Farewell Friday: Good Feelings & Rays of Light

As we near the end of a Stampin’ Up! catalog year, it’s time to spotlight some of my favorite retiring products. These products are available while supplies last or until April 30, 2024 (download full retiring product list at end of this post).

Since the TGIF Bonus Challenge #tgifc466 was to create a “simple gift set” of cards, it gave me the opportunity to stretch outside my comfort zone of bright colors, and use some of the black & white designs from the Delightfully Eclectic Designer Series Paper. But you can’t take ALL the color out of my life, so I added Calypso Coral, which also shows up on some of the paper designs.

These cards use the paper, PLUS the Good Feelings stamp set and Rays of Light background stamp, all of which will NOT be returning to the new catalog premiering in May. The Rays of Light background is the one I will grieve over losing the most!

This simple fun-fold card style is strategically planned to make the most of your patterned paper! If you score a full 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of card stock along the long edge at 4.25″ and 9.75″…THEN cut it in half at 4.25″, you’ll have two 11″ x 4.25″ cards ready to fold, meeting on the front of the card,

Use a 4″ x 4″ piece of DSP on one side and a 4″ x 1″ piece on the smaller fold. This pattern can be used in landscape or portrait orientation.

Now, HOW should we “gift” all these simple co-ordinating cards?

A quick folio made from a 12″ tall x 10″ wide piece of the Designer Series Paper is just the thing, and can hold all the cards plus envelopes!

Score it at 4.75″ and 5.25″ to give a center binding back, then add a ribbon to tie closed:

What else is retiring? Click banners to download the lists of items from the ’23-’24 Annual Catalog AND the January-April Mini Catalog which will be retiring.

>>> NOTE THAT THE LAST CHANCE SALE STARTS APRIL 9th <<<

These are the supplies I used for my simple set of cards and the folio to gift them in. I appreciate your orders so much and will mail you a thank you card! THANK YOU.

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Birthday: Game On!

Our family loves to play games together- from board games to video games! A few of our favorites are:

  • Killer Uno (card game)
  • Perpetual Commotion (some call it Nertz)
  • Splendor (strategy)
  • Anything Mario (video)
  • Overcooked (video)

Seeing the “Level Complete” stamp set on my shelf reminded me that my son (an avid gamer) is adding an extra (year to his) life this month, so that’s where my imagination went when I saw today’s #tgifc463 Sketch Challenge.

I turned the sketch sideways and used the game controllers as the focal point:

The black & white designs on the Rock & Roll Designer Series Paper are truly awesome whenever you need a masculine background!

A black card is striking with Daffodil Delight and Tahitian Tide, just remember to add a white layer on the inside to write on.

While we are the subject of Tahitian Tide (a 2022-2024 In Color), remember that it’s one of these bright hues retiring at the end of April, 2024, and we don’t really have any bright turquoise to replace it right now, so order an ink refill for your ink pads and card stock of the same color for coordination!

Does your family have a favorite game to play together? Tell me!

To re-create this card, you can click on the supplies listed and order from my Stampin’ Store- that helps me so I can continue to bring you great ideas you are welcome to copy. or spark your own imagination!

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SUPER (Cool) Sunday!

If football isn’t your game, crafting for a challenge is a SUPER way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

The best part of gathering for a game is the snacks, so today, I’ve got PRETZELS for you! One of the new Sale-a-Bration options is the Delightfully Eclectic mega pack of Designer Series Paper (an option you could choose free – use item #165706 when choosing a SAB freebie once your cart hits $50 in my store)

You’ll see how clever Stampin’ Up! was in designing this pack of paper: It coordinates with a LOT of current stamp sets: Inked & Tiled, Just My Type, Cheerful Daisies, Sweet Citrus, SUPER COOL and Simply Sparkling, just to name a FEW. Many of the patterns are versatile enough for any project.

Inspired by the #tfifc459 sketch, I replaced the circles with pretzels and sprinkled a few Opaque Faceted Gems (also a Sale-a-Bration option) around to give a little sparkle:

Don’t be afraid to practice your fussy-cutting skills on these images- the more you try, the better you become. One final tip: I cut my vellum die in half to make it longer and “hid” the space under the sentiment!

Give me a CHEER if you like this take on the sketch (or if it just makes you hungry)!

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Sent by Blueberry Post

Rooty-Tooty Fresh & Fruity! Tomorrow- Thursday, January 4th- the January-April Mini Catalog goes live AND 2024 Sale-a-Bration begins!

I admired the “Blueberry Bunches” stamp set (item #162692) the moment I saw it: It feels like a floral, but it’s a fruit, and that’s kinda my “jam” (see what I did there?).

I’ve paired the stamps with the Perennial Postage bundle (Item #162608) for the sentiment and postage stamp die (in various sizes).

This is the second largest die and after I cut a piece of basic white, I stamped the blueberries in the center, then used Masking Paper around the edges so I could blend Pool Party ink from the outside into the image- a technique called “Reverse Masking”. As you carefully peel off the masking paper, the background appears as a frame!

Once I colored the image with Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers, I “cancelled” the postage stamp with the cutest little detail of the cancellation mark, which I dipped into Memento Tuxedo black ink before running through the Stampin’ Cut & Emboss machine on top of my colored postage stamp.

Seemed fitting to share it with the #tgifc453 postal theme this week.

I’ll update the supply list once the catalog goes live, and hope you’ll try this technique and mail bunches of happy mail.

Need a Mini Catalog and Sale-a-Bration brochure? Shoot me a message and I’ll send it out to you.

Don’t want to miss a publication in the future? I mail mini catalogs to my customers who order $50 or more in the previous 6 months!

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A Card for a Christmas Carol

Do you have a favorite Christmas Carol or holiday tune? Mine is this one:

The TGIF Challenge #448 from Friday was to create a card inspired by a beloved piece of seasonal music~

I used “Come Lord Jesus” to create a card that could also be displayed as part of the true meaning of CHRISTmas:

While I had prepared this card to demonstrate showing how to use the Night Divine bundle with different Designer Series Paper (since the coordinating “O Holy Night” paper is sold out), sometime over the weekend, the “Joy of Christmas” Designer Series Paper that I used ALSO sold out during the Last Chance Sale

THUS, I pivoted at the last minute and used patterns from the Joyful Specialty Designer Series Paper to demonstrate in my live video:

Card measurements:

Card base: 4.25″ x 11″, scored at 2, 3-3/8″, 7-5/8″ and 9″ along the long side.

Designer Series Paper for outside panels: Two pieces 4″ x 1-3/4″, (optional: two pieces 1-1/4″ x 4″ for the middle side panels, if you want it to pull all the way out).

Card stock for center (and/or back panel): 4″ square

If you were able to order the O Holy Night, I did make a version using that paper as well as an example:

I have two 6″x6″ Paper Shares left that have a sample of EVERY Designer Series Paper from the Sept-Dec mini catalog (EXCEPT the All About Autumn Designer Series Paper which sold out too fast). It is discounted to $25 (pick up) or you can pay shipping to you…first come, first served! Each pack DOES have a 6″ x 6″ piece of ALL the patterned papers on these nativity cards.

Thank you for allowing me to fuel your creativity! Here are the supplies used in the video:

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Interior Diorama Card, Many Ways!

When there is a “scene” printed on Stampin’ Up! Designer Series Paper, it’s perfect for creating a framed picture that pops up inside your card!

For this one, I used the A Walk in the Forest DSP, which is part of our “Making A Difference” Campaign ($3 from each pack purchased is donated to the “Toys for Tots” program). This paper coordinates with both the Beary Christmas Suite and the Merriest trees bundle!

Here’s a slightly different version of the same card using the Beary Christmas paper included in the Beary Christmas Suite:

Because it was so much fun -and simple- to make (I’ll share a how-to video below), I had to make multiple versions with different Designer Series Paper from the September-December Mini Catalog. It’s like the One Card, Two Ways challenge from the #tgifc438 WWYD? Challenge:

The design is roomy enough to sneak a treat inside (not a mailable option, obviously) and for this one I used Them Bones Designer Series Paper:

Sharp eyes may notice that the skeletons are smaller than those in the coordinating suite of Halloween products…because the stamp set I used was from the September 2019 Paper Pumpkin kit called “Bone Appetit”!

Before we get to the last version of the Interior Diorama card, here is the video tutorial:

The finished card (closed) is 4″ x 5-1/4″.

Begin with a 12″ x 5.25″ strip of Designer Series Paper and score at 1/2″, 4″, 4.5″ and 8″

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My final Interior Diorama card is a Christmas Version using the O, Holy Night Designer Series Paper and Night Divine Bundle:

Will you be trying this card? Let me know what you think in the comments!