Lovely Arrangements Sneak Peek

Hey everyone!  Is it time to start counting down the hours until the new year yet?  It's getting very close, but not quite there yet.  The new 2026 Jan - April Mini Catalog still has a few days left until January 6 when it goes live.  Have you gotten your catalog yet?  If not and you're one of my customers, let me know please so I can get one to you.  Today's card features one of the new Online Exclusive items that will be available in January.  So, let's take a sneak peek at the Lovely Arrangements stamp and die bundle.  It's a great basic set with nine sentiments that are very generic and two flowers and one leaf cluster to round out the set.  And wait until you check out the dies.  There are two really fun dies that I'm sure will be showing up in all kinds of places.

I've been focusing on getting cards ready to make for the shut-ins at church.  For some reason, I seem to be drawn to a blue and white theme this month for all the designs.  That just seems to be really cheerful to me right now, so that's what I'm doing.  I saw a card that Alisa Tilsner made that ended up being the inspiration for this card.  Of course, I made a multitude of changes from her original card so thought you'd like to see my version.  Thank you, Alisa, for getting my mojo working with your lovely inspiring idea.

The card base here is Basic White that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and is scored at 4 1/4" and folded in half.  Next is a layer of Basic White that measures 5 1/4" x 4".  This layer is embossed with the newish Beautiful Pattern Embossing Folder.  I love the raised dot design that seems to enhance so many cards.  After embossing, this layer was attached to the Basic White card base using "green glue".

Since I was going for a blue and white with a pop of color theme, I looked around in my piles of DSP to find something that worked.  Countryside Inn DSP has lots of blue and white prints to choose from.  You can barely tell the print on the two 1/2" x 4" strips that I added to the card base.  These have a tone-on-tone navy stripe that was subtle but still gave some extra interest to the design.  They are attached with "green glue".

The larger piece of navy DSP print measures 5" x 2 1/2".  Make sure if your pattern is directional here that you pay attention to how you cut it.   Before attaching this to the card front, a little bit of pizzazz was added to it.  I mentioned a couple really fun extra dies in the set.  There is a die with four rows of six dots each that are all attached together.  I cut a strip that was only about 2 dots wide.  One row of the dots was attached behind the navy DSP print using adhesive so there was only 1 row of dots for the design.  Then this layer was attached to the card front with "green glue".

Next the two full flowers and 1 half flower were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored.  I used Daffodil Delight Light & Dark Blending Pens on the flowers.  Instead of carefully blending in the colors, I went with a 'messy coloring' technique.  You scribble in the flower centers with the darker color and add quick strokes from the center out on the petals.  Then you go back and just make strokes out from the center again with the lighter color.  If needed, add another layer of dark color on the flower centers - which I did.

The flowers were die-cut with the coordinating dies in the set.  Then leaves were die-cut from Granny Apple Green cardstock with two different leaf dies.

While doing the die-cutting, I also used the larger label die in the set to cut a Basic White label.  Then stamped one of the sentiments from the set on the label with Night of Navy ink.

Now it was time to finish adding all the bits and pieces to the card front.  Two of the flowers were attached flat with adhesive.  And the lowest flower was added with a Dimensional in the center to pop it up.  The leaves were tucked in around the flowers to finish the design.  I love the look of navy and white with that pop of yellow.  So cheerful!

The sentiment label was added to the card using Dimensionals.

For the added bling on the design, I used three of the Holographic Dots.  They really do a good job of enhancing the yellows and greens on this card.

Hope you liked this sneak peek showing one of the new items that will be available in the Online Exclusive area of the Stampin'Up! website.  There are so many lovely new items, but this one in particular was calling out to me!

One other important piece of news for you today.  Do you remember Bonus Days last year?  Well, they are coming back in January.  From January 6th through February 2nd, for every $50 you spend, you will earn a coupon worth $5.  The coupons must be redeemed anytime between February 3rd through the 28th.  Make sure you don't lose those coupons as you'll need the code on them to redeem them.  Woo Hoo!  Start getting your lists ready and have fun shopping on January 6th!

FYI - you still earn Rewards on your orders during this time also!

If I don't get another post in before the end of the year - have a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

New Greenery Lane

Greetings my stamping friends!   I hope you had a fabulous Christmas with family and friends.  Are you ready to get back to creating yet?  If you are, I've got something fun for you.  If you liked the Extraordinary Flora bundle and coordinating Washi Tape that are in the Annual Catalog, I think you're going to love this new Greenery Lane bundle that you'll find in the new January - April 2026 Mini Catalog.  Do you have your catalog yet?  If you do, you'll find these goodies on pages 56 and 57.  You can start ordering your favorites from this catalog on January 6th - just a few more days.  Today my card idea focuses on the Greenery Lane Washi Tape, but I also use the Greenery Lane stamps and dies.  Oh, so much fun!  Let's get started.

The very first thing I did with this card is play with the Washi Tape.  I placed a section of the Washi Tape onto Basic White cardstock to give it some rigidity.  Then these layers were cut with the coordinating dies in the Greenery Lane bundle.  The different leaves in the Washi Tape are all in shades ranging from Cloud Cover to Garden Green with shades of Lost Lagoon added in for interest.  There are four different leafy stems in these green shades along with tiny star-type flowers in Cloud Cover color that make up the Washi Tape.  Considering the soft, misty colors here, this is right up my alley!  And I can think of a couple of you ladies out there that would love this.

After die-cutting a small pile of greenery, it was time to plan out this card.  For those of you that don't know, I've been a demonstrator for over 28 years now.  That means I've seen (and owned!) a lot of different stamp sets and other products over the years.  Add to that fact is the problem I have of keeping way too many retired items that I'm sure I'll need and use in the future.  Many moons ago, we had packages of die-cut labels called Hugs.  Yes, they are adorable. There were also smaller labels called kisses too and I have a pile of those left too.  So, the white scalloped rectangle label on this card is one of those Hugs.  It is about 2 1/4" x 4" if you don't happen to have these ancient die-cut labels and want to cut your own label for this card.  😁

The sentiment is from the Greenery Lane bundle and is stamped with Secret Sea ink over on the right-hand side of the label.  I also used the Secret Sea Blending Pen to spatter ink over this layer.  I also used Wink of Stella to add another layer of spattering for a little shine then set it aside of dry.

While that was drying, I cut a piece of Cloud Cover cardstock that measured 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" for the card base.  I spaced out the tiny flowers from the stamp set onto a block, then stamped them around the edges of the cardstock using Cloud Cover ink.  This adds interest without too much added color.

Then a layer of Secret Sea cardstock was cut to measure 3 1/2" x 4 1/2".  On this piece, the large leafy branch from the set was stamped with Secret Sea.  When you have the finished card in your hands, this is quite obvious even though it doesn't show up much in the pictures.  The edge of my scissors was used to rough up the edges of this layer for interest.  Then the Secret Sea layer is attached to the center of the Cloud Cover base using adhesive.

To make the greenery cluster on the front of the card, first the darkest and largest leaf stem was added on the left side of the label.  This was attached with adhesive and is about 1/2" or so higher than the label.  Four more stems were layered up here making sure there was a mix of lighter and darker leaves that blended well.   A couple of the stems were trimmed a small amount so they wouldn't show under the ribbon.

The ribbon is the Secret Sea Bordered Open Weave Ribbon that is tied into a smallish bow.  It is attached over the stems with a couple of Mini Glue Dots.

This layer was attached to the card front using Dimensionals for definition.

Three of the new Moody Palette Glossy Dots were added to the design for the touch of bling.  Aren't they a pretty and soft addition to the design?

The inside of the card is stamped with a sentiment from the Happy Thoughts stamp set.  It's stamped with Secret Sea ink.  I realize this is a retired stamp set, but the sentiment is so nice I tend to grab it fairly often.

The large leafy stem from the Greenery Lane set was partially stamped in the corner using Cloud Cover ink.  A scattering of the tiny flowers in the set was stamped among the leaves.  They were stamped with Secret Sea.

That's it for today's sneak peek from the new Mini Catalog that will be current starting January 6th.  If you are interested in my opinion at all, I think you'll like working with this bundle.  And the pretty leaves in the Washi Tape will give you lots of opportunities for creativity.  You will find yourself tucking them in and around all kinds of different flowers when designing.  Give it a try.  I really think you'll like it!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Merry Christmas!

Dear family and stamping friends.  My sincere wish for you this Christmas season is that you find peace and happiness in knowing and following our precious Savior Jesus Christ this year.  I can easily predict that there will be hardships and heartaches in the coming year.  There always is.  He came to us as a baby in Bethlehem, but He didn't just stay there.  He grew up and lived through all the kinds of troubles that we have in our lives also.  He had to suffer and die to pay the price for our many sins.  But you can rest secure in the knowledge that Jesus has overcome the world and is sitting on His throne in heaven.  He is worthy of all the praise in the Christmas carols, but worthy of our constant praise for His holy life, death, and resurrection!   Hallelujah!  and Amen!

May your Christmas be blessed with His Love and Light!  Wishing you blessings and peace in the coming year.  I'll be back to stamping tomorrow.  But today we celebrate!

Sharon

Snowy Delights Card

Hello friends.  I didn't get a chance to share this idea with you before because of IT issues, but I'd love to hear what you think about making this type of card into a winter birthday or thinking of you card.  It's basically snowflakes so it's not a Christmas card per se.  Please tell me what you think. 

I love the crisp navy and white look with just the large snowflake.  It's quick and easy to do, but I think it looks stunning.

Start with a Basic White Thick piece of cardstock that measures 5 1/4" x 4".  This card will be made using the Snowy Delights dies only.  It will have the snowflake outline die-cut from it.  I didn't use the largest outline die, but the one that more closely follows the contours of the larger snowflake.   

Using the segment that you just cut out, center the large snowflake die on this and cut again.  Don't throw out the excess you just cut from around the snowflake.  I've got plans for that too.

Ok, let's do some stamping and layering to put this card together.

On the Thick Basic White cardstock piece, stamp the sentiment.  I used this one from the Peace on Earth set along with Night of Navy ink.  I thought it looked lovely along the bottom area.

Next this white layer is attached to a Night of Navy layer.  This measures 5 3/8" x 4 1/8".  This will give you a tiny navy edge that is so elegant surrounding all that white.  And don't you love the navy showing off that snowflake cut-out?  I used "green glue" for this step, so I had a little wiggle time to get it nice and straight.  

These two layers were then attached to a Basic White card base.  It was attached with the "green glue" also.

Now to get that lovely snowflake attached to the center of the navy snowflake.  I used some Mini Dimensionals that had been cut in half.  When you look closely at the snowflake, you see in the outer star at the "V's" there is no light showing through.  This is where I placed the Dimensional half pieces so they wouldn't show through.  Another half Mini Dimensional was also placed under the circle of each snowflake arm where the glitter dot was placed later.  That half of the Mini Dimensional fit there perfectly.  This is just enough to hold the snowflake in place on the card.  (Make sure you carefully put this in an envelope so none of the little details get messed up.)

The final touch on this elegant card was adding just a touch of bling to draw the eye around the design.  the cute little pale blue sequins are from the Traditional Sparkling Sequins found in the Sept - December Mini Catalog.  I debated about using the clear Basic Rhinestones for the bling, but I think the light blue sequins enhance the frosty appearance.

In case it's bothering you, at this point I need to mention that I did go back and pop those last three holes in the die-cut.  Yes, the picture is driving me crazy, but the card has already been long-gone in the mail so I can't take new pictures!  

Now, I need your honest opinion.  I was considering sending some of these style of cards to the shut-ins in January.  I'd change up the sentiment to something like - a warm hello.  Yes or no???  What do you think?  I need some opinions here.

Now remember that extra piece that was die-cut from between the outline of the snowflake and the detail of it?  Well, just keep reading and you'll see what I did with it.  

I thought the piece was just too interesting to throw out and I needed to do something with it.  

The card base is Lost Lagoon cardstock.  It has a snowflake cluster from the Snowy Delights set stamped in each corner with Lost Lagoon ink.  This gives just a bit of subtle interest to the card background.

The Thick Basic White snowflake left over piece was attached to the card front with "green glue".  I was going to use the same snowflake die to cut a sparkly snowflake but decided to use the smaller one instead.  This way I still have two completely different looks on the card that complement each other.  I used the Peaceful Garden Glimmer Paper in the soft greenish color for this design. 

The sentiment and oval die are both from the Snowy Delights bundle.  The sentiment was stamped with Lost Lagoon ink to match the design.  It's popped on the card front with some Dimensionals. 

The little snowflake embellishment on the sentiment label is just the tiny center piece from the large snowflake.  Isn't it perfect here?

The only extra bling on this card is a pretty retired white "ribboned" gem that seemed to be just the right one.

That's it for today's card idea.  Yes, I know you've already got you cards all finished and sent out.  But I thought these ideas were too good to ignore.  Just because I couldn't share any ideas with you for two weeks doesn't mean I didn't have any ideas that I wanted to share.  Again, I wish to make a sincere apology for not making any posts throughout the month because of my IT issues.  This whole teaching an old dog new tricks is really hard on me.  Thank goodness my hubby is better at finagling things than I am, or I'd be totally lost!

Merry Christmas!  and have some fun stamping and creating,

Sharon

Another Branching Out Card

Hello friends!  Have you missed me?  It's been a comedy of errors around here and things still are not working properly.  If you haven't heard, I'm so not tech savvy!  Surprise, surprise!  I absolutely hate it when my phone and/or computer decide that I need to update to the latest information out there.  Unfortunately, both my phone and computer were updated just a couple days apart and now they aren't playing nice together.  I couldn't download my photos to the computer - it kept rejecting them and saying there weren't any pictures.  Well, with no pictures, it's kind of hard to write a blog sharing ideas.  My hubby has figured out a very convoluted way of downloading pictures, so let's give it a try, shall we?

It seems like I keep gravitating towards the Branching Out bundle every time I sit down to create.  There's just something about those pine needles and pinecones that just draws me in.  I love looking outside at all the greenery we're surrounded by and this is just a perfect fit.  I hope I'm not boring you with all these ideas using the Branching Out bundle.  If I am - sorry!  I'll be working on new things very shortly.

Here's the latest for your perusal.  This time I used Basic Beige for the backdrop of the design.  The card base measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  It's scored at 4 1/4" and folded in half.  

On this card base, I used the Linen stamp with Basic Beige ink to give this a subtle design and extra interest.

The 2nd largest of the Branching Out layer dies was used to cut another piece of Basic Beige cardstock for the focal point.  Before there was any stamping going on, some of the same Basic Beige ink was added to the edges with a Blending Brush.  I love the shadowy edge this adds to the design.

Using the branch and pine needles die, I cut 3 of these from Mossy Meadow cardstock.  A little color was added to all three of them.  The stems were colored with a Early Espresso marker.  Then the tips of the needles were "frosted" with White Pigment ink to make it look a little snowy.  These were set aside for a few minutes to give the pigment ink a chance to dry.

A half dozen of the small pinecones were die-cut from Pecan Pie cardstock.  After cutting them, some Early Espresso ink was sponged on the tip area of them to give a little more definition.

Next the die-cut branches were placed around the top area to get the design set.  Before glueing down, I stamped the pine needles from the stamp set under the branches to fill in the design and give it depth.  Old Olive ink was used for this for a slightly lighter color.  After the stamping, the branches were attached with "green glue".  Any extra bits hanging off the edge were snipped away.  The pinecones were also attached with Mini Glue Dots as an easy way to attach.

A layer of Mossy Meadow cardstock was cut to frame the Basic Beige stamped layer.  Since the card has already been mailed out, I can't give you dimensions.  Oops.  But just measure and give the Basic Beige layer about an extra 1/4" top and side to give you a nice frame.

The Basic Beige layer was attached to the Mossy Meadow layer with adhesive.  Then this was attached to the card base using Dimensionals.

The sentiment is from the Greetings for You Mix & Match Ephemera Pack in the September - December Mini Catalog.  I placed this on a Cherry Cobbler scrap of cardstock, then trimmed around the greeting.  I think this set the sentiment off nicely.  It's attached to the card front using Dimensionals.

Now for you purists that only want current items, time to look away because I dug out some retired goodies.  The pearls are from the Festive Pearls from a year or two ago.  I just love these scattered throughout the design.  

Lastly, I found a Cherry Cobbler ribbon that's edged in gold.  It's only 1/4" wide and just the perfect finish for this card.  It's attached with a Mini Glue Dot.

That's it for today.  So sorry for the craziness that kept me from posting.  I made sure I took pictures of a couple new cards, so I'll be able to post those without bugging my hubby to help me with the next batch of downloaded pictures.  I know this is rather late for Christmas cards for this year.  But just a thought here.  I think changing the Cherry Cobbler color on this card to maybe a blue instead and changing the greeting for a birthday, this would be a great masculine birthday card.  What do you think?

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

 

Reason for the Season Card

Hello folks!  Hope you all had a very blessed Thanksgiving this year with family and friends.  Right now, I'm so thankful that it's all over and I'm feeling more like myself.  I came down with an intestinal flu bug that wiped me out last Monday.  That means it's been a week, and I'm still worn out and barely getting anything done at all.  I was working on a design before this all happened and decided I'd share this with you.  Since I can't decide which one I prefer, you get both versions.   Then you get to decide which you like better.  OK?

The set I used here is A Child is Born.  I really love the simplicity of this set!  I've used this set several times playing around and it just keeps calling me back again and again.  Looking at the picture of the card, the images remind me of a snow globe because of the placement of the sentiment.  Hmm, just more ideas floating here.  I think I have an old snow globe stamp from a good number of years ago.  I'll have to get it out and see if they work together.  Oops.  Sorry for getting off track here.  Let's get on with the design...

The 'family' is stamped onto the largest circle of the Stylish Shapes Dies.  It's cut from Basic White cardstock and then stamped with Secret Sea ink.

To frame this, I used the 2nd largest circle dies from the Spotlight on Nature set.  It has a pretty eyelet design around the circle that just barely showed behind the white layer.  This layer is die-cut from the Peaceful Garden Glimmer Specialty Paper in the darkest color.  When I hold the finished card, this sparkles so pretty, but the camera just doesn't do it justice.  These were attached together using Tombow Liquid Glue.

The next step is to make the card base.  Basic White cardstock was used here.  It's cut at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and folded in half.  There is a Basic White layer that measures 5 1/4" x 4" that the background is built on.

The pretty DSP that was used is from the Peaceful Garden DSP.   I already had a strip of the starry print cut that was 1 1/2" wide.  This was cut to two 3 3/4" lengths for the design.  The center 'cloudy' layer measures 1 3/4" x 3 3/4" to fit into the design.  The three strips were positioned and attached to the Basic White layering piece using the Liquid Glue.

The white layer with the strips attached was then layered onto the folded card base.  Dimensionals were used for this to give it added definition.

Next the main image was added to the center of the design.  It was attached with Dimensionals.

The sentiment comes from the same set.  It's stamped on a 1/2" strip of Basic White using Secret Sea ink.  It was trimmed and the ends were flagged.  A skinny strip of Dimensionals were added along the center of the strip.  Then it was attached over the bottom edge of the circles.

Silver and White Sheer Ribbon was tied into a bow accent.  This was attached at the top of the circle with Mini Glue Dots to hold in place.

Lastly, three small Iridescent Pearls Basic Jewels were sprinkled on the design for a lovely accent.  

And that's the first one done.  I really liked the design and thought it would make sense to make another one right away to build up my Christmas card stash.  Well, that's when things started changing a little here and there.

I already had the 'family' stamped and both the white and glimmer layers die-cut.  So, I jumped right to the card base.  The base is still Basic White and folded in half like the first card.  The same white layer was cut to place the layers on.

The layers were again from the Peaceful Garden DSP pack.  While looking through the papers, this leafy print really called to me.  I thought I'd see how this went with the design.  To me, it really worked nicely.  This time, there was a 1 1/4" strip left over from another project.  This was trimmed to 3 3/4" long twice for the top and bottom layers.  This made the center opening wider, so a piece was cut at 2 7/16" to fit.  (2 1/2" was just a smidgeon too wide to fit so I adjusted it.  You could really use 2 3/8" to fit too.)  These layers were attached to the Basic White layer with Liquid Glue.

So, you need to tell me what you think.  I really love this design and think I'd like to make more to send out this year.  Do I make more of the first or second card?  Use the starry print or the leafy print?  Have the layers closer in size like the 1st card or have the center layer wider as in the 2nd card?  Oh dear, so many choices and decisions.  Please help and share your input with me!  Leave me a comment on which one you prefer.  I'm looking forward to hearing what you think.

Thanks for sharing some precious time with me.  I'm so blessed that you do.  I always appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment too!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon