Retiring · Zany Zoo

Hooray for Birthdays

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

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

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

All ads on this site are posted by WordPress and are based on your personal browsing history. I do not control ad content.

Clean and Simple · Trucking Along

Sunny Thoughts

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

All ads on this site are posted by WordPress and are based on your personal browsing history. I do not control ad content.

Clean and Simple · Trucking Along

Out for a Test Drive

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

All ads on this site are posted by WordPress and are based on your personal browsing history. I do not control ad content.

Card Sets · Hello Irresistible

Irresistible Butterfly

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

All ads on this site are posted by WordPress and are based on your personal browsing history. I do not control ad content.

Card Sets · Fun Folds · Hello Irresistible

Irresistible Center Barn Fold

Today’s card design is the fourth in the Irresistible Birthday card pack series. This designer series paper has been so fun to work with because it lends itself to so many possibilities. And this card leans much more feminine in both palette and overall feel.

I really have a hard time working with shades of orange. Believe it or not, this card base is a shade of coral, and this card came together easily. Hello Irresistible has really been a delight to work with for that very reason.

This design plays to the feminine vibes with all of the sparkle. From the gold-laced ribbon to pops of gold in sequins to the tiniest sparkle around the sentiment panel with Wink of Stella, this card really shines!

This fun fold reminds me of a barn door with the card opening in the center. Don’t you think? If you’re interested in how this design came together, go check it out over on Instagram!

Products used:
Hello, Irresistible DSP
Calypso Coral, Basic White cardstock
Bold Bouquet stamps
Deckled Rectangles dies
Flirty Flamingo ribbon
Adhesive-backed sequins
Wink of Stella
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Download the tutorial here!

All ads on this site are posted by WordPress and are based on your personal browsing history. I do not control ad content.

Card Sets · Fun Folds · Hello Irresistible

Irresistible Birthday Garden

Today we’re taking a look at the third design in the new birthday pack called Irresistible Birthday that will be up in the Etsy shoppe later this week. This design is based on a new fun fold I learned from Sharon Armstrong. The original design has been adapted to exclude a few layers in order to lighten up the design, but it does not lose any of the drama of this unique fun fold.

This showcases yet another sampling of the SU! Hello, Irresistible designer paper. One of the things I really loved about this design was the ability to use every scrap of the gorgeous paper on both the inside and outside panels of the card. And who says a masculine card can’t have a little sparkle? This design is punched up with a few eye-catching features — silver pearls, iridescent sequins, and the touch of Wink of Stella around the edges of the sentiment elements.

Products used:
Hello, Irresistible DSP
Lost Lagoon, Pretty Peacock, Basic White, vellum cardstock
Pansy Patch stamps
Nested Essentials, All That dies
Adhesive-backed pearls
Adhesive-backed sequins
Wink of Stella
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Download the tutorial here!

All ads on this site are posted by WordPress and are based on your personal browsing history. I do not control ad content.

Card Sets · Fun Folds · Hello Irresistible

Irresistible Birthday Happiness

Today I’m sharing another design in the Irresistible Birthday card pack that will be available in the Etsy shoppe at the end of the week. I had a lot of fun learning this new fun fold that my mom shared with me (originally shared by Dawn Griffith). The original design is a square card, and I like to keep all of my designs a standard size that doesn’t require special envelopes or additional postage. So I resized the original to be a standard-sized vertical card. Because I didn’t want to make any mistakes with my “good paper,” I worked on getting all of the measurements and folds just right by using paper from our shredding bin. And now I have a workable template where I scribbled all of the measurements as I went. Do you ever make templates? It helps me to keep all of the instructions I scribble down straight with what they actually make!

I am really loving the versatility of this designer paper. The first design in the Irresistible Birthday card pack really lent itself to being more masculine, but this card is definitely softer and more feminine. It’s the perfect combination of pale pinks and soft, rosey oranges. And I think the fun fold design really adds some fun to this card!

Would you like to know how I made this card? Hop on over to my Instagram feed and check it out! Link over on the right ➡️➡️.

Products used:
Petal Pink, Basic White cardstock
Hello, Irresistible DSP
Vellum
Calypso Coral ink
Pansy Petal, Bold Bouquet stamps
Bold Bouquet, All That, Nested Essentials dies
Wink of Stella
Adhesive-backed sequins
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Download the tutorial here!

All ads on this site are posted by WordPress and are based on your personal browsing history. I do not control ad content.

Card Sets · Hello Irresistible

Irresistible Birthday

Howdy, everyone! It’s been a busy week in the studio. I’ve been taking a social media class and practicing what I’m learning. So there is lots of new content, exciting features, and new designs headed your way!

Today we’re taking a look at the first design in a new birthday pack called Irresistible Birthday that will be hitting the Etsy shoppe next week.

This set of designs is based on the SU! designer paper series called Hello Irresistible. The designs in this paper pack are divine! A mix of florals and hippie vibes but nothing too feminine, as you can see here with this more masculine design.

This card came together pretty quickly. As I mentioned earlier this week, “practice makes progress” and I’m certainly getting faster at pairing patterned papers. Filming the making of this card so I could show you the design process in an Instagram reel is what took the longest. (See, I’m putting my training to work!) I’m still getting the hang of how to set things up and working through how to have the right supplies at hand so filming goes smoothly .

Wanna see what it takes to put this card together? Head over to my Insta feed! (Link on the right ➡️)

Products used:
Pool Party, Basic White cardstock
Hello, Irresistible DSP
Bold Bouquet stamps & dies
All That dies
Adhesive-backed sequins
Dimensionals
Adhesives