Author: susanfoxbowen

Terrific Tuesdays

Beyond Measure

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I often find that starting the design process with a particular layout in mind helps things come together faster. For me, that often means turning to my collection of sketches. I keep sketches in a few different places based on whether I saved it digitally or it’s hand-drawn.

Today’s card design began with a sketch that I recently saved in my digital sketch file. This sketch is from the lovely folks over at Freshly Made Sketches. If you’re ever looking for a great repository of sketch inspiration, you should check them out!

So this card begins with a base of Blackberry Bliss. I really love how it pulls out the subtle purples in the sheet of Delightfully Eclectic designer series paper that is the backdrop for this card. The little images are supposed to resemble a mini picture wall. The mats for each image are diecut using the Perennial Postage dies. A strip of rose gold and white striped ribbon provides a little grounding for the small image panels amongst the busy-ness of the floral patterned background. The focal sentiment is fussy cut to accentuate the word “loved” in the sentiment. Some fine shimmer gems are scattered across the card front to draw the eye across the design.

You can see this design come together in its entirety in this week’s Terrific Tuesdays video.

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Terrific Tuesdays

Can’t Thank You Enough

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This week is all about the Perennial Postage bundle, which includes a set of sentiments and dies. I really love this bundle because it is so versatile, especially if you take a moment to think outside the box. Today’s card is a perfect example of taking a minute and realizing that those diecutting scraps on your craft table can make an awesome card!

This design began with the three narrow frames that were diecutting leftovers from other card designs. The combination of Mossy Meadow and Pebble Path are nice a neutral and allow you to go in just about any direction with the color palette. I decided to play up the neutrals and add an accent color with the pinky hues of copper and rose gold.

The base of this card is Early Espresso. The background paper is a sheet from the new Nature’s Sweetness paper pack, currently available in the new Winter Mini Catalog. This is the perfect backdrop because of its coordinating neutral color palette. The sentiment from the Perennial Postage stamp set is stamped in Versamark and then heat embossed using copper embossing powder. The sentiment panel is diecut using the coordinating Perennial Postage die. This panel is matted in Rose Gold specialty paper to accentuate the sentiment. A strip of Flirty Flamingo metallic ribbon behind the sentiment panel repeats the accent color and draws the eye to the sentiment. A scattering of copper brushed metallic dots finish things off perfectly.

Curious where the frames in today’s card design came from? Check out this week’s episode of Terrific Tuesdays and see if you can find them.

Products used in today’s featured design:
Early Espresso, Basic White cardstock
Rose Gold, One Horse Open Sleigh, Nature’s Sweetness DSP
Perennial Postage stamps & dies
Copper embossing powder
Flirty Flamingo metallic ribbon
Brushed metallic dots
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Terrific Tuesdays

Thank You Curtain Fold

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Today we’re revisiting a relatively new-to-me fun fold. One of our Luv to 2 Stamp team members shared this Curtain Fold with the group during the holidays, and I wanted to give it another try. The beauty of this fun fold is that it shows off both sides of a sheet of designer series paper, and for today’s card, I chose a sheet with a foil side for a little extra pizzazz.

A sheet of Pretty Peacock cardstock serves as the base for this card. The backdrop for the beautiful pleated fold is a sheet of the Tartan Foil paper, which is still available in my online store as an Online Exclusive. I love the pairing of the Lost Lagoon Tartan Foil with the Pretty Peacock because the tartan pattern really shows through with this color palette. The pleated fold is made with a sheet of the Nature’s Sweetness designer series paper and was actually the other portion of the sheet that I used for one of the Terrific Tuesday designs. The sentiment from Perennial Postage is stamped in Pretty Peacock and diecut with the coordinating Perennial Postage die. The sentiment panel is matted with a Pretty Peacock banner that is diecut using the Nested Essentials die with the extension method. A twist of gold trim and a scattering of Pretty Peacock and gold sequins add a touch of sparkle to draw the eye to the center fold and sentiment.

Interested in seeing the other designs we made together during this week’s Terrific Tuesdays episode? You can tune in here to catch it all.

Products used in today’s featured design:
Pretty Peacock, Basic White cardstock
Tartan Foil, Nature’s Sweetness DSP
Perennial Postage stamps & dies
Nested Essentials dies
Gold trim
Neutrals sequins, sequins trio
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Luv 2 Stamp Artisan Design Team · Terrific Tuesdays

You’ll Get Through This

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This week we are working with the Perennial Postage stamps and dies. Does anyone collect stamps or enjoy looking through the Philatelic magazine from the U.S. Postal Service? I have enjoyed stamp designs since I was a little girl and even have a small collection from my childhood. Now I mostly enjoy the Philatelic as a purchaser and user of stamps more than as a collector. Today’s card is inspired by the sheets of stamps that formed one image, sort-of like a puzzle is made. Does anyone remember when the USPS used to offer those? They were my absolute favorite!

This card design sits atop a base of Blackberry Bliss cardstock. I chose to build my focal image on white cardstock using the Bold Bouquet stamp set. And just like those sheets once sold by the USPS, I chose to vary the stamp sizes and selected a variety of dies to accomplish this. Before stamping, I laid out dies to get the desired effect and have the totality of the image fit on the vellum mat, which is diecut with the largest Perennial Postage die. I ultimately stamped the images on each little stamp separately, but in hindsight, stamping the whole scene and then diecutting each stamp would have provided much better continuity in the scene on the whole sheet without all of the fuss of the tedious alignment that was required the way I did it! Lesson learned for the next one for sure! 

I used Lost Lagoon as an accent color and built a visual triangle with it to help the sentiment stand out in the busy-ness of the stamp montage. I used the die extension method to make the Lost Lagoon mat behind the sentiment panel a little longer. Both the mat and sentiment panel are diecut using the Autumn Leaves dies. I used the debossing die included in the Perennial Postage set and carefully inked it with Lost Lagoon before I debossed my diecut stamp. The next time I do this I am going to apply a long strip of washi tape to the back of the die so that it is easier to place it on the cardstock for an impression. Hot tip from me to you….this will avoid inky fingers and ruining whatever element you’re trying to deboss!

I wanted a bold but soft color palette for this sympathy card. So I started with Blackberry Bliss as the bold element. I softened things with a bit of Bubble Bath and added Mossy Meadow as an accent. I would love to see what you can do with this color palette, if you’re up for the challenge. Simply post your designs over on Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag #SSP1Jan2024.

Interested in more inspiration for using the Perennial Postage bundle? Check out this week’s Terrific Tuesdays episode for more designs!

Products used in this design:
Blackberry Bliss, Basic White, vellum cardstock
Lost Lagoon soft shimmer paper
Perennial Postage, Bold Bouquet stamps
Perennial Postage, Autumn Leaves dies
Lost Lagoon bordered ribbon
Sequins trio
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Terrific Tuesdays

Loved to Pieces

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This week, we’re exploring a myriad of ways that we can using the Perennial Postage bundle to make fun projects. Today’s design is based on a card layout I sketched in my idea book. When you run across a card layout you love, how do you save it? Sometimes I sketch it in my idea book, sometimes I save a screenshot in an inspiration folder, and other times I’ll pin it in Pinterest. Or maybe even all three if I really like it!

Today’s card is set atop a white base. I embossed an entire quarter sheet of white cardstock with the Softly Sophisticated embossing folder and then adhered it to my card front. The focal panel is built on a narrow sheet of plain white cardstock. 

The Luv 2 Stamp team is currently participating in a month-long color challenge to use pre-selected color combinations to make projects to share with the group. For this card, I chose a group of colors that I typically avoid—Cajun Craze, Calypso Coral, Petal Pink. Why would I do this? Well, sometimes you avoid colors because you DON’T use them, so I wanted to get out of my comfort zone.

A majority of the shapes on the focal panel are within this color palette. I supplemented with a few neutrals from the Stippled Roses paper pack and the More Dazzled specialty paper. The Petal Pink ribbon helps build that visual triangle around the sentiment and provides overall balance to the design. The sentiment is stamped in Cajun Craze on white cardstock that is diecut using the Autumn Leaves dies. White and pink sequins are scattered across the focal panel for sparkle and to draw the eye across the busy design. Although these are not my favorite colors, I had a lot of fun designing around them!

Are you looking for some more inspiration for the Perennial Postage bundle? Check out this week’s episode of Terrific Tuesdays for 3 great designs!

Products used in today’s featured design:
Basic White, Calypso Coral, Petal Pink, Cajun Craze cardstock
Stippled Roses, More Dazzle DSP
Perennial Postage stamps
Perennial Postage, Autumn Leaves dies
Softly Sophisticated embossing folder
Sequins trio, pastel sequins
Petal Pink ribbon duo
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Terrific Tuesdays

Terrific Tuesdays: Episode 8

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Welcome to a new episode of Terrific Tuesdays! Each Tuesday at 10 AM CST, I’ll be launching a new video where I’ll share at least three fun projects with you using current Stampin’ Up! products. Each week you’ll have the opportunity to receive a Kit to Go for FREE, and each Kit to Go will include the supplies needed to complete the week’s projects.

This week’s episode of Terrific Tuesdays focuses on the Perennial Postage bundle, which includes a coordinating set of sentiments and dies. We will be pairing this bundle with designer series paper packs, as well as several other product bundles, to make some seriously fun cards.

How do I get a FREE Kit to Go?

To receive a FREE kit, simply place an order of at least $40 in my online store (excluding tax and shipping) using host code MRGZB6ZE at checkout OR simply click on the link below to start shopping with the host code:

https://www.stampinup.com/?hostcode=MRGZB6ZE

In order to qualify for this week’s free Kit to Go, all orders must be placed by Monday, January 15, 2024 at 11:59 PM CST and must use this week’s host code.

Each Kit to Go will make 6 projects (2 each of 3 designs) and includes the cardstock or designer paper required for the week’s projects. Any machine embossing, if applicable, will be done for you. If a die or punch is part of the week’s featured bundle, those pieces will not be included in the kit. However, any punched or diecut element outside of the week’s featured bundle will be pre-cut for you and provided in the kit. Per Stampin’ Up! policy, I do not include any stamped images in the Kit to Go.

For this week’s projects, you’ll need the following items in addition to the kit to complete the projects as instructed. You are free to make substitutions for any of the supplies listed below for items that you already own.

  • STAMPS: Perennial Postage, Heartfelt Hexagon, Zany Zoo
  • DIES/PUNCHES: Perennial Postage, Nested Essentials, Zany Zoo, Playing in the Rain
  • INK: Early Espresso, Bubble Bath, Blackberry Bliss, Balmy Blue, Blueberry Bushel
  • EMBELLISHMENTS/TOOLS: Stampin’ Blends, Wink of Stella, gems, pearls, ribbon, scissors, Tear-n-Tape, adhesive, dimensionals, glue dots

Remember: If your order is $150 or greater before tax and shipping, do NOT use the host code. I want you to earn your FREE product from Stampin’ Up! AND you will still qualify for this week’s free Kit to Go!

Your qualifying order must be placed no later than Monday, January 15, 2024 at 11:59 PM CST using the host code MRGZB6ZE in order to receive the FREE Kit to Go. Kits will ship no later than Friday, January 12th.

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Kits · Terrific Tuesdays

Last Day for Episode 7 Kit to Go

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Don’t forget… TODAY is the last day to place your order to receive this week’s Terrific Tuesdays Kit to Go! All orders must be placed by 11:59 PM CST and must use this week’s host code. Remember, if your order meets or exceeds $150, do NOT use the host code and you’ll still get this week’s Kit to Go for free!

This week, we made 3 masculine cards using the Heartfelt Hexagon bundle. To receive this week’s Kit to Go, simply place an order of at least $40 in my online store (excluding tax and shipping) using host code ZBTXWJE2 at checkout OR click on the link below to start shopping now with the host code:

https://www.stampinup.com/?hostcode=ZBTXWJE2

Each Kit to Go will make 6 projects (2 each of 3 designs) and includes the cardstock or designer paper required for the week’s projects. If a die, punch, or embossing folder is part of the week’s featured bundle, those pieces will not be included in the kit. However, any punched, diecut, or machine embossed element outside of the week’s featured bundle will be provided in the kit. Per Stampin’ Up! policy, I do not include any stamped images in the Kit to Go.

For this week’s projects, you’ll need the following items in addition to the kit to complete the projects as instructed. You are free to make substitutions for any of the supplies listed below for items that you already own.

  • STAMPS: Heartfelt Hexagon, Heartfelt Hellos
  • DIES/PUNCHES/EMBOSSING FOLDERS: Heartfelt Hexagon, Nested Essentials
  • INK: Pretty Peacock, Night of Navy, Versamark
  • EMBELLISHMENTS/TOOLS: Sequins, speckled dots, ribbon, dimensionals, tear-n-tape, tape runner, paper snips

In order to qualify for this week’s free Kit to Go, all orders must be placed by 11:59 PM CST TONIGHT and must use the host code.

Did you miss this week’s episode of Terrific Tuesdays? You can watch it here:

Products used for today’s card design:
Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, vellum cardstock
All About Autumn DSP
Speckled dots
Rose gold & white striped ribbon
Natural wavy trim
Copper embossing powder
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Luv 2 Stamp Artisan Design Team · Terrific Tuesdays

Heartfelt Hexagon Sympathy

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While masculine card designs can be, in and of themselves, quite challenging, designing sympathy cards for the guys in your life can seem daunting. In this week’s episode of Terrific Tuesdays, we made a sympathy card together. A friend recently lost his wife, and since I needed a more masculine sympathy card myself, I felt it would be a good opportunity to share my process for designing cards for those hard times.

Today’s card design began with a pattern idea and a color palette. As I was making a project to-do list for this week, I knew that I wanted to make patterned paper using the Heartfelt Hexagon stamps and was inspired by the Softly Sophisticated embossing folder in the newly-released Sale-a-Bration catalog. As I was thinking about a color palette for a sympathy card that would appropriately convey both comfort and hope, I was drawn to the combination of Basic Gray, Night of Navy, and Copper Clay. 

So today’s card is built on a base of Basic Gray cardstock, while Night of Navy and Copper Clay luster cardstock serve as the mats for the main image panel. The single-framed hexagon from Heartfelt Hexagon is stamped in Smoky Slate in a repeating pattern that mimics the pattern of the Softly Sophisticated embossing folder. I liked the look of the larger stamped pattern rather than the smaller pattern for this particular occasion. The sentiment from Heartfelt Hexagon is stamped in Night of Navy on Basic Gray and then punched with the coordinating hexagon punch. The Night of Navy and gold glittered ribbon — a carry-over from the Holiday Mini catalog — adds a soft touch and ties the blue elements together, while a few brushed metallic dots tie together the sheen of the luster paper and sparkle of the glitter ribbon and add an additional layer of warmth.

As we’re wrapping up our week of masculine card designs, I hope you’ve been inspired by all of the possibilities there are to make gorgeous masculine cards for any occasion. In case you missed this week’s episode of Terrific Tuesdays, you can still catch it over on YouTube to find even more inspiration.

Products used in today’s design:
Night of Navy, Basic Grey, Copper Clay luster cardstock
Heartfelt Sympathy stamps & punch
Night of Navy & gold glittered ribbon
Brushed metallic dots
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Terrific Tuesdays

Enjoy Your Day

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While I don’t always find it easy to make masculine cards, sometimes you sketch a layout from an inspiration card and find that it’s absolutely perfect for all sorts of occasions. Such is the case with a card layout I sketched a long while back that calls for swapping out the corner of the background panel. As soon as I ran across the sketch, it immediately went in the to-do project list for this week’s masculine-themed card designs.

This card design begins with a base of one of my favorite colors right now — Pretty Peacock. The diamond patterned sheet is from the One Horse Open Sleigh paper pack and the corner piece is from Inked Botanicals. A thin border of Pretty Peacock is allowed to peek through in between the two patterned pieces. The sentiment is stamped in Pretty Peacock and is from the Heartfelt Hellos stamp set in the newly-released Sale-a-Bration catalog. The sentiment panel is punched using the coordinating Heartfelt Hexagon punch. A twist of iridescent ribbon helps draw the eye to the sentiment, along with the Pretty Peacock sequins.

There are a number of ways that you can use this sketch, but in this case I wanted to use two coordinating patterns of patterned paper for the two background panel elements. And one major take-away I have from designing cards for this week is to never count out an unlikely pack of paper for masculine designs because that’s where you’re likely to find a perfect fit for your project. Today’s card is a perfect example of that. Never in a million years did I think I would find a likely candidate in One Horse Open Sleigh or Inked Botanicals! So, in short, leave no stone unturned — and consider all of the options you have in your stash.

Interested in seeing what other masculine designs we were able to put together using the Heartfelt Hexagon bundle? Hop on over to YouTube and check out this week’s episode of Terrific Tuesdays!

Products used in today’s design:
Pretty Peacock, Basic White cardstock
One Horse Open Sleigh, Inked Botanicals DSP
Heartfelt Hexagon stamps & punch
Heartfelt Hellos stamps
Iridescent ribbon (retired)
Sequins trio
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Terrific Tuesdays

You’re the Best

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This week’s focus is all about masculine cards. I sometimes find it challenging to design masculine cards. And that often has to do with my mindset — particularly this idea that the theme has to be clear through the images and/or patterns I choose. But that’s how we end up boxing ourselves in creatively. Sometimes it’s all about reminding ourselves to trust the creative process as much when designing masculine cards as we do with any other occasion.

For today’s design, I wanted to create something that was warm and inviting. I was carrying that comfy old Victorian library feeling forward from another design. And that helped shape the patterned paper options I pulled for this card. I kept the card base light but warm by choosing Very Vanilla. All of the patterned papers are from the All About Autumn paper pack. To add extra emphasis to the sentiment panel, I used a mat of the foiled paper diecut using the Nested Essentials set. The sentiment from Heartfelt Hellos is stamped in Pretty Peacock on Very Vanilla and then punched with the coordinating hexagon punch. The Pecan Pie bordered ribbon adds another layer of emphasis to the sentiment panel, and the touch of sparkle from the copper sequins adds that “you’re special” feeling to the design.

So the next time you really like a layout but find it difficult to adapt to feeling more masculine, try picturing the feeling you’d like to evoke with your design and see how that influences your decisions on design elements. I think you’ll be surprised!

Curious what other masculine card designs we made during this week’s episode of Terrific Tuesdays? You can check it out on my YouTube channel!

Products used in today’s design:
Very Vanilla cardstock
All About Autumn (retired) DSP
Heartfelt Hexagon stamps & punch
Heartfelt Hellos stamps
Pecan Pie bordered ribbon
Neutrals sequins
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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