Peek A Boo Windows and More

Hello friends!  I've just gotten back from our trip to the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter.  Oh my!  How fascinating and a truly thought-provoking couple of days.   It was amazing to visit the ark and get a glimpse of what life might have been for these eight people and all those animals.  Just the work of feeding and watering each of them each day would have been so time consuming.  If you ever have a chance to visit these two places, please go.  You'll be amazed, but hopefully enlightened too.  Okay, I came home wanting to make a thank you card for my grandson's teacher for allowing me to tag along on this class trip.  Well before the trip, I had seen a couple videos that featured this style of card that was new to me.  Of course, I forgot to save the videos for future reference.  Duh.  So... that means I'm sharing my version of the cards that I saw a week or two ago.  Here we go...

When spending a little time talking to his teacher, she mentioned she liked flowers a lot.  So this is the card I made first.  I love this pretty Delightful Floral DSP.  I needed a DSP print that the front and back sides coordinated nicely, because both would be showing on the card.  The DSP measures 10 1/2" long x 4" wide.  If you have a print that is directional like this one, make sure it is cut up and down so the print is correct on the finished card.  You also need a coordinating piece of cardstock that measures 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" for the card base.  I used Fresh Freesia cardstock for this design. 

After folding the DSP in half, I used the 2nd largest rectangle die from the Nested Essentials Dies set.  The die was positioned about 1" from the top fold.  It cut through both layers of DSP at once.

Next the folded DSP was attached to the Fresh Freesia cardstock piece using adhesive.  Watch out for the directional pattern!  You should be able to see the Fresh Freesia cardstock from the card base showing through the window at this point.

The sentiment comes from the Irresistible Blooms stamp set.  It's stamped with Pretty Peacock onto a scrap of Basic White cardstock that measured about 2 3/4" x 2 1/2".  I used one of the many dies in the Unbounded Love Die set.  (this is an awesome set and will be a staple in my crafting!)  It was attached to the inside of the card through the window to make sure it's centered.  I used Dimensionals to add this piece.

I had a sheer ribbon that is Fresh Freesia colored that matched nicely, so it was wrapped around the front layer and tied into a soft knot.

This is the inside of the card which shows the other side of the DSP.  You can see where the ribbon was tied around the card and also the card base showing through with the label on top of it.

A butterfly was cut from Fresh Freesia cardstock using the Meadow Die set.  (I'll probably never let this die set go because I love the silhouette dies in the set so much!)  The butterfly is only attached by one of the wings because it overlaps the sentiment area.

One of the Adhesive-backed Pearl Trio gems was added for a little bit of bling.  I thought about adding more, but it just got too busy for my taste.

I was on a roll with this style of card, so I thought I'd do another one to have on hand.  This time I used the Winter Meadow DSP as my inspiration.  The DSP is cut a 10 1/2" x 4" again.  This print was much more forgiving, and it could go in any direction.  The same Nested Essentials die was used to cut through both layers of DSP like the last card.  It was attached to a card base of Blueberry Bushel cardstock that measures 5 1/2" x 4 1/4".

Because the inside of the card was a rather dark blue watercolor look, I added a layer of Basic White inside that measures 5" x 3 3/4".  It's attached inside with adhesive.  One of the pieces of DSP that were die-cut was used to add the blue layer inside the window of the card.

The same sentiment and die were used for the center of the window on this card too.  This time it was stamped with Blueberry Bushel ink.  It's attached with Dimensionals to the blue DSP.

There is a sparkly light blue ribbon tied around the card front.  The color is Seaside Spray for those of you that have been around a good number of years.  It really isn't a matchy-matchy color, but it seemed to work.  I almost went with a white ribbon, but this one was sitting there needing some love and attention, so why not use it?

The same butterfly from the Meadow Die set was used to cut one little Blueberry Bushel butterfly.  It's carefully attached to the card front so no adhesive shows on the inside.  Another of those Adhesive-backed Pearl Trio gems was used on this card.  They each have such an interesting, multi-toned pearlized color that blends with many of the cardstock colors we have.

Two cards made quite quickly.  One to use now and another one for later.  It's always a good thing to have extra cards on hand when the need arises.  I hope you're interested in this fun fold card idea. It's a quick design for a beautiful card.  You can change the sentiments and designer paper to cover any occasion.  Just remember to ensure both sides of the DSP coordinate together.  And be mindful of any directional prints you might have on the paper.  You certainly don't want to get your beautiful card finished and find the print is sideways or upside down.  Enjoy!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Hello, Irresistible Easter Card

Hello there!  I've been getting started making some Easter cards.  The one I want to share today is truly beautiful, because the DSP is the star of this card.  The new Hello, Irresistible DSP is one of the loveliest I've seen in a long while.  It's one of the Online Exclusive items that are available only online.  I thought the Fancy Flora DSP was beautiful, and it really is.  I still love it and choose it when I'm in a creative mood.  But I think the prints and colors on this pack of DSP are another step up in what I like to work with when making cards.  Let me share a card with you that really focuses on one of these prints.

All I can say is if you like pastels, this Designer Paper is absolutely for you!  Isn't the print just gorgeous?  It gives the illusion of white embossing over the softly blended background.  But in reality, that's just the look it portrays. There isn't any actual embossing on the card at all.  Doesn't it just make this card though?  I only added a sentiment tag and some die-cut leaves to finish it.  Couldn't be easier.

To make the card, start with a card base of Soft Sea Foam cardstock that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  It's scored at 4 1/4" and folded in half.

The DSP print paper is cut to measure 3 3/4" x 5".  This is attached to a Basic White piece of cardstock that measures 3 7/8" x 5 1/8".  The print paper is attached to the Basic White using Multi Purpose Liquid Glue.  I prefer this glue when I have a really skinny layer so I can get all the edges sort of slid into place nice and even.  This was attached to the Soft See Foam folded card base using Dimensionals.

Next up is deciding on a sentiment and what to stamp it on.  I'd been thinking about Easter cards, so I went with the Daffodil Daydream stamp set that's found on page 21 in the Annual Catalog.  I like the mixed font on these sentiments that give it a fun look.  It's stamped on a piece of Basic White cardstock using Basic Gray ink.  This was to keep in line with the soft look instead of using a harsher black ink.  

It was die-cut using the Tailor Made Tags Dies.  This is the 2nd smallest fancier tag die.  After die-cutting, it was placed on the card front as shown using Dimensionals to raise it up.

The Irresistible Blooms Dies were used to cut the leaves.  It has several open-work leaves to choose from.  I actually used two of them to cut leaves from backside of a scrap of this DSP.  It had a lovely mix of the yellows and greens that I liked.  The 3rd leaf was cut from Soft Sea Foam cardstock.

The leaf cluster comes from the Around the Bend Dies.  I had an extra Soft Sea Foam one cut from my last project that was still sitting on my work-table, so why not use it?  The leaves were all attached to the tag either on top of it or tucked in underneath to form a pleasing cluster.  

A length of white 1/4" Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon about 6-7" long was tied into a bow.  It was attached over the center of the leaf cluster.  A Mini Glue Dot was used to attach this.

The last thing here was to decide on what accents to add, if any.  After trying several different ideas, I thought the Iridescent Rhinestone Basic Jewels worked the best.  No matter which angle you look at the card, either a green, yellow, or pink color flashes back at you.  Perfect with the background paper!

That's it for today's card.  It totally focuses on the Hello, Irresistible Designer Series Paper, and I think it is just gorgeous.  Now that I've make a simple card using this paper, I need to go back and create something more elaborate with it.  Hope you love this paper as much as I do, because you're probably going to see a few more card ideas using this new DSP.  Remember, it's not in any catalog - just online only!  Check out the Online Exclusives when you sign in to www.stampinup.com.  There are quite a few other products that are listed this way and you won't want to miss checking them out.

Thanks for stopping by again today.  Hope you're inspired to get out your stamps, papers, and inks to make yourself some lovely creations.  It's very therapeutic!!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

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

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

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