The new Occasions mini has a fabulous nautical series, paper, stamps, accessories.  We used them together for Father's Day Cards.

The steps were easy.  First we took white card stock and folded into a standard card size.  Lined Designer Series paper was cut to match the card front and stuck with SNAIL adhesive.

A small piece of Designer Series Paper was crumbled to add texture, then we stamped liberally on it from the "The Open Sea" stamp set.  By stamping after crumbling the paper, the stamped images had a faded look and were perfect for this project.  Stamp at least two, or try three!

We all loved the ledger stamp and added it to a torn piece of plain cardstock.  It was attached with a gromet, added a brad to the center of one of our stamped images, then wrapped the layers with twine. 

In our workshop, some stamped "Happy Father's Day" and others stamped "Happy Birthday".  It is a great card to use for any "masculine"  occasion.

We used the large scallop circle as the base for each page and then used the large circle to fit inside.  A variety of punches were used to punch out the photos or embellishments.  The paper and such was from Sale-a-bration, Ice Cream Parlor and the coordinating colors and die-cuts made it a snap to pull everything together.

In fact these books are so easy, I put a second book together for a girlfriend who sent me some photos of her grand daughter.  I hope she'll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.  Just seeing these cute pictures with such cheery decorations made me smile.

A couple of tips... you'll want to use Tombo glue on the chip board.  Remember, when its dry, it's permanent.  You can cut the patterned paper and chipboard at the same time with the Big Shot.  That way it's very easy to line up the edges of the scallop. 

Journaling (writting notes to accompany the pictures) is a great way to personalize your pages.  We used the "Notes" stamp lines and then hand wrote our tidbits.  They looked great in Pacific Point blue.

I love the mini envelopes created by the Big Shot.  Can't you just imagine a bunch of them decorated as Valentines?  I think I'll try that next.  The hearts in the envelope in the card are textured to match the designer paper patter.

For the 'pine cone' tag, we used markers to color the stamp to get the multi-color design.  It's a perfect techique for small tag stamps.  Lots of ribbons too! 

We also made adorable gift card holders.  They are so easy!  Take an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of cardstock and cut at 4 1/4 x 11.  Then score at 3, 5 1/2 and 8 inches.    Use any set to decorate, using one large stamp on the front, a medium and a small stamp inside.  Fold up in the middle and then fold the edges backward. Apply Sticky Strip to the back, only on 3/4 of the second panel.  Then use a wide narrow punch to make the entrance, with a small circle punch for the pull out.  It's quick and fun.  We decorated our gift card with twine and a button, all color cordinated of course.

She made some cards and used the fabrics just like you'd use designer paper.  I just love the coordinating buttons!  Fabrics give cards a very rich texture and can easily be applied with 2-way liquid glue or Tombo.

How cute are these stockings??  Donna made us a whole collection of small stockings and the custom patterns are so cute.  One group of fabrics is in light happy colors, the second is more traditional and richer colors. 

There is nothing like a handmade card to say 'you're special' and its one of the reasons I love to make cards.  One of my friends needed a quick card for Father's Day and I turned to My Digital Studio with great results.

All of Stampin' Up! products coordinate so well, you get a very polished result almost effortlessly.  I used the Father's day set from My Digital Studio (MDS) and then added a bit of ribbon and brad in the same colors. 

The result was a unique card that carried an 'I love you' message to a Father.