#TGIF249 Wild About You

What are you making for Valentine's Day this year?  Whatever "lovely" creation you craft you have a week to share it at #TGIF249 challenge site.

So you don't have a Valentine stamp set?  Me neither, but that didn't stop me.  Look through your stash and you will be surprised how easy, and fun, it is to turn anything into a love letter.  When scouring through my stamps the Animal Outing Set jumped out and seemed perfect.  It reminded me of the old Valentine cards from when I was in elementary school.  Do you remember those days filling out a Valentine for each classmate?  Did you worry about trying to find the right one for your friend, the boy you thought was cute, or setting aside the dorkiest one for the kid that bugged you?  

Once I had my stamp set, I went to work looking in my pattern paper stash for just the right feel to set the mood.  The flamingo and monstera leaf print from the Tropical Oasis pack was spot on.  The colors nod to Valentine, but don't scream anything too girlie or traditional.

Next up, layout.  Why not case the catalog.  On page 12 of the Creativity is Calling Annual SU! Catalog there is a perfect card to case.  So, perfect I've cased it before.

The inside is just as cute.

Truly, this is a perfect guy card for my main man.

Ya think?












He woke up that way.

Fancy Friday is Shaking Things Up

Fancy Friday is now Stampin' Fancy Friday.  We have a new look and a new method of sharing thus we are shaking things up!  This will be our last hop and we will now be found all month long on social media with more than 40 past and present Stampin' Up! Artisans.  Wow, that's a ton of super exceptional paper crafting creativity.

It seemed totally fitting to have a Shake It Challenge for this month since we are shaking things up. To meet the challenge whatever we made had to shake.  So, I went for the obvious...a shaker card.

One of the Sale-a-Bration offerings is an accessory combo pack of baker's twine and sequins.  If you are like me and LOVE twine this gift is what you are going to want to get your hands on.  Product colors for this accessory pack are Bermuda Bay, So Saffron, and Calypso Coral.  The cool detail for the pack is that there is metallic details that create a hint of sparkle.

I went for an unusual window to showoff the sequins.  In the Poppy Moment Dies there is a lacy and loopy multi-floral piece that I decided blended smartly with the full and fluffy flowers featured on the cake.  I cut it twice on a panel of Bermuda Bay and layered it over Whisper White.  Both panels were cut using the Rectangle Stitched Dies.

For the cake I stamped two of the main image from the Happy Birthday To You Stamp Set with Black Stazon Ink on Shimmer White Cardstock.  No fussy cutting necessary thanks to the coordinating Happy Birthday Dies.  A quick bit of watercoloring with matching inks brought the flowers to life.

Shaking things up next in our Stampin' Fancy Friday Hop is the lovely and peachy Lauren Alarid. She is sure to delight your creative senses.  Enjoy and have a fabulous day.

Product List

Happy Birthday To You Stamp Set | Happy Birthday Dies

Rectangle Stitched Dies | Poppy Moments Dies | Well Written Dies

Bermuda Bay, Whisper White, Blushing Bride, & Terracotta Tile Cardstocks

Jet Black Stazon Ink | Calypso Coral, Bermuda Bay, & Crushed Curry Inks

Metallic Baker's Twine & Sequins Combo Pack | Noble Peacock Foil | Champagne Rhinestones

A Paper Pumpkin Thing: I'll Bee Yours

Welcome everyone to Janiary's A Paper Pumpkin Thing Blog Hop.  This month's I'll Bee Yours kit is timed with precision for making lots of Valentine specialty treat bags and 3" square notecards.

As an alternate use for the treat bags you can score and fold them into what I am called "triangle treat bags."  That's right with two simple scorelines and some easy folding you can convert the flat bags into 3-dimensional triangle pouches.

To convert the bags to a triangle pouch:

• Cut off the top scallop edge and mark the center of top opening side.
• Score LIGHTLY from the center mark to the bottom corners on each side as shown in the photo above.
• Fold backward on the scorelines as shown in photo #1.
• Fold forward on the scorelines as shown in photo #2.
• Open the bag and form the pouch.

For another use of the treat bags layer and lash several together to make a personalized mini-album Valentine for that special someone.  I stacked three bags and tied them with the White Baker's Twine from the kit.  Because the tie felt a tad loose I bulked the twine with Mint Macaron 1/4" Textile Ribbon to make the mini-album more secure.   Along with the ribbon the only non kit items I grabbed to for this project were Black Memento and Highland Heather Ink Pads.

It makes me totally happy to share with you today my alternative projects featuring this month's I"ll Bee Yours Paper Pumpkin Kit.  Bees are hot and trendy right now so, this kit has hit the scene right on time.  I wouldn't wait to open this kit to start creating, it's too fun.

Hand Stamped Sentiments Wintertime?

It's inspiration challenge time for all of us over at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  Guess what...this wintertime theme was a hard sell for me, it just doesn't fit for me and my mindset.  Why..?  

Because Christmas is over.  Sad, but true.  It's all put away and I just can't get into the thought of snow, snowmen, or snowflakes after the holidays.  My mind just shuts it down.

It may be because I live where it hasn't snowed since 1976.  That year I was in elementary school and it took my best friend and I over two hours to walk to school.  You see we gleefully played on each neighbors' lawn until their snow was "used up."  That same day at 3:00 o'clock when the bell rang we ran out of class to walk home only to find no trace of snow.  We were crushed!  "He'll be back again someday" is bogus.  I've been waiting for 43 years.

Now, I do go to the snow every now and again, in fact I just returned from a chilly winter vacation to Sun Valley Idaho, but on a whole wintertime to me is cooler weather and occasional rain.  So, to meet this challenge my way I went with a palette of cooler tones and nature.  

I grabbed a bunch of things for this card:

• Rooted in Nature Stamp Set and Dies
• Rectangle Stitched Dies
• Stitched So Sweetly Dies
• Snow Globe Dies
• Country Club Designer Series Paper and Twine Combo Pack
• Basket Weave 3D Embossing Folder
• Night of Navy Ink and Cardstock
• Early Espresso Cardstock
• Old Olive Cardstock
• Whisper White Cardstock
• Seaside Spray Cardstock
• Soft Suede Cardstock
• Noble Peacock Foil
• Wink of Stella

(This sob story of a post is dedicated to my childhood best friend Jennifer Buck.  Jennifer if you are out there I can still be found on El Paseo Dr.)

Monday Montage Meerkats

How about these playful and totally adorable meerkats?  These dudes are cute and what's better?  You can get them free with a purchase during Sale-a-Bration!

May your paper crafting moments be filled with mojo and happy projects.  Click back or next and continue the hop to be inspired.

to Julie

to Dani

Monday Montage Hoppers

Amy O'Neill - Amy's Paper Crafts

Breelin Renwick - Craft-somnia Momma

Cathy Casey - Sugar Shack Designs

Charlet Mallett - Painted Orange

Cheryl Curtis - Pomp and Sustenance

Dani Dziama - Dani's Thoughtful Corner

Elizabeth Price - Seeinginkspots

Julie Warnick - Creating on the Run

Melissa Stout - The Stamp Doc

Wendy Weixler - Wickedly Wonderful Creations

#TGIF247 Floral and Feminine

How about one of the most popular challenges ever for this week at #TGIF247?  We are making this one a piece of cake kind of challenge because it's all about BIRTHDAY CARDS!  

For this birthday card challenge I went over the top with florals, pinks, and sparkles to make this an ultra feminine look.

I gathered three fantastic new products that make this birthday card extra flirty and girlie.   I combined the Happy Birthday To You Stamp Set, the coordinating Happy Birthday Dies, and the Best Dressed 6" x 6" Designer Series Paper. 

Annual Catalog supplies include the Word Wishes Dies, Silver Foil, and Silver Glimmer Paper.  Along with cardstock in Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Old Olive and Soft Seafoam.

I cut both "birthday" and "wishes" twice; once from Silver Glimmer and then from Old Olive.  At first I was going to layer them and create a drop shadow.  Then I chose to not pop out the inside pieces in the loops of the letters to give a spunkier vibe.

The cake stand is over the top with 15 Basic Rhinestones!  A quick splash of watercolor for the flowers and guess what?  More rhinestones for the flower centers.  This time they were colored with a Stampin' Blend to make them a deep pink.

Hand Stamped Sentiments Stand Up Friend

Is this meerkat birthday card cute or what?  I made it for our first challenge of 2020 over at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I simply stamped with black permanent ink and watercolored with the three challenge colors: Flirty Flamingo, Mossy Meadow, and Pretty Peacock.

Creation Station Resolution Solution

A welcoming hello to each of you passing through our hop today.  This month, being that it's the start to a new year, the Creation Station Design Team was challenged to make a project to keep our daily lives organized.  The spin was to keep it hand made in true Stampin' Up! style.  So, for this "Resolution Solution" Blog Hop I made myself a gorgeous notebook.

I love the simplicity organizing with composition books.  I pick them up at the Dollar Tree for a whoppin' buck and then cover them to make them all pretty and stylish.  For this notebook I took two sheets of the Parisian Blossoms Specialty Designer Series Paper to create a folded cover reminiscent to a text book cover.

For the layers of details on the front and the dividing tabs I used to new sets of dies.  The Parisian Dies and the Stitched So Sweetly Dies.  Both sets are fabulous and a great addition to your stash.

With my fancy and beautiful handmade notebook I feel like I'm ready to keep track of ideas and notes.  Next up in our hop is the fabulously talented Martin Stone.  Let's go see what he has made with our "resolution solution" theme.  I know it's going to be great.