Product of the Month Plus Extras

Hello friends!  Coming to you from a very damp and chilly South Carolina today.  A gray and rainy 48 degrees feels way colder than it really is.  A good day to stay inside and get another post done.  Right?  Maybe that's why I've been making cards lately that have a lot of blue and gray going on.  Must be something to do with the weather!  I've been trying to figure out how I wanted to present these card ideas in a coherent fashion and here goes.  Instead of breaking this down into several different posts, I've got a main card idea plus 2 extras.  Hope this all makes sense to you as it unfolds.  The main focus on today's post is using the Product of the Month from last December.  I just checked and it's still available at this time.  You need to purchase $75 worth of merchandise to be eligible to buy the True Blue Designer Series Paper Product of the Month which is available only while supplies last.  That means it's not too late to get one of these DSP packs for $5!  Since it is still available, I thought I'd share a couple of card designs I made using this lovely paper.

This is the first card I made with the True Blue DSP.  I love the prints on this piece, so I was looking for a layout that features both sides of the DSP.  This card does it so well.  Since the DSP has a combo of Night of Navy, Balmy Blue, and Basic White, I chose Night of Navy for the card base.  It measures 5 1/2" x 5 1/4" and it's scored at 4 1/4" which gives you a front flap that's only 1" wide.

Next, a piece of the True Blue DSP was cut that measures 5 1/2" x a scant 4 1/4" so it fits inside the folded flap.  Put adhesive inside the flap but not quite to the score line then attach the DSP to this.  Make sure you line up the outer edge with the back of the card so they're even.

I wrapped a Frayed Edge White Ribbon around this and tied into a loose-ish knot.  I really like how the white ribbon stands out against the navy and enhances the design.

The Basic White label on the front of the card was die-cut with the smaller label in the Peace on Earth die set.  I thought the shape and size worked well here.

The sentiment comes from the Hope You Know stamp set.  It's stamped with Night of Navy ink right near the top.  

Both the larger and smaller greenery dies used here are from the Charming Day dies.  They blend in with the print on the DSP but aren't quite the same.  They are cut from Night of Navy cardstock and Balmy Blue cardstock to match the card.  After cutting, they are attached to the label.  The navy one is flat with just adhesive.  The Balmy Blue one has adhesive on the bottom of the stem area and has Mini Dimensionals under the 3 top leaves to hold in place.

The label was then attached to the card front using Dimensionals.

For a little added bling, three Iridescent Pearls were added to the design.

With this fun fold design, I mentioned you can see both sides of the paper.  This is the inside of the card.  Yes, the ribbon goes right around the layers and ties in front.  This way you can enjoy it both inside and out.

The inside layer is Basic White that is cut at 5 1/4" x 4".  The sentiment is from the Comforting Thoughts set and is stamped in Night of Navy ink.

The little branch in the bottom corner is from the Charming Day set and is stamped in Balmy Blue ink.  Isn't it a nice touch?

Ok, this is the first card I'm sharing.  Next is a card using the same layout but using different colors and DSP.

Here you can see them together.  The upper card uses Cloud Cover for a card base and a print from the Peaceful Garden DSP.

I don't remember what cut the white label.  It was just in my stash of left-over die-cut pieces.  It fit the card, so I used it.  The sentiment on this one is from the Friendly Foliage stamp set.  It's stamped with Secret Sea ink.  

I'm not sure where the die for the Cloud Cover branch is from, but the Secret Sea leaf is from the Charming Day dies.

The ribbon is a sheer Secret Sea ribbon that is currently available.  The touch of bling on the card is from the Iridescent Pearls just like the other card.  The inside is the same except for the ink colors used.

This last card reverts back to the True Blue DSP.  The card base is Balmy Blue that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" scored and folded in half.

The Night of Navy layer measures 4 3/4" x 3 1/2".  The three DSP prints measure as follows:

2 1/4" x 3",  7/8" x 3",  and 1 3/8" x 3 1/4"

These three prints were attached to the navy layer with adhesive.  As you can see, it was a little off and I should have used "green glue" to have that extra wiggle time to get it where I wanted it.

After glueing these pieces on the navy layer, I wrapped a Balmy Blue/white ribbon around this and tied it into a knot in the center.  

A Basic White circle die-cut and stamps from the Unbounded Love set was used to stamp the sentiment with Night of Navy ink.  This was attached right at the knot in the ribbon with Dimensionals.

For bling on this card, I used the white dots from the Moody Palette Glossy Dots that will be a new Online Exclusive item on January 6th.

I hope you liked these ideas I've shared.  There is a template for cutting DSP for a card front along with a fun fold that's so easy to use but really makes the pretty DSP prints take center stage.  Give these ideas a try with other Designer Series Papers that you have in that pile you're hiding 😏 and see what lovely cards you can make.

Thanks for taking the time to stop in today.  Let me know what you think of these ideas.  I love to hear from you.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Blended Background Prairie Grass

Hello Friends!  Today I'm going to step away from that fabulous Sunflowers 3D Embossing Folder and do a little creating with the new Prairie Grass stamp set I just received.  This is a little stand-alone stamp set that is a real treasure as far as I'm concerned.  There are three silhouette images and five sentiments to use.  You'll only find it in the Online Exclusives section in the online store.

The first time I saw this stamp set, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.  I love doing blended backgrounds and this would be the perfect setting for this large stamp.  The large stamp in the set almost covers a whole card front.  But it's still so delicate looking and the background shines through very nicely.  Let me walk you through the steps to make this lovely card.

The first decision was the color of the cardstock for the design layer.  I chose Basic White because I wanted the sun to be a bright white area instead of a vanilla shade.  The Basic White cardstock was cut to measure 3 3/4" x 5".  Then the large grass stamp was stamped onto this using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  The image was positioned near the left side and the top of the grass was about 1/4" from the top of the cardstock.  This leaves a small bit of the stamp that is off the bottom of the cardstock.

The next step was die-cutting a 'mask' for the sun area.  I used one of the Stylish Shapes Dies to cut a circle from Masking Paper.  This is something I don't use often, but it really comes in handy to mask off an area when needed.  It can be re-used more than once if you're careful putting it on and off, so it's great when making multiples of the same card.

The mask is positioned tucked into the stamped design to make it look like the grasses were partially in front of the sun.

The first color that is blended onto the design is Daffodil Delight ink.  The ink is added heavier near the edge of the sun and blended out at least an inch.  Next some Coastal Cabana ink was very lightly added.  Then Balmy Blue ink was added to the edges in the sky area.

Next up is working in the ground portion of the picture.   First, I tried adding Granny Apple Green, but it didn't have enough depth to ground the card.  Then Old Olive ink was blended onto the design.  Perfect.

Carefully peel off the mask to use again if desired.  

The sentiment used here and inside the card is from the Hope You Know stamp set.  Lots of lovely sentiments in this set.  The hello was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink inside the sun area.

I wanted some birds flying in the background.  The bird stamp in the Sunrise Sailing stamp set was stamped 3 times to fill the design a little.  Memento Tuxedo Black ink was used for these too.

It was time to get the card put together.  This layer was attached to a Basic Black layer that measures 4" x 5 1/4".  They are attached with adhesive.  After adhering together, Linen Thread was wrapped around the bottom of this three times then tied into a knot.  The ends of the thread were frayed.

This was all attached to a folded Old Olive cardstock base.  Dimensionals were used for this.

The inside of the card has a Basic White layer for the sentiment that measures 4" x 5 1/4".  This sentiment coordinates with the sentiment on the front and is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

To coordinate with the front, I stamped part of the large image along the left bottom corner of this layer.

The edges all around this layer also have a small amount of Balmy Blue (top 2/3) and Old Olive (bottom 1/3) blended on.  I liked just a little bit of the extra color added here.  I also added a 1/4" strip of Basic Black cardstock to the bottom edge with adhesive.

This layer was added to the inside of the card with adhesive.

One last look at the final design.  Oops, I forgot to mention that two of the Adhesive-backed Dragonflies & Birds were added to the design.  I thought they coordinated well with the stamped birds and added just a small touch of bling.

Just a reminder that the 2025-2027 In Color Sale is going on through the end of the month of August.  There are actually three pages of products that are on sale for 15% off.  You don't want to miss this sale.

Thank you for stopping by today to see what I've been working on lately.  Hope you give this idea a try and then come back for another idea boost.  Should I add another card idea or two using the Sunflower 3D Embossing Folder?  I still have more ideas, but I don't want to totally bore you with them all.  Just because I'm nuts about this embossing folder doesn't mean everybody else is.  So, what do you think??  Whatever you prefer, make sure you keep creating and then sharing your "art with heart" with your family and friends.  It's sure to put a smile on someone's face!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

sharoncarr50@gmail.com

Delightful Hugs Card

Well, here we are.  It's Sunday again and good heavens, it's already February.  January was rough with all the respiratory infections and the forever cough.  But I'm believing that we are beyond that now.  All that freezing weather we had should have killed off all those nasty germs, and now we can get on with life again.  Sounds like a good plan to me!

Today's card is a bright and cheerful everyday kind of card that use several items from the Delightful Wishes Bundle and the coordinating Designer Series Paper called Floral Delight DSP.  I love the bright yellows for spring.  It just makes me happy!  

See?  Isn't it a happy little card?  Just what someone needs to brighten these long dreary days of winter.

I started with a card base of Old Olive to pick up the greens in the DSP print.  This is cut to measure 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" then scored and folded in half.  I wanted some texture added, so a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Old Ollive was cut.  Then it's embossed with the Dashing Designs 3D Embossing Folder which is found in the Annual Catalog.  This gives such an interesting and random background design with dashes and dots.  The two layers were attached with "green glue".  

Choosing which designs of the Floral Delight DSP was next.  I chose one floral and another design with dots and dashes to mimic the embossing.  These two pieces happen to be back-to-back.  The floral piece measures 3" x 2 1/4", and the other is 3 1/2" x 2".  Both pieces are backed with Daffodil Delight cardstock.  These measurements are - 3 1/4" x 2 1/2" and 3 3/4" x 2 1/4".  The DSP pieces are attached to the layers with adhesive.  These sections were both attached to the card front to form a sort of 'L' shape and were attached with "green glue".

The sentiment came next.  This one is from the Hugs for Love Bundle in the current Mini Catalog.  I love this sentiment so much and have used it multiple times already.  This time it is stamped with Pecan Pie ink onto Basic White cardstock.  It is cut with a die from the Stylish Shapes Dies.  This one is the 4th largest in size.

I didn't have my Daffodil Delight ribbon yet, so I grabbed a retired ribbon for the accent.  I cut about 6" and folded in half to form this loop.  I attached it to the back of the circle with adhesive.  Then Dimensionals were placed on the back to pop it up on the card design.  When the card was totally finished, I wish I had placed it about 1/2" lower on the card.  I tried to take it off and reposition after the card was finished, but it started ripping.  That was the sign I needed to tell me to leave it alone and just deal with it as is!

The 2-step flower in the set was stamped several times to add to the design and then die-cut.  The colors used for this were Daffodil Delight and Crushed Curry.  There were also a few leaves stamped with Old Olive ink and die-cut for the design.  

After playing with the flowers and leaves, I decided to die-cut a few flowers from Daffodil Delight cardstock using the single flower from the Heart Shaped set.  These were a perfect size and accent to the pieces I had already stamped.

Most of the flowers and leaves were attached flat using Mini Glue Dots.  The one larger flower was attached with one Dimensional in the center.  

For an embellishment, I used the golden tone gems from the Low Profile Dots.  These were placed in the center of the die-cut Daffodil Delight flowers with an extra one popped near the bottom of the design.

I forgot to take a picture of the inside.  Oops.  I used a sentiment from the Hope You Know set.  It's stamped on Basic White cardstock using Pecan Pie ink.  A couple of flowers and leaves were stamped on the inside of the card for an accent.  And a 1/2" strip of the same dotted DSP was attached to the bottom of the white layer.  This really bring the design into the inside of the card to match.

I hope you are ordering your favorite Sale-a-bration items when you place your orders.  It's so much fun opening that box and seeing your new treasures to create with and some of them even free!  Woo hoo!  There are only a few more weeks to take advantage of Sale-a-bration so don't put it off too long.  Thanks for hanging out with me for a while today.  Hope you liked the idea and are inspired to get out those stamps and dies and create!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon 

sharoncarr50@gmail.com