Masculine Balloons - Stampin' Up!® Balloon Festoon

   The CAS Colours & Sketches challenge team is back with a new challenge to get you inspired for clean and simple designs.  This time is color combo!  Rachel has given us Night of Navy, Gray Granite and Balmy Blue.  Perfect colors for a masculine card if you need a place to start for the men in your life!  As you can see that's how I used them!  

  I always need a little help getting a guy card started so that's what I went with so I could beef up my stash of birthday cards.  And the Balloon Festoon bundle was a great pairing!

  I simply cut a few balloons in graduated sizes in the challenge color, added a little bit of stamping to the blue ones and embossed the Gray Granite one with the Beautiful Pattern embossing folder.

  I adhered them to a Basic White panel with the top two being popped on dimensionals.  I trimmed off the over hang and then hand drew the string with a marker.

  The sentiment from the Banner Sayings stamp set is stamped in Night of Navy at the bottom.  The whole panel is then adhered to a Basic White thick card base.

  Head over to the see the CAS Colours & Sketches design team inspiration and add your creation using these colors to the gallery.  Make sure to keep it clean and simple with minimal layers and patterns and lots of open space.

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: Balloon Festoon, Banner Sayings

Ink: Balmy Blue, Night of Navy

Paper: Night of Navy, Gray Granite, Balmy Blue, Basic White, Basic White thick

Accessories: Balloon Festoon dies, dimensionals, Beautiful Pattern embossing folder

Jaguar Graduation - Stampin' Up!® Cap & Gown

   With a graduating high school senior in our house this year I'm going to be making my share of graduation cards and I'm glad I held on to the retired Cap & Gown set.  Not only did I hold onto the stamp set I held onto my retired Bermuda Bay ink pad because it's a perfect match for the school colors!  I ran out of Bermuda Bay cardstock when my oldest graduated a few years ago but the ink pad is going strong and the just retired Summer Splash is close enough if needed (and I have a few sheets left thankfully!).

  I started with a Basic White thick card base then dug around in my retired DSPs and pulled out a black and white pattern from All Together and a Bermuda Bay pattern from Sunshine & Rainbows.  I backed them with opposite colored cardstock and then added the fun stuff.

 The larger sentiment is from Reason to Celebrate and the smaller sentiments are from Banner Sayings.  I tucked a bit of Bermuda Bay glimmer paper under the layers to jazz it up.

  The cap and gown are both stamped in Versamark on Basic White and then embossed in black.  I fussy cut the images and popped them on dimensionals onto the rectangle.

  The 'congratulations' from Sending Salutations is stamped in Bermuda Bay and then fussy cut.  It's popped on dimensionals as well.

  Finally a few Adhesive-backed Sparkle Gems and Adhesive-backed Sequins Trio are added for the last detail.

  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: Reason to Celebrate, Banner Sayings, Sending Salutations, Cap & Gown (retired)

Ink: Memento Black, Versamark, Bermuda Bay (retired)

Paper: Basic White, Basic White, Basic Black, Summer Splash (retired), All Together DSP (retired), Sunshine & Rainbows DSP (retired), Bermuda Bay Glimmer Paper (retired)

Accessories: black embossing powder, dimensionals, Adhesive-backed Sparkle Gems (retired), Adhesive-backed Sequins Trio (retired)

Fern Congratulations - Stampin' Up!® Fern & Flora Dies

     I'm continuing to pull out the Fern & Flora bundle for a lot of my stamping lately and I whipped this one up this afternoon for the current Freshly Made Sketches.  It seemed like the perfect time to use a piece of paper that I had set aside back in March.

  I participated in the Stampin' Up! OnStage After Hours event back in March and as part of the supply packet for the projects there was this 12x12 sheet in the front of the packet and it had a wide panel of one of the Moonlit Flora DSP patterns and I thought it was too nice to recycle after I was finished with the projects.  I cut it off and it's been sitting on my stamping desk ever since so today was the day to get some of it on a card!

  I started with a Golden Glow card base, then a layer of Golden Glow embossed with the Fern & Flora embossing folder.  Next I backed a panel of the "DSP" with Basic Black and popped it on dimensionals.

  Then a Peaceful Pine die cut fern is added to a Basic White rectangle die cut.  I added some of the fussy flowers in Golden Glow to bring more of that color to the front.

  To follow the sketch I needed to find a skinny sentiment and the Congratulations from Sunset Coast was perfect.

  3 Gold Glow In Color Dots are the only embellishment to finish off this "scraps" card.

  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: Sunset Coast

Ink: Memento Black

Paper: Golden Glow, Basic Black, Basic White, Peaceful Pine

Accessories: Fern & Flora dies, Fern & Flora embossing folder, dimensionals, 2026-2028 In Color Dots, Stitched Rectangle dies (retired)

Mother's Day Flora - Stampin' Up!® Extraordinary Flora

   My card today is one I made for Mother's Day but it got buried down in the folder so I think it's high time to share it!  I used a bit of neglected product in the Extraordinary Flora bundle.  I still love this larger stamp with all the different flowers and leaves!

  I pulled together a bunch of different products for this softly colored floral beauty!  The card base and embossed background is Cloud Cover.  The embossing folder is Beautiful Pattern which is currently on the Last Chance list at a discount.  

  Next I stamped the Extraordinary Flora stamp onto a Basic White banner cut with the Party Banner dies.  I used Basic Gray for the stamping as that was a softer look than a black ink.  I used my Stampin' Blends to color the flowers, leaves and filled in the background.  That took a minute but I think the results are worth it.

  The Nature's Symphony dies were used to cut the Soft Sea Foam leaves which are tucked behind the sentiment label.  The sentiment is from the long retired Well Scripted stamp set.  The label is die cut using the retired Tasteful Label die set.

  I stamped an extra flower and colored it and die cut and popped it on dimensionals above the label.  I had a white seam binding fork bow in my stash of ribbon scraps and it fit perfectly in the corner.  A few Pool Party Opaque Faceted Gems match the Cloud Cover pretty closely for the final touch.

  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: Extraordinary Flora, Well Scripted (retired)

Ink: Basic Gray, Blackberry Bliss

Blends: Cloud Cover light & dark, Soft Sea Foam light & dark, Blackberry Bliss light & dark

Paper: Cloud Cover, Basic White, Soft Sea Foam

Accessories: Beautiful Pattern embossing folder, Party Banner dies, Extraordinary Flora die, Nature's Symphony dies, Tasteful Label dies (retired), dimensionals, seam binding ribbon (retired), Opaque Faceted Gems (retired)

Soccer Field Birthday - Stampin' Up!® Match Day

  Hopping on quickly to share a fun birthday card using the Match Day bundle along with the Alphabet Challenge to use B for "balls".  This one could have quickly gone off the rails but I figure they are looking for sports related balls and not the other kind and really who wants a card like that anyway??!  

 

  I started with a Granny Apple Green card base, then a panel of the same but I cut some of the grass die cuts in Garden Green and adhered them in stripes.  A scrap of Basic Black highlights the edge of the 2 Granny Apple Green fields.

  

  The Match Day stamps and dies are so fun to use to make clusters of elements so I cut a few soccer balls, stamped and colored some flags and then added in a shiny gold trophy to group around the birthday sentiment.

 

  You could make endless versions of this by changing the colors around and mixing and matching the dies and stamp sets.

  A few gold Metallic Gems are added to play off the gold of the trophy.  

 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: Match Day (Online Exclusive), Reason to Celebrate

Ink: Memento Black

Blends: Real Red light & dark

Paper: Granny Apple Green, Garden Green, Basic White, Gold Foil, Black Glimmer (retired)

Accessories: Match Day dies (Online Exclusive), Spotlight on Nature dies, dimensionals, Metallic Gems

So Many Balloons - Stampin' Up!® Balloon Festoon

 

  The new at SU blog hop team is back for our monthly showcase of projects from demonstrators around the world to inspire your creativity!  This month we are featuring the 2026-2028 In Colors!  As a long time demonstrator, getting new In Colors is always exciting and I can't wait to start using them to see what fun combinations I can come up with.  

  My project today features 3 of the new In Colors; Crisp Cantaloupe, Barely Blush and Hydrangea Hue and I've paired them with a new bundle, Balloon Festoon!

  This was a fun one to put together because I just kept die cutting 2 sizes of balloons in my 3 colors then stamping with the various inks and patterns and adding in some gold embossing until I had the whole background covered in balloons.

  I wanted the sentiment to stand out so I embossed it in gold onto Basic Black cardstock then used the balloon die to cut it out.  The sentiment can be found in another new set Sending Salutations.  It's popped on dimensionals, a die cut string is added, and some embellishments with ribbon and an In Color Dot.

  I hope you'll be inspired by our projects.  To make sure you don't miss a single one follow the links below to see the whole hop!  We love hearing from you so be sure to leave some love for everyone!

  Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

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

Stamps: Balloon Festoon, Sending Salutations

Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Barely Blush, Hydrangea Hue, Versamark

Paper: Crisp Cantaloupe, Barely Blush, Hydrangea Hue, Basic Black

Accessories: Balloon Festoon dies, dimensionals, gold embossing powder, Crisp Cantaloupe Bordered Ribbon, 2026-2028 In Color Dots

Simply Loved - Stampin' Up!® Simply Beautiful

  I'm not ready to let the Simply Beautiful bundle head to the retired products box just yet!  I've enjoyed creating with this fun floral set and if you still haven't gotten it you can still find it in the Last Chance section but only in the French version.  If you don't care about the sentiments being in French and only want the images and dies then order it soon before it sells out!  I used it to make a few of the Mother's Day cards that I needed this year.  I paired it up with some new products for a pretty spring card.

  I wanted to play around some more with the new In Color Hydrangea Hue so I pulled out my supplies and got to work.  I started with a Hydrangea Hue card base, then added a layer of Wood Textured Specialty paper which is also on the Last Chance list.  This paper gives a really great wood grain texture which doesn't show well in my photo but is a nice detail on a nature inspired card.  This paper is fun because you can blend it with ink to create any color wood texture that you would like!

  Next I added a panel of the new Paper Medley DSP which gives a sweet little background for the show stopping flower!  I stamped the flower in Versamark onto Hydrangea Hue cardstock then embossed it in gold.  I repeated the process with the leaf but used the new Peaceful Pine instead.  Using the same ink I blended a bit onto the center of the flower and the base of the leaf for depth.  Once they were die cut I popped them on the card front over a length of gold ribbon.  I used Gold Glimmer paper to die cut a flower center and popped that up on top of the embossing.

  The sentiment is from Banner Sayings and tucks in nicely next to the flower.  A gold bow and some retired Brushed Brass Butterflies are the perfect accent to finish this 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: Simply Beautiful (English version retired, French version still available), Banner Sayings (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Versamark, Hydrangea Hue, Peaceful Pine

Paper: Hydrangea Hue, Peaceful Pine, Wood Textured Specialty paper, Paper Medley DSP, Basic White, Gold Glimmer (retired)

Accessories: Simply Beautiful dies, gold embossing powder, gold trim (retired), dimensionals, Brushed Brass Butterflies (retired)

Good Things Ferns - Stampin' Up!® Fern & Flora

   Today's card is another one that features the Fern & Flora bundle.  If I haven't convinced you yet to add this bundle to your next order (if you don't already have it!) then keep stopping by to see what else I'm using it for because I think this versatile bundle should be in your stamp collection and I'm going to continue to show how I've been using it!

  This design came about after I saw the colors over at the Inspired By challenge and paired it up with some flowers and ferns!  I started with a Peaceful Pine card base, then a layer of Barely Blush.  On top of the Barely Blush I added a layer of Peaceful Pine embossed with the Fern & Flora embossing folder.  I added some Peaceful Pine ink along the edges using a blending brush.

  The sentiment from Banner Sayings is stamped on a band of Basic White in Secret Sea ink.  Next I cut out a fern in my 3 card colors and tucked them behind a Secret Sea die cut circle.

  The flower image from the Fern & Flora stamp set is stamped in Secret Sea ink and then colored in with Blends markers.  It's die cut then popped on dimensionals on the circle.

  A few 2026-2028 In Color Dots in Barely Blush are added as a final touch.

  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: Fern & Flora, Banner Sayings

Ink: Secret Sea, Peaceful Pine

Blends: Peaceful Pine light, Barely Blush light & dark

Paper: Peaceful Pine, Barely Blush, Secret Sea, Basic White

Accessories: Fern & Flora embossing folder, Fern & Flora dies, Stylish Shapes dies, dimensionals, 2026-2028 In Color Dots