BLOOM BY BLOOM

My post today features two wonderful stamp sets that will be retiring on June 3. Yes, that's just a few days away! Act quickly!

Seriously, the two sets are Bloom By Bloom (page 25 in the Occasions Catalog) and Picture Perfect Birthday (page 76 in the Annual Catalog). When you pair these two sets with strong colors, you get a smash hit.

At my February Stamp-In Workshop, the girls made this card. Of course, as always, there were variations on the theme. That is great! I want them to do anything to make a card their very own. Just because I styled it a certain way doesn't mean it's the best or only way to go.

Some people are just more comfortable re-creating cards exactly as they are presented to them. That's great too! Just so long as a creator is comfortable and having fun. That's the most important of creating.

The dimension in this card (thus the shadows in the photos) comes from popping up the flower panel from the card base, as well as the extra petals on the large reddish card. A tiny pearl in the center of the blue and yellow flower adds just a touch of bling to finish off that flower.

Follow along for a tutorial on how to re-create this card -- or at least, to give you some ideas so you can make it your own. Just remember to order these sets before they're gone forever!

SUPPLIES:

Blueberry Bushel cardstock

Whisper White cardstock

Bloom By Bloom stamp set (page 25, Occasions Catalog)

Picture Perfect Birthday stamp set (page 76, Annual Catalog)

Blueberry Bushel ink

Lovely Lipstick ink

Granny Apple Green ink

Mango Melody ink

Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blend

Stampin' Dimensionals

Paper Snips

Basic Pearl

INSTRUCTIONS

Fold a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of Blueberry Bushel cardstock in half, creasing it well with a bone folder.

This next section will take place on a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Whisper White cardstock and you will be using the circle stamp from the Bloom By Bloom set. Inking the circle stamp up with Mango Melody ink, stamp the circles randomly over the white cardstock, stamping each circle more than once so you have a variation in intensity of color. Clean the stamp and ink it up with Lovely Lipstick, doing the same thing. THIS INK IS QUITE VIVID. YOU MAY WANT TO STAMP OFF ON SCRATCH PAPER FIRST. If you have some blank spots, clean the stamp and stamp a few circles in the color needed, overlapping here and there. This piece can then be mounted to your card base.

On a 2" x 5 1/4" piece of Whisper White cardstock, stamp the flowers on the right half, either checking the sample for placement and/or colors, or as you wish.

OPTION: If you feel like a little easy fussy cutting, on a scrap of Whisper White cardstock, stamp the smaller portion of the Lovely Lipstick flower. Fussy cut it, leaving a bit of white margin. Pop it up over the large flower with a Stampin' Dimensional. I like the way this looks -- it's sort of odd, but appealing and adds dimension. I think your card would be just as appealing though if you opted not to do this step.

While the pearl is still on the sheet it comes on, use a Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blend (either the light or the dark) to color the pearl. Let it dry for a few beats, remove it from the sheet, and apply it to the center of the blue flower (if that's the color yours is).

In Blueberry Bushel ink, stamp the sentiment on the left side of the strip. Adhere the finished strip to a 2 1/4" x 5 1/4" strip of Blueberry Bushel cardstock. 

Add a few Stampin' Dimensionals to the back of this piece and add it to the card, raised a bit from center.

If you do decide to order one or both of these stamp sets, Bloom By Bloom and Picture Perfect Birthday before June 3, I would so love it if you would name me as your demonstrator!

Blooming

Smiles.

AND A DAFFY THANK YOU

As promised in my last post, here is the second of the cards I created with the You're Inspiring stamp set, found on page 132 in the current Annual Catalog. And which is RETIRING in a few weeks! So so sad. 

Another product that is about to retire that I used in my card is the Gingham Gala 6" x 6" Designer Series Paper. This paper can be found on page 35 of the soon-to-expire Occasions Catalog. Doesn't the Daffodil Delight gingham paper look wondrous behind the daffodils?

After stamping the little daffy bouquet in Memento Tuxedo Black onto Whisper White cardstock, I happily colored it with Stampin' Blends. 

Once the coloring was complete, I die cut the image using one of the wonky pointy rectangles, the Stitched Nested Labels, which will appear on page 196 in the upcoming Annual Catalog.

Shall I let you in on a little secret that just proves that you can fix almost any mistake without starting all over? Here goes: I don't know if I aligned the die incorrectly, or the die slid downwards as I was running it through the Big Shot. But the end result was that I cut off the point at the bottom of the diecut image! Oh no! I was sick. Although it was lots of fun coloring the daffodils, I really did not want to start all over again.

So, if you look again at my card, you can see how I "fixed" my mistake: I covered it up! Yup. The little thank you label atop a strip of Daffodil Delight ribbon was the perfect fix. In fact, if I'd attached the sentiment BELOW a point, it would not have looked good at all. 

Thus, as so often happens when we are creating, this turned out to be a happy accident. 

 

Don't you just adore that gentle touch of "stitching" around the perimeter of the diecut? It seems to work especially well with the gingham paper and then again with the touch of stitching on the bit of ribbon. 

I love it when everything works out so well. 

Have you ever made what you considered to be a whopper of a mistake, only to have it end up turning out even better than you had originally planned?

More

Daffy

Smiles.

DAFFY BIRTHDAY WISHES

 A truly lovely set, You're Inspiring, (page 132 of the current Annual Catalog) will be retiring on June 3. The two images in the set are of daffodils, one of my favorite flowers.

To pay tribute to this set, I created two cards that feature the daffodils. I will show the other one in my next blog post. So, stay tuned!

Stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, I used Stampin' Blends to color them. In lieu of Daffodil Delight (!??!), I chose instead to use the Mango Melody combination, along with the light Granny Apple Green. To deepen the trumpet portion of the flowers, I added a bit of Pumpkin Pie.



The little open circles that come in the stamp set? I'm not sure what they were meant to be used for, but I used that stamp to make my own designer series paper. By stamping them randomly in Daffodil Delight on Whisper White, they make a darling backdrop for my daffodils.

I also used one of the new die sets that will be available in the new Annual Catalog that will go live on June 4. The twin-peaked rectangles are called Stitched Nested Labels, and can be found on page 196 in the upcoming catalog. This set contains nine dies, all in the same shape, except one that is a straight line of the "stitches", and range in sizes that nest inside one another, with the largest measuring 4 7/8" x 2 5/8".

The birthday sentiment is stamped on one of the Stitched Rectangles (with 13 dies!) found on the same page in the upcoming catalog. Each of the sets boast a slightly different stitched look. However, I think they coordinate well.

And to get that Daffodil Delight color in after all (besides the circles), the card was built upon Daffodil Delight cardstock. I love how well it meshes with the look of the Mango Melody Stampin' Blends.

If you love this gentle set that also features the following sentiments: Kind Thoughts for You, Happy Easter, Happy Birthday, Because of you, I am me. Happy Mother's Day, and You're Inspiring, grab it NOW before it's gone forever!

Daffy

Smiles.

NEW CATALOG CREATION

The Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog that is current right now will be expiring on June 3, 2019! Yes, that date is just around the corner.

But then . . .

The very next day, June 4, the new Annual Catalog, which is entitled "Creativity is Calling," goes into effect.

I got my copy of the new catalog last week, and I've looked through it many times, and cannot get quite enough of it. I think you will be equally enamored.

As a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I was able to preorder from a selection of new product that will appear in the new catalog. 

Being on a tight budget, I didn't order a lot. Besides a pack of the new In Colors cardstock, I did purchase the Free as a Bird Bundle, which included the Free As A Bird stamp set, as well as the Stitched Nested Labels Dies.

My order arrived last Thursday, and I was sooooo excited! I'd been seeing creations using these two items, and couldn't wait to try my hand at it also.

I had a Stamp-In Workshop yesterday, so was busy all weekend preparing for it. But, on Sunday, when I could see that I would finish prep for the workshop in plenty of time, I allowed myself a little Creative Therapy. 

My Upline had sent me a little assortment of new products that will be available in the catalog. Namely, she sent me a 4 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of the lovely Petal Pink Vellum, a like size piece of the Perennial Essence Designer Series Paper, and a length of the Organdy Striped Ribbon in Petal Pink. Along with these goodies, she issued a challenge to make a card using these three items and any other current Stampin' Up! product.

Anxious to use the branchful of birds from the Free As A Bird set, I decided to incorporate that as my focal point. Besides the goodies I received, I ended up adding a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of my Petal Pink cardstock for the card base, the stamp, Memento Tuxedo Black ink to stamp the birdies, the appropriate colors of Stampin' Blends to color in the birds and branch, and a thinlit for the vellum leaves. Oh yes! I also needed my Paper Snips to fussy cut the branch of birds!

And, this is what I came up with:

Don't you just love a good challenge? Especially when you can use all new product! What a delight!

Challenging

Smiles.

STAMPIN' BLENDS LOVE

 Have I happened to mention recently that I simply love the Stampin' Blends?? I just cannot get enough of them. And, now that Stampin' Up! has introduced their new storage systems, somehow they're even more fun!  I have them all organized according to color.

I always purchase both the light and dark of each color. Always. To me, it's definitely a no brainer

Now that the new Annual Catalog is ready to be released in just a few short weeks -- and I finally received my copy of it two days ago! -- there are even more new colors to choose from! I am so excited to add to my stash of these wonderful markers!

This stamp set is one of the freebies that had been available during Sale-A-Bration, but, like so many of my sets, I will never give this one up! Isn't it lovely? And it's so perfect for using with the Stampin' Blends. 

For my card, because I had a few Basic Pearls on my card, I wanted to repeat a little of that dimension and did so by popping up the top two layers on the card base.

These Blends are so easy to use -- so user friendly -- that I feel there is hardly any learning curve at all. You can color like a professional your first time around! Really.

Another really cool feature of the Stampin' Blends is that you can color stuff other than stamped images. Take a look at the pearls in the centers of five of the flowers below. I simply colored Basic Pearls with Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blend, and I have a perfect match for the centers of my flowers!

Have you tried your hand with the Stampin' Blends yet? If not, give them a try! You won't regret it. And, now soon you'll have even more fun colors to choose from. In the current Annual Catalog, you can check out the Stampin' Blends on pages 204 and 205. 

If you have any questions at all about Stampin' Blends, please don't hesitate to ask me! I would love to enable you!

Blended

Smiles.