Holy Guacamole, It’s Your Birthday!

Do you ever get overwhelmed with all the options in your craft room? This quote, which I heard on a podcast recently, really resonated with me, and for crafters, it’s GOOD ADVICE:

“Creativity THRIVES on LIMITATIONS” – Sarah Jane Wright

It got me thinking about what helps me to be creative, and she was correct: When I have parameters to work within, I’m always more productive and imaginative! For instance, a card sketch is a limitation:

A sketch constrains you to stay within the prescribed boundaries, with a few options for making it your own, as I did by twisting the background for the Global Design Project sketch #gdp374 a bit for my card:

I also “limited” myself to (mostly) the 2022-2024 In Colors as my color palette. It seemed the best choice for a FIESTA!

I “sprinkled” the images from the Taco Fiesta stamp set (item #167032, available 1/5/2023) across the glimmer paper 2-3/4″ square to capture the feeling of a party (with chips & guac). You can watch the creation of the card in my video replay:

Product List

Coloring On Vellum, the Easy Way

Vellum is beautiful, but a few of the challenges with it are:

  1. Stamping and coloring on it (because of the coating on the paper, it takes forever to dry), and
  2. Adhering it so you can’t see the adhesive.

For this card, I die cut a frame to adhere the vellum to and colored it on the back side with Stampin’ Blends, which don’t leave streaks and dry quickly because they are alcohol based:

As paper crafters, we hate wasting paper so I have another tip: Make TWO cards at a time to most effectively use your card stock. You can cut the frame from the center of one color and use the outside edge as a matte for your Designer Series Paper for the other card (watch video below):

The In the Moment stamp set works perfectly with the New Horizons Designer Series Paper and with these sentiments, I can imagine sending it to a friend to encourage them to take some time off from the hustle-and-grind. They are excellent reminders that self-care is also taking time to unwind!

Here’s a short HOW-TO video and you can order the supplies from my Stampin’ Store by clicking the links after that:

I’d love to hear how you liked this tutorial…leave me a comment below!

Product List
In The Moment Cling Stamp Set (English)
$24.00
New Horizons 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper
$11.50
Sahara Sand 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.75
Blackberry Bliss 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.75
Night Of Navy 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.75
Vellum 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$10.00
Stitched Rectangles Dies
$35.00
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad
$7.50
Uninked Stampin’ Craft Pad & Whisper White Refill
$9.50
Basics Embossing Powders
$18.00
Heat Tool (Us And Canada)
$30.00
Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine
$120.00
Natural Tones Stampin’ Blends Collection
$45.00
Polished Pink Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$9.00
Night Of Navy Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$9.00
Evening Evergreen Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$9.00
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals
$4.00

Awesome Otters Slimline Card

Next week is Cody’s birthday and it’s time to make him a card!

I used a new Sale-a-Bration stamp set called “Awesome Otters” (which you could choose free with a qualifying purchase during January & February) and the Slimline cards from the January-June mini catalog. This is a BIG card ~ finished size is 8.5″ x 3.5″ ~ and if you want to see how to make it, you can watch my Facebook Live video from 1/10/22.

Next step: Find a gift to go with it!

Product List
Awesome Otters Cling Stamp Set (English)
$0.00
Slimline Envelopes
$10.00
Smoky Slate 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.75
Misty Moonlight 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.75
Old Olive 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.75
Rich Razzleberry 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.75
Stitched Rectangles Dies
$35.00
Playful Alphabet Dies
$34.00
Mini Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine
$60.00
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
$6.00
Misty Moonlight Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$9.00
Old Olive Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$9.00
Rich Razzleberry Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$9.00
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals
$4.00
Stampin' Seal
$8.00

Pumpkin Thank You Card

It was hard to sleep last night, so I imagined crafting with the colors from the #tgifc341 challenge: Very Vanilla, Pool Party and Pale Papaya. To be honest, it didn’t help me sleep, but it did make me excited to create this card for my FB Live today!

Can’t get enough pumpkins for the fall, and the daisies were a whimsical touch paired with my polka-dot pumpkin, don’t you agree? The background was hand drawn with Pool Party Stampin’ Blends markers. Don’t be afraid to make your own plaid!

Mixing up all your stamps and supplies can expand your creativity!

One of the best ways to get most of the supplies for this card is to take advantage of a November-only special for the Starter Kit: Choose $125 in products for just $75!

Not only do you get a great savings on your supplies, you’ll get a discount on future purchases and a chance to see if being a demonstrator works for you!

Product List
Biggest Wish Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)
$17.00
Detailed Pumpkins Dies 
$29.00
Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$9.75
Pool Party 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.75
Pale Papaya 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.75
Mini Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine
$60.00
Checks & Dots Embossing Folders
$8.00
Medium Daisy Punch
$16.00
Pool Party 3/8" (1 Cm) Sheer Ribbon
$6.00
Pool Party Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$9.00
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals
$4.00

I’d Pick You, Pumpkin!

Admittedly, I’m team Pumpkin Spice starting September 1st. Ten days into the month and I’ve already indulged in a least that many different treats made from this glorious gourd, so I needed to make a card that declares my devotion.

After you download the tutorial and create your own card, would you share a link to your favorite pumpkin recipe in the comments? I’m always looking for the best things to bake with pumpkin this time of year!

Just a quick reminder: Today is the last day to register for the Fall StampFest in Southern Utah on September 25th and get a discounted ticket! Click the image to go to the event registration page:

Product List
Pretty Pumpkins Bundle
$45.75
Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.75
Pumpkin Pie 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.75
Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.75
Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$9.75
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
$6.00
Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad
$7.50
Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$9.00
Cajun Craze Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$9.00
Old Olive Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
$9.00
Stitched Rectangle Dies
$35.00
Tailor Made Tags Dies
$22.00
Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine
$120.00
Black & White 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Gingham Ribbon
$7.00
Stampin' Seal
$8.00
Stampin' Dimensionals
$4.00

Hey, Birthday Chick: 3-for-Free!

Remember the Hey, Chick stamp set from Sale-a-Bration a few years back? They were the “must-have” set of the year and those same chicks are BACK (and ready to PARTY!) in the January-June mini catalog. It’s fitting that my February 2021 3-for-Free class features the new Hey, Birthday Chick! bundle:

In addition to their new stamp set, the original set is available AGAIN – ICYMI – and there are coordinating dies to keep them farm-fresh. “CHICK” out what all the cluck is about HERE!

Starting off with a simple card, I created this one on my Facebook page last Monday:

There is also an edited version of the how-to video on YouTube:

When you order the Hey, Birthday Chick bundle from my Stampin’ Store in February, you’ll receive a tutorial for 3 projects via email with the paper goods to make those projects coming to you in the mail.

Supplies you will also need to complete the 3-for-Free projects:

Product List

I listed the mini Cut & Emboss machine for those who don’t have a machine yet, but a regular Cut & Emboss machine will work too (or a Big Shot).

What’s New at SU! Birthday Dies

Whats new (2)

Paper crafters love nothing more than Co-ordination: We swoon for ribbon in Stampin’ Up! colors, we sigh over designer series papers that match our punches and we are head-over-heels when we have dies for stamped images so we don’t have to cut them out!

It’s February and our group of demonstrator friends from around the world are showcasing the NEW SU! Product Coordination release items and we are hoppin’ with excitement to share these projects with you!

The Birthday Dies were designed to coordinate with the Happy Birthday to You Sale-a-Bration Stamp set (which you could choose free with a $50 order before March 31, 2020). Notice the leaf dies: There are TWO leaves on ONE die! This is a great improvement, as tiny dies are too fiddly for me and having two of them together makes them much easier to use!

IMG_4637-(W)My project is a remake of one of my favorite gift packaging because our Acetate Card boxes are perfect for holding a mug cake mix. It’s sort of a “bake-your-own-birthday-cake” gift!

IMG_4640-(W)It’s a pretty, frilly & feminine project, and even though I did end up fussy cutting the sentiment, the dies helped the rest of it come together quickly.

IMG_4639-(W)These are products you will NOT want to wait to order because they are only available while supplies last and since they match some of our most popular items from the current Mini Catalog and Sale-a-Bration 2020, they are sure to fly off the shelves.

The supplies I used are listed below, and I’d love to hear what you think of this birthday box so before you hop along to the Anke’s blog next (or back to Diane’s project),  leave a comment then keep hoppin’ for more product coordination inspiration!

PREVIOUSNEXT

Blog Hop Roll:

Joyce Whitman- Stampin’ Scrapper

Sharon Burkert- As the Ink Dries

Brenda Copper- Stamping with the Copper Cropper

Heather Cooper- Playing with Paper Crafting

Tricia Butts- Tricia’s Stamping Creations

Diane Browning- 247inkspiration

Loni Spendlove- Creative Juice by Loni

Anke Heim- Scraphexe

Please contact your demonstrator if you have questions or to make a purchase. I’m happy to answer questions about the products and techniques shown.  If you don’t have a demonstrator,  you can use the links below to order the supplies from my Stampin’ Store: 

Product List

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Poppies in Berries

Feeling “berry” pleased to share one of my favorite suites from the new Mini Catalog with you today as I participate in the #tgifc245 color challenge: 245

Truly, I vowed not to buy any more floral stamps when the January-June Mini Catalog was about to be unveiled…and then my willpower flew out the window when I saw the Peaceful Poppies Suite:CM101025B

Yesterday I demonstrated the “spotlighting” technique on my Facebook page during my Monday Lunchtime LIVE Crafting with a different card, but carried the idea into the color challenge today: IMG_4273-(W)

HOW TO: 

  1. Cut two pieces of Very Vanilla card stock, 5″ x 3-3/4″ and 2-1/2″ x 3-5/8″. Layer the smaller one on top of the larger one with a bit of adhesive in the middle to hold together just while stamping the outline images of the poppies using the Rich Razzleberry ink pad.
  2. Remove the smaller layer and color with Blackberry Bliss Stampin’ Blends, then layer together on the card with the largest scalloped die from the Stitched So Sweetly dies.
  3. Emboss your sentiment on a strip of Blackberry card stock for the top and add a few of the coordinating sequins.

It’s really easier than it looks!

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I’ll be back with more poppy-inspired crafts soon, meanwhile, I hope you’ll get your fingers inky, too!

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Cardinal in Blue

Driving parallel to the Utah Rocky mountains this week I had a hard time keeping my eyes on the road and not on the breath-taking colors on the mountains! Naturally, I decided to create a card to pay homage to the fall foliage and the #GDP210 sketch seemed like a great place to start:

gdp210

I’ve been wanting to use the cardinal from the Toile Christmas Stamp set in a color other than red, so that’s where I started:

IMG_3375-(W)

I don’t know who I’m sending it to yet, so I opted for a simple sentiment and can write whatever I want inside later.

Sponging a bit of white ink on the trees embossed with the Woodland embossing folder gave the feeling of walking through a grove of aspen trees, which are in glorious color currently. IMG_3373-(W)

Hope the leaves in your corner of the world are as lovely as they are here!
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What’s New: Birds of A Feather

Whats new (2)

You must be as excited about holiday crafting as I am, since you are joining our blog hop with this creative group of Stampin’ Up! demonstrators from around the world! We are hoppin’ with ideas to share with you from the upcoming Holiday Catalog!

I’m giving you a “sneak beak” at one stamp set you’ll certainly want in your crafting “bag of chicks”: the Birds of a Feather stamp set.

IMG_2772 (W)

The colors are Crushed Curry, Early Espresso and Cajun Craze with Very Vanilla. It was fun to use the Stampin’ Blends to color the cook, too.

This could be the (tur)KEY to a lovely Thanksgiving table setting: Simply replace the greeting with the name of a guest and set it above their plate to indicate where they should sit for the meal of the year!

IMG_2773 (W)

The perfect complimenting stamp to the Birds of a Feather set is the All Wired Up background stamp from the annual catalog, don’t you agree?

With a cute bird for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas AND Valentines (and a corresponding greeting for each), you’ll FLY to this set when you need to make something adorable this holiday season: Put it on your wish list for September 4th, when the Holiday catalog goes live!PREVIOUSNEXT

Before you fly on to Anke’s blog (or back to Margriet’s), feel free to leave me a comment or message~ It always makes my day to know if you liked what I shared! And here’s a bonus alternate card using the same layout and stamp set, with different colors and images for sending a little love any day of the year: IMG_2776 (W)

What’s New Blog Hop Roll: