Encre, papier, ciseaux

Certainties

Inspiration: April 2021 Page Maps Sketch

This page is a lighthearted reflexion on last year's situation due to the pandemic. There's a Benjamin Franklin quotes that says that in this world, nothing is certain but death and taxes. Last year, any normalcy we had ever known went out the window... and yet, here I was in March getting my tax documentation ready! 

As I was looking at my paper collections and pictures this week-end, I thought the Office Hours collection from Pinkfresh would look great for this page. I was also happy to have an occasion to scrap with it, as it is one of my favorite collections. I love the Pinkfresh designs, but I'm not always keen on their color palette. I do love this one, though.

I used the salmon dot grid paper for my background and I added ink smooshing, splatters and stamping on it before I started layering my papers. The sketch shows three tags on the right side, but I used a few cut-aparts, one of which I made a tag. I matted my picture with a few pieces of cardstock in matching colours. I tore one and punched the edge of the other. The cardstock felt a little bare, so I went to my wood-mount stamps and pulled out School Lines for the green cardstock and A to Z for the blue one.

I was liking the patterned paper that has boxes and text at an angle and I decided to tear the corner off and add it to my design - it was a lucky coincidence that the title reads "Life is tough but so are you" but that sure fits the context of this page! As I started layering my pieces, the page was filing up and I wasn't sure how to add the text. I used one of the grid paper scrap I had and tried handwriting on it, but I was not liking the look. I decided to try typewriting. I recently purchased the Simple Stories ledger paper pad, as I thought it'd come in handy to add journaling to pages, so I pulled out a grid on white paper and I typed my journaling. The final text was a little larger than I had anticipated, but after cutting it to size and playing with it on the layout, I realized it looked nice placed at an angle and I realized that it also anchored my title if I was placing it over it. I stamped the date at the bottom with a date stamp, I added a check mark puffy sticker and a push pin chipboard sticker at the top.

I punched circles from one of the patterned papers and placed three on the layout for repetition. I added a few rub-ons (number and "balance to pay"), stapled a piece of white twine on my tag, and added washi tape and enamel dots to finish decorating. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Off the Grid, A to Z, School Lines (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Calypso Coral, Garden Green (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Chipboard Stickers, Puffy Stickers, Mixed Embellishments: Office Hours (Pinkfresh)
Patterned Papers: Color Vibe Woods (Simple Stories)
Cardstock: Garden Green, Delightful Dijon, Buckaroo Blue (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: White Baker's Twine, Mini Stapler, Stampin' Dimensionals, Spiral Border Punch,
2" Circle Punch, Tag Corner Punch (Stampin' Up!); Scripted Dated Rub-Ons (Creative Expressions);
Oh What Fun! Puffy Alphabet Stickers (Pinkfresh); Typewriter (We R Memory Keepers)

 

Carpe Diem Mini Album

Inspiration: Tutorial from Pinkstrawberryz

I'm sharing another minialbum that was inspired by a cool tutorial from Michelle's channel. This one piqued my interest because it is entirely made of 6" x 6" patterned paper. I looked through my paper pads in that size and I found that a lot of them are not double-sided, which is the key to this design. I found the Carpe Diem paper pad (2016) and decided the designs would work well. All I used was the paper pad and the matching brads and I incorporated a few ornements (ribbon, paper clip, puffy stickers, doilies) and I ended up with this. The result looks elaborate but the design is surprisingly easy to put together.

 

This is the front page of the albu. Once I had all by base page assembled, I wrapped the spine with a piece of polka dot paper from the same pack, punched with a scallop border, to make it look more finished. I used a cut-apart from the pack to add a little plate image in the center. I left it blank for now and can add text to it once I start filling the minialbum with something.

 

The text strip is only glued at the top and bottom so you can slip stuff underneath. I made an envelope using the Mini Envelope Punch Board - I finally got my end on one. I love my regular one and use it all the time, but the smallest sizes are still pretty big so I decided having the smaller version could be useful. Love it as much as my other one so far! The envelope was decorated with a cut-apart and a puffy heart sticker. I added a star puffy sticker to the sentiment strip and a decorate brad as well.

On the right side, I created an envelope. I sort of messed up the measurements a little bit and ended up with two fold marks, but I found a solution that I love to work with it: I created a third scoring line in the middle, folded the pocket accordeon-style and I created little inserts on each side, also folded as accordeons, so that instead of having a flat pocket, you can slide something a little more bulky inside. It look so cute and you wouldn't guess it wasn't made to hide a mistake.

As you can see, the pages are folded so that they are not the same width, so you can see the next page poking out from underneath a little. This is a cute little detail - and the reason why getting the measurements right is key!

 

On the left side, I decorated the backside of the envelope with cut-aparts and punched pieces. On the left side, I created a little envelope by simply folding a piece of patterned paper and punching the top, as shown in Michelle's video. I slipped one of the cut-aparts inside and added a decorative brad.

 

In the original tutorial, the flap is glued close to make another pocket, but I decided to left mine as a folding tab for variety. I added patterned paper and cut-aparts to decorate. On the right page, I created a coin pocket as shown by Michelle. I glued a little bit too fast and forgot to put in fasteners first and when I tried using my Crop-a-Dile on the glued envelope, it was not reaching far enough and the circles were far too close, so I decided to turn the envelope around to hide my boo-boo, glued the tab down and have the top of the envelope open to slide something in. I added an envelope cut-apart to decorate and a second one on the right upper corner to fill in the space a bit.

 

The last page show two pockets on each side. On the left one, I assembled two cut-aparts together so that I could pop the typewriter up on dimensional adhesive and I used a paper clip to old the cut-apart in place, with a bit of ribbon on the paper clip to fancy it up. Decorative brads were added on opposite corners, and on the right page, I added a black mini doily (from Doodlebug) and some more cut-aparts.

 

This is the backside of the album.

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Decorative Brads: Carpe Diem (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Mini Envelope Punch Board (We R Memory Keepers); Mini Stapler, Lucky Limeade Ruffle Ribbon,
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Circle Punch, Mini Scalloped Circle Punch (Stampin' Up!);
Gems (Recollections); Bell Pepper Trinkets Puffy Stickers (Bella Blvd.);
Beetle Black Mini Paper Doilies (Doodlebug Design)

 

March and April Memorydex Cards

Inspiration: Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge #361 

I knew I wanted to use the St. Patrick's collection, Lots O' Luck (2018) from Doodlebug to make my March memorydex card, so I finally got around to making it happen. I happen to have the Bits & Bobs pack for this collection, so I went through the die-cuts to see which ones could fit the scale of the card. I settled on the little girl with her doggie and the "You're my pot of gold!" speech bubble. I added a die-cut rainbow behind and popped up a white flower to fill in the space. I used polka dot gold washi between the two patterned papers to go with the gold foiling on the die-cuts.

 

 

 

For the April memorydex card, I figured I would do something Easter-themed. I hadn't put away the hippity hoppity collection yet so I pulled it out as it reminded me of the Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge image with the rabbit and the colors. 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Mois de l'année Courrier (Lime Citron)
Ink: Gorgeous Grape, Call Me Clover (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Bits & Pieces, Mini Icon Stickers: Lots O' Luck, Hippity Hoppity (Doodlebug Designs)
Accessories: Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Gold Washi Tape, Label Punch (Stampin' Up!);
Gems (Recollections); Stitched Rectangle Dies (Lawn Fawn); Sea Shore Enamel Dots (Altenew);
Botanical Enamel Dots (Waffle Flower); Memorydex Tabs Dies (Heidi Swapp)

 

Snowflake Thank You

Inspiration: July 2020 Card Maps Sketch

This card was made with my leftover scraps from the Snow Fun collection. As I was previously working on a layout with the papers, I found an unused 6" x 3" card base in my Thick Whisper White cardstock folder so it inspired me to use it with the remaining scraps to put together a quick card. The July 2020 Card Maps printout was sitting on the side of my desk and I liked the layered speech bubbles one. I switched one of them for a silver die-cut snowflake, but I did use the vellum I had left to die-cut a bubble and layer "thank you" in sparkly green cardstock over it. I punched snowflake circles out of the patterned paper to decorate the front and inside of the card and the envelope. I added Sahara Sand/Night of Navy twine, an iridescent pearl and a little dot I had leftover from die-cutting hole reinforcers for my page. (Talk about using up every little last bit!) 

By the way, I wanted to pop the bubble up on dimensionals, but this can be tricky to do with vellum as it is see-through. I glued my die-cut sentiment first and then cut my Stampin' Dimensionals to size to hide behind the word. I made sure to use the black Dimensionals. You would think darker = showing more, but I've found while using them that they look like a shadow whereas white is really apparent if there's the slightlest bit poking out from underneath. For that reason, I'm happy that the black Dimensionals are back for another full year in the Stampin' Up! annual catalogue.

Cute and quick. Then, with the few scraps I had left, I put together a little coffee mug that I'll keep as an embellishment for a future project.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Snow Fun (Simple Stories)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Polka Dot Vellum (Stampin' Up!); Silver Glitter Paper, Green Glitter Paper (Unknown)
Dies: Word Bubbles (Stampin' Up!); bonne fête merci joyeux Noël (Simple à souhait);
Snowflake CutUp (The Cat's Pajamas)
Accessories: Sahara Sand/Night of Navy Baker's Twine, Black Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

 

 

I Heart Winter

I wanted to scrapbook tonight and wasn't sure where to start. I looked through my pictures to see what I had printed and then I went through my paper collections to see what could match. Hidden in between full collection, I had a small pile of leftover papers from the Snow Fun collection from Simple Stories (2014 - wow, was it really that long ago?!). That was a great option for a picture of my niece in her snowsuit. That picture was sent to me from my sister not so much for the winter fun aspect of it but because she has been saying Arielle reminds her of our aunt Claire and on this picture, the resemblance is defintely obvious. 

Because I was working with a single picture and not much patterned paper left, using my Planner Essentials dies seemed like an obvious choice. One of the sets I purchased more recently is #35, which includes little half page inserts. I was liking this idea to add the title, using vellum paper. This navy polka dot vellum is an old sheet that was sold by Stampin' Up! in an assortment of specialty papers - I'm sure it dates back even further than 2014. I guess I had stumbled unto it when I first worked with the Snow Fun papers and decided to leave it in with the collection as it matched so well. It was a great way to play with textures and fit a larger title on there. I used little banner thickers, found at a really good price on clearance before the holidays, followed by white sparkly alphabet stickers from Heidi Swapp, then this neat die set I have that includes all of the filler words we use all the time in French (which is a saving grace to save up on my E stickers!) and then finally navy rub-ons from Making Memories. (Okay, those have to be even older than the polka dot vellum!) I added a few elements punched from the patterned papers, a sparkly punched snowflakes and I die-cut hole reinforcers from Lime Light pearlescent cardstock.

On the main page, I used the wreath die in white cardstock, which looks a bit like swirling snow and because I had pulled that set out, I was compelled to use the pocket die as well and slide my picture in. I added white pompom trim on the edge, a strip of patterned paper, die-cut a cut-apart image with a scalloped square die and added another punched snowflake.

The pocket on the back is now made with the die, it's actually the leftover piece that was on my desk, which was already cut at an angle and I just scored tabs on it and turned it into a shorter pocket. (And realized much later that I needed to punch holes in it in order to be able to add my page to my binder - thank goodness for the Crop-a-Dile.) I handcut the little pointer and popped it up on dimensionals to decorate the pocket. At the top, I shortened, punched and glued the "I Heart Winter" cut-apart. And using other Planner Essentials dies, I created an insert and journaling spot to add the story. I couldn't resist adding the little Viewmaster die-cut. It's one of my favorite shapes and I got one of the Sidekick sets mainly for it! (That being said, I'm finding that I also really love the two tags included in that set, the white one shown on my page being one of them.)

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Polka Dot Vellum (Stampin' Up!);
Lime Light Pearlescent Cardstock (Tonic); Various Glitter Cardstock (Unknown)
Patterned Papers: Snow Fun (Simple Stories)
Dies: Planner Essentials 4, 11, 35, Sidekick Essentials 11, Planner Pocket 2,
Reinforcement Variety Pack (Elizabeth Craft Designs); Réf. Articles (Kesi'Art);
Layered Squares (Stampin' Dimensionals)
Accessories: Misunderstood Navy Rub-Ons (Making Memories); Banners Thickers (American Crafts);
Iridescent Pearls, Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems, Clear-Faceted Gems, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Sahara Sand/Night of Navy Baker's Twine, Ticket Corner Punch, White Pompom Trim (Stampin' Up!);
Snowflake Punch (EK Success); Glitter Letter Stickers (Heidi Swapp)

 

Bye Bye: Moving Along

Inspiration: July 2020 Card Maps Sketch

The cute Moving Along stamp set from Stampin' Up! is part of the Retiring List. I thought I could die-cut four stitched squares out of the retiring In Color DSP and stamp the images from the set in matching colours for each squares. This worked out really nicely. I also remembered I had matching Faceted dots, so I added one to each panel as well (although after doing so, I realized those might have actually retired last year with the previous catalogue).

This would have been too tight of a squeeze on a regular A2 card, so I made a 5-1/4" x 5-1/4" square card instead. The card base is made of Purple Posy cardstock and I layered a piece of DSP in the same shade, embossed with the Subtle 3D embossing folder. I'm sad to see this one go, I was using it all the time to create my own textured cardstock.

What is the retiring In Color that you are the most sad to see leave? Mine is Seaside Spray. It is my favorite shade of soft blue Stampin' Up! has ever carried. Probably because it has a bit of grey to it, it feels very soothing and was easy to pair with a lot of other colours. In the upcoming In Color palette, I'm looking forward to seeing Polished Pink in person, as I've been struggling to find a certain shade of brighter but not hot pink to match with certain papers, such as Doodlebug and others. I'm also curious to see Pale Papaya in person. I've been fast depleting my leftover Peach Passion cardstock and I could use another shade of soft orange to fill in the gap. I have a feeling Papaya is too pastel for what I need, but you never know. I'm curious to see how Soft Succulent compares to the old Sage Shadow colour. It looks a shade darker in the catalogue, but it's always hard to tell online. I hope Evening Evergreen can fill the gap that was left in my cardstock collection by me running out of Handsome Hunter cardstock. Knowing what colour of retiring cardstock to restock up on is very much a gambler's game.

 

Retiring items showcased on this project:

• Joyeuse Excursion (Moving Along) stamp set
• Subtle 3D Embossing Folder
• 2019-2021 In Color 6" x 6" Designer Series Paper Stack
• Stitched Shapes Dies

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Joyeuse excursion (Moving Along)
Cardstock: Purple Posy, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper Stack: 2019-2021 In Color
Ink: Purple Posy, Seaside Spray, Rococo Rose, Pretty Peacock
Accessories: Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Subtle 3D Embossing Folder, 
Stitched Shapes Dies, White Square Envelope, 2019-2021 In Color Faceted Dots

 

Spring Wallet

Inspiration: YouTube Tutorial from Pinkstrawberryz

Michelle has shared a cool tutorial at the beginning of the year showing how to make a paper wallet and I finally got around to circling back to it this weekend. I looked through my 12" x 12" papers and the Comme un air de printemps collection from KirelCraft (a company from France) quickly caught my eye. I am so pleased with how it turned out. I'm not usually big on florals but the soft watercolor look of this line really appealed to me, and having two-sided papers was really key to creating a beautiful wallet. 

The other thing that made embellishing fast and easy was using my Planner Essentials dies on this one. I've used my dies from this serie a ton even though I don't do anything planner related. Because they are meant for planners, their size in on the smaller size, which made them perfect for this wallet. I was able to create this cute layered pocket and stick small items in it, all created with the dies as well. On the left side, I combined two dies and filled the opening created with vellum to mimick the identification pocket we often see in real wallets. I handcut a couple of butterflies from one of the patterned papers and used them to embellish the wallet as well. 

On the front, I used eyelets and a 1" circle punch to create a closure, adding gold cord as well. I glued the word Happy, fussy cut from the cut-apart sheet. Frankly, I will never understand why French companies include English die-cuts in their lines. There are a million companies already offering English papers, I truly wish they would stick to French only for the French customers. Anyway... I did something similar on the back of the wallet: punched out the wreath from one of the cut-aparts and added a fussy-cut butterfly from the patterned paper. All butterfly wings were made sparkly using the Glitter Gloss aqua shimmer brush.

This was simple but very pleasing to make. I think Michelle designed this to send fun goodies in a swap, but I also think it could include tickets for stuff being done around the house (a fun idea with kids, who love creating those tickets), to send out money for a gift or to send out family pictures. This is what I'm leaning towards since we still have at least a few months of confinement ahead of us and my parents have not seen their grandkids in a long time. We do send out pictures via email, but I think they like having printed copies around the house as well. 

I watched the first half of Michelle's videos, following the measurements and instructions to put together the base of the wallet and then I decided I could make a second pocket on top of the right one, but instead of gluing vellum like she had done, I decided to add a second piece of patterned paper. From that point on, the ideas started coming and I never went back to the tutorial, I just went where inspiration took me. So on the right, you can slip something inside the big pocket and also underneath the polka dot paper, which is only glued at the bottom and on the right edge. The three-slot pocket was backed with pink paper to create a lining and this piece was also glued with thin adhesive strip in order to make the top a pocket as well. Adding the various little ephemera pieces makes it more obvious where the pockets are. Same thing on the left side: the top of the vellum piece was left open so something can be slipped underneath and the vellum will let us see a bit of what's in there.

I would love to revisit this project and recreate it with another paper line. I bet the results would be drastically different just by using other products. I would also love to try with doing two score lines in the middle to give height to the wallet and make it so that it can be filled with thicker elements and still close properly. Mine closes well right now, but it has not been filled yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Gold Rush (Lawn Fawn); Basic Grey, Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Un petit air de printemps (Béatrice Garni Illustration - KirelCraft)
Dies: Planner Essentials 1, 2, 4, 11, 21; Sidekick Essentials 11 (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Accessories: Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers); Gold Eyelets, Gold Cord,
1" Circle Punch, Blushing Bride Shimmery Ribbon, White Crinkled Ribbon,
Adhesive Strip, Stamp Mini Punch (Stampin' Up!)

Holographic Butterflies

Inspiration: April 2021 Card Maps Sketches

One of the new April sketches caught my eye: it includes two butterflies and got me thinking I could pull out my Layered Butterflies dies from Lawn Fawn. I was looking for my holographic paper and also found the Perfectly Plaid Remix papers from their last Spring remix, so I decided to use those for my layering pieces. The butterflies were created by using a piece of holographic paper for the base and adding Granny Apple Green and Flirty Flamingo cardstock over. I die-cut the bodies with Pool Party cardstock and used Basic Grey for the antennaes. 

For the sentiment, I went through my French stamps, pulled out a few options that looked like size would work well and finally landed on "Celebrate the Good Things," which size and font worked well on the card. The heart strip is actually the branding strip from the 12 x 12 patterned papers I used, and I added some Recollections gems that fit the holographic paper really well. This is fairly simple but really sweet and I like the Spring vibe this card has.

I repeated the same elements on a white envelope to finish the set.

The card base was done with Peach Passion cardstock, one of my fast-depleting favorite orange shade. I keep going back to this colour, as it fits a lot of patterned paper and colour combos perfectly and every time, I'm kicking myself that I didn't have the foresight to stock up on this In Color before it retired. 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Anniversaire idéal (Picture Perfect Birthday)
Cardstock: Peach Passion, Soft Sky, Flirty Flamingo, Granny Apple Green, Basic Grey (Stampin' Up!);
Holo Waves Mirror (Tonic)
Patterned Papers: Perfectly Plaid Remix (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Basic Grey, Soft Sky (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Bling Stickers (Recollections); Stampin' Dimensionals, Stitched Shapes Dies,
2016-2018 In Color Enamel Shapes, Twinkle Adhesive-Backed Sequins,
White Medium Envelope (Stampin' Up!); Layered Butterflies Dies, Dotted Rectangles Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

Bye Bye: Pampered Pets

Inspiration: Card Maps Sketch April 2021

Well, it is that time of the year where the Stampin' Up! retiring list comes up and I have to say goodbye to a bunch of sets, dies and accessories. Today's cards was made with the Pampered Pets stamp set. It's pretty simple but still cute. I love the Disney-vibe this collection has. The grey dog reminds me of the one from the Lady and the Tramp movie.

For the main circle, I used the Mercury Glass Designer Aceetate. I wanted to overlay the scribbly circle from the Painted Labels but with the full center, it was hiding too much of the acetate, so I used a small circle die from the Stitched Shapes dies set to take the center out. Gotta combine dies to get what you need for your project! The French sentiment reads, "Keep up the good work!" This will make a great card to send a downline member. I tied white cotton twine (now retired but I'm trying to go through what I have before repurchasing) and added a bone trinket underneath the bow. 

I reused another circle, this time with the center kept in place, on the envelope and die-cut a dog image from the patterned paper to decorate it.

Showcased retiring items:

• Pampered Pets stamp set
• Playful Pets Trinkets
• Playful Pets Designer Series Paper
• Joyeuse excursion (Moving Along) stamp set [for the sentiment]
• Painted Labels Dies
• Stitched Shapes Dies

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Pampered Pets, Joyeuse Excursion (Moving Along)
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Whisper White, Real Red
Designer Series Paper: Playful Pets, Mercury Glass Designer Acetate
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Stampin' Blends Markers, White Twine, Playful Pets Trinkets,
White Medium Envelope, Pets Dies, Painted Labels Dies, Stitched Rectangles Dies,
Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Crayon Box

Happy Crayola Crayon Day! 

I had been eyeing the Crayon Box Card dies from Honey Bee since their release and when my local store got those in, I couldn't resist. This is my first try a putting it together. It is really simple, but a little time consuming doing each crayon one at a time, in two colours with the wrapping. Here is a trip: make sure you glue the crayons really close together, otherwise you will have trouble sliding the insert in the crayon box envelope afterwards. Learned that the hard wat and I had to use my paper cutter to take cardstock off of both sides for it to work.

I didn't do anything fancy with the design, mostly just assembled the dies as they are designed, but I did decide to use adhesive strip and add gold gilded leafing to each crayon to mimick the Crayola stripes. That detail turned out really cool. I'm enjoying using the gilded leafing way more than I thought I would. I had some from Cosmic Shimmer previously that is a mix of various shades in the pack and the result is very mottled. I'm enjoying the plain gold way more and am finding it easier to design with. Funny how your level of satisfaction with a product can sometimes depend on something as trivial as the colour you select...  

 

 

 

Supplies
Dies: Crayon Box Card (Honey Bee)
Cardstock: Various (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Gilded Leafing (Stampin' Up!); 1/8" Adhesive Strip 

 

Cutesy Bunny

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #280

I was looking at a video showing how to make ruffled strips, which is not something new as I've made those before, but it made me want to try it again and see if the blogger was folding it the same way I was. I quickly looked around for papers to use and thought I could do the Hippity Hoppity collection since Easter is just around the bend. I also picked up some gorgeous foiled plaid papers from Memorybox at the same time, so I started with a strip of plaid paper and then looked at the Doodlebug papers and stickers to add layers to it. There was some cute cut-apart journaling blocks in there that was perfect to back the strip with and as soon as I started layering a couple of pieces, the ideas started coming and I got on a roll and put together a whole card. I used a sketch from Mojo Monday and I tried to do the diagonal strip in different forms but I was not liking the look at all, so I decided to go with what looked best and do an horizontal strip instead. I have various scalloped edge dies and punches, but none of them do this deep larger scallop look that I like, so I created what I wanted with circles punched out of soft yellow glitter paper. I had initially done the "happy Easter" paper strip to use as my sentiment, but I spotted the aqua acrylic sentiment embellishments on my desk and realized they would work really well, so I added "Surprise!" on my card. It's a well-known fact that you have to see your supplies to use them and I'm always amazed at the ideas I can come up with when I spot various things that are lying on my desk. Makes for more unique combinations, as when I have to think of what to pull out myself, it tends to be more obvious choices or I don't mix and match between companies as much. For obvious space reasons, I can't have everything sitting out on my desk (and I don't craft well when my desk becomes too crowded), but I should try to make a rotation and place a few items that I want to add mileage on purposefully on my desk to think of using them.

Because the main embellishment on my card is so thick, I used a smaller stitched rectangle to cut my paper and I mounted it on a 4" x 5-1/4" card. Taking off the extra 1/4" on both sides lets me slip the card into a regular A2 envelope more easily. 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: So Saffron (Stampin' Up!); Yellow Glitter Paper (Unknown)
Patterned Papers, Stickers: Hippity Hoppity (Doodlebug Design);
Madras Plaid Coral and Green (Memorybox)
Dies: Stitched Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Bright Glitter Assortment Sprinkles (Doodlebug);
Bermuda Bay Chevron Grosgrain Ribbon, Circle Punch (Stampin' Up!);
Acrylic Embellishments (Florilège Design); A2 Fairway Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com)

 

Happy Easter Banner

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #311

I was having so much fun with the Hippity Hoppity collection, I kept on going with a second card. I also realized if I'm to make and send any Easter card, it has to happen right now or otherwise it will be too late. I really loved the airplane and banner sticker and it was the starting point of this card. The Mojo Monday, with its long horizontal rectangle, was perfect to showcase it, and I got really excited when I looked for a background paper and found the little cityscape with the houses and streets. The scale is perfect to mimick a view from the sky. Because this paper was really busy, I made sure to pick tone of tone papers for the other strips. I've made the complaint before that while cute, the Doodlebug papers were really busy and therefore hard to pair together, but I've got to give them props, they have been incorporating more and more sheets with tone on tone or larger patterns on it, which I love. They also have the petite prints pack to go with the collection, but I want as much as possible to have the softer designs included in the actual collections. See how the little carrot print and the gingham soften the busy background?

I matted the gingham rectangle with yellow cardstock and it still seemed too bare, so I looked at my washi tapes to see what I had from Doodlebug and the rainbow stripe immediately caught my eye, so I added it underneath the sticker, which has been propped up on Dimensionals. I added borders to each side of the orange patterned paper (did the right side like the sketch and it seemed too bare so I added the green boder on the left, too). I found the organza ribbons that were offered as a freebie during Sale-A-Bration in a previous offering and the colors were perfect to go with the papers, so I selected the purple one, which has sadly been neglected up to this point.

I then remembered about the circle from the sketch, so I slid a little half circle underneath my panel and decided to add flowers to it to fill up the space. I spotted the little heart stickers on my sheet, and added two to my main panel. I made my card base out of Soft Sky cardstock. I stocked up on this colour when I knew it was retiring and I'm going through my stock at a pretty steady pace, since it remains one of my most-often used colour. Wonder how long the stock will hold up...

For the envelope, I liked the look of the green metallic, so I went with that and added a sticker to match. I added a little egg basket sticker inside the card as well. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Soft Sky (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Stickers: Hippity Hoppity (Doodlebug Design)
Dies: Outside In Stitched Rectangles (Lawn Fawn); Border Dies (Photoplay)
Accessories: Stampin' DImensionals, Flower Punches, Artisan Pearls,
Highland Heather Organza Ribbon (Stampin' Up!); Rainbow Stripe Washi Tape (Doodlebug Design);
A2 Fairway Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com)

 

Cupcake Chickie

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #318

I finally managed to work in my watercolored background into a project. I used my last colored image on a tag, and added the die-cut sentiment to a stitched oval so it would stand out better.

I used the chicken wire and sack dies to decorate a bit and resin dots as well. This was a quick way to finish using the pieces I had on a card. 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Salut poulette (Hey Birthday Chick), All Wired Up
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Poppy Parade, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede,
Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper
Designer Series Paper: 2020-2022 In Color, Brights
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); VersaMark; Poppy Parade, Pool Party, Bumblebee
Accessories: Banner Punch, Stitched Shapes Dies, Stampin' DImensionals, 
Stampin' Blends Markers, All the Trimmings Embellishments, Piercing Template, Paper Piercer,
Playing with Patterns Resin Dots, Whisper White Medium Envelope,
Crinckled White Ribbon, Aqua Painter Brush, Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder

 

Rooster on a Fence

Inspiration: Mojo 329

I tried using my watercolor background but the card was way too busy and not very pleasing, so I switched to a plain cardstock background and it instantly improved the overall look. I did emboss the cardstock with the Tasteful Textile embossing folder so it would at leasr have a little something. I used the fence from the die set and made the rooster balance on it.

For the sentiment, I die-cut the little post from the die set and I looked for a stamp that would fit on it. I picked "You are too cool" from the French version of the Sweet Ice Cream stamp set. I added the two banners at the top and a few resin dots throughout. I also used the bow tie from the die set to add on the rooster. I stuck with the same color combo as on my previous card since my images had all been colored at once using this combo.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Salut poulette (Heu Birthday Chick)
Cardstock: Pool Party, Poppy Parade, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Bumblebee
Designer Series Paper: Brights, 2022-2022 In Color
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); VersaMark
Accessories: Fêtons entre poulettes Dies, Chick Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies,
All the Trimmings Embellishments, Playing With Patterns Resin Dots, 
White Medium Envelope, Stampin' Blends Markers, Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder,
Tasteful Textile 3D Embossing Folder

 

Birthday Chick

Inspiration: Mojo Monday 407 + ColourQ #138

I ordered the Hey Birthday Chick stamp set and dies during the free shipping day promotion and got around to playing with the set today. I also got the All Wired Up background stamp, as it was an abvious good pairing with the chick set. The wire is smaller than I expected, but it still works. I pulled out my watercolor paper to try and make a colorful background with the wire embossed in gold. It didn't end up getting used on this card (might make it on another card later), but I was down to the last few pieces of my watercolor pack and noticed the packaging was white on the back and had nice texture to it, so I embossed the background in gold on it and tried watercoloring. The paper is clearly not might to watercolor on, as I couldn't spread the color around and the paper buckled badly right away, so I put a pin in that idea and went back to actually using watercolor paper. That being said, once I started preparing my pieces for this card, I realized I really liked the look of the gold embossing on the packaging paper, so I ended up incorporating it in my design. Felt good to use up something that would otherwise have been discarded as well.

I wanted to use gold embossing on my stamped images as well to tie it all together, but I knew I wouldn't be able to use my Stampin' Blends if I did that. I found a workaround to still get the embossing. I used my stamping tool to stamp the images in Blends-friendly ink (Memento). Important stamp: I made sure to wash my stamp but leave them in place in the stamping tool. So after I was done coloring my images with the markers, I put the cardstock back in the stamping tool where it was before, I inked my stamps in VersaMark, stamped over the colored images and added gold embossing powder on top. It turned out so good! 

I did a bit of stenciling with Shimmery White embossing paste on the striped patterned paper, and I added circles of all shapes around the main image, as well as a few banners from the matching dies, and the French sentiment included in the die set. I added resin dots in matching colours and stamped my envelope to match. 

 

 

Color Combo: Bumblee + Poppy Parade + Pool Party + Crumb Cake + White

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Salut poulette (Hey Birthday Chick), All Wired Up
Cardstock: Bumbleebee, Crumb Cake, Poppy Parade, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper: Neutrals, Brights, In Color 2020-2022
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); VersaMark
Accessories: Fêtons Entre Poulettes Dies, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stampin' Blends Markers,
Shimmery White Embossing Paste, Basic Patterns Decorative Masks, 
Stitched Shapes Dies, Circle Punches, All the Trimmings Embellishments, 
Playing With Patterns Resin Dots, White Medium Envelope, Bumblebee Ribbon,
Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder 

 

 

True Beauty

I finally had a free evening and was puttering around, trying to decide what to work on. I was testing out dies and using the beautiful Watercolor Floral papers to do so. As I was looking at the leftover paper, I got curious to see what the wreath image would look fussy cut out, and then I placed it on the leftover pink patterned paper and thought it looked really good. I was curious to see if a Planner Essentials page would be big enough for the image I had just cut out, and it was the perfect size, so this became the starting point of this page. I looked through my printed pictures for something small enough to put in the center of the wreath and found this picture of my two nieces, taken a couple of years ago when my sister was taking a picture every month of her second daughter's first year to chronicle her growth. I'll have to double-check with her what month that was, but it was towards the end.

I've purchased the ephemera pack and the puffy stickers that go with this Prima collection, so those embellishments helped me get a design going. I pulled the Bunting Banners dies from Lawn Fawn to fill space the the top, and I decided to add stenciling at the bottom for added interest. I picked the Bricked stencil from Tim Holtz and used the Shimmery White embossing powder from Stampin' Up! It was my first time using it and I am really pleased with the texture and look! Unfortunately, I found the silver one to be runny, but this one stayed within the openings of this fine-detailed stencil. Because it is named "shimmery", I was wondering if it would have a sparkly or pearlescent finish. It's actually sparkly, with micro glitter in there. And it says white, but it's not really opaque, as you can see the pink of the patterned paper shining through. I'm very pleased with this product.

Because I wanted the newspaper print on the opposite side of the wreath, I turned the paper around before die-cutting. Unfortunately, the pattern on the back of the page wound up upside down, so I decided to use the Wave Pocket to hide it. This also gave me a chance to work in additional patterned paper from this beautiful collection. This is totally different from my usual style, as I don't do a lot of floral, a lot of vintage and a lot of purple, but I was liking the overall look of this collection and the gorgeous rose gold foil details sold me on it. My store was carrying the 12 x 12" paper pad, so I will have enough for a few more projects.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Till We Meet Again (P13)
Cardstock: Blue Obsidian Mirror, Burnished Rose Mirror (Tonic); Buckaroo Blue (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Ephemera, Puffy Stickers: Watercolor Floral (Prima)
Ink: Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Planner Essentials 10, 30, Reinforcement Variety Pack (Elizabeth Craft Designs);
Bunting Borders (Lawn Fawn); Ticket Booth (Tim Holtz for Sizzix)
Accessories: Bricked Stencil (Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous);
White Gold Metallic Wax (Finnabair); Shimmery White Embossing Paste,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Pastel Pearls, Resin Heart Embellishments,
Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems, White Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon, 
Seaside Spray Metallic Ribbon (Stampin' Up!) 

 

Spring Bookmarks

I'm trying to work my way through all of the project ideas I've had in my head for some time but not enough time to bring to life. One of those was a toad and a bunny bookmark, as I managed to get the dies on clearance. Initially, I had only bought the first set of bookmark dies (the deer and the bear) and when the series started to grow, I decided I'd try to see if I could make bookmarks using the first set of dies and try to make it work with the other critters. I just didn't think I'd make enough bookmarks to warrant getting the new dies every time a new pair came out. I decided to get those because the price was right and I will say, I have really enjoyed making bookmarks as a little gift for colleagues a couple of Christmas ago and to make some for my own use and the size works very well for my liking.

I wasn't sure where I was going with my design, but I stamped and colored the images with colors that appealed to me (dark blue-green for the toad and a soft lavendar for the bunny) and then I went looking in my Lawn Fawn papers for something to match. I didn't have to look far - the Let it Shine from the last release was sitting right on top, and I love the mint paired with the bunny and the vanilla paired with the toad. I die-cut the same paper for the back, using the stripe patterned, both to make the bookmark thicker and sturdier and also to have the stitching sitting on the top. (I'm sure you know what I mean if you've die-cut yourself before - the back doesn't show the stitching impressed in the cardstock, but poking up, plus you get the scratch marks from your plates.) The bookmark is even (mirror image), so it will line up properly when you put the two pieces together.

I used Deep Sea embossing powder to add my sentiment, to make sure the words would show up properly on top of the foiled dots. (Dye ink would pearl on the foil.) I stamped both on the front and on the back. The bunny verse was a little shorter, so I added a tiny enamel heart (a Shape Sprinkles from Doodlebug). The toad also got a white enamel heart... on its buttcheek! (You can feel the My Little Pony influence there.)

I spent way too much time fidgeting with the twine until I finally found a way to add some to both bookmarks that I loved, but I am happy with where I landed. Both turned out cute, but I do have a soft spot for the toad. Which one is your favorite?

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Don't Worry, Be Hoppy (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Solar White (Neenah)
Patterned Paper: Mint Sprinkle 'n Shine, Cream Sprinkle 'n Shine - Let It Shine (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); VersaMarj
Dies: Don't Worry, Be Hoppy, Don't Worry, Be Hoppy Add-On (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Very Vanilla, Pistachio Pudding and Always Artichoke Baker's Twine (Stampin' Up!);
Deep Sea Baked Texture Embossing Powder (Emerald Creek); Markers (Copic);
Winter Hugs Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design)

 

Cheese!

This picture of my niece was taken about a year and a half ago, when she hit the age of two and suddenly started doing those exaggerated smiles every time she became aware she was being photographed, just like her big sister had done before her at the same age. Her colorful clothes were the inspiration behind the page. I had a certain patterned paper collection in mind for this page, which I can't for the life of me remember which it was, but as I started going through my patterned papers, I spotted the Oh Happy Day! collection from Simple Stories (2019), and was pretty much instantly sold on it as the mood, feel and colours were perfect for the picture. 

I looked at Page Maps sketches and found one I liked from October 2020. From there, I spent quite a few hours on the layout but I was totally engrossed in what I was doing and barely struggled or double-guessed anything. Oh, how I love creative nights that go like this... The multiple-stitch circle from the sketch was replaced with a messy stitched heart from my favorite rub-on set. The collection didn't have a green patterned paper (at least, not in the sheets I have on hand) so I dug through my scraps, picked a polka dot paper, transferred the rub-on on the sheet and I traced around the heart with an aqua painter brush to soften the fibers of the paper in the heart shape, then I tore my shape out.

I was loving the rainbow 4" x 6" cut-apart, so it replaced the second picture from the sketch. I matted it with Basic Black cardstock using my Perfect Layers rulers (those made a comeback recently from We R Memory Makers, I think, but mine date back to when Stampin' Up! used to sell this tool). I still love pulling it out to mat shapes. I bedazzled my rainbow using gems and pearls in matching colours, and I added a piece of star silver washi tape and a sun-shaped clip at the top, found in my stash while going through embellishments.

To make the picture also stand out, I added white tissue paper and sparkly tulle under it. The cute camera came from another 4" x 6" cut-apart, and I fussy cut the image to turn it into an embellishment. I added Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer to the lense to make it shimmer and stand out and I added my title right over it, using Bumblebee Sunshine alphabet stickers from Doodlebug (another score from the clearance order from around the holidays). The yellow matched my patterned papers perfectly. I was initially planning to add my title to the stitched heart as per the sketch, but it was looking much better placed on the camera and made sense since it says "Cheese!" 

A few of the embellishments were little bits and bobs I found on my desk - leftover yarn from knitting a quick headband and scarf set for plushes for my niece, a little white embossed banner scrap, a leftover piece of torn glitter paper, the little embossed aqua tab, a green envelope from testing out the mini envelope punch board. The color inside the envelope was not matching well, but the green from the outside was, so I got the idea to tuck the mini-envelope behind the picture and place the flap over it. I added a brad from Carpe Diem, an older Simple Stories collection. This is the kind of ideas I kind when I do a "desk cleanup" and use things I wouldn't have thought to have made or matched if I was just coming up with ideas randomly. Because I had been looking for my stitching rub-ons, I also found the Sky & Navy rub-on transfers from 49 and Market and spotted some aqua wording and sequins that I decided to add to the right corner - "Story of Today," right underneath my hand-written journaling. Because the heart didn't have a title on it, it felt a little bare, so I glued a few sparkly circles that had fallen from my tulle and a word epoxy embellishments that reads "I love you very much" in French.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Island Indigo, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Oh Happy Day! (Simple Stories); Paper Scraps (Various)
Rub-Ons: Vintage Artistry Sky & Navy, Black Roughly Sewn (49 and Market)
Stickers: Bumblebee Sunshine Alphabet (Doodlebug Design); Sorbet Alphabet Stickers (American Crafts);
Bell Pepper Trinkets Puffy Stickers (Bella Blvd.); Pretty Pale Say It in Crystals (Prima Marketing)
Accessories: White Tissue Paper (Unknown); White Sparkly Tulle (Recollections);
Mini Envelope Punch Board (We R Memory Makers); Décos Mots Doux Céladon (Florilège Design);
Carpe Diem New Bradz (Simple Stories); Sunny Skie Cute Clips (Doodlebug Design);
Ripe Persimmon Pearls, March Crystals, Pineapple Delight Crystals, August Crystals (Studio Katia);
Enamel Dots (Altenew); Washi Tape, Stampin' Dimensionals, Black Journaling Pen (Stampin' Up!);
Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo)

 

Mr. & Mrs.

I was inspired to combine the "Our Wedding" collection from Echo Park with the Wedding Day stamp set from Waffle Flower. I like the soft colours combined with the wood backgrounds of this new line. I was looking at old Mojo Monday sketch for inspiration and picked one with a tag so that I could use one of the cut-aparts to create my main image and place the couple on each side of it. The bottom of the tag felt a little empty, so I fussy cut a flower from the patterned paper. I did the same thing with a full flower for the envelope, adding it to a Woodgrain Oak A2 envelope.

The top of the tag was a leftover piece on my desk from a previous project, but it was the perfect colour and size. I added a few Crystal Drops around the design to fill it up, and I added shimmer to the bride's dress using my Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer brush. I also added shimmer to the bling on the ring using a sparkly gel pen.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Wedding Day (Waffle Flower)
Cardstock: Almost Artichoke (Stampin' Up!); Delicate Pastel Glitter Pad (Memorybox)
Patterned Papers: Our Wedding (Echo Park)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Dies: Wedding Day (Waffle Flower); Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn);
Planner Essentials (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
 Accessories: Bubblegum Blush, Calming Aqua Crystal Drops, Pioneer Green Vintage Drops,
Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo); Stampin' DImensionals, Mini Stapler,
White Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon, Corner Rounder Punch (Stampin' Up!); Markers (Copic);
A2 Woodgrain Oak Envelope (envelopes.com); Clear and Silver Gel Pens (Gelly Roll)

 

Polar Bear

I hadn't put away the Santa's Letter dies because I had only put together the Santa and I was curious to see the bear assembled. It was late when I sat down to craft and I thought putting together the bear could be something quick to work on. As I was working on it, I started looking for patterned paper for the gift the bear is holding and then inspiration took a left turn when I found the Snow Much Fun! papers from Carta Bella. That collection dates back to 2019, but it's always a pleasure to pull it out again.

Initially, I wanted to try out a tulle shaker, but I quickly realized the bear was too big to do that, so I picked the tree patterned paper to create my background and combined it with the Zig Zag Rectangle Stackables dies I was happy to find on clearance recently. I didn't like how the bear was floating on the card, so I decided to add snow banks to the background and bottom. While looking at pattern options, I found the snow globe paper and decided to fussy cut a few and have the bear hold those instead of the gift. Right now, the pocket on the bear has been left emoty, but I guess I could fill it with a little note. I have to say, I assumed those dies were meant to make pockets for gift cards, but now that I've assembled them, I'm pretty sure the pockets are too narrow for that, which is a shame. While the characters are cute, there are a few design flaws that bother me and make me regret that purchase a bit. 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Fog (Lawn Fawn); Pistachio Pudding, Blushing Bride, Basic Black,
Bordering Blue, Basic Grey (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Snow Much Fun! (Carta Bella)
Dies: Santa's Letter (Sizzix); Zig Zag Rectangle Stackables, Stitched Hillside Borders (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board,
Seaside Spray Metallic Ribbon (Stampin' Up!)

 

Make a Birthday Wish

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #437

I had not crafted in a couple of weeks and I finally sat down at my desk to putter around with supplies tonight. I randomly grabbed the Happy Cake Day! 6 x 8 paper pad from Pebbles and decided to make a card using the tag cut-apart sheet as the main image. The bouquet of balloons and the party hat were handcut out of patterns papers. My favorite part of the paper pad is that it has gold foil details on it. This is nice, as the foil is often added only to the full 12 x 12 pages. The plaid and the fire on the candles are both gold-foiled on the patterns I chose. I added twine, mini staples and a few enamel embellishments to finish the card. I love the colours and fun patterns of this line.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Brilliant Blue, Call me Clover, Strawberry Slush, Metallic Foil Sheets (Stampin' Up!);
Cotton Candy (Bazzill)
Patterned Papers: Happy Cake Day! (Pebbles)
Accessories; White Square Envelope (envelopes.com); Washi Tape, Mini Stapler, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals,
Distressing Tool (Stampin' Up!); Border Dies (Photoplay); Botanical Enamel Dots (Waffle Flower); 
Star-fetti Shape Sprinkles, Ladybug Doodle Twine (Doodlebug Design);
Meilleurs Voeux Die (Dee's Distinctively)

 

Here Comes Santa Claws

Inspiration: CAS Colours & Sketch #408

This card is totally out of season, but the seaweed Christmas tree worked well with the sketch and this cute stamp has unfortunately been sitting on my stash uninked since it was released. (Yikes.) I looked through my seasonal papers and found leftover papers from the Winter Wonder collection from Bella Blvd. that were getting all crinckled at the bottom of the box, so I pulled them out and got working on this card. I made a conscious effort to keep the design streamlined and I do like where I landed. My favorite part is the pink banner, as it was cut out of a leftover scrap on my desk, where I had tested the new Kitsch Flamingo Distress ink and die-cut a circle for another project, but I had enough leftover cardstock inked with pink to cut this banner out. Because it was the edge of the inking, it creates a very nice ombre effect, and the water spritzing I had done also mimicks bubbles, so I love the look.

The larger panel was die-cut with the Confetti Card dies and the smaller rectangle was handcut and I added stitching using the Just Stitching Double Rectangles dies. I added Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer to the star and Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer to the bubbles.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Fishes (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette (Stampin' Up!); Solar White (Neenah)
Patterned Papers: Winter Wonder (Bella Blvd.)
Ink: Kitsch Flamingo Distress Oxide (Ranger); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Dies: Christmas Fishes, Just Stitching Double Rectangles,
Simple Wavy Banners (Lawn Fawn); Confetti Card Dies (Concord & 9th)
Accessories: Markers (Copic); Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Blender Tool (Ranger); Midas Touch and Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brushes (Nuvo);
A2 Rose Quartz Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com)

 

Lipstick and Lace

Inspiration: Festive Friday #78 (lipstick + heart + watercolor) + MFT Color Challenge #160 + Freshly Made #474

I was looking at this week's online challenges and the color combo from MFT really caught my eye. I looked at my stamp sets to see what could work well with it and decided to use the bright pink with the lipstick from the Hearts & Kisses stamp set. It was also a good occasion to pull out Magenta Madness, one of the current In Colors.

I pulled out various die sets that I thought could work with the sketch I had selected. I used the wonky circle from Painted Labels for the main image and also the lace from the same set to line the middle part. At the bottom, I decided to use Stitched Lace, for a feminine touch, and I made the Bermuda Bay panel longer to line the open part of the lace. I used the stitched lines from the Stitched Leaves set at the top of the cardstock to fill in the space and I embossed the middle panel with the Painted Textured 3D embossing folder, before adding a touch of Magenta ribbon. 

The Hearts & Kisses includes a watercolor image, which was perfect to go with the Festive Friday grid, and I added little white resin heart embellishments to decorate the main panel as well. I stamped matching images on a white envelope and I used a leftover lace strip inside the card. I initially planned to make two of this card but taking the pieces out of the lace die-cut take so long that I couldn't be bothered to do it a second time. I love the look of this die, but I'm not enjoying using it! (I did use my Chrome precision plate, so that helped, but little pieces get everywhere. I keep finding some everywhere on my desk and on my jeans and I'll definitely need to vacuum the floor.)

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Hearts & Kisses
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Magenta Madness, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White
Ink: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Magenta Madness, Bermuda Bay
Dies: Painted Labels, Stitched Lace, Stitched Leaves
3D Embossing Folder: Painted Texture
Accessories: Magenta Madness Ribbon, Resin Hearts Embellishments, White Medium Envelope,
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Triple Window Card

I got inspired to use the Peek-a-Hoot die with three windows with the Playful Pets suite. I die-cut the windows out of Basic Black cardstock, added patterned papers from the Playful Pets Designer Series Paper and I used the Pets dies to die-cut a cat and a dog from the DSP as well. I wanted to add a sentiment in the third window, so I looked through stamps and found one that was filling the space nicely in the Heal Your Heart stamp set. I embossed it in silver Stampin' Emboss powder and those cute little hearts are actually the negative shapes from the paws I die-cut in the Real Red cardstock strip added below. The center of the paw print is actually a little heart (cute detail). 

I added narrower strips of Real Red cardstock on each side of the strip to add detailing and used the white dots from the All the Trimmings embellishments pack (sold in the previous Holidays minicatalogue). To fill in the empty space in the top corner, I created a small banner out of DSP and I layered a Playful Pets trinket threaded with white baker's twine over it. I used die-cut animals to decorate the inside of the card and the envelope as well. This is a fun idea to use scraps of patterned papers or to user smaller images from a same set.

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Apaiser ton coeur (Heal Your Heart)
Cardstock: Real Red, Whisper White, Basic Grey, Basic Black
Designer Series Paper: Playful Pets
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Peek-a-Hoot Dies, Pets Dies, Playful Pets Trinkets,
White Baker's Twine, Stampin' Dimensionals, All the Trimmings Embellishments,
White Medium Envelope, Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder, Sitched Rectangles Dies

 

Swan Lake

Happy Marriage Day!

The starting point of this card was the Star Scene die from Avery Elle, which was part of the packages that finally arrived last month. I had always loved this die and I jumped on it when I saw it on clearance. I was curious to see it cut up, so I pulled a piece of Buckaroo Blue cardstock (an old In Color from many moons ago) and die-cut the image. I inked the edges with a blender brush and Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide ink. I wanted yellow stars to shine through the holes so I traced the circle shape on Barely Banana cardstock (another long retired colour) and fussy cut a slightly smaller shape. I didn't like having the stars all one colour, so I went back to my Distress Oxide inks and added Wild Honey around my cut shape. I also added Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer over the yellow cardstock before layering the two pieces.

Once that piece was done, I went through my stamps to see if anything jumped at me to use with the starry background. I narrowed it down to a few options and ended up choosing Swan Soiree (which I purchased when it first came out and had yet to ink - yikes!). I wanted to keep the background minimal, but didn't want it to be too boring either, so I started looking through embossing folders. Again, I narrowed it to a few options and ended up choosing Framed Tulips, a folder that dates back to the first years after Stampin' Up! started offering Big Shot accessories. While I love this frame folder, I've found it hard to include in designs, so I was happy that it would work out here and paired it with the pearlescent Speciality paper currently sold in the January-June minicatalogue.

For the sentiment, I had room left at the bottom of the card to stamp something, but I was curious how a sentiment die-cut might look layered over the sky. I picked the word "happiness," a recent acquisition from my local scrapbook store. I can't tell you how happy I was to find those dies - the set includes the stamp, the word die and the mat. That type of sentiment has been offered in English for a long time, but those were hard to find in French. The first few I found were either weird word choices or way too big. This one is just perfect - great word choise, great size and font, delicate cut. That makes me happy. For the mat, I used pearlescent vellum, which adds a really nice sheen and also ties in with the green in the scene.

I picked a Sapphire Metallic envelope to match and colored a few additional images to add to it.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Swan Soiree (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Buckaroo Blue, Whisper White, Barely Banana, Rococo Rose,
Pearlescent Specialty Paper (Stampin' Up!); Pearlescent Vellum (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire, Wild Honey Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Accessories: Star Scene Die (Avery Elle); Swan Soiree Dies (Lawn Fawn);
Framed Tulips Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!); Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo);
Markers (Copic); A2 Sapphire Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com); Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studios)

 

40th Wedding Anniversary

This card was commissioned by a long-term friend who was looking for a 40th wedding anniversary card for her parents and asked me if I would be willing to make one for her. I immediately said yes and as soon as the weekend rolled around, I sat down to create as I need to send the card to her quickly so she receives it in time since she lives out of town. 

When I got started on the project, I remembered how insecure crafting for somebody else is. I don't mean me making a card I'm sending to a friend on my behalf. I'm talking making a card that somebody else will hand out. Commissioned cards are usually requested for special events and I'm always worried that I'll miss the mark. I ask a few questions to get an idea of what they need, but I try not to go too deep into details as then people start to get really precise on what they are expecting and this is where the risk of disappointing becomes really high and the inspiration gets killed really quickly becomes the parameters are too strict. The irony is that over the years, no one has ever looked the slighest bit disappointed when I've handed in my creations so I've grown a bit more confident, but I found out today that the worry will never truly go away.

I played a long time with various elements before I finished this card. I like where I landed, but I just hope the result is not too busy. The starting point was a background I had made last week when I tested out stencils and various texture paste options. In this case, I had inked the edges of a blue cardstock with Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide ink before applying Moonlight Pearl Luna Paste through Finnabair's Ornate Lace stencil. On a side note, Luna Paste is my favorite sparkly paste, because the shine is gorgeous and the texture of the paste is smooth (no grit). The downside is that because it is so smooth, it tends to easily run under the stencil and you don't get as sharp edges to your images, as evidenced here with the lace pattern, which is not well-defined. I'll admit I should have at least taken the time to use Pixie Spray on the stencil to help out, but I only remembered about it as I was starting out and at this point, I was just testing out products so I didn't bother.

I was really liking my background and found it to be a good starting point for the card. I then pulled out the Large Numbers dies and die-cut 40 out of Burnished Rose, my favorite colour of foiled cardstock. I got the idea of pull out my Prem dies from Birch Press Design to back the numbers. I was trying to decide what colours to use and thought metallics might be nice, so I used Champagne foil paper for the base. I actually meant to cut through it with the die, but I forgot to switch to my Chrome precision plate, so it only embossed and didn't cut properly. Turned lemons into lemonade and made this my base layer. I will say, the Chrome precision plate is one of the best purchase I made for my Big Shot. The difference in results is notable with detailed dies. For my other three layers, I used the Pearlescent Specialty Paper currently sold by Stampin' Up! in its mini-catalogue. Used the same paper for the second layer and inked it with Distress Oxide ink. The result is really, really faint, but it was enough to create contrast and for the third layer, I went with Soft Sky.

My friend had requested for "Congratulations" to be the sentiment on the card, so I pulled out my word die. I was trying to match cardstock and had trouble, so I decided to make life easier for myself by inking some lighter blue cardstock with Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide ink and I got the result I wanted. The sentiment was getting lost over the busy background, so I embossed a piece of cardstock and inked the dots and edges with the same ink to soften the result. I wanted the add a heart somewhere and I remembered I had some chipboard hearts in my stash, so I went looking for the box. In my reorgnization efforts last year, I took all of the chipboard pieces from Stampin' Up! out of the 12" x 12" sheets they came in and put them all together in a box. It not only saved me space, but I've started using my pieces again on various projects throughout the year. I not only found a heart, but also a long tag and a crown, so I incorporated those in my design as well.

I covered the crown with embossing. Various layers of embossing. I started with Platinum powder, sure that it would match the champagne foil paper nicely. Nope - way too yellow. I added VersaMark and added Silver, thinking the two colours would melt together and create a in-between. The result was just silver and totally clashed. So I looked at my stash and I found Vintage Beeswax in there and thought it might tone down the metallic a bit, which it did. The result is a matte brownish shade and even though it was unexpected, it totally works. I added blue and cream pearls to dress it up, and added Café au lait pearls to the numbers. For the chipboard heart, I did a first layer of Blushing Bride powder and then while the powder was hot, I sprinkled copper powder on it to give it texture and tame the pink down. I also brushed the VersaMark pad against the edge of the heart and added more copper embossing there as well. I added a piece of Blushing Bride satin ribbon to tie in the pink, and I added a cream sparkly flower from the Sugar Cookie Christmas collection.

The card size is 4½" x 6½". My friend had also requested to include, if possible, a quote from Honoré de Balzac inside the card, so I used my printer to add a liner with the quote and a couple more chipboard hearts embossed the same way in there.

Then came the challenge of having a big enough envelope. My first try was using the pearlescent Specialty paper and it failed, as I made a card for the size of the card itself and it was way too tight with al of my layers, especially the flower. I went back to the drawing board and switched to Very Vanilla cardstock as I didn't have a big enough piece of Specialty paper anymore. I went up a size and made my envelope. I stenciled the Ornate Lace pattern on the flap using a stripple brush and Chipped Sapphire ink. On the front of the envelope, I embellished with leftover pieces from the card - the center of the circle and the numbers I had embossed and discarded because the pattern made it way too distracting. The purple tape I had used to keep the stencil in place unfortunately had ripped my cardstock when I pulled it up, so I added copper washi tape inside the envelope flap. It hid the boo-boo, but also made the envelope look quite fancy. Finally, I was wondering how to close the envelope, since it's not lying flat. I thought about using two circles and twine, but then decided to pull out my snaps and try this out instead. At first, I couldn't reach far enough with my tool on the bottom flat, but then I remembered I could cut it at an angle since it was the inside of the envelope, and that solved the problem. The envelope gave me a lot of grief, probably because it was getting late and I was ready to be done with the project, but I didn't want to rush things just to finish, so I kept going and finally finished it to my liking.

All that is left to do is package is safely for shipping and cross my fingers that both my friends and her parents will be pleased with the results.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Au fil des ans (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Buckaroo Blue, Soft Sky, Metallic Foil Sheets, Pearlescent Specialty Paper, 
Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!); Burnished Rose Mirror Cardstock (Tonic)
Ink: Soft Sky, Buckaroo Blue Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!); VersaMark;
Chipped Sapphire, Frayed Burlap, Speckled Egg Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Accessories: Monnlight Pearl Luna Paste (Cosmic Shimmer); 
Blending Brushes, Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder, Blending Tool (Ranger);
Sugar Cookies Christmas Flowers (Prima); Ornate Lace Stencil (Finnabair);
Vintage Beeswax Baked Texture embossing powder (Seth Apert for Emerald Creek);
Blushing Bride, Silver and Copper Stampin' Emboss Powders, Envelope Punch Board,
Onboard Chipboard, Wrapped in Texture Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!);
Vintage Shimmer, Bluebell and Café au Lait Pearls (Studio Katia); 
Prem A, B and C Dies (Birch Press Design); Snaps (Suntatop);
Félicitations Joyeux Anniversaire dies (Simple à souhait) 

 

Hummingbird

Inspiration: Card from Patty Bennett

Patty's card caught my eye on Instagram: I liked how she had used the ombre Designer Series Paper and added stenciling in an ombre effect over - very clever trick! I wanted to get a little bit more use out of the Sale-A-Bration items before they retire at the end of next week, so it was a great way to get stamping. I don't have any current Stampin' Up! stencil, so I cheated and got an old polka dot one out. The current stencil set also has a polka dot design, albeit in a smaller dot format, but I decided it was close enough for my needs. I used the blending brushes tp get a soft look.

I decided I wanted to make a background in all four colours included in the pack. For some reason, the ink blending worked really well on the purple, teal and rose background, but despite going back a second time to add ink on the green polka dots, they still are barely visible on the paper. I gave up and decided to add leaf stamping in the corner and a decorative ribbon to try and make up for the absence of background on this card.

Because I had backgrounds of various colours, I changed the coloring on all four cards, and also alternated the ink colour on the sentiment. All images were colored with Stampin' Blends markers. I found out there is not a big contrast between the pale and dark Bermuda Bay markers, and I find my teal colors lack a bit of contrast, in comparison to other flowers.

Clear Wink of Stella was added to the bird to make its feathers sparkle. I also used the Pale Soft Seafoam marker to add shading around the flowers. It's very subtle, but it adds a bit of dimension to the scene. I used the ombre DSP to mat inside the card as well, and I used the DSP with polka dots to line the envelope flap to tie it all together.

Even though I used the same design four times, the cards turned out very differently. I think my favorite one is the Bermuda Bay background one, with the multicolored bird and the Rococo Rose flowers. I'm surprised, since green and teal is my favorite colour combo, but there's just something about this specific card that feels like every element is exactly where and how it should be. 

Now tell me, which one is YOUR favorite?

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Unr touche d'encre (A Touch of Ink - 2021 SAB)
Cardstock: Blackberry Bliss, Pretty Peacock, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper: Oh So Ombre (2021 SAB)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Menento, Blackberry Bliss, Pretty Peacock, Bermuda Bay,
Rococo Rose, Granny Apple Green
Accessories: Clear Wink of Stella, Stitched So Sweetly Dies, White Medium Envelope,
Blending Brushes, Polka Dot Stencil, Pretty Peacock Scalloped Ribbon,
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Stitched Rectangles Dies

 

Spring Market Ornement Collection

After a month-long closure, the stores in Quebec were finally able to reopen this week. My local scrapbook store had received a few items I had requested, so I stopped by to pick them up and did a little shopping while I was there as well. When I came home, I decided to pull out paper scraps and test out the new dies and stamps I had purchased, without the pressure of doing anything specific for a project. This has worked out well for me in the past when I wasn't sure what to create. I pulled out leftover patterned papers and the Spring Market collection from Carta Bella jumped out at me, as I thought it would work out great with the vintage style of the stamps I have purchased. This is one of the first "market" collections Carta Bella has come out with and I remember being hesitant about buying it because flowery stuff is not usually what I create with the most. I had selected a few individual sheets and it turns out I have absolutely loved using this collection! 

When I sat down, I was planning to only die-cut a few items to see what they looked like (especially the script word dies, which are always incredibly hard to read as a mirror image) but within five minutes, I was totally in the zone and already stamping and assembling things away. I remained in the zone for four hours straight and did a double-take when I looked at the clock and saw that the whole evening had zipped by! It was totally worth it, though, as I LOVE everything I've created. 

So to give a little more details about the dies, I mainly used the Sidekick Essentials 11 and the Sidekick Essentials 16 collection from Elizabeth Craft Designs. I do not own any Sidekick planner, I only have the regular-size one. That means that any piece with holes on the side will not fit in the albums I have, but there was a lot of dies in those two sets that can be used individually or modified to be used on different projects, so I should still use the content enough to warrant the purchase. For the stamps, I purchased the Sidekick Stamps 2 set so that I would have fun boxes to include short journaling on scrapbook pages or layering elements when creating embellishments. The Ticket Express stamp from 49 and Market was a happy find. I like that there's a mix of numbers and text in various fonts, with a few images, on it, which will make for great texture and backgrounds. The third one is Dates from the Past. My store owner does weekly Facebook Live streams to show the new arrivals and this stamp set had caught my eye. It includes a variety of dates in vintage prints and script fonts, which are great to add detaling to punched or die-cut elements. The company also offer rub-ons (which I am happy to see make a comeback), but the stamps will be great since they can be used as many times as I want.

The first item I made was the "This week" pocket. I was really curious to see how it looked in person. The die-cut piece has six holes on the left edge, but as I said, this won't fit in my planner, so I covered them with patterned paper and I will add this to a larger page (either in my planner or scrapbook album). Another item I purchased today is the Sticky Thumb cordless glue gun from American Crafts. The idea of not having a cord in the way was really appealing. I used it here to glue the twine in place on my project and the pink flower (which comes from pink flower trim Stampin' Up! was selling years ago, that I snipped apart to get only one flower). I'll let you know how I like the glue gun once I can test it out more thoroughly (how hot does the glue get, does it drip, do you have to change the four AA batteries often?), but so far, I wll say I love that it has a light in the front underneath the nozzle to light your project and that it actually stands up properly when you put it down on the table. (My other one was always tumbling over, which annoyed me and means that the side of the gun was often all gunky.) In that pocket, I slid two tags, created with dies from the same set. Some of the dates from the Dates from the Past stamp sets were added, and I stappled a piece of vanilla seam binding using my mini stapler. Isn't that big die adorable? You can use a second nesting die to cut out the center and add stitching, or leave it full if you prefer. This is one of the dies I know I will use a lot. The other one is the Viewmaster shape. I just find it fun, and I've noticed it's often included on 49 and Market's embellishments, so I'm happy to have it as a die. (As a side note, I thought it would be bigger, but it'll probably be easier to work into layered embellishments as a smaller piece (it's 2" wide).

Next embellishment was the Seed Pocket. This is another die I was excited about. I love the shape and size of it. The pocket already has the hole part in it (you don't have to add a second piece). The opening has stitching around it, or you can die-cut a second frame that you can layer over it if you want. It does hide the stitching, but it is a great way to add contrasting color. I added a piece of acetate inside my enveloppe before assembling it to be able to layer something over the window. I did mess up, though, as I played around with a few ways to embellish the envelope, and I had finally decided I would glue the word "Seeds" in the center of the window, but I forgot about it and glued it down on the envelope instead. I tried pulling it back up, but it left a nasty mark, so it went back down and stayed there. It still looks cute, but I just add to rearrange other pieces. For the flap, I decided to do a circle closure (would have done two had I not glued the word in the wrong spot). I used a copper eyelet and I added linen thread around the circle, leaving it loose as decoration. I alsp stamped a number from my date stamp set in Crumb Cake ink on the envelope.

The three rectangle embellishments are stamped tickets and die-cuts I layered. The rolled flower is something I picked up of my desk. I recently found a quilling tool in one of my drawers, which I had forgotten about (it was given to me in a kit, I believe). I tested it out on a paper scrap lying on my desk and left it there. It'll be nice to have that quilling tool when making rolled flowers with the die I have for this purpose, so I was happy to find the tool and know where it is. I love when I find unexpected elements on my desk and manage to embellish projects with them. It often takes me in different directions that what my mind would be thinking about at that particular time. Another good example of that is the little metal buckle on my ribbon by the boots. I had pulled out my eyelet container and in one of the dividers, I have a few random items, including this old ribbon buckle, which I decided to include on a whim. It looks great, but I never would have thought to add that element otherwise.

The last element is the Specimen piece. I wanted to test out the Ticket Express stamp, so I stamped it on one of the paper scraps in matching colours I had pulled out of my scrap drawers to have more to work with since the Spring Market collection was already low on paper left. I tore the top off and then I decided to layer all of the leftover elements I had on my desk. I added another pair of boots, fussy cut from the patterned paper. I absolutely love this new embellishment collection and I can't wait to work it into a project. 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Ticket Express (49 and Market); Dates from the Past (Creative Expressions);
Sidekick Stamps 2 (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Cardstock: Various
Patterned Papers: Spring Market (Carta Bella); Various
Ink: Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Sidekick Essentials 16, Sidekick Essentials 11 (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Stapler, Calypso Coral Ombre Ribbon, Eyelets,
Natural Trim, Lace Trim, 1/8" Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, Window Sheet (Stampin' Up!);
Metal Ribbon Slide (Making Memories); Seed Beads (Mill Hill); Lace and Stitch rub-ons (Creative Expressions)

 

Spring Market Embellishments

I purchased a couple of die sets from Elizabeth Craft Designs meant for the Sidekick and even though I don't own this size of planner, I liked the dies enough to know I could get my money's worth even if I'm not using the page dies. I was eager to try the dies out, so I pulled out the paper scraps I had left from my Spring Market collection (which had been thoroughly loved before) and I ended up making way more than I had anticipated. I worked some new purchases into my design, but also some leftover pieces from my desk or older supplies and I'm very pleased with where I landed. Those will probably be worked into future more involved projects. I am really enjoying those creative sessions where I just play with stuff and go wherever inspiration takes me. I end up with resulting elements that are very different from what I get when I try to create an actual project from beginning to end. I also use more unexpected elements and a bunch of paper scraps when I create this way. 

(On a side note, I remember hearing my older niece get upset at her younger sibling because she was using "too many paper pieces" on her craft project. I had to remind her that I had enough paper scraps to last a lifetime and that I'm more than able to provide them with enough papers to craft until they retire themselves!)

 

 

Bliss

Inspiration: The Paper Players #527 (Hearts or Stars)

As I was sharing in a recent post, in order to play with my new stuff and not get overwhelmed, I just started testing things and making ornements without rime or reason. I put everything in a basket that I could go through later. One of the dies I got during the Spellbinders sale was the Gift Card Sleeve. I don't think I'll give many gift cards, but I liked the idea of having a small envelope die on hand. I picked one of the papers from the Cupid & Co collection (the red one) and made an envelope to see how it look assembled, and put it in the basket.

During that same playing session, I had tested the Winged Impresslits from Tim Holtz. I die-cut the wings out of three metallic paper: silver, gold and copper. I realized when I did the copper wings that I placed my foil paper down instead of up and ended up with recessed details. You know what? That works, too! And that became the starting point of this card, as I got the idea of pulling out my old chipboard shapes to find a heart that I could put in the middle of the wings. Then I wondered how it would look floating out of the envelope and as soon as I had those ideas in mind, the creative juices started flowing and I got going on this card.

The chipboard heart was inked with Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide ink and I blended Fired Brick ink around the edges. I also used this ink to stamp details from the retired Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and I embossed the splatter from the same set in sparkly embossing powder. I added a little resin heart (Stampin' Up! minicatalogue) next to the sentiment.

I decided to make a circle card for a change. I die-cut a patterned paper circle and handsew the edge. I found a leftover white die-cut on my desk and stamped it with the Hearts & Kisses stamp set currently sold in the Stampin' Up! minicatalogue. I added an old piece of pink organza to it and slid it into the envelope. Before Christmas, I found some French word die-cuts with a matching shadow at my local store. That made me really happy, as there's a ton offered in English, but the French versions are hard to find. This one reads "bliss" and I liked the size on my project. 

The flowers and heart banner were fussy cut from patterned papers from the same collection. I added a few smaller flowers from a very old Queen & Co sequin kit (back when they were still sold in stores) and I topped them with gems. I added a faceted heart to the heart banner. I have to say, I was pretty disappointed when I pulled out the heart embellishments out of my package as they looked better on the website than in person, but this is the third project in a row I had one to and they are fitting the Valentine collections pretty nicely, so I might end up using them up after all. (Which is a relief, as this is the gamble of ordering online.) I added a few stickers from the Cupid & Co collection and I was done.

My finished card measures 5½" x 5½" so I made a square envelope to match out of patterned paper. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Hearts & Kisses, Gorgeous Grunge (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Cotton Candy (Bazzill); Copper Foil Sheets (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Paper, Stickers: Cupid & Co (Echo Park)
Ink: Strawberry Slush, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!); Antique Gold (Altenew);
Worn Lipstick, Fired Brick Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Dies: Lacy Borders (Lawn Fawn); Layering Circles (Tonic); Bonheur (DIY & Cie);
Peek-a-Hoot, Window Frame Collection (Stampin' Up!); Gift Card Sleeve (Fun Stampers Journey);
Winged Impresslits (Tim Holtz for Sizzix)
Accessories: Pink Organza Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board,
Chipboard Elements (Stampin' Up!); Flower Sequins (Queen & Co); Floss (DMC);
Gems (Little Things from Lucy's Cards); Love Filled (Fun Stampers Journey)