Outlines' Open House - December 12, 2010

Getting ready for our Open House was quite a chore! Having just moved in to our new space there was a lot to be done. Unpacking, re-organizing, getting back into a grove. And then getting a space ready for an Open House was interesting as well. But we managed to pull it off somehow. The weather was terrible that day, pouring rain with extremely gusty winds. We were glad, at least, that it wasn't snow! So we thank those who braved the weather and came out, it was great to see you all! We hope you enjoyed it and we hope the sun shines for our next event! Here's a few pictures:

Make 'n Takes and demos. Marianne demos Jewelry and Jeweled Ornaments. Yummy food and lots of stamps!

2011 Design Team

Introducing our 2011 Design Team! We'd like to welcome the 2011 Design Team! We are excited for the coming year and the creative inspiration that these ladies will be sharing with us! Starting in January, these ladies will be blogging each week about their latest Outlines' creation! Please visit their blogs or even better, follow them! Bev Gerard Savor the Journey Jeanne Streiff Inky Paws Lisa Silver Silver Stamping Robin Kirkpatrick Robin's Rubber Room Sandy Hulsart Creative Moments with Sandy Vicki Garrett Summerthyme Studio DT Coordinator: Jenny Gropp One Krafty Kat We would like to send a HUGE Thank You to everyone that sent in Design Team Submissions. The entries were full of creativity and inspiring ideas!

Creating shades of paper with our Texture Design.

I wanted to get back about the red posy card with the green "textured" background. I'm really obsesses with the Texture Design stamp and what it can do for backgrounds and other things!

Here's a picture of the process....


Note the color of the paper I started with and how it changes as you add color to it with the stamp. The first paper was stamped randomly with a darker green, the second one has gold stamping added to it. The third one has more green added to it. The last one was just stamped with lots of the green. If you need a shade of paper that you don't have, this is a great way to get it!

Red Posies & Snowman Jewelry

So here is the red Christmas Posy that I said I would show you. It's basically the same as the previous ones I did with the silver and gold Sargent Liquid Metal paint. I used the Pointed Posies to simulate a Poinsettia look. Instructions are on our website for the silver Posy and you can use those instructions as a guide to create these red ones.

I put this one on a plain gold card that I stamped our Holly Background stamped on. I used one of our New Holiday Posy Greeting Centers. This center stamp comes with 6 different round centers with six different holiday greetings.

I put this one on a green background and used our Texture Design to create a gold "sponged" look. I'm liking using our filigrees and crystals for centers which really gives it an elegant look.


I also played with our New Snowman Jewel to create an "earth toned" Snowman Jewel Pin with matching earrings. I received lots of compliments on them the other day when I wore them, so I figured they must be worth mentioning. We do have instructions for the Snowman Jewel on our website. I used different color jewels but the technique is the same. For the "snowy" face, I used a brand new product that we are having fun with called Pearl Pens by Viva Decor. We just started carrying them, so check out all the cool colors we are stocking! Below are the jewel color and sizes I used:
Hat - Light Peach 12
Brim - Smoked Topaz 16
Eyes/Mouth - Jet 16
Scarf - Light Peach/Smoked Topaz 12
Matching Earrings - Light Peach/Smoked Topaz 12

Outlines Design Team Search!

Outlines Rubber Stamps - 2011 Design Team Call
Looking for six Designers to serve a six month term starting January 1, 2011. Open to all designers who are at least 18 years of age.

Requirements we are looking for:

• You must maintain an active blog and online gallery on SCS.
• Create four to five cards a month using Outlines images, posting cards to your blog and online gallery with product links back to Outline’s online store. We will provide a listing of challenge ideas for the weekly posts…. themes, colors, sketches. Mondays will be the post day.
• One picture tutorial of a card or project with in the six month term to be featured on Outline’s website and Newsletter.
• Have a Yahoo account and be familiar with Yahoo Groups as that will serve as group communications.
• Good Quality Photo Skills - photos of your projects will need to be posted in Yahoo albums without a watermark to Outlines for use on their website, catalog or print ads.
• Hard copies of cards will need to mailed to Outlines.
• Promote Outlines on your blog with a blinkie and list your fellow DT members’s blogs.

Design Team Benefits:

• You will get to choose a welcome package of 20 stamps that you are inspired to work with. We will also be sending out stamps of our choosing for specific challenges and newly released images on a regular basis. After two months on the DT, you will get another round of 15 stamps of your choice. Occasionally we may send digi files or prestamped images for you to work with.
• Any additional tutorials (one is required) you would like to submit for use on the Outlines site will be welcomed and if used will earn additional free rubber.
• You will receive a 30% discount on any additional Outlines stamps you wish to purchase.
• Publication Incentive – Submitting to print publications is not a requirement but is encouraged. For any publication featuring Outlines images in a printed magazine, you will receive $50 of credit to be used for any Outlines products.

To apply for the Design Team:
Create three cards or paper projects showing us your style. We would prefer that you use Outlines images, but is it not a requirement.

Please e-mail your entry to: jennygropp@comcast.net by November 26, 2010. Please put “OUTLINES DT" in the subject line of your e-mail. Please attach pictures of your cards to the email and reduce the size off the photos to 300kb or less. Each submission will be acknowledged via email to let you know that we have received your entry. The team will be announced and contacted by email or phone by December 1, 2010.

Please include the following information in your submission email:

• Your name, address, phone number and e-mail address.
• Your blog link.
• Your online gallery link(s).
• A list of design teams you are currently serving on (includes manufacturers/wholesalers, stores, challenge blogs, etc.).

Liquid Metallic Acrylic Posies!

I think I finally got through working with the Christmas Posies! I've discovered a new product and technique that I'm really excited about! Sargent Liquid Metal Acrylic Paint is the main product I've been working with for these Christmas Posies. These Posies are so easy and fool proof, with stunning results. The pictures don't do the cards much justice!

Below is my favorite.

I'm playing with a using the red Liquid Metallic Acrylic Paint to create a Poinsettia like Posy. I'll post that next week!

This week our website has step-by-step instructions for the silver Posy.

More Christmas Posies

Boy, have I been bad about keeping in touch! Going to try to do better! I've got a few new techniques that I'm playing with that I think are dynamite. They're still all centered around Posies - holiday style. Here's a bunch of Posies using Sargent Liquid Metal Acrylic paint and Adirondack Dimensional Pearls from Ranger (which is also acrylic paint). I'm also using filigrees and crystals for the centers, which adds a hint of elegance. I promise to post how I made these, in a few days! I'm still working on them and keep coming up with improvements.

New Trimmed Tree

I'm a little behind on posting, but I've I still been doing plenty of stamping. I spend a lot of time in my stamp room, but I'm slow at producing, that's just the way it is with me. I'm always wanting to try out new products and they don't always work and then you have to figure out how to make them work!


This week I've been working on making a sample of our new Trimmed Tree (J-1070). A couple of weeks ago I played with the Garland Tree. This one takes a little more time but well worth the effort, I think it's stunning!

Our new trees are no online. Next week we'll have some step-by-step instructions using this tree!

Christmas Posy

I'm back to Posies again, this time I'm trying to give them a Christmas look. We're doing a make n' take project at our wholesale show next week and this seemed like it would be more of an appropriate look for this time of year.




Here's a picture of the Posy, I don't have it put together on a card yet, but wanted to share the look. I'm really excited about it!


Our new Texture Design stamp will allow all kinds of great things to give plain paper a new look. On this particular Posy, I stamped with the Texture Design and embossed with gold embossing powder. The paper I used is antique gold by Paper Cut, available on our website. I flipped the Posy over after to texture it, this way you don't see the lines of the Posy and it looks cleaner.

The finished project! We will have full instructions for this on our website in the next week or two. Remember to always "fluff your flowers"!

Smooching our Halloween Outline images!

"Is summer really over? That's hard to believe when the weather is predicted to be
94 degrees tomorrow. I think I've played hooky long enough, back to the the
stamp room.


Have you all seen our new Halloween Outline stamps? They were designed to be used for Zentangling. Check them out on our website!


I wanted to make sure this wasn't the only way they were shown, so I switched gears
to fall and Halloween. I love Halloween except for the fact that cold weather is
around the corner.


I decided that I would give this a try with just Smooch paints. It was a little challenging, but I liked the results. I used 2 colors for the pumpkin, which I had not tried before. First I painted with the color Pumpkin, and before this coat was dry I went over it with the color Sundance. The result was a more streaky appearance and of course the smooch gives a great iridescent look. The other colors I used were Tuxedo, Grape Soda, Apple Green and Gold Lame'. I found
the Tuxedo to be a little flat so I went over it the the Smooch topcoat, which adds a nice
sparkle. The Gold was a little light so I did 2 coats. I also added a light sprinkling
of yellow glitter to the star after coloring it. P.S. His name is Sam."

New Tree & Glitter

Here's another sneak preview of a new tree we're releasing soon! I've been a "want to be glitter person" but haven't jumped into it because I wasn't sure about adhesive, etc. I've used the Quickie Glue pen for small areas and it's great because it really does allow you to get into small areas. So I jumped into this one and glittered the whole tree, not without some mistakes, but I think I have it figured out.

I used US Artquest matte finish PPA (perfect paper adhesive) brushing it on to cover the entire surface that I wanted to glitter. You then just pour your glitter on and tap off excess. If it's a large area, it's probably best to do it in sections. My big mistake discovery was not putting on a really good layer of adhesive. Without a heavy coat of glue, the glitter has a tendency to run off leaving a very messy look. I do love all the glitter look! I used a microfine glitter we carry and sell. I really like the microfine as opposed to the larger crystals, but the color choice is limited.

One more little thing, a coating of the PPA over the glitter gives a really nice look, less glittery, but really nice. A coating of crystal lacquer gives a shiny glitter look, neither is necessary however.

So long for now, back to summer fun, it's almost over!

Back from Stampaway USA 2010

We're back from Stampaway in Cincinnati, OH! It was a great show but a loooong drive for us. I didn't really have any time to look around for anything, our booth stayed pretty busy the whole day, which is great! There was a lot of interest in the Zentangle stuff! I highly recommend it, it's fun. We do have some great books on our site to get you going. Here are a few pictures of our booth at Stampaway.

Zentangle!

Ornament Toppers!

Make & Take!

Adirondack Acryllic Paint/Ornament Topper

Wow! I can't believe it's August already! I'm still playing with Posy Techniques but I had to stop and play with some NEW Ornament Topper stamps coming out in the next week or two. Here's a sneak peak at our New Jewel Topper. This topper was designed to decorate with Swarovski Crystals, which looks blingy and dynamite! I wanted to try to use less crystals without loosing the great look, so I tried Adirondack Acrylic Paint by Ranger. It comes in 12 colors, which I'm sure we'll have to carry now! I chose Wild Plum for its vibrant, pretty color. These paints create a pearled look that goes well with this Topper.

The tip of the container has a needle nose tip so it's easy to squeeze and fill in the circles, creating a dimensional look and holding it's shape when it dries.

Another good alternative to crystals is this great technique using Glossy Accents. We demonstrate it online to make flower centers, but it would work well with this Ornament Topper. Follow the steps for 3 - 5.

Posy Centers & my Cuttlebug

I wanted to share some Posy Centers/Cuttlebug ideas. These centers can give your Posies a bold, funky look. All these Posy petals are made with US Artquest Artist's Cement... a whole new look, but I'll talk about that more in a future post!

Stamps Used: Wavy Posy Med (E-1027), Wavy Posy Lg (G-1026), Posy Leaf 1 (F-1045), Posy Leaf 2 (E-1046)

For these centers, I ran the brown cardstock through The Cuddlebug and then bleached the the dots out with household bleach. This particular paper bleached to a nice yellow, but all paper bleaches differently, so test your papers out first. For more info on Outlines' Bleaching Technique, visit our step-by-step instructions on Bleaching.

Stamps Used: Oval Posy Sm (D-1024), Oval Posy Med (E-1023), Oval Posy Lg (G-1022), Oval Posy XLg (H-1021), Posy Leaf 1 (F-1045)

The 3 centers you see here were made from Cuddlebug embossed sheets. The base sheet is a color I choose that I thought would be appropriate for the centers, I then embossed with the Cuddlebug patterns. I punched a center out using a 1" round punch and added color to the embossed parts of the centers.

Stamps Used: Pointed Posy Med (E-1043), Pointed Posy Lg (G-1042), Pointed Posy XLg (H-1041), Posy Leaf 2 (E-1046)

Posies & my Cuddlebug

I ran these 3 different size Round Posies through the Cuttlebug, these are the only ones I played with so far, but I think it has potential. I'm not really happy with the gold glitter trim however.
Stamps Used: Round Posy XLg (H-1037), Round Posy Lg (G-1038), Round Posy Med (E-1039), Posy Leaf 2 (E-1046), Script Thinking of You (C-1051)

Funky Posy Center

Today my big find is one of our older stamps, (B-647) Poinsettia Center. It was originally added to our collection to be a center to our Poinsettia Toppers if someone wanted to make a card with the Poinsettias instead of a Topper. Anyway.... I found this stamp to be a funky, simple alternative to the elegant centers of the Posies (though I love working with those as well).

Stamp and emboss the center on a colored card stock that would make a good complementary center (I used gold). Drop a small mound of Glossy Accents on each little circle of the Poisettia Center and sprinkle lightly with some glitter. Let dry. You can repeat this if you want the centers to 'pop' more.

Stamps Used: Oval Posy Lg (G-1022), Pointed Posy Lg (E-1042) , Oval Posy Med (E-1023) , Pointed Posy Med (E-1043) , Poinsettia Center (B-647) , Tiny Happy Birthday (AA-839) , Busy Bee Lg (B-82) , Busy Bee Sm (A-83)

Discovering Gala Glitz

I recently discoverd Gala Glitz by Art Glitter! This is a fun product. It comes in 12 colors and it is a blend of various Art Glitter products (glitter, beads, glass shards) that produces a fun, full coating! It can really turn your creation into an elegant work of art.

I've had this idea for making pins with the Posies on my mind for a while, and I finally got to work on it. I only had brown to play with at the time but we have sinced ordered all 12 colors to carry online. I can't wait to play with all the colors!