A word from our founder, Shelli Gardner

Recently I had the pleasure of going to a Regional Seminar in Portland, Oregon with two of my fellow demonstrators... I really enjoyed it... especially meeting Shelly Gardner, the founder of Stampin' Up! When I was introduced to Stampin' Up! I was a casual Scrapbooker... I enjoyed putting pictures into Scrapbooks, and embellishing my memories... well, my first workshop actually blew my mind... I had no idea that there was a company out there like this! I was then pregnant with my first child, Audrey, and was so excited to make simple, cute thank you cards and birth announcements... and it has become so much more than that! What are the reasons that you love stampin' up? I'd love to hear about it.
Here is a video from Shelli that I find absolutely inspiring, I hope you enjoy!

Aviary Viewmaster!

I did it! It took me almost 8 hours of work to get the layout down for this card... man was it ever hard!
So, in my post below, I showed you a new technique called "view master" that is shown on splitcoaststampers.  I worked on it for my club, but I wanted to use my new favorite set, "aviary".  Well, it turned out to be very complicated, because when you change the place for the circle, it changes everything.
Here's what the final project looks like:

I love it! And the best part is when you use the viewmaster circle on the side, the owl changes color! The color combo for the card is Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler and Baja Breeze... such a delightful combination!
I used the vintage wallpaper embossing folder for my bigshot... and the stamp set is Aviary.  I used forbidden hodgepodge, that is retired, so if you want to use something current, I suggest the mini library clips.
I used the new punch for the circle, which simplified it a LOT... it's in the new mini.
This is one of the swaps I'm going to bring for the Vancouver Regional Seminar next week, as it is an original.
Thanks for looking!

Splitcoast Stampers

Have I ever shared with you my favorite site? When I have nothing else to do (which doesn't happen very often any more) I go to this site... it's http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/
it is the best site, ever! If you've got a stamp set that you love, you find it in the gallery, and there are endless resources, cards, and scrapbook pages made with the stamp set.  If you're anything like me, you sit and look at a stamp set, but can't come up with a perfect idea in not very much time... go to Splitcoaststampers!

AND, there's this little button on the top right, called "resources".  This is the best section! It has hundreds and hundreds of ideas for 3D projects, different folds for cards, and unique.  For instance, I want to use my new set "Aviary" for my next club card... but I wanted to use a different technique. Here's the stamp set:

Okay, I know it doesn't look like much, but I've seen the CUTEST cards using this set! I think I'm going to have to have a class in the Spring that includes this set... 
SO, I'm going to be extra creative this month, and put together the aviary stamp set, with the technique called View Master Card... remember those toys that you turn and the image changes?

Well, I'm going to try to do that with the birds in the bird cages... here's the technique, found at http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/view_master_card/.  This is the card they sample with the technique, which is nice, but not wow for me...

View-Master™ Card

by Kyla Maestas

Get yer punches out, cause you're gonna make good use of them with this project, inspired by the classic toy.

Supplies

• Stamps
• Ink
• Adhesive
• Stampin' Dimensionals
• Coluzzle® (Circle, Mat, Cutting Blade)
• 1/8" Hole Punch (or eyelet tools)
• 1/16" Hole Punch (or eyelet tools)
• 1 3/8" Circle Punch (use any variety of punches or Coluzzle as a substitute for circle punches)
• 1 1/4" Circle Punch
• Copy Paper
• Neutral-colored Cardstock
• Brad
• 1/2 Sheet of cardstock folded and bone scored (SU! Certainly Celery© in this example)
• Coordinating Cardstock cut to 5 3/8" x 4 1/8" (this will be adhered to your card later; SU! Bashful Blue© in this example)
• Coordinating Cardstock cut at 5 1/4" x 4" (this will be your top piece that your View-Master will attach to; SU! Certainly Celery© in this example)

Step-by-Step

1. Step 1

   Using the Coluzzle, cut two identical circles, one out of neutral-colored cardstock, and one out of copy paper.
   
   Check to see if the circle you picked will fit your card with plenty of room to turn before cutting. Set aside the neutral-colored cardstock for now.
   
   

2. Step 2

   Fold the circle in half and then in half again. Mark these folds with a straight edge to find the center of your circle. Fold the diagonals to create 1/8 pieces (like a pizza!).
   
   

3. Step 3

   Place the two circles together, copy paper on top. Use a piece of re-positional tape to hold the bottom circle in place if needed. The copy circle acts as a guide as you punch notches around the circle. Using the 1/8" handheld punch, punch notches on each of the ¼ lines.
   
   
   

4. Step 4

   Continue adding notches at the end of the remaining fold lines.
   
   

5. Step 5

   Discard copy paper circle. Create the last set of notches, punching in between all of the notches you have already done. Set aside.
   
   
   

6. Step 6

   With coordinating cardstock (5 3/8" x 4 1/8") punch a partial hole on the right side using a 1 3/8" circle punch.
   
   

7. Step 7

   With second coordinating cardstock (5 1/4" x 4") punch a hole in the top right corner for a window.
   
   Punch a partial hole using the 1 3/8 punch on the right side to allow your wheel to turn. Punch a small hole using 1/16" handheld punch for brad and wheel attachment.
   
   
   

8. Step 8

   Place brad through the front of the card, turn over and attach view-master wheel.
   
   
   

9. Step 9

   Stamp image inside the window. Rotate circle, repeat. If using a stamp larger than your window, create a mask to prevent stamping outside the circle.
   
   Place a dimensional in each of the 4 corners on the back of this piece, mount to 5 3/8" x 4 1/8" cardstock. Using dimensionals will allow your wheel to move more freely. Add to card, embellish as desired.
   
   .
   
   
   

10. Step 10

    Finish your card.
    
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    Tune back soon to see what I've created! And feel free to post any samples you use from this technique!