Fitting Florets Collection

Hello friends and a blessed Sunday to you!  Hope all is well with you as we wind down another month.  Can you believe October is almost just a memory?  Yikes, this year has gone by just too quickly for me.  Today's post is a little bit different than usual, at least in the way I'm thinking of it.  Usually, I focus on a stamp set or dies and plan my project around that.  Or maybe the focus is on a new fun-fold that I've come across.  Well today I want to have a double focus - both a die set and a Designer Paper pack.  The new Fitting Florets Collection will be available for purchase on November 1st and there's so many good facets of this Collection that I want you to share with you.  Just a reminder that the Framed Florets stamp and die bundle will be in the new Mini Catalog that premiers next January so that's good.  But the other three parts of the Collection will only be available through January 4th - or as long as supplies last!  So that's why I'm focusing on the Fitting Florets Designer Series Paper today because it's so pretty.

When I sat at my table yesterday, I thought it'd be fun to try using at least two of the DSP prints on the card.  After making one, I had extra 'paper trinkets' left over and still had ideas running through my little head.  So, I made two cards instead and I'm sharing both today.  Hope you like them and get inspired to do a little creating yourself.

My idea when starting these cards was to use the multi-colored floral print with the die-cuts to come up with the finished project.  The Balmy Blue and Evening Evergreen geometric print is the backside of the multi-color floral.  I wanted to try putting them together for a different look.

The Framed Florets Dies come with three different oval frames.  To start, I used the heart frame that you can see cuts small hearts into an oval frame.  Very cute.  When it cuts the hearts out, it does not cut anything else.  I used the smaller oval frame to cut out the center inside the heart oval.  This actually cuts out an oval frame and a smaller oval inside piece.  So, at this point I had three oval pieces to use.  I kept two, but the center oval I set aside for later.  I recut that same frame from Basic White cardstock and used the center oval for this card.

I chose to use Blushing Bride cardstock as my card base as that's one of the colors in the DSP print.  I used Foam Adhesive Strips behind the floral print to attach it to the folded card base.  I did this because the tiny hearts show up better with the shadowing behind them.

Next the oval frame of DSP was turned over and attached flat inside the heart oval on the card front using adhesive.  I stamped a sentiment from the Wisteria Wishes stamp set using Evening Evergreen ink onto the Basic White oval that I had just die-cut.  Then this was attached in the center of the frame using Dimensionals to pop it up.  I liked the definition between the layers with some higher or lower.  It just gives it a different look rather than always building layers up higher.

The next step was die-cutting several leafy sprays from Evening Evergreen cardstock for accents.  Then I fussy cut a floral cluster that was bigger than but coordinated with the small print on the card front.  It really didn't take too long to do this, and you get such pretty pieces to put on your cards!  After cutting this out, it was just a matter of arranging the die-cut pieces under the flowers.  The die-cut pieces were attached with adhesive.  The flowers were popped up over these using Dimensionals.  The three Festive Pearls in gold were added as bling for an accent.  

I just love all that's going on with this card to keep your interest.  So, that one is done, but there's the inside of that oval that I still need to figure out.  Right?  I could have just left it for another day, but this was sort of a challenge to me.  So, back to the Fitting Florets DSP to see what else is there and what I can maybe do with it.

So here we are.  Do you see that Evening Evergreen and Balmy Blue geometric print again?  What do you think of it with the pretty blue flowers?  I love this card even better than the first!  I started out with a Balmy Blue card base and added a skinny Basic White layer between that and the blue floral DSP print.  Each were added to the card base using adhesive to keep it all nice and flat.

When I was going through my Balmy Blue cardstock, I found a scalloped oval die-cut from a previous project that fit behind the geometric print fairly decently.  It wasn't perfect, but the floral accents would hide the extra blue cardstock.  

For all the floral accents here, I used the Framed Florets stamp set to stamp flowers, leaves, and a spray of berries onto some Basic White cardstock.  I used Balmy Blue, Evening Evergreen, and Soft Succulent Blends for coloring the pieces.   A bit of Wink of Stella was added to highlight a few pieces.  After coloring, all the pieces were die-cut with the coordinating dies.  Two of the leafy sprays were also die-cut from Balmy Blue and Soft Sea Foam to accent.  The items were all attached to the ovals by using adhesive except for the largest flower which has a Dimensional behind it.  This whole piece was attached to the center of the card front using Dimensionals.  

The sentiment is from the Framed Florets set also.  It's stamped onto a 3/4" piece of Basic White using Evening Evergreen ink.  The ends were flagged with the Banners Pick a Punch, then added to the card with Dimensionals.  The final touch was adding Iridescent Pearls as accents.  They mimicked the white berries on the DSP print.

Okay, there you have my take on mix & match DSP prints.  I seldom use more than one print on a card, but this was fun trying something outside the box for me.  Hope you're enjoying some up-close looks at the new Fitting Florets Collection that is available soon.  I'm having so much fun creating with these items that I imagine I'll be sharing more ideas using them.  In fact, I have at least one more that Connie and I did together using these that you'll enjoy.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I always appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to check in.  I'd love to hear from you and read your comments. 

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Framed and Festive Card

 Good day to you!  Hope all is well in your section of the world.  My sister Connie has gone home, and I definitely miss her already.  We've had such fun creating together and that has left me with many cards to share with you that we made during the week and a half she stayed here.  I hope you enjoy sharing our creativity.  It's been a real blast stamping along with someone again.  The community of stampers is such a special blessing and I really miss hanging out with other stampers and sharing in their creativity.  There is just some special boost to creativity when you're sharing ideas and fun.  Nothing like it in the world!  That's why I miss stamping on a regular basis with all of you so very much!  Ok, time to get away from the teary eyes and mushy stuff and on to a card today!

When Connie was here, many times we would start with an idea that we planned to make the same, but somewhere along the way our cards would diverge into different directions.  This card was one of those kinds of ideas.  They were going to be the same card with the same DSP and die-cuts, but well...  What can I say?  

We wanted to use the new Fitting Florets Collection that you can order early on November 1st.  Part of the Collection is only available until it sells out, the rest will be in the next Mini Catalog.  What?!?  Yes, the Framed & Festive word set, the Gold Swirls, and the Fitting Florets DSP are only available while supplies last.  So, we wanted to make something special with these items while we still could!

Here is my version of our card.  This card uses some of the new Fitting Florets Collection that I think is so pretty!  We both started with a Basic White cardstock base that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and is folded in half to form a regular card.  We used a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of the Fitting Florets 12" x 12" Designer Series Paper.   Isn't this print lovely?  We both used the largest Deckled Rectangles Die to cut the edge of the DSP to give it some extra interest.  It was attached to the white card base with adhesive.

We die-cut the frame from Evening Evergreen cardstock.  Love the crimped edge on this oval.  I set the inner oval aside for use on another project when I get around to it.  For the white oval, we die-cut the larger oval frame and just used the center.  The inside of this oval is just a bit bigger that the other and gives you a little edge to attach behind the frame we used.

The sentiment is one of eight from the new Framed & Festive stamp set.  It's stamped in Evening Evergreen ink a little over to the right side of the oval.  Had to leave room for all the lovely sprigs on the left side of the card!  After stamping the sentiment on the white oval, it was attached behind the frame with adhesive.  The ovals were then attached to the card front using Dimensionals.

The greenery sprigs are also part of the Fitting Florets Collection.  I die-cut two of the leafy sprigs from Soft Succulent cardstock.  Up to this point, I was hoping to add touches of gold to the card so I could use the Gold Adhesive-backed Swirls from the Collection, but I just didn't like the look of gold with these colors.  Now silver on the other hand was perfect!  Two of the open leaves were die-cut from Silver Foil paper and arranged with the other leafy branches.  And here is where Connie and I really parted ways in our designs.

I loved the idea of a pop of Real Red added to the card.  Don't know what I was thinking here.  Well, yes, I do.  I was thinking this ribbon was still current, but it's retired.  Drats!  Oh well...  I tied a small bow using the 3/8" Organdy Ribbon and attached it with Mini Glue Dots to the center of the greenery.  To stay with the red accents, I sprinkled five tiny Real Red Rhinestones in among the greenery leaves.  Aren't they just perfect tucked in there? 

Ok, you've seen how I finished my card.  Now it's time to see how Connie finished hers.  I'd ask you to vote on whose you prefer, but I'm afraid you'd all pick Connie's creation because it's lovely!

Here's her design that sticks with the cool, crisp green and white tones only.  Let me try to address all the differences between our cards.  First of all, something I didn't even notice before - her focal images are not centered but raised up a little higher.

Connie also used a different sentiment from the Framed and Festive stamp set.  And the little swirly doodad under Noel is from the Hello Harvest stamp set.  

Connie didn't use any of the small open leaf die-cuts, but she did cut leafy sprays from Soft Succulent, Evening Evergreen, and also Silver Foil.

She added a touch of Frost White Shimmer Paint from my retired stash to brighten the Evening Evergreen leafy spray where it overlaps onto the same color frame.  It just helped to have a little definition there.

I had made a double bow from the Silver and White Twine but didn't use it, so Connie used it on her design.  It's attached with a Mini Glue Dot.  Worked much better with her card.  

Lastly Connie used five of the Rhinestone Basic Jewels in clear to stay with the green and white theme for her card.

There you have it.  Two designs using mostly the same pieces, but each have our own creative touch added to them.  Can you see why we were so excited to use these new items?  Aren't they simply gorgeous?  The sentiments in the set are strictly for Christmas, but everything else in the collection can be used year-round.  Definitely a plus in my opinion!

Hope you enjoy seeing two ideas at a time here.  I have a few more cards that Connie and I both made that I want to share with you over the coming days.  Hope you'll check back often to see what the latest posting is all about.  And yes, please feel free to comment on our ideas.  I love to hear from you.  And I promise I won't get too upset if you like Connie's ideas better than my own.  I'll get over it!!  Thanks for sharing this time with me.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Aspen Trees Snowfall

Good morning, friends.  What another lovely autumn day outside.  I really could get used to these days that are sunny with blue skies above and crisp weather all around.  I haven't been spending too much time outside though.  For some reason I seem to be stuck downstairs in my stamp room.  But Connie is there right alongside of me, and we've been busy!  Today's card is one that I made right before she arrived but have been too busy to post.  But it's one I thought you really needed to see.  In my humble opinion, it's simply gorgeous!  Tell me what you think of it.

Isn't this a wow card?  I love the look in person because it has such a lovely shimmer over the twilight sky with the stark black tree trunks to offset it with the pop of the white snowflake to wow.  Here's the instructions in case you're inspired to make one of these too.

I started out by die-cutting the aspen trees into a Basic Black cardstock piece that is cut to 5 1/4" x 4".  The trees are cut right in the center.  

Then I cut a quarter piece of Basic White cardstock at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" to color in my twilight sky. This is larger than I needed, but I planned to trim it down after it was finished.  I used Blending Brushes and these colors:  Fresh Freesia, Highland Heather, Orchid Oasis and Starry Sky inks. 

I started blending on the bottom with Fresh Freesia which is the lightest color.  I blended the color up about a third of the cardstock piece.   Switching to Highland Heather ink, I blended in an area a little bigger than 1 1/2" across going down into the Fresh Freesia color and then up.  Next was blending the Orchid Oasis color down into the Highland Heather and up.  Lastly was the Starry Sky blending up and becoming quite dark at the very top.  I hope you can see clearly how the colors were blended into each other across the whole card.

Next, I wanted to add some snow or stars to the card.  That was easily accomplished by spattering Wink of Stella across the whole card.  Set aside to dry for a few minutes before going on with your project. Just a reminder - remove everything out of the way!  Yes, I seem to have some Wink of Stella sparkles on a couple of ink pads.  I should know better, and I thought I did.  But a reminder is always a good thing.

The lovely background that you just made now needs to be trimmed down a little to fit behind the black trees.  The cardstock was trimmed down to 5 1/8" x 3 7/8" to be just a smidgen smaller.  Multi Purpose Liquid Glue was used on the back of the trees and frame to attach the two pieces together.  Then Dimensionals were used to pop it up on the card base.  I tried several different colors to see what went the best with my twilight sky and I chose to use Orchid Oasis.  It seems to compliment the sky tones the very best.

Now for the sentiment for the card.  I love the song Silent Night and this sentiment seemed a perfect fit for the card.  It's from the Peace to You stamp set found in the July - December Mini Catalog on page 41.  The set has four sentiments that I've found work nicely with so many of my card ideas lately.  I seem to be a little fixated on this set, but when something works - use it!  This time it's stamped with Orchid Oasis ink onto a 1/2" strip of Basic White cardstock.  I like these skinny sentiments because they don't cover up too much of your lovely design, but still pack a punch.  It's just trimmed straight to fit the card and attached with adhesive.

I was excited that I could add one of these gorgeous, iridescent Wonderful Snowflakes.  So pretty!!  They are easy to overlook in the Mini Catalog on page 45.  It took me a while to find them myself.  But they are well worth finding.  You get 24 snowflakes in a package so you can add them to lots of projects.  And did I happen to mention they are so very pretty?  Ok, one was added to this card.  It's attached with just one Dimensional right in the center.  Do you see the center of the snowflake is just the right size to use a Dimensional?  Brilliant planning, right?

After checking through my stash of bling, I actually went with a retired sequin assortment that matched the card colors perfectly.  I used the Woven Thread Sequin Assortment from several years ago.  The sequins are iridescent in shades of pinks, rose, turquoise, and purples.  So how could I not use them?  Sorry they are retired, but sometimes you need to use what works.  Five of these were added to the card design using Multi Purpose Liquid Glue.  And there you have it.  Another card ready to mail off to some lucky recipient to share some Christmas joy.

Hope you're getting started on your Christmas cards.  A lot of the stress of making so many cards evaporates when you get an early start.  I'll have more ideas for you coming up soon.  Connie and I have been busy stamping and creating all kinds of lovely cards that I'll be sharing in the coming days.  Hope you'll check back often to see what else I have to share with you.  Blessings and many hugs!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Treasured Kindness Card

Blessings to you this Sunday!  Hope you're enjoying a day of rest.  My sister, Connie, and I have been busy stamping and creating this past week and today we're taking a day of rest.  Since I'm resting from the creating process today, I figured I needed to get something posted.  About time, right?!  Connie brought one of her sets that I don't own for us to play with.  That's right, I don't own everything.  It's the interesting Treasured Kindness set on page 89 in the Annual Catalog.  It's one of those sets that I've looked at and like but haven't gotten around to ordering.  Let's see what I got to make with it and then I have a card that Connie made to share also. 

Here's the card I came up with for my first attempt.  I think it turned out pretty nice, and I like how all the different elements came together in this card.  It starts with a card base of So Saffron cardstock that's cut to measure 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored at 4 1/4" and folded in half to make a top fold card.  The green layer is Old Olive that measures 5" x 3 3/4".  To stick with the tree theme, the Old Olive layer was run through the Cut & Emboss Machine using the Stitched Greenery Die that adds all that lovely leaf stitching to it.    It was then attached to the card base using Multi Purpose Liquid Glue.

For the main focal image, I die-cut two pieces of a new die that will be available to you November 1st.  More on that later.  The die cuts a frame and the center at the same time.  I cut one from Very Vanilla and one from Crumb Cake cardstock.  The two extra pieces are set aside for a future project.

On the Very Vanilla oval, the "land" was stamped first with Crumb Cake ink.  Above this was stamped the tree using Early Espresso ink.  So Saffron is the sun that's stamped behind the tree.  The two layers of tree leaves are stamped in Pear Pizzazz ink with Old Olive over that for the details.  Isn't it cool how the trees look so dimensional with just a few stamps?  I love that look!

The sentiment is one of six that are part of the Treasured Kindness set.  They're all really great general sentiments to have on hand.  I stamped it on a 1/2" strip of Very Vanilla cardstock using Early Espresso ink.  After stamping, the strip was trimmed down a bit.  Then the Banners Pick a Punch was used on the left edge.  After playing around with placement for awhile, I decided to add a skinny bit of Crushed Curry cardstock behind the sentiment and peeking out the left side.  This used the other side of the Banners Pick a Punch that I usually don't use, but it worked well here.  The two layers were attached to the right edge of the card using Dimensionals.

Here is where I sort of went off the rails.  I wanted the Crumb Cake frame to look sort of antique with some burnished off gold highlights.  I have some of the Stampin' Up! Champagne and the Gold Shimmer Paints left over from a year or two (probably more??)  that I thought would work.  I first tried adding the Champagne color with my fingertips, but it didn't show up enough.  Then I went right over it with the Gold Shimmer Paint.  Voila!  I wish you could see it in person - it's just the look I was going for.  The finished frame was placed around the stamped oval, and both were attached to the card front using Dimensionals.  I decided not to add any bling to this card.  I was happy with it as is.  Now for the bonus...

Here's what Connie was making as I was making my card.  I love how her card turned out.  She used a Very Vanilla card base and added a strip of printed green DSP to the center.  Not sure where the DSP came from other than it's a retired SU! color.

We did the stamping in the same colors, no difference there.

Connie used the Very Vanilla frame but used Blending Brushes and Crumb Cake ink to color it.  Then added a bit of Soft Suede to darken it even more.

She stamped the same sentiment, but directly onto the center bottom of her card using Early Espresso ink.   To finish, she placed the focal image above this with the oval on Dimensionals and the frame flat with adhesive snuggled around it.  She says she would have liked it better changing those two bits around by putting the frame up on Dimensionals and leaving the oval flat.  Of course, you could try making it both ways and then letting us know what you think.  😉

I mentioned earlier in the post that I was using a new die.  Stampin'Up! is bringing out one of the new bundles that will be available in the next mini catalog - but you can get it early!  Starting on November 1, you may order any or all of the new Fitting Florets Collection.  Part of the Collection will only be available while supplies last, and you know how quickly some things are snapped up and gone right away.  The stamp and die bundle will be in the next mini catalog though.

This is the Bundle that will be available on November 1st.  So pretty!  Hopefully you can pop this to a larger font and read the fine print.  If you have questions, just call, text, or email me your questions and I'll get back to you ASAP.

Here is the entire collection.  Three of the items are available only until they are sold out - the Framed & Festive stamp set that's filled with Christmas sentiments, the Gold Adhesive-Backed Swirls, and the Fitting Florets 12" x 12" DSP.  These all make up the awesome Fitting Florets Collection.  Check them out!

If you're planning on placing an order before the end of the month, please use the Host Code shown at the top right of my blog.  Thank you!  You are so appreciated!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

(and Connie too)

Peace to You Christmas Card

Greetings on this lovely day!  My sister made it here safely and we've been chatting about everything under the sun for the last bunch of hours.  Dinner is out of the way, everything is cleaned up, and now we're just chilling.  So I thought I'd quick get this card posted for you.  It's a clean and simple look that seemed perfect for this stamp set.  This set really appealed to me as soon as I saw it in the July-December Mini Catalog.  It wasn't the first or second set I bought, but it was right up there near the beginning of that initial spending spree.  Oh dear, did I just admit to going on a spending spree?  No, I'm sure you must have mis-heard me?  😉😏

Here's the Peace to You set shown with the two cards I made right away.  It's too bad that there is not a die set to go along with this, but I managed to make do without one.  I liked the idea of pairing Very Vanilla with Evening Evergreen together on this card but keeping it very clean looking.

The card starts out with a Very Vanilla card base that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored at 4 1/4" and folded in half.  The first layer is 5 1/4" x 4" of Evening Evergreen cardstock.  

The next layer is Very Vanilla again that measures 5 1/8" x 3 7/8".  This gives just a skinny band of color under the Very Vanilla as an accent.  On one of the cards, I embossed this Very Vanilla layer, but on the other one I left it plain.  Either way it works out nicely.

The Very Vanilla layer that is stamped on measures 4 1/8" x 3 1/8".  I set up the stamp on the Stamparatus to be positioned near the top and centered between the sides.  The church was stamped with Evening Evergreen ink at least three times to get good coverage.  Anytime you have a large fairly solid stamp, it really pays to set it up on the Stamparatus so you can do repeated stampings. 

After the church was stamped, I used the other grid plate and stamped the sentiment which is from the Peace to You set also.  It's stamped near the bottom of the layer and centered.  The stamped layer is attached to the card front with Dimensionals to give it some definition. 

For a pretty accent, a small bow was made from the 3/8" Open Weave Ribbon in Evening Evergreen.   It's attached with Mini Glue Dots right under the church doors.  Two of the Gold Holly Leaves are tucked in under the bow and attached with Mini Glue Dots also.

That's it for tonight.  Connie and I need to get back to chatting and then decide what we're going to start making tomorrow.  Can't wait!!  Hope this doesn't mean I'll be thinking about stamping instead of sleeping tonight.  LOL

If you're ordering sometime yet this month, please consider using the Host Code at the top of my blog.  It's very appreciated!  Thank you!

Have fun dreaming your creative dreams tonight!

Sharon 

Leaves of Holly Traditional Card

Hello Friends!  Today is such a beautiful day with sunshine and blue skies overhead.  We found a small pumpkin patch to visit this morning.  I was worried the boys are of an age where they might not think it was "cool" to spend time there with family.  But I was so wrong!  We all had a great time.  Of course, there was cold cider and yummy apple cinnamon donuts involved in the festivities.  And we all came home with some unique pumpkins too.  What a lovely day!  But now I need to get back to work.  I had planned another Christmas card for today, so let's think about cold noses and mitten weather instead.

Like I mentioned, today's card is much more of what I'd consider a traditional Christmas card with the red and green colors and poinsettias and holly.  Guess you can't get too much more traditional than that unless you add a Santa also.  And that's not gonna happen today!  So here we are with a Real Red cardstock base that's 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored at 4 1/4" and folded in half.

The green layer is Old Olive that measures 5 1/4" x 4".  I usually tend to let the DSP guide my color choices, but Old Olive wasn't listed.  It did seem to brighten up the colors more than the Mossy Meadow cardstock that was listed did, hence the color change.

The DSP used here is from the Boughs of Holly Designer Series Paper found on page 25 of the July - December Mini Catalog.  I just love all of the prints found in this paper.  So fabulous!  Anyway, the poinsettia print measures 5" x 3 3/4".  Before doing anything else with this, spatter it heavily with Wink of Stella.  This gives it a lovely, goldish-speckled background. After drying for a couple minutes, this is layered onto the Old Olive layer using adhesive.  Then it's attached to the folded card base and set aside until we're ready to put it all together.

Next up is die-cutting the pieces we'll need.  The Holly Berry Dies that coordinate with the Leaves of Holly stamp set is what was used for this card.  The label with the open holly leaves was cut from Distressed Gold Specialty Paper.   The double holly leaves behind this were cut from Old Olive cardstock, along with three of the pine needles.  The holly leaves had some Garden Green ink sponged through the middle of each to darker the centers.  A sentiment from the set was stamped with Cherry Cobbler ink onto a Basic White strip of cardstock.  Then it was die-cut using a label from the die set.

Just a few more steps before putting it together.  The little wood berries are Textural Elements also found on page 25 of the Mini Catalog.  I used Real Red Stampin' Blends to color the berries - the lighter red first and the darker around the edges to shade.  The Old Olive Light Blends was used on the stems to give a little color.  Lastly, Wink of Stella was brushed on the berries to give some shimmer.

Ok, now to get everything layered and on the card.  The double holly leaves were attached behind the open leaves on the label.  Figure out the placement of the label and attach the three pine needles to the card front with adhesive.  Attach the wood berries using Mini Glue Dots behind several of the berries.

 Attach the gold label with Dimensionals to the center of the card placing it over the needles and wood berries.  Attach the sentiment strip to the center of the label.  At first, I used adhesive for this and took the finished pictures.  After looking at the card for a day or two, I peeled off the sentiment.  Then I used Dimensionals for this too.  Much nicer look in my humble opinion.  Finish up the inside of the card as you prefer.  I used sentiments from the Hope & Peace stamp set.

Ok, that's one more Christmas card made and ready to send out.  How many more do I need?  1, 2, 3,......75, 76, 77 and so on.  Better get moving on these soon!  I don't even want to think about how soon Christmas will actually be here!

Thanks for stopping by today to see what's happening here.  I'm always happy to have you stop by.  Why not leave me a comment just to say hi?  It would make my day.  If you're planning to order before the end of the month, please use the Host Code at the top of the blog.  I really do appreciate it!  Some of you lucky ladies will be getting this card in your mailbox so you can make it yourself.  Hope you enjoy!!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Fond of Autumn Card

Hello there!  I'd planned on sharing another card idea using the Aspen Trees Dies but thought you might be getting bored and needed to see something else instead.  But don't worry.  I'll get back to more of those ideas soon.  For a change, I went back to my fall ideas to see what I could come up with.  The Fond of Autumn set found on page 52 of the July-December Mini Catalog is a perfect one to use if you're in the mood for coloring like I was.  Don't you love coloring with the Stampin' Blends?  It's so easy to put one color on top of another and keep blending until you get the color and shading you want.  It's awesome and pretty much easy as can be.  I'm always amazed at how awesome the coloring is!  😄

So let's start off with the main image.  It's from the Fond of Autumn set and is the large image in the set.  The large die from the Autumn Bouquet Dies that coordinates with the set actually cuts the large image into four sections at one time.  For today's card, I only used the middle image with the oak leaves and acorns.  It's stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Basic White cardstock.  I colored just this section and die-cut it to use.  I also stamped a couple of the extra acorns in the set to have on hand.  

For coloring the images, I used these Blends:  Granny Apple Green Light & Dark, Pumpkin Pie Dark, Cajun Craze Dark, Old Olive Light & Dark, and Crumb Cake Light & Dark.  When I color with the Blends, I tend to color in a section with the lighter color, shade with the darker color, then go back and blend with the lighter color again.  After the pieces were all colored to my satisfaction, they were die-cut and set aside.  The extra sections were saved for another card later.

Next was the sentiment to choose.  This one is from the Beauty of Friendship set found of page 104 of the Annual Catalog.  Hmmm...  I'd forgotten all about this awesome set but ran across it when I was looking for sentiments.  Need to give it some love and attention soon.  Anyway, back to our card.  It was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto a Basic White cardstock piece.  It's die-cut using the 2nd smallest Deckled Rectangles Die.  

Starting with a piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock that measures 11" x 4 1/4", it's then scored at 5 1/2" and folded in half for a side-fold card.  Just a little different.  I thought the Pumpkin Pie small check pattern in the Gingham Cottage DSP would be a great backdrop for these autumn images.  I already had a piece cut that measured 5" x 4" in my stash, so why not make use of that?  I attached it to the folded Pumpkin Pie card base with adhesive.  I also had a scrap of Pale Papaya cardstock that could be used.  The Deckled Rectangles Dies was used to cut an edge on this piece for interest, and the deckled edge tied it back to the sentiment layer.  

When laying everything on the card for placement, the sentiment looked too small.  After fussing with it for a while, inspiration hit - vellum!   I cut a piece using the 3rd smallest die from the set.  This filled in the area better, but it didn't detract from the overall design.

The vellum layer was attached behind the sentiment layer using adhesive.  Then it was attached to the card front with adhesive.  A portion of Parakeet Party Metallic Ribbon was tied into a big loopy bow and attached behind the oak leaves and acorns.  Then it was all attached on the top corner of the sentiment layer with Dimensionals.  One of the acorns was attached to the opposite corner of the sentiment with a Dimensional.

The inside of the card needed to be lighter for writing a note inside.  A piece of Pale Papaya cardstock that measures 5 1/4" x 4" was attached with adhesive.  I also had a skinny 1/2" piece of the same checked DSP that I added to the edge to mimic the front of the card.  An extra acorn was attached inside the card too.

NOTE:  As you can see, I thought the card was finished and I hadn't planned on adding any bling.  After thinking about this overnight, I went back and added three of the 2021-2023 In Color Opal Rounds in the Pale Papaya color to the sentiment layer.  This adds so much to the card and was the perfect finish.  So please, use your imagination to add them to the picture!

Thanks for stopping in today.  It's a rainy day here, so that means it's a good day to go down to my craft room and create something.  I was planning a trip to the Post Office to mail out some goodies to friends, but that might get put off til tomorrow.  You know I just might melt if I go out in this rain!!  LOL

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Aspen Trees in Blue & White

Happy Saturday, friends!  Hope you're doing well today and enjoying your weekend.  Today's post continues with another card featuring the Aspen Trees Dies.  When the July-December Mini Catalog came out, I fell in love with the Aspen Trees Dies on page 46.  But for some reason I wasn't crazy about the bird in the set.  In fact, my sister and I had a discussion about it.  I didn't think it looked right and she thought it was a perfect representation of a bird in winter.  Oh well, we can disagree on that, but we both thought the Aspen Trees Dies were awesome.  I still feel that way after using them on multiple cards!

Here's my first version of a wintry night.  I love the crisp blue and white colors together with a hint of sparkle.  And when you're holding this card in your hands, it's even better because I used Snowy White Velvet Sheets to cut the aspen trees.  So. you've got that extra dimension of 'touch' added into the design.  Lovely.  You can find this lovely paper in the July-December Mini Catalog on page 37.  It's easy to miss, but well worth looking for.

My design starts with a Snowy White Velvet Sheet that's cut to 5 1/4" x 4".  Then the aspen trees design is die-cut from the center.  I wanted a dark blue print to go behind it that would give the impression of a snowy night.  I found this print in the Sun Prints DSP.  It really looks like ferns and weeds in white on the dark blue background, but behind the die-cut trees it works.  It's cut just a bit smaller than the Snowy White Velvet and measures 5 1/8" x 3 7/8".  I used Tombow Multi Purpose Liquid Glue on the back of the white paper and attached them together.

I was trying to decide whether I could use a ribbon or not, when I spied the silver 1 1/2" Metallic Mesh Ribbon in my stash.  It's so delicate and fine, but with a silver sheen that looked great with this design.  I cut a length about 6-7" long and attached it on the back of the layers with adhesive.  Then the layers were attached to a Night of Navy card base which measured 11" x 4 1/4".  It's scored at 5 1/2" and folded in half to make a top-fold card.  The layers were attached with adhesive to keep them flat.    

For the sentiment on the card, I chose to use the Hope & Peace stamp set found on page 40 of the July-December Mini Catalog.  The sentiments in this set are turning out to be my go-to choice lately for Christmas.  This time the sentiment was stamped with Night of Navy ink onto a Basic White scrap of cardstock.  It's then die-cut with the Deckled Rectangles Die set.  This gives it a little extra interest and I thought it paired nicely with the tree trunks.  It wasn't too large and didn't cover up too much of the design either.  For the layer behind it, I die-cut the next larger size from Night of Navy cardstock.  But it was too large, so I repositioned the die-cut piece and trimmed it again taking off about an 1/8" inch from the top and side.  This still gives it the layer, but it's a snugger fit.   This was attached to the card front using Dimensionals.  It's placed right over the wispy silver mesh ribbon, but it doesn't hide it completely.

The last addition to this card is the bling.  I tried so many options - Festive Pearls in silver, Iridescent Pearls, Sparkle & Shine Sequins, Opal Rounds, Iridescent Rhinestones, Seasonal Sequins in white, and Elegant Faceted Gems.  There were some good choices in there.  But I kept coming back to the plain old standby of the Rhinestone Basic Jewels.  The plain rhinestones gave it an "icy" touch of bling that seemed to fit the card perfectly.

That's it for this latest installment of the Aspen Trees Dies and what to do with them.  There are still more ideas to share concerning these dies.  Every time I have them sitting on my table I start to envision even more ideas.  Did I mention I really love these dies?  Definitely worth every penny!  Hope you give them a try too.  And if you get them in a bundle with the Perched in a Tree set, let me see what you've made with the stamps.  Maybe you can convince me I need those too.  I've got to admit, the set does have fabulous sentiments in it that I wish I owned.  Hmmm.  Maybe I need to put that back on my wish list.  (And don't forget to order more of the Snowy White Sheets so I can make more of these cards!)  😄😄😄 

Thanks for stopping in again to see what's going on here in my little world.  It's quiet for the moment, but my sister is coming for a visit in another week if all goes well.  I'm so looking forward to stamping and creating with her again.  We just have such a great time bouncing ideas around and feeding on each other's enthusiasm and creativity.  Look out, you're going to be seeing some more comparison cards too, where we start with the same basic pieces and each work it our own way.  That's always fun.

If you're placing an order soon, please consider using the Host Code shown at the top of the blog post.  It is so appreciated!  Of course, with any order placed, you receive "punch card points" from me that you can redeem later.  Any questions, please get in touch.  Please post a comment too so I know you've been here.  I'd love to hear from you.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Aspen Trees Card

Hello friend!  Still feels like fall is in the air, so I'm going to stick with my fall themed cards today.  Did you happen to get the Aspen Tree Dies at the end of Sale-a-Bration?  I did and I'm so impressed with them.  They are still available in the July-December Mini Catalog on page 46.  You can get them alone or as a bundle with the Perched in a Tree stamp set.  Right now, I'm just focusing on the dies alone.  I've fooled around making a few cards with the dies and I love them to pieces!  So many different ways of working with them.  I think I need to share a few ideas that I've come up with myself, and others that I've CASed and changed up a bit.  Either way, I love the look of the tree trunks against whatever background you choose to use.  The various possibilities just boggle the mind.

This is the first card I made with the dies only that I'd like to share with you.  Doesn't this card speak autumn days to you?  I love the colors together.  

For this card, I started with Very Vanilla cardstock that measured 5 1/4" x 4" that I die-cut the oval tree trunk image from.  This gave me just a small amount of space on all four sides for the die to fit.  After die-cutting, I lightly brushed Crumb Cake ink with a Blending Brush just on the tree trunks to give all the detail cuts more definition.

The dotted striped DSP behind the tree trunks is from the Rustic Harvest DSP that I've been using a lot lately.  All the prints are so rich in color and design, it's almost hard to decide what to use first!  I cut this piece just a wee bit smaller than the Very Vanilla layer so I wouldn't have to worry about it peeking out behind when layering together.  I attached them together with Multi Purpose Liquid Glue.  Then they were attached flat to a folded card base of Cajun Craze that measured 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".

The die set has two leaf dies that I believe are aspen leaves.  I chose the larger one to die-cut some gold foil cardstock.  Can you see all the fabulous detail of veining that's right in the die?  It really shows up beautifully on the gold.

I wanted to use the Leaf Label and Amber Gems on this card for an accent.  The Leaf Labels are made of kraft paper, so they don't match Crumb Cake cardstock too well.  To change up the color a little, I used a Blending Brush and Early Espresso ink to darken the center of the maple leaf some.  This added some contrast to the Crumb Cake that I used on the sentiment.

The sentiment comes from the Charming Sentiment set, and I used the Sentiment Silhouettes dies that coordinate with it.  They're found on page 38 in the Annual Catalog.  It is stamped with Early Espresso ink onto Crumb Cake cardstock and then die-cut.  What a nice way to add a sentiment without lots of cardstock hiding everything around it.  

Now it's time to put all the pieces together.  The maple leaf was attached first with adhesive.  This is over to the right side.  Then the gold foil leaf is angled partially over this onto the left side.  It's attached with adhesive also.  Then the sentiment is popped up over both of them using Dimensionals.

As an accent, I used two strands of Linen Thread to make a small bow.  This was tucked in by the stem of the aspen leaf.  It was attached with a "rolled" Mini Glue Dot.   

Three of the Amber Gems were scattered around the design.  Since the maple leaf die-cut is really a label with hole in the top of the leaf, one of the rhinestones landed there to cover it.

That's it for today's card.  I love the colors and look of this card.  At first, every time I looked at the Aspen Tree Dies, I kept seeing autumn ideas in my head.  But I'll be sharing a card soon that is definitely Not Autumn themed at all!  Stay tuned for the next installment of the Aspen Tree Dies!

Thanks for stopping by again.  Please leave a comment to let me know what you think of the card.  I always appreciate hearing from you.  Thank you for all of the orders that have been coming in.   You ladies are all so wonderful and I love each and every one of you!  Thank you!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Hello Harvest in Black & White

Hello ladies!  Hope you're doing well today.  I've been having problems with my new phone 'talking' with my laptop.  Did I mention I hate technology?  Oops, maybe I shouldn't say that out loud in front of both my phone and laptop.  LOL  But I don't think it can get any worse.  I can't get my pictures to download from my phone to my computer.  And if I don't have pictures, it's kind of hard to make a blog post.  Anyway, after much muttering and backtracking, and convoluted thinking, my son got a few pictures for me to work with.  Not what I planned to use right away, but it'll have to do.

This card uses much the same layout as the last post.  There are several changes that I'd like to point out.  Last card I shared, I used the Mossy Meadow and white print from the Rustic Harvest Designer Series Paper.  This diagonal plaid in black and white is the reverse side of that print.  It changes the look of the card dramatically, doesn't it?

Because of using the black and white plaid, I chose black to be the color of the card base also.  The DSP print is attached to the card base with adhesive to lay flat.  

Next came building up the middle layers.  The DSP measures 2 1/2" x 3 3/4".  The Cajun Craze layer behind that measures in at 2 3/4"x 4".  They are attached together with adhesive.  The Basic Black layer behind these measures 3" x 4 1/4".  These are also attached together with adhesive.  Then it's all finally attached to the center of the card front with five Dimensionals - one in each corner and one in the middle.

Yes, I know the blessings die isn't from Stampin' Up!  Sorry!!  I've had the blessings die for quite a while and don't remember when or where I got it.  It's just one of those little treasures that's there and I can pull it out every once in a while, when needed.  This time, I die-cut the sentiment from Cajun Craze cardstock.  I tried just having the sentiment layered onto the DSP print, but it really got lost in the print.  After trying a few possibilities, I thought of a vellum layer.  Voila!  It was the perfect buffer between the print and sentiment, but it didn't hide a lot of that gorgeous print that I wanted to be the focal point.  I love it when ideas just fall into place!

I used some Multi Purpose Liquid Glue to attach is to the center of the vellum piece that measures 1 1/2" x 4 3/4".  After the glue set up, I used it again on the back of the vellum following the wording to attach it to the card.  

I really debated about the bling or no bling issue on this card.  I wasn't happy with anything I tried, so this card has ended up being "bling-free".  Hope you like this variation of the last post.  It's different enough to give you some ideas.  I hope we can somehow get the pictures off my phone and onto the laptop so I can get more posts going.  Like I said earlier - I hate technology!!  It's almost impossible to live with it, but definitely needed anyway.

Quick reminder - free shipping today only (October 4th) on orders of $75 or over.  Have fun shopping.  And please use the Host Code shown at the top of the post.  Thanks!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon