Shimmer Butterflies - Stampin' Up!® Butterfly Flight Hot Foil Dies

   I've not been sharing much lately but I have been creating!  I haven't gotten into a good routine this summer so it seems blogging has fallen off a bit but I've been designing for class and some other projects so the stamp room hasn't been neglected if you were worried about that!

  The Hot Foil system has been playing a part in a lot of my projects lately as I get used to this new technique and incorporate it into my crafting.  I was looking for inspiration yesterday and saw the Tic Tac Toe challenge and when I saw "butterflies" as one of the board choices I knew where my card was going!

   I decided to play the top row of the board so along with Butterflies I'm doing "sparkle" and "ribbon/twine".  So I went all in on the sparkle element by hot foiling the Butterfly Flight hot foil die onto a piece of Barely Blush Shimmer Vellum.  I wasn't sure it would work as I hadn't foiled vellum yet and honestly have not paid much attention if others had already tried it.  If it didn't work then I would have moved on to plan B but let me tell you how cool it looks!  The sparkle is beautiful on the vellum and the gold butterflies are just so elegant.

  Look at that!!  And it's even prettier in person!  So really the only hard part of this card was finding enough spots to add my adhesive to get the vellum to adhere to the Basic White thick card front.  I knew I would have space under the sentiment label but other than that there really isn't any place beside the backside of the butterfly bodies.  It worked ok and I just very lightly dotted glue on those spots.  The corners were a bit of a problem so again I lightly dotted a bit of glue there and thankfully it worked and you can't see it at all.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current products used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Prayers & Promises

Ink: Basic Gray

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Sunset Shimmer Specialty Paper

Hot Foil: gold foil, Butterfly Flight dies

Accessories: Filled With Sweetness dies, dimensionals, white & gold baker's twine (retired), Iridescent Faceted rhinestones (retired)

Just a Note Koalas - Stampin' Up!® Wild Bunch

   I took a few days off from the stamp room and today I was trying to get back into creative mode!  It's a great day to stay inside and stamp as it is hot, hot, hot here in central VA.  I think temps hit above 100° with the heat index around 120° and I was glad to have gotten my walk in early this morning!  Stay hydrated people!!  

 I used the Freshly Made Sketches challenge to get me started.  I like the 2 skinnier panels down the front and wanted to do something other than rectangles for those elements. I started with a piece of Moonlit Flora DSP for the background then added a band of Basic White to follow the sketch.  I die cut 2 ferns; one in Peaceful Pine and one in Soft Sea Foam and added them as my long skinny elements.

  I stamped and colored in 2 koala bears from the Wild Bunch stamp set and fussy cut them and popped them on dimensionals over the ferns.  I stamped 2 of the branches from the Wild Bunch stamp set in Peaceful Pine and colored them in with Soft Sea Foam. After the branches were fussy cut I added them by the koalas feet.

  The sentiment is stamped in Basic Gray and die cut out with the retired Unbounded Love dies.  I wanted to back it with a slightly larger circle but none of my punches or circle dies were the right size so I ended up using the retired Around It All dies for a wonky circle instead.  The sentiment is popped on dimensionals as well.

  A few Basic Gray Classic Dots are added as the final touch.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Wild Bunch (retired July 2026 Product of the Month)

Ink: Basic Gray, Peaceful Pine

Blends: Basic Black light, Gray Granite light & dark, Soft Sea Foam dark, Barely Blush dark

Paper: Moonlit Flora DSP, Basic White, Soft Sea Foam, Peaceful Pine

Accessories: Fern & Flora dies, dimensionals, Unbounded Love dies (retired), Around It All dies (retired), Classic Matte Dots (retired)

Snail Mail Delivery - Stampin' Up!® Wild Bunch

 Are you ready for some Clean and Simple stamping inspiration?  The CAS Colours & Sketches challenge team is back with a new challenge and this time we are doing a color combo! Suzy has us using Blackberry Bliss, Gorgeous Grape and Garden Green!  Beautiful right colors wouldn't you say?

I decided to really make it a true challenge and not do flowers which were my first instinct!  I always love it when my Design Team friends use colors in slightly unexpected ways so I looked through my stamps and landed on the Wild Bunch stamp set!  I figured a snail can be any color combo I want right?

  Isn't he/she sweet?  The Wild Bunch stamp set is the June 2026 Product of the Month and if you love critter stamps this one should definitely find it's way into your next order!  

  I started with a Gorgeous Grape card base, then did all the fun stuff on a panel of Basic White.  The snail and heart are stamped in the new Basic Black Hybrid ink.  It's really my first time using it for any coloring and besides my pad being a bit juicy I thought it held up nicely to watercoloring.  The snail is watercolored with all three colors.  Then I used my Stampin' Journaling Pen and drew in the snail trail trying to match the line thickness of the image.

  Looking at this now I should have colored the heart in with Blackberry Bliss but it is what it is! Finally I stamped the sentiment above the heart also using the Basic Black Hybrid ink.

  I can't wait to see what you do with these awesome colors!  Be sure to keep your design "clean and simple" as in minimal layers and embellishments and lots of open space.  Link your card up in the CAS Colours & Sketches gallery so we can all  oooohhh and aaahhh over it!

Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current products used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Wild Bunch (June 2026 POM)

Ink: Basic Black Hybrid, Blackberry Bliss, Gorgeous Grape, Garden Green

Paper: Gorgeous Grape, Basic White

Accessories: water painters, Journaling Pen

Beautiful Country Z Fold - Stampin' Up! Beautiful Gallery DSP

 I'm trying to catch up with my stamping book club series of cards and currently I'm behind by 9 books! Yikes I better get to stamping lol!  So today I'm sharing 2 cards inspired by 2 books I've read this year.  I feel ok putting them together as they are books 2 and 3 of a series of 3.  

  The books that inspired these two cards are The Book of Etta and The Book of Flora by Meg Elison.  I read the first book in the series back in 2022 so I was a bit hazy on the details but the premise of books 2 and 3 are that the characters are navigating the world in the aftermath of a devastating illness that wipes out much of the population in book 1. Following the plague, childbirth becomes deadly for both women and infants turning any that do survive into a commodity to be bought and sold, hunted and enslaved and left with very few safe havens in which to live.  The way that different communities spring up and the varied ways in which they decide to treat women was an interesting aspect of these books; women as sacred vs. women as controlled resource.  Can a society function and ultimately thrive when women are treated in such different manners?  

  The desolate and sparsely populated landscapes of both books brought to mind the pretty scenes of the Beautiful Gallery DSP.  So while there were a lot of horrors in both books I wanted to focus on the open countryside that much of the books are set in.  Because no one needs a post-apocalyptic greeting card right?!  lol!

  This Z fold design is perfect for showing off almost a whole panel of DSP allowing you to showcase full scenes like the Beautiful Gallery DSP.

  A few die cuts and labels and stamping for the sentiments keeps these cards quick to make and a great way not to have to choose which part of DSP gets used or not!

  I originally got my measurements from Rachel Tessman.  The only addition that I did on these two cards was to add a piece of DSP on the left under the top flap.  For both of my cards I used a B side of the Beautiful Gallery DSP in a coordinating color/pattern.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current products used to make these cards can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Simply Said (retired), Sending Salutations, Prayers and Promises (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Old Olive

Paper: Cloud Cover, Old Olive, Basic White, Beautiful Gallery DSP

Accessories: Filled With Sweetness Dies, Nature's Symphony dies, dimensionals, metallic dots (retired), Tasteful Label dies (retired)

Simple Sunset Scene - Stampin' Up!® Sunset Coast

   The weather in central Virginia is heating up so it's high time that all the summer themed stamps get some attention.  The Sunset Coast bundle is perfect for coastal scenes that will make you want to head straight for the beach.

  I pulled these colors from a challenge a few weeks ago and for the life of me I can't remember which one.  Maybe I follow too many challenges??!  Nah, that's a silly thought!  If you recognize the colors please let me know so I can give credit.

  I started with a Coastal Cabana base and then did all my stamping on a piece of Basic White.  The larger bit of water is stamped in Coastal Cabana, the inset water is Crisp Cantaloupe.  The sun is Pumpkin Pie and the clouds are Melon Mambo.

  The clouds are stamped and die cut with the 2 one the edges popped on dimensionals.  

  The sentiment is stamped in Memento Black and I added a few Sunset Sparkle Sequins.  Told you this was a super simple card!  Whip up a few of these so you're ready for some summer card sending occasions!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Sunset Coast

Ink: Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo, Memento Black

Paper: Coastal Cabana, Basic White

Accessories: Sunset Coast dies, dimensionals, Sunset Sparkle sequins

Simply Loved - Stampin' Up!® Simply Beautiful

  I'm not ready to let the Simply Beautiful bundle head to the retired products box just yet!  I've enjoyed creating with this fun floral set and if you still haven't gotten it you can still find it in the Last Chance section but only in the French version.  If you don't care about the sentiments being in French and only want the images and dies then order it soon before it sells out!  I used it to make a few of the Mother's Day cards that I needed this year.  I paired it up with some new products for a pretty spring card.

  I wanted to play around some more with the new In Color Hydrangea Hue so I pulled out my supplies and got to work.  I started with a Hydrangea Hue card base, then added a layer of Wood Textured Specialty paper which is also on the Last Chance list.  This paper gives a really great wood grain texture which doesn't show well in my photo but is a nice detail on a nature inspired card.  This paper is fun because you can blend it with ink to create any color wood texture that you would like!

  Next I added a panel of the new Paper Medley DSP which gives a sweet little background for the show stopping flower!  I stamped the flower in Versamark onto Hydrangea Hue cardstock then embossed it in gold.  I repeated the process with the leaf but used the new Peaceful Pine instead.  Using the same ink I blended a bit onto the center of the flower and the base of the leaf for depth.  Once they were die cut I popped them on the card front over a length of gold ribbon.  I used Gold Glimmer paper to die cut a flower center and popped that up on top of the embossing.

  The sentiment is from Banner Sayings and tucks in nicely next to the flower.  A gold bow and some retired Brushed Brass Butterflies are the perfect accent to finish this design.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Simply Beautiful (English version retired, French version still available), Banner Sayings (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Versamark, Hydrangea Hue, Peaceful Pine

Paper: Hydrangea Hue, Peaceful Pine, Wood Textured Specialty paper, Paper Medley DSP, Basic White, Gold Glimmer (retired)

Accessories: Simply Beautiful dies, gold embossing powder, gold trim (retired), dimensionals, Brushed Brass Butterflies (retired)

Fern Love - Stampin' Up!® Fern & Flora

   I'm back today with a great new challenge from CAS Colours & Sketches!  This time it's a great sketch with a fun diagonal element!  I can't wait to see how you all use this layout!  I'm continuing my obsession with the Fern & Flora bundle and used to make a sweet sending love card.

  It's simple but shows off the large fern stamp really well!

    I started with a piece of Soft Sea Foam and embossed it with the Fern & Flora embossing folder and added to the card front.  Next I cut a piece of Basic White on the diagonal and then trimmed it down to leave a gap between the pieces so that you can see the embossing.

  Using the retired Deckled Rectangle dies I cut a Pool Party panel and a smaller Basic White panel.  The fern is stamped in Lost Lagoon ink and then some Soft Sea Foam ink is lightly blended over it with a blending brush.  I popped this panel on the card front with dimensionals.

  The sentiment from the Prayers & Promises stamp set is stamped in Gray Granite ink.  A few Pressed Flower Motifs embellishments are added to the corner for a finishing touch.

  I hope you'll join in on using this great sketch for a clean and simple card of your own and share it with us in our CAS Colours & Sketches gallery!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Fern & Flora, Prayers & Promises

Ink: Soft Sea Foam, Lost Lagoon, Gray Granite

Paper: Basic White, Soft Sea Foam, Pool Party

Accessories: Fern & Flora embossing folder, dimensionals, Pressed Flower Motifs embellishments, Deckled Rectangle dies (retired)

All Occasion Nature - Stampin' Up!® Nature's Symphony

   I'm sharing the third and final card my stampers made at my last class.  I do a lot of seasonal cards at class for upcoming holidays so it's nice to add in one that can be an all occasion card for whatever my stampers might need that isn't associated with a season or holiday.  We used the Nature's Symphony bundle for this one and used the Reason to Celebrate stamp set to add a sentiment of their choice or they could add one at home if they'd rather.

  I had noted down this color combo a while back and I'm not sure where it's from but I thought it was a bit different and would work for an all occasion card.  The card base is Secret Sea, then a layer of Soft Sea Foam embossed with the Soft Waves embossing folder which is currently Last Chance and on sale as of today.  Don't wait if you haven't gotten this one yet!  A narrow strip of Calypso Coral is added to the Soft Sea Foam layer.

  The branch is stamped in Soft Sea Foam and is die cut along with another branch in Fresh Freesia.  The branches are tucked together then adhered with dimensionals then added to the card front.  Using dimensionals to put the two branches together eliminates or reduces the need for glue or snail adhesive which can be hard to apply to the small leaves and the leaves with the die cut details.  The sentiment is stamped in Secret Sea and then the end is flagged before it's popped on a dimensional.

  A Secret Sea Bordered Open Weave ribbon knot is added to the stems with a glue dot. And finally a few Flat Pearls in Secret Sea are added.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE. 

Stamps: Nature's Symphony, Reason to Celebrate

Ink: Secret Sea, Soft Sea Foam

Paper: Secret Sea, Soft Sea Foam, Fresh Freesia, Calypso Coral, Basic White

Accessories: Nature's Symphony dies, dimensionals, Soft Waves embossing folder, Secret Sea Bordered Open Weave ribbon, 2025-2027 In Color Flat Pearls, dimensionals

Get Well Blooms - Stampin' Up!® Filled With Sweetness Dies

     I always like to find ways to use smaller stamps and dies that are usually meant for little accent pieces as a main card focus so when I saw the Sunday Stamps Challenge layout this time I thought what a perfect way to use a tiny image or die!  The little flower dies in the Filled With Sweetness die set were just the thing!

  I started with a Basic White thick card base, then a layer of the new Hydrangea Hue and another layer of Basic White.  

  I cut out a bunch of the little flowers in Hydrangea Hue, Pretty in Pink and Pool Party and adhered them to the card front following the shape on the sketch.

 The sentiment from the upcoming new Sending Salutations is stamped in Hydrangea Hue and then die cut it with one of the label shaped in the Filled With Sweetness dies.  I popped the label on dimensionals.

  Finally a few 2026-2028 In Color Dots are added to some of the flowers. 

  This is a simple but sweet design and I would encourage you to take a look at the little stamps and dies in your collection and see how you can make them the star of the card!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE. Items marked with a * will be available on May 5, 2026.

 Stamps: Sending Salutations*

Ink: Hydrangea Hue*

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Pretty in Pink, Pool Party, Hydrangea Hue*

Accessories: dimensionals, Filled With Sweetness dies (Online Exclusives), 2026-2028 In Color Dots*

  

Gold Framed Gallery - Stampin' Up!® Gallery Blooms

   I'm back today with another card for my new Stamping Book Club series where I design a card using a book I have recently read as the inspiration.  I thought this was a fun way to combine two of my favorite hobbies!

  This card is inspired by the cover of the book Homecoming by Kate Morton.  Like my first Stamping Book Club card  this one is also set in Australia and is a mystery that switches between past and present slowly unraveling the secrets that a grandmother has kept from a granddaughter.  I enjoyed the story and didn't have it all figured out right away so that was good!

  Now for the card inspired by the gold and blue of the book cover!  It was fun trying to figure out how to incorporate these elements into a card with the supplies I had on hand.  I used a bit of Nature's Walk DSP in this pretty blue pattern that shows a bit of depth.

  I love the delicate gold framing so I added a frame using retired gold Fine Shimmer Paper and the retired Deckled Rectangle dies.  I didn't really have any stamps that could mimic the dainty vines but I wanted to stick with a botanical feel so I embossed in gold one of the flower stems from the Gallery Blooms stamp set.

  Of course I had to add a bird since there are 2 birds on the cover so I embossed the bird from the Encircled With Love stamp set and fussy cut it and perch it on the flower with a dimensional.

  The sentiment is 2 frames cut with the retired Traditional Label dies.  I trimmed the gold frame from the label and adhered it to the stamped Basic White frame.

  So not a full on stamped interpretation of the book cover but definitely inspired by it.  It's a fun way to stretch creatively and figure out how my supplies can be used.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Gallery Blooms, Encircled With Love, Beautiful Motifs

Ink: Versamark, Night of Navy

Paper: Nature's Walk DSP, Basic White, Gold Fine Shimmer paper (retired)

Accessories: dimensionals, gold embossing powder, Traditional Label dies (retired), Deckled Rectangle dies (retired)

Fresh Hugs & Kisses - Stampin' Up!® Endless Love

   I'm really trying to build up my Valentine's Day cards so I've got another one to share today.  The layout is from Freshly Made Sketches and I really like how these non-traditional Valentine's colors turned out.

  I already had the Endless Love bundle out on my stamping desk so it was a no brainer to use the big heart for the circle element of the layout.

  The base is Secret Sea, then the vertical band is Darling Ducking stamped and embossed with the little hearts for a random pattern. Next is the big heart in Petunia Pop, then a smaller heart cut from Petunia Pop Glimmer paper.

  The "sending you" is stamped in Secret Sea and the ends trimmed to flags.  The "XO" is stamped twice in Darling Duckling and then the "Hugs & Kisses" is stamped right over the top in Secret Sea.  I fussy cut around the image and then popped all the sentiments up with dimensionals on the edge of the heart.

  I added a few Secret Sea flat pearls for a tiny bit of shine for the last detail.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Endless Love

Ink: Secret Sea, Darling Duckling

Paper: Secret Sea, Darling Duckling, Petunia Pop, Basic White, Petunia Pop Glimmer Paper (retired)

Accessories: Endless Love dies, white embossing powder, dimensionals, Secret Sea Flat Pearls

Nature's Lagoon - Stampin' Up!® Nature's Symphony

   Lots of hullabaloo around these parts as we're getting ready for a big storm this weekend.  It sounds like we're going to be getting quite a lot of ice which is worse than just straight snow so we've got to make sure we have gas for the generator and propane for the grill and enough dog food for the Labradors and plenty of stamping supplies in case we are without power and home bound for an extended period of time!  You know all the important things! In the meantime I'm sharing a card I made with the Nature's Symphony bundle and some of the coordinating Nature Walk DSP.

   The Lost Lagoon, Crumb Cake and Pretty Peacock color combo is what I started with for this design and I just kept adding and playing around with different elements until I ended up here.

  The base is Pretty Peacock with a layer of Crumb Cake stamped with the Lasting Linen Background stamp.  I love that it adds a subtle look of texture.  Next I tore the edge off a scrap of Two-Toned Pretty Peacock and added it to the card front.

  I used the little hole die and a piece of vellum to add another layer.  Then I used the Stylish Shapes square die to cut some Nature Walk DSP for the last "background" part. One of them has a bit of linen thread tied around it because why not?

  The large branch/leaf is stamped onto Lost Lagoon with the same color ink and is then die cut.  I used a bunch of mini dimensionals to pop it up. The sentiment is from the Banner Sayings stamp set and is stamped in Pretty Peacock.  

  For the final touch I sprinkled some retired Pretty Peacock sequins around the branch.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current products used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Nature's Symphony, Banner Sayings (Online Exclusive), Lasting Linen background (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Lost Lagoon, Crumb Cake, Pretty Peacock

Paper: Lost Lagoon, Crumb Cake, Pretty Peacock Two Toned cardstock, vellum, Nature Walk DSP

Accessories: Stylish Shapes dies, Nature's Symphony dies, dimensionals, linen thread, Adhesive-backed Sequin Trio (retired)

Late Summer Florals - Stampin' Up!® Floral Impressions

   Happy Monday all!  I hope you had a fun weekend and got to do a lot of stamping!  lol!  I have a super fun but busy week ahead so be sure to check back and see what I'm up to!  My card today is one that I designed and then made a whole stack of the last week of September for my monthly customer thank you cards.  It took me a hot minute to get them written out and in the mail so now I'm finally getting around to sharing them here!  Things are feeling a bit more fall-like than when I first made this card so if you're getting summery vibes that's kind of where I was a few weeks ago!

I pulled my colors from the Floral Impression DSP and used Mossy Meadow for the card base, then a layer of Crushed Curry and then finally a piece of Basic White embossed with the Soft Waves embossing folder.

 Strips of the DSP and then another in Mossy Meadow are added to one side of the card front. The sentiment is from the Notes & Totes stamp set and is stamped in Mossy Meadow onto a Spotlight on Nature die cut circle.  I popped the circle on dimensionals and then added a small Crushed Curry flower from the Floral Impressions stamp set along with a little leaf.

  I accented the top corner with a few retired Milky Dots that matched the deep yellow of the flowers perfectly.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Notes & Totes, Floral Impressions

Ink: Crushed Curry, Pecan Pie, Mossy Meadow

Paper: Mossy Meadow, Crushed Curry, Basic White, Floral Impressions DSP

Accessories: Soft Waves embossing folder, Spotlight on Nature dies, Floral Impressions dies, dimensionals, Milk Dots (retired)

Autumn Quilt Block - Stampin' Up! Gathering Together Specialty DSP

 My card is one of those designs that looks intimidating at first but once you know how it comes together you realize "hey, I can totally make this!"  Lorraine Tierney, another Stampin' Up! demo shared her version of this card and as soon as I saw it I wanted to to know "how?".  Luckily she gave a great tutorial and I was able to teach it to my stampers.  They loved it and it's always wonderful to have something to do with all those half inch strips of DSP that accumulate!

  I wanted to use the Gathering Together Specialty DSP in my version to make a nice autumn inspired card with the colors.  I started with a Cajun Craze card base, then added a band of Old Olive with a bit of Basic Beige Classic Ribbon tied around it.

  The quilt block starts with a 3" x 3" square of Basic Beige and 4  1/2" x 6 inch strips of DSP. Using a pencil and ruler lightly draw a line diagonally from corner to corner so you have an X on the cardstock. 

 Add a bit of glue to one corner and then line up 2 of the strips along either side of one of the pencil lines.  Just do glue in the corner for now and use the wiggle room the glue allows for to get the DSP straight.  Then take your other 2 pieces of DSP and weave them through the first 2 pieces; one over and then under, the second under then over (like you're weaving a paper placemat back in kindergarten!).  Then add a bit of glue to the next corner and line up the woven strips along the pencil line, adjusting all the strips so they are straight and even. Gently lift up the loose ends and add a but of glue under the strips and secure them all down.

  For the next step trim off the overhang of the strips so they are nice and even along the edges.  Then take 4 pieces of Basic Beige cut to 3/4" square. Add one little square to each outside corner of the woven square and that's how you get the perfect pointed edges along the DSP.  And finally emboss the quilt block with a folder of your choice.  I used the Gathering Leaves embossing folder for mine.  

  Once the quilt block is finished and embossed it's adhered to an Early Espresso panel and popped up on the card front with dimensionals.

  The sentiment from The Right Words stamp set is stamped below the block in Early Espresso.  A few Streaked Dots are added for the final detail.

  Lorraine has a fantastic video on her blog post so you can see how the card comes together if you are more of a visual learner.  Thanks to her for sharing this great technique!

Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

  All of the supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: The Right Words (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Early Espresso

Paper: Cajun Craze, Old Olive, Early Espresso, Basic Beige, Gathering Together Specialty DSP (Online Exclusive)

Accessories: Gathering Leaves embossing folder, dimensionals, Basic Beige Classic ribbon, Streaked Dots

Flamingo Rose - Stampin' Up!® Along These Lines

 It must be the week for CAS (clean and simple) cards because I've got another one for you!  This time I'm using the layout from CAS on Friday.  I have to admit I was a bit stumped with this one as the long skinny design element didn't give much room for an image but after scanning my stamps the Along These Lines set seemed to fit the bill!

 I started with stamping the rose image along a skinny strip of Basic White.  I extended the long line at the top and bottom with the plain line stamp in the set. 

 I used Blends to color the image and then fussy cut just the one side.  I added a piece of Flirty Flamingo cardstock on the fussy cut side then popped the layers up on dimensionals.

 The sentiment from The Right Words is stamped in Memento black on the card front then a few Strawberry Slush & Pretty in Pink gems are added for a tiny bit of sparkle.  They are a great match to Flirty Flamingo even though they are listed as a different pink.

 And that's it for this clean and simple card!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Along These Lines, The Right Words (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Memento Black

Blends: Flirty Flamingo light & dark, Granny Apple Green light & dark

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Flirty Flamingo

Accessories: Strawberry Slush & Pretty in Pink gems, dimensionals

Sweet Apples - Stampin' Up!® Choose Happy

   After seeing apples on the ordering menu for our weekly farm box delivery I was inspired to make another card for the Inspired By challenge.  I already made a fall color inspired card for it a few days about but the apples were calling to me too!  I really let the DSP do most of the work but I got a little bit of coloring in too!

Some retired products do a lot of the heavy lifting for this card!  I used a piece of the Fruit Salad DSP for the background and the die cut circles are made with the Around It All dies.  I layered a Granny Apple Green circle behind the Basic White one for some extra interest and to pull in a little more green to the card.  

  The sentiment from With You In Mind stamp set is stamped in Pecan Pie.  I used the Choose Happy stamp set to stamp 2 apples using Pecan Pie and then I colored them in with Blends.  I fussy cut them and added them to the side of the sentiment and tucked a little baker's twine bow in with them.

  An easy but sweet card to send to someone to let them know they're on your mind.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current products used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: With You in Mind, Choose Happy

Ink: Pecan Pie 

Blends: Pecan Pie light, Granny Apple Green light & dark, Real Red light & dark, Old Olive light

Paper: Basic White, Granny Apple Green, Fruit Salad DSP (retired)

Accessories: Around It All dies (retired), dimensionals, white baker's twine

Two-Toned Ocean - Stampin' Up!® Notes & Totes Dies

    The recent sale of Two-Toned cardstock had me looking through my stock to see which colors I had and which colors I wanted more of (the answer is I want them all!).  As I was falling asleep one night I thought that it would be cool to take several colors and do an ocean background with torn edges.  Am I the only one that designs cards in my mind?  Well this one actually came out pretty much like I had imagined.  I had enough Two-Toned cardstock in the colors I wanted to use and the addition of the Notes & Totes dies makes for a nice focal image along with the "ocean" background.  My stampers enjoyed making this one at my last class.

  The background is simply 3 pieces of Two-Toned cardstock cut 2" x 5 1/2" in Pretty Peacock, Lost Lagoon, and Pool Party.  A piece of Crumb Cake (regular cardstock) is used for the sand layer.  The other half of the Crumb Cake piece is used on the inside of the card.  The "sand" is stamped with the speckled stamp in the Notes & Totes stamp set

  Each piece of Two-Toned cardstock is simply torn in half the long way and starting at the top going from dark to light each strip is adhered to the Basic White thick card base leaving the torn edges slightly curled up.

  To make the tote we use a piece of Florals in Bloom DSP and simply cut the center panel of the tote die. I didn't use the full size tote because I didn't want to cover up so much of the background. We trimmed off any extra from the sides leaving the stitched detail at the top.  You could also make this smaller tote with just a rectangle of paper as well but I liked the stitched detail at the top.  The edges and handle are die cut out of Pecan Pie cardstock and the then trimmed to fit the smaller tote.  

  The sentiment is stamped in Pretty Peacock and then fussy cut and is adhered with trimmed down dimensionals.

  Several shells were die cut out of Fresh Freesia and Petunia Pop and are added to the bottom of the card as well as the inside.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Notes & Totes

Ink: Pretty Peacock, Crumb Cake

Paper: Basic White thick, Two-Toned Pretty Peacock, Two-Toned Lost Lagoon, Two-Toned Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Pecan Pie, Fresh Freesia, Petunia Pop, Florals In Bloom DSP

Accessories: Notes & Totes dies, dimensionals

Good Vibes - Stampin' Up!® Month by Month

   I've been participating in the Stampin' Up!® Virtual Album Retreat the last few days and as a baby scrapbooker I'm learning a lot and having a lot of fun with it but I'm also coming to realize that crafting after 10pm is not for me! Stampin' Up!® is trying to accommodate many of the time zones and for some of us that means very early mornings or late nights if you're following along live!  I'm definitely more of daytime/early evening crafter!  The later it gets, the harder it is to adhere things straight!  But the great thing is that I can go back and watch each class when it suits me to do it.  I'll get around to sharing the pages once I've got them put together, maybe a video to show all the cool things I learned!  Anyway I've been using the stamp sets that we're using on the scrapbook pages on some cards because who doesn't love a product that can be used on multiple projects!?  The Month by Month set has a lot of what I would call accent images but also has some flowers that are great for cards as well.  I'm using the closed TGIF Challenge layout for today's card.  

  I picked out the DSP patterns first and then pulled in the rest of the products to complement them.  I liked the Secret Sea pattern with the floral from the Florals in Bloom DSP so I used those for the overlapping corner layer.  I used the retired Basic Borders dies to get the long curved shapes.  

  I layered the DSP onto a Cloud Cover base that has a second layer of Cloud Cover embossed with the Glass & Garden embossing folder.  I used the folder twice to get the pattern to cover the whole panel.  

 The flowers are the images from the Month by Month stamp set from the virtual album retreat.  I stamped the large one in Timid Tiger then colored it with Blends.  The smaller flowers are stamped in Summer Splash and also colored in.  I got a bit heavy handed with the blending and ended up losing some of the image detail so if I were to re-create this one I would use a darker ink for the stamped image or just get better at coloring lol!

  The flowers are fussy cut then popped on dimensionals along with some die cut leaves from the Impressions Abloom dies in Secret Sea.  

  The sentiment from The Right Words is stamped in Secret Sea and added to the corner to follow the sketch.  A few Secret Sea Flat Pearls accent the Summer Splash flowers.

 Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current supplies used can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Month By Month (Online Exclusive), The Right Words (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Timid Tiger, Summer Splash, Secret Sea

Blends: Peach Pie light & dark, Summer Splash light & dark

Paper: Cloud Cover, Basic White, Secret Sea, Florals in Bloom DSP 

Accessories: Garden & Glass embossing folder (Online Exclusive), dimensionals, 2025-2027 In Color Flat Pearls, Impressions Abloom dies, Basic Borders dies (retired)

Vintage Blooms - Stampin' Up!® Gallery Blooms

 I originally started this card to play along with the Freshly Made Sketches challenge that I used a few days ago but by the time I finished the design it was a bit too layered and fussy to be considered 'fresh' so while it doesn't fit the challenge I still love how it turned out.  Basic Beige works great for a vintage feel when Basic White is too 'white'!  

  I just love this Cloud Cover and Early Espresso color combo along with the different textures!  I started with an Early Espresso base then added a layer of Early Espresso embossed with the Damask Designs embossing folder.  I was not paying attention and embossed the panel sideways but I decided to use it as is instead of re-doing it.  I should have just gone with a landscape layout instead but oh well! I added 2 circles of the Beautiful Gallery DSP in the corners and trimmed off the over hang.  A bit of Faux Seam Binding Ribbon goes across the middle of the panel.

  The flower is stamped in Early Espresso onto the Basic Beige and then is die cut with a Spotlight on Nature circle die.  I used Cloud Cover Blends to added some color to the blooms and then popped it up on dimensionals over some leaves cut with the Beautiful Motifs dies.

  The sentiment is stamped on a strip of Cloud Cover and embellished with a retired gem.  Finally a fork bow is added to the side of the flowers to finish this design.

Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Gallery Blooms, Beautiful Motifs

Ink: Early Espresso

Blends: Cloud Cover light & dark

Paper: Early Espresso, Cloud Cover, Basic Beige, Beautiful Gallery DSP

Accessories: Spotlight on Nature dies, Beautiful Motifs dies, dimensionals, circle punch, Cloud Cover Faux Seam Binding ribbon

New at SU! - Beautiful Gallery Blooms

   The New at SU! blog hop is back this month sharing projects with New Suites and/or Bundles!  We've got inspiration from Stampin' Up! demonstrators from around the world so hop around with us and see what's new!

  I'm showcasing the Beautiful Gallery Suite today with 2 cards that use many products from this suite.  They all coordinate beautifully and the Beautiful Gallery DSP is a personal favorite!

 The gorgeous Beautiful Gallery DSP is too gorgeous to cover up so I decided to show off one of the scenes using the Gallery Blooms frame die.  I used a second frame cut from Pecan Pie to make the little photo corner accent for the one corner. The Beautiful Motifs stamp set is used for the sentiment and the stamping on the circle.  

  The Pressed Flower Motifs embellishments are the are the perfect accent to the frame detail.  I colored a bit of white baker's twine with a Pecan Pie Stampin' Blends marker to coordinate for the opposite corner.

  My second project uses both the Beautiful Gallery DSP and the frame die again but this time the DSP is used as the background and the frame is accented with florals.  The flowers from the Gallery Blooms stamp set are stamped in Crumb Cake ink onto Basic Beige cardstock then they are colored in with Blends markers.  A few die cuts are added to finish the grouping.

  To help the neutral frame stand out I embossed it with the Damask Design embossing folder, popped it up on dimensionals and used more of the Pressed Flower Motifs embellishments for accents.

  Check out the rest of the New at SU! team and their fabulous projects!  Just follow the links below.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

  All of the products used on these projects can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Beautiful Motifs, Gallery Blooms

Ink: Secret Sea, Crumb Cake

Blends: Pecan Pie, Crumb Cake light, Calypso Coral light & dark

Paper: Beautiful Gallery DSP, Secret Sea, Basic Beige, Pecan Pie, Cloud Cover, Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral

Accessories: Gallery Blooms dies, dimensionals, Pressed Flower Motifs, Damask Designs embossing folder, Spotlight on Nature dies