Monday, October 7, 2019

My Snow Globe Obsession

I am posting today as part of Kylie Bertucci's International Blog Highlights.  There are 2 parts:

2.  The 10 artists who receive the most votes will be participating in a Blog Hop at the end of this month.  With your help by voting for me, I may just get a chance to participate!

Thank you for your support!

My mom loves and collects snow globes.  So when I saw the Still Scenes bundle and Snow Globe Shaker Domes in the Stampin' Up! 2019 Holiday Catalog, I decided I had to buy them to create at least one card to show my mom.  That decision has developed into a snow globe card obsession!  I am now looking at my stamp sets and all card occasions with new eyes to see if I can fit them behind the Snow Globe Shaker Domes.

At first I stayed with the winter theme, and my very first shaker card created with my mom in mind is pictured below.  I used the Feels Like Frost Specialty Designer Series Paper and the Nature's Beauty stamp set to create this card.




But then I got to thinking, "What if snow globes aren't just for snow scenes?"  Since I was in the midst of preparing for my World Card Making Day event and also starting on a personal 31 day journey focusing on gratitude, I decided to create an autumn scene shaker card with the snow globe domes.



My inspiration for my background came from a photo my sister took recently on a beautiful autumn evening where the sky looked like it was on fire.  I decided to try to recreate some of this beautiful scene with the pigment sprinkles in the 2019-2020 Annual Catalog. You can find some Facebook lives I did over a couple of days last week (October 1 and 2nd) at my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/pg/kimskeepsakecreations, that show some of the process as well as some simple stamping action.


I spritzed a piece of watercolor paper with just a few sprays of water, and then carefully sprinkled Melon Mambo, Mango Melody and Daffodil Delight sprinkles on my damp paper.  Then I watched the magic work by spritzing my paper again with water.  The ink sprinkles spread and started to create my autumn sky.  Once I was happy with the way the ink was spreading, I blotted the wet ink with a paper towel and let my scenes dry.  I created two of these autumn sky scenes.  

Using the Gather Together stamp set and Early Espresso ink, I stamped my "Season of Thanks" sentiment on one scene and pumpkins and wheat on the other.  I cut out the stamped pumpkins with the Gathered Leaves dies. I added a bit of color to the pumpkins using the Cajun Craze Stampin' Blends Combo, and then got busy creating my card base!

I wanted my card to be able to stand up and support the weight of the shaker dome, so I looked for an easel or other kind of fold that might work for my card.  I found several different versions of a folded card base called an Upright Z-Fold that I thought would work, and when I saw Pinterest post by Connie Babbert of INKspired Treasures, I was pretty sure I had found the right one.  I loved her card design as it had a flip up card where I could include a sentiment and personal message, as well as the fold I wanted.

I cut a sheet of Early Espresso cardstock measuring 4.25" x 11" and scored and folded it in the z shape at 5.5" and 2.75".  I cut another piece from my sheet of the Early Espresso cardstock measuring 3.5" x 9" and scored and folded that piece at 4.5" to make my flip-up base for my globe.  I cut 2 pieces of Cajun Craze cardstock measuring 4" x 5.25" and 4" x 2.5" for my z-fold base, and third piece measuring 3.25" 4.25" to mat onto my flip-up card base.  

From the Come to Gather Designer Series Paper collection, I cut 2 pieces measuring 3.75" x 5" and 3.75" x 2.25" and adhered these onto the corresponding Cajun Craze z-fold base pieces.  I matted the Cajun Craze pieces onto the card base.  The third piece of Cajun Craze I ran through my Big Shot with the Subtle embossing Folder.  Using the Layering Circle dies, I cut and matted 3 sizes of circles as shown in the picture below.


I cut out the window for my snow globe to peek through from the textured piece of Cajun Craze using the die from the Snow Globe Scenes dies collection.  I removed the tape from the front of the snow globe and adhered it to my textured piece.  Then I positioned my cut out pumpkins under my "Season of Thanks" sentiment with Stampin' Dimensionals.  I poured some beads into the back of my globe dome and carefully adhered the watercolor scene to the back of my textured piece.  A base for the snow globe was cut using the Snow Globe Scenes dies, which I adhered below my snow globe with the Fine Tip Glue pen. I then adhered my flip-up card to my base.

I finished off my card by punching some leaves from my textured Cajun Craze snow globe cut out and Early Espresso scraps and using Mini Dimensionals adhered them to the matted circles.  Putting the double-sided tape just at the bottom of my matted circles, I adhered these circles to the bottom fold of my z-fold card base.  My flip-up card can now rest behind these circles.

You can find products used in this project listed below.  If it's something you'd like to try and find you need supplies, please use the link to the right of this blog to check out my online store.

I briefly mentioned my personal focus on gratitude this month, and I just want to take a minute to share that with you.  I am try to start each day by writing down in my journal up to 3 things that I am thankful for that day.  I am finding that it helps me keep my perspective as I intentionally think about and write down how much I have to be grateful for.  I encourage you to try it yourself, and I would love to hear about it if you decide to try it.

I also mentioned that this has become an obsession, and here are a couple other snow globe projects I've created using current and retired Stampin' Up! products:



What scenes can you imagine behind the snow globe dome?

I hope you enjoyed reading about this project.  I hope you'll take some time to check out all of the cards in the gallery and be sure to vote for your 5 top favorites!  I hope mine is one of them!

Gather Together Bundle (153036)
Come to Gather DSP (150454)
Still Scenes Bundle (153023)
Snow Globe Shaker Domes (150442)
Subtle Embossing Folder (151775)
Pigment Sprinkles (149663)
Stampin' Spritzer (126185)
Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper (149612)
Cajun Craze Stampin' Blends Combo (147931)
Early Espresso ink pad (147114)
Early Espresso cardstock (119686)
Cajun Craze cardstock (119684)
Layering Circle Dies (151770)
Tear & Tape (138995)
Fine Tip Glue Pen (138309)
Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (144108)

Monday, July 1, 2019

The Power of a Smile



I am posting today as part of Kylie Bertucci's International Blog Highlights.  There are 2 parts:

2.  The 10 artists who receive the most votes will be participating in a Blog Hop on July 29-30.  With your help by voting for me, I may just get a chance to participate!

Thank you for your support!
_____________________________________________________________________________

What makes you smile?

I keep a certain mouse pad on my desk at work that makes me smile every time I look at it.  Sometimes when I'm having a frustrating moment, I pull out this pad just to experience the power of a smile.



I have found that a smile, either my own smile or someone else's smaile can boost my spirits, change my perspective, and can connect me with others.  I experienced this when I went to China and taught English for a couple of weeks to Chinese teenagers.  Before I went I was very nervous about how I would communicate with the teens as I didn't know the language and was very unfamiliar with the culture.  A friend who had recently returned from several years of teaching English in China assured me that I would have no problem.  She told me to just smile and my students and I would connect just fine.  The teens in my class all wrote short notes in a book for me before I left, and I think that almost all of my 13 students mentioned something about my smile.



I love the Daisy Lane stamp set in the new 2019-2020 catalog, and one of the reasons is the "Smile" sentiment.  I used the stamp set with the Daisy, the Medium Daisy and the Pretty Label punches to create the card I'm sharing today.  My cardstock base of Terracotta Tile was paired with Sahara Sand and one of the patterned papers from the Woven Threads Designer Series Paper.  The card is accented with the Terracotta Tile Scalloped Linen Ribbon and a couple of 2019-2021 In Color Faceted Dots.




I started by trimming my cardstock base to 8.5" x 5.5" and then adhering a 4" x 5.25" mat of the patterned Designer Series Paper.  My next step was to cut a piece of Sahara Sand cardstock to 3.25 x 4.25".  I added a bit of texture to the Sahara Sand piece by embossing it with the Subtle 3D embossing folder.  I added a length of the Scalloped Linen ribbon cut just a bit longer than the width of my embossed piece and adhered this piece to my card front.

My next step was to stamp two of the large daisies and 2 of the smaller daisies from the Daisy Lane stamp set onto a piece of Sahara Sand cardstock with the Terracotta Tile ink pad, and then punched out the stamped daisies.  I also stamped my "Smile" sentiment on Sahara Sand cardstock and punched it out with the Pretty Label punch.  Using a Sponge Dauber, I inked the edge of the punched sentiment with the Terracotta Tile ink.

A mini glue dot was used to adhere one of the larger and one of the smaller daisies to the other daisy of the same size, offsetting the leaves of the top daisy from the one below it.  
Stampin' Dimensionals and Mini Dimensionals were used to adhere the daisies and the stamped sentiment to the embossed Sahara Sand mat.  I finished my card by accenting the sentiment with 2 of the coordinating Faceted Dots.

I hope you enjoyed reading about this project and experience the power of a smile today!

Products Used:
Daisy Lane Bundle (151118 - Includes Daisy Lane Stamp Set and Medium Daisy Punch)
Daisy Punch (143713)
Pretty Label Punch (143715)
Subtle 3D Embossing Folder (151775)
Terracotta Tile Cardstock (from 2019-2021 In Color Collection -149701)
Sahara Sand Cardstock (121043)
Woven Threads Designer Series Paper (149497)
Terracotta Tile Ink Pad (150086)
Terracotta Tile Scalloped Linen Ribbon (149705)
2019-2021 In Color Faceted Dots (149607)
Snail Adhesive (104332)
Simply Shammy (147042)
Sponge Daubers (133773)
Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)
Mini Dimensionals (144108)
Clear Block Bundle (118491) or Stamparatus (146276)
Mini Glue Dots (103683)
Paper Snips (103579) or Take Your Pick Tool (144107) to place Faceted Dots in position
Bone Folder (102300)

Saturday, May 11, 2019

Celebrating Mom

Tomorrow is Mother's Day, and I need to take a few moments and tell you about my Mom.  She will be 84 years young in September this year and she is amazing!  She loves to mow and take care of her yard.  It has been said that walking on her lawn barefoot is like walking on velvet.  One of her favorite activities is bowling, and for several years she has participated on a bowling league.  Her team placed first in the league this season!  Don't you just love her smile?!!




A 12x12 sheet of Very Vanilla cardstock and 2 patterns from the Tea Room Designer Series Paper pack form the background for this page.  A length of Calypso Coral 3/8" Satin Ribbon separates the 2 patterns.  The rose and sentiment from the Tea Together stamp set are stamped in Rich Razzleberry ink, and the rose was then colored with Calypso Coral and Old Olive Blends. I used the Large Letter Framelits to cut out the letters to spell "MOM" and then embossed the letters with the Country Floral Embossing Folder.  The rose was die cut with the Tea Time Framelits and the sentiment and mats with the Layering Squares Framelits.  The word "Celebrate" was die cut with the Celebrate You Thinlits.  One of the things I like to do to finish everything off is to brush the edges of all the pieces with ink, and I used Rich Razzleberry and Calypso Coral inks to do this.



I hope you enjoyed meeting my mom!

Very Vanilla 12x12 Cardstock (144239)
Tea Room Designer Series Paper (146894) (retiring)
Calypso Coral Cardstock (122925)
Rich Razzleberry Cardstock  (115316)
Calypso Coral 3/8" Satin Ribbon (148804) (retiring)
Tea Together Stamp Set (148779)
Rich Razzleberry Ink Pad (147091)
Calypso Coral Ink Pad (147101)
Calypso Coral Stampin' Blends Combo (144045)
Old Olive Stampin' Blends Combo (144597)
Large Letter Framelits (retiring) (141712)
Country Floral Embossing Folder (151823) (Sale-A-Bration item carrying over to new catalog)
Tea Time Framelits (149697) (Sale-A-Bration item carrying over to new catalog)
Layering Squares Framelits (141708)
Celebrate You Thinlits (146840) (retiring)
12x12 Page Protectors (144206)
12x12 Faux Leather Album (144202) (retiring)
Tear & Tape Adhesive (138995)
Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (144108)

Monday, March 11, 2019

#SimpleStamping with Lasting Lily

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!  Today I'm participating in a Blog Hop with other Stampin' Up! demonstrators from around the world as part of Kylie Bertucci's Demonstrator Training Group.  I hope you are creatively inspired as you hop along with us!

One of the hardest times to find the right words of encouragement and support is when someone has lost a loved one.  My sister’s husband passed away last week, and I found it hard to find the words to express what I wanted to say to her.  Sometimes there are no words that will accomplish what we really desire, to take away or ease the pain and sorrow someone is feeling.  A friend expressed it this way to me: “I wish I could think of something encouraging to say, but everything that comes to mind pales compared to you losing a family member.  It just plain sucks.”

I’m finding that creating a card for someone not only expresses a special message in words, but it also carries a part of me along with that message.  The process is somewhat therapeutic for me as I choose just the right colors, stamp set(s) and layout design.

Creating a card does not have to be hard.  Even someone who doesn’t think they are a “crafty” can stamp a card with a special message for the receiver.   The products and tools that Stampin’ Up! offers make it so easy to coordinate colors and create a special card.

With my sister’s loss fresh in my mind, I chose to use the Lasting Lily stamp set to create a card using just Whisper White cardstock, Blackberry Bliss ink pad, and Whisper White ribbon for the March Simple Stamping challenge.  The Lasting Lily stamp set is a Sale-A-Bration that can be received free with a $100 order during the Sale-A-Bration season.  It is one of the Distinctive design stamp sets that create an impression of depth just from the ink.


I used an 8.5”x11” sheet of  Whisper White Thick cardstock cut in half for my card base, which when folded in half gave me my 4.25”x5.5” card front.  I have never been a fan of stamp sets that required multiple colors or layers of inks to create a design, but using the Stamparatus allowed me to easily line up the stamped flowers, stems and sentiment.  I stamped the lilies and sympathy sentiment in Blackberry Bliss ink and the stems in Old Olive onto a piece of 4”x5.25” standard Whisper White cardstock.  A length of Whisper White ribbon colored with Blackberry Bliss ink was then glued to my stamped image and adhered to my cardstock base to finish my card front.

I love to show how you can use the same stamp set in different ways to get different effects. Using the same stamp set, along with the coordinating Lily Framelits Dies, and the Subtle Embossing Folder, I stepped up the complexity of the card a bit here.  Instead of the Whisper White Thick cardstock, I used Blackberry Bliss as my card base.  I stamped the same images, but die cut them with the coordinating thinlits.  I ran a piece of 4"x5.25" Whisper White cardstock through the Big Shot using the Subtle Embossing Folder, then die cut that with one of the rectangles from the Stitched Rectangle Framelits.  To pick which size rectangle to use, I just laid my die cut lilies and stems on my embossed piece until I found a size that I liked.  I glued my stems to my lilies and adhered them with Dimensionals to my embossed layer, added a piece of 1/8" Whisper White colored with my Blackberry Bliss Stampin' Blend, and adhered by embossed layer to my card base.  I finished my card front by adhering my die cut sentiment with a Dimensional.


Here is a list of supplies and tools used:

Lasting Lily Stamp Set (149717) (Free w/ $100 SAB item)
Whisper White Thick Cardstock (140272)
Whisper White Cardstock (100730)
Blackberry Bliss Ink Pad (147092)
Old Olive Ink Pad (147090)
3/8" Classic Weave Ribbon Whisper White (144159)
Blackberry Bliss Cardstock (133675)
Lily Framelits Dies (150771)
Rectangle Stitched Framelits Dies (148551)
Subtle Embossing Folder (143706)
1/8" Sheer Ribbon Whisper White (144172)
Blackberry Bliss Stampin' Blends Combo (147932)


My recommended everyday tools for stamping used here include:
Stampin' Trimmer (126889)
Big Shot (143263)
Big Shot Platform (142802)
Magnetic Platform (130658)
Bone Folder (102300)
Simply Shammy (147042)
Stamparatus (146276)
Snail Adhesive (104332)
Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (144108)

Thanks for hopping with all of us and stopping by my blog today.  Don't forget to check out all of the other blogs in the hop below!

Saturday, March 9, 2019

Sympathy Card for My Sister

Today is a sad day for my sister and our extended family as we will be gathering together to say goodbye to and share memories of my sister's husband, Dale.

Last night I headed to my supplies to create a card that will convey a message of love, support and encouragement to my sister and her family.  I was inspired by a card created by Su Mohr of AromasandArt.com (you can check out her card here:  https://aromasandart.com/top-ten-winners-february-2019-blog-hop/?fbclid=IwAR3aGlyJqgnVjzmX0hZt97seVJWtdBJIHijfG3odEmDgiTo6xcd1-NWqUHU).  Here is a picture of my finished card, and you'll find a list of products I used at the end of my post.



This is a 5"x7" card, so I started with a 10"x7" piece of Whisper White Thick cardstock and folded it in half.  I trimmed a piece of the standard Whisper White cardstock to 3.75"x 5.75" and ran it through my Big Shot using the Subtle Embossing Folder to give a slight texture to the piece.

Using a piece of Vellum cardstock and Versamark ink, I stamped floral images from the Tea Together stamp set from the 2019 Occasions catalog onto the vellum and followed up by sprinkling white embossing powder over my stamped image.  After tapping off the excess powder, I heated up the image with my heat tool until I got a nice shiny white outline on my flowers.

Turning my vellum to the back side, I used Stampin' Blends color my images.  I used Flirty Flamingo, Rich Razzleberry, Blackberry Bliss and Daffodil Delight blends on the flowers, and Granny Apple Green and Old Olive on the leaves.  I tend to start with my lightest color, add darker shading, and then go back and blend a bit with my lighter color again.

Once I had my embossed images colored, I used the coordinating Tea Time Framelits (which are a Free with $100 Sale-A-Bration item) to cut them out with the Big Shot.  I also cut out a sprig/flourish from Whisper White cardstock using one of the dies from the Butterfly Beauty Thinlits.

I stamped a "With Sympathy" sentiment from the Lasting Lily stamp set (also a Free with $100 Sale-A-Bration item) in Rich Razzleberry ink onto another piece of Whisper White cardstock and punched it out with the Pretty Label Punch from the Annual Catalog and ran my punched sentiment through the Big Shot with the Subtle Embossing Folder.  I also stamped a sentiment from the Kindness & Compassion stamp set in the Annual Catalog on another piece of 3.75"x"5.75" Whisper White cardstock to adhere to the inside of my card.

To finish off my card front, I used Snail Adhesive to fasten my textured piece to the front of my card base and then adhered my flourishes with Mini Glue Dots.  I placed a Mini Dimensional in the center of each of my flowers and attached them on top of the flourish.  Finally, I adhered my sentiment with a Stamping' Dimensional in place and attached my inside sentiment to the inner part of the card.

Some things I learned through this process are:

- I should have scored my Whisper White Thick cardstock first and then folded to get a crisper fold.
- It's best to use the Embossing Buddy to avoid leaving excess powder and to check my Versamark stamped image to make sure I have a good impression before applying embossing powder.

- It's good to use a clothes pin to hold vellum while heating up my embossed image as the paper gets hot, and it's pretty easy to scorch my image if I heat it too long!
- My image shifted a bit when I die cut the rose flower image, so I just used my Paper Snips to trim the excess image.  Fortunately it didn't shift enough to cut into the image!

There's almost always a story and a person behind the cards I create, and each card I create carries a part of me with it.  I love being able to just grab some supplies and craft a card that conveys a message of love, support and encouragement.  I also love being a part of the Stamping' Up! family and encouraging others to celebrate and lift up their loved ones through card making and paper crafting.  If there is any way I can help and support you in your paper crafting journey, please don't hesitate to contact me at kimskeepsakecreations@gmail.com or by visiting my website by clicking on the link at the right of the screen.

Here's a list of the supplies and tools used specifically in creating this card:

Whisper White Thick Cardstock (140272)
Whisper White Cardstock (100730)
Vellum Cardstock (101856)
Rich Razzleberry Ink Pad (147091)
Versamark Ink Pad (102283)
Stampin' Embossing Powder White (109132)
Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Blends combo (147278)
Rich Razzleberry Stampin' Blends Combo (144602)
Blackberry Bliss Stampin' Blends Combo (147932)
Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends Combo (147274)
Old Olive Stampin' Blends Combo (144597)
Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Combo (144603)
Subtle Embossing Folder (143706)
Pretty Label Punch (143715)
Butterfly Beauty Thinlits (148536) (also available in Beauty Abounds bundle 150617)
Tea Together Stamp Set (148779)
Tea Time Framelits (149697) (Free w/ $100 SAB item)
Lasting Lily Stamp Set (149717) (Free w/ $100 SAB item)
Kindness & Compassion Stamp Set (146729)
Embossing Buddy (103083)
Heat Tool (129053)

My recommended everyday tools for stamping used here include:
Stampin' Trimmer (126889)
Big Shot (143263)
Big Shot Platform (142802)
Magnetic Platform (130658)
Big Shot Die Brush (144262)
Paper Snips (103579)
Bone Folder (102300)
Simply Shammy (147042)
Stamparatus (146276)
Snail Adhesive (104332)

Monday, February 11, 2019

All That You Are Thank You Card

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!  Today I'm participating in a Blog Hop with other Stampin' Up! demonstrators from around the world as part of Kylie Bertucci's Demonstrator Training Group. I hope you are creatively inspired as you hop along with us!

For the last six to seven months, I have been training with a group of people from my church as we launch a new ministry to our church, called Stephen Ministry.  It is a ministry of caring for and walking along side others who are going through situations that can seem very overwhelming.  We had two leaders who have such a vision of what this ministry will do to meet the needs of hurting people and poured their hearts and souls into training us.  Our group wanted to give a gift to thank them and let them know how much we appreciate all that they are and have done.  I offered to make cards to go along with the gifts for each leader, and the "All That You Are" stamp set from the 2019 Occasions Catalog was the perfect choice to use for the cards.

I used a technique for the flower that involves embossing in white on a light colored cardstock, such as the Crumb Cake cardstock I used here, then using watercolor pencils and blenders to add a watercolor look.  I have seen several demonstrators use this technique, and I really wanted to try it myself.  The flower stamp really worked well for this.

Since my message was two-fold, I put a flip-up card on the front with my initial thank you sentiment from the "All That You Are" set.  Since I wanted our leaders to know that those of us who have gone through the initial training are committed to praying for our leaders as they continue to develop the ministry, encourage and support us as we meet with people, and train others to do the same, on the inside of the card I added a "praying for you" message.  All of us in the group were able to sign the card and add our own individual messages.




I'll describe my process first and then list the products used.  

I had a long piece of the Crumb Cake cardstock that looked like it fit the flower stamp very well, so I used that for my flip-up piece.  I folded the long piece in half and made a nice crease using my bone folder.  After swiping over the front of the folded cardstock with the Embossing Buddy and making sure that my flower fit with room to spare, I stamped my image on the front of the folded piece with the Versamark Pad and applied white embossing powder to the stamped image.  Using the Heat Tool, I heated up the imaged until I saw that the powder melted together to form a beautiful outline of the flower on my cardstock.  I used our Watercolor Pencils to color in the image and finished with Blender Pens to give a sheer watercolor look.

Using the Dark Lovely Lipstick Stampin' Blend, I applied a bit of color to my Whisper White ribbon so that it would match the larger cardstock base. wrapped it fully around the front portion of the flip-up piece, and used a bit of Snail Adhesive to ahold the ends together.   I used another piece to tie a knot around the wrapped ribbon and adhered both to the cardstock.  

I finished the flip-up portion of the card by stamping my sentiment and a stamped flower with Lovely Lipstick ink on a piece of Whisper White cardstock, which I then trimmed to fit inside my flip-up card.  I adhered the white piece to the inside of the flip up card with Snail Adhesive.

I used a piece of Lovely Lipstick cardstock from the All My Love Cardstock pack that was already trimmed to size for my larger card base. I folded it and adhered a trimmed piece of Designer Series Paper from the "All My Love" paper collection.  Again using Snail Adhesive, I adhered my flip-up card to the front of my larger cardstock base.  I adhered a piece of Whisper White to the inside of the larger card base for my "praying for you" message, and my card was ready for the group to sign.

The supplies and tools I used for the card are as follows:

All My Love Cardstock Pack (148578) (Lovely Lipstick and Crumb Cake)
Whisper White card stock (100730)
All My Love Designer Series Paper (148576)
Versamark Pad (102283)
White Stampin' Emboss Powder (109132)
Lovely Lipstick ink pad (147140)
Lovely Lipstick Dark Stampin' Blend (147028)
1/8" Whisper White Sheer Ribbon (144172)
Watercolor Pencils (141709) (Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Bermuda Bay, Old Olive)
Blender Pens (102845) 
Stamparatus (146276)
Snail Adhesive (140332)
Stampin' Trimmer (126889)
Embossing Buddy (103083)
Heat Tool (129053)
Bone Folder (102300)
Simply Shammy (147042)

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today.  Don't forget to check out the links below which will connect you with the blogs of all my demonstrator friends participating in this blog hop!






Sunday, January 27, 2019

Tea Together Simple Stamping

For our January simple stamping challenge, I used products from the new Stampin' Up! Occasions catalog. I again used just one stamp set, one ink pad, and a coordinating card base and Designer Series Paper (DSP). For the January challenge we could also use a punch this time. I chose the Tea Together stamp set to use for this challenge. I loved the sentiments in the set, and tea cups and pots always bring to mind some special memories of times spent together with my sister Karen. The enjoyment and relaxation Karen finds in the whole process is very visible as she boils the water, chooses a kind of tea, inhales the aroma as the tea steeps, feels the warmth of the cup in her hands, and tastes the flavor as she takes each sip. When we go on family vacations, she always looks for a tea shop in the area and several of us join her for tea and scones. She has passed that enjoyment of tea on to her granddaughters, and they love nothing better than to enjoy a cup of tea with their grandmother.

In addition to the Tea Together stamp set (Item No. 148779), I used the following supplies specifically for this card:
 All My Love DSP (148576)
All My Love Cardstock Pack (148578)
Whisper White Cardstock (100730)
Lovely Lipstick Ink Pad (147140)
Pretty Label Punch (143715)

Of course I also used my normal tools as follows:
Stampin' Trimmer (126889)
Snail Adhesive (104332)
Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)
Bone Folder (102300)
Stamparatus (146276) (You could also use one of the clear blocks, but I love my Stamparatus!) Simple Shammy (147042) (You could also use a Stampin' Scrub and Stampin' Mist Stamp Cleaner to clean your stamps after you're finished.)


I chose Lovely Lipstick as my cardstock base and ink color for this card. My card base was trimmed to measure 5.5" x 8.5" and then folded in half. The patterned paper I chose from the All My Love DSP reminded me of the beautiful patterns of china cups and tea pots. I trimmed my patterned paper to 4" x 5.25" and stamped the tea pot image on it. I also stamped one of the flowers from the set inside the tea cup shape to further imitate the patterns found on china cups.

After adhering the stamped DSP to the card base with my adhesive. I stamped my "Love is a warm cup of tea" sentiment onto a small piece of Whisper White cardstock and punched it out with the Pretty Label punch. Flowers stamped at the sides of the sentiment filled in a bit of white space and framed the sentiment nicely. I found it very helpful to have the Stamparatus to position these within the punched shape. My final step was to use a Stampin' Dimensional to adhere the sentiment to the card.

As I can't seem to stop at simple stamping, I went a bit further with this stamp set. Adding a few more materials and some more tools produced the following card.


This card used a second layer of Flirty Flamingo card stock textured with the Tufted embossing folder run through the Big Shot.  A die cut tea cup, a punched shape from the patterned paper with a die cut circle containing the sentiment, some pearl accents colored with the Dark Lovely Lipstick Blends, and copper threads hoping to imitate steam rising from the cup of tea completed my card.

Both of these cards celebrate the special relationship I have with my sister Karen. Whatever your style, I would encourage you to take the time to celebrate and lift up those you love with a card or word of encouragement!

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Butterfly Gala Simple Stamping Card

Thank you for joining us today for Kylie Bertucci's Demonstrator Training Blog Hop.

As Stampin' Up! demonstrators we've been challenged to create cards that are what are referred to as "simple stamping" so that everyone can see how easy it is to make a card that will encourage and uplift the recipient.  Simple stamping seems to mean different things to different people, and I wondered how simple I could make a card so that anyone else who saw it could say "I can totally do that!"

So I decided to try one stamp set, with limited color choices.  I chose the stamp set "Butterfly Gala" from the new Stampin' Up! Occasions catalog and just used the sentiment "Hello Beautiful" in that set.  I chose a patterned paper from the Botanical Butterflies Designer Series Paper, which is a Free with $50 item in the Sale-A-Bration brochure.  I chose Old Olive as my card base color and decided to use the Pretty Label punch to frame my sentiment on the card.  I first stamped my sentiment on a scrap of Old Olive card stock and then punched it out with the punch.  I probably could have made the card even simpler and just stamped the sentiment on the paper that I chose.  But a punch is so easy to use and the sentiment was nicely framed.

Here is the result. Super simple and something that anyone can re-create.


On the inside I glued a strip of the printed paper that I had trimmed off to a piece of Whisper White and stamped the "You've been on my mind sentiment" on it.  Now I had a card of encouragement to send to a friend.



But since I had a specific friend I wanted to send it to, I wanted to add a bit of my own personality or style (which isn't super simple, but still not real complicated) to the card.  I used the 1/8" Whisper White Sheer Ribbon from the current Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog and colored it with one of the Old Olive Stampin' Blends so that it would blend in well with the Old Olive color scheme I had going.  I stamped one of the butterfly stamps from the Butterfly Gala set in Old Olive ink on a piece of Whisper White card stock and colored it with the Old Olive and new Balmy Blue Blends combo sets.  Then I punched out the butterflies with the new Butterfly Duet punch.  I added the ribbon and the colored butterflies to my card and now I had another card, still simple and easily duplicated, but with a bit of my own style and personality.


Both cards carry the same message of encouragement and let the recipient know that I'm thinking of them, but one carries a bit more of me with it.  The message that I personally write inside will add to the encouraging sentiments and will be specifically speaking to my friend's situation.

Thanks for stopping by my blog as you hop along.

If you haven't checked them out already, here is a list of the other demonstrators participating.


January Team Creative Challenge

Our January Team Creative Challenge has a theme of "Love is in the air."  I decided to celebrate the special love we receive from our pets with this scrapbook page layout, complete with pictures of my current kitty love, Titus. My “Love is in the air” inspiration came from the Nine Lives stamp set sentiment that says “True Love has four paws.” I used coordinating paper and ribbon from the All My Love suite.   All of these products are available in the new Stampin' Up! Occasions catalog.