Author: susanfoxbowen

Flowering Zinnias · Shop the catalog

Thanks, Friend

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This week is all about the Stampin’ Up! Flowering Zinnias suite. And today we are looking at the Zinnia embossing folder and Simply Zinnia dies. What I think this card design illustrates so beautifully is how easily you can pair the Flowering Zinnias products with other gems from the Stampin’ Up! lineup, like the Friends for Life bundle featured here.

We get started with a card base of the new In Color Petunia Pop. I also cut a quarter-sheet and embossed using the Zinnia embossing folder. This embossed panel is cut 1/8-inch smaller than the card base and adhered with dimensionals. For the focal section of this card design, I diecut a square of Petunia Pop using the largest square die from the Nested Essentials die set and built the focal elements on top. The zinnias are diecut using the Simply Zinnia die set. The petals are cut from Pretty in Pink with each flower having Peach Pie and Lemon Lolly centers. The lovely foliage is cut from Shy Shamrock using the Friends for Life dies. Dimensionals help give a layered look to the zinnias. The sentiment panel base is white cardstock diecut using the banner die from Friends for Life. Thanks is stamped in black on one end of the panel using the Wonderful Thoughts stamp set. The word friend is mounted next to it. Friend is shadowed with black cardstock and a white glimmer paper helps the word sparkle and pop on the card front. The sentiment panel has extra layers of dimensionals to ensure it stands tall above the rest of the design and catches the eye.

Tomorrow we’re going to be keeping things simple. I hope you’ll pop in to see how a stamp, paper, and die can make a beautiful card in a snap.

Products used in today’s card design:
Petunia Pop, Pretty in Pink, Peach Pie, Lemon Lolly, Shy Shamrock, Basic Black, Basic White cardstock
Flowering Zinnias, glimmer DSP
Simply Zinnia, Friends for Life dies
Zinnia embossing folder
Wonderful Thoughts stamps
Shiny sequins
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Flowering Zinnias · Shop the catalog

Flower-filled Thoughts

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We’re spending this week getting to know the Flowering Zinnias suite by Stampin’ Up! This suite includes designer series paper, stamps, coordinating dies, coordinating embossing folder, and a package of embellishments. (See the whole suite here.).

Today’s card combines the designer paper and coordinating dies. I saw a similar design layout posted by Mitosu Crafts and just fell in love and thought why didn’t I think of that! Do you ever have those lightbulb moments when you see a design you absolutely love? It just seems so obvious to put it together that way.

What I love about this layout is that I immediately feel like I’m standing in a garden row of zinnias. I may have mentioned before that zinnias are one of my favorite summer flowers. If I had room to have a whole section of my gardening space devoted to zinnias, I most certainly would!

We start this card design with a base of Granny Apple Green cardstock. I chose the leaf and stems patterned sheet from the Flowering Zinnias paper pack and mounted it with a very thin mat of Basic Black. This full panel is adhered directly to the card base. Building the beautiful zinnia blooms is snap with the coordinating dies for this suite. I chose to use the new In Color called Peach Pie — a soft, muted orange. The flower centers are a combination of Pumpkin Pie and Lemon Lolly. I used a single dimensional to adhere the two petal layers together and then a combination of glue dots and glue pen for the centers and then finished each flower with a Pumpkin Pie shiny sequin. Having flowers disappear from the frame gives the feeling of looking through a window or looking a snapshot, and I just love that effect here. The sentiment from the coordinating Simply Zinnia set is stamped on Basic White and diecut using the Friends for Life die. The sentiment is adhered with a layer of dimensionals so that it stands tallest in the overall design. A few carefully placed Garden Green Blooming Pearls draw the eye down and across the design so that the eye rests on the sentiment.

What I love about this suite of products is how you can create designs that look intricate and complicated but are actually a breeze to put together. TIP: when making a card with the zinnia blooms, cut extra pieces to make your next card come together in a snap. Make it even easier by having fully assembled flowers in your stash!

Tomorrow, the embossing folder takes center stage. I hope you’ll come check it out!

Products used in today’s card design:
Granny Apple Green, Peach Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Lemon Lolly, Basic Black, Basic White cardstock
Flowering Zinnias DSP
Simply Zinnia stamps & dies
Friends for Life dies
Shiny sequins, blooming pearls
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Flowering Zinnias · Shop the catalog

Words Fail

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Howdy, everyone! The next two weeks are going to be pretty busy as my little wraps up another school year. How did a whole school year go by already?! It’s good to be back home and able to do a little crafting.

This week we’re going to focus on the Flowering Zinnias suite of products. When I first saw this product suite, I immediately fell in love with the designer paper, but I wasn’t really won over by the coordinating stamps and dies. But as I worked more with the paper, I realized what I was missing. So this week, I want to show you how much further you can take your designs with the coordinating stamp/die bundle.

For today’s design, we’re starting with a base of Melon Mambo. The two patterns of designer paper are both from the Flowering Zinnias paper pack. The background piece is cut 1/8-inch smaller than the card base and then I distressed the edges using paper snips. This piece is mounted to the card base using dimensionals. The zinnia pattern is diecut using the Spotlight on Nature dies and one small section is cut from the side for an off-set mount with dimensionals on the patterned background. I slipped some iridescent striped trim underneath to add sparkle and draw the eye. The sentiment from the Simply Zinnia set is stamped on white cardstock and then diecut using the Autumn Leaves dies using the extension method. I mounted the sentiment on Berry Burst glimmer paper that was diecut using the Deckled Rectangles set. I added Melon Mambo shiny sequins to finish things off.

Tomorrow we’re going to walk through the zinnia patch. I hope you’ll come along!

Products used in today’s card design:
Melon Mambo, Basic White cardstock
Berry Burst glimmer, Flowering Zinnias DSP
Simply Zinnia stamps
Spotlight on Nature, Autumn Leaves, Deckled Rectangles dies
Iridescent striped trim
Shiny sequins
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Country Flowers · Shop the catalog

Previewing Country Flowers

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My box of goodies from the new Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog came a bit ago, but I haven’t had time to play with much of it just yet. But as soon as I took a look at few of the items I got from the new Country Woods Suite, I knew I wanted to start with those.

I really love the Country Woods designer series paper and chose to have it serve as the backdrop of this card design. We get started with a base of Basic White cardstock. The main background panel is a sheet of the lighter woodgrain pattern from the Country Woods paper pack. I diecut the sheet of Pool Party woodgrain from the same designer paper pack using the largest die in the Spotlight on Nature dies set. I stamped the stool from the Country Flowers stamp set onto the darker woodgrain pattern sheet and then diecut using the coordinating die. I stamped all of the greenery, along with the bucket and teapot, onto white cardstock using the Country Flowers stamps and then colored them with my Stampin’ Blends. I layered everything up with dimensionals to build a lot of different layers on the card front so that it gives it a more realistic look. I finished things off with some of the pearlized sequins from the Sequins Trio set and a double twist of the Iridescent Striped Trim. I chose not to have a sentiment on the front so that I could easily choose an inside sentiment on the fly once I’m ready to send it out.

This whole suite of products is fabulous. There are so many different ways that you can take it — masculine, feminine, shabby chic, country, and the list goes on. I’ve seen so many wonderful ideas that I’ve put in my inspiration folder!

I hope to bring you some more designs later this week, assuming we get to go home from the hospital.

Products used on this card:
Basic White cardstock
Country Woods DSP
Country Flowers stamps & dies
Stampin’ Blends
Iridescent striped trim, linen thread
Sequins trio
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Mother’s Day

Sure of Things Unseen

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Happy Mother’s Day, everyone!

Faith is being sure of what we cannot see is the theme of today’s card design. As a mom and, in particular, a mom who struggled with infertility, these words resonate a little differently. Faith has to become a part of your inmost being—to simply trust that you will carry a baby to term and hold that precious and healthy part of you in your arms and have the privilege of raising this baby to adulthood.

It is such an honor to be a mom! It teaches you so much about our Creator and His love. And it teaches you a lot about humility and faith.

Today we’re wrapping up a series using a sketch and a small stash of crafty supplies. I loved this sentiment from the Unbounded Love stamp set and thought it was the perfect compliment to Mother’s Day.

We get started on today’s card with a base of Berry Burst cardstock. I also cut a quarter- sheet and embossed it using the Dotted Circles embossing folder. To give a bit more definition to the embossed pattern, I used my finger to spread a very light layer of white craft ink over the panel. Once dry, which didn’t take too long, I cut the embossed panel to be just a smidge smaller than the card base. I cut a small strip of the Thoughtful Journey designer paper so that a small scene would be exposed and then adhered it to the right side of the embossed panel. The embossed panel is adhered to the card base using dimensionals, and the sentiment panel is also adhered using dimensionals. The sentiment from Unbounded Love is stamped on white cardstock that is diecut using the Autumn Leaves die set. I chose to stamp the word faith in Fresh Freesia ink to emphasize the word and draw the eye to the sentiment. I wanted to add a soft eye-catching element behind the sentiment panel and chose to diecut some sprigs of greenery from vellum using the Painted Lavender dies and then added a paper butterfly and some paper white sequins from the Sequins Trio.

I hope that you are able to enjoy this Mother’s Day—whether through a family celebration or a remembrance.

I hope to be able to post a little more regularly in the coming week, assuming we’re able to come home from the hospital.

Products used in this card design:
Berry Burst, Basic White, vellum cardstock
Thoughtful Journey DSP
Unbounded Love stamps
Autumn Leaves, Painted Lavender dies
Dotted Circles embossing folder
Paper butterflies
Sequins trio
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Clean and Simple

True Blessing

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Thus far this week, we’ve been exploring how a sketch and a few supplies can give you to terrific cards in no time flat. Today’s card is a slight variation on yesterday’s card design with a slightly wider designer paper section that begins on the edge of the embossed panel.

I really love this particular sheet of the Thoughtful Journey designer paper pack. The cedars set on the hill with the wildflowers down below reminds me of the prairie that was behind my childhood home.

This card begins with a base of Berry Burst. I cut an additional quarter-panel and embossed with the Eyelet embossing folder then cut the panel down to be one-quarter inch smaller, leaving just a small border behind on the base. I wanted to ensure that the beautiful embossed pattern stood out to compliment the soft white in the patterned paper, so I used my finger to rub a thin layer of silver ink over the top of the pattern. Then I adhered the designer paper panel to the right side of the embossed panel before adhering the full panel to the base using dimensionals. The sentiment from Unbounded Love is stamped on white cardstock diecut using the coordinating Unbounded Love dies. To draw the eye to the sentiment, I finished the card with tinsel gems and silver trim tied in a small bow.

Tomorrow, I’ll be rounding out this series with one final variation. I hope you’ll come check it out!

Products used in this card design:
Berry Burst, Basic White cardstock
Thoughtful Journey DSP
Unbounded Love stamps & dies
Eyelet embossing folder
Tinsel gems
Silver trim
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Clean and Simple

Sending Love

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When you’re low on crafting time, keeping things simple is key. I typically choose a simple sketch and a few coordinating supplies when I’m needing to make a card but don’t have time for lots of layers or fussy cutting. The beautiful thing about the products Stampin’ Up! offers is how wonderfully they coordinate to give you consistent results each and every time. And I don’t say that simply because I’m a demonstrator. It’s one of THE reasons that I became a demonstrator!

We begin our card today with a base of Berry Burst cardstock. The background panel is cut a tad smaller than the card base and then machine embossed using the Distressed Tile embossing folder. I decided from the get-go that I wanted metallic gold to be an accent color for this card design, so after embossing the Berry Burst quarter-sheet and cutting it to size, I used my finger to lightly rub metallic gold ink across the card front to bring out the gorgeous pattern. A two-inch strip of Thoughtful Journey designer paper is adhered to the left side of the embossed panel, leaving a small strip of the panel exposed on the left so that the pattern goes from edge to edge in the background. This whole panel is then adhered to the base using dimensionals. The sentiment from Country Flowers is stamped on white cardstock diecut using the Unbounded Love dies and it, too, is adhered with dimensionals. A twist of gold trim and a few gold Blooming Pearls add that bit of sparkle and bring out the golden hues in the designer paper. And a few In Color shimmer gems on either side of the sentiment ensure your eye lands here last.

Tune in tomorrow to check out a variation on this card layout that gives us a very different look but results in a card that’s just as stunning!

Products used for today’s card:
Berry Burst, Basic White cardstock
Thoughtful Journey DSP
Country Flowers stamps
Unbounded Love dies
Distressed Tile embossing folder
In Color shimmer gems, Blooming Pearls
Gold trim
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Fun Folds

Brighter Tomorrow

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Hello, friends! I hope your week has gotten off to a good start. Thanks so much for hanging with me as I took a little break to tend to my hubby who was in the hospital. I’m pleased to report that we are now home! And as the saying goes, there really IS no place like home!

Over the weekend, I had a small bit of time to play around with some of the products I purchased from the new Annual Catalog. I kept things really simple and used a few sketches that I pulled from my sketch book.

Today’s card is a faux fold-over fun fold card. The center section lifts up, just as a fold-over would, but this card is constructed entirely of the card base without any extra layers like the usual fold-over design has. The front panel of the card is cut to give you a large center section and the two small side sections are adhered to the card base so that, rather than the entire card front opening, only the panel in the middle opens. I like to call this a fun fold cheat because it has all the pretty and half as much work — haha!

We begin with a base of Petunia Pop cardstock, which is one of the new In Colors. The base is cut to standard size and scored in the center. After selecting a side to serve as the card front, cut a one-inch strip on each side of the card front, leaving a larger panel in the center. Be sure you’re only cutting from the bottom edge to the center score line. Next, choose and cut a piece of the Thoughtful Journey designer paper so that it is slightly smaller than the entire card front. Then cut a three-quarter inch strip from each side. This will leave you a center piece of designer paper that should lay perfectly over the entire center flap of the card front, leaving only the small border of Petunia Pop on the top and bottom. The sentiment from Unbounded Love is stamped in Petunia Pop and black on a piece of vellum diecut using the Nested Essentials set. It’s adhered to the center section using glue dots on each end. A few sequins and a paper butterfly finish things off and draw the eye across the card to rest on the sentiment.

I have a few more cards to share this week from my weekend crafting mini session and hope to get back into the swing of things as we settle into an appointment schedule here at home.

Products used in today’s card:
Petunia Pop, vellum cardstock
Thoughtful Journey DSP
Unbounded Love stamps
Nested Essentials dies
Paper butterflies
Shiny sequins
Dimensionals
Adhesives

About Me

Are You a Pet Person?

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Have you checked out all of the new products that dropped into the online store yesterday? If not, you can click HERE to check them all out. So much good stuff!

I’m still bouncing between the hospital and home, so I haven’t had time to be in the craft room. But I thought this might be a good opportunity to share a few fun facts with you. Who’s up for it?

I grew up in the country on a family farm and actually have a degree in agriculture. I’m an animal lover and have been since I was an itty bitty girl. I even got chickens for my second birthday! When I took my first job out of college, I couldn’t wait to have a place of my own where I could go back to having pets since pets were a no-no at college housing. I’m a big cat person, and cats certainly fit my work schedule much better than doggos. And I’ve continuously had cats ever since. Thankfully, my hubby is also a cat person. *wink*

For those of you who’ve been following a long for a little while, you may remember a few photos of our newest addition Nolan. He’s a spunky kitten we rescued from the local animal shelter when he was just barely old enough to be away from mom. We also have two older cats that were also rescued from local shelters—Pudge and Leo. They were both abandoned at shelters after their owners passed away.

But our “collection” of cats doesn’t stop there. A couple of years ago, we regularly started feeding the feral cats on our street. And we now have about 9 who regularly come for snacks on our back porch and we’ve managed to snap photos of most of them. One of the feral mommas Smokey left us her three kittens in January and they’ve called our house home ever since. The kiddo went with a shoe theme and named them Socks, Boots, and Mittens. We can now pet and handle 3 of our regulars—Shadow, Socks, and Boots—and they come looking for love often.

Do you have pets? I would love to hear about them! Please share in the comments!

Shop the catalog

New Annual Catalog TODAY

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Hello, everyone! As I mentioned late last week, I’ve taken a little break from posting after my husband’s major surgery last week. Bouncing back and forth between the hospital and home life is pretty hectic. So thanks for your patience as we work to get hubby home and settled in sometime soon.

In the meantime, do you know what today is? Catalog launch day! The brand new 2024-25 Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog is LIVE today, and I am SO excited! Have you checked out the new goodies yet? If not, you can hop on over to my online store and check out all of the new stuff by clicking HERE.

Here are a few of my favorites from the new catalog:

These are a few of the new goodies that hopped right into my cart this morning, and my mind is already turning with all sorts of ideas. I’m looking forward to being back in the craft room soon to bring you some new designs for all of the brand new catalog items that are making a home in my stash.

After taking a look at the new items in the store, what things are going on your shopping list? I can’t wait to hear!