Cheery Snowflakes and Polka Dots

I'm in love with the fun color combo used in the current colourQ challenge.  I used to lean more to the traditional side when it came to colors for snowflakes and Christmas cards, but I've learned that it is way more fun (and often more visually appealing) to mix things up a bit.  I really like the pink and blue mixed with the traditional red and green.  I tried to stay pretty true to the suggested colors, but I did swap Wild Wasabi for Glorious Green and Tempting Turquoise for Cool Caribbean so that I was using current Stampin' Up! colors.  I sure miss having Cool Caribbean around, but I guess we can't have them all, can we.  I think the combo still works well and is pretty close! 

I stamped the snowflakes from the Snowflake Soiree set in Real Red, Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi, and Tempting Turquoise and then cut the panel into three pieces before mounting it onto my Regal Rose card stock.  I then mounted that onto some Tempting Turquoise Patterns DSP (love those polka dots with the snowflakes) and then onto white and finally onto the Wild Wasabi card base.  Originally I was planning to just use a turquoise card base, but after trying it both ways the wasabi won--it just looked better and cheered up the card with extra color!  I added some stitched grosgrain in Real Red around most of the layers and then tucked my greeting under the stamped panel.  I used the Sweet Essentials set (specifically the "make a wish" stamp) and just inked up the "wish" part of it.  Then I punched it the tall way with the Decorative Label Punch to give it some shape.

I have to say that I think Snowflake Soiree is one of my favorite, if not the favorite, of all my snowflake sets.  I didn't think I'd say that when I first got it, but the shapes and patterns are just too much fun!  That is saying a lot as I've been a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator for over 14 years now, and that means I have a LOT of snowflake sets--come on, you know that we always "need" the latest and greatest snowflake set :)  I'm typing up this blog post as I look out my window and see the sunny blue skies and not a bit of snow on the ground, which is just fine with me!  We got a little snow in the mountains last night, but just a bunch of rain here in the valley.  Now this is my kind of winter!  I'd prefer to have my snowflakes be the stamped kind and my snowmen to be the sidewalk chalk variety.

Merry Bold Snowflake

I held my Christmas Card Buffet earlier this week and now I'm getting around to posting another card that we made.  This card features the new Bold Snowflake stamp (one of Stampin' Up!'s clear mount single stamps available through the end of the year) along with the "merry" stamp from the Snowflake Soiree set.  I love how the bold snowflake coordinates with the blossom punch.  I wanted it to stand out from the white word background, so I layered a green blossom punch behind the stamped layer.  I used Garden Green and Real Red for the card--the most traditional red/green combo.  My card base is textured with the Petals-a-plety embossing folder.  Do you recognize this layout?  Check out this card for my inspiration.

Red Snowflake Trio

When Stampin' Up!'s Holiday Catalog debuted, I didn't think I "needed" another snowflake stamp set.  I have so many, most of which are retired so I can't demonstrate them anymore (but that doesn't keep me from collecting and occasionally using them for personal use).  After passing by the Snowflake Soiree stamp set several times, I was placing my second order from that catalog and decided that I should indeed add it to my snowflake collection.  I'm so glad I did! 

I loved the colors from the Pals Paper Arts color challenge this week--Riding Hood Red, Crumb Cake, and Very Vanilla.  I built this card from the ground up (meaning that I started with my card base and then my layers and then added the stamps very last.  I used the striped paper from the Regals Patterns DSP stack and mounted that on Riding Hood Red card base.  I textured my Crumb Cake card stock with the Chevron Textured Impressions folder and tied some Very Vanilla seam binding ribbon around it before mounting it on some Very Vanilla card stock. My snowflakes are stamped with Riding Hood Red ink onto Very Vanilla card stock and then punched with the 1-1/4" square punch, then those squares are mounted on red squares punched with the 1-3/8" square punch.  In the past I've had a tendency to stamp snowflakes in more traditional snowflake colors like white or blue, but this year I've gone away from the norm and have had a lot of fun stamping them in all sorts of colors.  I really like them with this color palette.

Merry Snowflake

I'm trying to get in the Christmas mode with my stamping, but it seems that I keep reverting back to Fall (which only makes sense because it IS Fall).  I am needing to make a bunch of different Christmas cards so that I can plan my next stamping class, which I'm hoping will take place next week.  Here is a card that I might offer at the class, what do you think?

I used the Snowflake Soiree stamp set for both the words and the snowflake.  I stamped the Merry multiple times in Riding Hood Red and then just once in Garden Green to highlight it.  I then mounted my stamped layer on some Riding Hood Red card stock.  I stamped the large snowflake in Garden Green and then punched it out with the blossom punch--isn't that a cool use for it?!  I wanted the snowflake to stand out against the busy background, so I added a garden green punched blossom behind it.  I textured my card base with the petals-a-plenty textured impressions folder and then layered everything onto it.  Do you recognize this layout?  Check out this post.

Snowflake Panels and Polka Dots

I stumbled upon a new sketch challenge site today and had to try out the current sketch from Unscripted Sketches. I liked the panel look of the stamped layer, it makes it so visually interesting to look at.  I decided to make a winter card with the Snowflake Soiree set.  My greeting comes from the Sweet Essentials set.  I used the "Make a Wish" stamp and just inked the "wish"part of the stamp (although I'm not wishing for snow anytime soon).  I punched it out with the designer label punch--punched the tall way.  I picked three blues for my snowflakes--Baja Breeze, Marina Mist, and Midnight Muse.  The Marina Mist polka dot paper is from the Polka Dot Parade DSP pack.  I tied some Midnight Muse stitched satin ribbon around the card and tucked it under my punched greeting to finish it off. 

Subtle Snowflakes

Here's my card for the current challenge over at Dynamic Duos--Pool Party and Soft Suede.  It sure is nice to just grab a couple ink pads and a couple packs of card stock and start creating!  I wanted my card to be something a little different than I usually do so I picked this clean and simple layout.  When I've been prepping for classes lately, I'm realized that I'm having to cut a bunch of layers for one card and that I need to simplify a bit.  Simple is beautiful.  I wanted to use a crisp and elegant set to go along with my simplicity, so I chose Stampin' Up!'s Snowflake Soiree stamp set.  I stamped a small snowflake in Pool Party all over the background of half of my card.  I then used the color spritzer to add speckles in the white space on that same half (after all, snow falls in various sizes so I couldn't just use the small snowflake stamp).  I then inked up a larger snowflake in Soft Suede and stamped that over the top of the background I just created.  On the other half of my card, I stamped the Believe stamp (also from the Snowflake Soiree set) and one more Pool Party Snowflake.  To separate the two sides, I tied some Pool Party seam binding ribbon around it and layered everything to my card base.

Baja Breeze Snowflakes

A friend of mine mentioned that there are around 100 more days until Christmas.  That means it's probably time to start thinking about cards so that they can be done ahead of time.  I decided that I ought to start coming up with some Christmas card samples, so here goes.

This card goes along with the color challenge over at The Paper Players.  I used Baja Breeze, Basic Gray, and Basic Black.  I have so many snowflake sets, but I "have" to keep getting the latest one from Stampin' Up! so I just got the Snowflake Soiree set and used it on this card.  I wanted a small greeting, so I used one from the Embellished Events stamp set.  This card is pretty simple to make, it is just a bunch of layers.  I did use a few accessories beyond stamps and card stock--some baja breeze patterns dsp, a bit of black 1/8" taffeta ribbon, and the scallop trim border punch.

Cheerful Snowflakes

The days are getting shorter and I'm realizing the my beloved summer is coming to an end.  I'm okay saying goodbye to the super hot days, but I'll miss the outdoor fun, the long days, the evening walks, the warm nights, and the more carefree feeling that goes hand in hand with summer.  Fall and I have a love-hate relationship.  I love the colors and the cooler (80s, 70s and even some 60s--but not cold) weather but I hate that it gets dark earlier and that Winter is just around the corner.

I actually sat down and stamped for a few minutes today.  It's the first time I've had a chance to in almost three weeks--that is way too long!  I was hoping to get more than one card done, but the end of nap time brought and end to my stamping.  Oh well, at least I finished one card.  I needed some inspiration to get me back in the stamping groove, so I turned to the color challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I love combining yellow, green, and blue on cards, and I thought this combo was especially striking (and one that I may not have come up with on my own).  I decided to think a little outside the box with this combo and I used it with snowflakes!  Normally I would have chosen something floral or more playful, but I wanted to use my new Snowflake Soiree stamp set.  I think my biggest problem with Winter is the darkness, so I decided to help ward off the Winter Depression by using a bright and cheerful color palette with the snowflakes.  I often use a variety of blues with snowflake stamps, and maybe I've occasionally used green (with red), but I think this is the first time that I've stamped a yellow snowflake--oops, hope that's not bad--I didn't even think about it until now :)

My supplies are: ink and card stock in Daffodil Delight, Certainly Celery, Tempting Turquoise, and Not Quite Navy, stitched grosgrain ribbon in Daffodil Delight, Stampin' Up!'s Snowflake Soiree stamp set, Stampin' Dimensionals (to pop up my greeting a little) and the designer label punch.  I actually cut a 1-1/4" strip of white card stock to stamp my greeting on and then I decided that it needed a little pizazz, so I fed it through the back of the designer label punch and punched just the one edge with it.  I did the same with the celery card stock, although it is cut at 1-3/8" (a tight fit for the punch, but it worked).