Sneak Peak Happiness Abounds

Hello friends!  Hope y'all had a very blessed Easter spent with family and friends.  We enjoyed a great day spent with some family, despite the ups and downs we've had lately with my hubby's health.  The doctor tried another procedure today, but it didn't work.  So it's back to deciding the next step for him to take.  We really take our health for granted until there's a problem.  Thanks to all of you that have been keeping him in your prayers.  You are a true blessing to us!  

Now on to the projects I'm sharing with you today.  I think most of you have your new catalogs in your hot little hands already.  These cards are a sneak peek of a new stamp bundle called Happiness Abounds, and a new DSP called Hues of Happiness.  Oh  My  Goodness  This is such a gorgeous new set!  And one of the awesome points of this is that the dies will cut out some of the flowers in the DSP.  Can I just say awesome?!

Here's the Happiness Abounds stamp set and coordinating Blossoming Happiness die set.  And you see all of those lovely flowers and leaves down there?  That's most of just 2 sheets of the Hues of Happiness DSP - one sheet in pinks and yellows, and one in purples and blues.  This is what's left after making 3 cards already!  It's just a gorgeous garden of roses.  The colors are so rich and beautiful.  I'm ready to go out and buy a big bouquet of roses in a glorious rainbow of colors like this!

To maximize the Designer Paper, I cut it into three 4" wide strips.  Then one of the strips was cut at 3" intervals to give me a nice amount to work with.  Looking at the two cards, it's hard to imagine they are made from the same strip of DSP.  A third card that sort of "marries" the two pieces together will be shared with you tomorrow.  

Both of these cards started out with the same idea of using the Scalloped Contours Dies to cut a piece of Basic White cardstock to frame up the DSP.  I used the 2nd largest die for this.  To get the DSP to fit just right, I needed to trim it down to 2 5/8".  This way the tiny stitching lines show all around the edges of the DSP.

The first card started out with a base of Melon Mambo which is one of the colors listed on the DSP.  It's cut to normal A2 size of 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored and folded in half.  

 

The piece of DSP is attached to the die-cut frame using adhesive.  A strip of the White Glittered Ribbon is wrapped around this and attached in the back.  (I'm so happy this ribbon is carrying over to the next catalog!)  This is all attached to the center of the card front using Dimensionals.  

At this point I had fun going through all the die-cut roses to see which ones I'd like on the front of the card.  I chose he largest rose in the Melon Mambo shades, one of the smaller Daffodil Delight flowers, and three of the leaf clusters.  The large rose was attached to the card front with Dimensionals.  Then the leaves and yellow flower were all tucked in underneath the rose.  

A sentiment from the new Sending Smiles stamp set was stamped on a skinny strip of Basic White cardstock using Mellow Moss ink.  This was flagged on the right end, then tucked under the rose also.

A bow made from the White Glitter Ribbon was added to the card with Mini Glue Dots.  I actually added five 2021-2023 In Color Jewels to give it some extra sparkle.  Unfortunately, the jewels are retiring soon, but last I looked, they were still available if you needed a few more of these awesome jewels.

This next card started with a base of Coastal Cabana cardstock cut 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored and folded in half.  I added a 1" x 4 1/4" strip of another print from the Hues of Happiness DSP to give a darker anchor to the side of the card.  I think it added a nice touch.  The 3"x 4" DSP piece was trimmed down again to fit the Scalloped Contours die-cut piece and attached with adhesive.  This was layered onto the card front using Dimensionals.

Now for the flowers, I chose one of the Fresh Freesia ones and two leaf clusters.  I also stamped one of the flowers from the Wildflower Path stamp set using Fresh Freesia ink, because I wanted a tinier flower to add.  This was cut out with Paper Snips. 

The sentiment is from the Wildflower Path stamp set also.  It's stamped with Night of Navy ink, then trimmed up close with the Paper Snips.  This was added to the left of the layer with the leaf clusters tucked underneath.  Both of the Fresh Freesia flowers were attached with Dimensionals.

Lastly three of the jewels from the 2021-2023 In Color Jewels were added.  For this card I chose to use the Soft Succulent jewels which blended nicely.

Whew!  What fun that was getting all those flowers die-cut and then playing with them.  I'll have another card tomorrow that starts out somewhat similarly, but has a fun fold added to the mix.  Did I happen to mention just how much I'm enjoying this new Happiness Abounds Bundle and coordinating DSP?  Oh yeah.  It's definitely going to be one of my very favorite things to use in the upcoming catalog.  Whether you use each part of the bundle by itself or put them all together on one card, I think it's all fabulous!  Just saying...

Hope you're as excited as I am about getting your favorite items from the new May 2022-April 2023 Annual Catalog.  There are some really wonderful new ideas, colors, and layouts to get your creative juices flowing and put you in a stamping mood.  I'm looking forward to hearing what's your favorite new item in the catalog!  I'm sure there's going to be something that is just perfect for you. 

If you need to pick up any retiring items from the catalog, please use the Host Code shown in the upper right corner.  Try to get your order in as quickly as possible.  There are a good number of items that are already sold out, but still many more that are available.  Good luck shopping and get them while you still can!!

Happy stamping and creating!

Sharon