I have a whale-ton of scraps! Just like any good crafter, I can not throw out all the leftover pieces of paper. I have been working with the Whale Done stamp set and Whale of a Time designer series paper (Stampin’ Up). Seize the Birthday challenge was to use scraps for a birthday card, so I did!
I brought limited crafting items on vacation, so I am using the Everything is Rosy Medley again. The inside of the card will have “for a merry Christmas”. Jingle Bells Pink Christmas card challenge was fun and definitely not a card I would have made without the challenge. The layout is from TGIF Challenges sketch challenge. Melon Mambo pink paper, Snowflake Wishes stamp set and coordinating snowflake embossing folder.
I’m sure many crafters share their craft space with others. I am so fortunate to have Dee, my Crafty Cat! She really is the most unhelpful being, but her little torti cat personality and seemingly painted on nose stripe just melt my heart. She is the prettiest thing, like a work of art herself! I just can’t say “no” when she wants to help with the glue dots or card designs!
Everything is Rosy Medley from Stampin’ Up was available for sale around May 2019. At the time, I resisted buying it for whatever reason. But the more I saw cards with it, the more I liked and NEEDED it. Thank goodness I have a fellow SU! Demonstrater that had an extra one she was ready to part with this summer. It was on the SU! clearance rack also, after I got a set from my friend. Never know what will pop up on the sale rack, I always keep my eye on it!
Night of Navy and Melon Mambo with Rose gold are stunning! The pink and rose gold pop so nicely with the navy. The medley came with Rose gold embellishment dots that are shiny. I used them for the flower middles. I typically have not found a way to incorporate the dies that cut edges with shapes (like the leaves here). With this card design, it was easy to use those edge dies! This is a card layout that will become a staple for me (dsp+dies!). I have some retired Snowflake dies that create a fun edge that I am NOW excited to use!
In my daily perusal of card/paper crafting challenges, I was inspired by the following challenges. Alphabet Challenge-N is for Navy; Retro Rubber #145 Tic Tac Toe used metallic, dot embellishment, die cuts, and stamp set over 1 year old; Less is More #430 CASe challenge
I am on a blue kick. Not a surprise as it is my favorite color. Ombre blues via the whale of a time designer series paper: pacific point, pool party, balmy blue. All Stampin’ Up!: Whale Done stamp set, whale punch, Whale of a Time designer series paper and sequins. The ombre print of the dsp made this card super easy! Even the whale is punched out of the dsp!
Ombre inspired by Just Us Girls #557
Blue winter holiday colors are my favorite! And I have every snowflake lunch or die set that Stampin’ Up! Has produced. And I never get bored of them! This new stamp set is Snowflake Wishes coordinate a with the So Many Snowflake dies and Snowflake Splendor designer series paper. The snowflakes dies produce thin, delicate, snowflake cut outs. The balmy blue glimmer paper add a little bling, as well as the Blue Gems.
Using dies or punches was a challenge posed by Cute Card Thursday challenge #655. Trying a fun fold card made me feel very crafty this week, so I decided to enter the Crafty Creations challenges #414 Anything Goes.
Do not try this if you aren’t ready to get inky! Take an ink pad, press it to a clear block to transfer ink, spray with a mist of water, and press block to paper. It’s that easy! I used shimmer white paper, watercolor paper works. Be careful with Whisper White or regular cardstock, it warps as it soaks up the water. When putting the ink on the block, I went from lightest to darkest so I didn’t get darker ink in the lighter pads. I used Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry. You can add ink to the blocks with sponges to (looks less saturated with color) or even re-inkers (looks more blotchy depending on how the ink spreads). The leafy stamp is from Tropical Chic, and the birds from Free as a Bird, both stamp in Staz On Black. The paper was still damp, so I used Staz On to make sure the stamping did not run or get blurry. Inspired by Karin Menghini’s team challenge to ink up our blocks and SoSS#161. The ink started flowing as I looked at the design team cards for “I is for Inks” challenge at Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers SoSS#161. I hope to keep getting inky this week! I forget about inky techniques, so this is a fun challenge to keep working on!
Forever Fern is a new stamp set (with coordinating framelits) by Stampin’ Up! in the new 2020-2021 annual catalog. I love ferns. They are the one thing that flourishes in shady areas, looking luscious green all the time. The coordinating designer series paper shows off many of the greens (Pretty Peacock, Garden Green, Pear Pizzazz, Just Jade, Shaded Spruce, Soft Sea Foam). Included in the suite were the Gold Hoops embellishments, Greenery Embossing folders (2 in the set), and Forever Greenery trim combo pack (very vanilla wide ribbon used in first card, thin Gold twine used in all). All the cards were inspired by the Global Design Project GPD#242 sketch challenge.
Monochromatic cards are hard to do! For me at least! I was surprised how much I loved the way this card turned out. Perfect for The Flower Challenge #44 Monochrome challenge and Seize the Birthday Monochromatic challenge #190. Since I was using scraps up, I just cut the sentiment with scissors and used a little scrap of Melon Mambo cardstock with it. With this card, the beautiful designer series paper does all the work!
I just needed time to be creative, but didn’t have an exact card need in mind. Often my crafting time is spent making “this card” for “that person”. Picking out the paper that I think someone will like and stamps that remind me of them, certainly helps me focus. So when I retreated to my crafting space today, I became overwhelmed with all the possibilities! I may have too much paper and too many stamps (but don’t tell my husband that!). When I get overwhelmed, I need to break the project into ” small steps” or in this case, “small pieces”. I just picked 1 pack of paper and 1 stamp set & few digital sentiments. I need variety to stay interested, but I feel like maybe I need to use up some beloved supplies I have had for years. I started with a 6×6 pack of retired SU! designer series paper Garden Impressions. My friend Karin Menghini had posted a team challenge to use this “scrappy” technique. I always have tons of scraps laying around! Breaking the paper down into “baby pieces” really helped me feel like I was creating a work of art with each card front!!! This is a technique I have seen in many forms (sunburst, straight pieces, wonky pieces, mixed designer series paper, plain cardstock, 1 designer series paper design cut apart, ect). Everything is Stampin’ Up!.
Other cards I made that I just love! I made ~50 cards, so I am just showing my favorites. Really, once you get going with cutting the paper into pieces, it goes quickly. AND I still have some paper left from this stack (it feels like it will never end!), which is a good problem to have when you love it like I do!
Using the Stampin’ Up! in colors Rococo Rose and Seaside Spray, I created this card for the SUO241 Flowers/Floral challenge.
Months ago, I purchased the Lovely is the Day stamp set and Lovely Leaves dies. I was attracted to the way the flowers and leaves could pop up with the dies. It was really easy to work with. Putting dimensionals on the popped up flowers and leaves was the hardest thing.
The lovely pastels and delicate flowers were just what I needed on a cloudy Michigan day!
For the Love of Paper 