Snowflake Cutout - Stampin' Up! Snowflake Wishes

   I know I said I was finished making Christmas cards but my husband remembered one that he needed so I dug through my pile of card parts and came up with a bunch of snowflakes that I had die cut but never used on other projects to see what I could come up with.

  I used the Freshly Made Sketches layout for my inspiration though I think my final results might be a bit fussy for their clean takes.

  I liked this sketch because it was a larger center panel that I could use the big snowflake cut out die from the So Many Snowflakes dies which I don't think I used nearly enough.  

  The card base is Whisper White thick, then a layer of Snowflake Splendor DSP.  I die cut 2 scalloped rectangles using the Stitched So Sweetly dies; one in Whisper White and the other in Balmy Blue Glimmer paper.  Next I cut the big snowflake in the Whisper White panel. Using tear tape in the corners I adhered the Whisper White rectangle to the Glimmer paper one so all that lovely shimmery blue shines through.

  To keep with the sketch I added two little pieces of Misty Moonlight to the sides and then adhered the whole panel to the card front with dimensionals.  The 2 snowflakes are added; one in Balmy Blue Glimmer paper and the other in stamped off once Misty Moonlight.

  The sentiment from Banner Years stamped in Misty Moonlight and then flagged.  A silver/white baker's twine bow adds a bit of shine to it.  The final item is the faceted gem in Seaside Spray in the center of the righthand snowflake.

  I made a few more of this design just changing out a few things like the DSP, the snowflakes using what I had already cut and adding a new sentiment to make the card for New Years.  The sentiment comes from a set in the upcoming Jan.-June Mini catalog called Many Messages.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Snowflake Wishes, Banner Year (card #2 Many Messages)

Ink: Misty Moonlight (card #2 Misty Moonlight & Balmy Blue)

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Misty Moonlight, Snowflake Splendor DSP, Balmy Blue Glimmer

Accessories: Stitched So Sweetly dies, So Many Snowflakes dies, dimensionals, faceted gem, white/silver baker's twine (retired)

Sweet Strawberry New Year Wish - Stampin' Up! Sweet Strawberry

   Happy Friday!  The team at Fab Friday has a fun challenge to finish out 2020!  We hope you've had fun playing along with us this past year and we look forward to seeing you in 2021 which hopefully will be a much better year!

  Don't panic over the 5 colors lol!  Ok well maybe panic a bit but then get to work.  I had a bit of a rough start and thought I would go with a Christmas card but then went in a different direction!

  Thank goodness for inspiration from new supplies!  I received my pre-order on Tuesday and the Sweet Strawberry set seemed like it would fit the bill for these colors!  I decided to do a New years card for a fresh start and I always forget to send some people Christmas cards so they get a New Years card in return!

  Card starts with a Seaside Spray In Color DSP and then a piece of Whisper White cut with a Stitched Rectangle die.  I stamped the flower/leaf stamp all over and then colored them in with ink pads and a blender pen.  The white space was then filled in with the Seaside Spray light Blends marker.

  I stamped my strawberries in Poppy Parade and then stems in Shaded Spruce and punched them out with the Strawberry Builder punch.  I adhered them to a Stitched Shape circle in Whisper White with the top one popped with a dimensonal.

  The sentiment is stamped in Versamark and embossed in white and layered to side of the circle.  The final touch is the green baker's twine bow.

  Looking forward to seeing how creative you all get with these colors!  Be sure to share them in our gallery and take a peek at the rest of the Fab Friday Design Team samples.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sweet Strawberry, Good Greetings (retired)

Ink: Memento black, Poppy Parade, Blushing Bride, Shaded Spruce, Pear Pizzazz, Versamark

Blends: Seaside Spray light

Paper: 2019-2021 In Color DSP, Whisper White, Basic Black

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle dies, Stitched Shapes dies, Strawberry Builder punch, white embossing folder, dimensionals, baker's twine

Floral Sympathy - Stampin' Up! Sweet Strawberry

   Sympathy cards are never fun to make or send but this year and especially so near to Christmas make it even harder.  I wish I had a happier card to share this new stamp set but it was a happy accident that I had the 'coming soon' new Sweet Strawberry on my stamp desk when I pulled out some retired vellum paper and realized that the little flowers in this stamp set are a close match to the flowers on the vellum.  Stop back tomorrow for a happier card using this set.

  I let the retired Floral Romance Specialty paper do all the heavy lifting for this design adhering it to a Whisper White thick card base.  A Pear Pizzazz/Old Olive?? baker's twine bow goes around the base.

  The sentiment from Here's A Card is stamped in Mossy Meadow on Whisper White and die cut with the Tasteful Labels dies and popped on dimensionals.  I added a Blackberry Bliss flower from the Sweet Strawberry set and then punched out 2 more stamped in Blushing Bride and popped on with a dimensional.

  A simple and easy card which in no way can convey all my sympathy.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sweet Strawberry, Here's A Card

Ink: Mossy Meadow, Blushing Bride, Blackberry Bliss

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Floral Romance Specialty DSP (retired)

Accessories: Tasteful Labels dies, Strawberry Builder punch, dimensionals, baker's twine

New Year Snowflakes - Stampin' Up! Snowflake Wishes

   Big news for me today!  I've been asked to join The Paper Players challenge as a guest designer for 2021.  It's such an honor to have been asked to join this talented group!  They have fun and varied challenges and I'm looking forward to stretching my creativity to keep up with their high bar (and the weekly format).  Any reason to 'have' to do some stamping is a good thing!

  To celebrate I'm playing along with The Paper Players last challenge of 2020 which is a fantastic color challenge, silver, white and black!

  Now that I've mailed out all my Christmas cards it's time to look forward so I decided to design a Happy New Years card and of course the Snowflake Wishes set is perfect for a crisp clean look with these challenge colors.

  The card starts with a Whisper White thick base then a layer of Whisper White embossed with the Winter Snow embossing folder.  I sponged some silver ink around the edge for a bit of definition.

  Using the Layering Circles dies I cut a Basic Black ring and then layered my silver ink stamped snowflakes around it with dimensionals.  I added on smaller snowflake cut from the retired Galvanized Metal cardstock.

  The banner is stamped and embossed with a long retired stamp from the Good Greetings stamp set.  I popped it with dimensionals and added a black bakers twine bow.

  The last touches are the iridescent sequins for a bit of shine.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Snowflake Wishes, Good Greetings (retired)

Ink: Silver, Versamark

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Basic Black, Galvanized Metallic cardstock (retired)

Accessories: Layering Circles dies, So Many Snowflakes dies, Winter Snow embossing folder, black embossing powder, dimensionals, black baker's twine, sequins (retired)

Festive Post Background - Stampin' Up! Tree Angle

   The problem with Stampin' Up! having so many great Christmas themed Designer Series Papers is that it's hard to choose which one to use!  I bought way too much paper from this Mini Catalog and while I've used it a lot I still have a lot left.  My card today uses a lot of patterns but not necessarily a lot of paper...baby steps I guess!

  The card starts with a Mossy Meadow card base then I used a piece of Whisper White to layer my Rectangular Postage punch pieces.  The Heartwarming Hugs DSP has lovely smaller scaled patterns that are perfect to mix and match with.  You can't quite fit 3 punches across so I just trimmed off the overhang with my paper snips for clean edges.

  The larger label from Tasteful Label dies is a great base for my Tree Angle Christmas tree stamped in Mossy Meadow on Pear Pizzazz.  The trunk is stamped in Soft Suede right onto the label and the tree is popped on dimensionals.  A Real Red bakers twine bow goes across the label.

  The 'merry' is stamped in Versamark and embossed in gold.  The sentiment is from Curvy Christmas and I just trimmed off the the 'Christmas' part to make the banner narrow.

  The star is die cut with the Stitched Stars dies using the gold Brushed Metallic cardstock.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Tree Angle, Curvy Christmas

Ink: Mossy Meadow, Versamark, Soft Suede

Paper: Mossy Meadow, Whisper White, Heartwarming Hugs DSP, Pear Pizzazz, Real Read, Brushed Metallic cardstock

Accessories: Rectangular Postage Stamp punch, Tasteful Label dies, gold embossing powder, Real Red baker's twine, Stitched Stars dies, Stitched Triangle dies, dimensionals

Welcome Birds - Stampin' Up! Free As A Bird

   My Christmas cards went out in the mail today so I think I need to start working on some Happy New Year cards though I may still sneak a Christmas card in here and there in the next few weeks as I never know when I'll have a bit of inspiration hit me!

  For today I'm sharing a card I made a few weeks ago to welcome some new neighbors to the the 'hood.  I had a bit of coloring therapy with these sweet birds.

  The card base is Whisper White thick, and a layer of Peaceful Poppies DSP, then 2 square vellum doilies on opposite corners.  The birds are stamped in Memento black and colored in with blends and die cut with the Stitched So Sweetly dies. The bird panel is popped on dimensionals.

  The Welcome from Well Said is stamped in Crumb Cake on Crumb Cake cardstock and trimmed to a flagged, tied with a linen thread bow and popped with more dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Free as a Bird, Well Said

Ink: Memento black, Crumb Cake

Blends: Soft Suede light & dark, Old Olive light & dark, Pumpkin Pie dark, Mango Melody dark, Ivory, Crumb Cake light

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Peaceful Poppies DSP (retired), Crumb Cake

Accessories: vellum doilies, linen thread, Stitched So Sweetly dies, dimensionals

Party Pineapple - Stampin' Up! Cute Fruit

   Even in the midst of Christmas card activity we still have family birthdays to celebrate.  So my card today is a fun, silly, bright birthday card that has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas or winter.

  I used the Freshly Made Sketches as an inspiration for the layout.  I didn't do an actual tag but I think the spirit of the main shape still shows up.

  That Magenta Madness huh? It's a super bright pink that honestly I've had a hard time using since it came out this summer.  I'm just not a pink kinda girl so it's a struggle sometimes to use it unless it's a color in a challenge.  I thought it would work well as a color for this birthday design and it actually pairs nicely with the Just Jade & Bumblebee of the pineapple.

  No crazy techniques or anything.  The pineapple is stamped and then fussy cut.  The sentiment is stamped and then colored in with the Magenta Madness Blends.  The tag panel and pineapple are popped on dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Cute Fruit, Many Mates

Ink: Memento black, Just Jade, Bumblebee

Blends: Magenta Madness light & dark

Paper: Magenta Madness, Whisper White, 2020-2022 In Color DSP

Accessories: Stitched Nested Labels dies, crinkled seam binding ribbon, In Color enamel dots, dimensionals

Christmas Gifts - Stampin' Up! Itty Bitty Christmas

   There is no end of inspiration out there for making Christmas cards so I just can't stop making them.  The Paper Players have a fun "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" challenge that I wanted to play along with.  I took a bit of inspiration right from their challenge graphic (seen at the bottom of this post) as I used the gift box with the beautiful red bow and silver glitter background.

  There isn't much stamping on this card but I enjoyed using these papers to create these gift boxes with fun glittery bows.

  The card base is Whisper White thick, then a layer of silver printed vellum.  The boxes are put together with Sahara Sand cardstock and a nice star pattern DSP from the Classic Christmas DSP that is part of the Curvy Celebrations/Curvy Christmas suite.  This is also a good design for using up some smaller scraps of both DSP and cardstock.

  I used some Cherry Cobbler (or is it Merry Merlot??) Glimmer paper for the bows.  The Wreath Builder die set has a nice bow die that is just the right size for my boxes.

 The mini tags are stamped and embossed with silver and then hand trimmed with paper snips to get them just right size-wise.

  The bows and the smaller box are popped with dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Itty Bitty Christmas

Ink: Versamark

Paper: Whisper White thick, silver printed vellum (retired), Sahara Sand, Classic Christmas DSP, Cherry Cobbler(Merry Merlot?) Glimmer paper (retired)

Accessories: Wreath Builder dies, silver embossing powder, dimensionals