Happy Friday, friends! I don’t know about you but I can’t believe that we’re already at the end of October. The last part of the year always feels like it’s on fast forward.
We are continuing our design series for this week using the new Autumn Trees bundle by Stampin’ Up! And today we’re really letting the stamps take center stage in this beautiful masculine design, where we’re pairing our featured bundle with designer series paper and several die sets.
We get started with a base of Crumb Cake cardstock. A sheet of the neutral dot-patterned paper from the Gathering Together paper pack serves as our focal panel backdrop. I stamped the focal panel scene on white cardstock before diecutting it with the largest die from the Branching Out set. I used most of the stamps from the Autumn Trees stamp set to create our tranquil scene and then shaded everything with ink and blending brushes. I love the soft look that this lends. Our deer is stamped on Crumb Cake and then diecut with the coordinating die from the Autumn Trees set and adhered with dimensionals to give some depth to our scene. The sentiment from the 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar is stamped on Crumb Cake and then diecut with the Stylish Shapes banner die using the extension method to get the perfect length. The sentiment is adhered with dimensionals over linen thread that is wrapped around the focal panel. And we finish things of with gold iridescent foil dots in opposing corners for a touch of twinkle.
We’ll be wrapping up our autumn series tomorrow. I hope you’ll drop in and see what’s in store!
This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Hello and happy Sunday, my crafty friends! I have survived the big work training event this last week. Remind me never to go into the party planning & logistics business! *belly laugh* It was a crazy week, to say the least, but all of the program attendees thought it went off without a hitch, so I guess I will call that a success!
I jumped straight into vacation prep on the heels of the big work event, but there’s something about a vacation that makes it feel a little bit less like work. *snicker* I’m checking in today from our cabin on the lake, where we’re planning to fish until we’re tired. The weather is beautiful and our cabin is perfect!
While I’m away, I do plan to pop in with a fun little project sometime tomorrow. Because what crafter can go on the road without taking a little project?! LOL! Seriously though, it’s the perfect opportunity to show off the new Christmas card kit and a few on-the-go design alternatives, so I hope you’ll drop in.
In the meantime, how about a little giveaway in honor of my birthday? Drop a comment on this post or on the posts in my socials (going up later today) to be entered to win a little packet of goodies. I’ll announce a winner on Wednesday (10/15) evening.
Welcome in, crafty friends, and welcome to the weekend! After a busy morning, we are enjoying some family downtime this afternoon before we hit some projects while the weather is nice. What do you have on the weekend agenda?
We’re rounding out our series this week where we’ve been restocking the birthday card stash, and there’s nothing better than a fun fold gift card holder to close things out for this series! I found the cutest (and easiest) pop-up gift card holder over at Klompen Stampers and just had to give it a try. I combined this cool fun fold with a picture-in-picture design using the Splendid Autumn paper and Layered Thoughts stamps. And I can’t wait to try this again with a scene building set!
We get started with a base of Cajun Craze cardstock, which serves as both the card base and the inside gift card panel. The front picture-in-picture panel starts with the background sheet from the Splendid Autumn paper pack that is matted with gold foil specialty paper. The window section is a second sheet of the same Splendid Autumn pattern that is cut using the Everyday Arches dies and matted with a larger-sized arch of Basic White. I used the negatives from the grass die from the Mixed Florals set cut from a sheet of the cream Season of Elegance paper and tucked the grass behind the panel inset to make it look like grass is waving outside the window. The sentiment is from the Layered Thoughts stamp set and the first portion of our birthday greeting is stamped on white cardstock, heat embossed in gold, and then cut with the largest banner from the Stylish Shapes die set. The sentiment panel is mounted over a bow of gold trim on dimensionals. The front panel is finished with a scattering of gold drusy embellishments.
The inside of our card is our pop-up gift card panel which is cut from Cajun Craze cardstock. It tucks behind the bottom panel of the card front to create the gift card movement when the card opens and closes. The second portion of our birthday greeting is on the bottom panel of the gift card section. It’s stamped on Cajun Craze cardstock, heat embossed in gold, and then cut with the largest Stylish Shapes banner die using the extension method. It’s a tight fit, but it works. This panel is adhered to the gift card panel with the dimensionals.
Here’s a quick look at this gift card in action.
My newest batch of Holiday Mini catalog and Online Exclusives have arrived, so I’m looking forward to bringing you a closer look at those as we explore the theme all that glitters is gold. I hope you’ll drop in and see what that’s all about!
So sorry to disappear on you yesterday. By the time our day wound down and I got yesterday’s card finished, it was far too dark to take a photo that would do the project any justice.
This week, we’re restocking the birthday card stash by using a variety of products in the crafty stash. We’re pairing up the Label Me Grateful and Gathering Moments dies for today’s card. This design is inspired by a card that I saw on The Crafty O ink Pen over on Insta. And I must say that one of my favorite things about using inspiration is seeing how much or how little you can see the inspiration behind the design once it’s finished. And just for funsies, today I’m gonna show the two side-by-side and you tell me. Can you see it?
What drew me to the inspiration design to start with is our Luv 2 Stamp monthly team challenge bingo card – with one square being to design a fall card. And I figured what better way to kill two birds with one stone than to adapt this super beautiful fall inspiration design to fit the birthday design theme for this week. And one of the first obstacles I had to face was the color palette because I was completely out of my preferred base color of Crushed Curry and had to search for a suitable substitute that would work with the vision I had for the end result. I must admit that the new In Color Darling Duckling is NOT a favorite of mine. And if I’m being completely honest, I pretty much hate it because it has too much green and reminds me of … well, I’ll just say that I prefer not to say and let your mind wander. BUT I decided to give it a try here because I figured this would be the best context in which I evercould potentially use the few sheets of Darling Duckling I have in the stash. And from there, I worked to choose colors and elements that tamed the duck and let thoughts of fall shine.
So we get started with a base of Darling Duckling. I cut an extra quarter panel for the focal panel backdrop and cut it down using the largest Textured Notes die and then machine embossed it with the Forever Plaid embossing folder. This panel is matted with Peach Pie glimmer paper from the In Color pack. We move on to cutting our smaller detail elements with the Label Me Grateful dies using a combination of Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, and the peach end of a sheet of Pastel Ombre glimmer paper. To really hit home with the fall theme, the center sentiment is matted by a large oak leaf cut from Peach Pie glimmer paper using the Gathering Moments die. It’s adhered a little askew in the center of the card and then the smaller fall foliage elements are tucked around on each side in opposing corners and held with strips of tear-n-tape. The sentiment is broken into two distinct but complimentary sections. The first part of the sentiment is from the Scenic Adventure set and is stamped in Early Espresso on white and then cut with the smallest banner die from the Stylish Shapes set. Birthday is stamped on a scrap of white, also in espresso, and then hand cut with paper snips. Both portions are affixed to the center of the card over some gold striped ribbon using several layers of dimensionals. We finish things off with a scattering of Cajun Craze dots and gold drusy embellishments.
This card is one big, fun, fall celebration. I just couldn’t be more pleased with how this morphed into one big sparkly birthday party in an envelope! I hope you’ll drop by tomorrow to see what other fun goodies we can pair together.
After a day like today, it has never seemed more appropriate to be working with a peaceful product line. This week we’re restocking our birthday card stash using a variety of products in the crafty stash. And today’s design pairs the beautiful Peaceful Garden products with the Simply Said stamp set to create this lovely botanical birthday card. The super classy and versatile layout is inspired by Sweet Stampin’.
We get started with a base of Secret Sea cardstock. The background panel is a floral sheet of the Peaceful Garden patterned paper that is matted with a sheet of Misty Moonlight glimmer paper from the coordinating glimmer pack. Our focal panel is a trio of elements starting with an arched backdrop cut from Secret Sea using the Everyday Arches dies. I fussy cut the hydrangea bloom from a sheet of the Lovely Garden patterned paper and affixed it to the arch panel using dimensionals. The sentiment from Simply Said is stamped in Secret Sea on Cloud Cover cardstock and then cut with the smallest Peace on Earth dies using the reverse-extension method, making it smaller than the standard die size. It’s tucked under the hydrangea bunch. The full panel is adhered to the card front with dimensionals. We add a knot of Misty Moonlight & silver edged ribbon over the sentiment, some Wink of Stella to the hydrangea blooms, and two bunches of silver Drusy embellishments opposite one another on the focal panel.
I feel like this card imparts a lot of warmth with its hues of blues and subtle sparkles. It certainly makes me smile anyway! Pop in tomorrow and see what we can pair together next to create a cheery birthday design.
After a long day at the office, I alllllllmost pulled a skip for today. But I found some inspiration over at The Crafty Carrot that pulled me out of my dog-tired slump and I managed to pull together this super cute variation of the inspo card.
This week, we’re working on restocking the birthday card stash by pulling together goodies from the stash. Today we’re using another combination of new and old with the Gathering Together products and With You in Mind stamp set.
We get started with a base of Mossy Meadow cardstock. Two patterns from the Gathering Together patterned paper pack work together to create our backdrop. I chose the large birthday sentiment from the With You in Mind stamp set and cut a circle from Whisper White cardstock using the Spotlight on Nature dies to create the panel. The largest leaf from the Gathering Moments stamp set is stamped on either side of the sentiment. The panel is adhered in the center of the card with dimensionals. And then a collection of leaves from the stamp set is stamped onto white using a combination of Mossy Meadow and Old Olive inks and then diecut with the coordinating Gathering Moments dies. A few acorns are stamped on Crumb Cake and then diecut with the coordinating die. The leaves and acorns are tucked around the sentiment panel. A festive bow of gold striped mesh ribbon is placed at the top to hug the birthday sentiment. We finish things off with a few Cajun Craze & Gold dots for a pop of eye-catching color.
This design is super easy to replicate and would be great for a guy or gal in your life. I love having neutral designs like this in the stash to make it easy to grab one, write a note, and drop it in the mail on the fly. Tune in tomorrow to see what combination we’ll be using next!
It’s hard to believe that we’re already starting a new week. I feel like we just started Friday! It was a nice weekend around here. The temps were cool and we had some rainy days – perfect for staying in and doing nothing.
We’re on to a new week and new design theme. For me, September is a very busy birthday month between family and close friends, and so I’m (a little selfishly) in birthday mode for this week’s projects. We’re going to be pulling out old and new sets from the crafty stash to create our designs. First up is this card for the nature lovers in your clan. Inspired by a lovely window scene created by Simple Stamper over in the Instaverse, we’re combining the Scenic Adventure and Light & Wonder die sets to create this beautiful mountain vista in our picture window.
We get started with a base of white cardstock. We build our scene on the front panel of the card base. I started by lightly sketching the smallest arch on the card front to ensure that I covered what would be visible through the picture window. We started by “painting” the sky with Cloud Cover and Pool Party inks blended using the small blending brushes. The mountain is cut from Cloud Cover cardstock using the Scenic Adventure die and then gave the mountain a bit more dimension by shading with Cloud Cover and blending brush. The mountain is adhered using dimensionals. I had a leftover piece of light blue pastel ombre glimmer paper that was embossed using the Soft Waves embossing folder that I adhered at the bottom of the mountain so that it would peek through the line of trees in the front of our scene. The trees are cut from Mossy Meadow cardstock using the large treeline die from the Light & Wonder die set, which is adhered with dimensionals. The clouds are cut from a small scrap of vellum using the Scenic Adventure dies and adhered in the sky using glue dots. They’re colored with Wink of Stella so they sparkle and then the mountain scene is splattered with Wink of Stella for some subtle twinkles across the scene. I cut nesting arches using the Everyday Arches dies from two additional quarter panels of white to create the window frame. The sentiment from Beautiful Butterflies is stamped in Secret Sea under the window of the outside panel. The window pane look is create by adhering the two arched panels together with dimensionals. A scattering of frosted iridescent dots add some additional ethereal sparkle across the card front.
We’re continuing our birthday theme tomorrow. I hope you’ll drop in and see what pairing we have tomorrow.
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!
We’re already halfway through this week. I’m not quite sure how that happened! This week, we’re making 3D designs. And today’s design is a super simple fold-over pinch treat box. There are all sorts of variations of this box out there – mostly varying in size or shape. Regardless of which one you choose to make, the box comes together in a snap! And today’s birthday box uses the Wildflower Birthday paper pack and ephemera sheet.
The box itself is made from a full sheet of Pool Party cardstock. After scoring along both the long and short edges and making some strategic cuts, you fold in the flaps to create the bottom of the bag and the top flap. A quick little pinch of the sides at the top create the closure for the fold-over flap. I use small Velcro dots to act as my bag closure because I find it the simplest and most effective method, but I know some folks have used magnets and some have chosen to have a ribbon closure. But for me, I’ll stick with the easy button! *wink-wink*
I used two coordinating sheets of the Wildflower Birthday paper to decorate the bag. I intend to use this as a little birthday giftie, so I chose the sheet with cakes on it as the focal section (both front & back of the box) and then used the decorative scalloped sheet for the bag flap portion. I tied a bow using the gold striped sheer ribbon and decided I needed a little more oom-pah-pah for the bag flap, so I pulled a few gold twigs and a small leaf from the Wildflower Birthday ephemera sheet. Together, these elements provide the perfect eye-catching addition to the bag flap.
These gift boxes come together so quickly that it would be easy to trim and score a whole stack of cardstock in no time flat! If you’d like to give this cute gift box a try, you can download the tutorial here.
This week, we’re having fun with sentiments. Each of our designs has the sentiment take the stage in all new ways. And today’s card is devoted to text with the combination of the More Messages and Layered Thoughts stamp sets by Stampin’ Up!
I don’t know about you, but when I see card designs that use text in new or innovative ways, I always think, “why didn’t I think of that?!” I especially love designs that create a background panel from scratch. And when I realized that the new More Messages set is actually a single image rather than separate sentiments, I knew just what I wanted to do — create a fun background panel. For me, the whimsy and fun for this design comes from the angled stamping and festive color palette.
Our card begins with a base of Summer Splash cardstock. You could also use Coastal Cabana with equal flair! The focal panel is a piece of white cardstock diecut with the Textured Notes die and then stamped with the More Messages stamp. I used a combination of Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, and Crushed Curry. The background panel is matted with a sheet of orange and pink Beautiful Bokeh paper. I wrapped some Summer Splash, Daffodil Delight, and gold ribbons around the panel toward the bottom. The sentiment from Layered Thoughts is stamped in a combination of Versamark and Crushed Curry on yellow Beautiful Bokeh paper and then heat embossed with some glitter powder. I used paper snips to cut around the sentiment, leaving a nice border for that extra pop of yellow. The sentiment is mounted over the ribbon on the focal panel with dimensionals and then the focal panel is mounted to the card base with dimensionals, as well. I finished things off with a scattering of In Color shimmer gems across the background panel and some rhinestone basic gems.
Tomorrow we’ll try our hand at a sketch and a sentiment and see where we end up. Won’t that be fun?!