Until the 2023-24 Annual Catalog is live!
Do you have your shopping list ready?
Friday, April 28, 2023
Thursday, April 27, 2023
Make Me Smile
Do you ever send a card just to make someone smile? How about letting someone know that THEY made YOU smile?
I send my cards and know that the recipient smiles when they receive it. But I'm not so good at letting others know that I'm smiling because of them.
So:
Timeless Arrangements is another of my new sets coming soon in the 2023-24 Annual Catalog. And it's a beauty.
But the best thing about it is the dies, 16 in all:
I love the "ribbons" with the attached leaves!
Imagine how easy it will be to add greenery to your creations!
Now full disclosure - the greetings do NOT fit on these ribbons. But there ARE some label dies for the larger sentiments.
Let's look a little closer:
I chose Blueberry Bushel and Lemon Lime Twist with a pop of Melon Mambo. The blue circles were stamped in Blueberry Bushel (but stamped off once) and then I embossed the layer with the Timeless Textures embossing folder.
Then the fun began.
I stamped and Blend-colored several of the flowers, leaves and sprigs. Then they were cut with the dies.
The greeting was stamped and I trimmed the ends, then mounted it to the ribbon (which I cut with Blueberry Bushel).
I finished by arranging my die-cuts around the greeting. Oh, and added a few retired dark blue rhinestones (I could have colored some rhinestones with Blueberry Bushel Blends, but why, when I had some old ones in my stash? 😏).
So many stamps in the set, with so many opportunities to make something pretty!
Timeless Arrangements, available May 2nd! You won't want to miss this one!
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Beautiful Balloons
I'm still playing with new goodies from my 2023-24 Annual Catalog pre-order (one of the best perks of being a demonstrator is getting my hands on new products early!).
Today I have a sample of the Beautiful Balloons stamps set/bundle.
Wait! Did I say "balloons"?
Yes I did, but this set is much more than balloons.
Although balloons are the MAIN feature of this set, there are other celebratory phrases and dies that are included. My card today is more about achievements than birthdays.
First I cut a number of the stars, large and small, in Lemon Lime Twist, Lemon Lolly, Lost Lagoon and Pretty Peacock. I also stamped the banners across the Misty Moonlight layer in the same-colored ink.
Then I laid out my stars in a random pattern. After adhering them, I ran the layer through my Stampin' Cut & Emboss machine with the polka dots embossing folder (Basics from the OnLine Exclusives).
The layer was added to a Lemon Lime Twist card base, and I cut a strip of the Bright & Beautiful patterned paper for the bottom of the card.
The greeting was stamped in Misty Moonlight on the Lemon Lolly star and popped up on Dimensionals.
And as luck would have it, I happened to have a little Lemon Lime Twist ribbon from a few years back, when this color was one of the In Colors (and one of my favorites!).
Now who wouldn't feel celebrated with a card like this?
Beautiful Balloons will be available for purchase on May 2nd when the new 2023-24 Annual Catalog goes live!
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Look What I Got!
Finally!
After quite the unusual delay, I finally received my Stampin' UP! preorder! Turns out that when the preorder began on April 4th, Stampin' UP! experienced its biggest order day EVER! Must tell you something - the new 2023-24 Annual Catalog is fabulous!
So I stayed up late on 4/3 to place my order as soon as the website was open.
And then I waited. And waited. And waited...
Just as I was beginning to lose hope of ever seeing my lovely new products, the box arrived! Yippee! And I must say, it was worth the wait!
I purchased three stamp sets, dies, a punch, and then loads of paper, markers, ink pads, Blends and accessories in ALL the new colors! That box was heavy!
So I've been creating and over the next few days I'll preview of a few of the new products so you can get excited about placing your order on May 2nd. And no worries - I'm pretty sure the shipping times will have dramatically improved by then!
So first up was my play with Circle Sayings. This cute set comes in a bundle with a large (2-3/8") circle punch. And many of the images will fit the punch:
My first attempt at creating with this bundle is a set of 3 mini cards (3" x 3"). I wanted to use not only the stamps, but also show off some of the new colors.
How fun!
A cupcake in Berry Burst with a Bubble Bath background. I stamped the "Happy Birthday" randomly over the Bubble Bath layer with Bubble Bath ink. The cupcake is stamped in Tuxedo Black, and colored with Berry Burst and Bubble Bath Blends.
And those jewels? Just regular Rhinestone Basic Jewels colored with a Berry Burst Blend.
I've got the blues! Boho Blue and Misty Moonlight to be exact! This cute image was colored with Blends, but catch the starburst background on the Boho Blue layer - it's one of the stamps in the set, and it makes the perfect corner (or sunshine rays, or candle light, or...).
And of course, a beachy card (you know me and my beach fetish, right? 😉). I stamped the shells along the top AND the bottom of the circle, then colored them with. Bubble Bath, Lemon Lolly, Soft Sea Foam, Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Pretty Peacock and Smoky Slate Blends. And finished off with a few Pastel Adhesive-Backed Sequins.
These will be so fun to tuck a little note into my customer thank you gifts! Will you get one?
The 2023-24 Annual Catalog goes live on May 2nd. Need a catalog? Contact me to see how you can get one.
Monday, April 24, 2023
Better Late than Never?
Congratulations are in order! To me!
For finishing my FEBRUARY Paper Pumpkin! 😳
Does anyone else get all excited about the arrival of the monthly box, and then set it aside for ages? Well, that is often the case with me. If I don't have an immediate use for the projects the box contains, it can sometimes sit for months. And then one day, I'll have some free time and nothing to do, and I pull out a box and...
These were the three cards that were the "planned" projects for February. There were three of each card. And they are pretty cute.
Since I have a great-nephew (OMG, that always makes me sound SO old!) with a birthday coming up, I thought one of these cute, whimsical cards would be perfect for him.
And while I was creating, I decided to make two of each of the cards.
But then I had some leftover pieces...and I went a little rogue.
Subscribers may remember that the February box had (for the first time ever) an add-on of dies. There were only two small dies in the pack, but one was for this cute frog, and the other cuts out the trio of flowers (the stamps were the included ones in the kit). So I decided to have a little fun with the dies.
First I cut the card base with the Mango Melody squares in half, and cut the side with the frame to 4" x 5-1/4". Then I played with the pieces until I liked what I had.
I watercolored a background on Shimmery White cardstock, using Tahitian Tide and Garden Green inks. Then I stamped and fussy-cut the sun, and stamped, colored and cut the frog and flowers. The kite was part of the kit (I love that!).
Pretty cute, right?
But then I had the other half of the Mango squares card base:
And I went totally rogue! The card base is Mango Melody. The piece with the squares is mounted to a slightly larger layer of Melon Mambo. Then I cut up one of the envelopes included in the kit because the inside was gorgeous! It's the top layer of Mango in a watercolor pattern. And it's also mounted on Melon Mambo.
I punched three daisies with the medium Daisy Punch, topped it with a Mambo circle and cut two Parakeet Party leaves with a retired die.
Just goes to show that with a little ingenuity, these Paper Pumpkin kits can be more than the suggested projects. It's so fun to see what else can be made.
Did you know that there is a Paper Pumpkin Fan Club page on FaceBook? Anyone can join, and the projects are always amazing! So fun to see what others create!
Now if only I could do it in the same month that the box arrived! 😁
But I guess "better late than never", right?
If you haven't yet subscribed to Paper Pumpkin, why not give it a try? The May box is all about the new In Colors! It has an "outdoor theme", and includes an ink spot of Copper Clay, one of the brand new In Colors making its debut in the new 2023-24 Annual Catalog.
Click here for more info and to subscribe. But do it by May 10th in order to receive the May box!
Friday, April 21, 2023
CASEing Gail Ellis
Australian demonstrator, Gail Ellis, is one of my favorite papercrafting artists. I'm in awe of her eye for color, texture and balance. So when I saw a few cards she created for the Demonstrator website, I decided to CASE (copy and share everything) one of them.
Her card was a 4" x 4" card, and I changed up a few things, but basically this is a Gail Ellis card (my apologies to Gail, as mine is nowhere near as perfect!).
L.O.V.E.!
This was our "technique" card, as it contains an emboss-resist image and uses Blending Brushes.
We started with two leaf-image stamps from Forever Fern, stamped in Versamark and heat-embossed with White Embossing Powder.
Using Blending Brushes, we added Tahitian Tide, Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie inks. Then we used a Kleenex to rub off any ink on the white images - the embossing "resists" the ink and stays white.
Tahitian Tide was cut with the Basic Borders dies to create an "arrow" pointing at the focal point. Adhered to Basic White, it was run through the Stampin' Cut & Emboss machine with one of the OnLine Exclusives Basics Embossing Folders.
Our greeting, from Very Best Occasions, was heat-embossed on a Pumpkin Pie banner.
Sweet Perfection! Thanks, Gail, for the inspiration! I love this card!
Do you love the polka-dotted background? You might want to check out the OnLine Exclusives to see the Basics 3D Embossing Folders. A set of three, you'll love having them in your craft room.
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