Fun Folds

You Make Me Smile

And just like that, we’ve made it to the weekend. Do you have things on your weekend to-do list? This weekend is all about playing catch-up for us. Lots of things to do around the house, and of course, there’s always something to do in the craft room.

This week, we’ve been working with our crafty stash to create some super fun 3D and interactive designs. Today, I’m borrowing a slide-out panel design from fellow demo Rose Coleman. I changed it up a bit by having a larger moving panel and moved the peek-a-boo sentiment to the hidden portion of the card front. Let’s take a look at how it all comes together.

Our card is built on a base of Pretty Peacock cardstock. I selected a sheet of the fish pattern from the Otterly Adorable paper pack to serve as backdrop for the card front and our hidden sentiment. A slit in this piece of patterned paper allows for the movement of the front focal panel and the reveal of our hidden sentiment. I used pieces of the Pretty Peacock cardstock for the movement pieces. The focal panel is a combination of a cute otter scene from another sheet of the Otterly Adorable paper and a mat of Pretty Peacock glimmer paper. A piece of the Pretty Peacock & gold metallic ribbon serves as the pull. The focal panel is affixed to the slide to complete the sliding panel. I broke up the sentiment stamp from the Sweet Blooms set so that each word is on a separate line so that the sentiment hides perfectly behind the front sliding panel for its big reveal. The card front is finished off with riverside pearls, shimmer gems, and heart sequins for some eye-catching twinkle. I used a Mixed Labels sentiment for the inside message and finished with piece of the fish patterned paper to tie everything together.

Here’s the card motion in action. What do you think?

We’ll be rounding our series this week with a gift set. I hope you’ll drop back by later today to check it out.

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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!

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Holidays

Love You Lots

This week, our design theme revolves around love. While love doesn’t really have a season, we do tend to focus on it a little bit more as we get into February each year. My main goal for this week’s design theme is to show you how you can use what’s in your crafting stash to make beautiful cards that really show a recipient how much you care.

Today’s card uses the current SU! Online Exclusive bundle called Otterly Adorable and it’s just as adorable as its name implies! We’re pairing up the adorable paper from the bundle with the Soft Waves embossing folder to create this design. I just love how these product pairing makes you feel like you’re by the river peeking in on these two twitterpated otters.

We get started on today’s card with a base of Lost Lagoon cardstock. The background panel consists of the Lost Lagoon base and Pretty Peacock glimmer paper, both of which have been embossed with the Soft Waves embossing folder to give the look of a moving brook. Our focal panel combines two patterns in the Otterly Adorable paper pack – the river rock and water weeds – and sits on a base of white cardstock for stability. This panel has been diecut using the Countryside Corners dies. For our scene, I started by cutting a pair of rocks from the mottled gray paper in the Otterly Adorable paper pack using the coordinating dies. I also cut some older water weeds from Crumb Cake and Pecan Pie, also using the coordinating Otterly Amazing dies. Our pair of otters is cut from the Otterly Adorable paper using the larger scene die from the set. I layered all of these elements on dimensionals to give depth to our focal scene and then mounted the full focal panel on the sparkly background with dimensionals. Some Lost Lagoon soft cording tied around the panel under the focal scene draws the eye in to both the focal scene and sentiment. The sentiment from Otterly Amazing is stamped in Pretty Peacock on white cardstock and then diecut with the smaller Countryside Corners die. A few riverside pearls and heart sequins finish off our scene and the theme of this card design.

Tomorrow we’re going to be headed to the mailbox. I hope you’ll pop in and check it out!

Products used in today’s card:
Lost Lagoon, Crumb Cake, Pecan Pie, Basic White cardstock
Three Color Glimmer, Otterly Adorable DSP
Otterly Amazing, Countryside Corners dies
Soft Waves embossing folder
Lost Lagoon soft cording
Heart sequins, riverside irregular pearls
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Coming Soon · Sketchy Fridays

Sketchy Fridays: Otterly Love

We’ve made it to another Friday, and you know what that means? It’s time for another Sketchy Fridays!

Each week we’ll be 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 #1 in the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog and features the Otterly Adorable products which will release on November 5, along with a whole bunch of other new Online Exclusives.

In all honesty, I’ve had a really hard time finding a way to use this sketch. Until today. This sketch just seems to be made for this suite! While I’m not usually one to mix a lot of busy patterns, this sketch gives you the opportunity to break up busy patterns with the offset center focal panels.

Our card starts today with a base of Lost Lagoon cardstock. I used the pond flora sheet from the Otterly Adorable paper pack as the backdrop for our two offset focal panels. The sweet scene of the mom and baby otter sit atop the rippling water pattern. The sentiment from the Otterly Amazing stamp set is stamped in Pretty Peacock on a banner diecut from white cardstock using the Greetings of the Season dies. A small bow tied from the Lost Lagoon soft cording and the riverside pearls add nice touches of soft shimmer to this cute and lovable design.

Tomorrow I hope to bring you the promised fun fold that failed earlier in the week. I hope you’ll pop in and see if I was able to pull it off!

Products used in today’s card:
Lost Lagoon, Basic White cardstock
Otterly Adorable DSP (coming soon)
Otterly Amazing stamps (coming soon)
Greetings of the Season dies
Lost Lagoon soft cording (coming soon)
Riverside irregular pearls (coming soon)
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Coming Soon

Otter Failure

This week, we’re getting a closeup at one of the latest Stampin’ Up! Online Exclusive releases called Otterly Adorable, coming to a cart near you on November 5! This adorable suite of products includes coordinating stamps, dies, and patterned paper, along with some silky cording and pearlized embellishments.

Today, I had planned to show you a super cute flip-panel design, but it turned out to be an otter failure. *snicker* In all seriousness though, my design was flawed from the start and I realized why after I switched gears to salvage the design. So I promise to make good on a cute flip-panel design later this week when I have a bit more time to execute a more complicated design. In the meantime, let’s get a closer look at how a failure turned into a cute peek-through panel.

Today’s card starts with a base of Pool Party cardstock. Our backdrop is a combination of Lost Lagoon shimmer pape (sadly retired) and the water foliage pattern from the Otterly Adorable paper pack. Using the largest circle from the Spotlight on Nature die set, I cut a circle through all layers of the card front. Separately, I also used the die to cut the two swimming otters from a separate patterned sheet from the Otterly Adorable pack. I adhered the swimming otters panel to the Pool Party circle and then to a quarter sheet of Pool Party to keep the inside of the card neat and tidy and one color. Behind our backdrop panel, I mounted some acetate to serve as the peek-through window into the water below and adhered all of this to the card front. From Flirty Flamingo, I cut several sets of the smaller fish using the Otterly Amazing dies and let them free-float on the acetate. Our swimming otter panel is adhered to the inside of the card using dimensionals to allow a little room for our fish to swim in the window. The sentiment from Country Flowers is stamped in Pretty Peacock on white cardstock diecut using the Greetings of the Season die and finished off with the Lost Lagoon soft cording. A few riverside irregular pearls add that last touch of sparkle to the design.

When I showed my son my “otter failure,” he said, “but mom, that doesn’t look like a failure….that’s cute!” One of the many lessons I’ve learned is that sometimes you just need to pivot when your first idea doesn’t work out. Not ever failure turns out to be something for the trash bin. Sometimes it’s cute!

Products used in today’s card:
Pool Party, Flirty Flamingo, Basic White cardstock
Soft Shimmer (retired), Otterly Adorable (coming soon), acetate DSP
Otterly Amazing (coming soon), Spotlight on Nature, Greetings of the Season dies
Country Flowers stamps
Lost Lagoon soft cording (coming soon)
Riverside irregular pearls (coming soon)
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Product List
Coming Soon

Make Today Otterly Amazing

In just two short weeks, Stampin’ Up! will release a brand new set of Online Exclusive products, including the too-cute-for-words Otterly Adorable suite. This week, I’m featuring this cute selection of products in hopes of providing some inspiration for your future projects. This bundle has so much potential — from playful designs to love-themed projects and all kinds of things in between!

Today, we’re using the paper and embellishments to create an encouragement card. Pairing the paper with a few dies makes this the perfect scene to bring a smile to someone’s otherwise less than bright and happy day!

Our card starts with a base of Lost Lagoon cardstock. I chose the watery pattern from the Otterly Amazing paper pack to serve as the backdrop for our scene and matted it with the Pretty Peacock shimmer paper from my retired paper stash. Our focal panel consists of two sheets of paper — the water reed patterned sheet and a cute otter sitting in the reeds from one of the sheets full of otter vignettes. I used the Spotlight on Nature dies to cut the reed background and a smaller inset panel on which our sunbathing otter sits among the reeds. I used my paper snips to cut more detail in this cute vignette and to help it stand out from the background. All of these layers are adhered with varying heights of dimensionals to give more depth and pop to our scene. A twisted some of the new Lost Lagoon soft cording around the background panel before adhering the focal panel. The sentiment from the You Are Beautiful stamp set is stamped in Pretty Peacock directly on our background panel under the focal point. A few riverside irregular pearls are scattered about our card front to add a little sheen and draw the eye across the design.

Tomorrow we’re going to make a splash with a fun fold design!

Products used in today’s card:
Lost Lagoon cardstock
Otterly Amazing (coming soon), Soft Shimmer (retired) DSP
You Are Beautiful stamps
Spotlight on Nature dies
Lost Lagoon soft cording (coming soon)
Riverside irregular pearls (coming soon)
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Product List
Coming Soon

Otterly Amazing

Happy Monday, everyone! I don’t know about you, but I needed a weekend from my weekend. *grin* Craft shows, while always fun, are always exhausting. I got everything home, but I haven’t unpacked a single thing. It’s onward and upward to new products!

That’s right, in just a few short weeks, there will be a brand new bunch of Online Exclusives. And let me tell you, there are some C-U-T-E, CUTE things in this release, including the suite that I’m showcasing for you this week — the Otterly Adorable suite. This suite includes patterned paper, coordinating stamps & dies, some specialty cording, and iridescent pearls. We’re starting off with a super simple layout.

Our card base is a piece of Pretty Peacock cardstock. Our backdrop is a piece of the patterned scene papers from the Otterly Amazing designer series paper pack that’s releasing soon. I really loved the look of the (now retired) Holographic Trio silver foil and how it looks like a flowing river, and so while I don’t usually use too many products from my retired stash, this one just had to be a part of today’s card! Our cute otter pair is diecut from a sheet of the Otterly Adorable paper using the coordinating Otterly Amazing dies. To complete the scene, I cut our otter’s log den from Crumb Cake cardstock and the rocks from Smoky Slate. Dimensionals add depth and dimension to our scene. The sentiment from the Otterly Amazing stamp set is stamped in Pretty Peacock and diecut using the Spotlight on Nature dies and then mounted over the Lost Lagoon soft cording with dimensionals. A few Riverside Irregular Pearls finish things off with some iridescent sparkle.

This whole set is so cute and I can’t wait to show you all of the ideas I have floating in my head (pun intended!)!

Products used in this card:
Pretty Peacock, Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate, Basic White cardstock
Holographic Trio (retired), Otterly Adorable (coming soon) DSP
Otterly Amazing stamps & dies (coming soon)
Spotlight on Nature dies
Lost Lagoon Soft Cording (coming soon)
Riverside Irregular Pearls (coming soon)
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Product List