Patriotic Banner - Fab Friday 90 - Stampin' Up! Thoughtful Banners

  Our summer started with a bang last Thursday night with a ridiculously strong storm that knocked out power to a large part of our area and cancelled the last day of school.  We were without power for about 18 hours and it will always be a "last day of school" to remember.  We have been going at full tilt ever since with last soccer games of the season, a quick camping trip and then a week long cub scout day camp.  Whew!

  Luckily we have a Fab Friday challenge to get us through these "relaxing" summer days!  It's a color challenge that may or may not grab your attention for the USA Forth of July celebrations coming up.

  I went right for the easy card and did Forth of July.  I think I may send this one to my grandma!

  A little sparkle, a little stripe, some lace and voila!  Happy Independence Day America!  All of the stamping is from the Thoughtful Banners set; the banner, sentiment and the striped background.

  The Pacific Point background panel is embossed with the Stars folder and each star was then colored with the clear Wink of Stella pen to highlight them a bit more.

 Check out what my fellow Fab Friday Design Team members came up with for these colors and then get to stamping and join us for this challenge!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Thoughtful Banners

Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Night of Navy, Real Red

Paper: Whisper White, Pacific Point, Night of Navy, Silver Glimmer

Accessories: Stars e.f., paper doily, baker's twine, clear Wink of Stella, Duet Banner punch, Stars framelits, grosgrain ribbon (retired), dimensionals

Up & Away Birthday - Fab Friday 89 - Stampin' Up! Balloon Celebration

 Happy Friday!  And to make it even happier it's a Fab Friday challenge day!  Woo Hoo!  This time around we've got a sketch to get the creative juices going over the weekend!

  I took some liberties with this one but I think if you squint you can see the elements even if they aren't as straight lined as our sketch badge.

  I started off with a panel of watercolor paper on which I embossed 3 clouds with clear embossing powder.  Then I used my Aquapainter to paint on the sky around the clouds with Dapper Denim ink.  The ink-water mixture beads up on the embossing so you just wipe it off with a tissue or paper towel. After drying the watercolor paper with my heat gun I could add the other details.

  The balloon is outlined in Basic Gray and then filled in with Flirty Flamingo stamped off once and then highlighted with full strength ink.  I cut it out with the balloon punch, added a Whisper White baker's twine string and then popped it up on dimensionals.  Using the awesome Ruched Ribbon I added a few "bows" to the string in Dapper Denim and Flirty Flamingo. Just a little glue dot on the back of each knot makes it super easy to place them just where I wanted them to go.

  The sentiment from the new set Sunshine Sayings is stamped at the bottom in Basic Gray.  The final touch is one of the fun new Metallic Enamel shapes.  I thought a heart was good for a birthday!

  I can't wait to see what you make with our sketch!  Definitely head over to the Fab Friday blog and see what the rest of the Design Team has in store...they are always fabulous!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Balloon Celebrations,  Sunshine Sayings

Ink: Basic Gray, Dapper Denim, Flirty Flamingo, Versamark

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Gray, watercolor paper

Accessories: Balloon punch, baker's twine, ruched ribbon, clear embossing powder, dimensionals, glue dots, Metallic Enamel shapes

Leaf Lineup Birthday - Stampin' Up! Flower Patch

 You'd think as the school year was winding down that our schedules would be too!  Wrong!  I feel like I'm running to and fro more than usual.  I should probably stop volunteering to do stuff!  It's so hard to say no though isn't it.

  I made this card the other day and had a heck of a time photographing it.  I guess it was all that white space but the photos always came out with the colors (and white) not looking right at all.  I finally got one that wasn't too bad and only needed a bit of editing.  So even though the challenge is closed I still want to share it!

  The colors were from last weeks ColourQ challenge and it was to use Basic Gray, Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana, Brilliant Blue and white.  I wanted to use current colors so I switched Dapper Denim for the Brilliant Blue and Mint Macaron for the Coastal Cabana.  I think the switch still works and allows me to show off some In Colors.

  This Clean and Simple (CAS) card is very easy as it's just using the one leaf stamp and alternating directions and colors.

  The Happy Birthday sentiment is from Balloon Celebration and is stamped (kind of crooked now that I look closely!) in Basic Gray with a little rhinestone at the end for just a pop of sparkle.

  I think this design would be perfect for a set of blank notecards to give as a gift or to keep for yourself and add the sentiment when you need one.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Flower Patch, Balloon Celebration

Ink: Basic Gray, Dapper Denim, Mint Macaron, Calypso Coral

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Gray

Accessories: rhinestone

Get Well Jar of Love - Stampin' Up! Jar of Love

  I was so excited to receive my first order from the new catalog last Friday.  We were able to order on Wednesday and I splurged and got 2 day air shipping since things take forever and a day to get to the East Coast from Utah and we all know that's just too long to wait for new stamping stuff!  Anyway I was so hoping that Mr. Brown would bring me that box first thing in the morning and I could have a few hours to play before I left to go out of town for the weekend.  No such luck!  My box didn't get delivered until after I was already on the train.  Boo Hoo!

  I had to wait until Monday to sit down with my order.  And guess what happened when I sat down with all that stamping goodness???  Nothing!  Yikes!  Yup, I just sat there and looked at my long awaited for products and I could not come up with a good idea to save my life!  It was like my brain was overloaded and I was trying to do too much and use too many new things.  I walked away for a while and then headed back in and decided to participate in a few challenges to grease the creative wheels.

  Jar of Love was what I grabbed first and I thought it would work perfectly for the Retro Sketches challenge.  And using the Global Design Project theme challenge of "Get Well" I choose some cheerful colors that would work for a get well bouquet.

  After I had decided to use Jar of Love it all started to come together.  The base is Crumb Cake and then I layered a piece of the new Serene Scenery DSP on top.  I love this paper even more after seeing it in person!  There are great natural photographs paired up with fun patterns in soft colors, this pack will see a lot of use for sure in the coming months!

  Then I used half of one of the new Delicate Doilies with a piece of the 5/8" burlap ribbon going diagonal across the card front.  I really like this ribbon as its lighter weight than past burlap ribbons so it's not nearly as bulky for card fronts.  I used snail adhesive to hold it down but Tear Tape would work well also.

  Next I stamped the jar in Smoky Slate, added some water in Pool Party ink stamped off once.  The flower stems were stamped in Old Olive ink.  The 2 sizes of flowers are the same stamp so it makes it really easy to stamp and then cut out with the coordinating Everyday Jars framelits.  I mixed and matched Rich Razzleberry, Sweet Sugar Plum and Delightful Dijon ink.  Some I stamped off once so they are a bit lighter and used the highlight stamp to give the flower centers more interest.  After I cut them out I layered them.  Some are flat others are popped up on dimensionals.

  Then I added the last detail of the rushed ribbon flag in Sweet Sugarplum behind the jar and a Rich Razzleberry stamped bow also cut out with the Everyday Jars framelits.

  I definitely hope that this is the start of lots of inspiration with all the fantastic new products that Stampin' Up! has available now!

  And if you have been wondering about trying out Paper Pumpkin monthly craft kit now is the time to try it out!  On Thursday starting at 5pm (MT) you can sign up for Paper Pumpkin for only $5!  What?!?!?  Yes, for your first month it will only be $5 to try out this fun paper crafting kit that gets mailed right to your house!  So head over to Paper Pumpkin on Thursday night (special offer ends Friday night at 11:50 MT) to sign up!  You've got nothing to lose!  This is for new monthly subscribers only and after the special the kit price go to $19.95.  The regular price is still a great deal for a stamp set, ink and everything you need to make cute projects.  If you don't have a demonstrator already I would love it if you chose me (Amanda Mertz) when you sign up.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Jar of Love

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Sweet Sugarplum, Delightful Dijon, Smoky Slate, Pool Party, Old Olive

Paper: Crumb Cake, Serene Scenery DSP, Whisper White

Accessories: Everyday Jars framelits, Ruched ribbon, 5/8" burlap ribbon, Delicate Doilies, dimensionals

Emerald Leaves - Stampin' Up! Botanical Blooms

  Father's Day is coming up on us and I think I probably have about 8 Father's Day card made and I really only need 5 but it's nice to have choices right?

  I made another one to fit in to a theme challenge as well as a sketch challenge.  Using the "Father's Day" theme at The Paper Players and the layout from CAS(e) This Sketch I came up with this kind of a modern looking botanical card.

 

  Did you notice that in the Thoughtful Banners set on page 73 of the new annual catalog there aren't just words?  There are the fun banner shapes as well as a long solid rectangle stamp.  How cool does it look as a background image?

  I used the stamp with Emerald Envy ink and stamped it onto Very Vanilla cardstock not reinking each time but stamping 3 times as the ink became lighter.  

  I used Emerald Envy again to stamp the large leaf from Botanical Blooms.  The coordinating Botanical Builder framelits made quick work of cutting out the green leaf as well as a Crumb Cake leaf.

  I layered the leaves to one side of the Crumb Cake banner that was stamped with the Thoughtful Banners.  I had a bit of scrap linen thread in my ribbon scrap container and added that to the banner.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Thoughtful Banners, Botanical Blooms

Ink: Emerald Envy, Black

Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Botanical Builder framelits, linen thread, dimensionals

Summery Hello - Stampin' Up! Botanical Blooms

  I am so glad that Stampin' Up! carried over the Botanical Blooms stamp set from the Occasions catalog!  First of all I didn't use it nearly enough because I tend to stamp "with the seasons" and honestly our spring here in Central Virginia was severely lacking!  It rained a lot and was quite cool so I wasn't in much of flower kind mood.  Second the set coordinates with the Botanical Builder framelits which are so cool so of course I want to make more cards using both of these items.

  I decided to combine 2 challenges and get to work using some In Colors.  I used Global Design Project challenge for the layout and Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge for the inspiration of the colors.

  This is quite a bright card and I'm still deciding if I like it or if I think it's a hot mess!  Do you ever make a card like that?  You look at it and think it's OK then look again and are like "what was I thinking??".  Yeah, that's this card.  At the very least you can get a good look at 2 of the new In Colors; Flirty Flamingo and Peekaboo Peach.  I thought they looked good with Cucumber Crush.

  The flower panel is stamped and then a length of Flirty Flamingo Ruched ribbon is wrapped around and then tied off with gold thread bow.  I love this ribbon!  It's just the right size for cards and not too bulky so it ties and knots wonderfully!  I had to get all 5 In Colors!  Next, I added a few sequins that were left over from my Enjoy the Little Things project kit because it was still out on my desk but the regular sequin trim would work as well.

  The sentiment and banner are from Thoughtful Banners.  The banner is stamped in Cucumber Crush and the sentiment in black.  Using the coordinating Duet Banner punch I punched it out and popped it over the ribbon with dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Botanical Blooms, Thoughtful Banners

Ink: Flirty Flamingo, Peekaboo Peach, Cucumber Crush, black

Paper: Cucumber Crush, Whisper White

Accessories: ruched ribbon, gold thread, gold sequins, Duet Banner punch, dimensionals

Swirly Sailboat - Stampin' Up! Swirly Bird

 Whew!  I just placed my first order out of the 2016-2017 Stampin' Up! Annual catalog!  It's so hard to choose what to put on that first order!  I had to order a few more things to prepare for my new catalog party in 2 weeks.  I'm so excited to share new stuff with my stampers!

  For now I'm still sharing samples I've made using the 2 stamp sets I ordered during the demonstrator preorder.  Swirly Bird has lots of possibilities since it has flowers (that can just be swirls), a boat, a bird and a kite.  Wow!  That's a lot images!  And Thoughtful Banners has so many mix and match sentiment choices to go with just about any occasion!

  I used these sets to make a Father's Day card to share today.

  Good guy colors right?  Dapper Denim (new In Color) is fast becoming a favorite the more I use it.  I've paired it with Smoky Slate and Crumb Cake.

  The background stamp is from You've Got This and is a great stamp to add some texture.  Using the Swirly Scribbles thinlets that coordinate with the Swirly Bird set I cut what I was kind of thinking of as wind from a piece of Silver Glimmer paper.  I've seen this piece used as a trellis, water, background element and so many more ideas.

  The boat is stamped and cut out and popped up on layered circles.  The small sail is Dapper Denim stamped off once for a lighter tone.

  Using the Thoughtful Banners set I curved it to flow with the top of the thinlet shape.  I think I may have enough Father's Day cards now but I better check because it will be here before we know it!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Swirly Bird, Thoughtful Banners, You've Got This

Ink: Smoky Slate, Dapper Denim, Crumb Cake

Paper: Dapper Denim, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Silver Glimmer paper

Accessories: Swirly Scribbles thinlets, circle punches, dimensionals