Blog Hops – ConstantlyCreating.Me

Stampin’ Up Amy’s Inkin’ Krew Blog Hop on Birthdays: Using Lots of Balmy Blue with Basic Borders Dies, Summer Shadows Dies, Textured Shimmer Paper, Inspired Thoughts, and Much More!

Join me for a team blog hop creating birthday cards using many current Stampin’ Up products!

Hello again to my readers! And happy Valentine’s Day! Did you think I forgot about you? It’s been a little while since I’ve posted…but not quite as long as my blog is saying. I’ve had some trouble staying connected to some automatic sharing helps, so I have some snags to fix…but I’m back for now! Today I’m joining several of my Stampin’ Up team members on a birthday blog hop for Stamp with Amy K/Amy’s Inkin’ Krew (yes, even though it’s the day of love and all that). My schedule has been better recently, as I’m off work for a few more weeks yet (I think), so I figured I had no excuse not to join this time. 😉

Honestly, I’m still in the middle of a massive craft-room reorganization and other house projects (attempting to make good use of my time off), so I’m really thankful right now that I bought Annual and Mini shares from some of my teammates, because I can just peek into the Priority packages I haven’t organized and fish out something that inspires me. 😀 I hope to offer those some day myself….

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to make for the hop until a saw a card that my new downline Jennifer Thornton made (go check out her brand-new Instagram or Facebook business pages and give her a follow if you’d like to see more as she continues to add content!). I usually design my own cards rather than CASE someone or use sketches, unless I’m running short on time or creativity, but her card just spoke to me with both the detail and the simplicity I saw. I chewed on that image for a couple of days, thinking about how I’d change it up, and I was still percolating over it when I saw a card my teammate Merritt posted in our Amy’s Inkin’ Krew group. Right away I knew I wanted to combine elements from both cards to create something new—and I’ve put my own ideas in there too. 🙂

So that you know where I was starting from, here are Jennifer and Merritt’s cards. Aren’t they lovely?

I decided to rotate the vee on Jennifer’s to a portrait-style A2 and add the three sections on Merritt’s underneath the vee (where Jennifer had the embossing). I actually thought about heat embossing the dots background from the new Hand-Drawn Dots stamp in VersaMark, so I might try that sometime—but I found paper from the Fancy Flora DSP pack that coordinated with the gorgeous Balmy Blue sheet in the Textured Shimmer Specialty Paper samples I was working with, and that matched my deadline better. I planned on adding Merritt’s flowers to the top of Jennifer’s vee, and I chose the striped paper for the bottom because Merritt’s paper there had stripes as well (though I wrestled with the latter decision for a bit).

By the way, the papers in that Textured Shimmer Paper pack are just so beautiful. Yes, they actually shimmer, and there’s a faint “other” color in between the textured stripes. It looks like a gold or champagne color in the Balmy Blue sheet.

The die that makes the vee is one of six borders from the Basic Border Dies. I wanted to be precise with where I placed it on the 6×6 sheet I had because I wanted more Balmy Blue than either purple color. I guess that’s how I ended up having a slightly wonky piece once it was cut, which played tricks with my eyes as I tried to decide how large the banner should be. Be careful with how you line up the edges of these dies; it was very easy to think it was straight when it wasn’t because I was working on the 4.25″ side. On the longer 5.5″ side, the edges wouldn’t have been so far away from the paper and thus easier to visually line up. (I did use grid paper underneath my DSP while I was die-cutting but something still wasn’t right.) Use washi tape or Post-it Note tape or a magnetic mat to keep it where you want it on the paper once you decide where you’re cutting. A 6×6 card plan would be much easier to use with these dies.

This card had a lot of decisions with it, some of which I’ve already mentioned. I also had to decide whether to use the same amount of layers as Merritt’s, whether to add a solid border underneath the patterned paper (where the black edge is on Jennifer’s), the size of the three sections, which colors of flowers would look best against the Fancy Flora DSP, and more. Finally, things looked “right,” but it took time and video calls with two crafty buddies to get me there. (Aren’t crafty friends the absolute best for brainstorming? I’m thankful for T & E with this round.) Sometimes it just helps to take pictures and talk things through. I ended up with one less layer than Merritt’s; flowers using Balmy Blue, retired Marina Mist, and In-Colors Starry Sky and Orchid Oasis with leaves of IC Soft Succulent from the Brushstroke Specialty Paper; a solid border under the banner, and striped sections that are 1-1/8″ across. And no vellum after all.

I was initially going to place some vellum atop the Fancy Flora DSP, because the more I looked at that piece of paper, the less I liked it (sorry, honesty warning). I was afraid it would be too bold or contemporary against the beautiful flowers I was planning from the Summer Shadows Dies. But once I had more of the final pieces together and ready to glue, I thought the vellum muted the pattern too much—almost like a white-out, with a sheet of blue on the bottom. Off it went, as I played with which colors to put where on those die-cut flowers and how exactly to arrange them.

I ended up inlaying Marina Mist into the double-stacked side flower of Balmy Blue and Orchid Oasis and then placed Balmy Blue into the Starry Sky/Orchid Oasis petals. I colored the center of the largest flower with my black Ultra Fine Retractable Sharpie and placed a large dot from the Matte Black Dots in the middle. The smallest flower is Starry Sky cardstock backed by Marina Mist and filled with three Classic Matte Dots. Though I should have used them earlier, I used our Adhesive Sheets to provide a base for my die-cut flowers so that I could add the insides of those petals. In the photo below, I’ve cut around the Adhesive Sheet flowers so that I could move them around as I tinkered with the placement of them on the banner. They are on top of the vellum in that photo.

I also had to find the right sentiment and size since my banner was only so big. I decided to go with the “Happy Birthday” sentiment from the Waves of Inspiration stamp set. I almost cut it out with one of the Something Fancy Dies, but I ended up having a scrap of vellum that I’d cut off the sides of the banner somewhere in the middle stage of cardmaking. It fit the sentiment perfectly and even had the dotted perforation from the vee. I stamped the sentiment in Staz-On Jet Black ink because it was on vellum, after all. I glued it with tiny little dots of my Art Glitter Glue behind each letter so that not much would show through.

For the inside of the card, I used a sentiment from the Inspired Thoughts stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and two leftover strips from the Textured Shimmer Paper and Fancy Flora DSP, with an Orchid Oasis single flower. I used a large sequin from the Pastel Adhesive-Backed Sequins pack on top of that flower, but it wasn’t quite large enough to cover the three holes in the center, so I took my ordinary office hole punch and punched a circle out of the Fancy Flora DSP, glued it first, and then added the flat sequin on top. Plus one leaf from the Soft Succulent Brushstroke paper.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing this card today. There were times it was challenging, but I love how it turned out. I am going to try it again using two flowered pieces of Fancy Flora DSP, so you may see more like this in the coming weeks. If you have any questions or thoughts, please feel free to leave me a comment! You can find the Stampin’ Up products I used in my online store: https://constantlycreating.stampinup.net.

Thanks for “hopping” with me today. (I feel like a spring bunny every time I say that!) You can see what the rest of my teammates have created by going through the list below or just using the team’s Previous and Next buttons on each post. Click Previous on my post to go to Karen Finkle’s blog or Next to go on to visit Carol Buckalew and see what they made! Happy crafting until I blog again!

Friends Are Like Seashells with Flowers for Every Season for Stamp with Amy K’s Tuesday Blog Hop

Scraps of paper can make something beautiful!

Hello and thanks for stopping by my part of this Stamp with Amy K’s Tuesday team blog hop! We’ve made cards “for the ladies” today.

One of my favorite things to do is to encourage my girl friends and other women on my life’s path. I had a Mother’s Day card in mind to create, but I’ve had an excess of other work during the last couple of weeks—so I went with this butterfly one instead. It’s a card I would send to one of my dear friends as a thinking of you or a birthday or a card of encouragement, to brighten their day and make them feel special.

I began the card really just wanting to use up some of my scraps of Flowers for Every Season 6×6 DSP (item #152486, currently on sale for $6.90 on stampinup.com during the Annual’s Last-Chance sale). I found three long and skinny scraps that were around the same size and had a pretty pattern among them that I could use as a center strip.

I decided to use the Misty Moonlight color in two of the strips as the color of my card base, and I glued a mat of Very Vanilla cardstock (item #101650) atop the card base, leaving about an 1/8″ border, to give some separation and definition to the colors in the papers that would be on top. (Forgive me for the guesstimate, but I don’t really measure things; I just work with things until they feel right.)

Once I glued the patterned DSP, I felt the strips also needed some Very Vanilla to break the color clash. Those strips are definitely an 1/8″ each because I cut them with my trimmer intentionally. 🙂 I also measured the smaller edge of the DSP strips so that I could place the floral pieces in exactly the center. I use a ruler on my work mat and inch inward by eighths and quarters until I figure out where the middle is. (I do better with seeing physical measurements than with abstract figures.)

To add the butterfly, I first took a piece of recently sold-out Bijou Butterfly DSP and fussy-cut the largest butterfly with my Paper Snips before popping up the butterfly on foam Dimensionals (item #104430) in the top half of the card, leaving room for a sentiment below.

To create that sentiment, I used one of the Stitched with Whimsy Dies (item #155314) and Misty Moonlight ink (item #153118) with a sentiment from the Friends Are Like Seashells stamp set (item #158203).

I first took the die to a scrap of Very Vanilla, which impressed the stitching into the paper. The die does not cut around the stitching; I fussy-cut around it myself with my Paper Snips (item #103579) using the edge of the impression as a guide and then edged it with a Misty Moonlight Stampin’ Write Marker (item #153125 for the In-Color Pack of five).

Then I placed my sentiment stamp on my Stamparatus stamping platform (item #146276), created a few test sentiments for placement, and finally stamped it where it would fit before decorating the sentiment box with embellishments from Wonderful Gems, Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems (item #153547), 2020-2022 In Color Enamel Dots (item #152480), and Playing with Patterns Resin Dots (item #152467).

I was able to pull out each of the colors used on the card with those embellishments, so I was pleased. (The white space in the corner was just too much for me. If you follow my blog posts, you’ll have heard that I’m not a big fan of white space.) I also felt that doing something different with the gems in that way spoke to the “unique” idea of the card.

I plan on decorating the inside of the card with a thinner strip of the floral paper and then selling the card to my local gift shop so one of their buyers can encourage a friend or relative too.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my card today. To continue on with the hop, press the Previous and Next buttons or click on the linked names in the list. My team members always come up with inspiring and beautiful projects! Thanks again for hopping with me. If you like this card, please leave a comment or consider following my blog for future posts. 🙂

3D Enjoy the Moment with Dandy Wishes for Stamp with Amy K’s Tuesday Blog Hop

Playing with pieces and parts can make something beautifully unexpected.

Hello again, and welcome back to my blog! I’m joining Amy Koenders and the rest of my Stampin’ Up team for Stamp with Amy K’s Tuesday Blog Hop group—and this month we’re celebrating spring with our cards! (Spring IS on its way, right? It may look all green right now in Ohio, but we’ve been fooled before!) One of the things my husband watches for as spring breaks is how high the grass grows (read: how soon he’ll have to mow). And what comes with the growing grass but dandelions? Sometimes lots of them, if you put off the mowing! 🙂 I always liked it when they turned white and round and seedy when I was a kid, but I’m featuring the younger yellow kind on my card today. 🙂

My card also works for the Paper Players challenge this week, as they are focusing on spring cards as well. I’m linking my card to their challenge too. 🙂

I started making my card a couple of weeks ago, but the blog deadlines pushed me to finish it. I knew what I wanted to do; I just picked up other things first. (In between, I made a baby card, a wedding card, and the Alice in Wonderland “Hello there” card I posted on Instagram [see it at annegirl77!].) Does anyone else work on several cards at once, or is it just me? My attention wanders where it wills, creatively, and then I finish a bunch of cards at once. I didn’t set out to do anything specific with this card. It was just that the scraps from the last couple of posted dandelion cards were still sitting nearby and I wanted to use them up. I was merely playing around with the products and liked what was developing. I do love those yellow dandelions on the blue background, though. 🙂

For this card, I started with one of the Assorted Memories and More Cards and Envelopes (item 159234). I’m still using up my old Whisper White ones, so since I was just playing and didn’t know what I was making, I didn’t intentionally grab one of the yellow-and-white card bases in the Dandy Garden Memories and More Cards and Envelopes. So you might decide to change that if you make a similar card.

I made my bottom background layer out of a piece of Misty Moonlight Cardstock (item 153081). It measures 6″ by 4″. I didn’t adhere it right away, though. I built my scraps of Dandy Garden 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper (item 154297) on top of it instead. One side of the card, the DSP is 1.75″, and the other side is 2.25″. I love the Braided Burlap Trim I put with it, but it is retired. If you want to stay current, you could try the 3/8″ Fine Art Ribbon (item 154561). I used my burlap ribbon to cover the seam where the two papers met. When I did adhere the background assortment to the card base, I popped it up onto Foam Adhesive Strips (item 141825) so that the thickness of the Braided Burlap Trim wasn’t an issue with the papers below it in terms of bulges or strain on the pieces. The dimensional foam strips allowed me to tuck the ribbon under the cardstock without any worry that something would tear later or look funny.

Then I got to wondering what to put on the yellow-and-white striped DSP. I hadn’t used my Dandy Wishes Dies yet (item 154315), so I made a yellow dandelion to match the other side of the paper, which has three. I cut the five layers of the blossom from Bumblebee Cardstock (item 153077) and layered the two largest graduated sizes together, gluing them completely flat. But for the next three layered sizes, I curved the little squares of the outer rims (I’m sure there’s a better name for this) in opposite directions, and I put one Stampin’ Dimensional (item 104430) in between the middle layer and the second from the top. With my fingers, I curved the middle layer (the largest of the top three) up toward me, then the next smallest size down toward the card, and then up toward me again for the smallest layer. The smallest is about 3/4″ across. The bending of the square “petals” gives it a 3D look as it pops out at the recipient yet isn’t too high to mail. When I glued them, I made sure to stagger the squares onto the empty spaces of each layer under it. It looks pretty cool in person.

I cut the stem and the leaves of the dandelion from a double-sided piece of Mossy Meadow DSP from the Neutrals 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper (item 155226). This was one of the five DSP packs that new demonstrators got as their free gift when they joined during this passed Sale-a-Bration. One perk of already being a demonstrator is that we get to order these kinds of products too. 🙂 There are several great designs in the pack of ten colors (times five), so I will be using them a lot. (I’m sorry that this is now two non-current items on my card, but I didn’t have any blogging intentions at the time of creation. I’m sure that whatever you use will look wonderful too!) I wish I had reversed the direction of the two taller “toothy”-looking leaves, though, because I feel like they’re too close to the stem this way. Dandelions spread out more, I think. (Of course, since my husband is the one who mows the lawn, I haven’t had to look at dandelions recently. :-D) If I make the card again, I will switch them. I do like how the two different patterns give definition and individuality to the bunch. Everything blended in too much when they were all the same pattern. I cut and glued the two grass dies on and under the leaves for an illusion of dimension.

For the sentiment, I held up several and determined that the friendship one from Enjoy the Moment (item 154452) fit best in the die I’d already selected from the Rectangle Stitched Dies (item 151820). I didn’t want one that was too tall or too wide, just something that nestled in there quietly between the art elements. I stamped the sentiment in Misty Moonlight ink (pad item # is 153118) on Shimmery White Cardstock (item 101910) because I just love the sparkle in the latter! I use it often. I die-cut the white cardstock and also decided to die-cut one in kraft cardstock (another retired item). Then I manually cut off the stitched border of the white, along with a bit more with my Paper Snips (item 103579) so I could layer the two cardstocks together. I thought the kraft cardstock looked nice against the burlap ribbon and gold/brown tones of the card. Last, I added three of the smallest Playing with Patterns Resin Dots (item 152467) in Crushed Curry on the sentiment. I almost went with two, but three filled up all that white space beside the sentiment. You may choose to do something else.

I guess that’s it for how I did the outside. I made the inside sentiment (“I’m So Happy I Found You”) from the Friends Are Like Seashells stamp set (item 154368) on Shimmery White cardstock, which was stamped in retired More Mustard ink since I don’t own the In-Color Bumblebee ink pad or refill yet. I also matted the white piece with Misty Moonlight cardstock so it would pop off the page better. I cut out the words with the smallest longest die in the pack and chose the next size up for the Misty Moonlight layer. I off-centered them against the middle to save some room. On my border piece, the blue cardstock was left over after I cut two horizontal edges to use on other projects. It was tidy enough that I thought I could use it here too. I used stickers from the sticker packs in the Dandy Garden Memories and More Card Pack (item 154302) to decorate the inside border.

I also decorated the envelope by stamping two pieces of flowers from the Garden Wishes stamp set item (item 154408) with my Stamparatus (item 146276). I used my Stampin’ Write markers to color them since I only have the Bumblebee color in a marker (it’s a current In-Color, and I purchased that set of five markers). I stamped on the front of the envelope, which I rarely remember to do, because the matching 6″ x 6″ DSP was not large enough to cover the entire flap in this size of a card. 🙂

Well, that’s all I have for you today. This card was pretty easy overall. I hope you enjoy making one of your own. Thank you for visiting my blog today; I love readers! Be sure to hop down the list of my teammates to see the beautiful “spring” cards they’ve made for you!

Click the Previous button to go back to Donna Leonard’s blog!

Click the Next button to go forward to Jillian Good’s blog!

Jaimie Babarczy: https://wp.me/p79UhD-4VN
Karen Ksenzakovic: https://wp.me/paaNf4-4e9
Mary Deatherage: https://wp.me/p5snyt-h1y
Sue Prather: https://wp.me/p5yitZ-2tQ
Donna Leonard: http://stampdabbles.com/?p=4619
Connie Troyer: https://constantlycreating.me/2021/03/09/3d-enjoy-the-moment-with-dandy-wishes-for-stamp-with-amy-ks-tuesday-blog-hop/
Jillian Good: http://dyedwith.love/?p=139
Tara Carpenter: https://tarabethstamps.blogspot.com/2021/03/stampin-up-arrange-wreath-happy-easter.html
Leslie Larkin https://leslielarkin.com/ice-cream-corner-suite/
Terry Lynn Bright: https://tlsbrightspot.com/2021/03/09/stampin-up-celebrate-spring/
Akiko Sudano: https://wp.me/paOv8E-2ww
Karen Finkle: https://karenscardkorner.blogspot.com/2021/03/stampin-up-wildly-happy-for-amys-inkin.html
Amy Koenders: https://wp.me/p2SFwf-moQ
Krista Yagci: https://www.thestampingnook.com/post/stampin-up-jar-of-flowers-welcome-spring-card

Birthday Wishes with Stampin’ Up’s Dandy Garden Memories and More for Amy’s Inkin’ Krew Blog Hop

Make an easy birthday card (or any other occasion!) with the Dandy Garden Memories and More Card Pack!

Hello again, and welcome back to my blog! Thanks so much for being here. I’m hopping with my teammates from Amy Koenders’s Inkin’ Krew, and we are showcasing birthday cards this month.

I unexpectedly put most of this card together while gathering some supplies to gift another Stampin’ Up demonstrator friend. As I pulled cards for my friend to use from the Dandy Garden Memories and More Card Pack (item 154302), I realized that the larger grid card (which I consider the back of a “prettier” one) went well with the smaller colored dandelion card I’d also pulled. They just looked so nice beside each other that I had to do something about it. 🙂 Since there are two of each card in the card pack, I sent her one and made mine into a card right away.

I appreciate how the grid has that colored “frame” around it, which makes it look like another layer. It is just one card from the pack. I used the Night of Navy twine from the Well Suited Twine Combo Pack (item 154566) and wrapped it around the focal card, offsetting it, before adding Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals (item 144108) onto the back. Then I centered the dandelion card high inside the grid. I took a piece of dragonfly paper from the Dandy Garden 6×6 Designer Series Paper (item 154297) pack and my Dragonflies Punch (item 154240) and punched a dragonfly that I could hover over a dandelion. I used the Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush (item 141897) over the entire dragonfly before adding cut-down Mini Dimensionals on the tips of the wings that are above the grid. Since I often do things out of order, I then added the cards to a card base from the Assorted Memories and More Cards and Envelopes pack. My pack happens to be the now-retired Whisper White version, but the Basic White pack is available now (item 159234). I do have some of the Basic White items to use later.

I decided to use what I’d made thus far for the birthday blog hop, so I searched my shelves for an appropriate sentiment that would fit in the space under the dandelion/dragonfly card. (Yeah, I didn’t plan ahead. But it still works.) I had several sentiments to choose from and went with the Happiest of Birthdays stamp set (item 152539), which is a new set to me. I love the size and fonts of the sentiments in it. I see me getting a lot of uses out of this particular stamp set. I picked the “It’s your day! Enjoy it” sentiment, lined it up on the grid of the card with my Stamparatus (item 146276), checked that the stamp was also straight on the grid of the plate, and inked it up with the In-Color Misty Moonlight ink (item 153118). Stampin’ Up’s In-Colors are only available for two years from the beginning of their release period. Luckily for me (because it’s one of my favorite colors), Misty Moonlight will be here through mid-2022 since it just came out last summer. I secondarily tested my inked stamp for alignment by first bringing the plate down to a sheet of the Small Grid Paper (item 149621), which fits the Stamparatus perfectly. I’ve found I’m happiest with my stamping that way. I cleaned my stamp with our Simply Shammy (item 147042).

I haven’t made the inside of the card because I’m not sure where it’s going yet. I’ll likely carry over some of the matching Designer Series Paper to the inside before I pick a sentiment.

To see the other birthday cards my team members made, check out their links below or use the “Previous” and “Next” buttons. This team never fails to impress and inspire!

If you’ve seen something you like, a purchase of $50 before tax and shipping through my online store gets you a free gift and a point to my reward system. And don’t forget that during the rest of the month of February, you’ll also get to choose a free gift from Stampin’ Up if you order in increments of $50 or more! Who doesn’t love free stuff?!

Thanks again for stopping by, and comment if I can help you!

Mary Deatherage – https://wp.me/p5snyt-gFY
Jaimie Babarczy – https://wp.me/p79UhD-4Pn
Jillian Good – http://dyedwith.love/?p=126
Karen Ksenzakovic – https://wp.me/paaNf4-41V
Leslie Larkin – https://leslielarkin.com/a-touch-of-ink-stamp-set/
Akiko Sudano – https://wp.me/paOv8E-2pi
Connie Troyer – https://constantlycreating.me/2021/02/09/birthday-wishes-with-stampin-ups-dandy-garden-memories-and-more-for-amys-inkin-krew-blog-hop/
Sue Prather – https://wp.me/p5yitZ-2qO
Terry Lynn Bright – https://tlsbrightspot.com/2021/02/09/stampin-up-you-are-amazing/
Donna Leonard – http://stampdabbles.com/?p=4327
Tara Carpenter – https://tarabethstamps.blogspot.com/2021/02/stampin-up-prettiest-birthday-card-for.html
Krista Yagci – https://www.thestampingnook.com/post/stampin-up-hey-birthday-chick-and-stitched-whimsy-dies-birthday-card
Amy Koenders – https://wp.me/p2SFwf-m62

Masculine/Unisex Card with Stampin’ Up’s Come Sail Away Memories and More Card Pack for Stamp with Amy K’s Tuesday Blog Hop

Hello, and welcome back for my post joining Amy’s Inkin’ Krew Tuesday Blog Hop for May! This time we’re focusing on cards for the men or boys. I intended to make mine a masculine card (and it has been approved as such), but I’ve also been told by three women that it is “pretty.” So I guess it’s up to you as to how you feel about it. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know. 🙂 Maybe I’ve finally achieved a perfect unisex card! 🙂

I first got the idea by thumbing through the remaining double-sided cards in my Come Sail Away Memories and More Card Pack (#149552), which has been put on the retiring list (first come, first serve, and they won’t last long!). I really love this card pack and am sorry to see it go. Since I fulfill orders for a gift shop (with a second shop upcoming, after things finally return to some normalcy), I’m always looking for quick and easy cards I can make. Even though I love fussy details and spending agonizing amounts of time on card masterpieces 🙂 I do have to create some that are just simple and fast. So when I saw this 3″ x 4″ “Any Day with You Is the Best” Project Life–style card, it just worked. I quickly found a matching 4″ x 6″ background piece that matched it, and then it was just a matter of finishing with details.

I have three sets of retired or almost-retired “Cards and Envelopes” pack that are card bases and matching envelopes that I keep dipping into. For this card, because the shades in it are grey and black, a white card base and envelope from the retired Whisper White Large Memories and More Cards and Envelopes pack looked the best.

To add a layer before gluing everything together, I considered using Stampin’ Up’s retired Corrugated Cardstock between the two paper pieces, but it just didn’t look right, with stripes going both ways. I chose some lightweight mulberry paper I had in my stash, instead, tearing it to leave a border around the smaller card. And then I found my roll of retired Halloween Night Baker’s Twine, which is entwined Basic Grey and Basic Black colors, so I looped it around vertically twice and tied a bow. There still weren’t enough details to suit me and just a little more white space to play with, so I used my last remaining large adhesive heart sticker from the retiring Heart Epoxy Droplets (#148583) under the words on the front piece and then added four frosted gems from the Frosted & Clear Epoxy Droplets (#147801), which is carrying over to the new catalog (hooray!).

I haven’t decided what to put on the inside of this card yet, so it’s still blank for now. I’m open to suggestions if you have a fit of brilliance. 😉

Somehow I did manage to use both retiring and current products in my card, which is the theme of month for our team on our private Facebook page. 🙂 But this is a good example of why I keep or buy up retired products too, when I can get them. I literally use them for years on all kinds of projects. (And yes, the floor may fall through my craft room soon, as my husband fears. But then my craft room would be bigger! 😉 )

If you love a good sale like I do, please feel free to take advantage of the lower prices of the limited retiring stock (or carryover goodies) on Stampin’ Up’s website by shopping through my personal link at https://www.stampinup.com/ecweb/default.aspx. Supplies really are limited and things are already selling out. Use host code 6EFSC3TZ and get a free gift. (If your order is over $50 before tax and shipping, you can choose an item of up to $8 and I’ll ship it to you as my thanks, and you’ll earn one reward point toward a free $40 order. If your order is over $150 before tax and shipping, do not put in the host code because you’ll earn your own rewards before you confirm your order.)

And because my team is so awesomely creative, you’ll want to “hop” through the rest of the list to see what they’ve made for men or boys this month. (If you want to join my team and become a Independent Stampin’ Up Demonstrator like us, go here: https://ida.stampinup.com/en/?demoid=2202334.) Thanks for joining us today!

Press the Previous button to view Karen Finkle’s project or the Next button to see what Akiko created for us!

Mary Deatherage – https://wp.me/p5snyt-cPT
Karen Ksenzakovic – https://wp.me/paaNf4-2ap
Sue Prather – https://wp.me/p5yitZ-1Ua
Jaimie Babarczy – https://wp.me/p79UhD-3Rf
Leslie Larkin – https://leslielarkin.com/friend-like-you-bundle
Karen Finkle – https://karenscardkorner.blogspot.com/2020/05/stampin-up-tropical-oasis-masculine.html
Connie Troyer – You are here!
Akiko Sudano – https://wp.me/paOv8E-1bb
Julie Johnston – https://wp.me/p8SzmQ-2kc
Terry Lynn Bright – https://wp.me/p8fxPh-tt
Amy Koenders – https://wp.me/p2SFwf-juR

A “For the Ladies” (Friendship) Card Using Stampin’ Up’s Beautifully Braided and Path of Petals (Tuesday Blog Hop with Stamp with Amy K)

Missing friends lately? Here’s an easy card you can make to remind your special relationships that they’re not forgotten!

Welcome, welcome! Despite coronvirus and economic shutdown and crazy March/April weather nationwide, it is somehow once again time for the Tuesday Blog Hop hosted by Stamp with Amy K (Amy Koenders). I’m back today with a friendship card that’s perfect for reaching out during this very odd time in our lives. Today’s blog hop is “for the ladies,” so it was created with my best friends in mind, to celebrate those relationships we’re grateful for and miss having in person right now. Thanks for following along today and stopping in on my page.

I woke up with a layout idea in my head about corner designs that I’ve never really tried before, and I was determined to give it a go. I’ve been working on an editorial project this week, so I didn’t have a lot of extra time to play around with creativity. It was more like “I only have [this much time], so I need to come up with something doable the first time around, and I need to do it now.” No pressure, right? With the layout and only the sketchiest of ideas in mind, I set to finding things that fit. I knew I wanted flowers. I always go to flowers, especially for women. They just brighten up my whole day and make me smile, and who wouldn’t want to make their friends smile?

Side note: you know, it’s always interesting to think about the creative process. At which points do you make decisions and proceed with them regardless of what happens during the interim? When do you redirect and try a different idea, after the first one brings contention? That’s sort of what happened to me here. In my head, I saw a landscape card with the top left and bottom right holding the flowers with the sentiment piece in the middle of the front. I had different options I could use for the background, embossing folders and stamps alike. And though the creative soul in me wanted to try several of the options to see what I liked best, I just kind of had to start with something and go with it.

I tried the Birch background stamp in Sahara Sand first since flowers make me think of trees and the rest of nature. (And because the embossing folder I really wanted to use is no longer current.) Here’s where I had to decide whether to proceed or redirect. I just could not get that stamp to line up correctly to do two beside each other in a horizontal fashion—the pattern on birch trees go horizontally, but the stamp is a portrait. The stamp isn’t big enough to cover one horizontal card front. And it’s not a photopolymer stamp to be able to line it up correctly. I tried to stamp it freehanded. I tried to do it using the Stamparatus. I both eyeballed and measured and frowned when necessary. I came close—but not close enough. And I decided I was tired of ruining cardstock. So rather than waste more time, I picked the one that came out the best and decided it was time to head a different direction.

The cardstock happened to be Very Vanilla, so that determined which shade and style I was going to be using. I cut off the cardstock and glued it on top of a new portrait card base (because I’d gotten ink on the other side of the first card base, of all things). I was suddenly stumped about how to arrange the rest of this card. It shouldn’t have been that hard, but the layout flip was messing with me and I couldn’t agree with myself about what would look like my original idea or what to use. I didn’t like any of it. The size was wrong. There was too much white space behind where I imagined the flowers (that I couldn’t commit to). Or the flowers were warring with the Birch background. All I knew was that I wanted to visibly set off the corners and perhaps also see a smaller diagonal strip and edge border extending from them. So I redirected again.

I kept the card base portrait style but started looking for Designer Series Paper to cover up the corners instead. As a longtime scrapbooker, I tend to fall back on DSP. I grabbed my 6×6 paper shares of current DSP, looking for something that would provide balance and grounding behind flowers. I thought one of the designs in the Perennial Essence DSP—one of the ones that remind me of a galaxy—would work for that job. So I took my little 6×6 square and looked for two blue corners that didn’t include many flowers on it, lopped off a corner where it worked, and then measured that corner against the rest of the DSP square to mark off and cut another for the opposite side. I glued down the blue corners on top of the birch background and stared at it. And decided that I didn’t like the stark color difference of the light background and the very dark corners. Any flowers I tried on top just didn’t please me. Frustration was building once more.

And then I saw it—paper that is so pretty, I almost want to weep. I’ve barely used it myself, other than cutting up some of the papers to give away at a party I demoed last fall. The Pressed Petals Specialty DSP has a paper in it with gorgeous blue flowers on burlap. Blue flowers that matched my Perennial Essence corners. …And then I realized that my last two little squares of that paper had flowers on them. Yes, I know I just said that. Light bulb moment—problem solved. No stamping needed! (This is why I love paper. 🙂 ) Rather than stamping and/or die-cutting flowers, I could merely cut out the ones in front of me and use those on the card, saving time and frustration! And so I did. I rough fussy-cut around one of the smaller blue flowers on my paper and one of large focal flower bunches. Usually I’m much more precise but the non-exactness went well with the rustic feel of the paper and I didn’t worry about it.

Then I had to finish the corners. With the blue galaxy already glued down, I did some mental aerobics and finally decided to offset the corners to show some of the blue and also work in the burlap. I took the square I’d cut into and sliced off the parts of the burlap paper left for the corners (which had a little bit of flowers too) by measuring it up against the corners already on the card. I then left a quarter of an inch margin showing when I glued them down. But that left a jagged edge on each side of the two corners, which felt odd. Here I went back to the layout in my head—I had already been thinking of using vellum to provide another smaller border coming out of the corner toward the center, along with some sort of decorative edge. But the elements were starting to fill up the card, and I wasn’t sure the sizing would work. Since I couldn’t quit looking at the jagged edges of both corners together, I decided to fill in those places with Petal Pink vellum from the Perennial Essence Vellum pack instead, so that’s why the corners are a little different. Accidentally on purpose, I guess. I also used that same vellum shade for the decorative border extending from the corners, and the die is from the Painted Labels dies.

After that it was just a matter of arranging where the bouquet and smaller flower went. I’m still not wild about my final placement of the large bouquet and my tags, but I love the location of the smaller flower next to the tag. In the end I saw that the large bouquet had a straight edge on it from where the paper was cut, so I just lined that up against my card edge, popped it up with 3D foam dots, and stuck it down, after figuring out the placement of the two tags from the Stitched So Sweetly dies with the smaller flowers. I should have brought the tags to the left a little more but I liked how the smaller flower sizes fit neatly into the corner and overlapped the tag. I did pop up the top layer of the tag with the sentiment. 🙂 I cut a piece of the Petal Pink vellum for the larger sentiment tag to give the Very Vanilla sentiment a bit of border and color as well.

I stamped the “Friendship refreshes the soul” sentiment from the Beautifully Braided stamp set in Sahara Sand ink as well as the inside sentiment (“Here’s to always finding joy in one another’s laughter, warmth in one another’s embrace, and love in one another’s love”) from the Path of Petals stamp set. I’ve used the inside sentiment for wedding cards before, but tonight, at least, I think it works for special friendships too. I “painted” the fussy-cut flowers with Clear Wink of Stella to give them some sparkle and added a little bow with our Linen Thread. And I used the Night of Navy Noble Peacock Rhinestones on the card front as well as little Gold Glitter Enamel Dots for the flower centers just for fun.

In the inside of the card, I used the Petal Pink vellum as a background for my sentiment. I just put a little bit of liquid glue underneath the words so that the glue wouldn’t show through. The glue on the back side of the Petal Pink, attaching it to the card base, doesn’t seem to be showing at all because of the layers. The inside sentiment is actually stamped in Blueberry Bushel ink on the tiny-flowered vellum and was heat-set on both sides briefly so that the vellum wouldn’t warp. And then I fussy-cut one last little flower and glued it with a Gold Glitter enamel off the side of the sentiment.

It was nice to feel that my forward progress and my redirections finally made something I actually liked to see. The card has a shabby chic sort of feel to it, which I haven’t made for a while. I may make more of these now that I’ve worked out all the kinks in placement logistics. Hope it inspires you to do one of your own (without all the creative grief!). You can find all the supplies I used on my card in my online store at https://www.stampinup.com/ecweb/default.aspx.

Please continue through the hop to see the awesome projects some of my teammates have made for you this week! It’s a very talented team. Pressing the “Previous” button will take you back to Karen, and “Next” will move you on to Mary. Thanks again for visiting!

https://wp.me/paaNf4-1V2 https://wp.me/p5snyt-cpO

Karen Ksenzakovic–https://wp.me/paaNf4-1V2
Connie Troyer–You Are Here!
Mary Deatherage–https://wp.me/p5snyt-cpO
Akiko Sudano–https://wp.me/paOv8E-13G
Leslie Larkin–https://leslielarkin.com/young-at-heart/
Karen Finkle–https://karenscardkorner.blogspot.com/2020/04/stampin-up-garden-lane-quilted-card-for.html
Julie Johnston–https://wp.me/p8SzmQ-2jk
Amy Koenders–https://wp.me/p2SFwf-j9H

Birthday/Celebration and Thinking of You Cards with the Sale-a-Bration Kerchief Card Kit for Stamp with Amy K’s Sunday Blog Hop

Birthday and Thinking of You cards made with the Kerchief Card Kit available for free only during Sale-a-Bration with Stampin’ Up!

Thanks for joining me on my blog today! I have to start off with an apology and a correction; this blog post is for Amy’s Tuesday Blog Hop, not Sunday’s. I was thinking of the day I had to post the link! And now I can’t change it…. More proof that I’m not perfect, I suppose. 🙂

So, for the Tuesday Blog Hop, which is going with a birthday theme this month, I decided to make up the Kerchief Card Kit, which is available as a Sale-a-Bration reward for spending $50 before tax and shipping. It had been backordered, but I got it in on Saturday and sat right down to put them together. I’m still making cards for sale for my local gift shop in Amish Country, so this set is perfect to do up for them. I plan on ordering a second kit and selling them in sets of five and some singles, using our Acetate Boxes and some card jackets.

I decided to go with this kit for the birthday blog hop because of the included “Celebrate Today” sentiments, planned for the Coastal Cabana rose cards. (The Poppy Parade kerchief cards have “Thinking of You” sentiments.) I adore the blue cards (and its gold foil-dotted vellum!) because of the colors and style, and the red cards were simple and fun to put together as well (also with vellum, but plain). I also really liked the thicker twine included in the kit, and I hope I see more of it in the future. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased to note that there is no stamp or ink spot in the set; the sentiments are already printed and included as die-cuts, ready to be added to the cards. It made the work go much faster—and yet still allows me creativity to add whichever sentiments I see fit for the insides of the cards.

The picture above only shows four of the eight cards in the A2-sized kit because I made two of each of the cards shown. On the blue Coastal Cabana cards, I popped up the rose and sentiment on two of them and left the other two roses flat; I also put two bows up and away at the right and two at the lower left bottom, for variation.

I changed the placement of the gold leaves on the Poppy Parade cards, two being centered and two being placed at a diagonal the way the kit shows. I also changed the location of the bow, not placing them under the tag as in the instructions. I actually even put the bow on top of one of the tags, which is not reflected here.

I finished the cards by adding sequins from the retired Love Blossoms Kit, as I thought the gold, white, and Blushing Bride colors matched well.

When I considered sentiments for the insides of the cards and looked through my current stamp sets, I found four that will work nicely for wedding or anniversary, general celebrations, or celebrating a special person or a special day that may or may not be love-related. Though they’re not stamped on the cards yet, I plan on using “Be strong, be happy, be you” from Rooted in Nature; “Wishing you the best on your special day” from the Perennial Birthday set; “Hoping you experience love and joy today, tomorrow, and always” from the Last a Lifetime set in the Mini catalog; and “Here’s to always finding joy in one another’s laughter, warmth in one another’s embrace, and love in one another’s lives” from Path of Petals. I think the “celebrate today” cards could also be used as graduation, retirement or promotion, even the birth of a baby or baby shower, and more occasions as well, if you didn’t feel the need to use the standard icons of the event. They would work fine as blank cards too—celebrating life or spring or no reason whatsoever!

Free with your purchase, the kit is a good investment. Quick to make up and easy to have a few cards on hand or to give as gifts, it’s one that will appeal to many (if for convenience’s sake if nothing else!), and the cards are lovely to boot. They’re also very easy to adapt to other styles or make into alternate designs. The envelopes are all lined with either Balmy Blue or Petal Pink and make a nice “wow” moment when they’re opened as well.

I’ll leave you with a close-up of my favorite card in the stack. 🙂 Please be sure to scroll down and “hop” through the rest of our list of participants so you can see the special birthday cards they created. We have a fantastic, creative team! If you are needing Stampin’ Up supplies, catalogs, or a consultant, I’m happy to help you out with any. You can use host code WAA2PGYR until February 16 when you check out. Thanks again for stopping by!

Jaimie Babarczy – https://wp.me/p79UhD-3B4
Connie Troyer – You are here!
Akiko Sudano – https://wp.me/paOv8E-Qx
Mary Deatherage – https://wp.me/p5snyt-btg
Karen Ksenzakovic – https://wp.me/paaNf4-1DA
Leslie Larkin – https://leslielarkin.com/birthday-with-the-peaceful-moments-bundle/
Sue Prather – https://wp.me/p5yitZ-1KD
Julie Johnston – https://wp.me/p8SzmQ-2hu
Karen Finkle – https://karenscardkorner.blogspot.com/2020/02/stampin-up-young-at-heart-for-amys.html
Amy Koenders – https://wp.me/p2SFwf-iuS

Flowery Eiffel Tower Love Card with Stampin’ Up’s Forever Blossoms, Parisian Beauty, and Last a Lifetime for Stamp with Amy K’s Tuesday Blog Hop

Enjoy a bit of France and flowers as we gear up for all things “love-ly” for Valentine’s Day!

Whew! That’s a long blog title. (And I didn’t even add all the stamp sets!) Maybe you know by now that my preferred style is lots of details and fuss—complication is somehow my specialty. I’ve used all current Stampin’ Up products in my card today, and there are quite a few. Thank you so much for coming to my post! Thumbnails of the products I used will be at the end of post, and clicking them will take you to my online store for more details.

The theme for Stamp with Amy K’s blog hop for this month is “love.” Well, I have a “love” for all things France, so when I was thinking about current Stampin’ Up product I already own that I could create with, of course I turned to the Eiffel Tower. And flowers. I love flowers too. They’re my go-to any time of year. I didn’t have anyone particularly in mind when I created this card; it will likely go to my local gift shop for sale soon. The idea of it came to me while I was driving the other day. The background has changed since, but ideas do that in this craft room. 🙂

I started with an A2 (4.5″ x 5.5″) Thick Whisper White card base and then eyeballed and cut a slightly smaller separate piece of regular Whisper White for a layer on the top. The margin difference is between 1/8″ and 1/16″ because one was too big and the other was too small. I dry-embossed this separate piece with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder first in one direction, and then I flipped the paper and embossed it in the other direction, which gives it a crosshatched look. I tucked a piece of 1/4″ Petal Pink Metallic-Edge Ribbon around the edges slightly higher than the middle, gluing them on the back side, and then glued my embossed piece down to the card base. (Well, technically, I did a lot of the steps backward, including that part, but do as I say, not as I did!)

The focal part of my card front is the large flower stamp from the Forever Blossoms Cling Stamp Set, surrounded by an embossed die-cut made from the Heirloom Frames Dies and Heirloom Frames 3D Embossing Folders, with the Eiffel Tower stamp from the Parisian Beauty Cling Stamp Set and die-cut flowers from the Cherry Blossoms Dies offset to the side.

I knew I wanted to use Alcohol Blends on the flowers and leaves, but I don’t like coloring large sections with the Blends and making lines, so I felt like watercoloring the background would be best for me. I used the Balmy Blue watercolor pencil in the Assortment 2 pack and an Aqua Painter. (Truthfully, I forgot to color the background until after I’d already distractedly glued the piece to the back of the oval once my flowers were done, so don’t do that. Color it all first; then cut and glue.) Since we can use Memento Tuxedo Black to hold in the colors of the alcohol markers BUT Memento is water-based and will run when touched with water during watercoloring, I decided I’d better heat-emboss some embossing powder on the image after stamping with VersaMark so that I could do both techniques. I’d wanted to try out Stampin’ Up’s new Shimmer White and Shimmer Black Stampin’ Emboss Powders anyway.

I’m actually really impressed with those new embossing powders. I didn’t expect to see the holographic flecks in them, and that feature turns out some neat highlights. The Shimmer White is, of course, white when embossed, but there’s also a mix of silver and holographic flecks that don’t meld together when heated, unlike the white and black colors themselves. And the Shimmer Black includes flecks of silver, magenta, green, blue, and something yellowy that sit subtly on top of the black. The ones in the black are very hard to pick up in the lighting when showing a card, but they’re fun to see. After I heat-embossed the Eiffel Tower with the Shimmer Black, I think my jaw actually fell open—it looked like it was sparkling with diamonds!

When I was working on the oval, I had trouble getting the embossing perfectly centered in the die-cut, and that bothered me—and it also took up more of the card front that way, room I needed—so I trimmed off the excess around the crimped part. It lays flatter now anyway without the extra border edge. Once I had that done, I used it to figure out how I wanted to show my flowers inside it. They are stamped at an angle. I actually had a different angle chosen, but I didn’t glue it in the same way I had set it, so watch that if you do it. Mark a place at the top so you don’t twist it too far to the side. I cut a small section of Shimmery White Cardstock for the flowered piece, which you can see some of in the blue background in closeups. This card is quite shimmery everywhere you look!

To color the flowers, I used my Dark Petal Pink, Light Granny Apple Green, and Dark Granny Apple Green Alcohol Blends, as well as the Color Lifter. I tried to work with the Ivory too, but I had to lift the color right out of it because it felt too dark on the buds I colored. (I used to have a Light Petal Pink Blend and wanted to use it, but at the last show where I was a vendor, the cap didn’t get put back on correctly and I didn’t catch it until it had already dried out. So I have to order a new one.) When I colored the flowers, I went over the centers and extended the color some with the Dark Petal Pink first, then lightly went over everything with the same marker, and then took the Color Lifter to the outside edges of the flowers or buds. I would have also liked to have left some white on the flowers to look more like the DSP in the Parisian Blossoms Specialty Designer Series Paper, but it just didn’t work out that way. The embossing on the flowers and leaves is really where all the shading and shadowing is, so it felt more like reverse coloring as I worked with it. There’s not a lot of space in the flowers that isn’t embossed. I did color right over the embossing, and it does not rub off (though I did not intentionally test that when it was wet).

The Parisian Beauty stamp set is one I won with my Prize Patrol number at November’s OnStage conference, and I hadn’t ordered the matching Parisian Dies yet because I already have a Bigz Eiffel Tower die and several stamp sets having to do with France. In my mind, I saw the SU die-cut at the side of the card and thought I had bought the set until I went looking and remembered. Stampin’ Up’s die-cut is much prettier than the other die I have, so I will be ordering the Parisian Dies after all. For today’s card, though, I had to fussy-cut the stamped/embossed image.

I used the Cherry Blossom dies for the flowers on top of the Eiffel Tower. The stamens and star center were cut out of Champagne Foil and the flowers themselves out of Petal Pink cardstock. I actually doubled the littlest blossom, sandwiching the foil in between to make sure it stayed where it was supposed to. I wanted the blossoms to curl up a bit and had to use the tip of my Tombow Mono Liquid Glue to get the curves I imagined, instead of my large ball tool that was “somewhere.” The dies emboss curving lines in the flowers when cut, as well.

I popped up the Eiffel Tower with Mini Dimensionals to help the height of the knot at the edge of the card, so some of the cherry blossoms on top of it are glued flat and some have been half glued flat and half popped up. The littlest blossom actually has two half Mini Dimensionals at the right and is glued on top of the others otherwise. I knotted a small bow with the 1/4″ Petal Pink Metallic-Edge Ribbon (the last of my sample from OnStage!) and used glue dots under it, on top of the ribbon that was wrapped around to the back, to keep it in place.

To finish the card front, I used the “Always thinking of you” sentiment from the Very Versailles Cling stamp set and stamped it in Jet Black Staz-On ink on a scrap of Thick Whisper White cardstock (with no embossing either way). The Staz-On ink seems darker than the Tuxedo Black Memento ink, and since I had such a dark Eiffel Tower, I didn’t want to go halfway on my ink. To my surprise and delight, my Simply Shammy removed the Staz-On ink from my stamp with just a little scrubbing. Now I don’t have to drag out the pungent Staz-On Cleaner and do the whole paper towel mess! Hooray!

I also used my new Paper Trimmer and even the new Mini Cutter to trim up the sentiment scrap and the first version of my Subtle-embossed piece. The Mini Cutter is only available to demonstrators and those who become demonstrators during Sale-a-Bration, so if you want one, you’ll need to sign up to get it and some other goodies (but I promise it’s worth it!).

The inside of the card is hiding an oops, but I got a lot more creative with what you see versus what I had, so I’m happy about that mistake. I used the largest of the Painted Labels Dies to cut my “label” for the sentiment out of Sahara Sand cardstock. I stamped the “Sending All My Love” sentiment from the Last a Lifetime Cling Stamp Set in Jet Black Staz-On, using my Stamparatus. And then I glued more Champagne Foil to three more blossoms of various sizes (star centers and stamens, both) to two corners of the label. I did not curve those blossoms. 🙂

All in all, I’m pretty happy with this card. I hope you like it too. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think or what you would have done differently—or any questions you may have. Just for fun, I’ve included a picture of the “clean and simple” version of this card to show you what it would look like without the flowers. Somehow it’s a very different feel! Nothing was glued down yet when I took the photo.

We have a very talented team creating for you today, so please “hop” around to the others on this list to see what they made! If you hit the “Previous” button, you’ll go back to Mary Deatherage’s blog, or you can go “Next” to Akiko Sudano’s offering. Both women create amazing cards! Or you can skip around with the links below—you’ll find many you like. 🙂

Karen Ksenzakovic – https://wp.me/paaNf4-1uG
Shirley Gentry – https://stampinwithshirleyg.com/?p=10221
Mary Deatherage – https://wp.me/p5snyt-aZ2
Connie Troyer – You are here!
Akiko Sudano – https://wp.me/paOv8E-KT
Jaimie Babarczy – https://wp.me/p79UhD-3wt
Karen Finkle – https://karenscardkorner.blogspot.com/2020/01/stampin-up-parisian-beauty-for-amys.html
Sue Prather – https://wp.me/p5yitZ-1I8
Leslie Larkin – https://leslielarkin.com/heart-to-heart-bundle-for-amys-inkin-krew-team-blog-hop/
Amy Koenders – https://wp.me/p2SFwf-idu

And if you are interested in the products I used on this card, I’ve added them to the next list, and the thumbnails are direct links to my online store for more information or purchasing.

If you wish to purchase something from my online store, please use the host code WAA2PGYR during checkout. Orders of $50 before tax and shipping also gets you a free gift of your choice worth up to $8, from me to you as my thanks. 🙂 (You’ll also get a free Sale-a-Bration item from Stampin’ Up with every order of $50 before tax and shipping!) If you’re interested in becoming a demonstrator and want to sign up with a great time, I’d love to have you join mine—and Sale-a-Bration is the best time to do it! Recruits who join before March 31, 2020, will receive the brand-new (only available here) Mini Cutter (which is a guillotine-style trimmer), a 6″x6″ sampler pack of Designer Series Paper (48 sheets of most of the DSP from the Mini catalog), a free stamp set of their choice, $125 worth of items for $99, and more. I’ve never regretted it!

Thank you again for stopping by to see what I created today!

Connie

Product List

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

[140272]

Whisper White 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock

[100730]

Petal Pink 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock

[146985]

Shimmery White 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock

[101910]

Champagne Foil Sheets

[144748]

Subtle 3D Embossing Folder

[151775]

Heirloom Frames Dies And 3D Embossing Folder

[152325]

Forever Blossoms Cling Stamp Set (English)

[151457]

Parisian Beauty Cling Stamp Set (English)

[151466]

Cherry Blossoms Dies

[151456]

Very Versailles Cling Stamp Set

[149275]

Last A Lifetime Cling Stamp Set (English)

[151479]

Painted Labels Dies

[151605]

Petal Pink 1/4″ (6.4 Mm) Metallic-Edge Ribbon

[151194]

Shimmer Black Stampin’ Emboss Powder

[149512]

Shimmer White Stampin’ Emboss Powder

[149511]

Watercolor Pencils Assortment 2

[149014]

Aqua Painters

[103954]

Petal Pink Dark Stampin’ Blends Marker

[146871]

Granny Apple Green Stampin’ Blends Markers Combo Pack

[147274]

Jet Black Stāzon Ink Pad

[101406]

Jet Black Stāzon Ink Refill

[102566]

Versamark Pad

[102283]

Versamark Refill

[102193]

Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals

[144108]

Stampin’ Dimensionals

[104430]

Simply Shammy

[147042]

Stamparatus

[146276]

Paper Trimmer

[152392]

Sale-A-Bration Mini Paper Cutter & Paper Sampler

[154940]

Paper Snips

[103579]

Mini Glue Dots

[103683]

Multipurpose Liquid Glue

[110755]

Heat Tool (Us And Canada)

[129053]

Thinking of You Card with Painted Harvest for Stamp with Amy K’s Blog Hop

Welcome to my blog for Stamp with Amy K’s Inkin’ Krew Blog Hop for Tuesday, August 13! We have a great lineup for you today. Thanks for stopping by to see what I created. 🙂

With the seasonal change coming soon, this month’s blog hop theme is “fall frenzy.” So I have a thinking of you/just for you sunflower card to share with you today using Stampin’ Up’s “Painted Harvest” and “Rare Blessings” stamp sets.

I decided to use last week’s Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge—Sketch #328—to give me a basic idea of construction. I don’t use sketches often because I usually just design straight from my brain based on what I’m feeling with the products I see in front of me, but I’ve had a busy weekend (okay, month). I’m thankful I can turn to a sketch or a Pinterest pin for less-than-ideal crafting times when I need to come up with something quickly in either design or time. So here is the sketch image I worked from.

I was also inspired by a card from my teammate Leslie Larkin (leslielarkin.com) that was posted on our team Facebook page last month. After I saw her card, I wanted to make one immediately. I love the black-and-white flower with the color around it (she used Memento Tuxedo Black ink with Lovely Lipstick paper, cardstock, and gems).

So without further paragraphs, let’s get to my card! Although I had to create it in a crunch, I found several ideas vying for realization as I looked through my current DSP and video-chatted with a crafty friend. I didn’t have time to make the five cards I wanted to, so I’ve had to back-burner most of them. I did pull out supplies to make a second card following the same sketch, so I’ll make that and post it another day. Here’s the one I put together for today. (Be sure to catch the updated picture at the end!)

What I ended up using was a Terracotta Tile card base, a sheet of striped paper from the “Come Sail Away” DSP pack (Mossy Meadow color), and a sheet of flowered paper from the Mosaic Mood Specialty DSP (Crushed Curry, Garden Green, Mint Macaron, Terracotta Tile, and Very Vanilla colors). It is a specialty DSP because half the sheets in the pack have Spot UV gloss on the paper to showcase various designs. In the paper I used, the flowered circles have the gloss on them.

I thought the Mosaic Mood paper would work for the scalloped piece on the sketch because the flowered circles are all in a row and have radiating circles around each flower. I just took my scissors and fussy-cut around the largest circle of each flower in the row, up to where it touches the next circle. It seemed the fastest way to move forward on the card and stop all the overthinking I was doing.

The striped Mossy Meadow paper from “Come Sail Away” pulls out the Garden Green from the “Mosaic Mood” paper and balances everything visually. For some reason, I always think stripes go on the bottom. I suppose that’s one of my “ruts” in card-making. However much I tried to argue with that while designing the card, in the end it was easiest to cave and promise myself that I’d try something new later.

Once I had the stripes glued down and the top portion cut, I tried to find a way to use the beautiful 1/2″ Poppy Parade Textured Weave Ribbon in my “current product accessories” bin. I began using the ribbon the way it comes off the roll but didn’t like how it was the same width as the flowered/scalloped border. I needed something thinner, but I only have so many ribbons and twine options right now. So I put some heavy-duty Tear & Tape Adhesive down on one side of the ribbon and did my best at folding it over in half (it’s kind of tricky, actually). And then I located the 1/8″ Glubers glue line I’d cut in half previously for another card. It comes in 1/4″ strips, but as I’ve mislaid my 1/8″ red-line tape, I made do with the other—twice now. Tear & Tape Adhesive would have worked for that as well, but I already had the other one cut and waiting for me.

The metallic brads are basically just decorative. Since I hadn’t yet adhered the flowered piece to my card base, I could still punch a tiny hole on each side of the ribbon, place the brads through the holes, and fasten them at the back before gluing the paper. I’m considering them to be two of the gem places in the sketch, with the third located on the tag. My brads are miscellaneous from my stash, but Stampin’ Up has a great set of Metallic Brads in the current catalog, so I’ll add them to the list of supplies at the end.

Then came the tedious part of the card—figuring out which colors to use for the two-step photopolymer “Painted Harvest” sunflower. I know I’ve saved some color swatches for this sunflower in Pinterest, but for some reason I thought it would be faster to use the colors I’d narrowed down and stacked on my table rather than search in my Color Combos and Sketches board. Hindsight is 20/20.

I wasn’t entirely sure how the stamping was supposed to go, so I got some scrap paper and started “playing” with the two darker ink colors I’d pulled—Early Espresso and Soft Suede. I did several of both colors as the base. Then I opened the two ink colors in my stash that matched the paper the best—Terracotta Tile and a very old (but perfectly juicy) Ruby Red. I need to get a Poppy Parade ink pad yet. I wasn’t sure which color would work best with both the Poppy Parade ribbon and the Terracotta Tile in the paper.

After too much experimentation, including tone-on-tone and color mixing in the brighter colors, I chose to go with the Early Espresso/Ruby Red combination. The Terracotta Tile is more orange than Poppy Parade, and the Ruby Red has a better balance of an orange and something rosier or pinker when both Terracotta Tile and Poppy Parade are on the same card. The flower spots that have Terracotta Tile in them on the DSP are small enough it doesn’t seem to matter much. I had originally picked a Soft Suede/Terracotta Tile combination, but I didn’t stamp the center quite right on the best piece and royally messed it up when trying to fix it, per my usual. Anyway, that color combination works too.

The center of the finished flower is tone-on-tone Early Espresso. Stamping the center of the sunflower was a little challenging to line up at first, but the more I “practiced,” the better I got at it. So just keep trying while you figure out how it works. After I chose one of the images I’d stamped, I then fussy-cut around the finished sunflower and added pop-up foam dots to the back of it. I’m just now realizing that I probably should have added leaves as well. But I’m calling this card done. Maybe I’ll add leaves before I send it. That’s for another day.

For the “Just for You” tag from the “Rare Blessings” stamp set, I used Early Espresso ink and a scrap of Crumb Cake cardstock. The stamp set is one of the new cling sets, so I had to put it together first with the new stickers (that actually stick to the block!). I actually kind of love doing that with the new stamp sets. 🙂 After that was done and I stamped it on the Crumb Cake, I cut down the tag and snipped up the middle at the left with my scissors to make a banner end. Then I took a Really Rust Stampin’ Write Marker (retired) and added some faux stitching in a thin border just inside the edges of the tag. I would have used an Early Espresso marker, but something happened to mine and I no longer have one. The Really Rust is close enough to the Terracotta Tile that it still matches. And, finally, I added a Terracotta Tile gem from the 2019-2020 In-Color Faceted Dots embellishment pack to the tag as one of the gem spots in the sketch.

I’m not sure what is going on the inside yet. The card is going to a friend who recently lost his mother. I need to look for the right sentiment before I send it with a delayed memorial gift. It’s been a busy year here. But at least I’m one step closer in getting the card and gift sent out the door.

UPDATE!: I decided to add some vellum leaves from the Magnolia Lane Memories and More Card Pack around the flower. I fussy-cut them and colored them on the front and back (to make them darker) with my Dark Old Olive Alcohol Blend marker. (I don’t have the Mossy Meadow Blends yet, so I made do.) The sentiment on the inside reads “With Deepest Sympathy” and is from the current Golden Afternoon stamp set. I stamped it in Crumb Cake. I also ran one of the sticker border strips across the bottom of the inside from the Magnolia Lane Memories and More Card Pack. NOW I’m finished with the card. 🙂

That’s all for today. Stay tuned for the next card using “Painted Harvest” and Sketch 328. Thanks again for visiting! Feel free to post questions or comments. Below the list of blog hop participants of my Stampin’ Up team members are the products I used in my card. You can purchase any of them through my online store here—or just click on the picture—and if you use the host code 3W7RXKCU when you check out, I’ll send a free gift your way! Also, if you happen to need a current Annual Catalog or the upcoming Holiday Catalog (which should arrive on my doorstep tomorrow), I’m happy to send you one! Just use the Contact Me link at the top of the main page.

To continue with our blog hop using the arrows, click Previous to view Paula Vincent’s offering or Next to view Karen Ksenzakovic’s card. Or you can click any of the links below to go directly to any demonstrator’s blog.