Gift Bag Envelope and Card

I've been on the road this week spending time with family in North Carolina and having such a wonderful time.  And of course, when you stay with someone, you really need to give or send a thank you card to show your appreciation.  The combo I'm sharing today was made for my sister Connie.  She's very artistic and I'm usually trying my hardest to make something I think she might like.

To make it different this time, I used one of the adorable Ombre Gift Bags as the envelope for her thank you card.  I had just gotten these and thought they were so pretty.  I was looking for a way to use them, and this is really pretty basic, but it was a good start anyway.

This one is the Evening Evergreen shade and is a nice dark backdrop for the lighter, softer flowers.  I die-cut a piece of Basic White cardstock with a Scalloped Contours Die for the front label.  On a scrap piece of Basic White, I stamped the two flowers using the Flowers of Friendship stamp set and Pale Papaya ink.  The leaves are from the same set and were stamped with Soft Succulent ink.  These were all punched out using the coordinating Flowers & Leaves Punch.  (You can get these items together in a bundle and save 10%.)  To add a little more color, I used the same color Stampin' Blends on both flowers and leaves.  

Next the sentiment was stamped on the label.  I stamped this with one of the cute thank you sentiments from the Flowers of Friendship stamp set and Soft Succulent ink.  Did you notice the two fonts on the same stamp?  Isn't that cute and eye-catching?  Love it! 

The flowers were attached to the label with Dimensionals.  Then the leaves were tucked under the flowers and attached with a little adhesive after curling the ends of the leaves up a bit for dimension.  Then two sequins from the Artistry Blooms Adhesive-backed Sequins were added to the flower centers.

A twist of the Pale Papaya and White 1/2" Ribbon was added under the label.  Then Dimensionals were added behind the label to lift it from the bag.  Ok, the envelope was finished, on to the card.

I liked the cards I made earlier with this special fold, so thought I'd make another one.  This one used Evening Evergreen for a card base cut 11" x 4 1/4" and is folded at 5 1/2".   Measuring in 3/4" from each side, a strip was cut off.  A 1/2" strip of Hand-Penned Designer Series Paper was added to each side with a Basic White piece inside under the top flap for writing.  Another piece of the DSP was cut to fit and added to the front flap using Adhesive.  A piece of Vellum was  die-cut using the Stitched Rectangle Dies to match the label on the envelope and was attached to the card front.  

The Hand-Penned bouquet was stamped on Basic White cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink then colored using Blends: Light Pale Papaya, Soft Succulent, Pool Party, and Cinnamon Cider.  It was then die-cut using the coordinating Penned Flowers Dies.  This was attached to the card front using Dimensionals.  A strip of the Pale Papaya and White 1/2" Ribbon was tucked under the bouquet of flowers to match the envelope we just made. 

The sentiment is from the same stamp set and stamped with Tuxedo Black ink.  It was then 'bubble-cut' and attached to the label using Mini Dimensionals.  A sprinkle of the same Artistry Blooms Adhesive-backed Sequins was added for a little touch of bling to finish it off.

If you can't tell by now, I really love this Hand-Penned Petals Bundle and tend to reach for it quite often.  Isn't it funny how attached to one special set we get?  Or is it just me?!?  I'm so happy that Stampin' Up! gives me so many different coordinating sets and bundles to choose from to meet my needs and moods.  Wonder what my next favorite set will turn out to be.  hmmm...

That's it for today.  I want to remind you that I'm here to help you with your stamping needs and questions.  I love to hear from you.  Leave me a comment and tell me what you think of my projects.  Is there something in particular you'd like me to work with?  If so, let me know.  I'll work on trying to fulfill your requests.

Remember we still need to send cards during the summer so  take time to do some stamping during this wonderful summer weather.  Enjoy the sun, but don't get too much!   Happy stamping and creating!

Sharon

Pretty Hand-Penned Petals

 I was having fun playing with the new Hand-Penned Petals bundle making cards for customers and friends.  I especially love working with the Hand-Penned Designer Series Paper that coordinates with this stamp set.  It is so pretty and I love each and every design both front and back.  And that just makes it more hard to decide which one to use first.  Soooo... I made 4 cards that are the same layout.  But each of the cards uses a different designer print so I could cover all the bases here!

I'm so happy with these cards!  Even though they are basically the same, they still look different because of the designer papers and using different colors of cardstock for the card bases.  There was an added layer of Vellum under the die-cut focal piece to breakup the many prints a little bit, and just because it was pretty.  *grin*

To make this card, start out with a piece of cardstock that is cut to 4 1/4" x 11".  This is scored at 5 1/2" to fold in half.  I measured in 3/4" an each side at the fold, marked it, then cut 3/4" off from the front flap on each side to make a skinnier front flap card.  Just a little different fun-fold to change things up a bit.

The Hand-Penned DSP was cut at 5 1/4" along the 12" paper, then trimmed first to 2 1/2" wide and then two 1/2" wide strips for the sides.  Each of these pieces was attached to the folded card base using adhesive.

The inside of each card has a layer of Basic White cardstock cut to 5 1/4" x 2 3/8" and attached using adhesive.  I've left them all blank so I have room to write my notes which I think is essential when I'm sending cards.

The next step was stamping the flower stem.  This was done on Basic White cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  The flowers and leaves were all colored with the fill-in stamps using a mixture of inks that coordinated with the DSP used for each card.  Because the stamps did all the work of coloring, the job went very fast getting them all finished.  They were all easily die-cut using the Penned Flowers Dies.

After laying the flowers across each card, I felt it needed something as a buffer between all the different prints to make the focal flowers stand out more.  Using the Scalloped Contours Dies, I cut a piece of Vellum Cardstock.  This not only gave it a scalloped edge, but added stitching too.  Very nice, but subtle, addition to the card.  The Vellum is attached using adhesive underneath where the flowers and leaves will be attached.  The flowers were  attached with Dimensionals.

The last step was deciding on a sentiment.  I chose to use one of the sentiments in the Hand-Penned Petals stamp set.  Doesn't this font look perfect with the sketchiness of the flowers themselves?  

I stamped the 'thanks' using Memento Tuxedo Black ink on a scrap of Basic White cardstock.  These were easily 'fussy cut' to place onto the cards.  This time I used Mini Dimensionals to attach them because of the tiny size.

On some of the cards I added some linen thread wrapped twice and tied into a bow to accent, and some I used the Blushing Bride Baker's Twine that is retired but still was a perfect addition.  On one card there is a 6" Pale Papaya and White ribbon folded in half and attached under the flowers.  I tended to use whatever worked for each individual card.

Cardstock Used:  Evening Evergreen, Fresh Freesia, Pale Papaya, Mint Macaron, Basic White, and Vellum.

Ink Used:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Mint Macaron, Soft Succulent, Highland Heather, Blushing Bride, Pale Papaya, Daffodil Delight, and Pool Party.

Extras:  Cinnamon Cider Blends (on the Evening Evergreen card right over the ink)

That's it for today's ideas.  I really like how these cards turned out.  This fun-fold is very easy to do and adds just a bit more interest to your card.  And I actually have a few more versions that I made.  (Can you believe that?)  If you are one of the ladies that places an order in the month of May, one of these will be on the way to you after the end of the month.  Which version of this card will you receive?  Hopefully your favorite one!

If you are still thinking of ordering yet this month, please use this Host Code when you're ordering.  I do appreciate it so much.

Happy stamping and have fun with your creating!

Blessings and many hugs,

Sharon

 

Hand-Penned Softness

Hi again!  So glad you stopped by.  It's so close to the new catalog going live that I just had to share another sneak peak.  So if you don't like sneak peaks, better leave now.  I've got a new stamp set, dies, inks and cardstock to share with you.  I do have a teensy retiring ladybug because I just couldn't help myself.  I have a few of these left and I'm sure they will land on a card every once in awhile.  ;)

Isn't this pretty?  And you can easily see why I titled it 'Softness".  These colors are sooooo me!  I love pastels in anything and everything.  Even though these colors are pastel, they still have an intensity to them so they won't get lost in the background.  They kind of say "Look At Me!  Aren't I just gorgeous?!"  Oh, I can't wait to have you play with these colors too!  OK, let's get to the nitty gritty so you know what all these lovely new things are...

The card starts with a base of the new Soft Succulent cardstock cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" then folded in half.  Next there is a layer of the gorgeous new Hand-Penned Designer Series Paper.  Just love this soft pink print!  It's cut at 5 1/4" x 4".  I wrapped this a couple times with the retiring Snail Mail Twine in Blushing Bride.  Then tied it off with a little bow at the bottom of the card.  You could use white twine or even the Linen Thread, but I liked how this looked together.  This was all attached to the folded card base with Dimensionals.

Next up was the white layer.  I checked to see if the floral bouquet would fit into the Stitched So Sweetly Dies, and it did.  Perfectly fit in the 2nd to largest die.  I die-cut the Basic White cardstock first then stamped the floral image with Basic Gray ink.  Thought this would be a little softer looking that the crisp black ink.  

After stamping the image with gray ink, the fun really started.  This stamp set has coordinating images that will stamp the color inside the different flowers and leaves.  Oh, I do love 2-step stamping.  It makes it so quick and easy to finish a card when you only need to stamp the colors inside the outline!  For this set, the stamps are not a perfect fit, so it's just stamp and go!   The colors I chose to use are some new, some old.   The leaves are all Soft Succulent, 2 flowers are Blushing Bride, one Highland Heather, and the clusters of small flowers are Pale Papaya.  Don't all those colors looked wonderful together?   After this was completely stamped, it was attached to the card front with Dimensionals also.

The sentiment is from the same set and was stamped with Soft Succulent ink.  This was die-cut using a 'shutter' from the Window Flower Box Dies.  Yeah, I know, this is really not a shutter or any part of a window, but it fit and was fairly plain.  And that's exactly what I was looking for.  The rest of the card has lots of color, texture and shapes going on so I was looking for subtle and that's just what I got.  Don't be afraid to rummage through your dies to find just what you're looking for.  Sometimes it's amazing just what you'll find.  ;)  The sentiment was attached to the card with Dimensionals also.

Here's a final look at the colors used.  And a little look at the cute Ms. Ladybug.  She's attached with a Mini Glue Dot and she's so happy to hang out with these pretty flowers.  So sorry she's retiring, but there are some adorable little golden bees coming, so keep an eye out for those little guys showing up soon.

Thought this pretty field of flowers was the perfect look to go with this card and also to get you thinking of Mother's Day.  Can't believe it's almost here.  Need anything for her that I can get ordered for you?  If you're planning on placing an order this month, please consider choosing me for your demonstrator and using this host code for this month.  I appreciate all of your orders, and I'm already planning what I'll be sending as a thank you at the end of the month.   Have fun creating with all the new goodies Stampin' Up! has to offer.  If you haven't received you new catalog from me and would like one, please contact me and I'll be happy to send one out to you soon.

Love and inky hugs to you!

Sharon