Elegant Thank You - Stampin' Up! Hearts of Elegance

   I combined a few challenges today to make a thank you card with a color combo I wasn't sure about at first but ended up loving the results.  The colors come from the As You See It challenge and are Peach Pie, Berry Burst, Smoky Slate and Basic Gray.  And the theme of 'thank you' is from the Alphabet Challenge where they are on the letter T for thank you this week.

 This was a design that I ended up using a bunch of small scraps so I felt even more accomplished when it was finished!

  I started with a Basic White thick card base then I stamped the large script-y circle stamp from the new Online Exclusive set Elements of Text in Smoky Slate.  If you love vintage and shabby chic cards or just like to have a variety of styles to choose from this set is beautiful with 3 font style stamps and 2 ink splatter stamps.  All are perfect for creating gorgeous backgrounds.

  Next I used the thank you from Wildflower Designs stamp set because the font was a perfect match to the background.  I stamped it in Versamark onto a scrap of Basic Gray then embossed it in white.

 I used the Hearts of Elegance stamp set to stamp the 3 flowers and 3 leaf stems.  Once they were all die cut I arranged them to the side of the sentiment and popped the lower Berry Burst flower on dimensionals.

  The only embellishment I added are 3 Adhesive-Backed Shiny Sequins.  The color matches the Peach Pie ink really well even though the product description says it's Pumpkin Pie.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

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

Stamps: Hearts of Elegance (Online Exclusive), Elements of Text (Online Exclusive), Wildflower Designs

Ink: Smoky Skate, Berry Burst, Peach Pie, Versamark

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Basic Gray

Accessories: Hearts of Elegance dies (Online Exclusive), dimensionals, white embossing powder, Adhesive-Backed Shiny Sequins

Around the Flowers - Stampin' Up! Around It All Dies

   Sometimes an idea actually turns out close to the way I hoped it would!  I was looking at the Around It All dies and thinking they would be cute as layered flowers and tucked the idea away to try it out one of these days.  Then I saw that I was due to post a new stamping challenge for my customers and the colors were Coastal Cabana, Petunia Pop and Shy Shamrock. Then I saw the Freshly Made Sketches challenge!  It was stamping fate so this is a card that I had to make.... 'had' is doing a lot of work in that sentence but still lol!

    I started with a Basic White thick card base, then topped it with a layer of Basic White that is embossed with the Sale-A-Bration (SAB) reward Starstruck embossing folder.

  Then using the 4 smallest circles from the Around It All die set I cut a variety of circles using both card stock and DSP in Petunia Pop and Coastal Cabana.  This die set is an Online Exclusive and a nice addition to your stamping supplies as a super versatile circle-ish shape.  Eagle eyed stampers might spot that 2 of the 3 DSPs used are also Sale-A-Bration rewards! The top 2 layers of each flower are adhered with dimensionals.

Next I used the smallest circle to cut out the leaves from Shy Shamrock cardstock.  Each flower got 2 leaves.  

  Then using the layout from the challenge I arranged my flowers on the card front and adhered them with glue.  I thought about another layer of dimensionals but I think that would have made the card a bit thick for mailing.

  For the sentiment I wanted one that was very small so as not to cover up the whole flower so after searching through my sets I found this one from the Hearts & Hugs stamp set and stamped it in Shy Shamrock ink and added it to the flower.

  For a bit of sparkle I added some 2024-2026 In Color Shimmer gems to the flower centers.  I think this color combo it really cute and perfect for spring flowers and the FMS challenge came by at just the right time!

Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

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

Stamps: Hearts & Hugs

Ink: Shy Shamrock

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Shy Shamrock, Petunia Pop, Coastal Cabana, Fruit Salad DSP (SAB), Bloom Impressions DSP (SAB), 2024-2026 In Color DSP

Accessories: Starstruck embossing folder (SAB), Around It All dies (Online Exclusive), dimensionals, 2024-2026 In Color Shimmer gems

Happy 2025 - Stampin' Up! Birthday Celebration

   I still have a few more happy new year cards to send out so I've been trying to work on a fun design that I could make multiples of and then get them in the mail.  This design is not that one.  It will go out in the mail soon but it is for sure a one of kind.  I fussed over this one so much that I don't think I can bring myself to do it again even though the design part is the time consuming part and it's not the actual stamping!  Anyway, I love the colors and using a piece of the Beautiful Skies DSP just seems like a perfect choice for a new years card.  The layout is inspired by the Stampin' Up! Only Challenge layout.

  I started with a Blueberry Bushel card base, then a layer of the Online Exclusive Beautiful Skies DSP edged with a wavy strip of Pretty in Pink cut with the Ocean Friends dies.

 Using the Birthday Celebrations dies I cut the banner shape from Azure Afternoon and then the numbers from 2024-2026 In Color Glimmer Paper.  I stamped the 'happy' in Versamark then embossed it in white.  The banner is popped on dimensionals.

  I adhered the shimmery numbers to a piece of Basic White then fussy cut around them making a border to help the number pop a bit more.

  I cut a few tassels from Pretty in Pink and Azure Afternoon cardstock and added them to the corners and highlighted them with a 2024-2026 In Color Shimmer Gem.

  After I had gotten this far in the design after A LOT of time it was still missing something so I pulled out yet more supplies and stamped three stars from the With You In Mind stamp set, fussy cut them and added them around the banner.  A few retired Pastel-backed sequins were the right colors so one went on each of the stars to finish 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: Birthday Celebrations, With You In Mind

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Azure Afternoon, Blueberry Bushel

Paper: Blueberry Bushel, Pretty in Pink, Everyday Skies DSP (Online Exclusives), Basic White, Azure Afternoon, 2024-2026 In Color Glimmer Paper

Accessories: white embossing powder, Ocean Friends dies, Birthday Celebrations dies, dimensionals, 2024-2026 In Color Shimmer Gems, Pastel-backed sequins (retired)

CAS Wood Texture Birthday - Stampin' Up! Kiss of Texture

   It just so happens that the timing works out so that I'm sharing a masculine card for Testosterone Tuesday!  We all agree that guy cards can be hard especially if you don't have a stamp set that is geared towards one of their hobbies like golf or video games or woodworking!  I used the somewhat masculine colors from the CAS Colours & Sketches challenge for this masculine birthday card that has some stamped texture along with a few cute birthday candles!

  Excuse the lighting in this photo!  I swear if I miss the small sweet 15 minute window in the afternoon to take card photos in my stamp room they just kind of look off!  But this one is clean and simple and you get the gist!

  I used these colors for another card that ended up being very much not 'Clean and Simple' so I wanted to try again and keep it CAS this time.

  I started with a Basic White thick card base, then using the new Online Exclusive Kiss of Texture stamp set I inked up the solid square stamp in each of my colors then "kissed" the woodgrain stamp to the inked stamp to pull away some of the ink leaving the woodgrain pattern behind which I stamped onto Basic White.  Be sure to clean your stamps after each color! After I had each color stamped I cut the squares out and adhered them down the side of the card front leaving room for the sentiment.

  The sentiment is from the Simply Said stamp set and is stamped in Early Espresso.  I stamped 3 candles from the Choose Happy stamp set in Early Espresso then colored them in with Stampin' Blends markers then fussy cut them out.  I popped them up with dimensionals onto the squares.

  A few adhesive-backed Speckle Dots are added to highlight the sentiment just a little bit.  

  I'm happy with how this one turned out and the Kiss of Texture stamp set shouldn't be overlooked for the fun and easy technique you can do with it for adding texture with a stamped image!

  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: Kiss of Texture (Online Exclusive), Simply Said, Choose Happy

Ink: Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive

Blends: Pumpkin Pie light & dark, Old Olive light & dark, Deep combo pack (SU100), color lifter

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White

Accessories: dimensionals, Adhesive-backed Speckled Dots (retired)

Delightful Birthday - Stampin' Up! Delightful Wishes

  I used the new Delightful Wishes bundle to make a very spring inspired birthday card using the Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge colors.  This bundle is shown in the January-April 2025 Mini Catalog with lots and lots of yellow which I love but I thought it would be fun to try the images with something different.

  I used Basic White thick for the card base and then layered a piece of Petunia Pop and then a layer of Highland Heather embossed with the Forever Plaid embossing folder.

  I stamped 3 of the flowers first in Petunia Pop and then the second layer in Highland Heather.  Coordinating leaves are stamped in Lemon Lime Twist.  Once they were die cut I arranged them around the sentiment.

  The sentiment is the 2 part die cut for the 'wishing' popped up on dimensionals over the 'you a happy birthday' stamped in Petunia Pop on a narrow strip of Basic White also popped on dimensionals.

  Each flower center is accented with an Iridescent Faceted Gem.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

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

Stamps: Delightful Wishes

Ink: Petunia Pop, Highland Heather, Lemon Lime Twist

Paper: Basic White thick, basic White, Petunia Pop, Highland Heather

Accessories: Forever Plaid embossing folder, Delightful Wishes dies, dimensionals, Iridescent Faceted Gem

Friendly Bee - Stampin' Up! Bee My Valentine

   I was in a stamping rut the other day and just had no ideas to get a card started so I looked at some of my favorite challenges and the Festive Friday challenge gave me so many options that I didn't have to decide anything else; that was all I needed.  The inspiration for the choice board is National Winnie the Pooh Day and I decided to use yellow, red, twine, bees, honey and a friend sentiment.

  I started with a Real Red card base, then a layer of Pool Party and topped that with a piece of retired Bee Mine DSP in a pretty yellow plaid.  I wrapped a bit of really old retired Pool Party/white baker's twine around the panels before adhering them to the card front.

  I had a die cut circle in my scrap bin because the die slipped and one edge got cut funny so I simply turned it to where I knew it would be covered up and then stamped the friend sentiment from the new Ocean Friends stamp set in Pool Party ink.  The circle is popped on dimensionals.

  The cute bee from the Bee My Valentine stamp set is stamped and punched out with the coordinating Bee Builder punch.  I added it to the top edge of the circle.

  I used another piece of the Bee Mine DSP to fussy cut a few of the sweet little honey jars and added those to the opposite side of the circle.

  Finally I dug into my stash of retired embellishments and came up with just enough of these tiny adhesive hearts and added them to the circle for the final touch.

  If you can't get enough of all things 'bee' then you'll want to check out the newly released Meant to Bee stamp and die set bundle and the Cute as Can Bee scrapbooking products with even more bee themed cuteness!  Those hexagon dies are calling my name!!

  Thanks to the Festive Friday design team for getting my creative juices flowing with this fun challenge!

  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: Bee My Valentine, Ocean Friends

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Memento Black, Pool Party

Paper: Real Red, Pool Party, Basic White, Bee Mine DSP (retired)

Accessories: Bee Builder punch, Spotlight on Nature dies, dimensionals, Pool party/white baker's twine (retired), min adhesive hearts (retired)

Mambo Lobster - Stampin' Up! Ocean Friends

   Central Virginia got some more snow last night and until noon today a good portion of the Richmond Metro area was under a boil water advisory so needless to say a lot has been going on in my area!  I was supposed to have my new Mini Catalog & Sale-a-Bration open house this afternoon but after watching the weather and there being some wide variations on the snow totals and whatnot I decided to play it safe and cancel the event.  I did a Facebook Live event instead and at least got to show off some of the new products and put together a few projects.  I hope my customers enjoyed seeing it all from the warm comfort of their own homes!  I'l be sharing those projects in the next few days but today I've got another card I made using the Ocean Friends bundle.

  I used the Global Design Project layout.  Ever since this challenge went to Instagram only and stopped posting the challenge to their blog I seem to miss it more weeks than not but I saw the new graphic and saved it so I could try to get to it.

  I wanted to stick to fun, bright colors for this card so I chose to use Summer Splash, Melon Mambo and Lemon Lime Twist for the main elements.

  

  The card base is Summer Splash, then a layer of Basic White and another piece of Summer Splash agian that is embossed with the new Soft Waves embossing folder.

  I added a die cut coral piece in Lemon Lime Twist then the Melon Mambo lobster on the other side to follow the given sketch. 

  The sentiment is from the Simply Said stamp set and is stamped in Pretty Peacock onto Pool Party cardstock.  I trimmed the sentiments in to two parts again to follow the sketch.

  Finally I added a few Sunny Day Iridescent Dots in Melon Mambo for a bit of shine and sparkle.  

  I'm so glad I finally got to play along with the GDP challenge this week.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

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

Stamps: Ocean Friends, Simply Said

Ink: Melon Mambo, Pretty Peacock

Paper: Summer Splash, Basic White, Lemon Lime Twist, Pool Party

Accessories: Soft Waves embossing folder, Ocean Friends dies, dimensionals, Sunny Day Iridescent Dots

Tune In Birthday - Stampin' Up! Tune In

   I always need to stock my masculine birthday cards and it never seems to be a priority until I have to send one out and I don't have one!  I'm making 2025 the year when I'm not caught short on masculine cards so I used the Freshly Made Sketches challenge this week to to put together a quick birthday card using a set from the annual catalog and adding some nice new Timeless Plaid DSP.

  Some plaid patterns can be fussy but I chose this tone on tone blue pattern because it isn't fussy and I think fits the 'fresh' guidelines of the challenge. The Timeless Plaid DSP has more understated colors and I think a lot of them would be perfect for guy cards.  

  I started with a Basic White thick base then added a strip of Misty Moonlight down the center.  Next is the DSP with a very narrow strip of Peach Pie cardstock down one edge.  At first I was going to add Night of Navy but thought a brighter color would play better off the other blues.

  Next I stamped the tv from the Tune In bundle using both Pecan Pie ink and cardstock and then die cut it.  I colored in the tv feet and the band around the screen with a Pecan Pie Blends marker.

  The sentiment is stamped in Misty Moonlight and I added the pixel stamp twice in stamped off Peach Pie for a very subtle look.  That panel was die cut to fit the screen then the tv is popped on dimensionals.

  The antennae is stamped in Pecan Pie then colored in with Boho Blue Blends.  After it was die cut it  was popped on the top of the tv.

  Finally I added some retired enamel dots in Misty Moonlight on the tv knobs for some embellishment.

  I'm thinking this might be a good card to re-make in several color variations to pad my supply!  February is a birthday heavy month in our family and they wouldn't go to waste lol!

  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: Tune In

Ink: Pecan Pie, Misty Moonlight, Peach Pie

Blends: Pecan Pie dark, Boho Blue light & dark

Paper: Basic White thick, Misty Moonlight, Pecan Pie, Basic White, Peach Pie, Timeless Plaid DSP

Accessories: Tune In dies, dimensionals, Misty Moonlight enamel dots (retired)