Swirly Sailboat Graduation - Stampin' Up! Swirly Bird

  It's that time of year where students are moving on to the next level of education or have finished and are heading out into the world to begin their careers.  Of course us stampers need to mark these milestones with cute cards of congratulations and encouragement!  I designed this card for my stampers to make last week at my May stamp club.

  I thought the sail boat was an appropriate image for a graduate heading out to their next adventure.  And the bright colors really pop against the white card base so it's perfect for the start of summer.

  We added some texture with the Seaside embossing folder and the wave die cut from the Swirly Scribbles thinlets.

  The boat is stamped on a strip of Whisper White and punched with the tag topper punch and tied with a bit of Night of Navy twine.

  A quick change of sentiment could turn this card into a birthday card, a Father's Day card or even a sweet baby boy card.

  You only have today and tomorrow to take advantage of the special bundle pricing for the Swirly Bird stamp set and Swirly Scribbles thinlets.  Save 10% on the bundle pricing before the new annual catalog goes live on June 1st.  You'll still be able to get both items but not in a bundle.  Might as well save yourself a bit of money if you have them on your wishlist!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Swirly Bird, Suite Sentiments

Ink: Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Night of Navy

Paper: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise

Accessories: Seaside embossing folder, Swirly Scribbles thinlets, tag topper punch, baker's twine, dimensionals

Jar of Thanks - Fab Friday 114 - Stampin' Up! Jar of Love

   My family is in a full on push to the end of the school year and we're trying to finish strong and I'm trying to set a good example but I am D-O-N-E and I'm just the mom...think of the poor kids!  My oldest has his last SOL test today and then we are finished with the standardized testing for this school year.  And I can't even say or write or hear SOL without laughing.  When we first moved to Virginia 16 years ago this new testing that was being enacted on the public schools was all in the news and not having kids then I didn't really know anything about the SOLs.  All I kept thinking was what my dad meant when he would tell us that we "were SOL"!  Ha!  But now, of course I realize that in Virginia SOL means Standards of Learning.  I think the other meaning is just as fitting sometimes after looking at test questions!

  Anyway on to the stamping!  We have a new challenge at Fab Friday starting today and we hope you'll join in on the fun!

  Here is the versatile sketch:

  I used our challenge sketch for double duty this week and designed one of my stamp club cards to use the layout.  Since the Jar of Love bundle will be retiring with the current catalog I wanted to show it off one more time to my stampers.  The stamp set and framelits are carrying over but you will have to purchase them separately without the 10% off bundle pricing.

  The color combination was one that I saw while browsing Pinterest and I never would have put them together myself but I'm really pleased with how they look together.  Peekaboo Peach was probably my least favorite color when that set of In Colors was released last year but it has certainly grown on me.

  There isn't any fancy stamping or techniques on this card, just some 2 step stamping for the flowers which are cut out and then popped on the edge of the jar with dimensionals.

  I hope you'll head over to Fab Friday and see what the rest of the Design Team has in store for you and then play along with us!  It's a long weekend for many so there aren't any excuses!  And don't tell me I'm SOL!  :)

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Jar of Love

Ink: Smoky Slate, Pear Pizzazz, Peekaboo Peach, So Saffron

Paper: Smoky Slate, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, A Little Foxy DSP

Accessories: Everyday Jars framelits, Peekaboo Peach ruched ribbon, dimensionals

  

Swirly Flowers in Fig - Stampin' Up! Swirly Bird

  Always so much to do and never quite enough hours in each day for me to feel caught up so it's going to a short and sweet post today!

  I made this card for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day.  Her favorite color is purple so I was excited when I could use the new In Color Fresh Fig to make her card.  She also loves flowers so really it was a no brainer on what kind of card to make!

  The card base is Fresh Fig with one of the larger Swirly Bird swirls/flowers stamped in Fresh Fig.  Then I embossed a panel of Whisper White with the Softly Falling embossing folder and cut it into 2 unequal pieces and adhered them to the card front leaving the stamped swirls/flowers peeking through.

  The trio of flowers are all a bit different.  The one in the back is embossed with white embossing powder and then watered down Fresh Fig ink is brushed over the top.  The next one is stamped in Fresh Fig and then colored over with clear Wink of Stella.  The one on top is Shimmery White cardstock with the swirl embossed with white embossing powder and then colored over with Fresh Fig ink using an Aquapainter.

   A little piece of the finely woven ribbon peeks out from the side of the top flower.  The sentiment is stamped in Fresh Fig and is popped on Dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Swirly Bird, Something to Celebrate (retired)

Ink: Versamark, Fresh Fig*

Paper: Fresh Fig*, Whisper White, Shimmery White

Accessories: Softly Falling embossing folder, white embossing powder, finely woven ribbon*, dimensionals

*New products available in the 2017-2018 Stampin' Up! Annual catalog out June 1

Shiplapped Wood Texture Winter - Stampin' Up! Seasonal Layers Thinlets

  I don't know if I would call this getting a really early start on Christmas cards or that I'm procrastinating doing some business-y type things that definitely aren't as much fun as playing with new products.  It's probably a bit of both!

  I have been working on making some little projects using the new Wood Textures DSP stack that will be available soon.  I had to cut a bunch of sheets down and had a nice little pile of scraps when I was finished.  And we know I have to save these little scraps!  And seeing these little wood textured scraps it made me think of those cool Pinterest projects out there with shiplapping and wood pallet projects.  So I made a little background with all those scraps.

  The scraps are adhered to a piece of Whisper White cardstock and I varied the length of each making sure the seams didn't line up with each other.  I learned that last year when we laid some hardwood floors in our house!  Next, I trimmed the edges down so the panel was nice and even all around.  

  I used some of the new 1/2" finely woven ribbon in the new In Color Tranquil Tide to go around the wood panel.  Then I added a slightly larger panel of Whisper White behind the wood and mounted it all onto a Tranquil Tide card base.

  To turn this one into a winter or Christmas card I used the awesome Seasonal Layers Thinlets and cut out 3 Whisper White snowflakes and adhered them down using the fine tip glue.  I added rhinestones to the centers of each snowflake.  

  I still have a lot of these scraps left so I think I'll be making a bunch of backgrounds to use on more cards.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: none 

Ink: none

Paper: Tranquil Tide*, Whisper White, Wood Textures DSP stack*

Accessories: Tranquil Tide finely woven ribbon*, Seasonal Layers Thinlets*, rhinestones

*Items will be available June 1 in the 2017-2018 Stampin' Up! annual catalog

Fresh Vintage Butterfly - Stampin' Up! Watercolor Wings

  I'm not sure if I pulled it off or not but I combined 2 challenges that seem to be on opposite ends of the style spectrum.  One one hand I've got the crisp, clean sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  My stamping buddy Jennifer Timko designed this one and it's great with tons of possibilities.  But then I decided I wanted to do the Vintage themed challenge at The Card Concept too.  I'll let you all decide on how this one came out!

  

  The card base is Basic Black and I used the dots stamp from Watercolor Wings and embossed them in clear embossing powder all over the front.  The bottom corner is punched with the corner rounder. Then I tore a strip of the retired Typeset DSP for the long panel of the card sketch.  I also stamped the butterfly on a piece of the Typeset DSP.  The base color of the butterfly is Lemon Lime Twist and then the highlights are Dapper Denim stamped off.  The body is stamped in black.

  The sentiment flag is Dapper Denim and the sentiment from Sunshine Sayings is stamped in black.

  I dug around in my retired ribbon bin and pulled out a small bit of retired Very Vanilla seam binding ribbon and a cute, little retired ribbon flower.  I pressed the flower into the Dapper Denim ink pad to give it some color.  I layered the seam binding ribbon with a bit of the new Lemon Lime Twist ribbon.  They are held together with a retired Vintage Trinkets safety pin.   A row of adhesive pearls finishes this card off.

  So I've got some fresh with the bright colors paired with the black and I've got the vintage with the DSP, torn edges and frayed ribbon.  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Watercolor Wings, Sunshine Sayings

Ink: Versamark, Lemon Lime Twist*, Dapper Denim, Basic Black

Paper: Basic Black, Dapper Denim, Typeset DSP (retired)

Accessories: Bold Butterfly framelits, Lemon Lime Twist ribbon*, adhesive pearls, Clear embossing powder, corner rounder, dimensionals, seam binding ribbon (retired) Vintage Trinket safety pin (retired), ribbon flower (retried)

Relax & Be Amazing - Stampin' Up! Seasonal Layers Thinlets

  We're back today at Fab Friday with a fun color combination challenge!  Check out these beauties!

  I pulled these ink pads out the other day to begin mulling over ideas and I kept coming back to summer and the beach and relaxing.  The colors reminded me of beach chairs and umbrellas.  And since the ink pads were sitting next to some of my new catalog items I thought it was only natural to put it all together!

  

  So the rainy days this week didn't help with the photography and it certainly didn't feel like warm beach weather but I'm please with bright cheery results.

  Definitely no fancy stamping here, just some fun with the colors to create the striped background.  I used the Thoughtful Banners stamp set to do the stripes as well as the sentiment in black.  The stripes just alternate the challenge colors with some stamping off to vary the shades.

  I used the Stitched Shapes framelits to cut a circle out of Dapper Denim and then used the new Seasonal Layers thinlets to cut out the super cute Adirondack chair.  I stamped little Rich Razzleberry cup (sounds like it could be a real drink right?) with a Calypso Coral straw to add to the arm of the chair.  I used the new stamp set, Colorful Seasons for the cup.

  A white baker's twine bow and a Rich Razzleberry enamel heart finish off the details to this mostly CAS card.

  I hope you'll take a peek at the rest of the Fab Friday Design Team samples and then play along with us.  Remember, our challenge runs for 2 weeks so that's plenty of time create and share!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Thoughtful Banners, Colorful Seasons*

Ink: Dapper Denim, Calypso Coral, Rich Razzleberry, black

Paper: Whisper White, Dapper Denim

Accessories: Stitched Shapes framelits, Seasonal Layers Thinlets*, white baker's twine, Brights enamel shapes, dimensionals

Classic Daisy - Stampin' Up! Daisy Delight

    The folks over at Global Design Project have a fun sketch challenge this week and I found some time to play along yesterday.  The Daisy Delight stamp set is so cheerful that I wanted to use it again for a classic daisy card.

  I  love this color combo; Daffodil Delight, Old Olive and Basic Black. 

  The card base is Whisper White thick, then a piece of the retired It's My Party DSP cut on an angle.  I didn't have any current Old Olive ribbon so I dug around in my ribbon scrap bin and pulled out some of this long, long, long retired wide grosgrain ribbon.  I adhered it on the edge of the DSP and trimmed the overhang.  I used a few dabs of glue to keep the ends from fraying.

  The large top panel is just Daffodil Delight topped by Whisper White.  I stamped the daisy in Daffodil Delight twice and punched it out.  2 leaves were stamped in Old Olive and cut out.  The daisies are layered and then popped on dimensionals with a gold faceted gem in the center.  The leaves are tucked under the petals.

  I embossed the sentiment on a narrow strip of Basic Black and flagged the ends.  The Sunshine Sayings stamp set makes it really easy to create a sentiment for just about any occasion. A linen thread bow was added to one end before adhering with dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Daisy Delight*, Sunshine Sayings

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Versamark

Paper: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, It's My Party DSP (retired)

Accessories: Daisy punch*, dimensionals, gold faceted gem*, white embossing powder, linen thread, wide grosgrain ribbon (retired)

*Items will be available in the upcoming 2017-2018 Stampin' Up! Annual catalog 

Pink Daisy Thank You - Stampin' Up! Daisy Delight

 One of the challenge sites that I follow had a Pink and Navy challenge a few weeks back.  I can't even remember which one but I started this card and pieces sat on my desk waiting to completed into a card as I was distracted by a few other time sensitive projects.  I finally got it pieced together and photographed so that I could share it.

  I bought the Daisy Delight bundle after the Richmond On Stage event when we had a short time to order some new annual catalog products.  I haven't had much time to use it but it's a fun set with a coordinating punch.

  The card base is Whisper White thick and I added a layer of the Delightful Daisy DSP that coordinates with the stamp set.  I stamped 2 daisies in Powder Pink ink onto Powder Pink cardstock.  Powder Pink is one of the new In Colors and is a nice soft pink.  I punched out both flowers and then layered them and popped them with a dimensional.  To highlight the center I added one of the new faceted gems.

  The Thank You strip is stamped in Night of Navy and I used one of the small stamps in the set and added a few small daisies to the sides.  Before adhering this strip down I added a small bakers twine bow.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Daisy Delight*

Ink: Powder Pink*, Night of Navy

Paper: Whisper White thick, Powder Pink*, Delightful Daisy DSP*

Accessories: Daisy punch*, faceted gem*, Night of Navy baker's twine, dimensionals

*items will be available in the 2017-2018 Stampin' Up! annual catalog June 1