Mother’s Day

The Best Mom

Welcome to a bright and shiny new week! I don’t know about you, but I can’t even believe that we’re starting the month of May. The end of school is going to be here in a flash!

This week, we get to welcome a whole host of brand new products to the store. Are you excited? I know I am! There’s so much good stuff coming. I hope last week’s sneak peeks have you interested in seeing more because there is SO much more to see, and I just know you’re going to love it.

We’re getting started with a new design theme for the week, and with Mother’s Day just a week away, I thought it would be the perfect theme for our designs. And speaking of sneak peeks, we’re getting a little better look at the Pretty Florals bundle, which will be part of the new release, in today’s card.

We get started with a base of Fresh Freesia cardstock. Using the Plaster Painting embossing folder, I embossed just the front panel of the card. I added a piece of the coordinating pastel ombre glimmer paper to the left side against the fold, and this particular piece has the perfect subtle shift from pink to purple. I used a strip of the Blackberry Bliss and gold trim to cover the edge of the glimmer paper and tie together with our focal elements. The sentiment from the She’s the Greatest stamp set is stamped in Blackberry Bliss on white cardstock and then diecut with the largest banner die from the Mixed Labels set. It’s adhered in the bottom corner of the card front with dimensionals. Using the Pretty Florals dies, I cut the flowers from a combination of Petunia Pop and Blackberry Bliss cardstock. The leaves are cut from the Old Olive Season of Elegance paper. I added some Wink of Stella to the blooms for a touch of subtle twinkle. The florals are all adhered to the card front around the sentiment panel at varying heights with a combination of glue dots and dimensionals. We finish things off with a scatter of Blackberry Bliss shimmer gems for the perfect touch of sparkle.

I hope you’ll pop back by tomorrow for another bit of Mother’s Day inspiration.

Products used in today’s card:
Fresh Freesia, Petunia Pop, Blackberry Bliss, Basic White cardstock
Pastel Ombre glimmer, Season of Elegance DSP
Plaster Painting embossing folder
Pretty Florals bundle (coming soon)
She’s the Greatest stamps
Mixed Labels dies
Blackberry Bliss & gold metallic ribbon (retired)
Purple fine shimmer gems
Wink of Stella
Dimensionals

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!

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florals

Butterfly Garden

We’re tiptoeing through the craft garden this week as we focus on our stash of floral Stampin’ Up! goodies. Today, we’re combining the Layers of Beauty bundle with Beautiful Butterflies to create this beautiful all-occasion card. I stepped out of my comfort zone a little bit as I played around with applying a light ink wash to my stamped panel using blending brushes and I even threw ink a little ink resist for grins.

We start today’s design with a base of Blackberry Bliss cardstock. Using the Beautiful Butterflies embossing folder, I machine embossed just the front panel of the card base. The focal panel is a white panel stamped with a combination of the Layers of Beauty stamps to create a patterned paper. I used the coordinating decorative masks to lightly fill in the center rose image with a combination of Fresh Freesia, Blackberry Bliss, and Shy Shamrock inks. I added some smaller butterflies in three corners with white embossing powder. And then I set about applying a light application of Blackberry Bliss and Pretty Peacock wash to the edges of the panel, leaving the center image mostly uncovered. The focal panel is adhered to the card base with dimensionals. A paper butterfly approaching the roses completes the garden scene. I added a twist of metallic ribbons to the top — a combination of Pretty Peacock, Blackberry Bliss, and Gold striped mesh ribbon (set to release in May). Two tone sparkle gems and rhinestones add some sparkle and draw the eye across the card design.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to go through with this card design because I didn’t feel very confident with the color wash panel. But sometimes you just have to keep going until you get all of the right elements in place to make it all come together.

Tomorrow we’re going to be hopping with the Luv 2 Stamp Group. I hope you’ll drop in and see what garden goodness awaits!

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Holidays

Sure of What We Can’t See

Welcome to the start of a brand new week. I hope you enjoyed a restful weekend. We had gorgeous weather in our area for the Palm Sunday weekend and spent a fair amount of time outside enjoying it. Any my allergies would certainly concur!

As we embark on Holy Week this week, we’ll be using our crafty stash to make cards appropriate for the occasion. And today’s card aptly pays tribute to Palm Sunday as the entirety of Easter season reminds us that we have an everlasting hope in what we cannot see!

We get started on today’s card with a base of Pecan Pie cardstock. The focal panel background consists of two panels cut using the Textured Notes dies. The main panel is a quarter sheet of Smoky Slate that is machine embossed with the Distressed Tiles embossing folder and then the mat is a sheet of the gold mercury vellum. Our focal image is a two-parter. The cross is cut from Early Espresso using the Faith Collection dies and that’s mounted on top of the coordinating palm branches that are stamped tone-on-tone onto Mossy Meadow before being diecut with the coordinating die. A twist of gold thread behind ties our gold elements together nicely. The sentiment from Unbounded Love is stamped in Early Espresso on white cardstock and then diecut with the Autumn Leaves sentiment banner. A few low profile dots around the focal section draw the eye in.

I hope you’ll follow along this week as create Easter designs.

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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!

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Retiring

You’re Too Kind

With the release of new products to the Last Chance products list, it seemed like a fitting time to revisit some of my favorite products that will be leaving us for good. And today’s card combines quite a few of my faves in one design — Painted Lavender, Distressed Tiles embossing folder, and the Wanted to Say sentiment die set.

I really wanted the lavender to take center stage, so I kept the color palette super simple. We start with a backdrop of Smoky Slate cardstock. I machine embossed a quarter panel of slate using the Distressed Tiles embossing folder and then cut it down by about a quarter-inch. I matted the panel with Highland Heather glimmer paper to really help our purple elements pop. The focal floral stems in the center are all cut using the Painted Lavender dies. The grass is cut from Mossy Meadow and the lavender stems are cut from a combination of the purple-hued silver foil specialty paper (retired). The lavender blooms are cut from a combination of pastel ombré glimmer paper and the (retired) Highland Heather glimmer paper and are adhered to the stems with glue dots. I arranged the greenery to overlap like a hand-tied floral bundle and secured the stems together with a small strip of tape and adhered to the background panel with a dimensional. I used a small bow of velvet ribbon to cover the tape and dimensional and to solidify the look of a hand-tied bundle of flowers. The sentiment is cut from silver foil sheets and Highland Heather glimmer paper using the Wanted to Say dies. The sentiment is adhered together using a glue pen and then affixed to the background panel at the base of the floral stems with dimensionals. I added purple shimmer gems for pops of purple shimmer across the card front and to accentuate a few of the lavender flower centers.

You could very easily transform the look of this lavender nosegay by simply swapping out the purple accents for another color. There are many wildflowers that resemble lavender stems but with florets in a variety of colors.

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Online Exclusives · Pattern of Friendship

Let’s Keep in Touch

We’re already halfway through this week, folks! My fellow demos are off to North Carolina for the annual Stampin’ Up! convention. And I’m here at home prepping for a little spring break adventure with the fam in just a few days. Needless to say, I’m actually a little sad that this week is halfway gone!

This week, our designs feature the new Online Exclusive bundle called Pattern of Friendship. I’ve had a lot of fun coming up with different ways to use this fun set. Today we’re pairing it up with the Hot Air Balloon dies and Everyday Skies paper. See if you can spot where the fun texture die comes into play.

We get started with a base of white cardstock. I chose white to provide contrast with the focal panel. Our focal panel starts with a piece of Petal Pink glimmer paper that is diecut with the Textured Notes dies. This serves as the eye-catching mat for our focal sheet of Everyday Skies patterned paper that is diecut with the Perennial Postage dies. I cut two hot air balloons with the Hot Air Balloon dies. And for a fun little twist, I add texture to both balloons with the Pattern of Friendship die and the Painted Texture embossing folder. To give some dimension to the scene, I adhered the balloons on dimensionals of different heights. I added a few clouds that I cut from Graceful Greenery vellum using the Hot Air Balloon dies. The sentiment from Pattern of Friendship is stamped in Cajun Craze on white cardstock and then cut with the small banner die from the Countryside Corners dies. I scattered some shiny sequins across the panel for some eye-catching sparkle.

We’ll look for more fun ways to make patterns as we continue our design series through the week. I hope you’ll stop in and check it out.

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Online Exclusives · Thankful Garden

Thankful Difference

Have you seen the new Stampin’ Up! Online Exclusives that launched today? There are so many wonderful new things in the store. I still have a number of things hanging out in my cart.

This week, we’re looking at the new Lovely Garden suite, which includes stamps, dies, masks, paper, ribbon, and embellishments. And today’s card also incorporates the new Textured Notes dies, as well as the Pattern of Friendship embossing panel.

Our card starts with a base of Basic Black cardstock. I love how this brings out the details in the floral sheet from the Lovely Garden paper pack which serves as our backdrop. A sheet of Fresh Freesia that’s been embossed with the new Pattern of Friendship die serves as the mat for our patterned paper. Next, I stamped the sentiment from Thankful Garden in Fresh Freesia on white and diecut it with the narrow Textured Notes die. I cut the small frame from Melon Mambo using the Mixed Labels dies. In between these two layers, we’ve sandwiched a bow of Fresh Freesia velvet ribbon and mounted the full sentiment panel over some sparkly foliage with dimensionals. I added purple sequins around the sentiment panel for a sparkly detail, which works well to draw our eyes right to the sentiment.

The paper in the Lovely Garden paper pack is so pretty that it’s hard not to grab for it each and every time I go to make a card! Tomorrow we’re going to pair up this lovely paper with the stamps and masks. Can’t wait for you to see!

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Inspiration

Miss You

Welcome to this wonderful Wednesday. I’m telling myself it’s wonderful even though our temps here in North Texas are currently in the teens and wind chills are below zero. 🥶 For some of you, this is a typical winter day, but we are simply not accustomed to brutally cold and windy days.

This week, our design theme explores pattern & texture with sentiments. And today’s design is totally inspired by a card by fellow demo over at Creative Stamping Designs. I don’t often make shaker cards, but when I saw this combination of Beautiful Butterflies and Bloom Impressions, I just had to give it a go!

We get started with a base of white cardstock. Since the base is only visible on the inside, I keep things simple. But you could easily choose a complimentary color if you wish. A quarter sheet of the rainbow Bloom Impressions paper covers the card front and serves as the base for our shaker elements. I chose a coordinating pink/orange/purple medley sheet from the Beautiful Bokeh paper pack and machine embossed it with the Beautiful Butterflies hybrid embossing folder to imprint the butterfly pattern and cut the center butterfly at the same time. I made a deep impression by passing the embossing folder through my machine twice, which allows the white center of the paper to show through for a distressed look. I used the butterfly cutout on the inside panel of my card (not shown).

Next, we construct our shaker cover by adhering a window sheet to the back of the Beautiful Bokeh panel using tear-n-tape for a strong hold. (Tip: I save the acetate sheets from new stamp sets to use a window sheets. Simply give them a good wipe with a damp cloth on both sides and you’re good to go!) Apply a square of foam tape around the butterfly (still on the back of the sheet), leaving plenty of room for your shaker pieces to move. Be sure your foam strips meet and overlap at each corner to prevent any shaker pieces from escaping! Apply dimensionals around the edges (or you could use foam strips) to adhere this panel to your card front over the Bloom Impressions paper. Remove all of the backings, fill the center with your chosen shaker elements (I used a stash of retired shaker pieces I had on hand), and then adhere your card front over the filled shaker panel as it stays flat on your craft table.

I used a scrap of the Beautiful Bokeh to stamp the sentiment from Friends for Life in Blackberry Bliss and cut the end on the diagonal with my paper snips. Adhere in the upper corner with dimensionals. I added a knot of iridescent striped trim on the straight end. The card front is embellished with purple sequins to help our eyes pass across the design over the major elements. Voila!

Tomorrow we’ll be tiptoeing through the toadstools. I hope you’ll come along!

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Inspiration

Patterned Thoughts

Happy Monday, everyone! For those in the U.S., happy Presidents’ Day. Did you know that the holiday we commonly call Presidents’ Day was originally established to celebrate George Washington our nation’s founding father’s birthday? It wasn’t until an ad campaign in the 1980s that the 3rd Monday in February came to be known as it is today as Presidents’ Day.

As we do each Monday, we’re introducing a new design theme today. I enjoyed last week’s textures & sentiments so much that I thought we would expand on the theme this week and incorporate patterns. So we’ll be exploring the combination of patterns & textures to highlight some of the wonderful sentiments in the current Stampin’ Up! lineup. Today we’re getting started with a more masculine-feeling design with a combination of the Timeless Plaid paper, Distressed Tiles embossing folder, and With You in Mind stamp set.

Our design gets started with a base of Early Espresso cardstock. I machine embossed a quarter-panel of Early Espresso with the Distressed Tiles embossing folder and then cut it down to serve as the backdrop for this design. I rubbed the panel with some gold ink to highlight the embossing. A strip of the brown Timeless Plaid paper is adhered to a piece of the gold-splattered text sheet from Nature’s Sweetness and adhered over the embossed panel. A 3×3 panel serves as the backdrop for our oversized sentiment. The square of textured gold paper serves as the mat for piece of the gold-splattered text paper that is adhered slightly off-center onto our card front. The sentiment from With You in Mind is stamped in Early Espresso on white cardstock and then diecut with the Countryside Corners dies. The sentiment panel is adhered over gold trim to the backdrop with dimensionals. A few drusy embellishments and low profile dots finish things off with a little sparkly pizzazz.

I love showing how designs can have lots of sparkle and still be more masculine-looking. Never be afraid to add some touches of bling to a masculine card design. Just think of it like the sprinkles on a cupcake! Tune in tomorrow for an “inspiring” design.

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