Tag: DSP

January Mini Catalog

Hang in There

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by hot air balloons. My aunt and uncle had a balloon when I was a little girl. And I remember going to a few balloon festivals and watching the balloon teams prepare the balloons for flight — all the sights and smells and sounds. I still love to watch hot air balloons from afar so that I can see the balloons all at once with their rainbow of colors.

Stampin’ Up! has launched its own balloon festival with the suite called Lighter Than Air. The full suite includes stamps, dies, paper, and embellishments. I started with just the designer series paper, which makes wonderful cards for all sorts of occasions. But I’ve since added the stamp bundle after seeing so many wonderful inspiration designs. The Hot Air Balloon bundle will be carrying over when the new catalog launches!

For today’s card design, we start with a background of Melon Mambo cardstock to coordinate with the selected background paper from the Lighter Than Air paper pack. The focal panel background is a combination of white glimmer paper, which has been diecut using one of the larger Perennial Postage dies, and a sheet of the cloud paper from Lighter Than Air. Two balloons have been diecut from the designer paper, while the third is stamped on white cardstock using the Hot Air Balloon stamps. The white detailing on the balloon has been diecut from white glimmer paper using the coordinating Hot Air Balloon dies. Each of the baskets has been stamped in Crumb Cake ink on coordinating cardstock and then diecut using the Hot Air Balloon dies. The clouds and sentiment panels were each diecut from vellum. The sentiment from the Hot Air Balloon set is stamped on the banner which was cut using the Happy Little Things dies. The scene is layered with dimensionals to give a more realistic look, and a bit of sparkle is added using the shiny sequins and silver trim.

We’re taking to the skies this week with more fun air-inspired designs. I hope you’ll take flight with me!

Products used in today’s card:
Melon Mambo, Basic White, Crumb Cake, vellum cardstock
Lighter Than Air, glimmer DSP
Hot Air Balloon bundle
Perennial Postage, Happy Little Things dies
Shiny sequins
Silver trim
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Clean and Simple

Just for You

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One of my favorite times of year is right now — spring! I love to admire all of the beautiful flowers, including the ones that I plant myself! Some of my favorites include zinnias, morning glory, dianthus, and salvia, to name just a few. Stampin’ Up! has some really wonderful botanical stamp sets, and this week we’ll be exploring a number of them.

Today we have a super clean and simple card. This card is built on a base of Pretty Peacock. The backdrop for our focal section is a strip of Hello, Irresistible designer series paper and quarter-sheet of white cardstock embossed with the Softly Sophisticated embossing folder, which was a most recent Sale-a-Bration item. For the image panel, I diecut a piece of white using the Nested Essentials dies and a lovely floral arrangement is stamped in the center. This lovely stem of flowers is stamped using the Softly Sophisticated stamp set, also a most recent Sale-a-Bration set. The pottery bowl is stamped on Very Vanilla using the Planted Paradise stamp set. Our sentiment is stamped on vellum and diecut using the Nested Essentials dies, along with the nesting banner die cut from Berry Burst shimmer paper.

We’ll be using the Planted Paradise set for tomorrow’s card and I can’t wait for you to see it!

Products used:
Pretty Peacock, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla cardstock
Hello, Irresistible; shimmer, vellum DSP
Softly Sophisticated, Planted Paradise stamps
Softly Sophisticated embossing folder
Nested Essentials dies
Tinsel gems
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Luv 2 Stamp Artisan Design Team · sketches

Time to Celebrate

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Preparing for my son’s birthday last week had birthday front and center in the design line-up. And today’s card is a second take on a sketch by Stampin’ Pretty — with a flip of the smaller background panel and a little shift on the position of the decorative element.

This card begins with a base of Night of Navy cardstock. I chose two star patterns from the Bright & Beautiful designer series paper pack to serve as the backdrop. I used a strip of More Dazzle specialty paper and Night of Navy & gold sheer ribbon to bridge the divide between the two patterns. For the decorative element, I chose the balloons from the new Filled with Fun die set and diecut them from all of the shades of the Soft Shimmer specialty paper pack. The sentiment from Filled with Fun is stamped on white shimmer paper and the decorative element is white glimmer paper diecut using the Thoughtful Expressions set. A few Night of Navy tinsel gems finish off this sparkly celebration in an envelope!

This week, we’ll be exploring some botanical designs. I hope you’ll follow along!

Products used in today’s design:
Night of Navy cardstock
Bright & Beautiful, Soft Shimmer, Glimmer, More Dazzle DSP
Filled With Fun stamps
Filled With Fun, Thoughtful Expressions dies
Tinsel gems
Gold cord, Night of Navy & gold sheer ribbon
Dimensionals
Adhesives


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Luv 2 Stamp Artisan Design Team · sketches

Heart Blooms

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Today, we’re taking another look at the Filled With Fun bundle, which includes an adorable photopolymer stamp set and coordinating dies. This Online Exclusive from Stampin’ Up! can be used in so many different ways and will pair with any number of other super cute sets. One of the many things I love about SU! is that they design products to mix and match, which means your stamps and dies can serve you in a LOT of ways. I’m not always the best at thinking of creative or different ways to use my stamp sets, but someone in my great, big world of crafty friends has!

I’ve been coloring a lot outside of my usual design lines lately. And today’s stretch uses patterns. There are some patterned papers that really just stump me. Outside of having them stand alone and take center stage, I’m not sure what to do with them. But one of the things you can learn by following stampers who have completely different styles from your own is how to do things differently and IT WORKS! For today’s card, we’re using two very busy patterns from the Delightfully Eclectic designer series paper pack and they work together beautifully! Sometimes it’s all about figuring out how your patterns can compliment one another and remembering that a pattern doesn’t have to take center stage in a design.

Today, we’re using a sketch from Stampin’ Pretty as the inspiration for our card layout. We start with a base of Fresh Freesia cardstock. I really like how this color brought out the deeper pink tones in both patterns of the Delightfully Eclectic DSP. Rather than using the full wagon image from Filled With Fun, I chose to use a portion of it as a planter for the lovely flowers from the stamp set. Our Stampin’ Blends provide the beautiful flowers with their coordinating color. I love how perfectly the sweet turtle from Playing in the Rain pairs with this scene and sentiment. The sparkle for this design comes compliments of the white and Bubble Bath shimmer papers, along with the Blooming Pearls, adhesive hearts & flowers, and Bubble Bath sequins from Sequins Trio.

Today’s card doesn’t follow the sketch to the letter, but that’s the beauty of inspiration – it’s not your ruler, it’s just your guide!

In honor of my son’s birthday, I will be giving away 3 mystery packets of 6×6 designer series paper – both current and retired designs. To be entered to win, simply comment on any of my social media posts (WordPress, Facebook, Instagram) and tell me your favorite Stampin’ Up! color(s). I’ll have my son draw a winner at 3 PM CST tomorrow (March 29).

Products used in today’s design:
Fresh Freesia, Basic White cardstock
Delightfully Eclectic, Bubble Bath soft shimmer, white shimmer DSP
Filled With Fun, Playing in the Rain stamps & dies
Hearts & flowers, Blooming pearls, Sequins trio
Dimensionals
Adhesives


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Luv 2 Stamp Artisan Design Team · sketches

Celebration Wagon

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One of the most recent Stampin’ Up! Online Exclusive releases is called Filled With Fun. This bundle includes an adorable wagon-themed set of stamps and dies. There are so many cute possibilities with this set! I’ve had so many ideas swirling in my head ever since I saw it.

So today, we’re pairing this adorable wagon with another sketch by the crew over at Freshly Made Sketches. When I saw this sketch, I was immediately drawn to the scallop element at the bottom of the focal section. I remembered the sheet of paper in the Lighter Than Air paper pack that had the scalloped element and wanted to give it a try as the focal panel for my card design. And it’s worked beautifully!

Our card begins with a base of Highland Heather cardstock. I chose the cross-stripe pattern from the Lighter Than Air designer paper pack as the background. From there, I began building my wagon. I diecut the wagon using the coordinating dies and a sheet of the polka-dotted paper. I used Night of Navy and Lost Lagoon glimmer paper for the wagon wheels and hubcabs of Blooming Pearls for a little extra pizzazz. The wagon handle is diecut from the Holographic Trio specialty paper. I wanted to fully lean into the celebratory theme of this card design, so I diecut the banner from Berry Burst shimmer paper and hung it on the side of the wagon.

The Filled With Fun stamp set includes a birthday-themed stamp with presents and cake, but I wanted to fill the wagon with presents alone without all the fussy cutting. And that’s when I remembered that the Merriest Trees die set included packages! I selected several different patterns from the Lighter Than Air paper pack and began diecutting packages. I chose to use the Rose Gold specialty paper as the bows for a little additional colorful sparkle. The packages are layered on dimensionals to give depth of field to the scene.

This card is finished with a beautiful CELEBRATE banner at the top of the focal panel. The sentiment from Happy Little Things is stamped on Highland Heather and then cut with the paper trimmer. A twist of silver & white trim and a few carefully placed iridescent discs draw the eye across the design and tie everything together.

Tune in tomorrow for another fun design using Filled With Fun and a new sketch plus a GIVEAWAY. You won’t want to miss it!

Products used in today’s design:
Highland Heather cardstock
Lighter Than Air, soft shimmer, Holographic trio, Rose Gold DSP
Filled With Fun, Happy Little Things stamps
Filled With Fun, Merriest Trees dies
Silver trim
Iridescent discs
Blooming Pearls
Dimensionals
Adhesives


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Luv 2 Stamp Artisan Design Team · sketches

Thankful for Everything

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Do you like to find inspiration for your card designs? Or are you able to just start from scratch on your own each time? Every once in a while, I have a concept that comes to me and I’m able to turn out a card from start to finish without any underlying inspiration. But most of the time, I have an inspiration card from a fellow crafter or a sketch that gets everything started. We’re continuing our look into how sketches can be a super useful tool in the craft room.

Today, I have a sketch from Stampin’ Pretty that serves as the layout for my card. My color palette is inspired by several sheets of designer paper from the Hello, Irresistible paper pack. We begin this design with a base of Lost Lagoon cardstock. I chose a cloudy pattern of designer paper to serve as the background for the focal pieces. The rectangle element is a sheet of greenery pattern that is matted with a sheet of Pretty Peacock shimmer paper. I used nesting rectangles from the Deckled Rectangles and Everyday Details die sets to diecut these pieces. The greenery dies are from the Painted Lavender die set. The sentiment from Botanical Layers is stamped in Pretty Peacock on another pattern from Hello, Irresistible and diecut using the *soon-to-be-released* Unbounded Love die set. The Pretty Peacock and gold metallic ribbon, brushed metallic dots, and Pretty Peacock sequins are just the ticket to tie everything together.

This card came together with very little change from the original sketch. There are plenty of times when my finished design might look nothing like the original inspiration by the time I’ve moved elements around to get everything just right. But having a place to start is the key.

Tune in tomorrow to see how I use a NEW Online Exclusive and a sketch!

Products used in today’s design:
Lost Loagoon cardstock
Hello, Irresistible; Pretty Peacock shimmer DSP
Botanical Layers stamps
Deckled Rectangles, Everyday Details, Painted Lavender, Unbounded Love (sneak peek!) dies
Pretty Peacock & gold metallic ribbon
Sequins trio
Brushed metallic dots
Dimensionals
Adhesives


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Luv 2 Stamp Artisan Design Team · sketches

Celebrate Spring

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Sketches are such a great crafting tool. I turn to them often when looking for design inspiration. And you don’t have to follow them to the letter (I often don’t), but they give you a great place to get started. I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of the latest sketch by the crew over at Freshly Made Sketches.

For today’s card, I pulled one of my favorite 6×6 paper packs called Meandering Meadow. This pack is full of beautiful watercolor, impressionistic-looking designs and there’s a color palette for everyone! I decided to get out of my comfort zone and try working with yellow. The sheet of black-eyed Susans in Meandering Meadow serves as the square element in the sketch. And I built the remainder of the design around it. A sheet of Daffodil Delight serves as the card base and as the background panel. The background panel has been machine embossed using the Zinnia embossing folder, which is currently available as an Online Exclusive. For the circle element, I diecut a sheet of the white glimmer paper using the Thoughtful Expressions dies. The sentiment from Happy Little Things is stamped in Crushed Curry on a strip of Daffodil Delight and then cut using the paper trimmer and snips. A strip of silver trim, along with some white sequins, help tie the white and sparkly details together. I finished off the design with a paper butterfly.

I don’t often use yellow as a focal color in my designs because, quite frankly, I find it a little intimidating and often very overwhelming to my eye. But I really love how this design came together. Sometimes you just need the right combination of products to make a “hard color” work for you.

We’re going to continue our look into using sketches as our go-to starting point for our designs this week. I hope you’ll follow along and maybe even give one or two a try!

Products used in today’s design:
Daffodil Delight cardstock
Meandering Meadow, white shimmer DSP
Happy Little Things stamps
Thoughtful Expressions dies
Zinnia embossing folder
Silver trim
Neutrals sequins
Paper butterfly
Dimensionals
Adhesives


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Luv 2 Stamp Artisan Design Team

You Mean the World

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One of my go-to design tools is a good sketch. If I run across a great card layout, whether it’s an actual card or just a sketch, it goes in my inspiration folder for reference later. Sketches are a great resource when you get in a creative rut, have zero ideas, or just want a quick way to turn out a lot of cards.

This week’s sketch from Freshly Made Sketches really resonated with me creatively and I quickly had a bunch of ideas for how I would use this sketch. Yesterday, I showed how I tweaked this sketch to work for the elements I wanted to use on the card I was making. Today, I’m sticking closer to the original sketch for this card.

We get started with a base of Lost Lagoon cardstock. I used the Perennial Lavender designer paper for this design. The background panel from Perennial Lavender is diecut using the largest die in the Deckled Rectangles die set. For the square element of the sketch, I chose a mat of Pretty Peacock glimmer paper and a decorative sheet of the Perennial Lavender and diecut each with the nesting dies from Thoughtful Expressions. The circle element is diecut from Crumb Cake with Everyday Essentials and then dry embossed with Elegant Eucalyptus embossing folder. I felt this really helped make all of the patterns and color palette more cohesive. The sentiment from Botanical Layers is stamped on Lost Lagoon that has been diecut with the Everyday Essentials die. The ribbon and twine and foiled gems help draw the eye to the focal point in the center of the card and unite the color palette.

Products used in today’s design:
Lost Lagoon, Crumb Cake cardstock
Perennial Lavender, Pretty Peacock glimmer DSP
Pretty Peacock foiled gems
Pretty Peacock & gold metallic ribbon, linen thread
Dimensionals
Adhesives


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Luv 2 Stamp Artisan Design Team

Incredible

susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

I’ve been so inspired by our monthly Luv 2 Stamp Team challenge to use our designer series paper. When I saw this week’s sketch by Freshly Made Sketches over on Instagram, I had so many ideas for incorporating my stash of DSP. So today, I’m starting with the Flowering Zinnias because …. well, I just love zinnias. *wink*

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but one of the things that I love about using design sketches is that you aren’t “stuck” with the layout as it is. It’s just a starting point for your design. So never be afraid to make adjustments to make it work for you. For example, for my take on this sketch, I started by laying out the papers and tools I wanted to use and intended to have the sketch work for me as-is. But as I got to work on my card, I needed to turn the card orientation and then shift the elements a little bit to work with the flower I fussy cut and felt was a must-have element for the design. That’s how I “made it work” for me. *grin*

Today’s card begins with a base of Berry Burst. I really liked the contrast of Berry Burst and Melon Mambo in the sheet of Flowering Zinnias DSP that I used as the square element, and so I played it up with the card base and embossed background layer. The background layer is a section of Melon Mambo that I embossed using the Zinnia embossing folder. To help the square of pink zinnia designer paper stand out against the embossed background, I matted it with some Berry Burst glimmer paper. The circle element from the sketch is a piece of the green zinnia stems and leaves pattern that is diecut using the Everyday Details dies. The sentiment from the Happy Little Things set is stamped on white cardstock and then diecut with the Everyday Details dies using the die extension method to make it long enough to fit the entire sentiment in one line. Because I really wanted the sentiment panel to stand out against the busy background and also to draw in some additional green elements, I matted the sentiment with some Old Olive glimmer paper diecut with the Deckled Rectangles dies using the extension method. I fussy cut a zinnia from a sheet of the Flowering Zinnias paper and rested it atop the circle and sentiment to tie together the full color palette. I added some shiny sequins across the card front to draw the eye across the card and add sparkles of interest.

I really love this week’s FMS sketch and am going to make a series of cards with it to showcase how you can use sketches to make designing cards both fast and fun! Tune in tomorrow for another take on Sketch 628!

Products used in today’s design:
Berry Burst, Melon Mambo, Basic White cardstock
Flowering Zinnias, Berry Burst & Old Olive glimmer DSP
Everyday Details, Everyday Essentials, Deckled Rectangles dies
Happy Little Things stamps
Shiny sequins
Dimensionals
Adhesives


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Fun Folds · Terrific Tuesdays · Tutorials

Terrific Tuesdays: Episode 13

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Welcome to a new episode of Terrific Tuesdays, where each week we’ll explore new projects using some of the latest projects from Stampin’ Up! I know what you may be thinking….wait, it’s not Tuesday. And you’d be right. If you’ve followed me here or on any of the socials for the last several months, you may remember that I had to take a break due to a family emergency. And I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for sticking around and waiting for my return. While I’m back to posting more regularly now, it will still be necessary for me to take breaks here and there as we continue to address some long-term medical needs.

But today, I’m bringing you a new Terrific Tuesdays video. Earlier this week, I shared a treat holder fun fold with a teaser that a video tutorial would be forthcoming and this is it! I walk you through this cute treat holder step-by-step and give you some pointers, i.e. lessons in avoiding mistakes that I learned the hard way! *wink* For those folks who like to watch and also follow along with written instructions, I’m including the PDF tutorial for FREE download.

I hope you enjoy this twist on our Terrific Tuesdays format!

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