Make it Mine Monday

Celebrate With Sunflowers: Make It Mine

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This lovely card made with Stampin’ Up!’s Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set really caught my eye. My first thought was “nice card but sunflowers are yellow!”. Well, I had to look it up but apparently you can find sunflowers in colors other than yellow if they are crossbred. Who knew? I admire the creator of this card for stepping outside the box. I also admire them for doing such a nice job of coloring with their Stampin’ Blends Markers!

How do you switch up such a nice card? Well, you first make the sunflower yellow! Ha! I guess I’m a purist. Of course then I had to decide which of Stampin’ Up!’s yellows to use. As with many of the color decisions I make when creating a project I let my ribbon make the decision for me. After seeing the lovely original I knew that I wanted to add ribbon and thought that the Bumblebee Gingham Ribbon would work perfectly with a sunflower.

Celebrate Sunflowers

Lately, I’ve really been into using dies on my projects so that is what I chose to do with my sunflower. I’m not very good at coloring either.

I stamped both the flower image and the leaves before die-cutting the solid portions and then I die cut the intricate pieces after adding a piece of Adhesive Sheet to the back of the cardstock.

The more I thought about it, I guess I did change up quite a bit on the card. The only things that I didn’t change were the basic layout of the card and the stamp set I used. That’s the whole idea of Make It Mine Monday. Get inspired! Take a card that catches your eye and start from there.

Have a great day. Take care. Happy stamping. Be inspired!

Make It Mine With Daisy Garden

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Daisy Garden

You may have missed the Daisy Garden stamp on your first, second and maybe even third time through Stampin’ Up!’s Annual Catalog. It’s a hidden gem on page 106. The colored samples on the page are what catch your eye and the image of the stamp is on the smaller size.

Daisy Garden is a single large stamp. It’s perfect for backgrounds but also works well as a focal point. Once I finally noticed it I knew I needed it on my stamp shelf. Who doesn’t like daisies? (wink, wink!)

When looking for a card to make with the fun Daisy Garden stamp I came across this striking black and white card. It’s simplicity caught my eye. There I go again with the simple cards. My tastes must be changing. Anyway, I liked this card so much I decided to Make It Mine.

The first thing I had to do was add another layer to the card. You know me and my layers. Then I decided it needed a little color so I added the layer of Bumblebee cardstock and colored the centers of the flowers with my Bumblebee Stampin’ Write Marker. Next was adding the Bumblebee Gingham Ribbon.

As you can see from the photo of my card I didn’t stop there. I liked the card but it looked a little flat. I had seen another card online where the creator had stamped the daisies a second time, cut out three of them and popped them on to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals. So that’s what I did and it made the card just right! It gave the card a little dimension.

What you can’t see from the phot is that I also added a little Wink of Stella Glitter Brush to the centers of the flowers. Such a fun and summery card! I love the way it turned out!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Make It Mine Monday: Flowers of Friendship

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The Flowers of Friendship stamp set can be found in Stampin’ Up!’s current Annual Catalog.  I wasn’t going to purchase this set but finally gave in.  Once I saw this card by Tracy Bradley I was glad I did.  Tracy’s card is clean and fresh.  I like the red and white with just that little pop of green.  The sentiment is from one of my new favorite stamp sets, Biggest Wish, which I first shared with you last week.  Tracy also used the new Pretty Flowers Embossing Folder.

When you like an original card so much how do you change it up to make it your own?  I actually started with the embossing folder and used the side that Tracy didn’t use.  I love the fact that you can get two different looks when using an embossing folder.

The next thing I changed on Tracy’s card was to add a layer behind the scalloped rectangle.  Now the focal point really pops.  Did you notice that instead of adhering the scallop rectangle to the red rectangle and popping that up I adhered the red rectangle directly to the card front and popped up the scallop rectangle.  When I di it this way I feel it really makes that focal point pop. 

I only made two other small changes.  I added another leaf so that there would be an odd number and I stamped the sentiment in black instead of red.  I was going back and forth between black and red for the sentiment but black finally won out.

How would you have changed Tracy’s card? Leave a comment and let me know or better yet share a picture of your Make It Mine!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Make It Mine: Make It Simple!

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Those of you who have followed me for a while know that simple and Cindy don’t usually go together.  I’m all about layers with ribbon.  Despite the fact that I don’t do simple there was something about this card by Sue Vine that caught my attention.  I loved it and knew I wanted to share it with you.  What better way to share it than change it up, right?

Well, if you look close at the two cards you will see that I didn’t change a whole lot about Sue’s card.  I did change the color of the card base as well as the color of one of the inks.  Sue used a white card base and I used a Bermuda Bay card base.  The only other thing I changed was the color of the lighter ink.  The original card has Coastal Cabana as the light ink and I used Pool Party.  The only reason I switched this color up was that my Coastal Cabana was stamping too dark and if I stamped it off first it stamped too light.  Pool Party to the rescue!  😊

Biggest Wish

Sue and I both used the Biggest Wish stamp set.  It’s really a fun set to use.  There are only five different words in the set but they all come in both a block font and a script font.  It makes it fun to combine them as you can see on our cards.

I do have to admit that I was itching to emboss the front of card but I resisted.  Keep it simple!  Simple stamping is difficult for me but I do need to try it more.  The results can be stunning.

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Make It Mine: Beauty of the Earth

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Stampin’ Up! makes such beautiful paper that sometimes you just need to make it the focal point of your card.   The first card that I’m sharing here is the card that inspired me.  Simple, yet elegant.  I received this card in a swap and unfortunately there was no name on it so I don’t know who to credit.

The piece of designer paper used on this card is from the Beauty of the Earth package.  It is beautiful and layering it on Night of Navy cardstock makes it pop.  Those of you who have been around me for a while know that I have a hard time with “simple”.  I usually have to add layers and embellishments to my cards.  However it was the simplicity of this card that caught my eye and I knew I had to give it a try.

Beauty of the Earth Sympathy Card

If you look closely at my version of the card you will notice that this time I actually used one less layer!  What? I know, it’s pretty different for me.  I tried layering my version like the original but I felt that by just layering the designer paper and popping it up on the card base with Stampin’ Dimensionals kept the focus on the designer paper better.

On the original card the sentiment is stamped directly on to the Merry Merlot cardstock with Night of Navy ink.  I felt this was a little hard to read.  I didn’t want to stamp my sentiment on a label because I thought that that would fight with my designer paper focal point.  I thought I’d just try a strip of Basic White cardstock and tuck it under the focal point.  Guess what?  I LOVE it!  What do you think?  I am definitely going to have to try this little trick again.  It’s just enough to add a little something-something to the front of the card but not enough to detract from the focal point. 

Do you love designer paper as much as I do?  Don’t forget that Stampin’ Up! has 9 different packages of designer paper on sale this month.  Don’t miss out!  Check out what’s on sale right here! 

Make It Mine: Party Puffins Birthday

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July is birthday month!  Yep, I’m having another birthday and we’re going to celebrate.  I’m going to share a birthday card with you that I made my own but first I want to share something I’m going to do for you! 

Send me a handmade birthday card this month and your name will be entered in a drawing.  The first person’s name that I draw will get to choose a current Stampin’ Up! stamp set (valued at $30 or less).  The second person’s name that I draw will get to choose a kit from Stampin’ Up!’s new Kit Collection!  How fun!  Birthday cards can be mailed to me at:

Cindy Russell 1640 Mountain Maple Ave. Highlands Ranch,  CO  80129

Let’s get to our cards today!

Here’s a birthday card that I received in a swap.  These Party Puffins are SO cute!  This stamp set makes the best birthday cards!  Thank you Kim for the inspiration with your card.  I stayed pretty true to Kim’s card design just changing up the color scheme and the arrangement of the layers.  I also left off the ribbon and moved the sentiment to the inside of the card.

Kim and I both used the Pattern Party package of designer paper that is only available for hosts with Stampin’ Rewards.  It’s one of my favorite papers in the new catalog! One of my favorite things about this package of paper is that one side is bright colors while the second side is black and white. So versatile!

Is it weird to admit that the little fish on the inside of the card is my favorite part of the card? Ha! Too cute!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Make It Mine: Christmas in July

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Just because it’s a national holiday celebrating the Fourth of July doesn’t mean we can’t start thinking about Christmas does it? There are only 173 days left! (I looked it up.) We need to get crafting!

Besides the fact that Christmas is almost upon us (kinda, not really) this Tidings of Christmas Designer Paper was perfect for this card. AND…it’s one of the papers that Stampin’ Up! has on sale this month. 🙂

These little banners of designer paper show off five of the gorgeous patterns in this paper. I love it. You’ll probably see lots of it when I get really get started on my Christmas creations.

This is the card that inspired me. I liked it’s simplicity. As you can see by comparing the cards though, I didn’t quite carry over the simplicity of Laura’s card to my own.

After changing the orientation of my card I added an extra layer as well as a label to my card. The biggest reason I had for changing the orientation of my card was so I didn’t have quite so much white space on my card. My banners are 3/4″ wide. Before punching the banner end of my strips they are 4-1/2″, 4-1/4″, 4″, 3-3/4″ and 3-1/2″.

I have to share a fun little tip about my label. The “noel” from the Tidings & Trimmings stamp set in Stampin’ Up!’s Annual Catalog was the perfect size for my card but I wanted a little label for it. I searched high and low through my stash and through the catalog to find a punch or die that I owned that would work. I was getting a little disappointed when my eyes stopped on the Messages Die. Oh, my! This die is amazing! It’s been sitting on my shelf just waiting to be used. It’s one die that has all sorts of die shapes on it. It’s created to use with the Many Messages and the newer Many Happenings stamp sets but you can certainly use it for anything like I did. Just be sure to use a smaller piece of cardstock when die cutting as you’ll get all of the other shapes too. The label shape that I used was this little rectangle with the banner tails on it. I first die cut the shape in white, stamped Noel and then trimmed the word down. Then I die cut the shape twice in the Evening Evergreen. I adhered the first green label directly on to my card front. I trimmed the second one down so that it was just the rectangle. I adhered my white sentiment piece directly to this trimmed down label and then adhered the trimmed down label over the full label with Stampin’ Dimensionals. So fun!

Thank you Laura for inspiring my Christmas in July card! Such a fun design!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Make It Mine: Sweet Strawberry

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Summer is officially here and that means it’s strawberry season!  Not only do we get to eat these tasty berries in summer but we need to get out our Sweet Strawberry stamp set and make some strawberry cards!

I received this card in a swap and liked the simplicity of it as well as the color combination.  You can’t go wrong with black and white with a pop of color.

I was browsing through the catalog and on page 43 I found the Sweet Strawberry stamp set. What made me giggle was one of the card samples that I saw. Let’s just say that Diane likes to “Make It Mine” too. I know where she got her inspiration. 🙂

Sweet Strawberry

As you can see by comparing the photos I kept pretty close to the original. I did add a layer behind the designer paper and I arranged the strawberries differently. My sentiment was a bit smaller and I added the red rhinestones.

This was a fun and easy card to make. We’re making it my first post-Covid in-person card class tomorrow. Having an in-person card class is a really big step for me. For some reason, even though I’ve been fully vaccinated since April, I’m still a little skittish about everything Covid. One step at a time, right?

Be sure to check out page 43 in Stampin’ Up!’s Annual Catalog so you can compare the three cards. Similar…yet diferent.

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Make It Mine: Hey Chick

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Hey Chick

Before I get into the details of todays card(s) I want to remind you that June 30th is the very last day that you can order the Hey Chick stamp set, the Chick Dies or the bundle that includes both items. Don’t miss out on these fun items!

But back to our originally scheduled post….

As I was searching for a card made with the Hey Chick Bundle I came across this card. I really liked the unique layout and thought I’d give it a try.

Hey Chick

It’s kind of funny, but the thing I really liked about the original card is the first thing I changed on mine. On the original, I liked that everything in the background was the same color. Since I couldn’t decide what color I would use I just switched everything up.

I made my chicken wire die out of Smoky Slate cardstock and used a wood pattern from the In Good Taste Designer Paper on my card. Of course, I added a layer too.

Even though I left my chicken white it still pops against the background since I embossed it with the Tasteful Texture Embossing Folder.

How would you have made the original card yours? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping! Don’t forget to grab the Hey Chick Bundle before it’s gone!

Make It Mine: Hats Off!

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When I first saw the Hats Off stamp set in Stampin’ Up!’s new annual catalog I thought it would be a great masculine stamp set. Of course, girls wear baseball caps too, right?

I came across this bright and cheerful card by Lisa Cummings and knew I wanted to recreate it. I had also come across a couple of hat cards that had flowers on them so that’s what I wanted to incorporate on my card along with color combination.

Before I share my version of Lisa’s card with you I want to share a little tip I learned. To give your ball cap a little dimension, use your bone folder to give it a little ben like you do with curling ribbon. Then, when you adhere the cap to the card (or other project) place some dimensionals in the center of the cap. That’s all I used on my card to adhere the cap.

Feminine Hats Off Card

Here’s my card. It looks a little more washed out than Lisa’s but we both used Polished Pink on our card. I used Bermuda Bay but I think Lisa may have used Coastal Cabana.

After completion, this card was one of those that just tickles your fancy because it turned out cuter than you imagined. 🙂

You can see be the shadow under the brim of my ball cap how I curved it a little. I think it really adds to the card.

The little flowers on my card are from the Pierced Blooms dies (one of my favorites that makes me sad it’s retiring). The “hello” is from the Artistically Inked stamp set and the pennant die is from the Tasteful Lables dies.

I love the new 3/8″ Open Weave Ribbon that comes in the new in-colors. It’s got a little stiffness to it that makes it easy to make the perfect bow, even small ones.

Here’s a photo of the inside of my card. I had to share it with you so you could see the smaller little ball cap die. It’s about 1 1/4″ x 7/8″. So cute!

Be sure to check out the Hats Off bundle. I think you’re going to like it!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Make It Mine Monday: Pink & Black

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Of course Barb Mullikin’s card caught my eye! It’s probably my favorite color combination. Of course, black does go well with a lot of colors. It makes the other color pop!

I really like the simplicity of this card. Barb gave this card a little extra something-something by using this fun scalloped border from the Basic Borders dies. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before but this die set is one of my favorites in Stampin’ Up!’s new Annual Catalog. It’s so versatile with six different border dies to choose from!

Did you notice how Barb made the flowers pop by adding just a hint of color? What a fun technique!

I liked Barb’s card so much I decided not to stray too far from the orignal. Naturally I added another layer. Could there be a Make It Mine card where I didn’t? Ha!

I embossed the Polished Pink background with the Tasteful Textile 3D Embossing Folder which just happens to be my go-to for a hint of texture. I also added a little color to the centers of my flowers with Pale Papaya.

You’re probably wondering how Barb and I added that little bit of color to our flowers. Sponge Dauber! That little sponge tool was perfect for both making a little circle of pink around the center of the flowers and for dabbing a spot of color in the middle of the flower.

You can’t go wrong with a pink and black card (unless you really don’t like the color pink!). Have a great Memorial Day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Make It Mine: Hand-Penned

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I will admit (again…?) that the Hand-Penned Suite in Stampin’ Up!’s in new annual catalog is one of my favorites!  I can’t seem to get enough of it!  I really love the designer paper.  You will see a lot of it in my projects.

The card that inspired me today was made by Julie Sperman.  Thank you Julie!  Pale Papaya isn’t my favorite color but it looks so nice with Misty Moonlight!  Julie used the Penned Flower Dies as well as the Tailor Made Tags Dies. These tag dies are becoming another favorite of mine! (Honestly, there aren’t too many Stampin’ Up! products that I don’t like!) She also used the Genial Gems on her card that coordinate perfectly with the Hand-Penned Designer Paper.  Coordination!  Love it!

I liked Julie’s card so much I was having trouble figuring out how to change it! How do you alter something so lovely?

I started with the card base itself.  On her card, Julie layered a piece of Pale Papaya on a Pale Papaya card base.  To change it up I decide to go with a Misty Moonlight card base.  Even after telling you to check your die sets for nice border dies I left off the scallop border on my card and used a larger piece of the designer paper since it’s so pretty!  The tags on both of our cards are pretty similar but I threaded my ribbon differently and used my gems as the centers for the flowers.

Have you tried any Make It Mine projects?  You should!  It’s pretty fun.  Go ahead and give it a try!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Make It Mine: Party Puffins!

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The Party Puffins stamp set was another one of those stamp sets that I didn’t think I needed. Once again, I was wrong. Sheesh! You try to be good and then someone posts a really cute card and you want to copy it.

I was looking at this adorable stamp set sitting on my shelf and knew that I wanted to use it for today’s post. So I hit the internet looking for a fun sample. Caroline’s card here was the one that caught my eye. Isn’t it cute?

If you’re looking at this fun paper and trying to figure out where it is in the catalog I’m going to give you a hint….it’s on page 171 and is a hostess only choice. Honestly, it might be worth it to host a gathering (or place a large order) just so that you can choose the Pattern Party 12 x 12 Designer Series Paper. It will only cost $18 of your hostess rewards and you get 48 sheets of 12″ x 12″ paper! One side is fun and colorful and the other side is black and white. Too fun!

Party Puffins Birthday Card

But let’s get back to the card. Of course the first thing I had to switch up on Caroline’s card was to add a few layers. Red always looks good with black and white so I added a red layer on both the front and the inside of the card.

I would have been remiss if I hadn’t included the little fishies with bows on my card. They’re actually one of my favorite parts of the stamp set! Ha!

Party Puffins Birthday Card – inside

The other thing I changed was that I just used one sentiment and put it on the inside of the card.

I was tickled with how cute this fun little card turned out and I can’t wait to make more of them! You’ll definitely see me sharing more cards using this adorable stamp set!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Make It Mine: 2 For 1

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I saw this card on Pinterest and liked the simplicity of it.  It was the perfect card to showcase the gorgeous new Soft Succulent In-Color as well as the fun silhouette dies from the Meadow dies. (These dies can be bundled with the Quite Meadow stamp set).

The first thing I thought of after admiring this card was “2 for 1”!  I’m not sure if Carol die cut the floral image from the green or if she die cut it from the white and the green we see is from the background layer.  It doesn’t really matter because I saw it both ways and figured I could make two cards with one die-cut image! So that’s what I did!

Here are the two cards that I made from Carol’s inspiration. As you can see, I die cut the floral silhouette from Basic White cardstock to make the focal point for both cards.

On the white card I used the die-cut space of white cardstock as the focal point and on the Soft Succulent card I used the die-cut image.

From there I simply added layers and coordinating ribbon to finish off my cards. As I was creating these cards I kept thinking to myself that they needed something else….maybe an embossed or stamped background or something but then I decided that the simplicity of the cards made them work. Sometimes it’s good to remember that less is more.

The Meadows dies are gorgeous. There are 6 floral/greenery silhouette images along with 2 butterflies, 2 labels and some small leaves. I can’t wait to begin my next project using these dies and the coordinating Quite Meadow stamp set!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Fun Fold: Cap & Gown Gatefold

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It’s Monday. I know I should be writing a Make It Mine post but I absolutely just HAD to share this fun fold with you today. It’s graduation season and you might be needing to make a card or two.

If you really want to get picky about today’s post you could say that it is a Make it Mine card as well as a fun fold. The original card that I saw online was larger and fit into a Memories & More envelope sized for a 6 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ card (closed). My card that you see here fits in a regular envelope sized for 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″ card (closed). I had to do a lot of math to figure this out but to be honest, I kind of enjoy that. 🙂

When closed all of the way this card looks a little boring but wait until you open it. You really get the full effect.

When the card is open like it is in the picture to the left you have the cap sitting on the gown. Too fun!

The first thing you have to do to make this fun card is to figure out your colors. When you choose the secondary color for the trim on the collar you need to make sure you have something the same color to make the tassel from. I went to my local craft store and purchased embroidery floss because I couldn’t find the right color in the thousands of skeins I already owned! Sheesh! If you don’t know how to make a tassel don’t worry. I’ve included that in the video below.

Here’s a couple of more pictures of the card so you can see how it looks:

As you can see, the card has a simple gatefold base and then you add the cap. I’ve cut a piece of cardstock slightly smaller than the cap and scored it diagonally. the bottom portion of this piece is adhered to the card base and the top portion is adhered to the cap. Most of the bottom portion is hidden by the white insert.

Dimensions for 3 ½” x 5 ½” Card
Base:  3 ¾” x 7”  score at 1 ¾” from each short side
Cap:  2 ½” x 2 ½”
Smaller Square to attach cap to card:  2 ¼” x 2 ¼”  score diagonally
Collar:  1 ¾” x 1 ¾” cut diagonally
Collar Edging:  2 strips 1/8” x 3”
Card Insert:  3 ¼” x 3 ½”
Cardstock to wrap tassel around:  1 ½” x 2”
Embroidery Floss or Baker’s Twine for tassel:  about 36” or more
Dimensions for 4 ¼” x 6 ¼” Card
Base:  4 1/8” x 8 ½”  score at 2 1/8” from each short side
Cap:  3” x 3”
Smaller Square to attach cap to card:  2 ¾” x 2 ¾”  score diagonally
Collar:  2 1/8” x 2 1/8” cut diagonally
Collar Edging:  2 strips 1/8” x 3 ½”
Card Insert:  4” x 4 7/8”
Cardstock to wrap tassel around:  1 ½” x 2 ¼”
Embroidery Floss or Baker’s Twine for tassel:  about 38” or more

Now that you know how to make these fun cards the question is this….what colors will you make your cards? Leave me a comment and let me know! Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!