Bear Hugs - Stampin' Up!® Valentine Kisses

  Here's another card that was meant to be made by my stampers at my January class and they only got to make it last week.  It was to be a Valentine's Day card but I added the option for a happy birthday sentiment on the inside for those that were already set on their Valentine's day cards.  These bears are just adorable and I love how you can give them different items to hold!

  I wanted this one to be more of a card without the red/pink "in your face" Valentine's Day theme so I stuck with a nice blue color palette.  Secret Sea is used for the base as well as the Hearts of Love embossed panel.

  The colored stripes are each stamped with one of the tiny accent stamps in the Valentine Kisses stamp set.  They make for a nice pop of color behind the bear.

  The bear is stamped in Pecan Pie and then colored with blends.  My stampers had to the choice to used colored pencils and blender pens if they like that type of coloring instead.  We gave him a sweet little Cherry Cobbler heart to hold and then popped him up on dimensionals above the stamped sentiment.

  Since I was trying to keep this one from being too froofy (technical term) all the embellishment that was added is a baker's twine bow.

  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: Valentine Kisses (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Secret Sea, Blueberry Bushel, Azure Afternoon, Coastal Cabana, Pecan Pie

Blends: Pecan Pie light & dark, Ivory

Paper: Secret Sea, Blueberry Bushel, Azure Afternoon, Coastal Cabana, Basic White, Cherry Cobbler

Accessories: Valentine Kisses dies (Online Exclusive), Hearts of Love embossing folder, dimensionals, blue baker's twine (retired)

Lovely Stripes - Stampin' Up!® Simply Beautiful

    I used last weeks Freshly Made Sketches challenge for the layout but didn't get it photographed in time to share.  I loved the angled stripe element and feel that this could be an often used layout when it's time to clean up some paper scraps!

  I started with an embossed panel of Basic White using the Beautiful Pattern embossing folder.  The stripes are added using 2 patterns from the Lovely & Beautiful DSP and a narrow strip of Petal Pink.

  The sentiment is from the Nature's Symphony stamp set and is stamped in Calypso Coral.  It's tucked under the edge of a scalloped square die cut from the 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar.  I used that as a base for a single blossom.

  The flower is 2 layers of Petal Pink with a small amount of Calypso Coral blended into the center of each layer.  to make the flower have more dimension they are adhered together with a dimensional in between.  An Old Olive Two-Toned leaf is also added as well as a Darling Duckling stamen and pistil.

  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: Nature's Symphony

Ink: Calypso Coral

Paper: Basic White, Lovely & Beautiful DSP, Petal Pink, Darling Duckling, Old Olive Two-Toned cardstock

Accessories: Beautiful Pattern embossing folder, Simply Beautiful dies, dimensionals, scalloped square 

Sending You Love - Stampin' Up!® Endless Love

   Happy Valentine's Day!  Hope you get and give some hugs and kisses today!  I was finally able to have my stampers make this design at my last class that had to be rescheduled twice since the end of January due to the winter storm we had on January 24. That snow and ice stuck around for nearly 2 weeks which is unheard of here in Richmond!  But at least they got to make it before Valentine's Day.

  This design is basically showing off the Made With Love suite collection featuring the Endless Love bundle.  The classic red/pink color combo shows off nicely with Real Red, Flirty Flamingo and a bit of Strawberry Slush.

  It starts with a Real Red base, then a Basic White Perennial Postage die cut topped with a piece of Made With Love DSP.  Before adhering those layers a Bubble Bath faux linen ribbon is tied around.

  A large heart is die cut out of Flirty Flamingo.  It has a few small hearts cut out from one side for extra detail.  A heart is stamped in Strawberry Slush on Basic White and is die cut.

  The sentiment words are stamped in Real Red and the 'love' is trimmed down to mimic bubble letters.  The words are popped on dimensionals and the heart from the cut out from the Flirty Flamingo heart is popped on the 'o' and colored with Wink of Stella.

  I hope your heart day is filled with love!

Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

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

Stamps: Endless Love

Ink: Real Red, Strawberry Slush

Paper: Real Red, Flirty Flamingo, Basic White, Made With Love DSP

Accessories: Endless Love dies, Perennial Postage dies, Bubble Bath Faux Linen ribbon, dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Sunshine Congrats - Stampin' Up!® Encircled With Love

  I have a fun, bright congratulations or encouragement card for today.  I used some leftover pieces from this sunburst card that I made a week or 2 ago.  The colors were too nice to not make another card with the pieces.

  I didn't have enough pieces to make a full sunburst all the way around so I just drew a pencil line across the embossed piece of Basic White and lined my angled pieces along that.  I covered the seam with a thin piece of Berry Burst cardstock.

  For the focal piece I stamped the "way to go" stamp from the Encircled With Love stamp set in Crushed Curry and punched it out and then used a slightly larger Basic White circle behind it.  I used a bit of retired for the sun rays.  The ends were much less raggedy until I realized that that I adhered the sun really off center and tried to pull it back up to adjust it.  The ribbon didn't fair so well lol!

  A few Iridescent Faceted Gems finish off this bright beauty!

  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: Encircled With Love

Ink: Crushed Curry

Paper: Basic White, Berry Burst, Melon Mambo, Timid Tiger, Crushed Curry

Accessories: circle punches, Forever Plaid embossing folder, dimensionals, Crushed Curry ribbon (retired), Iridescent Faceted Gems (retired)

Simple Branch - Stampin' Up!® Nature's Symphony

   Just a quick share today.  I've been busy cleaning up from my class on Tuesday that was supposed to be held back in January but I had to keep postponing due to the weather.  Why does it always seem to take longer to clean up than it does to set up??  Anyway, today's card is a great one if you're low on time and need something quick!  

  It starts with a Soft Sea Foam base, then a layer of Basic White cut down with the Textured Notes dies.  I cut out 2 of the large branches from the Nature's Symphony die set; one in Soft Sea Foam and one from the center of the Textured Notes dies.  I inlaid the green one on the card front and saved the Basic White for another project.

  The simple sentiment is stamped in Pretty Peacock and the branch is accented with a bit of gold and Pretty Peacock ribbon.  A few sparkly gold gems finish off the design.

  See I told you this one was easy!!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today

Stamps: Nature's Symphony

Ink: Pretty Peacock

Paper: Soft Sea Foam, Basic White

Accessories: Nature's Symphony dies, Gold/Pretty Peacock ribbon (retired), Gold Sparkle Gems (from the 2025 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar)

Soccer Match Birthday - Stampin' Up!® Match Day

   My card today is a preview of an upcoming bundle that will be released in early March with the next batch of Online Exclusive products!  I was really excited to see the Wonderful Match Suite and all the soccer/football possibilities!  Both my boys have played soccer since they were very little so we have a ton of soccer seasons under our belts along with all the photos and memories! Hopefully having this suite will kick start some scrapbooking of those fun memories but for now I started easy with a card to just play around.

  I was inspired by the card sketch at Scrap-n-Sketch but instead of a tag I swapped a banner and I hope that's ok!  I wanted to mimic the shape of the flag stamp and I the tag shapes I had just weren't right.

  I started with a Basic Black card base then a layer of A Wonderful Match DSP in this fun turf/goal netting pattern.  I added the band at the bottom with Basic Black and Azure Afternoon with the birthday sentiment embossed in black.

  The banner is Basic White and is cut with the Party Banners dies.  I stamped the flag directly onto the banner and added the #1 to it. The ball and jersey are stamped and die cut.  I colored the jersey, flag and added a bit of shading on the ball with Stampin' Blends. The jersey is popped on dimensionals.

  My favorite thing on this card is the silver whistle!  Isn't it cute?  I used a bit of retired Brushed Silver paper and added some black baker's twine for the cording.  The whistle is popped on dimensionals also.  I added a sneaky glue dot just under the sleeve of the jersey to press the twine into so it would stay in place and not flop off the side of the card.

  I'm excited to continue to use these suite products and I hope you don't get tired of soccer themed cards!

  Thanks for sharing!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current products used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.  Items marked with a * will be available in early March 2026 in the Online Exclusives.

Stamps: Match Day*, Simply Said

Ink: Memento Black, Versamark

Blends: Balmy Blue light & dark, Azure Afternoon light

Paper: Basic Black, Basic Black, Azure Afternoon, A Wonderful Match DSP*, brushed silver paper (retired)

Accessories: Match Day dies*, dimensionals, Party Banners dies, black embossing powder, black baker's twine

Hearts & Hugs - Stampin' Up!® Endless Love

 I've got more pink for you today with another Valentine!  I think if I don't get my cards out in the mail tomorrow they won't be delivered in time!  But the Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge was too good to pass up.  It's not often I put 3 different pinks on a card but we're to use Strawberry Slush, Flirty Flamingo and Bubble Bath for our design and this much pink all at once is certainly a challenge for me.  Of course the Endless Love bundle was a no brainer for this card!

  This one is really straightforward with a Flirty Flamingo base, then a layer of Basic White and then 3 1 1/2" x 3 3/4" bands in the challenge colors stamped with the "love" stamp from the Endless Love set.  I stamped in a somewhat random pattern but filled in all the space.

  I cut 3 open hearts in the challenge colors and alternated them down the card front.  The sentiment is stamped and die cut and bakers twine bow added before being adhered with dimensionals.

  The last detail is a scattering of retired Tinsel Gems for a tiny bit of sparkle.

  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: Endless Love

Ink: Strawberry Slush, Flirty Flamingo, Bubble Bath

Paper: Strawberry Slush, Flirty Flamingo, Bubble Bath, Basic White

Accessories: Endless Love dies, dimensionals, bakers twine (retired), Tinsel Gems (retired)

Tulips in Pink & Red - Stampin' Up!® Sunshine & Tulips

 I've been using a lot of red and pink lately for Valentine's Day cards so when I saw the Color Hues challenge this week I decided I wanted to try to go for a different theme just to change things up.  So not a heart in sight!  I went with tulips instead!

  The Sunshine & Tulips bundle has been fun to work with and I think it looks great in Poppy Parade and Pretty in Pink.

  I started with a Basic White thick card base, added a piece of Basic White embossed with the Beautiful Pattern embossing folder, then a layer of Pretty in Pink topped with a piece of Made With Love DSP (there are hearts on the other side of this paper but you cant see them!).

  The sentiment is embossed in white onto the DSP and a piece of retired Frayed Grosgrain ribbon is wrapped around it before popping the panel on dimensionals.  

  I used the Party Banners dies for a smallish banner and then stamped the row of tulips alternating between Poppy Parade and Pretty in Pink.  The banner is popped on dimensionals.

  For the focal point I cut a circle with the Stylish Shapes dies and then added the tulip die cut in Basic White.  I used adhesive sheets for the tulip die cut because it's so thin I didn't want to mess with glue so you might want to think about that if you're using these dies.  And there are even more dimensionals used to adhere the circle.

 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: Sunshine & Tulips

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Poppy Parade, Versamark

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Pretty in Pink, Poppy Parade, Made With Love DSP

Accessories: Sunshine & Tulips dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Party Banners dies, Beautiful Pattern embossing folder, dimensionals, white embossing powder, 2024-2026 In Color dots (retired), Frayed Grosgrain ribbon (retired)