Irresistible Blooms

Hey!  Hope you're doing great today.  I've been playing with the Irresistible Blooms again.  Love that whole suite of gorgeous papers, stamps, dies, just all of it!  It seems so different than other sets.  Mostly because of those two "dotty dies" - the lines of dots that remind me of a beaded curtain, and the circular frame with dots.  Both are so unique and I'm having so much fun creating with them.  You're going to want to play with these goodies too.  Just a few more days and this suite will be available to you as an Online Exclusive, along with even more items that I don't even know about yet.  Can hardly wait.

Here is today's creation.  The colors here make it look so soft and misty.  Don't you just love it?  I hope so!  I've mentioned earlier that Stampin'Up! is bringing back the retired Lost Lagoon color when they do a color revamp on the next Annual Catalog.  Did I mention that I love that color!  Oh yeah, I guess I did.  Lost Lagoon is one of the major colors used on this card.  The die-cut layer is Lost Lagoon, the leaves are water-colored with that color, and the sentiment is stamped in that color.  Yes!  Let's get making it.

The first thing I did was cut the Lost Lagoon cardstock and die-cut it.  It measures 4 3/4" x 3 3/4".  Yes, that's an odd size for a layer, but I wanted to do something a little different.  The circular frame with dots was cut from the center of this piece.  

A piece of the new Hello, Irresistible Designer Series Paper was cut approximately 3 1/2" x 4" to fit behind the die-cut frame.  Adhesive was applied to the back of the frame only right near the frame, not the outside edges of the piece.  I did NOT put any adhesive on the dotty circle area either. 

Next a card base of Soft Sea Foam was cut.  It measures 10" x 4", scored at 5" and folded in half.  The layers that we just worked on are attached to this with Dimensionals.

The two different flower stamps were stamped on a Shimmery White cardstock scrap using VersaMark ink.  This paper is found on page 140 in the Annual Catalog.  I chose it because it's a little more forgiving when you're water-coloring and adding layers of ink and water.  The three sets of leaves were also stamped with VersaMark ink.  A coating of White Basic Embossing Powder was added to these pieces, then the excess was tapped off.  Carefully heat set with the Heat Tool so all the embossing powder melts but doesn't burn.  It's a little hard to see white on white, but I love this technique.

The images were water-colored with the Water Painter found on page 129 of the Annual Catalog.  While painting them I went outside of the lines because I didn't want a white cardstock edge competing with the white embossing.  For the flowers a Calypso Coral ink pad was used to create varying colors.  The leaves were water-colored with Lost Lagoon ink.  Both the flowers and leaves had touches of Daffodil Delight ink added to them.  After painting them, touches of Wink of Stella were added for shine.  Then all the pieces were die-cut using the coordinating dies.

The sentiment used is also from the Irresistible Blooms stamp set.  It's stamped on Basic White cardstock using Lost Lagoon ink.  Then it was fussy cut and ready to use.

The flowers and leaves were slightly curled with a Bone Folder to give a little dimension.  Then were arranged to my liking on the card front.  Most were attached with adhesive to be fairly flat.  The smaller flower was added with a Dimensional in the center.  The sentiment was tucked into the flower cluster and attached with Mini Dimensionals.

To stay with the dotty theme going on here with the DSP and the die-cut frame, some Loose Frosted Dots were scattered across the card.  I used both the pink and yellow ones and the three different sizes.  The larger ones are attached with a Mini Glue Dot.  The other two sizes are attached with just a touch of Multi Purpose Liquid Glue.

The finished card measures only 4" x 5", so it's smaller than usual.  I will still use a regular Medium (A2 size) envelope to mail out.

Thanks for stopping by to catch another sneak peek of this lovely new Online Exclusive stamp set bundle that will be showing up on the Stampin'Up! website on March 1st.  Just in time for all of your spring and Easter cards.  It was fun to heat emboss a project today.  I love the look and don't know why I keep forgetting to use it.  Maybe I need to just leave it sitting out on my work-table instead of putting it away.  Hmmm, what do you think?

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Thanks a Bunch Valentines

 Hey Friends!  I know this whole idea is waaayyyy late, but the ideas will work for other things instead of valentines.  So why not?  I just didn't get around to sharing these in a timely manner as I should have, and I've been debating with myself ever since about posting them.  These cards use that 'carrot stamp set' that's part of the Sale-a-bration line-up this year.  Since there are only a few more days left of Sale-a-bration, I figured I needed to give you another idea for this set.  When I first saw the set, my first thought was what would I ever use that for?  Then I started seeing all kinds of fun, creative ideas and was hooked.  Here are two of the valentine cards I made for my grandsons.  They aren't into mushy so I was going for fun.  They seemed to like them, so here they are for you.

Here they are in all their 'carrot-y' glory.  Doesn't much look like valentine cards, right?  That's why I think you could use the idea for other things if you just changed out the 'love you' sentiment.  But actually, even that isn't a problem if you're just sending a note, is it?  These cards do say 'happy valentines day' inside, so that really would have to change if you weren't making valentine cards.

Both cards started with a base of Pale Papaya cut at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored 4 1/4" and folded in half. And that's where they go their separate ways.

Here we start by adding a piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock that measures 5 1/2" x 2 1/2".  It's embossed with the Cane Weave Embossing Folder that's in the current Mini Catalog.  I love the wonderful texture this gives it!  It's attached to the card base about 1/2" from the left side using Multi Purpose Liquid Glue.  This really holds those heavily embossed layers to the card without popping off a couple of months later.  It's become my go-to adhesive for any embossed layers.

Next, I cut a Basic White layer for stamping the main images.  The Deckled Rectangle Dies were used for this.  The measurement is about 3 1/2" x 2 1/4".  

When stamping the carrots, I tried to keep the top of the carrot at about the center of this cardstock piece.  The carrots are stamped with both Pumpkin Pie and Pale Papaya inks.  Before I started stamping on the card, I stamped one carrot on Masking Paper found on page 149 in the Annual Catalog.  I've been using this more lately and find it quite helpful.  Since it's sticky all over, it's not as hard as stamping on a Post It Note and trying to keep as much of your design in the little sticky strip.  It was easy to keep moving that little carrot around on the design wherever it was needed.

For the green tops, I used both Parakeet Party and Granny Apple Green inks.  The Parakeet Party was stamped across the carrots 3 times.  Then the Granny Apple Green ink was stamped twice to fill in and give it more depth.

A length of Parakeet Party 1/8" Metallic Woven Ribbon was wrapped around and tied into a bow for an accent.

A 1/2" piece of Basic White cardstock has the sentiment stamped on it with Pumpkin Pie ink.  The ends were trimmed a little shorter, then the Banners Pick A Punch was used to flag the ends.  

Both pieces were attached to the embossed Pumpkin Pie section of the card front using Dimensionals.

The inside sentiments were stamped with Pumpkin Pie and Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  "A bunch" comes from the Thanks a Bunch stamp set.  "Big" comes from the Whale Done stamp set.  I used a Basic Black Marker to make the insert mark for the word big.  The valentine sentiment comes from Country Bouquet stamp set found on page 10 of the current Mini Catalog.

The second card uses most of the same colors as the first.  The changes include a 2" strip of a print from the Dainty Flowers DSP that was available during Sale-a-bration, but it has sold out.  What a pity because I really loved the prints in that DSP!  Truly fun to create with!

The checked paper strip is a piece of Country Gingham Designer Paper.  These colors are so soft and spring-like.  I just love them.  Yes, I know - me and my pastel fetish!  ha ha   But if you love pastels like I do, you can find them on page 9 of the current Mini Catalog.

The circles were cut with the Stylish Shapes Dies.  One is cut from Basic White and the other from Pumpkin Pie.  The carrots are stamped with Pumpkin Pie ink and the greenery with Parakeet Party and Pear Pizzazz.  The sentiment piece was cut with the Stitched Rectangle Die.

And there you have it.  A little late for Valentine's Day, but cute card ideas anyway.  When your grandsons start growing up and are definitely not into cutesy stuff anymore, you have to think out of the box a bit.  Right?  And revisiting these cards also reminded me of all the chocolates we made for Easter a bunch of years ago.  Remember all those little bags of carrots we made from colored white chocolate?  Oh my!!  Memories!  Maybe I should make these into Easter cards for the boys and make some of those orange-colored chocolate carrots to go along with it!?  Hmm, I think I like that idea!

So that's it for today.  Just a few more days to take advantage of the Sale-a-bration deals.  I'm so sorry the Dainty Flowers DSP is already gone, but there are many other fun things still available.  Thanks for sharing a few moments and maybe that cup of coffee with me this morning.  Hope to hear from you - leave a comment here or call me.  Either works quite well.  I miss you all.  Have a blessed day!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

White on White, Sort of

Hi again.  I know I just posted my Friendship Friday cards, but I just had to get this post out right away.  I was strolling around on Pinterest and came across a card that was all white-on-white.  Truly elegant.  But not so much me.  Plus, it didn't use anything I owned.  So, I had some fun turning it into my kind of card.  There's lots of white still, but it's overlaid with some pretty pale pastel shades that just make me happy to look at!  Wish you could see this in person.  My goodness!

The card starts out with a Basic White Thick card base that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  It's scored and folded in half.

Next there is a layer of Basic White that measures 5 1/4" x 4".  This layer is run through my Stamp & Emboss Machine using the Split Card Textures Dies.  I used the one that reminds me of geometric flowers.  The sentiment from the Dainty Delight stamp set was used with Soft Succulent ink to stamp in the bottom right area.  The layer was then centered on the card base and attached by using adhesive.  

I love all the dies in the Meadow Die set.  There are so many lovely silhouette shapes of flowers and greenery to choose from, plus butterflies and a tag and label too.  Lots of goodies!  I chose three of the dies to cut the flower/greenery stems from Basic White cardstock.  Then I cut one of each of the butterflies also.

Using my Blending Brushes and Fresh Freesia, Highland Heather, and Soft Succulent inks, I added color very lightly to the flowers, stems and butterflies.  This color is fairly light on all of the pieces.  The Highland Heather on the carnation(?) and the butterflies ended up a little darker than I had in mind, but I think it works great now that it's finished.

Each of the flower/greenery stems were attached to the card front with adhesive.  All of the stems were a little too long, but they were easily trimmed with my Paper Snips before attaching to the card.

The butterfly on the front is attached with a small strip of the Dimensionals.  This is put on the body area only so the wings are free.

Iridescent Pearls were added to the butterfly body for an accent.  Another three of the pearls were scattered around the card front.

For the inside sentiment on this card, I chose a favorite from the Charming Sentiments set.  It's stamped with Soft Succulent ink to match the front.  The extra butterfly I made is attached next to the sentiment.  The adhesive is only under the body, so the wings are somewhat loose.

Like I mentioned earlier, I wish you could see this card in person.  The soft colors and how they blend together is gorgeous.  I'm so happy with this card.  It's sort of white on white with a blend of soft colors to enhance it.

Thank you for hanging out with me today.  I hope you had a chance to see all the lovely cards that have graced my mailbox in the last few weeks.  If not, check the post that's directly before this one.  It's worth it to see these wonderful cards.

Oh yes, there is a new Host Code available for you to use too.  If you're placing an order, I would greatly appreciate you using the code.  Thank you so much!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Friendship Friday

Hello my good friends.  Here it is, Friday already!  Whew, this week is just sailing by way too quickly.  I've got some goodies to share with you today.  I've been getting some absolutely gorgeous cards in the mail the last several weeks.  I thought it was time to share these ideas with you.  So here they are...

created by Diane Wallace - just love the colors and layout on this card.  And all the ladies from Guild signed it too.  How fabulous!

created by Sue Fabris - this is the card she made for the people at Marycrest.  It's a great wintry card to fit the season.

created by Kathy Hintz - this is one of those "just because" cards that are always a wonderful surprise to find in the mailbox!  Love the blue prints together.

created by Barb Eisenman - all I can say is wow!  Love the "dock" she created from faux wood-plank paper.  The addition of the Linen Thread "rope" is so cool.

created by Diane Wallace - I love all the different prints that go together to make this fun card.  As you can see, I've gotten into the pile of Valentine cards!

created by Kathy Hintz - Love the Hues of Happiness DSP used here.  So pretty.

created by Barb Eisenman - such a clever card!  The use of a pen to draw in the lines, both vertical and the inside of the hearts, really pulls these three hearts together into a super idea.

created by Sue Fabris - love the hearts all over the place!  The different prints of DSP really make this card very cute!

created by Jan Hollmann - this DSP is so cool with the words from 1 Corinthians 13:4 and more.  What a wonderful idea to use for Valentine's Day cards!  The banner is Red Velvet paper - nice touch!

created by Kathy Hintz - how pretty and classic in black, white, and red!

created by Jean Mazurek - what a lovely mix of papers and textures - Red Velvet paper, Glimmer paper, and Distressed Gold paper.  Don't they make a lovely card together?  Simply elegant!

created by Diane Wallace - So sweet!  Love the colors used, the pretty print paper, and the layout.  It all comes together as a winning combination.

Well, that's it for now.  Aren't these really nice cards?  I love knowing that you ladies put so much time and effort into making something so special.  And then you shared it with me.  My heart overflows with love for you and thanks to God for blessing me with friends like you!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

  

Irresistible Blooms Bundle

Hey friends, have I mentioned that I'm loving this new bundle that is an Online Exclusive?  I'm having so much fun creating with the different aspects of this bundle.  I love everything about it - the stamps, dies, DSP - all of it!  Today's card will focus more on the dies.  Especially one very special die and a helpful tip to go along with it.

This is a very clean looking card that looks a little plain until you really look at it.  Oh my, there's so much going on here, but it's not a hard card to make at all.   Let's walk through it together.

This card starts with a base of Basic White Thick cardstock that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  This is scored and folded in half.  

Tip:  Whenever I use the Basic White Thick cardstock for a card base, I always score it before folding.  This helps give you a crisp crease in the thicker cardstock.

The first layer we'll deal with is regular Basic White cardstock.  This measures 5 3/8" x 4 1/8".  It is embossed with the Timeworn Type 3D Embossing Folder.  This gives a nice randomly textured background.  It's set aside for use later.

Next, I measured the lines and circles die that is part of the Irresistible Blooms Die set.  Wasn't sure how this would work out, but that was my learning experience for today.  I cut a piece of the Hello Irresistible Designer Series Paper that measures 6" x 1 1/4".  It will go behind that darling die-cut piece.  The length is a little longer than needed, but that will be trimmed off later.

Tip:  When using this die, I've found that is works easiest when you put Adhesive Sheets (found on page 127 in the Annual Catalog) on the back of the cardstock before die-cutting.  Run it back and forth 2 - 3 times to make sure all the layers are cut.  This gives it a little more rigidity and you don't have a struggle to put adhesive on later to attach it to your project.

Die-cut the Basic White Thick piece of cardstock, then peel off the backing of the Adhesive Sheets.  Attach the die-cut to the DSP being careful to line it up straight.  Trim the ends to fit on the embossed layer.  Attach it all to the embossed layer about 1/2" from the left edge.  Use Tombow MultiPurpose Liquid Glue to attach these together.  Then use the same glue to attach it to the folded card front to keep everything pretty flat.

The sentiment is from the Irresistible Bloom set.  It is stamped with an old ink color, Lost Lagoon, that I've always loved.  (And have you heard that Stampin'Up! is planning a color revamp?  This favorite color of mine will be coming back!  I know Pretty Peacock will be returning also.  Woo Hoo!)

The sentiment is stamped on Basic Whie cardstock then die-cut with one of the longer Rectangle Stitched Dies.  It's attached to the card front with Dimensionals.

See, I told you the card really wasn't too hard.  Just follow the tip for using the lines and circles die and you'll do fine.  I love how crisp the card looks with large amounts of 'white space' to be calming, but all that texture and detail that makes it very interesting.  Hope you're inspired to give this idea a try.  This stamp bundle and more will be available on March 1st.  Don't forget to check all the goodies out.  Remember this is an Online Exclusive only, so don't bother looking in any of your catalogs for it.  You won't find it there!

Thanks for stopping in to see what's new.  More new goodies to come soon.  Stay tuned!

Happy Stamping and Creating!

Sharon

Beautifully Happy Cards

Hello Ladies!!  Hope you're enjoying your week so far.  Have you been having crazy weather too?  It's gone from freezing to the high 60's in just a couple of days.  There seems to be no rhyme or reason to what's going on here.  If I need to go out, I have to actually go outside to see just how cold it is, and then check how cold it will be when I plan on getting back.  The other day the temps showed 37 degrees, but I was going out to a Bible Study where I'd be gone 2 hours.  By then, the temps were in the low 60's.  Just how are you supposed to dress for that?  I feel kind of a "weather schizophrenic" at times.  Is there such a thing?  Oh well, enough of this craziness.  

What I want to share with you today, was actually made over two weeks ago and I never got around to sharing it with you.  So sorry it's taken me so long to do this!  These cards use the Beautifully Happy stamp set that is part of Sale-a-bration.  It's a gorgeous, two-step stamp set that has lovely line art that you can use alone, or stamp with the 2-step images that fill in the lines perfectly.  Either way, it's just gorgeous!  I've made a handful of them and no matter the combo, I love them!

Each one of these cards has the same layout and the same stamps used.  In fact, the only differences are which of the Fancy Flora Designer Series Paper prints were used on the card.  I was only going to use one of the prints.  But as I put the finished image layer on each print, I couldn't decide which one to use.  Hence, we have a whole cluster of them to choose from.  Another weird thing about them, I used Flirty Flamingo and Mint Macaron inks to fill in the images.  Neither of those colors are listed as coordinating colors for the DSP.  So obviously, the Fancy Flora DSP is fabulous to use for many different reasons - not the least being that it's just plain beautiful!

So let's get started making these simple, but gorgeous cards.  This is the first combo I tried.  I love these colors together.  They just make me feel so happy!  Each of these cards were made in the same way.  Start with some Basic White Thick cardstock for the base.  I made them 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored and folded in half.

Next the white layer was die-cut from Basic White cardstock using the Rectangle Stitched Dies. The 4th largest die was used for this.  The 3rd largest die was used to cut a Mint Macaron layer for it.  

I've found for using the fill-in stamps, the Stamparatus is invaluable.  After you get it lined up just right, it's so easy to just keep stamping! Place a scrap of paper where you will place your die-cut.  On one of the Stamparatus's hinged flaps, place the outline image where you want it.  On the other hinged flap, line up the floral part correctly.  Then pull the flap out, flip it around to the other side, and line up the greenery part of the image.  Then you can place your die-cut piece, stamp with the outline image, then stamp the two fill-in stamps in whichever order you prefer.   In other words, line up all the stamps correctly, then stamp away.  I used Basic Gray for the outline, Flirty Flamingo for the flowers, and Mint Macaron for the greenery.  You can make as many of these as you want in very short order.  In fact, they were stamping so nicely, I wish I'd have cleaned the ink off the stamps and tried several other color combinations.  Oh well, hindsight is always smarter.

See how nicely they stamped?  The white layer was then attached with adhesive to the Mint Macaron layer you die-cut already.  I chose to use a sentiment from the Country Bouquet stamp in the January-April Mini Catalog.  This sentiment allows for just about any other kind of sentiment inside the card.  Very versatile.  I wanted to stay with the stitching on the sentiment, so I used the smallest thin Rectangle Stitched Die to cut this out.  The sentiment was stamped with Basic Gray ink to give it a less harsh look. 

The pretty Designer Papers were cut at 5 1/2" long and 3" wide, so they go top to bottom on the card front.  They are attached to the folded Basic White Thick card base using Tombow MultiPurpose Liquid Glue.  I found this worked well for easy positioning of the DSP.  The two layers for the focal image were attached using Dimensionals.  The sentiment layer was attached with adhesive on the right side and a Dimensional on the left side to keep it level.

For an accent for these cards, I used the pink Polished Dots.  Sorry!  Yes, I know they are retired, but I liked the very soft pink toned color with these cards.  Sometimes you just need to use what you like, whether it's current or not.  

Now let's take a look at cards made with some of the other gorgeous prints in the Fancy Flora DSP.

As you can see, I was having so much fun making these cards.  There's even more that I made, but I thought this might be enough to get you thinking about this idea.

If you don't have this Beautifully Happy Sale-a-bration stamp set yet, you're sadly running out of time.   It's only available until the end of this month or it's sold out, whichever is first.  But happily, this gorgeous DSP is in the Mini Catalog so you have a little more time to stock up on this.  You won't be sorry you did!

Thanks for hanging out with me today.  Hope you enjoyed this gorgeous handful of cards.  It was so much fun making them, I had trouble stopping!  

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Hello Irresistible!

Hello there!  Have I got some fabulous cards for you.  At least I think they are!  My new stamp bundle - Irresistible Blooms - was delivered Friday night, so you know I had to play with it right away.  Oh, my goodness!  It's really fabulous!  And the coordinating DSP? Oh yeah!  Even if you don't get the stamps and dies, you're gonna want this gorgeous paper.  The colors are all muted, soft, and misty looking.  Some with designs and others with just color.  Make sure you check the Online Exclusives flyer at the end of this post to see everything I'm talking about.  Right now, demonstrators can pre-order, but customers can't order these goodies until March 1st.  There will be more items available in this exclusive offering, but I haven't seen them yet.  We're just getting a partial peek so we can share these sneak-peek ideas with you.  Hope you love these as much as I do.

Here are the first two cards I made with the new Irresistible Blooms Bundle and the Hello, Irresistible Designer Series Paper.  The only stamping on these cards were the sentiments.  That's it.  The flowers and leaves were all die cut from two 6" x 6" pieces of DSP.  One sheet was the flowers in the pink and yellow tones.  The second sheet was the leaves in the greens and yellows.  How simple is that to just die-cut a whole sheet and then pick and choose which flowers and leaves you want to use.

Both cards have a 2 1/4" x 5 1/8" panel of Petal Pink cardstock.  On this card, the pink panel was embossed with one of the new embossing folders from the set of three Basic 3-D Embossing Folders.  This pattern sort of reminds me of flowers or maybe stars.  It gives the cardstock a nice, embossed texture that will work for so many of your projects. 

The striped panel on both cards measures 1 1/2" x 5 1/8".  It's from the Design a Daydream DSP pack that is a Hostess item in the 2022-2023 Annual Catalog.  I've used so many of the different patterns from this set of paper!  I'm glad it's such a big pack of DSP so I'll have lots to use for a long while.

Both the Petal Pink and the striped DSP panel are attached to a Blackberry Bliss layer.  This is one of the colors in the stripes, so it matches nicely.  The layer measures 2 15/16" x 5 1/4".  The Blackberry Bliss was trimmed up tightly so there is just a tiny frame around it all.

For this card, I chose a Pool Party base for the card which matches well.  It's another color in the striped Design A Daydream DSP.  It measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and is folded in half.  The layers were attached to the card base using Dimensionals.

The sentiment is from the Irresistible Blooms Bundle.  It's stamped with Blackberry Bliss ink on Basic White cardstock.  It's been punched out with the Double Oval Punch.

At this time, I arranged the flowers and leaves that I'd die-cut from the DSP sheets.  One flower and a couple leaves were attached directly to the card front with adhesive along with the sentiment.  The other two flowers and leaves were attached with Dimensionals.  I love the look of the flowers and leaves!  They look like they've been embossed with white and watercolored afterwards.  So pretty!!

The finishing touch on the card are the Loose Frosted Dots in pink.  They're attached with a Mini Glue Dot underneath each one.  These dots are another one of the Online Exclusives that are available to you on March 1st.  It's interesting how they tend to pick up some of the color underneath them.

Here's the other card.  Let me give you a quick run-down of the changes.  The card base was changed to Old Olive which is another color that matches the DSP.  The layer with the two panels was switched so the pink was on the left side.  The Petal Pink layer was embossed with a different one of the embossing folders that are part of the Basic 3-D Embossing Folders.  Love the cross-hatch look on this one!

There are only two flowers used on this card instead of the three last time.  The sentiment is stamped with Old Olive ink, then punched and layered onto a Blackberry Bliss layer that was punched with the Double Oval Punch.  The yellow-toned Loose Frosted Dots were used this time instead.  That's about it.

One last picture to share.  Thought you'd like to see how many flowers and leaves are left over from the two 6" x 6" sheets of paper after making the two cards.  Wow!  I was amazed with how many pieces there are to create with just out of those two pieces of paper.  There are enough flowers for at least two more cards with extra leaves beyond that.  This definitely gets my imagination going.  Remember everything I used - stamps, dies, DSP, embossing folders, and embellishments - are only available online starting March 1st.

Here is just a sneak-peek of what is coming next month.  I can hardly wait to see what else there is for us!

I'm sorry the information on the pictures is so difficult to see, but there's so much I don't know how to do with my computer.  Whoever said "Technology is your friend" didn't know me very well at all!  Rick helped me at least get the information this far for you.  And of course, the pictures really don't show the beauty of the Hello, Irresistible DSP or the metallic printed DSP.  Just Gorgeous!!

Thanks for stopping by today.  Hope you loved the cards and products as much as I did.  These will definitely get played with more.  I've got lots of ideas floating around in my brain that I want to try out and then share with you.  Thanks for hanging out with me!  See you soon.

Happy stamping and creating!

Sharon

Two-Tone Flora Cards

Good day to you, my friend!   Today I have a simple card to share with you using the SIP technique.  Do you know what SIP is?  It stands for Stamps, Ink, and Paper.  Pretty basic, and that's really what so many of our cards are.  I didn't use any die-cuts on these cards.  But I did add sequins and on one of the cards there's a bit of ribbon.  I couldn't help myself!  What I'm sharing today is the same card with three different color combos to choose from.  Never know which one you might feel like making.

This is the first one I made.  I just love these colors together!  Sweet Sorbet, Pale Papaya, and Granny Apple Green - yum!  Sounds good enough to eat, doesn't it?  The Two-Tone Flora stamp set actually has 6 different flowers to choose from, and each one is a two-step stamp process giving you lots of detail easily.  For my cards this time, I used the largest flower and the third largest flower.  For some reason I keep gravitating to these two sizes.  One of these days I'll have to have a go at the other size flowers and show them some love too!

This card started with a Basic White layer that is stamped on.  It measures 5 1/2" x 4" so it goes edge to edge with a small cardstock strip showing on top and bottom.  On scrap paper, I stamped the large solid flower with Sweet Sorbet, then stamped again to check on which color strength I wanted to use.  The full strength was way too dark for my taste, so all the Sweet Sorbet flowers on this card are off-stamped with a full-strength detail stamp on top of it.  I did it the same way with the smaller Pale Papaya flowers too.  As you can see, one of the Pale Papaya flowers wasn't off-stamped and the detail just doesn't show up as nicely.  If you want to get a brighter flower, use a darker color on the detail stamp to give it some contrast.

After stamping in the flowers, the leaves were tucked in around them.  They are stamped with Granny Apple Green ink.  Both full strength and off-stamped versions of the leaves were used.

The sentiment used on this card is from the Something Fancy stamp set.  It's on page 17 of the January-April Mini Catalog.  For this card, Basic Gray ink was used.  With the lighter flowers, I thought the Memento Tuxedo Black ink was a little too harsh.

To put the card together, I checked on using Sweet Sorbet or Pale Papaya for the base.  As you can see, I chose a base of Pale Papaya cardstock.  It measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and is scored and folded in half.  It's attached with adhesive.  

I was going to make the card plain with no bling.  But I just couldn't leave it bare.  I know, I know.  I just had to get in there and add a little more!  Three of the Pastel Adhesive-backed Sequins in gold were added for the bling.  Nice touch.

The inside of the card needed to be pretty too.  I went with smaller flowers in the same set and same colors to add a bouquet in the bottom right corner.  Didn't that dress it up nicely?  And I still have lots of room to write a note.

Now, wouldn't it be nice to try this in different color combinations?  Let's see what I did.  Let me know which color combo you like the best.

I have hardly used my Tahitian Tide cardstock and ink.  Wouldn't that be a pretty flower color?  Using the largest flower again, the solid stamp was off-stamped before stamping on the Basic White.  The detail stamp was full strength.  For the smaller contrasting flowers, I used Mango Melody ink stamping in the same way.  I really love the contrast of these two colors together.  For the leaves, the color was changed to Parakeet Party ink.

There are a few more changes.  The Mango Melody cardstock is cut to 11" x 4 1/4", scored and folded in half.  A sentiment was used from the Framed Florets set.  This time the sentiment was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink to be nice and bold.  More of the Pastel Adhesive-backed Sequins were used for an accent.  And I couldn't help myself - this time it was adding the ribbon too.  This is the 1/8" Metallic Woven Ribbon that's tied in a bow across the side of the card.  I liked that it was darker than the flowers and had some sparkle to it.  Pretty.

This time I used Tahitian Tide cardstock for the card base.  I still wanted to use the same color for the smaller flowers but wanted to try a different color for the larger flowers.  I've always loved the combo of blue and yellow, so I tried Daffodil Delight ink this time.  I was surprised in the pictures that there is very little difference between the Daffodil and the Mango.  In real life, there is a definite difference, but the camera really didn't pick that up.  Sorry!

The sentiment was changed on this card to a stamp from the Easter Bunny set.  I like this cute little sentiment.  Again, I used Memento Tuxedo Black to stamp the sentiment.  This card also uses the same Pastel Adhesive-backed Sequins for an accent.  But this time I chose the blue shade instead and got carried away and used five of them.

I guess this is as close to a SIP card as I can get.  Seems like there's always a little something that needs to be added.  Guess I need to work on controlling my 'bling' addiction.  It really is only a small addiction.  I didn't go overboard or anything, do I?  Just a small accent or two.  Anyway, hope you are inspired to make some SIP cards.  With the lovely papers and stamps you have to choose from, you might never make two cards the same ever again!  Don't forget to let me know which combo you like the best!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

3-D Thank You

Hello friend!  Glad you haven't given up on me even though I have not posted for several days.  I've been working to get all my business paperwork together, and then there were all the valentine cards that needed to get mailed out.  Now that things are all caught up and sort of back to normal, it's time to play.  Today's post isn't a card as usual, but a little 3-D box with a few goodies in it.  I've met a very sweet lady in my Bible Study class on Sunday mornings.  She offered to drive me to a luncheon on Thursday, because I have no sense of direction and forever get turned around.  I thought I'd make her a little something to thank her for her kindness.  Guess I'm getting a head start on Random Acts of Kindness week that is going on next week.  Besides, you can never show too much kindness, can you?

At first, I thought I'd make something with flowers and really sweet stuff.  But she's such a happy, bubbly type of lady, maybe she'd like something fun instead.  This is what I made for her with some goodies tucked inside.  Here's how I made the treat box.

Start out with a piece of cardstock that measures 5 1/2" x 8".  I used Balmy Blue for this.  On the 8" side, score at 1/2", 3 1/8", 4 1/4", and 6 7/8".  Turn the cardstock a quarter turn and score at 1 1/8" across the whole length.  Cut up from the bottom to the 1 1/8" score line on each of the score lines for the sides of the box.  Then make little angled cuts just on the two flaps.  Here's a picture to show you how to make the cuts.

This picture shows the score lines on the card and the small, angled cuts made to just the two small flaps that fold into the bottom of the box.  The picture shows the DSP layered on already and a half-circle die-cut from the top for a finger hold area.  It also shows where the Tear & Tape Adhesive gets placed on the outside of the box.

The next step is to add your DSP to the front (and back if desired) of the box.  I've used the Dandy Designs DSP on both of these boxes, just a different print to match the cardstock base.  The DSP is cut to measure 2 1/2" x 4 1/4".  This leaves a small frame around the DSP when it's attached.

The Dandy Designs DSP is one of the awesome Sale-a-bration freebies that are available right now.  This DSP pack is 12" x 12" in size and has 48 sheets of double-sided paper.  That's 4 each of 12 designs.  Wow, that's a lot of cute and versatile designs to play with and create your masterpieces!  

This picture shows where the one piece of Tear & Tape is positioned on the inside of the box.

For the finger-hold area, I used the Layering Circles Dies.  For this I used the very smallest circle.  You could use a punch or different die to make this cut if you don't have this same die set.

I used the 2nd largest circle die in the Stylish Shapes Die set to cut a piece of Basic White cardstock.  The sentiment comes from the Happy Labels stamp set which is a set of twelve sentiments that are quite cute.  This one is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink way down at the bottom right of the circle.

The happy bunny comes from the Rain or Shine DSP found on page 51 of the January-April Mini Catalog.  I used the Playing in the Rain Die set to cut this bunny from the paper.  I love it when Stampin'Up! gives us dies that actually cut out some of the images on the coordinating DSP.  The images can be cut by hand, but it's so much quicker and easier to die-cut!

The die-cut circle layer was attached to the front of the box with Dimensionals.  The bunny uses Mini Dimensionals to attach him to the circle.  The Mini Dimensionals on the ear are double layered to keep it level.

A small bow was attached to the box with a Mini Glue Dot.  This is a sheer 3/8" ribbon in Balmy Blue from a year ago that was perfect for this box.  I didn't think this bunny needed any bling.  He seemed happy enough without anything being added.

This came together so quickly; I think I'll be making some of these for little Easter goodies.  The grandsons say they're too old for an Easter basket, but they don't have any trouble eating chocolate bunnies!  I think a chocolate bunny should fit into these little boxes just right.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Make sure you check out the newest additions to the Sale-a-bration line-up.  There's something for everyone.  And don't forget the Dandy Designs DSP!  It's going to be perfect for all your Easter and spring cards and 3-D items!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon