Stampin' Up - Right as Rain

Elegant Christmas Card with Bells

Hello! This elegant Christmas card features die-cut bells framed by a label die, creating a festive focal point. Embellished with holly sprigs and tied with a gold ribbon, the card is finished with a timeless seasonal greeting.

- Stamp Snowflake Pattern with Memento Toffee Crunch ink on kraft cardstock for a tone-on-tone effect. Trim to A2-size and add to a card base.
- Heat-emboss the sentiment (SU Tidings & Trimmings) in gold on a red cardstock panel. I have had this stamp set for many years and never used it.
- Cut a frame with the largest die in the Classy Frames set from soft-white cardstock. Trim the sentiment panel to fit within the frame and glue the frame to the sentiment panel. Add assembly to the card front.
- Cut gold cardstock with the Christmassy set to create two bells. Add Potting Soil ink to the bells to create depth. Archival ink is permanent. I tried used Distress Ink (non-permanent) and it did not stay on the gold cardstock.
- Cut greenery with dies in the Christmassy set and assemble.
- I tied the bells together with ribbon (Crinkle Ribbon by Tim Holtz Idea-ology), which I dyed with Tarnished Brass Distress Spray. It appears that this ribbon is no longer made. I have used the ribbon several times in the past.

This card combines both new and older products, showing how timeless designs can work together.

Freshly Made Sketches #403

Hello! I am sharing a card created for the Freshly Made Sketches #403 Challenge.

I mulled this design over and over and considered Christmas- and fall-themed approaches. However, I really wanted to make more Halloween cards and remembered the Candy Shoppe die set from Taylored Expressions.

The sentiment is from the SU Ghoulish Greetings (now retired). I dry-embossed the SU Lemon-Lime Twist (now retired) background for visual interest.

Supplies:

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge 402

Hello! I am playing along with the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge this week.

I followed the sketch very closely. I found the patterned papers in my stash, which became the starting point for choosing colors. This card uses a lot of product I’ve had for many years, and many of the supplies are now retired. I bought the Stampin’ Up stamp set For All Things specifically for this sentiment!

I’m sure I sound like a broken record, but I really like these sketch challenges! It gives me a chance to pull something together in a different way, and I find myself using products that I might otherwise ignore.

What I like about this card: I like the combination of patterned papers and the manner in which the die-cut leaves and circles reinforce the colors in the patterned paper. Now if only it was this easy to find clothing in these colors!

Cardstock: Stampin’ Up Tranquil Tide, Hello Honey, Tangerine Tango, Baked Brown Sugar, Cajun Craze

Stamp: Stampin’ Up For All Things (retired)

Dies: Lawn Fawn Stitched Leaves, Lawn Fawn Small Stitched Leaves, Spellbinders Circle Dies (1.375″)

Ink: Espresso Truffle

CAS Halloween Die-cut Owl

Hello! Today, I am sharing a CAS Halloween card featuring a gold foil die-cut owl.

I used Stampin’ Up cardstock for the card base and purple circle (a color combination that isn’t my usual one for Halloween) and gold foil for the owl. The sentiment is from a Stampin’ Up set (now retired). I added gold stars from the Avery Elle Finished Frames set (now retired) to fill in the background. An additional way to “step it up” would have been to dry-embossed the purple circle.

What’s your favorite Halloween color combo?

Supplies: Avery Elle Finished Frames set (stars), Spellbinders (circle die), Stampin’ Up (cardstock and sentiment)

Die-cut Summer Chairs

This past weekend, my husband and I visited Gig Harbor, just about an hour away from Seattle. It is a picturesque town whose harbor is graced with a magnificent view of Mount Rainier. Many of the houses on the main street had Adirondack chairs on their porches. One house, of which I wasn’t able to take a photo, had three colorful chairs, and it is that which I have tried to capture with my card.

I cut the Impression Obsession Single Beach Chair from Stampin’ Up cardstock in Lucky Limeade (retired), Pumpkin Pie, and Bermuda Bay. The PTI Flipping Out sentiment was heat-embossed on SU Basic Gray. I dry-embossed the white background with the SU Pinewood Planks Dynamic Textured Impressions embossing folder. The card base is SU Crumb Cake.