Encre, papier, ciseaux

Hummingbird

Inspiration: Hand Stamped Sentiments #338

I was going through the retiring Designer Series Paper and I found inspiration when I spotted the hummingbirds and decided I could fussy cut one so that it would drink from the flower, as per the sketch. The rest of the card followed really quickly. 

The flower was punched with a 1-1/2" circle and matted with the messy circle die from the Painted Labels dies. I also used the lacy border die from the same set to add underneath the sentiment banner. The sentiment, which is from the Perennial Birthday set, translates loosely to "May your day blooms with happiness," which pairs nicely with the flower image.

I had initially fussy cut the yellow hummingbird, but it was looking washed up against all of the backgrounds I was trying, until I realized that one of the other designs had colorful hummingbirds, which looked way better on the card. I did reuse the yellow one that was already cut up on the envelope to match. I also added a butterfly and a little bee to the card as well. 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Anniversaire vivace (Perennial Birthday)
Cardstock: Thick Very Vanilla, Blushing Bride, Terracotta Tile, Garden Green
Designer Series Paper: Mosaic Mood
Ink: Terracotta Tile
Accessories: Stitched Rectangles Dies, Vanilla Medium Envelope,
Painted Labels Dies, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

There's No Cards for That...

Inspiration: Fab Friday #188 + Card Maps April 2020

I recently shopped my stash for older Stampin' Up! stamps for a challenge with my downline. The Love is Kindness single stamp was one of the images I had put aside. I've always loved this stamp and I was happy to revisit it again. The soft colours from the Fab Friday were very inspiring. I'm not always finding it easy to work with Grapefruit Grove as it can be overpowering, but with the mix of softer pink and aquas, it looks quite pretty. 

For the sentiment, I used "There's no good cards for this," to keep going with my encouragement series. The sketch had three circles on it and I happened to receive the Painted Labels dies that day (they were out of stock when I placed my last order, so they came in later). I used the two circle dies from the set to place behind the ticket I had created out of Blushing Bride cardstock. I was wondering which ink colour to use to add my sentiment and I realized that Rococo Rose was probably a nice shade to pair with Blushing Bride, which it is. (Now, I'm curious to pair those two cardstock colours on a project.) 

The image was colored with the four main colours from the challenge, but I used other colours to add shading: Rococo Rose for Blushing Bride, Terracotta Tile for Grapefruit Grove, Tranquil Tide for Bermuda Bay and Soft Suede for shading overall. I wanted some way to embellish the tag so it wouldn't feel so plain and I added a strip of embossing in the center using the Delicate Designs embossing folder (long retired). Mini buttons were added to opposite corners and a strip of Grapefruit Grove ribbon in the center of the embossing. 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Love is Kindness, Quand les mots manquent (Genuine Gems)
Cardstock: Pool Party, Blushing Bride, Bermuda Bay, Watercolor Paper
Designer Series Paper Stack: 2018-2020 In Color
Ink: Pool Party, Blushing Bride, Rococo Rose, Grapefruit Grove, Bermuda Bay,
Soft Suede, Tranquil Tide, Terracotta Tile
Accessories: 1/2" Circle Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, White Medium Envelope,
Delicate Designs Embossing Folder, Painted Labels Dies, Aqua Painter Brush,
Grapefruit Grove 1/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Needlepoint Nook Mini Buttons

Birthday Toucan

Inspiration: Sketch Saturday #607

I loved the various layers on the sketch and the small circle focal point inspired me to pull out the Bonanza Buddies stamp set, as the birthday critters in it are relatively small. I colored the beak of the bird with the Stampin' Blends markers, I masked it and I added the balloon strings. I then stamp the balloon in three colours and punched them out with a circle punch. I added highlights using a black marker to add a bit of dimension. I used a sentiment from the same set and fussy cut it so I could layer it on the card. I also added one of the gifts with dimensionals at the bottom of the scene.

The back piece was die cut with the Stitched So Sweetly dies, which I love. The Bermuda Bay paper was matted with the Grapefruit Grove foil sheets we had during last year's SAB offering. They go so well with this suite, I keep pulling them out every time. I added a piece of white polka dot ribbon over the strip of patterned paper in the center of the card.

A matching envelope was made out of Designer Series Paper and I used another one of the Stitched So Sweetly dies for the address block.

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Bonanza Buddies
Cardstock: Whisper White, Terracotta Tile, Grapefruit Grove Foil Sheets
Designer Series Paper: Birthday Bonanza
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Grapefruit Grove, Mango Melody, Bermuda Bay, Basic Grey,
Black Tuxedo Memento
Accessories: White Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon, Envelope Punch Board, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals,
Stampin' Blends Markers, Noble Peacock Rhinestones, Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker,
Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies, Stitched Rectangles Dies

 

 

Zodiac Girl: Cancer

Inspiration: The Paper Players #488 + Colour Inkspiration #76

I had a bit of free time before going to work so I decided to do some coloring. I realized I was almost done with my Zodiac Girls series, minus Cancer, so I used her. I drew inspiration from the current Colour Inkspiration challenge for the coloring, using the Polychromos pencils and mineral spirits to blend (pourred in the alcohol ink blending pen, which is so much better than using stumps). 

The card design was inspired by the Paper Players sketch. I embossed a vanilla panel with the Modern Mosaic embossing folder, which I matted in Cherry Cobbler. I made a card base out of Pear Pizzazz cardstock and layered a piece of Pumpkin PIe cardstock, stamped with the long-retired Sanded background stamp and I embossed the Zodiac sign in Cherry Cobbler powder. I had to use alphabet dies for most of the cards since I was making them in French, but this sign is the same in French and English, so I was able to simply use the stamp from the set.

To embellish, I used Pear Pizzazz pleated satin ribbon and some red glitter enamel dots. A green metallic envelope was selected to finish off my card set.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Cancer Uptown Zodiac Girl (Stamping Bella); Sanded (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Tuxedo Black Memento, VersaMark (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Cancer Uptown Zodiac Girl Die (Stamping Bella); Stampin' Dimensionals,
Toile Tidings Glitter Enamel Dots, Pear Pizzazz Pleated Satin Ribbon, Cherry Cobbler and
Tango Tangerine Stampin' Emboss Powders, Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!);
Polychromos Pencils (Faber-Castell); A2 Fairway Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com);
Mineral Spirits (Demco); Alcohol Ink Blending Pen (Ranger)

 

Retro TV

Inspiration: ColourQ #196 + Retro Rubber challenge #133 (stamp set purchased about 4-5 years ago)

I caught Tim Holtz's latest Facebook Live and one of the techniques he shared that caught my attention was using embossing glazes on an embossed shape and then added crayon over it to show the detailing. The result was quite stunning, so I decided to give it a try with what I have on hand. I used a 3D folder, Mixed Media powder from Ranger (as I don't have any glaze yet) and the Walnut Stain crayon. It made for a very cool brick wall. 

I then looked at how I could turn this background into a card and I immediately thought of the 1950s Television dies from Hero Arts. I purchased those a while ago but hadn't yet found the proper inspiration to use them. The brick wall seemed like a good background for the TV and I looked through my encouragement stamp pile and found one that was the perfect size to fill out the screen. It reads, "The secret of life is to enjoy every moment." I paper pieced the TV, using Copper Foil Paper for the legs and screen frame, and adding Candy Dots for the buttons.

The top was too empty, so I thought I might be able to use the Mini Picture Frames from Lawn Fawn. I love those cute frames, but I will admit that even though they're called Mini, they are still too big to add as wall frames on most of the projects I've tried including them in. Here, I ended up using the inside of the frame and some leftover chipboard pieces from a recent project caught my eye, as the shape had a retro feel. The chipboard was already covered with sticky sheet, so I simply pourred navy embossing powder on it, adding a few layers, and I ended up with a frame to fill the space up. I also added a piece of striped paper at the bottom to ground the TV. The leftover pieces from the brick wall were used to decorate inside the card and the matching envelope.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Du fond du cœur (From the Heart - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: More Mustard, Real Red, Night of Navy, Crumb Cake, Copper Foil Sheets (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Crumb Cake
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Scarlet Mixed Media Powder, Walnut Stain Distress Crayon (Ranger);
A2 Oak Woodgrain Envelope (envelopes.com);
1950s Television Dies (Hero Arts); Mini Picture Frames Dies (Lawn Fawn); 
Brick & Mortar 3D Embossing Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Treillis Die,
Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder, Brights Candy Dots (Stampin' Up!);
Navy Embossing Powder (Top Boss); Chipboard (Recycled)

 

Happy Trails, Dad

Inspiration: Card Maps April 2020 + TGIF #261 (Die-cut Words)

I was looking at my printed sheet of April Card Maps sketches and the one with the bear caught my eye. I did a much-needed clean-up of my craft room today and I had put the Happy Trails papers from Simple Stories, so I remembered that the sticker sheet had a bear on it. (I ended up curing out an image from the cut-apart sheet, though, to have a bigger bear that would be sized better for the card.) Out came the paper pack again and in record time, this cute card was put together. I used my sentiment dies and added the words "Happy Father's Day". I had initially planned to put the bear on dimensional adhesive, but the words looked better when they were placed over the image, so I added the bear flat for that reason. I kept the embellishment simple with a single gold faceted gem.

The bear sticker was used on the envelope to match. 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Happy Trails (Simple Stories)
Dies: Road Border, Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn);
Mots de souhaits (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: A2 Oak Woodgrain Envelope (envelopes.com);
Gold Faceted Gems (Stampin' Up!)

 

Goodbye, Farewell...

A new Stampin' Up! catalogue is coming soon, which also means we must bid farewell to a selection of products. One that we always know ahead of time will retire are the products that are related to the In Color palette that was issued two years ago. One of my favorite thing to do when a new catalogue comes out is to spot my favorite samples in it and make a personalized version with other products I have on hand. In this case, there's a particularly lovely sample showing the 2020-2022 In Colors as a tag that caught my eye. I thought that idea would be a great way to celebrate the retiring In Colors as well. 

I kept the idea of having thin strips of cardstock and stamping designs on them in the same ink color. I changed the tag to a long tall card and I changed the florals to the fun patterns from the Praiseworthy Prose stamp set. By selecting this set, I also had a nice selection of sentiments to choose from. Here, I picked the Friendship definition. 

I then looked for dies that could house the definition and I ended up using the Stitched Labels dies (retiring). The original sample has a white label layered over another larger white label. I recycled the idea of having two layered white shapes and I used the circle from the same die set. I could have kept it entirely white, but I got the idea of sneaking a punched circle in there in Lovely Lipstick. If you look at the punched circle and the ink colour, you get a hint of the two retiring In Colors I'll miss the most. (Pineapple Punch and Grapefruit Grove are so bright, I had the hardest time using them. I love Call me Clover, but I did have a hard time incorporating it in projects.) 

The original project is very angular. I made mine asymetrical so that it would feel more dynamic, which goes well with the party streamers stamped on the panels. Because the original was a tag, there was one colour of ribbon added at the top. Since I was making a card, I was inspired to use all five ribbon colours tied directly on each strip instead. I love how it adds texture, showcases the product coordination and uses my retiring products. I also added some gems to fill in the space a bit.

The finished card measures 3" x 6". I used the long tall envelopes Stampin' Up! used to carry years ago. I only have two left, which makes me sad as I love this format.

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Prose louable (Praiseworthy Prose)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Pineapple Punch, Blueberry Bushel, Lovely Lipstick,
Call Me Clover, Grapefruit Grove
Ink: Pineapple Punch, Blueberry Bushel, Lovely Lipstick,
Call Me Clover, Grapefruit Grove
Acessories: 1#8" Pineapple Punch, Blueberry Bushel, Lovely Lipstick,
Call Me Clover and Grapefruit Grove Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Stitched Labels Dies, From My Heart Faceted Gems, White Tall Envelope,
1-1/4" Circle Punch, Handheld Punch

 

Beer Foursquare

Inspiration: ColourQ #256 + Retro Rubber challenge #133 (Tim Holtz's Beer Blueprints, purchased two years ago)

I'm crafting up a storm during the quarantine and I'm shopping my stash for inspiration. I wanted to use the Blueprints stamps from Tim Holtz and I got the idea to stamp a partial image in each windows of the Foursquare Backdrop die from Lawn Fawn. I looked at my ColourQ combo sheet for inspiration and I liked the darker, masculine combo from challenge 256. I die-cut four rectangles out of white cardstock, used a blending tool to add Distress Oxide ink on each, spritzed them with water to oxidize them inks, dried them and overstamped each image using the same Oxide ink. I then inserted my inked panels in a frame die-cut out of Cajun Craze cardstock.

I was trying to decide where to go from there to embellish the card a bit. I added a sentiment over the pretzel panel, embossing it in Rose Gold powder. Sentiment reads, "It's going to be okay, even though we don't know how just yet." On the nose, right? I then added embellishments in matching colours on each panel, and stamped a green envelope to finish the set. Makes for a nice masculine card and could easily be adapted to other occasions by changing the sentiment.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Beer Blueprint (Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous); Souhaits instantanés (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Cajun Craze, Pumpkin PIe, Thick Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Inks: Peeled Paint, Faded Jeans, Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge Distress Oxide (Ranger);
VersaMark
Accessories: Foursquare Backdrop Landscape Dies (Lawn Fawn); 
Ultra Fine Rose Gold Embossing Powder (Simon Says Stamp);
Buttons (Autumn Leaves); Corduroy Buttons, Regals Candy Dots (Stampin' Up!);
A2 Avocado Envelope (envelopes.com)

 

Gold Foil Lattice

Inspiration: Retro Rubber challenge #133 (The stamp set used was offered during the Sale-A-Bration promotion probably close to a decade ago. I shopped my stash recently and pulled out all of the stamp sets that had great encouragement sentiments to make cards to send out to friends during the self-isolation period and this set was part of the pile.)

As I was looking through my Bigz dies a few weeks ago to find one to make Easter packaging with, I found my old Lattice die and put it aside to make chipboard accents with it.

When I came back to the die, I decided I could bank on the fact I was working with a Bigz die to add sticky sheet to the chipboard before die-cutting it and then adding foil on top. I was very curious to see what the resulting piece would look like.

I do have Big Shot adhesive sheets, but I was afraid the result foiling might be uneven, so to be on the safe side, I pulled out the Sticky Pages Stampin' Up! used to sell. To give you an idea, this is basically the adhesive strip with red backing, but sold in a full 12" x 12" page. As you can image, this thing is both really sticky and also really thick, but the Bigz dies are sturdy enough to cut through. It worked like a charm. I used the Gold Star Reactive Foil from Heidi Swapp and I love that I'm finding ways to incorporate foiling in my projects without having a laminator machine. I love the resulting piece and I wanted to make sure I covered as little of it as possible.

Because I have been working on Easter projects earlier, I had the Hip Hip Hooray papers from Simple Stories lying around and while it's an Easter collection, the vast majority of the papers are very generic, so they worked very well on this card. I used the black polka dot on vanilla paper for the background and the blue-background floral pattern in the center, matted with Lovely Lipstick cardstock. I made black corners with two square punches (went old-school there!) and I also added Pear Pizzazz chevron ribbon. 

The sentiment, which reads, "You're always in my thoughts," was embossed in Crushed Curry embossing powder on vellum. I was not finding the sentiment was popping enough, though, so I added a vanilla circle underneath, to help keep the focus on the sentiment. A few enamel dots in matching colors were added and a metal brad from the Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware, which I used on a recent project and was still on my desk.

The finished card measures 5-1/4" x 5-1/4" and I made a matching square envelope with the envelope punch board using the same patterned paper. I love the gorgeous colours in these papers and how the card turned out. One more encouragement card ready to pop in the mail! 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Douces pensées (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Thick Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Lovely Lipstick, Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Hip Hip Hooray (Simple Stories)
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Crushed Curry Stampin' Emboss Powder, Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware,
Envelope Punch Board, Lattice Bigz Die, Enamel Dots, Pear Pizzazz Chevron Ribbon,
Square Punches, Chipboard (Stampin' Up!); Gold Stars Reactive Foil (Heidi Swapp);
Circle Double Stitched Dies (Art Impressions); Wonky Stitch Rectangle Stax Dies (My Favorite Things)

 

Sitting by the Fire

Inspiration: Page Maps February 2020 + Lasting Memory Layout challenge #494 (CROCUS)

Chipboard

Rust color

Oxide inks

Cabin, Candy Dots

U letter in title

Stitching, Stickers

 

I pulled the Happy Trails paper pack to make a card earlier today and one of the images of the guy eating s'mores caught my eye. I remembered I had pictures taken at the cabin of us around the firepit that would work great with this collection, so I pulled them out and made this page. Because the sketch was pretty simple, the page came together quite easily. I was trying to figure out how big the panel behind the small picture would be based on the sketch and I realized I could use a 4" x 6" die-cut for it. I liked the one with the lanters. The text at the bottom was all black, but I added a touch of colour pulling my old pastels. (Those have not been pulled out often in the last decade.) I initially only wanted to highlight the word love, but I realized it would look great with a different colour on each word.

The little guy with the s'mores was also a cut-apart, but I handcut him to turn him into a die-cut instead, keeping the block at the bottom to add the place and date. The guitar comes from the sticker sheet and softened the edge of the block a bit. I made my title using the Typo Lower Alphabet Bigz L die from Tim Holtz for Sizzix. I layered patterned paper over chipboard and inked the edge with Gathered Twigs Distress Oxide ink, using a Q-tip to get in the nooks and crannies. The rest of the title was stamped and punched with a circle punch.

The two chipboard shapes at the top of the page are leftover pieces from a card I made recently with the Lattice die. I kept the leftover chipboard pieces and here, I sponged some Distress Oxide ink on them, added a Candy Dot in matching color and glued them to the page. On the page filled with little cut-apart blocks, there's a framed stitching design that says I [Heart] the Cabin. I loved the look and since I cross stitch myself, I was really hoping to sneak it into the design, but the page was getting pretty full. As I was working on the embellishing, I spotted the Mini Embroidery Hoops Stampin' Up! used to sell. I realized I could punch the image out with a circle punch and fit it into the hoop. It looks so cute and the size is perfect! Another thing that I kept thinking about when looking at the lanterns was the raindrop epoxy shapes from a couple of years ago, as the shape from the image seemed close to the shape of the epoxy accents. I ended up adding the sparkly ones to the center of the flame and it fills the white space with shimmer and dimension. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Happy Trails (Simple Stories)
Ink: Gathered Twigs, Fossilized Amber, Stormy Sky Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Accessories: Mini Embroidery Hoops, Stampin' Dimensionals, Candy Dots,
Glitter & Clear Epoxy Shapes, 1/4" Circle Punch, Stampin' Pastels (Stampin' Up!);
Tangerine Baker's Twine (Lawn Fawn); Washi Tape (Simple Stories);
Typo Lower Alphabet Bigz L (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); InkJoy Gel Pen (PaperMate);
Shimelle Box of Crayons Enamel Dots (American Crafts)

 

At the Sands

Inspiration: Lasting Memory Layout challenge #494

C = Chipboard

R = Rhinestones

O = Orange

C = Clips

U = Uniball pen

S = Surfboards

I was looking forward to using the gorgeous Surfboard collection from Prima. I love the sherbet colours and the holographic accents. I went back to pictures from our 2017 trip to Wasaga Beach for pictures that would fit the theme. This layout shows the place which we rented during our stay. It was nothing luxurious but we had direct access to a private beach. 

I was looking in a box to find metal wire to try my hand at bead wrapping and I found some old embellishments in there as well. I used the half-circle brads on my circle picture, the decorative fasteners and crystal hexagon at the left of the first page, a mini kraft envelope for the journaling and some old paper clips on both pages. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Bazill
Patterned Papers, Chipboard, Flowers: Surfboard (Prima)
Specialty Paper: Holo Waves (Tonic)
Dies: Circle Double Stitching (Art Impressions)
Accessories: Say It in Crystals (Prima), Deorative Staple Bars (EK Success);
Paper Bag and Insert (Paper Reflections); Beads (DMC);
Eyelets, Stampin' Dimensionals, Peach Seam Binding, Clear Faceted Gems,
Silver Metallic Thread, Pool Party Stampin' Emboss Powder, Jumbo Rhinestones (Stampin' Up!)
Dew Drops (The Robin's Nest); Paper Clips (Unknown); Gel Pen (Uniball)

 

Encouraging Thoughts

Inspiration: In(k)spire Me #419

This is another card that was born of my playtime after watching a Facebook Live from Tim Holtz. He was showing how to do a resist technique using rub-ons and sprays. As luck would have it, I looked in a box of old supplies this week to find older stamps to use for my team challenge and in this box, I also found some rub-ons, which I had pulled out to give to my niece. (She's home and bored, so I'm trying to send her craft supplies and projects to try and alleviate the confinement.) 

Using watercolor paper, I made a collage of rub-on images on the top part of my cardstock, then I spritzed it with Picked Raspberry, Twisted Citron, Squeezed Lemonade and Tumbled Glass. On the bottom part, I added the Wander & Find stencil, which has a nice foliage pattern to is, and I spritzed some Brushed Pewter Mica Spray on there, over the Oxide colours.

During yesterday's crafty playtime, I had experimented with making sequin clusters. One of the two I had left was the exact size of the big flower center and the sequin colours happened to match the background colours, so I added that to the flower. Initially, I had done al long panel, thinking I'd cut the bottom out and keep it to either embellish the inside of the card and envelope or to use for something else, but I decided it would be nice to make a long tall card, so using the colours from the challenge, I cut cardstock to mat my panel and added it to a Rococo Rose card base. (I was happy to see this colour added to a challenge, as I've barely used it since it came out.) The Pear Pizzazz cardstock seemed too bare, so I used the Timeless Textures to grunge it up a bit.

I looked through my encouragement sentiments and pulled "Just a Word of Encouragement," which I embossed it Copper powder on Grapefruit Grove cardstock (love the look of those two hues together) and cut the end at an angle. I had a bit of loose powder that had created smears on the end, so I got the idea to wrap the edge in copper washi tape, which added a really cool element. I added the sentiment strip with dimensional adhesive. I finished the card off with a few more sequins here and there.

For the envelope, I found something of the right size in my stash, so I used the same stamps and rub-ons to make it match. The finished card measures 4" x 7-3/4".

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Gentil remontant (Lift Me Up), Timeless Textures (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Rococo Rose, Pear Pizzazz, Grapefruit Grove
Ink: VersaMark, Pear Pizzazz
Distress Oxide Sprays: Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron, Picked Raspberry,
Tumbled Glass (Ranger)
Distress Mica Spray: Brushed Pewter (Ranger)
Accessories: Love & Happiness Rub-Ons, Stampin' Dimensionals, Copper Washi Tape,
Heart Pinking Edge Border Punch, White Envelope, Assorted Sequins,
Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder (Stampin' Up!); Wander & Find Stencil (Carta Bella);
Satin White Sequins (Little Things from Lucy's Cards)

 

Mom's Secret Ingredient

Inspiration: Card Maps April 2020 sketch

I was in the mood to stamp today but had limited time so I decided to reach for a Queen & Co shaker kit to give me a jump start. I picked the Mom Shaped Shaker Kit since Mother's Day is coming up. This time, I chose the apron, which I hadn't use on a project yet. I've made a layout with the St. Patrick's Day papers from Simple Stories last weekend and I had kept the remnants close so that I could make a card. They are not heavily themed so aside from a tiny clover pattern, the rest is very generic and the soft Spring-colored florals were perfect for a Mother's Day card.

I was quickly inspired by a Card Maps sketch where the tag looked a lot like the apron shape. I picked a stamp from the same kit and was planning on stamping it on the circle but it was just a tad too side, so I went for a strip of soft pink cardstock instead. As I was die-cutting some pink paper to make my ric rac border, I remembered I had some Mint Macaron lace trim that might work well, so I layered it underneath the ric rac for added texture. The apron shaker was filled with cream sequins and Ombre Pearlies (pink, blue and navy). I used the floral pattern for the outside of the apron, but the top was getting lost against my background paper, so I die-cut the top of the apron out of my pink paper and pieced the top. I then added Midnight Black gems to the two sides, like buttons, and a bigger gem to the center of the flower on the pocket. 

I realized the small flowers from the Surfboard collection by Prima were the perfect colours, so I added a couple to the card. I picked a Nautical Blue envelope, added pink ric rac to the bottom and a Pool Party scalloped rectangle for the address block. 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps, Dies and Shaker Supplies: Mom Shaped Shaker Kit (Queen & Co)
Patterned Papers: St. Patrick's Day (Simple Stories)
Cardstock: Pink (Bazzill)
Ink: Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Ombre Pearlies (Queen & Co); A2 Linen Nautical Blue Envelope (envelopes.com);
Midnight Black Gems (Pretty Pink Posh); Dotted Scalloped Rectangles (Elizabeth Craft Designs);
Stitched Ric Rac Die-namics (My Favorite Things); Wave Crest - Surfboard Flowers (Prima);
Circle Double Stitched Dies (Art Impressions); Dotted Rectangle Dies (Lawn Fawn);
Vanilla Cream Sequins (Little Things from Lucy's Cards); Mint Macaron Lace Trim (Stampin' Up!)

 

Toupee

Inspiration: Page Maps April 2020  + Lasting Memory Layout challenge #493 (TULIP)

T = Texture (stitching), T as first letter of title

U = Uniball Pen

L = Layers

I = Ink, "Irish" on die-cut

P = Pink, Patterned papers

I have a pile of pictures I'd like to scrapbook next that I've put aside. I picked the first ones on the pile tonight and went looking through my Simple Stories papers for something that would jump out at me. I found the St. Patrick's Day collection, which as nothing to do with the story behind my pictures but because most of the papers are not heavily themed, I knew they would work. I was also loving the soft Spring colours to go with the baby pictures.

My first-born niece has red hair just like I do. I was really curious to know what she would look like once her hair would grow out, so I used my own hair to place it on her head, which ended up looking like a really bad toupee. We had a good laugh over it but poor Megan was feeling something tickling her forehead and I don't think she was enjoying this as much as I was.

Because of the red hair, I did include the "Irish for a day" die-cut in there. I used a circle die on one of the 4" x 6" die-cuts to create the title block and I stamped my title using two small alphabet sets. The flowers in the top corner were hand-cut from another one of the die-cuts, and I cut a strip out of another die-cut to keep the row of clovers and heart placed at the bottom. 

I recently reorganized my chipboard pieces and I had put aside this scalloped border so that I could work it into a layout. I covered it with pink embossing powder and stitched it in place with white floss. I love the pop of colour and dimension it added to the page. On the other side, I traced a large circle and added hand stitching using the same white floss, and this became a template to incorporate my journaling on the layout in a unique fashion. Gems and embellishments were added around various elements of the page, and I added a touch of Glitter Gloss on some of the elements. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Birdie Brown Alphabet & Numbers (My Favorite Things);
Brushwork Alphabet (Stampin' Up!)
 Ink: Strawberry Slush, Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: St. Patrick's Day (Simple Stories)
Dies: Circle Double Stitched (Art Impressions)
Accessories: White Needlework Floss (DMC); Melon Mambo Stampin' Emboss Powder,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Stapler (Stampin' Up!); Deco Scissors (Fiskar);
Gems (Studio Katia, Pretty Pink Posh); Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo);
Sweet & Tart Heart Sprinkle (Trinity Stamps)

 

It'll Get Better

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #535 + Color Throwdown #589

I'm not usually big into black and white with a splash of colour creations, but because I have a ton of leftover Golden Honey DSP from this past Sale-A-Bration, I thought it would be a good way to put it to use. I've also been playing with my downline, issuing different challenges to keep us all busy during this confinement period, and my last challenge to them was to dig out an older set. I've done it recently, putting aside encouragement sentiments that I could work into cards that I'll send out to friends and loved ones. Many years ago, we had the From the Heart stamp set, with a sentiment that was translated in French to something like "They say it'll pass, but they never say when." This one always puzzled me. I wasn't sure if it was actually encouraging or just plain old depressing. Right now, this couldn't ring more true. We know the pandemic will end at some point, but nobody can quite predict when exactly.

I colored the little flowers on the patterned paper with my Real Red Stampin' Write marker. I initially wanted to use the Stampin' Blends, but after coloring a few flowers, I could see the ink was bleeding really bad on the paper, so I switched to the Stampin' Write marker instead, with much better results. After layering my pieces and adding the gold ribbon, I still felt the card was a little too bare so I pulled out an older border punch and looked for floss to stitch on it. I found some red metallic floss that was perfect, and I finished the card off with a few faceted gems from the current minicatalogue.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Du fond du coeur
Cardstock: Real Red, Basic Black, Basic Grey
Specialty Designer Series Paper: Golden Honey
Ink: VersaMark, Real Red
Accessories: From My Heart Faceted Gems, Lacy Ribbon Border Punch,
White Medium Envelope, 1/8" Gold Ribbon, Real Red Stampin' Write Marker,
Black Stampin' Dimensionals, Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, 
Labels Collection Dies, Stitched Rectangles Dies, White Gel Pen,
Red Metallic Floss (DMC) 

 

Vintage Missing You Note

Inspiration: SUO challenge #247 (Embossing)

Self-isolation provides for a lot of crafting time, so I decided to write a note to my downline members on our Facebook group and challenge them to pull out their Designer Series Paper and share a project made with it. They get bonus points if they dig further in their stash and pull out older papers. I've been trying to do the same and use this self-isolation period to shop my stash and rediscover hidden treasures. I went looking through old patterned papers, put a few collections aside, but eventually ended up picking Attic Boutique. This is different from what I normally gravitate towards, which is cutesy and adorable. This is diametrically opposed, with its vintage shabby chic look. I will say this: I don't dislike vintage designs, I just usually have trouble using them since they don't go with my stamps and such. On the rare occasions when I conquer the style, I'm pretty pleased with myself, though. This is one of those instances.

I have done the YouTube rabbit holes quite a few times since we've been cooped up and watching talented crafters share their projects and ideas have inspired me some new ideas. The decorated accordeon was one of them, shared as a way to use paper scraps. Isn't it a great look? I also incorporated the Attic Boutique die-cuts and chipboard pieces. My chipboard pieces from Stampin' Up! were kept in their original sheets and stored with the patterned papers. I decided to make room in my paper holders and put all of the remaining loose pieces in a box instead. I'm hoping I'll use them more this way, and I was surprised at how many pieces I had left - a full box! I picked a tag shape and painted it with Champagne Mist glimmer paint.

Because the paper has a vanilla base, I was inspired to pull out my old Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware kit, which I'm trying to finish up already. I also found a little embellishment I had made out of paper clay a long time ago. I was testing out how it would look if I rolled a piece and stamped on it. As you can see, it makes a great crest. This is the first time I manage to work it into a project. I also found the Butterfly Elements from a few Sale-A-Brations ago. I put VersaMark on the lower half and dipped it in gold embossing powder. I keep seeing Thickers and chipboard elements with a gold lower half, so I'm trying to make my own embellishments inspired by this trend.

Because a lot of people are finding having to stay home challenging, I'm hoping to find time to send out greeting cards. With that in mind, I went through my stamps and pulled everything that had sentiments about encouragement, support or thinking of you. This one reads "I miss you" and is from the SAB stamp set with the rooster offered a few years ago. I loved the font to go with my paper, but the size was just a wee bit too large for the metal frame, so I simply it used the frame empty as an embellishment under the accordeon. The sentiment was stamped in Soft Suede ink in the corner of the patterned paper, and the wooden butterfly was added on the flower in the opposite corner. I used the long-retired distressing tool around the edges of the patterned paper before adding it to the card. 

Because the accordeon was thick, I made an oversize envelope using Designer Series Paper and the envelope punch board. I used a die-cut from the collection for the address block.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Coq en pâte (Home to Roost)
Cardstock: Poppy Parade
Designer Series Paper and Die-Cuts: Attic Boutique
Ink: Soft Suede
Accessories: Champagne Mist Glimmer Paint, Simply Scored Tool, 
Hodgepodge Hardware, Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, Butterfly Elements,
Envelope Punch Board, Stampin' Dimensionals, Paper Clay, Lace Border Punch,
Share What You Love Artisan Pearls, Daffodil Delight Seam Binding,
Distressing Tool

 

Homebound

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Monday (E is for Encouragement) + Hand Stamped Sentiments #336

It dawned on me recently that the Build-A-House dies from Lawn Fawn would make for a great confinement card, so I had made a mental note to put together a card as soon as I could find a minute. I got the Easter crafting out of the way first and I was finally able to put my idea ot cardstock today. I picked the colours from the Hand Stamped Sentiments to prepare my house and I added the little kids from the Tiny Christmas stamp set peeking through the windows. I also have a brick wall stencil in the Pattern Party Decorative Masks set from Stampin' Up! that was the right scale to use on the house before putting it together.

I used a cloud stencil and Distress Oxide inks to put together the sky, It wasn't coming out exactly like I wanted but once I started layering everything, what was showing looked good enough to use. I looked through my dies to see what I could use to complete the scene. I pulled out the Leafy Tree Backdrop, which I used on grey woodgrain cardstock, for the forefront. I used the Village Border to create a neightbourhood in the backdrop, the Grassy Border for the ground and I found a little road I had previously die-cut with the Road Border dies but now used, to make a path to the house. I use the Speech Bubbles to add my sentiment.

I knew when I started the card I wanted to use the "Hang on" sentiment. I've recently had a Zoom call with past colleagues and one of them, who is retired, admitted that he thought we were lucky to have work to keep us distracted during this isolation period. Being retired, a lot of what usually occupies his days is not currently available (ski, traveling, golf). He loves gardening but it's too early for that, so I think he finds himself a bit bored. I asked a common friend for his mailing address and I'll pop this card in the mail for him. I hope this can brighten up his day a bit.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Là pour toi (Stampin' Up!); Tiny Christmas (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Certainly Celery,
Basic Grey (Stampin' Up!); Woodgrain in Neutrals (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Pool Party, Poppy Parade Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!);
Evergreen Boughm Iced Spruce, Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Dies: Speech Bubbles, Build-A-House, Grassy Border, Village Border, Stitched Trails,
Leafy Tree Backdrop: Portrait (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Pattern Party Decorative Masks, Adhesive Foam Strips, Artisan Pearls (Stampin' Up!);
Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studios); Glossy Accents (Ranger);
Mini Cloud Stencil (My Favorite Things); A2 Seafoam Envelope (envelopes.com)

 

Everything Will Be Alright

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #534

Quite a while ago, I put the PMSabella stamp in my pile of stuff I wanted to use on a project. Tonight, I pulled the bin to select what I would work on next and it dawned on me that this image worked very well in our current context: at home, wearing sweats, eating goodies while binge-watching TV... Sounds familiar? These days, I like to make encouragement cards that I can send out to loved ones to cheer them up, so to pair with the image, I used a sentimen that reads, "Everything will be alright." This dates back to quite a few years ago and I'm pretty sure I've never used this stamp before, but right now, this couldn't be more bang on.

Last weekend, I've challenged my downline members to shop their DSP stash and share new creations made with older papers. I've done the same and I'm rediscovering past DSP, in this case the Birthday Bash collection. I was surprised to see that I've already used most of the pack, so if I keep this one close by, I might be able to make a couple more projects with it and finish the pack entirely. 

The sentiment was embossed in Calypso Coral powder on Night of Navy cardstock, and I used the same powder on a navy envelope to finish the set. It's too bad Stamping Bella has abandoned their original Bellas images. I know they have revisited the Bella series a few years ago with a new look, but it didn't appeal to me as much as the old-school ones did. I think the images have aged well and I still find them really cute and full of personality.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: PMSabella (Stamping Bella); T-shirt Design (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Night of Navy, Gold Foil (Stampin' Up!)
Specialty Designer Series Paper: Birthday Bash
Ink: VersaMark, Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Dotted Rectangles Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn);
Stitched Ric Rac Die-namics (My Favorite Things); March Crystals (Studio Katia);
A2 Linen Nautical Blue Envelope (envelopes.com); Labels 15 Nestabilities Dies (Spellbinders);
Bonanza Sequins, Stampin' Dimensionals, Calypso Coral Stampin' Emboss Powder,
Stampin' Blends Markers (Stampin' Up!); Markers (Copic)

 

Ice Cream

Inspiration: Page Maps April 2020 + Lasing Memory Layout #492 (FLOWER)

F = Five bubbles

L = Layers

O = "O" letter in title

W = White background

E = Echo Park patterned papers

R = Rosette

I have a few papers from the Good Day Sunshine collection from Echo Park that I had yet to use so I looked through my summer pictures and when I found the one taken at the ice cream place in my home town, inspiration struck. My hometown is really small (around 2,500 souls) and activities there are limited, which makes the Crème Molle a prime pit stop during summertime. 

I used white Bazzill as my base and I spritzed Squeezed Lemonade Distress Oxide spray through the Halftone stencil from Altenew in the left corner. On the right side, I layered three papers: the pink polka dots, the border strips paper from which I cut out the frozen treats strip, and the green paper, which I used the scalloped border from the Seasonal Layers dies on. This is my favorite die from the set, as I love the large scallops, especially on pages, as I like the scale. 

I picked the ice cream image from the cut-apart page and made it the title block as per the sketch. The first word was cut out with the Alisha Lower Alphabet dies from Echo Park (one of my favorite akphabet dies) and I glued the letters to the bottom of the cut-apart, which I mounted on dimensional adhesive. I reproduced the bunting from the sketch using yellow baker's twine and one of the oldest dies in my collection, which has three little tags on it. I cut out Poppy Parade and Pool Party cardstock and alternated the colours and shapes on the twine. I then used the Mini Alpha Cuts stamp set and matching die from The Stamp Market to make small letters to add to it for my second word. The longer tags felt empty, so I added sequins and gems in matching shades on them.

I had another summer collection out to play with (Summer Dreams from Echo Park) and thought some of the chipboard pieces might fit, so I used the bubble wand and the Sweet on Summer banner over the stenciled area. To go with the bubble wand, I added Iridescent Bubbles from Studio Katia around it.

For the embellishments on the sketch, I used a paper argyle button I have recently made (the supplies were out and I made a few buttons and flowers in advance) and I made a rosette using thin vellum, another piece of chipboard from the same set and two punched circles. I used my glue gun to secure everything together. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Mini Alpha Cuts (The Stamp Market)
Cardstock: Avalanche (Bazzill); Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Good Day Sunshine (Echo Park)
Dies: Alisha Lower Alphabet (Echo Park); Mini Tags (Provo Craft);
Mini Alpha Grid (The Stamp Market)
Accessories: Squeezed Lemonade Distress Oxide Spray (Ranger); Halftone Stencil (Altenew);
Yellow Baker's Twine (We R Memory Keepers); Summer Dreams Chipboard (Echo Park);
Stampin' Dimensionals, Paper Argyle, Button Mold, 1-1/2" Circle Punch, Sequins,
Scalloped Circle Punch (Stampin' Up!); Iridescent Bubbles, July Crystals (Studio Katia);
Navy Journaling Pen (Pigma Micron); Iridescent Mini Star Confetti (Pretty Pink Posh)

 

Oddball Alice

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #528 + Little Red Wagon #544 (mix products from various companies)

This card was a long time coming. I colored this image back sometime around the holidays or mid-January and it's been set aside since, waiting to be transformed into a card. I will usually pull out patterned papers or a color combo before I color an image, but this time, I just went where inspiration took me. Afterwards, I found some Graphic 45 papers from a collection called Halloween in Wonderland. A couple of the pages are Halloween-themed, but the rest is more generic and so I had put those aside to go with the colored image. Can't say why the supplies yet still remained there for so long before I finally did something with it, but tonight was the night.

While this imposed hibernation period we're going through has its challenge, I will admit that being a real homebody, it doesn't change my personal routine as much as it does for others. I'm looking at it as a lot of time that can be dedicated to crafting. I also see it as a good occasion to push the pause button on buying craft supplies. I know a lot of stores are still shipping, but I have to admit I have felt a little overwhelmed by my craft stash in the past. A lot of time is spent managing it, so I'm curious to see how much how a dent I can make in it, so that is where my focus is going right now.

I layered a few papers from the collection and I used a scrap from a Echo Park paper used earlier today on a scrapbook page, that happened to match my coloring of the little tag on the bottle and also brightened up the card a bit. I added a Champagne glimmer paper folk heart underneath and a few enamel dots. I finished it off with a ribbon bow.

I should mention the Oddball image was pretty big, so I went up a size with my card base, making it 4-1/2" x 6". Hence, the handmade envelope to go with it, using the same paper collection for it. The sentiment reads, "Here's a little something..."

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Oddball Alice in Wonderland (Stamping Bella); Pensées pour toi (Sending You Thoughts - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Fresh Fig, Crumb Cake, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Fresh Fig, Pretty Peacock (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Halloween in Wonderland (Graphic 45)
Accessories: Pencils (Prismacolor); Grape Crush Enamel Dots (Your Next Stamp);
Bundle of Joy Enamel Dots (Echo Park); Old Olive Scallop Dots Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Champagne Glimmer Paper, Envelope Punch Board, Stitched So Sweetly Dies (Stampin' Up!);
Folk Hearts Dies (Essentials by Ellen); Stitched Ric Rac Die-namics (My Favorite Things)

 

Easter Critters

I have been putting together every single critter huggers with my niece since the dies started coming out and we've both really enjoying them. I thought we'd be putting together the Spring Critter Huggers this Spring but the coronavirus put a wrench in this plan. I know the girls are getting cabin fever and my sister is running out of ideas to keep them entertain, so this weekend I made the duck and bunny to give to my nieces for Easter and I made sure to cut everything in double so I could give the supplies to Megan for her to have something to put together. It won't fill a whole day and I don't think it will be the same as her getting a whole afternoon at my place crafting with me, but I think she'll be happy that I thought about her. We FaceTime'd yesterday and she was asking if I was coming over this weekend. It was sad to have her mom explain again why I can't. I'm sure it's an all-too-familiar scenario to a lot of families out there. I'm just trying to find other ways to show up for them.

For the duck, I used the Mini Easter Eggs dies to give him something to hold and for the bunny, I used the carrot from the Stitched Garden Border, which is just the right size! I also used Gotta Have Gingham paper for the ear, tail and the top of the carrot.

 

 

Supplies
Dies: Spring Critter Huggers, Mini Easter Eggs, Stitched Garden Border (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Dusty Durango, Basic Black, Powder Pink,
Berry Burst (Stampin' Up!); Fog (Lawn Fawn)
Glimmer Paper: Myths & Magic (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Gotta Have Gingham (Lawn Fawn)

 

Easter Basket

Inspiration: Global Design Project #235 (Easter)

I wanted to give chocolate eggs to my nieces and I initially wanted to use the mini-egg cartons I got from Stampin' Up! a few years ago. Unfortunately, the Kinder eggs are slightly too big to fit in it, so I looked through my packaging dies to find something else. When I found the Berry Basket die, I knew it would be fast and cute, so I paired it with the Hip Hip Hooray collection from Simple Stories and I added a handle using the Tasteful Trims die. The backside of the gingham paper had cut-aparts, so it made for a strange look, so I die-cut a second rickrack piece and glued to back to back with the first so that I would have gingham on both sides. I've purchased flowers from the Prima Surfboard collection which were the perfect shades to go with the Simple Stories collection, so I used my glue gun to add a few flowers to the handle. (Glue dots would have worked but I've noticed my nieces tend to play with the boxes I give them, so I'm trying to make them as sturdy as possible.) I had yellow twine that I was trying to work in the design, but it was not looking great on the handle, so I decided to tie bows on all four corners instead. Again, because I was worried the bows would come undone when handled by little hands, I added a dab of hot glue on each one, hoping this will prevent them from coming undone. 

The basket felt a little empty and I didn't want the eggs to move around too much, so I looked around for tissue paper and I found some clear packaging with white chevron on it. I thought it would look cute, so I cut a piece down to size and placed it inside the basket to fill it out a little. 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Hip Hip Hooray (Simple Stories)
Flowers: Big Waves, Wave Crest - Surfboard Collection (Prima)
Dies: Berry Basket Bigz L Die, Tasteful Trims Bigz XL Die (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Mini Stapler, So Saffron Baker's Twine (Stampin' Up!);
Chevron Clear Packaing (Upcycled)

 

The Best is Yet to Come

Inspiration: Sunday Stamps #288

Seems like encouragement cards are appropriate these days, so I picked a card from the Tropical Oasis Memories and More Card Pack that says "The best is yet to come" and I die-cut it using the Layering Ovals dies. I matted the back with gold glimmer paper. I cut a piece of the cute vintage car patterned paper from the Tropical Oasis DSP pack and I cut a strip off at an angle just like on the sketch. I added braided burlap trim in between the two pieces. Since the Memories and More pack includes stickers, I added a couple of flowers around my card and a Tropical Oasis trinket as well. I used a second card as the envelope block on the envelope. This was super quick and easy, yet still very cute.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Cardstock: Soft Seafoam, Gold Glimmer Paper
Designer Series Paper and Memories & More Card Pack: Tropical Oasis
Accessories: Braided Burlap Trim, Tropical Oasis Trinkets, 
Layering Ovals Dies, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stitched Rectangles Dies

 

Let It Snow Mini Album

Inspiration: Crate Paper YouTube tutorial

I have been watching a lot of YouTube videos lately to try and find inspiration for new projects. I've shared earlier the mini fan-in-a-box album I've put together after finding a tutorial on the Crate Paper channel and that led me a down a rabbit hole of many mini-albums videos that were all more fantastic than the next. I immediately moved on to making another one based on their Merry Days album tutorial. I quickly decided to use the Snowflake collection from Crate Paper not only because it's gorgeous but also because I was so enamored with this collection that I purchased most of the elements from it. I knew that would make embellishing the album fast and easy.

While the former mini-album was put together in an evening, this one was put together over the course of almost a full week. And I will say that I stayed really close to the original. The tutorial only shows how to put together the first couple of elements and then the other are variation of the same idea, so they flip through the album but don't necessarily show the steps. I stopped the videos are various intervals and built similar pages based on what I had from the collection and in my stash, but it was heavily inspired by what was shown. It was my first no-binding mini-album so I preferred to stick to what was being shown to get the hang of it and then I can take more liberties in future projects.

Speaking of liberties, I only realized after I started putting together my binding with paper that their are using fabric for the cover of the album on the video. And I soon found out why - the paper is thick and makes the album cover stick out! Maybe if you are using lighter weight patterned paper, it would fare better, but then again, you do want your cover to remain nice after being handled repeatedly. Because I figured out the cover was really stiff as I was starting to assemble it, it gave me time to add two pieces of ribbon inside the cover before I added the lining so that I can tie the ribbon shut.

The only thing I haven't made yet are inserts for the pockets. I guess I can figure those out when I'll be adding pictures to the album. Because the collection is winter-themed, I think it opens the door for the Holidays or something more general. I'm not sure what I'll put in there and if I'll keep it or give it away. I might be getting a jump on my gifts for this upcoming Christmas. This could be something that my parents would enjoy if I filled it with family pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Saisons colorées (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Vellum, Sage Shadow (Stampin' Up!); Burnished Rose Mirror Card (Tonic);
Burgundy (Bazzill)
Patterned Papers, Puffy Stickers, Stickers, Layered Tags,
Washi Tape, Ephemera Pieces: Snowflake (Crate Paper)
Punches: Hole Reinforcer (We R Memory Keepers)
Dies: Alphanumeric Label (Tim Holtz for Sizzix);
Stitched So Sweetly, Doily Builder Thinlits, Stitched Nested Labels,
Blizzard Thinlits (Stampin' Up!);
Reverse Stitched Scalloped Circle Windows, Road Border (Lawn Fawn) 
Embossing Folders: Large Polka Dots, Scripty 3D, Northern Flurry (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Gold-Foiled Tag, Stampin' Dimensionals, brads, eyelets,
Share What You Love Artisan Pearls, Pearl Basic Jewels, Faceted Dots,
Brightly Gleaming Foil Elements, Pearlized Doilies, Clear Chunky Glitter (Stampin' Up!);
Enamel Dots (Simple Stories); Buttons (Autumn Leaves);
Copper Paperclips (Office Supplies); Sugar Plum Flairs (My Mind's Eye);
Metal Holder (Making Memories); Wooden Button (Unknown);
Circle Template (Coluzzle); Sweet & Tart Heart Sprinkles (Trinity Stamps);
Warm Golden Glow Sequins (Little Things from Lucy's Cards) 
Ribbons: Powder PInk Shimmer Ribbon, Real Red Curly Ribbon,
Silver Tinsel Cord, Merry Merlot and Copper Reversible Ribbon,
Delightful Dijon Mini Striped Ribbon (Stampin' Up!)

 

Millenium Overlook Park

Inspiration: Lasting Memories Layout challenge #491 (SPRING wordplay) + February 2020 Page Maps sketch

S = Star, Sunglasses, Stamps

P = Pastels, Polka dots

R = Rhinestones, Rickrack

I = Ink

N = Nautical, North

G = Glisten Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush

 

I had been keeping the Summer Lights papers from Pink Paislee aside until I could find some fun summer pictures to use them with. I picked some pictures taken in Wasaga Beach, in a little park we stopped by on the way back from visiting the Caves. The pictures turned out bright and sunny, which is nice considering we started the day stuck in the car waiting for a downpour to end. That's weather for you - will turn on a dime!

I started by placing the papers as per the inspiration sketch and then I layered pictures over it. I cut apart the die-cut page and added images around, then I went hunting through my embellishments to add interest to the page. I made my own little flag using a cut skewer, patterned papers, an embellishment and rhinestones. Glitter Gloss was added to all of the die-cuts that had a neon image on it. I wanted to add chipboard pieces to the image for added dimension and I found Summer Dreams collection from Echo Park, which had some elements in similar colours. I used the Soak up the sun frame on the left of my page. I wrapped the pink ticket in silver thread and added a yellow flower to it. I also used the sunglasses and added rhinestones to them on each side.

On my left picture, I added white waffle paper at the bottom and I used a safety pink trinket to pin a mini vintage tag on it. I used a flower from the Tropical Oasis Trinkets pack (currently sold in the minicataogue) on it. The polaroid frames were handcut from one of the patterned papers and I handwrote my journaling on it. I used my Lime Citron stamp to add the date at the bottom of the right polaroid.

While digging through my stuff, I found a thick cord which had a nice nautical feel to it so I used my glue gun to add it to the side of the right page. I added a few paper scraps from my desk on the right to fill in the space. I added a metal plate from an old Making Memory embellishment pack tied with baker's twine as well.

It was a fun one to put together while rain was pourring down outside. (Let's look on the bright side - it'll help the remaining snow melt.)

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Mois de l'année Courier (Lime Citron)
Cardstock: Pool Party (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Summer Lights (Pink Paislee)
Ink: Rich Razzleberry (Stampin' Up!)
Chipboard: Summer Dreams (Echo Park)
Accessories: Tropical Oasis Trinckets, Mini Vintage Tags, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Vintage Trinkets, White Waffle Paper, In Color Polka Dots Brads, In Color Boutique Details,
Silver Thread (Stampin' Up!); Purple Broadpen (Faber-Castell);
Rhinestones (Little Things from Lucy's Cards); Rope (Ashland);
Stitched Rickrack Die-namics (My Favorite Things); Metal Plaques Panorama (Making Memories)

 

Pumpkin Delivery Truck

When I made this card last fall, my computer was on the fritz so I never got to share pictures of it on my blog. Now that free time is more readily available, I'm finally catching up and sharing it. I used dies and embellishments from the Special Delivery kit from Queen & Co. The pattern papers are from the Fall Farmhouse collection from Simple Stories. Sentiment reads, "Thinking of You" and it was added to a tag die-cut with the Ornate Frames dies from Stampin' Up!

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamp: Arbre protecteur (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Midnight Muse, Generous Grapefruit Foil Sheets,
Window Sheets (Stampin' Up!); Blue Glitter Paper (Recollections)
Patterned Papers: Fall Farmhouse (Simple Stories)
Ink: Midnight Muse (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Stitched Rectangles Dies (Lawn Fawn); Special Delivery Kit (Queen & Co)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Ornate Frames Dies (Stampin' Up!);
Embellishments (Queen & Co); Tangerine Baker's Twine (Lawn Fawn)