Golden Flurry - Stampin' Up! Joyful Flurry

   Gold is always a winner when it comes to using it on Christmas cards.  I don't think you can go wrong with gold in all it's different forms on a card.  I used a bit of gold ink, embossing and ribbon on this elegant Christmas card.

  The Joyful Flurry bundle has a mix of images and sentiments and the dies are gorgeous; they cut out the snowflake shapes but there are also ones that cut the shape into the cardstock for a cool pop up effect.

  I started with a Merry Merlot card base then added a layer of Night of Navy with 2 snowflakes cut into it.  I highlighted the snowflakes by blending some gold ink over the designs.

  Next, I added my sentiment stamped in Night of Navy and arranged the embossed and die cut snowflakes and strip of gold ribbon around it.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Joyful Flurry

Ink: Versamark, Night of Navy, gold

Paper: Merry merlot, Night of Navy, Basic White

Accessories: Frosted Flurry Dies, dimensionals, gold embossing powder, gold shimmer ribbon

Rustic Harvest Pumpkin - Stampin' Up! Hello Harvest

   I'm using the gorgeous colors over at Color Throwdown for my card today.  The colors they have for us are powder blue, cream and kraft.  I translated those into Stampin' Up! colors and used Seaside Spray, Crumb Cake and Ivory (Blends).

  At first I thought to use Balmy Blue but it just seemed too bright for 'powder blue'.  Luckily I still had a bit of retired Seaside Spray cardstock and pulled out this already embossed panel to use on the card front.

   I stamped the flower stamped in Crumb Cake ink along the one edge of the card front.  I added a bit of retired lace trim to the edge of the embossed panel.

  The pumpkin is stamped in Crumb Cake and then colored in with the Ivory Blends marker and then die cut.  I added a few Crumb Cake vines and then popped it up over a length of burlap trim and the sentiment from Full of Love.

  To balance out the bottom of the card I added a small banner with a linen thread bow and a fussy cut sunflower at the top.  The retired gold faceted gems are the final touch on this rustic pumpkin card.

  It was satisfying to use some retired products to pull this card together.  While it's always fun to focus on using the newest items we can't forget to check our retired stashes from time to time.  If we don't use older stuff up we won't have room for those new items!

 Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Hello Harvest, Full of Love

Ink: Crumb Cake

Blends: Ivory, Crumb Cake light

Paper: Crumb Cake, Basic White, Seaside Spray (retired), Harvest Meadow DSP (retired)

Accessories: Rustic Pumpkin dies, linen thread, dimensionals, Bark embossing folder (retired), burlap trim (retired), scalloped lace trim (retired), gold faceted gems (retired)

Fish in Blues & Greens - Stampin' Up! A Fish & A Wish

    Yesterday after I had gotten through a few business-y things I had to do it was time to check out some challenges to play along with.  The Just Add Ink theme of "Under the Sea" and the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches seemed perfect to pair up.

  I used a lot of blues and greens for this birthday card and enjoyed using the retired Sea Bed embossing folder.  It's very detailed and blending the ink onto it with blending brushes really makes it stand out.

   I stamped and adhered the fish to vellum circle which I covered in clear Wink of Stella for a subtle shine.  The sentiment is from Vintage Tools and is cut apart and popped with dimensionals.  A few Fine Sparkle adhesive gems are sprinkles across the card front for some more subtle sparkle.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: A Fish & A Wish, Vintage Tools

Ink: Soft Sea Foam, Mint Macaron, Pool Party, Coastal Cabana, Tahitian Tide, Bermuda Bay, Balmy Blue

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Vellum, Tahitian Tide, Bermuda Bay, Balmy Blue

Accessories: Circle dies, Wink of Stella, dimensionals, Fish Builder punch, Fine Sparkle adhesive gems, Sea Bed embossing folder (retired)

Acorn Thank You - Stampin' Up! Inspired Thoughts

   My card today has very little stamping, instead I used die cuts, embossing and DSP to pull my card together.

  I used the whole Ringed with Nature bundle as well as the Sale-a-Bration reward, Rings of Love DSP.

  I made a set of this design to send out for my June customer thank you cards. I started with a Night of Navy base, then a layer of the DSP in this pretty medallion pattern.  I cut the banner and then embossed it with the Tree Rings embossing folder.

  The branches and acorns are die cut with the Tree Rings hybrid embossing folder/die set and then adhered with dimensionals on the edge of the banner.  The sentiment is stamped in Night of Navy and added.

  The final embellishments are the linen thread bow and Elegant Faceted gems for a bit of sparkle.

  Thanks for looking.  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Inspired Thoughts

Ink: Night of Navy

Paper: Night of Navy, Mint Macaron, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Basic White, Rings of Love DSP

Accessories: Basic Borders dies, Tree Rings Hybrid embossing folder/dies, dimensionals, linen thread, Elegant Faceted gems

Candy Cane Love - Stampin' Up! Sweet Candy Canes

   Today is a good day to stay inside and think about cooler Christmas weather!  It's a hot humid day already here in central VA and everything is already sticky before it's even noon!  I know I'll probably be wishing for warmer weather come December but the grass is always greener right?

  I used the Sweet Candy Canes stamp set to put this card together.  If you have a bit of patience with this set you can make a lot of variations to the stripes for different looks. 

  

  By using a blender pen to lift off the main ink color from the thin stripes then adding a different color back in with a Stampin' Write marker you can get fun multi-colored candy canes.  For these I used Sweet Sorbet and Garden Green & Blushing Bride and Sweet Sorbet.  

  

  I paired these classic Christmas colors with a pop of gold bling with some Adhesive-backed Seasonal Sequins and Gold Shimmer ribbon.

  Some texture was added by embossing a piece of Garden Green with the Whimsical Woodland embossing folder.

  The sentiment is in the Brightest Glow stamp set and is stamped in Garden Green ink and cut out and popped with dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sweet Candy Canes, Brightest Glow

Ink: Sweet Sorbet, Blushing Bride, Garden Green

Markers: Garden Green, Sweet Sorbet

Paper: Sweet Sorbet, Garden Green, Basic White

Accessories: Candy Canes Dies, dimensionals, Whimsical Woodland embossing folder, seasonal sequins, Gold Shimmer ribbon, circle dies/punch, blender pen

Hippo Congrats - Stampin' Up! Hippest Hippos

   I haven't shared a hippo in a few days and this one is sure to brighten your day!  I love the black and the gray tones paired up with the bright, colorful balloons.

  I used some of the Metallic & Shimmer Specialty paper for the background.  It looked like confetti to me which went with the congratulations theme I was going for.

  The hippos is colored with blends and then die cut.  I stamped all the balloon using the stamp from the Penguin Place set and then fussy cut them and popped them on dimensionals.

  The words were stamped on Tahitian Tide cardstock and then fussy cut.  The Amazing Phrases set is one I know I'll have for a long time since it works for so many different card types.

  Thanks for looking!   Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Hippest Hippos (SAB), Penguin Place, Amazing Phrases (SAB)

Ink: Memento black, Sweet Sorbet, Balmy Blue, Gorgeous Grape, Polished Pink, Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green, Orchid Oasis

Blends: Smoky Slate light 7 dark, Gray Granite light & dark, SU1000

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Tahitian Tide, Metallic & Shimmer Specialty paper

Accessories: Hippo dies (SAB), dimensionals, black baker's twine, Polished Dots

Rings of Toadstools - Stampin' Up! Ringed with Nature

   My stampers made this card a few weeks ago at my open house kickoff for the new mini catalog and Sale-a-Bration.  The stamp set, die set and embossing folder can all be found in the mini catalog and the Rings of Love Designer Series Paper is a Sale-a-Bration reward.  If you order the whole bundle the DSP can be your free reward!  I love how that works out!

  

  Aren't these great colors for fall?  I love this Poppy Parade, Crushed Curry & Evening Evergreen combo.  These rich colors are balanced out with a healthy amount of Crumb Cake on the embossed panel.

 

  The Tree Rings Hybrid embossing folder is so cool because you can use it for just embossing but then you can add the die to it and cut the tree rings at the same time as it embosses!  On this card we just used the embossing folder on it's own but I love when you can use a product in multiple ways; it makes your options for designing nearly endless!

  Another new product that we used on this card is the Glimmer paper in Evening Evergreen for the 2 die cut branches.  It will be gorgeous on Christmas projects.  And even better is you get Gold and Very Vanilla Glimmer paper in the same pack!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Ringed with Nature

Ink: Poppy Parade, Soft Suede

Paper: Poppy Parade, Crumb Cake, Crushed Curry, Basic White, Rings of Love DSP (SAB), Evening Evergreen Glimmer Paper

Accessories: Tree Rings Hybrid embossing folder/dies, dimensionals. circle punches/dies

Cool Blues - Stampin' Up! Good Feelings

   Sometimes little dies in a set can get overlooked as far as being a focal point on a card.  I decided to use the cute little sunglasses from the Sale-a-Bration reward die set, Hippo Dies and use it as the main image on a card.

  The current layout at Freshly Made Sketches was just right for this purpose because it has a smaller rectangle that can be used to highlight a smaller image.

  I chose a blue based color palette to show off my cool shades.  The base is Starry Sky and is stamped with 'hooray' from the Good Feelings set also in Starry Sky ink.

  Next I added a wide band of 2022-2024 In Color DSP in Tahitian tide.  The sentiment from Sweet Songbird is stamped in Starry Sky and cut apart.  I popped the words up on narrow strips of dimensionals.

  The sunglasses were die cut in the various colors and Basic Black for the lenses then adhered to a Basic White Stitched Rectangle which has a Coastal Cabana rectangle behind it.  Each of the lenses are colored with clear Wink of Stella for a subtle sparkle.

  A few adhesive backed sequins (found in the July-Dec. mini catalog pg. 19) are added to embellish.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Good Feelings, Sweet Songbird

Ink: Starry Sky

Paper: Starry Sky, Tahitian Tide, Coastal Cabana, Basic Black, Basic White, 2022-2024 In Color DSP

Accessories: Hippo dies (SAB), Stitched Rectangle dies, dimensionals, Wink of Stella, sequins