Tag: SU!

Terrific Tuesdays

Better With You

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What do you like to do on rainy days? For me, it depends, but there’s nothing better than being able to spend them with my loved ones! And that’s the inspiration behind today’s card.

A quick peek through the window tells this duo that their fun has to be indoors today. So mama llama and the turtle set about their favorite rainy day activities — knitting and singing.

This card is built on a base of Lost Lagoon cardstock. The focal panel background is also Lost Lagoon. Using two nesting Deckled Rectangles dies, I fashioned the window and window frame. I used the smaller die to cut the interior of the window frame and the window panel to the card front where the raindrops are stamped and embossed with clear embossing powder for a more realistic watery shimmer. The clouds are fussy cut from the Sale-a-Bration Sunny Days designer series paper, and the lightning bolts are diecut from holographic specialty paper using the Bright Skies dies.

To make a more realistic-looking room in the foreground of our focal panel, I diecut the rug from the rainbow sheet of Sunny Days paper using the middle-sized cloud in the Bright Skies die set. Our two adorable characters are diecut directly from the Zoo Crew designer paper using the coordinating Zany Zoo dies. The table and lamp are made with a combination of the Zany Zoo and Bright Skies die sets. The lamp base is the vase from Zany Zoo, while the lampshade is the tulip from Bright Skies. And to give the lamp the look of being on, I diecut a second tulip from a sheet of vellum that I colored yellow using my Stampin’ Blends. To keep the sentiment from distracting from this adorable scene, I stamped on vellum.

Check out this week’s Terrific Tuesdays video for even more inspiration using the Bright Skies stamps and dies.

Products used in today’s featured design:
Lost Lagoon, Crumb Cake, Basic White cardstock
Sunny Days, Holographic, Zoo Crew DSP
Vellum
Bright Skies, Zany Zoo, Autumn Leaves dies
Playing in the Rain, Zany Zoo stamps
Stampin’ Blends
Clear embossing powder
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Luv 2 Stamp Artisan Design Team · Terrific Tuesdays

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

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When you’re browsing a new Stampin’ Up! catalog, do you ever think to yourself, “I know exactly what I’m going to pair with that!” As soon as I saw the Bright Skies stamps and dies, I just knew that I had to try it out with the Playing in the Rain bundle. To quote one of my favorite movies, “they’re M-F-E-O!” (MFEO = Made For Each Other … And bonus points if you can name that movie! *wink-wink*)

For today’s card, I built this adorable scene using the Bright Skies and Playing in the Rain bundles. The overall theme is “You brighten my cloudy days” and I decided to place the sentiment on the inside message panel rather than cluttering the scene on the front.

I began building the front panel scene with a base of Pool Party cardstock. Using the Playing in the Rain set, I stamped raindrops on most of the base in Versamark and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I fussy cut a variety of clouds from the Sunny Days designer paper and also stamped and diecut one cloud using the Bright Skies set. I wanted the clouds to look “rainy” but cheery too, so I balanced the grey clouds with the two Lost Lagoon. I gave them a more realistic layered feel by varying the heights of the clouds with dimensionals, which easily allowed the sun to pop out and shine in between.

I knew I wanted the cute fox to be strolling across a bridge over water, so I set about bringing that portion of this design to life. The grass and hills are cut from Old Olive cardstock. I freehanded the banks and diecut the grass strips using the Sending Love die. All of the grass elements are adhered to a strip of Lost Lagoon cardstock which is popped up on a layer of dimensionals. I added a few adhesive flowers on the grass banks for a bit of whimsy and fun. To give a more realistic shimmer to the water, I added Wink of Stella to the Lost Lagoon cardstock, and I also added water rings for the raindrops using the Pool Party Stampin’ Blends. The cute fox is stamped on white cardstock and colored with Stampin’ Blends. I diecut the fox with the coordinating Playing in the Rain die and then trimmed down the diecut image to further reduce the white edging all around. The bridge is diecut from Crumb Cake cardstock using the Playing in the Rain dies. I very lightly sponged the bridge with Crumb Cake ink to bring out the details in the bridge railing. The fox is adhered to the card base with dimensionals and the bridge is then layered on top in the same manner.

Don’t you just love it when an idea comes together even better than you imagined? I love, love, LOVE this card! It just makes me smile!

Want to see other design ideas using the Bright Skies bundle? Check out this week’s Terrific Tuesdays episode for more inspiration!

Products used in this design:
Pool Party, Crushed Curry, Lost Lagoon, Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Basic White cardstock
Sunny Days DSP
Bright Skies, Playing in the Rain stamps
Bright Skies, Playing in the Rain, Sending Love dies
Clear embossing powder
Adhesive flowers
Stampin’ Blends
Wink of Stella
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Terrific Tuesdays

Brighter Days

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This week, we’re going to explore all of the ways that we can use the Bright Skies bundle to make some wonderful cards. A lot like Sending Love, the Bright Skies bundle pairs beautifully with so many of the current Stampin’ Up!

Today’s card uses a fun mix of products. The Sunny Days designer series paper that is currently available as a Sale-a-Bration item (FREE with qualifying purchase of $50) is designed to pair perfectly with the Bright Skies stamps and dies, not to mention it’s awesome on its own!

So let’s talk more about how this card came together. I was inspired by the sheet of rainbow patterned paper in the Sunny Days paper pack, and that one sheet drove the bus on most of the design elements. Knowing that I was going to be mixing busy patterns, I decided to keep the base clean and simple with Basic White cardstock. With a rainbow theme, all of the paper selections reflect ingredients in a rainbow — clouds, rain, and sunshine.

To construct the rainbow, I diecut each color using the full set of the Everyday Essentials circle dies, along with the small circle from the Bright Skies set. After halving each circle, each layer was adhered together to complete the rainbow. The sun and clouds were diecut using dies from the Bright Skies die set. And the polka-dotted cloud is actually diecut from a sheet of the Sunny Days patterned paper. 

To add some eye relief and a visual transition between the rainbow scene up top and the bright and sunny scene down below, I used a strip of the Sunny Days paper that resembles falling rain. The adorable turtle is from the Playing in the Rain stamp and die set. He’s on his way to pick more flowers to bring sunshine to this cloudy day. The field of flowers were made using the Bright Skies dies. The little butterfly is from the Painted Lavender set and just adds the perfect touch of sunshine to “brighten” things up here.

This design is way outside my wheelhouse, but I liked the challenge of combining so many different patterns into one fun design. How do you think it turned out?

Looking for some simpler ways to use the Bright Skies bundle? Check out yesterday’s episode of Terrific Tuesdays for some great inspiration!

Products used in today’s featured design:
Basic White, Smoky Slate, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Blueberry Bushel, Gorgeous Grape cardstock
Sunny Days DSP
Bright Skies, Playing in the Rain, Painted Lavender stamps
Bright Skies, Everyday Essentials, Playing in the Rain, Painted Lavender dies
Opaque faceted gems
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Luv 2 Stamp Artisan Design Team · Terrific Tuesdays

On the Wings of Love

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Anyone happen to be a Harry Potter fan? I absolutely loved the books and have read the series multiple times. I also enjoy the movies since they’re such a great adaptation of the books, thanks to J.K. Rowling’s involvement in the films. And though it might be a little hard to see it at first, Harry Potter was the inspiration behind today’s card design with its flying envelopes, which are inspired by the infamous Howlers in the books. Remember the screamer Ron received after crashing his dad’s car into the Womping Willow? I can still hear it!

This card design sits atop a piece of Berry Burst cardstock. The mat for the main focal images is a sheet of Lighter than Air designer series paper. I really loved the bright and cheery color combo and pattern of this particular sheet and felt it gave the perfect backdrop for this card theme. Each of the envelopes is cut from a piece of Delightfully Eclectic and Bright & Beautiful designer paper. Each of these designer series paper patterns plays off one another and pops beautifully from the busy pattern of the background mat, don’t you think? Each set of vellum wings is diecut using the flower in the Bright Skies dies. 

Two of the envelopes are winging their way to their recipients while the one in the middle is so full of love that it simply burst at the seams and all of that love has come floating out. The hearts are diecut from Berry Burst cardstock using the Sending Love hearts dies. And don’t you just love the escaping heart fluttering away up in the upper corner?! The sentiment is stamped in Melon Mambo ink on vellum that has been punched using the Heartfelt Hexagon punch. By placing the sentiment on vellum it allows it to appear as though it’s floating in the scene — perfect for flying envelopes, don’t you think? I really love how the tinsel gems draw the eye diagonally across the card.

Looking for some simple ways to create fun cards with the Sending Love bundle? Check out this week’s Terrific Tuesdays episode for 3 simple designs.

Products used in today’s design:
Berry Burst, vellum cardstock
Lighter than Air, Delightfully Eclectic DSP
Sending Love, Bright Skies dies
Tinsel gems
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Terrific Tuesdays

Special Delivery

susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

I have been having so much fun this week exploring all of the fun ways that the Sending Love bundle can turn out cute cards. Simply changing a product pairing can give a totally different look and feel to this versatile stamp and die bundle. 

Today, we’re pairing Sending Love with Trucking Along and Lighter Than Air for this card. The Trucking along bundle, like Sending Love, is perfect for building scenes. I love the cheerful paper in the Lighter Than Air designer series paper pack and felt it would be perfect for making a light and bright scene of a sunny day delivery.

This card is built on a base of Pool Party cardstock. The center focal panel is matted with Coastal Cabana to draw the eye and allow the variety of colors to pop. I stamped the truck in Lost Lagoon and Pool Party and loaded the back with envelopes stamped and diecut with the Sending Love bundle. I pulled a variety of colors for the envelopes for a bit of interest and to punch up the fun. To give a sense of movement, I let the Lost Lagoon envelope spill from the back of the truck. The truck is able to stand out in this busy scene by placing it on doubled dimensionals. I wanted to keep the front sentiment simple and understated, so I stamped it on a diecut vellum banner and used rainbow dots to add punches of coordinating color to tie everything together.

Looking for more inspiration using the Sending Love stamps and dies? Check out this week’s Terrific Tuesdays episode for some quick and simple designs.

Products used in today’s featured design:
Pool Party, Coastal Cabana, Basic White, Granny Apple Green, Calypso Coral, Fresh Freesia, Melon Mambo, Blackberry Bliss, Lost Lagoon cardstock
Vellum
Lighter Than Air DSP
Sending Love, Trucking Along stamps
Sending Love, Trucking Along, Zany Zoo dies
Ribbon duo
Tinsel gems
Rainbow dots
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Terrific Tuesdays

Sending Ewe Love

susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Are you having as much fun with the Sending Love bundle as I am? This stamp and die set is so very versatile — it can stand on its own or pair beautifully with other products. Here, I’ve borrowed an adorable character from the Zoo Crew designer series paper pack to complete this cute card.

I liked the idea of playing off the postage theme, and so I incorporated the Perennial Postage dies for adding interest to the edges of my focal panel pieces. This card begins with a piece of Pretty Peacock cardstock. While a standard size, I chose to use the portrait orientation with the score mark at the top. The two-layer focal panel consists of a Lost Lagoon mat and linen pattern from the Softly Stippled designer series paper pack in the current Sale-a-Bration catalog. The mailbox and envelope are each stamped in black ink on white cardstock and then colored the mailbox with Stampin’ Blends before diecutting with the coordinating Sending Love dies. I cut the cute little lamb from a sheet of Zoo Crew designer paper and filled in a few places with Stampin’ Blends. To build the scene, I cut a strip of grass from a piece of Inked Botanicals designer paper and then a few shrubs from Lost Lagoon. Adding dimensionals behind the strip of grass gives depth to the scene. The mailbox and grass are both in the forefront of the scene. I added a few flowers diecut from Highland Heather using the Painted Lavender dies. I used a few leftover hearts from another one of this week’s cards to finish off the LOVE theme for this cute design. Don’t you just love it?!

Check out this week’s Terrific Tuesdays video for even more inspiration using the Sending Love stamps and dies.

Products used in today’s featured design:
Pretty Peacock, Lost Lagoon, Highland Heather, Melon Mambo, Basic White cardstock
Softly Stippled, Inked Botanicals, golf foil DSP
Sending Love stamps
Sending Love, Perennial Postage, Painted Lavender dies
Opaque faceted gems
Rainbow dots
Pool Party & silver twine (retired)
Stampin’ Blends
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Terrific Tuesdays

Send a Little Love

susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

This week’s posts are all about Sending Love. The Sending Love bundle by Stampin’ Up! includes a set of cling stamps and coordinating dies. This set makes terrific cards for friends and loved ones when you want to say you love them or miss them or are thinking of them. I love this bundle because it can easily be paired with other products to make super cute cards, just like this one.

For today’s card, I paired the Sending Love bundle with the Zoo Crew designer series paper. I love the entire Zany Zoo bundle, which includes stamps and dies, and am always looking for ways to bring these super cute characters into fun and playful designs. I just started layering up some of my favorite characters and that’s how this adorable card came to be.

I decided to lean into the love theme for this card, which is built on a base of Fresh Freesia. I kept the peek-through portion of the base very small because I wanted to darker shades to shine through a bit more to keep things more neutral on the recipient end of things. The image panel is matted with a combination of Melon Mambo and Blackberry Bliss and a fun pop of Pool Party in the center with the crinkle ribbon. The cute images cut from the Zoo Crew designer paper are riding on a base of white cardstock. And all but one character is on their merry way to deliver their little love notes, which have been stamped and diecut using our featured bundle. I chose to have the little rabbit in the center as the usher of the sentiment. Don’t you think it’s fitting that the smallest character brings in the “little” sentiment? *wink-wink* Since love is definitely on everyone’s mind, you can literally see it in the air with all of the diecut hearts floating about.

Check out this week’s Terrific Tuesdays video for even more inspiration using the Sending Love stamps and dies.

Products used in today’s featured design:
Fresh Freesia, Melon Mambo, Blackberry Bliss, Basic White cardstock
Zoo Crew, Gold foil, Melon Mambo soft shimmer DSP
Sending Love stamps
Sending Love, Zoo Crew dies
Pool Party crinkle ribbon
Stampin’ Blends
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Luv 2 Stamp Artisan Design Team · Terrific Tuesdays

Love From Me to You

susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

Do you ever see a stamp set and have your idea wheels immediately start turning? That’s precisely what happened to me as soon as I saw the Sending Love bundle in the January mini catalog. One of the things that I look for in a set is versatility. And while this bundle certainly lends itself easily to Valentine cards, there are a whole host of other occasions for which you can put this bundle to work. And I can’t wait for you to see all of the cute designs I’ve been able to create with this bundle!

Today’s card design revisits a favorite fun fold that I recently learned from fellow team member Patti Dolan. The Center Step fun fold is just so versatile that I find myself circling back to it often right now. I mean, look at how perfectly it shows off the Sending Love mailbox die!

So this card is built on a base of Real Red cardstock. I pulled out my Sale-a-Bration Most Adored designer series paper pack for the perfect combination of patterns for the center and side panels. I love that you have the choice between foiled and patterned designs and, while the pack also lends itself easily to Valentines, the patterns can be used for so many different occasions. I built the mailbox scene using the Sending Love dies and cardstock. These dies make it so easy to build a detailed scene in no time flat. I decided on a more traditional look for the mailbox so that the eye would be drawn to the mail bursting from the mailbox. And I especially love the one taking flight with the hearts gushing out. I used the flower die from the Bright Skies die set to make the vellum wings. Doesn’t that envelope just remind you of that being-in-love feeling?

Want to see other design ideas using the Sending Love bundle? Check out this week’s Terrific Tuesdays episode for more inspiration!

Products used in this design:
Real Red, Smoky Slate, Crumb Cake, Basic White, vellum cardstock
Most Adored, One Horse Open Sleigh, Bright & Beautiful, More Dazzle, Rose Gold DSP
Sending Love stamps
Sending Love, Bright Skies dies
Blooming Pearls
Sequins trio
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Terrific Tuesdays

You’ve Got (Love) Mail

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This week we’ll be exploring all of the fun ways that you can use the Sending Love bundle from Stampin’ Up! to make adorable cards. What I like most about this stamp and die bundle is that there are so many different ways you can it to create fun projects — whether it’s stamps and dies, just stamps, or just dies. And there are some terrific pairing possibilities with other cute Stampin’ Up bundles. So join me this week as we take a look at just a few ways that you’ll be able to use the Sending Love bundle in your craft room.

Today’s card is a nod to one of my favorite times of the day — mail time! I don’t know why, but I’ve always had a thing for knowing what’s in the mailbox. Now that I’m at home full-time, I typically hear the mailman running the route on our street and can go to the box fairly quickly after the mail has been delivered. And, naturally, I love it when there’s some special mail in the box. Do you like getting snail mail from friends or family?

Today’s card is built on a base of Pretty Peacock cardstock. A mat of Lost Lagoon serves as the base for the focal panel of this design. I began by cutting a piece of white cardstock with the Perennial Postage die and then cutting out the window using the largest rectangle in the Everyday Essentials die set. I love how these diecut two shapes work together with the theme of receiving some love in the mail. Don’t you think this panel kind-of resembles a stamp? To complete the look of the window pane, I diecut the curtains from Pool Party using the Zany Zoo dies and adhered them to the window panel to make it easier to determine placement of my stamped elements inside the window pane.

The focal panel is stamped on the inside rectangle that was cut from the white cardstock when the Everyday Essentials rectangle cut the window pane. Once proper placement of the scene was determined, I set to work stamping the mailbox using the Sending Love stamp set and used Stampin’ Blends to color the mailbox. A row of hedges was diecut from One Horse Open Sleigh designer series paper using the Sending Love die and then layered using adhesive and dimensionals. The heart is diecut from Melon Mambo using the Sending Love die and then colored using Wink of Stella for a little extra sparkle. The sentiment is stamped in Melon Mambo on white cardstock using the Sending Love stamps and then mounted on a mat of vellum that has been diecut using the Everyday Essentials dies.

To me, this is just like peeking out the window at the mailbox. Don’t you think?

Looking for some simpler ways to use the Sending Love bundle? Check out yesterday’s episode of Terrific Tuesdays for some great inspiration!

Products used in today’s featured design:
Pretty Peacock, Lost Lagoon, Pool Party, Melon Mambo, Basic White, vellum cardstock
One Horse Open Sleigh DSP
Sending Love stamps
Sending Love, Perennial Postage, Everyday Essentials, Zany Zoo dies
Iridescent discs
Stampin’ Blends
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Luv 2 Stamp Artisan Design Team · Terrific Tuesdays

Butterfly Thoughts

susanfoxbowenLeave a comment

We’re wrapping up our week of Painted Lavender designs with this stunning center step fun fold card. If you’ve been following me for a little while, you may remember that I learned this fun fold from fellow Luv 2 Stamp team member Patti Dolan.

This time, I tried a little something different with the assembly and decided to cut one solid portion for the center and narrow bottom panel, which gives you a t-shaped panel. While getting the measurements down and everything cut correctly was a little tricky, I do like the look of having that continuous panel. And speaking of tricky, can anyone spot my cutting mistake? 😉

The base of this card is a sheet of Pretty Peacock cardstock. The designer series paper is all from the Perennial Lavender pack. I chose two different patterns for both the front and inside sections of the card. The sentiment is from the Wonderful Thoughts stamp set and stamped on vellum diecut using the Autumn Leaves die. The sentiment is matted by a Blackberry Bliss circle panel diecut using the Everyday Essentials dies. The sprig of lavender on the small step up panel is cut from Lost Lagoon and Blackberry Bliss cardstock using the Painted Lavender dies. A large paper butterfly serves as the focal image on the center panel and really draws the eye down to the sentiment.

Interested in seeing all of the designs we made this week using the Painted Lavender bundle? Check out Episode 9 of Terrific Tuesdays to see them all from start to finish!

Products used in today’s design:
Pretty Peacock, Lost Lagoon, Blackberry Bliss, vellum cardstock
Perennial Lavender DSP
Wonderful Thoughts stamps
Painted Lavender, Everyday Essentials, Autumn Leaves dies
Paper butterfly accents
Opaque faceted gems
Silver trim
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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