Stampin' Up! Swirly Bird In Color Note Cards

 School is out...which means Summer is here.  My kids are very literal and remind me that it is still officially Spring, but I explain that "Summer Vacation" begins as soon as school is out and that's what I call Summer.  I wanted to share this fun box of note cards that I made for a classroom aide.  She happens to love birds and a lot of the students draw pictures of birds for her all the time, so I figured I ought to make her some cards with birds on them.  She loved them!  I used the 2016-2018 In Colors along with the Swirly Bird stamp set to create this set.

I love giving hand stamped gifts for the end of the school year.  I make them for teachers, aides, and secretaries at the school.  I figure that teachers get a lot of treats, flowers, and other gifts, so I enjoy giving them something that they can use and not have to store from year to year.  So far they've been a hit.  This second photo shows the card that I wrote in to go along with the gift set.

Stampin' Up! Patterned Party Birthday

I made this card for the Splitcoast Stampers Creative Crew December Inspiration Challenge.  This month we're doing birthday cards and the inspiration challenge it to use punches with the birthday theme. I decided to make a bright and fun monochromatic card with punches and a lot of patterns.

I used the Better Together stamp set and Real Red ink, DSP, washi tape, and bakers twine.  I used the balloon punch and the scalloped tag topper punch.  The background is textured with the confetti embossing folder.  I love how the monochromatic look turned out and even though it's just red and white, the color really pops!

Stampin' Up! Silver Denim Stars

I made this card for the November Splitcoast Creative Crew challenge "A Bundle of Holidays."  I bundled star textures with star framelits and used holiday colors.

The greetings in Sunshine Sayings stamp set can be used for so many different cards.  I used the congrats stamp for this card.  This card combines four of my favorite accessories: embossing folders, glimmer paper, ribbon, and DSP stacks.

Stampin' Up! CAS Sugarplum Snowflakes

Luckily it's not time to see real snowflakes falling yet, but 'tis the season to start playing with some winter stamps.  Here's a clean and simple card that I made with the Flurry of Wishes stamp set.  My colors are Sweet Sugarplum, Dapper Denim, and Pool Party.

Stampin' Up! Fall Polka Dot Paisley

I typically stamp a lot with the Brights color family, but when it comes to fall cards, I dust off my Regals and get to work.  This card uses the new Paisleys and Posies stamp set.  I used the matching framelits for the accents around the thanks.  Colors are: Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze, Elegant Eggplant, and Delightful Dijon.

Stampin' Up! Sea Inspired Bunch of Blossoms

When I started this card, my intention was to use the colors from the challenge at Pals Paper Arts and make a floral card.  I have to admit, I don't pull out Marina Mist as often as I should, but I loved it with Pink Pirouette and Smoky Slate.  I pulled out my new Bunch of Blossoms set and chose a few stamps and went to work designing a card.  My daughter commented that she liked the sea shell stamps I was using and I realized that the stamps could indeed look like a flower/starfish and blossom/shell.  I love it when stamps can be used for more than just their intended purpose, the more uses, the better the value of the set! To really make the card more sea inspired to go along with the Global Design Project Nautical Theme Challenge #GDP047, I chose the Seaside embossing folder with a Marina Mist card base to look like water.  The pink layer is punched with the Banner Triple punch on both ends.

Stampin' Up! Flirty Cucumber Bunch of Blossoms

Flirty Flamingo is one of this year's new In Colors and it is quickly becoming a favorite of mine.  I stamped the outline of the flowers using it and found that it pairs well with Pink Pirouette for 2-Step Stamping.  I used Cucumber Crush for the leaves and couldn't find another color to pair with it, so the inside of the leaves is also Cucumber Crush (I stamped it off once to give it the lighter color).  I love how the Bunch of Blossoms stamp set has the coordinating Blossom Builder Punch.  I stamped the leaves and stems on my 2-1/2" circle and then punched and added the flowers with a Stampin' Dimensional.  The polka dot paper is from the In Color DSP stack.  Banner strips are 1/2" Flirty Flamingo and 3/4" Cucumber Crush punched with the Banner Triple Punch.  Finally the background is textured with the Lovely Lace embossing folder to finish it off.

Today's card was inspired by the sketch challenge over at The Paper Players.

Stampin' Up! Peach Blossom Thanks

I'm so behind in my blogging!  I keep thinking that I'll get to it once I've taken better photos, finished a few more cards, after the kids are in bed, etc.  Excuses, excuses.  Well, it's Summer now and that means lazy days, right?  Seems more like CRAZY days (even though our mornings are occasionally a bit lazy as well).  I love the warm Summer evenings and spend them playing with the kids instead of worrying about when bedtime is.  Hope you are all having a wonderful Summer as well!

I have a whole box of new Stampin' Up! products to use and I'm just beginning to create with them so stay tuned.  Hopefully I can find the time to stamp AND post some of my creations.  I did photograph a few of my new cards so perhaps I'll get some posted more regularly.  

This card features one of my favorite new stamp sets that I purchased last month...FRESH FRUIT.  I've always been a fan of the 2-step stamping and I'm happy to see more of it in the new Stampin' Up! Catalog.  I feel like it takes me back to some of my Stampin' Up! roots.  I realized the other day that I've been a demonstrator for nearly 18 years!!!  Wow, time flies when you're having fun!  The FRESH FRUIT stamp set has a few basic sentiments in it along with some great flowers and fun fruit stamps.  I stamped the flowers in Daffodil Delight, Peekaboo Peach (a new In Color), and Watermelon Wonder.  I then mounted that on some Peekaboo Peach card stock and added a strip of striped designer series paper and mounted it all on my Watermelon Wonder card base.  Finally I added a little sentiment from Suite Sayings, punched it out with the Decorative Label Punch and attached it to the card with some Stampin' Dimensionals.  These colors just seem fun and summery to me.  What colors say Summer to you?