Classic Tulips - Stampin' Up! Flowering Tulips

   I've got a bright and sunshine-y card for this Monday afternoon!  I played along with the Alphabet Challenge and they are on the letter 'X' right now and the challenge is 'Xanthic' which means relating to the color yellow or yellowish. 

  Well I can certainly do yellow flowers this time of year!

  A classic yellow and black color combo should wake up your eyeballs if you're feeling a bit of an afternoon nap coming on!

  I used a Basic Black base and then stamped the back ground using several of the stamps from the Flowering Tulips set and Daffodil Delight and Mango Melody ink and some stamping off for lighter hues.  

 A big bold sentiment was the only thing that could stand up to all this brightness so I stamped the big hello from Biggest Wish in Memento black and cut it out with a Stitched So Sweetly label shape.  I threaded some retired black sating ribbon through some slits on the side of the label and then added a fork bow (Fork bow tutorial here).

  I stamped 2 more tulips and added clear embossing powder to the top layer for some shine and texture.  I cut them out and popped them on dimensionals to the side of the label.  A few black classic matte dots in the corner are the finishing touch.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Flowering Tulips, Biggest Wish

Ink: Memento Black, Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody

Paper: Basic Black, Basic White

Accessories: Tulip Dies, Stitched So Sweetly dies, dimensionals, Classic Matte dots, black satin ribbon (retired)

Spring Blubirds - Stampin' Up! Free As A Bird

   Every spring we have a blue bird family take up ownership of the bluebird box we have up in our backyard.  We have a camera inside the box so we can watch all the comings and goings and see the eggs hatch and the baby birds grow and fledge. It's a fun thing to look forward to each year and really signals the start of spring for us.  We checked the box yesterday and there is the beginnings of a nest so I was inspired to make a card with some bluebirds on it.

  I used the As You See It Challenge for all of the elements on the card.  They have a design recipe which calls for pastel colors, twine or ribbon, embossing, and die cut or punch along with a thinking of you sentiment.  These items are perfect for a bluebird card!

  I pulled out a bunch of pastel colors and got to work.  The card base is Soft Sea Foam then a layer of Basic White, then another layer of Soft Sea Foam embossed with the Parisian Flourish embossing folder.

  Next I stamped in Basic Gray the birds from Free As A Bird onto Shimmery White cardstock.  I cut a sweet scalloped rectangle with the Stitched So Sweetly dies.  I colored the images using a blender pen and ink pads.

  I added a Blushing Bride twine bow and a sentiment also in Basic Gray.

  I loved working with all of these elements for a spring inspired card.  Now if only the weather would get with the program and warm up a bit!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Free As A Bird, Beauty of Friendship (sentiment)

Ink: Basic Gray, Soft Sea Foam, Crumb Cake, Fresh Freesia, Balmy Blue, Blushing Bride, Pale Papaya

Paper: Soft Sea Foam, Basic White, Shimmery White

Accessories: Parisian Flourish embossing folder, Stitched So Sweetly dies, Blushing Bride baker's twine 

Party Time - Stampin' Up! Awesome Otters

   Only a few days left to take advantage of the Sale-A-Bration freebies!  Monday is the last day to order $50 (or more!) and earn free stamps and/or designer series papers.  Don't miss out!  Place your order soon!  My store link is in the sidebar if you are looking for a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

  I'm using one of the free stamp sets; Awesome Otters on my card today.  While the otters are super cute I decided to just use the party hat today.  I combined a sketch challenge and a color challenge.  The layout comes from CAS Colours & Sketches and the fun colors from Color Throwdown.  

  I have to tell you this color combo really threw me for a loop.  I must have tried 10 different green combinations to match the challenge graphic and I am still not quite satisfied that any of them were the right shade!  This was as close as I could get I guess!  Either way I have fun with both the colors and layout.  A four square layout is always perfect to show off a smaller stamp and there is something so pleasing about the nice crisp balance of a repeated image.

  I just stamped the party hats in Basic Gray then colored them with Blends markers and cut them out with a stitched square die.  Popped them up with dimensionals, added a sentiment and candy dot and then layered it all over some Rich Razzleberry patterned paper.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Awesome Otters

Ink: Basic Gray

Blends: Granny Apple Green light & dark, SU1000, Flirty Flamingo light, Call Me Clover light & dark (retired), Rich Razzleberry light & dark (retired)

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Peaceful Poppies DSP (retired)

Accessories: Stitched Shapes dies (retired), dimensionals, candy dot (retired)

Amazing Butterfly Thanks - Stampin' Up! Amazing Silhouettes

   Today's card is another one that my stampers made at my last class.  I wanted to show off how cool the Amazing Silhouettes stamp set looks when you daub multiple colors onto the stamp.  I decided the butterfly would look cool with some bold colors and designed the card around using Bermuda Bay and Pacific Point.  I like Pacific Point but for some reason don't reach for it very often but I love how it works with the BB and pops of black!

  The card starts with a Bermuda Bay base and then an embossed flag with the Stripes & Splatters embossing folder.  We added a roughed up piece of Pacific Point along one side.

  A piece of the All Together DSP goes across the middle and the stamped butterfly with Stitched with Whimsy hand trimmed details gets popped on dimensionals.

  A Basic Black sentiment is cut with the Amazing Thanks dies and layered at the bottom of the flagged piece.

  Some white crinkled seam binding ribbon accents the side of the butterfly and a few Faux Sea Glass shapes brings your eye diagonally down the card to the sentiment.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Amazing Silhouettes

Ink: Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point

Paper: Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point, Basic White, Basic Black, All Together DSP

Accessories: Stripes and Splatters embossing folder, Stitched with Whimsy dies, Amazing Thanks dies, Faux Sea Glass, Crinkled Seam Binding ribbon, dimensionals

New Horizons Triptych - Stampin' Up! On the Horizon

   I love it when Designer Series Paper does all the work for a card!  The New Horizons DSP is so beautiful you really don't need to do a lot to show it off.  I designed today's card to show off this paper as well as have a little bit of an art piece as the finished product.  While all cards should be displayed and shown off, I think this fun fold triptych style card can stand on it's own as a beautiful water colored scene.

  I've done a video showing how this card gets put together so you can see how easy this it is.  My local stampers who made this in my last class thought it looked hard at first but all agreed that it was far easier than they thought it would be.

  Another great thing about this card style is that you use almost the full 6x6 DSP sheet so you don't have to cut off any of the scene!

 

  Paper Measurements:

Card Base: 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" (normal A2 size card base)

DSP: 6 x 5 3/8" (see the video about trimming the DSP from the top or bottom to get the right size)

Card Base Scoring:

  Score at 2", 3 1/8", 5 3/8", and 6 1/2"

Stamp your DSP before cutting.  It will give you a better result with the scene flowing from one panel to the next.

  Cut DSP starting with the left hand side of the panel (see the video for this visual as well):

  Cut at:  1 7/8", 2 1/8" and 1 7/8"*

* you will have a very narrow strip as waste after trimming the 3rd panel

    Add your DSP panels to the card base, die cut the fence pieces and add them to the center panel making sure that they don't over hang the edge of the closed card by too much or it won't fit into an envelope.  Also be sure to not put  adhesive/glue on the whole fence, just the part that is touching the panel.  Add your sentiment and some enamel pebbles to finish off the card.

   I hope you find time to make one of these yourself and that the instructions and video are helpful to your creating!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: On the Horizon

Ink: Memento Black

Paper: Evening Evergreen, New Horizons DSP, Basic White

Accessories: Horizon dies, Enamel Pebbles, Simply Scored

Royal Tulip Fields - Stampin' Up! Tulip Fields

   It's time for some bright spring-like colors on this gray day!  The Tulip Fields bundle is just the thing to use to create a fun spring scene of flowering fields!

 I started this card with a Highland Heather card base and then stamped the rest of the scene on a piece of Basic White.  The stamps in the Tulip Fields set make it easy to stamp the rows of flowers just cleaning the stamp before using a new color of ink. 

 To add color to the sky I masked off the flower part of the card and lightly blended some Pool Party ink. A few clouds are cut and added to the sky.  Along the horizon I added a few trees and the windmill.  The windmill is stamped in Early Espresso with a bit of shading with Crumb Cake ink and a blender pen. 

  For the sentiment (from the Flowering Tulips stamp set) I embossed it in white and cut it with one of the Tailor Made Tags dies.  I used crinkled seam binding ribbon and a bit of twine to tie it off.  And last but not least a few Brushed Brass butterflies to accent around the sentiment.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Tulip Fields, Flowering Tulips

Ink: Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather, Fresh Freesia, Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody, Old Olive, Pool Party, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake

Paper: Highland Heather, Basic White, Gorgeous Grape

Accessories: Windmill Fields dies, Tailor Made Tags dies, linen thread, crinkled seam binding ribbon, Brushed Brass Butterflies, dimensionals, white embossing powder

Silhouette Sympathy - Stampin' Up! Amazing Silhouettes

   Mondays are always busy so it's a quick and easy card for today.  I even made a video showing how fast this card comes together with just a few supplies.

  This is a great design to make a few of to keep in your stash so you're always ready to have one to mail out.  It's also a great card for beginner stampers to get to use some stamps and a punch to make a pleasing card in just a few minutes.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Amazing Silhouettes, Inspired Thoughts 

Ink: Soft Succulent, Evening Evergreen

Paper: Crumb Cake, Basic White, Soft Succulent, 2021-2023 In Color DSP

Accessories: Rectangular Postage Punch, dimensionals, adhesive pearls

Cool Palms - Stampin' Up! Paradis Palms

 As a reward to myself after cutting cardstock for class this week I pulled up some challenges to play along with before they end.  The Color Throwdown Challenge has a great set of colors this time and I thought they would work for a bit of a masculine birthday card.

  I started with a Misty Moonlight base and then added a bit of retired 2020-2022 In Color DSP.  I stamped the palm trunks onto Basic White with Soft Suede ink, added the die cut grassy mound in Shaded Spruce as well as the stamped palm fronds at the top also in Shaded Spruce.  The coconuts are stamped off Soft Suede for a little lighter look.  I then lightly blended Balmy Blue ink around the trees to fill in the blue sky.

  I cut a piece of Balmy Blue cardstock with the cool border die in the Palms die set and adhered that along the edge of the image panel.  I highlighted the center of the designs in the border with champagne rhinestones.  Some linen thread is tied around the card front and secured with a bow.  Happy Birthday is stamped in Misty Moonlight and cut with the retired Stitched Shapes dies.  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Paradise Palms

Ink: Soft Suede, Misty Moonlight, Shaded Spruce, Balmy Blue

Paper: Misty Moonlight, Basic White, Shaded Spruce, 2020-2022 In Color DSP (retired)

Accessories: Palms dies, linen thread, champagne rhinestones, dimensionals

 

Metallic Rainbow Hello - Stampin' Up! Brilliant Rainbow Dies

   It seems that I am on a Clean and simple kick so far this week.  The current challenge at Perfectly CAS is "Metallic" which seemed like a great one so I thought I would join in. 

  I pulled out some Brushed Metallic cardstock as well as a piece of retired Champagne Foil to create a metallic rainbow which looks pretty cool against the white card front.  I don't do much with metallics outside of the Christmas season so it was a fun element to make work for a different kind of card.

  I stamped the sentiment from Many Messages in gold ink and then punched it out with the cloud punch.  I would definitely call this a clean and simple card!

  Since the rainbow die cuts 4 pieces at once I used the rest of the arches and made a set of 4 cards using all of the pieces.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Many Messages

Ink: Gold

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Brushed Metallic cardstock, Champagne Foil (retired)

Accessories: cloud punch, Stitched Shapes dies, Brilliant Rainbow dies, dimensionals

Nature Get Well - Stampin' Up! Nature's Harvest

   Yesterday I need to take a break from creating with new products for an upcoming class as I just couldn't get going on a projects that I liked.  So I decided to head back to a favorite stamp set that is still around but I haven't used in a while. The Nature's Harvest stamp set from the last mini is one that has carried over and it works perfectly with the colors over at CAS Colours & Sketches challenge.  I made a clean and simple get well with these beautiful colors.  At first I thought they would be too dark together but with a big dose of white as well as white space I think they definitely look great together.

 

  The card base is Early Espresso with the images stamped and embossed onto watercolor paper.  I had some long retired Early Espresso embossing powder which was perfect for my idea of watercoloring the image.  If I stamped the image in Early Espresso it would have bled and smeared so the embossing allowed me to keep the image nice and crisp.  I used ink and a blender pen to add the color.

  I edged the piece of watercolor paper with a length of Evening Evergreen open weave ribbon  The sentiment is stamped and die cut and popped up on dimensionals.  A few champagne rhinestones are the finishing touches.

  This was a fun color combo to work with and very unexpected when we are all looking towards spring and pastel colors are all around us.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Nature's Harvest

Ink: Versamark, Early Espresso, Evening Evergreen, Merry Merlot

Paper: Early Espresso, water color paper

Accessories: Evening Evergreen open eave ribbon, champagne rhinestones, Harvest dies, dimensionals, Early Espresso embossing powder (retired)

Birthday Kitty Cat - Stampin' Up! Catch You Later

      I had some fun coloring this cute image from the Catch You Later set.  I kept the base and embellishments simple and brought interest with the mix and match fonts for the sentiment.

  I started off with stamping the cat in Memento black then I cut a mask out of a sticky note and covered the image to keep it clean so I could blend some Balmy Blue ink around it to add shading.  I then colored the images with Blends markers.

  Next I added the various sentiments which are all hand trimmed.  Finally I had a few of these Pumpkin Pie enamel stars in my stash of retired accessories and thought they went well with the pop of orange on the fish.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Catch You Later, Biggest Wish

Ink: Memento, Versamark, Balmy Blue

Blends: Smoky Slate light & dark, Pool Party light & dark, Pumpkin Pie light & dark

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Basic Black, Pool Party

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle dies, white embossing powder, dimensionals, enamel stars (retired)

Heart Hands - Stampin' Up! Here Together

   It's always fun when Stampin' Up! releases a new suite of products outside of a catalog.  The All Together Suite is stamp set, die set, DSP and new Stampin' Blends marker colors!  I created this quick card to start playing around with everything.  I think the heart hands are perfect for Valentine's day!

 

  I've always shied away from stamp sets that had human figures since 1) I'm not a very good color-er and 2) I always found that our color palette for skin tones was very limited and having just all "pink" people seemed off to me.  The new set of Blends definitely helps with the second reason since we now have 10 new skin tone markers to choose from and mix and match with!  I'll have to keep working on being a better color-er but for now it's a start!

  I made a sped up video showing how I put the card together.

 

  I used Flirty Flamingo for the card base and then topped it with a piece of the All Together DSP.  The sentiment from On the Horizon is stamped in Memento black at the top of the card base.

   I stamped and die cut the heart hands then colored them in with SU700 Blends marker.  Then I mounted them on a stitched oval with a piece of Flirty Flamingo on the back to make the heart shape pop.  You can't see in this photo but the Flirty Flamingo cardstock is colored with Wink of Stella for some fun sparkle.

  I mount the image on dimensionals over a piece of Smoky Slate embossed with the Stripes & Splatters embossing folder and a piece of white cotton ribbon.

  All of these new products can be found in my online store.  Link in my side bar.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Here Together, On the Horizon

Ink: Memento Black

Blends: SU700

Paper: Flirty Flamingo, Basic Whit, Smoky Slate, All Together DSP

Accessories: Here for You dies, Stripes & Splatters embossing folder, dimensionals, Wink of Stella, Stitched Shapes dies (retired), cotton ribbon (retired)

Make a Wish Puffin - Stampin' Up! Party Puffins

  Recently I held a new class for my local stampers called Quick and Easy cards and I designed all the projects to use minimal supplies or at least fewer than I do in my regular monthly class (which most of the time can be a lot!).  Since I was holding the class away from my home I didn't want the amount of things I had to pack up and bring to be overwhelming so it was a challenge to design cards that I thought were "good enough" while also falling into the quick & easy category.

  A birthday card is always top on the list of cards needed so I designed this cute birthday card using the Party Puffins stamp set.  

Check out the video of this card being put together.  It would probably be even faster if I wasn't trying to talk and stamp at the same time! 

    If you're interested in making some quick and easy cards and live in the Richmond, VA area just give a shout in the comments or contact me through my business page.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Party Puffins

Ink: Memento black, Coastal Cabana

Markers: Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody, Granny Apple Green, Coastal Cabana. Wink of Stella

Paper: Coastal Cabana, Basic White, Pattern Party DSP (Host Reward)

Accessories: dimensionals, circle punch, dimensionals

Birthday in Paradise - Stampin' Up! Paradise Palms

   Sometimes an ordering mistake turns into a happy accident.  I accidentally got the Palms dies in my Jan.-June Mini catalog preorder.  It wasn't one I was planning to order but when I got it I thought what the heck and ordered the coordinating Paradise Palms stamp set.  I'm glad I did as I can see a lot of possibilities with this bundle and it's different than a lot of what I had already ordered (florals!).

  I used Paradise Palms on a combo challenge card.  I put the colors from Global Design Project together with the layout from Freshly Made Sketches for a fun tropical birthday card.

  I blended the colors (Magenta Madness, Mango Melody and Misty Moonlight - that's a lot of 'M's!) with blending brushes for a nice colorful sky.  It's cool how the colors overlapped and added some orange and purple to the color palette.  Next, I cut a stitched square for a nice clean look out of the colored piece of cardstock.  Then I embossed the palm trees in black and cut them out.  I added some ink to the white edges to make them blend a bit and then popped them up with dimensionals.  I embossed the sentiment and cut it out with a stitched circle die.  

  I cut the grassy hill piece out of Basic Black and layered it behind the scene to follow the sketch.  And behind that I embossed a piece of Basic White with the retired Coastal Weave embossing folder to continue the island/tropical feel of the card.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Paradise Palms

Ink: Versamark, Magenta Madness, Mango Melody, Misty Moonlight

Paper: Basic Black, Basic White

Accessories: Palms dies, dimensionals, black embossing powder, Coastal Weave embossing folder (retired), Stitched Shapes dies (retired) 

Friendship Flowers - Stampin' Up! All Squared Away

     With all the fun new products we have out for Sale-a-Bration and the Jan.-June mini catalog the products in the Stampin' Up! annual catalog can kind of be forgotten about.  I've done a lot of tulip cards lately and I wanted to switch things up and use a different floral set to play along with the Just Us Girls friendship challenge.

  I'm sending this design out to a few stamping friends and maybe channeling some spring vibes with the colors at the same time!

  I've met so many nice people through stamping; whether they're customers, downline and even fellow demonstrators around the world.  We all have this common hobby that we can get excited about together.  It's such a nice feeling of community and understanding!  Not everyone understands the excitement of a new ink color or the smell of new cardstock and stamps lol!

  I let the designs from the Sunshine & Rainbows DSP (a free Sale-A-Bration reward!!) do all the hard work for this card.  I just choose 3 patterns and then layered a piece behind three of the beautiful Floral Squares dies popping up the die cut for a nice raised look.  I layered them all on a piece of Basic White embossed with the Gingham embossing folder backed with a Pale Papaya card base.

  The only stamping on this card is the sentiment which is stamped in Basic Gray and popped on dimensionals.  I told you the DSP did all the work on this card!  A few Pale Papaya gems highlight the lower sentiment strip.

  Which friends of yours need a little fun mail?  If you don't have a card already in your stash plan to make one (or more!) and send out to friends near and far to say hello!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: All Squared Away

Ink: Basic Gray

Paper: Pale Papaya, Basic White, Sunshine & Rainbows DSP (SAB)

Accessories: Gingham embossing folder, Floral Squares dies, dimensionals, Pale Papaya In Color gems

 

Monkey Love - Stampin' Up! Catch You Later

   Only a few more days to get Valentine's in the mail!  Make a few to send out to those loved ones who live far away.  I know they will appreciate get some paper hugs in the mail!

  I made this Valentine for one of my boys using the current Festive Friday challenge.  I used red, pink, ribbon, hearts, cute and stitching from their inspiration list.  Hopefully he doesn't find it too mushy since teenage boys don't usually go for that sort of thing lol!

  

  I started with a Real Red card base, then added a Basic White layer that was cut with the Stitched Rectangle dies.  Next I added a piece of Sweet Talk DSP to bring in a lot of hearts.  I tied a bit of Real Red sheer ribbon around the base layers.

  I stamped the adorable monkeys from the Catch You Later set.  I love this set because it has some cute images along with a nice variety of sentiments with a more casual feel.  Flowers are all well and good for a lot of cards but sometimes you just need something a bit more fun and light.  I colored the monkeys with the new Stampin' Blends in SU800 and SU400.  I love having more shades to choose from and the Natural Tones Blends really give a lot more options than what we had before.  Check out my online store to see all the new markers along with the fun new bundle Here Together. I filled in the background with Pool Party light and the vine in Granny Apple Green light.   Once the coloring was finished I cut out the image with a large retired heart die and then popped it on dimensionals.

  I stamped and die cut 2 hearts from the Sweet Conversations bundle and popped them on dimensionals in the monkeys hands.  I few weeks back I cut out all of the sentiments that were inside the heart shapes in the Sweet Conversations stamp set to make them easier to use and give me some flexibility with the images.  Since this card is for a teen I popped the sentiments right back in and stamped away.  You can't even tell that the sentiments are separate can you?  Check out this card here to see the hearts used without the sentiments.  Don't be afraid to trim your stamps to make them easier to use for how you stamp.

  The final touch for this card are a few silver enamel hearts that I found amongst my stash of retired embellishments.  They give just a little bit of shine to the card.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today? 

Stamps: Catch You Later, Sweet Conversations

Ink: Memento Black, Real Red, Blushing Bride

Blends: Pool Party light, Granny Apple Green light, SU400, SU800

Paper: Real Red, Basic White, Sweet Talk DSP

Accessories: Sweet Hearts dies, Stitched Rectangle dies, dimensionals, silver enamel hearts (retired), Real Red sheer ribbon (retired), Hearts dies (retired)

More and More Tulips - Stampin' Up! Flowering Rain Boots

   Are you all sick of seeing tulips yet?  I hope not because they are too cute to stop stamping with.  And I want you to see all the possibilities and join me in the Tulip Fan Club that I'm clearly the president of!  My card today features the tulips in the Flowering Rain Boots bundle.  They are smaller scale and a different style of image than the Flowering Tulips set but oh so cute.

  I saw the current inspiration board over at Daring Cardmakers challenge and I loved the bright bold colors and just had to play along.  The features that inspired me from the inspiration board are the colors, the diamond pattern of the rug, the florals, the pink pleated skirt, the line of clay pots and the yellow scripty word/sentiment.

  My colors that used are Calypso Coral, Bumblebee, Blushing Bride and Just Jade.  The In Good Taste DSP seemed like a perfect match for the rug in the inspiration; that tan diamond-like pattern is spot on and brings some nice texture to this card.

  I stamped the pots, tulips and stems and cut some of the parts off so I could have 3 pots and arrange them in a little grouping.  The flowers are popped on dimensionals.  Aren't these colors perfect for spring??

  The pink pleated skirt inspired my ribbon treatment with some Blushing Bride Frayed Grosgrain ribbon.  I layered the bold script thanks cut with the Amazing Thanks dies across the top edge of the ribbona nd used dimensionals to adhere it.

  The final touch are a few Just Jade enamel dots in the corner.

  This was such a fun challenge to play along with and I love the final outcome of all the different elements it brought together.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Flowering Rain Boots

Ink: Just Jade, Calypso Coral, Bumblebee, Blushing Bride, Cinnamon Cider

Paper: Just Jade, Bumblebee, Basic White, In Good Taste DSP

Accessories: Rain Boots dies, Amazing Thanks dies, dimensionals, Blushing Bride Frayed Grosgrain ribbon (retired), Just Jade enamel dots (retired)

Tulip Thank You - Stampin' Up! Flowering Tulips

   Good morning!  I hope you all had a great weekend full of fun and lots of time to stamp!  I spent some time in my stamp room playing with a bunch of challenges as well as just having fun with my stamps with no particular 'to do' list in mind. 

  The Tic Tac Toe Challenge has a fun board to choose from this time and it was hard to choose which line to go with.  I wanted to use my Flowering Tulips bundle some more so I pulled that out and got to work on my card using flowers, pink or purple and CAS.

  Even though this card has some layers I consider this one CAS because it's uncluttered with open space and a limited color palette.  The Tulips really pop against the white and gray wood grain background.  The Heart & Home DSP has lovely patterns on both sides but these white/gray wood designs are perfect when you want to add just a little something to without going overboard.  And since this card was to be CA it's the perfect choice.

  I used the Sale-a-Bration paper Simply Marbleous to die cut the tulips. The two different patterns really add a nice touch to the flower petals.  I made one fuller blossom and one bud with Pear Pizzazz stamped leaves and stem.  A narrow strip of Blushing Bride under the DSP anchors the sentiments which is stamped in Basic Gray and punched out.  I added a bit of crinkled seam binding ribbon behind it for a little shine.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Flowering Tulips

Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Basic Gray

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Heart & Home DSP, Simply Marbleous DSP (SAB), Blushing Bride

Accessories: Tulips dies, dimensionals, circle punch, crinkled seam binding ribbon

 

Amazing Sparkle - Stampin' Up! Amazing Thanks Dies

   Our family birthday calendar for February is jam packed so it's no surprise that I'm playing along with the Seize the Birthday challenge today to stock up so I have cards all ready to be mailed out with plenty of time to spare.  The challenge is asking for a birthday card with sparkle and shine.  I definitely think I've got that covered with this card!

  I had a lot of fun with this challenge and I used the Rainbow Glimmer paper which I've hardly used at all but has such a fun sparkle in these awesome colors.  The Brilliant Rainbow dies were used to cut the shapes and I actually made 4 of these cards and mixed and matched the the rainbow colors so each one is different.

 The shine part of the challenge comes in with the Amazing Thanks dies in which I cut the top layer in Silver Foil and the bottom layer in Gorgeous Grape.  I popped the sentiment up on mini dimensionals for added interest.

  The 'happy birthday' is from Catch You Later and I just stamped it in Memento Black and hand trimmed it.  

  A few Iridescent Rhinestones add to the sparkle and shine and finish the details of this card.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Catch You Later

Ink: Memento Black

Paper: Gorgeous Grape, Basic White, Rainbow Glimmer, Silver Foil

Accessories: Brilliant Rainbow dies, Amazing Thanks dies, Stripes & Splatters embossing folders, mini dimensionals, Iridescent Rhinestones

 

Coral Tulips - Stampin' Up! Flowering Tulips

   Yesterday was a very rainy day here in the Richmond area so I spent the day in my stamp room getting some samples made and playing along with a few challenges.  I've combined 2 challenges for my card today for a spring-like thinking of you card.

  The Global Design Project is a CASE the designer challenge and I cased the layout with the tilted panels and the water colored background as a base for my card.  The colors come from TGIF Challenges and I thought they would work well with the Flowering Tulips stamp set.

  I haven't made a ton of cards with this set yet so I'm still feeling it out and seeing how all the parts and pieces work together.  Sometimes when I'm playing around with a newer set I find it easier to get comfortable with it by using challenges as a base for the card design so I don't have to work so hard making choices and design decisions.  I can focus on the stamps and dies and seeing all the possibilities they offer.

  I started this one with a Soft Sea Foam base then added a layer of Heart & Home DSP flipped to the woodgrain side.  Next I water colored some Smoky Slate on watercolor paper and then flicked some splatters on it for texture.

  The tulip leaves and stems are stamped in Soft Sea Foam ink onto Soft Sea Foam cardstock and then die cut.  The blossoms are stamped in Calypso Coral with one layer being stamped off for variation in color.  Some of the open parts of the images looked a bit stark to me so I used a tiny bit of Calypso Coral ink and an aquapainter to lightly fill in the openings to soften them.

  Once I had all my pieces cut out I adhered them to the card front with the blooms popped on dimensionals.  The sentiment is stamped in Smoky Slate and cut with the Tasteful Labels dies.  I added a Calypso Coral sequin and some enamel pebbles shapes at the base of the tulip stems.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Flowering Tulips

Ink: Smoky Slate, Calypso Coral, Soft Sea Foam

Paper: Soft Sea Foam, Hearth & Home DSP, water color paper, Basic White

Accessories: Tulips dies, Tasteful Labels dies, dimensionals, sequin, enamel pebbles

Here for You Rainbow - Stampin' Up! Rainbow of Happiness

   I've been knee deep in designing for classes, making birthday gifts and getting customer thank you cards made and mailed out so I've not been able to participate in many challenges lately but I saw the colors over at As You See It Challenge and wanted to try them out.  I wanted to try them out with the Rainbow of Happiness stamp set for a bit of a non-traditional rainbow 'here for you' card.

   The colors for the challenge are Soft Succulent, Evening Evergreen, Calypso Coral and Crumb Cake.  I deliberately didn't reach for a floral set to make it more of a challenge.

   Some how in doing my pre-order for the Jan. - June 2022 mini catalog and also another order after that I flaked on ordering the cloud punch so I just received it and wanted to try it out.  I think it gives a nice bit of balance to the card and brings the eye on a diagonal starting from the sentiment.

  I also used the new embossing folder Stripes & Splatters (the other one is the splatters, it's a 2 pack of folders).

  I wanted to use the Calypso Coral sequins from the Artistry Blooms pack but darned if I could find them on my desk.  I knew I had pulled them out because I don't have many Calypso Coral accessories but they were no where to be found on my desk I searched and search checking under everything and seeing if they had stuck to anything.  So I went with one of the retired candy dots instead and then went about my business cleaning up and then I found the sequins stuck under the flap of an envelope in a pile of cards ready to be mailed out.  Oh well!  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Rainbow of Happiness, Happy & Heartfelt

Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Succulent, Evening Evergreen, Calypso Coral

Paper:  Soft Succulent, Evening Evergreen, Basic White

Accessories: Stripes & Splatters embossing folders, Cloud punch, dimensionals, linen thread, candy dot (retired)

 

Hand-Penned Hello - Stampin' Up! Hand-Penned Petals

   I'm playing along with the Perfectly CAS challenge today with this floral water colored card.  The theme is 'flowers' and the cluster of flowers in the Hand-Penned Petals set is a fun one to use for tons of different kinds of cards.  I had a set of colors in mind that I saw in a catalog and while my end result was not quite the subtle and muted tones of my inspiration I like how it turned out.

  I started by stamping the image in Crumb Cake onto the corner of a piece of watercolor paper.   I then used reinkers and an aquapainter to color in the flowers, mixing and matching to get some variation in the colors.

  I then stamped the 'hello' from Biggest Wish in Crumb Cake and added a little pearl and retired sequin.  Remember the challenge is a clean and simple one so I couldn't go all crazy adding lots of embellishments even if I wanted to just a bit. 

  To give some more interest to the card front while still keeping CAS, I didn't center the layers but mounted them so they are all even up in the top corner with just a bit of color peeking out beneath to the side and bottom.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Hand-Penned Petals, Biggest Wish

Ink: Crumb Cake, Petal Pink, Bumblebee, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Seafoam, Blushing Bride, Pale Papaya, Calypso Coral

Paper: Pear Pizzazz, Petal Pink, watercolor paper

Accessories: adhesive pearl, sequin (retired)

Amazing Thank You - Stampin' Up! Blessings of Home

 My project today is the 3rd one my stampers made at class last week.  I wanted to show them 2 new products and combined them into a sweet thank you card.

  We used the Blessings of Home stamp set and the Amazing Thanks dies both found in the Jan.-June 2022 mini catalog.

  We started with a Misty Moonlight card base topped with a layer of Basic White embossed with the Gingham embossing folder.

  The beautiful floral image from Blessings of Home is stamped in Gray Granite for a nice soft look.  Sometimes Memento black is a bit too dark for certain designs.  I wanted to keep this one light and pastel-y.  After the image was colored with Blends it was cut out with the coordinating Flowers of Home dies along with a long floral sprig in Soft Sea Foam.  The sprig is cut in half and layered behind the flowers on the card front.

  The sentiment die cuts are cut from Misty Moonlight and Petal Pink cardstock using the Amazing Thanks dies and then adhered together.  The 'thank' actually cuts out as 'thanks' and we snipped off the s on both layers to make it work with the 'you'.  It's a great way to make this die set more versatile by being able to use it more than one way.

  Mini dimensionals pop the sentiment up over a length of denim ribbon.  The final touch is a polished dot for just a bit of shine.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Blessings of Home 

Ink: Gray Granite

Blends: So Saffron light & dark, Petal Pink light & dark, Soft Sea Foam light & dark

Paper: Misty Moonlight, Petal Pink, Basic White, Soft Sea Foam

Accessories: Gingham embossing folder, Flowers of Home dies, mini dimensionals, Amazing Thanks dies, denim ribbon, Polished dot