For the Love of Paper

Now that it is a little cooler out, I have been able to get in the mood for a few Halloween cards! This card is not the most complicated, but the little border with the hats and brooms was complicated! For me, anyway! The Festive & Bright Bundle SU! (Stamps and coordinating dies) is so cute! I had a little bit of a learning curve with the dies to cut out the hat & broom die cut. Entering this card in the SUO Challenges #286 Happy Halloween and Sweet Stampin Challenge Blog All Hallow’s Eve . I colored the hats with Blackberry Bliss, Black, and Cherry Cobbler blends. The black card stock is embossed with the Subtle SU! Embossing folder.

This weekend it is finally FALL here in Michigan! Cooler weather, burgundy/orange/yellow falling leaves, and even some drizzly soft rain, all make it finally feel like fall is here. I love the smell of the falling leaves and the colors this time of year are a feast for my eyes! I hadn’t felt like trying out my new Gorgeous Leaves stamp set with all the warm weather we have had. But finally, this weekend I was feeling it! The Less is More challenge #454 One Layer Card-Autumnal and CAS on Friday-Autumn or Halloween challenges both provided inspiration for me. I haven’t really played much with the new Blending Brushes, so I was really giving them a go with this card design. I used Pool Party and a little bit of Misty Moonlight for the blue background. The blending with the brushes is quite smooth and forgiving, but I still need to master my technique with them. The leaves I stamped in one color and then did the “rock and roll” technique to get just a little bit of a darker color from the stamp pad on the edges of the stamp. The large leaf is Cajun Craze which was then rolled in Blackberry Bliss. The green leaf is Garden Green which was then rolled in Evening Evergreen. The smallest leaf is Pumpkin Pie which was then rolled in Cherry Cobbler.

I have been stuck on sunflowers recently! They are on my mind as I just cleaned up the last of the ones that were done blooming. The Flower Challenge active challenge is a birthday card with a shape. I can’t unsee the sunflowers as circles (my new favorite layout thank you to Freshly Made Sketches challenge #505). I was determined to use my blends more as I haven’t really played with them. I used the light & dark of Cajun Craze, Mango Melody, and Cinnamon Cider. I had some random sheets of SU! retired designer series paper to use up. I’m not sure on the exact colors of it, but it matched fine with a Night of Navy card base. I used the Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set and coordinating dies. “Hello” sentiment is from Beauty of Friendship stamp set. I found a random stamp sentiment on my desk (after cleaning up a bunch of paper scraps!) and I have no idea to what SU! Stamp set it belongs with. It was absolutely perfect for this card, being a smaller “Happy Birthday!” Sentiment. I cut the “Hello” and “Happy Birthday!” with a small die from the Seasonal Labels Dies.

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I was so bummed out when I went to order the Stampin’ Up! Blackberry Beauty suite and it was unavailable. I was only able to order the designer series paper as the Beauty of Tomorrow stamp set & dies were on back order. The paper is simply stunning with the gold foil running through it, so I was very excited with that. And to be fair, the designer series paper really is my favorite anyway. I’m sure I can order the stamp set & dies soon anyway. I really like to CAS(E) the catalog, so I was having a hard time using the paper without the stamp set. Looking for inspiration from card challenges, I saw the sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches #505 and I saw sunflowers from the Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set (SU!) for the circles. As the wheels turned, I saw dark reddish sunflowers, at first thinking of Merry Merlot (I grew sunflowers that color this year). I wasn’t finding any Merry Merlot dsp that was striking my fancy for the background. I had an ah-ha moment when I came across the Blackberry Beauty dsp with Rich Razzleberry and Blackberry Bliss colors. Not sure I have seen purple sunflowers yet, but I’m sure they will be available someday soon if they aren’t already! The flower petals are colored with Blackberry Bliss and Rich Razzleberry blends. The leaves I colored with Mossy Meadow blends, the seeds in the middle are Cinnamon Cider. I stamped the flower outlines in Early Expresso. The card base is Rich Razzleberry. Now I’m on the hunt for purple sunflower seeds for next summer!

I love the colors Fall brings us here in Michigan! The SU! Beauty of the Earth designer series paper shows off rich fall colors-Merry Merlot, Cinnamon Cider, Bumblebee, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow and Misty Moonlight. I swear this time of year, the sky is exactly the Misty Moonlight color! I paired the paper with Blackberry Bliss, as that is another rich color plentiful in Michigan during the fall. I wanted this card to look like a forest. The sentiments in the Beauty of Friendship stamp set are so encouraging for anyone going through a tough challenge. I needed a “I Believe in You” card for someone close to me who truly needs to make some big life changes that are very difficult. I hope this card is a little piece of motivation to keep them encouraged with the changes they need to make. I was looking at card challenges on Bloglovin’ and came across the Alphabet Challenge Blog “M is for Motivational/Encouraging Sentiment”. I was truly inspired with this challenge and will be making a bunch of encouraging cards today!

Scrolling through Bloglovin’, I came across the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown challenge sketch (sketch image below). I need holiday cards, so I sat staring at all my new holiday stamp sets and designer series paper. I really wanted to use designer series paper for the smaller squares, and I didn’t want dsp that was too busy. The Peaceful Place designer series paper was just what I needed for this card. I ended up getting the Peaceful Place suite because the other suites I wanted were sold out when I went to place an order with SU!. It is not a suite that grabbed my eye at first. But I am very happy I “got stuck” with it! I bet I’m not the only person that has had that happen! The paper is amazing, with silver foil on it. I picked the papers that had silver foil stars and snowflakes on them. The foil stars/snowflakes do not sure up in the pictures at all, sorry. Basic Greg and Smoky Slate are definitely underused colors in my collection. The card base is Basic Grey 4.25” x 4.25”. I would have liked to use the “May you enjoy the peace of this beautiful season” on the outside, but that was just too big of a sentiment for the outside of the card. So inside the card it went, with a simple “Wishing you the best” on the outside. The sentiments have beautiful scripting. I really am taken by the simple beauty of these cards. Makes me want to find a friend with a cabin that I can visit this winter! 😉

I have been working through much of my designer series paper hoard. This designer series paper is Flowers for Every Season, a retired Stampin’ Up! 6×6 paper pack. I find the 6×6 papers harder to use than the 12×12 papers. I never know what to do with the weird little pieces that are left over after using a 5” x 3.75” piece. So here is my attempt with some of the scrap pieces!

I saw the Alphabet Challenge Blog “I is for insect” and just had to use the now retired Honey Bee bundle. Pinwheel cards are all the rage right now, so I jumped on board with that design! I have a sweet friend that will appreciate this card. She has cultivated flowers and flowers to benefit honey bees and her yard is “a buzz” with them! The second card is a CASE from the last Sale-a-Bration brochure in Jan-Feb 2021.

Second card that is a CASE from the SU! Sale-a-Bration brochure.

I have a hard time usually with sketch challenges, but this weeks Freshly Made Sketches #498 challenge had me seeing shaker cards for some reason! I had a bunch of retired SU! Sequins to use up in my stash. The first card uses Positive Thoughts stamp set with the pretty butterfly. The 2nd and 3rd cards use the Stitched Stars, which I have not used enough!!!

That sounds nice, a birthday vacation away from home! I have not planned an away vacation from home in a long time! I was inspired by the Seize the Birthday Challenge to think about traveling. This card was my first attempt at a “pinwheel” card that is all the rage right now. I got the first spoke of the pinwheel going the wrong way, so this became a pop up card.🤣 I am trying to use up some Memories and More card packs, so this card is a little shorter at 4 inches.