Candy Cane Jingle - Stampin' Up! Jingle Jingle Jingle

   I haven't shared a Christmas card in a while and it will be here before we know it!  We made two Christmas cards at my last class and this is one of them.  

  This is a fun but fairly easy card to put together with only some basic stamping.  It starts with a Real Red card base, then a strip of Garden Green embossed with Whimsical Woodland embossing folder.  

  The 'jingle' outline stamp from the Jingle Jingle Jingle set is stamped in Pool Party ink onto Pool Party cardstock all the way down the panel.  Then one jingle is filled in with the patterned stamp also in Pool party.  The rest of the sentiment is finished on a narrow strip of Basic White in Garden Green ink and is popped on dimensionals.

  The candy canes are cut from the Sweetest Christmas DSP using the Candy Canes dies and popped on dimensionals and then jazzed up with a Real Red fork bow.  It's hard to see in the photo but the solid 'jingle' is also colored with a bit of clear Wink of Stella for a bit of sparkle.  A little red rhinestone accents the sentiment strip for the final touch.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Jingle Jingle Jingle

Ink: Pool Party, Garden Green

Paper: Real Red, Garden Green, Pool Party, Basic White, Sweetest Christmas DSP

Accessories:Whimsical Woodland e.f., Candy Canes dies, dimensionals, Real Red ribbon, Real Red rhinestones, Wink of Stella

Fish Birthday Wish - Stampin' Up! A Fish & A Wish

 My stampers made this fish themed birthday card at my recent Quick & Easy card class.  It looks fussier than it actually is but it's all just adhering the pieces to the card front; no fancy techniques here.

  The card starts with a Basic White thick base and then a layer of Soft Sea Foam stamped with the little wave stamp in Soft Sea Foam ink.  Next a piece of Pattern Party DSP in a fun polka dot pattern.  I thought this one looked a bit like bubbles so it also went with the theme!

  The fish are stamped in Bermuda Bay and punched with the fish builder punch.  Some Bermuda Bay cardstock fins are added.  The fish are adhered to a piece of vellum to anchor them.  Dimensionals are added to the backside of the vellum behind the fish so you can't see any adhesive through it.

  The sentiment from Go To Greetings is stamped in Bermuda Bay and added to the side of the vellum panel. 2 Fine Sparkle Adhesive backed gems (that's a mouthful!!) are added to one corner for just a hint of sparkle.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: A Fish & A Wish, Go To Greetings

Ink: Soft Sea Foam, Bermuda Bay

Paper: Basic White thick, Soft Sea Foam, Basic White, Bermuda Bay, Vellum, Pattern Party DSP (host - retired)

Accessories: Fish Builder punch, dimensionals, Fine Sparkle Adhesive backed gems

Neutral Coneflowers - Stampin' Up! Nature's Harvest

   I always have fun designing projects for my Quick & Easy card class and really focus on some easy techniques that might get overlooked for all the new bells & whistles.  For this card, keeping to a neutral color palette and adding just a little bit of highlighting with a white colored pencil makes for a nice and clean card but definitely not boring!

  I started with a Soft Suede base and then added a layer of retired DSP in a checked Crumb Cake pattern for just a little bit of easy detail.

  Then the coneflower from Nature's Harvest is stamped on Crumb Cake cardstock with Soft Suede ink.  Using a white colored pencil, parts of the image are highlighted.  A bit of Crumb Cake ribbon is wrapped around the layer and anchored with a sentiment label also stamped in Soft Suede.

  Keeping with the neutral tones a few Elegant Faceted gems are added to the corner.

  See....Quick & Easy.  You can do this technique on any open line art image and it especially looks nice on leaves, trees and flowers.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Nature's Harvest

Ink: Soft Suede

Paper: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Peaceful Prints DSP (retired)

Accessories: white colored pencil, Harvest dies, dimensionals, Elegant Faceted Gems, Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon (retired)

Perfect Apple Birthday - Stampin' Up! Cheerful Basket

   Sometimes participating in a challenge really ends up being a challenge!  I wanted to play along with Seize the Birthday and their theme of 'food, glorious food' but..... I have almost no stamps involving food!  On first look all I could find were candy canes.  That's a big nope for a birthday card! I looked again and found one stamp in a larger set...the apples in Cheerful Basket!!  I don't know how glorious they are but it works for food!

  I started with a Crumb Cake card base, then a strip of Happy Forest Friends DSP  lines the bottom of a piece of Basic White with the edges lightly distressed.

  I added the die cut basket in Crumb Cake with a bit of sponging around the edges.  The apples are stamped in Memento black and colored in with Blends. Basket and apples are popped up on dimensionals.  

  I cut a few leaves in Old Olive to scatter around the base of the basket.  The sentiment from Blessings of Home is stamped in Crumb Cake and trimmed down to fit the vertical space.

  A Real Red fork bow is the last touch for this fall and food themed birthday card.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Cheerful Basket, Blessings of Home

Ink: Memento Black, Crumb Cake

Blends: Real Red light & dark, Granny Apple Green light & dark, Daffodil Delight light

Paper: Crumb Cake, Basic White, Happy Forest Friends DSP

Accessories: Full Basket dies, dimensionals, Real Red ribbon

Blueberry Thank You - Stampin' Up! Berry Blessings

   I don't often use retired stamp sets as once they retire I pack them away for my annual BOGO retirement sale but last week we were gifted some fresh, just picked blueberries and I had just pulled out my retired stash to look for another old set so the Sale-a-Bration set Berry Blessings from 2021 was out and it was a sign that I needed to use it for a thank you card!

  My layout is from CAS Colours & Sketches and while it does have a few layers I think the clean lines and mostly white background keeps it clean and simple.

  As happens sometimes right as I was finishing the card I caught the top front edge on the Pacific Point ink pad and what was a Basic White card base got trimmed down and remounted onto a Night of Navy base.  

 

  I paired the retired stamp set and retired embossing folder, Pinewood Planks, with the Amazing Thanks die set for a nice bold (but still clean) sentiment.

 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Berry Blessings (retired, SAB 2021)

Ink: Garden Green, Granny Apple Green, Night of Navy, Pacific Point

Paper: Night of Navy, Basic White

Accessories: Amazing Thanks dies,  dimensionals, bakers twine, Tasteful Label dies (retired), Pinewood Planks embossing folder (retired)

Floral Good Feelings - Stampin' Up! Good Feelings

   I designed this card for my recent Quick & Easy card class.  I wanted to showcase a big sentiment as well as the pretty Rings of Love DSP floral pattern.  I really loved the colors from the patterned paper and came up with a cheerful card to reflect the sentiment.

  The Ringed with Nature little spray of flowers was a perfect size to add to the corners of the sentiment panel and bring in some of the other colors from the DSP.  The Poppy Parade layer behind the sentiment as well as the Poppy Parade baker's twine bow add even more cheerful brightness to the card.  Th top panel is popped up for added interest.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Good Feelings, Ringed with Nature

Ink: Night of Navy, Mint Macaron, Crushed Curry

Paper: Night of Navy, Poppy Parade, Basic White, Ringed with Love DSP (retired - SAB)

Accessories: dimensionals, baker's twine

Butterfly Spotlight - Stampin' Up! Butterfly Brilliance

   I recently needed a get well card for one of my stampers and saw a great color combo on a closed challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches and thought they would be nice cheerful colors for such a card.

  I love this spotlight technique to bring color to a detailed image without coloring the whole thing.  Just punch out part or parts of the image, color, back with a slightly larger layer (I used circle punches here but nesting die sets work too) and then line the image back up and pop with dimensionals.

  I colored with Stampin' Blends and used Highland Heather (the challenge called for Gorgeous Grape but no Blends in that color so HH is a close match), Mango Melody and Polished Pink.

  The sentiment is from Ringed with Nature and stamped in Memento black onto Polished Pink cardstock and popped on dimensionals. A few clear polished dots complete this get well card.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Butterfly Brilliance, Ringed With Nature

Ink: Memento Black

Blends: Highland Heather light & dark, Polished Pink light & dark, Mango Melody light & dark (retired)

Paper: Basic Black, Basic White

Accessories: circle punches, dimensionals, Polished Dots 

24 Hour Stamp Sale!! Today Only!!

   Stampin' Up! has discounted over 100 stamps in the annual catalog.  Save 15% on select stamps for today only until midnight (Thursday Sept. 15).

  To view the sale stamps and place an order with me click HERE

  To be entered into my monthly door prize drawing please order using Host Code HEJKQYUU For each $25 in product order you get one entry.

  Have fun clearing those wish lists!!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Autumn Thoughts - Stampin' Up! Splendid Stems Dies

   I made a whole stack of this card design the other day for my August customer thank you cards.  I was going for a bit of an autumn vibe with the colors.  The gold foil from the Splendid Day DSP is a nice pairing with the orange tones of the leaf die cuts.

  I backed the foil panel with Cajun Craze, then layered a wide band of Basic White with the sentiment stamped in Cajun Craze ink.

  The die cuts in Cajun Craze, Pale Papaya and Pumpkin Pie are grouped to the side of the sentiment and accented with a Pale Papaya ribbon knot.  

  A brushed brass butterfly finishes the details for this autumn inspired all occasion card.  

  I always leave my customer thank you cards blank inside just tucking in my note on a separate piece of writing paper so that they can use the card for themselves to send out (or keep it for inspiration-- there are no rules with these cards lol!).  If you'd like to place an order and receive one of my hand made thank you cards you can find my ordering link in the sidebar.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Go To Greetings

Ink: Cajun Craze

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Cajun Craze, Splendid Day DSP, Pale Papaya, Pumpkin Pie

Accessories: Splendid Stems dies, Pale Papaya ribbon, Brushed Brass Butterflies, dimensionals

Bold Snowflake - Stampin' Up! Snow Crystal

   Are you looking for some non-traditional Christmas colors?  My card today has a great combo to try out.  We made this card at my last project and my stampers loved the colors and how easy it is to get this multi-colored effect on a large background stamp.

  The colors used on this card are Highland Heather, Balmy Blue and Starry Sky.  So pretty right?  We used the Snow Crystal stamp mounted on the Stamp-a-ratus and used sponge daubers in each of the colors to apply the ink to the stamp.  Using the Stamp-a-ratus is a key just in case you miss inking up a spot you can easily add more ink and re-stamp and not have to try line it back up perfectly....the Stamp-a-ratus does all the work here!

  Once the snowflake is stamped just cut the square panel into 3 equal strips.  Here the starting panel is 3 3/4" x 3 3/4" so each strip ends up at 1 1/4" x 3 3/4" and adhere them spaced out on the card front. Told you it was easy!

  The sentiment from Brightest Glow is stamped in Starry Sky and cut and backed with Stylish Shapes circles.  Between the circle layers a length of In Color Metallic Woven ribbon is added for some sparkle. The sentiment is then popped on dimensionals.  A few Adhesive Backed Stars are added for even more shine.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Snow Crystal, Brightest Glow

Ink: Highland Heather, Balmy Blue, Starry Sky

Paper: Basic White, Starry Sky, Highland Heather

Accessories: Stylish Shapes dies, Metallic Woven ribbon, Adhesive Backed Stars, dimensionals

Foxy Hello - Stampin' Up! Happier Than Happy

   My card today uses a few elements from the Happier Than Happy set to create a little focal point on a clean and simple hello card.  The little animals in this set are cute and I love all the little "accessories" that are also included to make a sweet woodland scene.

  

  I started with a piece of Happy Forest Friends DSP on my card front then added a Night of Navy panel with the Basic White panel for the stamping.  With a light hand I blended a little bit of Old Navy ink to create a little bit of "sky" to ground the grouping and then added the rest of the elements.

  

  The mounds of grass are stamped-off Mossy Meadow and the trees are die cut from Mossy meadow card stock.  The fox is stamped in Calypso Coral and die cut and popped on dimensionals.  The stars from Jingle Jingle Jingle set are stamped in Soft Saffron.

 

  The hello banner is made with the stamp from Inspired Thoughts and white embossing powder.  A Night of Navy Baker's twine bow finishes this clean and simple card.

 Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Happier Than Happy, Inspired Thoughts, Jingle Jingle Jingle

Ink: Mossy Meadow, Night of Navy, Calypso Coral, So Saffron, Versamark

Paper: Happy Forest Friends DSP, Night of Navy, Mossy Meadow, Basic White

Accessories: Happy Forest dies, dimensionals, baker's twine, white embossing powder

Songbird Thank You - Stampin' Up! Sweet Songbirds

   Some how I had only used the Sweet Songbirds stamp set for a very small class way back when the Annual Catalog first came out so a majority of my customers hadn't used it yet.  It's such a cute bundle and perfect for all occasion cards.  You can make a bunch of different color combo and little scenes and it's sweet every time!

  For this card that we made in class I stuck with 3 of the newest In Colors for a bright, cheerful card.

  I added a little bit of pattern behind the focal panel with a strip of the 2022-2024 In Color DSP.  My stampers had the choice between the 4 different patterns available.  The sign is stamped off twice in Soft Suede to make it light enough to see the words stamped over the top but you could use Crumb Cake instead.  I needed to reign in the amount of supplies used since there is only so much room on my class tables!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sweet Songbirds

Ink: Soft Suede, Parakeet Party, Sweet Sorbet, Mango Melody, Memento Black

Paper: Tahitian Tide, Parakeet Party, Basic White, 2022-2024 In Color DSP

Accessories: Songbird Builder punch, dimensionals, In Color baker's twine, In Color Matte Decorative Dots

Autumn Hello - Stampin' Up! Hello Harvest

   Now that Labor Day has passed it's pumpkin time!  I used the Hello Harvest set to design this card that my stampers made in class last week.   

  We started with a Crushed Curry base then added a layer of Crumb Cake stamped with the flower cluster in Crumb Cake ink for a subtle background.

  Next we stamped the pumpkin in Cajun Craze and colored it in with Blends.  We die cut 2 more pumpkins out of the Rustic Harvest DSP (including the stems) using the Rustic Pumpkin dies then make a little grouping.

  The sentiment is stamped in Crumb Cake and backed with a bit of Old Olive twill ribbon (found in the annual catalog) and popped on dimensionals.  Some colored (with Blends markers) pearls and a linen thread bow finish the details.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Hello Harvest

Ink: Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze

Blends: Pumpkin Pie light & dark, Mossy Meadow light & dark

Paper: Crushed Curry, Crumb Cake, Basic White, Rustic Harvest DSP

Accessories: Rustic Pumpkin dies, linen thread, adhesive pearls, Old Olive twill ribbon, dimensionals

Jingle Times 3 - Stampin' Up! Jingle Jingle Jingle

   I joined the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge today.  They have a one layer CAS card as the technique this time.  One layer and Christmas can be a really hard parameter to stick with when there are so many cute papers, dies and ribbons to be used for this time of year.  

  I went with the Jingle Jingle Jingle set and just repeated it 3 times with different colors.  I like the bright, fresh colors as well, really gives the open letters a big pop!

 I started with a Basic White thick card base.  To prevent bleed-through from my Stampin' Blends markers I used another panel of Basic White to actually stamp and color on. 

  The 'jingles' are stamped in Memento and then colored with Tahitian Tide, Parakeet Party and Polished Pink.

  I added a few image stamps to jazz it up and accessorize each word without having to add any layers.

  I don't think this design is a contender for mass producing but maybe for a few different color combinations for the season.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Jingle Jingle Jingle

Ink: Memento Black, Tahitian Tide

Markers: Tahitian Tide light & dark, Parakeet Party light & dark, Polished Pink light & dark

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White

Accessories: none

School of Fish - Stampin' Up! A Fish & A Wish

   School started for our area on Monday so it's been a week of getting into a routine to only have a 4 day week this week and a 4 day week next week for Labor Day.  I think my teens will be reverting back to square one on the "wake up for school" routine! Nevertheless the start of a new school year is to be celebrated.  I already had cards made for my kids that I forgot to give them last year (yes terrible mom!) so I didn't need to make more but I thought it would be fun to do the Just Us Girls Challenge anyway for a back to school theme.  

  I used the A Fish & A Wish set because I didn't really have any school themed stamps and I was thinking "a school of fish" and an encouraging sentiment could work.  Throw in some primary colors and the finished products isn't too shabby!  And I'm ahead of the game for next year now!

  I started with a Basic White thick card base then layered one inch stripes of my 3 colors snipping the ends at angles for some interest.

  Next I cut a Basic Black Stitched Rectangle and embossed the sentiment in white.  The Through It Together set has a whole bunch of encouraging sentiments.

  Then I stamped and punched the fish 3 times and added fins.  They are popped up on dimensionals onto the card front in a nice neat row.

  I added a few candy dots (because I will have them until I die apparently no matter how many I use!) to finish this one.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: A Fish & A Wish, Through It Together

Ink: Versamark, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Real Red

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Basic Black, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Real Red

Accessories: Fish punch, Stitched Rectangle dies, white embossing powder, dimensionals, candy dots (retired)