Thursday, August 24, 2023

Crafting with the Kits Collection


I’m back with the Creative Card-iology Team bloggers for another blog hop, and this month we are featuring the Kits Collection from Stampin’ Up!  The kits are on sale through August 31 at great discounts – up to 30% off, and there’s a great variety of kits that are sure to give you a great time of crafting.

I chose the Forever Friends Kit, which includes the supplies to make 8 cards (2 designs, 4 of each) with envelopes.  I love the beautiful floral designs and foil accents for the cards and the envelopes with the same foil design on the flap, and I was so excited to see the Dimensional Strips as the adhesive in the kit.  The coordinating Stampin’ Up! colors are Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Night of Navy, Old Olive and Petal Pink.  A Night of Navy Stampin’ Spot and Calypso Coral Baker’s Twine are included.


I made 2 cards following the pictorial directions, and then changed up the designs a bit by adding a little extra cardstock to the supplies in the kit.  I switched card bases and printed design layers to the opposite ones in the printed directions and added a layer of colored cardstock (Night of Navy and Old Olive) as a mat behind the printed design.  I stamped a floral image in the Night of Navy ink and colored the flowers with Stampin’ Blends.  My Calypso Coral Baker’s Twine was arranged around and adhered to the back of the floral images and then the floral images were adhered to the card fronts, popped up with pieces of the Dimensional Strips.


I went a bit further with an alternate project with this kit and made a mini journal using one of the card bases as my journal cover.  I made a score line about 1/16” on either side of the center score of the card base.  I took about 8 pages from a sketch journal and folded them together inside the card base and then stapled everything together twice along the center score of the card base with my long neck stapler.  I then trimmed the inside pages even with the cover.


I kept the cover design pretty simple as I didn’t want any embellishment to be ruined when this journal is slipped inside a purse, back pocket, etc.  I just cut one of the printed design pieces to the size I wanted, stamped the floral and leaf outlines on the flowers and leaves of the printed design, and then matted the piece it with a slightly larger piece of Night of Navy cardstock.  I die cut a sentiment label using one of the stitched circle dies from the Stylish Shapes Dies collection.  To fit my sentiment within this circle, I colored half of the sentiment with the Night of Navy Stampin’ Write Marker and stamped it on my die cut circle, then repeated the process with the second half of my sentiment.  I adhered it to my card front with Mini Glue Dots.


Since I used sketch journal sheets for my inside pages, I thought this would make a great beginner’s (that’s me) mixed media art journal.  I decided to start by embellishing the first page of my journal by brushing some Daffodil Delight ink with a blending brush over the lower right-hand corner of the page.  I then stamped the floral and leaf images in Night of Navy ink over the inked corner.  I used Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive and Real Red pencils from the Watercolor Pencil Assortment 1 collection to color the images.  Who knows where it will go from here!

Not quite sure what I’m going to use the journal for, but I love how it came together.  I might keep it myself to write about answered prayers and how God brings me through hard times, or I might give it as a gift.

Since the kits don’t take up much room, they’re great for crafting on the go or in small areas when you don’t have a lot of room, and they are an easy and cost-effective way to get started stamping.  The Classic Stampin' Spots Assortment is a great beginners collection of inks to add on to your kit, and it will help expand the use of your kit stamp set beyond the kit contents.  I used the Daffodil Delight Stampin' Spot for brushing ink on my journal page. 

The Kits Collection changes as availability changes, and new kits are added regularly.  Stampin' Up! also has a monthly subscription kit called Paper Pumpkin, which is a stamping kit that includes all the supplies to make the featured project, just like the kits in the Kit Collection.  Paper Pumpkin subscriptions are available on a month-by-month payment basis (paperpumpkin.com) or by 1, 3, 6 or 12-month prepaid subscriptions (shop prepaid subscriptions).  


The September Paper Pumpkin kit looks like it will be a beautiful kit - you won't want to miss it!  The sign up period for the September kit runs through September 10th.  There is a coordinating Thoughts of Thanks journal add-on available now while supplies last.

I hope you were creatively inspired by the Forever Friends kit – making the cards as the kit directions called for or possibly creating some alternate projects - and I hope you can see how easy it is to get started stamping with a kit.  

Don’t forget to check out my blogging teammates’ projects for some more "kitspiration" by clicking on the links below.


Jessica's Blog

As always, thanks for hopping along with us today!  I love connecting with blog readers and getting your feedback on the projects, so I hope you’ll leave a comment and let me know you stopped by today!  Don’t forget to check out the Kits Collection and take advantage of the super Kits sale (shop the Kits Collection)!  

If you’d like to get together with some friends at your home or mine to craft together with Kits, I’d love to talk with you about how I can assist you with your craft gathering!  You can connect with me by email at kimskeepsakecreations@gmail.com or on my facebook page @kimskeepsakecreations.

And as always, the products used to create my projects can be found in the list below.  Happy Stamping!

Product List
Forever Friends Kit (English)
$21.00
Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$10.50
Night Of Navy 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$10.00
Old Olive 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$10.00
Classic Stampin' Spots Assortment
$24.00
Neutrals Stampin' Write Markers
$30.00
Calypso Coral Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$10.00
Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$10.00
Petal Pink Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$10.00
Watercolor Pencils Assortment 1
$16.00
Blending Brushes
$13.00
Mini Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine
$66.00
Stylish Shapes Dies
$30.00
Paper Snips
$11.00
Paper Trimmer
$26.00
Mini Glue Dots
$5.75
Stampin' Seal
$8.00
Simply Shammy
$8.50

Thursday, July 27, 2023

Horse & Sleigh Fun Fold

Welcome to the July 2023 Creative Card-iology Team Blog Hop! We’re glad you've joined us to check out this month’s cardmaking inspiration featuring Stampin’ Up’s Online Exclusives. 


I chose the One Horse Open Sleigh Suite Collection and a simple Z Fold for my project this month.  The Designer Series Paper in this suite has some really beautiful scenic 6x6 paper designs!  And the Horse and Sleigh stamp set and dies have a nostalgic winter theme that brings back fond memories of holidays with my grandparents as the call to mind the old holiday song “Over the River and Through the Woods.”


Here are the cutting measurements:

     Misty Moonlight Card Base – 4 ¼” x 11”, scored at 2 ¾” and 5 ½”

     Basic White – 2 pieces 2 ½” x 4”, 1 piece 2 ½” x 5 ½” and 1 piece ¾” x 3”

     One Horse Open Sleigh DSP – 2 pieces from same pattern 2 ½” x 4”

     Basic Black – 1 piece 2 ½” x 5 ½”

     Black Bakers Twine – approximately 15” long

Directions:

1.  Fold Misty Moonlight Card Base at 5 ½” score mark.

2.  Fold card base back in opposite direction along 2 ¾” score mark.

3.  Stamp sentiment in Misty Moonlight ink on ¾” x 3 ¼” Basic White piece.

4.  Punch ends of sentiment label with Happy Labels Pick A Punch.

5.  Stamp horse and sleigh image in Memento ink on the 2 ½” x 5 ½” Basic White piece and color with Stampin’ Blends (I used Real Red, Basic Black, Smoky Slate, Boho Blue, Misty Moonlight, Pool Party, Crumb Cake, and Ivory Blends).

6.  Die cut colored horse and sleigh image.

7.  Die cut a second horse and sleigh from the Basic Black piece.

8.  Adhere colored horse and sleigh die cut to Basic Black horse and sleigh die cut, offsetting it just a bit to give a shadow effect.

9.  Adhere 1 piece of DSP on far left panel and the other on the far right side of the card front.

10. Adhere the 2 remaining Basic White pieces (2 ½” x 4”) to the center 2 sections of the card base.

11. Place glue dots on back of sleigh and the tip of the horse’s tail and adhere to left and bottom of DSP card front panel (making sure that die cut is only adhered to this left panel).

12. Place small amount of adhesive on back of sentiment label and adhere looped Black Bakers Twine to back of sentiment label.

13. Place Stampin’ Dimensionals on back of sentiment label so that left and center of sentiment label are adhered to DSP panel but right end of sentiment label swings free when card is opened.

14. Place snowflake embellishments on sentiment label/card front as desired.

15. In center of each snowflake embellishment, place an Iridescent Rhinestone Basic Jewel.

I hope you enjoyed this project!  Don’t forget to check out my teammates’ blogs by clicking on the links below!  We appreciate your feedback, so feel free to leave a comment!

Bonnie's Blog

Diana's Blog

Jessica's Blog

Thanks for hopping with us today!  I hope you'll check out all of the online exclusive products at my webstore.  There's still time to earn bonus coupons this month - for every $50 ordered, you'll earn a $5 bonus coupon that you can use toward a purchase in August.

Our team always has a great time stamping and inspiring each other, and we'd love to have you join us!  I'd love to answer any questions you might have!  

Product List
One Horse Open Sleigh Suite Collection (English)
$72.50
Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$10.00
Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$10.50
Misty Moonlight 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$10.00
Misty Moonlight Classic Stampin' Pad
$9.00
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
$6.50
Basic Black Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$10.00
Boho Blue Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack
$10.00
Bronze & Ivory Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$10.00
Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$10.00
Misty Moonlight Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$10.00
Pool Party Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$10.00
Real Red Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$10.00
Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$10.00
Baker's Twine Essentials Pack
$11.00
Iridescent Rhinestones Basic Jewels
$7.50
Happy Labels Pick A Punch
$27.00
Mini Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine
$66.00
Mini Glue Dots
$5.75
Stampin' Dimensionals
$4.25
Stampin' Seal+
$12.00

Thursday, June 22, 2023

Fresh As a Daisy Art Journal Cover


Welcome to the Creative Card-iology Team June 2023 Blog Hop! We’re celebrating Designer Series Paper (DSP) in this month's hop!  There is a 15% off sale on select Stampin' Up! DSP collections through June 30th, and I hope you'll get some creative inspiration from our projects this month.


I've had a project in mind that I wanted to experiment with for a while now, and this month's theme seemed the perfect opportunity to do so!  I've been wanting to make a mixed media art journal for a while now, and the beautiful paper collections offered great selections for my journal cover.  The only problem was which one to choose!


I finally decided on the Fresh As A Daisy collection, and the Crafting With You bundle was just the right set for embellishing my cover.  I'm not going to give step-by-step directions for this project as I'm experimenting along the way, but I will take you through some of my process for the cover.  The design on my journal cover would definitely make a great card as well as the journal cover and it really lets the gorgeous paper shine! 

I'm planning on using recycled/unused bill payment envelopes to create base pages for inside my journal, so I measured the envelope size.  I wanted to have the cover be larger than my envelopes so I added 1" to the size of the envelope to get my measurements for my front and back piece.  I used cardboard from a package of foil paper and cut a front piece, back piece and a spine, and then adhered my pieces to my DSP.  That process is a bit more complicated to explain than what I can go into here, so I'll just concentrate on the front embellishments.

I die cut my easel from Copper Clay cardstock, a stitched circle on Basic White using a die from the Stylish Shapes die collection, stamped the and brushes on Basic White with Copper Clay Ink.  I die cut the brushes and fussy cut around the sentiment, separating the sentiment so that it fit on the circle.  My "art journal" sentiment was typed and printed off with my computer/printer and ends punched with the Banners Pick A Punch.  I cut a second piece of the same DSP pattern, sized to fit on the easel over the same spot on the underlying paper on the cover.  I sponged around the circle, the easel and the "painting" with Copper Clay ink.  I also added a touch of blue to the ends of a couple of the brushes with Blends.  Everything was adhered with glue dots and Dimensionals.  I added a few Copper Clay Adhesive-Backed Solid Gems to the front and a couple on the spine.  

I hope to show you more of my journal in future posts or videos, and I hope it sparks your imagination on how you might be able to use the beautiful paper collections for cards and other projects!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Don’t forget to check out my teammates’ blogs by clicking on the links below.  We always appreciate your feedback - let us know you stopped by and leave a comment!

Bonnie's Blog

Diana's Blog

Jessica's Blog

Don't forget to check out the Designer Series Paper Sale and more at my website here.  The best deal you can get on Stampin' Up! projects is the Starter Kit, where this month you can choose $155 (USD) in product for only $99 (USD) plus tax.  That's $30 in product more than normal, through the end of June!  I hope you'll consider  joining our team - we always learn so much from each other and have a great time stamping together!  I'd love to help you get answers to any questions you might have regarding this opportunity, so please reach out and let me know how I can best assist you in your creative journey!




Product List
Fresh As A Daisy 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper
$12.50
Crafting With You Bundle (English)
$54.00
Stylish Shapes Dies
$30.00
Banners Pick A Punch
$27.00
Copper Clay 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$10.00
Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$10.50
Copper Clay Classic Stampin' Pad
$9.00
Boho Blue Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack
$10.00
Adhesive Backed Solid Gems
$8.00
Paper Snips
$11.00
Paper Trimmer
$26.00
Mini Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine
$66.00
Mini Glue Dots
$5.75
Stampin' Dimensionals
$4.25
Tear & Tape Adhesive
$7.00