Birdie Love You - Stampin' Up! Bird's Eye View

   These little birds haven't seen much ink these past few months with all the Christmas cards I was making.  With Valentine's Day coming up I thought they might make for a cute 'love you' card that wasn't all pink and red hearts.  The colors are from the Color Throwdown Challenge which are blue, olive and ivory which I translated into Stampin' Up! language of Azure Afternoon, Old Olive and Very Vanilla.

  It's always nice when I can use Annual Catalog products with brand new mini catalog products.  Sometimes I'm so focused on making samples with all new products the older ones get neglected and then before I know it they retire and I say to myself, "I wish I would have used that more often"!  I can't be the only one that does that right??!

  I started with a Balmy Blue base, then used the new Perennial Postage dies to cut a piece of Bright & Beautiful DSP and backed it with a piece of Very Vanilla.  I love the edge detail that these dies give.  Sometimes a plain straight edge on a layer is just too boring!  A bit of retired (so long ago retired!!!) Old Olive baker's twine is wrapped around the layer and tied in a bow.   I used the die set again to cut 2 smaller rectangles and used them as a base for adding the birds.

  The birds are stamped in Memento Black and colored with a variety of Blends colors (listed below) to go with the challenge.  Then they are fussy cut and popped on dimensionals on the smaller rectangles.

  The sentiment from Bee My Valentine was just the right casual look for the card and is stamped in Memento black.

  A few retired adhesive-back speckled dots are added around the birds.  They are listed as Mossy Meadow but show up as more Old Olive in my opinion but either way work with this color combo.

  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: Bird's Eye View, Bee My Valentine

Ink: Memento Black

Blends: Old Olive light & dark, Azure Afternoon light & dark, Ivory, Balmy Blue dark, Daffodil Delight light

Paper: Azure Afternoon, Very Vanilla, Bright & Beautiful DSP

Accessories: Perennial Postage dies, dimensionals, Old Olive baker's twine (retired), adhesive-back speckled dots (retired)

Thinking of You in Blues - Stampin' Up! Painted Lavendar

   The first card I make with the new Painted Lavender bundle and it isn't even in purples!  I know there will be tons of samples using all the purples so I guess I wanted to see how the images worked with other colors too.  Blues are kind of non-traditional for flowers but I think it works.  My colors are from the Color Hues challenge which is to use Navy and Light Blue.  I translated those into Stampin' Up! Night of Navy and Balmy Blue.

  I didn't have much in the way of Night of Navy or Balmy Blue designer series papers so I used a piece of white Textured Shimmer paper along the fold of the Basic White thick card base for a subtle shine and texture.

  I played around with some of the different stamps and dies and came up with this combo that filled the space of the card front well.  I used Night of Navy for the stems and Balmy Blue for the flowers.

  To fill out the bouquet a little bit more I die cut some leaves out of Night of Navy Soft Shimmer paper and snipped the larger stem apart and added the pieces behind the flower.

  The sentiment is made with the Thoughtful Moments hybrid embossing folder.  I used Night of Navy ink and Balmy Blue card stock.  The embossed sentiment adds a nice detail to the card without being overly fussy.

  Final touches are the white bow and a few retired faceted gems.

  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: Painted Lavender

Ink: Night of Navy, Balmy Blue

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Textured Shimmer paper, Soft Shimmer paper, Balmy Blue

Accessories: Painted Lavender dies, Thoughtful Moments hybrid embossing folder/die, dimensionals, white crinkled seam binding ribbon, faceted gems (retired)

Nature Note - Stampin' Up! Notes of Nature

   Today's card was started before Christmas and then the various elements just sat on my desk for nearly 2 weeks and when I went back to it I couldn't for the life of me remember what my plan was for them!  Oops!  I played around for a bit adding and taking away things and this is what the final result was.  Not sure it's what I was going for in the first place but it was time to get things adhered and move on to another project lol!

  I'm using the Notes of Nature bundle again with this card.  The botanical images are just so versatile!  I started with a Bubble Bath card base and then embossed a layer of Basic White with the Sale-a-Bration reward Softly Sophisticated embossing folder (it's paired with a stamp set of the same name for a $100 level reward).

  I stamped 3 leaves in Basic Gray and the stamped over them with the solid body stamp from the Bee My Valentine set.  I used Bubble Bath, Wild Wheat and Smoky Slate ink.  After die cutting the leaves they are popped up with dimensionals on the card front.  

  The sentiment is stamped in Basic Gray, die cut and popped over a Bubble Bath sheer ribbon twist.  I added a few Opaque Oval accents just because I had them.  I have to be honest I have had a hard time using these embellishments.  I think the oval shape just throws me off; and the Pecan Pie color looks like little mouse turds to me lol! Anyway, if you've got a cute sample using these let me know, I need the inspiration!

  All of the supplies used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE. And remember it's now Sale-a-Bration which means you can choose a few product with every $50 spent (before tax/shipping).  Sale-a-Bration runs until February 29 but place your orders early for best selection of SAB rewards!!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Notes of Nature, Bee My Valentine

Ink: Basic Gray, Bubble Bath, Wild Wheat, Smoky Slate

Paper: Basic White, Bubble Bath

Accessories: Notes of Nature dies, Softly Sophisticated embossing folder (SAB), dimensionals, Bubble Bath Sheer Ribbon, Opaque Oval accents

Heartfelt Notes - Stampin' Up! Notes of Nature

    Slowly but surely I'm getting some samples made with Sale-a-Bration and new mini catalog products.  The big day for both releases is tomorrow so don't wait to place an order; SAB items are while supplies last.  

  My card today uses 2 new sets that are part of a suite in the January-April Mini catalog.  The Nature's Sweetness set is fantastic and I have really enjoyed using it so far.  I also threw in another new stamp set and punch as well as a Sale-a-Bration stamp!  Chock full of new stuff here!!  I used the Global Design Project sketch for the layout today and had a bit of fun creating my own specialty DSP!

  I started with a Pecan Pie card base.  Next I stamped assorted images from the Notes of Nature and Lovely & Sweet stamp sets in Versamark onto a panel of Very Vanilla and then embossed them in white.  I used my (dying) Gray Granite light Blends marker to color in the open space between the images.  The whole time I was coloring I was praying that I wouldn't run out of ink in the middle of it!  It's definitely not a very smooth coloring job but it ended up ok with a little bit of a suede like look so it could have been worse! 

  I used reinkers and a blender pen to color in the images.  I used Wild Wheat for all of the leaves, Pecan Pie for the cocoa bean and Petal Pink for the flowers.  Before popping the panel up on dimensionals I wrapped some Very Vanilla baker's twine around the panel.

  The new Heartfelt Hexagon punch and stamp set were used to make the label.  I stamped the dotted outline in Gray Granite and then stamped it with the cocoa bean image in the same color stamped off once for a light look.  Over the top of that I stamped the Sale-a-Bration stamp set Heartfelt Hellos in Pecan Pie.  All of the sentiments in this set fit perfectly into the Heartfelt Hexagon punch.  I love coordination don't you??!

  I jazzed up the label with some die cut leaves using one of the Notes of Nature dies and some Garden Walk DSP in a Wild Wheat striped pattern.  The small flowers are die cut in Petal Pink using the Lovely & Sweet dies.  The flower centers are accented with another SAB choice; the Opaque Faceted gems.  The whole label is also popped on dimensionals.  

  I'm so excited to share the new mini catalog and Sale-a-Bration products with my customers! If you like my vibe and you aren't currently working with a Stampin' Up! demo I'd love to earn your business!  Just let me know what I can help you with!

  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 to order/earn starting January 4, 2024 (tomorrow!!!).

Stamps: Heartfelt Hexagons*, Heartfelt Hellos* (SAB), Notes of Nature*, Lovely & Sweet*

Ink: Pecan Pie, Gray Granite, Versamark, Wild Wheat, Petal Pink

Blends: Gray Granite light

Paper: Pecan Pie, Very Vanilla, Garden Walk DSP, Petal Pink

Accessories: white embossing powder, blender pen, Heartfelt Hexagon punch*, Lovely & Sweet dies*, Notes of Nature dies*, Opaque Faceted gems* (SAB), dimensionals, very vanilla baker's twine

Love Bear - Stampin' Up! Heartfelt Hellos (SAB)

   With the start of the New Year I gave myself permission to recycle some odds and ends that I had been holding onto (some for several years!!) in my orphaned card parts basket.  I pulled out a few pieces that I thought I would actually use (and were made with current supplies) and the rest went into my recycling bin. There's no sense in holding onto card elements that just aren't ever going to make it onto a card.  They weren't bringing me joy so I Marie Kondo'd them!  But one of the items I did save was only because I had just looked at the list of challenges that I like to participate in and one of them had a cute little bear as part of the inspiration image and I knew that I could get it onto a card immediately and get some satisfaction from using something that had just been almost thrown away!

  I used the TGIF Challenge to make a quick Valentine's Day card using some great Sale-a-Bration products that will be available to customers in 2 days! (January 4 is when you can begin earning Sale-a-Bration products as well as order from the Jan.-April 2024 Mini catalog).

  So the bear is from the retired Happier Than Happy stamp set from the May 2022-April 2023 annual catalog and it was just due to good timing that he didn't get recycled with the rest of the basket! But he's a cutie isn't he??

  My card front is covered with a piece of Most Adored Specialty DSP which is a Sale-a-Bration (SAB) choice and I used a second piece of DSP from another SAB reward called Softly Stippled DSP to create the open circle panel.  This DSP pattern is beautiful in a Pool Party linen texture look.

  I popped the bear up on dimensionals and then gave him a stacked heart using the hearts from the Bee My Valentine stamp set.  The large heart is stamped in Pretty Peacock and the smaller one in Flirty Flamingo.  Both are punched out with the Bee Builder punch.

  The sentiment is a third SAB reward called Heartfelt Hellos stamp set and contains 6 decent sized sentiments in a mix of fonts.  I know this one will get a lot of use in my stamp room over the coming months.  I inked up the stamp with my markers (Pretty Peacock and Flirty Flamingo) and fussy cut the two parts and then popped them on dimensionals.

  Finishing touches are the baker's twine bow and adhesive-backed sequins.

  All current products used on this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE. 

  Items marked with a * will be available for purchase or earning through Sale-a-Bration starting January 4, 2024.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Heartfelt Hellos* (SAB), Bee My Valentine*, Happier Than Happy (retired)

Ink: Early Espresso, Pretty Peacock, Flirty Flamingo

Markers: Pretty Peacock, Flirty Flamingo

Paper: Most Adored Specialty DSP* (SAB), Softly Stippled DSP* (SAB), Crumb Cake, Basic White

Accessories: Stylish Shapes dies, Bee Builder punch*, dimensionals, Baker's Twine Three Color pack*, Adhesive-backed sequins trio

Hooray for Birthdays - Stampin' Up! Hooray for Surprises

   Long time no post right??!  I always have the best of intentions to stamp and post at least a few projects around Christmas but it seems that as soon as my out of town family arrives for Christmas week all good intentions are thrown out of the window!  I could have snuck away a few times to the stamp room but then I feel guilty lol!  I do have a card to share that I did make before they arrived but I just forgot to post it! 

  The Global Design Project has had a challenge going for the last 2 weeks and it's just about to end so I guess I'll get it shared before it's too late.  It's a pretty color combo and works well with some of my new stamps and looking ahead to spring!  I'm using Daffodil Delight, Pool Party and Petal Pink.

  I pulled the background DSP from the new Lighter than Air DSP and then created a long narrow panel with the Perennial Postage dies.  I love the postage edge details these dies create.  

  The flower stamp is in the new Hooray for Surprises stamp set and I just stamped it in each of the challenge colors as well as a smaller flower then die cut them with the coordinating Hooray for Surprises dies.  The smaller flowers in the centers are popped on mini dimensionals and accented with retired opaque adhesive-backed gems.

  The sentiment is stamped in Basic Gray and cut out with the Perennial Postage dies.  A bit of Petal Pink ribbon from the Ribbon Duo combo pack is adhered behind the sentiment and then popped on dimensionals.

  Finally a few Sale-a-Bration (SAB) reward Opaque Faceted Gems are added to the long panel to finish this design.

  Current products used to make this card can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE. Items marked with a * will be available starting January 4, 2024.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Hooray for Surprises*

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Petal Pink, Basic Gray

Paper: Lighter Than Air DSP*, Basic White

Accessories: Perennial Postage dies*, Hooray for Surprises dies*, dimensionals, Opaque Faceted Gems (SAB)*, Ribbon Duo combo pack, opaque adhesive-backed gems (retired)

Lovely Get Well - Stampin' Up! Lovely & Sweet

   Finding time to stamp the last few days has been tough!  I thought I was in good shape with Christmas stuff a week ago and now all of a sudden I seem to have a mile long to-do list!  But I have so many new products I want to try out that I'm squeezing in a bit of stamping whenever I can!  I used the CASE the designer challenge at Inspire.Create for my card today.   Using the layout made this one come together quickly (except for the coloring!).

    I started with a Pebbled Path base then added a layer of Basic White.  On the Basic White layer I arranged my strips of Nature's Sweetness DSP around the outside edges to make a nice little frame for he star of the show!

 I stamped the image in Pecan Pie then pulled out my colored pencils.  The coloring really didn't take that long at all and before I knew it I had beautiful almond branch.  Next it was die cut it and popped up on dimensionals on the card front.

  For the sentiment I wanted to try out the new Thoughtful Moments Hybrid embossing folder.  This one has 10 different sentiments on it and comes with a large die that cuts out each of the sentiments as well a bunch of smaller dies that are shapes to accent the sentiments like hearts, stars and flowers.  The neat thing about this hybrid design is that you can ink up the embossing folder with the new brayer and get a cool inked outline around the embossed words.  I gave it a go and after a few practice tries with color/paper combos I got one I liked but it was a little stark so I ended up filling in the open space with my Pecan Pie light blends marker.  I know I'll be using this set of products a lot in the coming months!

  The only embellishments that I thought this design needed were a few retired adhesive-backed speckled dots which go well with the green of the leaves.

  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 January 4, 2024.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Lovely & Sweet*

Ink: Pecan Pie

Colored Pencils: Daffodil Delight, Pecan Pie, Old Olive, Early Espresso, Calypso Coral

Blends: Pecan Pie light

Paper: Pebbled Path, Basic White, Nature's Sweetness DSP*

Accessories: Thoughtful Moments Hybrid embossing folder/dies*, dimensionals, adhesive-backed speckled dots (retired)

  

CAS Sweet Bee - Stampin' Up! Bee My Valentine

   The card that I'm sharing today is made for the CAS on Sunday?/Friday? challenge (I'm confused as to which day they are since it shows up differently on their blog web address vs. the blog title page) in which they want us to use black and white and one additional color.  There are so many possibilities with these parameters!  I looked through my new(er) stamp sets and decided that the Bee My Valentine stamp set would be perfect for a clean and simple mostly black and white card!

  This was an impossible card to get a decent photo of!  I tried over the past 2 days taking probably 50 photos the way I usually do and everything looked washed out and very blue-ish no matter what I changed.  Anyway I finally took the card outside and and tried it with lots of direct sunlight!  Believe me when I tell you that this was better than the others but still just 'eh'! Anyway....just use your imagination that the card is much cuter in person!

  I started with a Basic White thick base, then a layer of Basic Black and a layer of Basic White.  I stamped the little dashed flight path around the the card a bit.  Then stamped the sentiment and punched it out and popped it up with dimensionals.

  The bee is stamped in Lemon Lolly and Memento black and I'm thinking now that Daffodil Delight would have been a better choice as it would have shown up more bold in the photo. But I like the softness of the Lemon Lolly. I punched the bee out, added the face, punched vellum wings and stamped and punched antennae. Once the bee was put together I popped it up with dimensionals above the sentiment and added a little adhesive-backed hearts & flower embellishment.

  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 January 4, 2024.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Bee My Valentine

Ink: Memento Black, Lemon Lolly

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Basic Black, vellum

Accessories: Bee builder punch*, dimensionals, circle punch, adhesive-backed hearts & flower*