Birthday Wit – Quick Masculine Birthday Card

April 19, 2018Leave a comment

If you’re like me, you may have a little trouble (sometimes 🙂 ) designing masculine birthday cards. The Birthday Wit stamp set may be the answer for you. I have had a great time using the set and will share three designs with you. Birthday Wit is fun, fresh, and a sassy stamp set! If you like the set and don’t have it in your collection, don’t delay — Birthday Wit is going to retire at the end of May. 🙁

Below are two pictures of the first of three projects that I’ll share. The picture of the front of the card showcases the stamp that caught my attention when I first saw the stamp set in the catalog. Doesn’t the sentiment just make you smile? The colors and background were designed specifically for a masculine card. The inside design is very fun and easy to make especially with the soon-to-be-available Stamparatus!

The main colors for this card work together so well! Take a look –

Here are the steps for the front of the card:

The base of the card is a piece of Crumb Cake card stock cut 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″, scored at 4 1/4″ on the 8 1/2″ side.
A piece of Night of Navy card stock is cut to 4″ x 5 1/4″ and used to frame the focal piece.
The base for the focal piece is Whisper White card stock cut to 3 3/4″ x 5″. The base is stamped with the Tree Rings background stamp using Crumb Cake ink. In one of my next posts, I’ll share some tips on how I stamped the background on the front and inside of the card.
After the Tree Rings are stamped, the main sentiment from the Birthday Wit stamp set is stamped on the focal piece with Night of Navy ink.
The sentiment is stamped one more time on a scratch piece of Whisper White card stock using Early Espresso ink. The “Happy Birthday” banner from this piece is fussy cut and placed over the initial stamped sentiment using dimensionals. The banner really pops with this technique!
The Night of Navy frame is adhered to the card base as pictured.
A piece of Vanilla satin ribbon (from my retired ribbon stash – sorry!) is attached with the each end wrapped around the card. I pinched the ribbon in half and tied a piece of blue twine onto the ribbon before I attached the second end. After the ribbon is attached (and tape will work just fine), the focal piece is attached to the Night of Navy frame as pictured.

Here are the steps for the inside of the card:

Mask the left side of the card with a piece of scrap paper to make sure you don’t stamp any part of the Tree Rings backgroup stamp image on to the left side.
Use Crumb Cake ink to stamp the Tree Rings background stamp onto the right side. I’ll share more tips on how to do this in one of my next posts.
Stamp “Happy Birthday” from the Birthday Wit stamp set three times, as pictured, using Night of Navy ink. If you are using a Stamparatus to do this, set up the first (highest) “Happy Birthday” as close to the top of the card as you can. Move the plate two notches to stamp the second “Happy Birthday”. Move the plate again two notches to stamp the third and final “Happy Birthday”.

There are so many ways you could this design to make it your own! Use different colors. Add another background instead of the Tree Rings. Just have fun with it!

Check back for the second design that I’ll share using the fun Birthday Wit stamp set. In the meantime, you can click on any picture below to go to my on-line store. REMEMBER – The Birthday Wit stamp set is on the retiring list!

Happy stamping!
Laurie

Birthday Wit Clear-Mount Stamp Set [145753] $19.00	Birthday Wit Wood-Mount Stamp Set [145750] $27.00	Whisper White 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock [100730] $9.00
Tree Rings Clear-Mount Stamp Set [143964] $15.00	Tree Rings Wood-Mount Stamp Set [143961] $20.00	Early Espresso Classic Stampin’ Pad [126974] $6.50
Crumb Cake 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock [120953] $8.00	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin’ Pad [126975] $6.50	Night Of Navy 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock [100867] $8.00
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin’ Pad [126970] $6.50

New Clearance Rack Products!!!

April 17, 2018Leave a comment

Don’t wait to check out the products that have been added to the Clearance Rack!! They won’t last for long. Some products are available for up to 60% off their original price.

There are some amazing die sets that are on sale. Here are a few of my favorites –

Wish Big Framelits Dies [141476] $27.00 $16.20	T-Shirt Builder Framelits Dies [142754] $25.00 $15.00	Succulent Framelits Dies [142757] $33.00 $19.80
Shaker Shapes Framelits Dies [141834] $27.00 $16.20	Quilt Builder Framelits Dies [144673] $30.00 $18.00	Perfect Pines Framelits Dies [139665] $27.00 $16.20
Patterned Pumpkins Thinlits Dies [144670] $27.00 $16.20	Ornamental Christmas Framelits Dies [144680] $26.00 $15.60	Detailed Gate Thinlits Dies [144669] $30.00 $18.00
Cheerful Tags Framelits Dies [141838] $31.00 $18.60	Card Front Builder Thinlits Dies [144674] $30.00 $18.00	Basket Builder Framelits Dies [143228] $31.00 $18.60

And, great DSP collections are also on sale. I really have enjoyed using the ones shown below –

Year Of Cheer Specialty Designer Series Paper [144640] $13.00 $5.20	Quilted Christmas 6″ X 6″ (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper [144617] $9.00 $3.60	Painted Autumn Designer Series Paper [144613] $11.00 $4.40
Merry Little Christmas Designer Series Paper [144621] $11.00 $4.40	Merry Music Specialty Designer Series Paper [144623] $13.00 $5.20	Christmas Around The World Designer Series Paper [144629] $11.00 $4.40

Did I mention that these products won’t last long?? Order your favorites as soon as you can!

To see all the products available on the Clearance Rack, click on the banner below to go directly to my on-line store.

Happy Clearance Rack Shopping!
Laurie

Stamp ‘N Hop – Favorite Retiring Products

April 14, 2018April 17, 201819 Comments

Welcome to this month’s Stamp ‘N Hop blog hop! We are a global group of Stampin’ Up! demonstrators who are addicted to ink, stamps, and amazing tools that we use to make beautiful cards and other paper projects. This month, we are all featuring favorite SU! products that will be retiring from the SU! catalogs.

If you’ve just come from Susan Simpson’s post, I’m sure you’ll agree with me that her project was fantastic (as usual!). Thank so much for stopping by to see my tribute to some of my favorite retiring products.

My husband, Bruce, and I live in the beautiful state of North Carolina. Last week, we had family visiting from New York. Our youngest granddaughter, Angie, and I had time to craft together! It was so much fun. She and I designed the inspiration for the project that I’m sharing today. Take a look at Angie’s cards, pictured below. I’m sure you’ll agree that she is a talented stamper. [By the way, Angie and I will be Skyping every month to put our Paper Pumpkin kits together. How much fun is that?? There is an amazing Paper Pumpkin special that is going on. Click here to get more information.]

Here are Angie’s cards! And, as a bonus, a picture of Angie, her brother (Johnny), and my mom is shown below.

You’ll notice some similarities between Angie’s cards and the card I am featuring this month. It is an easel card and shown below.

No matter how many times I use a heat embossing technique, I never get tired of the magic! To add a little twist to my typical heat embossing colors, I decided to use White Embossing powder on a Rich Razzleberry cardstock background as the focal point. The flower cart stamp from the (retiring) Friendship’s Sweetest Thoughts stamp set was perfect for the central image. When you heat emboss, remember to prep your cardstock with the Embossing Buddy. It helps eliminate stray embossing powder on your project.

I used the amazing Watercolor Pencils to add hints of color to the stamped flower cart. In some areas, I colored the open spaces with the Whisper White Watercolor Pencil first. Then, I added color over the Whisper White. The intensity of the colors were more vibrant when I used this technique.

The card style is an easel card. It definitely has a “WOW” factor for the recipient. The base for the easel card is a top-folding Whisper White card, cut to 4 1/4″ x 11″ and scored at 5 1/2″ on the 11″ side. There is an additional score line on the “front” of the base. The score is at the 2 3/4″ measurement. When the card base is folded, it looks like the picture below. Then, the card front (4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″) is adhered to the folded card base. See the picture below for a visual explanation of how the card comes together.

To finish the card front, I used a piece of one of the Crushed Curry DSP papers from the (retiring) Color Theory DSP Paper Stack as the background. This piece is cut to 4″ x 5 1/4″ and corner rounded on the bottom corners. “Hearts bloom where you are” from the Friendship’s Sweetest Thoughts stamp set is stamped on the bottom right corner with Rich Razzleberry ink. The bottom corners are rounded.

The flower cart piece is die cut using the rectangle die in the Sliding Door framelits set. The frame for the flower cart piece is made from the gorgeous Wood Textures DSP Stack. The framed flower cart piece is adhered to the front of the card with Dimensionals.

A second piece of the Crushed Curry DSP (2″ x 4″) is adhered to the bottom of the inside of the card. The bottom corners are rounded. The “door stop” for the easel design is made from three small hearts made from the Wood Textures DSP Stack. Mini Dimensionals are used to adhere the hearts to the inside of the card.

There are so many ways to make this card your own design. Change the color of the cardstock you use to heat emboss the flower cart. Use a different color from the Color Theory DSP Paper Stack as the main color of the card’s background. Stamp a different sentiment on the card front. Use a different shape for your “door stop”. Yes, you got it! There are endless possibilities. Enjoy!

Now, be sure to go visit Christina Walker’s post. You are going to love her project! She is an amazing artist.

Below are pictures of the main products I used to make the easel card. Click on any picture to go to my on-line store.

Also, listed below are all participants in this month’s Stamp ‘N Hop blog hop. Continue through the blog hop to make sure you get inspiration from all our wonderful artists.

Happy stamping!
Laurie

Whisper White 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock [100730] $9.00	Rich Razzleberry 8-1/2″ X 11″ Card Stock [115316] $8.00	Rich Razzleberry Classic Stampin’ Pad [126950] $6.50
Friendship’s Sweetest Thoughts Clear-Mount Stamp Set [145826] $19.00	Friendship’s Sweetest Thoughts Wood-Mount Stamp Set [145823] $27.00	Versamark Pad [102283] $8.50
Color Theory Designer Series Paper Stack [144193] $10.00	Wood Textures Designer Series Paper Stack [144177] $10.00	Watercolor Pencils [141709] $16.00
White Stampin’ Emboss Powder [109132] $5.00	Embossing Buddy [103083] $6.00	Sliding Door Framelits Dies [145662] $27.00

April Stamp ‘N Hop Hoppers!!

Stampin’ Up! Color Revamp

April 11, 2018April 11, 2018Leave a comment

Stampin’ Up! is revamping their exclusive color collection! As an artsy person, I tend to like pictures and thought I would share some visual information with you about the revamp.

Here are the new 2018 to 2020 In-Colors and the 2017 to 2019 In-Colors that we have already grown to love. All the colors are truly beautiful! [I think Grapefruit Grove may be my new favorite!]

There are also ten NEW colors that are being added to SU!’s collection!! Here they are.In addition to the changes shown above, there are a few colors that are making a comeback to the collection. They include:

Mossy Meadow
Poppy Parade
Flirty Flamingo
Coastal Cabana
Mint Macaron
Blackberry Bliss

To put these changes into perspective, take a look at the new color collection by group.

OKAY – Stop drooling – You’re making a mess 🙂 You’ll be able to order all the new colors soon – I promise!

And, yes, there is more! The stamp pad case is being redesigned to make it easier to open!!! YEAH!

There is one thing you can do right now. Check out the retiring products to make sure you have everything that is on your “I-absolutely-cannot-live-without-these-amazing-products” list. That would include any ink refills that you’ll need for the retiring ink colors. Remember – The retiring stamp sets will be available through May 25. All other items are available while supplies last. Don’t delay placing your orders! Click on any of the pictures below to go to my on-line store and see the retiring products.

Retiring Stamps

Retiring Bundles

Retiring Everything Else

Happy retiring products shopping!
Laurie

Amazing Paper Pumpkin Special!!!

April 2, 20181 Comment

Trust me – you don’t want to miss this Paper Pumpkin special! Become a Paper Pumpkin subscriber by May 10 and get your first two kits for 50% off!! What an incredible deal – you’ll receive two prepared kits with all the materials you’ll need to make amazing projects. Each kit includes a photopolymer stamp set (unique to Paper Pumpkin subscribers), at least one Stampin’ Ink spot, materials for the kit, and step-by-step instructions to make the project. As a subscriber, you will also be able to purchase past kits and refills, as available.

You have absolutely nothing to lose to give Paper Pumpkin a try! After you receive your two 50% off kits, you can skip months or cancel your subscription with no further obligation. But, my prediction is that you’ll continue your subscription.

You’ll need to subscribe to Paper Pumpkin by May 10 to take advantage of this deal. Click on the picture below to complete your subscription!

If you would like to look an example kit, take a look at the video below. The March Paper Pumpkin kit was amazing!

The March kit included a wonderful stamp set and beautiful materials for eight cards with decorated envelopes. Take a look at the stamp set and kit which are pictured below.