Birthday in Blues - Stampin' Up! Hats Off

 My card today is another masculine one and I took my inspiration from two challenges. The layout is from CAS Colours & Sketches and Cardz 4 Guyz has "Shades of Blue" as the theme.

 

  I started this one with a Pacific Point base. On a piece of Basic White I alternated strips of Balmy Blue, Pacific Point and Misty Moonlight to follow the sketch. After I had the strips adhered I cut down the Basic White panel with the largest of the Stitched Rectangle dies. Since the sketch is clean and simple I wanted to add a bit of detail without making the card "heavier" and some stitching helps with that.

  The hat is Misty Moonlight cardstock and ink and then cut out with the Hat Builder dies.  The patch is inked up with markers and then stamped on Basic White and then cut out. I love all the stitch detailing with these dies; I really think it adds so much to the style. This is a bundle that I hope Stampin' Up! keeps around and even adds some more patch stamps sports and other interests in future catalogs.

  Since this is a guy card and supposed to be CAS I only added a few white candy dots and 2 stamped stars as extras.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Hats Off

Ink: Misty Moonlight

Markers: Misty Moonlight, Balmy Blue

Paper: Pacific Point, Balmy Blue, Misty Moonlight, Basic White

Accessories: Hat builder dies, dimensionals, candy dots (retired)

Knit Sweater Stripes - Stampin' Up! Knit Sweater Dies

 The Knit Together bundle was one I almost overlooked when I was making my July-Dec. mini catalog preorder because I didn't know how much I would use the big background stamp but then I took a closer look at the dies and was sold!  They are so cute and so easy to combine to make different patterns and you can use the negative bits and the die cuts on their own so the versatility is great.

  The current challenge at Global Design Project is a fun sketch with narrow strips and I thought it would be perfect to use the Knit Sweater dies to play along.

 Once I had chosen my colors I cut narrow strips and then used the dies to cut the patterns.  I also used some of the upcoming Sale-a-Bration reward Be Dazzling paper.  It's so shimmery and a perfect accent to add to Christmas cards.  I used some of the snowflakes and inset them back into the strips as well as to highlight around the sentiment.  I cut a full zigzag and added that back between the Blushing Bride layer as well. The Basic White layer behind the colored strips has been embossed with the Tasteful Textile embossing folder.

  The only fussy thing about this card was getting the strips laid out just so for spacing.  I goofed a bit and had to improvise by adding the Blushng Bride zigzag at the last minute because my spacing was so off. 

  The sentiment is from Christmas to Remember and is die cut with the Seasonal Labels dies and then popped with dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Christmas to Remember

Ink: Misty Moonlight

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Misty Moonlight, Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride, Be Dazzling paper (SAB)

Accessories: Knit Sweater dies, dimensionals, Seasonal Labels dies

Gold Star Birthday - Stampin' Up! Biggest Wish

   I'm plugging away on a card order which includes 8 masculine birthday cards so when I saw the Festive Friday Challenge for National Lighthouse Day and their fun choice board I knew I could get a guy card out of it.  

  

 I chose to use blue, stars, metallic and I even squeezed in a little bit of gold twine on one star.  This one was a beast to photograph but just imagine a nice golden shine for all the stars.

  The Biggest Wish stamp set was used for the nice large sentiment with Night of Navy ink and gold embossing powder it really stands out.

  The Stitched Stars dies made quick work of getting a variety of star sizes to arrange around the sentiment.  And the DSP is from the retired Sale-a-Bration pack Paper Blooms DSP.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Biggest Wish

Ink: Night of Navy, Versamark

Paper: Night of Navy, Paper Blooms DSP (retired), Basic White, Gold Metallic

Accessories: gold embossing powder, dimensionals, Stitched Stars dies, gold twine,

Happy Harvest Thoughts - Stampin' Up! Nature's Harvest

  I came across a new to me challenge last week and I was able to make a card to play along and luckily they are a 2 week challenge so I still have time to share before it closes!  The Alphabet Challenge uses the letters of the alphabet to inspire their challenge.  This time it's the letter 'H' and the challenge is to use the word 'happy' in your sentiment. 

 Even though I just shared the cards I mailed out to my team last month I still needed to make the ones to send out in July so I went with a general happy sentiment paired with the new Nature's Harvest bundle.  

My color inspiration is pulled right from the coordinating Harvest Meadow DSP even though I just used  small bits as part of the design.

  Soft Succulent is the color I used for the card base as well as the first layer which is stamped with the flowers in the same color ink and then embossed with the Bark embossing folder. 

  I found in my Very Vanilla scraps a few circles that were already cut so I stamped them with the flower stamp using Early Espresso and then colored them with my Blends markers (colors listed below). Behind the flowers I die cut one of the flower stalks and tucked it behind and then layered it all over the DSP strips.

  The sentiment from Many Messages is stamped in Soft Succulent, punched out and popped on dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Nature's Harvest, Many Messages 

Ink: Early Espresso, Soft Succulent

Blends: Soft Succulent light & dark, Soft Suede light & dark, Daffodil Delight light & dark, Calypso Coral light & dark

Paper: Soft Succulent, Very Vanilla, Harvest Meadow DSP

Accessories: Bark embossing folder, circle punches/dies, Harvest dies

Whimsical Christmas - Stampin' Up! Whimsical Trees - Paper Players 551

   Happy Sunday stampers!  I hope you've been having a good weekend so far.  The Paper Players are back with a fun new sketch challenge.  I hope you'll play along and share your card in the gallery so we can all ooohhh and aaahhh over it.

 Ann has given us this fantastic layout this week and I know I'll be using this one again.

  I decided to go straight to Christmas with this layout and use a few more new products from the upcoming July-December mini catalog.

  The new Whimsical Trees bundle and coordinating paper, Whimsy & Wonder were perfect for this challenge.  The tall trees were just right for the rectangle and the DSP for the narrow strips.  I added in a bit of Gold Specialty paper for the stars, tree trimming and rectangle backing.

  See the wonderful inspiration from the Design Team and play along!

Jaydee
 LeAnne
Claire
Joanne
Laurie
Anne Marie
Ann
Nancy
Debbie 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Whimsical Trees 

Ink: Mint Macaron, Misty Moonlight, Versamark

Paper: Basic White thick, Whimsy & Wonder DSP, Basic White, Polished Pink, Mossy Meadow, Mint Macaron, Rose & Gold Specialty paper

Accessories: Bark embossing folder, Christmas Trees dies, dimensionals, baker's twine, gold embossing powder

Tailor Made Tree Thank You - Stampin' Up! Beauty of Friendship

   My card today is the one I sent out for June customer orders.  I made about 24 of them so they couldn't be super complicated or they never would have gotten finished and in the mail!  As it was they were sent out far later than I had hoped they would be!

  

 Not the best photo as the sun was working against me but you get the idea! This one starts with a Mossy Meadow base that I stamped along the edges with one of the stamps from the Stitchery set.  This set might get overlooked but I think it's a great one for adding a bit of delicate detail.  

  Next I added a strip of In Good Taste DSP across the cardfront.   The tag and hole reinforcement are cut with the new Tailor Made Tags in the annual catalog.  I love the sizes and stitched detail along the edges. 

  The tree is stamped in Early Espresso, Mossy Meadow and Old Olive.  The sentiment is embossed in white onto Misty Moonlight and cut with the skinny rectangle die in the Beautiful Trees die set.  Before popping the tag up on dimensionals I used glue to add the hole reinforcement and tied it with a bit of Misty Moonlight ribbon and Braided Linen trim.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Beauty of Friendship, Stitchery

Ink: Mossy Meadow, Old Olive, Early Espresso, Versamark

Paper: Mossy Meadow, Basic White, Misty Moonlight, In Good Taste DSP

Accessories: Tailor Made Tags dies, white embossing powder, dimensionals, Misty Moonlight ribbon (retired), Braided Linen trim (retired)

Pinecone Season - Stampin' Up! Christmas Season

   And so it begins! Christmas card season is underway! With the very soon release of the Stampin' Up! July-December mini catalog on August 3rd demonstrators around the world are sharing Christmas cards and other seasonal goodies.  Demonstrators have been able to pre-order (a really fun perk of being a demo if you're thinking about joining!) and are jumping right in with so many lovely creations.  

  I had a few Christmas sets carry over but I haven't been inspired to make much in the way of Christmas until my preorder arrived filled with new products.  Now I don't know where to start!  Luckily I follow a few Christmas challenge sites so I started there.  The 52 Christmas Card Throwdown has a fun theme of pine cones this week.

  The Christmas Season bundle was perfect for this challenge with the fun 2 step pine cones and matching dies.

 

This card starts with an Evening Evergreen base with a layer of Painted Christmas DSP along one side.  I stamped a few of each size of pine cone using Crumb Cake as the base and then Soft Suede as the accent layer and then cut them out.  I also stamped a few cluster of berries in Real Red and cut them out as well.

  For the sentiment I used the coordinating stamp set Christmas to Remember which is all sentiments that I know will get a lot of use in my stamp room this Christmas season.  I stamped the sentiment in Evening Evergreen onto Soft Sea Foam cardstock.  I then stamped holly leaves in Soft Sea Foam to add a little detail.  Using one of the label dies in the Seasonal Label die set I cut out the sentiment.

  I arranged the sentiment label, pine cones and berries along the edge of the DSP popping up the berries with dimensionals.  A bit of Real Red satin ribbon is tucked under the edge of the label for some shine.

  Definitely be on the lookout for more cards with this set in the next few months.  I think there are so many possibilities with these products!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Christmas Season, Christmas to Remember

Ink: Evening Evergreen, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Soft Sea Foam, Real Red

Paper: Evening Evergreen, Soft Sea Foam, Basic White, Painted Christmas DSP

Accessories: Seasonal Labels dies, dimensionals, Real Red satin ribbon

Hats Off Teammates! - Stampin' Up! Hats Off

  I definitely have to get back to posting more than once a week!  I have a few minutes so I'm sharing a card I made last month to send out to my downline team.  They are always very self-sufficient but I still like to touch base occasionally and what better way than with a card?!

  I had the fun idea to do a tie dyed hat using the Hats Off set and the Spiral Dye background and I think it came out nicely.

  I used Melon Mambo for the base, then embossed a piece of Coastal Cabana with the Tasteful Textile embossing folder.  I stamped a few stars in Coastal Cabana ink to balance the left side of the card.

  I cut a star out of Daffodil Delight and layered that behind a bit of black baker's twine.  The fun DSP is from the Host pack Pattern Party DSP.

  The hat starts with the Spiral Dye stamp using Melon Mambo and Daffodil Delight on Basic White cardstock.  I then stamped the hat outline right over the tie dyed pattern and then cut it out with the matching die.  I stamped and cut a second hat in Melon Mambo and then just cut out the brim to add to the tie dyed base.  I like the contrast and it's a little less busy than all tie dyed.

  The patch is made using a small sentiment from the Sweet Ice Cream set and cut out.  A Coastal Cabana star is added to bring a bit of that color to the hat layer.  The whole hat is popped on dimensionals.

  I had a few retired Coastal Cabana enamel shapes hiding in my drawer so I added those for a little extra.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Hats Off, Sweet Ice Cream, Spiral Dye

Ink: Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Memento black, Coastal Cabana

Paper: Melon Mambo, Coastal Cabana, Basic White, Pattern Play DSP, Daffodil Delight

Accessories: Hat Builder dies, Tasteful Textile embossing folder, baker's twine, dimensionals, enamel shapes (retired)

Dahlia Bee Day - Stampin' Up! Delicate Dahlias - The Paper Players 550

   Wow!  This past week has been super busy!  We celebrated 2 birthdays, had out of state family visiting as well as a quick getaway for my husband and I to celebrate our anniversary which was a few weeks back.  But I always have time to stamp especially for The Paper Players who have a new challenge starting today!

 Leanne has given us this fun Clean and Simple challenge to use bees on our projects!

  I actually had to work pretty hard for this challenge as I have zero stamp sets with a bee in it!  Yikes!  How can that bee *groan* you ask?  I just don't keep retired sets and none of my current sets have a bee in them.  Luckily some retired DSP saved the day for me!

  I was really wanting to use some of my mini catalog pre-order but with the whole bee thing I decided to do the next best thing and show off an upcoming Sale-a-Bration stamp set; Delicate Dahlias. Bees and flowers go together.  It's so pretty and I didn't do it justice at all but I hope you'll get the idea.  The bee is cut out from the retired Golden Honey Specialty DSP and saved me!  I colored in the stripes of the bee with my light So Saffron Blends.

  I pulled my colors from the Color Hues challenge which is a new one for me.  I just recently learned that my fellow guest designer Nancy Leppek has numerous challenges which she runs and participates in so I had to play along because you can't have too many challenges for inspiration!  I think the colors of Aqua and Lime Green are fun and fresh!

  I hope there is enough white space for this one to be considered clean and simple.

  Check out more inspiration from the Design Team!

Jaydee
 LeAnne
Claire
Joanne
Laurie
Anne Marie
Ann
Nancy
Debbie 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Delicate Dahlias (SAB), Inspired Thoughts

Ink: Coastal Cabana, Granny Apple Green, Basic Gray

Blends: So Saffron light

Paper: Coastal Cabana, Basic White, Golden Honey Specialty DSP (retired)

Accessories: Stitched with Whimsy dies, dimensionals, Elegant Faceted gems

Harvest Coneflower - Stampin' Up! Nature's Harvest

  Happy Sunday stampers!  Are you ready for a new challenge from The Paper Players?  Jaydee has given us a beautiful set of colors to work with this time.  I thought at first look that I would go to a masculine theme but the colors ended up having a different idea!

 My Stampin' Up! July-December mini catalog preorder arrived just in time for me to use a number of new products for my card today.  The catalog goes live to customers on August 3rd (it was delayed from July due to all the shipping port problems around the world!) and I think there is something for every stamper if the size of my preorder is any indication!

  I used the Harvest Meadow suite for this card with a few other items thrown in for good measure.  I just kept adding and adding until it looked complete.  You know when you know right?

  This one starts with a Crumb Cake base topped with a piece of the new Harvest Meadow DSP in a lovely Misty Moonlight pattern and edged with a length of Very Vanilla scalloped trim.  

  Then I just built up each layer with a square vellum doily in the way back.  The Misty Moonlight label is cut with the new Seasonal Labels dies and stamped with the small flower stamp in Nature's Harvest stamp set.  The next layer is a Crumb Cake die cut and then the coneflower die cut.  I used watercolor paper to cut out the flower and then added the colors with an Aquapainter and ink pads.  The stigmas are colored with layers of Soft Suede, the petals are done with Bumblebee and the stem and leaves are Just Jade.

  The label is stamped in Soft Suede and die cut and popped up with dimensionals across the other layers. I added a few Elegant Faceted Gems for good measure to to add a tiny bit of sparkle to this vintage-y card.

  Check out The Paper Players Design Team samples and then play along with us!

Jaydee
 LeAnne
Claire
Joanne
Laurie
Anne Marie
Ann
Nancy
Debbie 

 Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Nature's Harvest

Ink: Just Jade, Bumblebee, Soft Suede, Misty Moonlight

Paper: Crumb Cake, Harvest Meadow DSP, Misty Moonlight, Watercolor paper

Accessories: Very Vanilla scalloped lace trim, vellum doily, Harvest Dies, Seasonal Labels dies, dimensionals, Elegant Faceted gems

Pink Triple Scoop - Stampin' Up! Sweet Ice Cream

   I'm so excited to be guest designing at the Tic Tac Toe Challenge this week.   This card from a few weeks back was a Designer's Choice which got me the fun invitation to join the fabulous TTTC design team for this challenge!

  There is a really fun choice board to work with this week.  Remember you can do any across, down or diagonal set of three.  

  For my card I used the right hand down column; Pink, Glitter and Ice Cream to make a fun birthday card.

   I started with a Very Vanilla thick card base then topped it with a piece of the recently retired Ice Cream Corner DSP.  I liked the crosshatch pattern that looks like an sugar cone and pairs nicely with my pinks.

  For my glitter element the most obvious is the strip of Blushing Bride Glimmer paper across the front but what doesn't show up well in the photo is the shimmery Pearlescent paper used on the 'sweet', as well as the Wink of Stella on the top scoops sprinkles and on the 'birthday'.  So trust me that there is some sparkle here.

  The cone and 'birthday' are popped on dimensionals and the 'sweet' is cut with the Playful Alphabet dies and foam adhesive sheets for a very dimensional look.

  Thanks to the Tic Tac Toe Challenge team for letting me join the fun for this challenge!  I hope you can play along and share your card to the gallery!

  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sweet Ice Cream, Biggest Wish, Itty Bitty Christmas (retired)

Ink: Cinnamon Cider, Blushing Bride, Flirty Flamingo, Petal Pink

Paper: Very Vanilla thick, Ice Cream Corner DSP (retired), Very Vanilla, Pearlescent Specialty paper, Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper (retired), Blushing Bride

Accessories: Ice Cream Cone builder punch, Playful Alphabet dies, foam sheets, dimensionals, Wink of Stella, candy dots (retired)

Get Well Petals - Stampin' Up! Hand-Penned Petals

   My card today is another one that my stampers made at my new catalog open house a few weeks back.  This is a fun one that not only shows off the pretty stamps but also the coordinating Hand Penned DSP.

  This is a good design to have a few on hand to pop in the mail as soon as you hear that a loved one is feeling unwell.

  This one starts with a Misty Moonlight base with the flower image stamped all over in the same color ink.  A strip of DSP is cut with the scalloped edged die.

  A scalloped square in Basic White is the base for the stamped and die cut flower.  My stampers used one of the Tasteful Label dies instead as I realized after pulling the supplies for this project that the square dies were retired*.  The image outline is stamped in Misty Moonlight and then filled in with In Color Pale Papaya for the flowers and stamped off Garden Green for the leaves.  It's then popped on dimensionals.

  The sentiment which is included in this set, is stamped in Misty Moonlight, die cut with the Tasteful Label dies and popped with dimensionals with a Pale Papaya Open Weave ribbon flag.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Hand-Penned Petals

Ink: Misty Moonlight, Pale Papaya, Garden Green

Paper: Misty Moonlight, Basic White, Hand Penned DSP

Accessories: Penned Flowers dies, Layering Square dies (retired)*, Tasteful Label dies, dimensionals, Pale Papaya Open Weave ribbon

Star Filled Birthday - Stampin' Up! Biggest Wish

  Gosh it's Sunday already and we are back at The Paper Players challenge with a brand new bit of inspiration for you!  Just in time to celebrate the 4th of July Anne Marie has us working with Stars and/or Stripes!  So fun and festive!

  I didn't need a 4th of July card so I made a star filled birthday card instead!  I arranged my stars in into lines and that's kind of like a stripe right so I can check off both parts of the challenge!  You can do either stars or stripes or both so have fun with it!

  

This design is another one inspired by an item in a catalog.  It was a kids bath towel that had these colors and the stars in a line so I went with it for my card.  The base is Basic Black, then a layer of Basic White embossed with the retired Subtle folder.

  I cut out all the stars in Poppy Parade, Bumblebee and Polished Pink using the Stitched Stars dies.  Then using the All Squared Away stamp set to stamp some of the backgrounds onto the stars.  I did stamp off the Poppy Parade ink because my pad was a bit blotchy (might be time to replace it!) so the design is a bit less defined on those.

  To get my spacing mostly even I used temporary adhesive to line my Basic White panel up on my grid paper and followed the ruler lines to find the center and did the Bumblebee stars and then measured out for the 2 outside columns. I think they are mostly straight but don't look too closely!

  The sentiment is from Biggest Wish and is stamped in Versamark on Basic Black then embossed in white.  I fussy cut around each word then popped it up on a strips of vellum that I tore the ends from for some texture.

  The final bit of detail is the few From My Heart faceted gems on the edges of the sentiment vellum. 

  Check out the Paper Players Design team blog for more inspiration!

Jaydee
 LeAnne
Claire
Joanne
Laurie
Anne Marie
Ann
Nancy
Debbie 

   Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Biggest Wish, All Squared Away

Ink: Poppy Parade, Bumblebee, Polished Pink, Versamark

Paper: Basic Black, Basic White, Poppy Parade, Bumblebee, Polished Pink, vellum

Accessories: Stitched Stars dies, Subtle embossing folder (retired), white embossing powder, dimensionals, From My Heart faceted gems