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!

Sunshine Sayings: Love & Hugs

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IMG_8545Love & Hugs to Everyone!

When I saw the card I CASEd (copied) this from I first fell in love with the way the words were cut out separately.  It’s such an easy thing to do with this stamp set because that’s the way the words come.  They are all just single words or partial phrases so you can say what you want!

When I first say the Sunshine Sayings stamp set and the Sunshine Wishes COORDINATING Thinlits, I actually fell in love with the thinlits first.  I LOVE these hearts!  There’s a beautiful loopy flower in the set too as well as some words.  Since the stamp set and thinlits came in a bundle I had to get them together!  They were one of my first purchases.

What was your first purchase from the new catalog?  Let me know in a comment!  I’d love to hear.

Have a great day!  Love & Hugs to you!

Sweet Cupcake: Still Celebrating!

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IMG_8542OK…I’m not really still celebrating my birthday although I would if the occasion arose.  Ha!

Just because I’m not still celebrating doesn’t mean that I can’t share another fun birthday card with you.  Isn’t this card sweet?  Yes, I CASEd  (copied) it from a wonderful sample on the internet.  Gotta love that internet and all of the resources you can find there!

This fun card is made with the Sweet Cupcake stamp set and the COORDINATING Cupcake Cutouts Framelits.  These framelits are great because not only does the set contain the dies that cut out the cupcake but you can die cut the banner and the “wish”!  You can’t really tell from the picture but I used the Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush on the “wish” and the dark parts of the frosting to add a little sparkle to the card.  The Festive Embossing Folder and the White Perfect Accents are just the right touches to finish off this card.  The fact that the card is PINK makes it perfect!  🙂

My team held a Stamp Camp on Saturday which was quite a success.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and they loved the projects.  I’ll have to take some pictures of the projects for you.  Now that my birthday and Stamp Camp are over I really need to concentrate on the three classes I’m holding this week!  Luckily I got everything cut yesterday so now I just need to clean up my house a bit and start thinking about the next class!  I guess a demonstrator’s work is never done.  Luckily I LOVE what I do!  🙂

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

It Was a Good Day!

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20160720_160027Yes, it was a good day!  My birthday was wonderful even if I did have to turn a year older.  Ha!

I started the day out with breakfast with a friend.  Yummy!  I love breakfasts!  I just kind of relaxed and played a little in my craft room for most of the day.  Then I went out to dinner with my family and then the best part of the day….we went and saw the new Star Trek Beyond!  Woo Hoo!  The perfect ending to a wonderful day!

My lovely customer Sue made me this fun birthday banner!  Isn’t it great?!  It’s definitely something to hang on to and bring out for any birthday celebration.  Thanks Sue!

Well, tomorrow is Stamp Camp so I have a lot of work to get done today in prep for the big day.  No more parties or celebrating.  Definitely no more big meals!  Ha!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

 

Cindy’s Flamingo Bingo Birthday Bash!

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20160720_192958 (2)Happy Birthday to Me!  🙂

I’m not shy about it.  It’s my birthday today and I love to celebrate!  As I mentioned in my last post I’m usually in Salt Lake City celebrating at Stampin’ Up!’s Convention but not this year.  🙁

At the SU event in April we were challenged to hold a new event each month for the next 6 months.  I chose to hold a bingo event!  I’ve heard of playing Stampin’ Up! Bingo before but wasn’t sure how it was done until I learned more from fellow demonstrators online.   One of them came up with the Flamingo Bingo theme and I knew I had to follow since I LOVE Flamingos!  And that’s how Cindy’s Flamingo Bingo Birthday 20160720_152618 (2)Bash came to be!  #6monthstampingoals

We had a lot of fun!  We played six rounds of Bingo with prizes, had door prizes, welcome gifts, snacks, wine, cupcakes and of course made a couple of cards.  The fee for the evening covered all of the door prizes and snacks.

I found a website that made up a Bingo card with any words in it that I wanted.  It was great!  I used my favorite new SU products since it was my birthday party!  🙂

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and of 20160720_152508 (2)course loved winning prizes!  If I do it again I’ll have to change a few things.  I didn’t have a plan for if two people had Bingo at the same time.  I also hadn’t decided whether or not a person could win more than once.  This was a fun event.  Maybe I’ll have a Bingo Birthday Bash every year!

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!

 

 

It’s Birthday Fiesta Time!

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IMG_8529My birthday is in two days and I think it’s time to start celebrating, don’t you?

I’m a little sad this year.  Usually during this week of the year my demo friends and I are heading to Salt Lake City for Stampin’ Up!’s annual convention.  Since expanding worldwide they’ve changed up their events and no longer do one in July.  🙁

I loved convention (and still love all of the SU Convention2015.1events) but I really loved celebrating my birthday with my stampin’ friends.   Here’s a picture of us last July all dressed up for the Roaring 20’s party.

Since I’ve decided to start celebrating early I thought I should post a birthday card, right?  This fun and easy card was made with the Birthday Fiesta stamp set.  I know…how can I use this stamp set and not use the llama?!  I did use my favorite color on the card though!  🙂

Have a great day!  Take care and Happy Stamping!