Forever Fern Friendship Card

Hi everyone!

How are you all doing? I'm just dropping by quickly to give you an up-close look at my Forever Fern Friendship card. It uses a couple of items from the Forever Fern suite that's in the current Stampin' Up! 2020-2021 catalog. The greeting is from the Forever Fern stamp set, and the patterned paper is from the Forever Greenery Designer Series Paper. (It is gorgeous!) I've used one of the new 2020-2022 In-Colors, Just Jade, for the card base, along with some Shaded Spruce, Pear Pizzazz, and of course some Whisper White card stock for stamping on. That Trim is from the spool called Braided Linen Trim, and I added just a trio of the frosted epoxy droplets from the Frosted and Clear Epoxy Droplets embellishments. 

Take a look:

All supplies used are available from Stampin Up : Stamp sets: Forever Fern (#152559) Ink colors: Shaded Spruce (#147088) Cardstock: Just Jade (#153079) Shaded Spruce (#146981) Pear Pizzazz (#131201) Whisper White (#100730) Accessories: Forever Greenery Designer Series Paper (#152492) 2" Circle Punch (#133782) 2-1/4" Circle Punch (#143720) Braided Linen Trim (#147808) Frosted & Clear Epoxy Droplets (#147801) Stampin' Dimensionals (#104430)

Take a close-up look at the focal point:

Some exciting news is that I started a YouTube channel that goes along with my blog here. If you would like to see my very first video that goes along with this card, feel free to check it out. 

My channel is named "Kathryn Whittaker - Stampin' with Kathryn". (A really creative name, I know, but hopefully it will make it easy to find.) If you could, go to YouTube and check it out (or just click on the link below). I would be really appreciative. You could even leave me a comment or subscribe, but please be kind. It is just my first time.

https://youtu.be/BfNIdmAufDQ

Well, I hope you have enjoyed my card today. I really appreciate it when you come to visit me! 

Thanks for stopping by,

Kathryn

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

Oops! A Birthday Jubilee card!

I made a card toward the very end of the 2019-2020 catalog sales period, and promptly forgot to post it!!! Now the stamp set (Birthday Jubilee) and die set (Jubilee Beauty) is retired and you can't get it anymore, but I want to share with you anyway, just in case you already have it! I love this set, and am so sad that it didn't carry over.

Here is my card:

All supplies available from Stampin' Up!:

Stamp set: Birthday Jubilee (retired)

Ink pads: Coastal Cabana (Item #147097)

Basic Gray (Item #149165)

Memento Tuxedo Black (Item #132708)

Card stock: Coastal Cabana (Item #131297)

Daffodil Delight (Item #119683)

Granny Apple Green (Item #146990)

Whisper White Thick (Item #140272)

Accessories: Jubilee Beauty Dies (retired)

Lovely Labels Pick-A-Punch (Item #152883)

Stampin' Blends: Flirty Flamingo Combo Pack (Item #154884)

Granny Apple Green Combo Pack (Item #154885)

Daffodil Delight Combo Pack (Item #154883)

Iridescent Sequin Assortment (retired)

Stampin' Dimensionals (Item #104430)

I love this die set. It cuts a couple detailed, delicate pieces that are like  "Papel Picado" banner pieces. I cut two of the same piece and placed them together underneath the birthday greeting. Then I colored the floral swag with my Stampin' Blends alcohol markers, and stamped the greeting with Basic Gray on the label that I had punched out with the brand-new "Lovely Labels Pick-A-Punch". It can cut 6 different tag ends (two designs in 3 different widths)! It is amazing!

Anyway, I hope you like my card...even though the stamps and dies are retired. It can still give you ideas to use with other stamps and dies.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I truly appreciate you visiting. Please leave a comment if there is something you would like to see me use.

Kathryn