Tag: paper crafts

Dies · Gone Fishing

Hooked on Father’s Day

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Thus far, I’ve showcased the Pansy Patch set from the new catalog. This week we’ll be taking a look at the Gone Fishing Suite. June is a busy month in our family between Father’s Day and birthdays, and this set will be perfect!

The Gone Fishing Suite includes the stamps, dies, designer paper, and the Twisted Rope 3D embossing folder. (Buy the suite here) For this design, I used the stamps, dies, and paper. I included jute ribbon in the background to give the look of netting and add a little visual interest. The center panel is popped up on dimensionals to ensure it stood out against the patterned paper, and the fishing tackle elements are also layered on dimensionals for visual interest.

I’m really loving this set so far and can’t wait to show you more designs with this suite all this week!

Products used:
Let’s Go Fishing DSP
Night of Navy cardstock
Gone Fishing stamp set
Gone Fishing dies
Adhesive-backed pearls
Dimensionals
Adhesives
Stitched Nested Labels dies (retired)
Jute ribbon (retired)

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Dies · Pansy Patch · Shop the catalog

Pansy Paper Piecing

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As promised, today’s design features the Pansy Patch dies. The focal image of this card is 100% diecut from cardstock. I wanted to create a realistic focal image and selected a pansy variety that had pink, purple, and yellow hues and used the inspiration photo to guide my color cardstock selections.

Although the paper pieces are on the larger side, the width of the detailed pieces is narrow enough to make traditional adhesive runners a less than ideal choice for adhering the layers together. In cases such as these, I turn to one of two adhesives—the fine-tip glue pen or adhesive sheets. In this case, I elected to use the glue pen and it worked beautifully!

Products Used (current):
Pansy Dies
Cardstock—Daffodil Delight
Adhesive-backed gems
Adhesive-backed pearls
Dimensionals
Adhesives

Products Used (retired):
Cardstock—Almost Amethyst, Pale Plum, Lavender Lace, Handsome Hunter, Certainly Celery
Delicate Dots DSP
Butterfly Punch
Love & Sympathy sentiment

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Pansy Patch · Shop the catalog

Patch of Pansies

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The long-awaited first batch of new SU! product arrived late this afternoon, and I’m just getting the opportunity to sit down and have a little crafting time. Knowing that I had two sympathy cards in the queue, I decided to start with the Pansy Patch stamps and dies. The stamps layer beautifully to create realistic-looking blossoms, and the dies cut snugly around each stamped image for a fussy-cut-free design. The die set also includes dies that paper piece blossoms and stems. Check back tomorrow to see the result!

Products used (current):
Pansy Patch stamps and dies
Adhesives
Dimensionals

Products used (retired):
Almost Amethyst cardstock
Delicate Dots DSP
Ribbon Originals rickrack
Stitched Nested Labels dies
Love & Sympathy sentiment

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On the way

New Designs on the Way

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Does anyone remember the Marshall’s commercial with the lady standing outside the door drumming on the window saying, “Open! Open! Open!” I’m currently awaiting my latest SU! product order and find myself checking on shipping status updates in much the same way, thinking “Just get here already!”

I have several new suites of products headed my way, including Gone Fishing and Zany Zoo, and I can’t wait to unpack them to get started on the design ideas I have rattling around in my head! With Father’s Day and several birthdays in June, I have plenty of opportunities to put ink to paper. I hope you’ll keeping fly by the nest in the next couple of days to check out the new designs as soon as they fledge!

Kits · Shop the catalog

Coordinating Products

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Stampin’ Up! offers everything you need to assemble beautiful papercraft projects. From paper to ribbon to embellishments, all items are color-coordinated and perfect for a polished project. You can shop the online catalog anytime and have supplies delivered straight to your door!

Just getting started with papercrafting and not sure where to begin? SU! offers a variety of complete kits to make getting started on a project easy. These all-in-one kits contain everything you need to complete a beautiful project, like this Bright & Beautiful Memories & More Card Pack. There are many kits to choose from, and you can shop them all by visiting the kits page.

If you would like to attend a Just Getting Started class, send me an e-mail to get on the schedule!

Inspiration

Finding Inspiration

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Every project we undertake has an underlying inspiration — a photo, a magazine article, an object, nature…the list of inspiration is endless. Personally, I find that a lot of my craft designs are inspired by nature.

I love to garden, and this time of year there is so much inspiration to be found in the garden. We really love to grow plants that attract pollinators — the bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Our year-to-year favorites are morning glories, pentas, petunias, milkweed, zinnias, alyssum, and lantana. But I think my favorite is the morning glory, and this year we added a new variety that is just so lovely in its details.

I’ve found that the stunning details in our favorite garden flowers often provide inspiration for project color palettes and focal images. And I often study our backyard garden flowers in order to create more realistic designs on my projects. I have a number of floral images in my stamp library. I especially love one called Morning by Morning by Papertrey Ink and a retired set called Touch of Ink by Stampin’ Up!.

I’m really looking forward to the arrival of a new SU! floral set in the coming weeks, and I will share some of my new designs here once it arrives. Where do you typically turn for your design inspiration?

About Me

New Adventures

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Welcome, all! I’m so glad you’ve stopped by. Some of you may know me, but I’ll start off by introducing myself. I’m Susan Fox-Bowen, an independent Stampin’ Up!® demonstrator in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I recently retired from public service in order to spend more time with my family and doing some of the things that I love, like singing, crafting, and gardening. While I am no stranger to the blogosphere or to paper crafting, I haven’t exactly been regular at either one over the last several years. But I’m jumping back in with both feet, and I would love for you to join me!

It will take me a little bit to get fully up and running here, so bear with me as I reacquaint myself with all things virtual. And I’ll be learning a whole lot of new tools and tricks of the trade, too! You’re going to see a little slice of home life and a whole lotta crafty fun on your visits, so I hope you’ll come along as we start this new adventure together.