New Card Template

Hello Friends!  Hope you're all staying warm and dry.  We're back to colder weather and rain again.  But a least there's no snow coming around here.  I've been talking with friends in Michigan and Maine.  Sounds like both states are getting slammed with cold weather and lots of snow.  That's something that I'm not missing at all.  Now my friends, I'm missing those a lot!  Wish I could drag you all down here for a long visit.  Just think of how much stamping and chatting we could do!!  Oh well, that's just wishful thinking on my part.

Today I wanted to do something a little different.  How about a template you can use over and over again to make as many cards as you'd like?  I've made two cards with this template and it's an easy template to use.  There aren't too many pieces that need to be cut or scored.  Just enough to make it interesting.  Here goes...

Here are the basic cardstock measurements:

card base   -  11" x 4 1/4"  scored @ 5 1/2"

DSP layer  -  4" x 5 1/2"

white layer -  3" x 5"

If you only have these three components, you can make a different card every time you sit and stamp.  For this card, I used Balmy Blue for my card base.  The DSP layer is one of the prints from the Country Floral Lane DSP.  It's found on page 9 of the January - April Mini Catalog.  I have used most of the prints in this paper pack for Valentine cards.  I thought this blue print would make a pretty birthday card though.

Before doing any stamping on the Basic White layer, I used one of the Basic Borders dies to cut a fancy edge at an angle.  Isn't that a cute addition?  I chose the birthday sentiment from the Happy Thoughts set.  I really like the size of the fonts for this sentiment.  It fits the card just like I wanted.  It's stamped in Balmy Blue ink to match.  

Two leafy stems from the Dainty Delight dies were cut from Mint Macaron cardstock.  They were trimmed a little on the bottom edges to fit the white layer in a nice curve.  Multi Purpose Liquid Glue was used to attach the stems to the left side.  The three flowers and bud were die-cut from Pale Papaya cardstock to match the dots on the DSP.  These were attached with Mini Glue Dots along the stems.

Before attaching the layer, a Pale Papaya ribbon was tied around the card front and tied into a knot on the side.  I know it's a retired ribbon, but it worked so nicely with the card.  Besides, this is to give you a card template for your use, not really showcase any particular stamp set.  After adding the ribbon, the main layer was attached to the card front using Dimensionals.

At this point, I planned to add rhinestones to the card.  I wasn't happy with the rhinestones, or the Iridescent Pearls, or anything else I tried.  Everything I tried was just too pale.  Imagine me saying that!  LOL Time to go raid my retired stash of embellishments.  These gold pearls are from a set of gold and silver pearls.  They're nice and tiny and can easily be used for the flower centers.

I had so much fun making this card, I went right ahead and made a 2nd card using this same template.  After changing up the colors, it sure does look different.

For this one, I started out with a base of Blackberry Bliss cardstock.  I used some of the Favored Flowers that were a Sale-a-bration freebie that I just love.  It's so rich and elegant looking.

The ribbon was changed to the White Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon.  The Blackberry Bliss Light Blends was used to color the ribbon.  Such an easy way to get ribbon in any color you want!

The sentiment is from the Beauty of Friendship stamp set.  It's stamped with Blackberry Bliss ink.  

I changed the die used to cut the edge of the white layer to a retired set called Ornate Border Dies.  I like the lacy delicate look with the darker colors on the card.  It still has that elegant feel to it.

The two sets of flowers tucked over and under the sentiment layer are parts of the Favored Flowers DSP cut with my Paper Snips.  They just fit right in, don't they?

The bling used on this card is the Iridescent Rhinestone Basic Jewels.  Love, love, love these gorgeous jewels!  They tend to fit right in with anything you want to add sparkle to and make it shine.  I tried just three on the card, but that wasn't enough.  So I sprinkled on two more.  Yes!

Just wanted to share a picture of the inside of the card too.  The Basic White cardstock is cut to measure 5 1/4" x 4".  There is a 1/2" strip of coordinating DSP added to the bottom to match the front of the cards.  For this card, I chose a sentiment from the Irresistible Blooms stamp set that is an Online Exclusive.  Make sure you check out this set and all the other options online when you're ready to order.  If you have any trouble seeing them, call me and I'll try to help.

That's it for today.  Hope you give this card template a try.  It's a good idea to have some go-to templates to work with when you're stuck for a quick idea.  I know I find it helpful.

Thanks for stopping by to share a part of your day with me.  Feel free to leave me a message.  You know I'd love to hear from you!  If you're planning on ordering soon, please consider using the Host Code at the top right corner of this post.  Thanks so much!

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

Neutral Nature's Harvest Card

Happy October everyone!  

Yes, another month is gone and we're ready to start in again.  Whew - if this is October already, that means Christmas is just that much closer.  Not ready for that at all!  And today is going to show you that I'm still stuck in more of an autumn mode.  I was playing around with ideas for cards to mail out to all of you that ordered in September. You know how I like to send out cards all the time.  Well, this idea has gone through a few revisions to get to where it is now.  Hope you like the finished idea.

Here are two versions of the same color combo.  I wanted to make something really simple with just the die-cuts  and Designer Series Paper to anchor the card.  So the one on the right is what I started with (more or less!) and then I sort of  branched out to stamping and coloring the cone flowers, daisies, or whatever they are.  Isn't it funny how you start out with one thought and things just morph into exactly what you thought you weren't going to do?!

The color combo of Crumb Cake and Merry Merlot I had already decided on.  So a card base of Crumb Cake was cut at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored and folded in half.  I love the gorgeous Harvest Meadow Designer Series Paper and knew I wanted to use one of the Crumb Cake neutrals.  I chose this pretty wall paper style print.  This is cut 5 1/4" x 4" and attached to the folded card base using adhesive.  

The layer of Merry Merlot is next.  This is cut 4 1/2" x 3 1/4".  The Basic White cardstock is cut 4 1/4" x 3" to fit over it.  For this version of card, I just used the large "splotchy" stamp with Crumb Cake ink.  I did stamp off to get a nice light shade to it.  Then there is a bit of Merry Merlot marker splattered over the Vanilla cardstock to give it even more interest and not be so bare.

On this card, I chose 2 of the dies from the Meadow Dies in the Annual Catalog, and the front floral one from the Harvest Dies set.  These coordinate so well I really have to think about which one is in which set.  They are both must-haves in my stamping opinion.  

They were cut from both Merry Merlot and Crumb Cake cardstock and layered on the card base with Multi Purpose Liquid Adhesive.

The sentiment is from the Beauty of  Friendship stamp set.  I love the sentiments and the fonts in this set and use them often.  It was stamped on Basic White cardstock using Merry Merlot ink.  It was cut around loosely, layered on Merry Merlot cardstock, and cut again.  This was attached to the card using a couple of Dimensionals.  

It was finished off with a double bow of Linen Thread attached with a Mini Glue Dot.  And  a few gold Metallic Pearls were added for some very subtle bling.  

This is the version I like better, at least most of the time.  Yes, I'm just too indecisive!  But you have to admit, it is pretty.  This card starts out exactly the same as the first one.  But this one uses the Nature's Harvest stamp set instead of the dies.  It is stamped in Merry Merlot ink along with that same sentiment from the first card.  I had planned on not coloring it at all, just leave it really neutral.  But as you can see, I couldn't help myself!  I used a water painter to just soften the color on the flowers.  Then I thought, why not?  I used the Old Olive Light Stampin' Blends to lightly sketch in the leaf and stem color.  I really like how that turned out.   

 To finish, I liked the Diamond Weave Ribbon from the July-Dec Mini Catalog much better than the Linen Thread on this one.  Still arguing if I want to color some white baker's twine with the Merry Merlot marker and add a bow on the ribbon.  If you get this card in the mail, you'll know which way the argument went when you see it!  LOL  There are also a few of the Metallic Pearls scattered on this card too.

There you have it.  Start out the same, but come up with two really different cards.  That's kind of my life at the moment.  I'm just struggling with making a definitive decision on so many different things.  Arrrgh!  I'm going to start tossing a coin to make my decisions soon if I can't do a better job of making up my mind on things!

Just a quick reminder that the current host code is shown on my blog in the upper right corner.  Thank you all for the orders that were placed in September.  You ladies are awesome!  I'm looking forward to serving you in October, so if you have any questions don't hesitate to get in touch. 

Happy October stamping!

Sharon 

Summer Forest Scenery Card

Hi, glad you're back today.  I've been looking out my windows and seeing lots of trees and plants in many various colors and shades of green and it reminded me of the gorgeous Beauty of the Earth Designer Series Paper.  So this is just a quick card to share some of that wonderful greenery with you in the form of a card.  I think you can get a real good idea of what I enjoy looking at everyday when you look at this card.

Can you just see the multitude of colors on these leaves?  Just like outside, but these have a slightly darker fall-ish look to them.  One of the very first stamp and die bundles I purchased when the 2021-2022 Annual Catalog came out last May was the great Inspired Thoughts Bundle. For this card I'm not using the stamps, but the die set has a really awesome row of trees with bare branches and several different leafy-greenery tree leaves.  Then to coordinate with these dies is the Beauty of Friendship Bundle with more trees and leaves to create with.  Again truly gorgeous.  Then when you add in the Beauty of the Earth designer Series Paper.  It's all an absolute Wow!  All these items work so well together it's so easy to use a little of this and a bit of that and bring it all together.

The card starts with a base of neutral Crumb Cake cardstock cut at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored and folded in half.  Next I cut a layer of Evening Evergreen cardstock cut at 5 1/4" x 4", but didn't attach it.  This is what I would build my card on and then layer to the card front when it was all trimmed up and ready.

Across the lower part of the card, I wanted a row of trees from the Beauty of the Earth Designer Series Paper.  One of the prints is just row after row of trees, so I cut off one of the rows to fit the card front.  The strip ended up being 1 1/4" wide by 5 1/4" long.  This was attached with adhesive.

I wanted to use the row of trees die, but knew most of it wouldn't fit.  Using the Inspiring Canopy dies, I only cut the 2 trees on the right end from Early Espresso cardstock.  This way I could place where needed and trim off any extra.  I also die-cut the leaves from one of the prints that matched the strip on the bottom part of the card.  This die has such wonderful texture to it that nothing else was needed to make it beautiful.  Both the trees and the leaves were attached to the card front using Multi Purpose Liquid Glue.

Next up is the sentiment.  The Beauty of Friendship Bundle has six sentiment stamps and two label dies to match.  I chose to use the 'Thinking of You' stamp and coordinating die.  I can always use more of these type of cards!  The label was cut from Basic White cardstock and the sentiment was stamped with the Evening Evergreen ink.  The end of the label was tucked under the leaves on the tree and attached with adhesive. 

The card front we've been building was now attached to the folded Crumb Cake base.  I used adhesive to keep it flatter.  (The Post Office is getting rich from all the extra postage I've been paying on those 'bulky' cards I've been sending!) 

The card needed something else, but I wasn't crazy about rhinestones or sequins.  Then tried adding Twine and ribbon, but nothing was fitting with what I wanted.  After thinking on it awhile, I remembered that the Beautiful Trees dies had two bird dies.  Yes!  To keep it subtle, I decided to cut them from Crumb Cake cardstock.  They didn't have eyes, so I just used a Basic Black marker to color in an eye for each of them.  They were attached to the card front with Dimensionals.  There you have it.  I just love it when the Designer Paper seems to do all the work for you.  This is a perfect card for a gentleman who's not into all that frou-frou stuff!  Or any of those nature lovers out there!

Here it is a new month, so of course there's a new host code for the month.  If you're planning on ordering any of the items you see me use here or anything else in the current catalogs, please use the host code shown here.  I'd be much obliged if you did.  And don't forget you still have almost the whole month of September left to cash in on the Sale-a-bration goodies offered.  They'll be available until September 30th unless they are sold out sooner.   

Thank you to all my wonderful friends who are still hanging out here with me.  As I write this I'm in Michigan for the week.  Hopefully I'll be seeing many of you in the next few days.  I can't express how much I miss seeing you all on a regular basis, having fun, and stamping together.  This blog is the closest I can come to that right now.  That's why I love it when you leave me a comment so I know you're out there!  Take care and keep on stamping and creating!

Hugs,

Sharon

Couldn't Resist a Sneak Peak

If you don't want a sneak peak of new catalog products - quit reading right now!!!

I know, I should be showing all the many things to be made from the retiring stamp sets.  And I promise I'll get back to that again.  But today I couldn't resist sharing something from the new 2021-2022 Stampin'Up! Annual Catalog.  If you're one of my loyal customers, you should be receiving one in the mail soon.   I'm so excited that you'll soon have one in your hot little hands.  There's so many really cool new things in the catalog and I know you'll find some goodies to fall in love with very quickly!  Unfortunately you can't order anything from it until May 4th.  But you can still look and dream of possibilities.  There is one set that caught my eye right away - and it isn't flowers for a change.  lol  The stamp set is called Beauty of Friendship and it is a beauty!  It will come bundled in the catalog with the Beautiful Trees Dies.  If you like the outdoors, you'll probably like this bundle too.  Here's my first go at it...

This is a truly simple stamp set to use.  It includes a 2-step evergreen tree and a 2-step deciduous tree with dies to match them.  There are also 6 different sentiments to choose from that are very general and can be used for so many reasons. And that's not all the dies in the set either.  There is a larger tree and separate leaves die along with 2 different sizes  of sentiment dies.  So this set will have you shaded, oh I mean covered, for all your everyday card-making needs.

For this card, I started with a Soft Suede cardbase of 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" folded in half.  The first layer was Very Vanilla cut at 5 1/4" x 4" and attached with adhesive.  The next layer is an old cardstock from Stampin'Up! called Naturals Ivory.  I had planned on using Sahara Sand, but couldn't lay my hands on it.  Why do I have all my retired stuff front and center right now and can't find the current stuff?!  Arrrgggh!!  That was me pulling my hair out just a bit in case you wondered...  ;)  

Anyway, I stamped the 3 bare trees onto this using Soft Suede ink.  The leaves were stamped first with Granny Apple Green ink, then stamped with Garden Green using the leafy detail stamp.  An extra leafy image was stamped onto Very Vanilla just like the others.  This one was die-cut using the coordinating die set.  Later on it was added to the card front using several Dimensionals.

At this point, the trees needed some grass underneath so they weren't floating in air.  So I stamped that in multiple times with Granny Apple Green ink and the funny shaped stamp in the set.  

Now the sky needed something to define the area.  I still had out March's Paper Pumpkin kit on my table, and there was a sunny stencil along with 3 others in the kit.  So why not?  I stenciled in the sun and rays with Daffodil Delight ink and one of my favorite tools - the Blending Brushes.  BTW, they're available to order right now, so get them while you can.

While I was in that Paper Pumpkin kit, I remembered there was a tiny stamp with birds flying.  So that was the next addition to the sky.  The birds were stamped with Soft Suede ink to stay with the same warm colors.  Just the perfect accent!

Next up I thought the Mossy Meadow Braided Linen Trim would be a good choice to use for an accent.  I wrapped it around the layer and attached in the back.  Then added a small bow that was attached with a Mini Glue Dot.

Last thing was the sentiment on this card.  It comes in the Beauty of Friendship set so there was no hunting for something to use.  The die that fit this best was from the Stitched Rectangle Dies.  The sentiment was stamped using Garden Green ink.  It was attached to the side over the strip of braided trim with Dimensionals to pop it up a bit.

I debated about attaching all this flat to the card or adding Dimensionals.  As you can see, the Dimensionals won out. 

Here's a closer view of the stenciled sun and the colors stamped on the leaves.  I really like how the colors give a feeling of depth to the trees and aren't all a flat, one color.   I have a feeling this will probably be one of my favorite stamp sets (that isn't a flower!) and I'll be using it often.

Now that it's been posted, I can get this card in the mail to a special friend who always goes above and beyond what is ever asked of her.  I'm so blessed to have a friend like Sue.  Thank you for all you do each and every day!!

That's it for today.  I need to get back to my stamping and continue to use my retiring stamps.  They still need lots of love and attention.

 

If you'd like to place an order this month, please consider using the Host Code shown here.  And a big thank you to all of you that have placed an order already this month.  I'm looking forward to sending out some goodies again after the end of the month to each of you.

Also, anyone that makes a comment on any of the posts this month will be added to a drawing at the end of the month for the set Punch Party from me.  I hope you  will take the time to post a comment, and make sure you add your name.  I can't add you to the drawing if I don't know who you are!  There have been a few anonymous postings so far.   And I surely don't want you to miss out on the possibility of winning this set.  

One last item.  If you would like to receive a 2021-2022 Catalog and have not received it in the mail by the end of April, please get in touch with me.  I want to make sure each person has their very own copy of the newest catalog that Stampin'Up! has to offer.

Happy stamping with many hugs sent your way!

Sharon