from my ink pad to yours

January 19, 2021

Ride the Range Trio

Today there is a new color challenge over at Splitcoaststampers. It's a challenging one, calling for: Cajun Craze + Call Me Clover + White with ribbon for dessert. This combination had me stumped until a new order showed up and I knew immediately that these colors, with a few neutrals, would work beautifully. Call Me Clover is a retired color and I don't have it at hand in my craft room so I substituted Just Jade sponged with Shaded Spruce. One is a little lighter and the other a little darker so hopefully I met in the middle for the color.

Challenge Colors:

Here are the first two cards. I recently used the Dainty Diamonds for a card (it will be on this Thursday's post) and thought it would be fun and rather unexpected to try it with the Cajun Craze and the "haystack" shaped frame die included in the bundle. And, I had to use both parts!

I tapped my White craft pad on the inside of the Dainty Diamonds folder before embossing the Cajun Craze cardstock.
The cowboy and cows were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Blends. With images this fine you will be glad for the bullet tipped end. Colors are shown in the shopping list below.
Once the coloring is done it's all about doing the die cutting. There is even a die that helps you make the hills.
Sponges help add depth.
The greeting is hand trimmed.
I think it might be a bit of a stretch to call the Braided Linen Trim "ribbon", but it is a cowboy card. How do I add ribbon? I wound a little in a circle to look like rope, tied a knot around it and stuck it to the corner with a mini glue dot.

This card was quick and simple - just using up the haystack shaped cut out and a Just Jade scrap. Sponging is key to make it look finished.

Here is my "planned" CAS version. I think I like the Cajun Craze horse color better than the Smoky Slate.
The greeting was stamped in Cajun Craze before using the Tasteful Textile embossing folder.
I sponged the crumb cake fence with a little Cajun Craze with Shaded Spruce just at the bottom to make the fence look a little more realistic. You are going to love these dies!!!

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

Check out the Stampin' Up! catalogs link at the top of my blog. If you don't have regular Stampin' Up Demonstrator and would like hard copies of any of our current catalogs please feel free to email me at cbondersonsmith@gmail.com

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a minimum $50 (US) order using the January host code, EPASGS3A, I will send you a free gift. US customers only. Customers placing an order smaller than $50 will still receive my thank you card.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Product List

Ride The Range Bundle

[156243]

Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[120953]

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[159276]

Just Jade 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[153079]

Smoky Slate 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[131202]

Cajun Craze 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[119684]

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

[132708]

Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad

[147085]

Shaded Spruce Classic Stampin' Pad

[147088]

Stamping Sponges

[141337]

Basic Black Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154843]

Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154904]

Just Jade Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[153107]

Cajun Craze Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154879]

Night Of Navy Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154891]

Soft Suede Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154906]

Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154882]

Dainty Diamonds 3D Embossing Folder

[152702]

Tasteful Textile 3 D Embossing Folder

[152718]

Uninked Stampin’ Craft Pad & Whisper White Refill

[147277]

3/16" (1 Cm) Braided Linen Trim

[147808]

Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine

[149653]

Posted at 03:00 AM in Ride the Range | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 18, 2021

In Bloom Bundle Duo

Today I've got a couple of cards that I made for last week's color challenge: Seaside Spray + Night of Navy + Rococo Rose. Dessert this week was flowers. As always we can add colors from Stampin' Up Neutrals, so I chose to add Soft Suede for a little, well, spice.

I've just received the In Bloom Bundle with the coordinating Blossoms in Bloom Dies. I was so excited to play with the dies and focused on them for these cards.

I die cut all of the shapes from the Blossoms in Bloom Dies out of watercolor paper and then watercolored them with my four colors of ink. I just put a few drops of refill in onto the covers of my ink pads. Then it will be there the next time I need it and I wont waste any. As you can see I had enough pieces for more than 2 cards.

I "built" my card base by layering a piece of Ornate Floral embossed white on a Basic White card base. Then I added a strip of Pinewoods Planks embossed Seaside Spray that was trimmed with strips die cut with one of the Ornate Borders Dies.
The greeting is stamped with Seaside Spray and cut out with the smallest die from the Stitched So Sweetly Die set.
I played around with the layout until I got this:

I know I'm going to enjoy using the bow die with these and even other dies!

as the stem/base of the plant on this clean and simple (CAS) card:

I die cut a Seaside Spray square using the Stitched Shapes Dies and mounted it on a white card base.
Add the cute little flower (with Multi-purpose adhesive) and I was done. It's nice to have a few blank cards on hand.

These are the only two cards I've completed with this bundle as of today (1/18/21) but I will post any others I make in my In Bloom Gallery.

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Product List

Posted at 03:00 AM in In Bloom | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 15, 2021

A Darling Donkey on "In Good Taste"

Today I'm sharing the very first card I made with the Darling Donkeys. At the time I knew these little creatures did have potential but I though I'd only seen a small piece of it. Since several of my Stampin' Up team of demonstrators, the he'Artstringstampers, had received this set as a prize patrol at a virtual Onstage event last year I though I better unpack their possibilities. I know you've seen me post some other cards I've made since with this set but this is an idea I had for them that I really want to pursue more.

When I was in college my parents built a new home. Yes, that was way back in the 1970's. It was a contemporary home with beautiful views of Lake Superior. I loved the way they incorporated some old barn boards from the farm where my dad had grown up. Instead of what later became the typical horizontal presentation, they put them up diagonally on one wall. It brought a cozy, yet contemporary, warmth to the family room. This sheet of Designer Series Paper from In Good Taste reminds me of these boards. They are warm and weathered AND just light enough to let my stamped donkeys shine through. Don't the donkeys look right at home on this paper?

I started with a piece of the DSP cut out with the largest square from the Stitched Shapes Dies.
I used Stazon Jet Black to do my stamping. This is generally the ink that works best with water and watercolor pencils. I have found that I can get away with using Memento Tuxedo Black if you allow enough drying time and use a very light touch with your water or blender pens.
I added the tree branch from "From All of Us" and a few blades of grass from "High Tide". Hopefully you have something in your stash to lend a little background. Be creative!
Coloring is done with Watercolor Pencils and a light touch of the blender pen.
The DSP square is layered onto a piece of Early Espresso die cut with Layering Squares dies - a large scalloped one.
As I was flipping through my cardstock I was surprised to see how Petal Pink seems to accentuate the warm tones in the weathered wood paper. The Gray Granite card base makes the perfect contrast to the Petal Pink.

As you can see I have a couple of other donkeys on weathered wood circles. If you know of a sketch you'd like to see with these circles, please leave me a comment/link! Once I get them done they will show up in my Darling Donkey Gallery. You can see my other completed cards there right now.

Onstage events are a wonderful perk to being a demonstrator. So much inspiration and a way to meet new stamping friends. We do pay a registration fee to attend so they aren't free so I don't want to misrepresent that. Signing up to be a demonstrator is one of the best deals during Sale-A-Bration. This year you receive an additional 5 packages of Color Family DSP. DSP that will be in next year's catalog.

Let me know if you are interested in more information!

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Product List

Posted at 03:21 PM in Darling Donkeys | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 14, 2021

Luscious Forever & Always Card with Rococo Foil

I'm joining in on a Loved Themed Blog Hop today...

...with this beauty:

The Foil sheets and Specialty Papers in the Love You Always Suite are made for each other. My favorite to look at is probably the Rococo Rose duo but finding other colors to pair with it was a bit challenging. The paper is seems just a shade cooler than my cardstock. I chose to mix it up with Smoky Slate. As I was working with these I couldn't help thinking of the now vintage colors of the bathroom in my first rental. I'd loaded up on dusty pink accessories in an effort to bring a dingy gray bathroom to life. In the '80's gray wasn't nearly so stylish as it is today.
My Basic White Card base is not quite covered with a piece of Dainty Diamonds embossed Smoky Slate which is partially covered with Rococo Rose Love You Always Specialty paper. I embossed a full quarter sheet (5.5" x 4.25") and then trimmed it down to 5 .25 x 4"
I stamped my bloom in Smoky Slate and colored it in with the Rococo Rose Blends Combo. I could have stamped with a darker ink - either Basic Bray or Memento Tuxedo. But I do like the softness of the Smoky Slate so I just added a few extra lines and dots in the middle with my regular writing marker.

I've used a Rococo Rose foil "Always" that I had layered on to a larger die cut piece of vellum. The layering is subtle against the white.
My greeting and bloom come together on a white Stitched Rectangle die cut.
A few strips skinny strips of foil accentuate the border between the Rococo Rose and the Smoky slate of the background. As long as you still have room to trim them even the tiniest scraps of this foil will add beauty to your work.
For an easy to mail version stop here. For a little extra pizzazz you could add some rhinestones.

I'm sure you're going to have a wonderful time checking out the other love projects on the blog hop.

Stop back when you are done and check out the other Love You Always Suite Projects on my gallery page.

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Product List

Posted at 11:00 AM in Forever & Always | Permalink | Comments (4)

January 13, 2021

Darling Donkeys Take on a Challenge

Here I am with my second post of the day...If you are looking for the AWOW Blog Hop that was posted just a bit earlier this morning...

Today is also the Paper Craft Crew's challenge day and I think you want to try this one out.

Isn't this just the perfect day to start working on some Valentine's Day cards? I decided that those are rose petals that she is throwing...

I kind of think of these as table throw cards - you just throw those on your table at an angle, right?
I cut the Real Red DSP with a Stitched Rectangle die because, well I could. I love using those dies for lots of different cards and though it leaves tiny little stitches on the edge of my "throw" you could really just cut your own rectangle this time.
The lace trim comes from Ornate Borders. I trimmed the edges at an angle. That was easier than it looked. I sponged them lightly with some Crumb Cake ink to make them pop just a bit more against the white card.
My Donkey is colored with Blends.

I hope you can play along and have fun with this challenge!

My Darling Donkeys Gallery Page is here. You don't want to miss it!

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Product List

Posted at 06:26 AM in Darling Donkeys | Permalink | Comments (0)

Inspiration Sources with Around the World on Wednesdays

Here we are with our first Around the World on Wednesdays blog hop of 2021. My friend Angie has pulled together such a great group of stampers that I hope you have time to grab a cup of coffee (?) and relax with us for a bit.

This month we are sharing one of our favorite source of inspiration. I actually suggested this theme because I love looking for inspiration in some rather unlikely places. Some of my all time favorite cards were inspired by things such as an ad for a color block dress in a fashion magazine, an Art Nouveau bed and breakfast room, or even a men's tie. So I made the suggestion thinking that I'd go back to one of these places for inspiration. Well, they say...best laid plans...

The card I'm sharing today actually IS inspired by my crafting supplies, in this case the Fine Art 3/8" Ribbon. This ribbon is gorgeous! It a Crumb Cake or linen like color which you think could look rather rustic BUT its fairly smooth, fine and has this beautiful, gold thread woven through it. The mini catalog picture can hardly do it justice. You need to touch it! Anyway it inspired me to come up with a card that showed off both the ribbon's Crumb Cake color and the delicate gold threads.

My floral stamping is all done with Art Gallery stamps with Crumb Cake ink on Crumb Cake cardstock. The smaller bouquet image was cut out a few times. I went over them a bit with Wink of Stella too.
The Very Vanilla is embossed with the Tasteful Textures 3D embossing folder.
The greeting is embossed in gold embossing powder but I think you could get away with a Crumb Cake greeting if you prefer. Mine is hand trimmed though there are some great coordinating dies in the Floral Gallery Dies. These are included if you opt for the Art Gallery Bundle.
A few Forever Gold Laser cut leaflets and some Gold Glitter Enamel Dots and my card is full of fashion even if it wasn't inspired by a fashion magazine this time...

Here is another view that give a closer look at the shiny gold:

...and one more:

I can't wait to see where some of my favorite stampers find their inspiration. Next on the tour we will see what the talented Brenda Nelson has in store for us:

Angela Meiritz-Reid - NZ

Tatiana Tobin - AU

Rochelle Laird-Smith - AU

Mikaela Titheridge - UK

Elaine de Montmorency - CA

Sharon Hashimoto Burkert - US

Teri West - US

Cheryl Hamilton - US

You can see more projects with these supplies in my Fine Art Floral Suite Gallery.

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Product List

Posted at 05:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

January 09, 2021

Forever & Always with the Stamping INKspirations Blog Hop

I'm blog hopping this weekend with a wonderfully talented group of stampers from all over the globe and we are all about something new!

My something new is the new set of Always Dies I've recently been able to add to my little collection. Though I had received the stamps before the dies were available I've been so anxious to try out these layering words and dies with vellum:

Well, not just vellum. There were those beautiful foil and specialty papers from the suite that called to me.

I started by playing around with the dies, foils and vellums. The Blushing Bride foil Love die cut fits so well in the circle from my Stitched Shapes dies that I decided to pull together these softly colored elements with a favorite card sketch that would make use of the specialty paper as a vertical border.
One of the Greenery embossing folders picks up on the design from the specialty paper.
I found that Rococo Rose blends wonderfully with Blushing Bride and the foil color and is just bold enough for my stamped greeting.
A whisp of Blushing Bride Metallic ribbon keeps the color and shimmering theme going.
The die set includes one die that cuts our 4 of these little tiny flowers with one pass through the Stampin' Cut & Emboss. I embellished these with Champagne Rhinestones. It took a little care but I applied the rhinestones to the flower first and then added them to the card which had been carefully dotted with a bit of Mult-purpose adhesive.
I didn't initially think to add the foil borders to the horizontal greeting but it is actually a little easier to glue in skinny strips to a finished card than to add them earlier - plus is makes use of skinny scraps!

Here is another view that shows a little more of the shine and shimmer:

Now it's time to follow along with the rest of the blog hop. Next stop is Melissa Gifford!

JANUARY 2021

Angie McKenzie ● Jo Blackman ● Jan Musselman

Tricia Butts ● Shel Anderson ● Libby Fens

Gez Carpenter ● Sue Allen ● Karen Henderson

Elaine de Montmorency ● Leonie Stuart ● Mo Rootes

Linda Moore ● Annette Ball ● Jill Chapman

Ann Krucek ● Susan Webster ● JoAnn Pollock

Narelle Fasulo ● Terry Hamilton ● Rebecca-Jo Unwin

Susan Simpson ● Danielle Kassing ● Sharon Hashimoto Burkert

Ilse van Vliet ● Cheryll Miller ● Rochelle Laird-Smith

Teri West ● Chris Smith ● Melissa Gifford

Vicki Milyard ● Anne Marie Hile ● Aurélie Fabre

Mikaela Titheridge ● Alejandra Gomez

After you have followed the blog hop please stop back and see more of my cards made with Love You Always Suite Products in this gallery.

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Product List

Posted at 03:55 PM in Forever & Always | Permalink | Comments (10)

January 06, 2021

Monochromatic Art Gallery Card

Today I have a card that I did for today's Paper Craft Crew Challenge. One bundle. One color. So easy!

Here is the sketch - you don't need to take it TOO literally.

And, here is what I did with it:

I started by choosing a pattern of paper from the Fine Art Gallery Designer Series Paper (DSP) and from there I had my color, Pool Party.
The flowers were stamped: two with full strength ink and one with a second generation image for the bolder layer and full strength for the more detailed layer. Are you familiar with the term second generation when stamping? That just means that you've stamped the image once and then stamped a second time on another section of your cardstock without reinking the stamp, thus getting a paler image.
4 1/4" x 5 1/2" white card base
1/4 sheet embossed with Painted Texture 3D embossing folder - trimmed to 4" x 5 1/4"
4" x 2 1/4" piece of DSP adhered to textured piece
3 die cut flowers from Art Gallery
1 die cut greeting shape stamped with "I'm thinking of you" in Pool Party and applied with Mini Stampin' Dimensionals.
Embellish with clear gems from Flowers for Every Season Gems. These gems are intended for use in shaker cards so there is no adhesive on them. I love them anyway because they are nice and tiny and work on just about anything. I use a little Multipurpose Adhesive and use the Take a Pick tool to apply them.

You can see more of my Fine Art Floral Suite card in this gallery.

You can see the whole January - June Mini catalog here.

Let me know if you would like a hard copy.

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Product List

Posted at 06:25 AM in Art Gallery | Permalink | Comments (1)

January 05, 2021

Kicking off Sale-A-Bration with Berry Blessings

Today is the start of Stampin' Up!'s new January - June Mini Catalog AND Sale-A-Bration AND Sale-A-Bration. Let's kick it off with a pretty little watercolor card using the beautiful Berry Blessings stamp set & Berry Delightful Designer Series Paper combination. Since I'm using watercolor we are going to join in with a Technique Tuesday Blog Hop so you can check out even more blogs featuring watercolored projects.

One of the quickest and easiest ways to do watercolor is to use Shimmery White cardstock. Its coating is forgiving no matter how many times you go back to add color - no pilling etc.

I used the Shimmery White cardstock for both the berries and the watercolored white circle in the background. The water painters with their reservoirs let you get just the right amount of water.
For the circle I used the largest brush to wet the whole area with water and followed that by adding just a bit of Coastal Cabana refill ink that I had picked up with my wet brush. I usually just add the refill to the cover of my ink pad. Then I can save any excess ink right with my ink pad instead of wasting it. You can squeeze the cover if you happen to have the older style pads and get the ink on your cover this way.
Since I wanted deeper richer colors for the berries I applied the color with a wet brush directly to dry paper. Colors are Gorgeous Grape and Granny Apple Green. The berries are stamped in two parts: the leaves with Mossy Meadow and the berries with Night of Navy. These inks can bleed a little with watercolor but I wasn't concerned with a little bleeding and thought it might add to the the look. As you can see the bleeding is barely perceptible!
I love the all of the plaid choices in the coordinating Designer Series Paper. Just a touch of Granny Apple Green plaid at the bottom of the card with a Scripty embossed base give my berries a good card base
Gorgeous Grape sheer ribbon and some pearls finish it off:

Now you can check out the other amazing watercolor projects in the line up:

I'll be adding more Berry Blessings cards to their own gallery here: Berry Blessings gallery.

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Product List

Posted at 10:58 AM in Berry Blessings | Permalink | Comments (3)

January 04, 2021

Sweet Strawberry Thank You Card

Here 's my last preview before Stampin' Up!'s January - June 2021 Mini Catalog goes live tomorrow.

It turns out that Soft Sea Foam is a bit tricky to photograph. The color is SO soft and makes a wonderful card base. The shopping list down below gives a better idea how soft this color is. Since Stampin' Up! is waiting for a new supplier of what will now be called Basic White card stock to come on board, it's good to know there are other options.
White on White - or Sea Foam on Sea Foam. I'm a fan of monochromatic designs and this has it in spades. Other colors that blend in here are a little Pear Pizzazz + Blender Pens and Pretty Peacock for stamping the outline images and shadowing the Playful Alphabet letters.
The strawberry blossoms are from a new Mini Catalog set Sweet Strawberry #154394. This is available as a bundle with a strawberry punch though I didn't use the berry portion of this stamp set.
I did make use of another punch that coordinates with this set, Small Bloom. This flower stands in for "o" in You. I discovered that AFTER fussy cutting all of the blooms for this card - but I was up at the lake for the holidays anyway. Lots of time and no small bloom punch with me. Note: the Small Bloom Punch (#152316) actually punches the larger single flower; the punch in the bundle will punch the smaller single bloom.
Add in a few Blue Adhesive gems to polish this little thank you card off.

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Product List

Posted at 03:54 PM in Sweet Strawberry | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 01, 2021

Darling Donkeys Bring in a Shiny New Year

Happy New Year!

Today I'm joining stampers from around the globe to share some previews of upcoming Sale-A-Bration products.

If you are new to Stampin' Up!, every year they run a promotion offering special products that are free with minimum $50 (US) purchases. Lately there has usually been some cute critter that is especially popular and this year it is the stamp set Darling Donkeys so that is the set I'm featuring. Follow the blog hop and you can see some of the other wonderful products!

On to my card:

This card was inspired by the work of two other demonstrators, Joan Morris and Chris Wolf. This card fits in a business envelope and measures 9" x 4".
I originally did this for this week's color challenge which was to use Pool Party + Blushing Bride + Smoky Slate with something shiny or shimmery for the optional dessert. The color challenges at Splitcoaststampers always allow you to add colors that are in the Neutrals family so that gave me the option to add grass in Mossy Meadow - via our new blending brushes and the stamp set My Meadow.
I also used the Blending Brushes with Pool Party ink to shade the edges of my 3.5" x 8.5" top layer. Sponge daubers with a little white craft ink were used to add the whispy clouds.
This might be the first time I've used my Blends alcohol markers on colored cardstock. They did seem to bleed a bit more so the next time I do this I will use a lighter touch.
The Blushing Bride Foil sheets - found in the Love You Always Foil Sheets/Love You Always Suite make me think of a shiny new penny so they were perfect to use for the new year, 2021! I used slightly rolled Mini Glue Dots to adhere them
The "rope" the second donkey is using to pull in the new year is from Playful Pets Combo pack. I made tiny slits around the donkey's mouth and with rolled tape on the edge of the twine to thread it through.
Conserve your foil sheets by trimming out the middle with your paper trimmer.
I used the Stitched Stars Dies to add the stars.

These shots show the card with it's business size envelope:

Now it's time to check out the other blogs:

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Posted at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

December 23, 2020

Favorite Christmas Set

Do you have a favorite Christmas or holiday stamp set? This week's papercraft crew challenge is easy then. Just use it!

While, as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I've been able to enjoy using number of holiday stamp sets this year running from "beautiful" (Snowflake Wishes) to "whimsical" (Gnome for the Holidays), I'll have to say my favorite is Poinsettia Petals. Poinsettias are my favorite way to decorate for the holidays. This year we have 6, 4 of which were carefully packed up and moved up to the lake where we are spending the week of Christmas this year. I decorated quite a few one of a kind cards with these gorgeous blooms. Here is one of my favorites:

It's a pretty basic design with just a few little details:
Colors are Blushing Bride + Whisper White and Basic Black cardstock; Petal Pink, Melon Mambo and a little bit of Light Pumpkin Pie Blends.
With such a simple card popping up the white and black layer with dimensionals gives that subtle little extra.
Playful Pets Trim Combo is the source of the Black & White Baker's Twine.
It's tough to see in this photo but this poinsettia is the perfect spot for a few brushstrokes of Wink of Stella.
Elegant Faceted Gems (clear) complete the picture.

Here is the challenge.

You can see some more of my Poinsettia Petal cards here.

Play along to get those last minute cards completed. Or start next year's stash!

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a minimum $50 (US) order using the December host code, QGD633JB, I will send you a free gift including the Artistry Blooms Sequins and other fun products that coordinate with them. US customers only. Customers placing an order smaller than $50 will still receive my thank you card.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Posted at 06:25 AM in Poinsettia Petals | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 09, 2020

Around the World on Wednesdays: Something Old, Something New

Can you believe it? Here we are for the last Around the World on Wednesday's blog hop for 2020.

It's been such a joy hopping with these talented paper artists this year, organized of course by our fearless leader, Angie Mackenzie. I really look forward to sharing the ideas we have planned for 2021. 2021! Such a concept.

Anyway, this month our theme is about: "Something Old, Something New". Some challenges I worked on earlier this week led me to preview a new bundle that will be released next month, Floating & Fluttering. Since it doesn't come with it's own greetings I revisited some other "older" but popular sets.

This week's color challenge at Splitcoaststampers: Bermuda Bay + Pumpkin Pie + Silver with a snowman for dessert. Well, Saint Paul is devoid of snow and my stamp studio is basically devoid of snowmen. Thankfully, it's allowed to skip dessert! So then next thing I thought about is what to do with Pumpkin Pie. Butterflies of course.

Floating and Fluttering is designed to make it a little easier to do a technique called floating frames which involves cutting out a frame of a sheet covered with die cuts. You can cut out 6 butterflies and 6 leaflets in one pass through your Stampin' Cut & Emboss or die cutting tool. I didn't use dimensionals to make my frame actually float, the frame seemed to have enough going on for this normally CAS girl.
The center is cut out for later use. I used an acrylic ruler to make sure I centered the die for this:

A little silver embossing helps to emphasize the inverted curves in the corners of the die cut inner part of the frame. I also used the silver embossing on the Bermuda Bay Card stock that I used for the "Happy" Word Wishes die cut and the "Birthday" from the coordinating A Wish For Everything stamp set.
Here is a close-up of the embossing:

Another part of the fun of the Floating Frame technique is the chance to make a second card from the inside that i cut out of the frame:

I used my extra piece on the newest Paper Challenge Crew's sketch:

PCC405

Using the same color scheme, I softened it a little with a lot of white and a little vellum.
I like to me give the partial butterfly a 3D effect by layering two images together without having them lined up perfectly:

A pretty little greeting from Forever Fern is just the right touch for this card!

That's it for today. If you are visiting after mid December 2020 you will want to check out my other Floating and Fluttering projects on my Floating & Fluttering Gallery.

Now you get to move on to visit Anne Marie Hile's lovely work:

Angela Meiritz-Reid - NZ

Tatiana Tobin - AU

Rochelle Laird-Smith - AU

Cheryll Miller - AU

Satomi Wellard - JP

Melissa Gifford - AU

Danielle Kassing - NL

Aurélie Fabre - FR

Mikaela Titheridge - UK

Elaine de Montmorency - CA

Sharon Hashimoto Burkert - US

Teri West - US

Cheryl Hamilton - US

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Posted at 04:55 AM in Floating & Fluttering | Permalink | Comments (8)

December 02, 2020

A Quiet Peaceful Boughs Card or...Texture with Dies

We've decided to make some gifts to some of our neighborhood restaurants that are working so hard to adjust their business models to stay open. Here in Minnesota right now that means Take Out only right now. Though I mostly enjoy cooking, I've never enjoyed getting a break from cooking more than I have in the past several months. Anyway, I decided to use today's sketch over at the Paper Craft Crew to get some of these made.

One of my favorite ways to add just a hint of background texture is to do cut out a die and then replace it into the negative left by the die. The large bough is die cut from a piece of 5 1/4" x 4" Very Vanilla.
This card uses just one pair of coordinating stamps and dies: Peaceful Boughs with Beautiful Boughs Dies, along with a little ribbon and pearls.
Colors are soft and gentle: Soft Sea Foam card base and background stamping on the greeting piece. Mossy Meadow for the Greeting. The Soft Sea Foam is subtle enough to easily add your message or greeting directly on the inner card base, but I will probably add a 5 1/4" x 4" layer of Very Vanilla. Just to dress it up a little more. Stamping and die cuts are all done on Very Vanilla.
More tone on tone with my Very Vanilla Pine cones, also done with the Beautiful Boughs Dies.
Don't forget to pop it up with some dimenstionals.
A simple knot tied with Vanilla Open Weave Ribbon from the Forever Greenery Trim Combo and a sprinkling of Basic Pearls.

A close up of the main details.

Does it look like I followed the sketch very well?

Don't forget you can check Gallery Page here. Since I made a number of Peaceful bough cards last year that haven't been posted a gallery for this set is coming soon.

Product List: Clicking here should bring you to my store.

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Posted at 06:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 25, 2020

Toile Christmas

Toile Christmas meets some of my favorite embossing folders with this card that I designed for the Paper Craft Crew's Inpsiration Challenge this week.

This week's challenge is to take inspiration from this photo:

There are so many direction you could go from this photo. As I was doing a little reorganizing in my craft pantry earlier this week I came across this cardinal, a negative circle die cut and a piece of Night of Navy cardstock embossed with the Dainty Diamonds folder. With so many elements already at hand it didn't take long to finish this up.

The cardinal is stamped and die cut from the Toile Christmas set with its coordinating dies.
The cardinal is colored with Real Red and Mango Melody Blends.
I used White craft ink on the Dainty Diamonds folder before embossing the Night of Navy Cardstock.
Don't forget to use dimensionals to pop up key images.
Holiday rhinestones give this a finished look.
Most of these supplies are found in the current Annual catalog. If you are reading as this is posted please note that most of this catalog is on the Merry & Bright Extravaganza Sale which has been extended through Wednesday, November 25th (11:59MT)

I'm still adding more designs to my gallery pages. Find the index here.

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a minimum $50 (US) order using the November host code, KMAXTNFZ, I will send you a free gift. US customers only. Customers placing an order smaller than $50 will still receive my thank you card.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Posted at 06:25 AM in Toile Christmas | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 24, 2020

3 Things: a Sale, a New Card Gallery and a Card!

Hi stamping friends!

I've got 3 things to chat about today.

ONE! Today is Stampin' Up!'s Merry & Bright Extravaganza Sale! Most of the Annual Catalog is 10% off. Check out the sale at My Store:

And don't forget I have great thank you gifts for this month. We're singing the "icy" blues with the Blue Adhesive Backed Gems, (p37 of the current mini catalog), along with a creative and coordinating mix of paper and ribbon. I also have a couple of extra packages of my October Golds thank you gift as an alternative option - just let me know if you prefer the gold version. Don't forget to use my November host code, KMAXTNFZ, to qualify for the gift. And, if you order over $150 skip the host code so that you can get the hostess benefits. Hostess orders still qualify for my monthly gift!

TWO! Do you know that this blog is almost 14 years old? See that long list of stamp set on the right? I'm working on a bit of a makeover by starting gallery pages for stamp sets and suites. Eventually that long list will go away and a link to a gallery index will replace it. I've already started the index and you can access it here. If you are thinking about shopping today's sale in the annual catalog you might want to check it out. The index is organized by catalog. You can see the index HERE. Remember it is a work in progress!

THREE! There is a new color challenge today over at Splitcoaststampers. Karen has chosen the combination of Pool Party + Poppy Parade + Shaded Spruce with "cute" for dessert. Here's what I came up with:

This card uses the Freezin' Fun Bundle and Buffalo Check background stamp.
To get the look of a snowy forest I tapped my white craft pad onto the Evergreen Forest embossing folder before embossing the Shaded Spruce cardstock.
All the Trimming Embellishments - white provide a little extra on my background. Are they stars or big snowflakes. Or maybe someone is throwing a few snowballs???
My cute little racoon is colored with Smoky Slate and Basic Black Blends Combos along with Poppy Parade for his hat and scarf, a hint of Pool Party on the hat pom pom and Soft Suede for the sled.
A little strip of scalloped trim on Pool Party Buffalo Check makes for a little extra dessert. I used the scallop edge die from the Peony Dies but you could also use any other edge die that is at least 5 1/2" long. The Be Mine Stitched Dies come to mind.

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Posted at 11:35 AM in Freezin' Fun | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 18, 2020

A Monochromatic Card with Garden Wishes Bundle

Well, almost monochromatic! I couldn't resist adding a little bumblebee just as I was finishing this up this little number, a sneak peak from next year's January - June Mini Catalog.

This week's Paper Craft Crew Challenge is a sweet sketch:

While I was looking for a piece of DSP for the strip on the bottom of the card I couldn't resist adding a couple of coordinating Misty Moonlight patterns from the Dandy Garden Designer Series Paper, part of the Dandy Garden Suite.

Though all of this year's In Colors are great fun to use, Misty Moonlight is probably my favorite. Even though I often use DSP in smaller servings, This time I used it as the main event.
I'm especially drawn to monochromatic (one color or shades of one color) patterns of DSP because they are so versatile. You can easily go off on your own tangent of color combinations and aren't tied to just those colors in the pack. This particular pack has several colors with multiple monochromatic prints.
The white on white treatment plays up texture. I used one of the Stitched so Sweetly scalloped Rectangles as the base.
Notice the layered ribbon and twine that I used for the horizontal element.
I used a yellow watercolor pencil and some Clear Wink of Stella on the Bumble Bee.

Here is the square photo version on the challenge page. Though this lovely suite of products won't be available to customers until January 5th, demonstrators can pre-order this as early as December 1. Contact me if you would like to chat more about the benefits of being part of my team of demonstrators.

For more creative ideas with the Dandy Wishes Suite please visit my Dandy Wishes Gallery Page.

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Posted at 06:27 AM in Dandy Wishes, Garden Wishes | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 11, 2020

Snowflake Wishes Takes on Around the World on Wednesdays

Today is going to be a busy Wednesday! I'm blog hopping with Around the World on Wednesday AND I'm sharing another great sketch from the Paper Craft Crew.

This month's Around the World On Wednesday theme is the market, specifically focusing on textures at the market. One of the markets I look forward to each year is the outdoor Christmas Market. December in Minnesota is most likely fairly chilly so woolen knit goods and pretty, wintery ornaments are very popular. That and hot drinks!

I started thinking about scarves and sweaters with snowflake designs and wondered if I could combine the Snowflake Wishes dies with the Greenery embossing folder that "might" look like a knit texture...

I was a little worried about attaching a die cut snowflake on top of cardstock and having the detail hold up as it was embossed. But then I remembered that the big snowflake is really more of a negative design. So it was easy peasy to cut the die pieces out first and then run it through the embossing folder. Didn't the detail hold up well?
A white embossed greeting and then a little more texture with the Real Red Braided Linen Trim.

Here is a close-up of the texture detail:

That was easy! Then I decided to use the same die again to add some background texture to this week's Paper Craft Crew sketch:

Here's what I came up with:

I mixed a little Seaside Spray and Whisper White craft refills to get an even softer blue and applied this over a white card base.
I die cut the same large snowflake out of a separate card front sized piece (5.5" x 4.25") and attached it over the prepared card base.
This gets even more texture with a square of Seaside Spray embossed with the Winter Snow embossing folder. I lightly sponged a little more white craft ink over these delicate snowflakes to make them pop just a bit more. Add one ore die cut snowflake.
A little ribbon and a few tiny snowflakes and it's a pretty Hanukkah card. #stampingdiversity

Here's one last look at my wintery duo:

Thank you so much for checking out my blog today. I'd love to hear what you think. Now it's time to see what the talented Anne Marie Hile has up her sleeve for us today.

Angela Meiritz-Reid - NZ

Tatiana Tobin - AU

Rochelle Laird-Smith - AU

Cheryll Miller - AU

Danielle Kassing - NL

Manuela Geiswinkler - AT

Aurélie Fabre - FR

Mikaela Titheridge - UK

Elaine de Montmorency - CA

Teri West - US

Cheryl Hamilton - US

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Product List

Posted at 05:57 AM in Snowflake Wishes | Permalink | Comments (10)

November 10, 2020

My Gnomes with Hats Duo

I'm hosting today's Color Challenge over at Splitcoaststampers with these colors:

Dessert is to add your favorite yellow.

My first card played up Misty Moonlight without too much focus on how well the other colors play along so I made a second ending up with this cute duo!

Aren't these just all about the hats? The stamp set, Gnome for the Holidays, has three individual Gnome stamps and I used them all here. The third Gnome has a Christmas tree gnome hat and I inked just the "hat" for the tree behind each of the gnomes. Another secret sauce that I used for both cards is my Light Crumb Cake Blends marker. Read on to find out how.

I used a Stitched So Sweetly rectangle die cut with rectangle of Trimming the Town DSP on the top. This snowflake design goes perfectly with this gnomes hat! Before attaching the scalloped rectangle in a somewhat skewed manner I used my Light Crumb Blends to add just a bit of color to the scalloped edges. I made sure my white layer (3 3/4" x 5") was small enough to have both of the upper corners covered by DSP when I trimmed the excess part of the scalloped rectangle away. I still have another piece that is usable for a future card.
I made masks for all of the images in this set as soon as I got it. It didn't take too long and they have gotten much use! After stamping the gnome in the lower right I masked him and stamped the Christmas tree hat of the girl gnome.
The images were colored with Blends markers which are noted in the shopping list below. One thing that I really like to do with the images of this set is to use the bullet point of my Light Crumb Cake Blends Marker to light outline each image and soften the outline, lending a bit more of a homespun look. I even added it to the greeting.
A few dots and Linen thread finish off this card.

I switched to very Vanilla for my neutral on this card.
I applied some quick strokes of Stampin Seal to the front of my card base and then started at the botton adding 1/2" strips. Since the strips were 1/2" I knew I would come out right with 11 of them fitting evenly on my 5 1/2" tall card. If I used this technique with a different sized strip I would start in the middle and work outward.
Stitched Shapes Circles and the skinniest Stitched Rectangle dies highlight all of my stamped images.
This is a really fun card to make. The coloring doesn't take to long and the strips are fun to work with. Without any ribbon, twine or other embellishments it is extra easy to mail!

There is lots of time to add these little cards to your holiday crafting time and get just the right amount of warmth and cheer to your Christmas greetings!

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Product List

Gnome For The Holidays Cling Stamp Set (English)

[153322]

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock

[140272]

Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock

[144237]

Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[120953]

Mint Macaron 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[138337]

Misty Moonlight 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[153081]

Calypso Coral 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[122925]

Trimming The Town Designer Series Paper

[153491]

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

[132708]

Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154882]

Mint Macaron Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154889]

Calypso Coral Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154881]

Misty Moonlight Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[153108]

Seaside Spray Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154901]

Mango Melody Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154888]

Soft Suede Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154906]

Petal Pink Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154893]

Stitched Shapes Dies

[152323]

Stitched So Sweetly Dies

[151690]

Stitched Rectangles Dies

[151820]

Linen Thread

[104199]

2020–2022 In Color Enamel Dots

[152480]

Versamark Pad

[102283]

White Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109132]

Posted at 12:47 PM in Gnome for the Holidays | Permalink | Comments (2)

November 04, 2020

Peony Garden Suite

Are you up for a little Tic Tac Toe? The Paper Craft Crew is giving us lots of possibilities this week. I even did two!

Here is the board with all of your choices. Just choose a row - up, down or diagonal - and include all three items of concepts.

I love lots of colors. Soft gray (Gray Granite) and peach (Petal Pink) are a couple of colors I like to wear and even use in my home. So it was pretty much a no brainer to use the 3rd vertical column and use the gorgeous Peony Garden Suite to make some sympathy cards.

I called upon the Stitched So Sweetly Dies to add layers for my greeting, using both DSP and vellum.
The big peony lurking in the background is colored with Petal Pink and Soft Sea Foam.
And, of course I can't forget to use some of the Elegant Faceted Gems. This time I chose the Petal Pink gems which have such a pretty shine.

Nothing could be simpler than layering these scalloped rectangles, basically using up a few pieces that didn't make it onto my first card.

I hope you can play along with the challenge!

I so appreciate that you took the time as you visit my blog today. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! Feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear.

I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Product List