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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.

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 [email protected]

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 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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