Springtime Congrats - Stampin' Up! Garden in Bloom

  We are back today with another wonderful Fab Friday challenge!  Today we've got some fun colors to use!  They could make for some great Easter or spring cards!

   I went with a spring congratulations theme!  And I pulled out the Garden in Bloom set which has clearly been catching my eye a lot lately when deciding on what stamp set to use!

  I played around with a lot of the Garden in Bloom stamps to make the larger background panel -- it's almost like DSP, but not as pretty!  I did bring in Sahara Sand as a neutral because otherwise it just seemed like too much pastel or too much dark Night of Navy.

  The Sunshine Wishes thinlets and Sunshine Sayings stamp set were used for the focal sentiment elements.

  I hope you'll enjoy these colors and share your creation with us in the Fab Friday challenge gallery!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Garden in Bloom, Sunshine Sayings

Ink: Night of Navy, Soft Sky, Powder Pink, So Saffron, Sahara Sand

Paper: Sahara Sand, Night of Navy, Whisper White, Pool Party, Powder Pink

Accessories: paper doily, Stitched Shapes framelits, Sunshine Wishes thinlets, dimensionals, 1/4" organza ribbon

Spotlight on Petals - Stampin' Up! Petal Palette

 I just had my monthly class yesterday and here I am just getting around to sharing one of the projects we made last month.  Clearly I am behind...as usual!

  I don't know if my stampers are tired of seeing the Petal Palette stamp set but I keep finding myself using it for all kinds of cards.

Today's card is just a simple spotlighting technique which highlights a small portion of a design leaving the larger area black and white.

 Since we only have a short time left with the 2016-2018 set of In Colors I wanted to make sure I used them each a little in class the next few months so I did a Flirty Flamingo/ Basic Gray combo.

  While there aren't Stampin' Blends in Flirty Flamingo I found that the Pink Pirouette is a nice match.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Petal Palette

Ink: Memento

Blends: Old Olive, Pink Pirouette

Paper: Flirty Flamingo, Basic Gray, Whisper White

Accessories: Petal Pair embossing folder, circle punches, dimensionals, faceted gems

Epic Guitar - Stampin' Up! Epic Celebrations

  Even though Sale-a-Bration has been going on for almost 3 months I'm still having fun creating with the free items I have earned.  The Epic Celebrations stamp set is a great pairing with the Bubbles & Fizz DSP.  Only a few more days left to earn the Sale-a-Bration freebies so don't wait to place your order; Sale-a-Bration ends March 31.

  I have been hoarding the Myths & Magic Glimmer paper a bit since I ordered it way back in December during the demonstrator pre-order.  I've been trying to incorporate it a bit more into my projects since it's really great and you get a ton of each of the 3 colors in the pack.  On this card I used the green color.  It's listed as light green but I would say it's a great match to Lemon Lime Twist or a light Old Olive.

  I'm off to prepare for my monthly stamp club tomorrow.  Have a great Monday!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Epic Celebrations

Ink: Basic Gray, Versamark

Blends: Bermuda Bay, Smoky Slate

Paper: Bermuda Bay, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Bubbles & Fizz DSP (SAB), Myths & Magic Glimmer paper

Accessories: white embossing powder, dimensionals

Fresh Toucan - Stampin' Up! Bird Banter

  You all almost got to see my next Fab Friday Design Team card a week early today!  I got ahead of myself a few days ago and thought that it was time for the next challenge so I made a card, wrote and scheduled the blog post, sent it all on to the team for publishing on the challenge site and then realized yesterday that I was a full week early!  Yikes!  That's the first time in challenge history that I've been early submitting my project!  I had to reschedule the post so it would go live next Friday and not today.  At least I have one thing already checked off of next week's very busy to do list!

  So today I'll be sharing this Fresh Toucan birthday card.  My grandma used to call the blue jays that came to her bird feeders 'fresh' as they hogged the seed and chased the other smaller birds away.  I thought this toucan was kind of fresh with his/her? birthday wish.  On the inside I stamped the 'you're welcome'!  So funny!  I'd rather my birthday got forgetten if it means that I don't get older!

  I used Stampin' Blends to color the bird and while the blue on the word bubble and ribbon is Dapper Denim the Night of Navy Blends marker works pretty well.

  I should probably make a whole stack of these cards as I have not been very prompt in getting birthday cards in the mail so far this year!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Bird Banter, Birthday Wit

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Dapper Denim, Melon Mambo  

Blends: Night of Navy, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight

Paper: Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White

Accessories: Scattered Sequins embossing folder, dimensionals, Dapper Denim ribbon (retired), Melon Mambo baker's twine (retired)

Panda Love - Stampin' Up! Party Pandas

You can't get much more cute than the sweet pandas in the Sale-a-Bration Party Pandas set!  Only a little bit more time to earn this limited time FREE set!  They make really cute little scenes on all kinds of cards, you'll be able to use them for years.

I made today's card to tuck in my husbands suitcase the last time he had to travel for work.  Awww....I'm so cute huh?  lol!  Any excuse to head to the stamp room for some creating time!

 This is such a basic card there isn't really much to say except to point out the 'love' die cut is colored with a gradient look with the Pool Party and Bermuda Bay Stampin' Blends.  I just colored stripes across a piece of Whisper White and then ran the die through my Big Shot.  I popped it up with dimensionals so the card didn't look too flat.

  After looking at this one again I feel that maybe I should have colored a little shadow under the panda so he doesn't look like he's floating up in the air!  Oh well...it's the sentiment that counts right?

   Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Party Pandas, Sunshine Sayings

Ink: Black  Blends: Pool Party, Bermuda Bay

Paper: Whisper White, Bermuda Bay

Accessories: Sunshine Wishes Thinlets, enamel shapes, dimensionals

Cute Little Bees - Stampin' Up! Garden in Bloom

  Mother Nature is messing with us in Central Virginia!  We have snow...again!  I know it won't stick around long but it's enough that school was cancelled and all of my poor blooming daffodils are so sad looking!  Will spring never get here for real??

  In the meantime I'll just have to take solace in my stamp room!

  Today's card is a silly little pun card but the bright, bold color combinations cheers me up some!

  Using some retired, older current and new seasonal products I pulled this sweet card together.  

  The card base is Whisper White thick and then a panel of the Petal Passion DSP from the Occasions catalog backed with a panel of Basic Black.

  The large heart was cut with the retired Hearts framelits in Daffodil Delight and then embossed with the Hexagons embossing folder.  

  The bees are from the Garden in Bloom stamp set and are colored with the Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends.  I punched them out and then backed them with a slightly larger Basic Black circle. They are popped up on dimensionals.

  In between the bees I created the sentiment using the very handy Labeler Alphabet set.  An itty bitty heart from the retire Owl punch accents one of the strips which are also popped using the mini dimensionals.

    Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Garden in Bloom, Labeler Alphabet

Ink: Black  Blends: Daffodil Delight

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Petal Passion DSP (Occasions)

Accessories: Heart framelits (retired), circle punches, Owl Punch (retired), Hexagon embossing folder, dimensionals

Lavender in Wisteria - Stampin' Up! Lots of Lavender

In a shout out to the first day of spring I thought a card with some pretty flowers would be just the thing.  Unfortunately, the weather here in Richmond is cold, wet and dreary so definitely not spring like!  And it's a terrible day for me to have decided to run errands!  I might have to reward myself later with a few hours of stamping!

  My stampers made this one at my last class and got to see first hand how pretty the Lots of Lavender Sale-a-Bration stamp set is.

  The base is Wisteria Wonder and is stamped with the flower filler stamp in Wisteria Wonder ink.  I don't reach for Wisteria Wonder as often as I should and I thought it was a fun color combo with the Pear Pizzazz, Bermuda Bay and gold.

If you haven't received your Stamparatus yet this trick to getting the gold embossed outline and the colored filler is to do the embossing first.  Then fill in the bouquet elements being sure to blot up excess ink that collects on the embossing before going on to the next color so you don't get smearing.

  The sentiment is from the Beautiful Bouquet set and is also embossed in gold.  And in keeping with my love of the free Sale-a-Bration Shimmer Ribbon a little Bermuda Bay ribbon is added to the the side of the gold foil flag.

  Stay dry and warm today!

Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Lots of Lavender (SAB), Beautiful Bouquet

Ink: Wisteria Wonder, Bermuda Bay, Pear Pizzazz, Versamark

Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Pear Pizzazz, Bermuda Bay, Gold Foil, Very Vanilla

Accessories: dimensionals, gold embossing powder, Layering Circles framelits, Shimmer Ribbon (SAB)

Dapper Day - Stampin' Up! Truly Tailored

   If you think today's card might look a little familiar you're right.  I designed this Happy Birthday Wishes card back in early February and it has a decidely feminine feel to it but I loved the different colored and embossed panels and used that same look to design a masculine card to use at my last class.

  I love the crisp, clean lines and the colors are great for a guy birthday or Father's Day.  The panels are embossed with 3 different embossing folders and the sentiment is backed by a same color mat to keep the clean lines.

   The only bit of embellishment is a bit of the fun Night of Navy corduroy ribbon which works wonderfully for guy cards as it's not shiny but has a nice texture.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Truly Tailored

Ink: Night of Navy

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Night of Navy, Pool Party, Lemon Lime Twist

Accessories: Scattered Sequins embossing folder, Hexagons embossing folder, Pinewood Planks e.f., dimensionals, Night of Navy corduroy ribbon

Petals & Blends Birthday - Stampin' Up! Petal Passion DSP - Fab Friday 133

  And we are back with another fun Fab Friday challenge to kick off the weekend!  It's a sketch this time around and has so many possibilities.  I know I say that every time but it's always true!  I wouldn't lie to my stamping friends would I?  This one you can highlight the big background panel or make the smaller forefront element be the star....see like I said, so many possibilities!

  I've seen so many gorgeous cards made with the Petal Passion DSP from the Occasion catalog that I wanted to try my hand at using the Stampin' Blends to color in the bold flowers of one of the designs. I had some time this afternoon before school got out to sit and have some coloring therapy.  Wow!  I am in love with how it turned out!

 The colors are so vibrant and rich and it was really easy too!  After I finished coloring the background panel I just couldn't bring myself to cover any of it up with the smaller panel of the sketch.  So I thought that a cut out frame would be in keeping with the sketch feel.  I tried a few different cardstock colors but landed on Basic Black to echo the bold outlines of the flowers.  Using the Layering Ovals framelits I cut a scalloped frame.

  The banner is stamped with the Sunshine Sayings birthday greeting and is then tucked under the edge of the frame.  A fork bow made with the Calypso Coral shimmer ribbon (free during Sale-a-Bration) is all the embellishment this card needs.  

  This isn't a stamping heavy card but I had a lot of fun making it nonetheless!  I don't know if I'll be able to bring myself to send this one out...at least for a little while until I can color some more panels!

  Check out what the rest of the Fab Friday Design Team has come up with and then join in the fun!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp (or color) today?

Stamps: Sunshine Sayings

Ink: Black 

Blends: Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Pink Pirouette

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Basic Black

Accessories: Layering Ovals framelits, Shimmer Ribbon (SAB), dimensionals

Heartfelt Thanks - Stampin' Up! Heartfelt Blooms

  In one of my recent orders I goofed and instead of ordering envelopes I order the notecards....lots of notecards.  So I decided to incorporate them into my last class and designed this all purpose card using the Sale-a-Bration set Heartfelt Blooms.

  I took my inspiration from this card from a few weeks back and used the same colors.  I wanted to add some texture so I brought in the Petal Pair embossing folders for my stampers to choose from for the embossed Smoky Slate piece.

 
  You can change out the sentiment to any one you need at the time but the ones included in the set cover a lot of occasions.  We also used the Sale-a-Bration Shimmer Ribbon in Basic Gray as well as some rhinestones or pearls.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Heartfelt Blooms

Ink: Smoky Slate, Basic Gray

Paper: Very Vanilla Notecards, Smoky Slate

Accessories: SAB Shimmer Ribbon, rhinestones, Petal Pair embossing folder

 

Pink Lavender - Stampin' Up! Lots of Lavender

  My day is going to be totally thrown off as the boys had a 2 hour delay from the snow yesterday.  It snowed a few inches and only stuck to the roads a little bit and turned to slush.  They were both hoping that school would end up being cancelled...silly southern born kids!  They see snow and immediately think that school should be cancelled!

  I need to get back on track and check some stuff off my to-do list today because they will be home before I know it and then it will be all homework and cooking dinner....BORING!  Stamping stuff is always more fun.

  Another quick floral card today using the Sale-a-Bration (SAB) set Lots of Lavender.  Only a few weeks left to earn freebies from Stampin' Up!  They even gave us a nice surprise with some more SAB choices for these last few weeks!  Starting on March 15 there will be a select group of catalog items that can be redeemed as SAB rewards.  Plan your last SAB order now so you don't miss out!

  I was just playing around with some non-lavender colors and I liked this bold hot pink version.  The base is Old Olive, then a piece of paper doily I had been saving that really just needed to be used because I had to keep moving it around every time I opened the drawer it was in.  

  I stamped the outline in black then filled in with Old Olive leaves and stems, Melon Mambo flowers and a Peekaboo Peach bow.

  I used some black bakers twine on the corner for a bit of a bold look that would stand out from the bright colors.  

  The sentiment is from Beautiful Bouquet and is cut with the Layering Circles in Whisper White and Melon mambo cardstock and then popped with a dimensional.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Lots of Lavender, Beautiful Bouquet

Ink: Black, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Peekaboo Peach

Paper: Old Olive, Whisper White, Melon Mambo

Accessories: Layering Circles framelits, paper doily, black baker's twine, dimensionals

Birthday Garden in Bloom - Stampin' Up! Garden in Bloom

With each new Stampin' Up! catalog I get so excited to use and show off the new products that I often forget about the items that are still available from past catalogs.  And then of course I begin to feel guilty that I'm not giving those old favorites any love.  Today's card is a result of that guilt!

  I saw this color combination in a catalog for bedding and thought that it would make a nice card.  It ended up having a bit of an autumn feel to it.  All of the white on the card is white embossing so it has a nice texture to it.

  And that Early Espresso seam binding that is long since retired??  Man!  It makes for some lovely fork bows!  Maybe Stampin' Up! will bring it back some day!

   Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Garden in Bloom, Beautiful Bouquet

Ink: Versamark, So Saffron, Peekaboo Peach, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso

Paper: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Whisper White

Accessories: white embossing powder, Stitched Shapes framelits, dimensionals, seam binding ribbon

Gift Bow Wreath - Stampin' Up! Picture Perfect Birthday

A wreath might not be your typical "happy birthday" image but it's a really fun way to show off the sweet gift bow from the Picture Perfect Birthday stamp set in the Occasions catalog.

 

 I pulled my color combination from a trip to the quilting store.  Whenever my mom visits I take her on the rounds of quilt stores in the Richmond area because apparently fabric is kind of like crack to some people like stamping supplies might be to others (don't know any of those people do we??).  I am not a sewer/quilter at all but I always find beautiful color combinations to try out on a card.

  This set of colors is Smoky Slate, Lemon Lime Twist and Berry Burst.  The first layer of each color is stamped off once and then the second layer is full strength.  After I stamped all the bows I fussy cut them and arranged them as a wreath.  

  I added the sentiment to the bottom in Basic Gray and a baker's twine bow to finish the details.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Picture Perfect Birthday

Ink: Lemon Lime Twist, Smoky Slate, Berry Burst, Basic Gray

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Basic Gray

Accessories: baker's twine

Spring Branch - Stampin' Up! Colorful Seasons

Many years ago when we first moved to Virginia I was in awe of the fact that spring came around my birthday.  I grew up in CT and having an early March birthday the season was still solidly in winter and came with all the cold and snow you would expect.  In Virginia the daffodils are blooming, the lawns are greening up and even the maples start getting buds.  It was so fun to have warmer days and sunshine leading up to my birthday in Virginia....that is except for the last few years!  We've been having cold, wintry weather the last few years and I am not happy about it!  I am ready for some warmer weather but at least I'm not shoveling snow as everyone in the northeast is doing the past few days!

  My card today is definitely a spring card and I hope that our weather improves soon so that I'll be seeing some signs of spring just like it.  Sidenote: my daffodils have been blooming for about 2 weeks now but it's not the same when the temperature is only in the 40s!

  Using the Colorful Seasons bundle in the annual catalog I made this blooming branch against a background of green leaves.  

  A very easy card to make that can be used for a hello, birthday, thinking of you or happy Easter greeting.

  The only embellishments are a tiny pearls in the centers of a few flowers and a doubled length of the narrow organza ribbon.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Colorful Seasons

Ink: Fresh Fig, Sweet Sugar Plum

Paper: Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Early Espresso

Accessories: dimensionals, pearls, organza ribbon, Seasonal Layers thinlets, Layered Leaves embossing folder

  

Tailored Masculine - Stampin' Up! Truly Tailored

The Truly Tailored bundle from the Occasions catalog is a wonderful way to get started on some masculine cards for all those guys in your life.  And you save 10% by getting the bundle so it's even better! The Tailored Tag punch is a lovely new shape and makes for a nice crisp, clean addition to your designs.

The card today is one that my stampers made back in January so they could try this bundle out for themselves.

Nothing fancy on this card but the products to take note of besides the punch are the corduroy ribbon and the True Gentleman DSP.  The patterns are fun to mix and match for a variety of cards.  My stampers were able to choose which patterns they used for their own card and it was fun to see how they all looked with just sleight variations.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Truly Tailored

Ink: Night of Navy

Paper: Tranquil Tide, Very Vanilla, True Gentleman DSP

Accessories: Tailored Tag punch, Night of Navy corduroy ribbon, dimensionals

Parrot Birthday - Stampin' Up! Bird Banter

  Here we are again with the birds!  Seriously, I hope none of my blog readers have bird phobias or anything because I just can't help but continue to use the fun bird images that are in the Occasions catalog!

  For today's card I have a clean and simple (CAS) design with some more masculine colors though they could certainly be used for a woman as well.

  The base is Night of Navy then a layer of Whisper White with the branches stamped in Memento black and colored with Old Olive Stampin' Blends.  The Night of Navy banner is stamped in Versamark and then embossed with white embossing powder.  I've popped it up with dimensionals and added a little baker's twine bow.

  The birthday parrot is stamped with Memento ink and then colored with Stampin' Blends.  I used Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Night of Navy and Smoky Slate.  Once he was all colored up I fussy cut him and adhered him to the edge of the banner.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Bird Banter

Ink: Memento black, Versamark  Blends: Old Olive, Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Night of Navy, Smoky Slate

Paper: Night of Navy, Whisper White

Accessories: corner rounder, dimensionals, white baker's twine, white embossing powder

Coral Roses - Stampin' Up! Petal Palette

I have gotten so much mileage already with the Petal Palette suite and we're only halfway through the Occasion catalog period.  The mix of images and words just works for so many cards and I find myself reaching for it more often than not.

Todays card was based on a sketch challege from a while back.  As usual I didn't get my photograph taken and edited in time to join the challenge and I can't even remember which challenge site it was but at least I still have a project to share today.

  A Whisper White card base is a nice clean starting point for some black and white Petal Passion DSP in narrow strips with the pattern alternatig.

  The rose cluster is stamped and then colored in with the Calypso Coral Stampin' Blends and Old Olive for the leaves.  Using the coordinating Petals & More thinlets the roses are cut out.

  The sentiment is stamped and also cut out with the fun long label die also in the Petals & More thinlets.  A length of folded Pear Pizzazz shimmer ribbon highlights the sentiment.

 Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Petal Palette

Ink: Memento black  Blends: Calypso Coral, Old Olive

Paper: Whisper White thick, Petal Passion DSP

Accessories: Petals & More thinlets, dimensionals, Pear Pizzazz shimmer ribbon

Butterfly Hugs - Stampin' Up! Watercolor Wings - Fab Friday 132

Happy Friday everyone!  This week has gone by fast and slow all at once!  I don't know how that's possible but it seemed as if each day dragged a bit but now Friday seems like it's come very quickly. So weird!  I'm not even going to contemplate it though; I'll take that time and use it for some stamping!

  We have a new challenge over at Fab Friday today so that's another thing to cheer about!

  I struggled with this set of colors for a bit.  Not a single In Color here and I think it was throwing me off using all regular collection colors!  I perservered and got a card made.  I thought since spring is right around the corner a nice butterfly card in these bright colors would be fun.

  Using our challenge colors I created the butterfly.  All of the colors are stamped off once for a bit lighter look.  I added a bit of gold with the sentiment and some more sparkle with some leftover kit sequins.

  Nothing earth shattering but a pleasing end result I think.  With a change of sentiment I might make a few more for some Easter cards.

  I hope to see your fun creation in our Fab Friday gallery!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Watercolor Wings, Sunshine Sayings

Ink: Pool Party, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede

Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Shimmery White, Pool Party, Gold Foil

Accessories: Bold Butterfly framelits, Softly Falling embossing folder, circle punches, Sunshine Wishes thinlets, dimensionals, wide burlap ribbon (retired), kit sequins,