ICS Blog Hop: Hey Love!

Happy New Year! And welcome to our monthly Inspire, Create, and Share Blog Hop. It's not only a new year - it's a new catalog, too! Two, in fact. So that means that all of us demonstrators are SUPER excited to share all the new stuff with you! This month, I wanted to focus on valentines. I have three kids in elementary school, so that means a LOT of valentines to make. They love making them, so I need to be prepared for a solid day or two of stamping with them! Anyway, I really love the Hey Love stamp set for valentines. It has super cute images and text to go with them!

This would be super cute and simple left as is, or you could make it into a whole card and incorporate the designer series paper!

Isn't he adorable!! I colored that little heart in with the Blends, and then added a Heart Epoxy Droplet for added cuteness. I just love him! And I'll tell you my little secret: whenever I feel like the background is just a tad too plain with unstamped cardstock, I love to add the marbled background stamp in tone-on-tone ink. It adds subtle texture; just enough to take the card from cute to wow!

The thing you need to remember about this time of year is that you get lots of freebies. For every $60 you spend (in Canada!), you get a free Sale-a-Bration item! One of my favorite Sale-a-Bration items this year is this beautiful Butterfly Gala Designer Series Paper. The entire paper pack is black and white on one side, and full color on the other. PLUS, it coordinates with SO many other products. You can punch the butterflies out with the punch! The butterfly images are the same as in the Butterfly Gala stamp set. The colors are the same as in the Gingham Gala suite! It pairs beautifully with the Beauty Abounds stamp set too. AND, there are two other Sale-a-Bration items that work well with it too - the wood Butterfly Elements and the Organdy Ribbon Combo pack (which just so happens to ALSO coordinate beautifully with the Gingham Gala suite)! If you are like me and coordination is your jam... well then, my friend, welcome to heaven.

So I know I've given you a lot of ideas and information today. To make it easy, I'm going to create a supplies box for each of the cards I've shown above. Clicking on any of the images will take you to my online store where you can buy them if you're in Canada. Remember, every $60 purchase will get you a freebie! If you live in Canada and don't already have a demonstrator (that's what they call us people that keep you in awesome stamps!), I'd love to be yours. If you're in the US, there are lots of people on this blog hop that would love to help you out!

Now, go visit Terri on her blog!

Thanks for stopping by today! What is YOUR favorite new item in Sale-a-Bration this year?

ICS Blog Hop: Christmas Cards Galore with Joy & Noel

 Happy December and welcome to our December ICS Blog Hop! I'm happy to share one of our November club cards with you today. For my club, I wanted to focus on shimmer paint and so all four cards used shimmer paint in some way. This is the second one using the Bright Copper shimmer paint!

For this card, I used the Joy & Noel stamp set with one of my favorite techniques - watercoloring on shimmery paper. :) I started by embossing the image with copper embossing powder. Set yourself up to paint by dropping a drop of each color you'd like to use on a clear block - this will be your painting palette. Place the drops far enough away on the block that they won't touch! Then, color in the portion you want to color with water alone in an aquapainter and then proceed to drop bits of color into it. It's like magic! Once it's dry, fussy-cut it out with paper snips.

It might be tricky to see here, but I also used copper Shimmer Paint on the Buffalo Check stamp in the background - simply use a sponge dauber to apply the shimmer paint. A word of caution though - you'll want to clean the stamp soon after while it's still wet or you'll be scraping the shimmer paint off the stamp! It does still work; it's just considerably harder work!

 Unfortunately, the Merry Merlot & Copper Ribbon is already sold out and is no longer available - which is a good reminder for all of us. If there is something you have your eye on, please do yourself a favor and don't hesitate to order it! There are many, many items in the Holiday Catalog that will be discontinued forever soon - and trust me, if you like it now, you'll be kicking yourself that you didn't order it while it was still available! If you're in Canada, you're welcome to order from me at my online store and if you're in another country, please find a local demonstrator! Thank you for stopping by, and now go visit Debbi who is next in the blog hop!

Like what you see? Here's what I used to make this card. Click on any of the images to visit my online store!

Snowflake Showcase!

I don't know about you, but I had to have this stamp set and framelits the *minute* they came out. They're just so beautiful! And I have had a lot of fun this month making cards with my stampers with this set! I thought I'd just put this out there today - this is the very last day that you can order this set of awesome products before they're discontinued! So I'm going to include a little showcase here - click on any of the links to visit my online store and use host code 7DDN436V at checkout! 

FYI - that white paper is sponge-daubered with the Frost White Shimmer Paint - which I'm giving away when you purchase one of the stamp sets and the framelits today! I'll mail it to you :) SO get shopping!

Click on any of these images to visit my store, and use host code 7DDN436V at checkout! Remember - the stamp sets and framelits are available TODAY ONLY!
 

ICS Blog Hop Paper Palooza: Nature’s Poem

 

Hello everyone! I'm so excited to share this month's card with you today! I had so much fun designing it. Our blog hop theme this month is Paper Palooza: that means showing off all of the awesome designer series papers that are on sale in the Buy 3 Get 1 Free sale this month! Tropical Escape is my favorite; that's what I'll be getting!

 For this month, I used the Nature's Poem Designer Series Paper!

With paper this gorgeous, it's not hard to come up with awesome projects!!

I LOVE the effect you get by attaching the ruffled ribbon to the top & bottom of the layer here! And the marble stamp is just such a quick, easy, and versatile background. I used the Rooted in Nature stamp set for the sentiments here, too, and some gold metallic thread and the Tropical Elements buttons finish it off perfectly!

These were two of the cards we made at my Artisan Stamp Club this month. Nature's Poem was our them; can you tell??! This one (below) was made using the Thank You Thinlits and the Handwritten background stamp. It was interesting to compare the two styles of background stamps: wood-mounted and cling-mount using the stamparatus. With the wood-mounted background stamp, I like to ink up the stamp and place it rubber-side up on my workspace, and place my paper and then a piece of scrap paper and rub in circles on top. To use the cling-mount stamp in the stamparatus, it was SO easy to place the stamp inside the stamparatus and stamp on my scrap paper. Then, I place my paper layer inside the stamparatus so that it is centered inside the stamped image (you'll know it's centered because you'll have the stamped image showing still on your scrap paper underneath). viola! Perfect stamped images every time!! I may be converted to cling mount background stamps!!

So yeah, this card was super fast and easy. And if you wanted to make it a birthday card, just switch out the thinlit to the Happy Birthday thinlit! so fast and easy, and you could easily make this using any designer paper with any color combination. I love cards that can be remade and CASEd easily!

Thanks for stopping by today! Drop me a comment to let me know which card you liked better. And I'll include product lists for each of the cards below so that you can recreate them at home! All of the products can be purchased in my Stampin' Up! store by clicking on the images. If you don't have a demonstrator already, I'd love to be yours (as long as you're in Canada)! Shoot me a message and I'll even send you a catalog. Now, go visit my good friend Joni who is next in the blog hop!

You are Wonderful Card:

Thank You Card:

ICS Blog Hop: It's A Guy Thing

Welcome to the May Inspire, Create, & Share Blog Hop! This month, our theme is "It's a Guy Thing." Let's face it. Masculine cards can sometimes be tricky for me to make. I like flowers. I like pink. Well, hey, I like turquoise too - but that's maybe more of a girly blue. Anyways... we were tasked with making a masculine card. And while I freely admit that this might not be the most manly man masculine card... I love it and I'd totally give it to my man - or my boys! They are my knights in shining armor every day :)

For this card, I used the Magical Day stamp set. I loooooooove it, and I am so sad that it's not carrying over into the next catalog! It is just so stinkin' fun to color in with the Stampin' Blends, or Watercolor Pencils, blender pens, or Aquapainters. We just have so many great coloring options right now!! I colored these images with the Stampin' Blends, using Night of Navy, Bermuda Pay, Pool Party, Old Olive, Smoky Slate, Ivory, and Pink Pirouette. And a little light touch of the Color Lifter here and there. I used the coordinating Magical Mates framelits to cut out those images with the Big Shot. I love how they cut them out so perfectly!

Also. That background behind the "Happy Birthday" stamp!! Simply take a piece of plain Whisper White cardstock, and color a gradient using the Blends. Start with the darkest color and color a strip. Then, add the next lightest color and add another strip, blending it with the first. Continue on until you have a gradient you're happy with! I started with the Bermuda Bay dark Blends, moved to the Bermuda Bay light Blends, then Pool Party Dark, then Pool Party Light. Then I cut a circle using the Stitched Shapes Framelits, embossed the Happy Birthday stamp image with white Stampin' Emboss powder, and layered it with a scallop circle in silver foil. And those rhinestones? Simple rhinestones, colored with the dark Bermuda Bay Stampin' Blends marker.

Hope you like it! I love the Blends, and I love any excuse to use them as much as possible. What's your favorite technique with the Stampin' Blends? Leave me a comment to let me know you were here :)

And then go see the next person on the hop - Shirley Merker. Simply click on the button below, and enjoy the rest of the hop. Thanks for stopping by! If you're interested in any of the products I used on this card, scroll down for the product list. Clicking on any of the items will take you to my online store where you can purchase them, if you're in Canada. If you don't already have a demonstrator, I'd love to be yours! If you're outside of Canada and you're looking for a demonstrator, I can direct you to one of my friends. Enjoy the hop!

Here's what I used on this card:

Let's Celebrate...

... just how amazing this Painted with Love Designer Series Paper is. Have you enjoyed seeing how beautiful it is over the last week? I sure enjoyed playing with it. You don't even have to work to create beautiful things... they just kind of fall together. It's an amazing thing to work with products you love!!

Each of the sheets has gold foil on one side and printed patterns on the other side. Both sides are gorgeous... but I can't bring myself to hide the gold. ever.

All I paired this paper with today were the Scattered Sequins Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder and the Celebrate You thinlits dies (which! Sale-a-Bration item - spend $120, get them for FREE!).

I love how this card is so versatile. You could switch out the Designer Series Paper and colors, and make it with basically any papers & colors. How easy would it be to make this into a masculine card?? So easy. I love products that give this much versatility!

Click on any of the images below to shop in my online store. Don't forget to hit the $60 or $120 mark so you can earn a free Sale-a-Bration item!

Sure Do Love You (some more!)

Here's Part 2 of 3 of our February Stamp Club projects! This one is intentionally simple - it is a cute little box made from the Lots to Love Box Framelits Dies, and the leftover heart from the previous posts' card. Then, I just added a card base and stamp, and some Painted with Love Designer Series Paper, and viola!

I love these because they make super cute, easy boxes that would be perfect for a small chocolate bar or candy pack. Great for Valentine's Day, or Easter, or birthday favors... the list is endless!

The clear-mount bundle for the stamp and framelits is $64.75 - which would automatically earn you a free Sale-a-Bration item. Awesome, right?? I'll post a list of all of the products I used below. Click on any of the images to go shopping in my online store!