There's an envelope for that...

I had an idea for a card but the size that I was thinking of just wouldn't fit into a standard envelope.  Thank goodness for the Envelope Punch Board!  I was able to make my card AND a matching envelope.  It's great when things work out, isn't it?

I wanted to use all the new In-Colors again.  I had a layout in my head and it definitely needed a longer-than-usual card.  I decided to make mine 3 1/2" x 7".  That allowed me to have the borders at the sides and also the special stamping in the centre.  For the stamping I used Whisper White as well as the following stamp sets:  Work of Art, Feel Goods, and Gorgeous Grunge.  My base cardstock was the Naturals White and then I added a narrow layer of Blackberry Bliss.

When you look at my card, you can understand why I made the card long and narrow.  The Whisper White was cut to 3 1/4" x 6 3/4".  The chevron stamp from the Work of Art stamp set is approximately 3 1/4" long and therefore divides the card into sections perfectly.  For the outer sections, I used the heart and circle stamps from the Work of Art stamp set with Lost Lagoon, Tangelo Twist, Blackberry Bliss and Hello Honey inks.  In the centre section, I used the larger "square" shape first in Hello Honey and then in Tangelo Twist.  On top of that I stamped the sentiment from the Feel Goods stamp set using Blackberry Bliss ink.  Then I added stamped hearts in Blackberry Bliss ink and Lost Lagoon ink.  To finish off my stamping, I added the large spatter from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set using Mossy Meadow ink.

After assembling the layers, I added three gold foil hearts, mounted on dimensionals.

For my envelope, I used a plain white piece of paper cut to 8 5/8" x 8 5/8" and followed the directions for the 3 1/2" x 7" card that are given right on the Envelope Punch Board.  It was a snap.  To finish off the envelope, I stamped along the left border using the chevron stamp and Hello Honey ink and then added a heart in Tangelo Twist and a circle in Lost Lagoon.

A perfect set!  The new In-Colors look terrific together!  And I'm really loving that new Work of Art stamp set.

A "Smooch" finish

I've been using the new In-Colors quite a bit the last week or so.  They're new (of course) and it's good to get a feel for them.  I've discovered, for example, that I like their intensity but also really like the way they look when I off-stamp them first and then stamp with the diminished colour.  Today I used all five of the new In-Colors along with the new Work of Art stamp set.  The result is hard to describe.

I used the full intensity of the colours for all but the Blackberry Bliss.  That one is extremely dark when used without off-stamping.  Since I decided to use the chevron shape from the Work of Art stamp set for that colour, I chose not to use the stamp pad.  Instead, I used the Stampin' Marker and inked up each line with that.  As I inked each of the three lines, I off-stamped it---except for the third line which I left at full colour.  That way the Blackberry Bliss shows off its inner warm tones.

When I finished all the shapes and hearts and circles, I decided to add one more heart but this time instead of stamping it, I used the smallest of my Hearts Framelits to cut out a heart from the Blackberry Bliss cardstock.  To give it further definition, I used my Chalk Marker around the perimeter and also to make a design similar to the design on the stamp on one side.  I adhered the heart onto the Lost Lagoon stamped shape using a dimensional.  The "you" that is stamped in Blackberry Bliss three times is also from the Work of Art stamp set.  The sentiment "love you" is part of a stamp from the Yippee Skippee stamp set, inked using my Blackberry Bliss Stampin' Marker.

For my base I used the Naturals White cardstock with a layer of Basic Black on top.  I rounded off the corners of the Whisper White before adding that layer.

To give the card a bit of additional interest (and sparkle) I spritzed the card with the Vanilla Smooch spray as a final touch.

I've found the Lost Lagoon!

One of the new In-Colors for 2014-2016 is called Lost Lagoon.  It's a blue like no other in Stampin' Up!'s current colour palette.  I love its slightly grey cast.  It looks wonderful used for the baby album that I created as one of my Blog Hop projects and looks equally wonderful used for an adult card.

I have been using the Work of Art stamp set a fair bit lately because it makes such wonderful backgrounds.  Actually, it also makes a pretty great piece of focal art as well.  I can imagine coming up with many more various ways to use the set.  For this card I stamped the medium sized "blocky" stamp with the full intensity of the Lost Lagoon ink.  Then I stamped rays coming from that using the rather long and "skinny" stamp, also using the Lost Lagoon ink but this time I stamped off once and then stamped the ray.

I cut a piece of typing paper to the size of the "blocky" stamp and covered the stamped image on the Whisper White.  I didn't want to get any of the Hello Honey ink on that portion when I spattered the card using my Aqua Painter and some of the Hello Honey ink refill.

Finally, when everything was completely dry, I went over the stamped Whisper White with my Embossing Buddy and then, using Versamark, stamped "You are a fabulous work of art" onto the "blocky" image.  Then I heat embossed the sentiment using White Embossing Powder.  It really pops.

I used a base cardstock of Lost Lagoon and then my next layer is Hello Honey.  I love the way it brings out the spatters of that colour on the main design.  Before adhering the Whisper White, however, I decided to bring it up a notch.  I used the little cut-out framelit from the Chalk Talk dies and created four little cut-outs along the left border.  Through those I laced some of that gorgeous new In-Color Stitched Satin Ribbon.

A little rhinestone coloured with the deepest shade of the Daffodil Yellow Blendabilities finished off the card beautifully.

All that new stuff

It's actually one week from today that the new 2014/15 Annual Catalogue is open for orders.  Are you excited?  I certainly am.  I've had the opportunity to get a few "sneak peek" products with which to play and if nothing else, they've whetted my appetite for more.

I've already used a couple of the brand new 2014/16 In-Colors for my blog hop post.  Today I'm going to show off another one along with the Hello Honey that you've already seen.  Tangelo Twist is not really an orange.  It is more along the line of a tangerine or even a light blood orange.  I used both colours to stamp the background using the new stamp set, Work of Art.  I simply off-stamped once for the lighter colour and then used the full colour of ink on the second stamping for each of the colours.  Then, using black ink, I stamped the silhouette of the tree and birds from the Serene Silhouettes stamp set.  I also used black ink for the sentiment.

My base cardstock is Tangelo Twist and I've used a layer of Basic Black to outline the Whisper White on which I've done the stamping.

It's a simple card but it certainly has a WOW factor, doesn't it?

Miss you already!

There are some products on the retiring list that I am missing already.  If you have the I Am Me Designer Series Paper, you'll know what I mean.  The colours are so bright and cheery (Real Red, Calypso Coral, Pool Party, So Saffron, Whisper White and Basic Gray) and the designs are perfect for all sorts of occasions, especially if someone is taking off on a trip or if you want to do a scrapbook spread for one of your trips.

I've been making a lot of short trips lately and had to make a card using this paper.  I had never made one of the cards-in-a-box for a square envelope, and thought it was about time to try one.  My envelope is perfect for a 5 1/4" x 5 1/4" card and so that's the size I chose to make.  I began with a 5 1/4" x 11" piece of Basic Gray cardstock which I scored at 2 5/8", 5 1/4", 7 7/8", and 10 1/2".  Along the short side I scored the piece at 3".

Since all the colours in the Core'dinations paper are also retiring, I decided to use my Core'dinations Real Red for the first layer.  I used my Arrows Embossing Folder (not retired and, surprise, part of the new 2014/15 Annual Catalogue) and then sanded the design lightly.  I love how the design just pops after sanding the embossing.  On top of that I added a 7 3/4" x 1 3/8" band from the I Am Me, showing the little cameras in every colour.

I love how well the Around the World stamp set compliments the Designer Paper.  With images from that stamp set as well as the soon-to-be-retired Peachy Keen stamp set, I added layers of interest to the box.  Added to that are some banners cut from the Designer Paper with that great little Banner Punch and some pennants cut using the Pennant Builder punch.

As a final touch I added "miss you already" using the Just Sayin' stamp set along with its matching framelit from the Word Bubbles Framelits Dies.  I love the bright, happy colours in the card.  If you want any of the retiring products, don't forget to put your order in soon.

Blooming With Kindness meets the Blendabilities

I love the flower in the Blooming With Kindness stamp set.  Even with the Stampin' Write Markers, it turns out looking quite beautiful.  Using the Blendabilities, it actually seems to come to life.

I decided to make this card with no embellishments.  I used Whisper White as my base cardstock and then layered Crushed Curry and Pear Pizzazz.  The final layer is the Whisper White on which I stamped my flower and sentiments.   I left the sentiments black so that all the attention would be on the flower.

For the flower I used the Daffodil Delight Blendabilities and for the two leaves I used the Old Olive Blendabilities.  The deepest shade of the Daffodil Delight Blendabilities is very close in colour to the Crushed Curry, which is why I chose that as one of the cardstock layers.  The Blendabilities can be layered over each other as much as one likes.  The Whisper White doesn't pill at all, which is terrific since it does pill slightly if one works at it too much with the Stampin' Write Markers.  I made certain that I put some paper under my flower as well as a layer of waxed paper because, after working the colours over each other, the backside of the Whisper White is as deeply coloured as the front and I didn't want any colour on my tabletop.

I wasn't sure what I would think of the Blendabilities and so I only ordered a small number of colours.  Seeing how beautifully they colour and how easy they are to use, I plan to order all the colours.  Colouring with them can become addictive.

The May Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop

It's my birthday and we're having a Blog Hop.  What an exciting day!

May is a funny sort of month when you are part of Stampin' Up!  A whole lot of products have retired and we're waiting to welcome the brand new Annual Catalogue on June 2nd.  The Occasions Catalogue is also still active until June 1st.  This Blog Hop is going to reflect all these changes.  This month we're concentrating on saying goodbye to the old--the products that are retiring from both the Occasions Catalogue and last year's Annual Catalogue.  We're also welcoming in the new since we've been able to order a very select amount from the brand new Annual Catalogue.  I had a lot of fun mixing the old with the new for my projects.

If you've come through the blog hop from the beginning, you will have arrived here from the very creative Deborah Smart's blog.  Deborah is one very busy crafter and always amazes me with her wonderful projects.

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For my first project I created a masculine birthday card using one of my favourite retiring stamp sets:  Clockworks.  This card could easily be for Father's Day with the appropriate sentiment alteration.  What I love about the Clockworks stamp set is all the gears and designs as well as the clock faces.  I also used the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and Label Love stamp set, neither of which are retiring.  I used a lot of layers for this card, beginning with a base of Early Espresso, some Gold Foil, another layer of Early Espresso, a layer of Baked Brown Sugar onto which I heat embossed a variety of designs and, finally, a partial layer of Early Espresso cut out using my Hexagon Hive Thinlit.

The card really looks masculine, doesn't it?  I am so happy with the results.

For the inside of the card I continued with the colour scheme.  I love this sentiment from the Yippee Skippee stamp set and decided to stamp a gear from the Clockworks in the top left and bottom right.  Then I used the Chevron Border punch to get some Early Espresso Core'dinations pieces and adhered them around the gears after sanding them slightly.  

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I only prepared one more item for this Blog Hop but since it's a multi-page accordion-style album, it's really quite a large project.  For this one I decided to spotlight two of the new In-Colors:  Hello Honey and Lost Lagoon.  The design is along the line of the album I made for my daughter over a year ago, but it has more pages and I also decided to use my Circle Card Thinlit for one of the pages.  

The pages alternate between the Naturals White cardstock, Hello Honey cardstock and Lost Lagoon cardstock.  I also used some of the pages from the Moonlight Designer Series Paper Stack as well as some Whisper White cardstock and Pool Party Core'dinations.  The Pool Party looks great with the new Lost Lagoon.  There are also several stars and hearts cut out of Silver Glimmer paper spritzed with Pool Party ink, using framelits from the Circle Card package.

The stamp sets I used were Baby Prints (retired), Baby We've Grown (Occasions catalogue and also in the new Annual Catalogue), and Something for Baby (new Annual Catalogue).  They really worked well together.  What I love best about the new Something for Baby stamp set is that it comes with coordination framelits which eliminates the usual fussy cutting I wind up having to do.  You can see on the cover how beautifully the pram is cut out with the framelit.

The sentiment is from the Baby We've Grown stamp set.  I love the way the Hexagon Hive thinlit and On Film framelit enhance each other.

The baby for whom I've created this album hasn't been born yet so I've left the photo areas blank as well as the areas for his name and other information.  I love the way one can combine My Digital Studio and actual stamping.

For the little boy's shoes, I used the Baby We've Grown stamp set while the safety pin and little socks are from the Something for Baby stamp set and framelits.

The next spread of pages is, again, a mixture of stamping with the My Digital Studio because I wanted a list of firsts to go with the stamp from Baby Prints.  Since this spread also includes the Circle Card, I used the footprints from Baby Prints on one side of the circle and a sentiment from the Cuddles and Kisses stamp set on the other side.  

For the next spread, I did some very fussy cutting because I wanted to include the little bunny from the Baby We've Grown stamp set.  Of course I included four bunnies.  Cutting those little whiskers was a challenge!

The next spread includes the inside of the back cover so I repeated the same embossed pattern that I used on the inside of the front cover.

  

This shows the entire inside of the accordion-style album.

And, finally, this shows the front and back cover together.

I can hardly wait for the baby to arrive so that I can complete the album by adding photos.  

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That completes my Blog Post.  I hope you've enjoyed my projects.  That's the whole line-up for the Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop.  Of course, if you've begun with me, you'll click on "Next" and that will bring you to the beginning of the hop.  Our Blog Hop is circular, therefore it continues just like a ring and is never-ending unless you "jump off".  I hope you won't decide to jump off until you've enjoyed all seven posts.

The next stop for you will be Kathe Deck.  Kathe is a wonderful crafter and never fails to surprise me with her creative projects.  

                                                         

                                                          

                                                          

Fabulous is what you are!

Fabulous is what my daughter is.  She's an awesome daughter, a terrific wife and a fantastic Mom.  What better card for her on Mother's Day than this, telling her that "Fabulous is what you are"!

I had just gotten my Blendabilities delivered and was dying to try them out.  They're the new alcohol markers that Stampin' Up! has brought out and I've heard wonderful things about them.  Of course I had to try them out and what better way than for a card that I had planned to make anyway?  I sort of go at creating a card sideways and slightly backwards but it always works out in the end.  I had a number of products that I thought I might use and about a half-dozen stamp sets that I felt might work.  For me, that's a good start.

I stamped the flower from the Secret Garden stamp set.  I thought it looked rather like a dahlia and would lend itself nicely to being coloured with the Blendabilities.  I also wanted some leaves and chose the one from the Fabulous Florets stamp set.  It's sad that both these stamp sets are retiring, but right now they're still current and so I am enjoying them while I can.  For the sentiment I chose the Million & One stamp set.

I wanted to use a blue as my base cardstock and finally decided to use the Coastal Cabana.  I used a lot of layers for the sentiment.  I stamped "Fabulous is what you are" onto Very Vanilla using Early Espresso ink and, when the ink had nearly dried, sprinkled it with some Silver Embossing powder and then heat set it.  The result was exactly what I had hoped for:  a speckled scattering of silver over the Early Espresso.  The next layer was Early Espresso, then Silver Foil and last of all more Early Espresso.

For the flower I used the Cherry Cobbler Blendatilities and for the centre, the Daffodil Delight Blendabilities.  The leaves were done using the Old Olive Blendabilities.  I loved the way the inks blended so beautifully together.

To tie the colours together, I used some  of the new Coastal Cabana Thick Baker's Twine.  After fraying the ends, I adhered a large pearl over the knot.

And that is how my daughter's Mother's Day card was created.  I may have come at it sideways and backwards but I love how it turned out.

Pssst---just another couple of days!

That's right!  This Thursday, May 15th we will be presenting another Wacky Watercooler Blog Hop.  It's going to be so much fun showing off some of the new products from the 2014/15 Annual Catalogue.  It will be available for order beginning June 2nd but for the time being you can check out how we've used the products in our posts.  Exciting?  You bet!

Heartfelt Wishes--more core'dinations and retiring Designer Paper

I was looking through some of the retiring products, trying to decide what I could live without and what I intend to keep for personal projects.  There is a particularly pretty print in the Venetian Romance Designer Series paper that I am really going to miss.  On a Very Vanilla Background, there is pale Soft Suede script with a lovely baroque design on top of that in shades of Tangerine Tango and Crisp Cantaloupe.  The design gave me the idea for the card.

As my base, I used Tangerine Tango cardstock.  My next layer was a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Very Vanilla which I stamped in twice off-stamped Crumb Cake with the baroque design from Background Builders (retiring).  I just wanted a very light background design and this did a great job.  Along the right border, I stamped the small butterfly image from Papillon Potpourri in offstanped Tangerine Tango and Crisp Cantaloupe.

The next layer was a double layer attached with dimensionals.  The bottom layer was Soft Suede while the top layer was that wonderful piece of Venetian Romance Designer Paper that I described already.  Along the right border, I trimmed the edge using the fancy lace of the Finishing Touches Edgelits.  I love the way the Soft Suede shows through and highlights the design.

For my sentiment, I used three layers.  The base was Soft Suede cut with my Scalloped Tag Topper Punch and trimmed to 2 1/2".  On top of that is a piece of Tangerine Tango Core'dinations cut with my Chalk Talk framelit, run through my Big Shot using the Beautifully Baroque embossing folder, and sanded.  The final layer is Very Vanilla stamped with Soft Suede using the Fabulous Phrases stamp set (retiring).

The finishing touches for the card were a butterfly stamped with the large Papillon Potpourri stamp on the Watercolor Wonder Designer Paper using Soft Suede ink and cut using the Elegant Butterfly punch and attached to the top right of the card using a skinny piece of dimensional.  I also added  two flowers cut from the Tangerine Tango Core'dinations paper using the Petite Petals punch and then crunched and sanded.  Their centres looked perfect when I added two large Pearls (retiring).  I also tied a piece of the 7/16" Natural Trim through the hole left by the Scalloped Tag Topper punch.

I love the way this card turned out.  I'm going to have to see what else I have in my retiring pile.

Mixing it up

Sometimes an idea is only a piece of paper away.  I'm not just saying that---this is actually how this card was designed.  I saw a piece of Fancy Foil Designer Vellum on my crafting table.  It was just a piece that was left over from another project and it appealed to me.  I really like the look of that Designer Vellum anyway, but when I saw that piece, I knew I wanted to use it in my next design.  Close by was a partial sheet of Watercolor Wonder Designer Series Paper.  The Tangerine Tango and Crushed Curry in the flowers gave me my colour palette.

Looking around the room I zeroed in on my Banner Framelit Dies.  I have all my Framelits and Thinlits up on  the wall, stuck to magnetic sheets and find that inspiration often comes when I look at them.  I'm very visual that way and probably wouldn't use my framelits half as often if they were filed away.  In this case the Banner Framelits inspired me.

I chose a base cardstock in Naturals White because the Tangerine Tango is such a strong colour.  For the Tangerine Tango, I turned to my Brights Core'dinations.  After putting the piece through my Big Shot using the Stylish Stripes embossing folder.  A bit of sanding made the diagonal stripes stand out beautifully.  They matched the diagonal stripes in the Fancy Foil Designer Vellum that I was using.  Instead of simply putting a rectangle or a square of the fancy vellum onto the Core'dinations, I cut it using the largest of the Banners Framelits.  Even then I wound up cutting it about an inch shorter.  On top of that I layered another piece of Core'dinations cut with the third largest Banner Framelit.  I put that banner piece through the Big Shot using my Decorative Dots embossing folder and then lightly sanded it.  On top of that I layered two banners in Gold Foil, cut with the smallest of the Banner Framelits.

Now for the piece of Watercolor Wonder Deisnger Series Paper that had caught my attention.  I loved the watercolour flowers that covered the paper and, instead of hand-cutting them, decided that they would probably fit quite well into the Pansy Punch.  I was right!  They were an almost perfect fit.  After cutting out two of the Tangerine Tango flowers, I decided to do the same with the Crushed Curry flowers.  For them, however, I chose to use the little Petite Petals punch.  I attached the flowers with dimensionals in a random "scattered" pattern across the banners and then adhered pearls to the centres.

For my sentiment I turned to the little heart from the Hearts a Flutter Framelits and the "hello" from the "A Dozen Thoughts" stamp set.  A bit of sponging with Tangerine Tango ink and Crushed Curry ink helped the heart fit perfectly into the colour scheme.

To finish it off, I added a tiny pearl to the centre of the "o" in "hello".

And that is the card that I created after seeing that piece of Fancy Foil Designer Vellum.  You never know where an idea is going to come from.

Core'dinations---gone too soon!

If you've tried the Stampin' Up! Core'dinations cardstock, you'll have fallen in love, as I did, with its texture and the way it allowed glimpses of its white core when sanded after embossing.  It is simply a fun paper.  I'm going to miss it since it did not make its way into the new Annual Catalogue.

Today's card is (surprise!) going to feature the Core'dinations cardstock.  Actually it will feature the Melon Mambo from the Brights Collection of Core'dinations paper.  You couldn't wish for a brighter, happier pink than Melon Mambo.  It is, in a word, dazzling!

Because of the powerful presence of the Melon Mambo, I kept the colours in my card to a bare minimum.  The base cardstock is Naturals White and the top layer is Whisper White.  Between the two layers I've adhered a layer of Melon Mambo Core'dinations cardstock.  The only inks I've used are Melon Mambo and Wild Wasabi.  Like I said, I kept it simple.

The reason I layered the Melon Mambo between the two whites is that I planned to use my Pansy Punch on the Whisper White so that the Melon Mambo would be exposed where the Whisper White was punched out.  To add to the texture, I ran the Melon Mambo through my Big Shot using the Decorative Dots embossing folder.  I love that subtle added texture.

Before I adhered the punched out Whisper White to the card, I used the leaf from the Fabulous Florets stamp set (unfortunately retiring) and stamped a number of leaves around the punched out flowers using my Wild Wasabi ink.  Then, using my Melon Mambo ink, I stamped a sentiment from the A Dozen Thoughts stamp set in the empty area at the top right.  Already the card looked great.

But I wasn't finished.  I used my Petite Petals punch and cut three flowers from the Melon Mambo Core'dinations paper.  I sanded them slightly to show some of the inner white core and then scrunched them before adhering each one to the centre of my cut-outs using dimensionals.  Then I added one of the large pearls (unfortunately retiring).

All in all I love the card.  It may be simple but it is definitely a show-stopper.

If you want to have a chance to use the Core'dinations cardstock or the large pearls, remember---time is running out.  Both are on the retiring list and will not be available after May 31st.

You make me happy

I've mentioned before that I love the Happy Watercolor stamp set.  It is fun to use and includes such a good variety of stamps.   I've been enjoying the poppy image but for this card I decided to use it in a totally different way.

I began with the Naturals White as my base cardstock.  To that I added a  2 1/2" x 5 1/2" strip of Cherry Cobbler cardstock which I cut along both long sides using my fancy Finishing Touches edgelit die.  Then on top of that I centred a 2" x 5 1/2" piece of Whisper White embossed with my Decorative Dots embossing folder.

I prepared three identical images of the poppy by stamping it on Whisper White using Cherry Cobbler ink.  I cut each image down to measure 1 1/8" x 1 1/8" and, using my Cherry Cobbler marker, roughly coloured the background behind the poppies.  Then I cut another three pieces of Whisper White measuring 1 3/8" x 1 3/8" onto which I adhered each of the poppy squares.  Then I mounted those onto 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" squares of Cherry Cobbler.  Finally I mounted the three framed images onto the card, spacing them carefully, using my dimensionals.  I finished the card by stamping the bottom using another of the Happy Watercolor stamps.

It's a simple card but I think it has a lot of impact because of the colours and the layout.  What do you think?