Watercolor Blossom - Stampin' Up!® Simply Beautiful

   My stampers made this watercolor card at my last class using the Simply Beautiful Bundle.  This easy technique requires no painting experience!

  This one starts with a Crumb Cake base then a layer of Lovely & Beautiful DSP in a subtle Old Olive pattern.  Just under the edge of the DSP is a strip of Petunia Pop Two Toned cardstock with a torn edge.  To hide the seam of the 2 papers is a length of Old Olive Specialty RickRack adhered with Tear and Tape.

  The blossom is the star of the card!  It's stamped in Versamark onto watercolor paper and then embossed with gold embossing powder.  Water is then spritzed onto the flower until it puddles in the separate petals.  Then using a waterpainter and a small amount of reinker (this one uses Darling Duckling and Petunia Pop) the tip of the painter is touched to the puddles in the flower letting the ink spread out.  Once you like the look you can dry the water and ink with a heat tool or let it air dry before adding it to the card front.  The best part of this technique is that each one will be completely different depending on the amount of water and ink you add.

  A leaf is stamped in Old Olive ink onto the light side of the Old Olive Two Toned cardstock and is die cut and tucked under the edge of the blossom.  A simple sentiment is added just under the torn paper. Finally a few faceted sequins are added to bring in some more gold.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

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

Stamps: Simply Beautiful, Banner Sayings

Ink: Darling Duckling, Petunia Pop, Old Olive, Versamark

Paper: Crumb Cake, Watercolor paper, Lovely & Beautiful DSP, Two Toned Old Olive, Two Toned Petunia Pop

Accessories: Simply Beautiful Dies, dimensionals, gold embossing powder, Old Olive Specialty RickRack, Loose Gold Sequins

Bird Line Up Hello - Stampin' Up!® Cutest Crew

    The Cutest Crew bundle was tops on my list to order after seeing the demonstrator preorder for the upcoming Stampin' Up! ® March Online Exclusives!  This set has adorable little animal images and cute accent stamps as well as dies to go along.  I think the birds are what first caught my eye so I wanted to use them first!  The color combo at Color Dare Challenge just seemed like a perfect match!

  I started with a Soft Sea Foam base, then cut a slightly smaller panel of the same and stamped the little bird feet all over for a fun background.  I found them pretty easy to line up for an even, continuous look.

  Next I stamped the birds in Memento Black twice across a piece of Basic White and then colored them in with Blends along with the tufts of grass.  I popped this piece on dimensional onto another slightly wider piece of Basic White and adhered it all to the card front.

  The sentiment is also stamped in Memento black and I added a few pink dots for just a bit of embellishment.

  I can't wait to create more cards with this fun set!  Look for it to be released for all to order the first week of March!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Items marked with a * will be available with the release of the March 2026 Online Exclusives.

Stamps: Cutest Crew* (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Memento Black, Soft Sea Foam

Blends: Balmy Blue light & dark, Lemon Lolly light & dark, Flirty Flamingo light & dark, Soft Sea Foam light & dark, Daffodil Delight dark

Paper: Soft Sea Foam, Basic White

Accessories: Cutest Crew dies* (Online Exclusive), dimensionals, Adhesive-Backed Dots for Days (retired)

Flirty Peony Birthday - Stampin' Up!® Simply Beautiful

 I'm hosting the newest challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches today!  I designed what I think is an interesting sketch and I hope you'll join in and share your creation in the gallery!  What shapes will you use??

   I went with an obvious choice of a flower for my shape but I have some other ideas too that I might just have to try with this layout.

  I wish that I were a better color-er to do this big flower justice but it is what it is!  I wanted the bottom flower to be a bit more bold to draw the eye down to the sentiment so that part works I think!

  The card base is Basic White thick, then the stamping on a piece of Basic White die cut with the Textured Notes dies.  I stamped the outline in Basic Gray and used the Strawberry Slush, Flirty Flamingo and Shy Shamrock Blends for the coloring.

  The sentiment is from the Banner Sayings stamp set and I embossed it in white onto Shy Shamrock cardstock.  The banner is cut with the Stylish Shapes dies and is popped on dimensionals. The edges of the banner are accents with Iridescent Faceted Gem.

  I hope to see your project in the CAS Colours & Sketches gallery.  Remember to keep it clean and simple, 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: Simply Beautiful

Ink: Basic Gray, Versamark

Blends: Strawberry Slush light, Flirty Flamingo light & dark, Shy Shamrock light & dark

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Shy Shamrock

Accessories: Textured Notes dies, Stylish Shapes dies, dimensionals, white embossing powder, Iridescent Faceted Gems (retired)

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)