Sending a Smile to Mint Macaron

Tomorrow is the first day of the new 2017-2018 Annual Catalog from Stampin' Up!  And I am so very excited about all the fabulous new products.  But with that, we have to give a final goodbye to some retiring products.  I have a quick and easy card using my favorite retiring in color (Mint Macaron) and one of my favorite retiring suites (Affectionately Yours).  One of the fabulous accessories that coordinates with this suite is the Affectionately Yours Designer Series Washi Tape.  Check out my card:

Now one thing that I used in this card here that is not retiring is the Copper Embossing Powder, thank goodness!  I love the copper foil floral specialty DSP so I created my own copper flower with the embossing powder and coordinating stamp set, Love & Affection.  For the washi tape, I layered on the Mint Macaron leaf print over top of the copper dot print, essentially making my own new washi tape.  Washi Tape really is one of my favorite accessories and I am looking forward to getting my hands on the new washi tape!  For more Washi Tape ideas, head over to SSI!  

    

For My Brother

I have a tool-rific card to share with you today using the Nailed It Bundle, which sold out WAY too fast.  I am glad I got it when I did and it goes to show you that is you like something then you should get it right away.  June is a very busy month for birthdays in my family, we have three of them with both of my brothers and my sister in law.  Here is a card I made for my brother:

I love the combination of the Urban Underground Designer Series Paper with the Nailed It stamp set and Framelits.  I played around with lots of the patterns but settled on these.  I did stamp on some Silver Foil sheets with the Basic Black Archival Ink and pieced together some of the tools.  For my sentiment I used the "Brother" from the Guy Greetings stamp set.  Here is a peek at the inside:  

The "Happy Birthday" came from the Guy Greetings set, but the rest of the sentiment came from the Nailed It set.  I added the little hexagon background stamps from the Urban District stamp set.  This really is a great set of products, perfect for all the masculine cards you  might need!  For more Masculine Cards, head over to SSI.

Bye Bye Bitty Butterfly

One of my favorite things about Stampin' Up! is their fabulous punches.  With this year's Retirement List we are losing quite a few classic punches (but we will get some great new ones, I promise!).  One of my favorites is the Bitty Butterfly (the Elegant Butterfly is a close second).  I made this quick and easy card to show off how great this punch can be:

I went with a rainbow effect using the swoosh from Over the Rainbow (another stamp set that is retiring).  I took the my Bitty Butterfly punch and punched out little butterflies from the Brights Designer Series Paper Stacks, which also retired and sold out very quickly!  My sentiment is from the Love and Affection stamp set which is also retiring. 

Although it is sad to say goodbye to these fabulous products, take comfort in knowing that we are in store for some great things!  Head over to SSI where the gals are sharing their favorite retiring punches.

  

Daisy Delight

One of the many perks about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is getting to play with the new products first.  We were able to pre-order from the new catalog at the beginning of May.  Unfortunately I have not had too much time to stamp but I did set aside some time to play with a fabulous new Suite of products, the Daisy Delight Suite, which includes a stamp and punch bundle, and gorgeous Designer Series Paper.  Here are my three cards, starting with my favorite:

This one is my favorite because it includes this beautiful watercolor inspired daisy paper.  And I would have never paired Tranquil Tide (new In-Color) with Calypso Coral, but I love them together.  This was also the easiest card I made from this set.  How pretty is that Thank You sentiment?  And I just added some Calypso Coral daisies on either side and finished it off with the Tranquil Tide cotton ribbon.

Up next is a card that shows off the punch: 

Here we get another look at some more of the patterns in the DSP pack.  For my daisy I stamped Calypso Coral in on Calypso Coral card stock and layered two punched pieces together for a fun full flower!  I added the new Clear Faceted Gems to the center of my flower.  I matted my Thank You sentiment on some Pool Party which really brings out that color in the DSP.  

Finally here I played with some of the other stamps in the set:

Again here are those colors I would have never paired together but love.  This card is an ink, card stock and scrap kinda card.  Definitely quick and easy but still very pretty.  

Hopefully you are getting excited about the new catalog.  The other designers over at SSI are also showing off their new catalog cards.  

May INKspiration Challenge

Happy Monday!  Welcome to the May edition of the SSI INKspiration challenge.  I chose an image that would be perfect for Father's Day or a Masculine card  using the Nailed It Bundle.  This bundle is already sold out, so I am sorry if you didn't get a hold of it.  It is fabulous!  Here is the image:

I decided to create my own little workshop:

I love how easy it was to create these tools.  I stamped on Smoky Slate, Delightful Dijon and some of the brand new Wood Textures Designer Series Paper Stack.  I just did a little bit of fussy cutting after die cutting out the tools and put them together.  I used some of the Urban Underground DSP for the background.  I love the little die cut for the cute sentiment and finished it off with the Urban Underground embellishments.  This card was so easy to create and it will be perfect for either my dad or either of my brothers!  

I am looking forward to seeing what you create using this image.  Head over to SSI and upload yours today!

   

I Stink You Are Great

So I finally got my hands on the actual new catalog and its amazing.  But even though a lot of fabulous products are being carried over, none of the bundles will be.  So I decided to feature one of my favorite bundles with today's project which also shows off some retiring items and a NEW IN COLOR!  Check it out:

These are the little gift cards I gave to my son's preschool teachers who are all amazing!  I am not sure if I saw this sentiment somewhere or came up with it myself.  The Fox Builder punch and Fox and Friends stamp set can make so many fabulous things!  This little stinker was so easy make.  I decided to pair my skunk with the new Lemon Lime Twist.  This bright green is so fun!  I just love it!  And I used the retiring Gift Card Thinlits, which really made this a super quick project.  If you are wondering what gift card I gave, I decided to go with the smell theme and give a Bath and Body Works Gift Card.  I just loved how they turned out!

The gals at SSI are sharing their favorite retiring bundles over at SSI. 

Let's Celebrate with Balloon Adventures!

I love the Party Animal Suite and it is still available while supplies last.  I used the Designer Series Paper along with the Balloon Adventures stamp set and coordinating thinlits to make a fun birthday card that also uses the Mojo Monday sketch:

Here is my card:

Instead of using the pop up thinlit in the inside of the card I fusst cut around it and used it as a die cut for my card front.  I love this fun bright colors in this suite, it would be perfect for anyone!  Here is a peek inside:

Full disclosure here...the confetti was added to cover a smudge that got on my inside but I really like how it frames the sentiment.  I added a strip of the coordinating washi tape as well.  

For more birthday card inspirations, head over to SSI.

May Sketch Challenge

The Eastern Palace Suite is now available for everyone to buy in two special edition bundles; one with the DSP, stamp and coordinating card stock and ink and another with all of those goodies PLUS the amazing coordinating thinlits.  I have had these products for awhile but haven't really played with them too much.  But when I saw this month's sketch challenge for SSI, I knew I could use them.  Check out the sketch:

 

Here is my card:

I started with some of the new Tranquil Tide card stock for my base and added a layer of the Eastern Palace DSP.  For the banners, I used two strips of the DSP as well including a gold foil piece.  The thinlits quickly made all of those super fun intricate die cuts.  For the larger Tranquil Tide piece, I did just use my paper snips to cut them out.  Most of the thinlits don't actually cut out the images fully, but with scissors or some circle dies you can easily cut them out completely.  The purple color is Fresh Fig and it is so pretty!  I stamped my "hello" sentiment in Fresh Fig along with the Tranquil Tide bracket-like pieces.  I finished my card off with a gold tassel and a star like image stamped tone on tone with Fresh Fig and cut out with the dies. 

Here is a close up of all the die cutting:

So yeah, this set is a must have and I feel like I could spend a whole day playing with the stamp set and dies!  But you can use whatever you would like to this week's challenge.  Head back over to SSI and upload your card today!

          

Farewell Moroccan Designer Series Paper

Stampin' Up! really puts out fantastic Designer Series Paper.  I pretty much love most of them.  So when the time came for the designers to pick a favorite retiring DSP, I had a hard time selecting one.  I love so many of them.  At the end of the day I selected the Moroccan DSP because of the rich colors and fun patterns.  I made 5 cards using this DSP.  Check them out:

This uses one of my favorite sketches from our sketch challenge back in October.  It is a great sketch to show off DSP and I made it really easy by adding a Hello die cut.  

Next up is a Gate Fold card:

This was pretty easy although not what I initially intended to do.  I was going to use the large medallion from the stamp set but I ended up using the lanterns instead.  I do like how it turned out.  And a Gate-Fold card is so easy!

Here is some more Emerald Envy:

Although not a coordinating product, I thought the Boho Chic embossing folder went perfectly with this DSP.  I decided to make this a fun birthday card.  

This one is my favorite and it is by far the simplest:

I just love this fancy chair from the In This World stamp set.  I stamped it in Early Espresso and used Stampin' Write markers to color it in. Just a sheet of the kaleidoscope paper with coordinating colors in the background is all I needed for this card.   

And my final card, which was actually the first one I created:

I just did my best to place my circle framelit around the center of one of the color bursts and layered it over some of the more muted patterns in the Designer Series Paper.   

Hopefully you can see how universal the Moroccan Designer Series Paper is.  I created five very different cards for all sorts of different occasions.  To see some of the other favorite retiring Designer Series Papers, head over to SSI.

Mother's Day Mojo Monday 495

Mother's Day will be here before you know it.  I have four cards I try to send; my mother, mother-in-law and my children's two godmothers.  With so many special cards to make and so little time on my hand I decided to use the sketch over at Mojo Monday:

Here is my card:

I started with a Watermelon Wonder card base.  I truly love this color and will definitely miss it when its gone.  I feel like I didn't really appreciate it as much until the last few months.  I added several layers of the Affectionately Yours Specialty DSP.  I love the bright florals mixed with the copper.  I added an embossed strip of the Copper Foil and a Mint Macaron doily.  The sentiment is heat embossed with Copper embossing powder and layered on some Night of Navy.  I added some loops of the Copper Metallic thread for a little extra shine.  

I love how this card turned out.  I had started going in one direction and ended up somewhere totally different.  A lot of these goodies are retiring, the DSP, doilies, and stamps set.  Make sure you have gotten everything you want from the retirement list, because its going fast!  For more Mother's Day cards, head over to SSI.  

May Color Challenge

I am so excited it is May!  The weather is getting warmer, the days are getting longer, the new annual catalog for Stampin' Up is closer to getting released.  So many exciting things.  We are starting off the month of May with a fun color challenge with a retiring in color unexpectedly combined with a color from our Brights collection.  Check it out:

I knew I wanted to use the Happy Celebrations stamp set since I bought it awhile ago but hadn't gotten any ink on it yet.  Here is my card:

I love the brightness of the Pacific Point paired with the richness of Delightful Dijon.  I used the Celebrations Duo Embossing Folder and stamped over it with the fun "smudge" stamp.  I also stamped the rest of my sentiment right on the DSP because there is no rule saying you can't!  That is one of the things I love about crafting...there aren't any rules!  I knew it needed something else, so I added a balloon with some baker's twine twirled up.  This card was definitely quick and easy.

I hope you will take part in our weekly challenge.  Head over to SSI for more cards to INKspire you and upload your creation!