Hello Apple Season - Stampin' Up! More Than Autumn

   While the weather continues to be decidedly 'not fall', card making for the change of seasons is in full swing.  I designed this apple themed card for my last class to give my stampers a sneak peek of the upcoming new bundle More Than Autumn.  

  I love some hot apple cider on chilly fall days and the More Than Autumn bundle is just adorable for drink themed cards.  I pulled together what I thought was a great autumn color combo and got to work!

  The base is Copper Clay and then we used 3 panels to create the background.  The top is Cherry Cobbler which is stamped with the same color of ink using the 'apple' word stamp.  The middle panel is Garden Green embossed with the Forever Plaid embossing folder (coming soon!) and the bottom panel is Copper Clay stamped with the 'cider' word stamp in the same color in.  A trick to get panels like this lined up perfectly is to mount them on a piece of cardstock- we used Very Vanilla- and then trim the edges making sure every thing is squared off.

  We used the Spotlight on Nature dies to cut a Very Vanilla circle and then added the other elements.  The cut is stamped in Copper Clay on Basic Beige, and then the cuff is also stamped in Copper Clay on a small piece of Country Lace DSP and fussy cut for some easy paper piecing.  The apple is stamped then colored in, die cut and popped on a mini dimensional on the cup.  We also added a little cinnamon stick peeking out of the top of the cup.

  Hello is stamped in Garden Green right on the circle and then the "apple season" is die cut in Cherry Cobbler cardstock. Pro tip- use adhesive sheets with the cardstock when die cutting the word dies in the More Than Autumn set, it will make it so easy to adhere them to your card front.  Skip trying to get glue on the skinny letters!

  A Garden Green linen thread bow and some Earth Tones Shimmer Gems are the final details to finishing up this fun card!

  Thanks for looking!  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 starting September 4, 2024.

Stamps: More Than Autumn*

Ink: Copper Clay, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green

Paper: Copper Clay, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Very Vanilla, Basic Beige, Country Lace DSP

Accessories: More Than Autumn dies*, Earth Tones Shimmer Gems*, Forever Plaid embossing folder*, Natural Tones linen thread*, dimensionals, Spotlight on Nature dies, adhesive sheets

Blackberry Leaves Birthday - Stampin' Up! Leaf Collection

 My stampers got a bit inky, literally, at my last class with a fun water coloring background.  Some great fall colors and a big background stamp come together for bold birthday card.

  This design starts with a Blackberry Bliss card base.  To make the one of a kind background, because no 2 will look exactly alike no matter how many you make, you just need a water painter and some ink refills.  We used Wild Wheat, Moody Mauve and Blackberry Bliss.  We prepped the watercolor paper by spraying it with water first then added the colors one at a time in random splotches until it was all filled in.  Using a heat tool the panel is dried and then more color was added if wanted/needed then dried again.

  The big Leaf Collection background stamp is stamped in Blackberry Bliss ink onto the watercolored panel.  The sentiment from Sweetly Scripted is stamped on watercolor paper in Moody Mauve ink and backed with a strip of Wild Wheat.

  A few punched leaves using the Bough punch are adhered to the back of the sentiment before it's popped on dimensionals. A few Purple Fine Shimmer gems are added for a bit of sparkle.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

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

Stamps: Leaf Collection, Sweetly Scripted (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Blackberry Bliss, Moody Mauve, Wild Wheat

Paper: Blackberry Bliss, Watercolor paper, Wild Wheat, Moody Mauve

Accessories: Bough punch, dimensionals, Purple Fine Shimmer gems

Season of Fun - Stampin' Up! Reindeer Fun

 Every other Thursday I'm sharing a stamping challenge with my customers on our group Facebook page and today is a new challenge!  I'm alternating between layouts and colors and today we have a layout to be inspired by!  If you're a customer of mine and would like to be invited to the group please reach out (or become a customer and join the fun)!  I'm taking full advantage of challenges lately to get a jump on Christmas cards and I have another one to share today using the Reindeer Fun stamp set coming out on September 4.

  This one starts with a Garden Green base and then a large flagged piece of Reindeer Days DSP in a fun holly leaf and berry print.

  The little deer is stamped in Pecan Pie ink onto Basic White cardstock then I used a Pecan Pie watercolor pencil to color him in.  I added some Pool Party snow all around him as it looks like he is enjoying the first snow of the season!  I backed that panel with a piece of Pool Party cardstock.  

  The sentiment is one of the great ones from the Peaceful Season stamp set and I embossed it in white on a strip of Real Red, flagged the end and added a baker's twine bow.  It's adhered with dimensionals for a nice bit of pop.

On the opposite corner I added a pine tree that I used markers direct on the stamp to get the 3 different colors and then I added a bit of shading with a Garden Green watercolor pencil.  The tree is also popped up on dimensionals.

  I hope my customers have fun using this sketch on one of their projects.  It's so fun seeing everyone's take on the same prompt!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

 All of the current supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.  Items marked with * will be available starting September 4, 2024.

Stamps: Reindeer Fun*, Peaceful Season*

Ink: Pecan Pie, Versamark, Pool Party

Markers: Pecan Pie, Garden Green, Daffodil Delight

Paper: Garden Green, Pool Party, Real Red, Reindeer Days DSP*, Basic White

Accessories: watercolor pencils, white embossing powder, dimensionals, Real Red baker's twine*

Grateful Oak Leaves - Stampin' Up! Iconic Imagery

   My stampers have gotten some hands on time with the Online Exclusive Iconic Imagery stamp set at a recent class.  We were trying to channel some cooler fall weather with the autumn color palette and theme.  No such luck!  It's even hotter today than yesterday!  At least we have a head start on some seasonal cards!

  Crumb Cake is always a great base cardstock for fall cards and we used it here and stamped the open oak leaf on a diagonal in Cajun Craze ink.  The next layers is a piece of the Wood Texture Specialty paper that has Pecan Pie ink blended on.  If you blink while you're paging though the Annual Catalog you might miss this awesome textured paper!  It's on the bottom of page 100 and you get 2 12x12 sheets.  Leave them white or color them any color you want.  For only $5 a pack this is a great deal.  Think of all those scrapbooking titles cut out with this cool texture??  An obviously it's a great detail on a card.

  Next up is a piece of the Iconic Celebrations DSP cut with the label die that is in this bundle.  The sentiment is punch out of a piece of Very Vanilla with the Heartfelt Hexagon punch.  We used Pecan Pie ink for this mix and match sentiment.  The Iconic Imagery set has a great variety of sentiments so there is bound to be one that works for your project.

  Next a few of of the oak leaf outlines are stamped on to Very Vanilla and then filled in with Peach Pie ink.  A super easy 2 step stamp with great results.  Once the leaves were die cut as well as 2 little sprigs in Pecan Pie they are adhered on the card front with dimensionals and then one is added to the corner of the label along with the sprigs and a linen thread bow.

  The final touch are 2 Pecan Pie Ribboned Adhesive-Backed Dots on the sentiment label.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

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

Stamps: Iconic Imagery (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Pecan Pie, Cajun Craze, Peach Pie

Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Iconic Celebrations DSP (Online Exclusive), Wood Textures Specialty Paper

Accessories: Iconic Imagery dies (Online Exclusive), Heartfelt Hexagon punch, dimensionals, linen thread, Pecan Pie Ribboned Adhesive-Backed Dots (Online Exclusive)

Hello Birdy - Stampin' Up! Bird's Eye View

   It's been a hot minute since I used the Bird's Eye View stamp set but it was time to take a break from the Christmas cards since the temperatures are back up in the 90s this week.  Talk about a hot minute right??Sometimes it's hard to create 'Christmas' when it's this hot but these cool greens and blues on this card are soothing aren't they?  The prompt over at TGIF Challenges is to use the Full of Life DSP on your project.  The hardest part about using this DSP is trying to decide which pattern to use; they are all gorgeous!!  If you haven't gotten this one yet or you need another pack don't wait to order it as it's on sale until the end of August!  Woo-Hoo!

  The Full of Life DSP pattern that I chose was this nice green/blue color blocks which I thought would give me some great colors to use for my bird and leaves.  I used just a small piece of the 6x6 sheet and adhered it to the side of my Lost Lagoon card base. 

  The images are all stamped in Memento black ink on Basic White cardstock and I used Stampin' Blends markers to color everything in (colors listed below).  Then I fussy cut everything and arranged it on the card front using dimensionals to adhere it all.

  The sentiment from Simply Said stamp set is stamped in Memento on Pool Party cardstock and then cut out with one of the nice label dies in the Unbounded Love die set.  I added a little baker's twine bow and also colored over the bird's glasses with clear Wink of Stella which you can't see at all in the photo but is a cute touch.

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

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Bird's Eye View, Simply Said

Ink: Memento Black

Blends: Pecan Pie light & dark, Lemon Lolly light & dark, Pool Party light & dark, Shaded Spruce light, Granny Apple Green light, Lemon Lime Twist light

Paper: Lost Lagoon, Basic White, Full of Life DSP, Pool Party

Accessories: Unbounded Love dies, dimensionals, baker's twine, Wink of Stella

Peaceful Joy - Stampin' Up! Peaceful Evergreens

   I just don't think to make square cards very often so it's fun when a challenge prompt has a square layout.  The Paper Players challenge is getting me out of my rectangle box with this fun sketch.  The Season of Elegance Suite will be available soon and you're going to want to the whole thing!  I used so many items from the suite on this card!

   I started with a square base in Crumb Cake.  I kept the size to 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" so that I could still use a regular A2 envelope and not have to make one to fit.  In keeping with the sketch I split the card front and used a piece of Season of Elegance DSP for one half leaving the other mostly blank with just a few gold stars stamped in the corner.  This DSP is gorgeous; each sheet better than the next.  The splashes of gold are elegant and the colors are rich.

  The large evergreen from the Peaceful Evergreens stamp set is stamped in Mossy Meadow onto Very Vanilla cardstock.  It's die cut and then an accent die in MossyMeadow is overlaid to give the tree some more dimensional.  This overlay piece works nicely as a layer of snow as well!

  A bit of Cherry Cobbler and gold satin ribbon is added to the back of the tree and then it's adhered to the card front with dimensionals.  

  To bring a bit more Cherry Cobbler to the card I stamped the sentiment from the Peaceful Season set in CC ink and then die cut it with the smaller label die in the Peaceful Season die set.  That is also popped on dimensionals.

  And now for some more gold!  I grabbed a scrap of gold glimmer paper (any gold metallic would work!) and cut a star for the top of the tree.  Some gold sequins from the Neutrals Adhesive-backed sequins pack are added to the tree as well.

  Thanks for looking!  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 starting September 4, 2024.

 Stamps: Peaceful Evergreens*, Peaceful Season*

Ink: Mossy Meadow, Cherry Cobbler, gold (retired)

Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Mossy Meadow, Season of Elegance DSP*, gold glimmer (retired)

Accessories: Peaceful Evergreen dies*, Peaceful Season dies*, Cherry Cobbler & Gold Satin Ribbon*, dimensionals, Neutrals Adhesive-backed sequin

Mini Christmas Gifts - Stampin' Up! Reindeer Fun Dies

   There is hardly any stamping on my card today!  I'm using the CAS Colours and Sketches challenge for my layout; it's a sweet, clean and simple sketch that I think will work for many different smaller shapes and images.  I chose to use the little gift and bow dies found in the Reindeer Fun die set for the 3 elements.

  What you see is pretty much what you get with this design.  I used the dies and Granny Apple Green, Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green cardstock to cut the box shapes and then used one of each of the Festive Glimmer Paper colors to cut the bows.  The finished gifts are popped up on the card front on dimensionals.

  I looked through all of my new Christmas stamp sets for a smaller sentiment that would match the scale and "clean and simple" style. I found it in the new Humble Home stamp set.  It's stamped in Garden Green then highlighted with a few adhesive sequins.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.  Items marked with a * will be available to order starting September 4, 2024.

Stamps: Humble Home*

Ink: Garden Green

Paper: Granny Apple Green, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Basic White, Basic White thick, Festive Glimmer Paper*

Accessories: Reindeer Fun Dies*, dimensionals, Adhesive Backed Seasonal Sequins (retired)

Christmas Owl - Stampin' Up! Christmas Friends

   I'm continuing to have fun inking up my new stamps from the Sept.-Dec. 2024 Mini catalog.  I used another one of the cute animals from the Christmas Friends set as well as a great new background stamp Falling Snow for my card today.  The colors from Color Throwdown were perfect for a Christmas card; light blue cream and kraft.

  I started with a Balmy Blue base then a layer of Crumb Cake and another layer of Balmy Blue.  I embossed the Falling Snow background in white (because I don't have cream embossing powder).

  I used the Wildflower Designs dies to create a nice frame out of Very Vanilla and Crumb Cake.  I stamped the sentiment from the Peaceful Season stamp set in Balmy Blue and added some bakers twine then popped it up on dimensionals.

  The owl is stamped in Crumb Cake and then colored in with Stampin' Blends.  I think I might have colored too much as the little owl looks a little fuzzy lol!  Once he was cut out I popped him up on the side of the frame.

2 Rainbow Adhesive Dots embellish the top and bottom of the frame as a final touch.

  Thanks for looking!  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 to order staring September 4, 2024.

Stamps: Christmas Friends*, Peaceful Season*, Falling Snow*

Ink: Versamark, Crumb Cake

Blends: Crumb Cake light & dark, Balmy Blue light & dark, Daffodil Delight dark

Paper: Balmy Blue, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake

Accessories: Wildflower Designs dies, Christmas Friends dies, dimensionals, Balmy Blue baker's twine, Rainbow Adhesive Dots

Quick Masculine Thank You - Stampin' Up! Sweetly Scripted

   Both of my boys had birthdays in the middle of July then immediately left on a week long trip and once they got back it was full swing into getting the oldest ready for college so birthday gift thank you's kind of fell off my radar until the week before college drop off day. I had to hustle to get some cards made so they could write them out and get them in the mail.  I used a Freshly Made Sketches challenge at the time and some retired DSP that fit the "teenage boy" vibe that the cards needed to have!

  I started with a Smoky Slate base then embossed a panel of Basic White with the soon to be released Forever Plaid embossing folder (I think I'm obsessed!).  Next I cut some Basic Gray Squares and then added slightly smaller squares of Well Suited DSP.  This paper retired long ago but I've held onto it because the whole pack just works really nicely when you need some masculine patterns.

  I used the Online Exclusive, Sweetly Scripted for the sentiment and layered it across the squares with dimensionals.  A retired candy dot in what I think is Smoky Slate is added to the edge of the sentiment as the final detail.  

  I love this layout because you can use any number of color combinations and the pieces of DSP can be mixed and matched any way you'd like and it's a great way to use up smaller scraps.

  Thanks for looking!  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 for purchase starting September 4, 2024.

Stamps: Sweetly Scripted (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Smoky Slate

Paper: Smoky Slate, Basic White, Well Suited DSP (retired)

Accessories: Forever Plaid embossing folder*, dimensionals, candy dots (retired)

Vintage Christmas - Stampin' Up! Peaceful Season

  Today's card is one of those cards that the more I look at it the more I think it's a hot mess!  Why is that?  At first when I put this one together I thought 'eh, it's not really my style but it's ok' but now that I'm posting it I feel that I just didn't do the theme or products justice!  I was wanting to play along with the As You See It Challenge where the theme is Vintage or Shabby Chic.  This might be one that I need to re-visit with some better ideas!

  I thought that the new Sentimental Christmas DSP (coming Sept. 4!) would be a good starting place since it already has the vintage theme with the old timey Christmas images.  I choose the pattern with the trees and gifts as my card front (with a Pretty Peacock card base).

  Since the DSP is already kind of busy I wanted to really just focus on a sentiment with maybe some supporting images for balance.  I used the Peaceful Seasons dies to cut the nice sized label in Basic White then used Basic Beige and a bit of Pretty Peacock inks and distressed up the edges for a worn paper look.

  I wanted to use some ribbon to go through the slots in the label but I didn't have any in Poppy Parade or Pretty Peacock that would work.  Looking through all of my new mini catalog products to see what could be done I saw the Christmas Friends dies that has a bow die!  Well that works!  I added 2 layers of Shaded Spruce greenery under the bow.

  And I couldn't leave well enough alone so I went ahead and made a few gifts using the Christmas Friends dies and more of the Sentimental Christmas DSP.  And the final thing I added to this card were some small champagne colored faceted gems which I put all over the card front.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

  All of the current supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.  Items marked with a * will be available on September 4, 2024.

Stamps: Peaceful Season*

Ink: Pretty Peacock, Basic Beige

Paper: Pretty Peacock, Sentimental Christmas DSP*, Basic White, Shaded Spruce, Poppy Parade

Accessories: Peaceful Seasons dies*, Christmas Friends dies*, dimensionals, champagne faceted gems (retired)

Back to School Hug - Stampin' Up! Choose Happy

   We dropped off my older son at college last weekend for his freshman year so now I need to have some cards ready to go in the mail for him.  I told him he will need to check his mailbox fairly regularly as I know his grandparents will be sending him fun mail also.  I'm using the Paper Players Clean and Simple Fruit challenge as well as the Back to School theme at TGIF Challenges for my card.

  Since this is a clean and simple (CAS) challenge there isn't too much to talk about design-wise.  The card base is Pool Party.  And I made my own sheet of notebook paper with a bit of Basic White and the light Pool Party and light Calypso Coral Blends markers.  I used a ruler to help keep my lines even and spaced and then I used my little hole punch that I have for punching paper for my planner.  I know notebook paper only has 3 holes but I didn't want to try with a handheld punch and goof it up.

  The sweet little apples are from the Choose Happy stamp set and I colored them in with more Blends markers and then fussy cut them.  They are popped on the notebook paper with dimensionals.

  And finally the sentiment from Hearts & Hugs is stamped in Memento Black ink. 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Choose Happy, Hearts & Hugs

Ink: Memento black

Blends: Pool party light, Calypso Coral light, Real Red light & dark, Daffodil Delight light and dark, Granny Apple Green light & dark, Pecan pie light & dark, Mossy Meadow light & dark

Paper: Pool Party, Basic White

Accessories: dimensionals, hole punch

Hey Autumn - Stampin' Up! Autumn Leaves

 The weather has been pleasant the last few days here in Central Virginia so I was starting to feel all the autumn feels!  80 degrees and lower humidity definitely signals that the end of summer is near even if we still will have some more 90+ degree days.  So now it's time for some seasonal stamping so I brought out the carry over stamp set Autumn Leaves to get started.  The Color Hues challenge has the colors of yellow and orange this week so I thought that was perfect timing!

  I pulled out various oranges along with Crushed Curry and some DSP that is actually Daffodil Delight but it goes nonetheless! And then I realized after the card was put together that the DSP uses Basic White and I did all my stamping on Very Vanilla.  Oops!  I usually just use one or the other on a card and always coordinate using the one in the DSP.  I must have been interrupted mid-design...that's my story at least!

  Crumb Cake worked the best for the card base as all of the colors that I tried were just "too much".  I had this Bee Mine DSP already cut so I left it as is and then added the rest of the elements.

  The color combos for the leaves are from top to bottom; Peach Pie and Pumpkin Pie (yum!), Crushed Curry and Pumpkin Pie and Pumpkin Pie and Cajun Craze.  Once the leaves were stamped and die cut I got to work on the sentiment.

  I stamped the 'Hey' from Saying Hey stamp set in Cajun Craze and then fussy cut it and then stamped the smaller sentiment in Pumpkin Pie on a narrow strip and then layered that across the card front.  The leaves are adhered next and finally the 'hey' is popped on dimensionals.

  And a blast from embellishments past; I used some long retired Pumpkin Pie candy dots to accent around the leaves as well as some retired Crushed Curry baker's twine for a bow.

  This was a fun color grouping to work with and perfect for some autumn leaves!

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

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Autumn Leaves, Saying Hey

Ink: Peach Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry

Paper: Crumb Cake, Bee Mine DSP, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Autumn Leaves dies, dimensionals, candy dots (retired), Crushed Curry baker's twine (retired)

Clean Christmas Greeting - Stampin' Up! Peaceful Season

   I've got another sample using soon to be release Christmas products!  To make choosing which stamp set to use next I've been relying on some of my favorite challenges so I have a bit of a focus when creating.  This card uses the CAS on Friday challenge where less is more and the hard part is keeping things "clean and simple" using the prompt.  This time the prompt is 'sentiments only'.  That's a hard one when I have so many new stamps sets with wonderful images.  Luckily the new Peaceful Season bundle has just the sentiment to use!

  I used a Basic White thick base, then made a smaller layer with Melon Mambo topped with a Basic White panel embossed with the Forever Plaid embossing folder.

  The Peaceful Season 'Christmas' stamp is stamped in Shy Shamrock and then die cut.  I cut a second outline in Shy Shamrock cardstock then layered it on the back just offset enough so it gives a but of a 3D effect. I popped that on dimensions in the center of the card front.

  Next I used the little banner die from the Peaceful Season dies to cut one out of Melon Mambo then embossed the 'Merry' in white embossing powder and popped that above the Christmas.

  And finally, to balance the banner I dug through some retired embellishments for these Melon Mambo dots.  

  I think I did ok with the challenge and restrained myself from using images lol!

  Thanks for looking! 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 starting Sept. 4, 2024 with the release of the Stampin' Up! Sept.-Dec. 2024 Mini Catalog.

Stamps: Peaceful Season*

Ink: Versamark, Shy Shamrock

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Melon Mambo

Accessories: Peaceful Season dies*, Forever Plaid embossing folder*, dimensionals, white embossing powder, Melon Mambo enamel dots (retired*)

Sentimental Evergreens - Stampin' Up! Peaceful Evergreens

   I keep forgetting that the Global Design Project challenge has gone to Instagram only and I keep missing the challenge each week.  I finally remembered to look for it on Friday and got this card made with their fun sketch.  The three larger panels give a lot of room for interpretation and I decided I wanted to show off more Sept.-Dec. 2024 Mini Catalog products that will be coming soon! I really love how this card turned out!

  Using those three panels I chose two designs from the new Sentimental Christmas DSP in a great Pretty Peacock/Shaded Spruce color combo.  The middle panel is a piece of Pretty Peacock that I embossed with the new Forever Plaid embossing folder.  To make the embossed panel match the vintage vibe of the DSP I blended some Pretty Peacock ink around the edges with a blending brush.

  After I got the 3 panels added to the card front I embossed in gold the little line of evergreen trees from the new Peaceful Evergreen stamp set.  I used Shaded Spruce for a bit of contrast against the Pretty Peacock.  I die cut the trees and then added them over a strip of gold glimmer paper.  The glimmer paper is retired but any gold paper that you have in your stash would work if you'd like to recreate this design.

  A bit of gold trim backs the sentiment circle.  The sentiment is from the also new Peaceful Season stamp set.  The Peaceful Season stamp set and Peaceful Evergreen stamp set are part of individual bundles but also part of a larger Suite of products that includes DSP, an embossing folder, ribbon and gem embellishments.  You can get the whole suite or items individually.

  Finally a few gold sequins are added to finish this Christmas card.  

  Thanks for looking!  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 to purchase on Sept. 4, 2024.

Stamps: Peaceful Evergreens*, Peaceful Season*

Ink: Pretty Peacock, Versamark

Paper: Pretty Peacock, Sentimental Christmas DSP*, Basic White, Shaded Spruce, Gold Glimmer (retired)

Accessories: Forever Plaid embossing folder*, Peaceful Evergreen dies*, Unbounded Love dies, dimensionals, 1/8" gold trim, Neutrals Adhesive backed sequins

Moose-y Christmas - Stampin' Up! Christmas Friends

   I'm back today with another project made with Sept.-Dec. 2024 Mini catalog products!  This moose was the perfect choice to use to play along with the Color Throwdown Challenge this week which is to use yellow, brown and green.  Could this guy get any cuter?  

  If you're a regular follower of my blog you know I can't resist the cute animal stamp sets and the Christmas Friends bundle in the Holiday mini catalog is no exception!  With 4 adorable animals and some punny sentiments I know I will be reaching for it a lot as I design my Christmas cards this year.

  I started with a classic color for Christmas, Garden Green, as my card base and then added a panel of the new Reindeer Days DSP in a small evergreen tree pattern.  Next I embossed a panel of Crushed Curry with the also new Forever Plaid embossing folder.

  I stamped the moose and 2 trees and then colored them in with Blends.  Once they were colored and cut out I added them to a die cut circle with the moose popped on dimensionals and add then whole thing to the card front.

  While I like the sentiments that come in the Christmas Friends set I felt that the layout needed something long and skinny so I used another upcoming new set, Peaceful Season, and stamped it in Versamark onto Garden Green and embossed it in white.  I tucked this narrow strip right under the moose's ice skates to give a bit of "ground" to walk on.

  To finish this one off I added some new embellishments, Earth Tones Shimmer Gems.  

I am so excited for you all to get to order from the new Holiday mini catalog.  September 4th seems like a long wait but it will be here before you know it!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

  All of the current items used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.  Item's marked with an * will be available beginning September 4, 2024.

 Stamps: Christmas Friends*, Peaceful Season*

Ink: Pecan Pie, Versamark, Garden Green

Blends: Pecan Pie light & dark, Ivory, Daffodil Delight dark, Granny Apple Green dark

Paper: Garden Green, Basic White, Crushed Curry, Reindeer Days DSP*

Accessories: Christmas Friends dies*, Forever Plaid embossing folder*, Stylish Shapes circle dies, dimensionals, white embossing powder, Earth Tones Shimmer Gems*

  

  

Doughnut Lovers - Stampin' Up! More Than Autumn

   I'm diving right into making samples with products that I got in the demonstrator preorder for the Stampin' Up! Sept.-Dec. 2024 Mini Catalog. It's so fun having new stamping supplies but getting so much at one time is also hard because how am I to choose which thing to use first??  Stamping problems I tell you! Anyway I saw the color challenge at The Paper Players and decided I definitely needed to use the More Than Autumn bundle to make some fun frosted doughnuts!  This is a really cute set and has a lot of mix and match sentiment options and the images will be easy to use for all seasons I think.

  The challenge is to use Flirty Flamingo, Lemon Lolly, Soft Sea Foam and a neutral.  I choose Pecan Pie as my neutral as that one seemed the most "doughnut" colored!  How cute are these sprinkled doughnuts??

  I started with a piece of Iconic Celebrations DSP (Online Exclusive) in a nice plaid pattern for my card front.  Next I used a die cut circle that I pulled from my orphaned card parts bin and stamped the "you had me at" in Pecan Pie.

  Next the doughnut was stamped three times in Pecan Pie then colored with Blends in the challenge colors plus Pecan Pie.  After I die cut them I adhered them around the edge of the circle.

  I used another new Holiday mini product called Peaceful Seasons dies to cut the banner in Flirty Flamingo.  Then I stamped the "doughnuts" in Versamark and embossed it in white.  Once that was adhered I stamped a few hearts and colored them in with the same colors and added them to the side of the banner.

  A white bakers twine bow is added to the banner as a final detail.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

  All of the current products used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.  Products marked with a * will be available starting September 4, 2024.

Stamps: More Than Autumn*

Ink: Pecan Pie, Versamark

Blends: Pecan Pie light, Flirty Flamingo light & dark, Lemon Lolly light & dark, Soft Sea Foam light and dark

Paper: Iconic Celebrations DSP (Online Exclusive), Basic White, Flirty Flamingo

Accessories: More Than Autumn Dies*, Peaceful Season Dies*, white embossing powder, dimensionals, Stylish Shapes dies, white bakers twine

  

Birthday Beauty - Stampin' Up! Layers of Beauty

   I recently started a little challenge with my stampers on our group Facebook page to give them some layouts and color combos to work with and spark their creativity.  It was so fun seeing what they all created using the sketch from the first challenge!  Now it's time for the next challenge using colors (see the end of the post for the challenge graphic) and I thought they worked perfectly with the Layers of Beauty bundle.  What do you think?

  I love how the Layers of Beauty masks allow you to use just a few colors and get such a nice multi-toned effect!  I started this one with a Coastal Cabana card front embossed with the Eyelet embossing folder for some nice texture in the background.  

  I stamped the large flower cluster in Basic Gray (it's a nice one to use when you want something softer than black) on Basic White cardstock and then used the masks and inks to blend on the ink until the image was all filled in.  I used the layout challenge at TGIF Challenge as it seemed perfect for a large image panel like this one so I cut the panel into 3 unequal sections and then adhered them to the card front with dimensionals.

  The Unbounded Love dies gave me a lot of options for the sentiment label.  I choose this smaller one because I didn't want to cover up too much of the flowers.  I used Basic Gray ink again and stamped the sentiment from the Saying Hey stamp set and popped it up on dimensionals.  I accented the label with some die cut leaves from the Layers of Beauty dies and a small length of retired Petal Pink ribbon and a retired adhesive sequin also in Petal Pink.

  If you're one of my customers and would like to be added to the Facebook group so you can join the fun please let me know!

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

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Layers of Beauty, Saying Hey

Ink: Basic Gray, Coastal Cabana, Petal Pink, Granny Apple Green

Paper: Basic White, Coastal Cabana, Granny Apple Green

Accessories: Layers of Beauty masks, Layers of Beauty dies, Unbounded Love dies, Eyelet embossing folder, dimensionals, Ribbon Due Combo pack (retired), adhesive sequin (retired)

  

Framed Birdhouse Birthday - Stampin' Up! Country Birdhouse

   I used a few challenges yesterday to get some ideas flowing and came up with this pink heavy birthday card.  Pink isn't a color that I usually gravitate towards unless the image really calls for it but the just closed Color Hues challenge had brown and pink so it was necessary! And it's alway good to challenge ourselves to use all of our supplies!  I also used the Just Us Girls prompt of "Frame" to add some nice detail to the background behind the birdhouse.

  It's really hard to see in this photo but the background is actually a piece of Country Lace DSP in a very subtle Basic Beige design.  Next the Countryside Corners dies are used to make the frame out of a piece of 2024-2026 In Color DSP in Pretty in Pink.  I love how the birdhouse fits just perfectly inside the shape.

  I used a bit of Country Woods DSP to cut out the birdhouse and added the details in Crumb Cake (with the edges sponged with Crumb Cake ink) and Basic White scallop trim.  

  In their weekly demonstrator newsletter yesterday Stampin' Up! reminded me of the "no line coloring" technique so I used that for the flower clusters.  I stamped the flowers in stamped off once Crumb Cake and then colored with Blends. The idea being that you end up not seeing the inked outline very much.  I'm not an especially good color-er so I'm not sure this is the best example of the technique but overall the flowers are acceptable lol!

  I added a die cut Flirty Flamingo bow to the top of the birdhouse and the sentiment at the bottom stamped in Flirty Flamingo.  Swap out any other sentiment for a great all occasion design.

 A few sparkly faceted gems are added for even more pink.  These are retired and are listed as Calypso Coral but they definitely read more pink to me so work well on this project.  Don't let the listed color keep you from using an embellishment if it matches!

  All of the current supplies used to create this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.  The Country Woods DSP and Country Lace DSP are both currently on sale until the end of August.  Don't wait to order your packs!

  Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Country Birdhouse

Ink: Crumb Cake, Flirty Flamingo

Blends: Flirty Flamingo light & dark, Pretty in Pink light & dark, Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight dark

Paper: Country Lace DSP, Country Woods DSP, Crumb Cake, Basic White, 2024-2026 In Color DSP, Flirty Flamingo

Accessories: Country Birdhouse dies, Countryside Corners dies, dimensionals, circle punch, Fine Sparkle adhesive-backed gems (retired)

Happy Bee Day - Stampin' Up! Choose Happy

   Since some Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper is on sale through the end of August I was looking through the ones I have on hand and realized that I hadn't used the the carryover Bright & Beautiful DSP in quite some time.  I love that this paper has all the great colors that were introduced or reintroduced in the 2023-2024 annual catalog and it's still available and right now at a discount.  If you're a fan of these colors then you might want to add a pack onto your August order!  I used it as the basis for this design which was my customer thank you card for all who ordered from me in July.

 Isn't this sweet??  I started with a Blueberry Bushel card base and then took strips of the Bright & Beautiful DSP and staggered them across the card front.  They are give or take a half in wide and I just trimmed some shorter than others.  A great way to use up thin scraps and not have to choose to show off just one or 2 designs!  I saw another demo Lou Kitzelman do this and knew I had to give it try!

  After I got all my strips layered I cut a Berry Burst frame using 2 of the Stylish Shapes dies.  The sweet bumblebee From the Choose Happy set is stamped on Basic White and colored in and the frame is added over the top.  

  Since the Choose Happy set has mix and match sentiments I put these together for a cute punny greeting to go with the bee.  The end is flagged on the sentiment strip and I added a Lemon Lolly baker's twine bow.  The finishing touch are a few Tinsel Gems in Berry Burst.

  So check out that sale DSP in my Online Store and order a pack today!  All of the other supplies used to make this card can also be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Choose Happy

Ink: Memento Black

Blends: Lemon Lolly dark

Paper: Blueberry Bushel, Berry Burst, Basic White, Bright & Beautiful DSP

Accessories: Stylish Shapes dies, dimensionals, baker's twine, Tinsel Gems

Sweet Happy Birthday Hugs - Stampin' Up! Hearts & Hugs

   Now that the Olympics have concluded and the 'get the kid off to college shopping/packing/moving in' is almost here I hope get back to some what of a regular posting schedule without so many distractions!  I was able to stay focused just long enough the other day to make this cute little birthday card.  I combined two challenges; the theme of "Cute Critters" is from Seize the Birthday and the layout is from TGIF Challenges.

  The card base is Berry Burst and then a layer of Basic White.  I choose a fun watercolor pattern of the Full of Life DSP (on sale now until Aug. 31!) and followed the challenge layout to trim  it down three panels.

  The little quokka (or guinea pig/mouse/gerbil) is just adorable and fit the theme perfectly.  I stamped it in Pecan Pie and then colored it in with Blends markers.  It's adhered to a Berry Burst Spotlight on Nature circle die.  I added a bit of Striped Iridescent Trim to the back before popping it on dimensionals.

  The sentiment from Sweetly Scripted is stamped in Melon Mambo (and now I'm not sure why I didn't just use Berry Burst but Melon Mambo looks good too!) and then fussy cut and adhered it across the card front.  You can find this set in the Online Exclusives section of the store.

  I dug around in my embellishments and still had a few Iridescent Adhesive-Backed Discs in white so I added a few of those around the card front.  The photo makes them look more pink but they kind of reflect the colors around them.

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

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Hearts & Hugs, Sweetly Scripted (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Melon Mambo, Pecan Pie

Blends: Pecan Pie light & dark, Ivory

Paper: Berry Burst, Basic White, Full of Life DSP, 

Accessories: Hearts & Hugs dies, Spotlight on Nature dies, dimensionals, Striped Iridescent Trim, dimensionals, Iridescent Adhesive-Backed Discs

6x6 DSP Fun Fold - Stampin' Up! Wildflower Designs

   I'm always on the lookout for fun things to teach my stampers and I came across this fun way to use DSP to make a little folded pouch for your card.  I have no idea what the name of this fold is called and where I saw it on Karen Titus' website she didn't have a name for it either so if you know please leave a comment so I can update.

  My stampers made this at my last class pairing up the Wildflower Designs stamp set and Wildly Flowering DSP.  Now if you have 6x6 DSP this card will be even quicker to make if you don't have to cut down a 12x12 piece.

  This is the card front with the DSP pouch closed.  I love how you get to see both patterns on the DSP with the folded flaps showing the inside pattern even while closed.

  This is the card front with the pouch opened and a pretty allium stamped on the inside.  You can change the inside up however you'd like and make it as elaborate or as simple as you want.  

  Check out this super quick video on my YouTube channel showing how to create this fun fold.

  We used some other supplies on this card to pull it all together.  The Dashing Designs embossing folder give a nice texture to the Moody Mauve card front.  The inside die cut circle is made with the Spotlight on Nature dies and fits perfectly in this space.

  The embellishments used on this card are a few Adhesive-Backed Textured Dots and some retired In Color ribbon.  

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

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Wildly Flowering

Ink: Early Espresso, Moody Mauve, Mossy Meadow

Paper: Moody Mauve, Early Espresso, Basic White, Wildly Flowering DSP

Accessories: Spotlight on Nature dies, Dashing Designs embossing folder, Adhesive-Backed Textured Dots

Full of Life Occasions - Stampin' Up! Attention Shoppers

 Last week I had my monthly class and I designed this project which I called a "choose your own adventure" card.  My stampers got to choose all the elements of the card to make it whatever they wanted.  I wanted to show off the Full of Life DSP but I couldn't decide which patterns to use because each sheet is just as gorgeous as the one before.  So I took that hard choice and just gave it to my customers!  They got pick which pattern they wanted to use, which sentiment and which image.  All I did was cut the neutral cardstock pieces and they did the rest!  And if you haven't gotten the Full of Life DSP yet it will be on sale starting August 6th so make sure to add a pack to your August order!

  

The bright colors and beautiful watercolor style of the Full of Life DSP really pair well with the images from the Attention Shoppers stamp set.  Because the images are smaller they are quick to color using some of the colors in the DSP using Stampin' Blends.

  Once my stampers chose which Full of Life DSP design they wanted to use they cut the 6x6 piece in half so they would have a 3" x 6" panel.  Then they cut that down to 3" x 4.5" and then cut this panel into 3 1" strips to mount onto the Basic Black panel.

The sentiment choices come from the Online Exclusive set Sweetly Scripted which are a lovely mix of script fonts and  are nice and long so they can go across a whole card front in both orientations.  For this design I cut strips of paper long than was needed for the portrait orientation and my stampers just trimmed off the ends as needed. 

  Once the image from the Attention Shoppers stamp set was chosen to go with the sentiment it was also stamped in Memento Black and colored in.  I had almost my whole Stampin' Blends collection out to use during class as the Full of Life DSP has so many colors in it.  So like I was saying my stampers had a lot of decisions to make on this card!

  Some iridescent ribbon and sparkle gems are added for a tiny bit of sparkle and shine.

  If you make card sets for gifts or to sell this would be a fantastic design and group of products to use to make them.  No two card sets would be exactly alike with all the mix and match possibilities!

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

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Attention Shoppers, Sweetly Scripted (Online Exclusive)

Ink: Memento Black

Blends: various colors

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Basic Black, Full of Life DSP

Accessories: Attention Shoppers dies, dimensionals, Iridescent 1/2" striped trim, adhesive backed sparkle gems

Thoughtful Birthday - Stampin' Up! Simply Said

   I've started a little stamping challenge on my customer Facebook group to get people sharing more projects and to just give them inspiration for their stamping.  Every other week I'm going to alternate between a layout and a color combination and hopefully we are all inspired to create by the challenge and seeing what others have shared!  I posted the first challenge yesterday and was able to play along today with this card.

  The challenge layout is one of the ones that Stampin' Up! has shared on page 22 of the Annual Catalog and it is just begging to have DSP used for the 3 large strips.  I obliged and pulled out a piece of the Thoughtful Journey DSP - which will be on sale starting August 6 if you haven't gotten a pack yet!!! - and used that as my starting point.

  The card base is Pool Party, then a layer of Basic White.  The DSP panels are added with a Pool Party banner separating the first and second panels.

  I used the Stylish Shapes circles to cut one in Cajun Craze.  I used the Textured Floral dies to cut the 2 leafy branches; one in Wild Wheat and one in Basic White.  

  The sentiment is stamped from Simply Said is stamped in Pool Party on a scrap of Basic White.  I then dug through my ribbon scraps and found a bit of burlap twine and added that to the back of the sentiment and then popped it up on dimensionals.  A few retired Fine Sparkle gems are the final touch.

  Hopefully this card and layout have inspired you to make a card!

  All of the current supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE. Remember the Thoughtful Journey DSP is on sale from August 6-31, 2024.

 Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Simply Said

Ink: Pool Party

Paper: Thoughtful Journey DSP, Basic White, Pool Party, Cajun Craze, Wild Wheat

Accessories: Stylish Shapes dies, Textured Floral dies, dimensionals, burlap twine, fine sparkle gems (retired)

Layout from Stampin' Up! 2024-2025 Annual Catalog page 22