Autumn Layers - Stampin' Up! Layering Leaves

   I made today's card for the Color Throwdown challenge.  When I saw these colors all I could think of was "autumn".  I even tried pulling a few Christmas sets to go in a different direction but autumn was cemented in my brain so I stopped fighting it and created a seasonal thinking of you card.

  I paired up Layering Leaves bundle with carryover products from last year; Ringed with Nature stamp set, dies and embossing folder.

  Since I re-discovered this nice Pecan Pie plaid from the Let's Go Fishing DSP last week I wanted to use it again as a nice neutral background for the other elements of the card.  We're to use Kraft (Crumb Cake), Brown, Yellow Gold, and Red for the challenge.  So I thought the browns would be the main colors with pops of the yellow and red.

  

  The Crumb Cake layer is embossed with the Ringed With Nature embossing folder.  The sentiment from Ringed With Nature is stamped on Very Vanilla with Pecan Pie ink and die cut with the Stylish Shapes dies.

  I stamped several of the Layering Leaves branches in Pecan Pie ink onto Crushed Curry and Poppy Parade and punched them out with the coordinating punch.  I layered the stamped branches with some die cut branches from the Ringed With Nature dies behind the sentiment and popped the whole thing on dimensionals.

 

  I added a linen twine bow to the side and some Crumb Cake adhesive-back speckled dots under the sentiment.

  All of the products used on this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Ringed With Nature, Layering Leaves

Ink: Pecan Pie

Paper: Let's Go Fishing DSP, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Pecan Pie, Poppy Parade, Crushed Curry

Accessories: Ringed with Nature dies/embossing folder, Stylish Shapes dies, Bough punch, dimensionals, linen twine, adhesive-backed speckled dots

Christmas Beaver - Stampin' Up! Festive & Fun

 My challenge inspirations for this card are full on Christmas challenges.  The layout is inspired by the sketch at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown and then the over all theme at Global Design Project is 'Tis the Season.  Both are perfect challenges for this time of year!

  This card is pretty traditional with the colors and papers but it veers off the rails a bit with the focal image being a Christmas beaver!  The little beaver is from the Festive & Fun stamp set and is just too cute but so small!  This layout is perfect to highlight a smaller image.  I hadn't used this image on a card yet and was waiting for the the perfect way to show him/her off! I think this might be it!

  I started with a Shaded Spruce base, then topped it with a piece of Joy of Christmas DSP.  The narrow strip is another pattern from this pack.  The greenery and red plaid designs work great together.  

  The beaver is stamped in Early Espresso and then colored in with Blends.  The Basic White circle is adhered to a Shaded Spruce circle cut with the Stylish Shapes dies and is then popped on dimensionals.

  I cut some greenery with the Timeless Arrangements dies and the smaller scale of the sprigs is perfect for the smaller image so it doesn't get overwhelmed.  I pulled a small scrap of red ribbon out of my scrap bin and tied a fork bow and added it over the greenery.

  The sentiment from Festive & Fun is stamped in Shaded Spruce and and cut apart to fit on the plaid strip.  

  The final details are a few green sequins from the retired Adhesive backed seasonal sequin pack from last year's holiday mini.

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

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Festive & Fun

Ink: Early Espresso, Shaded Spruce

Blends: Pecan pie light & dark, Deep

Paper: Shaded Spruce, Joy of Christmas DSP, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Basic White

Accessories: Stylish Shapes dies, Timeless Arrangements dies, circle dies, dimensionals, Real Red ribbon, seasonal sequins (retired)

  

Santa Was Here - Stampin' Up! Just My Type

   I used the Freshly Made Sketches challenge for my layout today.  They have a great square layout and since I hardly ever make square cards it was a true challenge.   Having even just a tiny bit smaller "canvas" really made me have to work hard to get the elements just right.  Not sure I'm totally pleased with this one; maybe need to try with different colors??  But I like the typewriter and the note from Santa idea.

 I used a piece of Basic White thick for the base and it's cut 4.25" x 4.25".  The Merry Bold & Bright DSP has a great selection of fun patterns so I'll have to give a try with another sheet and see if I like that one better!  I chose for this card what I kind of just thought of as 'the Santa hat' pattern until I saw a stamping friend refer to the trees....and I was like duh!  That's a star on top not a pompom on the hat!  It's all in the eyes of the beholder right??  Anyway....I rounded the 2 corners of this panel and then added a Poppy Parade band across the card front.

  Next, I stamped some Crushed Curry stars from the Merry & Bright stamp set onto a piece of basic White then backed it with a panel of Granny Apple Green foil.  I wrapped a bit of baker's twine around it and tied a bow.  This panel is popped on dimensionals.

  The typewriter from Just My Type stamp set is stamped in Memento black and the sentiment also from the Bright & Merry set is stamped in Poppy Parade.  I fussy cut it out and adhered it with dimensionals to the side to follow the sketch.

  Finally a few iridescent adhesive-backed discs are added to the rectangle panel for a bit of shine.

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

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Just My Type, Merry & Bright

Ink: Poppy Parade, Memento Black

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Poppy Parade, Granny Apple Green foil, Merry Bold & Bright DSP

Accessories: Iridescent adhesive-backed discs, dimensionals, corner rounder punch (retired), baker's twine (retired)

Foodie Wreath - Stampin' Up! Wishes All Around Dies

   Now let me explain my title before someone leaves a comment saying "foodie wreath" what the heck are you talking about Amanda??  The Stampin' Up! Only challenge has the fun and unique challenge of using at least 2 of the Stampin' Up! colors that are named after food.  They have the whole color list on the challenge site.  And this challenge just happens to match a color combo I saw while out shopping the other day that I wanted to try.

  I used Wild Wheat, Crumb Cake, Lemon Lolly and Cherry Cobbler for my food related colors and I threw in Poppy Parade because it was in the color combo that I saw.  Check out this fun vintage tin that showed these colors!  Isn't it fun??!

  Anyway I was inspired by both the challenge and the tin and I think the resulting card came out pretty well.  It's a bit of a non-traditional color combo for Christmas but I think it works.

  I embossed a piece of Crumb Cake with the Snowflake Sky embossing folder for the base then added a piece of Garden Walk DSP in a Wild Wheat stripe on he bottom.  I covered the seam with a stripe of retired gold specialty paper.  This was the the gold that also came with rose gold and is a nice brushed looked.  It looks nicer in real life; the subtle shine doesn't come through on this photo.

  To make the wreath I just cut one each in Lemon Lolly, Poppy Parade and Cherry Cobbler using he Wishes All Around dies.  I adhered them together then added it to the card front.

 I stamped the sentiment on Very Vanilla in Cherry Cobbler ink then cut it out with the little banner die from the Zany Zoo die set; it was the perfect size for this sentiment and to fit in the wreath.  Before adhering to he card front with dimensionals I added a bit of retired gold edged ribbon behind it.

  The banner is jazzed up with a few mini stars made with a tiny die in the Stars at Night die set.  I used more of the gold specialty paper for them.

 Finally I added 3 faceted gold gems to the side of the wreath for some more holiday shine.

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

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Brightest Glow

Ink: Cherry Cobbler

Paper: Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Poppy Parade, Wild Wheat, Lemon Lolly, Garden Walk DSP, gold specialty paper (retired)

Accessories: Snowflake Sky embossing folder, Wishes All Around dies, Stars at Night dies, Zany Zoo dies, dimensionals, gold edged ribbon (retired), gold faceted gems (retired)

CAS Christmas Tree - Stampin' Up! More Wishes

   I didn't have much time to stamp yesterday or today so when I saw the CAS Colours & Sketches challenge this afternoon I figured I could squeeze in a quick clean and simple card with these colors and I actually made it happen!  I pretty much had an idea right away and I'm pleased with how it came out.  I might try to re-create it with smaller sentiments to make it even more CAS.

  We were to use the colors Boho Blue, Mossy Meadow and Real Red.  All I did was start with a Mossy Meadow base, then embossed a piece of Basic White with the Stars at Night hybrid embossing folder.  Then I stamped the words on the cardstock colors in Versamark and then embossed in white.  The card stock is 1 1/4" wide.

  I added a Pecan Pie trunk and a gold fine shimmer star cut with one of the tiny star dies in the Stars at Night set.

  Since it was a CAS challenge I didn't add any ribbon or other embellishment and kept it basic.

  This was a fun challenge and I'm glad I had just enough time to squeeze in a card!

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

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: More Wishes

Ink: Versamark

Paper: Boho Blue, Mossy Meadow, Real Red, Basic White, Pecan Pie, gold Fine Shimmer paper (retired)

Accessories: Stars at Night Hybrid embossing folder/dies, dimensionals, white embossing powder

Fall Florals - Stampin' Up! Textured Floral

   I'm playing along with the Color Throwdown challenge today.  They gave a great set of colors that I think could be used for any occasion.  I went with a floral hello card that is giving autumn vibes.   I hadn't used the Textured Floral stamp set in a while and it needed a bit of love!  

  The colors of the challenge are pink, mustard, rust and green.  Totally fall colors right?  I tried 2 different lighter pinks and neither one hit the spot for me so I tried a kind of pink with Moody Mauve and that worked much better for me.  Sometimes you've got to try different options to see what works best.   Hope it's not too off from the challenge prompt.

  I stamped the large flower in Crushed Curry, added the leaves in stamped off Garden Green.  Then stamped the small flower in Moody Mauve.  Finally the cluster of flowers is stamped in stamped off Copper Clay which is a beautiful rust color.  The center of the small flower is stamped in Crushed Curry and the center of the large flower is stamped off Copper Clay.

  The sentiment is from Layering Leaves stamp set and is stamped in Copper Clay.  I just love the fonts in this set.  And the sizes of the sentiments are just right!  Before adding the stamped panel to the Copper Clay base I added a length of Moody Mauve textured ribbon to the edge.

  Finally I added 2 adhesive-backed speckled dots in Moody Mauve to the corner.  

  A quick change of sentiment and this would be a great Thanksgiving card to send to family or friends or to give with a host/hostess gift to whomever is having you over for dinner.

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

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Textured Floral, Layering Leaves

Ink: Crushed Curry, Copper Clay, Garden Green, Moody Mauve

Paper: Basic White, Copper Clay

Accessories: Moody Mauve textured ribbon, adhesive-backed speckled dots

Merry Wreath - Stampin' Up! Merry & Bright

   Wreaths are always a go to focal point for holiday cards and it's fun to use different elements from stamps sets to create something different.  I used the Merry & Bright stamp set's fat light bulbs to make a colorful wreath this time.

  I start this one with a Lemon Lime Twist base, then a strip of Melon Mambo foil.  The foil is topped with a panel of white Textured Shimmer paper.  It doesn't show well in the photo but this paper has a nice subtle shimmer that works perfectly for Christmas cards.

  I stamped 2 bulbs in each of my colors and then die cut them.  I used the filament die and some retired white glitter paper and added one of those to each of the bulbs for more Christmas pizzazz.

  All of the bulbs are adhered to the back of the sentiment which is from the Brightest Glow stamp set and die cut with the Stylish Shapes dies.

  The whole "wreath" is then popped on dimensionals on the card front.  I added a small bakers twine bow and a few retired Melon Mambo candy dots for embellishments.

  These colors are so fun together and I think I may try out some more designs using them.  What do you think?  Too bright or so fun?

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

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Merry & Bright, Brightest Glow

Ink: Lemon Lime Twist, Pool Party, Melon Mambo, Flirty Flamingo, Memento black

Paper: Lemon Lime Twist, Melon Mambo foil, Textured Shimmer paper, Basic White, White glitter paper

Accessories: Merry& Bright dies, Stylish Shapes dies, dimensionals, bakers twine, candy dots (retired)

Star Blocks - Stampin' Up! Stars at Night Dies

   Well I guess Christmas is really coming because we turned on our heat yesterday!  You've got to love living in central Virginia where you can wear shorts and a t-shirt one day and less than a week later you've got on wool socks and are looking for mittens to wear when taking the dogs for a walk!  Needless to say my closet is a mess with stacks of winter clothes ready to be swapped into the dresser and some summer clothes that I just maybe will need again so they can't put up on the high shelves just yet!  

  Anyway the Christmas cards will be coming in a steady stream now that the weather seems a bit more conducive to it!  I used the sketch at Just Add Ink and paired with with the Stars at Night hybrid embossing folder/dies.

  And I don't know what is going on with my photography skills lately!  Through the view find and the small camera screen everything looks great but once I upload them to my computer they are all tilted!  It's bothering me and sometimes I do go back and re-take them but sometimes I just need to move on lol!  I promise the actual card is put together straight; it's just the photo!

  I started with a Very Vanilla thick base, then a layer of Mossy Meadow and then a layer of of the Shining Brightly DSP.  I cut out 2 squares with the Stylish Shapes dies; one in Mossy Meadow and one in Cherry Cobbler.  

  There is a cool star burst cut out die that I used on he Cherry Cobbler square for a fun detail.  Next I used gold foil and the hybrid embossing folder and dies to cut out 2 large stars.    The embossed detail is so cool and really adds a lot of texture to the card.  I popped them up with dimensionals over the squares.

  The last thing I did was use the small, narrow sentiment from Bright Glow stamp set and stamped it in Mossy Meadow and then flagged the ends and adhered it across the bigger star.

   I love the classic red/green/gold combo on this card and stars are always a perfect choice for a Christmas card!

  All of the supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.  I'd love to be your Stampin' Up! demonstrator and help you create!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Brightest Glow

Ink: Mossy Meadow

Paper: Very Vanilla thick, Very Vanilla, Shining Brightly DSP, Cherry Cobbler, Mossy Meadow, gold foil

Accessories: Stars at Night hybrid embossing folder/dies, Stylish Shapes dies, dimensionals