Tropical Escape Suite

The minute I laid eyes on the Tropical Escape Suite in the new annual catalog I knew I had to have these products.  The beautiful tropical images and the gorgeous color combination of the designer papers kept calling out to me every time I turned to pages 120-121!  I can’t get enough of Granny Apple Green, one of the recently introduced new colors – it definitely ranks up there as one of my favorite colors!

Here are the thank you cards I sent to customers who placed orders with me in June and July.  Rather than making the standard 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ size card I used Stampin’ Up’s Whisper White note cards.  For some reason, I never think to use them so I will remember the next time I need to write notes because the size worked out perfectly!

Here are two more cards I made with the product suite.  I used my trusty “go-to” layout for this first card because I love how it showcases not only the designer paper, but some of the larger stamped images as well.

I used Shaded Spruce for the card base and cut a piece of dsp at 4 1/8″ x 5 3/8″ and glued them together.  Then I cut a piece of Granny Apple Green cardstock at 3 3/4″ x 3 1/2″ and a piece of dsp at 3 5/8″ x 3 3/8″ and glued them together.  I tied a piece of the Granny Apple Green 1/2″ textured weave ribbon to this piece.  I was surprised at how soft this ribbon is to work with – it is quite lovely! Last, I cut a 2 3/4″ square of Whisper White cardstock and stamped one of the leaf images from the Tropical Chic stamp set with the Shaded Spruce ink and the thank you with Granny Apple Green ink, using the Stamparatus to position the images perfectly.  I mounted it on a 2 5/8″ square of Blushing Bride cardstock.  I added three glitter enamel dots for a bit of bling.  I stamped the same leaf image on the bottom left side of the inside of the card using the Granny Apple Green ink.

The next card uses Basic Black cardstock cut at 4 1/4″ x 11″ and is folded in half for a portrait card layout.  I cut a piece of dsp at 4″ x 5 1/4″ and glued it to the base.  Next I cut a piece of Granny Apple Green cardstock at 3 1/4″ x 5″.  I cut a 3″ square of Basic Black cardstock,  die cut it with the leafy square die from the Tropical Thinlits dies, trimmed the square down to 2 3/4″ and mounted it onto a 3″ square of Whisper White cardstock. I positioned this piece onto the Granny Apple Green strip  so that I could place four flowers, 2 each at the top and bottom of the square piece.  I stamped the floral image four times onto Whisper White cardstock using Flirty Flamingo ink, die cut them and glued them down.  I stamped the sentiment at the bottom of the card and used the Stamparatus for perfect placement.  I cut a strip of contrasting black and white dsp at 5 1/4″ x 1″ and glued it onto the left side of the inside of the card.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Celebrate July 4th!

Our founding fathers,  John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin among them, signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia, PA, and so our country became the United States of America on that fateful day.  Having grown up in New York City, the first date my husband and I went on back in early 1972 was to see the Broadway show, 1776, which won a Tony award for Best Musical in 1969.  It was made into a motion picture the same year we saw it on Broadway and to this day it remains one of my most favorite musicals.  The Turner Classic Movie television network always shows it on July 4th and every year, I watch it religiously.  In the final scene, the Continental Congress takes a roll call vote to pass the Declaration of Independence and no matter how many times I’ve seen this movie, it still sends chills up my spine as each name is called and the bell tolls!!

In honor of the holiday, I created a quick and easy gatefold card that uses two of the new In Colors – Blueberry   Bushel and Lovely Lipstick.

To make the card, I cut a piece of Blueberry Bushel cardstock at 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ and scored at 2 1/8″ and 6 3/8″, cut two pieces of In Color designer paper at 1 7/8″ x 5 1/4″ and attached to the front folds.  I used the “Reason to Celebrate” stamp from the Painted Glass stamp set and colored the word “Celebrate” with the Lovely Lipstick Stampin’ Write Marker, leaving off the words “A Reason To.” I die cut the word using one of the smaller ovals from the Layering Ovals Framelits set, cut another oval from a piece of Lovely Lipstick cardstock, taped them together and taped the left half of the oval to the left flap of the card. I used a retired punch to punch a few stars from Lovely Lipstick cardstock and attached them using Mini Glue Dots. 

For the inside of the card I cut two more pieces of the designer paper and attached them to the inside flaps.  I cut a piece of Whisper White cardstock at 4″x 5 1/4″ and stamped the greeting  and number from the recently retired Number of Years stamp set using Lovely Lipstick ink.  This card was quick and easy to put together.

Wishing you a Festive Fourth!!  Thanks for stopping by today.

Stampin’ Blends New Colors Are Available

The Stampin’ Blends new colors are now available – yay!!  You may order single markers, light or dark, for $4.50 each or combo packs that include both for $9.00 a pair.  There are also markers in bronze and ivory to use for skin tones, as well as a color lifter, and those are also $4.50 each.  A complete list of colors can be found on page 205 in the catalog.

 

The new combo packs are pictured here.

Check out these Stampin’ Up! videos for some coloring techniques.

Basics of blending

Blending with Multiple Colors

How to Use the Color Lifter and Skin Tone Blends

You can purchase the Blends by going to my online store or contacting me directly for assistance.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Tranquil Textures Product Suite

Today I’m sharing a card I made using products from the Tranquil Textures Suite that is featured on pages 154-155 in the annual catalog.  I just love the octopus image and knew as soon as I saw it in the new catalog that I had to purchase the Sea of Texture stamp set and coordinating Under the Sea Framelits and Tranquil Textures designer papers.  I always gravitate to floral images so I wanted to challenge myself to do something different and I am really pleased with how this card turned out!

I used Mint Macaron cardstock as the base and then cut a piece of Tranquil Textures designer series paper at 4″ x 5 1/2″ as the base to build the collage on.   To make the window I cut a circle in the upper middle part of the designer paper using one of the dies from the Layering Circles Framelits set and then cut another circle from a contrasting lighter piece of designer paper using a die one size larger than the first one and then glued the two pieces together.  I stamped the octopus with Fresh Fig ink and one of the sea plants using Balmy Blue ink and cut them out  with the matching dies.  Next I cut the netting from Crumb Cake cardstock, sea plant from Soft Sea Foam and sand dollars from Tranquil Tide using the matching dies, and arranged them on the card to form the collage.  I stamped one of the greetings included in the stamp set in the upper portion of the circle, but you could also choose greetings from other sets that would fit inside the circle as well.  I finished it off with a few of the smallest size of Mint Macaron faceted dots from the new Faceted Dots embellishments.  Thanks for stopping by today!

 

 

 

Accented Blooms

Today I’m sharing a card I made using the lovely new Accented Blooms stamp set pictured on page 19 in the new catalog.  I used Blueberry Bushel, one of the 2018-2020 In Colors.  It is a bright blue so I paired it with a Daffodil Delight mat for the stamped image.  I used Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral, Night of Navy and Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Blends to color the image.  For the hello greeting I stamped it with Blueberry  Bushel ink and punched it out with the Tailored Tag punch, which was carried over from the recently retired Occasions catalog and popped it up with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

 

This image could also be watercolored with pencils or an aquapainter for a soft look or by stamping the image with one of our fabulous colors instead of using black ink, simply leaving it as a line image without coloring it in. Cut the cardstock sized to fit the image and add a piece of coordinating designer paper and some ribbon or other embellishments for a different look.  You can also choose to use different greetings that would fit the Tailored Tag punch, making this a very versatile stamp set.  Thanks for stopping by today!

 

Graceful Glass Product Suite

Graceful Glass is one of fourteen new product suites introduced by Stampin’ Up! in the new 2018-2109 annual catalog.  The beautiful stained glass images combined with a Gothic type font are unlike any other set I can remember seeing in my many years as a demonstrator. The thinlits dies look like art deco architectural images and add another layer of fine detail.  Check out the video below for an overview of the product suite.

I purchased this suite during the demonstrator pre-order and have enjoyed making a few projects with these products.  The first card uses the the stained glass window from the stamp set.  I stamped on vellum and colored using Poppy Parade, Grapefruit Grove and Pineapple Punch Stampin’ Write markers.  I attached the image to a square of Whisper White cardstock and then die cut the black frame using one of the Stained Glass thinlits dies.  The greeting was die cut from one of the Layering Ovals framelits.  The card base is a 4 1/4″ square of Pineapple Punch, one of the new In Colors.  The stained glass piece and black cord are mounted onto a 3/3/4″ square of the Pineapple Punch cardstock using Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The next card uses another new color, Balmy Blue, as the card base.  I am loving this new blue!  I cut a 4″ x 5 1/4″ piece of vellum from one of the designs in the Graceful Glass 6″x6″ Designer Vellum set of papers.  The architectural detail was cut with Gorgeous Grape cardstock using one of the coordinating framelits and attached to a piece of Whisper White cardstock.  I colored the butterflies with Soft Sea Foam, Gorgeous Grape and Balmy Blue Stampin’ Write Markers and attached them with Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals.

I used this sketch from Splitcoast Stampers as my jumping off point.

You can visit my online store to purchase products from this beautiful suite.  Thanks for stopping by today.