40 Days

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Today is the beginning of Lent for Christians around the world.  The season of Lent is the 40 days before Easter (not including Sundays).  Some people give things up for the season of Lent while others may do something special for themselves or others.

A few years ago, I tried doing something called 40 Bags in 40 Days which was a way of decluttering your home.  You are suppose to clean/go through your home and each day of Lent get rid of a bag/box of items by either tossing or donating.  I’m not sure I got all 40 bags but I did make a dent in all of the clutter in my home.  Of course, that was a few years ago and I really should start the process again!

You may remember that last year I tried 40 Cards in 40 Days.  My goal was to send out 40 cards during Lent.  I can’t remember if I got all 40 out but I think I came close.

I may try both of these ideas this year as my home needs decluttering again, but I also want to try to post 40 cards/projects.  Each day during Lent I want to share a card/project with you on my Facebook page.  I hope to make most of them but will also share cards/projects I’ve received in swaps or just a lovely project that I’ve seen online.  Be sure to check out my Facebook page every day (except Sundays) this Lenten season to see what projects I’ll be sharing!

What are you going to do during Lent?  Declutter?  Send cards?  Or maybe commit to trying to make a project a day?  Whatever you choose, give it your best shot!  You’ve got this!

Journey With Color: Most Recent Color Change

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Today in our Journey With Color we finish up Stampin’ Up!’s history of color. Hasn’t it been fun seeing where the color collections began and how they got to where they are today?

The last and most recent color change that Stampin’ Up! had was in their 2018-2019 Annual Catalog.  If you know your Stampin’ Up! colors, you can see in the photo Stampin’ Up!’s current colors.  The only thing that this photo doesn’t show is that Stampin’ Up! added a new group called Basics.  This group consists of Whisper White (now Basic White), Very Vanilla and Basic Black.

Stampin’ Up!’s 2018-2019 Color Change

I’ve summarized the changes to each of the four color groups below.  You can compare it to the previous color groups here.

Neutrals:  Whisper White, Very Vanilla and Basic Black moved to Basics Group.  Chocolate Chip was retired.  Night of Navy was moved from the Regals group.  Merry Merlot and Mossy Meadow were added. 

Brights:  Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive were moved to the Regals group.  Tangerine Tango and Tempting Turquoise were retired, and Poppy Parade, Flirty Flamingo, Mango Melody, Granny Apple Green, Coastal Cabana and Gorgeous Grape were added.

Regals:  Rose Red, Always Artichoke, Island Indigo, Elegant Eggplant and Perfect Plum were retired.  Night of Navy moved to the Neutrals group.  Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive were added from the Brights Group.  Shade Spruce and Blackberry Bliss were added.

Subtles:  Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, Marina Mist and Wisteria Wonder were retired.  Petal Pink, Soft Seafoam, Mint Macaron, Balmy Blue and Highland Heather were added.

If you’ve been following this Journey With Color since the beginning, you will notice that many of the new colors that were added to Stampin’ Up!’s color collection were former In Colors.  It’s nice when some of your favorites make the cut!  😊

Color changes can be fun even though some of us don’t always do well with it.  I wonder when the next one will be?

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

A Beachy Make It Mine Card

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Oceanfront Seaside Card

This beachy card is so easy and so fun to make with the Oceanfront stamp set.  This was one of those stamp sets that I didn’t think I needed.  I live in land-locked Colorado so I don’t get to the ocean much. I’m more of a lake girl (my Minnesota roots). Ha!

But I fell in love with the New Horizons designer paper and saw all sort of cards online that used both this gorgeous paper and the Oceanfront stamp set.  It was time to make the purchase. 

The Oceanfront stamp set makes it so easy to create a beach scene.  There is one stamp for the sky, one stamp for the ocean and one stamp for the sand.  On my card I stamped the “sand” three times to give it a little more texture and depth.  I used Balmy Blue for the sky, Coastal Cabana for the water and Crumb Cake for the sand.  Easy Peasy!

This stamp set is one of Stampin’ Up!’s DistINKtive stamp sets which is why there is so much texture and shading in the water and the sky. Stampin’ Up! sure does make it easy for us to create a lovely scene like this.

Thank you Tracy for the inspiration. The simpleness of this card is what first caught my attention and I knew I wanted to recreate it.

When you compare the two cards you can see that I added a some more of the grasses and left off the sentiment. I also added the birds from the On The Horizon stamp set as I felt the upper portion of the card needed some type of black element on it. I also made my layers slightly smaller. You know me, I don’t handle white space very well. 🙂

Of course looking at this card while writing this in frigid Minnesota (although the weather is actually very mild right now) makes me want to head to the ocean. How about you?

Have a great day! Take care and happy stamping!

Black & White Half Front Fun Fold Card

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It’s a Fun Fold Card that highlights the fun All Together Designer Series Paper! This Half-Front Fun Fold is easy peasy!

I cut my cardstock 4 1/4″ x 11″ and scored it at 5 1/2″. Then I trimmed 3″ off of one of the sections which left the “front” of the card 2 1/2″. The large piece of designer paper is 2 1/4″ x 4″. I added a strip of 4″ x 1/4″ designer paper to the bottom of the inside piece (5 1/4″ x 4″) to add a little interest.

The sentiment focal point piece of Basic White cardstock is 2 3/4″ x 3 1/2″. The sentiment is from the Happiest of Birthdays stamp set. I love that it is so large and can be used as a focal point on a card.

This black & white birthday card would be perfect any guy in your life. Guy cards are so hard to design but you can’t go wrong with black & white!

It’s been a fun week playing with black & white cards but next week I think we’ll move back to some color!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

A Black & White Card Sketch

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It’s black and white week here on my blog.  All of the projects I’m sharing with you this week are black and white.  As I mentioned on Monday, there is something about a black and white card that always catches my eye.  They’re so striking.

Once again I was able to stick pretty close to the card sketch. I only added one layer around the focal point. The designer paper I used was the fun All Together 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper. As I mentioned in my newsletter earlier this week, all of the designs are black and white. So fun!

The die I used as the focal point is from the Meadow Dies which coordinates with the Quiet Meadow stamp set. This set of dies is filled with silhouette dies. So many different ones to choose from for any type of card.

What would you use as your focal point on this card sketch? Would you use a die like I did or would you prefer to stamp an image. Maybe a combination of the two! There are really so many options when you use a card sketch.

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Journey With Color: Lots of In Colors

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This week in our Journey With Color, we’re going to finish up with the history of Stampin’ Up! In Colors.  Next week I’ll share the most recent change to Stampin’ Up!’s line of colors and then we’ll move on.

When In Colors were first introduced, they only had a life span of 1 year.  Starting with the major color overhaul in the 2010-2011 catalog In Colors now have a life span of 2 years.

Below you can see photos of the In Colors from 2014-2016 to the current ones.

In Colors 2021-2023

Wow! So many colors! Which group is your favorite? Which is your least favorite?

Of these groups, I have to admit that I didn’t care for the 2015-2017 collection. The only color I really liked in this group was Watermelon Wonder.

When talking favorites the current 2021-2023 In Colors and the 2017-2019 colors are pretty darn close with the win going to 2021-2023.

Now, if you want to get into individual favorites, I can’t narrow it down to just a few so I’ll give you a list: Berry Burst, Tranquil Tide, Pretty Peacock, Evening Evergreen and Polished Pink!

I do love that Stampin’ Up! gives us fresh new colors each year and that they stick around for two years so that we can have time to play with them. What is your opinion of In Colors?

Make It Mine In Black & White

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This week’s Make-It-Mine card is black and white with a little bit of gray on it.  Monochromatic is the technical term.  Monochromatic means: “of, relating to, or having tones of one color in addition to the ground hue”.

There’s something about a black and white card that always catches my eye.  Black and white together is simple and it’s stunning.  I like these types of cards so much that I’m sharing them all week on my blog, Facebook and even in my newsletter.  Be sure to check them all out!  (If you don’t get my newsletter yet, just fill out the info in the box to the right.)

I used Stampin’ Up!’s Artfully Layered stamp set on today’s card.  I was inspired by Tess Rollin’s card.  As you can see, I stuck pretty close to Tess’s card and only added a few extra leaves. 

This card is quite simple.  All stamping except the sentiment is done directly on the card base.  The two leaves on the upper portion of the card were stamped first.  Then I used a piece of scrap paper to cover them so I could stamp just a portion of the leaves on the lower section of the card.  The sentiment is layered on black cardstock and adhered to the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals. Easy Peasy!

I tried using embellishments of some sort on my card like Tess did but they seemed to distract from the simplicity of the card.  I like Tess’s use of embellishments but I just couldn’t make them work.  Sometimes simple is better.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bridge Fun Fold Card

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Bridge Fun Fold Card

How can you not sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow while looking at this fun fold card?  So many rainbows!  I’m going to be sad when Sale-a-bration is over on February 28th and I won’t be able to get any more of the fun Sunshine & Rainbows Designer Series Paper. The paper coordinates perfectly with the Rainbow of Happiness Bundle of products from Stampin’ Up!’s January – June Mini Catalog. I’ve used the Rainbow of Happiness stamp set, the Brilliant Rainbow dies and the Cloud Punch on my card.

Bridge Fun Fold Card

This second picture gives you a top view so you can see all of the panels a little better.

This fun fold is pretty easy. Start with a card base that is 4 1/4″ x 8″. Make sure the length is 8″, not 8-1/2″. I made that error the first time around and couldn’t figure out why my “bridge” piece wouldn’t fit! Sheesh!

With the long edge of the card base at the top of your Simply Scored scoring board score the cardstock at 1 1/4″, 2 1/2″, 5 1/2″ and 6 3/4″. Fold the two outside score lines into mountain folds and the two inside score lines into valley folds. The “bridge” piece of cardstock is 5 1/2″ x 1″. The width of the “bridge” piece of cardstock can be any dimension that works for your design. The key is to make sure the length is 5 1/2″.

The four designer paper panels measure 4″ x 1″. The designer paper piece on the “bridge” measures 5 1/4″ x 3/4″. The Basic White piece of cardstock in the center of the card measures 4″ x 2 3/4″.

To adhere the “bridge” to the card you want to fold the card like in this picture. The sections on one side of the center piece of the card base should be “open” and the sections on the other side should be folded closed.

Make sure to put adhesive only on the areas of the “bridge” that will be adhered to the two outside panels.

The way the card is folded in this last photo is also the way you will fold it to slide it into an envelope.

Let me know if you have any questions on this fun fold. Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Purple Marble Sketch Card

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Pretty in Purple (Marble).  Stampin’ Up!’s  Simply Marbelous designer paper is gorgeous and I love it more each time I use it.  It’s the perfect background paper with the soft designs on both sides.  Best of all, you can get it for FREE during Sale-a-bration with a purchase of $50 or more.  Don’t wait!  Sale-a-bration is ending soon on February 28th!

Back to this lovely card.  Besides the Simply Marbelous Designer Series Paper I used the Meadow Dies for the flowers.  I am loving these silhouette-type dies!  The Meadow Dies can be found in the Annual Catalog or here in my online store.  The dies coordinate with the Quite Meadow stamp set.  These items can be purchased separately or together as a bundle saving 10%. 

Any of the colors of designer paper would have worked well with this design.  Blues, pinks, grays, yellows, greens or purples.  I can’t remember why I chose purple but it may have been because I had ribbon that matched the card.  That’s how I make design decisions sometimes.  😊

The sketch to the left here is the one that I used today. As you can see, I stayed pretty true to the sketch again. I have both the horizontal and the vertical piece even though my vertical piece doesn’t go all the way to the bottom of the card. I did add a piece of ribbon to my card for a little added interest.

This card was quite simple yet can be used for almost any occasion. Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Journey With Colors: A Few Changes

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After the major overhaul to Stampin’ Up!’s colors that I shared with you last week, there were a few years that only included changes to In Colors.  Starting during the major overhaul, In Colors would now have a lifespan of 2 years and only 5 would be introduced each year.

The 2011-2012 catalog introduced the 2011-2013 In Colors which were Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder and Island Indigo.  By adding these five colors and including the five In Colors that were introduced the previous year, there were now a total of 10 In Colors in the 2011-2012 Catalog bring the total number of Stampin’ Up! colors to 50.  My favorites in this group of In colors were Pool Party and Island Indigo.

In the 2012-2013 Annual Catalog the 2010-2012 In Colors were retired and the 2012-2014 In Colors were introduced.  They were Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple and Summer Starfruit.  My favorite colors in this group of In Colors were Midnight Muse and Raspberry Ripple.

Stampin’ Up! Colors 2013-2014

It was time for a small color change with the 2013-2014 Annual Catalog.  Some colors switched color families, some colors were added and some were retired.  Many of the names of the new colors may sound familiar as they were former In Colors. Below you can find the changes by color family.

Neutrals:  River Rock was retired and Smoky Slate was added

Brights:  Regal Rose was retired and Bermuda Bay was added.

Regals:  More Mustard, Bravo Burgundy, Riding Hood Red and Not Quite Navy left.  Perfect Plum and Rose Red moved over from the Subtles color family.

Subtles:  Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Baja Breeze and Bashful Blue were retired.  Perfect Plum and Rose Red moved to the Regals family.  Pear Pizzazz, Soft Sky, Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder, Calypso Coral and Blushing Bride were added.

The new In Colors for 2013-2015 were Baked Brown Sugar, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Strawberry Slush.  You’ve probably already guess that one of my favorite In Colors of this bunch was Strawberry Slush since it was PINK!  The other color I liked best of this group was Coastal Cabana. 

I hope you’re enjoying this history of Stampin’ Up! color. It’s kind of fun to see how the colors and the color families have evolved.

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Make It Mine Monday: Hexagons

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This card with all the hexagons is so cute! I just had to try it for myself. The hexagon die is from the new Beautiful Shapes die set which coordinates with the Hello Beautiful stamp set. The dies set has all sorts of fun shapes. Tarabeth used designer paper from a few different paper sets on her card. The main colors on her card are the new In Colors this year, Fresh Freesia and Polished Pink.

I was going to stick to the same color scheme as Larabeth but I didn’t seem to have all the designer papers so I had to start from scratch. After perusing my stash of design paper I finally went with the Abstract Beauty pack. This fun package of designer paper is a new size. It’s 4″ x 6″ and many of the sheets have accents of gold foil.

I’m pretty tickled with the way my card turned out. I may have to make a few more of them. The only part I would change would be the gold cord. I would rather have used a thin gold ribbon but Stampin’ Up! doesn’t have any right now.

If you compare the cards, you can see that I have a few more hexagons on my card than the one that inspired me. I just kept gluing them down! Ha!

You’ll notice that my focal point piece with the hexagons is also smaller than the card I copied. I did start with basically the same size as the original but when I had all of the hexagons adhered there was still a little space along the bottom. I was too lazy to die cut any more so I just trimmed down the Basic White card stock. I actually like the smaller focal point better than the larger one so it all worked out fine. 🙂

I used a gold foil layer and the gold cord on my card to pick up the gold on some of the pieces of designer paper. The sentiment, from the Positive Thoughts stamp set, is heat embossed with gold embossing powder.

The finishing touches on my card are the adorable little butterflies. They are Brushed Brass Butterflies (#158136 $10) from Stampin’ Up!’s January – June Mini Catalog. I liked them so much on the outside of the card that I put them on the inside of the card too!

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

A Fun Fold and Stamped Ribbon

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It’s Fun Fold Friday!  Not only do I have a fun fold card for you but it’s a swap card as well.  This fun fold is very similar to one I showed you back in October.  You can view that post here.  I called that fun fold in October the Side Flap Fun Fold.  This card is the same idea but the flap is a different size and in a different location on the card.

The image on the front of the card is from the Amazing Silhouettes stamp set in Stampin’ Up!’s January – June Mini catalog. The “thanks” is from the Biggest Wish stamp set in the Annual Catalog.

I have to tell you that my favorite part of Melissa’s card is that she stamped the sentiment directly on the ribbon! I have never done that. Have you? I’m especially impressed because this ribbon is very textured.

I was going to tell you that you should probably use StazOn ink when stamping on ribbon but then I thought I’d give it a try with regular Stampin’ Up! ink. Guess what? It worked just fine! Check out the second photo.

Stamping On Ribbon

I didn’t expect it to turn out so well! When I placed the inked stamp on the ribbon I held it in place for a few seconds and then lifted the stamp straight up. No problems at all! Hmm…I may have to try this on one of my own cards!

If you’re wondering, this ribbon is the White Frayed Ribbon (#158138 $7.50) found on page 33 of Stampin’ Up!’s January – June Mini Catalog.

Here’s a photo of the inside of Melissa’s card. I like the way she used the Sale-a-bration paper, Daffodil Afternoon, to add a little something extra to the inside of the card.

No naked envelopes and no naked insides of your cards! If you’re going to the trouble of making a special card, make the envelope and the inside of the card special too.

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

A Leafy Card Sketch

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After you’ve chosen a card sketch what’s the next step? Do you first choose colors, stamp set or embellishments? For me, it depends on what first comes to mind.

With this card sketch I knew it needed designer paper for at least one of the layers. Of course I then had to decide which package of designer paper and from there which pattern.

Luckily I happened to have the new All Together package of designer paper right next to me so I started flipping through all of the patterns. The fun part of this package of paper is that it’s all in black and white and there are tons of patterns to choose from. I came a cross a leafy pattern and thought that was a good place to start.

The next step was finding a single stamp for the stamped image. I didn’t want anything too large or too busy. A branch of leaves would be perfect. Then it was off to my stamp shelf!

This image from the Forever Fern stamp was perfect! Not only is it a beautiful image but it was similar to the branches on the designer paper!

I thought about using another piece of designer paper to layer my leaf on but it got too busy. Maybe if the leaf stamp wasn’t so detailed that might have worked. The plain black layer works perfectly!

Did you notice how well I did following the card sketch? I only added one additional layer! Ha!

Be sure to check out the fun All Together designer series paper. You can find it and the other items in the All Together Collection here.

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!

Journey With Color: A Major Change

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Wow!  This week in our Journey With Color we’ll be talking about a major overhaul to Stampin’ Up! colors.  With their 2010 – 2011 Catalog, Stampin’ Up! not only changed up the colors but they also changed the names of the color groups as well as the number of colors in each group.

The last big change to Stampin’ Up! colors was back in the 2005-2006 Catalog.  This change is even bigger.  It starts with the color groups themselves.  The names were change and the number of colors in each group went from 12 down to 10.  Bold Brights became Brights.  Rich Regals became Regals.  Soft Subtles became Subtles and Earth Elements was combined with Neutrals to become the Neutrals group.

Stampin’ Up! Colors 2010-2011

In this chart you can see the four new color families and the colors included in them. I like Stampin’ Up!’s short description of the new color families that includes what type of projects they’d be good for.

Overall, Stampin’ Up! moved 8 colors from one color family to another, got rid of 31 colors and added 16 new colors.  Of the 16 new colors 10 of them were former In Colors so only 6 of the colors were ones we’ve never seen.  The brand new colors (not former In Colors) were Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso and Crumb Cake.

There was also a change to In colors with this catalog.  The first change was that they only introduced five In Colors instead of six.  The second change to In Colors was that they would now have a life span of two years instead of just one.  This will bring the total number of colors available in any given year to 50.  Forty core colors and ten In Colors, except for this 2010-2011 catalog which only has five In Colors.

In Colors 2010-1012

The first five In Colors with a two year span were Poppy Parade, Concord Crush, Peach Parfait, Blushing Bride and Pear Pizzazz. Of these colors, my favorite was probably Concord Crush.  It was a gorgeous deep purple.  Which one of these five colors is/was your favorite?

Make It Mine Monday: Calming Camellia

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Calming Camellia

It’s Make It Mine Monday! I’ve enjoyed sharing with you some of the swap cards that I’ve received. I hope you’ve enjoyed them too. I’m not done sharing swaps with you but it’s time to switch things up a bit again.

Isn’t the flower stamp on this card gorgeous? It’s from the Sale-a-bration Host Set Calming Camellia. You can choose this stamp set for free when you place a party order or personal order of $300 or more.

Calming Camellia is one of Stampin’ Up!’s DistINKtive stamp sets. Basically, this type of stamp is very realistic looking with lots of dimension and shading. I think they’re gorgeous! What do you think about DistINKtive stamps?

Calming Camellia

The second card here is the card that inspired me. I love how Vicki used the Wild Roses Background stamp on her card. It coordinates so well with the Calming Camellia stamp. Instead of using a gold layer and gold embellishments I only used Gorgeous Grape on my card.

The Basic Rhinestone Jewels on my card are colored with the Dark Highland Heather Stampin’ Blends marker and then of course I had to add ribbon.

Both my card and Vicki’s card are fairly simple. No dies or punches, no fussy cutting and not too many layers. While I had the stamp set out I wanted to try and make the card even more simple.

Calming Camellia

Check out the third photo. It’s just the stamped image and a coordinating layer adhered to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals. Simple, yet stunning. It really shows off the floral image.

This simple card would be perfect for any occasion. Just add a sentiment to the inside.

Have a great day! Take care and Happy Stamping!