Clean and Simple

A Friend Like You

TGIF and happy weekend, everybody! I actually had this card all ready to go last night but ran out of juice to do the photo editing and write-up. So it goes sometimes. We’re midway into a busy Saturday as we shuttle the kiddo around for bowling league and school supplies and the like. What are you up to this weekend?

This week, we’re keeping clean & simple at the forefront as I continue to hunt for my crafty mojo. I have to say that this particular card was a struggle for me. I knew what I wanted to put together but was having a hard time getting it right. So I picked the kiddo’s brain. Do you ever do that? Phone a friend? Sometimes it can be super helpful when you’re feeling stuck. What I needed to make this card right was the appropriate color palette, which seemed obvious after the kiddo pointed it out!

We get started with some Petal Pink cardstock as our card base and then use a sheet of the Lovely Blossoms paper as the backdrop for our focal section. The backdrop is wrapped in some retired Petal Pink striped ribbon before the panel is adhered to the card front with adhesive runner. Our focal section consists of the cute Pooh & Piglet image panel and then sentiment. The image panel is cut from a sheet of the Silly Old Bear paper using the coordinating Sweet Words & Labels dies. Both panels are adhered to our card front using layers of dimensionals. And we finish things off with some of the Petal Pink pearlized faceted circles for a little sparkle.

I just love how the image and the sentiment work together for this one, which I think is why I struggled so much with the layout at first. I was dead set on using the sentiment because nothing says wonderful friend like someone who holds your hand through life’s topsy-turvy moments!

I’m hoping to bring you one more clean and simple design to round out our week. But first….we have a few more things to knock off our Saturday to-do list!

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Clean and Simple

Gallery Sympathy

Welcome back, friends! We’ve gotten a small reprieve from the heat here in North Texas as Tropical Storm Bertha moves ashore in the Gulf and we’re getting some much-needed wind. So now instead of feeling like we’re in a furnace, it just feels like you’re standing in front of the hair dryer. Could be worse? And that also meant that my office was a touch cooler today also as the streak of no-AC days continues.

Here in the craft room, it’s nice and cool (I’m actually freezing!) and I whipped up another clean and simple card as I continue searching for my crafty mojo. I’m on an ephemera kick — the Sincerely Noted pack, to be precise — as it makes another appearance in today’s card, along with the Beautiful Gallery paper.

We have just a couple of elements involved in this card. Our card base is made from Crumb Cake cardstock, and we use a whole sheet of the Beautiful Gallery paper to create our focal panel. The sentiment is from the Sincerely Noted ephemera pack and is adhered over our focal panel with dimensionals. We finish off with some pearlized faceted dots on either side of our sentiment. And that. is. it. Simple. Understated. Classy.

I hope you’ll pop in tomorrow to see what clean and simple design we might put together next. Not even I know at this point. *snicker*

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Clean and Simple

Hip-hip Hooray for Birthdays

Welcome back, everyone! I’m still looking for my missing crafty mojo, and it doesn’t help that we’re in the middle of a typical Texas summer roasting session. AND the AC is out in part of my office. Womp-womp all the way around!

But I did manage to eke out another clean & simple design today. And we’re letting the Violet Dreams paper and diecut sheet take center stage with our ephemera.

We get started with a base of Basic White cardstock. A sheet of the striped Cloud Cover paper from the Violet Dreams pack serves as our backdrop. A Fresh Freesia diecut element from the paper pack is our focal panel background, which is adhered to our card at different heights using dimensionals. Our sentiments come from two separate ephemera packs — the new Sincerely Noted and the Saying Something packs. The sentiments are adhered over a bow of striped gold ribbon using dimensionals. And we finish things off with a few adhesive flowers.

I hope you’ll drop in tomorrow to see what’s next in our clean & simple series!

Products used in today’s card:
Basic White CS
Violet Dreams DSP
Sincerely Noted, Saying Something ephemera
Gold striped mesh ribbon
Adhesive blooms
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Clean and Simple · Vacation

Scenic Hooray

Howdy, crafty friends! It’s been a minute. My mojo flat disappeared and the summer schedule got hectic, so I decided to take a little break. Work has been crazy busy. The kiddo is keeping us hopping with his bowling lessons & league. We’ve unplugged and taken a family vacation. And we’ve just generally loafed around and enjoyed some of the World Cup.

While all of that has been going on, there’s been so much happening in SU! land. Over the last several weeks, we’ve had an Online Exclusives launch, a new foiling system launch, and demos have gotten the sneak peek at the newest catalogs. I’m looking forward to digging in to the new things that have come to my crafty goody collection and hopefully can find my crafty mojo along the way. So this week we’re keeping things clean and simple. That’s literally our design theme. We’re going to let some awesome products take center stage without a whole lot of fuss.

First up is this fun card using the Scenic Coast patterned paper. I passed on ordering it when it first launched and it’s been such a hot item that it goes out of stock as quickly as Stampin’ Up! restocks it! But wanna know one thing I love about the SU! website? You can set up a notification for out-of-stock items on your must-have list, and you’ll get an e-mail as soon as the new batch hits the site. So I was able to swipe a package of the beautiful foiled Scenic Coast paper when it came back online a few weeks ago. And man, I love it even more now that I can see it in person!

So this super simple card gets started with a base of white cardstock. To be honest, I tried a lot of different color combinations and decided that the contrast of the white with the paper really allows the gorgeous patterned paper sing the best. I finished things off with a simple sentiment from the Sincerely Noted ephemera set and adhered it over a bow of Fresh Freesia ribbon using several layers of dimensionals. I still have some of the beautiful (retired) purple shimmer gems in my stash and put them on either side of the sentiment for just a touch of additional sparkle. What’s super difficult to capture in photos is how beautifully the reflection in the water sparkles. It’s really something!

I have a feeling we’ll be playing the Scenic Coast for a few more designs this week. It just lends itself to clean & simple!

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Sunset Coast

Sunny Skies

Happy Wednesday, friends, and welcome back as we pay homage to summer this week with all of our projects. There are so many goodies in the crafty stash that are perfect for celebrating summer. And today we’re giving the Sunset Coast stamp & die bundle a little more love.

We keep the backdrop a neutral white cardstock to allow the focal panel to really pop. Our focal panel is built on a quarter panel of white cardstock and starts with stamping the water in Lost Lagoon ink using the Sunset Coast stamps. I really wanted the water to sparkle, so I covered the stamped portion with blue shimmer vellum and I just love the effect it gives to this panel. The sky is filled in with blending brushes in a combination of yellow, orange, pink, and blue. The rock formation in the background is stamped in combination of browns. Our two sailboats are created with a combination of the stamps and dies from the Sunset Coast set. The larger boat is paper pieces, while the smaller boat is stamped and then diecut. Our sentiment comes from the Saying Something ephemera pack and is mounted over gold & white baker’s twine with dimensionals. We finish things off with some extra spots of twinkle with the shimmering dots.

Tomorrow we’re going to punch things up with a fun fold. I hope you’ll drop in and check it out!

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Online Exclusives

Hovering Hello

Howdy, friends! And happy Wednesday. We’re halfway through this week, but it sure feels like it should be Friday already! It’s been a busy one at the office and my tail is just dragging. Ever have weeks like that? Sure felt good to play a little in the craft room this evening though.

And speaking of that, this week we’re going to get a look at some of the new things in my crafty stash that haven’t seen any love yet. And first up, we have a sneak peek at a brand new suite that will launch in just a few short weeks called Violet Dreams. And let me tell you, it is scrumptious! So much beautiful detail in the paper, the stamps, and the dies. You are going to love it!

So our sneak peek card gets started with a base of Gorgeous Grape cardstock. Our backdrop is a sheet of the new Shimmering Stripes specialty paper. The focal panel is a sheet of the new Violet Dreams patterned paper on a mat of Gorgeous Grape. I tied a bow of white & gold ribbon around the bottom. The hello sentiment is from the Saying Something ephemera pack and is coated with Wink of Stella to give the perfect amount of twinkle against the beautiful butterfly from the new Gilded Wings butterfly pack. We finish things off with some of the new adhesive blooms from the Violet Dreams suite.

I can’t wait to show you more of this beautiful suite this week. I hope you’ll drop back by to get some more peeks at all of these wonderful goodies!

Products used in today’s design:
Gorgeous Grape CS
Violet Dreams, Shimmering Stripes DSP (both releasing in July)
Saying Something ephemera
Gilded Wings accents (releasing in July)
White & gold ribbon
Adhesive blooms (releasing in July)
Wink of Stella
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Father's Day

Making a Difference

Thanks for popping back by today for the second card of the day. This week we’re using the stash to create something special for dad. And today we’re spending time in the great outdoors with this lovely mountain sunrise scene as we combine the Far & Away Landscapes stamps with the new Sunset Coast dies.

We get started with a neutral white card base. Our focal panel starts with a quarter sheet of Cloud Cover cardstock and we cut a circle in the center toward the top using the largest Stylish Shapes circle die, which perfectly nests with the sunrise die in the Sunset Coast set. We cut the sunrise circle from yellow shimmer paper and affix it behind the focal panel with some basic masking tape. To fill in the sunrise on the card front below, I laid the panel in place and lightly marked a few points in the sunrise to know where to shade with the blending brushes with a combination of yellow, orange, and pink. Next up, we stamp the focal image from the Far & Away Landscapes stamp set in Secret Sea under the sunrise and then shade the image with Stampin’ Blends. I wrapped the bottom of the focal panel with white & gold baker’s twine and affixed the sentiment from the Saying Something ephemera pack using dimensionals so it stands above the twine. Then the focal panel is affixed to the card front with dimensionals. We finish things off with a few clear dewdrops for just a touch of sparkle.

Have you been enjoying the Father’s Day inspiration thus far? We’ll be closing out our design series tomorrow with man’s best friend. I hope you’ll drop in!

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Father's Day

Hip Hip Hooray

Welcome back, friends! Today is gonna be a two-for day. Yesterday evening we set about doing some yardwork, and it was a particularly hot and muggy day here in North Texas. So by the time we finished and got everything cleaned up, we were all completely zapped and were pretty worthless for the remainder of the evening.

So here we are with the card I had planned for you yesterday as we pay homage to dad this week. Today we’re all about the outdoors. And for my family, that means a whole host of things — from grilling to hunting to fishing to boating. We love it all! We combining the new Sunset Coast stamp & die bundle with the Thoughtful Journey paper for this lovely card with a view.

We get started with a base of Fresh Freesia cardstock. The backdrop for our sunset scene is a combination Thoughtful Journey patterned paper and a Blackberry Bliss mat. I used the Sunset Coast dies to cut the large sailboat in the foreground from Blackberry Bliss, snipping out the pieces that would just have the boat in shadow. To create the glowing sun, I repeated with a piece of pink Sunset Shimmer vellum and snipped just the sun and inner pieces of the sailboat. Some masking tape on the back holds all the pieces in place together without being visible from the front. The boat is adhered to the focal panel with dimensionals. The waves are adhered directly to the panel with a glue pen. Next up, we cut some seagulls and smaller sailboats from our piece of Blackberry Bliss. To add some detail to the smaller vessels, I stamped their images on the diecut pieces with Blackberry Bliss ink. The larger seagull is adhered by the larger sailboat in the foreground using glue dots. The smaller sailboats and smallest gull are adhered in the background using a glue dots. The sentiment from the Saying Something ephemera pack is snipped on each end to make a banner shape and then adhered with several layers of dimensionals so it stands proud above our scenic elements. A few pearlized faceted dots finish things off with a twinkle.

Wouldn’t this be perfect for the dad who enjoys sailing? We’ll be keeping things outdoors with our second design today. I hope you’ll drop back in this evening to check it out!

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Father's Day

Relax & Enjoy, Dad

Welcome back, crafty friends! We’re half way through this week. How’s your week going so far?

This week our designs are all about dad as we prepare for Father’s Day. Today is for the guys who enjoy the water. We pairing up the new Splash & Relax bundle with some fun older papers from the stash.

We get started with a base of Balmy Blue cardstock. A sheet of the Thoughtful Journey 6×6 paper serves as the backdrop for our focal panel. The base of the focal panel is a sheet of the Beautiful Bokeh paper that is cut with the Branching Out dies. Using the Splash & Relax stamps, we stamp two tubes in a combo of Cloud Cover and BlackBerry Bliss and Misty Moonlight and Pretty Peacock. The two innertubes are cut out with the coordinating die. The sentiment is a combination of the Say Something ephemera and the relax and enjoy stamp from the Splash & Relax stamp set. The variety of colors brings a sense of whimsical fun to the card. We finish things off with some shimmering dots for a pop of twinkle.

Tomorrow we’re headed to the woods to honor the outdoorsy dads out there. I hope you’ll drop in.

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Gifting

All the Best, Grad

Happy Monday, friends! I don’t know about you, but I needed double the weekend and half the week! Whew, there’s just too much going on and not enough time to get it all done as we close out the school year. And I ended up taking some extra down time last week and did zero crafting. Not because I didn’t want to but because I simply didn’t have the energy to put into anything. Sometimes we just have to listen to those call for rest.

So here we are at the start of a brand new week and it’s time for a new design theme. And o think you’ll like this one and probably find it as fitting as I do as we stare down the last day of school on the horizon. That’s right, we’re tackling graduation designs this week. And we get started with a really simple one that can honestly serve a whole host of happy celebrations as we pair up the Velvet Meadow paper with the Everyday Arches dies.

We start with a neutral base of Cloud Cover cardstock. A sheet of the light snd bright vine pattern from the Velvet Meadow paper pack is taking center stage here as we prep a quarter panel. I cut a small section from the center with the Everyday Arches dies. We’re matting that small panel with a little larger panel of Elegant Pine shimmer paper. The panel is adhered directly over the area from whence it was cut using dimensionals. The sentiment from the Saying Something ephemera pack is adhered over a bow of white with gold ribbon using dimensionals. A few opal rounds on either side finish things off.

This design is super versatile and could encompass a whole host of celebratory gatherings. It also comes together in about 5 minutes, making it a nice go-to when you’re crunched for time.