Encre, papier, ciseaux

Ray of Light in a Gloomy Day

When I saw the inspiration piece from Fusion challenge called Paris Rain, I immediately saw the Beautiful You stamp set. I hadn't inked the lady with her umbrella stamp set so it was a perfect time to do so. I wanted a pop of colour against grey and black, so to pick colours, I went to my ColourQ combo list since I know they've done black + white + a pop of colour many times in the past. I found combo #250, which called for picking either all five colours or one of them. I thought the colors were lovely, so I used all five to watercolor my image. I also used one of the watercolor wash images from the stamp set to stamp behind the black sentiment. Both the sentiment and the image were embossed in black to make the contrast sharper. Because the inspiration image is in Paris with the Eiffel Tower, I used the En Français background stamp for the card base as a little reference to the original image. My sentiment is also in French and reads, "Wishing you brighter days ahead." I was asked for new sympathy cards, so this will be part of the bunch. I found a Calypso Coral ombre ribbon in the Cupcakes & Carousels Embellishment kit, and some sequins that I glued randomly to simulate rain. The main panel was created with Shimmery White cardstock, and I also splattered some Clear Wink of Stella over the image by tapping the brush on the side of my left hand. The splatters really look like falling rain. The panel was added to the card base using Stampin' Dimensionals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colour Combo: Basic Black + Whisper White + Calypso Coral + Pear Pizzazz +
Pool Party + So Saffron + Peekaboo Peach

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Resplendissante (Beautiful You), En Français
Cardstock: Calypso Coral, So Saffron, Shimmery White
Ink: VersaMark, Calypso Coral, Pool Party, So Saffron, Peekaboo Peach, Pear Pizzazz, Smoky Slate
Accessories: Cupcakes & Carousels Embellishment Kit, Black Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals,
White Medium Envelope, Clear Wink of Stella Brush

 

I Like Big Cups and I Cannot Lie

Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge if to create our own background. Inspired by inspired by All the Little Things challenge #47, I I pulled out the Musical Background stamp from Taylored Expressions that I had been meaning to use and I decided to pair it with my Cosmic Shimmer Watercolor Paints. I stamped the image in VersaMark, embossed it with clear powder and then tested out my watercolors on a scrap piece of black cardstock to see what I liked best. I mixed a few shades of violet, red and blue to get the following result. As is often the case with shimmery mediums, the result is more striking in person than a picture can capture.

To keep going on the card, I looked at older ColourQ challenges to find something that included purple. Challenge #259 included Blackberry Bliss, so I decided to go with that one. At that point, I realized I was pretty stumped at what to pair with the music background. I didn't necessarily want to make a Christmas so I pulled out a few options and when I spotted the sentiment "I Like Big Cups and I Cannot Lie," I knew I had found my winner. I wanted the sentiment to take center stage, and add a penguin with a cup underneath it. I kept seeing the image of a fancy frame for the sentiment. The Flirty Frames from Lawn Fawn were not big enough, but then I remembered the Designer Frames embossing folders from Stampin' Up! so I pulled them out to test them and what do you know - the exact, perfect size I needed! Some nights, designing just comes more easily than other. Tonight, I was on the good end of things.

My design is based off of Stamp Ink Paper challenge #89. After I had assembled my card, it still felt a little bare to me and then I remembered the little cup trinkets that Stampin' Up! carried a few years ago. I pulled the pack out and found this adorable silver cup, which I tied to my ribbon with a piece of matching twine. It added that little ommph that I was looking for, and made me happy with the result.

Because the trinked is a little bulky, I made a matching envelope and used a bigger size to make room for it. Because I had played around with two frame colours before choosing Calypso Coral for the card, I had a leftover frame, which I used on the envelope. I also used a scrap from my watercolored background on the side of the envelope as well.

My choice of stamp is also perfect for the Cat's Pajamas challenge #333, which is water. Tea and coffee require water, so that works, right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

Colour Combo: Blackerry Bliss + Summer Starfruit + Calypso Coral + Blushing Bride

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: I Like Big Cups (The Cat's Pajamas), Musical Background (Taylored Expressions)
Cardstock: Blackberry Bliss, Summer Starfruit, Calypso Coral, Blushing Bride, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper: 2012-2014 In Color Stack
Ink: Calypso Coral, Tuxedo Black Memento, VersaMark
Accessories: Stampin' Emboss Powders (Clear, Calypso Coral), Cosmic Shimmer Watercolor Paints,
Envelope Punch Board, Aqua Painter Brush, Designer Frames Embossing Folders, Tea Time Trinkets,
Halloween Night Enamel Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, Markers, Blackberry Bliss Satin Ribbon, Baker's Twine

 

Showers of Happiness

During the fall challenge week on Splitcoast Stampers, I had tried the stenciled shaving cream technique and I made a few sheets using the shaving cream, trying to get the most out of it. I had a page left with stars on it and thought it would work well with the Moon Baby stamp set. This week's Stamp Ink Paper challenge #68 also had colour that could work well with the sheet so it was the starting point for my card. I used the sketch from Global Design Project #74 as well.

That cute tag come from the Cheerful Tags Thinlits die set. It's meant to be a bottle tag, but I only used the bottom part and wove ribbon in the two holes to decorate it a bit. A heart die-cut out of shimmer paper was added to it, and my handcut baby, colored with a blending pen and ink on Shimmery White cardstock. The sentiment was embossed with Copper Stampin' Emboss powder, and I added a couple of enamel shaoes to the heart and sentiment.

The top felt a little bare, so I stamped a lace border from the Delicate Details stamp set (Sale-A-Bration free gift). You might have noticed I keep using it on a lot of project. It's one of those sets that you can get a lot of mileage out of because you keep sneaking it into many projects.

 

 

 

 

 

Colour Combo: Bermuda Bay + So Saffron + Peekaboo Peach + White

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Moon Baby, Delicate Details (SAB)
Cardstock: Bermuda Bay, So Saffron, Shimmery White, Bermuda Bay Glimmer Paper
Ink: Basic Black Archival, Peekaboo Peach, So Saffron, Blush Blossom, Bermuda Bay, VersaMark
Accessories: Cheerful Tags Thinlits, Sweet & Sassy Framelits, Blending Pen, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Enamel Shapes (2016-2018 In Color, Brights), White Medium Envelope, Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder

 

Welcome In and Take a Seat

The inspiration for this card came together really quickly. I was about to put away my reference document with past ColourQ challenges I want to catch up on and I caught #305. The bright colours appeal to me and I've been wanting to put them to use soon, but when I saw the inspiration image that contains a sofa, I thought I could use the On My Couch stamp set and pair it with the current Mojo Monday challenge. I looked at the list of "themes" I need to add to my card pile and spotted "welcome," which seemed appropriate to go with the homey feel of the sofa. Come to think of it, I didn't even cross my mind to look at stamp sets to see if I could find the word somewhere. I simply reached for my alphabet stamps and added it to the card. I used the Layering Squares Framelits to mat the sofa images - I am now realizing I've used those dies a lot since buying them! I wouldn't necessarily have expected to considering that squares are the easiest shapes to cut out yourself with a paper cutter, but the scallop squares are awesome and to have a grid pattern line perfectly like on this card, there's really nothing like dies to make sure everything is the same size.

 

 

 

   

 

Colour Combo: Taken with Teal (bermuda Bay) + Lovely Lilac (Wisteria Wonder) + Tango Tangerine + So Saffron + White

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: On My Couch (Papertrey Ink), Alphabet Stamps (Studio G)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Thick Whisper White, So Saffron, Tango Tangerine, Lovely Lilac, Taken with Teal
Ink: So Saffron, Tango Tangerine, Wisteria Wonder, Taken with Teal, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Tango Tangerine Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Dots Embossing Folder, Envelope Punch Board,
Subtles Enamel Shapes, Stampin' Dimensionals, Layering Squares Framelits Dies, On My Couch Dies (Papertrey Ink)

 

Some Days, It Just Feels Like You've Hit a Wall

Some people have sports as a way to feel better. I have crafts. I have been meaning to pair brick stencil and grit paste (if I could ever find where I had put it away) with the brick wall image from the Chicks who "couldn't even" stamp set. I finally found the paste in a drawer about a week ago and it was sitting on my desk so when I sat down to stamp tonight, I decided to put my idea to paper. It just happened that the chick image is the perfect reflection of how I feel today. Somebody well-loved from the office is no longer with us and the news has made waves around the office this week. I came back home emotionally spent, and, well, I couldn't even. The sentiments included in the stamp set are pretty great, but I was looking for something in French, so I used a sentiment that says, "Hang on."

I'm not sure how I feel about the finished card. I really liked the stenciled bricks in white, but sponged some red ink on them and I think it detracted from the look rather than enhance it. I tried playing with dimension by adding some Dusty Durango and Basic Grey ink here and there, and shabby chic'ing my card to match, but in the end, I wonder if I might have enjoyed my initial cleaner look better. We'll never know, but it doesn't really matter because the card served its function tonight – therapy. I managed to take my mind off of things for a couple of hours, so I call that a win.

The card was inspired by this week's Stamping Bella challenge (use die-cuts) and an older Mojo Monday Sketch (#392) and ColourQ combo (#89).

 

 

 

 

 

Colour Combo: Cherry Cobbler + Dusty Durango + Bordering Blue + Basic Grey

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: The Chicks Who Couldn't Even (Stamping Bella), Là pour toi (Stampin' Up!), Timeless Textures (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Bordering Blue, Cherry Cobbler, Basic Grey, Dusty Durango, Whisper White
Ink: Bordering Blue, Cherry Cobbler, Basic Grey, Dusty Durango
Accessories: Distress Grit-Paste (Ranger), Bricked Layering Stencil (Tim Holtz), Nestabilities Dies,
Urban Underground Embellishments, Markers, Hodgepodge Hardware, Grosgrain Ribbon, Burlap Ribbon,
Sponges, Sponge Daubers, Stampin' Dimensionals, Crumb Cake Medium Envelope

 

Food for Thoughts

The food truck set is my very favorite item from Sale-A-Bration this year. It's so cute and unique! I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. On my list of cards I need to add to my stash was a "you'll be missed" card. It happens that I don't have any English stamp that says just that, so I used an alphabet stamp set to make my own sentiment, and I paired it with the cute truck. The colours from the Global Project challenge #73 gave just the right, fun tone, and I drew inspiration from Mojo Monday #483 for the design.

 

 

 

 

  

 

Colour Combo: Daffodil Delight + Watermelon Wonder + Emerald Envy

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Resto sur roulettes (Tasty Trucks), alphabet
Cardstock: Emerald Envy, Watermelon Wonder, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Smoky Slate
Papers: 2015-2017 In Color Designer Paper Stack, 2016-2018 Envelope Paper
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Smoky Slate, Emerald Envy, Watermelon Wonder, Daffodil Delight, Black Archival
Accessories: Baker's Twine (Basic Black, Emerald Envy), Enamel Shapes (2016-2018 In Color, Brights),
Envelope Punch Board, Circle Layering Framelits, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Urban Underground Embellishments,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Blending Pen, Festive Embossing Folder

 

Happy Mother's Day

I had put aside a die-cut I had leftover from a retired Artisan Embellishments kit from two years ago. I knew I wanted to use it for something delicate, like a mother's day card. When I saw the CAS(E) This Sketch #208 challenge, I thought it would work nicely. I also received this week the Any Occasion stamp set from Sale-A-Bration, so it was a nice chance to ink it. Despite my extensive (!) stamp collection, I don't have a whole lot of "Happy Mother's Day" options available so I opted to take the first two words from the Any Occasion stamp set and create the rest using dies.

Funny thing about the word "des"... It comes from a die set that I found recently at a local store. It includes only French "filler words" - de, du, des, le, la, les, un, une. My first thought was that it was quite useless. But that thought only lasted a second, because then I thought of all the times when I'm scrapbooking and creating a title for my page and I need a bunch of those filler words. When I'm using alphabet stickers, it annoys me to spend all of my precious vowels on filler words, and if I'm using die-cuts, it takes forever because of the repeating letters. After thinking about that, the die set went straight into my basket! And it serves beautifully here. I added a Falling in Love embellishment (2017 Occasions Catalogue) to the card, with a touch of Silver Metallic thread as well.

The card base seemed a little bare so I went hunting in my background stamp collection and found Teahouse (long retired), which was just delicate enough to add a little something without overwhelming the focal point.

The lovely colour combo was inspired by ColourQ #290.

 

 

 

 

    

 

Colour Combo: Blushing Bride + Poppy Parade + Mint Macaron + Watermelon Wonder + Very Vanilla

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Occasions pour tout (Any Occasion - SAB), Teahouse Background
Cardstock: Blushing Bride, Poppy Parade, Mint Macaron, Watermelon Wonder, Very Vanilla
Designer Series Paper: Carried Away (SAB)
Ink: Crumb Cake, Mint Macaron, Blushing Bride
Accessories: Falling in Love Embellishments, Very Vanilla Medium Envelope,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Alisha Alphabet Dies (Echo Park), Réf. Articles Dies (Kesi'art),
Silver Metallic Thread

 

Birthday Wishes Blast

When I saw the Tuesday Morning Sketch #388, I thought it would work well with the Star Blast Edgelits from the Occasions Catalogue, and the matching Birthday Blast stamp set. I looked at past ColourQ combos for inspiration and selected #366, which was perfect seems I always need more masculine cards.

The sentiment was embossed with Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder (so glad to have that colour back!) and I added a Urban Underground star embellishment to the big star in the die-cut.

 

 

 

  

Colour Combo: Island Indigo + Cajun Craze + Bermuda Bay + Crushed Curry + White

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Fête endiablée (Birthday Blast)
Cardstock: Island Indigo, Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo, Cajun Craze
Accessories: Star Blast Edgelits Dies, Urban Underground Embellishments,
Baker's Twine, Regals Designer Buttons, Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder, White Medium Envelope

 

New Year Pine

Today's card was inspired by Match the Sketch #157 and an old ColourQ combo (#272 - adapted to current colours). I'm playing with the Holidays Catalogue items one last time before they all retire. I have to say this year's Holidays catalogue was awesome and I'm sad to see it most of it retire. I crafted up a storm during the fall and still feel like I would have wanted to play some more with most of the stamp sets. Here, I used the Christmas Pines stamp set for both the background and the sentiment tag. This was such a great stamp set because it included awesome images and equally awesome sentiments, written in fun, varied fonts. I used the "Happy New Year" sentiment for this card.

 

 

 

 

 

Colour Combo: Always Artichoke + Mint Macaron + Cherry Cobbler + Crumb Cake

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Sapins de Noël (Christmas Pines)
Cardstock: Mint Macaron, Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Crumn Cake
Designer Series Paper: Warmth & Cheer
Ink: Mint Macaron, Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Crumn Cake
Accessories: Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies, Crumb Cake Medium Envelope, Mini Pinecones,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Regals Enamel Shapes, Mint Macaron 3/8" Sheer Linen Ribbon,
Project Life Corner Punch, Triple Banner Punch, Candycane Lane Baker's Twine, Linen Thread

 

Up in the Sky

I was putting away some Project Life cards when I spotted a cloud print in the All Year Long kit. I immediately put it aside to pair with the new hot air balloon stamp set from the Occasions catalogue called Lift Me Up. Paired with the Freshly Made Sketch #268, I created this card. Sentiment reads, "Just a thought to lift you up." I think the unusual colour combo works well!

 

 

 

 

Color Combo: Mint Macaron + Delightful Dijon + Petite Pirouette + Basic Grey + Smoky Slate + Very Vanilla

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Gentil remontant (Life Me Up)
Cardstock: Smoky Slate, Basic Grey, Very Vanilla
Designer Series Paper: 2015-2017 In Color, Warmth & Cheer
Ink: Delightful Dijon, Smoky Slate, Pink Pirouette, Basic Grey
Accessories: Pink Pirouette Satin Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board,
Metallic and Subtles Enamel Shapes, All Year Long Project Life Card Collection

 

Congratulations on Your Ten Years!

Sitting on my to-do list was making anniversary cards for three demonstrators from my team who are celebrating their ten-year anniversary as a demonstrator this fall. It's an important milestone, and one that's definitely deserving of receiving a special card. I based the design on the Mojo Monday sketch #476, and I picked an old ColourQ combo (#338) as colour inspiration.

I'm quite happy with how this design turned out. I used the fireworks from the It's a Celebration stamp set (2016 Holidays Catalogue), which was perfect for an anniversary. The "Congratulations" sentiment was pulled from the Floral Phrases stamp set (2016-2017 Annual Catalogue), and I used the frame from the Number of Years stamp set. The matching Framelits were used to die-cut the banner, but also the 10 numbers, out of Gold Foil Paper. A gold enamel shape star was added to my background, and I embossed the Pool Party mat with the Softly Falling embossing folder, which matches the firework image so nicely.

 

 

 

 

 

Colour Combo: Calypso Coral + Pool Party + Basic Black + Gold

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Fêtons les Fêtes (It's a Celebration), Au fil des ans (Number of Years), Pensées florales (Floral Phrases)
Cardstock: Basic Black, Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Whisper White, Gold Foil
Ink: Basic Black, Calypso Coral, Pool Party
Accessories: Large Numbers Framelits, Stampin' Dimensionals, 2-1/2" Circle Punch,
Metallic Enamel Shapes, Softly Falling Embossing Folder, White Square Envelopes

 

Wishes for a Rainy Day

This card was inspired by The Greeting Farm November challenge (fall colours), the Tuesday Morning Sketch #378 and the beautiful color combo from Sunday Stamps #139. I paired Rich Razzleberry, Perfect Plum, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso and Delightful Dijon, with a touch of copper, and I really like how warm those colours look together.

The sentiment reads "Happy birthday wishes" and come from the Watercolor Wishes stamp set from the card kit with the same name. I embossed it in copper powder, and used Copper Foil sheets to die-cut branches and flowers from the Flourish Thinlits. I remembered some decorative staples I had from a long time ago and dug them out from the back of my closet (litterally). Copper enamel dots were made to finish embellishing. After messing up on a perfectly good card earlier this month, I played it safe this time around and made the accents on a spare sheet of acetate and let it dry before transferring later to the card. This allowed me to select the shapes and sizes I preferred. I've been practicing, but I still don't find half of the dots I make "round" enough. A bit of vanilla lace trim (from the current annual catalogue - it looks much nicer in person than in the picture) was added to the bottom of the sentiment strip as well.

 

 

 

Colour Combo: Rich Razzleberry + Perfect Plum + Cajun Craze + Delightful Dijon + Early Espresso + Vanilla

 

  

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Rain Snow Shine (The Greeting Farm), Pensées au pinceau (Watercolor Wishes - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Perfect Plum, Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla, Copper Foil Sheets
Designer Series Paper Stack: 2015-2017 In Color
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, VersaMark
Accessories: Flourish Thinlits, Copper Penny Nuvo Drops, Vanilla Lace Trim, Copper Gel Pen,
Vanilla Medium Envelope, Copper Decorative Staple, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Tweed Embossing Folder, Markers, Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder, Project Life Corner Punch

 

Merry Christmoose

This card was inspired by the Fab Friday challenge #100 and the Mojo Monday Sketch #474.

I started by masking the bottom of my Rich Razzleberry cardstock with post-it notes and sponging the motif from one of the Seasonal Decorative masks (Holidays Catalogue, p. 43), then lightly sponging all over the rest of the cardstock to make it darker than the bottom. The bottom part was embossed using the awesome Cable Knit 3D embossing folder (HC, p. 13). I tied a piece of Delightful Dijon mini striped ribbon (Annual Catalogue, p. 178) between the two sections, and hung a little punched banner decorated with an enamel shape on it.

For the main image, I reached for the Jolly Friends stamp set (HC, p. 29), which I think is so adorable and need to play more with before it retires on me. The moose was layered over two pieces of Mint Macaron cardstock I die-cut using dies from the Layering Square Framelits dies.

A sentiment was added at the bottom, using the Noel sentiment from the Christmas Stockings Thinlits Dies (HC, p. 15). The sentiment was die-cut out of Gold Foil paper and embellished with another enamel shape. A matching envelope was made out of Envelope Paper using the Envelope Punch Board.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Jolly Friends
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Delightful Dijon, Mint Macaron, Whisper White, Gold Foil Sheets
Envelope Paper: 2015-2017 In Color
Ink: Mint Macaron, Delightful Dijon, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Subtles Enamel Shapes, Banner Punch, Delightful Dijon 5/8" Mini Striped Ribbon,
Santa Hat Builder Punch, Layering Square Framelits Dies, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Seasonal Decorative Masks, Sponge Dauber, Cable Knit 3D Embossing Folder,
Envelope Punch Board, Christmas Stockings Thinlits Dies

 

Warm Seasonal Wishes

This card was inspired by a Falliday Fest challenge, the Stamping Bella Sketch #20 and a past ColourQ combo (#335). I've been on a Prismacolor pencils kick lately, so I practiced my coloring skills with this color medium again tonight. The sentiment reads something like, "Keep warm all season."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colour Combo: Tangelo Twist + Cool Caribbean + Bermuda Bay + Calypso Coral + White

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Ramona Shares her Hot Chocolate (Stamping Bella), Cousu avec joie (Stitched with Cheer - Stampin' Up!), Flannel Plaid (SU!)
Cardstock: Tangelo Twist, Calypso Coral, Bermuda Bay, Cool Caribbean, Whisper White
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral, VersaMark
Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, Curvy Corner Trio Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Prismacolor Pencils, Nestabilities Dies, Snowflake Elements, Iced Rhinestones,
Calypso Coral Baker's Twine, Snowflake #2 Embossing Folder (Echo Park),
Embossing Powders (Copper, Verdigris)

 

A Blessing to Have Each Other

This is another card that was inspired by the Falliday Fest challenges on SCS, combined with the Color Throwdown challenge #413. I am really happy with how this one turned out. Looking at the images from the Mom + Me stamp set, I kept thinking of the expression "une chance qu'on s'a," which comes from a well-known French-Canadian song. It loosely translates to "It's a good thing we have each other." Because it is slang, I doubt I'll manage to find this exact sentiment someday, so I decided to use my stamps and dies to create it myself. I don't always like the result of a hand-stamped sentiment but in this case, I think I managed to work it into the design nicely.

The color combo also turned out pretty nice. It's made with a combo of three In Colors that never were offered at the same time: Concord Crush, Baked Brown Sugar and Tangelo Twist. I have quite a bit of Tangelo Twist cardstock leftover because it is just so bright and I've always had a hard time including it into my projects without it overtaking the other colours (so I always resorted to using my beloved Pumpkin Pie). Here, though, I find the other neutral colours "calm" it down a bit. I also managed to sneak in a piece of Gold Metallic Twine in there. This is another item I've had trouble using while it was still current, for a very simple reason: the twine is vanilla, and most patterned papers have a white base. Since I was using vanilla in my colour combo here, I jumped on the chance to add the metallic twine. The gold also pairs well with the fall colours. (I'm realizing now that my card is finished that the original colour combo called for white, but since I was using First Edition DSP for my background, I had to switch the vanilla in order for the rest to match.)

 

 

 

 

 

Colour Combo: Tangelo Twist + Concord Crush + Baked Brown Sugar

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Type Strips II (Papertrey Ink), Mom + Me (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Tangelo Twist, Baked Brown Sugar, Concord Crush, Very Vanilla
Designer Series Paper: First Edition, In Color (Concord Crush), Happy Haunting
Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Tuxedo Black Memento
Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, Type Strip Die (Papertrey Ink),
Stitched Tree Borders Dies (Lawn Fawn), Stitched Hillside Borders (Lawn Fawn),
Gold Metallic Baker's Twine, Markers, Stampin' Dimensionals, Alisha Alphabet Die (Echo Park)

 

Warm Wishes for the Best of Days

Today's card was inspired by the Pals Paper Arts sketch #320 and the Stamping Smiles Designs #19 tic-tac-toe grid. I used the colour inspiration (Night of Navy + Marina Mist + So Saffron + Delightful Dijon), a paper clip at the top of the insert and packaging goods in the form of a polka dot vellum envelope.

I used the Jolly Friends stamp set from the Holidays catalogue, and it shows that this stamp set can be used for more than Christmas cards. I used a sentiment from the Frosted Medallions stamp set that reads, "Best wishes for the best of days." The adorable papers come from the Warmth & Cheer Designer Series Paper Stack (also from the Holidays catalogue). This paper stack includes a lot of plaid, knitted and star patterns that can be used for more than Holidays projects.

TIP: If you look closely at the Jolly Friends stamp set, you'll notice it includes a tiny little dot stamp. I would never have realized it had I not watched a Stampin' Up! video shared on their YouTube channel, but this is actually designed so that you can act rosy cheeks to your characters. It adds the perfect touch! On my card, I also used it at the top of the Marina Mist cardstock insert and stamped a polka dot border.

 

 

 

 

    

 

Colour Combo: Marina Mist + Night of Navy + Delightful Dijon + So Saffron

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Jolly Friends, Médaillons glacés (Frosted Medallions)
Cardstock: So Saffron, Marina Mist, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper Stack: Warmth & Cheer
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Night of Navy, Marina Mist
Accessories: Santa Hat Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Nestabilities Markers,
Gold Bow Clip, Double Slit Punch, Project Life Corner Punch, Sketched Dots Tag a Bag Gift Bags

 

 

Sweet Stocking

I've used the Hang Your Stocking stamp set to stamp my main image, but I hadn't used the matching Christmas Stockings Thinlits dies yet to create the stocking, so I have it a try. The Mojo Monday sketch #465 looked like it would work to use this bundle, and for colours, I drew inspiration from Verve Colour September Challenge, which made for a beautiful, untraditional combo. To give myself more creative options when putting together the stocking, I added a second shade of plum and combined both Rich Razzleberry and the new Sweet Sugarplum in Color on the card. This is in turn gave me the option of using the beautiful Sweet Sugarplum glitter ribbon (sold in the Holidays Catalogue as a bundle with silver ribbon as well).

I used the "To:  From:" sentiment from the same stamp and will add my name and the recipient's with a Stampin' Writer marker when mailing the card. The striped patterned paper comes from a DSP pack from last year's Holidays catalogue; the polka dot card comes from the Hello Lovely Project Life Card Collection. The background cardstock was embossed with the Holly embossing folder (Annual Catalogue - don't forget this Holiday folder!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colour Combo: Soft Sky + Rich Razzleberry + Sweet Sugarplum + Pear Pizzazz + White

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Bas de Noël (Hang Your Stocking)
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper: Season of Cheer
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Sky
Accessories: 2016-2018 In Color Enamel Shapes, Project Life Corner Punch,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Glitter Ribbon Combo, Circle Punch, Christmas Stockings Thinlits,
Pearl Basic Jewels, White Medium Envelope, Hello Lovely Project Life Card Collection

 

Santa's Fill

I had pulled out some retired single stamps that I have put together in an empty stamp case for some recent cards I put together and had spotted the Bearing Gifts stamp, which I've always been fond of. I put it aside to use on a card. I was debating whether to use it for a baby card or Christmas card, but finally landed on Christmas. The In[k]spire Me sketch #267 was perfect to use with it and I remembered that I had a sentiment somewhere with a line from a song that reminds Santa to not forget our stocking. Thought it would be great with it, and it happened to be just the right size and length to fit on a banner underneath the image. The pretty papers are from Bo Bunny's Candy Cane Lane collection, one of my favorite Holidays 6" x 6" paper stack. The colours just work so well together.

The main image was stamped and gold embossed on Shimmery White cardstock. I was curious to try out watercoloring on it since Stampin' Up! has been promoting it as a good watercoloring medium. I will say this: it's better than on Whisper White, but less effective than watercolor paper. I find that watercolor paper does not stain as quickly so I have more control to move the ink around with my paintbrush or blending pen, whereas the Shimmery White stains more quickly and it's harder to avoid lines or brushstrokes. Not impossible, but harder. I wouldn't use it for images with wide area, but for something with small areas to fill, like the image I used, it works well enough. And the fact that it's shimmery does add a little something to the finished look.

 

 

 

 

 

Color Combo: Bermuda Bay + Mint Macaron + Melon Mambo + Blushing Bride +
Hello Honey + Delightful Dijon + Basic grey + White

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Bearing Gifts, Chantons Noël (Bright Christmas)
Cardstock: Bermuda Bay, Shimmery White
Patterned Papers: candy Cane Lane (Bo Bunny)
Ink: VersaMark, Melon mambo, Bermuda Bay, Mint Macaron, Blushing Bride,
So Saffron, Delightful Dijon, Basic Grey
Accessories: Sequins, Bermuda Bay Taffeta Ribbon, Banners Framelits, Banner Punch,
Circle Framelits, Hello Honey Satin Ribbon, White Medium Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, Blending Pen

 

Ugly Sweater Season Is A-Coming

This week's Cat's Pyjamas challenge (#322) was embossing. I started looking through my TCP stamps and pulled out Bunny Christmas, since I hadn't used the bunny knitting the Christmas sweater image yet. As I pulled it out, I thought the Cable Knit Embossing Folder would be perfect to make a background! As I was pulling out what I needed to make the card, I spotted on my challenge sheet the colour combo from Stampin' Royalty #345 - Delightful Dijon + Cherry Cobbler + Always Artichoke and thought it would work well with the other items I had picked. (I have to say, I really like how this colour combo looks on a Christmas card - it brings a very nice vintage feel to it, which here suited the ugly sweater theme well). Still on my Prismacolor pencils kick, I used those to colour my bunny image and the two little holly images on each side of the sentiment.

The sentiment, which reads " 'Tis the Season- Ugly Sweater Season", was embossed in Platinum powder and the slight gold sheen works really well with the Dijon background. Each side was decorated with a line of cross stitches, using the Basic Stitch Lines Die-namics. I was looking for a piece of DSP with Cherry Cobbler on it and found was I was looking for in the retired Festival of Prints paper stack.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Bunny Christmas (The Cat's Pajamas)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla
Designer Series Paper Stack: Festival of Prints
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, VersaMark
Accessories: Basic Stitch Lines Die-namics, Prismacolor Pencils, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Project Life Corner Punch, Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder, Cable Knit Embossing Folder,
Vanilla Medium Envelope

 

Topiary Birthday

When I saw the Mojo Monday sketch #463 showing a tall and skinny card, I couldn't help but pull out the Vertical Greetings stamp set, which is a new favorite of mine from the annual catalogue. I thought it would also look lovely paired with the colour combo from Create with Connie and Mary #422.

To mimick the leaves of the topiary, I sponge my Calypso Coral background with one of the stencils from the Seasonal Decorative Masks (2016 Holidays Catalogue, page 43). As I've mentioned in a previous post, those stencils are sized 6" x 6", which means they were a little shorter than my cardfront (my card is sized 3-1/4" x 6-1/2"). I solved the problem by sponging the edge above the stencil, creating a line at the bottom. It adds a pretty design element and it was one of those problems that result in a happy element on the finished card.

For the ribbon accent, the Flirty Flamingo ruched ribbon was a close enough match to Calypso Coral to make a great addition to my design. I also used the 2016-2018 In Color enamel shapes in Flirty Flamingo and Peekaboo Peach. The 2016-2018 Envelope Paper was used to make a matching envelope.

 

 

 Color Combo: Calypso Coral + Peekaboo Peach + Sahara Sand

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: À la verticale (Vertical Greetings)
Cardstock: Peekaboo Peach, Calypso Coral, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper Stack: Neutrals
Envelope Paper: 2016-2018 In Color
Ink: Calypso Coral
Accessories: Stampin' Write Markers, 2016-2018 In Color Enamel Shapes,
Envelope Punch Board, Stampin' Dimensionals, Project Life Corner Punch,
Seasonal Decorative Masks

 

Fall Scenery

I was eager to try out my new dies, so I paired them with the Paper Players challenge #310 (sketch) and an old ColourQ challenge (#303). I was looking for some matching teal paper to create the grassy hills and then I found the long-retired Sweet Pea DSP stack, which also happened to include orange paper has well.

For the sentiment, I turned to the ever-practical Sunshine Sayings stamp set and its matching Sunshine Wishes Framelits dies. It was also a great opportunity to use my new Pumpkin Pie glimmer paper!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Souhaits et voeux (Sunshine Sayings)
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Taken with Teal, Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie
Designer Series Paper Stack: Sweet Pea
Ink: Early Espresso
Accessories: Pumpkin Pie Glimmer Paper, Sunshine Wishes Framelits Dies,
Rich Razzleberry Cotton Ribbon, Stitched Tree Borders Dies (Lawn Fawn),
Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board, Handheld Stapler

 

The Ingredients for the Perfect Birthday

Have you seen the oven set (Sprinkled with Love) from Lawn Fawn's latest release? The oven door actually opens! I was really taken with the fact that the die does all of the cutting and scoring for you instead of us having to fiddle with a craft knife to get that result. And I think my favorite part of the die kit is the adorable little towel with little stitches on it. Adorable beyond words!

My design was inspired by Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (Hip to be Square, so I made a square card) and the Freshly Made Sketch #251. For colours, I picked an old ColourQ challenge (#301) I hadn't played with yet. I liked the colours together and the fact that it had More Mustard in the mix, which allowed me to make a mustard stove just like the one my parents used to own. (I think my mom might get a kick out of this card, actually.)

I wanted a French sentiment and found the perfect one in Stampin' Up!'s Sweet Cupcake stamp set. The French comes in two part to create something that says "The ingredients for / the perfect birthday." It was just perfect to go with the images, and more importantly, it was the perfect size to fit into my oven door. Serendipity!

I wanted a window on my oven door, so I glued a piece of acetate inside the door, then I die-cut the stove front a second time and cut the door out to glue on the back of my piece so that it has a nice finish when you open the door. (This was also to fix my mistake - I stamped the stove once, didn't get even ink coverage, so I turned the cardstock around, stamped my image again and die-cut it. Then I realized we would be seeing the back of the cardstock when you opened the oven door, so adding the backing hid both my previous stamping and the glue on the acetate.) Candy Dots were used to add colour to the buttons on the stove. I also used my Stampin' Write Markers to color the details on the stove.

For the patterned papers, I remembered that we used to carry 6" x 6" DSP in various colours that were offered as hostess benefits. I pulled them out and found every single colour from my combo in them! (Calypso Coral came from the In Color DSP Stacks.) It was a great opportunity to use up some older supplies as well.

I put everything together on my card and thought it still looked bare, and I found the finishing touch lying on my desk - a little chipboard star that was teal colored, but that I hadn't used on another project because some part of the front had ripped when I pulled it out of the chipboard page. Here, the colour of the back of the star was working well, so it allowed me to used the "ripped" star anyway, and it ties in with the star-shaped cookies.

 

 

 

 

Colour Combo: More Mustard + Apricot Appeal + Calypso Coral + Night of Navy

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Sprinkled with Joy (Lawn Fawn), Douceurs sucrées (Sweet Cupcake)
Cardstock: More Mustard, Apricot Appeal, Calypso Coral, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper: Calypso Coral, night of Navy, Apricot Appeal
Ink: Night of Navy, Apricot Appeal, More Mustard
Accessories: Sprinkled with Joy Dies, Scallop Squares Nestabilities Dies, Acetate,
Chipboard Star, Apricot Appeal Grosgrain Ribbon, Candy Dots, Stampin' Write Markers,
White Square Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stamp-a-ma-jig

 

Stockings Hanging on the Chimney

This fun project was inspired by a sample shared by Stampin' Up! of a beautiful gift bag on Pinterest. I used the same elements, but transformed the project into a card using Match the Sketch challenge #137.

The background Pear Pizzazz cardstock was spritzed with my own spritz made with a green reinker and using the new Seasonal Decorative Masks. (I used the diagonal stripes mask, the same I used to create plaid on this project HERE.) I also used the Silver Glitter Ribbon that will be released in the upcoming Holidays Catalogue on September 1st, along with the Hang Your Stocking stamp set and matching Christmas Stockings Thinlits dies (offer as a bundle for 10% off).

To make the Hearth, I used elements we were already carrying, namely the Hearth and Home Framelits and the Brick Wall embossing folder, both sold in the annual catalogue.

The little holly leaves, the Noel wording and the little bow were all stamped and die-cut using the same bundle. A mini jingle bell was added to the bow - also sold in the Holidays catalogue.

 

 

 

 

Color Combo: Always Artichoke + Pear Pizzazz + Mint Macaron + Crumb Cake + White

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Bas de Noël (Hang Your Stocking)
Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Always Artichoke, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Mint Macaron, Silver Foil
Designer Series Paper Stack: 2015-2017 In Color
Ink: Crumb Cake, Mint Macaron, Pear Pizzazz, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Christmas Stockings Thinlits, Brick Wall Embossing Folder,
Hearth & Home Framelits, 3/8" Glitter Ribbon Combo Pack, Mini Jingle Bells,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Seasonal Decorative Masks, Spritzer

 

Birds of a Feather

I really liked the ColourQ combo this week (#353) so when I kept going on the DTGD challenges, I pulled those colours out for one of the card. The inspiration piece calls for Glorious Green (long retired) but since we now have the very nice Emerald Envy that is similar, I thought it was great opportunity to pull it out. I really like this new In Color, but I haven't used it a bunch yet, mainly because I've been playing with color challenges or pulling colours from patterrned papers, but I was happy to finally be working on a colour combo that included it. I think it looks lovely paired with Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral and Night of Navy and without the help of ColourQ, I wouldn't have thought to combine those colours.

My background was created by doing a watercolor wash on watercolor paper, using a big flat paintbrush. I started with Blushing Bride, and then thought that I could turn it into an ombre look by adding Calypso Coral at the bottom. Love the look! I dried the watercoloring with my heat tool, then splattered water to make drops and add texture. It was my first time using this technique and I really like how it turned out. I also tapped the Gold Wink of Stella brush on the side of my hand above the project to add gold splatter. (I placed the paper in an empty order box to protect my work surface first because this can be a messy technique.) I dried everything again with the heat tool, then stamped my sentiment in VersaMark and embossed it in gold.

I made a matching envelope out of 2016-2018 In Color Envelope Paper and used a little strip of it on the card as well. I decided to get the envelope paper instead of the paper stack to have paper in the new In Color hues because the stacks have white patterns, whereas the envelope paper has tone on tone patterns, which I prefer. The contrast is not as stark and there's the added bonus of being able to work with Vanilla cardstock if I want. I wish Stampin' Up! would go back to having two tones of the same colour on paper stacks like they used to before they changed the patterns. I was getting more use out of those then.

The main image was stamped with the Feather Together stamp set, which is one of the new realistic sets added to the annual catalogue this year.

 

 

 

Colour Combo: Emerald Envy + Calypso Coral + Blushing Bride + Night of Navy + Gold

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Pensées à la plume (Feather Together)
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Watercolor Paper, Whisper White, Gold Foil
Envelope Paper: 2016-2018 In Color
Ink: Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, Night of Navy, VersaMark
AccessoriesL Emerald Envy Ruched Ribbon, Paintbrush, Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Sequins, Gold Wink of Stella Brush, Project Life Corner Punch

 

Blow Out This Little Fire

I was totally taken with this week's ColourQ #351 challenge. The rich pigmented colors with a dash of gold shine looked really good, so I decided to pair them with the Birthday Banners stamp set and the Pals Paper Arts sketch #310.

One of the French sentiment from this set reads, "Blow out this little fire and make a wish". I just love it! Made me want the set and use it first on a project. The twisty banner's pretty great, too.

The set includes candles that are actually a short design that you can stamp repeatedly to make the candle the length you need (clever!). Here, I stamped the design twice in Elegant Eggplant, and embossed the flame in Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder. The cute little stars are 2016-2018 In Color Lacquered Shapes.

The background turned out pretty cool - I embossed a piece of Elegant Eggplant cardstock with the Boho Chic embossing folder, and then I gently tapped my VersaMark ink pad on the raised surface of the embossing and pourred Gold embossing powder on it. It doesn't produce a crisp result, but in this case, it goes with the boho look I wanted. I used the Dimensionals strips to add this piece to the card base, at an angle, for dimension.

Because that made the card a little bulkier, I made a personalized envelope out of 2016-2018 In Color paper envelope using the Envelope Punch Board.

 

 

 

 Colour Combo: Denim Dandy + Bermuda Bay + Elegant Eggplant + Gold + Whisper White

 

  

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Banderoles en fête (Birthday Banners)
Cardstock: Denim Dandy, Elegant Eggplant, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White
Envelope Paper: 2016-2018 In color
Ink: VersaMark, Denim Dandy, Elegant Eggplant, Bermuda Bay
Accessories: Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, Envelope Punch Board,
Bunch of Banners Framelits Dies, 2016-2018 In Color Lacquered Shapes,
2-1/2" Circle Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals and Strips, Neutrals Candy Dots,
Apothicary Accents Framelits, Boho Chic Embossing Folder

 

Sunshine Follows the Rain

This might be one of my favorite sympathy/encouragement card I've ever put together. It was all inspired by the fabulous new Weather Together bundle from the annual catalogue (p. 55). There are so many great pieces in the stamp set and matching Framelits that I see a lot of fabulous creations with those items in the future. I also seem to have a thing for umbrellas as I've always picked the umbrella or characters with umbrella images when I shop. Not sure why - maybe because they can be made colorful?

Anyway, this was one of the first thing I put on my mental first-order list when I first saw the catalogue. Then seeing the wonderful soft color combo from ColourQ #350 this week made me reach for this set. I was looking for a card sketch to go with it and finally found one I really liked in the July Card Maps sketches.

I used the Festive embossing folder on the background, because the vertical lines could mimick raindrops. I pulled out So Saffron Designer Series Paper from a retired paper stack and used the front of the paper for the main block and the backside for the scallop border. I placed the two cloud Framelits on the Saffron paper to cut out frames. Then, I stamped the cloud images on a scrap of Shimmery White cardstock (FYI: this paper is thick enough to watercolor on, and it takes ink beautifully) in Basic Grey Archival ink and watercolored the clouds using Pool Party ink and a blending pen. Then, I put a few Stampin' Dimensionals around the clouds and placed the cloud images underneath, lining it up with the cloud windows. The Shimmery White cardstock was used for the umbrella as well so that I could watercolor the middle part of the umbrella in So Saffron ink. I stamped both sides with the polka dot image, and I embossed the cute border found in the Framelits set at the bottom.

You can have a look at the video Stampin' Up! put together to see all of the pieces the stamp set and Framelits include. It does more than cut out the main shapes! You'll also see at the end to tip to lining up the clouds like I did on my card:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colour Combo: Blushing Bride + So Saffron + Pool Party + Old Olive

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Contre vents et marées (Weather Together)
Cardstock: Old Olive, Pool Party, Shimmery White
Designer Series Paper Stack: Subtles
Ink: VersaMark, Basic Grey, Pool Party, So Saffron, Blushing Bride
Accessories: Umbrella Weather Framelits Dies, Project Life Corner Punch, White Medium Envelope,
Metal Rimmed Pearls, Blending Pen, Stampin' Dimensionals, Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder,
Blushing Bride 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon, 2" Circle Punch

 

A Gold Flower to Congratulate You

The starting point for this card was the Global Project Design challenge #44. Based on the inspiration project, I wanted to do a gold-foil die-cut on my own project and the new Sunshine Wishes Thinlits seemed like an obvious choice. After die-cutting the flower out of Gold foild paper, I thought I could use the Color Throwndown challenge #401 for my color scheme. I wanted a subtle background so I inked the Watercolor Wash background stamp in So Saffron, stamped it off twice (after stamping it off once, it was still too dark for my liking) and s tamped it on my white cardstock background. I then used my Gold Wink of Stella brush to add gold splatters in the background. You just need to 1) protect your work surface first - an important step! and 2) tap the brush against the side of the hand over the project and you will get sparkly splatters on your project. 

For added interest, I then pulled out my beloved Timeless Textures stamp set and added a flourish in So Saffron underneath where the flower was going to be, and a piece of tape on the left margin in Cherry Cobbler ink.

The "congratulations" word was die-cut out of Melon Mambo cardstock, and a piece of Elegant Eggplant baker's twine was tied underneath. I was really happy to spot the Elegant Eggplant twine in the new catalogue, because as far as I know, we haven't carried that color in any of our ribbons since the grosgrain ribbons years ago. I try to have at least one spool of ribbon or twine in all of our colours (whether current or retired) so that I can always add a touch of ribbon whatever the colour scheme I'm working with. I have a ton of green, blue and red ribbons, but barely any purple. I think this is a great addition, and I like that we have twine in full colours and the regular thickness now.

 

 

 Colour Combo: Melon Mambo + Elegant Eggplant + So Saffron + Cherry Cobbler + Gold

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Timeless Textures, Watercolor Wash
Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Gold Foil
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Melon Mambo, So Saffron, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Sunshine Wishes Thinlits Dies, Project Life Corner Punch,
Gold Wink of Stella Brush, Elegant Eggplant Baker's Twine, White Medium Envelope

 

Light as a Feather

I seem to be drawn to feather images, and this time was no exception when I saw the Feather Together stamp set. I had used one of the sentiments, but not the images yet, so I decided to use them on a card today,

I needed to make a Good Luck card for the office, so I pulled out an old retired set called Sincere Salutations (we really don't seem to include Good Luck all that often in our stamp sets - on the flip side, we have a gazillion thank yous...). To embellish my card a bit, I used the new Flourish Thinlits die, for the flourish on the back and the beautiful vanilla border in my main image (I'm going to be using this one a lot, I can already tell).

To make the background Delightful Dijon cardstock a little less plain, I stamped the Linen background stamp (retired) on it and added a border stamped with the Timeless Textures stamp set at the bottom.

The card design was inspired by Viva la Verve June Sketch #2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Pensées à la plume (Feather Together), Linen, Timeless Textures, Sincères salutations (Sincere Salutations)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Delightful Dijon, Rich Razzleberry, Mint Macaron
Designer Series Paper: Affectionately Yours
Ink: Delightful Dijon, Rich Razzleberry, Mint Macaron, Sweet Sugarplum, So Saffron
Accessories: Flourish Thinltis Dies, Vanilla Seam Binding, Brights Designer Buttons, Baker's Twine,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Ticket Corner Punch, Crumb Cake Medium Envelope

 

Ingredients for a Happy Birthday (Featuring New Emerald Envy)

That new cupcake set looks absolutely scrumptious! I was eager to use mine and found the inspiration to do so today. I was leafing through the Summer issue of the Scrapbook & Cards Today magazine and spotted a pocket scrapbooking layout with a lovely colour combo. The green on it reminded me of the new Emerald Envy, and I paired it with Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight and Sahara Sand to reproduce the colour combo I had seen. I like how it turned out - there's something equally modern and retro about it, which works with the Sweet Cupcake stamp set.

This set comes with the matching Cupcake Cutouts Framelits dies. The little squiggly die is included in that set. I watercolored a piece of Melon Mambo cardstock with the Clear Wink of Stella brush before die-cutting the squiggle so that it would be shimmery.

The French sentiments reads, "The ingredients to a lovely birthday." This is another stamp set where the Stamp-a-ma-jig is going to be your best friend. I don't care how many times people will try to convince you that photopolymer stamps help you line up your images more easily because they are clear. With those three-step stamping images, the chances of you eyeballing it perfectly each time are slim, especially when inking your image with darker colours. I eyeballed the bottom of the cupcake when I started. Got one perfect enough to use as is - the second one was off enough that the image looked blurry and out of focus. So off I went and stamped a third one. The sentiments are also meant to be stamped together to create a longer one. Since mine were paired on a narrow strip of cardstock, I wanted to make sure it was straight, so there went the SAMJ again.

By the way, my card is a slightly irregular size: 5" x 4-1/4". I know it's irregular because this size is not part of the long list of card dimensions printed on the Envelope Punch Board - haha! I just happened to have a few cardstock scraps in my Sahara Sand file that were a bit too short for a regular card, but that I wanted to use before cutting into new sheets. Hence the unique format. It still works with our regular medium envelopes, the card is just going to be a tad shorter than the envelope.

The design was inspired by the MFT Sketch #286.

 

 

 

 

Colour Combo: Emerald Envy + Melon Mambo + Daffodil Delight + Sahara Sand

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Douceurs sucrées (Sweet Cupcake)
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Daffodil Delight, Emerald Envy, Melon Mambo
Ink: Sahara Sand, Daffodil Delight, Emerald Envy, Melon Mambo
Accessories: Cupcake Cutouts Framelits Dies, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Clear Wink of Stella Brush, White Medium Envelopes, Stamp-a-ma-jig

 

Popcorn Has Never Looked So Cute!

One of the new things I went "Yess!" out loud over when leafing through the annual catalogue was the Popcorn Box die. I had been hoping for one of those for a long time. Popcorn boxes have weird angles, so they're not something you can easily create on your own or with the box punch board. So this one went straight to my mental list of must-haves for the first order.

On Monday, when I was taking things out of the box, I totally spaced out on that die kit when pulling things out because I was expecting one of the wider Big Shot Thinlits envelope. You know the ones - like the one that houses the Mini Treat Bag. Then, as I started looking for the popcorn box die thinking it might be missing, I finally spotted it and seeing the size of the envelope alone, I immediately went, Oh... Sure enough, I pulled the sheet on which the dies were stuck and saw the size and immediately realized it was much smaller than I anticipated. Yes, the size was written in the catalogue and I should have looked at it more closely. Now that I've finished putting my first sample together with it, I don't think the size is half bad. But I thought I'd pass the warning along: don't be surprised - it's on the small side.

It's adorable, though. It comes with all kinds of little dies to embellish the box, and a matching stamp set as well (you can get both as a bundle for 10% off). I got the French stamp set solely based on the one sentiment that says, "Explosion de souhaits" ("Explosion of wishes" - get it?). I'm going to enjoy using that one on cards with popcorn or sparklers or fireworks.

Anyway, back to the box embellishments, I knew the scallop edge was supposed to cut the actual box, but I decided to try the fancy stuff right off the bat and see if I could cut a second piece of cardstock instead to make a border in a different colour. Verdict: it works, but you can't make it very large, as the sizing won't work with the fold marks already on the scallop border.

Another embellishment is the wavy border, which I used four times on Silver glimmer paper, for each box side. The kit also includes a long strip, meant to add stripes to the box. I'll be honest: this one I don't get just yet. I mean, I get the idea: the strip is slightly narrower at the bottom to follow the shape of the box. But I would have thought the strips would be at an angle, drawing closer together at the bottom. Not the case, based on how the top and bottom are cut. The other thing that confuses me is that the strip is longer than the side of the box. I would really love to understand why. So you can fold it underneath the box? So you can snip the extra yourself? I'm really not sure.

So this was my first try and it's now perfect, but it'll get better with each new box I put together. I still think it's cute enough to be given away. I found an old polka dot cello bag that used to be part of a SAB kit and closed it with a silver twist tie I kept from some random packaging (just because it was silver and I knew it would look awesome somewhere on a project).

By the way, the cute polka dot paper comes from the Serene Scenery Designer Series Paper Stack. You need to have a closer look at that one in the catalogue. It's gorgeous! One of my favorites in recent years. The colours are gorgeous and rich, and each sheet of paper has one side that is photography and the flip side is regular patterns. I've already seen really pretty stuff done with it popping up (pun unintended) online and I can't wait to use mine more. If you're curious, check out this Stampin' Up! video to see all of the pages: VIDEO.

The colour combo was inspired by Just Us irls #348 and the touch of glimmer (silver border, silver twist tie and rhinestones) were inspired by the Wednesday Simon Says Stamp challenge.

 

 

 

 

Color Combo: Bermuda Bay + Melon Mambo + Delightful Dijon + White

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Explosion de saveur (Ready to Pop)
Cardstock: Delightful Dijon, Melon Mambo, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper: Serene Scenery
Ink: Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay
Accessories: Popcorn box Thinlits Dies, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Silver Shimmer Paper,
White Polka Dot Cello Bag (SAB Kit), Stampin' Dimensionals, Large Oval Punch, Tear 'n Tape