Thursday, April 30, 2020

Under the Sea

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   I'm kind of sad that the "Sea of Textures" and Under the Sea Dies are retiring at the end of the current catalog period. This is such a fun set and that octopus is adorable! I wanted to play with these items before they retire and to showcase them one more time in case you've got FOMO--fear of missing out on the opportunity to purchase them for your own collection!

Look at this card I made! I'm patting myself on the back 'cause it's so stinkin' cute!

I started by stamping the tall sea grass in Pretty Peacock ink at the bottom of a 3-7/8" by 5" Whisper White panel. Some of the grass is stamped full strength, while others are stamped at half or quarter strength (stamped off). I added some texture along the bottom with Soft Sea Foam and Balmy Blue Inks. There's also a bit of netting that I stamped in Sahara Sand Ink. 

I adhered my stamped panel to a 4" by 5-1/4" Pretty Peacock Card Stock mat. I wrapped a length of the Magnolia Lane Linen Thread (retiring) around the bottom of the card and then adhered everything to a Sahara Sand Card Stock card base.

Next, I used my Stamparatus to stamp the octopus. I wanted to give him a multi-colored look. I stamped him in Soft Sea Foam, then Calypso Coral--stamped off once, then Pretty Peacock--stamped off once, and then Calypso Coral again. I love the way he turned out! I cut him out with the matching die and adhered him to the card with a combination of regular and Mini Stampin' Dimensionals. To give him a little shimmer, I painted him with Clear Wink of Stella.



I stamped a sentiment from the "Sea of Textures" stamp set in Pretty Peacock Ink onto a Whisper White scrap and cut it out with the Classic Label Punch. I snipped off the left side, attached some Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, and adhered it to the card so that it looks like he's holding a sign!

To finish the card I added several Balmy Blue Gingham Gala Adhesive-Backed Sequins (retiring) that look like bubbles.

As always, you can purchase any (or all) of the supplies I used to make this card by clicking on the thumbnails below.

Stay safe! Stay healthy! Stay home!













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Tuesday, April 28, 2020

And Now For Someting Completely Different

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   I got into stamping many, many years ago. I got invited to some Stampin' Up workshops and bought a few things and made a few cards. I also attended a few scrapbooking workshops. I realized that although the scrapbooks I saw were gorgeous, I just didn't have the time and patience for it. (Plus, I had twins and they would walk around the house with their photos balled up in their sweaty, messy little hands.) Card making was something I could do quickly and the end result was a pretty, little piece of art. That's so satisfactory...and that's why I became a Stampin' Up demonstrator. I wanted to make these little pieces of art and I wanted a discount on my supplies!

Stampin' Up has always offered products for scrapbook makers and loads of people use Stampin' Up products for their memory keeping. A few years back Stampin' Up started offering Memories & More cards and embellishments that coordinate with their stamp sets and suites. And, the thing that attracted me most, they offered a 6" by 8" album. That size is less daunting than the traditional 12" by 12" page--I could never figure out what to do with all that space!

I've had a lot of time to be creative during our quarantine. So I ordered up the Tropical Oasis Memories & More Card Pack (retiring) and got to work on a memory book for my son. He was fortunate to spend a semester studying abroad with the Harding University Australasia (HUA) program. He visited Australia, New Zealand, India, Cambodia, Thailand, and Japan and had the time of his life! I thought the Tropical Oasis suite would be perfect to commemorate his trip.

 

For the front page, I adhered a 6" by 3" strip of  Tropical Oasis Designer Series Paper (retiring) to the top and bottom of a 6" by 8" piece of Mango Melody Card Stock. I cut letters from a retired set of alphabet framelits from another piece of Tropical Oasis DSP, stacked them on a few letters that I cut from card stock, and adhered them to the center of the title page. I added a few of the stickers from the Tropical Oasis Memories & More Card Pack (retiring).

I've made some cute spreads across two pages, but I'm only showing a few single pages because I don't have permission to share images of my son's classmates. I'm really pleased with how the album turned out and how well the Tropical Oasis Memories & More Cards (retiring) fit the theme of his travels. 

Here's my son on Bondi Beach in Australia.


Next, here's a few pictures from the Taj Mahal in India. (He was wearing a face mask before they were "cool"--because of the smells...)


The HUA group worked with an orphanage in India during their time there. My son loves kids--and they love him right back! He's studying to be a special education teacher. He's got such a kind and tender heart for people with special needs.


I've left the blank cards throughout the album for my son to do some journaling in his book.

I hope you enjoyed my first real foray into memory keeping. It really was simple with the Memories & More Cards. My daughter and I are going to put one together for her semester abroad in England and France!

The Tropical Oasis DSP and Memories & More cards are retiring, so if you've had a trip somewhere tropical (particularly to Hawaii), these would be great to use to commemorate your trip! But don't delay--they're only available until June 2, or while supplies last!

Stay safe! Stay healthy! Stay home!













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Monday, April 27, 2020

Koala Baby

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   It's that time of the Stampin' Up year where we bid a fond farewell to retiring stamp sets and products. It can be a sad time, but it's also exciting because we're anticipating the new product release on June 2nd. But let's not get ahead of ourselves: although some items are retiring, they're still available for another month or so.

One of my favorite retiring sets is "Animal Outing." I love the animals in this set and they're fun and easy to color with Stampin' Blends. For this card, I paired the image up with some Birthday Bonanza Designer Series Paper (retiring). I love these fun colors!


I started with a Bermuda Bay Card Stock card base and adhered two 1-1/2" by 5-1/2" strips of Bermuda Bay Birthday Bonanza DSP (retiring) to either side of the front. I adhered a 2" by 5-1/2" strip of Grapefruit Grove Birthday Bonanza DSP (retiring) to a 2-1/8" by 5-1/2" strip of Whisper White Card Stock and then onto the card front.

I stamped the kangaroo and koala image in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink onto Whisper White Card Stock and colored the image with Light and Dark Crumb Cake, Light Smoky Slate, and Light Petal Pink Stampin' Blends. I cut this out with the largest circle in the Stitched Shapes Dies. I adhered it to a scalloped Bermuda Bay Card Stock circle cut with a Layering Circles Die. I adhered this to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.

I punched the end of a 1-1/2" strip of Bermuda Bay Card Stock with the Banner Triple Punch and tucked it behind the main image, adhering the end with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Next, I stamped the sentiment in Bermuda Bay Ink onto Whisper White scraps, sprinkled on some White Stampin' Emboss Powder, and set it with my Heat Tool. I fussy cut the words and adhered them to the card with Mini Stampin' Dimensionals.

For a finishing touch, I added three Basic Self-Adhesive Sequins (retiring).

If you want any of these items, act quickly. The DSP and embellishments are only available while supplies last and some items on the retiring list have already sold out! The stamp sets are only guaranteed to be available until May 22. As always, just click on the thumbnails below and you'll be taken directly to my online store where you can shop in the comfort and safety of your own home!

Stay safe. Stay healthy. Stay home.













Product List
Paper Snips
[103579]
$10.00

Friday, April 24, 2020

Lots of Happy Kit

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations  In these times we all need lots of happy, don't we? We need to find little things that make us happy. For me, having my family around the dinner table makes me happy. The luxury of sleeping until whenever I want makes me happy. And, of course, stamping makes me happy!

The "Lots of Happy" all-inclusive kit is retiring with the current catalog on June 2nd--but it will only be available while supplies last. It's a great kit and being all-inclusive, it has everything you need (except adhesive) to put it together. There's an exclusive stamp set, a Basic Black Ink Spot, an acrylic block, ribbon, envelopes, and all the card parts you need to assemble the cards. And most fun, it comes with four watercolor pencils. Lookie!
Doh! I didn't notice the stamp set was upside down when I took the picture! SMH!
Wanna know a secret? I've been coloring the elements while I'm on work calls. I usually dial in at the last minute and then there's not enough bandwidth for the video, so no one can see that I'm actually coloring (while listening intently to the meeting's content. LOL!) I highly recommend this crafting-while-working activity! 

While it's not needed, I used a Blender Pen to smooth out my coloring. Here are the finished cards and their envelopes--and a little peek at the cute striped box the kit comes in.

Aren't they simply adorable?! The kit makes four cards of each of these five designs. I especially like these two "littles" that would be perfect as gift cards.
Of course there are two full-sized cards, too. I made mine birthday and thank you cards since I tend to use those the most.


If you like this kit--and who wouldn't?!--and need some crafty distraction from your quarantine or from your endless work calls, order yours today! As I said, the kit (item #146388) is retiring and it's only available while supplies last!

Speaking of retiring items, next week (and probably the following week), I'm going to be using some of my retiring stamp sets (and retiring In Colors) for the last time and bid them a fond farewell. I hope you'll come back and see what I'll be making!

Stay safe! Stay healthy! Stay home!














Product List
Blender Pens
[102845]
$12.00