Beautiful Pumpkins · Coming Soon · L2S Group Instahop · Online Exclusives

Small Things

This week, we’re getting a closer look at the new Online Exclusive suite called Gathering Together that will release next week. Aside from being a combination of beautiful products that stand just fine all by themselves, they also pair up beautifully with other products in the SU! lineup. And today we’re getting a second sneak peek as we pair up Gathering Together with the new OE bundle called Beautiful Pumpkins.

I think I mentioned yesterday that I’m really in love with the foiled paper in the Gathering Together patterned paper pack. Today I’m showing you one of the non-foiled, reverse-side patterns which serves as the backdrop for this design. But I couldn’t just abandon the sheen of the foiled paper altogether. I used a sheet of the vanilla Season of Elegance foiled paper to stamp and diecut all of my focal panel images. I just love the look! One tip: let the ink dry before diecutting or you’ll end up with ink in interesting places! *wink and ugh* To speed things up, I used my heat gun.

We get started with a base of Basic Black cardstock. This pulls out the small black pinstriping in the background panel quite nicely. I tied some Mossy Meadow & Gold ribbon around the bottom of the panel before adhering to the card front. Our focal panel is a sheet of the foiled Gathering Together paper and is cut using the Nested Essentials dies. Using the Beautiful Pumpkins stamps, I stamped the pumpkins and acorns on the vanilla sheet of Season of Elegance paper, and I made sure to include some of the foiling in each of the stamped images. I used the coordinating dies to cut them out. I cut the pumpkin stems from Crumb Cake cardstock and the pumpkin leaves from a sheet of the Old Olive Season of Elegance paper. They’re all adhered to the pinstriped backdrop using different layers of dimensionals to create lots of depth in the scene. The sentiment from the Beautiful Pumpkins set is stamped on a strip of white cardstock, and I snipped the ends to create a banner. It’s adhered under the focal panel with dimensionals. I added some gold drusy embellishments in opposing corners to draw the eye across the panel.

Today’s card is a part of the Luv 2 Stamp Group Instagram Hop, which goes live at 9 AM Pacific Time (PST).  Click here to head over to my Instagram feed at 9 AM Pacific/11 AM Central and check out what the other demos in our L2S Group have created for you today! 

Products used in today’s card:
Basic Black, Basic White, Crumb Cake cardstock
Gathering Together (coming next week) , Season of Elegance DSP
Beautiful Pumpkins stamps & dies (coming next week)
Nested Essentials dies
Mossy Meadow & gold ribbon
Drusy embellishments
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Coming Soon · Gathering Together · Online Exclusives

Gathering of Thanks

We’re already halfway through this wonderful week and quickly headed for our long weekend. Do you have any special plans for the Labor Day holiday weekend? I’m hoping that the first significant cold front makes its way in as promised because I have some yardwork I’d really like to get done.

And speaking of yards, once fall arrives, they’ll be adorned with beautiful fall foliage. And this week is all about the foliage as we get an in-depth sneak peek at the upcoming Online Exclusive release called Gathering Together. Today we’re using more of the beautiful paper and the stamp set included in this suite to create a clean and simple Z-fold card. You guys, I’m just in love with this foiled patterned paper. Not into anything sparkly on your patterned paper? The back of each sheet is sans foiling so you get the best of both worlds in this pack of beautiful patterns!

Today’s fun fold gets started with a base of Cajun Craze cardstock, which creates our Z-shaped base. I chose a sheet of the Gathering Together patterned paper with a more subtle background to serve as the background on each of the panels. A sheet of the foiled fall foliage with berries and mushrooms is the backdrop of our focal panel which is cut using the Textured Notes dies. To pull out the lovely shades of yellow amongst the foliage, I chose Crushed Curry as the mat for this panel. The sentiment from Gathering Moments is stamped on Very Vanilla and I also stamped a few acorns in the background for some visual interest and to make the sentiment panel and background panel feel more cohesive. The sentiment is diecut using the Traditional Labels banner die and then adhered over some gold linen thread using dimensionals. I finished things off with a touch of extra sparkle with some Cajun Craze & gold dots in opposing corners.

Of all the fun folds, I really love Z-folds because they pack an amazing punch with very little extra work! And this particular layout with the larger overlapping front panel is a terrific way to show off beautiful patterned paper.

Tune in tomorrow for another fabulous fall-themed sneak peek. We’re going to be pairing up the Gathering Together suite with another new release product. You don’t want to miss this one!

Products used in today’s card:
Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Very Vanilla cardstock
Gathering Together DSP (coming next week)
Gathering Moments stamps (coming next week)
Traditional Labels (coming next week), Textured Notes dies
Gold thread (retired)
Cajun Craze & gold dots (coming next week)
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Coming Soon · Gathering Together · Online Exclusives

UnbeLEAFably Thankful

This week is all about fall. I heard on the radio yesterday that we’re just about 6 weeks from fall. And fall just happens to be my favorite season of the year. So naturally, I was pretty thrilled to hear that it’s just around the corner. Annnnnd we’re supposed to get a fall-like front moving through our area this weekend, so we’ll get a little preview of the wonderful fall weather we have to look forward to!

Our featured design product this week is the new Online Exclusive suite by Stampin’ Up! called Gathering Together. And today the diecuts are taking center stage. The fun thing about the large-scale dies in this bundle is the detail die that allows you to add the ribbing to the leaves. In this case, I chose to stitch the ribbing with linen thread, but you could just as easily use a marker to fill in the details or even use a fine-tip Versamark pen and heat emboss. The possibilities are endless!

Our card today gets started with a base of Cajun Craze cardstock. I used a sheet of the foiled plaid as the backdrop for the focal images. The reverse side of the foiled plaid made the perfect detailing at the bottom of the focal panel. And I used a sheet of brushed gold foil to mat the focal panel to add an extra bit of glimmering gold in the background. I used the oak leaf die from the Gathering Moments set to cut two leaves – one from Pretty Peacock and one from Very Vanilla Season of Elegance sheets. I love the look of the gold-foiled leaves. The detail die adds the stitch lines that are then filled in with Cajun Craze linen thread. You could use any color thicker thread you have on hand or simply fill in with a matching marker. The leaves are adhered to the card front with dimensionals. The sentiment from Gathering Moments is stamped on Very Vanilla and die cut using the smaller Traditional Labels die and then a sheet of Old Olive Festive glimmer paper serves as the mat. The sentiment is adhered over a bow of gold trim and then placed in the bottom right corner of the card front and adhered with several layers of dimensionals to ensure it sits proud above the leaves. For a little extra sparkled, I added a few drusy embellishments to draw the eye down and across the center of the panel and down to the sentiment.

Tune in tomorrow to see how we can use this suite to create a fun fold design.

Products used in today’s card:
Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla cardstock
Season of Elegance, Festive glimmer paper (retired), Brushed gold foil, Gathering Together (coming next week) DSP
Gathering Moments stamps & dies (coming next week)
Traditional Labels dies (coming next week)
Cajun Craze linen thread (retired), gold trim
Drusy embellishments
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Coming Soon · Gathering Together · Online Exclusives

Heartfelt Gratitude

It’s another bright & shiny week. Are you ready for it? We enjoyed a nice weekend of family time. It’s always a great start to the week coming off a solid family-togetherness weekend. And with a teenager in the house, I’ll take as many of those as I’m given! *wink*

We’re starting a new design series this week and another week of Stampin’ Up! Holiday Mini catalog sneak peeks. This week, we’ll be working with a new Online Exclusive suite called Gathering Together. The suite includes some beautiful foiled fall-inspired paper, coordinating stamps & dies, an embossing folder, linen twine, and embellishments. I personally chose products from this suite because they pair beautifully with other current products, like the Season of Elegance paper pack and Mossy Meadow & Gold ribbon.

I used a clean and simple card sketch to turn out this beauty. We get started with a base of Early Espresso cardstock. I cut a piece of the foiled leaf paper from the Gathering Together paper pack to serve as the backdrop for the focal panel in the center. The sentiment from the Gathering Moments stamp set serves as our focal point and is stamped in Cajun Craze on a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock that is diecut with the Traditional Labels dies. I cut a second panel from gold specialty paper, cut it in half, and mounted it behind the sentiment panel as a mat. The two leaves from Gathering Moments are stamped in Cajun Craze & Mossy Meadow on two different sheets of Season of Elegance paper and then cut with the coordinating Gathering Moments die and mounted on opposing corners of the sentiment panel using dimensionals. Cajun Craze & Gold dots on either side of sentiment bring the eye in to the center. The sentiment panel is mounted on dimensionals over a bow of Mossy Meadow & Gold ribbon in the center of the card. We finish things off with a few Drusy embellishments for a bit of extra sparkle.

I hope you’ll pop in tomorrow to see some cool features of the gorgeous dies in this set.

Products used in today’s card:
Early Espresso, Very Vanilla cardstock
Gathering Together (coming next week), Season of Elegance, gold foil DSP;
Gathering Moments stamps & dies (coming next week)
Cajun Craze & Gold dots (coming next week), drusy embellishments
Mossy Meadow & Gold ribbon
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Online Exclusives

Grateful Heart

Happy Independence Day, everyone! We are certainly thankful to live here in the great U. S. of A. and are looking forward to reflecting on all that makes America great!

This week, we’re creating designs using some of the new Online Exclusives that launched this week. Today’s design uses the Label Me Grateful bundle to create a stunning thank-you card.

We get started with a base of Misty Moonlight cardstock. The tone-on-tone backdrop is created using the detail dies in the Label Me Grateful die set. The leaves and twigs are adhered directly to the card base, leaving space in the center for the focal panel. Our focal panel begins with a backdrop of Thoughtful Designs specialty paper cut with the label die from Label Me Grateful. The sentiment from the coordinating stamp set is stamped in a combination of Cloud Cover and Versamark and then heat embossed for a touch of glossy sparkle. And as an added bonus, I happened to have some glitter embossing powder! The sentiment is cut out using the Everyday Arches dies. I had some Country Flowers white glimmer paper flowers leftover from another project that I chose to use as an accent at the bottom of the sentiment panel. I cut a few leaves from Mossy Meadow with the Label Me Grateful die to make the flower look more finished. The sentiment panel is adhered over silver & white sheer ribbon with dimensionals onto the Thoughtful Designs backdrop panel. The focal panel is then adhered in the center of the card with dimensionals. Drusy embellishments finish things off with a nice amount of sparkle.

We’re going to be putting the focus on embellishments for our next project. Hope you pop in to check it out!

Product List
Online Exclusives

Monster Mash

Happy Wacky Wednesday, as my kiddo likes to say! Part of me can’t believe it’s Wednesday, and then at the same time, it seems like the longest week ever. Funny how short weeks with holidays are always like that. Wacky for sure!

This week, we’re having fun designing with some of the new Online Exclusive products that launched this week. And today we’re playing with the new Spooky Sweet paper and ephemera again because I just couldn’t resist these cute critters all dressed up and ready for a good party! When I first saw the sheet of paper in the pack with all of the Halloween cuties on it, all I could think of was the song Monster Mash. And *voila* that’s how this design came to life.

We get started with a base of Highland Heather cardstock. I used another one of the 4×5 panels from another Spooky Sweet sheet as the background panel. It reminded me of a photo prop. What do you think? Next to the arches of our photo area, we adhere two of the large urns from the ephemera sheet and then place the mummy hippo in front on a layer of dimensionals. I cut two of the cute critters from Halloween cuties sheet in the pack and used multiple layers of dimensionals to adhere them in front of our hippo to give the effect of these little guys being more in front of our hippo who’s striking his best pose. To add to the festive atmosphere, we’ve hung some banners in the back and have some sparkly confetti falling. So simple but so cute!

Tomorrow we’re going to see more of the Label Me Grateful bundle. I hope you drop by and check it out!

Product List
Online Exclusives

Fairy Korn

Welcome in on this fine Tuesday! We’re enjoying a cool front here, which makes it a bit more pleasant to be outside. And anytime you can enjoy a July evening outside is a good one in Texas!

Did you get a chance to see all of the new products that dropped today? There’s a whole new batch of Stampin’ Up! Online Exclusives and 2 new kits. If you haven’t seen the new goodies yet, you should pop over to my store and take a look! This week, we’re creating designs that use some of these new products. Today, I’m showcasing the new Spooky Sweet paper pack and included ephemera. You can easily whip up adorable Halloween-themed scenes like this one.

This card gets started with a base of Basic Black cardstock. I cut one of the 4×5 cards from the Spooky Sweet scene sheet to serve as the backdrop for this scene card, and it’s matted with a piece of the pink/purple pastel ombre shimmer paper for some extra sparkly pizzazz. A handful of ephemera create our focal section, which is a combination of the cute bear dressed up as a fairy, a cauldron and bubbles, some candy corn, and a bat. Dimensionals are the key to giving lots of depth to this scene. Wink of Stella adds subtle twinkle to the fairy’s wings, crown, and scepter, as well as the cauldron bubbles. I also added some rhinestone and shimmer gems to the fairy’s crown, some clear gems to the cauldron bubbles, and finished off the night sky with a few shimmer foam stars. Easy peasy!

Tomorrow we’re headed to the monster mash. I hope you’ll drop in!

Product List
Coming Soon · Online Exclusives

Appreciated

Welcome to a bright, shiny week all full of fun and possibilities! We had a nice lowkey weekend. With things really heating up here in North Texas, there wasn’t much fun to be had outside unless you were up for frying an egg on the sidewalk! *wink*

We’re starting a new design series this week. With a whole new set of Online Exclusives dropping tomorrow, we’re going to be taking a closer look at some of the things that I just couldn’t wait to get my hands on. And first up is the Label Me Grateful bundle, which is a set of lovely scripted sentiments and a set of dies that includes a large label and accent pieces. Today, I’m pairing it up with the Timeless Plaid paper to create a nice masculine card.

We get started with a base of neutral Crumb Cake cardstock. A sheet of the green plaid paper from the Timeless Plaid pack serves as our backdrop. I used the label die from the new Label Me Grateful set to cut a piece of Cloud Cover Flower Garden foil. The sentiment from the Label Me Grateful stamp set is stamped in Secret Sea on white cardstock and then cut with the middle label die from the Mixed Labels die set using the extension method. The sentiment is adhered over a twist of the new Mossy Meadow & Gold trim using dimensionals. I cut a few sprigs of greenery and a flower from pastel ombre glimmer paper and tucked them next to the sentiment. One of the new Secret Sea charming shimmer faceted dots serves as the floral center, while gold flecked gems flank the sentiment panel on either side.

Tune in tomorrow to see what’s cooking up next. *spooky*

Products releasing tomorrow!
Label Me Grateful stamps & dies
Mossy Meadow & gold trim
Charming shimmer faceted dots

Product List
Coming Soon · Treat Boxes

Boo Box

This week’s design theme is 3D projects, and today we’re whipping up a super simple (but simply adorable) treat box using some up-and-coming Online Exclusives. The new Spooky Sweet paper pack and coordinating precut shapes are just adorable. Add a few twinkly stars and some iridescent ribbon and you have the perfect treat box for your trick-or-treaters!

Our treat box is made from Basic Black cardstock. I used two different patterns from the Spooky Sweet paper pack on the box and added a little twinkle with the glimmer paper for an extra pop on the lid. I chose some precut shapes that complimented the patterned paper and helped tell the trick-or-treating story on the lid. A few sparkly stars scattered across the lid finish things off. I found that adding a few finger notches on the sides of the lid, as well as the little tab on the front of the box really helped make the box much easier to open.

Isn’t this box the cutest?! A simple swap of paper and embellishments and you can have a cute little gift box for any occasion! Wanna try making one yourself? You can download the instructions here.

Products used in today’s project:
Basic Black cardstock
Spooky Sweet DSP & cutouts (coming July 1st)
Three color glimmer paper (retired)
Petunia Pop iridescent ribbon (coming July 1st)
Shimmer stars foam pieces (coming July 1st)
Small circle punch
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Online Exclusives · Sketchy Fridays

Sketchy Fridays: You Can!

As I mentioned in my earlier post today, my week kind-of got away from me. So we’re having our Sketchy Fridays post today instead. This week, we’re working with a nature theme and with a dreary, rainy day here in North Texas, I’m finding myself leaning into a water theme for our next card design.

For those of you who are new here, Sketchy Fridays is a weekly series where we’re using a card sketch to design our featured card. Right now, we’re working through a full series of designs using the card sketches found in current Stampin’ Up! catalogs.

This week’s card is based on Sketch #7 from the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog. Today’s design features the Otterly Adorable suite from one of the latest Stampin’ Up! Online Exclusives releases.

I just love the Otterly Adorable suite and was actually just mentioning to my husband how I hadn’t used it much. So as I was looking for a sketch, I had this set on my mind. One of the things we’ve talked about throughout our Sketchy Fridays series is that sometimes your final design follows a sketch to a tee, while other times the sketch was just your jumping off point. And I think for today’s card, my selected sketch from the SU! Annual Catalog was more of an inspiration for the placement of the card elements I had in mind. The beautiful thing about crafting is that there are NO rules!

We get started on this card with a base of Pretty Peacock cardstock. I chose the fish pattern from the Otterly Adorable paper pack as the focal panel backdrop and cut it out using the largest Textured Notes die. For the focal image, I chose the baby otter swimming with its parents because it seemed to work perfectly for the chosen sentiment of “you can do this.” I cut out the otters using the Spotlight on Nature dies. I wanted the focal image to stand out against the backdrop, so I matted it with some Pretty Peacock glimmer paper cut out with a slightly larger circle from the Spotlight on Nature die set. To add a bit more color and visual interest around the otters, I cut the smaller fish from Flirty Flamingo cardstock using the Otterly Amazing dies and then used my glue pen to adhere them. The otters are adhered to the sparkly mat with dimensionals and then adhered directly to the fishy backdrop. The sentiment from Saying Hey (currently on the Last Chance list!) is stamped in Pretty Peacock on a panel of the water paper from the Otterly Amazing paper pack that has been diecut using the Something Fancy banner die. I adhered this over a twist of some gold thread with two layers of dimensionals to be sure the sentiment really stands out. The full focal panel is adhered to the card base with dimensionals and we finish things off with a few Lost Lagoon faceted gems and riverside irregular pearls.

Next week, we’re going to look at some of my favorites that are on the Last Chance list. I hope you’ll follow along!

Product List