from my ink pad to yours

July 08, 2020

Casing Our Way Around the World on Wednesday

Hey there stampers! I have a treat for you today. I'm blog hopping Around the World with our regular crew of talented stampers and today we are CASEing each other.

In addition to our regular slate of stamp artists, we have the amazing Kylie & Bruno Bertucci from Australia joining us. Make sure you check out their work too!

Angie, the fearless leader of our group, drew names for us and I considered myself to be so lucky to get to CAS(e) Mikaela Titheridge. Well, lucky until I started to try to decide which of her MANY lovely and creative cards I should focus on. In the end I decided take my inspiration from this peony bouquet since I'm in love with that adorable scallop border and I have a little stack of the peony flower parts already cut and ready to see some ink.

Isn't this gorgeous. Mikaela does a fantastic job of sponging on extra color to create such realistic dimension. And, isn't the idea to adapt the stem from the Jar of Flowers set so creative?

My plan wasn't to duplicate Mikaela's vibrant beauty but to explore my own way of coloring the peony pieces and, of course, to work those darling scallops into the card. This is my first go round with the layering dies for this peony. I had previously cut out several of the shapes from watercolor paper so I had figured out how to put them together - just line up the waves of the petals at the bottom of each piece. Now to color them...

When you are working with watercolor I always think you shouldn't try too hard. I just tried to add the most color to the bottom part of the pieces in an effort to have the color deeper in the inside of the flower and lighter at the outside. Each piece was colored separately before assembling them. Do play around with how they fit before adding water or adhesive!
I used the medium sized water brush with Melon Mambo, Pear Pizzazz and a little Daffodil Delight to color my peony, sometimes added a little refill ink to the inside of the ink pad cover.
I stamped the greeting in Pear Pizzazz after trimming off the edge with the scallop die and before adding the delicate embossed design with the Dainty Diamonds embossing folder.

As you can see I added a little sparkle with some Clear Wink of Stella on the flower plus a trio of Elegant Faceted Gems.
After attaching the peony to the embossed layer, I attached it all to a card base which I had previously watercolored with an edge of Pear Pizzazz.

I am also very fortunate to have Rochelle Laird-Smith from Australia CAS(e)ing me. She too has a lovely collection of cards on her blog. I'm hoping to be CAS(e)ing her in a future post... Until then please continue on the blog hop to see who Anne Marie Hile is CAS(e)ing.

Angela Meiritz-Reid - NZ

Tatiana Tobin - AU

Rochelle Laird-Smith - AU

Cazz Boylan - AU

Bruno Bertucci, Special Guest - AU

Kylie Bertucci, Special Guest - AU

Cheryll Miller - AU

Satomi Wellard - JA

Melissa Gifford - AU

Danielle Kassing - NL

Manuela Geiswinkler - AT

Ximena Morales - DE

Aurélie Fabre - FR

Mikaela Titheridge - UK

Chris Smith - US You are here!

Anne Marie Hile - US

Brenda Nelson - CA

Tricia Butts - US

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.

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. Clicking on any of the items in the product list below will also bring you to my shop.

Chris

If you place a minimum $50 (US) order using the July host code, EMRNESH9 , I will send you a sampler of products from the new Annual Catalog. 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.

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Posted at 06:00 AM in Prized Peony | Permalink | Comments (8)

July 01, 2020

How to Make a BIrthday Card with Beautiful Friendship Stamps

Where has the week gone? I confess I've been having fun much of the past week with my daughter who had been visiting from Missouri. Now I should be back to a routine.

It's already time for another Paper Craft Crew Challenge. This sketch challenge will run for 2 weeks since we have the 4th of July holiday weekend coming up here in the US. Here is our sketch:

Do you see that pale green wash of color in the background. My first thought was that the shape sort of reminded me of the large rose shape in Beautiful Friendship.

A few hints:

I chose the soft colors of Petal Pink and Soft Sea Foam and stamped them off once before stamping my background.
I embossed this layer with the Tasteful Textile 3D Embossing Folder, trimming it down to 3 7/8" x 5 1/8". I later backed this up with an extra layer of Whisper White Thick to make it stand our just a bit more without using dimensionals.
The greeting is also from the Beautiful Friendship stamp set and is embossed in white on vellum cardstock before trimmed with a Stitched So Sweetly rectangle die. I glued this doen by applying Multipurpose Adhesive behind the embossed letters and where the ribbon and fussy cut flower would hide the glue. Don't you just love vellum?
My ribbon/horizontal element was altered just a bit to avoid covering up the greeting. It's there. Really, it is!
The fussy cut little bloom was first inked using markers on the image.
I just couldn't resist adding some Elegant Faceted Gems. Though I checked to see if the Petal Pink gems would work but the pale colors of this card called for the clear ones.

Here is a square view.

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.

Chris

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 06:30 AM in Beautiful Friendship | Permalink | Comments (3)

June 24, 2020

Flowers for Every Season Meet the Stitched Triangle Dies

I haven't made a triangle card for a while though I've been itching to try out several of the Flowers for Every Season papers with one of my favorite card sketches. This week's challenge over at The Paper Craft Crew seemed tailor-made for these papers:

Note that the challenge is to choose 3 of the 4 colors - so there are many possibilities with Flowers for Every Season papers:

(there's also a link at the bottom of my post). Here's the first pattern I chose to work with:

Ideas to note:

Though I've used this sketch in the past, this time I was able to try it out with my new Stitched Triangle Dies! It's possible to do this without the dies though the dies make it easier.
I cut the triangle first (I used the largest isosceles triangle for this card) and then used it to cut the white layer at the same angle. Stamp your greeting at the lower end of the angled white layer. I used this Thank you greeting from the stamp set, Best Year.
When assembling the card I start by adding a 2" wide strip of DSP to a white card base. Then add your stamped angled white layer matching it up to the right edge of the card base. Lastly, add your die cut triangle.
Finish your card off with a a die cut or, in this case, a fussy cut flower from the same piece of DSP I used for the first layer. I also added some Gold Glitter Enamel Dots, though the 2020-21 in Color Dots work well too. We're just up at the lake and my supplies are a little limited.

Here is another version with the same DSP and the Celebrate Sunflowers Bundle:

Same basic hints as for the first card except I used the 2nd largest (isosceles) triangle.
I thought I had grabbed the So Saffron/Mango Melody Blends but actually grabbed the Daffodil Delight so the match is OK but could be better.
I used my Stamparatus to add the greetings for these two cards.

I hope you give the challenge a try! There are so many directions you could take this-

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.

Chris

If you place a minimum $50 (US) order using the June host code, F22AGK7A , I will send you a sampler of products from the new Annual Catalog. 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

Posted at 05:30 AM in Best Year, Celebrate Sunflowers | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 22, 2020

Glimmering Sunflowers

Have you seen Stampin' Up!'s new Rainbow Glimmer Paper? It's part of the beautiful Artistry Blooms Suite. And, I think, part of the fun with Stampin' Up! is mixing up the suites, using accessories from one with images from another.

A few hints for this card:

The vellum front card - this semi-translucent paper gives such a special look. The vellum appears delicate but makes a sturdy card front. Construct the card base by cutting a piece of vellum cardstock about 3/8" wider than your card front: 4 5/8" wide by 5 1/2" tall. Lightly score the left side at 3/8" and fold over, securing to the back of a white 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" piece of white cardstock.
I use 2 different Stitched rectangle dies, taped together, to cut the frame out of the Rainbow Glimmer paper. Save the remaining die cut rectangle cut from the middle for another project.
I recommend using Mini Glue Dots to adhere the frame to the vellum card front. You will need to roll the edges a bit so that they don't stick out from behind the frame.
Die cut a smaller So Saffron Rectangle and stamp your greeting. I used this one from A Grand Kid. It's companion sentiment is: "You must be related to me". That is the great things about this set. A couple of the sentiments are specific to grandchildren but the others have a much wider use.
Add a few Old Olive sprigs, using some of the smaller dies from the Sunflower dies (part of the Celebrate Sunflowers Bundle).
Stamp, color and die cut a couple of small sunflowers from Celebrate Sunflowers. I used the Blends combos for Cinnamon Cider, Magenta Madness, Mango Melody and Old Olive.
It never hurts to add a little more sparkle from Wink of Stella.
Pop up the top sunflower with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Here is a close-up of those shimmering sunflowers. Do you see how I mixed the Mango Melody and Magenta Madness on the top sunflower? I love the playful look!

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today!

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.

Chris

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 09:15 PM in A Grand Kid, Celebrate Sunflowers | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 17, 2020

Prized Peony Thoughts are With You Card

I'm back today with a card for lovely Paper Craft Crew Sketch PCC381.

I liked the way that this Prized Peony greeting worked in the oval so I used quite a few other items from the Peony Garden Suite. And since I wanted to use the Gray Granite Shimmer Ribbon with the Very vanilla Scalloped Lace Trim I came up with this color combination:

Here is my card:

A few ideas with this card:

The Dainty Diamonds 3D folder adds such delicate texture. I did a little soft stamping with the diamond pattern image to add just a whisp of dots for the sketch.
I've been on a bit of a Wink of Stella trip lately, Just a bit is used on the flower and die cut leaves.
It's nice to have these smaller flowers in so many of the sets. They are quick to color and add just the right floral note. I layered this on 2 more unstamped die cuts for just a bit more dimension.
The adhesive backed Elegant Faceted Gems are so quick and easy to use. It's kind of nice to have the sketch tell me where to put them!

Here are a few more views:

...and a close-up of the shimmer from the Wink of Stella:

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.

Chris

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 06:30 AM in Prized Peony | Permalink | Comments (2)

June 16, 2020

Celebrate Sunflower as a Thank You Card

Happy Tuesday, stampers!

Do you like to color? Or even want a little practice or time to experiment? This is a great card for any of those things. I did it for today's color challenge at Splitcoaststampers: Pool Party + Real Red + Garden Green with your favorite yellow for dessert. Mango Melody is easily my favorite. I love a bright, warm yellow!

So here is what I came up with:

Things to note:

I knew the best way to add the Pool Party was going to be to have a layer behind my sunflowers. I cut mine with one of the rectangle dies from the Stitched So Sweetly dies and then embossed it with the Tasteful Textile 3D embossing folder. You could easily substitute another die and folder or just cut a 3 1/4" x 4 1/2" piece of Pool Party for a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" (A2) card. The actual size doesn't have to be fussy - I just like a good amount of white space on my cards.
The greeting was stamped in Basic Gray and cut out with the long stitched rectangle die from Ornate Layers. This too could simply be done with a trimmer or fussy cut if you are ambitious. I've seen some fussy cut greetings on cards that I really like but haven't gotten brave enough to try it yet.
I die cut a bunch of the Celebrate Sunflowers with the dies - without stamping first. Then I positioned grid paper in my Stamparatus and stamped a sunflower in the middle of the paper. After this I position one of the negative sunflowers over the stamped grid paper so the white space around the image looks even to my eye. Finally, I put one of the die cut flower shapes into that space and stamp my image. If you are doing lots of images this saves so much time and each one is perfectly cut!
I added the light Mango Melody first and then added dark Real Red around the middle and on the detail lines of the petals. Add a little Light Real red over this and then blended as needed with more light and dark Mango Melody. Soft Suede for the centers. Darkened Mint Macaron does pretty nicely for the Garden Green since there is no combo for that color.
Having the flowers go off the edge wasn't part of my original plan but since I thought there should be at least three to make "a bunch" I decided that's what I needed to do to keep them from totally overwhelming the card. In some of my photos it looks a little unbalanced but in real life it just feels like a really fun twist!
I love how the clear gems from the Flowers for Every Season Gems look like water droplets. I end up wanting to add them to everything!
This is such a fun set to work with and I have several more completed cards that I'm holding back to possible do a class or PDF...

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.

Chris

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.

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Posted at 12:48 PM in Celebrate Sunflowers | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 10, 2020

Introducing the Goats!

Yes, it's a 2 post day! The sketch for this week's Paper Craft Crew Challenge is just to fun to pass up.

I started off thinking I would make a flower frame for this goat character but changed gears entirely with some simple embossing on the In Good Taste DSP - mostly because the little dies in the Tasteful Labels dies were totally perfect for the two greetings I wanted to use.

A few notes:

All paper layers are from the In Good Taste designer series paper, except for the Smoky Slate layer which is embossed with the Tasteful Textile 3D embossing folder. The stamped images were all cut with the Tasteful Labels dies.
The goat and second greeting are embossed with white. The circle greeting is stamped with Early Espresso ink.
I made a slip knot (?) with the Linen Thread and then separated the fibers.

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.

Chris

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 09:22 AM in Way to Goat | Permalink | Comments (0)

Around the World on Wednesdays Takes Inspiration from the NEW Catalog!

It's already the second Wednesday in June so it's time for another blog hop with all of the artists with Around the World on Wednesdays. This month are continuing the "All Things Crafty theme by taking inspiration from the new Stampin' Up! catalog. To make it even more special we have Cindy Shuster as a special guest.

One of the new features of Stampin' Up!'s new catalog that really impresses me is Die Bundle feature that is found on pages 173-9 in my US catalog. Aside from all the samples in the stamp section, each bundle has the dies highlighted with another gorgeous sample. Sooo... I'm sharing a couple of cards that were inspired by the Prized Peony bundle featured on page 178.

Things to note:

This is a monochromatic Gray Granite and Whisper White card and is just about fool proof. While you can use whatever artistic abilities that you have developed with the Blends Markers, the detailed in the peony image can hold its own with very basic coloring skills too. I colored the flower with Gray Granite Light and the leaves with Gray Granite Dark. No extra shading skills necessary. This photographs just a bit darker than real life.
Shimmery Gray Granite Ribbon - oh, so luscious!
Elegant Faceted Gems - they go on so easily since they are adhesive backed.
That scalloped edge die impresses a delightful scallop design just inside the cutting edge.
The Designer Series Paper will allow so much versatility.

Here's a little different view:

On to a more colorful version:

A few more notes:

This card is stepped up with more detailed coloring with Flirty Flamingo, Melon Mambo, Just Jade and Old Olive Blends. This peony is die cut also. Some of the leaves are curled slightly to give a shabby chic look.
The white scalloped layer is embossed with the Dainty Diamonds 3D embossing folder which has been lightly sponged with Gray Granite ink. (Due to a couple of smudges I also added a little bit of accent stamping, still keeping with the shabby chic idea.)
A little Wink of Stella adds just a bit of sparkle to the peony.
The sympathy message from fit perfectly in the little flag die from Tasteful Labels.

One more close-up view:

Now it's time to move on to the talented Anne Marie Hile's blog:

Angela Meiritz-Reid - NZ

Tatiana Tobin - AU

Rochelle Laird-Smith - AU

Danielle Kassing - NL

Manuela Geiswinkler - AT

Aurélie Fabre - FR

Mikaela Titheridge - UK

Chris Smith - US you are here!

Anne Marie Hile - US

Brenda Nelson - CA

Cindy Schuster, Special Guest - US

Tricia Butts - US

Elaine de Montmorency - CA

Sharon Hashimoto Burkert - US

Teri West - US

Cheryl Hamilton - US

Today is going to be a two post day - so check the next post if you are looking for the Paper Craft Crew 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.

Chris

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 06:15 AM in Prized Peony | Permalink | Comments (13)

June 09, 2020

Now for a Peek at Nothing's Better Than ...

We have a new color challenge today at Splitcoaststampers. A fellow demonstrator, Karen Barber, chose Old Olive + Poppy Parade + Mango Melody for our color challenge this week. As an added option she suggested having the sentiment as the focal point of the card. Right away I thought of trying something a little retro looking with another new bundle, Nothing's Better Than.

It's important to note:

Three layers of the die cut "coffee" are just slightly offset as they are layered so that Old Olive and Mango Melody peek out behind the Poppy main layer.
I love the way the Dainty Diamonds 3D embossing folder lends a subtle retro flair to my white scalloped layer.
I stamped coffee over and over on Old Olive. You KNOW I'm a white space lover and this was a bit dark for me so I added a 3 3/4" x 5" layer of vellum. A hint here is to look carefully at your vellum to see if it curves a little. Apply your adhesive to the concave side of the vellum so that the part of the vellum that isn't covered will lay against your card a little better.
It's the hottest day of the year today, here in St. Paul so my version of coffee was iced. In a stemless wine glass. Just because I like it best that way! Those retro looking cups are cute though.
Take a look at the thumbnail in the product list. This bundle has has you covered if you like not only coffee, but chocolate, cookies or cocktails. What fun!

Here's another version after I added a few pearls. Can pearls be retro? Anyway, I colored them with a dark Poppy Parade Blends before popping them onto the card.

You can play along with this challenge here. It's easy to have a gallery at Splitcoaststampers and it's free! It's also a great way to get started sharing your papercrafting online if you've never done that before.

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.

Chris

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 07:00 AM in Nothing's Better Than | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 08, 2020

Introducing the Beautiful Prized Peony Bundle

I have a stunning new suite, Peony Garden, to share with you today!

The Prized Peony Bundle with stamps and dies is the centerpiece of this suite, with vellum doilies, DP gems, an embossing folder and shimmery Gray Granite ribbon rounding out the collection. I've used some of these products on this card:

I used the Petal Pink and Soft Sea Foam Blends Combos along with a touch of Light Pumpkin Pie to color in the beautiful image which was stamped in Basic Gray Ink.
I used the Dainty Diamonds 3D embossing folder for the background with stitched oval/layering ovals underneath the peony to add my greeting.
I resisted the new shimmery ribbon to stick with the Petal Pink Striped Organdy Ribbon on this one.
The close-up below shows how dainty the image on the embossing folder is, along with the tiny facets on the Elegant Faceted Gems.

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.

Chris

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 03:30 PM in Prized Peony | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 06, 2020

Beautiful World Duo

Today I'm sharing a couple of more cards that I did with the blended backgrounds I featured earlier this week. This time I used the gorgeous Beautiful World Bundle. This is in a suite of more wonderful, more masculine themed products but I thought it would be fun to see them in more playful colors I'd used with my handmade backgrounds.

I used the dies to cut a circle and a grided globe from the rainbow blended background and then cut each out of white cardstock. I also cut a few white globe stands - the die set has both a short and tall stand.

I used a 5 1/2" tall blended strip to trim the edge on this card.
The greeting is inked with Granny Apple Green on the top and Coastal Cabana on the bottom. They blend a little in the middle as do the colors on the trim.

I selected out fewer colors for the strip on this card and stamped the greeting in Granny Apple Green
The Flowers for Every Season Gems work with so many styles, especially the clean and bright look of these two cards. I've been using Multipurpose Adhesive to apply the gems - because I use it to assemble the rest of the card. It works well but next time I need to try the fine tip adhesive. It might be just a bit quicker...

Can you see how versatile this set would be?

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.

Chris

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 08:40 PM in Beautiful World | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 03, 2020

Celebrate Sunflower as a Bright Bloom

Later today Stampin' Up!'s new catalog goes live and I'm celebrating with a bright sunflower birthday card inspired by the Paper Craft Crew's Inspiration Challenge:

Here is my Bright Bloom:

I made a few of my blended backgrounds before getting started on the card:

I made these by creating a palette on a big acrylic block and mixing white craft refill ink with various colors of bright refills. Since there isn't an orange in the Brights I used Pumpkin Pie mixed with just a drop of Melon Mambo to make it a bit more intense. I put the refill ink on the block first and then add the white refill, mixing them up with sponge daubers.
I used the big detailed sunflower from the new Sunflower Dies with the kind of goofy circle background.You can purchase these dies with the Celebrate Sunflowers Bundle as I did, or alone just as the die set. I sponged the back of the die cut lightly with multi-purpose adhesive before adhering it to my background. If there are areas that aren't sticking down well I just slide a little strip of paper (with a bit of glue on it) under the unglued portion just to get a bit more glue on it and then stick it down after I pull the strip out.
I used A Wish for Everything Stamp set and corresponding Word Wishes die for the Birthday Greeting. Starting today these are available only separately but still well worth the investment. The die cut "Happy" is white layered over 3 of the same die cut out of Coastal Cabana. "Birthday" is stamped with Coastal Cabana on white cardstock and trimmed out by hand.
I trimmed the blended piece down, trimming part of the sunflower with it so that I would have a panel type layout.
A few clear gems from Flower for Every Season Gems provide the finishing touches. The gems and the Sunflower Dies are part of the Flowers for Every Season Suite.

You will want to check out all of the new suites in the new catalog. You can see them soon by clicking on my store or catalogs at the top of my blog. Let me know if you need a 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.

Chris

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

Word Wishes Dies

[149629]

A Wish For Everything Cling Stamp Set

[149320]

Posted at 05:30 AM in A Wish For Everything, Sunflower Dies | Permalink | Comments (3)

June 01, 2020

A Jar with Lace and Pearls

Popping in with another Jar of Flowers card - I truly didn't think I would be using this one so much... but I was working on this week's Splitcoaststamper Color Challenge calling for Pear Pizzazz + Blushing Bride + Rococo Rose with Roses and Pearls for dessert. I'm still not back in my regular stamp room and had to do a bit of juggling to come up with the colors. And, as you might have noticed on my last post, Jar of Flowers happens to have roses.

Since my only source of Rococo Rose was the Blends markers, I decided I would try to come up with some thing close to Blushing Bride. Petal Pink Light with Pink Pirouette Light (this is retired) comes really close. Though it looked a lot like Blush Blossom, it made my rose look a little flat, so I did a little more shading there with the Rococo Rose.
Light Old Olive does a good job pinch hitting for Pear Pizzazz and I added some deeper shades with Mossy Meadow along a little Light Night of Navy.
I used a mask with the bouquet to stamp the jar so the top of it appears under the roses.
I used a Very Vanilla panel embossed with one of the Greenery embossing folders, edged with Scalloped Very Vanilla Lace Trim over a Very Vanilla card base.
The Jar and flowers are hand trimmed, tied with a little more scalloped lace.
I attached them to the card with multipurpose adhesive and Stampin' Dimensionals just under the right edge.
A few Basic Pearl Jewels to fulfill dessert and I think I have the challenge covered.

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.

Chris

If you place a minimum $50 (US) order using the May host code, UYY4462B , I will send you a sampler of products from the new Ornate Garden Suite. 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

Posted at 10:26 PM in Jar of Flowers | Permalink | Comments (3)

May 29, 2020

Jar of Flowers with a Favorite Card Sketch

It's been quite calm for almost a week straight. Here is a view of what I saw with my morning coffee yesterday as it rained. You can't exactly see that this is a row of geese unless you zoom in but what we heard was definitely geese!

Now I want to share one of the first cards I tried with the Jar of Flowers set. I've used this sketch many times with other flower sets so it's kind of one that I use to break in a new set.

Basic plan is to stamp the flower/bouquet image going off the edge in one corner. You could also do it in opposite corners - maybe a little more off the edge on the upper corner since I have this thing about not wanting the design to be top heavy. Maybe that's just me...
It doesn't matter if you cut this top layer first or later after you see it on the paper. Lately I've been using the Stitched Rectangle Dies to do the cutting after I've stamped. For this card I used the dies for both the colored layer and the Basic Black layer.
This image was colored with the Mango Melody, Lovely Lipstick, Calypso Coral, and Mossy Meadow Blends.
For the card base itself, you want to score the card and mask off the back before stamping your black outline images. Don't fold it before stamping or it will affect your images near the edge of the card. Another way to do this is to just stamp a quarter sheet and adhere it to a card base later.
I wanted a larger greeting so I turned to Tasteful Touches for the informal and simple greeting.
I like to finish this off with this diagonally placed bow. In this case I used a new simple white ribbon that is part of the Flowers for Every Season Suite which also features the Jar of Flowers Bundle. This ties beautifully and I'm always excited to have white ribbon because I tend to favor light colored ribbon and be able to color it with Blends.

Here are a couple of other cards I've done with this layout.

Petal Palette with DSP and Rose Wonder greeting (all products are retired) Original post is here.

I created this Good Morning Magnolia beauty just after I received my Stampin' Up! Demonstrator pre-order last year, using colors from a weekly challenge: Old Olive + Calypso Coral + Peekaboo Peach (with a die cut for dessert). The original post for this card is in my Splitcoaststamper's Gallery here. A few notes:

It is a large stamp so I designed the card to be 5"x7" in order to get all of the elements I wanted including the background on the card base which is just the main images stamped in black.
I used Light Pumpkin Pie + Light Mango Melody + Light Petal Pink to approximate Peekaboo Peach for the center of the Magnolia.
This Peekaboo Peach ribbon is the only thing I had left in that color. Since it was a little wide (I was casing a card above that used Baker's Twine.), I folded it when I wrapped it around the upper right corner. Seam Binding is definitely my favorite ribbon to use on cards.
Having the magnolia die cut (dessert) allowed me to have it overlap over the background images.

As you can see there are a lot of variations of this style. What stamp would you use for one of these cards? I'd love to hear from you if you try this design!

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.

Chris

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 11:53 AM in Good Morning Magnolia, Jar of Flowers, Petal Palette | Permalink | Comments (2)

May 27, 2020

Blossoms in Bloom meets the Paper Craft Crew Challenge

It's Wednesday and there is a new sketch challenge up at the Paper Craft Crew:

I decided to play again with the Many Layered Blossoms dies and came up with this little number:

I chose to keep my colors simple and soft with only Soft Sea Foam and Very Vanilla and started with making the bolder large die cut and gluing it to the Soft Seafoam 1/4 sheet with Multi-purpose Liquid Adhesive applied with a sponge. I lay the die cut upside down in the negative outline while I do this which helps keep the front of the die cut from acciently getting any adhesive on it.
I used a guillotine style cutter to cut through the double layers of die cut and background layer. Be firm yet, gentle with it.
Attach the Soft Sea Foam layer to a top fold Very Vanilla card base.
The Stitched Shapes circle gets a Soft Sea Foam greeting from the Blossoms in Bloom stamp set - there are a few that would fit on here. Fill in some of the empty space with the smaller flowers from the die set. I cut a few out from both Sea Foam and Vanilla and played a bit.
Add the ribbon and gold trim to your card base before attaching your circle.
Fill in with any extra die cuts and embellish with a few pearls.

Here is another view from the other side:

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.

Chris

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 06:29 AM in Blossoms in Bloom | Permalink | Comments (2)

May 26, 2020

Ornate Style Meets A Grand Kid

I've been wanting to try another one of these "lace edged tablecloth corner" cards. I'm not sure what else to call them though I've done a few of them.

I was excited that the new Designer Series Paper would be on the demonstrator pre-order earlier this month, partly because I couldn't wait to use it as a background to take my card photos AND because it is also full of woodgrain prints that I can use for these "table scene" cards. Both the card and the background in the above photo use this paper.
I arranged the die cut lacey rectangle over my woodgrain covered 4" x 6" card base, trimmed the part that would cover the top of the card and then stamped it with a portion of the bouquet stamp using Tuxedo Black Memento ink.
I colored with Lovely Lipstick Blends Combo along with the Mossy Meadow combo, Balmy Blue Combo and the Light Night of Navy Blends to deepen the light blue flowers. I've often found success using the Light Night of Navy as a fill in for Blueberry Bushel. I also added a little Crumb Cake combo for the background and I think this really ties it in to the woodgrain background.
The greeting comes from a great new set, A Grand Kid, and would make a great graduation card. While three of the eleven stamps are very specific to grandchildren, the other eight would lend themselves for use in multiple relationships. Check out the thumbnail at the bottom of the page to see the rest of the greetings.
I did this for a color challenge that designated enamel dots for "dessert". The Happiness Blooms dots would have worked really well for this but since I'm apparently out of them I used the Dark Lovely Lipstick Blends to color some of the retired/Gold Glitter Enamel Dots and they filled in perfectly.

Here are a few more shots:

This one shows another woodgrain pattern:

Lovely Lipstick

Balmy Blue

Blueberry Bushel

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.

Chris

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

A Grand Kid Cling Stamp Set (English)

[152500]

Product List

Whisper White 5/8" (1.6 Cm) Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon

[146912]

Posted at 02:00 AM in A Grand Kid, Ornate Garden Suite | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 25, 2020

Playing with a Color Challenge and the Forever Fern Bundle

Last week I hosted a color challenge with these colors:

Granny Apple Green

Shaded Spruce

Coastal Cabana

Dessert for this challenge was to include a circle.

It was a natural to go to the soon to be released Forever Fern Bundle and the larger Forever Greenery Suite:

I die cut three of the die images that don't require stamping out of the three challenge colors - cardstock, that is. Check out the link in the product list to see all of the beautiful dies that are part of the Forever Flourishing Dies/ Forever Fern Bundle.
Since the Forever Greenery Suite includes these beautiful gold circles that was a simple way to include a circle. I was curious about how easy it would be to attach these circles to your card but a few tiny dots of Multipurpose Liquid Adhesive did the trick.
A Gold Embossed greeting and some Gilded Gems from the Ornate Garden Suite repeat the shiny gold of the circle and easily complete this simple look.

Of course the process I went through before getting to this card wasn't that quick and I developed a few other ideas and cards in the process. I started playing with these colors thinking I would try the baby wipe technique - but I was up at the lake with no baby alas, no baby wipes. I tried to use some make-up remover sheets but that didn't work so then I needed to rescue the ink I had put on them. Here are a few photos:

I basically just smeared the makeup wipe onto a couple of pieces of white cardstock. First the back sheet which I haven't used yet and them the top sheet.
The ink was getting a little sparse so I added a few drops of Whisper White which didn't blend all that well so I embossed it with the Tasteful Textile 3D Embossing Folder and by the time I cut this piece into smaller pieces I think I can safely say I rescued the ink.

In the end I ended up with these other cards before settling on the one I used for the challenge. I'm still working my go to spot for photo shoots when I'm at the lake. It was a little too sunny for these but I think you will get the picture...

This colorblocked base is always an good for a try when doing a color challenge. It also features the Label Me Bold set from the Occasions Catalog. Unfortunately this set will retire. I will miss it since it is SO easy to use. No need to emboss or worry about stamping it straight. Just stamp a bunch of images and keep them to VERY easily snip out as needed. Do a bunch in black that can be used for almost any color scheme or coordinate to your card.
Leaf images are stamped with Versamark on the color-blocked portion.
I used a leftover die cut from the Smooth Sailing Die cuts for the skinny border above the color-blocking.
I LOVE the little Flowers for Every Season Gems and used the clear ones on this card.

This uses the detailed sunflower die from Sunflower Dies. I thought about using this card for the challenge since the sunflower center could be my circle but even though it technically used all the challenge colors they are, though beautiful, a bit mashed up.
Once again the greeting is from Label Me Bold - stamped in Coastal Cabana.

Chris

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

Forever Greenery Suite Collection (English)

[154143]

Forever Fern Bundle (English)

[154094]

Label Me Bold Cling Stamp Set (English)

[151631]

Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad

[147097]

Shaded Spruce Classic Stampin' Pad

[147088]

Granny Apple Green Classic Stampin' Ink Refill

[147163]

Shaded Spruce Classic Stampin' Ink Refill

[147165]

Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Ink Refill

[131164]

Whisper White Craft Stampin' Ink Refill

[101780]

Versamark Pad

[102283]

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

[140272]

Coastal Cabana 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[131297]

Granny Apple Green 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[146990]

Shaded Spruce 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[146981]

Tasteful Textile 3D Embossing Folder

[152718]

Smooth Sailing Dies

[149576]

Flowers For Every Season Gems

[153645]

Gilded Gems

[152478]

Gold Hoops Embellishments

[152474]

Posted at 02:47 PM in Forever Fern, Forever Greenery, Label Me Bold, Sunflower Dies | Permalink | Comments (2)

May 24, 2020

Christmas in May? Lots of Cheer Says Goodbye

I have a few special Lots of Cheer cards to jump in and share with you this Memorial Day Weekend.

This is a top fold vellum card that also features the Stitched Rectangle Dies and the Subtle Embossing Folder.
I ran the shiny Pretty Peacock foil paper (Noble Peacock Suite) through the Subtle 3D embossing folder, turned it 90 degrees and ran it through again giving it kind of a shiny textile look.
After deciding that my original frame was too big, I cut out the middle and mounted it onto a top fold Vellum card stock card and let the white image rectangle appear to visually float inside the skinnier frame.

This is a newer take on an old favorite color scheme that I originally did with older colors: Blush Blossom and Sage Shadow plus a long retired teapot set shown here:

The Christmas tree balls were colored with Petal Pink and Mint Macaron Blends Combos.
I embossed the Petal Pink layer with the Tufted 3D folder which is also retiring. Too soon I think!

You can see a few more of my Lots of Cheer here.

We are heading out soon to try to get in a second hike today. Here is a waterfall we came across on our hike this morning:

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.

Chris

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 04:52 PM in Lots of Cheer | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 20, 2020

Wiggle Worm Plays a Sketch Challenge

Good morning fellow cardmakers! I have a Paper Craft Crew Sketch challenge to share with you today.

We are trying to feature retiring sets this week and I've been thinking that Wiggle Worm might not have received all of the attention it deserves. Here's the little dragonfly:

Unfortunately I didn't get my photo taken at quite the right time of day. The card base is white!
I went mostly with colors I already had on my desk for a color challenge: Coastal Cabana, Granny Apple Green and Shaded Spruce. I couldn't resist adding a little Poppy Parade color to the cute little mushroom with the Dark Poppy Parade Blends.
A white on white background with just a little extra texture from the Coastal Weave embossing folder gives the perfect background.
Give the wings and the mushroom a little shimmer with some Wink of Stella.

Here's a repost of one more Wiggle Worm card before it is retired:

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.

Chris

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 05:29 AM in Wiggle Worm | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 17, 2020

Saying Goodbye to Over the Moon

It took me awhile to warm up to Pineapple Punch, a retiring In-Color, but I really love how it works with this color combination for a color challenge that I hosted over on Splitcoaststampers last summer. The fun, cartoon style set, Over the Moon, along with the Bermuda Bay Mini Striped Ribbon will also retire.

Coastal Cabana

Pineapple Punch

Basic Gray

I was thinking something cartoon-like with these colors and when I saw this cow with boots and a daisy I knew who would be featured on my card.

This cow is stamped in Tuxedo Black and colored with a few Blends.
I used Dark Pool Party and Light Bermuda Bay to get close to Coastal Cabana.
The greeting is embossed in white on Basic Gray.
I color blocked the challenge colors and ran them through the big shot with my Subtle embossing folder twice (turn it 90 degrees before the second pass) in order to get a textile like look for my background.
Thinking the daisy made this card a little feminine already, I added a bow, scalloped Smoky Slate border and glitter dots to finish it off.

Here a couple more bonus cards for this set:

Can you find all of the places I included checks in this card?

This is another card that I did as Dirty Girl over on Splitcoaststampers last summer. The theme was "All the Bells and Whistles" so I included a card with a cow bell.

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.

Chris

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