Cards

Fresh Fruit! Palaside Peaches!

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FreshFruit.0716.2It peach time here in Colorado.  It’s the time of the year when peaches from the Western Slope (west side of the Rockies) are juicy and ripe.  In fact, this coming weekend there is a whole festival in Palaside, CO celebrating the peach!

People around here go crazy for these peaches.  Apparently they’re delicious.  (Personally I don’t care for them).  My friend and her daughter spent Sunday cutting up 75 peaches.  They made 4 batches of jam and 7 peach pies for the freezer.

OK.  If you’re like me and don’t really care for peaches you can still appreciate a cute card with peaches on it, right?!  You can’t go wrong with the Fresh Fruit stamp set and the Fruit Stand Designer Series Paper.  I thought this card turned out pretty nice, how about you?

I didn’t want to use the designer paper on the whole card.  In this type of situation I usually put the designer paper on the bottom of the card and leave a little white space at the top.  This time I wanted to try something different so I put the designer paper on the side.  However, this left a little bit too much empty white space for me so I ran the white through Big Shot.  Actually….and here’s your trick for a Tuesday…..I first put my designer paper on the piece of Whisper White card stock and then I ran ONLY HALF of it through the Big Shot with the Seaside Embossing Folder!  Woo Hoo!  I LOVE that look!  Sometimes I can amaze myself.  Ha!

The last thing I did to the card to make it a little special was to color the peach with my Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush!  I love that little gem!  It always adds a little something to any card!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Here’s to You! Mixed Drinks

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Mixed Drinks.1.0816Here’s to you!  You’re amazing!  Thank you for checking out my blog!  I appreciate it.

I’ve had the Mixed Drinks stamp set for a bit and have finally had a chance to play with it.  The stamp set has all sorts of glassware for different types of drinks.  Not only can you stamp the glass, you can stamp the beverage inside it!  No coloring necessary!

Hmm….as I’m looking at this card, watching the Olympics and writing this I’ve decided that it would be perfect to send to any of the many athletes participating in the games….those who’ve won medals and those who didn’t but still gave it their all.  They’re all amazing!  What’s your favorite sport to watch in these Summer Olympics?

Delightful Dijon turned out to be the perfect color for champagne.  It’s not my go-to color for cards but it was perfect for this one.  It might be hard to tell but I used the Softly Falling Embossing Folder on the background.  It reminds me of champagne bubbles.  🙂

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Thoughtful Branches Gift Bag

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Thoughtful Branches.JanIt’s the last day of Thoughtful Branches week.  Have I convinced you yet that you absolutely need this bundle?  🙂

Today’s project is actually from my team’s Stamp Camp that was held a few weeks ago.  My friend Jan made these gift bags for all of the camp participants as well as all of us demonstrators who put on the event.  Isn’t it gorgeous?!!  She made over 40 of these!  Whew!

Jan die cut the flower twice.  Once was out of a solid piece of Dapper Denim card stock and the top layer is watercolor paper which she colored with her Aqua Painter.  Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.  Jan is the friend who always makes us amazing 3D projects at convention.  I love traveling with her.  Ha!  🙂

I still have a ton of gorgeous projects made with this bundle saved to my computer.   I’m not sure I’ll ever get all of them made.  A girl can only try, right?  I guess if I stopped babbling on about how wonderful this bundle is I’d have more time to play so I better get going.  Have a great day.  Take care and Happy Stamping!

P.S.  Don’t forget that August 31st is the last day to order this fantastic bundle!

Wintery Thoughtful Branches

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Thoughtful Branches.3.0816Yes.  Winter is coming.  OK….let’s have fall first since it is my favorite season.  🙂

This Thoughtful Branches stamp set is SO versatile.  You can make winter cards, spring cards, summer cards, birthday cards, sympathy cards, get well cards…you name it….you can probably make it with this stamp set and thinlit bundle!

I am so glad that I have it.  This is one that will stay in my craft room for a VERY long time.  How about you?  Have you purchased it yet?  You really should.  🙂

I CASEd (copy and share everything) this card directly from Stampin’ Up!  Their card didn’t have the red layer and they added a sentiment banner where my watermark is.  See, I can’t just leave well enough alone.  I always manage to change something on a card I copy.

What do you like to do?  If you see a card/project that you really like do you copy it piece by piece or add your own little changes to it?  Let me know.  I’d love to know.  Just leave a comment below.

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Thoughtful Branches Pines

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Thoughtful Branches.5.0816It’s another Thoughtful Branches card from my Thoughtful Branches class.  I’m pretty sure that this was the very first time I’ve done a class centered around a single stamp set.  #6monthstampingoals

It’s a bit difficult to plan a class like this, especially when you do a class the way I do.  I usually design 5 cards for a class and put everything needed for each card in it’s own container.  Then people just grab a container, work on that card and then grab a new one.  It works pretty well for my customers.  So, when you’re working with only one stamp set and multiple containers that means you can’t use the same stamp on two different cards!

I was able to make it all work for this class but we only made four cards instead of five.  Those people that attended enjoyed the class but I had a very small turnout.  Oh, well.  It happens.  I’ll just have to show these fabulous cards at next week’s class.

This card is actually my own creation although I probably borrowed bits and pieces of it from other sources.  I know I had seen the background somewhere else.  I really like this background.  First you stamp the Crumb Cake card stock with the Hardwood stamp and then you run it through the Big Shot with the Woodgrain embossing folder!  Double woodgrain!  It really looks nice.

The trees are stamped on watercolor paper to add a little more texture to the card because the double woodgrain background just wasn’t quite enough.  Ha!

This card reminds me of the north woods of MN where I’ll be headed in a few weeks.  I love it up there.  So serene and peaceful.  I hope you have a serene and peaceful day.  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Stunning Thoughtful Branches

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hydrangea 5 Simply stunning!  That’s all I have to say about these two projects.  Aren’t they gorgeous.  My fingers are just itching to start playing with my Thoughtful Branches stamp set again and make this layered hydrangea.

I was going to share another one of the cards we made in my Thoughtful Branches class last night but I couldn’t resist sharing this amazing project which I just saw this morning.  The best part is that it doesn’t sound terribly difficult to make.  Lou, the creator, simply die cut 4 flower/leafy pieces with the Beautiful Branches thinlit and then watercolored them Sweet Sugarplum, Rich Razzleberry and Perfect Plum inks.  I am definitely going to have to give this a try later today.   Thank you Lou for hydrangea 6sharing these wonderful creationions!

I really love the shadow box that Lou created.  Hmmm….I may have to stop at the craft store today…..

Have you purchased the Thoughtful Branches Bundle yet?  Have you checked it out yet?  You definitely should.  And don’t forget….it’s only available during the month of August!!!!  Don’t miss out on it!  There are so many amazing ideas floating around using this bundle.  Check out Pinterest.  You won’t be disappointed!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Thoughtful Branches Springtime

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13962579_1080858692002699_3857787647401697332_nThis lovely card says “Spring” to me.  It must be the softer colors.  Isn’t it beautiful?  Thank you Sue Vine from Australia for sharing this project.

I may definitely have to recreate this project.  When I first saw the card I thought Sue had used the Baby Wipe Technique for the multiple colors.  In this technique you simply squirt ink refills onto a baby wipe to make your own inkpad.  However when I looked at Sue’s blog she said she just used sponge daubers to sponge the different colors directly onto the stamps.    Once again I say “gorgeous”!

I can’t help but smile when I look at this card.  Do you ever see a card like that?  Yesterday I finally started playing with some of my new “toys” that I ordered from the upcoming Holiday catalog.  I started with one stamp set and made two different cards.  I can’t wait to share them with you….one of them, if I do say so myself, is absolutely gorgeous (in my humble opinion).  I guess you’ll have to check back on my blog to see it.  It won’t be this week because it’s still “Thoughtful Branches Week”.

I have a busy day ahead of me and I’m not sure I’ll have time to play with any of my new toys.  Bummer!  Oh, well….there’s always tomorrow!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Thoughtful Branches Emboss Resist Background

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Thoughtful Branches.4.0816It’s Thoughtful Branches week!  I meant to have my first post yesterday but apparently I posted it on Saturday instead.  Oh, well.  It’s kind of the way I’ve been rolling lately.

Today’s card is one we’ll be making in class this week.  It’s my take on a card that Stampin’ Up! posted.  It’s fun because you use some techniques that I don’t use a lot in my classes.

The background is where all of the fun stuff is happening on this card.  To start with, you emboss the petals/leaves stamp multiple times on watercolor paper with white embossing powder.  I found it easiest to stamp, emboss, stamp, emboss etc. so that I could see where I had stamped image.  Be sure to use your embossing buddy!

Once you’ve got the whole piece of watercolor paper embossed you will take your Aqua Painter and inks (Peekaboo Peach and Daffodil Delight) and create a wash over the whole card stock.  Just grab some ink with your wet Aqua Painter and spread the color.  It’s kind of fun to do because you really can’t screw it up.  I usually get a bit nervous when water coloring but this is fun.  To make the splatters I inked up my Aqua Painter and just tapped it against my finger.  I did do this in a splatter box (just what it says…a box set up to catch excess splatters!) so I didn’t make a big mess everywhere.  Once the watercolor paper is dry wipe the color off the embossed areas.  You’ve now got a beautiful and unique background!

This emboss-resist background was a lot of fun.  I may have to try it again soon!  Have you purchased your Thoughtful Branches bundle yet?  Be sure to check it out here.  Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Thoughtful Branches Week

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2016-07-07(1)Since I’m holding my Thoughtful Branches class this week I decided to share Thoughtful Branches cards with you all week.  These seven days aren’t even going to put a dent in all of the cards I’ve made and all of the examples that I’ve saved.  There’s SO much you can do with this stamp set!

Have you checked out the images yet in both the stamp set and the coordinating Thinlits?  You should!  This bundle is gorgeous!!!!!  It’s only available during the month of August so don’t miss out!  You can purchase it here!

This is definitely one of those stamp sets that I will hold on to for a long time.  It’s gorgeous and versatile.  You’ll be able to use it on all different types of cards.

I fell in love with this sample that I saw online.  Isn’t it beautiful?  I tried to recreate it but I couldn’t do it justice so I thought I’d just share the original with you.  Thank you Shannon Lane!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Beautiful Blooms & Wishes

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Blooms & Wishes.0716The Blooms & Wishes stamp set and the coordinating Blooms & Bliss Designer Series Paper are absolutely GORGEOUS!  Both of them!

I am in love with the colors and designs of the designer paper and I love the font on the sentiments in the stamp sets as well as the other images.  I don’t think you can go wrong ordering these two items.  Of course there’s also the fact that you can a few different ribbons that coordinate with the paper…..have I ever mentioned that I LOVE coordination?  Ha!

In this pack of designer papers half of them are in this blue/green color combo and the other half is pink/purple.  Wow!  Too fun!  Of course my favorites are the pink/purples but these blue/greens are very lovely also.  🙂

Did you know I have an appreciation program for my customers?  For every $50 you spend on an order you get a point and when you accumulate 10 points you get to choose a stamp set from a current catalog valued at $30 or less for FREE!

Anyway….I send out cards every quarter with a sheet in them that lets you know how many FREE stamp sets you’ve earned.  This is the card that I sent out in July.  Pretty easy although I did have to cute out the narrow blue label by hand.  I used the Tags & Labels Framelits for the other two but they didn’t have one quite the size I wanted for the blue.  It was pretty easy though.

I made about 10-12 of these cards to mail out and the funny thing is that I made a few of them upside down.  Sheesh!  I thought I caught them all but apparently I didn’t.  About a week or so later I received a birthday card from one of these customers.  She sent me back the card I had made which was UPSIDE DOWN!  Yikes!  Luckily I know she has a good sense of humor.  🙂

I hope you find something in this day that makes you laugh and smile.  Have a great one!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Seaside Shore

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Seaside Shore.0716This card make me want to go snorkeling!  How about you?  🙂

What a cute stamp set!  Seaside Shore has so many fun and cute images.  My favorite part of the stamp set though is the sentiment:  “Hoping your day goes swimmingly”!  Too fun!

The Seaside Embossing Folder is one of my favorite new folders.  It’s a nice pattern that can be used for a background on all sorts of cards.  It doesn’t have to just be ocean waves.

Fun and coordinating products!  I’m in my element!  Ha!  If we’re talking coordination here don’t forget about the By the Shore Designer Series Paper….some of the patterns have the same adorable little fishies on it.  I just love it when Stampin’ Up! makes my job as a crafter so much easier!

Ok…even just writing about this card and seeing the little fishies makes me want to take a quick trip to the ocean.   I guess there won’t be anything quick about it though since I’m in Colorado and there aren’t any oceans anywhere near here.  Maybe I’ll have to start planning a winter get-away!  🙂

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Simple & Summery Card

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FreshFruit.0716.1When I had my Cindy’s Flamingo Bingo Birthday Blast last month I included a few make-n-take cards.  I only had two cards for eight people to make so I didn’t want them to be too hard.  Naturally I had to make a card with the flamingo from the Pop of Paradise stamp set but I also needed another card.  Since my favorite birthday “cake” is angel food cake with strawberries (if I can’t have the Cheesecake Factory’s White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake!) I thought I’d make a card using the strawberry in the Fresh Fruit stamp set.  I also wanted to use some of the fun designs from the package of Fruit Stand designer series papers.  Here is what I came up with.

Simple and Summery.  What more do you want when the temperature is in the 90’s day after day.  Although I can’t really complain about that.  Today the temp is only suppose to reach the upper 70’s and tomorrow the temp will barely break 70.  Woo Hoo!  I love cooler temps!

OK….back to the card!  I did get to use the fun new Layering Circle Framelits that has both smooth circles and scalloped circles that…well, layer!  🙂

Isn’t this a refreshing, summery color combination?  Watermelon Wonder and Cucumber Crush.  Mmmm…..not only does it look good it sounds yummy!  🙂

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Thoughtful Branches is Here!

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Thoughtful Branches.1.0816Have you seen the new, exclusive Thoughtful Branches stamp set and the Beautiful Branches Thinlits yet?  OMG!  They are gorgeous and they are only available from Stampin’ Up! during the month of August!  I have seen SO many fabulous samples using this stamp set and I want to make the ALL!  Since that probably won’t happen I am actually share other people’s samples throughout this month.  You really have to see some of these amazing samples.  Stampin’ Up! has a whole board on Pinterest just for this stamp set.

This card is actually my creation based on some of the fabulous samples I’ve seen.  We’ll be making it at our Thoughtful Branches class next week.  The flowery die that is used for the flowers here can also be used for the leafy top of a tree too!  Very versatile!  🙂

There are some nice sentiments in the stamp set in a gorgeous font.  This will be one of those classic stamp sets that you will hang on to for a long time and go back and use time and time again.  I know I will!

Don’t for get that this stamp set and coordinating thinlits are only available until August 31st.  Don’t miss out on this fantastic bundle!  Buy it today!

Item #144328   Thoughtful Branches Bundle $52

Item #143539   Thoughtful Branches Photopolymer Stamp Set   $27

Item #143538    Beautiful Branches Thinlits Dies   $31

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Sunshine Wishes Wedding Card

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Sunshine Wishes.0716I made this card yesterday and I just had to share it with you right away.  It turned out exactly how I had hoped!

A friend from high school has a daughter getting married next week back in Minnesota so I needed to make a wedding card and get it in the mail.  Yes, I’ve know about the wedding for awhile but just hadn’t got around to creating!  This is the story of my life….procrastinate.  Sheesh!

Anyway, I searched pinterest for a card and wasn’t seeing anything I liked.  Oh…there were beautiful, fancy cards but this isn’t a fancy-dancy wedding.  The wedding and reception are in a barn!  How fun is that?!

I was Scan0003seeing a lot of cards with these die-cut hearts and knew I wanted to use them but I still hadn’t found exactly what I wanted.  Then I came across this gem and knew I was on the right track.  Check out the picture of a portion of the wedding invite….the colors were almost perfect!  I just made a few minor changes and the card was perfect!  I love when my fellow demonstrators give me that boost of inspiration that I need.  Thanks Amy!  🙂

I guess I better go and get this card in the mail!  Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Flourishing Phrases Sympathy Card

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IMG_8539Unfortunately we all need sympathy cards at one time or another.  I designed this sympathy card for a swap I participated in.  I was pleased with the results.  How could I not be when there are so many gorgeous elements on it?

Let’s start with that designer paper.  Beautiful, gorgeous, fabulous…..I LOVE it!  The Blooms & Bliss Designer Paper is fantastic.  Half the designs are in the color combination you see here with the Blushing Bride and Sweet Sugarplum and the other half are a combination of Island Indigo and Mint Macaron.  Have I told you how gorgeous these papers are?  🙂

The next fabulous element on this card is the Sweet Sugarplum Ruched Ribbon.  It’s soft, textured and beautiful.  I wish it came in all of the Stampin’ Up! colors but unfortunately it only comes in the five new in-colors for 2016-2017:  Sweet Sugarplum, Flirty Flamingo, Peekaboo Peach, Emerald Envy and Dapper Denim.

Then comes the Flourishing Phrases stamp set which is conveniently bundled with the Flourish Thinlits.  Have I used the word gorgeous in this post yet?  I’m pretty sure I have but I’m going to use it again.  As you can probably gather from the name of the stamp set, it is mostly sentiments with just a few images but there’s a nice variety of phrases and the font is…well….gorgeous!  But the thinlits!  Oh my!  Flowers and leaves and vines all to compliment the gorgeous sentiments.  I LOVE it!  Not only does this stamp set have great sentiments for the front of the card but there is a complimentary verse for the inside.  Perfect!  I know my mom is always asking me for verses for the inside of a card, especially sympathy cards since she never knows exactly what to say.  Nice work Stampin’ Up!

I hope your day is wonderful!  Take care and Happy Stamping!