Fall Birds Thank You - Stampin' Up! Wildflower Designs

   When I was contemplating the last sketch challenge I gave to my customers for a bit of creative inspiration I realized I had already made a card with the same sketch over the summer so for the second time around with the layout I decided to flip it to landscape.  The 4 panels in the sketch are perfect for showing off some coordinating papers.  I used a panel of Nest of Winter DSP for my inspiration for the rest of the card.

  I stared with a Crumb Cake card base then added the 2 longer panels of DSP and filled in the smaller rectangles with Crumb Cake cardstock embossed with the Bird Wood embossing folder for a little bit of texture. 

 I realized some of the flower images from the Wildly Flowering stamp set look very much like the flowers in the DSP so I stamped 2 of them in Crumb Cake and blended a bit of Copper Clay ink very lightly on the edges just to soften the start white.  I tucked the die cut flowers around the sentiment banner.

  A few birds from another pattern of the Nests of Winter DSP are fussy cut and added to the flowers with dimensionals.

  Some retired ribbon and faceted gold gems are added as the finishing touches.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

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

Stamps: Wildly Flowering, Simply Said

Ink: Crumb Cake, Copper Clay

Paper: Crumb Cake, Basic White, Nests of Winter DSP

Accessories: Birch Wood embossing folder, Peaceful Season dies, Wildly Flowering Dies, dimensionals, natural/gold ribbon (retired), faceted gold gems (retired)

Iconic Christmas - Stampin' Up! Iconic Imagery

   Even though I got the Iconic Imagery bundle in July I'm definitely not tired of using it!  I saw the newest Freshly Made Sketches challenge and immediately knew it would be perfect for the smaller images in this set.  The only thing I dithered about was the color combination!  I needed a set of colors that would work for the different Christmas images but still be complimentary!  I came up with Mossy Meadow, Old Olive, Berry Burst and Pretty in Pink.

 I ended up adding a few more circles than the challenge graphic had but I needed to add them for some balance.  I think it turned out cute if I do say so myself!

  The card front is a piece of retired Pearlescent Specialty paper that I found tucked away hardly used because "it was too pretty to cut into".  So I'm finally using it!  I embossed it with the Snowflake Sky embossing folder and then got to work on the circles.

  I used punches to cut a few from each of the colors I wanted to use and then stamped the images and die cut them.  The images are all popped on dimensionals and then arranged across the card front.  I added 3 Berry Burst circles for balance and spacing and trimmed off the overhang.  The word 'joy' is stamped in Mossy Meadow and then trimmed to fit.

 3 different embellishments are used to add some sparkle and shine; Iridescent Faceted Gems are used in the center of the snowflakes, 2024-2026 In Color Resin Dots are on each of the Berry Burst circles and Iridescent Adhesive-Backed Discs top the two Christmas trees.

  I had such a good time putting this card together.  If you have a stamp set that has several small images that can be hard to highlight on their own think about a layout like this where you can group them together.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

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

Stamps: Iconic Imagery (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Mossy Meadow, Old Olive, Berry Burst, Pretty in Pink

Paper: Mossy Meadow, Old Olive, Berry Burst, Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla, Pearlescent Specialty paper (retired)

Accessories: circle punches, Iconic Imagery dies (Online Exclusive), dimesionals, Snowflake Sky embossing folder, Iridescent Faceted Gems, 2024-2026 In Color Resin Dots, Iridescent Adhesive-Backed Discs

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Latte - Stampin' Up! More Than Autumn

    It is definitely feeling more like fall around my neck of the woods.  We're starting to get some great color on the trees and the temps have been nice and cool for my morning walks with the Labradors.  So I'm carrying on the theme with my card today with a Thanksgiving card rocking the mostly neutral color combo from the Color Throwdown challenge. We're to use Cream, Kraft and Orange.  I translated that into the Stampin' Up! colors of Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake and Peach Pie.  

  I started with a Crumb Cake base with sponging around the edges...fall just feels like a time for some sponging doesn't it??  Then a piece of Very Vanilla die cut with the Deckled Rectangle dies and more sponging.  Then a band of Crumb Cake embossed with the Eyelet embossing folder and you guessed it, more sponging!

  I used the Autumn Leaves dies and the challenge colors to cut some leaves and even more sponging.  The cups and pumpkins from the More Than Autumn set are stamped in Crumb Cake and then colored with Stampin' Blends.  I added a little Peach Pie ribbon flag behind one of the cups.The pumpkins are popped on dimensionals.  

 The sentiment from Choose Happy is stamped in Crumb Cake and then finally a few retired Speckled Dots finish off the design.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

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

Stamps: More Than Autumn, Choose Happy

Ink: Crumb Cake

Blends: Crumb Cake light & dark, Peach Pie light

Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Peach Pie

Accessories: Deckled Rectangle dies, Eyelet embossing folder, Autumn Leaves dies, More Than Autumn dies, dimensionals, Adhesive-backed Speckled Dots (retired)

Mr. Moose Christmas - Stampin' Up! Christmas Friends

   I haven't counted up how many Christmas cards I've made already but I do know I don't have nearly enough yet so I'm plugging away one design at a time!  I'll have a lot of new samples to show my stampers at class next week!  I used the Christmas Friends bundle again today and paired it with the Hand Stamped Sentiments sketch.  My coloring with colored pencils really leaves a lot to be desired but I think it turned out cute anyway!

  I wanted to use one of the patterns from the Sentimental Christmas DSP as the base for the card because I like the retro ribbon look and red and green is always a great starting place for a Christmas card.  While the green listed for this paper is Shaded Spruce I think a bit of Garden Green doesn't look bad here.  I used a panel of the Garden Green Two-Toned cardstock and roughed up the edges for some texture. I'm definitely looking forward to when we have all of our colors in the Two-Toned cardstock!

  I topped that with a piece of Basic White embossed with the Snowflake Sky embossing folder.  I adhered that to the card front on an angle keeping with the sketch.

 Mr. Moose is stamped in Early Espresso ink and then colored in with colored pencils.  Like I said it could be better so I'll keep trying...I definitely don't have that artist gene for coloring and need to work on shading!  

  The sentiment is stamped on a strip of Real Red Two-Toned cardstock in Versamark and then embossed in gold.  The I tore the end showing the white core and added a gold twine bow before popping it on dimensionals.  Mr. Moose is then also popped up right above it.

  For the little tabs at the top of the sketch I decided to make a little greenery sway with more of the Garden Green Two-Toned cardstock stacking 2 die cuts with a mini dimensionals in the middle. A Festive Glimmer Paper bow in Cherry Cobbler tops the swag.  

  One more Christmas card finished many more to go!  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

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

Stamps: Christmas Friends

Ink: Versamark, Early Espresso

Paper: Sentimental Christmas DSP, Garden Green Two-Toned c.s, Real Red Two-Toned c.s., Basic White, Festive Glimmer Paper

Accessories: Snowflake Sky embossing folder, Christmas Friends dies, dimensionals, gold embossing powder, colored pencils, gold twine (retired)

CAS Christmas Cheer - Stampin' Up! Christmas Friends

   After a bit of a break from Christmas card for a few days I'm back with a clean and simple Christmas card with a classic blue and gold color combo.  The layout is inspired by the CAS Colours & Sketches challenge.  The smaller mouse image from the Christmas Friends set seemed like a good choice to highlight a bit with this layout.

  I had Misty Moonlight cardstock still out from my card yesterday so I used that for my card base.  Then a layer of Basic White.  Following the sketch I used 2 narrow strips of retired Fine Shimmer paper in gold.  Gold and blue are always a classic color combo for Christmas!  Gold foil would be a good substitute if you wanted to re-create this one with current gold paper.

  I stamped the mouse in Basic Gray then used Blends markers to color him in.  I used a gold Wink of Stella pen to color the bell so it's a little bit sparkly gold to go along with the 2 strips.  The mouse is popped on dimensionals.

  Finally, holding my breath so I didn't goof and have to start all over I stamped the sentiment from Peaceful Season stamp set along the angle of the gold paper.  

  I can still see about 17 ways to give this card "more" but I'm restraining myself and posting it as is!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

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

Stamps: Christmas Friends, Peaceful Season

Ink: Basic Gray, Misty Moonlight

Blends: Smoky Slate light & dark, Misty Moonlight light

Paper: Misty Moonlight, Basic White, Gold Fine Shimmer Paper (retired)

Accessories: Christmas Friends dies, dimensionals, gold Wink of Stella

Birthday Bluebird - Stampin' Up! Country Birdhouse

   The team over at Just Add Ink gave an interesting color challenge that I couldn't ignore.  They want us to use Misty Moonlight, Peach Pie and then one color of our choice.  The 2 colors on their own could be quite the challenge but then to have to pick a third really made me think!  Many of the Design Team samples used a green as the third color for leaves etc to go with flowers but I went for a neutral so I could use some off cuts of DSP.  Check it out!

  Gray Granite is my third color and I really like how this one turned out!  I started with a Gray Granite base then layered a piece of Basic White, then 3 panels of Nests of Winter DSP in a birch pattern.  I think my off cut started at 2 inches wide so I cut it down to 1 5/8" so I could evenly space 3 of them across the card front.

  My trusty Spotlight on Nature dies cut a nice fancy circle in Misty Moonlight and I popped it on dimensionals over a length of Peach Pie Bordered Ribbon.

  To bring some of the Gray Granite to the front of the card I cut a branch using the Textured Floral dies and adhered it over the circle.

  The bird from the Country Birdhouse stamp set is stamped in Gray Granite and then colored with Blends in the challenge colors.  I used the color lifter marker to lighten the overall saturation of the markers so that the bird wouldn't be overly dark.  The sentiment comes from the same set and is stamped in Misty Moonlight.

  The final embellishments are some 2024-2026 In Colors Shimmer Gems in Peach Pie added to the branch and a few to the side of the sentiment.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

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

Stamps: Country Birdhouse

Ink: Gray Granite, Misty Moonlight

Blends: Gray Granite light, Peach Pie light, Misty Moonlight light & dark

Paper: Misty Moonlight, Basic White, Nests of Winter DSP, Gray Granite

Accessories: Spotlight on Nature dies, dimensionals, Country Birdhouse dies, Textured Floral dies, Bordered ribbon, 2024-2026 In Color Shimmer Gems

October 2024 Stampin' Up! Starter Kit Special

   Only a few more days to take advantage of this great join special from Stampin' Up!  Join for the discount, to start a business, for early access to new products or to get everything on your wish list!  No matter your reason it's a great time to join the Stampin' Up! family and my Did You Stamp Today team!

  What will you get with $56 more free products???

  I'd love to be your upline and introduce you to all the great benefits of being a demonstrator!!  Drop a comment below for more info or reach out to me HERE.

Birthday Dots - Stampin' Up! Biggest Wish

   I'm on a role using retired DSP on my designs lately!  I didn't have anything current that worked for the Seize the Birthday challenge of using dots on my birthday card so I pulled out a piece of Dandy Designs DSP that was perfect.  Sometimes it pays off to be a bit of a paper hoarder!

I started with a Summer Splash card base.  The Dandy Design panel was first cut in a full panel and cut again on the diagonal to end up with 2 pieces.  I used some repositionable adhesive on the DSP to get an idea of where to stamp the large Happy from the Biggest Wish set without being fully committed in case I goofed and had to start over again.  Once I had the happy stamped I adhered the DSP permanently.

  The cake from Attention Shoppers stamp set is stamped in Summer Splash and then colored with Blends, die cut and popped on a Spotlight on Nature die cut circle.  The dots on the cake work really well with the dots on the DSP too!  Behind the circle which is hard to see in the photo is a length of Iridescent Striped Trim.  It really reflects the card colors beautifully.  

 Next I stamped the script 'birthday' in Versamark onto Fresh Freesia cardstock and embossed it in white.  After fussy cutting it I popped it up on dimensionals under the 'happy'

  One of the nice things about using retired supplies as a demo is not having to worry about using too much on a personal project that I won't have enough to use in a class.  So I went a bit crazy adding retired Adhesive-Backed glitter sequins to the card front.  The smaller size and the colors fit perfectly with the dots on the DSP so I added a bunch to make it very sparkly.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

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

Stamps: Attention Shoppers, Biggest Wish

Ink: Summer Splash, Versamark

Blends: Fresh Freesia light & dark, Daffodil Delight light & dark

Paper: Summer Splash, Basic White, Fresh Freesia, Dandy Designs DSP (retired)

Accessories: Spotlight on Nature dies, Attention Shoppers dies, dimensionals, Iridescent Striped Trim, white embossing powder, Adhesive-Backed Glitter Sequins (retired)