Mother’s Day

love you MOM

This week is all about MOM as we pull out all the stops to create some super fun designs worthy of all of the love, care, and encouragement that moms give. Today’s card is a combination of products that might be akin to the kitchen sink. *haha* But our biggest stars of the show are the Country Woods bundle (hurry, it’s on Last Chance in the shop!) and the new Notes & Totes bundle, along with two new paper packs called Florals in Bloom and Flower Garden foils. Together, they build this cute little scene you might find on the front porch next to the porch swing.

I love this color palette of soft blue hues. We get started with a very neutral base of Basic White cardstock. We turn to the Florals in Bloom papers for our backdrop which we cut using the largest Textured Notes die. And then we follow it with a sheet of the Flower Garden foil and cut it with the next Textured Notes die. I love how the foil is just a tick darker than the striped pattern sheet underneath and how the cross-hatch pattern of the foil plays so well off the stripes below. I adhered the two layers together with dimensionals.

Next up, we work on our focal images. The stool and water jug are stamped onto sheets of the Country Woods woodgrain papers using the Country Flowers set and then diecut with their coordinating dies. The smaller flowers are cut from the Florals in Bloom paper using the coordinating Sweet Blooms die. I layered the stool and jug of flowers using varying layers of dimensionals on focal panel background. I used the scarf die from the Notes & Totes setto cut a gold accent ribbon for the water jug of flowers. I made a smaller handbag using the Notes & Totes bundle. I stamped the hibiscus pattern onto Pretty Peacock and then used the pocket die to cut it out. For the flap, I used the pocket die and cut just the top portion out of the Pretty Peacock Season of Elegance foiled paper. I fussy cut to clean it up and then adhered to the stamped layer. I cut the latch and handle from Crumb Cake cardstock, again using the Notes & Totes set, and adhered with glue dots. The purse is affixed next to the flowers with dimensionals.

The sentiment combines two stamps from the She’s the Greatest set and are stamped in Balmy Blue on white cardstock. I fussy cut the letters of MOM and then diecut a banner for love you using the Nested Essentials small banner die. I loved the look of them in the top corner and affixed them with dimensionals. I added adhesive hearts to finish of the sentiment and a few of the new In Color flat pearls around the flowers for a little touch of shine.

We’ll be closing out our series tomorrow with the last little bit of Mother’s Day inspiration. I hope you’ll drop by!

Product List
florals

So Lucky

We’re rounding out our walk through the garden this week with a trip to the country. Today’s card design features the Country Flowers set by Stampin’ Up!, which is currently on the Last Chance list, and a card layout I spotted in a recent post shared over at Stampin’ Through the Catalog. I adapted the layout and color palette to fit the products I wanted to use.

We get started with a base of Gray Granite cardstock. I also cut a quarter panel and then ran it through the embossing machine with the Distressed Tiles embossing folder before cutting it down to a smaller size for the focal panel backdrop. This small embossed strip is matted with a piece of gold textured paper to help it stand out against the tone-on-tone card base. I layered a piece of the Nature’s Sweetness foiled paper on top. For the focal panel, I cut a piece of Misty Moonlight with one of the middle circles from the Spotlight on Nature die set and then heat embossed the sentiment from Country Flowers in white. The teapot from Country Flowers is stamped in Gray Granite onto the lighter woodgrain pattern from the Country Woods paper pack, while the flowers are stamped on white and then colored with a combination of Stampin’ Blends before cutting out the floral bunch with the coordinating Country Flowers die. The teapot and flowers adhered to the focal panel with dimensionals and the focal panel is then adhered to the center of card front with dimensionals, as well. I added some gold ribbon on the teapot and someiridescent faceted gems to the floral centers to finish off the arrangement. Some drusy embellishments finish things off with the perfect touch of sparkly goodness.

I hope you’ll tune in this week as we get a look at some of the new goodies that are set to launch in a little over a week!

Product List
Retiring

Country Love

Whew, we’ve made it to the weekend! I don’t know about you guys, but I really ride the struggle bus toward the end of the week. The week is go-go and my energy is no-no. And my crafty mojo just hasn’t been very cooperative lately. Anyone else?

This week, we’re looking at some of my favorite sets that have made it to the Stampin’ Up! Last Chance list. If any of these happen to be your favorites, now is the time to add to cart before they’re gone for good! Today’s design uses a combination of my crafty favorites — Cute Crochet embossing folder, Country Flowers and Sending Love dies, and an already-retired sentiment called Heartfelt Hellos. I’ve seen so many cute designs that incorporate an envelope exploding with flowers and just knew I had to take a stab at it. Our color palette is inspired by two colors from a triad — with hues of turquoise and purple.

We get started with a neutral base of basic white cardstock. I embossed a quarter panel of Fresh Freesia with the Cute Crochet embossing folder and then diecut with the largest Perennial Postage die to serve as the backdrop for our main focal panel. I cut an envelope from white cardstock using the Sending Love dies and then foliage and flowers using the Country Flowers dies. The foliage is a combination of Old Olive cardstock and Season of Elegance papers and then the flowers are cut from a variety of glimmer papers, including pastel ombre, Summer Splash, and white. The florals are spilling out of the envelope with layers of dimensionals giving us our realistic-looking arrangement. A combination of gems give us our floral centers, including In Color, two tone sparkle, and purple shimmer gems and iridescent faceted gems. The sentiment from the retired Heartfelt Hellos set is stamped in Fresh Freesia on Pool Party cardstock and then cut with the Mixed Labels dies. I cut a second Mixed Label banner from Highland Heather glimmer paper, cut the banner in half, and then offset the pieces on either side to create a mat for the sentiment panel. I tied some Fresh Freesia seam binding ribbon around the embossed panel before adhering the other elements with dimensionals. A few purple sequins add an extra touch of sparkle and draw the eye to our sentiment.

I still have a few more of my retiring favorites to show you, so I hope you’ll pop back by over the weekend to see how we can use these sets!

Product List

Botanicals · Clean and Simple · Country Flowers

Bunches of Thanks

This week, we’ve been using the Country Flowers bundle by Stampin’ Up! to make some lovely cards. Today, we’re rounding out the series with a clean and simple design. This is a layout that could be used over again and would work beautifully with a larger floral image, as well.

We get started with a card base of Basic White cardstock. Our focal panel is a pairing of Pretty Peacock and Moody Mauve cardstock. I stamped a repeating floral image in Versamark using the Country Flowers stamp set. The sentiment from Something Fancy is stamped in black on white cardstock and then diecut using the Unbounded Love set, which is then matted with a circle diecut using the Spotlight on Nature set. A pair of faux bows using Pretty Peacock & gold metallic ribbon and iridescent striped ribbon are adhered by the sentiment panel. To draw the eye across the design, I’ve used pink and peacock sequins from the Sequins Trio for some sparkle.

I hope you’ve been inspired by this weeks Country Flowers designs. Tune in next week as I give you a sneak peek at one of my favorite upcoming Online Exclusives bundle set to release on July 3rd!

Products used in today’s card:
Basic White, Pretty Peacock, Moody Mauve cardstock
Country Flowers, Something Fancy stamps
Unbounded Love, Spotlight on Nature dies
Pretty Peacock & gold metallic ribbon, iridescent striped trim
Sequins trio
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Product List
Botanicals · Country Flowers

Best Friend Tea

This week, we’re exploring all of the ways we can use the Country Woods suite by Stampin’ Up! to make beautiful projects. We have focused on the Country Flowers bundle, along with the Country Woods designer series paper. Today, we’re headed to tea.

One of the things that I enjoyed sharing with my grandmother was a love of tea sets. Anytime we found ourselves in a shop with tea sets, whether big or small, we couldn’t help but oooh and aaaah over them. We were most fond of the sets with intricate floral patterns. And that has inspired today’s card design — right down to the designer papers that stand front and center.

We start our card today with a base of white cardstock. The main panel sits on a quarter panel of white cardstock that has been cut a wee bit smaller than the card base itself. The lovely floral pattern from the Unbounded Beauty designer paper pack serves as the backdrop for the focal panel with a top of diagonal trim to draw on the patterns in the paper. The asymmetry of this floral panel really draws the eye up the card to the center focal panel.

Our focal panel begins with a base of white shimmer paper that has been diecut with the Spotlight on Nature dies. The mat for the focal image is Berry Burst cardstock diecut with the radiating circle from Spotlight on Nature die set. Our teapot is diecut from a sheet of the Unbounded Beauty paper pack using the Country Flowers dies. Note the white space at the bottom of the teapot, which gives this patterned vessel a very lifelike feel. The lovely foliage is spilling out the top of the teapot and has been cut from Summer Splash and white cardstock using the greenery and flower dies from Country Flowers with the flower centers being various sizes of rhinestone basic jewels. The sentiment from Country Flowers is stamped around the panel with rhinestones on either side to really draw the eye in.

I really love how this card makes me feel like I’ve sat down at my grandmother’s kitchen table for tea and a chat. It only seemed fitting to have the sentiment reflect friendship. Don’t you just love it?!

Tomorrow we’ll be wrapping up our walk through Country Flowers. I hope you’ll pop in and see how we round things out.

Products used in this card:
Basic White, Summer Splash, Berry Burst cardstock
Unbounded Beauty, white shimmer DSP
Country Flowers stamps & dies
Spotlight on Nature dies
White diagonal trim
Rhinestone basic jewels
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Product List
Botanicals · Country Flowers · Fun Folds

Country Flowers Sympathy

Welcome back, everyone! This week, we’re taking a tour of the country — Country Flowers, that is. We’re making an assortment of cards using products from the Stampin’ Up! Country Woods suite. Today’s card is a fun fold that features the Country Woods paper and Country Flowers bundle.

I really love the Barn Fold and once I discovered a little modification where your designer paper covers the center fold so the card front background looks totally cohesive once closed, I was even more sold on this fun fold! The Country Woods designer paper pack includes a whole host of woodgrain patterns and they come in any number of colors and textures. When I ran across the sheet of Petal Pink woodgrain, I knew it would be perfect for today’s card.

We get started with a card base of Petal Pink cardstock that is cut to open front and center, literally. The sheet of Petal Pink woodgrain serves as our backdrop for the front panel. The focal panel in the center has a base of white woodgrain, also from the Country Woods pack, that is diecut using the Spotlight on Nature set. The sentiment panel is diecut from Petal Pink cardstock with the Autumn Leaves die using the extension method. (You can watch a Terrific Tuesdays video tutorial on the extension method here.) The sentiment from Country Flowers is heat embossed in copper. Behind the sentiment panel are layers of iridescent striped ribbon and Petal Pink diagonal trim. And then nestled behind and around the sentiment are flowers and greenery that have been stamped or diecut using the Country Flowers bundle. I used Stampin’ Blends to color the flower bunches, and the greenery is diecut from Soft Sea Foam cardstock. Layers of dimensionals give the center focal panel lots of depth. The design is finished off with Petal Pink foiled gems scattered across the card front to draw the eye up and across the design.

With a simple sentiment substitution, you could easily make this a birthday or wedding design, or even a thinking of you. The possibilities are only limited by what’s in your stash!

Tomorrow, how about some tea? Stop in and join me for a cuppa — with some flowers, of course!

Products used in today’s card:
Petal Pink, Soft Sea Foam, Basic White cardstock
Country Woods DSP
Country Flowers stamps & dies
Spotlight on Nature dies
Copper embossing powder
Stampin’ Blends
Iridescent striped ribbon, Petal Pink diagonal trim
Petal Pink foiled gems
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Botanicals · Country Flowers · Fun Folds

Buckets of Thanks

This week, we are looking at all the ways we can use parts of the Stampin’ Up! suite of products called Country Woods. In particular, we’ve been focusing on the Country Flowers bundle, which includes stamps and coordinating dies, and the Country Woods designer series paper. Today, we continue with a brand new fun fold design.

Today’s fun fold is called the Front Panel Z-fold. What I love about this particular fun fold is that you can make it as simple or as complicated as you want. For this card design, I went somewhere in the middle. This design requires a little fussy stamping and some die cutting but all-in-all comes together pretty quickly once you get the hang of it. You can download the full PDF tutorial for today’s card, which includes a complete materials list and measurements, by clicking here. But for now, let’s take a closer look at how this card comes together.

Our card front consists of the smaller panels of the Z fold. Using the small detail stamp from the Country Flowers stamp set, we stamp a repeating pattern tone-on-tone on Smoky Slate cardstock. I chose a very symmetrical pattern and used a sheet of grid paper along with grid lines on my stamp block to accomplish this. This stamped panel is then cut into two smaller panels that are just a tick smaller than the card base. We cut a second quarter panel of white cardstock to make an identical sized mat that is adhered on the outermost fold to precisely overlay the inside message panel.

We start with a card base of Basic Gray cardstock. Our card base is of standard size and scored to give us our Z panel. The full-sized panel is our inside message panel, while our Z fold serves to give us a look inside with the overlapping front focal panel. For the inside panel, we cut a sheet of the gray woodgrain panel just a little smaller. The inside message panel is a quarter sheet of white cardstock that has been cut to size and then adhered to the center of the woodgrain panel. Be sure you only adhere to the outermost small panel so that your card will open. Next, we diecut a piece of the Pool Party woodgrain pattern from the Country Woods paper pack using the Deckled Rectangles die set. Using a glue dot, a faux bow is adhered diagonally across the front white mat and then the Deckled Rectangle piece is adhered over it using dimensionals. Using the Country Flowers stamps, stamp a bucket in black ink on Smoky Slate. I used Stampin’ Blends to provide shading and shadowing to the bucket, then diecut the bucket using the coordinating die from the Country Flowers die set. The greenery is cut from Old Olive and Mossy Meadow cardstock using the die from Country Flowers. The bucket and greenery are adhered with layers of dimensionals to give realistic visual planes. The sentiment from Something Fancy is stamped in black on white cardstock and then diecut using the Spotlight on Nature die set. The sentiment is adhered over the corner of the image panel using dimensionals. To draw the eye to the sentiment, rhinestone basic jewels are placed in a triangle around the sentiment panel.

Want to watch how this card comes together? You can watch the full episode of this week’s Terrific Tuesdays where we walk through the making of this card:

Tune in tomorrow for another fun fold design that showcases the beautiful greenery in the Country Flowers bundle. You want want to miss it!

Products used in today’s card:
Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Basic White cardstock
Country Woods DSP
Country Flowers stamps & dies
Something Fancy stamps
Deckled Rectangles, Spotlight on Nature dies
Stampin’ Blends
Linen thread
Rhinestone basic jewels
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Botanicals · Country Flowers · sketches

Buckets of Birthday Flowers

This week, we’re using portions of the Stampin’ Up! Country Woods suite to make all sorts of lovely card designs. We’re also using inspiration from fellow crafters as a jumpstart for our designs. Today, we’re taking a sketch from my sketchbook as inspiration for our layout.

When I see card layouts I really love, I try to make a quick sketch or save a photo of the inspiration card. There are many times that I love a card and immediately think of stamps and dies in my own stash that will work with that layout. Great layouts are like that — they can be used over and over and give you completely different looks based on the products you use.

For today’s card, we get started with a card base of Blackberry Bliss cardstock. The background panel consists of two layers. The mat is Pretty in Pink and the foreground is a piece of Moody Mauve that has been machine embossed using the Eyelet embossing folder. The focal panel base is a piece of the lighter grey woodgrain pattern from the Country Woods designer paper pack that has been diecut using one of the larger Spotlight on Nature circles. The milk tin and floral bunches from Country Flowers have been stamped on white cardstock and then colored with Stampin’ Blends. The tin and flowers are adhered to the focal panel with dimensionals with the florals just a smidge higher than the tin they are resting in. A bow of striped iridescent ribbon sits just underneath the flowers at the top of the tin. The sentiment from Something Fancy is heat embossed in white on black cardstock and then cut into a thin strip with the paper trimmer. A few Berry Burst sequins from the sequins trio are placed to draw the eye across the design.

Pop in tomorrow to see what else we do with the Country Flowers.

Products used in today’s design:
Blackberry Bliss, Pretty in Pink, Moody Mauve, Basic Black, Basic White cardstock
Country Woods DSP
Country Flowers stamps & dies
Spotlight on Nature dies
Something Fancy stamps
Embossing powder
Striped iridescent ribbon
Sequins trio
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Botanicals · Country Flowers

Flower Market Love

This week, we’re taking a closer look at a portion of the Country Woods suite by Stampin’ Up! In particular, we’ll be focusing on the Country Flowers bundle, which includes photopolymer stamps and coordinating dies, and the Country Woods designer series paper. There is so much to love about this suite of products, but what really drew me was the feeling of a slow, summer afternoon swinging on the porch, which is how I felt when I first saw the images and papers. Perhaps it’s because I grew up in the country, and the milk tin and flowers and woodgrains all had that country feel to them. But whether you like a rustic, country feel or not, these products are — like everything Stampin’ Up! designs — so very versatile and lend themselves to all sorts of styles.

Today, I’m borrowing a design from fellow demo Susan Wong. I love how she used the woodgrain paper to “build” a door and then how she stacked the milk tin full of flowers in front. I don’t happen to have the Country Lace designer paper, but I made my own patterned sheet to mimic the sheet in the inspiration layout by stamping a repeating pattern using the small detail stamp, and I think it turned out to be an okay substitution.

So we get started with a card base of Smoky Slate cardstock. The background panel, as I mentioned, is a hand-stamped pattern using Smoky Slate ink and the small detail stamp from the Country Flowers stamp set. I decided to use the darker blue woodgrain sheet from the Country Woods paper pack to make the door. For the milk bucket, I decided to use one of the lighter woodgrain patterns from the DSP pack and stamped the image on top in Basic Gray ink, adding a handle with a Stampin’ Blend. I used some leftover scraps of Meandering Meadow designer paper to cut the leaves and flowers and then used rainbow dots for the flower centers. The flower market sign on the door is made using a small die from the Unbounded Love die set and the sentiment from Country Flowers. A small piece of linen thread and a metallic gem serve as the hanger. The sentiment from Country Flowers is stamped on white cardstock and then cut with paper snips. Two rhinestones help draw the eye to the sentiment.

It’s so fun bringing inspiration designs to life. And this week, we’re going to be doing just that. I hope you’ll tag along with me as we make a whole array of beautiful cards with Country Flowers.

Products used in today’s card:
Smoky Slate, Crumb Cake, Basic White cardstock
Country Woods, Meandering Meadow DSP
Country Flowers stamps & dies
Unbounded Love dies
Linen thread
Metallic gems, rainbow dots, rhinestone jewels
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Country Flowers · Shop the catalog

Previewing Country Flowers

My box of goodies from the new Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog came a bit ago, but I haven’t had time to play with much of it just yet. But as soon as I took a look at few of the items I got from the new Country Woods Suite, I knew I wanted to start with those.

I really love the Country Woods designer series paper and chose to have it serve as the backdrop of this card design. We get started with a base of Basic White cardstock. The main background panel is a sheet of the lighter woodgrain pattern from the Country Woods paper pack. I diecut the sheet of Pool Party woodgrain from the same designer paper pack using the largest die in the Spotlight on Nature dies set. I stamped the stool from the Country Flowers stamp set onto the darker woodgrain pattern sheet and then diecut using the coordinating die. I stamped all of the greenery, along with the bucket and teapot, onto white cardstock using the Country Flowers stamps and then colored them with my Stampin’ Blends. I layered everything up with dimensionals to build a lot of different layers on the card front so that it gives it a more realistic look. I finished things off with some of the pearlized sequins from the Sequins Trio set and a double twist of the Iridescent Striped Trim. I chose not to have a sentiment on the front so that I could easily choose an inside sentiment on the fly once I’m ready to send it out.

This whole suite of products is fabulous. There are so many different ways that you can take it — masculine, feminine, shabby chic, country, and the list goes on. I’ve seen so many wonderful ideas that I’ve put in my inspiration folder!

I hope to bring you some more designs later this week, assuming we get to go home from the hospital.

Products used on this card:
Basic White cardstock
Country Woods DSP
Country Flowers stamps & dies
Stampin’ Blends
Iridescent striped trim, linen thread
Sequins trio
Dimensionals
Adhesives