Cards

Reverse Words: Sale-a-bration 2017

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Reverse Words GlitterYikes!  Only a couple of days left of Sale-a-bration 2017!  Have you placed your order?

This quick and easy card was made using the Reverse Words Sale-a-bration stamp set and the Glimmer Paper.  Unfortunately, the Glimmer Paper is not available any longer but if you wanted to make this card you could just substitute a designer paper that has Sweet Sugarplum in it.  Easy Peasy!

The fun thing about the Reverse Words stamp set is the stamp itself gives you that kind of watercolored look.  Add a few jewels along with your ribbon and the card is done!

DON’T MISS OUT ON SALE-A-BRATION!!!!  Tomorrow is the last day!

Make a Medallion: Sale-a-bration 2017

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Make a MedallionDo you ever get really excited when you finish a card because it turns out so well?  This is one of those cards for me…..it turned out so pretty!  🙂

This was my first attempt at using the Make a Medallion Sale-a-bration stamp set.  I stamped one piece of the medallion in Rich Razzleberry and one piece in Sweet Sugarplum and then die cut the medallion with a Layering Circle Framelit.

Check out what I layered the medallion circle on.  Can you tell what it is?  It’s one of the Lace Doilies from the Occasions Catalog!  I know….you’re wondering how I colored it.  Well, let me tell you.  I colored it using a foam brayer and the Rich Razzleberry ink pad!  Pretty cool, huh?  It was SO easy and it turns out SO great!  You really need to try this!

Did you notice that I also used my new favorite embossing folder?  I LOVE the Petal Burst Embossing Folder!  What’s your favorite embossing folder?

Don’t forget….only a few days left to take advantage of Sale-a-bration 2017!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Stock Up During Sale-a-bration!

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SW_AvantGarden_PotW_Mar2817I know you absolutely LOVE the Sale-a-bration items this year!  🙂

The Avant Garden stamp set and the Hey, Chick! stamp set are my favorites.  You don’t want to miss on getting your favorites!  Sale-a-bration ends on Friday, March 31st so there are just a few more days for you to get your favorites!

I know….you’re thinking you don’t really need to purchase a new stamp set or some new framelits at this time.  BUT!…..you may want to take this opportunity to stock up on adhesives, cardstock, envelopes or embellishments.  Yep.  Get those things you need and earn a FREE Sale-a-bration set to boot!

Stampin’ Up! posted the above photo in our weekly newsletter today.  All of these cards were made using the Avant Garden Sale-a-bration stamp set.  Aren’t they great?  They CASEd (copy and share everything) all three cards from Pinterest.  My favorite is the palm tree card.  I’m definitely going to whip up a few of those sometime

So, don’t miss out on your favorite Sale-a-bration items!  Stock up on those stamping essentials and earn a FREE Sale-a-bration item.  But do it before March 31st!  You can shop here right now!

Sale-a-bration 2017: Delicate Details

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Delicate Details.1There are only 5 days left of Sale-a-bration 2017.  Do you have your favorite Sale-a-bration items yet?  Don’t miss out!  Place that order today!

I used the beautiful Delicate Details Sale-a-bration stamp set (#143314) that contains all sorts of lacey images for this card.  My lace images aren’t the focal point for this card but just a little addition to nicely finish off the card.

I also used the gorgeous Succulent Garden Designer Paper on the card which is another Sale-a-bration item (#147363).  After mounting in on a piece of Whisper White card stock and adhering it to the card I added a small lacey pattern to each side of the card stock.  I added a sentiment on my Stitched Shape Oval (my favorite new framelits!), a piece of ribbon and the card was done.  It’s a simple card but the lacey image finishes the card off nicely.

Don’t miss out on Sale-a-bration 2017!  You can check out all of the Sale-a-bration items here by clicking on one of the Sale-a-bration images.  Make note though that there are a few Sale-a-bration items that are no longer available:  Card Tin, Glimmer Paper, Seaside Embossing Folder and the Sparkle Embossing Folder.  Sale-a-bration items are only available while supplies last.  Get that order in today!  🙂

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

I Love these Chickens!

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Hey, Chick.1With less than a week left of Sale-a-bration I thought I should get to posting these final samples I’ve made.

I haven’t used the Hey, Chick stamp set much but it is TSC!  Too Stinkin’ Cute and will remain in my stash for a LONG time!  This crazy-haired chick is my favorite.

I used my watercolor pencils to color in her hair, feet and beak and then smoothed the color out with a blender pen.

Here I go again using those great Stitched Shapes Framelits….they just finish off your project so nicely!  I’m so glad Stampin’ Up! brought them out last fall instead of waiting until the new catalog to release them.  I think they would have gotten lost in all the excitement of the rest of the new products.

Speaking of new products….I get to see the new catalog in 2 weeks!  Woo hoo!  I’m heading to Stampin’ Up!’s On Stage event in Minneapolis with my friends Jan and Janet.  I LOVE Stampin’ Up! events!  I can’t wait!  Be sure to stay tuned to my blog after I return from the event because you never know when I might give you a sneak peek at a new product!  🙂

Don’t miss out on Sale-a-bration!  Get those orders in before March 31st!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Easter Message Flowers

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Easter Message.2.0317Ah…the Easter Lily.  Such a lovely flower.  I have a friend who can’t attend church on Easter or Christmas because of flower allergies.  Isn’t that a shame?  The sanctuary looks so beautiful when it’s filled with flowers.

I started this Easter card with the lilies and then thought that the fun Sale-a-bration glimmer paper would be a fun way to highlight them.  I used the glimmer paper both on the background oval and as a border on the embossed piece.

Just a reminder that the glimmer paper is no longer available as a Sale-a-bration item.  They ran out and since Sale-a-bration ends next week they won’t be ordering more.  Such a shame….the colors were so fun!  If I were to recreate this card without the glimmer paper I would just change it to regular Mint Macaron card stock.  The card stock might actually make the card a little “classier”.  What do you think?

I used my ink pads and a blender pen to color the stems and add a hint of color to the center of the flowers.  One of new favorite tools is the Petals Embossing Folder.  It’s my go-to embossing folder these days.  What’s your favorite?

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Basket Bunch Chocolate Bunny

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Basket Bunch.2.0317What is Easter without chocolate and chocolate bunnies?  When I saw this adorable little chocolate bunny in the Basket Bunch stamp set I knew I had to use him on a card and naturally he had to be the center of attention.  I also knew that I had to use this sentiment on the card.

What do you think of my creation?  I think it turned out pretty cute.  I guess I could have gone with a pink like Flirty Flamingo to make it more spring-like but I think I designed it around Valentines Day and was thinking red.  Ha!

If you’ve been looking at my blog lately you will have noticed that this is the third card I’ve made with the Basket Bunch stamp set.  I love it and it will be staying on my shelf for a long time to come.  There are so many things you can do with this one stamp set.  You can check out the other two cards here and here.

I am really loving the Stitched Shape Framelits!  They add so much to a card by highlighting what’s inside of the shape.  I’m so glad that Stampin’ Up! didn’t wait until the new catalog to release them!

I hope you have a fabulous day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Make it Mine Monday: Oh, So Succulent

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Oh, So Succulent.0317Make it Mine Monday!  Today’s card is CASEd from the very talented Kimberly Van Diepen.  As you can see by comparing the two cards I didn’t change much at all.  I basically just left off the sentiment and switched up the linen thread for gold metallic thread (which is hard to see on the picture of my card).

Even though the cards look similar I used a different technique on the colored flowers.  Kimberly used the Rock ‘n Roll technique.  She first stamped the solid flower in So Saffron ink and then gently rolled the edges of the stamp in Mint Macaron ink.

IMG_5179I had a bit of trouble with that technique….I couldn’t get the soft look on the flowers that Kimberly had so I came up with a different plan.  I first inked up my solid flower stamp in So Saffron ink and then I took my sponge dauber, inked it up in Bermuda Bay ink and ever so lightly dabbed a bit of color on the ends of the solid flower stamp before stamping on the paper.  I really liked the way my flowers turned out and will definitely be trying this technique again.

So, I did survive Pastor DJ’s last Sunday with us at our church yesterday.  There were plenty of 17362864_10210400151153438_781859241223334724_ntears shed but he put a light spin on things so there were a few chuckles too.  He didn’t wear the cowboy hat during the entire service but he did wear the vest the whole time.  Gotta love him!  🙂  God speed DJ and Happy Trails!

Have a great day everyone!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

 

A Country Livin’ Goodbye

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Country Livin.0317As I mentioned a few weeks ago my very favorite pastor is moving to a church in Houston.  It’s a great opportunity for him and his family but he is going to be greatly missed.  Not only is he a fun and charismatic guy but he gives great sermons.  Your mind doesn’t wander and the message really sticks with you.

Today is his last Sunday with us so this evening we’re having a little party for him and his family. (His wife is just as great as he is!)  The party is going to have a western feel since they’re heading to Texas so I wanted to do the same with my card for them.

20170305_074926 (2)I borrowed the fun Country Livin’ stamp set from my downline Janet so I could make the card.  It’s one of the few stamps that I don’t own myself.  Ha!

I cheated a little with my layering ovals.  I wanted a narrow border between the scalloped Soft Suede oval and the oval I die cut from Water Color Paper.  In order to achieve that look I die cut the Water Color Paper layer using the largest Stitched Shape oval and then trimmed away the border outside the “stitching”.  If you look closely at the card you can see that the edges of that oval are a little rough.  It worked though and it looks exactly like I wanted it to!

I got a little creative with the sentiment too.  I used a sentiment from the Greatest Greetings stamp set that says “goodbye & good luck”.  Well, I couldn’t fit all of that in my oval so for the front I masked the last part of the sentiment and on the inside I masked the “goodbye”!  How clever was that?!  Ha!

Happy Trails Pastor DJ and family!  You will be missed.

Simple Saturday: In the Meadow

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In the Meadow.0217Did you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day yesterday?  I don’t have a drop of Irish blood in me but I did wear a green t-shirt and my shamrock earrings.  We did have a few friends over for Rueben sandwiches and some green food items.  We had some March Madness basketball on but weren’t really watching it.

Did you fill out a bracket?  I like to fill one out even though I don’t really follow college basketball.  I just guess.  I’ll choose a team from a state where I lived or choose it from the sound of the name.  I chose Gonzaga to take it all just because it’s a fun word to say!  Ha!  I’m sure basketball fanatics everywhere are cringing when I say that!  Oh, well.  We’ll see how well I do.  After 36 games I only have 5 wrong picks to I’d say I’m doing pretty well!  I must be a good guesser!  🙂

It’s another installment of Simple Saturday today!  This week’s card is made using Stampin’ Up!’s In the Meadow stamp set.  Simple and perfect for a guy.  Those masculine cards are hard to come by, aren’t they?

I just stamped the tree and the grass stamp multiple times.  That was it.  I did add an extra layer of Basic Black along with some Basic Black Solid Baker’s Twine to finish it off.

Have a great day and good luck on your March Madness Bracket!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Basket Bunch: Easter’s On It’s Way

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Basket Bunch.3.0317Yikes!  Easter is one month from today!  I guess it really is time to start sharing my Easter cards!

Have you played with Stampin’ Up!’s Basket Bunch stamp set and the COORDINATING Basket Builder Framelits?  You should!  There are SO many things you can do with these two COORDINATING items!  I really love this bundle of products and will definitely be keeping it in my stash.

Today’s card is a fun and simple one that I came up with while playing around with these products.  These eggs are all on the same stamp but cut out separately with the die.  I stamped them, colored them with various colors of markers, and then die cut them before adhering them to my card.

The fun saying is from the Greatest Greetings stamp set.  I’ve been waiting for a chance to use this fun sentiment and finally came up with the perfect card for it.  There’s a similar sentiment in the Basket Bunch stamp set which says “you’re egg-stra special”.  Too fun!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Think Spring! Basket Bunch Daffodil

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Basket Bunch.1.0317Spring is fast approaching (although it feels like it’s already here!) and so is Easter.  It’s time to make Easter cards and that’s what we’re doing in classes this week.

This bright and cheerful card is one of my favorites from the class.  How can you not love a yellow daffodil?!

There’s nothing tricky about making this card.  I stamped the flower, stem and leaves on Shimmery White card stock and colored them with ink pads and an Aqua Painter.

Doesn’t the Stitched Shape Oval add to the card.  It would have been nice with a plain die cut oval but the “stitching” around the edge just takes things to the next level.

I’m starting to use the Petal Burst Embossing Folder more and more lately.  It fills in the blank space on the background yet is still a little subtle.  Cucumber Crush was the perfect shade of green for this card.  It’s a shame it will be going away with this current Annual Catalog.  Be sure to get all of your supplies in this color while you can!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!  Think Spring!

Make it Mine Monday: Dragonfly Dreams Bee

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Dragonfly Dreams.0217Welcome to Make It Mine Monday!  What do you think of my bee?  I actually got the idea for this card way back in November at an On Stage event.  Stampin’ Up! Cofounder Shelli Gardner showed simple card made using the Hexagons Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder and the bee from the Dragonfly Dreams stamp set.

IMG_8959 (2)I decided to step my card up a little bit.  The second card shown here is the one I copied.  The picture isn’t very good because I took a picture of the big screen we were watching.  Shellie simply embossed the front of her card and added the label with the stamped bee.

Naturally I had to add a few more layers to my card.  My motto is: you can never have too many layers.  OK…that’s not quite true.  I do have a hard time though when there aren’t enough layers.  🙂

Check out my bee.  Did you notice that I colored the stripes?  Nope….I didn’t use ink.  I used my Gold Wink of Stella Glimmer Pen!  Pretty clever of me isn’t it?!  I also used the Clear Wink of Stella Glimmer Pen on the wings.  You can never have too much sparkle!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Simple Saturday: Love & Affection

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Love & Affection.0217Welcome to Simple Saturday!  It doesn’t get a whole lot simpler than this card.  All you need to do for this easy layout is start with your favorite piece of designer series paper.

I chose this pretty piece of paper from the Affectionately Yours package of designer paper.  The Night of Navy and Crumb Cake is such a striking color combination.

Once I chose my designer paper I simply layered it on a piece of Night of Navy card stock and put it on the front of the card.  Then I stamped my sentiment on a piece of Crumb Cake card stock, layered that on Night of Navy, put it on the front of my card and my card was done!  Easy Peasy!

You could even skip the sentiment and just make your designer paper a bit larger on the card front and you’d still have a great card.

Here are the dimensions that I used:

Crumb Cake:  5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″, 3 3/8″ x 1 1/8″

Night of Navy:  3 1/2″ x 3 1/2″, 3 1/2″ x 1 1/4″

Designer Paper:  3 3/8″ x 3 3/8″

Have fun making this SIMPLE card!  Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Balloon Adventures Shaker Card

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Balloon Adventures.0317Check out this FUN birthday card that I made for my niece Abbey’s 16th birthday!  Didn’t it turn out cute?  🙂

This was one of those cards that makes you smile when you are finished with it.  I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.

It really wasn’t difficult to make either.  The first step I had to figure out was my color palette.  If you’ve read my blog much or been around me you know that many times I determine my color palette by what ribbon I want to use on the card.  In this case I don’t even have ribbon on the card (What?!) so I started with stuff I wanted to put in my shaker card!  How crazy is that?  I knew I wanted fun shakery (?) stuff in my card so I went with the Sprinkles Embellishments from the Cool Treats Suite in the Occasions Catalog.  All sorts of pretty colors:  Peekaboo Peach, Pool Party and Watermelon Wonder….and that’s where my color palette for the card came from!

Seeing as I had used the embellishments from the Cool Treats Suite I knew I had to the COORDINATING designer series paper!  Now all of the hard work was done!

I used just a portion of the balloon pop-up die to make the focal point of my card.  I cut my card stock the exact size of the die.  I did have to trim the top and the bottom a bit to fit on my card front.

I punched out my balloons from the Tasty Treats Specialty Designer Series Paper, added my sentiment from the  Balloon Adventures stamp set and the front of my card was done!  I just needed to make the shaker portion.

Making a shaker card is pretty easy.  I cut a piece of Window Sheet the same size as I used for my balloon focal point and adhered it to the back of the focal point with Tear & Tape Adhesive.   On the back of the focal point I then added my foam adhesive strips around the edges.  When you do this step you want to make sure you have no gaps at all between the strips because you don’t want your “shakery stuff” to be able to escape!  Now you want to add all of your “shakery stuff” to the area enclosed by the foam strips.  Once you have added as much “shakery stuff” as you want to your card you will then remove the backing of your foam strips and adhere a piece of card stock which is the same size as your balloon focal point.  Now you have the shaker portion of the card done!  Add it to the front of the card and ta-da….you have a beautiful shaker card.

I did add a couple of extra items to the Sprinkles Embellishments to make my “shakery stuff”.  I added a few silver sequins from my roll of Silver Sequin Trim and I also picked out a few white stars from my container of Metallics Sequin Assortments.  All in all a VERY fun card.  Let me know if you have any questions on how I made it.

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!