Splash & Relax

Happiness Floats

Howdy, friends, and happy Tuesday! Yesterday just completely got away from me, and by the time I got this card finished, it was well past time for me to be snoozing.

This week, our designs are going to be all about summer. There are so many great summery products in my crafty stash that need some love, so I’m looking forward to working with this week’s theme. Today we’re getting started with a super simple card using the new Splash & Relax stamps and dies. And I have to give credit for the layout to fellow demo and Luv 2 Stamp team member Patti Dolan.

We get started on today’s card with a base of Gray Granite cardstock. And then our focal panel is a quarter panel of Gray Granite that is torn to make a lazy river in the middle. Our lazy river is a sheet of the blue shimmer vellum that’s machine embossed with the Soft Waves embossing folder and mounted over another panel of vellum to give it a bit more structural integrity and depth of color. The panel is then adhered to the card front with dimensionals.

Next we work on our fun elements using the new Splash & Relax stamps and dies. The innertubes are all stamped first in a variety of happy colors — blue-greens, yellows, and pinky-oranges — and then diecut with the coordinating die and adhered over the lazy river with dimensionals. I needed a few more fun summer elements and decided to make some flip flips and sunglasses. The flip flops are a combination of Barely Blush and Melon Mambo papers with some small rhinestones as the decorative element. And the sunglasses combine Blackberry Bliss and textured silver metallic paper for the perfect mirrored shades.

The sentiment is from the Splash & Relax stamp set and is stamped in a combination of Lost Lagoon and Pretty Peacock onto a scrap of Pool Party cardstock and then cut into a banner shape with paper snips. We finish things off with a combination of white and blue shimmering dots.

When I chose the Gray Granite, I was going for the look of a pool deck, which I think it accomplishes, but it doesn’t give me that ahhhhh feeling I was going for. In hindsight, I might pick a different neutral next time — maybe Crumb Cake or something like it — to give a more beachy feel. And here’s a hot tip for you! It’s always better to decide where you want your sentiment before you adhere the piece you’ll be stamping on onto your card base. Otherwise, you may not get a clean image and then you’ll have to make a quick pivot to create a separate sentiment panel that fits in the tiny space you allotted. Ask me how I know this. Ooops!

Hope you’ll drop in tomorrow to see what’s next in our summer card series!

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Father's Day

Flippin’ Awesome

Welcome back, everyone! Glad you took the time to stop in. This week, we’re getting ready for Father’s Day, which is just a little under two weeks away. And today is an ode to all of the BBQ chefs we have out there as we pair up the BBQ Master stamps & dies with some fun papers to create this cute & playful ode to dad. Once again, fellow demo Heidi Collins over at On y Go! Stamping provided the inspiration for this card.

We get started with a base of Pretty Peacock cardstock. I paired up the peacock striped pattern from the new Everyday Essentials paper pack with the brush pattern from the Nature Walk pack. I used the darker pattern as the backdrop base and then dropped the stripes on top. A triangle is cut out of the top sheet to create a peek-through in the lower corner, which provides a nice way to highlight the focal point. I pulled out some of my favorite retired Pretty Peacock & Gold ribbon to bridge the two patterns. This full panel is adhered to the card front with dimensionals. Next up, we turn to our focal panel which begins with a panel of Pool Party shimmer paper cut with the Label Me Grateful dies. The grill is stamped in Pretty Peacock and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder to give it a more realistic sheen. It’s then cut out with the coordinating BBQ Master die. The flame is stamped in a combination of Real Red, Timid Tiger, and Crushed Curry and then cut out with the coordinating die. I added some Wink of Stella to help give a flicker effect to the flames. The sausage links are cut from Cajun Craze. The sentiment from the BBQ Master set is stamped in Pretty Peacock on an extended banner cut with the Nested Essentials dies. Everything is adhered to our card front with varying layers of dimensionals for some depth of scene. I added the sausage links willy nilly above the flames to give a sense of flippin’ to our scene. We finish things off with some Pool Party dots.

I really love how this one turned out, don’t you? So fun! I hope you’ll drop in tomorrow — we’ll be taking dad to the beach!

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Masculine Designs

Today is Your Day

Happy midweek, everybody! We are halfway to the weekend already. And it’s definitely the downhill slide to the end of school. The kiddos are counting down the days — T minus 7 now.

And the countdown to school means the countdown to vacations for a lot of folks. And today’s card is a nod in that direction as we continue our card series that’s all about the guys. Even the guys spend time thinking about summer vacay! We’re putting the new Rolling Waves bundle center stage in today’s design.

We get started with a base of Lost Lagoon cardstock. A quarter panel is then embossed with the Soft Waves embossing folder and adhered to our card front to set the stage for our beach scene. Our beach scene is built on a base of Pool Party cardstock cut with the Everyday Arches die. The Rolling Waves stamps allow us to create the look of water as we stamp tone on tone on the panel. The same stamp also allows us to create the look of sand on a panel of Crumb Cake. A smaller detail stamp in the set gives us the darker grains of sand. The sand is cut from the half arch panel and adhered to the ocean backdrop. The foamy water rolling in is created with a die from the Rolling Waves set and then lightly brushed with Pool Party ink and adhered over the sand. The sentiment from the Saying Something ephemera set is adhered with dimensionals at the water’s edge. A bow of Lost Lagoon soft cording is adhered with a glue dot at the op edge of the sentiment panel. We finish things off with some starfish cut from Flirty Flamingo paper and adhered with dimensionals beside the sentiment and a scattering of shimmering dots.

Can you hear the sound of the crashing waves and picture yourself sitting beside the water? And isn’t this the perfect color palette for celebrating a guy in your life?

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Patterns

Splendid Texture

Welcome back! It’s hard to believe but we’re already halfway through this week. Where does the time go? And speaking of stealing some time, today’s card uses a sheet of the Splendid Autumn paper pack that just makes you want to kick back in an easy chair on the breezy porch with a glass of tea and watch the wildflowers dance on the pasture, doesn’t it? Or maybe that’s just me showing my country upbringing.

This week, we’re using pattern and texture to create our card designs. And today is all about adding texture to give that extra pizzazz to a card. We’re combining the Beautiful Pattern embossing folder with the Splendid Autumn paper to create a little side glance out the window.

We get started with a simple base of white cardstock. The background panel is a quarter sheet of white cardstock that’s embossed with the Beautiful Pattern embossing folder. The focal panel is cut from a sheet of the Splendid Autumn paper pack using the Everyday Arches dies and then matted with some pastel pink shimmer paper cut into an arch just a tick bigger. The embossed backdrop is wrapped with some Petunia Pop iridescent ribbon and then adhered to the card base. And then the focal panel is adhered just slightly off-set on top with dimensionals. The sentiment from the stamp set included in the 2025 Advent Calendar is stamped in Fresh Freesia on one of the smaller banner dies from the More Messages set and then adhered with dimensionals onto to the bottom-right corner of the focal panel. A few frosted iridescent dots finish things off with a hint of twinkle.

While this card would be just fine without an embossed background, isn’t it fun to see how much more interesting and eye-catching this card is with that little extra textured detail. I hope you’ll continue to hop along on the patterns & textures design series this week!

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Adventures

Time for Grillin’

TGIF, everyone! We’re jumping into the springtime spirit as the weather gets more & more perfect for time on the patio. Today we tip our hat to those great backyard BBQs with the new BBQ Master bundle.

We get started with a base of Crumb Cake cardstock. A sheet of the red plaid Regal Distressed Patterned paper gives us that picnic feel. A combination of the thatch pattern from the Delicate Dreams pack and some Secret Sea glimmer paper give us the base for our focal panel. We add some grass to start our scene with the help of the Scenic Adventure dies. The grill is stamped on Cherry Cobbler cardstock and then heat embossed with black. We add some grass fire with a combination of Peach Pie cardstock and an assortment of red, yellow, and orange ink to stamp the image and then cut out with the coordinating die from the BBQ Master bundle. The tongs image is stamped on lunar luster paper and then diecut with the coordinating die before hanging them on the side to be ready for use flipping the food. The sentiment from the BBQ Master set is stamped in Secret Sea ink and then we add a few coordinating moody palette dots to finish things off.

Isn’t this card super fun? This stamp and die bundle has tons of potential, for sure! I hope you’ll drop in tomorrow to see where we wind up on this week’s adventures.

Products used:

Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Peach Pie, Garden Green cardstock

Delicate Dreams, Silver Luster, Peaceful Garden Glimmer, Regal Distressed Patterns DSP

BBQ Master stamps & dies, Scenic Adventure dies

Moody palette dots, Wink of Stella, WOW embossing powder, dimensionals

Adventures

Hang in There

Happy Easter Monday, friends! Were your kids out of school today? Some years our district is out and some years it isn’t. I think we were one of the few districts who were in this year.

It’s a new week and that means a new design series. And this week, we’re taking things outdoors. We’re getting started with a fun combination of the Gliding Garden Swing stamp & die bundle and the Lovely Stripes embossing folder.

The backdrop of our design is a base of Pool Party cardstock, and we’re embossing just the front panel of the card with the Lovely Stripes embossing folder. Our focal panel is a scene built entirely with the Gliding Garden Swing bundle. We get started by cutting a panel of white cardstock with the Branching Out label die and cut a coordinating mat from Pool Party shimmer paper with the size up die. The backdrop for our scene is brushed with shades of blue, green, and brown to create the sky, grass, and dirt under our park bench. The big oak branch is stamped at the top of the panel and then colored with Stampin’ blends in shades of brown and green. The park bench is diecut from Country Woods woodgrain paper with the bench dies from the Gliding Garden Swing die set. The bush behind the bench are cut with the leaf canopy die from the Gliding Swing set and cut apart to create smaller shrubs. The pink floral pillows are cut from a sheet of paper from the 2025 Advent Calendar and adhered on the bench with dimensionals to give a more realistic look. Our pink sentiment panel is cut with dies from the Advent calendar and then adhered over some gold striped mesh ribbon with dimensionals. We finish it all off with a few green hexagons from the Hues of Green hexagon shapes set.

This week’s theme will take us on many adventures. Where would you like to go next?

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Easter

He is Risen! Alleluia!

Sunday’s here; hope has arrived — Happy Easter! What a blessing to know that we serve a God who walks with us every step of the way — from the highest mountains to the lowest valleys. He knows every joy, every victory, every tragedy, every defeat. And when we don’t have the strength to take another step, God is there to carry us through.

We’re finishing up our Easter-inspired card series this week with another version of the cross fun fold honoring Easter Sunday. We’re pairing the Splendid Autumn paper with the new Easter Joy ephemera to create this stunning Easter sunrise celebration.

To add some detail to the cross, I used the recently retired Distressed Tiles embossing folder. The floral ephemera is layered behind the cross to create a beautiful spray of color. And the sentiment from the Faith Collection stamp set is stamped on a banner cut with the Words for the Season dies.

We’re headed into the great outdoors this week as we explore some nifty new goodies in the crafty stash. I hope you’ll drop in and see where we go on our outdoorsy adventure.

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Easter

Hoppy Easter

Happy Monday, everyone! We survived our busy weekend of activities and birthday fun. The weather was beautiful and the company was superb. I would have loved a do-over. Anyone else?

But we’re back at it in this shiny new week, and it’s going to be a busy one in the life of this church musician. With rehearsals and services, Holy Week surpasses any other church holiday as the most time-consuming. But when you consider that Holy Week is the turning point of the Christian faith, then it truly makes sense.

So in honor of Holy Week this week, I’ll be bringing you some Easter-inspired designs in fits & spurts between rehearsals & services. Today we’re getting started with a super easy card using the Easter Joy paper and Easter Time ephemera.

We get started with a base of Berry Burst cardstock. I used one of the ready-made panels from the Easter Joy paper pack as the backdrop for our little Easter scene with the ephemera bunny and basket of colored eggs, which are colored with Wink of Stella and gold embossing powder. They’re adhered to the backdrop with dimensionals. The sentiment from the Saying Hey retired stamp set is a combination of two stamps from the set. I used Blackberry Bliss ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. We finish things off with a pink bow and some pink iridescent dots.

This one is so fun and so easy, making it a perfect design for a quick batch of Easter hello cards. I hope you’ll drop back by and see what else we get into this week.

Techniques

Spotlight on Layers

Whew — we made it to Friday, friends! And what a TGIF feeling it is! It’s gonna be a busy weekend around here but also lots of fun as we celebrate the kiddo’s birthday this weekend. And we have to throw in a few around-the-house projects too. What are you getting up to?

We’re continuing our Spotlight technique series and today is all about layers as we combine the Layers of Beauty and Peace on Earth Stampin sets to create this encouragement card.

We get started with a base of Lost Lagoon cardstock. In opposing corners we stamp portions of the Layers of Beauty image tone on tone with Lost Lagoon ink. Our focal panel is a small piece of Lost Lagoon cut with the Textured Notes dies with the same images stamped in opposing corners. The sentiment from the Peace on Earth stamp set is stamped in Pretty Peacock and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. This panel is adhered over some white with gold ribbon in the center of our card so that our floral images overlap one another. Frosted iridescent dots finish off our card with a touch of whimsy.

I hope you’ll tune in tomorrow to see another Spotlight technique at work!

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Botanicals · Techniques

Spotlight on Flowers

Howdy, friends! Did you miss me? Last week didn’t exactly turn out as I had planned. I had grand plans for all of last week’s posts and then our schedules just kinda imploded. Between a major office furniture swap out and then a home update project, last week was chocked FULL and I didn’t have anything left for crafts.

Sooo here we are in a brand new week and I finally get to bring you all the fun ideas I have for this new design theme — the spotlight technique. Typically, this technique will, in some way, repeat a pattern or an image in a fresh, new way. Today, we’re using the elevated coloring method to spotlight a portion of the Flowers Fair stamped image.

We get started with a background of Blackberry Bliss cardstock. The focal panel backdrop is a quarter panel of white cardstock stamped with the Flowers Fair stamp and then cut to size with the largest Perennial Postage die. A second white quarter panel is also stamped with the identical image and then we use one of 2025 Advent Calendar dies to cut out a small portion of the image and then color it with Stampin Blends. The small colored panel is matted with pink shimmer paper and the two are adhered together with dimensionals. We wrap our background panel with pink ribbon before adhering it to our card front with dimensionals. The spotlight panel is adhered in place with dimensionals so it is just above its uncolored counterpart in the image below. The sentiment from the Rolling Waves stamp set is heat embossed in silver on Blackberry Bliss cardstock and then cut out with the Stylish Shapes banner due. Some pink flat pearls in opposing corners finish things off perfectly.

I hope you’ll drop in again to see what other spotlight methods we’ll be using this week!

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