Inspired Sympathy - Stampin' Up! Inspired Thoughts

   I recently held one of my Quick & Easy card classes and we made this sympathy card with the soon to be retiring Heart & Home DSP (it's on sale too for the next few days! Ordering link in my sidebar!).  All the prints in this pack are so sweet and the opposite sides are wonderful gray woodgrain prints which are so useful for many kinds of cards.

  

  I used a few of the die cuts from the coordinating Flowers of Home dies to accent around the stamped sentiment.  Some small adhesive pearls are added to the flower centers for a subtle accent.

 

  The whole DSP panel is popped on dimensionals on the card front.  As this card shows, there is definitely no need to overthink a sympathy card.  Some pretty DSP and a sentiment can make for a lovely card to show your love.

  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Inspired Thoughts

Ink: Garden Green

Paper: Smoky Slate, Pale Papaya, Basic White, Heart & Home DSP

Accessories: Flowers of Home dies, dimensionals, adhesive pearls

CAS Christmas Tree - Stampin' Up! Trees for Sale

   When it comes to Christmas cards it sometimes doesn't matter how early I start making them, come December I find myself needing more than I have made.  It's nice to have a few Clean and Simple designs at the ready to make a few more as needed.  My card today is just one of those designs.  I'm playing along with the Perfectly CAS Challenge where the challenge is to do a clean and simple card with only 1/4 of the card front being used.  

  A cute Christmas tree from the new Trees for Sale set would be just the right size for a 1/4 of a card front.

  I kept this one to one layer rounding the bottom corners and using a bit of red and gold to accent. The gold embossing on the simple sentiment doesn't show well in the photo but it's a nice bit of shine to go with the glimmer paper star at the top of the tree.

  I could definitely whip up a few of these in no time when I'm rushed in December!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Trees for Sale, Joyful Flurry

Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Soft Suede, Versamark

Paper: Basic White thick, Real Red

Accessories: corner rounder, gold embossing powder, Real Red ribbon

Merry Little Tree - Stampin' Up! Spruced Up

   The Global Design Project has a fun case the designer challenge this week.  I love the layout and the colors of the designers' project so I used both as inspiration for my card today.

  Isn't this a fun color combination for a Christmas card?  I used Smoky Slate for the background lines and the sentiment and used Pool Party for the tree and Polished Pink for the gift and star.

  This is such a simple but cute layout and I love the tree and gift popped up and the little adhesive backed sequins to decorate the tree.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Spruced Up, Christmas to Remember

Ink: Smoky Slate, Pool Party, Polished Pink

Paper: Smoky Slate, Polished Pink, Basic White

Accessories: Spruced Up Outlines dies, dimensionals, Adhesive backed seasonal sequins

Amazing Father - Stampin' Up! Amazing Phrases

   I hope everyone had a great weekend!  I didn't do too much stamping but I did participate in the Stampin' Up! Creativity Now demonstrator event on Saturday evening!  It was a treat to stamp cards that I didn't design!  Hardly ever happens lol!  I got some lovely samples to show off using the Splendid Thoughts stamp set so that's always a bonus too!  I should find some time this week to share those projects.

  My card today is one I made for my husband for Father's Day.  I used the Sale-a-Bration set Amazing Phrases-- available to earn for free starting July 1!  I paired it up with the cool color combo from Just Add Ink.  At first I thought I would go in an autumn themed direction with the Crushed Curry and Pumpkin Pie but it turns out it was a great masculine color combo!

  I started with a Very Vanilla thick card base then a layer of Crushed Curry and finally a layer of Basic Gray cut with the Stitched Rectangle dies.  I stamped the word 'amazing' in a diagonal in Basic Gray ink for the background.  Then I stamped 'amazing' again 3 more times in the challenge colors and fussy cut them.  I popped them on dimensionals in the center of the card then added my other words.

  The 'you are' is a separate stamp in the set so I stamped it and fussy cut the words apart.  I used the 'an' from the 'to another year' stamp and just cut out the part I needed and added it to the card front.  The 'father' came from the retired set Something to Celebrate and I backed it with some Crushed Curry to help it stand out.

  I'm pleased with how this one came out especially not using any image stamps and just the words which I don't do very often!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Amazing Phrases (SAB), Something to Celebrate (retired)

Ink: Basic Gray, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie

Paper: Very Vanilla thick, Very Vanilla, Basic Gray, Crushed Curry

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle dies, dimensionals

Tahitian Snowflakes - Stampin' Up! Spruced Up

   The Colors Hues challenge this time is Blue and Green.  It doesn't matter what shades just using the blue and green.  I went with Tahitian Tide and Parakeet Party for a bright, fun Christmas card!  It's never too early to start making Christmas cards!  I promise you'll thank me in November if you get a head start now.

  This was my first time playing with the Spruced Up set along with the coordinating dies Spruced Up Outlines so I kept it pretty basic and had some fun with ink blending for the background.

  I stamped the snowflakes in Versamark all over a piece of Basic White and then embossed with with embossing powder.  I added Tahitian Tide around each one with a blending brush keeping more ink concentrated in the center and then lightening as I went out.  

  The ornament is stamped in Parakeet Party with a Tahitian Tide snowflake added for decoration.  The hanger bit and snowflake outline are cut from silver foil and add a nice little bit of shiny detail.

  The sentiment from Brightest Glow is embossed in white onto Tahitian Tide cardstock and popped up with dimensionals.  

  Embellishments are the Parakeet Party Matte Decorative dots and a bakers twine bow.

  This set is definitely one that will be getting a lot of use from me as there are a ton of different combinations and styles that you can do with mixing and matching the stamps and dies.  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Spruced Up, Brightest Glow

Ink: Tahitian Tide, Parakeet Party, Versamark

Paper: Tahitian Tide, Basic White, silver foil

Accessories: Spruced Up Outlines dies, white embossing powder, blending brush, dimensionals, Matte Dots, baker's twine

Harvest Pumpkin Trio - Stampin' Up! Hello Harvest

 So if Christmas cards are on the table for summer stamping pumpkin cards are definitely on the table!  I'm making lots of samples of seasonal cards right now for my upcoming Mini Catalog Kickoff event in July.  My stampers love to see all the ways you can use a stamp set so I like to have multiple samples for each of the sets I'm displaying.  

  The Color Throwdown colors this week threw me for a day or 2.  I was trying to wrap my brain around orange and pink and I was trying to figure out how to use them so I wouldn't hate it all.  Then I thought what about pumpkins in the challenge colors?  The upcoming new Harvest Hello bundle has some fun pumpkin dies with a cool texture effect that I thought might work well.  What do you think?

  After the pumpkins were die cut I sponged the same color ink around the edges and then added the Crumb Cake stems and vines.

  I mounted them on top of a piece of Very Vanilla embossed with the Leaf Fall embossing folder.  I sponged some Crumb Cake ink around the edge to keep with the distressed look of the pumpkins.

  The Hello banner is popped up over the edge of the pumpkins and over a length of retired Fine Art ribbon which has a bit of gold woven through for a hint of sparkle.

  I'm happy I could make these colors work because I was very skeptical at first!  I guess that's why they call it a challenge!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Hello Harvest

Ink: Crumb Cake, Coastal Cabana, Blushing Bride and Pumpkin Pie

Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Coastal Cabana, Blushing Bride and Pumpkin Pie

Accessories: Rustic Pumpkin dies, Stylish Shapes dies, Leaf Fall embossing folder, Fine Art ribbon (retired), dimensionals

Father's Day Fishes - Stampin' Up! A Fish & A Wish

   I'm playing along with the TGIF Challenges sketch with today's card.  It was a great layout for my first card with the A Fish & A Wish stamp set.  I didn't get it initially when the annual catalog was released but it was on my very next order.  I love that the punch punches 2 different fish; perfect for mixing and matching!

  Tahitian Tide is a really great pairing with Pacific Point and bringing in some Parakeet Party really makes for a fresh color combination!

  I started with a Crumb Cake base then a layer of Tahitian Tide, then another layer of Crumb Cake stamped with the little wave stamp and then embossed/die cut with the Stitched with Whimsy dies.

  For the cross panel of the sketch I stamped the seaweed stamp all the way across varying the height as well as the saturation of ink, stamping off once and twice to go with the full strength ink.

  Next, I stamped 3 fish in my colors and using the punch and my paper snips cut them out.  I added some punched fins and then popped them up with dimensionals over the seaweed.

  The Clear Polished Dots are perfect for little air bubbles so I added a few of those as the only embellishment.

  The sentiment from a retired set is stamped in Pacific Point.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: A Fish & A Wish, Itty Bitty Greetings (retired)

Ink: Tahitian Tide, Pacific Point, Parakeet Party, Crumb Cake

Paper: Crumb Cake, Tahitian Tide, Pacific Point, Basic White

Accessories: Fish Builder punch, Stitched With Whimsy dies, dimensionals, Polished Dots

Hippo Hey - Stampin' Up! Hippest Hippos

   I'm continuing to have fun with the adorable hippos in the upcoming Sale-a-Bration set Hippest Hippos.  I love their cute expressions and all the fun dies for lots of great accessories.

  I made this card for my team members this month to say hello.  If you'd ever like to get more information about becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator just give me a shout!  I'm always happy to talk shop with you!

  The hippos are paired with another Sale-a-Bration set; Amazing Phrases which has a fun, relaxed feel and is a mix and match sentiment set.  This one will certainly come in very handy! I used the banner shape from Stylish Shapes to cut it out.

  After coloring with Blends I die cut the hippos and then mounted it on a Stylish Square which is adhered to a piece of Tea Boutique DSP.  There are some flowers stamped in the corners to match the die cut flowers and you can find the flower stamp in the Cup of Tea set.

  I raided my retired ribbon scraps and embellishments for a white candy dot for the flower center and a ribbon knot for the sentiment.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Hippest Hippos (SAB), Amazing Phrases (SAB), Cup of Tea

Ink: Memento Black, Gorgeous Grape

Blends: Smoky Slate light & dark, SU1000, Highland Heather dark, Old Olive light

Paper: Gorgeous Grape, Pear Pizzazz, Crushed Curry, Basic White, Tea Boutique DSP

Accessories: Hippo dies, Stylish Shapes, dimensionals, ribbon (retired), candy dot (retired)