Sweet Jar

Warm Wishes

We’re certainly sending everyone warm wishes here in North Texas right now as we’re in the middle of a summer heatwave. But instead of wishing for it to be warm, right now we’re really looking for a cool front to get out of this triple-digit heat!

This week we’ve been using the Stampin’ Up! bundle called Sweet Jars to create our designs and today we’re getting a closer look at the companion stamp set called Jar of Joy. This card also showcases the lovely Soft Waves embossing folder to create this super cute winter design.

We get started with a simple card base of Basic White cardstock. The focal panel is a combination of the lighter portion of the blue sheet of glimmer paper from the pastel ombre paper pack on a quarter panel of white. Both are machine embossed with the Soft Waves embossing folder to create the look of blowing snow. The focal image from Jar of Joy is stamped on white cardstock in a combination of Pool Party, Secret Sea, and Strawberry Slush. I had some glitter embossing powder in my stash and decided to use it to create the snowglobe effect in the jar. And to further the snowglobe look, I tucked the jar into the snowdrift by cutting a slit along one of the dipping curves and tucking the punched image behind. A little extra dimension is added by adhering the top of the jar to the panel with dimensionals and adding an extra layer to the lid. The sentiment from Notes & Totes is stamped directly onto the white embossed panel with Lost Lagoon. And we finish things off by scattering some starburst sequins across the scene.

Next week, I’ll be doing an in-depth sneak peek of the new Peaceful Garden suite that will release on September 3rd. This suite has so many gorgeous elements, including paper, stamps, dies, and ribbon. I’m looking forward to sitting down to play with it. I hope you’ll drop in and check out how versatile this suite is!

Have you enjoyed this week’s design series? I’ll be hosting a card class at the end of month called Festive Jars using this week’s featured products and I would love to have you join me! Space is limited so click this link to save your seat!

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Sweet Jar

Jar of Luck

TGIF, my crafty friends! We’ve made it through this hectic week and we’re staring the weekend in the face. Anyone else excited? It’s the last weekend of summer freedom for the kiddos here in our area, so we’ll all be livin’ it up before the new school year gets started.

This week, we’ve been using the new Sweet Jar bundle from Stampin’ Up, along with its coordinating stamp set called Jar of Joy, to create some super fun designs. And as promised, we’re trying our luck at creating an everyday design with a more holiday-inspired image. I saw some super cute St. Patty’s Day designs that combined the Sweet Jar images with a rainbow and I thought that was a pretty genius way to impart some design luck.

We get started with a base of Summer Splash cardstock. Our backdrop is a combination of a coordinating floral patterned sheet from the Bloom Impressions paper pack (back for a limited time in the Last Chance section) and an ominous sky from the Everyday Skies paper pack. To give the Bloom Impressions sheet the look of standing grass, I tore a strip and then adhered it over the sky using dimensionals. The Spotlight on Nature Dies help build our rainbow made from a combination of Pretty Peacock, Shy Shamrock, Peach Pie, and Flirty Flamingo and tucked neatly behind the grass horizon. The jar and shamrocks are stamped on white cardstock using the Sweet Jar set with a combination of Secret Sea and Shy Shamrock inks. For a little extra punch, I used Shy Shamrock glimmer paper for the lid. The image is adhered over our backdrop with dimensionals. I filled in around the focal image with a few single shamrocks to give the illusion of luck being in the air. The sentiment is a combination of Jar of Joy and Sweet Jar sentiments. It’s adhered over a bow of Summer Splash ribbon using dimensionals. We finish things off with a combination of hexagons, shimmer gems, and dots.

We’ll be rounding out our series tomorrow with a little dash through the snow. I hope you’ll drop in and check it out!

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Christmas · Sweet Jar

Jar Full of Cheer

This week’s featured product is the Sweet Jar stamp and punch bundle by Stampin’ Up! And today’s card put the complimentary stamp set called Jar of Joy on full display. Because we couldn’t have jars with goodies without including the gingerbread men! I’m drawing on my stash of retired Take a Bow holiday paper for this design and I had the perfect scraps for this card.

We get started with a simple base of white cardstock. The background panel is a quarter panel of white that is machine embossed with the retired Cute Crochet embossing folder and then this is matted with the Real Red festive glimmer paper. I started with the tone-on-tone look but felt like the embossing got lost and the sparkly red is the perfect popper. The focal backdrop is a trio of strips from the Take a Bow patterned paper pack that was part of last year’s holiday release. These strips were the perfect combination of pattern and festive color. I wrapped the full panel with Real Red & White baker’s twine. We stamp our jar in green and then add the gingerbread scene. The lid is punched from a scrap of Shaded Spruce glimmer paper. I added some red & white twine and a peppermint to the lid for a coordinated festive touch. The sentiment from Jar of Joy is heat embossed in white on a sheet of Real Red and then diecut with the Nested Essentials banner die using the extension method. These elements are adhered to the card front on dimensionals. I added a few rhinestones and some extra peppermints to finish things off.

Tomorrow we’re going to be visiting a lesser-included holiday but I think you’re going to love the all-occasion twist. I hope you’ll pop in to check it out!

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Sweet Jar

Feel Better Sweets

Welcome in on this Wednesday as we slide into the midway point of the week. How’s your week going so far? Let’s just say that I’m glad I put in some extra work over the weekend because it’s definitely been a busy one here!

This week, we’re using the new Sweet Jar bundle from Stampin’ Up! to create cards for different occasions. Today, we’re pairing up this bundle with the Timeless Plaid paper to create this clean and simple get well card. I don’t know about you, but getting a special meal or treat when I’m feeling under the weather always turns my frown upside down. So why not some chocolate chip cookies?!

We get started on this one with a base of Strawberry Slush cardstock. I decided to mat the Timeless Plaid sheet with Early Espresso to help the plaid really pop. The mat is diecut using the largest Textured Essentials rectangle die. Our focal section gets started with two banners diecut with the Nested Essentials dies using a combination of Strawberry Slush and some Petal Pink glimmer paper from my retired stash. The focal image is, of course, a jar of delicious chocolate chip cookies that we’ve whipped up using the Sweet Jar stamps and punch. This time, I cut the lid from some Crumb Cake cardstock and then stamped the detailing in Gray Granite. The cookie jar is mounted over a box of Strawberry Slush ribbon using several layers of dimensionals. The sentiment from Unbounded Love is heat embossed in white on a small banner of Early Espresso cardstock. I used the smallest die from the Countryside Corners set (just recently retired) to cut this thin banner and then adhered it under the cookie jar with dimensionals. An assortment of gems finish things off with a nice amount of eye-catching sparkle.

We’re working our way through all sorts of seasons. What do you think will be up on deck tomorrow? I hope you’ll tune in and find out!

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Sweet Jar

Sending Love Your Way

This week, we’re using the new Stampin’ Up! Sweet Jar stamp & punch bundle to create our projects. And today, we’re keeping things super simple with just a few scraps of patterned paper and a diecut panel. And I used a fun taping technique to make the sentiment into a horizontal strip.

We get started with a standard base of Secret Sea cardstock. I used a scrap of the heart pattern from the Marbled Elegance paper pack along with a striped pattern from the Florals in Bloom pack to create the anchor for the focal panel. The focal panel starts with a piece of white cardstock diecut with one of the larger Spotlight on Nature dies and then we stamp the jar image and hearts directly onto the panel. To dress things up and add a touch of sparkle, I decided to punch the lid from a piece of red Festive glimmer paper (now retired). The focal panel is adhered directly over the paper strips onto the card front. I wanted to have a banner for the sentiment panel so I opted to break up the sentiment from the Sweet Jar stamp set to create a more horizontally-stretched sentiment. To ensure I didn’t have any ghost stamping on my sentiment panel, I covered the already-stamped portions of the sentiment with a strip of tape after I had the next portion inked up. The banner shape is created the simple way with just the trimmer and paper snips. And it’s popped up on dimensionals so that it stands up front and center. I scattered heart sequins and pink In Color shimmer gems across the front to draw the eye across the panel and provide some nice pops of sparkle.

The Sweet Jar bundle and its complimentary Jar of Joy stamp set provide possibilities for all sorts of different occasions. I hope you’ll drop in tomorrow to see what we celebrate next!

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Sweet Jar

Sweetest Birthday

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you enjoyed a restful weekend. I spent lots of time in the craft room this weekend working ahead on these weeks designs knowing that my work week is going to be pretty hectic this week. What did you get up to?

This week, we’re using the new Sweet Jar stamp and punch bundle, along with the companion Jar of Joy stamp set, to create our projects. There are so many cute things you can do with this bundle and it plays well with lots of other stamp sets, too! Today we’re pairing it up with some DSP to create a fun birthday card.

We get started with a base of Secret Sea cardstock. Our background panel consists of three layers of cardstock. We started with a base layer of pink Beautiful Bokeh paper and then a layer of Unbounded Beauty, using a sheet of the Berry Burst glimmer paper (sadly retired) to add some sparkly eye relief in the middle. A strip of the Petunia Pop iridescent ribbon around the panel gives another hint of twinkle just behind the focal panel. Our Sweet Jar focal image is stamped on white cardstock and punched with the coordinating jar punch, but I decided to dress up the lid by punching it from a sheet of Shy Shamrock glimmer paper and wrapping it in gold thread. The birthday candles felt a little left out at the sparkle party, so they got a dab of Wink of Stella to make them festive, too. I combined several different stamps from the Sweet Jar set to make the sentiment and stamped it in the top-right corner. Some charming shimmer faceted dots help our eyes pass across the card and each of the key design elements.

We’re going to be making our way through a number of holidays and festive occasions this week. I hope you’ll pop in tomorrow to see what’s next!

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florals · Florals in Bloom

Birthday Blooms

We’re wrapping up our week(ish) of designs featuring the Florals in Bloom products by Stampin’ Up! I love the vibrant colors in the papers and the versatility of the stamps and dies. I decided to round out the design series with a card that really allows this suite to shine. Helping us out for this card are the Country Woods paper and More Messages stamps and die.

To keep the color palette lighter and brighter, we get started with a base of Cloud Cover cardstock. I’m not sure I’ve talked too much about the new In Colors, but this is probably one of my favorites of the bunch. Cloud Cover is the perfect combination of grey and blue that allows you to transform the mood of the card easily with just a few changes in your helper colors. In this case, I chose the moody blue of the Secret Sea hashed-pattern sheet from the Florals in Bloom paper pack. Our focal panel is broken into three interwoven sections. The opposing corners are a piece of the cheery hyacinth patterned paper from Florals in Bloom that is matted with some Brushed Silver to help give some definition between the two busy patterns. The center portion of the focal panel is where all of the action takes place. A sheet of the Pool Party woodgrain from the Country Woods pack – also matted in Brushed Silver – serves as our stage. It rests atop a bow of Petunia Pop iridescent ribbon. Our purple-hued flowers take center stage with the sentiment tucked quietly underneath. A few Petunia Pop shimmer dots add a touch of twinkle to the center of our floral bunch, while the silver drusy embellishments on opposing corners give the eye a path to follow down and across.

I hope you’ve enjoyed getting a closer look at this beautiful product suite. Next week, our design series is all about fun folds. I have a stash of them in my gotta-try-it folder that we’re going to take for a test drive! I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

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florals · Florals in Bloom

Anything Florals

Well, yesterday saw a very exciting and emotionally-draining end to the day. Just as I was turning into our section of the neighborhood, I caught a strange sight out of the corner of my eye. And I realized that the gentleman I was seeing on the ground on the curb by his mailbox was not picking weeds but was, instead, in great distress as he sank down and face-planted into the grass as I made the corner and threw the car into park. I had hung up on the hubby to jump out and rush across the street, but it didn’t take hubby long to track my location and appear on scene. When all was said and done, several neighbors also came to aid and we managed to get the gentleman up into his garage and out of the sun as the ambulance arrived to check him out. We bid adieu and headed for home after his son-in-law arrived to serve as translator for the paramedics. So needless to say, I didn’t really have any emotional energy left to design once I got home and finally settled down after the rush of adrenaline.

But I’m back at it today. This week, we’ve been using the Florals in Bloom suite to create our designs. And today we’re pairing up the dies in this suite with the Plaster Painting embossing folder and More Messages stamps & dies to create this lovely encouragement card.

We start with a base of Secret Sea cardstock. The background panel is a quarter sheet of Secret Sea that has been machine embossed with the Plaster Painting embossing folder, and then I used some silver metallic ink to bring out the details in the embossed panel. The focal section consists of florals cut using the Pretty Florals dies and a combination of Strawberry Slush, Pretty in Pink, Pool Party, and Pretty Peacock cardstocks. To add some extra shimmer to the flowers, I cover the Strawberry Slush blooms with Wink of Stella before adhering the detail Pretty in Pink pieces on top. The floral centers are a cluster of the Strawberry Slush gems. The sentiment from More Messages is stamped on Smoky Slate cardstock in Gray Granite ink and then diecut with the coordinating More Messages die. I adhered a twist of silver trim behind the sentiment before adhering it to the side of the blooms off-center on the card front. We finish things off with some silver drusy embellishments to tie everything together and draw the eye across the design.

I designed this particular card with our office intern in mind and I can’t wait for her to receive the card on the farewell day of her summer internship!

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florals · Florals in Bloom · Free Shipping

Lovely

Lovely certain seems a fair way to describe this Wednesday. Would you like to know why?

It’s that time of year…where Stampin’ Up! is offering FREE shipping on any order of $75 and above. I’ve had some items hanging out in my cart for a little while now, and I used this opportunity to save big on shipping since quite a bit of it was paper and other weighty items. Now is the perfect time to buy that paper or anything else in your shopping cart because you’ll save BIG on shipping. But better act fast because this deal won’t last long – July 23 through July 25! Check out my online store to learn more!

And that brings us to our card design for today. This week, we’ve been giving the Florals in Bloom suite a bit more attention and pairing it with other items in the crafty stash. Today’s combo includes the Country Woods patterned paper and brushed silver specialty paper. Let’s check it out.

We get started with a base the new In Color cardstock called Cloud Cover. The background panel is a piece of the lovely Florals in Bloom paper that is matted on brushed silver and adhered directly to the card front. I cut a piece of the blue woodgrain pattern from the Country Woods paper pack using the Everyday Arches dies and adhered this focal panel to background panel. Using the Pretty Florals dies, I cut stems and florets from a combination of Shaded Spruce, Pretty in Pink, and Strawberry Slush cardstock. The flowers are assembled with glue dots and each is adhered to the focal panel with dimensionals of varying heights. Using the Sweet Blooms dies, I cut the sentiment from a combination of brushed silver and a piece of pink shimmer paper from my retired stash bin. You could easily get the same shimmery effect by cutting from any shade of pink and then covering with Wink of Stella. I used my glue pen to adhere the two parts of the sentiment together. The sentiment is adhered over the flowers with extra dimensionals to be sure it stands above. We finish things off with the pink gems across the card front.

What do you think of this pretty simple design?

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florals · Florals in Bloom

Floral Thoughts

This week, we’re giving the elements in the Florals in Bloom suite a bit more love and combining them with other fun products in the stash. Today, we’re pairing up the Pretty Florals stamp set with the Thoughtful Designs specialty paper and Country Corners dies.

Our card begins with a base of Cloud Cover cardstock. A sheet of the blue Thoughtful Designs specialty paper serves as the dramatic backdrop for our focal panel. I love the intricate foiled detailing in this paper. I chose the darker end of the blue ombre sheet for the contrasting drama that it adds to this happy garden scene. Our focal panel begins with a base of Cloud Cover cardstock that is cut with the largest Country Corners die. A small stand of wildflowers stamped with the Pretty Florals stamps set adorn the panel in shades of pink, purple, and yellow. The sentiment from The Right Words stamp set is stamped in Secret Sea onto white cardstock and then cut with a combination of paper trimmer and paper snips to create a banner. I tied a length of white diagonal trim around the top of the panel and then adhered the sentiment panel over it with dimensionals. A bow of silver & white sheer ribbon over the center of the white trim adds the perfect touch of sparkle, along with a little Wink of Stella on the cone flowers, some gold foil gems over the purple flowers, and drusy embellishments scattered across the front.

Even cards that take a more serious tone can have touches of sparkle here and there to help invoke feelings of genuine care and heartfelt wishes.

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