With our Art with Heart Team Christmas blog hop providing Christmas card inspiration for you every Monday night I should have all my Christmas cards made by December – I just need to remember to send them in time!
My pre-order of Christmas products from the July-December mini catalogue and the Sale-a-bration catalogue arrived this week. That’s right, Stampin’ Up! is holding TWO Sale-a-bration periods this year – this second Sale-a-bration period starts on August 3, the same day as the July-December mini catalogue.
I’m so excited to share a card I made using one of these FREE Sale-a-bration products, the Be Dazzling 6″ X 6″ Specialty Paper.
Isn’t this Be Dazzling 6″ X 6″ Specialty Paper so stunning! It will definitely make any card feel extra special. The colour is hard to describe – it’s sort of a pale champagne colour that will coordinate with either silver or gold, as well as many of the neutrals, including Sahara Sand and Crumb Cake.
The other new products on this card are from the Peaceful Deer Bundle, which includes the Peaceful Deer Stamp Set and the Deer Builder Punch, both available from August 3.
At just $62 for the bundle, this is such an affordable and a versatile set. The Peaceful Deer Stamp Set has great sentiments and a good variety of images, including a deer that coordinates with the punch – perfect for crafters who don’t own a die cutting machine.
The beautiful Designer Series Paper I’ve used as my background is not a Christmas paper from the forthcoming July-December mini catalogue, however, I think it works really well on this card.
This Bloom Where You’re Planted Designer Series Paper is available now and on sale for $17.00 – I’ve used the sheet shown on the bottom left.
I wanted to add a few embellishments to my DSP as it is such a dark background. Looking at the scraps on paper on my craft desk I realised there is a very small circle shape in the Deer Builder Punch. I think it is meant to be the deer’s eye but I used it to punch out my own embellishments.
I love the effect of these embellishments – it’s a great way to use up the scraps! This photo – taken outside in a brief moment of sun on this rainy day – shows my embellishments close up, as well as how sparkly this paper is.
I stamped the inside of the card to match, using another sentiment and one of the tree stamps from the Peaceful Deer Stamp Set as well as adding a narrow strip of the Be Dazzling paper top and bottom.
To get the three shades of green for the trees on the back of the envelope flap, I stamped the tree stamp once at full strength in Evening Evergreen and then a second time and a third time without re-inking the stamp.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the very talented, Sharon Davern. I wonder if she will share another fabulous fancy fold card with us?
If at any time you find a broken link please head to the blog of this week’s Host of the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop, Tina Gillespie, and she will have the list of all who are participating.
Thanks for visiting my site. I’ll be back with another card on Wednesday. If you’d like a copy of the forthcoming July-December mini catalogue and the Sale-a-bration catalogueplease get in touch.
Welcome to week 6 of our 2021-22 Colour Creations blog hop! We are showcasing Blushing Bride, a pale pink colour from our subtles family.
This week I was inspired by the colour combination the lovely Vicki Boucher used for our Basic Gray blog hop. Vicki paired Basic Gray with Blushing Bride and I just loved the way this dark gray made the soft pink really pop, so my colour combination for this week’s hop is Blushing Bride, Basic Gray and Basic White with a touch of Basic Black.
The Hand Penned Petals suite is a very pretty new suite in the Annual Catalogue and it really has something for everyone.
The DSP is so lovely you don’t have to do much to it to create beautiful cards.
The Memories and More pack and matching cards make for super easy cards.
The Hand Penned stamp set is fabulous if you love colouring — or you can simply use the two step stamping if you prefer not to colour in.
The dies can be used to cut the stamped images or also on their own for the die inlay technique.
My three cards today show you three different ways to use this suite: a quick and easy card using the Memories and More Cards; a simple but effective die inlay technique; and a card that uses leftovers from the die inlay technique combined with stamped and coloured die cut floral images.
As well as elegant floral designs and pastel hues, the Hand-Penned Memories & More Cards pack contains outline images you can colour in. I chose a large Memories & More card to colour in with my Blushing Bride Marker. You can see the card in the photo below – I simply fussy cut it out after colouring in. So quick and easy!
The ornate floral embossing folder was the perfect background layer for this large image and the Pastel Pearls were the finishing touch for my card.
The die inlay technique is a bit fiddly but well worth it. Using Adhesive Sheets makes it a lot easier to adhere the die cut pieces to the card base without getting glue everywhere and the Take-a-Pick Tool is essential for picking up and inserting the die cut pieces.
You can also use multipurpose glue for this technique. Simply squirt some onto a silicon sheet and use a cotton bud to apply very sparingly to the die pieces. Use the die shape in the photo above to cut one piece out of Whisper White and one piece out of Blushing Bride card stock – don’t forget to adhere the adhesive sheet to the back of the card stock before die cutting.
Then it’s simply a matter of adhering the white die piece to your background layer (save the leftover pieces) and using your Take-a-Pick tool to insert Blushing Bride pieces to make the flowers.
The Thanks sentiment was stamped in Versamark ink, white heat embossed and fussy cut out before applying to the card.
Remember how I said to save the leftover die cuts from the die inlay technique? I’ve used them on my third card, along with a couple of stamped, coloured and die cut images using the Hand-Penned bundle.
This is such a great way to incorporate your leftover pieces into a card. I cut up my second stamped image and arranged pieces of it and the die cuts around the main stamped image. Once again, the Pastel Pearls were the finishing touch for my card.
One amazing suite of products…three very different cards.
Do you have a favourite?
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the very talented Caroline Manwaring. I can’t wait to see what she’s made this week!
If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the the full list of participants below:
I know it’s only July, but in this house it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!!!
Why, you may ask? Well firstly, it’s Week One of our Heart of Christmas blog hop for 2021, yeah!
And secondly, as a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator I’ve already got my hands on the brand new July-December mini catalogue, jam packed with lots of beautiful Christmas products! My pre-order will be arriving in the next few days, so watch this space for upcoming sneak peeks. Here’s the cover…
For tonight, I’ve made a card that uses two products you can already get your hands on. Festive Foliage is a brand new background stamp set from the 2021-22 Annual Catalogue (p90) and the Poinsettia Petals Photopolymer Stamp Set (p92) and coordinating Poinsettia dies (p165) which have carried over from last year’s Holiday catalogue.
This Festive Foliage background stamp is a great alternative to using DSP because with a single stamp (I always use my Stamparatus for stamping background stamps) you get a large image that covers an entire layer. You can either stamp this image in any coloured ink and leave it uncoloured OR colour it in with blends, markers, pencils, pastels or even watercolour it using water painters and inks. TIP – don’t forget to use Stayzon ink instead of Memento ink if you are water colouring.
I’ve stamped in Memento and then coloured the image in with Evening Evergreen, Real Red, Crumb Cake and Soft Succulent dark and light Stampin’ Blends.
To add layers, textures and a sentiment to my card, I chose the Poinsettia Petals Photopolymer Stamp Set and coordinating Poinsettia dies as the images and die shapes work so well with the Festive Foliage stamp set.
I’ve die cut flowers and leaves and strategically placed them under the sentiment to add a bit of dimension to the card WITHOUT covering all of the lovely hand coloured background image. Some of the flower petals I used as leaves by tearing them off the main flower.
It’s hard to see in my photos, but I’ve used the new Soft Succulent 2021–2023 In Color Shimmer Vellum for the green sprigs – it adds such a lovely subtle shimmer to my card. This photo from a Annual catalogue gives you a better idea of the shimmer.
Finally, the Poinsettia Petals Photopolymer Stamp Set was perfect for decorating the inside of my card and the back flap of my envelope too.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the very talented, Claire Daly.
If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the full list of participants on Sharon Davern’s blog.
To purchase any of the products used in my cards today you can add them to your cart here.
Welcome to week 5 of our 2020-21Colour Creations blog hop! We are showcasing Blackberry Bliss, a rich, deep colour from our regal family.
One of the most beautiful suites in the new Stampin’ Up! Annual catalogue is the Pansy Petals suite. I love this suite so much because it reminds me of my Nan and her stunning African Violets.
The Pansy Petals DSP in this suite has the following colour combination: Basic White, Blackberry Bliss, Bumblebee, Calypso Coral, Evening Evergreen, Fresh Freesia, Pale Papaya, Polished Pink, Soft Sea Foam and Soft Succulent. However, because pansies come in so many different colours so you really can use any colours with this suite.
My first card was CASEd from a card I found on Pinterest made by an incredibly talented Stampin’ Up! demonstrator called Gail Ellis. I’ve CASEd her basic layout, the use of two different embossing folders and the shading of the flower petals and the leaves, however I’ve used different colours, a different background embossing folders, a different sentiment and different embellishments.
To achieve the colour shading on the edge of the flower, the flower bud and the leaves, I used sponge daubers, taking the ink directly off my ink pads. The flowers and buds are sponged with Blackberry Bliss and the leaves with Garden Green.
The yellow centre of the pansy flower is die cut from a scrap of Crushed Curry card stock, with the stem and large leaf die cut from Garden Green card stock.
These Pansy dies really are so realistic – they emboss at the same time that they die cut the flower petals, buds and the leaves.
Thank goodness the Pastel Pearls have carried over to the new catalogue – I’ve used the Highland Heather coloured pearls for a touch of bling.
The Pansy Patch stamp set has a wonderful range of sentiments – I love how they mix both italic and Roman text together. I prefer to make most of my cards with either a happy birthday or a thank you sentiment as these are the types of cards I use the most and the Pansy Patch stamp set has both of these sentiments.
Did you notice the handmade envelope made from Pansy Petals DSP? On Stampin’ Up! Sara Douglass’s Facebook live this week she demonstrated how to make this envelope as well as two other sizes.
I slightly adapted the American measurements to fit our metric card size, assuming a card base made with half a A4 piece of cardstock. Tip – the envelope fits better if you trim just 5 mm off the height of the card base.
The back closure is super easy to make. Use the Strawberry Builder punch to punch two flowers out of Blackberry Bliss card stock and attach them to the top and bottom flap with two of the white round brads.
A length of white baker’s twine twisted under the flowers closes the envelope. You could also use any round or flower shaped die or punch if you don’t own the Strawberry Builder punch.
Card two is horizontal and uses the same colours, however it features the dots embossing folder (instead of the greenery embossing folder) for the top layer and it also has an additional flower bud placed under the “happy birthday” sentiment to balance the layout.
Both cards use the Tasteful Textiles embossing folder for the base layer – this embossing folder is my new “go to” replacement for the now retired *sob!* Subtles folder.
Horizontal or vertical? Do you have a favourite?
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the very talented Rachel Palmieri. I can’t wait to see what she’s made this week!
If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the participants below:
Welcome to the week 4 of our Colour Creations blog hop format for 2020-21. This week we’re showcasing the bright and beautiful Bermuda Bay.
Because I’m away this week I needed a quick, easy and portable crafting solution and the You Are Amazing Stampin’ Up! kit came to my rescue. There are so many fun elements in this kit, however it retires very soon on June 30 – so don’t miss out!
Here’s how the cards look when made up according to the instructions.
The “You are Amazing” co-ordinating stamp set for this card kit also retires very soon on June 30. It has really great sentiments and typefaces.
Two of my favourite aspects of this kit are the Bermuda Bay box that you can store your cards and envelopes in (it has foiled dots on the outside) and the Bermuda Bay Foil layering pieces. You can see the Bermuda Bay Foil layering piece behind the “You are Amazing” sentiment layer on this card below.
I made the “You are Amazing” card up pretty much as per the instructions, however I stamped the sentiment in Mango Melody instead of Flirty Flamingo.
I love this striped DSP layer and the sentiment for card 2. It’s hard to see in the photo but the Bermuda Bay layer behind the sentiment is one of the Bermuda Bay Foil layering pieces.
The card base on card 3 has a stunning spotted Bermuda Bay Foil front and a matching envelope lined with Bermuda Bay.
Card 4 has two of the layering Bermuda Bay Foil circles and a vibrant Mango melody lined envelope.
Once way I like to extend a card kit is to cut up one of the card bases and use both the front and the back of the card base as a DSP layer onto a card base made from card stock- immediately you have created 2 cards using the one card base from your kit!
The colours on the front of this striped card base inspired me to try the marker technique to make a multi-coloured sentiment – so much fun, don’t you think?
I made my card base using Bermuda Bay card stock, added a Basic White card stock layer and then trimmed the striped card base to make the top layer
For this card I used the back of this striped card base in Granny Apple Green. I was inspired by the colours in the bakers twine, so I stamped the “congrats” and star stamp in Granny Apple Green ink onto Granny Apple Green card stock. You could do this simple design in any colour!
I hope I’ve inspired you get more out of your card kits and to add this versatile and vibrant card kit with its coordinating stamp set to your collection before they retire next Wednesday, June 30.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the very talented, Kristine D’Auria.
If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the participants below:
Welcome to week 3 of our Colour Creations blog hop format for 2020-21!
Today we are showcasing a very dark neutral – Basic Gray – and I’ve teamed it with other neutrals to make an all-purpose masculine slimline card. I’ve deliberately left the inside blank so I can use it for a variety of occasions.
My friend Kate has been making the most fabulous cards with the new Hats Off bundle so I finally caved in and bought it too. I’m so glad I did – what a great bundle for masculine, teenager (and feminine) cards!
There are so many cute little elements in this bundle and options for decorating the emblem on the front of the cap and you can make this cap in any colour you like! I’ve got some great ideas for this bundle…watch this space!
If you take a closer look at the emblem I chose for my cap I think you’ll understand why I decided to pair the Hats Off bundle with the Mountain Air Stamp set and Majestic Mountain dies.
They really were made to to be used together, don’t you think?
To make a quick and easy matching envelope for my slimline card I’ve simply decorated a standard business envelope by adhering a stamped panel of card Sahara Sand card stock to the front of the envelope. I deliberately trimmed the Sahara Sand card stock layer to be smaller than the envelope so there was a border of white that matched the design of the card itself.
The sentiment also perfectly matches the Mountain Air stamp set and was stamped in Basic Gray and die cut using a stitched rectangle die.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the very talented, Rachel Palmieri.
If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the participants below:
This week we’re showcasing Balmy Blue for week two of our Art With Heart Colour Creations Blog Hop 2020-21.
Balmy Blue is a lovely soft and powdery blue and part of the subtles family. It is available in the following products.
Classic Stampin’ Pad
Blue Adhesive-backed Gems
Balmy Blue Stampin’ Blends
Balmy Blue Classic Stampin’ Ink Refill
Balmy Blue A4 Card stock
Subtles A4 Card stock
Subtles 12×12 Card stock
Subtles 6×6 DSP Assortment
Watercolour Pencils assortment 2
Subtles Stampin’ Write Markers assortment
You’re a Peach 12×12 DSP
Today I’m sharing a card that uses two really versatile new products from the 2021-22 Annual catalogue: the Basic Border dies and the Biggest Wish stamp set.
To make an ombre card you simply chose a colour and fade from dark to light. Balmy Blue is our colour this week so I’ve paired it with the other blues as well as black and white to get an ombre effect.
Each strip of card stock was die cut using one of the Basic Borders dies at approximately 3cm wide. Once all my card stock strips were die cut I carefully lined them up in ombre order, then adhered them to a piece of Basic White card stock. This ombre layer was then die cut using the largest stitched rectangle die. (Tip – if you place your rectangle die and card stock on a angle it is much easier to die cut.)
These Basic borders dies are incredible – there are six different shaped dies and the die I’ve used on my card leaves a stitched pattern on one side and a dotted pattern on the other side of the die cut.
My Stamparatus made creating an ombre sentiment quick and easy. I lined up the “happy” and the “birthday” stamps and then used sponge daubers and the Stamparatus to repeatedly stamp and gradually build up ombre colour. The ombre effect was created by stamping in Night of Navy, then Pacific Point and finally Balmy Blue.
A slightly smaller stitched rectangle die was used twice to die cut the sentiment and a single layer of Basic White twine from the Bakers Twine Essentials pack was wrapped around the side of the card.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the very talented, Caroline Manwaring.
If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the participants below:
Welcome to the very first week of our new Colour Creations blog hop format for 2020-21!
From today we are reverting to a traditional blog hop format, starting with a showcase of ALL FIVE 2021-23 InColours, followed by the rest of our beautiful Stampin’ Up! colours in individual alpha order at 8pm every Wednesday.
If you haven’t already seen them, here are the five new 2021-23 In Colours.
And here are the cards I’ve made to showcase these beautiful 2021-23 InColours using the Colour & Contour bundle. I love how the graphic quality of these floral images really make these colours pop.
When I first saw the Color & Contour bundle I was immediately drawn to the scalloped layering dies but not so sure about the stamp set. After just one use I am totally sold on this stamp set! Although I’ve used the new InColour Stampin’ Blends to colour in the flowers and leaves the stamp set comes with stamps you can use to stamp the colour into the flowers and leaves if you prefer.
Polished Pink is the brightest of the new 2021-23 InColours – it’s a slightly “redder” pink than Magenta Madness. I couldn’t resist taking a photo of this card beside some camellias I’ve just picked from the trees in my back garden – how good do these pinks and reds look together?
This close-up shows how stunning the largest scalloped contour die is and gives you a better look at the new 2021-23 InColour Jewels and 2021-23 InColour Polished Pink open weave ribbon. The leaves are coloured using another new 2021-23 InColour – Soft Succulent.
I’m so glad I didn’t have to fussy cut this flower – there’s a die for both of the flowers in this bundle. The buds and the smaller leaves are stamped directly onto the Basic White top layer and then the die cut flower is adhered using Stampin’ Dimensionals.
Fresh Freesia is my favourite 2021-23 InColour and this second card uses the other flower stamp, coloured using the Fresh Freesia InColour Stampin’ Blends and die cut with the matching die. The leaves are stamped onto the card front and coloured with the Soft Succulent InColour Stampin’ Blends.
The sentiment stamp on the front of this card is card has a matching stamp that I’ve used on the inside of the card.
For my final card I’ve paired the lightest 2021-23 InColour (Pale Papaya) with the darkest (Evening Evergreen) but I think they really complement each other.
I’ve fussy cut 4 buds as well as the larger flower image (after I die cut it) to create a different floral shape for this card. Did you notice the splattering on the card – it’s another stamp in this really versatile stamp set.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the very talented, Kate Morgan.
If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the participants below:
Welcome back to our 50th week of Colour Creations Showcase for 2020-21!
Today we are showcasing Soft Suede, and it is our final week in this present Colour Creations Showcase format. But don’t worry – we’ll still be sharing weekly colour inspiration with you, going forward!
From next week we will be reverting to a traditional blog hop format, starting with a showcase of ALL FIVE 2021-23 InColours on Wednesday 2nd June, followed by the rest of our beautiful Stampin’ Up! colours in individual alpha order at 8pm every Wednesday.
For my final card in our AWH Colour Creations Showcase I’ve used one of my favourite bundles from the new Annual Catalogue, the What’s Cookin’ bundle.
I bought this bundle with the intention to make a kitchen scene bench fold card, however I thought the scale of the elements would work better as a kitchen bench scene in a slimline card.
I’m so glad the In Good Taste DSP has carried over to the new catalogue because it is just perfect to create a tiled splash back and wooden kitchen bench.
How adorable is this chopping board in Soft Suede! The die embosses the board at the same time and I’ve tied some of the new Crumb Cake bakers twine through the handle. In fact I’ve kept the colour combination for this card entirely from the neutrals family.
After making and photographing my card I realised the Silver foil I used for the whisk, knife and slotted turner is not in the Annual Catalogue – if you don’t have a scrap of silver foil left over, use Basic Gray card stock for the knife blade and any colour for the whisk and the slotted turner as they could be made of coloured silicon.
I die cut the knife twice to create a wooden handle to which I then added three dots with my Basic Black marker for the screws. The utensil holder is die cut using a stitched rectangle die and 2 matte black dots are the “hooks” for the whisk and the slotted turner.
A single slit in the front curve of the the bowl (use a the sharp blade of a craft knife) allows the rolling pin, spoon and spatula to sit inside the bowl.
I’ve deliberately left the inside of the card blank so it can be used for any purpose or any gender.
I can’t wait to see what everyone else has created with Soft Suede today!
If you’d like me to post you your very own copy of the 2021-22 Stampin Up! Annual Catalogue, or to simply find out about more about Stampin’ Up! contact me.
In the meantime, wherever you are in the world, stay safe, stay calm…and keep on crafting xxx
Welcome back to our Colour Creations Showcase as we continue our showcase of over 50 beautiful Stampin’ Up! colours in alpha order.
This week we are showcasing Soft Sea Foam, the palest green in the Stampin’ Up! colour range.
I’d love to claim credit for the idea for my card today, but sadly I’m not that clever! One of the incredible Artisan Design team members, Martin Stone, originally came up with this super creative use of the grid pattern paper from Handsomely Suited DSP. As soon as I saw his card I knew I just had to make one too.
The design is inspired by needlepoint charts and I based my design on a Cath Kidston needpoint chart.
My colour scheme pairs Soft Sea Foam with Mint Macaron (I love these two greens together), Flirty Flamingo and Real Red.
I used blends to colour my grid paper but markers or watercolour pencils would also work well. The advantage of using blends is that you get a light and dark blend for each colour.
The “you’ve been on my mind sentiment” is from the Simply Succulents Stamp Set, die cut using a stitched rectangle die.
A soft bow using the Blushing Bride bakers twine from the Snail Mail Twine Combo Pack completes the card.
I can’t wait to see what everyone else has created with Soft Sea Foam today!
We will return next week on Wednesday 26th May when we’ll be showcasing our last colour in alphabetical order: Soft Suede. We will then return on 2nd June to showcase our new 2021-22 In Colours.
To purchase any of the products used in my card tonight, click on the links below.
If you’d like me to post you your very own copy of the 2021-22 Stampin Up! Annual Catalogue, the January – June 2020 mini catalogue, or to simply find out about more about Stampin’ Up! contact me.
In the meantime, wherever you are in the world, stay safe, stay calm…and keep on crafting xxx
