Designing with Stampin' Up! | December 2018

The Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog is full of awesome products and I have had a blast working with those products over the past few weeks. I used the Making Christmas Bright Bundle to create this card. How cute are these Christmas lights?! 

I used the matching All is Bright Designer Series Paper for the background, then layered Real Red and Whisper White cardstock on top. I stamped the Christmas lights with Call Me Clover ink. The stars were stamped with Call Me Clover and Real Red inks. I used silver glitter paper, also from Stampin' Up!, for the tops of the lights. This card took a couple of tries to get just right but I love how it turned out. 

I hope everyone is busy preparing for the holidays and enjoying their December! Thanks for stopping by and have a great week. 

Designing with Stampin' Up! | July 2017

The new Stampin' Up! catalog is here and it is gorgeous! If you haven't checked it out, you can see all the new stamp sets, dies, and papers here. 

I have a couple of sets that I love, love, love! For the card above I used the new Climbing Orchid stamps and Orchid Builder dies. I lifted the design from the catalog because I was anxious to put ink the paper and just wanted to make something. How gorgeous are these flowers?! The sparkle gems add a nice finishing touch.

My next card uses the Bike Ride stamp set and the Build a Bike die set. My parents bought me a cute cruiser style bike for my birthday a few years ago and it's lime green with yellow accents, so I made this bike to match. So, so cute!! My personal bike doesn't have a basket but I had to add a basket of beautiful flowers to this bike. After I colored the flowers with Copics I added clear Wink of Stella over the top. You can find the stamps + dies bundle here. 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you like my cards! If you have any questions or need more information, please leave a comment below.

Designing with Stampin' Up | March 2017

I love matching stamp and die sets, but using dies alone can also make a huge impact. I pulled out my Stampin' Up! Succulent Framelits Dies, a few distress ink pads, and my favorite polka dot patterned paper and created a dimensional thank you card.

I die cut the three large flowers from white cardstock, then used my mini distress tool to rub on two colors of ink per flower. I overlapped the colors slightly, making sure to blend them together well.

I used glue dots to adhere the three flowers together, then added a button and twine to the center. How cute is that?! I love how my big, colorful flower turned out. I added a die cut "thank you", also from white cardstock + colored with my mini distress tool, under the flower. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's Thoughtful Branches stamp set. 

The Oh So Succulent stamp + die set is a must have! I have two more cards to share later this week using the stamps and dies. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Designing with Stampin' Up! | January 2017

The new Stampin' Up! occasions catalog is full of beautiful stamps and dies. I received some new goodies to play with last month and I finally had a chance to sit down and play! The Beetles & Bugs stamp set is adorable and the first set I used to create a card. Something about the perfectly symmetrical little bugs that I just love. I am not a bug person (at all!) but I love them as stamps! 

Here are step-by-step instructions for completing this card:

1. Create the stamped background using four cute little bugs (outlines only... no solid stamps or detail images). I used four ink colors (navy, lime green, aqua, and orange) and used one stamp per ink color. I started at the bottom right and stamped my way up to the top left. 

2. After the background is finished, ink the edges using a mini distress tool or makeup sponge and lime green ink. I used small, sweeping circular movements to keep the ink light and avoid swirl marks. 

3. Die cut aqua cardstock from the middle Framelits - Labels Collection die. The Labels set is currently unavailable, but this set is similar! Trim the edge off the aqua cardstock and adhere it to the card front. 

4. Trim a piece of vellum to 1 1/4 inches by 6 inches. Stamp sentiment with VersaMark and sprinkle on embossing powder. Heat set, then wrap around card front (centering sentiment on aqua label) and adhere. 

5. Wrap black and white twine around card. Adhere enamel dots above and below sentiment.

The products in the Occasions catalog are available until May 31, 2017. I'll be back with more projects using this stamp set and several more cute stamp and die sets. Thanks for stopping by!

Designing with Papertrey Ink | Color Pop Butterflies

Hello there and Happy New Year! The boys and I are in Washington for the holiday which means I get to play in my mom's stamp room. Yay! She has a wonderful collection of supplies that differs from mine, including the adorable Papertrey Ink Stamp set: Color Pop Butterflies. 

This kit is so much fun because it includes matching paper and stencils to go along with the stamp set and dies. I used the gray background paper and created my own colorful butterflies using various Tim Holtz distress inks and a mini distress tool. 

The "so happy" die was die cut from Stampin' Ups Pacific Point textured cardstock three times and glued together (carefully!). I popped up a butterfly and added three gems to the center, and sprinkled some enamel dots above and below the sentiment. 

I hope you enjoy my card! I have added Color Pop Butterflies to my wish list because of how versatile the stamps and dies are. I also plan to use more stencils in the coming year... they are so much fun to use! 

Have a great week and I'll be back soon! 

Retro Sketches | Challenge #239

This week's Retro Sketches Challenge is up and it's a good one! The sketch is based on one of my previous cards: 

To create a new version of this card I pulled out one of my favorite Stampin' Up! stamp sets: Secret Garden. Oh, how I love this set. It has both solid and outline images, and I have made several lovely cards with it. 

I started by choosing my color scheme. I used two pieces of retired Stampin' Up! designer series paper and matched cardstock and ink colors to those patterns. The light pink flower is stamped with Melon Mambo, the dark purple is Rich Razzleberry, and the leaves were stamped with Crushed Curry. 

I found matching buttons from an old (old, old) bag of Autumn Leaves buttons, and the enamel dots are from My Mind's Eye. The sequins are from my stash. 

One of my favorite things about this card is that I used products from my stash that are several years old. Great floral sets never go out of style, and the matching dies make this set even more versatile. 

I hope you can play along with us this week! You can find more inspiration on the Retro Sketches blog here.

 

Designing with Stampin' Up! | Christmas Shaker Card

Happy Friday, friends! I hope everyone is having a nice week. I have been busily working on Christmas cards, Christmas shopping (I love shopping for the boys!), and working on my December Daily album. Fall is my favorite time of year! 

Stampin' Up! has a ton of cute (and versatile!) stamps and dies in the Holiday catalog, and they just released a new die set called Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies. I used the dies to create a fun shaker card, sandwiching a piece of acetate in between stitched circles and foam tape. 

Start by stamping the sentiment onto white cardstock with Emerald Envy ink and Stampin' Up's Oh, What Fun stamp set. Next, die cut two red circles using two stitched circles dies. Adhere a red circle to the card base, making sure to center the sentiment. Die cut a pie of foam tape with the same circles and adhere to the top of the red circle. Sprinkle sequins in the center of the circles, and adhere a piece of clear acetate on top of the foam tape. Finally add adhesive to the back of the second red stitched circle and place on top of the acetate layer. I also tucked in a tag to the top of the ornament so it can "hang" from the card.

Make sure to check out some of the matching stamp sets that are on sale this month, too!

It's barely November and I've already made a ton of Christmas cards. This may be the first year that I have all my cards made by December 1st! I'm never this on top of things but it's a really great feelings. 

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by! 

Designing with Stampin' Up! | November 2016

The Christmas Pines stamp and die set from Stampin' Up! is so much fun to work with! I love the fern dies and how they look layered on a card front. So pretty! 

For this card, I used the Christmas Pines stamp and die set, along with the Presents and Pinecones designer series paper. 

I started by stamping the frame and sentiment onto white cardstock. I stamped the red frame with Stampin' Up's Cherry Cobbler ink pad and the sentiment with black ink. Then, I trimmed a piece of Presents and Pinecones patterned paper for the top of the card, and a piece of silver glitter paper for the bottom.

For the cluster of elements on the left, I die cut the leaves from Emerald Envy cardstock and a pinecone from white cardstock. I die cut the bow from Cherry Cobbler cardstock, then adhered them with foam adhesive. I die cut Cherry Cobbler cardstock with a scalloped border die from Papertrey Ink. Then I added enamel dots (from My Mind's Eye).  

You can check out all the Stampin' Up! products on the Stampin' Up! website: www.stampinup.com

 Check back soon for a card using the new Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies! Have a good week.

Designing with Stampin' Up! | October 2016

I received another box of awesome new supplies from Stampin' Up! earlier this month and I am finally getting around to blogging about them! For those of you who follow me on Instagram, these cards were posted a couple of weeks ago. I'm pretty good about creating cards and photographing them, but I've been slacking in the blogging department. Sigh. One of these days I'll have more time for this wonderful crafty hobby of mine!

Until then, here are the first three cards I created with my new box of supplies. 

First up is a fall card using the gorgeous new Paisleys and Posies stamp and die set. I love how this turned out. I used the matching designer series paper (the specialty paper is gorgeous!) plus an older cream colored flower cabochon from my stash. It is made by Stampin' Up!... from 2012 or 2013, maybe? I also used matching twine and pearls. 

I created the stamped background first by stamping some of the paisley images with Delightful Dijon ink. The sentiment was stamped with Rich Razzleberry ink.

Up next I have a card using the Christmas Pines stamp set and matching dies. Yes, I even inked the edges of my card! I usually shy away from the grungy/distressed look, but the vanilla background needed a little something. I used a Time Holtz distress ink and my ink blending tool. I think the distress ink I used was antique linen. 

I die cut the pine-cones from metallic gold paper and used gold glitter paper (another older Stampin' Up! product) as a border between the red and cream papers.  

The last card I made uses the adorable Hang Your Stocking stamp and die set. This striped paper might be my favorite holiday patterned paper ever. The red/green/mint colors are perfect for holiday cards! 

I stamped the stocking with Stampin' Up! Emerald Envy ink and added a die cut bow from Cherry Cobbler. The silver glitter tape and twine are both from my stash.  

Have you gotten a jump on your Christmas/holiday cards yet? I'm making progress! 

I hope you're having a great weekend and check back soon for more card inspiration!

Designing with Stampin' Up! | August 2016

Hello there! Once again I fell off the blogging bandwagon when summer hit. Those ten weeks flew by in a flurry of trips to the pool, camps, cross country vacations, and a certain new man in my life. Yes, life has been crazy hectic but I have made cardmaking/scrapbooking a priority during the month of August. I recently received a box of Stampin' Up! products to play with and I must say I love what I came up with. 

First up is a card I created with the lovely Jar of Love stamp set. I have several mason jar stamp sets but this one is unique because it comes with three sizes of jars, jar lids, plus a ton of cute flowers, fish, and other items to stamp inside (and outside) of the jars. It really is a complete stamp set and makes creating fast cards a breeze.  

Stampin' Up! has a limited edition stamp set available this month named Thoughtful Branches. I wanted to create a clean and simple card using the gorgeous tree stamps and dies (and a sentiment, too), and ended up using this stamp set exclusively. Thoughtful Branches is available until August 31st (or until supplies last). 

My collection of woodland creature stamp sets is embarrassingly large, but who can resist a cute little fox sitting on a tree stump? Definitely not me. The Foxy Friends stamp and punch set is a must have for animal lovers like me. 

I used a grad background for my card, breaking the card into three quadrants. I used white cardstock and two pieces of patterned paper, then used foam adhesive to adhere the tag. I used dimensional adhesive to add the cardstock fox on top.  

I'll have another card or two to post in the coming week. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Big Picture Classes | Hoppy Easter Party

Last fall I debuted my first class at Big Picture Classes (Clean and Simple Cards), and my second class, Hoppy Easter Party, is now live! 

Hoppy Easter Party has four lessons, tons of step by step photos, a super cute stamp set you can purchase to help create your projects, and lots of inspiration! 

Check out the cupcake topper I created. Oh, how cute are these?!? I purchased cupcakes from my local grocery store, added the toppers and voila! The perfect accent for your Easter celebration. 

If you're a subscriber to Big Picture Classes I hope you will check out my class! Feel free to leave questions in the comments below. See you there! 

Retro Sketches | Challenge #202

Happy Valentine's Day! We don't typically celebrate Valentine's Day with much fanfare around here, but I did pick up a box of chocolates and some conversation hearts for each of the kids. They will appreciate the gesture (or at least appreciate the candy!) and I feel better as a mom knowing we are celebrating a silly holiday together. 

I'm slowly carving out more time for myself to spend in my office. I have a couple of big projects coming up that I can't share just yet (I know, I'm such a tease!), but I did have time to whip up a stamp-less card for this week's Retro Sketches challenge. 

I started out with a piece of light blue patterned paper from the Amy Tangerine Better Together 6x6 paper pad, adhered to the bottom on my card. I die cut three butterflies, from Studio Calico's Origami stamp and die set, from the same paper pad and added large enamel dots to the center of each. I picked up the silver glitter tape from Michaels around Christmas, and it added the perfect amount of sparkle to my project. After adhering the butterflies and glitter tape I added strip of black and white thin washi tape, some clear gems, and several layered "hello" die cuts (from Papertrey Ink's Wonderful Words: Hello die).

I hope you can join us this week! Make sure to check out the Retro Sketches blog for more inspiration and a chance to link up your own projects. Have a wonderful Sunday and thanks for stopping by!

Retro Sketches | Challenge #198

Get afternoon! Before I talk about this week's Retro Sketches sketch (and my inspiration card) I wanted to let you know about a class I have over at Big Picture Classes. Last summer BPC approached me about teaching card classes for them and I happily accepted! My first class, Clean and Simple Cards, went live a couple of months ago. If you're a monthly subscriber to Big Picture Classes I would love for you to check it out!  

This week's Retro Sketch sketch is based on one of my cards! You can see it here.

I pulled out my Studio Calico Pop Art card kit, and a couple of rubber leaves from the scrapbook kit, for my card. I love the bright colors mixed with black and white in the Pop Art kit, and the rubber leaves are a fun element. 

 

I added a few enamel dots, also from Studio Calico, and a sentiment from Papertrey Ink. Quick and easy!

Thank you so much for leaving comments on my post from Saturday. It means a lot that I have loyal blog readers that check out my tiny part of cyberspace. 

I hope everyone is having a nice holiday. The kids and I have done nothing today (whoo!) except relax, play games, and do some cleaning. Exactly what we needed after an extremely busy week! Thanks for stopping by.

 

Paper Smooches Sparks | Anything Goes

Good morning! Today I have a card for this week's Paper Smooches Sparks challenge. I pulled out my Summer Lovin' stamp set and created a fun background with line art stamps and pigment ink. 

Is there anything cuter than a hot pink crab?! I don't think so. I love how this background turned out and it's super easy to do! I always start by stamping in the lower right corner and work my way up and over, making sure to keep the spacing relatively similar. 

I hope you can play along with us this week! Make sure you check out the rest of the design team for more inspiration: 

Alice

Lisa

Jenny

Savannah

Paper Smooches Sparks | Anything Goes

Good morning and welcome to this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes challenge! 

I received an order of new Paper Smooches products last week, including the gorgeous fern dies I used on today's card. I love how detailed and delicate they are! I die cut one from Limeade Ice patterned paper and the other from Simply Chartreuse cardstock (both from Papertrey Ink). I stamped the diagonal stripes with Memento Luxe Pear Tart ink, and the sentiment with Archival Jet Black ink. The button is from my stash and the gems are from Hero Arts.

Stamps: Chit Chat, Kissables 2. Dies: Foliage 2.

I hope you can play along with us this week! Make sure to check out the rest of the design team for more inspiration! 

Alice

Lisa

Jenny

Savannah

 

Paper Smooches Sparks | Picture Perfect Challenge

Good morning! Today I have a card for this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Picture Perfect challenge. I love the bright colors and graphic feel of the inspiration picture:

  
I used three Paper Smooches stamp sets on my card: Mini Monograms, Blissful Banners, and Teen Routine. I started by trimming four pieces of cardstock and adhered them to my card. I stamped the images, from Teen Routine, onto white cardstock with Memento Dew Drop ink and adhered it to my card. I added a "happy birthday" banner to the front, with pop dots, and added the "dude" with the Mini Monogram stamp set.

I hope you can play along with us this week! Make sure to check out the rest of the design team for more inspiration: 

Alice

Lisa

Jenny

Savannah

Gossamer Blue | Inspiration Blog Hop

Good morning! I'm so sorry this post is a bit delayed. I screwed up the scheduled time and my post didn't go live at 8am. We are at a soccer picnic but I ran home to hit "publish"! 

Isn't this bicycle the cutest? I used enamel dots for the center of the wheels, and sprinkled gold sequins over the card. The soft blue is so pretty as a background.

I hope you are having fun with your August Gossamer Blue kits! Check out the rest of the team for more inspiration:

Alex Hunter Anabelle O'Malley Andrea Gray Brenda Smith Brenda Weaver Diane Payne Emily Spahn Eyoung Lee Felicitas Mayer France Wisniewski Heather Leopard Jill Cornell Jill Keller Kasia Przybyt Kathleen Graumuller Kellie Winnell Kelly Xenos Laura Rahel Crosby Michelle Wedertz Michiko Kato Olatz Garaiyurrebaso Patricia Roebuck Rebecca Luminarias Sian Fair Stephanie Buice Yana Smakula

Paper Smooches Sparks | Anything Goes

Good morning! Today I have a card for this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes challenge. I love these challenges... I get a chance to pull out any stamp set I want and create something fun. 

I used the Space Cadet stamp set and Speech Bubbles Dies. The patterned paper is from Studio Calico and the enamel dots are from Gossamer Blue. The space ship and alien were colored with Spectrum Noir markers and Copics.

I hope you can play along with us this week! Make sure to check out the rest of the design team for more inspiration: 

Alice

Lisa

Jenny

Savannah

Gossamer Blue | August Projects

Hello there! Welcome to the August release for Gossamer Blue. My favorite kits are always the Bits & Pieces kit and the Life Pages Add On #3. 

First up is a card using the paper pad and large blossom tag from the Bits & Pieces kit. I added gold sequins from the mason jar mini kit. The October Afternoon washi tape is from Life Pages Add On #3.

Up next I have a card using a Life Pages card, two die cut whales, some washi paper strips, and an enamel heart. This card came together quickly and it's perfect for a birthday card or a lunchbox note. 

 

This next project is my favorite this month. I used my new Hero Arts pink to red ombre ink pad and the October Afternoon stamp set from the Bits & Pieces kit to stamp the fish onto white cardstock. I added a striped tag, gold glitter circle, and pink anchor to finish it off. 

I love the mason jars in this month's kit... so cute! I added a small flower die cut, gold sequins, gold heart, and "happy" die cut to the jar, then tied twine around the top of the jar. I adhered the black and white striped paper, from the 6x6 pad, to the card base. I love how this paper contrasts with the bright colors of the rest of the card.

Make sure to check out the new releases from Gossamer Blue! You can see the main kit here and the add on kit here. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend. 

Paper Smooches Sparks | Anything Goes Challenge

Hello there! For this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes challenge I had fun mixing and matching two stamp sets and three die sets, creating a fun "clipboard" card. 

I started with a piece of patterned paper that I've had in my stash for a few years. I layered a piece of green cardstock on top, then trimmed down a piece of lined notebook paper (also an "oldie" from my stash) and adhered it at an angle on my card.

I used Paper Smooches' Clipboards Two stamps and dies on top of the lined paper. The sentiment is a combination of dies, the Birthday Word Dies, and a stamped sentiment from Party Posse. Party Posse will always have a special place in my heart as it was the first Paper Smooches stamp set I purchased, many years ago. I fell in love with the cute images and had to have it! 

After I adhered the sentiment and stamped the "wishes", I still felt like my card needed something. I die cut flowers and leaves from Flowers 2 Dies, then added a handful of enamel dots and sequins.  

I hope you can play along with us this week! Make sure to check out the Paper Smooches Sparks blog, and the other design team members for more inspiration!

Audrey Tokach

Lisa Arana

Heather Hoffman

Savannah O'Gwynn