Best Catch Celebration - Stampin' Up! Best Catch

  The first thing I added to my preorder 'have to buy' list from the Occasions catalog was the Best Catch fishing themed stamp set.  My husband and dad and to a lesser extent my boys are into fishing so I was happy to have a new set to use for all those guy occasions!

  The set is a nice mix of images along with the Catch of the Day thinlets I know I can make a lot of different cards in the coming year.

 I went with a basic masculine color combo for this first try with the Best Catch set.

  The card base is Mossy Meadow, then a layer of Crumb Cake and then another layer of Mossy Meadow which was embossed with the Subtle embossing folder.

  I stamped the fly stamp on 2 pieces of Wood Textures DSP with Crumb Cake ink.  

  The rectangle is cut with the Stitched Rectangle framelits and stamped the sentiment in Mossy Meadow.

  The fisherman was stamped in Crumb Cake and then I colored him in with ink pads and blender pens and then cut him out and popped him up with dimensionals.

  I cut a plain fly out with the thinlet and then tried my hand at coloring on my own.  I think I should have pulled up some google images to use as inspiration!  I added a bit of linen thread as the fishing line.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Best Catch, Itty Bitty Birthdays

Ink: Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake (and various colors for coloring which I don't remember!)

Paper: Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Wood Textures DSP

Accessories: Catch of the Day thinlets, Stitched Rectangle framelits, linen thread, dimensionals

  

Little Box of Love - Stampin' Up! Birthday Cheer

  Last week did not go as planned as far as blogging goes!  I had a whole weeks worth of projects to share and then my laptop had a little accidental meeting with some water!  Yikes!  After letting the laptop dry for 3 days I finally turned it back on and crossed my fingers.  I'm so glad that it turned on and seems to work and I haven't noticed any problems.  But since all my photos were stored on the computer I couldn't share any projects during the drying time.  But I'm back now and ready to show some Occasions catalog goodness!

  I was drawn to the new Birthday Cheer stamp set because of the larger bold lined images.  I thought they would be fun to color with my Stampin' Blends and I wasn't wrong.  I didn't even get the coordinating dies though as cool as they are I liked the simplicity of just the stamps.  

  I was looking though my stamps to get a start on a few Valentine's day cards and I decided that the little gift with the heart tag would do nicely.  The card base is Grapefruit Grove with a piece of retired Festive Farmhouse DSP.  I liked the light neutral of the Gray Granite so I decided to stamp my image with that color and then colored in with Stampin' Blends.

  The box is Pool Party, the ribbon is Flirty Flamingo and the heart is Calypso Coral (which is a decent substitute to Grapefruit Grove).  The heart is also overcolored with clear Wink of Stella for a bit of shimmer.  After coloring I fussy cut the box and then popped it up on a Stitched Shapes oval.  

  The bit of confetti is stamped behind the oval and colored in with the various colors and then highlighted with clear Wink of Stella.

  The banners are just bits of ribbon in the colors and then Pool Party sentiment stamped with Itty Bitty Greeting.

  Here's to a week with no water near any electronics!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Birthday Cheer, Itty Bitty Greetings

Ink: Gray Granite

Blends: Pool Party, Flirty Flamingo, Calypso Coral

Paper: Grapefruit Grove, Whisper White, Pool Party, Festive Farmhouse DSP (retired)

Accessories: Wink of Stella, Stitched Shapes framelits, dimensionals, ribbons

All the Flowers Birthday - Stampin' Up! All That You Are - Fab Friday 154

I am still struggling with what day it is no less what year lol!  The only reason I know what's going on today is the fact that it's a Fab Friday challenge day.  Thank goodness for regularly scheduled commitments on my calendar!

I will admit I was slightly stumped when I first saw what the challenge colors were.  Can you say FOUR GREENS??!  Yup.  I pulled the colors and let them sit on my stamping desk overnight and when I went to get started on the card it actually came together pretty quickly.  I think I just needed to give my mind some time to wrap around the different shades.

  Since I'm focused on getting lots of samples made for my Occasions catalog and Sale-a-Bration kickoff next week I wanted to use a new stamp set so I thought the large flower/leaf stamp from All That You Are would be perfect.  Since it had a lot of stems and leaves I could easily work in the greens.

  Us Stampin' Up! demos get a lovely magazine every quarter with lots of samples, class ideas and techniques and I will say I got my inspiration for this card straight from the latest issue.  It's called Stained Glass and it is really easy.  The image is embossed in white onto vellum paper and then you simply color it in on the backside of the embossing.  I used regular markers in our challenge colors.

  I squeezed all 5 colors into the image even though you can't really see the Lemon Lime Twist but it's there in the little tiny flowers that are basically all embossing!

  The image is backed with a piece of the new Gingham Gala DSP in Highland Heather.  This paper will be seeing some heavy use in my stamp room with the look ahead to spring and Easter.  

  I added a bit of Tranquil Tide ribbon across the front and backed the sentiment circle with some Lemon Lime Twist and Mint Macaron greenery using the Frosted Bouquet framelits.

  Head over to check out what the Fab Friday Design Team has come up with for the first challenge of 2019!  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: All That You Are (Occasions)

Ink: Highland Heather

Markers: Highland Heather, Lemon Lime Twist, Mint Macaron, Pear Pizzazz, Tranquil Tide

Paper: Whisper White thick, Gingham Gala DSP (Occasions), vellum, Tranquil Tide, Pear Pizzazz, Lemon Lime Twist

Accessories: white embossing powder, Frosted Bouquet framelits, Tranquil Tide ribbon, circle punches, dimensionals

Happy New Year with Butterflies - Stampin' Up! Butterfly Gala

  Happy New Year!!  It's so good to be back blogging and sharing some of my creations.  I hope you all had a fabulous time with family and friends and that 2019 is full of joy for you!

  I didn't get todays card shared before the Freshly Made Sketches challenge closed because I am having the hardest time remembering what day it is!  My kids and husband have been home for weeks and all the days have just started to blend together!  I think today is Thursday because the boys are back in school!

 Since this was the first card I made with my Occasions and Sale-a-Bration preorder so I thought that it was an appropriate one to have as my first post of 2019!

  The butterfly products in these catalogs are beautiful and you're going to want them all once you see all the fantastic creations people are making!  The Butterfly Gala stamp set paired with the matching Butterfly Duet punch are lovely for all kinds of cards.

  I used many new products on this card so I'll try to touch on each one so you can find it in the Occasions catalog or earn it for Sale-a-Bration (SAB).

  The card base is Whisper White thick and I topped it with a piece of Balmy Blue embossed with the new Dot to Dot embossing folder.

  The 2 patterned papers are from the FREE SAB reward Botanical Butterflies DSP pack.  I used a black gingham and a pretty tone on tone floral Highland Heather pattern.  I wrapped a bit of SAB Daffodil Delight organdy ribbon around the front panels.

  I stamped the butterflies then colored them in with my Highland Heather and Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends before punching out with the Butterfly Duet punch.  After they were punched I mounted them on the cardfront with dimensionals.

  The sentiment is also new! Itty Bitty Birthdays is in the Occasions catalog and has a variety of smaller sized birthday and celebration sentiments.

  I look forward to continuing to share my projects with you in 2019!

  Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Butterfly Gala (Occasions), Itty Bitty Birthdays (Occasions)

Ink: Memento Black

Blends: Highland Heather light & dark, Daffodil Delight light & dark

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Balmy Blue, Botanical Butterfly DSP (SAB)

Accessories: Dot to Dot e.f. (Occasions), Butterfly Duet punch (Occasions), Organdy Ribbon (SAB), Stitched Shapes framelits, dimensionals

 

New Years Celebration - Stampin' Up! Birthday Cheer - Fab Friday 153

  How can it be the end of 2018 already!?  It's flown by for sure and I always feel the same at the end of a year like how did that happen?  I think the saying that days go slow and years go fast is so true and it's never more apparent then when looking back at the last year and all that happened or didn't happen and trying to take stock of one's life.  I hope you all have a beautiful Christmas and a start to 2019 with family and friends.

  We are winding down 2018 with a final Fab Friday challenge of the year.  It's a super versatile sketch-- (do I say that every time??) so look ahead at your calendar and see what cards you'll be needing right after Christmas and at the beginning of January.  How about some thank yous for Christmas gifts?  January birthdays?  Happy New Year's cards?

  I went with the Happy New Years theme as I usually end up short on the number of Christmas cards I need vs. how many I've actually made.  I always plan for some New Years wishes to go out right after Christmas so I made a stack of this design.

  I tried to have my focal pieces offset like the sketch but I just couldn't do it; for some reason no matter what I tried it just made the card feel lopsided so I centered my pieces.  A sketch is an inspiration not a set in stone rule so I went with it!

  The card base is Whisper White thick, then a layer of Coastal Cabana.  Next is a piece of retired Springtime Foils Specialty paper from last year.  I had a bunch of this leftover so since I was making a stack of this design I decided to be frugal and use what I had on hand.  The copper is really a fun accent for a celebration card.

  The party hat from the NEW! Birthday Cheer stamp set was the perfect image to use.  I embossed it in copper and then fussy cut (not hard at all) it.  I colored the stripes with my Coastal Cabana and Flirty Flamingo markers.  I added some retired Fancy Frost sequins to the pompom for some added party sparkle.  The hat is popped on a Coastal Cabana Stitched Shape circle.

  The sentiment from Another Wonderful Year is stamped in Flirty Flamingo and then cut out with one of the NEW Stitched Rectangle dies.  I added a little Copper Glimmer paper flag behind it.

  Definitely check out the rest of the Fab Friday design team for more inspiration and then play along.  Looking forward to seeing your creation in the challenge gallery!

  Thanks for looking!  Did You Stamp Today?

Stamps: Birthday Cheer (Occasions), Another Wonderful Year

Ink: Versamark, Flirty Flamingo

Markers: Flirty Flamingo, Coastal Cabana

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Springtime Foils DSP (retired), Copper Joyous Noel Glimmer paper

Accessories: copper embossing powder, Stitched Shapes framelits, Stitched Rectangle framelits (Occasions), Fancy Frost sequins (retired), dimensionals

Snowflakes Abound - Stampin' Up! Another Wonderful Year - Fab Friday 152

  Well here we are back again on a Friday!  And a Fab Friday challenge day no less!  Just in time for a possible snowy weekend of stamping here in the RVA!  I've got my supplies ready and the stamp room all cleaned up in case we are stuck at home!  And we have a great set of colors for you to inspire you to maybe finish up those Christmas cards.  If you're a Johnny on the spot and already have yours mailed out then you can use this color combo for many other occasions so hop to it.

  No your eyes aren't deceiving you!  There are 5 colors in this challenge.  But I know you can do it...that's why it's called a challenge!

  I fell back onto an often used trick to get a lot of colors on one card; Color Blocking.  I just used a one inch strip of each of the colors to create the background panel.

  I attached the strips to a piece of Whisper White and then ran the whole thing through the Big Shot using the Subtle embossing folder.  A nice *subtle* texture for my blizzard to be adhered to.

  The white velvet cardstock that was originally included in the Snowflake Showcase special offer sold out so fast I didn't get a chance to use it in class so I have a lot of it left.   I had fun cutting away and making a pile of snowflakes to use on this card.  It was a bit tedious with the fine tip glue pen but no big sticky accidents.

  The only stamping on this card is the sentiment from Another Wonderful Year stamped in Cherry Cobbler then cut out with the Stitched Shapes framelits.  It's popped on dimensionals above some silver/white baker's twine.  I added a rhinestone to each snowflake center because why not?

  I can't wait to see what you all come up with for all. these. colors.  Head over to the Fab Friday challenge site to see more inspiration and to upload your creation!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Another Wonderful Year

Ink: Cherry Cobbler

Paper: Shaded Spruce, Mossy Meadow, Soft Suede, Pool Party, Cherry Cobbler, White Velvet (retired)Whisper White

Accessories: Subtle embossing folder, Stitched Shapes framelits, Snowfall Thinlets (retired), rhinestones, silver/white bakers twine, dimensionals

Sweet Shimmery Gift - Stampin' Up! Nothing Sweeter

I think the theme this week for my posts will be shimmery!  If you can't get behind some shimmer and glitz at Christmas time I think your heart may be black and shriveled!

My stampers made this design last week to add to their Christmas card stashes.  And I apologize for the weird coloring of the photo...it was really cloudy and dark the day I took the pics and clearly the editing didn't straighten things out!

  Stampin' Up! has so many great greens right now since the color revamp over the summer that sometimes it's hard to decide what green to use for the tradition red/green Christmas combo.  For this one I decided to pair Call Me Clover and Soft Sea Foam with some Cherry Cobbler.

  The Sweetly Stitched dies incude this great zigzag/rickrack trim that doesn't cut but does the stitches so we used that then trimmed out the edge so it would be a nice zigzag look.  We backed it with a bit of the Cherry Cobbler Joyous Noel Glimmer paper.

  After stamping the gift and cutting it out we used the Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Blends to color in the bow.  The darker color covers the Soft Sea Foam really well.  Then we used the clear Wink of Stella to add the shimmer factor to this card.

  And the snowflakes on the background are also highlighted with Wink of Stella but it doesn't show in the photo.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Nothing Sweeter

Ink: Soft Sea Foam, Call Me Clover

Blends: Cherry Cobbler

Paper: Whisper White, Soft Sea Foam, Call Me Clover, Joyous Noel Glimmer Paper

Accessories: Sweetly Stitched framelits, circle punch, Cherry Cobbler twine, dimensionals

Silvery Glistening Tree - Stampin' Up! Snow is Glistening

  I'm keep telling myself I need to count up how many Christmas cards I have already made and how many more I need to make but honestly I'm kind of scared to see how many it might be.  I'm beginning to feel a bit rushed with some of the things I need to do.  What I should do is stop poking around the internet and get some stuff done!

  We made this card last week at my stamp club.  And I love the red/aqua combination and probably do that combo every year but I can't resist.  And throwing some silver in makes my heart happy!

  The Galvanized Metallic paper looks even better when used to cut some snowflakes!  It has just the right amount of shine to go with the silver embossed Christmas tree.

  

  I love the little detail of a stamped off snowflake behind the Real Red "joy".  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Snow is Glistening

Ink: Pool Party, Real Red, Versamark

Paper: Pool Party, Coastal Cabana, Whisper White, Galvanized Metallic

Accessories: silver embossing powder, Snowfall Thinlets, circle punch, dimensionals, Real Red satin ribbon, rhinestone