Elegant Dragonfly Thank You

I just couldn't help myself.

In sending thank you cards to my stamp club members, I just had to choose the Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits to use on my cards! By combining it with a stunning embossing folder, Stitched Shapes Framelits, gold embossing and gold foil, I was able to create an elegant card very quickly.

I cut a standard card base from Thick Whisper White and also cut a 4.25 x 5.5" matte from Whisper White which I embossed using the new Falling Petals Embossing Folder. The embossed matte was adhered to the card front using Fast Fuse.

Next, I die cut a square using the Stitched Shapes Framelits. Using Versamark, I stamped the sentiment, from the now retired Another Thank You stamp set, and heat embossed it using Gold Embossing Powder. I used Dimensionals to adhere it to the card front.

Finally, I die cut the lovely dragonfly from Gold Foil and used an adhesive strip to adhere it to the front of the card.

If I were you, I would put this set at the top of your wish list for the new 2017 Occasions Catalog. I know mine is going to get a LOT of use!

My 12 Favorite Projects From 2016

As we reach the end of the year, it is both a time for reflection and goal setting. I'd like to take this opportunity to look back at the projects I've created this year. Be sure to click on each image to be taken to the pertinent blog post for all the details.

January

My favorite for January is actually a tie for two images! I absolutely fell in love with the Sky Is The Limit stamp set and knew that I would use it often–it was perfect for masculine cards!

In creating a Valentine for a man, it is sometimes difficult to create a card not full of flowers and frilly hearts! For this card, I felt that the combination of Kraft card stock and black worked well for a masculine Valentine. You can see that I managed to squeeze in a few flowers but they are "masculine" flowers! I also think that the the various textural elements work well for a masculine card.

February

My favorite for February is one that earned me the Top Picks award for the Stampin' Royalty challenge #316.

March

Anyone that knows me well knows that I am partial to unusual combinations, whether that be food, colors, textures, etc. For the Global Design Project #025, I was required to use a color combo that I wouldn't have picked for myself. In working with it, I chose to use the Brick Wall embossing folder as an actual wall as a backdrop for a window that showcased a very simple stamp set–Vivid Vases. I was very pleased with my completed card!

April

My favorite for April also uses the Brick Wall embossing folder but the card it is used on is totally different. This particular card enabled me to take part in an International Blog Hop organized by Kylie Bertucci! I also enjoyed trying a new technique–painting with alcohol in my Aqua Pen and reinkers.

May

My favorite for this month was the project I designed for the International Blog Hop that I mentioned  previously. I utilized my all time favorite color, Blackberry Bliss, and added a lot of textural and glitzy elements to put this gate fold card over the top!

June

My favorite for this month actually comes from a set of cards I created as a prize for my Catalog Launch Party! The technique that I used was new to me but it was oh such fun! The technique involves using an embossing folder with a large surface, in this case butterflies, and then stamping very lightly several times over the entire embossed image using a a flourish stamp. The stamping is repeated until the ink is totally used up on the stamp and then it is re-inked and stamped again. This technique provides a lot of dimension.

July

July's favorite card also uses the Brick Wall embossing folder and makes uses of several textural elements to create a truly dimensional card.

August

My favorite for this month combines both colors and textures and uses a bundle, Thoughtful Branches, that I was very disappointed was available for only a short time.

September

September's favorite also uses the Thoughtful Branches Bundle as well as a a dots stamp from the Swirly Birds stamp set. It is a fun technique that produces a lot of texture and color.

October

My favorite for October uses a combination of Kraft card stock and black in a non-traditional sort of Christmas card. I think this card would work well for a masculine card but I know that I would love to receive a card like this one as well!

November

My November favorite is a card I taught at one of my stamp groups. It uses a lot of textural elements–embossing, die cuts, ribbon–to produce a pleasing Christmas card!

December

Though my cards for December were few and far between, I do have a favorite. The card was my first use of a new stamp set from the Occasions Catalog, Beautiful You, and also my first play with the new Watercolor Pencils. In addition, I also got to use the Stitched Shapes Framelits which I absolutely love!

I hope that you've enjoyed my review of my favorite stamping projects throughout 2016! I said at the beginning of this post that the end of the year was a time for both reflection and goal setting. The review of my favorite projects takes care of reflection.

I am hoping that you, my blog readers, will help me with goal setting. I would like to know what sorts of techniques and projects you would like to see and read about in the 2017. This will help me to formulate my goals for the coming year! I would appreciate you leavng me a comment below.

I wish each and every one of you a Happy New Year and all the best for 2017!

Dragonfly Dreams Thank You

It was easy to figure out that the Dragonfly Dreams Bundle was going to be one of my "go to" sets from the 2017 Occasions Catalog! Not only is the stamp set and its sentiments beautiful but the thinlits are superb! I chose this set recently when creating a thank you card for a friend.

I started by cutting a 4.75 x 6" Basic Black card base and a Watercolor paper matte to go on top of it. Using Versamark, I stamped several dragonflies, offset, on the watercolor paper and then heat embossed them using Clear Embossing Powder.

For my next step I blended Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point and Rich Razzleberry onto the watercolor paper using Stamping Sponges. I used a paper towel to buff up the dragonflies to remove any lingering ink from them.

I die cut a dragonfly from Basic Black and then used Versamark and Clear Embossing Powder to make it really shiny. I then wanted to add some shimmer so I used the now retired Iridescent Embossing Powder.

The watercolor matte was adhered to the card front using Fast Fuse and then I popped up the dragonfly by using an adhesive strip.

The sentient was heat embossed in white on a strip of Basic Black and then the Triple Banner Punch was used to flag the end. It was adhered to the card front.

A matte was cut from Whisper White and a dragonfly was stamped in the bottom right corner using Pacific Point. The matte was adhered inside the card to complete it.

Close up details of the shimmer on the dragonfly.

I'm pleased with how this card turned out and I look forward to using this set with my classes!

Christmas Decor and Gift Card Holder

For the last class of the year for my Country Villas Stamp Group, we worked on a decor project cased from Constantly Stamping. Though I had intended to create the project using alternate colors, as a traditional red & green Christmas lover, I decided to follow Connie's color choices. I mean, why reinvent the wheel?

To begin, the Pyramid Pals Thinlits were used to cut two of each color, of both Old Olive and Always Artichoke.

Next, the Festive Flower Punch was used to punch petals from Cherry Cobbler and leaves from Old Olive and Always Artichoke. Then, using a leaf from Vintage Leaves, the leaf veins were stamped on each petal and leaf, using coordinating ink. The 1 1/4" Circle Punch was also used to
punch one circle from Cherry Cobbler.

A glue gun was used to adhere each petal to the 11/4" circle and then further petals were added, working toward the centre. The leaves were added behind the flower petals.

The stamens were cut from Glimmer Paper using the Botanical Builder Framelits and then adhered with the glue gun. Additional "greenery" was die cut from Gold Foil and Gold Glimmer using the Pretty Pines Thinlits. These were also adhered to the flower using the glue gun.

For the Pyramid Pal pieces, the tabs were cut off and then they were adhered together as per usual, using Fast Fuse.

Using the MISTI, they were each stamped with the large medallion from the Frosted Medallions stamp set using the matching ink. Once the ink had dried, each piece was scored from point to point and from corner to corner using the Simply Scored. A bone folder was used to burnish each fold well and each piece then formed a 3D, four-pointed star.

The two stars were placed one on top of the other, offset, and a pencil was used to mark the point where the top star sat on the bottom star. The glue gun was then used to place glue behind the pencil lines and the glue was allowed to cool. More glue was added to give additional height and the top star was adhered to the bottom. In the same way, the finished poinsettia was adhered to the top of the completed eight-pointed star.

To complete the fancy star-poinsettia, a rhinestone was added to the centre of the flower and a length of the Cherry Cobbler from the Silky Taffeta Combo Pack was knotted and glued into the back of one of the star points.

I love how this turned out! The colors are so rich and festive. I hung mine on my tree while one member of our group decided to showcase hers in a shadow box frame.

Our second project was simple by comparison but still produced a pleasing and useful Gift Card Holder.

We used the Envelope Punch Board to create a small envelope using a piece of Candy Cane Lane DSP. A sentiment from the Tin of Tags stamp set was stamped on a piece of Whisper White using Real Red and the MISTI. A second stamping with Versamark allowed the sentiment to be heat embossed using the Real Red Glitter Embossing Powder. The paper was then adhered inside the envelope.

A strip of Cherry Cobbler was cut and wrapped around the envelope to create a belly band. The little house adhered to the belly band was fussy cut from another piece of the Candy Cane Lane DSP. The now retired 2-Way Glue Pen was used on the snow parts and then Dazzling Diamonds was added for a sparkly finish. To another touch of shimmer, a Clear Wink of Stella pen was used to trace over all the white and candy parts on the house.

To complete the gift card holder, a tag was die cut from Crumb Cake using the Tags & Labels Framelits and then stamped with a stamp from the Hang Your Stocking stamp set. It was hung from the belly band using a length of twine from the Candy Cane Lane Baker's Twine.

I hope you've enjoyed these little Christmas projects!

Beautiful You

By now, you may have received your Stampin' Up! Occasions Catalog and Sale-a-Bration Brochure. If you have, you know that you are seriously going to want most of the items in the catalog! If you haven't yet received them, be prepared to be blown away!

I have had my demonstrator pre-order for some time now but have not had the opportunity to play with my new toys. If you live in Canada and would like to be able to order new goodies before anyone else, contact me today about becoming a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator!

Today's card uses one of the new stamp sets and it is probably going to be one of my favorites!

To begin, I stamped both the woman and the sentiment, from the Beautiful You stamp set, using Basic Black Archival ink on Watercolor paper. The stamped images were then die cut using the Stitched Shapes Framelits.

I used two of the new Watercolor Pencils to add a little color on the left side of the woman's dress and hat and then used my Clear Wink of Stella to work the color over the rest of the image, providing both shadow and highlight.

My first time using the Watercolor Pencils was definitely a delight! They go on easily and I love the shimmery blending when using the Wink of Stella with them! They can also be blended using the Aqua Painter or the Blender Pens.

A standard card base was cut from Emerald Envy and matte from Basic Black. I also cut a matte from a sheet of the Playful Palette DSP. The DSP was adhered to the Basic Black matte and then a length of the Sweet Sugarplum Glitter Ribbon was laid vertically and taped to the back of the matte. The matte was then adhered to the card front using Dimensionals.

The stitched squares were then layered on the card front using Dimensionals to complete the card.

I know I will be using this stamp set again soon, along with the Watercolor Pencils!

Christmas Tag Exchange 2016

I've come to the conclusion that December is not a good blogging month for me judging by the lack of posts this year and in past years. It seems that there is always something that needs doing and blogging has to take a back seat :(.

However, I did want to share with you the Tag Exchange from my stamping group. Luckily, it was the turn of one of the stampers in the group–Shawna–to instruct so I needed only to create my own tags and the little treats that I made for the group.

For my tags, I cut a long tag from Thick Whisper White and punched the top with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch.

I added a strip of the Presents & Pinecones DSP and then embossed a piece of Cherry Cobbler, using my favorite Embossing Folder, Cable Knit, and added it to the bottom of the tag.

I tied a length of the Emerald Envy Ruched Ribbon around the tag to hide the join and strung a charm from the Christmas Trinkets Embellishments on twine from it. More ribbon was added to the top of the tag and finished with a piece of the Candy Cane Lane Baker's Twine.

Finally, I stamped the To/From in Cherry Cobbler using a stamp from the Hang Your Stocking stamp set.

The tags this year were truly remarkable! Be sure to click on the photo below so that you may examine the tags close up.

These mini mug treat holders for my ladies were CASEd from a video tutorial by Heidi Smith. These were very easy to make and used very little paper. And who doesn't enjoy Ferrero Rocher? (other than me, that is!)

Shawna had us make two very lovely cards. The cards do have some Stampin' Up! components though this is not a "must" when a member of the group instructs.

I really enjoyed making Shawna's first card. Because I generally use a lot of colors in my cards, working with this earthy color scheme was a pleasant change of pace! I also enjoyed the many textural elements on the card.

Shawna's second card used the Softly Falling Embossing folder as a nice backdrop for this lovely winter scene! We also got to work with Alcohol Inks and then die cut our creation for the card's sentiment.

It was a lovely evening, complete with a luscious sharing of sweet and savory treats!

Stampin' Up! Year End Closeout!

What a great way to start December! Stampin' Up! has launched its Year-end Closeout Sale that runs through January 3.

The Retiring List of products in the Holiday Catalog has been released. This list of items will no longer be available once they are sold out! If you had your eye on something, get it NOW! Here are the particulars:

• Retiring stamp sets are guaranteed to be available until December 21 after which they will only be available while supplies last.
• Retiring accessories will only be available while supplies last.
• Retiring items will only be available while supplies last. All retiring items will be discontinued after January 3.

The Retiring List will be updated daily at 4:00 pm MT so check the list regularly. If you can't find the product in my online store, it has sold out. Here is the direct link to the Closeout Sale section in my store.

There are four main sections to the Closeout Sale: 

1. Closeout Stamps. This section contains mostly stamps from the Holiday Catalog at catalog prices but there are some stamps not from the catalog that are marked down. Be sure to check the entire list.
2. Closeout Bundles. These are bundles that will no longer be sold as bundles after January 3. These are discounted, but you may not be able to get them at all after January 3.
3. Closeout Paper. Lots of papers here–some from the Holiday Catalog but some from previous catalogs–at amazing savings!
4. Everything Else. If you like accessories like ribbons and embossing folders and tools like punches and dies, this is the place to look for wonderful prices! In addition, there are four products in particular that you should check out:

• Detailed Floral Thinlits Dies #141482 $19.50 50% Off

• Duet Banner Punch #141483 $16.45 30% Off

• Layering Circles Framelits Dies #141705 $23.00 50% Off

• Swirly Scribbles Thinlits Dies #141497 $24.50 30% Off

For each of these four sections, be sure to set the Show drop down arrow to All because some of these sections contain multiple pages of items.

Don't miss out on these wonderful products–place your order in my online store today!