket
Farmer's Market Journaling Die Cut Sheet	A Place To Nest Paper	Farmer's Market Clear Stamps	Home Tweet Home Clear Stamps
Snow Notecards

To see these projects on the My Little Shoebox Blog, click HERE.

Be sure to check back next Thursday for more MLS projects.

*Hint* If you liked THIS project from last summer, you will enjoy the coordinating projects. (wink!)

Have a great day. Thanks for stopping by!

From Start to Finish | Five

This is my second post of the day. If you're looking for Lawn Fawn's Year One stamp project post, click HERE.

We are still celebrating stamping over at 2Peas!

This week I wanted to show a couple of things in my From Start to Finish layout + video:

1. Stamping with white ink on vellum.
2. Using Ali Edwards Studio AE Cake & Candles Limited Edition Stamp Set on a layout. (I used the same set on a card HERE.) It is so versatile!

I love stamping on vellum with white ink. My favorite white ink to use (on anything, not just vellum!) is Colorbox Frost White Pigment Ink. It stamps beautifully. I combined Ali's Cake & Candles set with her Kids Are Cool set. I think I have mentioned this once or twice but Ali's stamp sets are incredible for scrapbooking. I use them over and over and over.

I also share in the video how I print on cardstock stickers. I get tons of questions about that particular technique and it is really quite easy. In case you don't want to watch the video, here is a quick run-down:

1. Cut both the sticker and backing paper from sticker sheet. Yes, this cuts up your sticker sheet but it makes it possible to not ruin your sticker. :)
2. Print journaling on regular printer paper.
3. Carefully remove sticker and set it aside (careful not to let it stick to anything).
4. Line up backing paper (it's easy to see through when sticker is removed) over the journaling on printer paper and adhere with adhesive.
5. Replace sticker to backing sheet and run through printer. Your journaling should be perfectly lined up.
6. Remove sticker and place on project!

I love punches. I used a start punch from Stampin' Up to add color to the polaroid frame paper strip. Super easy but the added punch of color really brightens up the page!

HOW TO:

 

SUPPLIES (click on photos for links):

Ali Edwards The Family Circle Words We Love	Scoring Board	Tim Holtz Scissors	Premium Cut Line Paper Trimmer
Double Embossed Edger Punch	Retractable Craft Pick	Frost White Ink	Alpha + Bits Family Dynamix Stickers
The Littlest Things Family Dynamix Collection Paper	Just Write Stickers Mr. Boy Collection	Alpha + Bits Mr. Boy Stickers	Double Dutch Playground Paper
Monkey Bars Playground Paper	Simon Says Border Strips	Rubber Ball/Splash Paper	Cake & Candles
Chilled Strawberry Soup Die Cuts	Kids Are Cool	Merry Go Round Playground Paper

To see this project at 2Peas, click HERE.

Anyone else excited to see the animated movie, Rio?

Ethan giggles and giggles at will.i.am's bird character when we see the trailer. I found this video this a.m. and he laughed hysterically and danced like the bird and sang along. So funny! 

 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Lawn Fawn | Year One

Lawn Fawn's Year One is a fun 2x3 mini set that comes with just 2 images: the adorable whimsical birthday cake and "happy birthday" greeting. I created this card with only those two stamps!

I stamped the background using the greeting included in this mini set. I simply flipped it upside down to make the background flow together without any big gaps between the stamped images. I used four colors of ink to keep it colorful.

I layered die cut and punched shapes with ribbon, vellum and buttons before adding the stamped cake on a punched circle. I popped up the image with pop dots for dimension. The card is very simple in design but with the colorful stamping and layers it gives it real depth and dimension.

SUPPLIES (click photos for links):

Scoring Board	Sizzix Big Shot	Tim Holtz Scissors	Distresser
Circles Foam Tabs	White Pen	Premium Cut Line Paper Trimmer	Chicken Feed Jenni Bowlin Ink
Chewing Gum Ink	Rustic White Cardstock	Smokey Shadow Cardstock	Styled Labels Die
Orange Zest Cardstock	Raspberry Fizz Cardstock	Designer Buttons Brights	Designer Buttons Subtles
Melon Mambo Ink

OTHER SUPPLIES:

• Kiwi Kiss Ink by Stampin' Up
• Vellum (The Paper Studio @ Hobby Lobby)
• 1 5/16 scallop circle punch (The Paper Studio @ Hobby Lobby)

To see the rest of the design team's samples with Year One, click HERE.

Happy Wednesday!