Coming Soon · Holiday Mini Catalog · Peaceful Garden

Peaceful Greenery

Welcome to the midway point of the week. The first week of school is always a whirlwind as we get back into the groove of the schoolyear schedule, and this year is no exception. Hopefully we’ll start finding our groove a little better next week, but for now we’re just flying by the seats of our pants! *grin*

This week, all of our designs feature the Stampin’ Up! Peaceful Garden suite which is due to release in September in the new Holiday Mini catalog. Today, I wanted to give a look at the Peaceful Greenery embossing folder.

We get started with a base of Night of Navy cardstock. The backdrop for our focal panel is a sheet of vine pattern from the Peaceful Garden paper pack. This panel is machine embossed with the Peaceful Greenery embossing folder. To ensure that the embossed pattern stood out against the complimentary patterned background, I used my finger to “shade” the embossing with platinum ink from my metallic ink stash. The embossed image has a perfect shaped portion in the center where the stacked dies from the Peace on Earth set fit. The sentiment from Peace on Earth is stamped in Misty Moonlight on white and then cut with the smallest die. The panel is then matted with Secret Sea glimmer paper from the Peaceful Garden pack that has been cut with the larger die. The full panel is adhered to the card front with dimensionals. I cut two of the larger twigs from the die set from silver glimmer paper and held them together with some of the Misty Moonlight silver edged ribbon. Drusy embellishments draw the eye down and across the design so that the eye takes in all the details.

I hope you’ll drop by tomorrow to see what else this lovely embossing folder can do!

Products used in today’s card:
Night of Navy, Basic White cardstock
Peaceful Garden DSP, Peaceful Garden glimmer (coming in September!)
Peace on Earth stamp & die bundle (coming in September!)
Peaceful Greenery embossing folder (coming in September!)
Misty Moonlight silver edged ribbon (coming in September!)
Drusy embellishments
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Coming Soon · Holiday Mini Catalog · Peaceful Garden

Wishing You Love

Welcome back, friends! I hope your week has gotten off to a good start. We have successfully navigated the first day of school. The kiddo was pretty stoked that he had friends in every class. And we’re just glad that he had a great day and seems to be at least moderately excited about this school year.

On to some crafting, shall we? This week, we’re working with a brand new suite from the upcoming Holiday Mini catalog – Peaceful Garden. And the beautiful paper takes center stage in today’s card.

We get started with a base of Secret Sea cardstock. (Does anyone else love the moodiness of this new shade of blue?) A sheet of the floral stems from the Peaceful Garden paper pack serves as the backdrop for our card. A strip of the coordinating Secret Sea glimmer paper serves as the focal panel on which we have two small squares of the vine patterned from the Peaceful Garden pack. The hovering dove is cut from a sheet of silver glimmer paper using the Peace on Earth dies and secured to the panel with dimensionals. Extra dimensionals under the wings give the realistic look of wing movement. The sentiment from Peace on Earth is stamped on white cardstock in Secret Sea ink. One end of the panel is snipped to create the sentiment banner that is adhered underneath the larger focal panel. A few drusy embellishments on either side help draw the eye across our design so that you take in each element.

Tomorrow we’ll be exploring a few of the other elements included in the suite. I hope you’ll drop in and see some of the other awesome goodies in this amazing suite.

Products used in this card:
Secret Sea, Basic White cardstock
Peaceful Garden DSP & glimmer paper (coming Sept 3!)
Peace on Earth stamp & die bundle (coming Sept 3!)
Drusy embellishments
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Coming Soon · Holiday Mini Catalog · Peaceful Garden

Peaceful Prayers

Happy Monday, crafty friends! It was a busy weekend that went by way too fast for us as we spent the last weekend soaking up summer and preparing for the new school year that begins today.

I am SO excited about this week’s featured design products. We’re going to be using the *new* Peaceful Garden suite of products, which releases in the new Holiday Mini catalog on September 3rd. This suite includes beautiful patterned paper, coordinating glimmer paper, stamps, dies, an embossing folder, gorgeous ribbon, and fun embellishments. I just love the beautiful blue color palette of this suite! And today’s super simple design features the gorgeous patterned papers.

We get started with a base of Misty Moonlight cardstock. I chose two coordinating patterns from the Peaceful Garden paper pack – the beautiful doves and greenery sheets. I loved the repeating pattern of the doves and chose to cut one of the vertical strips of repeating pattern to serve as the centerpiece of this design. To give a little eye relief and add a little punch, I separated the dove strip from the greenery with a strip of blue glimmer paper from the coordinating pack. The sentiment from the Peace on Earth stamp set is stamped in Misty Moonlight on a strip white cardstock and then notched on each end to create the banner. I offset the sentiment to allow for the diecut dove on the left. The dove is cut from white cardstock using the Peace on Earth dies and adhered to the sentiment panel with dimensionals. I also cut and added a branch of greenery cut from silver glimmer paper. The sentiment panel is adhered at the bottom of the front panel with dimensionals. A few charming shimmer faceted dots on either side of the sentiment panel add a little extra color-coordinated sparkle.

This suite really does make it easy to create beautiful cards in a snap. I can’t wait to show you more!

Products used in today’s card:
Misty Moonlight, Basic White cardstock
Peaceful Garden DSP & glimmer paper (coming Sept 3!)
Peace on Earth stamp & die bundle (coming Sept 3!)
Charming shimmer faceted dots
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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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Fun Folds · Holiday Mini Catalog · Tutorials

Big Hugs

Howdy, everyone, and happy Saturday! We are officially to the weekend. We’re counting down the last week of summer break over here, so there are lots of things on the to-do list to be sure the kiddo is ready for his first week of 8th grade! What about you? What will your weekend plans have you doing?

Here in the craft room, we’re wrapping up our full week of fun fold designs. And today, I’m giving you a sneak peek of a full suite of products that will be available in the Holiday Mini catalog on September 3rd. We’re using the Peaceful Garden Suite to create a 4-Panel Accordion Fold. Demos were able to purchase this suite early as part of the special Creativity Now event in June, and I’ve saved using it until we got closer to the official release date for customers.

We get started by cutting down a 12×12 piece of Night of Navy cardstock and then score it to create the accordion base. I chose the leaf and vine patterned sheet from the Peaceful Garden paper pack as my focal paper and then matted these strips with the coordinating silver glimmer paper. The sentiment panel is created using the Peace on Earth stamp & die bundle included in the Peaceful Garden suite. I finished things off with a few Hues of Blue flowers and Misty Moonlight trim from the suite, along with a few drusy embellishments.

I dressed this fun fold up a bit by adding mats for each of the patterned paper panels. When you’re using heavier glimmer paper, like the sheets from Peaceful Garden, this will add some extra weight to your card. You could simplify this by omitting the extra mats or using lighter weight glimmer paper.

How would you like to give the 4-panel accordion fold a try? You can download the free PDF tutorial here.

It’s been a lot of fun learning some new fun folds this week. And there are quite a few that will be going into my more regular rotation. Do you have a favorite from this week’s fun fold series? Tell me in the comments!

Next week, we’re going to be exploring a super fun stamp bundle called Sweet Jar that has a new coordinating holiday stamp set called Jar of Joy. I hope you’ll pop in and see all of the fun things we can do with these cute stamps & punch!

Products used in today’s card:
Night of Navy, Cloud Cover, Basic White cardstock
Peaceful Garden, Peaceful Garden glimmer DSP (coming in September!)
Peace on Earth stamp & die bundle (coming in September!)
Misty Moonlight & silver edged ribbon (coming in September!)
Hues of blue flowers (coming in September!), Drusy embellishments
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Fun Folds · Tutorials

Incredible Fan Fold

This week, we’re having some fun exploring a whole new crop of fun folds that I’ve been dying to try. Today, we’re working on a “faux” fun fold I learned from my fellow Luv 2 Stamp team member Patti Dolan called the Fan Fold. I call this a faux fun fold because it’s made to look like a folded fan but doesn’t actually involve any special folding.

We’re working the lovely Floral Delight paper pack for this new fun fold design. And we get started with a base of Mossy Meadow. The card front uses two patterns from the Floral Delight pack — the daisy and fleur de lis patterns. Our fan element is created by cutting our card base and paper panels and then adhering them together to create the fan look. I used a More Messages sentiment and accented with Daffodil Delight satin ribbon and some Peach Pie glimmer paper. Drusy embellishments on either side draw the eye to the sentiment.

Our peek-through panel from the inside card panel also uses a sheet of the Floral Delight paper and is mounted on a quarter sheet of Cloud Cover to bring together the outside and inside color palettes.

This fun “fold” looks a little complicated but is super easy to put together. You can download the free tutorial here.

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