Autumn Leaves - Stampin' Up! Falling for Leaves - Fab Friday 147

  On my morning walk yesterday I spotted my first autumn leaf on the ground and it was a beautiful red.  Even though the trees are still very green and not looking at all like autumn I'm ready to fall (see what I did there??) into the change of season and embrace fall stamps and color palettes.

  And the newest Fab Friday challenge is just the thing to get started with!  Check out our fun sketch this time around:

 I decided to use the Falling for Leaves stamp set again and go with a total autumn theme with my card.  I had fun with the Stampin' Blends to color in the large leaf and the Wood Textures DSP is a perfect background.

  The card base is Blackberry Bliss, then the layer of Wood Textures which is stamped with the leaf stamp in Crumb Cake.

  The banner is Pumpkin Pie cardstock embossed with the new Corrugated embossing folder.  It's like the old crimper except way easier to get straight.  I swear every time I tried to use the crimper it looked like I was drunk stamping.  

  Next, I used the Details Leaves thinlets to cute a few branches from the copper glimmer paper (from the Joyous Noel Glimmer pack) to go behind the large leaf.

  The leaf is stamped in Memento black and then colored in with blends.  After it was cut out I added a little bit of the braided linen trim to the stem and then popped it up over the banner.  

  I don't think you can get much more autumn than this!  Head over to the Fab Friday stamping challenge to see the rest of the Deisgn Team inspiration.  I look forward to seeing your creation in our gallery!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Falling for Leaves

Ink: Crumb Cake, Memento Black

Blends: Blackberry Bliss, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight

Paper: Blackberry Bliss, Wood Textures DSP, Joyous Noel Glimmer paper, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie

Accessories: Corrugated embossing folder, Detailed Leaves thinlets, dimensionals

Sweet Rainbow - Stampin' Up! Nothing Sweeter

  I always try to get as much mileage out of my stamps as I possibly can.  I like sets that you can make a variety of cards with and have images that can cross seasons and holidays.  When I saw the Nothing Sweeter set in the holiday catalog I thought that this was a set that had a lot of uses besides just Christmas.

  I could see some early Valentine's Day cards with the hearts, and the present could just as easily be a birthday present as a Christmas present.  Add in the coordinating framelits, Sweetly Stitched, and the fabulous scallop and zigzag dies and there are a lot of possibilities here.

  A rainbow is always a fun theme so I decided to do a set of presents in 6 different colors.  I embossed the gift box onto Poppy Parade, Mango Melody, Pineapple Punch, Highland Heather, Balmy Blue and Granny Apple Green cardstock.  This is a great design to use if you want to show off a lot of new colors all at the same time as well!

After cutting them out they are arranged on the layered black and white card front.  The small happy birthday sentiment is randomly stamped across a strip of Basic Black and embossed in white.  The sentiment comes from the Picture Perfect Birthday set and is just the right size.

 Maybe once the weather cools dows a bit I'll be in the mood to use the Nothing Sweeter stamp set for some Christmas cards but for now it's fun to explore other possibilities with these cute images.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

  Stamps: Nothing Sweeter, Picture Perfect Birthday

  Ink: Versamark

  Paper:  Poppy Parade, Mango Melody, Pineapple Punch, Highland Heather, Balmy Blue, Granny Apple Green, Whisper White, Basic Black

  Accessories: white embossing powder, Sweetly Stitched framelits

Falling for Blends - Stampin' Up! Falling for Leaves

I'm trying to get my fall card mojo going even though the weather isn't fallish yet.  I will be ready though when it does decide to cool down and not be so humid.  Might not be until November but I'm here waiting!

  The Falling for Leaves stamp set in the Holiday catalog caught my eye right away when I first got my hands on the catalog.  I always like a nice leaf set for fall and the fact that it has a few sentiments in a beautiful script-y font makes it a winner in my book.  I like the big maple leaf especially with it's fun pattern.  It kind of reminds me a bit a of Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs.

  I decided to use my Stampin' Blends to color in the leaf with some fall colors and make a get well card.  I never seem to have any get well cards when I need one and those are the days that I can't find the time to stamp of course.

 I used the recently closed Just Add Ink challenge for the layout.  The card base is Crumb Cake stamped with the large leaf also in Crumb Cake ink.

  The leaf is colored using the Stampin' Blends in Cajun Craze, Mango Melody and Cherry Cobbler.  After the leaf was cut out with the Details Leaves Thinlets it is adhered to a layer of Cajun Craze with a doily in the back.  I added a little knot of the new Braided Linen trim to the stem of the leaf.  This trim goes really well with Crumb Cake and is a nice neutral trim that's a bit heftier than the linen thread.

  The sentiment is from Itty Bitty Greeting and is punched out and layered with circle punches.

  All of the edges of all of the layers have been given a healthy dose of sponging with Crumb Cake ink.  I haven't sponged like that in a long time but I like how it adds to the rustic feel of this card.

  Just think of all the different color combinations you can make with the Blends on this one leaf!  I have a few extra images stamped just waiting for some color.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Falling for Leaves

Ink: Memento black, Crumb Cake

Blends: Cajun Craze, Mango Melody, Cherry Cobbler

Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Cajun Craze, Mango Melody

Accessories: Detailed Leaves thinlets, paper doily, dimensionals, Braided Linen trim,

Kangaroo Pocket Card - Stampin' Up! Animal Outing

It's a little bit cheesy but who isn't going to smile about a pocket card with a kangaroo on it??  I thought I was pretty clever when I designed this one for last months stamp club.

  A pocket card is a nice change of pace from the regular A2 cards that I normally make.  This one came together really quickly and gave my stampers another chance to play with the Stampin' Blends alcohol markers.

  The card base is Pool Party cut the long way and then scored at 5 1/2" and 8 3/4".  Using tear tape right along the edges the flap is adhered then the edges of the pocket.

  The little track marks are stamped on the card front in Pool Party.  The image is in the Tropical Chic stamp set.  It's also stamped along the bottom of the insert.  The insert has a piece of Lemon Lime Twist ribbon for the pull.

  A piece of Animal Expedition DSP is adhered across the flap.  The sentiment is stamped in black onto Lemon Lime Twist cardstock then punched with a circle punch.

  The kangaroo is stamped in Memento black then colored with Stampin' Blends.  The coordinating Animal Friends thinlets makes quick work of cutting out the colored image.  Finally the animals are popped up with a dimensional.  See super fast, super cute pocket card!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Animal Outing, Tropical Chic

Ink: Pool Party, Memento black

Blends: Ivory, Smoky Slate - light & dark, Crumb Cake - light

Paper: Pool Party, Call Me Clover, Whisper White, Lemon Lime Twist, Animal Expedition DSP

Accessories: circle punch, Animal Friends thinlets, Lemon Lime Twist ribbon, dimensionals

Birthday Vases - Stampin' Up! Varied Vases

 Well it was quite exciting around Richmond yesterday afternoon.  And by exciting I don't mean the fun kind of exciting.  We had tornado warnings all over the area for many hours as well as several actual tornados with damage and from what I've heard at least one person died.  Many kids got stuck sheltering in place at schools and could not get home for 3+ hours and I was so thankful that my boys were able to get home safely before that happened.  Tornadoes are not normal for this area so it's a bit nervewracking.  We have some sun and blue skies right now so I hope the severe weather is over and done with!

 Today I'm sharing another card my stampers made at my August class.  The Varied Vases set is a great all purpose stamp set.  There are several nice sentiments in a lovely script font but the images can easily go with many other sentiments depending on what you need at the moment.  We used the birthday greeting as you can never have enough birthday cards in your stash.

 My stampers had a choice between 2 base colors; Balmy Blue and Gorgeous Grape and it seemed that the Gorgeous Grape won the popularity contest as I don't even have a sample of that color to show here.  But you can picture it in your mind!

  For this one the base is Balmy Blue then another layer of Balmy Blue embossed with the Subtle embossing folder which is awesome for adding just a little bit of texture without overdoing it.

  We used the polka dot tulle ribbon tied around the embossed layer to add a bit of detail.  I love this ribbon as it is a great weight for cards.  You can tie it and it is not lumpy or bulky so will go in an envelope and the mail just fine.

  The open vases and sentiment were stamped in Blueberry Bushel across a panel of Whisper White.  The flower stems and fill are stamped in Call Me Clover and Gorgeous Grape.  The fill layers are stamped off once for a lighter tone.

  Using the Vases builder punch a vase was punched in each of the colors and then layered over the stamped image with 2 of them popped with dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Varied Vases

Ink: Blueberry Bushel, Call Me Clover, Gorgeous Grape

Paper: Balmy Blue, Whisper White, Call Me Clover, Gorgeous Grape

Accessories: Subtle embossing folder, Vases Builder punch, Polka Dot Tulle ribbon, dimensionals

Watercolored Nature - Stampin' Up! Rooted in Nature

  With all the rain we've been having on the from hurricane Florence I thought a card using some watercoloring fit the bill this morning.  We dodged any ill effects from Florence here in Richmond other than on and off again rain but we are certainly praying for all those affected down in the Carolinas.

  My stampers made this card last month at stamp club.  I had wanted to use Rooted in Nature but with a brighter color palette than the natural, toned down look I had been mostly using with this stamp set.  I think it ends up looking a bit like sunrise colors over a savannah maybe?

  The background is watercolored with an Aquapainter and Pineapple Punch, Mango Melody and Grapefruite Grove ink onto watercolor paper.  After drying the paper with a heat gun I squeezed a few drops of water out of the Aquapainter onto the colors then blotted them with a paper towel.

  The sequoia (??) tree is embossed in black onto Very Vanilla paper and cut out.  It's mounted over the the sentiment flag with dimensionals and a bit of the mini black sequin trim.  Then it is all adhered to a Grapefruit Grove card base.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Rooted in Nature

Ink: Pineapple Punch, Mango Melody, Grapefruite Grove, black, Versamark

Paper: Grapefruit Grove, Basic Black, watercolor paper, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Nature's Roots framelits, black embossing powder, dimensionals, sequin trim, 

  

Grateful Heart - Stampin' Up! Falling for Leaves - Fab Friday 146

Friday is here!  Woo Hoo!  We are stuck at home now waiting out Florence.  The boys had school cancelled and so we're hunkered down in the wet weather.  We're lucky that the storm isn't impacting us too much and we are thinking of all of our neighbors to the south and praying for them all to stay safe.

But since we're at home we're going to celebrate that it's Fab Friday challenge day!  We have a fun 5 (!!!) color combo challenge this time.

  At first I was like "no way is this going to work out for me!"  But then I started playing and came up with this:

  The Falling Leaves stamp set in the Holiday catalog is just begging to be used to make some custom DSP don't you think?  And it's also a great way to get all those colors onto one card!

  The card base is the always lovely Tranquil Tide.  Then I embossed a layer of Whisper White with the new Tin Tile embossing folder (love it!!).  And yes I know I used it for the last Fab Friday card too.  Told you I loved it! I used the Falling Leaves set in that card too but don't you love how different it looks with a change of colors?

  I used the challenge colors to randomly (but evenly) stamp different images on a smaller piece of Whisper White.

  The larger sentiment was stamped in Tranquil Tide and then cut with the Stitched Shapes circle.  I popped it up over a length of Tranquil Tide ribbon.  Using my Highland Heather dark Stampin' Blends marker I colored a large rhinestone and added it to the edge of the sentiment.

  I hope you'll give these colors a go yourself.  For more inspiration check out what the rest of the Fab Friday Design Team has come up with.  They always wow me!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Falling for Leaves

Ink: Tranquil Tide, Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather, Balmy Blue, Powder Pink

Blends: Highland Heather dark

Paper: Tranquil Tide, Whisper White

Accessories: rhinestone, Tin Tile embossing folder, Stitched Shapes framelits, Tranquil Tide ribbon, dimensionals

Hello Rhino - Stampin' Up! Animal Outing

  I seem to be sharing a lot of hello cards lately so that means I should be mailing a lot of hello cards right?  I think it's time to scroll through my contacts to see who needs a rhino hello!

  Today's card is another one we made at the August stamp club.  My stampers went nuts for the Animal Friends thinlets die that cuts the little pebble/giraffe pattern.  It makes a really cool effect and it's shown off really well on this card.

  I really like this color combo for a kid card or a guy card.  I think the Mango Melody might be one of my favorite new colors; it's just the perfect shade of orangey-yellow, not to bright but not dull either.  Good job Stampin' Up!

  The card base is Basic Gray, the a layer of Mango Melody die cut with the pebble/giraffe pattern.  The rhino is stamped in Memento black and then colored with Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends.  The bird with Mano Melody marker.  My stampers had the choice between the Stampin' Blends and Watercolor pencils for the coloring.  The rhino is backed with a piece of Blueberry Bushel.

  Many of the sentiments in Itty Bitty Greetings fit the circle punches so my stampers got to customize the greeting for their needs.

  I'm off to do some hurricane prep even though our area seems to have been downgraded as far as potential impact.  Can't hurt to batten down the hatches right?  They cancelled school for Friday yesterday and my boys were doing the happy dance for a short week.  I better think of some extra chores for them to fill in all those empty hours lol!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Animal Outing

Ink: Memento Black, Blueberry Bushel

Blends: Smoky Slate

Paper: Basic Gray, Mango Melody, Blueberry Bushel, Whisper White

Accessories: Animal Friends thinlets, 1/8" grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals, circle punches

Tropical Hello - Stampin' Up! Tropical Chic

With the gray weather lately and the impending hurricane coming our way I think a nice bright cheerful card is on order for today!

 We made this card at my August stamp club.  I designed this one specifically to show off a new accessory for the Big Shot.  The Big Shot Embossing Mats are a new item this year in the annual catalog and allows you to use dies to emboss the outline of a die and not just cut.

  First, the lines from Tropical Chic stamp set are stamped in Soft Sea Foam across a panel of the same color cardstock.  This gave my stampers a guide for where to line up the Tropical thinlets leaf dies for the embossing.  Make sure to follow the sandwich instructions with the embossing mats to get the result you want.

  After the embossing, the sentiment from Another Wonderful Year was stamped in Shaded Spruce.  The whole panel is adhered to a Shaded Spruce panel and then adhered to the Whisper White thick card base.

  To get the flowers with the shading in the centers first we inked up the stamp in Pineapple Punch then using a sponge dauber added a bit of Grapefruit Grove ink to the center of the stamp then stamped onto Whisper White cardstock.  The flowers are then die cut with the Tropical thinlets dies and arranged on the card front with 2 of them being popped on dimensionals.  The bottom one has a bit of Whisper White sheer ribbon.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Tropical Chic, Another Wonderful Year

Ink: Soft Sea Foam, Shaded Spruce, Pineapple Punch, Grapefruit Grove

Paper: Whisper White thick, Soft Sea Foam, Shaded Spruce, Whisper White

Accessories: Big Shot embossing mats, Tropical Thinlets, dimensionals, sheer ribbon

  

  

Peaceful Leaves - Stampin' Up! Rooted in Nature

 Good morning!  We are starting our first full 5 day week of school and my boys were dragging this morning.  I think the honeymoon phase is over and now it's back to the grind!  The gray weather isn't helping but the boys are ever hopeful for a day off due to Hurricane Florence.  Kids!

  My card today is one we made at my July stamp club.  I designed a clean and simple (CAS) card to show off the Stamp-a-ratus and how you can move the plates to perfectly line up images with each other.

  The card base is Very Vanilla thick.  Then we tore the edges off of a piece of Gray Granite.

  The smaller leaves are stamped in Mint Macaron.  The center leaf and sentiment are both stamped in Gray Granite.  Using the stamp-a-ratus made it really easy to make sure the leaves and the sentiment were perfectly aligned.  And if you are making multiples it's a lifesaver.

  The final details of this card are the Very Vanilla baker's twine and the single basic adhesive-backed sequin.  CAS designs generally have very little to no embellishments so less is more for sure.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Rooted in Nature

Ink: Mint Macaron, Gray Granite

Paper: Very Vaniall thick, Gray Granite, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Very Vanilla baker's twine, sequins

 

Joyous Noel Sampler - Stampin' Up! Joyous Noel DSP

 Two days in a row I'm sharing a card!  It's a Christmas miracle!  Well not really but it is a Christmas card today!

  I'm always so excited to see the Stampin' Up! holiday catalog and get to do our demonstrator preorder but then when the new products actually arrive in my stamp room I have a very hard time getting into the Christmas spirit because it's still basically summer here in Richmond.  I usually force myself into making some cards to try out the new stuff but my heart really isn't into Christmas in August or even September.  Today's card is one that I made just because I couldn't resist the gorgeous paper.

  The Joyous Noel Specialty DSP is absolutely beautiful.  The copper foil accents are just perfect with the other colors and patterns and make for very elegant designs.

  I kept this card focused on just the lovely patterns with minimal stamping.  I just cut 4 squares of DSP and backed them with a slightly larger square of Joyous Noel Glimmer paper in copper.  

  I embossed the sentiment from Christmas Pines in copper onto vellum.  I mounted the squares and the vellum onto a piece of Merry Merlot embossed with the Subtle embossig folder.  Remember when Stampin' Up! had textured cardstock?  A long time ago!  Well the Subtle embossing folder gives the same effect and is just perfect when you need some texture but not a lot.

  The embossed panel was then ounted onto a Merry Merlot card base.

  This is a simple but elegant Christmas card that would be easy to reproduce en mass or for a class.

  I hope to get more in the Christmas spirit in the coming days but I'm not promising anything...the weather looks to stay hot!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Christmas Pines

Ink: Versamark

Paper: Merry Merlot, vellum, Joyous Noel Glimmer paper(copper), Joyous Noel DSP

Accessories: copper embossing powder, Subtle embossing folder

  

Kangaroo Love - Stampin' Up! Animal Outing

  My "cards to be uploaded" folder is getting a little full so I thought it was high time to get back to regularly sharing my cards again.  The first 2 days of school are under our belts and we've all survived.  If we can make it through Friday I think we'll be alright!

  I made this card quite a while ago when I was playing around with ideas for a class card.  The animals in Animal Outing are really cute and I love the fun patterns in the coordinating Animal Expedition DSP.

   I cut a few narrow strips of DSP and layered them on a Pool Party card base.  The kangaroo and koala are colored with Stampin' Blends.  And have you seen all the new colors they've released with the new annual catalog and in the Holiday catalog?  So fun!  For this image I just used neutrals but the colors are beautiful.  The coordinating thinlets, Animal Friends, makes it quick and easy to cut the kangaroo out.

  I embossed the sentiment from Another Wonderful Year in white on Call Me Clover cardstock and flagged the end.  Underneath the Call Me Clover strip I used a fun new die to make the zigzag stitched look on a piece of Whisper White.  The Sweetly Stitched framelits from the Holiday catalog have some fun dies and this stitched one will be used a lot in my stamp room I know!

  After popping up the sentiment layers and kangaroo on dimensionals I added a little baker's twine bow.

  Now I'm off to do some yardwork before it gets blazing hot.  I might need some reward stamping time later too!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Animal Outing

Ink: Memento black, Versamark

Blends: Light Crumb Cake, Ivory, Light Smoky Slate, Dark Smoky Slate

Paper: Pool Party, Whisper White, Call Me Clover, Animal Expedition DSP

Accessories: Animal Friends thinlets, Sweetly Stitched framelits, dimensionals, Pool Party baker's twine (retired)