BLUEBERRY SMILE

This card is another example of how easy it can be to make a quick card -- if you let the Designer Series Paper do most of the work for you.

The small swatch of DSP in the center of this card is just so lovely and fresh, 

I wanted it to be the star of the card.

Adding just a few touches, such as a bit of stamping, a baker's twine bow, 

a diecut sentiment and the matching rhinestone to dot the "i" was all it took.

There is not very much dimension to this card: just the bit the bow adds, the slight rise of the rhinestone and the Stampin' Dimensionals that raise the snippet of DSP, and the rest is flat as a pancake!

The stamps and Designer Series Paper are two of the freebie offerings that are part of Sale-A-Bration, which ends tomorrow, February 28! So HURRY!

Even though the card is fairly straightforward, following is a list of supplies and the directions.

SUPPLIES:

Pacific Point cardstock

White cardstock

Black cardstock

Berry Delightful Designer Series Paper (Page 14, Sale-A-Bration brochure)

Berry Blessings stamp set (Page 14, Sale-A-Bration brochure)

Black ink

Pacific Point ink

Die cutting/embossing machine

Smile die or another small sentiment that you have

Baker's Twine

Noble Peacock Rhinestone (or you can use a Stampin' Blend to color a Basic Rhinestone)

Stampin' Dimensionals

Mini Glue Dot

DIRECTIONS:

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

Using the outline stamp of the blueberries, stamp these in black all around the edges of a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of white cardstock. Use the solid blueberry stamp, and matching it up to the black outlines, stamp the blueberries in Pacific Point ink.

Adhere this piece to the blue card base.

Cut a piece of the blueberry Designer Series Paper to 2 1/4" x 3 1/4". Adhere it with Stampin' Dimensionals to the center of the card.

With a small "smile" die, or sentiment of your choice, cut it from black cardstock.

Adhere the sentiment to the lower right corner of the DSP piece.

Dot the "i" with a Pacific Point rhinestone. If you don't have one, you can color a clear Basic Rhinestone with a Stampin' Blend to match your card.

Tie a striped piece of blue/white baker's twine in a small bow. Adhere it with a glue dot to the upper left corner of the DSP.

If you didn't get the chance to snap up this freebie during Sale-A-Bration, there are several stamp sets and Designer Series Papers in the Stampin' Up! catalogs that you can substitute to get the same look for a card.

Smiley

Smiles.

BEST DAYS

 Ah! This card. So much work. But I do love how it turned out.

Combining several Stampin' Up! products made the creation of this card possible. It's all in the unbeatable way that embossing folders, Designer Series Paper, stamps, ink colors, dies and embellishments work together. A perfect blend.

Another contributing factor to the charm of this card is that the card base itself is a little different, enabling a unique use of the beautiful Designer Series Paper.

The interplay between the elements on the main flap of the card overlapping the pretty DSP makes it even more delicate.

A view of the front flap of the card with the DSP portion not showing:

Following is a tutorial on how to recreate this card.

SUPPLIES:

Soft Seafoam cardstock

White cardstock

Forever Greenery Designer Series Paper

Beautiful Friendship stamp set (Page 115, Annual Catalog)

Forever Fern (Page 110, Annual Catalog)

Pretty Peacock ink

Pear Pizzazz ink

Die Cut/Embossing Machine

Forever Flourishing dies (Page 175, Annual Catalog)

Painted Labels dies (Page 177, Annual Catalog)

Greenery Embossing Folder (Page 184, Annual Catalog)

Metallic Pearls (Page 156, Annual Catalog)

Stampin' Dimensionals

DIRECTIONS:

Cut a piece of Soft Seafoam cardstock to 5 1/2" x 7". Score it at 4 1/4". Fold on the score line, creasing it well with a bone folder.

On the inner edge of the card, adhere a 1 1/2" x 5 1/4" strip of Forever Greenery Designer Series Paper, with even margins at the top, bottom and right side.

Cut a piece of Soft Seafoam cardstock to 2 1/2" x 5 1/4" and emboss it with the Greenery Embossing Folder. Adhere this to the flap on the front of the card.

Stamp desired leafy pieces in Pretty Peacock and Pear Pizzazz onto white cardstock. Cut them with the coordinating dies.

Cut a swirly circle using the die from the Painted Labels die set from Soft Seafoam cardstock. In the center of this circle, stamp the sentiment in Pretty Peacock.

Adhere as desired the two leafy pieces to the back side of the circle. Use Stampin' Dimensionals to attach it over the embossing so a bit of the swirls falls over the DSP.

Add three Metallic Pearls near the sentiment.

Forever

Smiles.

ENZO

I had alluded to the fact that I was making something for my grandson, Enzo's, fourth birthday besides his  dinosaur Birthday Card. While his (playable) gifts were delivered to his house in a bag and we watched him open them via FaceTime, I'd wanted to wait until we could see him in person to open this part of his gift.

Thursday night, Enzo's mom (our daughter) had to work late, which she does once a month, so his grandpa and I had to go and pick him up from daycare, which is at our local YMCA. 

I thought this might be the perfect opportunity to give it to him. All the grown ups are masked and socially distanced, and there would be a table where he could quickly unwrap it. And I could take photos of the unwrapping. (Just a note here: During the Pandemic, I literally go NOWHERE. While picking him up from daycare once a month is a real stretch to my "safe" feeling, I feel I need to grasp this opportunity to see him in person in a pretty OK environment. I feel like this integral personal connection with my little Enzo is worth the small risk now and then.)

Anyway, back to the great unveiling. It was much less spectacular (satisfying) than I'd imagined. I can be quite naive at times. I guess he thought it was going to actually be something FUN! Imagine a four-year-old boy's thoughts when he opened something TO HANG ON HIS WALL. I got the impression that he just couldn't believe it wasn't something he could play with, and started to pick at the dinosaur on the "e". 

We put a stop to that while I tried to explain that it said his name and that it was supposed to be hung on the wall of his bedroom.

Completely unimpressed.

A close-up of the letters sans frame:

When I first had the brainstorm to create this, I was sure I was going to sand and repaint the frame, paint the letters in complementary colors, etc. 

But when I laid everything out, I really liked the way the raw wood, the finished wood and the accompanying colors played off each other. 

The wooden letter all had loops at the top as part of the letters. To make them a part of the composition, I simply inserted brads in colors that matched the dinosaur that was gracing each particular letter.

The cute prehistoric looking leaves that I used for the background was also a piece in the pack of dinosaur DSP.

Even if Enzo's not all that crazy about it, I am completely satisfied with how it turned out.

Enzo at his daycare after opening his unexciting gift:

Have you ever spent loads of time making a gift for someone only to have it fall flat completely upon opening? Sniff.

Dino

Smiles.

POSITIVE THOUGHTS

I have been hankering to try a few new/old techniques lately. This one, a VersaMark Resist, I found in an old stamping techniques book I've had around forever.

Using Glossy Cardstock, it's lots of fun to do. It does take patience and elbow grease though.

The first step is to stamp an image a few times on -- in this case a piece of Glossy Cardstock that measures 3 3/4" x 5" -- your paper in VersaMark ink. After you have your image strategically stamped, go to the Heat Station, and hit the stamping with the Heat Tool for about 15 seconds to make sure it's completely dry. Be sure to keep the heat moving so the glossy paper doesn't scorch.

I forgot to mention that I used the fern image from the Positive Thoughts stamp set in the Annual Catalog. Isn't it lovely?

Next comes the elbow grease. I used one of Stampin' Up!'s new Blender Brushes for my card, and it worked wonderfully. Use whatever is your favorite method for sponging. 

I used Mossy Meadow ink for this part. Start sponging on the ink and continue to do so until you reach the desired darkness, so the stamped images pop off the paper and seem to magically appear. I darkened my ink in a few places because I always enjoy the variation of dark and light.

The next step is to take the same stamp and ink it up with a darker ink. I used Shaded Spruce. In some of the blank spots, fill in with the image, but this time in the darker ink. 

At this point, I really loved it, so I didn't want to cover up just too much of it with a sentiment. 

Thus, <found Fred> I opted to do my sentiment on vellum. 

I chose this beautiful sentiment from the Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set from the Annual Catalog. I wanted it to be embossed, but in a color that echoes the rest of the card. To do that, I first inked up the stamp with VersaMark ink, then followed it with a quick inking up of Shaded Spruce ink. 

After heating it up, I had a sentiment that was embossed, but also matched the color used elsewhere on the card.

To add the sentiment to the card, I carefully creased the vellum at the edges and wrapped the excess around to the back of the panel. Since I didn't want it to bow out from the front of the card, I added one mini glue dot under the "b" in celebrate to hold it in place.

The VersaMark Resist fern showed up not a pure white, so I opted to mount the inked piece to a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Very Vanilla, then onto a Shaded Spruce card base.

I have to admit here that it was difficult to finish this post. After I typed the word "Thus" a few paragraphs back, I got up to use the bathroom.

You see, my cat, Fred, had been having labored breathing issues, and my husband and I were going to take him to the Emergency Vet when Pat got home from work. Just as I typed that word, he came in the house, and I got up to get ready to go. 

Well, Fred saved us the trip. He was lying on the floor outside my bathroom, already gone. I am so so sad. He was my "best Fred" for 14 1/2 years. I will miss him always. 

This was just taken eight days ago.

Rest In Peace, my Fred.

Grieving 

Smiles.

LOVING HEART

Have you placed your Sale-A-Bration order yet? No? There is still time! 

During Sale-A-Bration, January 5 through February 28, you can earn free product for every $50 or $100 you spend (before tax and shipping). 

For a $50 purchase, one of the freebies is a darling pack of Designer Series Paper called Flower and Field. For my card today, I used one of the sheets from this flowery set.

Seriously, the papers in this pack of DSP are a treasure trove of possibilities. I still have lots of ideas to use this paper, but here is one of them:

In combination with this DSP, I used a stamp from the January Paper Pumpkin set. The heart inside the circle is the stamp in question. Isn't it wonderful?

Those little flowers all concentrated on one sheet of 12X12 paper is sort of like standing in the middle of a field of flowers. They are all so tiny and precious. Irresistible.

Die cutting the word "love" using an old Stampin' Up! die set from white cardstock echoed the paper flowers, as well as the circle upon which the hearty heart was stamped.

I had some white paper flowers that I'd had in my stash for quite some time. After separating three of them from the bigger bunches and tied together with a piece of Cherry Cobbler baker's twine, it made a teeny bouquet that was reminiscent of the tiny flowers in the DSP.

While it's a fairly simple card to create, keep reading for a tutorial and list of materials to do so.

SUPPLIES:

Petal Pink cardstock

White cardstock

Flowers and Field Designer Series Paper (page 10, Sale-A-Bration brochure)

Stamp from January 2021 Paper Pumpkin kit

Cherry Cobbler ink

Die Cutting/Embossing Machine

Retired Love die

Stitched Shapes Dies (page 183, Annual Catalog)

Cherry Cobbler baker's twine

Stampin' Dimensionals

Glue Dots

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fold a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of Petal Pink cardstock in half, creasing it well with a bone folder.

Add to this card base a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of the Flowers and Field Designer Series Paper.

Stamp the lovely heart from the January Paper Pumpkin kit onto a piece of white cardstock that measures about 3 1/2" square. If you are not a Paper Pumpkin subscriber, another heart image stamp can be used instead.

Cut out the heart with the large circle die from the Stitched Shapes dies set.

Adhere the heart to the DSP with Stampin' Dimensionals, so there are even borders at the top and sides.

From the retired Stampin' Up! die set, cut the word "love" from white cardstock. With small drops of glue, adhere this to the lower portion of the card, about 1/4" from the bottom of the DSP.

Tie three white paper flowers together with a piece of Cherry Cobbler baker's twine made into a bow. With a glue dot or two, add the flower "bouquet" above the love sentiment.

While this card is obviously ideal for use as a Valentine, it is suitable for other occasions as well. Think wedding, thinking of you, even sympathy. Any time you need to send a little love.

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Valentine

Smiles.