Stampin' Up! Video - Inside the Lines Specialty Designer Series Paper

Merry Christmas

Inky Divas Challenge - Week of December 19

This week's challenge was to make a treat box or table favour with a Christmas theme.  I had already made some favours for my Christmas table so I used those for my entry to the challenge.

I used the Stampin' Up! 3" x 3" x 3" white gift boxes with acetate sleeves (page 7 in the Holiday Catalogue) as my base.  I was so happy to learn that these boxes are being carried over.  There are 8 boxes in the package for $10.50 CDN.  A bonus is that they are food safe.

I saw THIS box on Pinterest and decided to copy it.  I didn't want to fussy cut all of the little gingerbread me like the originator did so I pulled out my retired Scentsational Season stamp set and coordinating dies for my boxes.

My photo shows the box from he front as well as from the back.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Scentsational Season (retired), Lots of Joy (reired)
Ink - Early Espresso, Read Red
Card Stock - Real Red, Silver Foil, Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper
Other - 3" x 3" x 3" White Gift Boxes, Layering Circles Dies, Holiday Home Collecion Dies (retired), Candy Can Lane Washi Tape, 5/8" Circle Punch, Rhinestones, Stampin' Diminsionals, Snowflake Embellishments (retired), Enamel Shapes (Regals Collection)

Joyful Nativity

When the Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue (2016-2017) was released there were a few Christmas themed sets included.  One of them was Joyful Nativity and it was a set I thought about getting but kept putting that purchase aside.  A few months back I was fortunate to be selected to receive a stamp set for free (the names of the Inky Diva Challenges participants are put together each month and one name is drawn to receive a stamp set valued at $22.95).  I used the opportunity to select the Joyful Nativity set.  I don't make very many more traditional Christmas cards but I do like the idea of having a set in my collection for those times.

I saw a card posted by Amanda Bates on her blog - The Craft Spa - and knew it was going to be perfect for the recipient I had in mind.  You can see Amanda's card HERE.

I chose not to put a greeting on the front of the card and although it doesn't show very well, after stamping the "Bethlehem scene" with Smoky Slate ink I coloured over it with my clear Wink of Stella pen.  A very subtle but pretty bit of glimmer.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Joyful Nativity
Ink - Night of Navy, Smoky Slate
Card Stock - Whisper White, Night of Navy
Other - Rhinestone, Wink of Stella

Inky Divas Challenge - Week of November 21, 2016

This week Crystal's challenge was to make a card or project featuring tasty treats! It could be any theme, but there had to be 'food' or something food oriented featured on the card/project! 

I decided to use the project Judy and I will be making later this week.  It is a "Matchbook" style treat holder.  Two Ghiradelli chocolate squares fit inside.  We will get four treat holders from one 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of card stock.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Teeny Tiny Wishes, Scentsational Season (retired)
Ink - Real Red, Soft Suede
Card Stock - Real Red, Whisper White, Candy Cane Lane DSP, Silver Foil, Red Glimmer
Other - Candy Cane Lane Baker's Twine, 2" Circle Punch, Layering Circles dies, Stampin' Dimensionals, Owl Builder Punch, Mini Glue Dots, Classic Label Punch, Holiday Collection dies (retired)

Inky Divas Challenge - Week of November 14

This week Crystal asked us to make a windowed card.   Her sample had a shape cut out of the card front and then she had stamped a coordinating image on the inside.  I interpreted the challenge a little differently and quite literally made a window card.

If I find my window sheets I may redo the card to fit more with the challenge.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Santa's Sleigh, Peaceful Pines
Ink - Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip
Card Stock - Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Crumb Cake, Gold Glimmer, Vellum
Other - Layering Circles Dies, Santa's Sleigh Dies, Swirly Scribble Dies, Hearth & Home Dies, Pretty Pines Dies, Brick Wall Embossing Folder, Rhinestones, Linen Thread, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Jingle Bells

Rudolph

When I first saw the 2016 Stampin' Up! Occasions catalogue I really liked the Santa's Sleigh stamp set and coordinating framelits but resisted ordering them for a short while.  After seeing samples online I finally ordered them and am so happy that I did.  

This is one of the cards I have CASEd.  You can see the original HERE.  I had seen it on Pinterest but I don't know who the originator is - there is no watermark on the photo and it does not link to a website.

I used some retired DSP for my background but the rest is all current Stampin' Up! product.  The Shimmery White card stock was embossed using the Seaside embossing folder and then layered to create the "snowbanksÈ

Stampin' Supplies

Stamps - Santa's Sleigh

Ink - Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip

Card Stock - Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi, Crumb Cake, Shimmery White, Gold Glimmer, Under The Tree Specialty Designer Series Paper (retired)

Other - Santa's Sleigh Framelits, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Rhinestones, Pearls, Red Sharpie Marker

Remember Them

Inky Divas Weekly Challenge - Week of November 7

This week the challenge was to use Whisper White, Real Red and Crumb Cake when making our project - we could add a bit of silver, black or gold if needed.  My card includes the three colours well as a bit of Silver Foil Card Stock.  I cheated a bit and used Chocolate Chip ink to stamp the reindeer image onto the Crumb Cake card stock - the Crumb Cake ink just didn't show as well as I wanted to outline the shape.

I lightly sponged the embossed trees with crumb cake ink.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Santa's Sleigh, Christmas Pines
Ink - Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Real Red
Card Stock - Crumb Cake, Real Red, Whisper White, Silver Foil
Other - Santa's Sleigh dies, Pretty Pines dies, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Rhinestones, Woodlands Embossing Folder, Silver Cord

Happy Christmas

This is another card Judy and I plan to make.  Judy had seen it online and we decided it would be fun to make (in spite of the fussy cutting) - you can see it HERE.  We didn't have the stamp set for the greeting on the original so we created something using our digital scrapbooking program.  The houses were cut from the Candy Cane Lane designer series paper as was the little tree.

Stampin' Supplies
Card Stock - Crumb Cake, Real Red, Whisper White, Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper
Other - Stampin' Dimensionals

Candy Cane Lane

The next time Judy and I get together we are going to be making this card - again CASEd from one we had seen online.  I used the retired Scentsational Season stamp set along with the coordinating retired Holiday Collection Framelits.  The greeting was created using a digital scrapbooking program.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Scentsational Season (retired)
Ink - Early Espresso
Card Stock - Early Espresso, Whisper White, Candy Cane Lane DSP, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper, Red Glimmer Paper
Other - Holiday Collection Framelits (retired), nonSU Scallop Circle Die, Candy Cane Lane Baker's Twine, Owl Builder Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Scentsational Season

Last week Judy and I made this sweet card.  It is CASEd from one we had seen online but neither of us have the Cookie Cutter Christmas stamp set and coordinating Cookie Cutter Builder Punch used in the original but we both have the long retired Scentsational Season stamp set and matching Holiday Collection Framelits dies.  We both agreed that we actually prefer the gingerbread man image from the retired set better.

I had a chance to play with my MISTI tool in preparation for making the card.  You can see more about the MISTI by clicking HERE.  I die cut multiples of the gingerbread man from Whisper White card stock, positioned the stamp in the MISTI and then staryed stamping on the die cut shapes.  It went much quicker than stamping the images onto the card stock and then die cutting them one at a time.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Scentsations Season (retired), Lots of Joy
Ink - Soft Suede, Real Red
Card Stock - Read Red, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper
Other - Candy Cane Lane Baker's Twine, Red Glimmer Paper, Owl Builder Punch, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, Holiday Collection Framelits (retired)

Inky Divas Challenge - Week of October 17

This week Crystal challenged us to "lighten up".  We had to create a card or project that allowed us to place a tea light (battery operated), so that the project/card would glow!  We had to use only current Stampin' Up! products to complete the challenge.

I had seen a card on Pinterest that I was planning to make but for this challenge I changed up the DSP the stamp set and framelits/punches to fit with the requirement to use current products.  You can see the original HERE.

The card is an easel type card - slightly modified from other versions of the easel card that I have done before.

This is what my card looks like with the tea light lit

To the left is the view with no tealight and to the right you get the side view.







Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Peaceful Pines
Ink - Versamark, Black Stampin' Write Marker
Cardstock - Kraft, Very Vanilla, This Christmas Designer Series Paper, Cardstock Vellum, Gold Glimmer Paper
Other - Perfect Pines Framelits, Stampin' Dimensionals, Gold Embossing Powder, Mini Glue Dots, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, Rhinestones, Battery Operated Tea Light

Inky Divas Challenge - Week of October 10

This week's challenge was a sketch.  We were asked to follow the sketch although we could change the shapes of the various elements.

I had a number of bits and pieces on my table so decided to use them for my card.  I had stamped and coloured the cute little mouse a month or so ago; the strip of DSP was leftover from a Christmas card I had made; the layer behind the DSP was embossed with the Cable Knit Dynamic Textured Embossing Folder (it doesn't show very well in this photo) and the banner had been stamped and die cut to use with the mouse.

Stampin' Supplies

Stamps - Merry Mice, Number of Years

Ink - Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black, Smoky Slate, Night of Navy, Crushed Curry, Blushing Bride, Mint Macaron

Card Stock - Whisper White, Basic Black, Warmth & Cheere DSP, Watercolour Paper

Other - Large Numbers Framelits, Lots of Labels Framelits, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Cable Knit Dynamic Textured Embossing Folder.

Masculine Birthday Cards

I had forgotten that I didn't post these two masculine birthday cards that I had made in August.

For this card I used a piece of the Irresistibly Floral Speciality Designer Series Paper.  I received a sample of each design in the new catalogue product share I purchased from Sandi MacIver.  The pattern on the paper is white on white and shows beautifully when the paper is inked.  I inked up a sponge brayer with Night of Navy ink and rolled it over the piece, reinking from time to time until I was happy with the colour.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Gorgeous Grunge, Stylised Birthday
Ink - Night of Navy, Cajun Craze
Card Stock - Night of Navy, Whisper White, Irresistibly Floral Speciality DSP
Other - 1 1/4" Burlap Ribbon (retired), Linen Thread, Regals Enamel Shapes, Stampin' Dimensionals, Circles Framelits

This card uses the Kinda Eclectic stamp set along with the 2016 Sale-a-Bration set Hello.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Kinda Eclectic, Hello (retired)
Ink - Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Cucumber Crush, Basic Black
Card Stock - Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Cucumber Crush, Whisper White
Other - White Perfect Accents, 3/4" Circle Punch

Happy Thanksgiving!

Inky Divas Challenge - Week of October 3

This week we were asked to create a card using some of our favourite things, but they had to be current Stampin' Up! product.  A lot of my most favourite things are now retired from Stampin' Up! so I decided to use new "favourites".  These turned out to be some things from an order I received on Wednesday.

In general some of may favourite things to use when papercrafting are Washi Tape, Stampin' Dimensionals (Judy will tell you that I use them on almost every project I do) and cutting dies.  My recent order contained all of those so that is where I started.

I thought and thought about ordering the Santa's Sleigh and coordinating dies.  Finally I gave in and ordered them and they were included in Wednesday's box along with the Warmth & Comfort Washi Tape.  I had seen a card posted by Dawn Olchefske recently and decided to CASE it.  Check it out HERE.

I think I will be making multiples of these cards this year.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Santa's Sleigh
Ink - Garden Green
Card Stock - Crumb Cake, Early Espresso
Other - Santa's Sleigh Framelits, Warmth & Cheer Washi Tape, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Baker's Twine Trio Pack (page 16 in the Holiday Catalogue), Gold Glimmer Paper

World Card Making Day

Last Saturday, October 1 was World Card Making Day.  I made it a point to spend a few hours in my craft room making cards.  I did multiples of two different designs.  A lot of that time was spent cranking out pine boughs and pinecones using the Pretty Pines thinlits dies.

The first card features Designer Series Paper from the Warmth and Cheer Designer Series Paper Stack in 2016 Stampin' Up! Holiday catalogue.  The stamp, framelit and ribbon used on this card are all retired Stampin' Up! products.

The Designer Series Paper on the second card is from the This Christmas Specialty Designer Paper in the 2016-2017 Annual Catalogue.  The stamp used on this card is from a retired Stampin' Up! set.

The last time I went over to Judy's we made a couple of Halloween cards.  They were a simplified version of THIS card.  There are links in that post to the original card as well as to a video on the sponging technique used for the background.  I have to say I like this simplified version better.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Spooky Fun
Ink - Basic Black, Basic Grey, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Delightful Dijon, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Rich Razzleberry, White Craft
Card Stock - Basic Black, Old Olive, Perfect Plum, Smoky Slate, Pumpkin Pie
Other - Halloween Scene Edgelits, Stampin' Sponges, Stampin' Dimensionals, Aquapainter, Wink of Stella, 2" Circle Punch, Halloween Night Enamel Dots

Inky Divas Challenge - Week of September 26

The challenge so last week's challenge was to create some kind of little treat package.  I had suspended my subscription to My Paper Pumpkin for the month of September thinking I didn't really want or need a Halloween themed stamp set.  As soon as I saw projects being posted online I started to regret that decision.  The kit contained little test tubes to make cute treat holders.  Then I remembered that I had bought some tubes several years ago and never done anything with them.  The bonus was that I actually remembered where I had stashed them!

I looked up several tutorials for several "test tube holder" projects to find a template or video.  Once I found one I had to make a few small adjustments to it because my tubes are a little bigger around than the ones used in the video.

The Spooky Fun stamp set and coordinating Halloween Scenes edgelits were perfect for this project.  I was even able to use current Halloween Designer Series Paper as there were samples included in the paper share I received from Angela McKay.

I had no candies so I just stuffed the tube with some shredded paper.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Spooky Fun
Ink - Basic Black, Crushed Curry
Card Stock - Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Halloween Night Specialty DSP
Other - Halloween Scene Edgelits, Bunch of Banners Framelits, Candy Dots (retired), Signo White Gel Pen, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

Inky Divas Challenge - Week of September 19

The challenge this week was to get into the Halloween spirit.  We were to create a Halloween card and were restricted to current product.  I only bought one Halloween stamp set so that is what I used.

As I always do I headed to Pinterest for inspiration.  I usually end up making the card just as I see it and that is the case for this one.  You can see the original card HERE.

Here is the card closed

Here it is open - you can see the sponging and other techniques used to create the background.  There is a video with instructions for creating the background HERE.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Spooky Fun
Ink - Basic Black, Basic Grey, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Delightful Dijon, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Rich Razzleberry, White Craft
Card Stock - Basic Black, Old Olive, Perfect Plum, Smoky Slate, Pumpkin Pie
Other - Halloween Scene Edgelits, Stampin' Sponges, Stampin' Dimensionals, Aquapainter, Wink of Stella, 2" Circle Punch, Halloween Night Enamel Dots

Inky Divas Challenge - Week of September 12

This week Crystal's challenge was a theme - Vintage/Antiquey/Shabby.  We were to create a card or project that fit the theme.  I don't do a lot of cards like that so it took me out of my comfort zone.  As always I checked on Pinterest to find inspiration.  I did find several cards and thought I would combine elements from a couple.  I ended up CASEing one card.  You can see it HERE.

The colour combination intrigued me - I never would have thought of using Wisteria Wonder and Mint Macaron on the same card.

I distressed and sponged all of the layers to give it that vintage/shabby chic look.  The Timeless Textures stamp set was perfect for the theme.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Timeless Textures
Ink - Mint Macaron, Tip Top Taupe, Wisteria Wonder
Card Stock - Mint Macaron, Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder
Other - Bold Butterfly and Butterflies Dies, Linen Thread, Mini Glue Dots, retired Pearl embellishment

Inky Divas Challenge - Week of September 5

This week's challenge was to use products from the new Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalogue that went live on September 1.  I had done a small preorder so I was limited in my choices.  I decided to make another Halloween card using the Spooky Fun stamp set and coordinating Halloween Scene edgelits.

Sandi MacIver posted a card using those dies a week or so ago.  As soon as I saw it and watched her video I knew I wanted to CASE it.  You can Sandi's card HERE.

My card is pretty much identical to Sandi's but I added a die cut witch.  I had to do that because when I went to stamp a bat I didn't realize that I had stuck the stamp wrong side up on the clear block so I ended up with a black blob on my moon.  The witch was the perfect size to cover up my mistake!

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Spooky Fun
Ink - Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry
Card Stock - Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Basic Black, Crushed Curry
Other - Halloween Scene Edgelits, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Sponges

Inky Divas Challenge - Week of August 29

This week Crystal's challenge was to create a card using the "spotlight" technique.  The sample she posted was a very different variation of that technique than any I have seen.  I headed to Pinterest and after I did a search I was amazed at the number of variations there are to the technique.

I found one that I really liked - both for it's simplicity and the fact that it used the Lovely as a Tree stamp set.  My set hasn't seen ink in quite some time so this was a great opportunity to get it inky.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Lovely as a Tree, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink - Basic Black
Card Stock - Very Vanilla, So Saffron, Smoky Slate
Other - 1 1/4" Circle Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Happy Birthday George

It's my brother-in-law George's birthday today.  The card I made for him is based on instructions I had received from Ann Clemmer months ago.  I don't think it was posted on her blog - I believe it was a project exclusive for her email subscribers.

I love The Open Sea stamp set and almost always go to it for masculine cards.  It's a shame that Stampin' Up! retired it this year.  There is actually a lot of retired product on this card, The Open Sea Stamp Set, Itty Bitty Banners stamp set and coordinating framelits, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Burlap Ribbon, Designer Series Paper and the background on the card base (I used My Digital Studio the stamp World Map was available as a background stamp).

I coloured a couple of the tiniest pearls from our Basic Pearls embellishments with a black Sharpie.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - The Open Sea (retired), Itty Bitty Banners
Ink - Basic Black
Card Stock - Sahara Sand, Delightful Dijon, retired DSP
Other - Sunburst Thinlit, Banners Framelits, 2 1/2" Circle Punch (retired), Bitty Banners Framelits (retired), My Digital Studio, Stampin' Dimensionals, Pearls

Inky Divas Challege - Week of August 22

At first I wasn't going to participate in this week's challenge.  Our cards were to include sea creatures, sponging and some sort of embossing.  I have no sea creature or fish stamps (I may have a turtle stamp packed away somewhere but the thought of looking for it was too daunting).

As I was tidying up my stamp table I saw that I had the Halloween Scene edgelits (in the new Holiday catalogue that goes live on September 1) and thought the spooky tree looked like coral so I decided to do a punch card for the challenge.  Click HERE to see the card I made using the tree.

I also had some scraps of paper from other projects sitting out so I challenged myself to use these on my card.  My tree builder punch, ornament punch (retired) and ornament punch (retired) were also close at hand.  I also had the Serene Scenery DSP Stack out so I used one of the designs for the background.  The sea floor is a piece of Crumb Cake - I tore one edge and sponged it.  After adhering it to the DSP I dry embossed it with the Seaside embossing folder, added in the coral and the rocks that I had punched with the tree builder punch.  The edges of the coral and the rocks have also been sponged.

I had seen a cute punch art fish on Pinterest - see it HERE- using the retired ornament and wide oval punches.  Once that was put together I assembled the card.  The fist is popped up on dimensionals.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - none
Ink - Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake, Pumpkin Pie, Smoky Slate
Card Stock - Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake, Island Indigo, Pumpkin Pie, Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Serene Scenery DSP Stack
Other - Halloween Scene Edgelits, Seaside Embossing Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals

Happy Anniversary George & Louise

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law are celebrating 49 years of marriage today.  I had seen a card on Pinterest that I quite liked so I adapted it to make an anniversary card.

It was a bit difficult to get a good photo of the clear embossing on the base card, but I think it shows pretty well in this one.

I wanted to have the anniversary greeting include 49 so I created my sentiment in My Digital Studio (retired) and punched it with a 2" circle punch.  It is surrounded by a circle and scallop circle cut with non-Stampin' Up! dies.

I used the flower stamp from Flourishing Phrases but hand cut them to a smaller size.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Flourishing Phrases
Ink - Real Red, Soft Sky, Daffodil Delight, VersaMark
Card Stock - Basic Black, Shimmery White, Cucumber Crush
Other - Flourish Thinlits, Linen Thread, Rhinestones, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots,
2" Circle Punch, Clear Embossing Powder, My Digital Studio

Spooky Fun

When I saw the Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalogue I decided that one of my preorder items had to be the bundle that included the Spooky Fun stamp set and coordinating Halloween Scenes Edgelits.  I probably didn't need a new Halloween set - I have a few in my stash - but just couldn't resist.

Earlier this week I started looking on Pinterest for cards using this bundle and found one I really liked but I didn't have all of the supplies.  You can see it HERE.  I hadn't bought the Halloween themed Designer Series Paper or the other stamp sets used in the sample (Ghoulish Grunge and Suite Seasons).  The sample used a brick wall background that reminded me of one I had purchased as a download for My Digital Studio.  I opened the program, found the paper I wanted and then recoloured it to shades of grey.  After printing it onto photo paper I started creating my card.

The original used the "mesh" stamp from the Ghoulish Grunge set for the background on the centre panel.  I used one of the stamps from Timeless Textures and thought it worked out pretty well.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Spooky Fun, Timeless Textures
Ink - Basic Black, Crushed Curry, Smoky Slate
Card Stock - Whisper White, Basic Black, Smoky Slate, Pumpkin Pie
Other - Halloween Scenes Edgelits, Mini Glue Dots, Fine Tip Glue Pen

Inky Divas Challenge - Week of August 15

This week's challenge was a colour challenge.  We had to use Early Espresso, Tip Top Taupe and Mint Macaron as our colours.  Black and/or white could also be used.  Only current Stampin' Up! products could be used.  My card is CASEd from one I had seen on Pinterest.   You can see it HERE.

When stamping the background I inked up the stamps and then stamped them off once on scrap paper before stamping onto the Whisper White card stock.  The greeting is stamped at "full strength".  I got a few ink smears when I stamped it so I covered up the mistakes with a few rhinestones.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Timeless Textures, Flourishing Phrases
Ink - Early Espresso, Mint Macaron, Tip Top Taupe
Card Stock - Early Espresso, Mint Macaron, Tip Top Taupe, Whisper White
Other - Botanical Builders Framelits, Rhinestones, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Basic Rhinestones, White Signo Gel Pen

Freshly Made Sketches - #250

When I saw the sketch posted on Freshly Made Sketches this morning I decided to give it a try.  See the post HERE.

Here is the sketch

I had a few things sitting on my desk that I thought might work.  There was a piece of Designer Series Paper (retired) along with a stamped and coloured image from the Merry Mice stamp set which is in the Stampin' Up! new Holiday Catalogue.  I decided to change the shape of the focal piece to accommodate the cute little mouse.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Merry Mouse
Ink - Cherry Cobbler, Pool Party, Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Bermuda Bay
Card Stock - Whisper White, Basic Black, Shimmery White, Merry Moments DSP (retired)
Other - Los of Labels Framelits, Rhinestones, Aqua Painter, Stampin' Dimensionals, Rhinestones, Frosted Sequins Embellishments (retired)

Inky Divas Challenge - Week of August 8

The challenge for the week was to make a "Hanging Water Bottle Treat Box".  We had to use at least one new stamp and use only current Stampin' Up! products.

I should have taken a photo with a side view - the box is 1/2" deep.  I used the Swirly Bird stamp set to create the little sailboat and Thoughtful Banners for the greeting.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Swirly Bird, Thoughtful Banners
Ink - Island Indigo, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight
Card Stock - Island Indigo, Whisper White, Crushed Curry, By The Shore DSP
Other - Swirly Scribbles Thinlits, Tree Builder Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, 1 3/8" Circle Punch

Happy 65th Anniversary Mum and Dad

Today is my parents' 65th Wedding Anniversary.  We had a celebration dinner for them on July 31st but today is the day!

My sister discovered that the gem for the 65th Anniversary is Sapphire.  We weren't sure what cards would be available to celebrate a 65th anniversary so I made all of the cards from myself and my brothers and sisters.  I decided to use the last of my stash of Midnight Muse card stock for the cards as well as for the table favours we used.  See THIS post.

For this card I used the Rose Garden Thinlits, Cuttlebug Dies for the numbers and the retired Express Yourself stamp set for the happy anniversary.

I used the Large Numbers Framelits and the coordinating Number of Years stamp set for this card.

The lattice piece on this card is from the May Paper Pumpkin Kit.  I used My Digital Studio to create the focal piece and die cut it with the retired Hearts a Flutter Framelits.

I used the Birthday Blooms stamp set for this card.  The banners were cut using the Banners Framelits.  Again I used the retired Express Yourself stamp set for the sentiment and Cuttlebug dies for the numbers.

This was the only one of the five cards where I used Night of Navy Cardstock.  I wanted to use some of the Floral Boutique Designer Series I had received in the share from Sandi MacIver.  This card also uses the retired Express Yourself stamp set (I love the font) as well as the Large Numbers Framelits and Number of Years stamp set.

This is a combination of a Z-Fold and Joy Fold card.  You can it open HERE.

Inky Divas Challenge - Week of August 1

Crystal's challenge this week was to create a "sky" background effect using a technique rather than a stamped background.

Last year I had seen several posts to create a night sky background by applying ink directly from the ink pad to a clear block and then spritzing with water before applying it to a piece of watercolour paper.  After "stamping" the block onto the watercolour paper I spinkled on some salt, spritzed it a bit more and let it dry.  Once dry I brushed off the salt and added a bit more texture to the background by stamping some "snow flurries" with VersaMark ink and heat embossed it with Iridescent Ice embossing powder (retired).  The "scenes" were cut out of Shimmery White card stock using the Sleigh Ride edgelits (retired).

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Jingle All The Way (retired)
Ink - Night of Navy, Island Indigo
Card Stock - Night of Navy, Shimmery White, Watercolour Paper
Other - Sleigh Ride Edgelits (retired), Stampin' Dimensionals, Rhinestones, Frosted Sequins Embellishments (retired)

Headstart on Christmas Cards

I am trying to get a head start on my Christmas cards for this year - I usually have quite a few done by now but this year I have been distracted and have barely any.  I actually like to have my plans in place before the new Stampin' Up! Holiday catalogue is introduced.  Not this year though. Demonstrators got to view some sneak peak videos showcasing some of the new product lines for the holidays and then the online catalogue was made available (again Demonstrator only).  Oh my there are some very cute things.

I am going to try to resist ordering too much and work with what I have.  I often order from the Holiday Catalogues in preparation for the following year.  That way I have lots of opportunity to view projects others post on their blogs or on Pinterest.

This is a card I made using some vellum from last year's Holiday Catalogue and a Hostess set from the 2016-2017 Annual Catalogue (Time of Year - page 201).  I CASEd the card on page 200 of the Annual Catalogue.

I don't have the Fabulous Foil Designer Sheets used in the catalogue sample, but I remembered that I had the Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack from the 2015 Holiday Catalogue so I used one of the sheets from that stack.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamp - Time of Year (Hostess set 2016-2017 Annual Catalogue)
Ink - Versamark, Real Red, Old Olive
Card Stock - Old Olive, Whisper White, Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum (retired)
Other - Bunch of Banners Framelits, Doily, Gold Embossing Powder, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, Retired Corner Punch

65th Wedding Anniversary - Table Favours

Although their 65th Wedding Anniversary is not until August 9th, we are having a celebration dinner for my parents today.

We have hired a caterer and booked a room so we can all sit back and enjoy our time celebrating this remarkable achievement.  65 years!

I made some table favours for each place setting.  65 years is a Sapphire Anniversary so I pulled out some retired dark blue card stock (Midnight Muse), Shimmery White card stock and my Botanical Builder Framelits.  I used a long retired die to cut the boxes.  The box contains a little bag of Sugared Pecans that I usually just make at Christmas.

I made a larger box for my parent's places.  It's too bad Stampin' Up! no longer carries these boxes. They are food safe and came with the acrylic sleeve.  They were also a perfect size for storing Washi Tape.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Banners for You
Ink - Midnight Muse (retired)
Card Stock - Shimmery White, Midnight Muse (retired)
Other - Botanical Builder Framelits, Bunch of Banners Framelits, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, Signo White Gel Pen, Extra Large Rhinestones (retired), Basic Rhinestones, Retired Box Die (Box #2), Tag a Bag Gift Boxes (retired)

Serene Scenery Designer Series Paper Stack

When the 2016-2017 Stampin' Up! annual Idea Book and Catalogue was released I didn't pay much attention to the Designer Series Paper as I have quite a collection sitting in my craft room and wasn't sure if I should add to it.  I did however sign up for Sandi MacIver's paper share so I received a sampling of all of the papers in the catalogue.

I loved the Serene Scenery DSP (Designer Series Papers).  They come in a stack of 48 sheets - each sheet is 6 x 6 and there are four each of 12 double sided designs.  My next order is going to include this versatile paper stack.



I picked one of the papers and was able to make 2 note cards from one of the 6 x 6 sheets.

I used the Stanpin' Up! notecards that measure 3 1/2 x 5 and come with envelopes.  I first cut a one inch strip from the top of the DSP and then cut that srip in half lengthwise.  I used the reverse side of the paper and adhered the 1/2" strip to the left side of the card.  I then cut the larger piece in half to give me two 3" x 5" pieces.  I stamped the "Thank You" from Tin of Cards on each piece and then adhered them to the note cards.  To finish I wrapped some linen thread (3 strands) around the card front and tied a bow.

Stampin' Supplies
Stamps - Tin of Cards
Ink - Basic Black
Card Stock - Whisper White Notecards, Serene Scenery DSP Stack
Other - Linen Thread

Christmas in July

I am trying to get a jump start on my Christmas cards so last week when I went over to Judy's I brought all the supplies to make a "mini easel" card.  It is an adaptation of a "step" card we had seen on Pinterest (see it HERE) and the "mini easel" card Diana Gibbs shared on her blog a few weeks ago (see Diana's card HERE).

Here is a view from the side

Here it is closed

Stampin' Supplies

Stamps - Peaceful Pines

Ink - Old Olive, Lost Lagoon (retired)

Card Stock - Whisper White, Old Olive, Lost Lagoon (retired), Silver Glimmer, Retired DSP

Other - Silver Cord, Perfect Pines Framelits, Stampin' Dimensionals, Scoring Tool