Welcome to the Stampin’ Pretty Pals’ Blog Hop! This month, the theme is Birthday Bash. We really hope that you enjoy and will be inspired by them! As you hop from blog to blog, we would appreciate your comments because we enjoy hearing from you. You will find the lineup at the end of my post to help you “hop” along from Pal to Pal.
For this theme, I decided that I wanted to show the versatility of the gorgeous Artfully Composed DSP (designer series paper) by creating both a masculine and a feminine card using the same elements.
Here are my cards:
Back to the Pals’ Blog Hop:
More inspiration awaits, so use the lineup below to visit the rest of the Design Team. The Pals are excited to show you what they’ve created! Then, please mark your calendars for our next blog hop on March 9th. Our theme will be Cute Critters where our Design Team creates a project with any kind of animals, birds, butterflies or insects.
Welcome to the Stampin’ Pretty Pals’ Blog Hop in 2022! This month, the theme is Sale-A-Bration. We really hope that you enjoy and will be inspired by them! As you hop from blog to blog, don’t forget to leave comments because we love hearing from you. You will find the lineup at the end of my post to help you “hop” along from Pal to Pal.
Here’s my Sale-a-Bration easel card:
Both the Simply Marbleous 6 x 6 inch DSP (designer series paper) and the Awesome Otters stamp set are Sale-a-Bration freebies with a qualifying order. Each of these products can be earned with a $50 order.
Measurements:
I used Balmy Blue for the base of the card. It measures 4-1/4 inches by 11 inches. The easel card requires two simple score lines – one at 5-1/2 inches and the second at 2-3/4 inches. That’s it. Easy peasy fun fold card.
The DSP for the front measures 4-1/8 inches by 5-3/8 inches. While I had the DSP out, I trimmed a piece to 6 inches by 2-1/2 inches for the envelope flap.
Since I didn’t want the back of the easel to be half DSP and half cardstock, I trimmed another piece to 5-3/8 inches by 2-5/8 inches. Here’s a photo of the back of the easel card:
What I Did:
I used every stamp from the Awesome Otters stamp set. Coloring them was so much fun so that I made the card twice. My first time, I used Cinnamon Cider for the otters and Misty Moonlight for the base. I’ll post that card below.
First, I stamped everything in Momento tuxedo black ink. I even stamped the Misty Moonlight mats under the two sentiments with the birthday hat. Since I only wanted a subtle design, I stamped the hat off before stamping on the cardstock.
Next, I stamped the two birthday hats on the reverse side of the marbled DSP. Then, I colored the hats using the dark Misty Moonlight and dark Balmy Blue blends. I needed to fussy cut both hats.
Then, I started coloring the otters, including the one on the front of the envelope, starting with a light Crumb Cake front body sections. I used the light and dark Soft Suede blends to color the main part of the otters. When I was much younger, I would always outline things I colored, and I did that with the otters as well.
HINT: When using blends on the front of an envelope, you will need to put a scrap piece of cardstock inside the envelope where you want to color. Everything will bleed through to the back of the envelope if you don’t.
The dark Calypso Coral blend seemed to work for the fish’s head, while the light blend worked for his body.
I used the light and dark blends in Misty Moonlight and Balmy Blue to color the water.
The stitched rectangle dies perfectly cropped all the pieces.
I adhered the otters directly to the DSP/cardstock using multipurpose glue.
Finishing Up:
While I adhered the sentiments directly on the mats, I place dimensionals under each. The inside sentiment really needed to be on dimensionals to hold the easel in a standing position.
Finally, I added three basic pearl jewels to the top right and bottom left of the front of the card.
As always, the very last thing I did was trim the DSP on the envelope flap. Then I punched a 1-inch circle from some scrap Misty Moonlight DSP. I ran the circle through the XYRON create-a-sticker to make the seal for the envelope.
With that, I’d finished this coordinated card/envelope/seal set.
Cinnamon Cider Otters
This card was the first one I made. The otters are too dark for me, but someone else might like the color combo, so I am including it. Here’s that card:
Back to the Pals’ Blog Hop Info:
More inspiration awaits, so use the lineup below to visit the rest of the team. The Pals are excited to show you what they’ve created! Then, please mark your calendars for our next blog hop on February 9th. Our theme will be Birthday Bash when our team creates birthday projects to celebrate our family and friends.
Until then, have fun in your craft space.
Here’s the Pals lineup so you can hop along with us:
Welcome to the Stampin’ Pretty Pals’ Blog Hop! This month, the theme is “My Favorite Things.” The Design Team will be showcasing their favorite products from any of the current products and you might even see some sneak peeks, as well! We really hope that you enjoy and will be inspired by them! As you hop from blog to blog, don’t forget to leave comments because we love hearing from you. You will find the lineup at the end of my post to help you “hop” along from Pal to Pal.
My Favorite Things (Right Now):
I first purchased the Simply Elegant 12′ x 12′ DSP and the Elegantly Said stamp set just because I’d seen other demos using the paper. I liked the paper, but it didn’t WOW! me at first. I really didn’t like the punch much at all. Let me say right now that I feel much, much differently than I did at first. This whole suite is absolutely gorgeous!
Shout out to my upline, Brian King for punching and mailing the Blushing Bride, white, and vellum cardstock labels while I patiently (maybe not so patiently) wait for mine to arrive.
My 21 year old nephew is going to an engagement party for one of his college friends. He really didn’t understand what was expected. He thought it was just another party. We all had fun on Thanksgiving trying to convince him this was a pretty big event. During the course of the happy conversation, we found out the invitations are pink, gold, and white. Card – check. Here’s the card I made for the happy couple:
The conversation continued on to a gift and my niece said a card book would be perfect. I’ve made card books for my great-nephew’s and great-niece’s birthdays every year. I’ve also made them for other occasions as well. You can find a previous blog post about the card books, including examples of using them, here
Since this card and card book are both for the engagement party, they had to coordinate. Here’s the card book:.
This engagement book measures 6 x 9 inches. I used one piece of the sturdy cardboard from a pack of SU! foils specialty paper. Cutting it in half with my trimmer required me to cut on both sides of the cardboard repeatedly.
HINT: You will just about completely dull a blade, so you might want to save one that you are replacing for cardboard.
I used two sheets of 8-1/2 x 11 Blushing Bride DSP to cover both cardboard pieces. I’ve used cardstock many times to cover the remaining cardboard on the inside. However, this time I used the specialty DSP from the suite.
The gold foil layer measures 4-1/8 inches by 7-3/4 inches. I trimmed the DSP to 4 inches by 7-1/2 inches.
In my world, foil is highly valued, which means its time to order more. Therefore, I cropped the center out of the foil layer before adhering it down. I used the cropped out gold foil with foam adhesive sheets to cut out the first layer of the Playful Alphabet letters. I topped the gold with letters cropped from Blushing Bride 6 x 6 inch DSP.
Here’s a filled card book to give you an idea for using it:
The possibilities are endless. I’ve made these for wedding and baby showers, sympathy cards, birthdays, etc. Do you have an idea for your own card book? I’d love to see what you create!
Back to the Blog Hop
More inspiration awaits, so use the lineup below to visit the rest of the Design Team. The Pals are excited to show you what they’ve created! Then, please mark your calendars for our next blog hop on January 12th. Our theme will be “Time to Sale-A-Brate” when our Design Team will showcase items from Sale-A-Bration as the focal point of their project.. Until then, have fun in your craft space.
Welcome to the Stampin’ Pretty Pals’ Blog Hop! This month, the theme is “Home for the Holidays”. We really hope that you enjoy and are inspired by them! As you hop from blog to blog, don’t forget to leave comments because we love hearing from you. You will find the lineup at the end of my post to help you “hop” along from Pal to Pal.
People say “three times a charm, and my card for this hop definitely qualifies. I’d already created two cards that I thought I would use for tonight. When I got to work this morning I changed my mind again and came home to create.
Lately, I have been reminiscing about times I have spent in the mountains in New York, New England, and California. I miss them. I miss the beauty of freshly fallen snow and the crispness of a winter day. If I could, I would definitely go to the mountains for the holidays.
I previously posted another shaker card using the Beauty of the Earth DSP and the Whimsical Trees bundle. You can see that card here. That shaker card was definitely a learning experience, and the card for this hop was much easier to put together.
I wanted to keep this shaker card as clean as possible, and the neutral colors definitely make this a clean card. I did use Night of Navy for the base just to add a bit of color.
Here’s my shaker card:
Measurements:
The Night of Navy base measures 5-1/2 inches by 8-1/2 inches, scored at 4-1/4 inches to create a tent card.
The snowflake DSP (designer series paper) measures 4-1/4 inches by 5-1/2 inches. I also trimmed a piece to 6 inches by 2-1/2 inches for the envelope flap.
I used glossy white cardstock for the underlayer. It measures 5-3/8 inches by 4-1/8 inches.
The cabin pattern DSP measures 4-1/8 inches by 5-3/8 inches.
As always, the white cardstock for the inside measures 4 inches by 5-1/4 inches.
What I Did — with Pictures:
I thought it would be much easier to explain what I did if I added a bunch of pictures.
The first thing I did was crop both the snowflake DSP and the glossy white cardstock using the layering diorama dies. For this card, I used the second and third largest dies. I cropped the DSP first, then laid that paper down on the glossy white so I could figure out where I had to crop the inner layering die.
Next, I grabbed my clear Wink of Stella and dabbed tiny dots on each pine tree on the cabin DSP pattern. I didn’t color or cover the whole tree, just dabs. As you know Wink of Stella is hard to catch in a picture, but, I tried. Interestingly, the tree at the top next to the A-frame cabin shows the sparkle the best.
I decided to do the Wink of Stella at this point because I wanted to make sure it dried thoroughly.
Next, I adhered the glossy white cardstock to the back of the snowflake DSP. Take your time with this step so you can get it right where you want it, which is essential.
HINT: If you use the multipurpose liquid adhesive for this step, you will have a few seconds to move the glossy white paper if needed.
My next step was to place the dimensionals on the back of the glossy white cardstock. When I made the first diorama card, I found that there’s no such thing as too many dimensionals when trying to make a shaker card. The dimensionals provide the height I wanted, but if each section isn’t supported well enough, the top will start to cave in on the shaker part. As you can see, I used regular and mini dimensionals, as well as the “bones” for the straight sections.
It’s Shaker Time:
Since I gave the Wink of Stella time to dry, I turned to the shaker part of the card.
I feel like cheating any time I use one of the clear medium envelopes to create a shaker card, but they make it so incredibly easy to do!
The DSP needs to be positioned so it is right down at the bottom of the envelope and in a corner.
Once the DSP is positioned, the extra flap of the clear envelope needs to be folded over and adhered. Trust me, you want to use something strong. In the above photo, you can see I chose to use the tear-and-tape. Remember that you want the open end of the envelope facing up.
HINT: First, burnish the tear-and-tape with your bone folder. Then you can use the spatula end of the Take-Your-Pick tool to gently lift the edge of the cover of the tape.
Next, I added the shaker “stuff” to the front side of the envelope. I used Kosher Salt with a very small amount of Dazzling Diamonds (glitter works as well), and some of the subtle shimmer sequins. It doesn’t take much stuffing, and a tablespoon in all is more than enough.
Since glitter sticks to EVERYTHING, the dabs of Wink of Stella will now have more of a shimmer, even though it was dried already.
Time to close the clear envelope. I used many strips of tear-and-tape when folding over and sealing the flap of the envelope. No matter how much anyone shakes this card, nothing will escape.
Next, I very, very carefully adhered the shaker card to the dimensionals on the back of the front of the card. I really took my time to make sure that I positioned it as centered as possible.
Then, I turned the layers over to add tear-and-tape to the back of the clear envelope so I could adhere the top to the base. Again, I used a bunch of tear-and-tape.
Once I had very, very carefully adhered the top to the base, I pressed down to make sure the tape adhered. There is no wiggle time with tear-and-tape, so don’t press down until you are sure of your placement.
Here’s a look at the front of the card after shaking all the stuffing:
Finishing Up:
I used a piece of scrap white cardstock for the front sentiment then cropped it. This sentiment comes from the Merry Snowflakes cling stamp set. Since I stamped it in Night of Navy, I outlined the sentiment panel using the same color marker.
I used my very favorite “Merry Christmas” sentiment from Perfectly Plaid and another sentiment from Merry Snowflakes for the inside.
Finally, I used Smoky Slate to stamps random snowflakes on the border of the inside panel and on the front bottom of the envelope.
All that remains was to trim the DSP on the envelope flap. Then I punched a coordinating piece of DSP using my 1 inch circle punch and ran it through the XYRON create-a-sticker.
With that, I’d finished my coordinated card/envelope/seal set.
More inspiration awaits, so use the lineup below to visit the rest of the Design Team. The Pals are excited to show you what they’ve created! Then, please mark your calendars for our next blog hop on December 8th. Our theme will be “My Favorite Things” with our design team showcasing some of their favorite products from any catalog they choose.
Welcome to the Stampin’ Pretty Pals’ Blog Hop! This month, the theme is “Sentiment as a focal point.” We really hope that you enjoy and will be inspired by them! As you hop from blog to blog, don’t forget to leave comments because we love hearing from you. You will find the lineup at the end of my post to help you “hop” along from Pal to Pal.
This blog hop is all about the sentiment taking center stage on my card. While it isn’t a large or long sentiment, the “you can do this” means everything for this special card. It definitely sits front and center.
Here’s my card:
I need a special card for my aunt, who has been “sprung” from the rehab facility after breaking her hip in June. Therefore, I made another version of Connie Stewart’s fun fold card. You can see the previous one here. Please, please, please follow along with her video and create one of these for yourself. I promise, it is definitely not as complicated as it looks. There’s only one thing that I can add to the video directions: when creating the pop-out section, you are cutting 1-1/2 inches from the top and 1-1/2 inches from the bottom. Somehow I missed that part.
Measurements:
Balmy Blue backing piece measures 4-1/4 inches by 5-1/2 inches
Black cardstock pieces:
Base measures 5-1/4 inches by 11 inches. Score at 1-3/4 inches, 3-1/2 inches, 5-1/4 inches, and 7 inches.
DSP (designer series paper): if you follow the video, you will see Connie starts with a 6 x 6 inch piece of DSP. She will walk you through the cuts needed. When you are finished, you will have:
2 @ 1-1/2 inches by 5 inches,
2 @ 1/2 x 3-3/4 inches,
4@ 1-1/4 by 2-1/4 inches
1@ 1-1/2 inches by 2 inches (I used the gold polka dot DSP)
I used Balmy Blue cardstock for the front sentiment panel base. This piece measures 2-1/2 inches x 2-1/2 inches.
The white cardstock pieces:
2-14 inches by 2-1/4 inches
5 inches by 7-1/2 inches, scored at 3-3/4 inches.
What I Did:
Before I even started anything for this card, I had some coloring to do. I used the Balmy Blue light and dark blends combo to color all the flowers. After I finished coloring, I decided that I needed some sparkle, but I didn’t want to add any bling. Therefore, I grabbed my clear Wink of Stella and put a couple of layers on the sprays of buds and the black centers of each flower. Wink of Stella tends to be difficult to photograph, but I hope you can see it in the following picture:
From there, it was just a matter of following along with the video.
For the front sentiment and the inside of the actual card sentiment, I stamped the matching floral design from the Hand-Penned Petals stamp set.
There are a few color combinations that I consider classics, and blue, black, and white is one of them.
Back to the Pals’ Blog Hop:
More inspiration awaits, so use the lineup below to visit the rest of the Design Team. The Pals are excited to show you what they’ve created! Then, please mark your calendars for our next blog hop on October 13th. Our theme will be Fantastic Fun Folds and 3D Projects when participants showcase fun fold cards or 3D items that will be great for any occasion. Until then, have fun in your craft space.
What’s better than getting a delivery from Stampin’ Up!? Getting a delivery with FREE products inside the box! I have a box en route right now and am hoping it’s here this afternoon when I get home from work! Check out the FREE items from the Sale-a-Bration catalog!
Sale-a-Bration FREE items with a $50 purchase:
Sale-a-Bration FREE items with a $100 purchase:
Again, thank you for stopping by today. I hope you visit the rest of the Pals’ blogs!
Welcome to the Stampin’ Pretty Pals’ Blog Hop! This month, the theme is “My Happiest Season”. We really hope that you enjoy and will be inspired by them! As you hop from blog to blog, don’t forget to leave comments because we love hearing from you. You will find the lineup at the end of my post to help you “hop” along from Pal to Pal.
Instead of MY favorite season, I chose my 28 year old daughter’s favorite season. While we both enjoy the holidays, Halloween is hands-down my daughter’s favorite! She’s actually ready to start decorating now. I think this card will start her off in style!
Here’s my card:
The card in the “open” position”.The card in the “closed” position.
This isn’t the first card I created for this blog hop. When I stumbled across Jan B.’s video for this side step card, I immediately decided to start over. Her video is very easy to follow, and she has all the measurements in the comment section.
HOWEVER, if you follow her directions for the cardstock base, your finished card will not fit in the envelope! I found that out too late, but all is well, life is good. It might just be a miscalculation going from metric to standard measurements. I started creating a second side-step card and trimmed the cardstock base to 4-1/8 inches by 10-1/2 inches. That solved the problem without having to change any scoring measurements.
You WILL have to adjust the cardstock/DSP layers for the background of the base.
Using my card as an example, you need to trim the black cardstock under the polka dot DSP to 5-3/8 inches by 4 inches.
The polka dot DSP measures 5-1/4 inches by 3-7/8 inches.
What I Did:
All the DSP papers can be found in the Cute Halloween 6 x 6 inch DSP.
I used the Painted Labels die set for both the black swirly circle thingy and the white sentiment shape.
The sentiment comes from the Frightfully Cute stamp set.
All the rest of the elements can be found in the Frightful Tags die set. Cuteness galore!!!
I cropped the witch hat from black cardstock. Then, I used the gold Wink of Stella for the witch trim and the embossed little pieces on the hat. It did take a few layers to get enough of the gold on the black cardstock.
I also cropped the trees from black cardstock. Since each tree needed an extended trunk, I cropped an extra trunk for each. Then, I added the extra trunk piece to the original tree. Does that make sense? I hope so!
The most adorable owl ever started on white cardstock. After I cropped it, I used the blending brush and Basic Gray ink to color the owl. Then, I used the clear Wink of Stella to color the owl. Next, I pulled out the gold Wink of Stella and colored just the eye dots. I wasn’t happy with just that little bit of gold, so I added tiny clear epoxy dots over the gold. So stinking cute!
The fence pieces took the longest time to put together. I knew I would not be able to use dimensionals under the fence pieces. Therefore, I cropped 4 black fence pieces for each. After very, very carefully adhered the layers of the black cardstock I realized I needed something to have the fence pop. So, I cropped two pieces of the fence from white cardstock. I very, very slightly offset the white cardstock so it just peeks out from the black layers.
I used dimensionals under the witch’s hat, the owl, the sentiment, and the white sentiment circle.
Back to the Pals’ Blog Hop:
More inspiration awaits, so use the lineup below to visit the rest of the Design Team. The Pals are excited to show you what they’ve created! Then, please mark your calendars for our next blog hop on September 8th. Our theme will be “Focus on the Sentiment” when our Design Team creates a project showcasing a sentiment as the focal point of their project. Until then, have fun in your craft space.
Welcome to Just Peachy Stamping by Sue Jackson: an independent Stampin' Up demonstrator.
Through Stampin' Up!, I happily share my love of papercrafting through sales, classes, small stamping group meet-ups and workshops. I think that being a teacher in my "real life", I have a unique approach to sharing my fantastic hobby. I look forward to connecting with you!
