Soft Honey Bees - Stampin' Up! Honey Bee - Fab Friday 184

We're rolling into the weekend the right way.  With stamping of course!  Fab Friday Stampin' Challenge is back with a color combo this time!  We've got a nice soft palette for you this time.

  Aren't these so pretty together?  Think spring!  I went with the Honey Bee bundle to create my design team card.  I liked using some of the smaller elements of the die set to pull this one together!

  I was not only creating a card for Fab Friday I needed it to play double duty as one of my monthly class cards.  I hadn't used the Honey Bee bundle in class since early January so I wanted to show it off a bit different than the standard yellow and black.  I thought the challenge colors work well for a spring like card.

  I also pulled in the Breathtaking Bouquet background to stamp the Pretty Peacock layer.  You can't have bees without flowers right?  Once I had the back ground stamped I cut out the hive shape and then used the honeycomb die to cut a stencil and sponged the honeycomb pattern onto the Mint Macaron layer so it would show through the hive shape.

  The flowers are stamped in Mint Macaron, colored in with the Rococo Rose marker.  The bee is gold foil and the sentiment is stamped in Pretty Peacock ink onto Petal Pink.  The sentiment shape is in the Stitched So Sweetly die set and is the perfect size for smaller sentiments. All of these are layered over a length of Rococo Rose scalloped linen ribbon.

  The final embellishments are a Petal Pink sequin and a Rococo Rose faceted gem.

  I hope you'll find our challenge colors inspiring as well as the rest of the Fab Friday Design Team samples.  I look forward to seeing your creation shared in the gallery.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Honey Bee, Breathtaking Bouquet

Ink: Pretty Peacock, Mint Macaron

Marker: Rococo Rose

Paper: Very Vanilla thick, Very Vanilla, Mint Macaron, Pretty Peacock, Gold foil, Petal Pink

Accessories: Detailed Bees die, Stitched So Sweetly dies, dimensionals, Scalloped Linen ribbon, faceted gem, sequin
 

Let's Get Grilling - Stampin' Up! Outdoor Barbecue

  Our temperature today certainly doesn't lend itself to a barbecue as it's colder today than it's been in a while but it's sunny so there's that.  It's wasn't so cold to keep Aggie and I from our morning walk.  Parts of Virginia not too far away from us got some snow yesterday and my boys were a bit disappointed we didn't get any overnight.  It flurried around dinner time and I think we got approximately 453 flakes.  Then nothing!  It's looking like we aren't going to get any good snow this year.

  But if it's not going to snow we can just grill more and enjoy the mild winter and all the daffodils that are practically blooming!  The Outdoor Barbecue set is a nice little niche stamp set for those summer party invitations as well as for celebrations for the grilling guys and gals in your life.

  I had a bit of fun coloring with my Poppy Parade Stampin' Blends and a bit of texture with the Coastal Weave embossing folder.  The smaller images in the set are fun too! 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Outdoor Barbecue

Ink: Early Espresso

Blends: Poppy Parade, Crumb Cake

Paper: Whisper White thick, Early Espresso, Poppy Parade, Whisper White

Accessories: Stitched Shapes dies, Coastal Weave embossing folder, dimensionals, candy dots (retired)

Hearts on a Line - Stampin' Up! Well Said

  I didn't get around to sharing all of the Valentine's day cards I made this year so I'll have to sprinkle them in.  Hope you aren't too sick of red and pink?!

 

  The DSP is the star of the show on this card.  I pulled in a cool wood print from the retired Come to Gather DSP for the background.  I thought the neutral color looked nice against the red and pink. 

  The hearts are all punched from the From My Heart DSP.  The 2 center hearts are foil and look really cool in person but didn't photograph so well.  I punched tiny holes at the top of each heart and strung them up on a length of baker's twine with a red metallic thread.  The red foil heart is adhered to the card front with dimensionals. 

  The sentiment from Well Said is stamped in Gray Granite (it matches the wood grain DSP really well) on a narrow strip of Whisper White and popped it with mini dimensionals.  Finally I colored a leftover heart from the Detailed Hearts die with Flirty Flamingo and added it to the edge of the sentiment.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Well Said

Ink: Gray Granite

Blends: Flirty Flamingo

Paper: Real Red, Whisper White, Come to Gather DSP (retired),  From My Heart DSP

Accessories: Heart Punch pack, dimensionals, Detailed Hearts die, white/metallic red baker's twine (retired)

Birthday Trio - Stampin' Up! Bonanza Buddies

 These little animals are just too cute! I don't know why but little critters have been my jam lately when buying stamp sets.  I think I have an animal to cover just about any occasion!  I can open my own Did You Stamp Today? zoo!

    This card is what happens when you can't decide which animal to use on a card because all of them are so cute. So you end up putting all of them on it!

  This card is pretty self explanatory but I wanted to point out the the sentiment is embossed with the shimmer white embossing powder.  The Terracotta Tile banner is stamped with one of the gift box patterns in the Bonanza Buddies suite; it's a cool way to give the banners some pattern and color.

  I'm off to take care of my zoo animals! 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Bonanza Buddies, Itty Bitty Birthdays

Ink: Mango Melody, Coastal Cabana, Terracotta Tile, Daffodil Delight, Memento Black, Smoky Slate, Versamark

Paper: Mango Melody, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White, Terracotta Tile, Coastal Cabana, Birthday Bonanza DSP

Accessories: Bonanza Dies, shimmer white embossing powder, dimensionals, ribbon

Purple Poppies - Stampin' Up! Painted Poppies

I hope you all had a nice weekend with lots of stamping time!  My card today is one that my stampers made at class last month.  With all things poppy out there right now the red/green combo was getting a little tired so I wanted to show off the Painted Poppies set with some fresh spring colors.

  I really like mixing the Painted Poppies stamp set with the Poppy Moments dies.  They really work nicely together.

  The card base is Purple Posy stamped with the poppy in Gorgeous Grape.  The sentiment from So Sentimental is also stamped in Gorgeous Grape and cut with Stitched So Sweetly dies.  We colored some pearls with the Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends for a nice custom accessories for the bottom of the label.

  The large poppy and leaf pieces are cut from Gorgeous Grape, Purple Posy, Basic Black, Garden Green and Granny Apple Green.  The center of the flower as well as the whole flower itself are popped on dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Painted Poppies, So Sentimental

Ink: Gorgeous Grape

Blends: Granny Apple Green

Paper: Purple Posy, Whisper White, Gorgeous Grape, Basic Black, Garden Green, Granny Apple Green

Accessories: Stitched So Sweetly dies, Poppy Moments dies, adhesive pearls, dimensionals

Get Well Toucan - Stampin' Up! Bonanza Buddies - Fab Friday 183

  The team at Fab Friday Challenge is back with another great challenge to start your weekend stamping off on the right foot!  We have a versatile sketch this time around.

 

  My card is a straight up interpretation of the sketch and highlights a smaller stamp against some pretty colors and a fun texture.

 

  My colors started in a completely different place but ended up with these soft pink/peaches with a pop of black.  The card base is Whisper White thick, then a layer of Petal Pink embossed with the Coastal Weave embossing folder.  I anchored the 4 corners with some retired black brads to help tie in with the narrow black flag and the toucan (and to use up some hoarded stash!).

  The DSP is a pattern in the Birthday Bonanza DSP and is a nice subtle mix of Grapefruit Grove and Terracotta Tile.  The colors are muted so they compliment the Petal Pink nicely.

 I adhered the stamped and die cut toucan onto a Whisper White stitched circle.  His/her beak is colored with Light Pumpkin Pie, Light Daffodil Delight and Light Calypso Coral.  The hearts are cut with the Detailed Hearts die and colored with a combination of Light Pumpkin Pie and Light Calypso Coral for a near perfect match of Grapefruit Grove.

  The 'Get Well' is from the Well Said stamp set and is sized just right for the smaller toucan image.

  I can't wait to see your creation in our Fab Friday Challenge gallery so get to stamping and show us what you've got!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Bonaza Buddies, Well Said

Ink: Memento Black

Blends: Light Pumpkin Pie, Light Daffodil Delight, Light Calypso Coral

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Petal Pink, Basic Black, Birthday Bonanza DSP

Accessories: Coastal Weave embossing folder, dimensionals, Stitched Shapes dies, Detailed Hearts die, black brads (retired)

Birthday Koala - Stampin' Up! Bonanza Buddies

  February is a busy birthday month in our extended families so I have to make sure I have a good stock of cards made once February 1st hits.  So having birthdays on my mind when designing projects for my last class I definitely wanted to use the Bonanza Buddies bundle.

  I pulled the colors straight from the Birthday Bonanza DSP and just had fun pulling together elements from different products in the suite. 

  In class we used the Stamp-a-ratus to stamped the koala in Smoky Slate and the face and sentiment in Memento black.  Using the stamp-a-ratus gave perfect placement and alignment for then using the tag die to cut the focal piece of the card.

  Little details to note are the banners cut and adhered across the top.  The black twine bow at the top of the tag.  The party hat is stamped in Mango Melody and popped with a dimensional and a pompom is added to the top.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Bonanza Buddies

Ink: Smoky Slate, Memento Black, Coastal Cabana, Mango Melody

Paper: Coastal Cabana, Whisper White, Pineapple Punch, Terracotta Tile, Whisper White, Birthday Bonanza DSP

Accessories: Bonanza dies, pom poms, black bakers twine, dimensionals

Golden Bees - Stampin' Up! Honey Bee

The weather just hasn't been cooperating with me in my efforts to stamp and photograph my cards to be able to enter them in various challenges.  It's been kind of dark and dreary whenever I want to take pictures of some of my projects.  By the time it's sunny and I can get some good photos the challenge is long closed.  Oh well.  At least I'm getting the inspiration and stamping time in which is really the important thing.

  Today's card is a combo of a color and sketch challenge; both of which probably closed 2 weeks ago.

  For some reason this color combo just screams "Preppy" to me.  Embroidered whale pants, hot pink sweaters tied around shoulders, dock siders...All that good stuff!

  The card base is Night of Navy stamped with the fabulous Breathtaking Bouquet background stamp.  Next, I layered some Whisper White and Melon Mambo.  The Melon Mambo panel is cut with the Stitched Rectangle dies. 

  I embossed the Honey Bee stamp in gold onto Night of Navy, Melon Mambo, and Call Me Clover and then cut them out with the matching Detailed Bee dies.  Then they are popped on dimensionals onto Whisper White stitched circles.

  The sentiment from Itty Bitty Birthdays is stamped in Night of Navy ink onto Call Me Clover and the strip just has the ends cut on an angle and adhered to the side. 

  This is a great layout for smaller images that might get lost on a card front if they were used just on their own.  Repeating a small image and then building up several layers of interest behind is a nice way to showcase those adorable but small stamps!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Honey Bee, Itty Bitty Birthday, Breathtaking Bouquet

Ink: Night of Navy, Versamark

Paper: Night of Navy, Melon Mambo, Call Me Clover, Whisper White

Accessories: gold embossing powder, Stitched Rectangle dies, Stitched Shapes dies, Detailed Bee die, dimensionals

Valentine's Day Re-Do - Stampin' Up! Heartfelt

  When I'm designing projects for class sometimes certain techniques are just not feasible for a lot of people in a class setting.  So to still be able to show off some products I have to get creative and change it up so it's still a fun card to make but won't have my stampers sitting here for 4 hours trying to make it!

  I shared this Rainbow Hearts card last week and while it's a cool technique with the rainbow made from Stampin' Blends markers it was just not something that would work for 20+ people in a class.  It would have been a bit time consuming as well as I don't think my markers would have lasted for that many cards (and I didn't have time to order back up markers).  I decided to do something similar but with more Valentine's day colors and sponging instead which is much faster.

  My stampers used sponges to fill in a 5.5" x 4.25" piece of Whisper White thick using Poppy Parade, Rich Razzleberry and Highland Heather inks.  The colors were swiped on in a random pattern and then the Detailed Hearts die was use to cut it out. 

  I showed my stampers how to use Press & Seal wrap to save all the little heart cut outs to be used on the front and inside of the card.  And to save them to take home and use on more projects.

  The rest of the card is very easy with the sentiment from Heartfelt stamped in black onto Highland Heather cardstock and then punched with the Heart punch.  It's popped up with dimensionals and then finished off with a little heart from the die cutting and a crinkled seam binding ribbon bow.

 Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Heartfelt

Ink: Poppy Parade, Rich Razzleberry, Highland Heather

Paper: Whisper White thick, Highland Heather

Accessories: Heart punch, dimensionals, crinkled seam binding ribbon

Love for the Guys - Stampin' Up! Heartfelt

  In continuing with my spamming of Valentine's Day cards I've got a masculine one for today.  You can only do so many pink and red hearts for a house full of guys!  This was a color combo challenge that I thought would look cool.

  It's hard to see but I used the new Coastal Weave embossing folder on the top layer of Night of Navy.  It's a nice tight pattern that has slight variations on the texture for even more interest. 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Heartfelt

Ink: Night of Navy, Crushed Curry, Pretty Peacock

Paper: Night of Navy, Crushed Curry, Pretty Peacock, Whisper White

Accessories: Heart punch pack, Coastal Weave embossing folder, In Color faceted gems, candy dots (retired), dimensionals

Aggie's Thank You - Stampin' Up! Thoughtful Blooms

 Our family was very behind in sending out our Christmas thank you cards.  For whatever reason we didn't get that item checked off the list until well into January.  Even the dog was behind in sending her thank yous.

  Aggie our 11 month old black lab received a fun toy from her dog cousin and of course she had to send a personalized thank you for it because #itsalwaysnicetosaythankyou

  It took me a while to sit down and get just the right card made for the occasion.  I think it came out cute.  It was fun combining an older set with some new products.

  There isn't anything super fancy on this card but the colors and sweet pup stamp make for a cute final results.  It was fun combining the Thoughtful Blooms set and small Bloom punch to create a little scene of embossed Aggie sitting amongst the flowers (in reality she would be chomping away at them!).  I fussy cut the Granny Apple Green leaves.  The label shape anchoring the whole scene is in the Painted Label dies that is paired with the Painted Poppies stamp set.

  Aggie's favorite thing to do is chew in sticks.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Thoughtful Blooms, Happy Tails

Ink: Versamark, Granny Apple Green, Flirty Flamingo, Coastal Cabana

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Flirty Flamingo, Basic Black

Accessories: Parisian Flourish embossing folder, Dog Builder punch, Painted Labels dies, Small Bloom punch, dimensionals, sequins, clear embossing powder, Calypso Coral baker's twine (retired)

Love Mail - Stampin' Up! Heartfelt

  You'll be seeing a lot of Valentine's day cards in the coming days. I want to make sure I get them all shared before it's too late!  Now to make sure I actually get them in the mail in time too!

Today's card was from a sketch challenge a week or 2 back.  I don't even know which one but the large partial circle was a fun element to do.  I ended up using a salad plate to trace as none of my dies were large enough!

  The card base is Whisper White thick, then a layer of the From My Heart DSP.  The foil polka dot pattern is really nice!  The partial circle is embossed with the Parisian Flourish embossing folder.

  I had some fun layering all these hearts.  The bottom on is Real Red then Flirty Flamingo; both punched with the Heart punch pack.  I stamped the little heart in Real Red onto Whisper White cardstock then fussy cut it.  It didn't take but a minute or 2 so don't be intimidated!

  The sentiment flag was stamped in Flirty Flamingo ink with the Itty Bitty Greetings stamp set.

  Before adhering the layered hearts to the card front I added a little Real Red Double-Stitched Satin ribbon.

  To finish this card off I added some From My Heart faceted gems on the partial circle.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Heartfelt, Itty Bitty Greetings

Ink: Real Red, Flirty Flamingo

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

Accessories: Parisian Flourish DSP, Heart punch pack, From My Heart faceted gems, Double Stitched satin ribbon, dimensionals

Rainbow Hearts- Stampin' Up! Detailed Hearts Die

  I'm off to a slow start this morning.  Am I the only one who thinks the Super Bowl would be even better if it was on a Saturday afternoon?  Have a party, clean up and go to bed at a decent time??  Crazy talk huh?  We had no skin in the game but enjoyed hosting a party with friends but this morning the motivation to tackle my to do list is lacking a bit!

  I will get this card shared though because I'm on the clock with sharing Valentine's day cards as the days tick by.

  This was a fun card that I designed when I was playing around with ideas for projects for my last class.  I was inspired by one challenge or another that had a rainbow theme.  I liked the look of this but having 25 people use the same Blends was not really feasible.  I ended up with a variation of this card that I will share later this week.

  I just used my Blends and colored stripes across a piece of Whisper White thick.  I think the sturdier thick cardstock makes for a less stressful removal of the die cut from the die.  The Detailed Hearts die is just a cool die.  I like how the hearts that get cut out are all a decent size to be used in other projects or to add into the open spaces on the cut out. 

  I used some dimensionals behind the solid hearts to adhere it to the Whisper White thick card base. While my sentiment is from Itty Bitty Birthdays this one can easily just be changed out for any kind of card.  A crinkled seam binding bow is added to the punched heart for an easy detail.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Itty Bitty Birthdays

Ink: Memento Black

Blends: Poppy Parade, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green, Balmy Blue, Highland Heather

Paper: Whisper White thick, Poppy Parade

Accessories: Detailed Hearts die, Heart Punch pack, dimensionals, crinkled seam binding ribbon