Do Llama’s Hop? Yep, they do…check it out!

Welcome to the first Stampin’ Up Llama blog hop.  We’ve taken the new 2011-2012 catalog and divided it into sections for our hop, with each llama participating featuring a different section.    You’ve hopefully arrived from my Llama friend’s Stephanie’s blog  (loved her very real looking fireplace!) – if not…not to worry you can click on the llama blog hop home page and find your way through the links.   This is our first hop so though we’ve tried to avoid technical difficulties there’s no guarantees there won’t be the occasional glitch.

Since Fall and the holidays are now upon us – though here in Southern Oregon Summer tempatures are refusing to leave – the projects I’ve chosen to showcase for the hop will have a taste of Fall and Christmas – though two are also perfect year round.

The mechanics of the hop are simple.  You will find links at the end of this post to move on to the next Llama Blog or back to the main Llama Hop Blog page.  Should you get disconnected anywhere along the way you can always return to the main hop page to find the next link in the hop.  

I hope you’ll take a moment to let each of the Llamas know what you think and leave a little comment love.  Many of us are  first time hoppers and first time bloggers with hop posts being the first ever post in some cases.    We’ve recently gotten the hang of swapping with each other and now we are going to do the Llama hop together!    Who says llamas don’t enjoy group events??  Not me!

And in case you are wondering…my stamping archeologist friend Darrah tells me the correct pronunciation of Llama sounds like Yama (ll’s in Spanish are pronounced like a Y and since Llama’s unlike the Dali Lama come from Peru that would appear to be the correct language to use.   To check out who the Llama’s are and why we are check out the main blog hop page here or click the hop banner or click the icon at the bottom of the post to visit that page.

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To begin…my assigned section (and yep I lobbied for it) is Greetings.   Yep…words, words and more words.   Not a big surprise is it that I love words…LOL!  I’m not sure why but many shy away from this vital section of the catalog.    Perfect for the inside of a card they also work as focal images, accents and more.

First up is my frugal and clean and simple single stamp Elegant Thank You – elegantly embossed in gold.  Surprise.  I bet you though this would appear in the A La Carte section of the catalog…and yes it does appear there in this new catalog.   What I didn’t realize before I started writing this post is that it was also in the Greetings section of last years catalog so I thought I was being tricky by picking a double posted item.  Turns out the trick was on me.   Hm…have I mentioned that llama’s live at high altitude?  Could be why they sometimes get tricked when they intend to do the tricking!  Stampin’ Up! removed this wonderful stamp from the Greetings section…but stubborn llama that I am…I’m moving it right back!  LOL!

Simple 4×4 card that fits in a standard envelope you can make these in minutes and in sets and have them ready for any occasion.   Come back later this week and I’ll show a few more variations I’ve come up with.  My favorite stamp used here isn’t a stamp at all but a clear block stamped in Crumb Cake ink then stamped on the card!   Now if only you could see the Dazzling Diamonds that are dusted across the Soft Suede butterflies.  Drat that picky scanner!

Supplies:

Stamps: Elegant Thank You,  Kindness Matters, Clear Block Size C

Ink: Crumb Cake & Soft Suede Classic Inks, Versamark

Paper: Very Vanilla Cardstock

Other: Gold Embossing Powder, Heat tool, 3/16″ corner rounder punch, Scallop Circle punch, dimensionals, two-way glue, Dazzling Diamonds, Sponge Dauber.

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Next up:

 This simple and quick Christmas card features one of my favorite Greetings stamp sets – God’s Blessings – found on page 161 of the catalog.  To see the rest of the images in the set click here – there is something in the set for every occasion.   As you can see this text image stamped in Soft Suede works for a focal image as well as a greeting.   The background is an image from Best Friends Forever stamped in Wild Wasabi on Wild Wasabi.  I thought the ivy-like image fit the Christmas theme quite well and coordinated with the Wild Wasabi striped ribbon.   What says Christmas more than Green and Red color combos and a touch of gold embossing with a flourish image from Kindness Matters to add to the meaning of the greeting.  And in case you haven’t noticed…this years catalog samples are filled with Wild Wasabi as a color choice.  I have to admit it wasn’t one of my favorite colors when it first came out but as you can tell it’s grown on me.

Supplies:

Stamps: God’s Blessings, Best Friends Forever, Kindness Matters

Inks: Wild Wasabi, Soft Suede, Versamark

Papers: Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Very Vanilla Cardstocks

Other: Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Wild Wasabi 1-1/4″ Striped Grosgrain Ribbon

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Lastly is my 3D offering.  Using a template available from your Stampin’ Up Demonstrator (courtesy of SU’s template library) I created a pair of birdhouses that make use of two different greeting stamp sets that show how you can use greetings for accents.   My apologies for the poor image quality.  My camera images after importing took a bizarre turn all their own that overexposed what originally looked just fine.  I’ll try to repost better images later this week.

The one house has a bit of a fall theme as it also uses the wreath image from the Holiday Mini Hostess set Warmest of Wishes in addition to the “love you” image from Short and Sweet.   The other house uses the phrase “Welcome” from the set Fabulous Phrases.

Take a look at this closeup and you’ll see the other reason I love Short and Sweet.   It comes with coordinating images.  A little hard to see but along the roofline is stamped a series of flower images.  This design has me thinking I’ll be ready for Chinese New Years too.   To see all the words and coordinating images for Short and Sweet click here.  Once again a set with phrases and images for every occasion.   Come back next week and I’ll link you in to the template for this simple birdhouse along with directions for putting it together (better pictures too I hope).

Supplies:

Stamps: Short and Sweet, Warmest of Wishes(holiday mini)

Ink: Cherry Cobbler

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, River Rock, Very Vanilla

Other: 1-1/4″ Circle Punch, Simply Scored Tool, Very Vanilla 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbon, Sticky Strip

              

             

And a closeup of the other birdhouse featuring Fabulous Phrases that you can find here.  Another of my favorite sets.  I love the type style and the variety of phrase you can create using all the various words.   Check back next week and I’ll have a list of some sample phrases you can create using this fabulous set.   Check out too the use of the latest in letterpress plates from the new catalog…the Fancy Fan Letterpress Plate!  I used this to create this gingerbread looking roof that will take this little birdhouse from Fall to Winter and the Christmas Season.    I used the dynamic duo from the Color Coach of River Rock and Always Artichoke for my Greens and Cherry Cobbler for my red.  The little flowers remind me of my late Mother in Laws favorite Christmas Cactus that always graced her porch in Santa Barbara, California during the holiday season.  The little loop of copper wire means you can hang this birdhouse as well as set it on a shelf or other flat surface.  The only thing missing is a bird to nest and start a family.  In my house with my cat Wicket…that missing feature is a good thing!

Supplies:

Stamps: Fabulous Phrases

Ink: Cherry Cobbler

Paper: River Rock, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla Cardstocks.  Always Artichoke page from the Regals Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack

Other: 1-1/4″ Circle Punch, Itty Bitty Blossom Punch, Crop a Dile (used as a punch for flower centers) Simply Scored Tool,  Sticky Strip, Fancy Fan Letterpress Plate, Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, copper wire.

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I hope you’ve enjoyed our very first Llama hop!  We’ll hopefully be back for another one in the near future once we’ve all regrouped in the pasture, caught our breath and figured out the group dynamics of blogging as a virtual group as well as stamping together.   Hopefully we’ve answered the question…Do Llama’s Hop?   Yes…we do!

Next stop on the hop is my Llama friend Kathe D …. don’t forget to leave her some llama comment love!

Llama Hugs and Blessings to you all (including my fellow Llama’s) – Jean

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