Monthly Archives: January 2016

Blog Candy for my 400th post

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I’m as stunned as you. I had no idea that I’d get to 400 posts, mostly daily, and still be going strong. But making cards is so much fun. Finding that I do actually have a creative side is quite a surprise. I bet you have one too. Even if you didn’t think that it existed. And it’s so much fun to let it out. Today especially since there’s blog candy on offer!

Stampin' Up! Watercolor Words

The last time that my sister was over, she introduced me to post it tape. Very cool stuff, and it sat in my bag. But yesterday when I was making cards, I decided to actually use it. Martin’s comment is that this is very Japanese. I don’t know. It’s definitely clean and simple. I put down some post it tape at random (although ensured that it was square with the edges) and then stamped the heart from Watercolor Words in real red at different angles on whisper white card. Then I stamped the sentiment (from the same stamp set) in real red also. I then mounted this on a real red card base. The envelope is embossed with the happy hearts TIEF to coordinate.

As I mentioned, this is my 400th post (wow!). So to celebrate, here’s some blog candy that one lucky commenter will win.

Stampin' Up! Lotus Blossom and Heappy Heart TIEF and Jewels basic rhinestone and sequin trim

That’s an enormously popular stamp set from last year’s Sale-a-bration, Lotus Blossom, bermuda bay sequin trim (use it as a ribbon or take off single sequins) and the current happy heart TIEF and jewels basic rhinestones. A fun package. All you have to do for a chance to win is to comment and tell me what is your favourite item in the Occasionals catalogue (which includes the Sale-a-bration brochure). Since it’s my four hundredth post, I’ll give you four days. So comment by midnight Friday (EST). Sorry, you have to have a US shipping address to win.

See you tomorrow,
Liz

Botanical Builder Framelits Dies

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This card was created solely because I wanted to play with the botanical builder framelits dies, and the elegant leaf in particular. I cut it out with a piece of mint macaron card stock, just to see how it looked and then went hunting through my stash of DSP to find something that would work.

Stampin' Up! Botanical Builder Framelits Dies and Botanical Gardens DSP and Enjoy the little things

I ended up with the coordinating Botanical Gardens DSP which I got as part of a bundle with the dies (there’s also a stamp set in the bundle although I didn’t use it today but if you’re going to buy the DSP and the dies, it makes sense). It was a simple matter to cut the DSP to the same size as the mint macaron was (before I used the die on it). My Enjoy the little things sentiment comes from the set of the same name and this was the first time that I’ve used it. I don’t know why it took this long, it’s a very versatile set with lots of different typefaces. Fun. I stamped the sentiment in basic black but it wasn’t quite black enough so I used my stampin’ write basic black marker to darken it. I’ve also used the same DSP to line the outside of the envelope flap – just add it with the multipurpose glue and snip around the edges.

Tomorrow is a special day here on my blog. It’s will be my 400th blog post. I little thought when I started blogging that I’d have so much fun with it and (apart from traumatic events both in my life and that of my computer) would blog daily. To celebrate this, I’m going to offer my first blog candy. So stop back tomorrow for a chance to win.

I’d also like to welcome my new subscriber. It’s a great feeling when somebody wants to have a daily dose of me in their inbox! Thanks for clicking on that subscribe button.

See you tomorrow,

Liz

Sunburst Sayings

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This card gave the big shot a bit of a work out – I don’t think I’ve used so many different dies on a single card before. And there was almost no stamping, just the sentiment from Sunburst Sayings – which coordinates with the Sunburst thinlits die.

Stampin' Up! Sunburst Sayings and Sunburst thinlits die and Party Pop-up thinlits dies

I actually cut out a number of the starbursts as I was trying to decide on the direction of this card. A couple of tips – use the big shot brush to get the cut piece out of the die and cleaned up (or the paper piercing tool) and not your thumb. I have a pretty good cut from the card that I tried that with! Also I put glue on the sunburst to the ends before trimming to fit the melon mambo cardbase, that could have been planned a little better. This DSP is from the It’s My Party DSP which is a fun collection of papers in happy bright colours. In this case, crushed curry and whisper white, so I continued those colours with the stamping and the mat. I punched out the sentiment with the 1.25″ circle punch and used the circles collection dies to cut out the mat which is popped up with dimensionals. I used another piece of the DSP to line the outside flap of the envelope to coordinate. And there’s one bright and happy birthday card. Except, that’s not all. There’s more fun on the inside.

Stampin' Up! Party pop-up thinlits dies and It's My Party DSP

This is the second die from the Party Pop-up thinlits dies with another piece of the It’s My Party DSP behind it. I cut the crushed curry at a quarter inch smaller than the card base, scored it in the middle and then lined the tabs on the die up with the score line.

See you tomorrow,

Liz

Welcome Words for Jorge

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My peer at work has a new person starting on Monday so the Welcome Words stamp set which I got earlier this month arrived just at the right time! I’ve been doing pretty well so far this month in my quest to give out more cards and it’s amazing how happy it makes people. It’s easy to get blasé about cards – it’s “just” a card that I made, but two people this month have said that I made their day. My initial thought was that that’s a bit sad, but it isn’t. Giving someone a card says that you care about them and that can make their day. And not only do we care enough to give a card, but we spent time making it as well. It’s powerful. I encourage you to join me and send more cards. Leave me a comment and let me know how much you enjoyed giving an unexpected card. Perhaps I should get to today’s card!

Stampin' Up! Welcome Words and Going Places DSP

I am enamoured of this paper I think that it is unbelievably beautiful. It’s from the Going Places DSP stack which means that for $8 you get 48 pieces of 6″ by 6″ gorgeous paper. That’s a pretty amazing deal. I’m really happy that Stampin’ Up! are doing more DSP patterns with very vanilla, last year it was almost all whisper white which I use less often. For this card, all I did was cut a large background mat to put on my mossy meadow card stock with my favourite multipurpose glue. Then I stamped the sentiment in mossy meadow on very vanilla paper. I left the card that way overnight because I didn’t like the mossy meadow border – it seemed too square somehow. Today I realised that I just needed it to be more skinny. Like a lot of us! The sentiment is popped up with dimensionals and that’s it. Quick, easy, clean and simple. My kind of card. And hopefully, Jorge’s too.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

See you tomorrow,
Liz

January 2016 Paper Pumpkin Alternative

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It’s Paper Pumpkin time again – my kit for this month arrived last week. It’s focused on Valentine’s Day and there’s a fun stamp set included – Cute Conversations.Of course I decided to reuse the stamp set to make a card. Just one so far…

Stampin' Up! Paper Pumpkin Cute Conversations

Isn’t this fun? I made the DSP by stamping the XOXO stamp in melon mambo on whisper white. I started in the centre and just worked my way outwards stamping in different directions until I’d filled the card. I then inked up another of the stamp set’s sentiments in melon mambo and stamped on a scrap of whisper white. I cut this out with the retired hearts collection thinlits dies and then cut the next size up in melon mambo to create the border. You could use the sweetheart punch for this but it’s only one size and you’d not have the mat.  I guess I’d better hang on to my hearts collection dies.

I glued the hearts together with the multipurpose glue and then popped that up with dimensionals. I’ll make another card with this set using all current product soon.

I should remind you that during Sale-a-bration the three month prepaid subscription of Paper Pumpkin is on sale for $55. This is not only great value for three of the monthly kits, but if you buy this, you also get to choose an item for free from the Sale-a-bration catalogue. What an awesome deal! Just click on the Paper Pumpkin button over on the left to get started or on the scrolling store below.

See you tomorrow,

Liz