Category: Shop the catalog

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!

Retiring · Zany Zoo

Something Great

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We’re rounding out this week with our zoo pals at the theatre. Before my son was born, I spent quite a bit of time in theatres in my area performing opera, musical theatre, and sacred music. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of being onstage, and I’ve been pleased to be able to return to some singing over the last year.

Today’s card actually combines two card designs that I saved in my inspiration folder quite some time ago. And I decided to combine them by using the barn fold fun fold to build the drama of waiting for the curtains to open and then starting the show.

We start with a base of Basic White cardstock. The standard sized base is scored so that there are two equal sized flaps serving as the card front, which creates the barn fold. A piece of Lemon Lolly cardstock and a strip of Basic Black serve as the background. Using the Zany Zoo dies, I diecut curtain panels from Pool Party cardstock. The curtain tie backs are cut from Distressed Gold specialty paper using the tie back die. The chairs are cut from Real Red using the base of the llama die. The silhouettes of the audience members are diecut from Basic Black using the llama and ballerina dies. The canned lights are diecut from black using the vase die and strips of vellum serve as light beams pointing to the sentiment in the center. The sentiment from Zany Zoo is stamped on white cardstock and then diecut using the Hot Air Balloon dies. The sentiment panel is adhered to the left panel of the card front using dimensionals.

The interior scene has another set of Pool Party curtain panels. The sentiment from Something Fancy is stamped in black on the center panel. The stage floor panels are diecut from Crumb Cake cardstock using the Filled With Fun wagon panels that I cut apart using paper snips. The base of the stage is a strip of black cardstock. The spotlight coming down center stage is a strip of gold vellum. The adorable ballerina is diecut from the Zoo Crew designer paper using the coordinating dies. I’ve placed her on a double layer of dimensionals to ensure she stands above the scene and really catches the eye. Things are finished off with some glitter sequins to reinforce the *magic* of the scene.

I’ve had a lot of fun taking our zoo friends on adventures this week, and I hope you’ve enjoyed tagging along! I’ll be taking a few days off next week to be with my hubby in the hospital. But I’ll be back with some more crafting goodness soon!

Products used in today’s card:
Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Real Red, Lemon Lolly, Basic Black, Basic White, vellum cardstock
Zoo Crew, Distressed Gold DSP
Something Fancy, Zany Zoo stamps
Zany Zoo, Hot Air Balloon, Filled With Fun dies
Glitter sequins
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Retiring · Zany Zoo

Celebrate with Confetti

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Thanks for joining me today for another Zoo Crew adventure. This week, we’ve been following along as the members of the Zany Zoo have taken their turns in the spotlight before they bid adieu one final time as the 2023-24 Annual Catalog retires. Today, we get to tag along with the birthday puppers as he celebrates a special someone’s big day.

The fun fold card is known as a double flap fold-over or flip top fun fold. I first learned this fold from fellow Stampin’ Up! demo Jackie Bolhuis over at Klompen Stampers. This fold is great when you have designer paper you’d like to showcase or perhaps multiple images you want to display in one card design. For this particular card design, I wanted to highlight the fun patterns on the backs of the Zoo Crew designer paper.

We get started with a standard base of Pool Party cardstock. I cut the black herringbone pattern so that there’s a quarter-inch border around each edge. For the fold-over portion, I chose a piece of Lost Lagoon cardstock. Most of the sheet serves as the front fold-over panel. I elected to have a one-inch portion serve as the anchor on the inside of the card base, which is covered by the message panel. The fold-over panel is covered with the white polka dot pattern for a nice contrast of dark and light. The focal image panel is a piece of Pretty Peacock soft shimmer paper that is diecut using the Perennial Postage dies. The cute puppers is fussy cut from the sheet of Zoo Crew designer paper and mounted on dimensionals. The sentiment from the Unbounded Love stamp set (coming soon!) is stamped on white cardstock and diecut using the Everyday Details dies. I added an extra layer of dimensionals to adhere the sentiment to ensure it stands out against the busy background. A twist of Pool Party crinkle ribbon and a few adhesive-backed glitter sequins finish things off nicely.

I hope you’ll pop in tomorrow to check out a fun way to use those Zany Zoo dies!

Products used in today’s card:
Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Basic White cardstock
Zoo Crew, soft shimmer DSP
Unbounded Love stamps (coming soon!)
Pool Party crinkle ribbon (retired)
Glitter sequins (retired)
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Retiring · Zany Zoo

S’more For You

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We’re tagging along with the Zoo Crew this week as they take a few more adventures before retiring with the 2023-24 Annual Catalog. I’m going to miss these guys! The stamps and designer papers have offered so many fun design opportunities.

Today’s card has us gathering with friends around a campfire. We get started with a base of Pretty Peacock cardstock. The focal section of the card consists of a background of two patterns of designer series paper — Inked Botanicals and Bright & Beautiful — and a piece of white cardstock. Using the outdoor adventure sheet of the Zoo Crew designer series paper, I fussy cut several characters, as well as groups of trees and several mountain ranges, to build this scene. Dimensionals help give the scene depth. The sentiment from Charming Sentiments is stamped on Lemon Lime Twist and diecut with the Zany Zoo banner die. A strip of the ribbon duo tied off with linen thread, along with the bits of sparkle from the sequins, tinsel gems, and glitter sequins, finish things off by moving the eye across the design.

Tune in tomorrow to see what our zoo friends get up to next!

Products used in today’s card:
Pretty Peacock, Lemon Lime Twist, Basic White cardstock
Zoo Crew, Inked Botanicals, Bright & Beautiful DSP
Charming Sentiments stamps
Ribbon duo, linen thread
Pastel sequins, Tinsel gems, Glitter sequins (retired)
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Retiring · Zany Zoo

Hooray for Birthdays

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This week, the Zoo Crew is taking us on one last adventure before they retire with the 2023-24 Annual Stampin’ Up! Catalog. These guys are so easy to incorporate into designs. I’m still a little surprised that this crew of adorable critters isn’t carrying over into the new catalog! Maybe we can all petition for them to stay on as Online Exclusives. *grin*

Today, the fox is riding in to bring some birthday wishes. We get started with a base of Lost Lagoon cardstock. The background panel is a piece of the Zoo Crew designer series paper cut so that there is a half-inch border on either side. Our cute fox is punched from the DSP using the Decorative Circle punch and matted with a slightly larger plain circle punched from a different sheet of the DSP. Both are then matted on a piece of the Lost Lagoon soft shimmer paper that has been punched with the 2 3/8-inch circle. The sentiment from Hot Air Balloon is stamped on white cardstock and then diecut with the Nested Essentials dies using the extension method, which gives just a smidge of added length to the banner to allow for the whole sentiment. I tied some Lost Lagoon bordered ribbon around the card and tucked it behind the focal image panel and then added some rainbow adhesive-backed dots to create a visual triangle between the focal image and sentiment.

Today’s layout is inspired by my upline and Luv 2 Stamp team leader Patty Bennett. One of the things I love about this card layout is how quickly everything comes together. This is a go-to in my sketch book. Do you have any go-to layout favorites?

I hope you’ll join me tomorrow for another wild Zoo Crew adventure!

Products used in today’s card:
Lost Lagoon, Basic White cardstock
Zoo Crew, soft shimmer DSP
Hot Air Balloon stamps
Decorative circle, 2 3/8” circle punch
Nested Essentials dies
Lost Lagoon bordered ribbon
Rainbow adhesive-backed dots
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Retiring · Zany Zoo

Zany Celebration

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This week, we’re headed into the wild with the Zoo Crew. The Zany Zoo suite will be retiring with the current catalog, and I’m just a little sad about it. I love all of these fun critters and all of the many adventures they’ve had. So we’re tagging along for one last ride before the 2023-24 Annual Catalog retires.

What better way to celebrate a birthday than with a juggling koala?! Today’s fun fold card begins with a base of Granny Apple Green cardstock. The Zoo Crew designer paper provides our neutral black and white base panels, as well as our main character on the focal panel. The focal panel consists of a small panel of white cardstock, along with two circles punched from Bright & Beautiful and Hello Irresistible designer paper packs. The sentiment from Something Fancy is stamped on white cardstock and then cut with paper snips into a banner. A small strip of More Dazzle specialty paper adds some sparkle. The koala is elevated on dimensionals to ensure it stands above the scene and draws the eye to the action. The iridescent discs bring the eye to our focal panel and add some visual interest.

Tune in tomorrow to see what our zoo friends get up to!

Products used in today’s card:
Granny Apple Green, Basic White cardstock
Zoo Crew, More Dazzle, Hello Irresistible, Bright & Beautiful DSP
Something Fancy stamps
Circle punch
Iridescent discs
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Trucking Along

Birthday Delivery

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Today’s design was super fun to create. A fellow demonstrator (if I can remember who, I will update with a link) posted a design with a truck and trailer, which I thought was brilliant! Because this is a personal design going to a friend, I dug into my stash of some of my favorite retired product, as well as using some fun current products, to make this card pop with lots of flashy flare!

I decided to make this a diagonal split fold to incorporate some of my favorite Bright & Beautiful designer paper patterns and to really make the center image panel stand out. I stamped the background scene on a piece of white cardstock before I diecut using the Nested Essentials die. I then stamped and punched the tuck separately to add depth to the scene and allow the truck and numbers to stand out. To make the trailer, I first stamped the entire truck and then punched out just the back portion. The numbers were cut using a retired set of dies called Number of Years and I gave them an extra layer of dimensionals to allow them to stand up taller than anything else on the image panel. This design is even cuter in person and I’m really hoping that the recipient loves it!

Products used:
Night of Navy, Basic White cardstock
Bright & Beautiful DSP
Glimmer vellum (retired)
Glitter paper (retired)
Kaiserkraft glitter cardstock (retired)
Trucking Along stamps & punch
Nested Essentials dies
Papertrey Ink dies (front sentiments) (retired)
Curvy Keepsakes dies (stars) (retired)
Number of Years dies (retired)
Adhesive-backed sequins
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Clean and Simple · Trucking Along

Sunny Thoughts

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Now it’s my turn to play with the new Trucking Along stamp set. You just might get tired of seeing this little truck, but I sure hope not because I have LOADS of ideas. (Get it?)

I actually built this little scene with the intention of using a diecut to snip just a portion of it, but as I was placing the diecut, my son walked by and said, “you’re not going to cut that up, are you?” I told you I might just have to hire him to help out in the studio! And so I kept the whole scene, which has way better balance anyway.

This is a very simple design that came together in less than 30 minutes from start to finish. The design sits atop a white card base. The image panel is on a single layer of dimensionals atop a piece of Hello Irresistible designer paper. I made a mask of the truck using the punch and plain paper in order to stamp the trees and grass around the truck without covering it in any way. The load of flowers in the back of the truck has been fussy cut and is popped up. And that’s only because I forgot about them and stamped a tree in that space, but it turned out to be a happy little accident.

Products used:
Basic White cardstock
Hello Irresistible DSP
Trucking Along stamps
Wink of Stella
Adhesive-backed sequins
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Clean and Simple · Trucking Along

Out for a Test Drive

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It was super fun to take the new Trucking Along bundle by Stampin’ Up! out for a spin. I think my son was as excited as I was about this new set, and HE actually got to christen the stamps by making the very first card design with them. And I’m thinking that I might have to hire him to help out from time to time because he came up with this entire card by himself!

Is this not the cutest card you’ve ever seen? He played around with his design on a piece of scratch paper. He got about halfway done and said, “I’m ready for the real thing now” and proceeded to make this little masterpiece. I love how the trucks look like they’re stopped on the shoulder of a roadway and how he was so careful to stamp all of the little details, like the grass and fence and trees. He had fun digging through ALL of the ink choices to find just the right colors …. and there are a LOT of choices because I have all of the retired colors.

What do you think of his test drive of the new Trucking Along stamp set? I’d say he passed for sure!

Here’s his card recipe:
Basic White cardstock (base)
Cherry Cobbler, Real Red, Early Espresso, Basic Black, Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, Mossy Meadow, Old Olive, Garden Green, Bashful Blue, Fresh Freesia inks
Nested Essentials die
Dimensionals

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Card Sets · Hello Irresistible

Irresistible Butterfly

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Today features the fifth of five designs in the newest card pack up in the Etsy shoppe. Irresistible Birthday highlights the Stampin’ Up! designer series paper pack called Hello Irresistible. This coordinating pack of paper has just been delightful to work with because it allows you to go so many different directions with designs. Let’s take a look at today’s card.

Funny enough, as I was working with the papers I had originally picked out for this design, it suddenly just seemed all wrong. I couldn’t quite get things to work together. I knew I wanted to have a more neutral design — one suitable for any recipient. But it had to have a wow factor that I just wasn’t finding with my paper choices. As I was flipping and rearranging things, I caught glimpse of the back of a piece of paper and stopped in my tracks. Aha! I found the wow. The grassy background in this card made me think of a fairy garden, but to keep the design more neutral, I focused on a softer, more ethereal feel. I’m thrilled with how it turned out!

To give a little life and depth to the grassy background but still keep the overall design soft and versatile, I cut branches from vellum and tucked them behind the sentiment panel and added a butterfly cut from glimmer vellum. The gold-laced ribbon and white sequins, along with the touch of Wink of Stella around the sentiment panel, add to the magical feel. Can you think of someone who would like this card?

Products used:
Hello Irresistible DSP
Lost Lagoon, Pretty Peacock, Basic White, vellum cardstock
Glimmer vellum (retired)
Gold-laced trim (retired)
All That dies
Special Moments stamps (retired)
Wink of Stella
Adhesive-backed sequins and pearls
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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