Stampin' Up! Sale-a-Bration Lots of Lavendar part 2

Here's the second Lots of Lavendar card for my Sale-a-Bration blog series.  I love how quickly cards go together using this stamp set.  I think my favorite new accessory is the Berry Burst 3/8" Metallic-Edge Ribbon.  It is so smooth and beautiful!  You'll find it on page 13 of the Occasions Catalog (look closely, it's easy to miss).  You can order it from my online store HERE. Check back tomorrow for more ideas!

Stamps: Lots of Lavendar, Happy Wishes

Colors: Berry Burst, Lemon Lime Twist, Tranquil Tide, Basic Black

Stampin' Up! Lots of Lavendar Sale-a-Bration Set

Here's my first of many Sale-a-Bration cards to share with you.  I used the Lots of Lavendar stamp set.  When I first looked through the Sale-a-Bration brochure I knew this set was a must have!  This is such a quick and simple card.  Place a $50  order to earn this set for FREE, you'll be glad you did!!!

Stamps: Lots of Lavendar, Happy Wishes (both Sale-a-Bration sets)

Colors: Emerald Envy, Sweet Sugarplum, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Gray

Accessories: Layered Leaves Embossing Folder, Pretty Label Punch

Sale-a-Bration is Here!!!

Sale-a-Bration starts today!!!  This is my favorite time of the Stampin' Up! year.  With every $50 order, you get to select FREE exclusive stamp sets and accessories.  New this year are a couple of bigger and better choices that you can earn for FREE with a $100 order.  There is no limit on how many Sale-a-Bration items you can earn.  I'm going to be featuring Sale-a-Bration and Occasions Catalog items over the next few months, so check back often for ideas!  And, as always, contact me if you have any questions or to place an order!

Sale-a-Bration Catalog

Stampin' Up! Love and Hugs from Ribbon of Courage

I just read that one of my Facebook friends is dealing with some big health issues.  While I could have easily given her some words of support and encouragement on her Facebook post, I decided to be more personal and send her a card.  It was a good excuse to use some of my new Stampin' Up! goodies as well!  I make cards all the time, but often those cards just get used to display at my events, but I'm trying to get better about actually SENDING cards.  That is my new goal.  This week I have sent 5 cards so far, and hopefully I can continue to make and send cards.  I think I'd better get some more postage stamps :)

This card uses the new Ribbon of Courage stamp set.  A couple of the main images in the set are some ribbons that could be used for all sorts of awareness.  While I think those images are nice, I fell in love with the additional stamps in the set like the hearts and flowers.  Another thing that I fell in love with were the coordinating framelits.  Have you seen the fun flower in the Support Ribbon Framelits Dies?  It's gorgeous.  I'll be using it soon and will post whatever I create.  I created my stamped panel with one of my new favorite color combinations: Berry Burst, Lemon Lime Twist, and Bermuda Bay.  Aren't these colors so fun together?  The first two colors are new 2017-2019 In Colors.  They are great colors to add to your collection.  You can order them by going to my Website and clicking SHOP NOW.

I stamped the greeting (also from the Ribbon of Courage set) on an oval that I die cut from the Stitched Shapes Framelits.  I just love the font used and especially love the greeting itself.  It can work for so many uses: sympathy, support, love, friendship, wedding, thinking of you, etc.  The hearts were both die cut from the Support Ribbon Framelits.  I added a bit of the new Bermuda Bay Mini Chevron ribbon to tie it all together.  Hope you enjoy!

Stampin' Up! Bold Paisley Thanks

I'm super slow in posting this card that I made last Fall, but now that the Paisleys and Posies set is back in the new 2017-2018 Stampin' Up! Catagol, I thought that it's time to share it.

Even if I didn't know when I made the card, I could have guessed by the colors that I used.  You see, I mostly stamp with Brights and Subtles, but this card has some pretty rich colors so I know I made it in the Fall...that's when I tend to use the richer colors.  I combined Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry, Garden Green, and Dapper Denim for this card.  The sentiment comes from the Bunch of Blossoms stamp set.  Accessories are Dapper Denim ruched ribbon, Oval Framelits, and the Lovely Lace embossing folder.

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! Pool Peach Bermuda Birthday Balloons

I've been excited to try out some of my new stamp sets from the new 2017-2018 Stampin' Up! Catalog and figured a blog challenge would be a great way to get started.  This card was inspired by the current color challenge over at Just Add Ink.  The challenge colors are Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, and Peekaboo Peach.  I love these colors together, especially for a birthday theme as they can be used for both girl and boy cards.  I used the new Happy Birthday Gorgeous stamp set for this card.  The background reminds me of balloon strings and is made with the seaside embossing folder.  I stamped the Happy Birthday and then punched it with the Banner Triple punch. Overall it's a pretty quick and easy card to make.

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! Sugarplum Snowflakes Stepped Up

Here's a stepped up version of the card I posted yesterday.  Sometimes I like the clean and simple version, and sometimes cards do well being "stepped up" a bit.  In this case, I like both of the results.  I used the same colors: Sweet Sugarplum, Dapper Denim, and Pool Party.  I love the sugarplum glimmer ribbon in the Holiday Catalog, so I added a bit of that around the card.  This is another pretty quick card to make.

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?

Stampin' Up! Botanicals Just for You

Have you earned your free Sale-a-Bration sets yet?  I love the simplicity and boldness of the Botanicals for You set.  It works great as a single layer or embellished and layered for a fun card.  I paired the set with the Botanical Builders framelits and designer series paper for this card.  Colors are Mint Macaron, Crushed Curry, and Basic Black.

Stampin' Up! Cucumber Dot Botanicals

I am so ready for Spring...and I think it shows in my stamping creations lately!  It's time for bright and fun cards.  I've been enjoying the warmer Spring-like weather we've had over the past week or two and loved the fact that ALL of our snow finally melted (I think we've had some snow on the ground since last November).  Then, last night we went out to visit family it was raining, then drove home in what I'd almost describe as a blizzard!  Thankfully it's sunny and melting today,

I haven't had a lot of time to stamp the past few months, but I LOVE the new stamps and accessories in the Occasions Catalog, so I was excited to try some of my new stamps out.  I decided to play along with the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  Thanks to the inspiration from this challenge I've been able to crank out a few new cards without too much effort.  I also decided to use a lot of green to go along with the challenge over at Stampin' Royalty.  After all, bright green says Spring to me, and Spring makes my heart happy.

I used some of my polka dot Cucumber Crush DSP from the In Color DSP stack for my background and layered that on black to help it "pop" off the white card base.  The word strip is Daffodil Delight and I stamped the awesome greeting from the Grateful Bunch set from the Occasions Catalog.  The bold flower is Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, and Cucumber Crush card stock cut out with the Botanical Builders framelits dies.  I decided that the leaves needed something to help them not get so lost against the green background, so I used the fern-like stamp from the Botanical Blooms stamp set to stamp some black detail on them.  Enjoy!

Stampin' Up! Bold and Bright Botanicals

I'm in love with my stamp sets from the Occasions Catalog.  When I first flipped through the catalog, I thought it was nice and that I'd get a few new things, but as I've given it a closer look and have seen so many fabulous creations made with the new products, my wish list grew...and grew...and grew.  Since it's Sale-a-Bration right now, I figured it's a great time add some new sets to my collection/habit/hobby and I'm sure glad that I have done just that!  A few weeks ago I pulled out everything that is new from Sale-a-Bration and the Occasions Catalog and started creating.  What fun!

I'm always up for a new flower set since they can be so versatile, and I fell in love with the Botanical Blooms set at first sight.  This was my #1 pick from the Occasions Catalog and it does not disappoint!  I love the 2-step style and the photopolymer stamps sure make lining up the stamps easy.  I made this card with Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Cucumber Crush, and Basic Black.  The card base is textured with the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder.  The totally awesome greeting is from the Grateful Bunch set (also in the Occasions Catalog) and is punched with the oval punch and the Decorative Label punch.

Stampin' Up! Watermelon Pear Watercolor Wings

Today's card was inspired by the challenge over at Colour Me (a color challenge: Watermelon Wonder, Pear Pizazz, and Soft Sky) and the sketch challenge at Just Add Ink.

I used the Watercolor Wings stamp set and then cut out around the butterflies and mounted them with a Stampin' Dimensional.  I stamped the greeting on a 2-1/2" circle and layered that on a couple of colored banners (the edge was punched with the hexagon punch--I need to order that new banner punch).  The Soft Sky card stock is textured with the Fluttering embossing folder and everything is layered on a white card base.

Stampin' Up! Remarkable You Flower

Lately I've been able to play with the new In Colors a bit more and I'm finding a lot of color combinations that I like with them.  Today's card uses Mint Macaroon and Watermelon Wonder, and is inspired by the Photo Inspiration Challenge over at Stampin' Royalty.  Since there were so many fun things in the new Stampin' Up! Catalog and my budget was limited, I didn't get a chance to order the new In Color Markers yet.  I was kicking myself after ordering this set, but then I realized that I could pull out my (long forgotten) trusty blender pens.  I colored the flower image in by squeezing the ink pads so that some color was on the lid and then I picked up the color with the blender pen.  I think I should do this more often because it allows me to get varying shades of the color as opposed to the single color from the markers (see the flower petals with a bit of shading).

I mounted my stamped panel on Watermelon Wonder and Basic Black, then tied some white stitched ribbon around it.  I added a strip of Mint Macaroon card stock along the side of my white card base and then ran the whole thing through my Big Shot with the Fluttering embossing folder.