Summer Stars - Stampin' Up! For the Win

  A few weeks ago a friend needed an assortment of cards including some for her to give to her kids to celebrate the end of school so I got to play with my retired For the Win set.  This is definitely one I'm keeping and I don't keep many retired sets. 

    I started with a Call Me Clover base, then a layer of Whisper White embossed with the Subtle embossing folder.  Then I pulled out my Stitched Stars dies and cut an assortment of sizes in Balmy Blue, Call Me Clover and Blueberry Bushel. 

  I embossed 3 soccer balls and cut them out and added them around the stars.  The sentiment banner was colored with markers, stamped and cut out with the Tasteful Labels dies.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: For the Win (retired)

Ink: Versamark

Markers: Blueberry Bushel (retired), Call Me Clover (retired)

Paper: Call Me Clover (retired), Whisper White, Blueberry Bushel (retired), Balmy Blue

Accessories: Stitched Stars dies, Subtle embossing folder, black embossing powder, Tasteful Labels dies, dimensionals

Rare Dad - Stampin' Up! Outdoor Barbecue

  Most of my Father's Day cards this year used retired stamp sets.  I finally had a few stamp sets that were perfect for the dad's in our family and they've all been retired.  I didn't get to use the Outdoor Barbecue set in any of my classes before the covid shutdown so my customers missed out on a few masculine designs I had planned going into spring.  I'm sure if you are desperate to find this set you can search around the internet for your own copy.

 

  I didn't realize how crooked the grill was until I went to photograph it.  By that time the dimensionals we down for good so just tilt your head a bit when looking at this one!

  The card base is the new In Color Misty Moonlight and I stamped the background in the same color ink.   I arranged some of the smaller stamps all on the same clear block for a nice even pattern.  Next, I embossed a strip of Real Red in the Brick & Mortar embossing folder.  I highlighted some of the bricks by coloring them with Real Red ink and a blender pen.

  The grill is stamped in Basic Gray and lightly colored with Stampin' Blends. It's fussy cut and them popped on dimensionals onto a Misty Moonlight/Whisper White background square.

  The sentiment is embossed in white on Real Red.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Outdoor Barbecue (retired)

Ink: Misty Moonlight, Real Red, Basic Gray, Versamark, Pumpkin Pie

Blends: Smoky Slate light, Crumb Cake light

Paper: Misty Moonlight, Real Red, Whisper White

Accessories: Brick & Mortar embossing folder, white embossing powder, dimensionals

In Color Tiles - Stampin' Up! Today's Tiles

  Happy Friday!  I hope you all have fun plans for the weekend and the right kind of weather to enjoy them!  Let's start the weekend off right with a new Fab Friday challenge!  This time we've got the new In Colors for a color challenge!  Aren't they great?? 

    I think I used the perfect stamp set to show off these 5 colors on one card.  Sometimes you can love a group of colors but just can't make them play nicely together all at the same time.  The Today's Tiles set is a really fun way to mix and match all the colors together!

 

  I have to admit it took a bit of playing around with the 2 step stamps and my Stamparatus to get everything lined up but once I did I went to town making a set with each of the 5 colors as the main color mixed with each of the other 4 colors as the accent.  I can now make a ton of card in this design. 

  I also played around with how to cut out the individual tiles.  The paper trimmer worked ok once I figured out the lines but it was too futzy.  So I ended up just snipping them with my sharp paper snips and that worked really well and was much faster.

  To finish the card I stamped one of the sentiments in Versamark onto Misty Moonlight cardstock then embossed it in white.  I cut it out with the Tasteful Labels dies and then added a length of Bumblebee twill ribbon.  Another Tasteful Label cut from Just Jade cardstock backs the larger label.

  Check out the rest of the Fab Friday design team inspiration and play along with us!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Today's Tiles

Ink: Bumblebee, Cinnamon Cider, Just Jade, Misty Moonlight, Magenta Madness, Versamark

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Misty Moonlight, Just Jade

Accessories: Tasteful Textile embossing folder, Tasteful Labels dies, dimensionals, Bumblebee twill ribbon, white embossing powder

Crush the Turtle - Stampin' Up! Whale Done

  The other day one of my stampers suggested I post an inspiration card in our private Facebook group to give everyone some starting points for a card.  I looked through the catalog and picked the big sunflower card on page 13 of the Annual Catalog.  I said for them to use the colors, layout or sunflower as inspiration to see what they could come up with.  Of course I had to make a card too; I'm always willing to do stamping homework!

  The Whale Done set has been a fun set to work since I got it.  I've enjoyed making little sea life scenes as well as using the new Whale builder punch.  You can see other cards using this bundle here and here. 

  I used the layout from the card on page 13 as my inspiration.  The coordinating DSP Whale of A Time not only has cute patterns with the sea life it also has nice "texture" patterns for a less busy background look.  I used one of them as my card front and then built up the card from there.

  A Stitched Rectangle panel was embossed with the Old World Paper embossing folder, then a Pool Party Stitched circle is what I used to stamp my scene upon.  The seaweed is Shaded Spruce, the coral is Calypso Coral and the little school of fish is embossed in white.  I tied a baker's twine bow around the rectangle panel then popped the circle up on dimensionals. 

  My turtle, which I've named Crush after the dad turtle in the movie Finding Nemo, is fussy cut from the Whale of a Time DSP and popped on dimensionals.  Isn't he handsome?  There is a piece of the DSP that has a few different turtles that are just right for cutting out.

  The sentiment is the final piece and is from the Itty Bitty Greetings set and embossed in white on a narrow strip of Shaded Spruce.  You could easily change the sentiment for any occasion so I think this design is definitely an all occasion kind of card.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Whale Done, Itty Bitty Greetings

Ink: Shaded Spruce, Calypso Coral, Versamark

Paper: Whale of a Time DSP, Whisper White, Pool Party, Shaded Spruce

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle dies, Stitched Shape dies, Old World Paper embossing folder, white embossing powder, dimensionals, Calypso Coral baker's twine (retired)

Posted for Birds - Stampin' Up! Posted for You

 Another day, another dollar or something like that!  It really should be another day, another card here at my house.  For today's card I played along with the Daring Cardmakers Challenge to make a project using something with wings.  Not too hard with my bird obsession lately!  I decided to use the little birds in the new Posted for You stamp set.

  And I'm very proud of myself that I didn't make the birds blue.  These are nice generic Cajun Craze birds.

  I started with a piece of the Forever Greenery DSP then embossed a piece of Whisper White with one of the Greenery embossing folders.  This set of embossing folders come as a pair and are not a full card front size but are 3 3/8" x 6 1/4".

  I stamped the image 4 times in different colors of ink on different cardstock colors and punched out with the Postage Stamp punch.  I colored with Blends the one stamped in Memento ink on Whisper White.  The new In Color Just Jade looks wonderful with Cajun Craze which is a close match to the Terracotta Tile cardstock and ink I used.

  After popping up the colored image with dimensionals I embossed the sentiment in white on a piece of Just Jade and used a bit of crinkled seam binding ribbon.

   Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Posted for You

Ink: Memento black, Just Jade, Terracotta Tile, Soft Sea Foam, Versamark

Blends: Just Jade light & dark, Cajun Craze light & dark

Paper: Forever Greenery DSP, Whisper White, Just Jade, Terracotta Tile, Soft Sea Foam

Accessories: Postage Stamp punch, Greenery embossing folder, white embossing powder, crinkled seam binding ribbon, dimensionals

Wreath of Love - Stampin' Up! Wreath Builder Dies

   I have tried to use each of my new stamp sets/dies at least once since I've gotten my order and my card today is what I did with the Wreath Builder dies.  I didn't end up using any of the coordinating stamps from Arrange a Wreath for this card but it's nice to be able to see what can be done with just a die set.

  I used the CAS(e) This Sketch challenge for the layout and the Festive Friday Challenge for the inspiration elements.  The elements I used are flowers, orange, yellow and green.

 

  It's just a basic wreath with flowers but I thought the new Bumblebee In Color worked really well with the Garden Green and Terracotta Tile.  I started with a Garden Green base, then a layer of Whisper White embossed with the Tasteful Textile embossing folder.  I rounded the corners for a softer look as well.

  The wreath and flower pieces were die cut and layered on the card front with dimensionals. Since the sketch has the narrow piece through the bottom of the circle I decided to made that my sentiment as well and pulled a longer skinny sentiment from the Posted for You stamp set and stamped it in Terracotta Tile.  To give the skinny piece a bit more weight I added a strip of the BumbleBee Twill ribbon underneath.

  The final touch is the small adhesive pearls in the center of each flower.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Posted for You

Ink: Terracotta Tile

Paper: Garden Green, Whisper White, Terracotta Tile, Bumblebee

Accessories: Wreath Builder dies, Tasteful Textile embossing folder, In Color twill ribbon, dimensionals, corner rounder, adhesive pearls

 

Whale Thanks - Stampin' Up! Whale Done

  Better late than never in getting a card posted today!  My drivers license has been expired since March  and my appointment was finally this morning to get it renewed so the regular morning routine was all sorts of messed up.  I mean I had to take a shower and do my hair *gasp* all before 10am!  And be out of the house *gasp again*!  It was definitely weird having to get ready to go somewhere beside downstairs!  And I figured since I was already out doing that I might as well stop and do my every 2-2.5 weeks worth of massive grocery shopping.  So it's afternoon computer time instead of morning.

  I'm just making it under the wire also to share this card that I made for the Color Throwndown challenge.

I liked the rich colors of the palette (graphic at the end of the post).

  The Whale of A Time DSP is so cute with great patterns and colors which go perfectly with the challenge colors!

 I started with a Balmy Blue base and then topped it with a piece of the  Whale of A Time DSP in a fun gradient wave look.  Then I cut a scalloped rectangle with the Stitched So Sweetly dies.  I stamped the fish in stamped off Rich Razzleberry and the seaweed in full strength and stamped off Shaded Spruce as well as Granny Apple Green.  After the stamped was finished I ran the panel through the Big Shot using the Old World Paper embossing folder.  Then I popped the panel up on the card front with dimensionals.

  The whale is punched out with the Whale builder punch in Pacific Point, Balmy Blue and Basic Black.  The Balmy Blue belly us colored with Wink of Stella for just a hint of shimmer.  The big guy is then popped on dimensionals.

  The sentiment is stamped in Memento Black and cut with the smallest Stitched So Sweetly rectangles. And it's also popped on dimensionals because clearly I have a problem with flat layers.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Whale Done

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Memento Black, Shaded Spruce, Granny Apple Green

Paper: Balmy Blue, Whisper White, Pacific Point, Basic Black, Whale of A Time DSP

Accessories: Stitched So Sweetly dies, Whale Builder punch, Old World Paper embossing folder, dimensionals, Wink of Stella,

Christmas Spruce Trees - Stampin' Up! Rooted in Nature

  I've hit the bottom of the folder of cards to share.  It was either this Christmas card, a Valentine's day card or another blue bird card.  Since we're technically closer to Christmas than Valentine's day and I know you're tired of seeing blue birds I went with Christmas!

  I've spent quite a lot of time lately stamping as my mom needed some cards so I made some sets for her as well as a set of various cards for an old friend.  I took a few pictures but they are still on the camera waiting to be downloaded and edited.  Maybe that will be on my weekend list.  For now though we are dusting off Christmas.

  So are these pine trees or spruce trees?  I have no idea but since pines get all the attention at Christmas I'm going to call it a spruce to spread the love.

  I started with a Very Vanilla thick base topped with a piece of Wrapped in Plaid DSP.  Then a layer of Shaded Spruce (see it was meant to be a spruce tree!).  On a piece of Very Vanilla I stamped the trees a number of times alternating between full strength ink and stamped off one or 2 times.

  I stamped 2 of the trees in Shaded Spruce and cut them out as well as one stamped in Versamark and then embossed in gold and cut out.  The trees are popped on dimensionals above a strip of Shade Spruce/gold ribbon.

  The sentiment from Itty Bitty Christmas is also embossed in gold.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Rooted in Nature, Itty Bitty Christmas

Ink: Shaded Spruce, Versamark

Paper: Very Vanilla thick, Very Vanilla, Shaded Spruce, Wrapped in Plaid DSP

Accessories: Natures Roots dies, gold embossing powder, dimensionals, Shaded Spruce/gold ribbon (retired)

Graphic Hello Bird - Stampin' Up! Birds & Branches

  Here's another blue bird card!  I said I wasn't going to do another blue bird card and I didn't really lie because this card was stamped before I made that statement.  I can't help myself with this new Birds & Branches set.

  I loved pairing this Bermuda Bay bird with the black and white accents.

  There really isn't anything crazy happening here.  I used a Whisper White card base with a panel of the Golden Honey DSP from Sale-a-Bration in the striped black and white.  Then a strip of retired Bermuda Bay ribbon.

  I stamped the branch in Memento black and the leaves in Bermuda Bay stamped off twice so they would be different enough from the bird.  The sentiment from Itty Bitty Greetings is also stamped in black. The Tasteful Labels die was used to cut out the branch panel.

  The bird is stamped in Bermuda Bay and I added the darker eye with my black marker.  After cutting the bird out I popped it up on the branch with dimensionals.  The whole label panel is also popped on dimensionals.

   Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Birds & Branches, Itty Bitty Greetings

Ink: Memento black, Bermuda Bay

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Golden Honey DSP (retired)

Accessories: Tasteful Labels dies, Birds & More dies, dimensionals, Bermuda Bay ribbon (retired)

Big Love Whale - Stampin' Up! Whale Done

  When I first placed my annual catalog order I thought for sure that the products I would use first when my order arrived would be the new In Color inks since they weren't available during the preorder.  But yesterday when I sat down to make a card I saw the Stampin' Up! Only Challenge colors and immediately had an idea for a card using the new Whale Done stamp set and Whale Builder punch.  And not a single new In Color to be seen! 

 

   

 This card could easily be a sweet new baby card but since I don't need any of those any time soon I stuck with a nice I love you sentiment.

  Let's start from the beginning!  The card base is Whisper White thick with a piece of Petal Pink embossed with the new Old World Paper embossing folder (it's a really great deep texture!). Then I layered a piece of Soft Suede under an old piece of DSP.  I found my scraps of Best Year Ever DSP from 2015 while cleaning up and reorganizing my papers to get ready for my new annual catalog items to arrive.  This paper was a Sale-a-Bration freebie and all of the colors in it are still current amazingly enough.   It's been so freeing to be able to stamp just for me the last few months without having to worry about designing for classes or only using newer products.  I thought this pattern was perfect for a background for a sweet whale and I am pleased with myself for using something that I've had for so long!

  The whale is punched with the Whale builder punch.  I look forward to seeing all the creative punch art that comes from this punch!  The body and fin/flipper? are in Coastal Cabana, the belly detail is Whisper White and the eye is Soft Suede. I added some speckles in Coastal Cabana using the stamp in the Whale Done set.

  The sentiment is colored in the 3 challenge colors with markers and stamped on Whisper White and die cut with the Tasteful Labels dies. I popped the label with dimensionals over a strip of retired Coastal Cabana ribbon.

  I punched 3 Petal Pink hearts using the Dog Builder punch and colored them with Wink of Stella for a light sparkle.  There is a heart stamp in the set but not a neat clean way of cutting it out so I decided to just use the punch.  The hearts and whale are popped with dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Whale Done

Ink: Coastal Cabana

Markers: Petal Pink, Coastal Cabana, Soft Suede

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Soft Suede, Petal Pink, Best Year Ever DSP (retired)

Accessories: Old World Paper embossing folder, Whale Builder punch, Dog Builder punch, Tasteful Labels dies, dimensionals, Wink of Stella, Coastal Cabana ribbon (retired)

 

Summer Flowers - Stampin' Up! Jar of Flowers

  It's officially summer break here at my house.  The boys finished all of their school work last week and we've loosened up the wake up time.  We are hoping the pool club is able to be opened soon so we can have some outside time during the hot days.  For now we're in a holding pattern and getting our outside time in first thing in the morning and in the evening.

  In the meantime we always have nice indoor activities like stamping when the sun is blazing.  I used my Jar of Flowers set to play along with the Daring Cardmarkers challenge which has a great inspiration graphic (see below).  So many great colors and patterns.  I pulled the checked pattern, the bright summer colors and the glass lemonade jar for inspiration on my card.

  The card front starts with a piece of the retired Gingham Gala DSP in Balmy Blue.  Next is a Stitched So Sweetly scalloped rectantangle stamped with the Many Mates sentiment in Basic Gray.  I used up the last of the retired narrow Whisper White grosgrain ribbon scrap that I've used on a few cards lately.

  The jar, flowers and stems are all stamped in Basic Gray.  The water is Balmy Blue stamped off once.  The flowers and stems are colored with Blends (see colors below) and then fussy cut.  The jar and flowers are both popped on dimensionals to finish this card.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Jar of Love, Many Mates

Ink: Basic Gray, Balmy Blue

Blends: Granny Apple Green light & dark, Flirty Flamingo light & dark, Mango Melody light & dark, Poppy Parade light & dark, Highland Heather light & dark

Paper: Whisper White, Gingham Gala DSP (retired)

Accessories: Stitched So Sweetly dies, Jar punch, dimensionals, narrow Whisper White grosgrain ribbon (retired)

Get Well Giraffe - Stampin' Up! Back on Your Feet

  I hope everyone out there had a great weekend!  I took some time to organize my stamp room and moved around some retired items to make room for my first annual catalog order which should be arriving today.   My desk looks really empty after moving out the retired stamps and old In Color inks.  It will be hard to choose what new products to stamp with first but that's a good problem to have I think!  For today though I have a get well card I made to keep in my stash.

  

  The card base is the new In Color Bumblebee which looks very much like the past In Color Hello Honey and I'm looking forward to having the ink to stamp with to see how close they really are.  On top of the card base I have a panel of Whisper White embossed with the Tasteful Textile embossing folder.

  I stamped the giraffe in Basic Gray and colored it in with Stampin' Blends (colored listed below).  Instead of backing the giraffe with a full back panel I just cut 2 of the Tasteful Label dies to edge the top and bottom. 

  The sentiment is stamped in Basic Gray and also cut with the Tasteful Label dies.  I added a little scrap if ribbon cut in a flag behind the label.  The giraffe and sentiment are popped on the card front with dimensionals.

  In an effort to use up some accessories that I have had for a long time I found some Daffodil Delight enamel stars and added those around the sentiment.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Back on Your Feet

Ink: Basic Gray

Blends: Daffodil Delight light, Mango Melody light, Smoky Slate light & dark

Paper: Bumblebee, Whisper White, Basic Gray

Accessories: Tasteful Textile embossing folder, Tasteful Label dies, dimensionals, enamel shapes (retired), Basic Gray ribbon (retired)

Hello Greenery Bird - Stampin' Up! Birds & Branches - Fab Friday 191

  How have 2 weeks gone by already?  Fab Friday Challenge is ready to start the weekend off on the right foot.  Which is stamping of course.  We've got a nice open sketch for you to try! 

  I combined a few new Stampin' Up! annual catalog products to put this card together.  And honestly, it took way longer than it should have to finish up.  I think the only part that I didn't re-do was the sentiment strip!  Here's to those cards that take a whole afternoon to complete and you're still not sure if you like it!

 

 

  I was determined to stop being a sissy and just cut into the Forever Greenery DSP already!  So once I did I had to work the rest of the card around it! 

  The card starts with a Soft Sea Foam card base, then an angled layer of Whisper White embossed with the Tasteful Textile embossing folder.  Next is the layer of the lovely Forever Greenery DSP with the circle cut out using the Birds & More dies.  I used dimensionals to pop up the patterned layer.

  Next is the bird; do I only know how to stamp blue birds?  I guess so.  I think my personal challenge the next time I use this set is to come up with a different color combo!   The bird is Balmy Blue and Night of Navy.  His feet are Basic Gray.

  I added a few Calypso Coral flowers around the circle and put some little rhinestones in the centers to jazz them up a bit.  The sentiment strip is Soft Sea Foam with the 'hello' stamped in Garden Green.  The stamp can be found in the Forever Fern set.  Lastly, is a little ribbon knot to balance out that side of the card.

  I really hope you'll join along with us and try out this sketch!  For more inspiration check out the rest of the Fab Friday Design Team samples!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Birds & Branches, Forever Fern

Ink: Night of Navy, Balmy Blue, Basic Gray, Calypso Coral, Garden Green

Paper: Soft Sea Foam, Whisper White, Forever Greenery DSP

Accessories: Birds & More dies, Tasteful Textile embossing folder, dimensionals, narrow grosgrain ribbon (retired)

Jar of Sunflowers - Stampin' Up! Jar of Flowers

  Today's card definitely has a fall feel to it at least it seems that way to me.  Today though I think we'll be getting our first dose of hot central Virginia summer.  We usually have a few volunteer sunflower plants grow from the bird seed but I don't see any right now.  Maybe the birds weren't as messy as usual?  Even if I don't have the real deal I always have some stamps that work.

  I decided to play along with 2 challenges for this card today as they overlap and it make me feel accomplished!  It's the little things right?  I played with Global Design Project which is to use flowers and the Paper Players have a tic-tac-toe challenge and I used flowers, a die cut and embossing.

    The new Jar of Flowers stamp set and matching punch will be available to customers starting today at around 2pm EST when Stampin' Up!'s ordering system rolls out with the new annual catalog!  Very exciting and fun to have new products to play with.  I like this set because while it is an open image set that gets colored they aren't so big as to take a long time.  If you like to color you'll like the different looks you can get with each bouquet and if coloring isn't your favorite the images are a good size to color without seeming like you're at it for ages.

  I started with a Very Vanilla thick card base topped with a piece of new In Good Taste DSP.  I can't resist a good woodgrain!  Next I die cut (for the challenge) a label from the new Tasteful Labels dies.  I stamped the sentiment from the new Many Mates set in Soft Suede.

  The jar was punched with the Jar punch in the new In Color Misty Moonlight and then embossed it (for the challenge) in the Tin Tile embossing folder.  I sponged the raised pattern with a bit of Night of Navy ink and dug in my ribbon scraps for a bit of twine to tie around the neck.  The jar is popped on dimensionals.

  The flowers are stamped in Memento black onto Very Vanilla.  I colored with a selection of Stampin' Blends markers (listed below) and then fussy cut and popped it up on top of the jar with more dimensionals. 

   Don't forget to check out the new annual Stampin' Up! catalog online later today if you haven't already gotten your paper copy.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Jar of Flowers, Many Mates

Ink: Memento black, Soft Suede, Night of Navy

Blends: Daffodil Delight light & dark, Mango Melody light & dark, Cajun Craze light, Balmy Blue light & dark, Old Olive light & dark, Mossy Meadow light, Bronze, Soft Suede light

Paper: Very Vanilla thick, Very Vanilla, Misty Moonlight, In Good Taste DSP

Accessories: Jar punch, Tasteful Labels dies, Tin Tile embossing folder, dimensionals, twine (retired)

Fern Die Cut Texture - Stampin' Up! Forever Fern

   Forever Fern stamp set is still front and center on my stamp desk so it's been put to use for quite a few cards lately.  I needed to get a few more Father's Day cards made so I thought the clean and simple sketch over at CAS(e) This Sketch would fit the bill for a masculine card.

  The idea of CAS cards are "clean and simple" with a lot of "white space"  I took the white space literally but I wouldn't say it is a simple card.  The simple just means not a fussy, super layered, with lots of frills look and has really nothing to do with the ease of making it!

  This one is fairly straight forward with a Whisper White thick card base, then a layer of Basic Black.  On top of the black is a Whisper White Stitched Rectangle.  For the background sprigs I embossed another piece of Whisper White with the Subtle folder (it's hard to see in the photo but it's there) and then die cut a bunch of them from the Forever Flourishing dies to adhere to the white panel.  I trimmed off any pieces that were hanging over the edge.

  For the sentiment strip I embossed the "Father's Day" from Well Said in white onto a strip of Basic Black cardstock.  Then I cut 3 "happy's" with the Well Written dies and layered them for a sturdier element.  The leaves are also cut from the same green the new In Color Just Jade and then tucked under the basic Black strip. 

  The whole panel is popped on the card front with dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Well Said

Ink: Versamark

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Basic Black, Just Jade

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle dies, Forever Flourishing dies, Well Written dies, white embossing powder, dimensionals

Fresh Look Ferns - Stampin' Up! Forever Fern

  The weather has been so nice here that I've been spending a lot of my free time sitting outside and reading and enjoying our yard.  Thank goodness for Kindle!  I was not sold on the eReader situtation for a while.  I had used my husbands Kindle to read a few things and it just wasn't for me.  I liked the feel of the book in my hand.  Then we went on vacation a few years back and I knew I couldn't take enough books with me to last 2 cross country flights, multiple layovers, hours in the car and relaxing downtime so I bit the bullet and got a Kindle so that I could stock up all my reading material in a nice little lightweight package.  Since then I've alternated between it and real books depending on what I wanted to read and which format it came in through our local library. When our area shut down due to the pandemic the local library closed as well so Kindle was the only way to read unless I wanted to buy books which I hardly ever do because like I said...Library.  Needless to say I have 80+ books on my to read list and I can get most digitally so I haven't been lacking in reading material.  So the beautiful weather paired with a string a easy to read entertaining books means the stamping output has slowed down! 

  Never fear though, I stamped a few cards yesterday afternoon while all the boys were otherwise occupied!  The Freshly Made Sketches layout and the Inspire.Create.Challenge with colors seemed like a perfect pairing!

  All of my preorder products have stayed front and center since I received them so it was natural that I looked to them first when trying to decide what to use for this layout.  I thought various stamps from the Forever Fern set fit the bill perfectly.

  I started with a Whisper White thick card base and then covered the front with a piece of Peaceful Poppies DSP.  Next I embossed a smaller piece of Whisper White with the Tasteful Textile embossing folder which is quickly matching the Subtle folder for most used!  I stamped the sentiment in Rich Razzleberry to the side.

  I stamped 3 different fern images in the challenge colors of Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy and Coastal Cabana and then cut them out with the coordinating Forever Flourishing dies.  They are layered and popped up on dimensionals under the sentiment.

  I pulled out a bit of Whisper White narrow grosgrain ribbon from my scrap bin and made a knot and adhered it to one stem with a glue dot.

   Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Forever Fern

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy, Coastal Cabana

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Peaceful Poppies DSP

Accessories: Forever Flourishing dies, Tasteful Textile embossing folder, dimensionals, Whisper White grosgrain ribbon (retired)