Ray of Blooms - Stampin' Up! Thoughtful Blooms - Fab Friday 182

  We are back at Fab Friday Challenge with a color combo this time around. These are lovely colors together and might brighten up a dreary winter day.  I wanted to do something cheerful so I combined some Sale-a-Bration items with my favorite new embossing folder!

  At first I thought that Merry Merlot would be the odd man out in this color combination but I really love how the darker red works with the others from the Brights Collection.

  I used last weeks CAS(e) This Sketch layout for the design as it was so different from my usual squares/rectangles/circles that I wanted to give it a shot. 

  The card base is Coastal Cabana with another layer of Coastal Cabana embossed with the Subtle embossing folder. 

  I have to confess that the diagonal element had me scratching my head until I just decided to wing it and not try to make it perfectly even on each side.  Less thinking more stamping was my motto right then!  I embossed a 6x6ish square of Very Vanilla with my new favorite embossing folder Parisian Flourish.  I love the swirls and the little flowers.   I lined the embossed piece across my card and simply used my paper snips to cut off the overhang.

  The Thoughtful Blooms Sale-a-Bration stamp set and the matching Small Bloom punch are a sweet little pair of products.  If you're hesitant about smaller flower (or any smaller image) sets because there doesn't seem to be a focal image don't forget that clustering smaller images together gives them a greater impact.  And they also make great backgrounds to show off a more bold sentiment.

  I stamped my flowers in the challenge colors, punched them out and then clustered them in three's on the sides of the diagonal piece.  I alternated which color was on top of the cluster and popped that one with a dimensional. 

  I anchored the sentiment from Varied Vases with two more punched flowers. 

  I hope you'll be inspired to try out these colors on your own project!  For more inspiration check out the Fabulous Fab Friday design team samples!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Thoughtful Blooms, Varied Vases

Ink: Bermuda Bay, Merry Merlot, Melon Mambo

Paper: Coastal Cabana, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Subtle embossing folder, Parisian Flourish embossing folder, Small Bloom punch, dimensionals

Delicate Bees - Stampin' Up! Honey Bee

  I've often said that I get inspired for stamping in lots of ways; shopping at Target, peoples clothes in church and fabric.  Over Christmas I took my mom around to several of the quilt stores that she likes to check out when she visits.  Sewing is beyond me but I always find fabric with lovely color combinations that I can translate into card making.  My card today was inspired by a fun fabric print I saw in one of the shops.  I thought the Honey Bee bundle would be perfect for these colors.

  This card is mostly dies with just the 'hello' sentiment being stamped.

  The card base is Basic Black.  Then a slightly smaller panel of Pool Party embossed with the Subtle embossing folder.  I used some retired adhesive sheets to cut a few honeycomb sections.  I placed them on the background panel and then added some clusters of the die cut hexagon shapes.  Using the adhesive sheet makes it really easy and I would suggest it for the least amount of frustration in adhering the delicate honeycomb shape.

  Next I cut 4 bees in my colors: Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Basic Black, Rococo Rose.  They are popped with little bits of trimmed down dimensionals.

  The sentiment is stamped in black on Whisper White and cut out with the smallest die in the Stitched So Sweetly dies.  It's also popped up with a From My Heart faceted gem.  A bit of crinkled seam binding ribbon finishes off this card.

  Now here is the inspiration fabric.  Isn't it cute??  I think Stampin' Up! needs a swim suit stamp set!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Honey Bee

Ink: Black

Paper: Basic Black, Pool Party, Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Rococo Rose

Accessories: Subtle embossing folder, Detailed Bees dies, adhesive sheets, dimensionals, Stitched So Sweetly dies, From My Heart faceted gem, crinkled seam binding ribbon

Baby Koala - Stampin' Up! Bonanza Buddies

  I've only got a few minutes to share today.  The boys have the day off (again!) and I'm trying to work around them to get ready for stamp club tomorrow.  I never thought there would still be so much managing with middle schoolers.

    I won't go on an on about this card because it's pretty basic.  The Bonanza Buddies set is super cute for all kinds of light-hearted card needs.  The animals are adorable and mixing and matching sentiments from other sets really expands the possibilities beyond birthdays.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Bonanza Buddies, So Sentimental

Paper: Soft Sea Foam, Whisper White

Ink: Smoky Slate, Soft Sea Foam, Coastal Cabana, Balmy Blue, Memento Black

Accessories: Stitched So Sweetly dies, Bonanza dies, Coastal Weave embossing folder, dimensionals

Easy Valentine - Stampin' Up! Heartfelt

  Now that my kids are in middle school I don't have a need for a mass of Valentine's Day cards but back in the day when we would need enough for 2 classes plus teachers we would be making about 60 cards when all was said and done.  That's a lot and if the kids actually want to help it seems like it becomes twice as much work!  The trick is to design a card that comes together quickly, has elements that the kids can do and won't break the bank.  I think my card today fits the bill not only for a card you can make with your kids but one you can make and send out yourself.

  The Heartfelt bundle paired with the awesome From My Heart Specialty DSP makes this card design fun and easy!  Just mix up the paper designs and swap out the sentiment to keep things interesting!  The kids can easily do the stamping, punching, dimensionals and let those little dexterous fingers at the faceted gems! If they are older and supervised the embossing is a really fun thing for them to try!

  To make this project more economical you can make it as a card front with out a fold.  Each sheet of cardstock can be cut into 4 card fronts.  The kids can write their to:/from: and stamp some hearts on the back.  No need for an envelope!

  The card base is Whisper White thick.  Then a strip of the From My Heart foil paper with a length of Whisper White seam binding tied with a simple knot.  The top panel of DSP is popped on dimensionals with some faceted gems sprinkled around (this could be left off for a kids Valentine to save time).

  The sentiment is stamped in Versamark on Real Red cardstock then embossed with white embossing powder.  It's then punched out with the scalloped heart from the Heart Punch pack.  Some more dimensionals to pop it up and then a few more faceted gems finish off this card.

  What do you think?  Get those elementary school kids working on their own Valentine's day cards!  You have plenty of time!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Heartfelt

Ink: Versamark

Paper: Whisper White thick, Real Red, From My Heart DSP

Accessories: Heart punch pack, white embossing powder, dimensionals, From My Heart faceted gems, Whisper White seam binding

Background to Breathtaking - Stampin' Up! Breathtaking Bouquet

 Most of the time Stampin' Up! does a fantastic job of highlighting a stamp sets possibilities in their catalogs.  We see cool layouts, fun color combinations and wonderful artwork from the Stampin' Up! designers.  But occasionally the catalog samples miss the mark or aren't shown off to the best of the stamp set.  Breathtaking Bouquet was done dirty in the Mini catalog in my opinion!  It's a beautiful full card front sized background stamp with leaves and flowers that shows kind of blah in the samples.  I pretty much paged right past it the first several times through the catalog.  Only the one sample really shows it off well; the bottom right hand one on page 31.  The light watercoloring is beautiful but kind of gets lost in the rest of the page layout.  I'm telling you this stamp set is for backgrounds, focal images, water coloring, coloring with Blends, fussy cutting, techniques etc.

  I used Breathtaking Bouquet kind of like the good sample but pulled it forward to be the focus of the card.  With lots of white space around the die cut you definitely see the flowers in all their glory.  And the gold embossing is for good measure too just in case.

  The card base is Pretty Peacock then a layer of Very Vanilla with rounded corners and embossed with the Parisian Flourish embossing folder.

  I stamped the Breathtaking Bouquet stamp in Versamark onto watercolor paper and then embossed in gold.  I used the new Stitched So Sweetly dies to cut the scalloped rectangle shape. It was gorgeous just like that but coloring was what I wanted to do so I got to work with just 3 colors; Pretty Peacock, Flirty Flamingo and Mossy Meadow. 

  I used a blender pen and varied the saturation of the colors for all the different leaves and flowers.  I even mixed a bit of the Flirty Flamingo and Pretty Peacock for a violet shade. 

  After I had my flowers all set I wrapped a bit of gold metallic edged ribbon around the background panel then popped the floral panel up on dimensionals. 

  The sentiment is from Honey Bee and is also embossed in gold.  It fits perfect with another one of the Stitched So Sweetly die shapes. A few adhesive pearls to round out this elegant card.

  So the moral of this card is to really look closely at the images in the catalogs and try not to overlook a stamp set just because the samples don't jump out at you.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Breathtaking Bouquet, Honey Bee

Ink: Versamark, Pretty Peacock, Flirty Flamingo, Mossy Meadow

Paper: Pretty Peacock, Very Vanilla, watercolor paper

Accessories: Parisian Flourish embossing folder, Stitched So Sweetly dies, gold embossing powder, adhesive pearls, metallic edged ribbon, dimensionals, corner rounder
 

Hearts Everywhere - Stampin' Up! Heartfelt

  In a house full of boys it's always a bit tricky designing Valentine's day cards that won't get the pre-teen/teen "that's cringey Mom" comment.  I can't get too schmoopy or sappy so that leaves out a lot of Valentine's day themed stamp sets and color combos.  I try to use the products and just give them a little bit less lovey-dovey treatment.

 The Detailed Hearts die is so cool in that it cuts out a whole card front worth of hearts that are all connected.  It's such a cool die that I didn't want to cover it all up with a lot of other stuff.

  The base is Pool Party then I cut the Detailed Hearts from a piece of Whisper White.  I found the regular Whisper White to be a bit flimsy (but still usable) so the Whisper White thick is easier to work with.  After I popped it out of the die I stamped hearts on the solid die cut hearts using Daffodil Delight, Bermuda Bay, Pool Party and Granny Apple Green ink.  The little heart stamp can be found in the Heartfelt set in the Mini catalog.  Using dimensionals behind the solid hearts I adhered the panel to the card front.

  I embossed with Shimmer white embossing powder the sentiment also from the Heartfelt set and then punched it out using one of the Heart Punches.  The arrow is stamped on a narrow strip of Granny Apple Green with the same ink and then I trimmed the ends to be more arrow like.  These 2 parts are adhered together then onto the card front.

  I added a baker's twine bow and then a variety of sequins to finish this card off.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Heartfelt

Ink: Versamark, Daffodil Delight, Bermuda Bay, Pool Party, Granny Apple Green

Paper: Pool Party, Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Granny Apple Green

Accessories: Detailed Hearts die, Heart Punch pack, Shimmer white embossing powder, baker's twine, sequins, dimensionals

Honey Bee & Hive - Stampin' Up! Honey Bee - Fab Friday 181

Who is doing the happy Friday dance?  We are definitely doing a little jig here at our house.  We don't have much planned and the weather looks like it's going to be rainy so it's a good time to stay home and relax!

  The Fab Friday team has a fun sketch for this challenge and we hope you have time to join us!

  I used this sketch as a base for designing a card for my stampers to make at my Sale-a-Bration kick off event the other day.  I thought the Honey Bee set would be perfect for this layout.  I simplified it a bit for class so everyone wasn't waiting in line to cut out 5 bees.  Of course to keep with the sketch I have 5 bees on my card!

  I took full advantage of the Honey Bee bundle as well as a piece of the Golden Honey DSP Sale-a-Bration reward.  I think this set is going to be my go to set for all occasion cards.  I think it works wonderfully for hello, birthday, thank you, thinking of you and even sympathy cards.  You'll definitely be seeing this card a lot here over the coming months.

  The bees are lightly colored with Stampin' Blends in So Saffron, Petal Pink and Soft Sea Foam and pull together the card base and bow at the top.  And it doesn't show up at all in the photo but the wings are all colored with clear Wink of Stella for a very delicate shimmer.

  The hive as well as all the bees are popped with dimensionals.

  Check out the rest of the Fab Friday Design Team samples and the stamp along with us.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Honey Bee

Ink: Memento Black, So Saffron

Blends: So Saffron, Soft Sea Foam, Petal Pink

Paper: Whisper White, Soft Sea Foam, Golden Honey DSP (SAB)

Accessories: Detailed Bees dies, Petal Pink organdy striped ribbon, dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Woodland Birthday Wishes - Stampin' Up! Rooted in Nature

  Back to the grind for our whole family today.  School for the boys and my husband went back to work and now it's time for me to gear up and get the house back to normal and get some stamping business taken care of.

  I didn't get a chance to take photos of the cards I made over the weekend so I'm sharing a card I made in November for a family birthday.  I pulled out an older set as well as some long retired cardstock that I forgot I had and forgot how much I liked!

  The cardstock is Naturals ivory (or maybe it's vanilla??) and just has such a nice texture and is perfect for nature inspired cards.

  I paired the Naturals cardstock with Mossy Meadow for the layers and one of the leaves and left the rest very neutral with Crumb Cake and Soft Suede ink. Rooted in Nature works perfectly with a nice mix of leaves and the wood cut for a background for the sentiment.

  I cut several layers of Mossy Meadow with the Well Written dies and glued them together for a more sturdy sentiment.  The candy dots are also long retired but are still a fun element to add to a card.  This color might be retired Always Artichoke but works ok with the the Mossy Meadow.

   The sentiment is adhered to the wood cut layer and then the whole piece is popped on dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Rooted in Nature

Ink: Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede

Paper: Naturals Ivory/Vanilla (retired), Mossy Meadow

Accessories: Nature's Roots dies, Well Written dies, dimensionals, candy dots (retired)

Thoughtful Birthday - Stampin' Up! Thoughtful Blooms - Fab Friday 180

 Happy New Year Stampers!  It's been quiet around these stamping parts and I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things for 2020.  Not only do we have a new year to celebrate we have a new Fab Friday challenge to participate in!  Oh and not to mention the new Stampin' Up! Mini catalog and Sale-a-Bration starting today!  Woo-Hoo! So many things to get excited about this first week of a new decade!

 Do you see Valentine's Day or spring or Happy Birthday?  A lot can be done with these colors!  I decided to go with a birthday card as my stock is really pathetic right now.  Like in the single digits! Yikes!

 Since these colors were pretty bright I kept the majority of the card white with thick Whisper White card base and then a layer of Whisper White embossed with the new Parisian Flourish embossing folder.  Next up is a Highland Heather die cut using the new Stitched So Sweetly dies.  I embossed the sentiment from the new (do you catch the theme today??) So Sentimental stamp set.  And now that I'm looking at it I didn't do such a hot job of lining up the the die.  That's how you know it's handmade with love right? Crooked = Love.

  Next I stamped a variety of cute little flowers using the Sale-a-Bration reward Thoughtful Blooms and then punched them out with the new Small Blooms punch.  Some are popped on dimensionals and a few have gems from the new From My Heart faceted gem collection in the centers.

  I can't wait to continue creating and sharing with all the new products that are now available.  Definitely stop by Fab Friday to check out the rest of the Design Team ideas and then share your card with us in the gallery! 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Thoughtful Blooms, So Sentimental

Ink: Poppy Parade, Rococo Rose, Highland Heather, Versamark

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Highland Heather, Rococo Rose, Poppy Parade

Accessories: Stitched Sweetly dies, white embossing powder, Parisian Flourish embossing folder, Small Blooms punch, From the Heart faceted gems, dimensionals