Christmas (Card) in July!

Today is July 25th! Christmas is 5 months from today! I know that some people think that it is too early to start thinking about Christmas, but if you are a crafter, then it is probably just the right time to start making your Christmas cards.

So...I made my first Christmas card today. The Stampin' Up! August-December 2020 Mini Catalog goes live in about a week and a half, and it it full of all sorts of holidays wonderfulness! As a demonstrator, I am able to pre-purchase things from the mini catalog a month before it goes live to the general public. It's one of the perks of being a demonstrator! If you have any questions about becoming a demonstrator, feel free to contact me, and we can talk about it! I would love to have you as a member of my team!

Anyway, here is my Christmas card for today:

All supplies are currently, or will soon be, available from Stampin' Up!:

Stamp set: Sweetest Time (coming soon!)

Ink pad: Shaded Spruce (Item #147088)

Cardstock: Shaded Spruce (Item #146981)

Pear Pizzazz (Item #131201)

Real Red (Item #102482)

Whisper White Thick (Item #140272)

Accessories: Sweetest Borders Dies (coming soon!)

Stitched Rectangle Dies (Item #151820)

Wonderful Gems (coming soon!)

Stampin' Dimensionals (Item #104430)

I think I love the border dies in this die set. There is the holly berries, ivy and evergreen boughs, plus there is one that has candy canes and round peppermint candies. There are other dies in the set, and I think I love them all! I can see so many cute cards and tags that can be made using not only the dies, but the adorable stamp set also. 

These are not the only cute products in the upcoming catalog, but there are so many other fun things that will be available starting on August 4th. If you would like a catalog, and you don't already currently have a demonstrator that you work with, just leave me a comment, and I will get back with you and get you a catalog.

Thanks for stopping by. I really appreciate it!

Kathryn

An In-Color Friendship Card

I have been taking an online class this month that has been focusing on the Stampin' Up! bundle "Forever Fern" (Item #154094). We have been using the stamp set "Forever Fern" and the die set "Forever Flourishing". When you purchase the two of them together, as a "bundle" you save 10%! Such a great bargain.

Anyway, after watching one of the tutorials the other night, I made the following card:

All supplies available from Stampin' Up!:

Stamp set: Forever Fern (Item #152559)

Ink Pads: Just Jade (Item #153115)

Bumblebee (Item #153116)

Magenta Madness (Item #153117)

Versamark (Item #102283)

Card stock: Whisper White Thick (Item #140272)

Cinnamon Cider (Item #153078)

Misty Moonlight (Item #153081)

Whisper White (Item #100730)

Accessories: Forever Flourishing Dies (Item #152714)

Stitched Shapes Dies (Item #152323)

Forever Greenery Designer Series Paper (Item #152492)

White Stampin' Emboss Powder (Item #109132)

Heat Tool (Item #129053)

Linen Thread (Item #104199)

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (Item #144108)

It's such a pretty card. But I can't take all the credit for it. I was inspired by Jenn Frost, and The Crafty Carrot Collective group. Next month (August 2020) they will be offering their program for free! And the Stampin' Up! bundle that they will be working with is the "Beautiful World" bundle. If you feel so inspired, go check it out (craftycarrotcollective.blogspot.com). 

Well, thanks for stopping by. I always appreciate it when you do. And I hope to see you again soon,

Kathryn

Positive Thoughts Silhouette Card - #TGIFC273

I have felt inspired by the TGIF Challenge Blog lately. This week it was to create a project with a fun silhouette effect on it. I looked through my stamp sets, looking for an image that would make a good silhouette. I found a beautiful fern image in the "Positive Thoughts" stamp set that I thought would do quite nicely. Take a look:

All supplies available from Stampin' Up!:

Stamp set: Positive Thoughts (Item #151490)

Ink Pads and Refills: Night of Navy Ink Refill(Item #103033)

Gorgeous Grape Ink Refill(Item #147164)

Versamark Ink Pad(Item #102283)

Stazon Jet Black Ink Pad (Item #101406)

Cardstock: Gorgeous Grape (Item #146987)

Night of Navy (Item #100867)

Pretty Peacock (Item #150880)

Basic Black (Item #121045)

Accessories: Water color paper (What I used is retired, but Stampin' Up! has some "Fluid 100" watercolor paper -Item # 149612, that would be just right!) 

Die-cutting and Embossing Machine (Coming soon!)

Greenery Embossing Folder (Item #152716)

Nature's Thoughts Dies ((Item #153586)

White Stamp and Emboss Powder (Item #109132)

Heat Tool (Item #129053)

Water Painters (Item #151298)

Rhinestone Basic Jewels (Item #144220)

Stampin' Dimensionals (Item #104430)

On the watercolor paper, I used the Night of Navy Ink Refill on one end and the Gorgeous Grape Ink Refill on the other end, and brought them together in the center to blend the colors together. I also used the Stazon Jet Black Ink to stamp the fern to give it the silhouette effect. I was trying to make a sunrise-sort of background for it. I also used white embossing powder and a heat tool to stamp and emboss my greeting, and then hand-cut around it and mounted it on my card using Stampin' Dimensionals. 

I hope you like my card, and are inspired to create your own silhouette-effect card. Maybe you could even participate in the challenge (#tgifc273).

Hope you are having a wonderful day, and keep on stamping!

Kathryn

Tasteful Touches Hello Card - #tgifc271

It has been a while since I participated in a challenge blog, so I thought I would give it a shot this past weekend. Over on the TGIF Challenges Blog, their challenge this week is a color challenge. Here is my card that I made to go along with it:

All supplies available from Stampin' Up!:

Stamp set: Tasteful Touches (Item #152562)

Inks: Flirty Flamingo (Item #141397)

Mango Melody (Item #147093)

Granny Apple Green (Item #147095)

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink (Item #132708)

Cardstock: Whisper White Thick (for card base) (Item #140272)

Whisper White (Item #100730)

Flirty Flamingo (Item #141416)

Accessories: Tasteful Labels Dies (Item #152886)

Watercolor Pencils (Item #141709)

Water Painters (Item #151298)

Paper Snips (Item #103579)

Rhinestone Basic Jewels (Item #144220)

Stampin' Dimensionals Self-adhesive Foam Mounts (Item #104430)

A fun technique I used on this card is using up your paper strip scraps to create the background. Using a tone-on-tone color scheme (or using the same color strips as your card base) gives this card a classy-looking background, don't you think? And the strips don't all have to be the same width. The widths that I used were anywhere from 1/4" to almost a whole inch wide, with most of them being about 5/8" wide. Then I just trimmed the edges to be the same as the card. Very easy.

Like I told you at the beginning of this blog post, I wanted to participate in the TGIF Challenge Blog Color Challenge (#tgifc271). The color challenge was to use the following colors:

Go check out their blog (tgifchallenges.blogspot.com). They have lots of great challenges, and it is fun to play along!

If you have any questions about my card, or you would like to place a Stampin' Up! order with, please feel free to contact me, and I will do my best to help you out!

Thanks for stopping by,

Kathryn

Paper-Strip Weaving Birthday Card

I was watching some videos on YouTube earlier today and came across a fun technique presented by Ingrid Blackburn. I think she is an artist, and she does all sorts of really fun techniques. The technique that sparked my interest this morning was using thin strips of paper and weaving them together into a piece that you could use as the focal point, or the background, on your card. Since today is Independence Day in the United States (July 4th), and I have some friends with birthdays that are around this time of year, I decided to use some patriotic colors, (you know, Red, White, and Blue) but you could use any colors you wanted...even patterned paper! (I might have to try that!)

Take a look:

 All supplies are available from Stampin' Up!:

Card Stock: Whisper White Thick (card base) (Item #140272)

Real Red (Item #102482)

Night of Navy (Item #100867)

Whisper White (Item #100730)

Basic Black (Item #121045)

Accessories: Die Cutting Machine (Coming soon!)

Well Written Dies (Item #151816)

Paper Snips (Item #103579)

Forever Greenery Trim Combo Pack (Item #152475)

Rhinestone Basic Jewels (Item #144220)

Stampin' Dimensionals (Item #104430)

Another interesting thing about this card is that it has zero stamping on it! But you could use any stamp you had, if you wanted to. I die-cut a greeting from the Stampin' Up! set of dies called "Well Written". It has multiple dies to cut words and a few little shapes too! So many fun options to use! I die-cut the words out of Whisper White and then glued them onto a scrap of Basic Black cardstock. Then I hand-cut the words out with a thick border, and mounted them onto the woven-paper-strip background using Stampin' Dimensionals foam adhesive mounts. I finished off the card with a bow tied from some gold metallic trim (from the Forever Greenery Trim Combo Pack), and a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

It is fun to try a new technique! I hope you will give this one a try, and use up some of your paper-strip scraps at the same time.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you soon!
Kathryn