New Year Starry Sky - Stampin' Up! More Wishes

   At a certain point in the Christmas season I am just done with making Christmas cards but then I find myself needing to send out "just a few more".  So instead of dragging the Christmas card making on endlessly I give myself permission to do New Years cards instead.  And that also lets me off the hook a bit during the very busy few weeks leading up to Christmas.  I can make them when I have a few minutes but don't have to rush to get them in the mail!  It's a win win!

  The color combo over at Color Throwdown caught my eye and I thought it would make for a fun New Years card. Cobalt Blue, Aqua and gold which I translated into Stampin' Up! colors of Starry Sky and Coastal Cabana. 

  My card base is Coastal Cabana, then I took a piece of Starry Sky card stock and blended Starry Sky ink all around the edges giving it a darker look while leaving the middle un-inked.  I then stamped and embossed the sentiment from More Wishes and Biggest Wish (these 2 stamp sets work together to make a great mix-and-match set of sentiments) in the center.

  Using the starburst die from the Stars at Night die set I cut bursts in Coastal Cabana and the retired Gold Fine Shimmer paper (please bring this one back Stampin' Up!!) and adhered them around the the sentiment. Using the very smallest star dies in the Stars at Night die set I cut more itty bitty stars and adhered them, filling in the open spaces.

  And that's all there is to this star inspired New Years card.

  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: More Wishes, Biggest Wish

Ink: Versamark, Starry Sky

Paper: Coastal Cabana, Starry Sky, Gold Fine Shimmer (retired)

Accessories: gold embossing powder, Stars at Night dies, blending brush

Itty Bitty Christmas Trees - Stampin' Up! Wishes All Around

   When time gets tight this time of year it's always nice to have a Clean and Simple (CAS) challenge prompt to work with.  Knowing that the design can't be complicated with many layers or busy with endless embellishments really simplifies the creative process and that's what happened when I saw the CAS Colours and Sketches challenge this week.  They are having us choose one of their past challenges from 2023 and make it seasonal.  

  It took me just a second to find the sketch I wanted to use and only a few minutes to actually make the card that's how simple this one is.  

  I chose the Jan. 17, 2023 challenge #502 to use.  I love designs that use 3 of something and these little circles gave a nice opportunity to highlight a smaller image like the little tree from the Wishes All Around stamp set.  

  I cut the circles with the Stylish Shapes dies and some Joy of Christmas DSP in a red plaid pattern.

  I think the part that took the longest was lining up the sentiment so I wouldn't stamp it crooked and ruin the whole card!  This sentiment is in the Festive & Fun stamp set and was the perfect size.

  A few score lines above and below the trees gives a little detail without adding weight or fussiness.  The only embellishment is a very understated gold sequin.

  After finishing this card I began to think that I had already used this sketch so I looked back and I did participate in this same challenge back in January and I made this card.

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

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Wishes All Around, Festive & Fun

Ink: Shaded Spruce

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Joy of Christmas DSP

Accessories: Wishes All Around dies, Stylish Shapes dies, dimensionals, gold sequins

Festive Tree Trimming - Stampin' Up! Festive & Fun

   I didn't make it in time for last week's Paper Players challenge but I'm ready to join in on this week's challenge!  You can't get any easier than the "Christmas" theme right now!  My design inspiration came from a card I saw by Elizabeth Price who is one of the fabulous Stampin' Up! Artisan Designers.  I loved the clean layout with all the small details like the embossing, torn vellum and pop of pattern along the fold.

  I busted out my neglected colored pencils and had some fun with the adorable giraffe from the Festive & Fun stamp set.

  Just like Elizabeth's card, I embossed my large panel with the Snowflake Sky embossing folder.  The smaller pattern doesn't distract from the image but still gives a nice texture in the background. I tore a strip of vellum and add it along with a piece of the Merry Bold & Bright DSP on the edge.  Many of the fun patterns in this pack can be used all year round whenever you need some fun bright colors!  I love the rainbow stripes especially.

  I stamped the image in Memento black and colored it in with colors that are shown in the DSP.  If I didn't have an exact match in a pencil I got as close as I could.  I cut it out with the retired Stitched Ovals dies and then popped it on dimensionals.

  The sentiment from the same set is stamped in Blueberry Bushel and cut apart.  Mini dimensionals are used to pop it.  I have tons of baker's twine but not many in colors that are used on this card so I ended up with some in Starry Sky which is pretty close to the Blueberry Bushel.  A tiny bit of shine is added as the final touch with some Iridescent adhesive-backed discs.

  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: Memento Black, Blueberry Bushel

Paper: Pool Party, Basic White, vellum, Merry Bold & Bright DSP

Accessories: Snowflake Sky embossing folder, dimensionals, Iridescent adhesive-backed discs, 2022-2024 In Color Baker's twine, colored pencils, Stitched Oval dies (retired)

Cool Bulbs - Stampin' Up! Merry & Bright

   The Paper Players team had a fun layout last week and I started a card but didn't finish it in time to play before the challenge ended.  I loved the diagonal element and the card came out almost exactly as I had envisioned which is rare lol!

  I titled this one "Cool Bulbs" because of the cool colors I used.  Blues and greens plus a bit of gold makes for a cool Christmas card!

  I used Pool Party for the base then the diagonal layer is a piece of Merry Bold & Bright DSP.  The frame is cut out of Basic White cardstock with 2 of the Deckled Rectangle dies.

  The gold embossed Christmas element I had already from my orphaned card parts bin so I added that with dimensionals then embossed the "merry" in white onto Blueberry Bushel cardstock and then fussy cut it.

  The bulbs were stamped in Lemon Lime Twist, Blueberry Bushel and Pool Party and then die cut.  The bases are Distressed Gold specialty paper.  I popped the bulbs up on dimensionals around the frame.  I had some retired gold thread so I added bows to each bulb.  Some Adhesive backed glitter sequins are scattered across the card front as a finishing touch.

  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

Ink: Lemon Lime Twist, Blueberry Bushel, Pool Party, Versamark

Paper: Pool Party, Basic White, Merry Bold & Bright DSP, Distressed Gold Specialty paper, Blueberry Bushel

Accessories: Merry & Bright dies, Deckled Rectangle dies, dimensionals, gold embossing powder, white embossing powder, gold thread (retired), Adhesive backed glitter sequins

Simple Peace - Stampin' Up! Alphabet a la Mode Dies

   I'm taking all the inspiration I can find to make the last few Christmas cards that I need.  I've combined 2 challenges to make the design process even faster.  The layout is from the Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge and the theme comes from Global Design Project where they want us to use "Letters".

  

  I thought the larger circle in the sketch would be a great place to highlight the "letters" from the theme.  A red, green and gold color scheme keep everything classic.

  I started with a Shaded Spruce base then added a layer of Joy of Christmas DSP in a red pattern.  The Stylish Shapes circle die was used to cut the green plaid pattern also from the Joy of Christmas DSP.

  The Alphabet a la Mode dies, Distressed Gold Specialty paper and foam sheets were used to spell out 'peace'.   And to balance out the heavier element on the bottom I cut a few gold snowflakes with the Wishes All Around dies and added some green sequins to the center for the upper part of the card.

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

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: none

Ink: none

Paper: Shaded Spruce, Joy of Christmas DSP, Distressed Gold Specialty paper

Accessories: Alphabet a la Mode dies, Stylish Shapes dies, foam sheets, Wishes All Around dies, sequins

Sweet Honey Bee - Stampin' Up! Bee My Valentine

   Today's card is a little sneak peek of an upcoming bundle that will be released on January 4 in the Stampin' Up! January - April 2024 mini catalog.  The Bee My Valentine bundle and the whole Bee Mine Suite is adorable and I can't wait to make stacks of Valentine's Day cards with it.  Demonstrators got the bundle extra early for a demo training event and this card is one that we made in the training.

  The Bee Mine DSP has a lot of really cute small patterns that are perfect for cards.  I used 2 of them on this card and they are great back drops to the fun black and white bee. The Bee Builder punch makes the bee body shape which could also be a word bubble, the wings (which can be a heart) and then the antennae (which is a smaller heart).

  On the Daffodil Delight background panel I stamped the honeycomb stamp in the same color ink and then stamped the sentiment straight across in Memento Black.  

  I added a Sweet Sorbet bordered ribbon knot as the embellishment as the final touch.

  All of the current products used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE. Items marked with a * will be available starting January 4, 2024.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Bee My Valentine*

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Memento Black

Paper: Daffodil Delight, Basic White, Bee Mine DSP*

Accessories: Bee Builder punch*, dimensionals, Sweet Sorbet bordered ribbon*

Oh What Fun Christmas - Stampin' Up! Merry & Bright

   I've been busy doing some Christmas decorating so I'm just getting around to posting today's card.  It's definitely not too late to make some cards to mail out for Christmas!  I know I still have to make some so I have enough for everyone on my list.  This design is a fun one that has a great layout to show off a few different Designer Series Paper patterns as well as the Merry & Bright bundle.

  

  I've loved using the fun Merry Bold & Bright DSP this season.  The colorful patterns are perfect for some playful Christmas cards but many are also not really "Christmas" so could be used for other occasions as well.  I definitely chose to highlight some of the Christmas designs on this card though.  I don't think you can beat a red and green design this time of year!

  

  This one starts with a Granny Apple Green base then then the Merry Bold & Bright DSP panels are layered with a piece of Shaded Spruce Textured Shimmer paper for some pop.  

 

  A Basic White Tailor Made Tag has the sentiment stamped in Memento black on it as well as the wire stamped in Shaded Spruce.  The tag has a Real Red ribbon tied through the end and is popped on dimensionals.

 

  The light bulbs are stamped in Lemon Lime Twist and Poppy Parade, the bases are die cut from Shaded Spruce and the fab More Dazzle Specialty paper makes for perfect filament die cuts.  Quick tip for these smaller more intricate dies is to use the Adhesive Sheets to turn the die cuts into stickers so you don't have to mess with glue.  

  The last piece to this card are a few green Adhesive-backed glitter sequins added to the card front.

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

  Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Merry & Bright

Ink: Memento Black, Lemon Lime Twist, Poppy Parade, Shaded Spruce

Paper: Granny Apple Green, Merry Bold & Bright DSP, Basic White, Shaded Spruce Textured Shimmer paper, Shaded Spruce, More Dazzle Specialty paper

Accessories: Merry & Bright dies, Tailor Made Tags dies, dimensionals, Real Red ribbon, Adhesive-backed glitter sequins

Bubble Bath Bulbs - Stampin' Up! Merry & Bright

   I'm super excited to be joining the Color Hues Challenge as a guest designer for their new challenge!  It will run for a whole month so there's no excuse to not play along!  And the colors are so awesome you won't want to miss out!  I can wait to see what you create!

  And now for the colors:

  Now if you are still working on your Christmas cards like I am I don't think you can go wrong with a Pink & Silver design for this time of year!  I went with a fun strand of pink Christmas lights but the possibilities are endless!

  I was inspired by one of my stampers who is doing a "stash busters" craft hop in 2024 to pull a few items from my stash to use to create this card.  The silver polka dot vellum, silver glimmer paper and Stitched Rectangle dies used to make the frame are all retired products but I've been holding onto to all of it so I might as well use it right??

  The Merry & Bright stamp set and dies have been really fun to use this holiday season and I think the fat bulbs are just too cute in Bubble Bath ink with silver glimmer paper heart shaped filaments in this design.  

  The sentiment from the Brightest Glow stamp set is stamped in Versamark and embossed in silver right on one of the bulbs.  Silver foil paper was used for the wire and the bulb bases.  

  I used my Bubble Bath light Stampin' Blends marker to color a bit of white baker's twine for the sweet bow and then a few iridescent adhesive-backed discs add just a bit more shine to the design.

  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: Bubble Bath, Versamark

Blends: Bubble Bath light

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Silver foil, Silver Glimmer (retired), Silver printed vellum (retired)

Accessories: Merry & Bright dies, dimensionals, Bakers twine, dimensionals, silver embossing powder, iridescent adhesive-backed discs, Stitched Rectangle dies (retired)