Red White & Blue Stars - Stampin' Up! Wood Words

Since we're getting close to the 4th of July I thought that a red, white and blue card would be good to get us in the Independence Day spirit.

I also wanted to see how Poppy Parade and Balmy Blue worked together!

  Just a quick 4 square pattern with the stars stamped in Balmy Blue, Poppy Parade and Whisper White craft ink.  I used the Stitched Shapes dies for some added detail.  The Seaside embossing folder also provides some detail and texture in the background.

  I added a little hello from Thoughtful Banners across the Balmy Blue star.  The new In Color Blueberry Bushel is a nice compliment to the other colors.

  A bit of Whisper White classic weave ribbon tied in a knot finishes this card off.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Wood Words, Thoughtful Banners

Ink: Whisper White craft, Balmy Blue, Poppy Parade, Blueberry Bushel

Paper: Balmy Blue, Whisper White, Poppy Parade

Accessories: Stitched Shapes framelits, Seaside embossing folder, dimensionals, Whisper White classic weave ribbon

Layered Tropical Leaves - Stampin' Up! Tropical Thinlet Dies

  I am definitely not taking credit for this idea.  While browsing Pintrest I saw a photo of a card with a similar layered focal point and tucked that idea away and when I was making my new catalog party samples I thought that would be not only a fun way to show off the dies but also a pretty quick sample to make.

  I used the large square tropical leaves die and cut out 3 different panels.  One in Sahara Sand, Whisper White and Soft Sea Foam.  I stacked them up using mini dimensionals and then adhered it to the Sahara Sand card base.

  Then the only bit of stamping is the 'thank you' from Tropical Chic stamped just under the die cuts in Sarhara Sand.  

  Super simple card!  You could make a bunch of these in different colors and just add a sentiment when needed.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Tropical Chic

Ink: Sahara Sand

Paper: Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Soft Sea Foam

Accessories: Tropical Thinlets dies, mini dimensionals

Perfect Birthday Colors - Stampin' Up! Picture Perfect Birthday

  It's fun to mix and match products from different styles.  For this card I used the Picture Perfect Birthday stamp set from the last Occasions catalog with some new colors and Designer Series Paper from the annual catalog.

  I'm so glad Picture Perfect Birthday carried over to the new catalog.  Even though I used it a lot I still have many ideas for it.

  The Nature's Poem DSP has some lovely designs and color combinations and this striped pattern caught my eye immediately.  I love the group of colors and decided to use them as a starting point for a birthday card.  I stamped 3 bows one each in Petal Pink, Mint Macaron and Grapefruit Grove.  The first layer is stamped off once and then the showdow details are stamped in full strength ink.

  I did fussy cut the bows and popped them up across the angled layer of DSP.  The sentiment is stamped in Soft Suede and then I added some new faceted dots in Grapefruit Grove and Mint Macaron. 

  Definitely don't overlook your DSP for color combination help.  There are so many great options and they are designed by professionals so you know it works!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Picture Perfect Birthday

Ink: Soft Suede, Petal Pink, Mint Macaron, Grapefruit Grove

Paper: Grapefruit Grove, Tranquil Tide, Soft Suede, Whisper White, Nature's Poem DSP

Accessories: dimensionals, faceted dots

Get Well Tall Tree - Stampin' Up! Rooted in Nature

 I didn't realize how my stamp set collection was lacking in realistic images that could be used for guy cards until Rooted in Nature showed up.  Occasionally I need some guy cards other than birthdays and I was struggling with my designs but I've found that Rooted in Nature has so many great images of nature that the cards come together in a snap.

  Nothing fancy on this one; I kept it pretty clean with just browns and greens and a little bit of texture.

  I colored the tree stamp with markers so I could have a Crumb Cake trunk and Garden Green foliage. Using the Nature's Roots framelits I cut 2 sets of leaves and layered them on the edge of the sentiment flag.

  The twine was leftover from a banner kit from several years ago and I had a little bit in my scrap bin so I thought some natural texture would work for this design.

  Thnaks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Rooted in Nature, Itty Bitty Greetings

Ink: Crumb Cake, Garden Green, Early Espresso

Paper: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Garden Green, Whisper White

Accessories: Nature's Root framelits, dimensionals, twine 

Tropical in ALL the Colors - Stampin' Up! Tropical Chic - Fab Friday 140

 Happy Friday and Happy Fab Friday!  We have another fun Fab Friday challenge for you!  Now that the new annual Stampin' Up! catalog has been out for a while we're showing off ALL of the new In Colors!  Yikes right?  Nope!  They work wonderfully together or you can choose a few to work with.

   I used the new Tropical Chic bundle to get my card started.  I figured the brightness of the In Colors would make for a fun tropical inspired card.

  The card base is Whisper White thick then I did a watercolor wash with Blueberry Bushel ink, Aquapainter and a piece of Shimmery White cardstock.  I layered a piece of Blueberry Bushel cardstock behind once the Shimmer White was dry.

  I embossed the sentiment from Another Wonderful Year set in white on Blueberry Bushel cardstock.

  The 2 leaves are both stamped in Call Me Clover one is full strength the other is stamped off once.

  2 of the flowers are inked in Pineapple Punch and then I used a sponge dauber to add a bit of Grapefruit Grove around the edges.  The third flower is inked in Grapefruit Grove with Lovely Lipstick sponged on the edge.  

  Once the flowers and leaves were cut out with the Tropical thinlets dies I arranged them on the top and bottom of the sentiment having the Grapefruit Grove/Lovely Lipstick flower popped with a dimensional.

  I hope you'll check out the rest of the Fab Friday Design Team for even more inspiration using these awesome new colors!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Tropical Chic, Another Wonderful Year

Ink: Versamark, Blueberry Bushel, Call Me Clover, Pineapple Punch, Grapefruit Grove, Lovely Lipstick

Paper: Whisper White thick, Shimmery White, Whisper White, Blueberry Bushel

Accessories: Tropical thinlets dies, dimensionals

Get Well Rooster - Stampin' Up! Wood Words

 I needed a get well card for my uncle who had surgery recently and went to my list of challenges to get some quick inspiration.  I saw the Paper Players challenge of a clean and simple card with birds. I looked through my stamp sets and I really only had 2 bird stamps!  What??!  I love birds and during the last Occasion catalog period I think I had 5 sets with birds. So it was between the rooster stamp in Wood Words or the little chickadee in the Petal Palette set.  I chose the rooster as it's a tad more masculine.

  Next came my colors; a clean and simple card can have a lot of color but it also needs to have white space so I wanted to use colors that are a bit more on the bold end of the spectrum to compliment the white.  I thought Poppy Parade, Blueberry Bushel and Mando Melody were a nice combo.  And they are new and new stuff is always fun to use!

 The card base is Whisper White thick then a smaller layer of Whisper White embossed with the Pinewood Planks embossing folder.

  A piece of Mango Melody is cut with the square Stitched Shapes fraemlit and then stamped with the little stars from Wood Words using Mando Melody ink.

  The sentiment from Itty Bitty Greetings is stamped in Blueberry Bushel onto a narrow strip of Poppy Parade.  And finally that glorious rooster!  He's stamped in Blueberry Bushel on Whisper White and cut with the circle Stitched Shapes framelits and popped with dimensionals on top of the other pieces.

  The final detail is the linen bow on the edge of the rooster circle.

  Hopefully my uncle is back strutting his stuff in no time like this rooster!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Wood Words, Itty Bitty Greetings

Ink: Blueberry Bushel, Mango Melody

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Mango Melody, Poppy Parade

Accessories: Stitched Shapes framelits, Pinewood Planks embossing folder, dimensionals, linen thread 

  

Subtle Tropical Chic - Stampin' Up! Tropical Chic

 Partway through our first week of summer vacation and I'm trying to figure out our new schedule.  I haven't done a terribly good job of blogging with the boys home during my regular "get stuff done" time.  And now with the World Cup games on first thing in the morning we have been quite distracted from getting anything done at all!

  I do have a few projects ready to share though.  And today's is another Tropical Chic creation.  I am loving these leaves and classic flower.  Paired up with the coordinating Tropical Escape DSP I came up with a little thank you card.

  The new Soft Sea Foam pairs up wonderfully with Pear Pizzazz.  Add in the Blushing Bride and we have a nice showcase of the Subtles Collection.

  The card base is Soft Sea Foam, a strip of Tropical Escape DSP in Blushing Bride anchors the left side of the card front.  Using Soft Sea Foam ink I stamped the hash/tick mark stamp along the DSP.

  Pear Pizzazz works well for 2 leaves and Blushing Bride for a nice, simple single blossom.  After they are cut out I grouped them with the blossom popped on a dimensional.

  The sentiment is just a scrap strip of Whisper White cardstock with some more Soft Sea Foam hash/ticks and then the sentiment stamped over the top in Basic Gray.  I always like to use Basic Gray for sentiments when the rest of the card has lighter colors.  If I used black I think the sentiment is too bold and distracts from the rest of the card.

  I hope your summer schedule is allowing for lots of stamping time!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Tropical Chic

Ink: Soft Sea Foam, Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride, Basic Gray

Paper: Soft Sea Foam, Whisper White, Tropical Escape DSP

Accessories: Tropical Thinlets, dimensional

  

Wonderful Nature - Stampin' Up! Rooted in Nature

It's the last day of school for my boys so summer is almost here; it's just hours away from starting!  It will be nice not to have to be up and organized every morning for sure.

  Today's card is another on my stampers made at my new catalog party.  I loved the Rooted in Nature suite (or as Stampin' Up! calls it Nature's Poem suite) as soon as I saw it.  I love the trees, leaves and beautiful fine details of the images.

  I took the colors right from the coordinating Nature's Poem DSP; Blackberry Bliss, Petal Pink, and Mint Macaron.  I added in Gray Granite because it's new and I think it works well with this set of colors.

  Since the Rooted in Nature stamp set is so large (it's 2 cases!) I wanted to use a bunch of them on this card to give my stampers a good look so this is a very stamp heavy card but it comes together quickly.  The detailed leaf is stamped on the Gray Granite in Gray Granite ink in the background.  Then the sentiment is in Blackberry Bliss.  The little leaf (does anyone know what kind of leaf this is?) is stamped in Petal Pink onto Petal Pink cardstock.  My stampers had the choice of the Nature's Twine so they could pick whichever color they like the best.

  And not to leave out the coordinating Nature's Root framelits the large tree is stamped in Mint Macaron and then die cut and popped on dimensionals.

  All in all I think this one of the best put together suites in the new catalog and I can't wait to continue to use all year long.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Rooted in Nature

Ink: Blackberry Bliss, Gray Granite, Mint Macaron, Petal Pink

Paper: Blackberry Bliss, Whisper White, Petal Pink, Gray Granite

Accessories: Nature's Root framelits, Nature's twine, dimensionals

In Colors with Vases - Stampin' Up! Varied Vases

After a successful new catalog kickoff on Tuesday I'm back to share the projects my stampers made.  I always try to show off the new In Colors at my new catalog events and if I can work it out so they are all on one card even better!

  I saw this card while browsing Pinterest a few weeks ago and thought the strips of the In Colors in the background was a perfect way to show them off.  And so that I could show off another new product I decided the Varied Vases bundle would be fun to use to make a little line up of vases and flowers.

  I gave my stampers some choices when stamping their cards because let's face it with all this new product there are a lot of choices!  I had all 5 In Color 1/4" grosgrain ribbons for them to choose from as well as whichever sentiment they wanted from the awesome new Itty Bitty Greetings set.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Varied Vases, Itty Bitty Greetings

Ink: black, Lovely Lipstick, Call Me Clover

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Lovely Lipstick, Grapefruit Grove, Pineapple Punch, Call Me Clover, Blueberry Bushel

Accessories: Vases Builder punch, 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

Tropical Chic in Greens - Stampin' Up! Tropical Chic

This week's Fab Friday challenge was the perfect excuse to break open a brand new stamp set and coordinating framelits to continue making samples for my New Catalog Party next week.  I love the fresh, bold look of the Tropical Chic bundle.  The big leaf stamps and the fun mix of dies are certain to make for some fun cards!

We have sketch this week.  Check it out!

 Since I want to show off as much new stuff as possibly in my samples I chose to use 2 of the new greens to go along with the Tropical Chic bundle.  Granny Apply Green and Shaded Spruce are wonderful! And I added in Flirty Flamingo as it seemed like a nice bright but not too bright pink to go along with our greens.

 The background leaves are stamped in Granny Apple Green onto the same color paper.  Another one was stamped on Whisper White and die cut along with 2 leaves stamped in Shaded Spruce.

  I layered the leaves behind the sentiment circle that also has 2 tropical flowers (are they hibiscus?) stamped in Flirty Flamingo.

 Adding in even more new stuff is a Polka Dotted tulle ribbon flag and a few Basic Adhesive-backed Sequins.

  Head on over to the Fab Friay challenge site to see more fun inspiration from the rest of the design team and then play along.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Tropical Chic

Ink: Granny Apple Green, Shaded Spruce, Flirty Flamingo

Paper: Shaded Spruce, Granny Apple Green, Whisper White

Accessories: circle punches, Tropical Thinlets dies, Polka Dotted tulle ribbon, adhesive sequins, dinemsionals

Jar of Daisies - Stampin' Up! Daisy Delight

  At my last class before the annual catalogs were changing over I wanted to highlight a few bundles that would be retiring.  While the parts of the bundles were carrying over there wouldn't be that 10% bundle savings anymore so I wanted to make sure my stampers had another look just in case.

  For this project I used the Daisy Delight stamp set and matching Daisy punch.  I paired it up with Jar of Love and designed this sweet all occasion card.

  The card base is Whisper White thick, then a piece of the Wood Textures DSP.  The jar is stamped in Basic Gray with a very light Pool Party watercolor wash.  You want to make sure not to get the Whisper White too wet or it will pill and bubble.  And you definitely want to make sure to do the watercolor wash and let it dry or use the heat gun before stamping your stems in Old Olive or you'll end up with muddy green water and fuzzy stems.

  The daisies are stamped in Daffodil Delight ink onto the same color paper and punched out and layered.  The flower centers are stamped with Early Espresso onto a piece of scrap Wood Textures DSP.

  A bit of Bermuda Bay ribbon is attached with a staple.  Definitely do the staple before attaching the jar panel to the card front!  No one wants to see the staple showing on the inside of the card. Finally, pop the daisies up with dimensionals.  I did one daisy with one dimensional then I stacked 2 dimensionals for a bit of extra height for the second daisy.

  Hope you didn't miss out on the bundle pricing but if you did at least both the stamp set and punch are still available!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Daisy Delight, Jar of Love

Ink: Basic Gray, Pool Party, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Wood Textures DSP, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight  

Accessories: daisy punch, dimensionals, staple, Bermuda Bay ribbon (retired)

Falling Leaves - Stampin' Up! Rooted in Nature

The new Rooted in Nature set just has endless possibilities.  I'm making some samples to show at my new catalog party next week and I've been getting a lot of mileage out of it.

  This is a really quick and easy thinking of you card.

  The card base is Very Vanilla thick and then a smaller layer of Very Vanilla with rounded corners is on top.  I stamped the detailed leaves in Crumb Cake and the returning favorite Mint Macaron.

  Using the embossing dies I made 2 leaves out of Mint Macaron cardstock and layered them around the Stitched Shape circle with the large thinking of you stamped in it.  I used Soft Suede for the sentiment.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Rooted in Nature

Ink: Mint Macaron, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede

Paper: Very Vanilla thick, Very Vanilla, Mint Macaron

Accessories: Natures's Roots framelits, Stitched Shapes framelits, dimensionals

Seasonal Flowers - Stampin' Up! Colorful Seasons

 With the lack of humidity here in the Richmond area the last few days it could almost be spring!  So I'll share a more spring like card today that we made last month at my stamp club.

  In retrospect it was probably a bit too much die cutting for one card for a group but I just couldn't leave off any of the elements!   But my stampers are troopers and they all managed lol!

  This was also the last hurrah for the now retired Marina Mist.  It makes a nice backdrop for the branch and flowers.  The card base is Marina Mist then a slightly smaller panel of Marina Mist that we embossed with the Ruffled embossing folder.

  A piece of watercolor paper is lightly color washed with an Aquapainter and Marina Mist ink.  The scallop as well as the flowers are cut from Blushing Bride.  The other flowers are stamped in Flirty Flamingo and the branch is Early Espresso.

  After cutting everything out with the Seasonal Layers thinlets the branch with flowers was assembled on the watercolor paper panel.  Some of the flowers are popped up with mini dimensionals and highlighted with tiny adhesive pearls.

  This Calypso Coral ombre ribbon worked perfectly with these other pinks so we added a little bow to the branch to finish off the details.

  The sentiment on the inside could be anything you want; sympathy, birthday, thinking of you, get well, or hello.  You never know what kind of card you might need at a moments notice so it's a great idea to have a few blank cards on hand to add a sentiment when needed.  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Colorful Seasons

Ink: Marina Mist, Flirty Flamingo

Paper: Marina Mist, watercolor paper, Blushing Bride, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Colorful Seasons thinlets, Ruffled embossing folder, dimensionals, pearls, Calypso Coral ombre ribbon

Dapper Fox - Stampin' Up! Truly Tailored

  Today's card is one we did at my last months stamp club to give a little love to the guys in our lives.  It was designed to be used as a father's day card or a masculine birthday.  The sentiments in the now retired Truly Tailored set work beautifully with the Fox builder punch.

  We created a fun and most importantly easy gatefold card.  2 scores and you're done!  Cut your cardstock the long way at 4 1/4" x 11 and score at 2 3/4" and 8 1/4".

  We used the Pinewood Planks embossing folders for the side panels with one side having a bit of the Night of Navy crinkle ribbon and then built our little fox for the front panel.  How cute is his little bow tie?

  Gatefold cards are hard to photograph lol!  Here it is kind of open.  Just remember to only adhere one side of the front panel so that you can actually get the card opened!  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Truly Tailored (retired)

Ink: Night of Navy, Black

Paper: Chocolate Chip (retired), Soft Sky (retired), Whisper White, Cajun Craze

Accessories: Pinewood Planks e.f., Fox Builder punch, dimensionals, Crinkle ribbon (retired)