Coming Soon · Sentiments

Make a Difference

We’re finishing out our sentiments design series with a super clean and simple design. This card combines the lovely Florals in Bloom Online Exclusive paper with the up-and-coming Label Me Grateful stamp and die bundle that will release on July 1st.

This card starts with a base of Summer Splash cardstock. A sheet of the Florals in Bloom paper serves as the backdrop for our focal panel. The sentiment from the new Label Me Grateful stamp set is stamped in Pretty Peacock on white cardstock and then diecut using the Something Fancy dies. To help the sentiment really pop against the floral background, we mat it with a panel of Summer Splash glimmer paper that’s cut with the next size die up in the Something Fancy set. We mount the sentiment panel with dimensionals over Lost Lagoon soft cording and some greenery cut from the pastel ombre glimmer paper using the Label Me Grateful detail dies. I added a diecut flower and Petunia Pop iridescent ribbon for some pops of color around the sentiment panel. We finish off with a few charming shimmer faceted dots on either side of the focal section.

I hope this week’s designs have given you a fresh look at your sentiments and how they can stand front and center as easily as they can support a focal image. Tune in next week as we work through a whole week of 3D projects and gift-giving projects.

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Products that will release on July 1:
Label Me Grateful bundle
Charming shimmer faceted dots
Petunia Pop iridescent ribbon

Sentiments · Sketchy Fridays

Sketchy Fridays: Thinking of You

Happy Sketchy Fridays on a Saturday! It was a long work day yesterday and I didn’t have any giddyup left. This week, we’re putting our sentiments center stage in our designs.

For those of you who are new here, Sketchy Fridays is a weekly series where we use a card sketch to design our featured card.

This week’s card is based on Sketch #691 from the Instagram Freshly Made Sketches crew. Today’s design features the new Sentimental Framing stamp set and Beautiful Butterflies die bundle.

We get started with a base of Strawberry Slush cardstock. The background panel of Pool Party is machine embossed with the Beautiful Butterflies embossing folder. I mounted it with the debossed side up because I really liked how this made the floral pattern of the focal strip stand out. Our focal section starts with a strip of the Florals in Bloom patterned paper that is matted with a strip of the yellow Beautiful Bokeh paper. The sentiment from Sentimental Journey takes center stage. It’s stamped in Secret Sea on white cardstock that’s been cut using the Spotlight on Nature dies. The sentiment panel is mounted on dimensionals over a twist of the iridescent striped ribbon. I added a small butterfly cut from pastel ombré glimmer paper and Secret Sea cardstock using the Beautiful Butterfly dies. It’s mounted just above the sentiment on dimensionals to draw the eye in. A few In Color flat pearls on either side of the sentiment panel finish things off.

A little later today, we’ll be wrapping up our sentiment series. And I’m going to offer you a little sneak peak at some upcoming Online Exclusives that release in just a little over a week! I hope you’ll drop back by and check it out.

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birthday · Sentiments

Birthday Backgrounds

This week, we’re having fun with sentiments. Each of our designs has the sentiment take the stage in all new ways. And today’s card is devoted to text with the combination of the More Messages and Layered Thoughts stamp sets by Stampin’ Up!

I don’t know about you, but when I see card designs that use text in new or innovative ways, I always think, “why didn’t I think of that?!” I especially love designs that create a background panel from scratch. And when I realized that the new More Messages set is actually a single image rather than separate sentiments, I knew just what I wanted to do — create a fun background panel. For me, the whimsy and fun for this design comes from the angled stamping and festive color palette.

Our card begins with a base of Summer Splash cardstock. You could also use Coastal Cabana with equal flair! The focal panel is a piece of white cardstock diecut with the Textured Notes die and then stamped with the More Messages stamp. I used a combination of Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, and Crushed Curry. The background panel is matted with a sheet of orange and pink Beautiful Bokeh paper. I wrapped some Summer Splash, Daffodil Delight, and gold ribbons around the panel toward the bottom. The sentiment from Layered Thoughts is stamped in a combination of Versamark and Crushed Curry on yellow Beautiful Bokeh paper and then heat embossed with some glitter powder. I used paper snips to cut around the sentiment, leaving a nice border for that extra pop of yellow. The sentiment is mounted over the ribbon on the focal panel with dimensionals and then the focal panel is mounted to the card base with dimensionals, as well. I finished things off with a scattering of In Color shimmer gems across the background panel and some rhinestone basic gems.

Tomorrow we’ll try our hand at a sketch and a sentiment and see where we end up. Won’t that be fun?!

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birthday · Sentiments

Birthday Cake

Welcome to the midway point of the week. Why does it always seem like the summer goes by in a flash? We’ve had a busy week this week with junior police academy going on, but the kiddo seems to be enjoying it and is learning a lot about what goes in to being a law enforcement officer. I love that he’s finding a new respect for police officers and ALL that they do behind the scenes!

This week, we’re designing our cards around sentiments. And you might be wondering why I chose this particular design theme, and I must admit it’s because I couldn’t choose a bundle or suite to feature. Lol! Seriously though, I find it challenging sometimes to use my sentiments in new or exciting ways and I always find design themes a great way to think outside the box. Today, we’re pairing up the With You in Mind stamps with the Wildflower Birthday pieces and Beautiful Bokeh paper to create this easy z-fold.

We start our card with a base of Sea Foam Green cardstock and score as usual and then score one side in half again to create our Z fold. I chose a sheet of Beautiful Bokeh that has a lot of colors from the Soft Subtles palette as my background. This sheet is cut into 2-inch strips, leaving just a little edge on all sides, and adhered to each of our panels with the inside panel having a base layer of white to which we adhere the Bokeh strip so that it peeks through to the front when the card is closed. Next up, we cut a focal panel from the blue pastel ombre glimmer paper using the Textured Notes dies. I chose a large cake and a few balloons from the Wildflower Birthday paper pack (punched from the tag sheet) as the focal images. The cake is adhered to the focal panel with dimensionals in the center toward the top of the panel. The happy birthday sentiment from With You in Mind is stamped in Versamark and Coastal Cabana on a sheet of Coastal Cabana cardstock. It’s then heat embossed with some glitter embossing powder. I cut around the sentiment with paper snips leaving a nice shaped border on all sides. The sentiment is adhered over the cake stand at the bottom of the sentiment panel on a double layer of dimensionals. I tucked the balloon strings behind the sentiment, adhering the tails with glue dots, and then popped up the balloons themselves on either side of the cake on several layers of dimensionals. The focal panel is adhered to the left panel of the card (when the card is closed), leaving the right side free-floating so that the Z fold opens cleanly. We finish things off with some In Color shimmer gems.

Tomorrow we’re making our own patterned paper to help feature our sentiment. Stop in and check it out!

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Sentiments

Joy and Laughter

This week, our designs have the sentiment taking center stage. We’re going to be working with sentiments of all shapes and sizes to keep things interesting and to show how even a small sentiment can be eye-catching. Today, we’re using both ribbon and dimension to bring the eye to our intended focal point. We’re combining a medium-sized sentiment from the Pattern of Friendship stamp set and a very busy piece of patterned paper from the Perennial Lavender paper pack to create this fun friendship card.

We get started with a base of Crumb Cake cardstock. I wanted to keep this design super simple, so we’re combining two major elements – patterned paper and a sentiment. The Perennial Lavender sheet is cut to leave a very small border around all sides of the focal panel. I tied a strip of Fresh Freesia velvet ribbon around the front panel, which will help draw the eye to the sentiment panel we will mount on top. The sentiment panel is cut from Fresh Freesia cardstock with the Sentimental Framing dies using the extension method to ensure that the panel is long enough to fit the full sentiment. The sentiment is stamped onto the panel in Fresh Freesia and Versamark and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. The panel is mounted over the velvet ribbon on the right. I colored the butterfly with Wink of Stella and added purple shimmer gems to add shimmer and draw the eye up to the sentiment panel.

Tomorrow we’re going to use a fun fold to make our sentiment the feature statement (pun intended) of the design. I hope you’ll drop by and check it out!

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Sentiments

What a Lovely Day

Happy Monday, crafty friends! We’re off to the start of a brand new week and a new design theme. This week, sentiments will be taking center stage in our designs. And today’s sentiment makes me hum a little song every time I see it. Does anyone else think of Secret Life of Pets when they hear “lovely day?” It’s a happy little earworm for me. *grin*

Today’s card combines the Splendid Autumn paper with the new Sweet Blooms dies and a recent Sale-a-Bration stamp set called Documenting the Day. I picked this set up at the tail end of SAB and hadn’t even opened it yet and decided it was perfect for the design I had in mind. I also found this to be the perfect opportunity to use one of the new In Colors that I’m having the hardest time using – Darling Duckling. This yellow-green tone goes perfectly with the Black-Eyed Susans in the paper I chose. Black-eyed Susans are some of my favorite wildflowers and never fail to make me smile when I see them. They’re just happy flowers. So when I was thinking about sentiments for this week, I thought of this paper and how perfectly it worked with the new Sweet Blooms set.

We start our card with a base of Darling Duckling. I chose the Black-Eyed Susan sheet from the Splendid Autumn paper pack as the backdrop for the sentiment. I wrapped Wild Wheat rustic striped ribbon around the bottom of the panel before adhering to the card base. I left a very small border of Darling Duckling so that it complements rather than competes with the shades of yellow in the patterned sheet. I used the Greetings of the Season banner die to create the panel for the first part of the sentiment. The sentiment from Documenting the Day is stamped in a combination of Versamark and Early Espresso inks and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. The panel is adhered directly to the focal panel in the top left corner. I stamped the word DAY on white cardstock in Versamark and then heat embossed with copper and cut out each letter with paper snips. It’s adhered with dimensionals over the ribbon in the bottom right corner of the focal panel. The word lovely is diecut from gold foil and textured gold specialty papers using the Sweet Blooms dies and then adhered above DAY with dimensionals. I added an extra layer of dimensionals to be sure lovely stood above DAY. I finished things off with a scattering of drusy embellishments.

Tune in tomorrow to see what sentiment is up next.

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