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.

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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Masculine Designs

Super Thankful

Welcome back and happy Monday, friends! It was a busy weekend around here with all of the kiddo’s activities — pretty fitting for Mother’s Day weekend, I suppose. He played his final band concert on Friday, had his 8th grade formal on Saturday, and we have the athletics banquet today.

Given the stormy Mother’s Day we had yesterday, I got some unexpected time to play in the craft room and whipped up this fun card to start off this week’s design theme — everything masculine. We’re pairing up the Nature Walk and Silly Old Bear papers with a few new dies and a new set of ephemera. Let’s get a closer look!

We get started with a nice neutral base of Crumb Cake cardstock. I chose three different patterns from the Nature Walk paper pack to build our backdrop. The grid pattern is cut using the new Scalloped Blooms die. Our focal image is a cute scene from the Silly Old Bear paper pack with Pooh getting a little help from Rabbit & his buddies to get out of a “tight spot.” The new Sweet Words & Labels dies coordinate perfectly with the scene sheets in this paper pack. Pooh and friends are adhered over the backdrop of the scalloped circle using dimensionals. The sentiment is from the new Saying Something ephemera pack and is adhered with dimensionals over a bow of white with gold ribbon. A few of the new shimmering dots give us a pop of color across our card front to draw the eye across the design.

This week’s masculine theme should be lots of fun. We’re going to use a few unexpected products to create a few of our designs. I hope you’ll drop in each day for inspiration!

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birthday

Birthday Friends

Howdy, friends! We’ve made it to the halfway point thru the week and will soon be on the downhill slide. As we count down the final days of junior high, our days are beginning to get really busy. This weekend is one of those on-the-go weekends with school activities spanning the weekend and into next week.

We’re continuing our celebration design series this week. And today we’re turning to birthdays. This is a super simple combo that comes together in a snap and packs a lot of punch without a lot of work. We’re letting the new Silly Old Bear paper sit front snd center.

We get started with a base of Shaded Spruce cardstock. A sheet of the neutral floral pattern from the Delicate Dreams paper pack serves as our backdrop for the focal panel. The background panel is wrapped in Shaded Spruce & Soft Sea Foam striped ribbon before it’s adhered to our card front. The focal image from the Silly Old Bear paper pack is cut out with the coordinating die from the Sweet Words & Labels set. We mat our focal image with some green Garden Textures specialty paper that is cut with one of the larger dies from the Sweet Words set. The two panels are adhered together with dimensionals and then mounted on our card front with dimensionals, as well. We tuck our sentiment from the Saying Something ephemera pack down in the corner of our focal panel and adhere it with several layers of dimensionals so it stands nice & tall above everything else. We add just a touch of twinkle with some drusy embellishments.

And just like that, you have a super cute birthday card. I hope you’ll drop by tomorrow to see what we’re celebrating next!

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Mother’s Day

Mother’s Meadow

Welcome in, friends! It’s a very exciting day here in the studio….why, you might ask? it’s new product release day! There are new kits, new Online Exclusives, a brand new catalog, and the new batch of SU! in Colors. Talk about exciting!

And we’ve got a new card in this week’s celebratory design series. It’s another tribute to mom with a special fold out in the middle! And we’re showcasing new flocked paper, new shimmer vellum, new dies, new stamps, and new ephemera on this one. It’s just a red letter day all around!

We get started with a standard base of Melon Mambo cardstock. Our front focal panel features the new Velvet Meadow flocked paper and is matted with the new pink shimmer vellum. Both are cut with the Perennial Lavender die set in nesting sizes. The panel is wrapped in Berry Burst shiny ribbon before it’s adhered to the card front with dimensionals. The sentiment from the retired Heartfelt Hellos stamp set is stamped in Melon Mambo on white before being cut out with the new Sweet Words die. The sentiment panel is adhered over the ribbon with dimensionals. I pulled a retired paper butterfly from the stash and covered it with Wink of Stella before attaching with dimensionals at the top of the sentiment panel. We add a little extra twinkle to the sentiment panel with Strawberry Slush dots—also recently retired.

The inside of the card dresses up a gift card with a coordinating pocket panel on the inside left panel. The backdrop for our gift card fold out panel is a sheet of pink Garden Foil paper. A sheet of the pink shimmer paper gives us our foldout base. And we use additional pieces of our Velvet Meadow paper to cover each panel and make the pocket for the gift card. The new Saying Something ephemera give us our sentiments for this foldout. The Heartfelt Hexagon punch makes a nice notch to make the gift card easy to slide in and out. The sentiment on the message panel is from the new Words & Wishes stamp set.

While this particular design might be a little heavy for mailing, it’s definitely perfect for surprising mom at Mother’s Day brunch! We’ve got other celebrations in store this week. I hope you’ll drop back by and check them out!

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