"LAZY DAYS"

As I was going through the Stampin' Up! catalog weeks ago and looking at the list of retiring products, I came to the "Lazy Days" bundle and thought it looked quite nice.  I turned the page, but then I turned back for another glance.  This time I really studied the stamps and dies.  How had I missed this incredible bundle of goodness?  Even after I continued going through the catalog--page by page--and marking all of the retiring products, I kept thinking about "Lazy Days".  Of course, I had to have it.  This lovely bundle has been in my possession for about two weeks, and I finally had a chance to work with it.  Not feeling very creative, I started looking on Pinterest where I found tons of inspiration!  I can't claim any credit for this card's design, and I'd love to give credit to the designer but I have no idea who made it.  I didn't see where the design needed any improvement, and the only two things that I added were the bird on the banister and the pillow in the chair.  I actually die-cut a couple of pillows, but none of them seemed "right".  I finally decided to use a marker to draw a plaid/crosshatch design on the cardstock prior to cutting, and I finally had a tiny pillow that I loved.  The glasses of lemonade were given a brush of Wink of Stella, which you can see better in the photo below:

Want a better look at the pillow?

In the photo below, you can see the texture created with the die-cut elements and an embossing folder.  The hanging plant and table were adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals, which added an extra bit of dimension.

And why not finish this post with another photo of the card?  

As I mentioned, the "Lazy Days" bundle is on the list of retiring products and, unfortunately, some of the retiring products sell out quickly.  I wish I'd paid attention to this one sooner, but I'm glad I have it and know that it is definitely a keeper.

I hope you have a stampin' good day! 

SWEET LITTLE "FLOWER CART" CARD

Oops!  It's been almost two weeks since I shared a project.  I didn't mean to stay away quite so long, but it's been a bit busy.  At work, we were short staffed at the Concierge desk, and I agreed to work a fourth day every other week.  One little day doesn't sound like a lot, but I haven't had much time for playing (aka creating).  The card that I'm sharing today is smaller than the usual A2 size . . . this one finished at 2.75" x 4".  

When I made this card, my goal was to play with the stamps and dies to see what they would do and how to assemble some of the cuts.  I'm not gonna lie . . . I was scratching my head and saying "hmmmm" a lot.  I will definitely have to re-visit this bundle when I have more time.  Actually, it was the options for the cart that had me a bit stumped.  I adore the two-step process for stamping the flowers because it's soooooo easy, and aren't they gorgeous?  This bundle is loaded with creative options!  The Lemon Lolly and white cardstock were cut with two of the Radiating Stitches dies, and I really like the subtle detail that they add.  Circle punches and Stampin' Dimensionals were used to layer the sentiment, which was topped with a pretty little twine bow.  Here's one more look:

Cute little card, huh?

BOXED SET OF QUILTY NOTE CARDS

After making the pieced bird cards, I wanted to play around with other designs featuring designer paper and quilt block designs.  I started with 1-7/8" squares and cut them in half diagonally, but then I cut some of them in half again.  You can see how those small cuts were used to create the pinwheel designs on the first and last cards in the photo above.  In quilting, I 💗 pinwheel designs, and the two pinwheel cards are my favorite of the four.

This set of cards features the "Delightful Floral" designer paper collection, and the above photo shows the pretty Adhesive-Backed Shiny Sequins and silver trim.  On all of the cards, I used the retired Basket Weave embossing folder to add texture.  To create the pinwheel, you can (hopefully) see that each of the four squares were made up of one half of the 1-7/8" square plus two smaller halves that were created by cutting one of the diagonal cuts in half.  There must be a better way to explain that without seeming to use the same words repeatedly, but good sense escapes me at the moment.

The above photo shows the 1-7/8" squares cut in half diagonally so only two pieces were used for each square.  The sequins aren't easy to see, but they are there.

The cardstock colors that I used on these cards are Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Bubble Bath and Lost Lagoon.  I like that the cards are similar but not identical.

What does every cute little set of cards need?  That's right . . . a cute little box.  

I kept this one very simple, and it turned out to be a perfect fit for the four cards.  The 5.5" x 10.5" Pool Party cardstock was scored at .5, 5, 5.5, and 10 inches; rotated and scored at .5" on all four sides.  Each of the intersecting scored lines were cut to create flaps, and then a 1" Circle punch was used to create the semi-circle cut-out on the lid before the box was assembled.

Decorating the top of the box was a little too minimal, so I added some sequins after taking the photo.  I'm thinking a die-cut flower would look nice and add a little dimension, so I may end up adding one.  

So what do you think?  Are you ready to make your own set of quilty note cards? 

QUILTY STITCH NOTES

During most weekends, I head out of town for a nice visit with my parents.  My sister is usually visiting on the same day as me, and we enjoy going upstairs with our mother to work on sewing, quilting, applique, Paper Pumpkin kits . . . whatever our chosen projects are for the day.  The entire upstairs is like a huge bonus room, and we each have our own sewing station and a shared ironing station there.  My crafting/sewing nook is a little bit away from theirs because I like to be between the air vents--especially during the long summer months--but it's so nice and spacious and a great place to be together.  Recently, I wasn't feeling like working on a project, so I was just walking around the room and "taking inventory" of fabric, finished quilt tops that need to be quilted, etc.  I found this:

It was actually two sets of patterns tucked inside one bag, and a piece of paper with my name on it was inside the bag.  None of us could remember where it came from, but I was intrigued.  It appeared to have had note cards (with aperture cutouts for the designs) and envelopes at one time, but they were missing.  I have a plethora of cardstock and dies, so I knew I could do something with the patterns.  The only tricky part was getting used to foundation paper piecing, which is quite tricky because you're sewing where you can't see the fabric that you're sewing to the paper.  My first project was going to be the patriotic star (top left corner of the pattern in the above photo).  It was to be sewn in two parts (top and bottom) and then sewn together.  The top half came out quite nicely; however, I had a slight misalignment while sewing the bottom half.  That was such a disappointment, but I decided to just use the top half and create a card.

I really like it!  It may not be a complete mini quilt, but it's definitely pieced and gives a nod to a patriotic star.  I used two different embossing folders on the white and red cardstock layers to make the card look quilted.  The second card that I completed features a practice block that I made at my parent's house from scraps found in my mother's stash:

This small block was much easier to make--and it was a quick one, too, without all of those teensy star points.  Aren't the fabrics pretty?  

The funny thing is that none of us knew where the daisy fabric came from and couldn't recall ever having used it, so who knows the origin of that little scrap.  I used a square die to cut the window in the cardstock, and I also used a larger square die to create the Lemon Lolly frame around the window.  After embossing the white cardstock, that cute little quilt block was adhered to the back of the cardstock.  I used a piece of Lemon Lolly twine to make a bow and added some Adhesive-Backed Shiny Sequins.  The sentiment is from Stampin' Up!'s "Flower Cart" stamp set, which is featured in the current mini catalog.

Besides getting some practice with foundation paper piecing, I learned that it's sometimes a good thing to do nothing but walk a room and see what's laying around.  And now I look forward to making more stitch notes!

I hope you have a stampin' good day!

QUILTY PIECED BIRD CARDS

How adorable is this bird?!?!

If you haven't already been seeing pieced bird cards, you're in for a real treat today.  I saw this design for the first time last night, and I knew that it would be the first thing that I worked on today.  On the Frenchie Stamps blog, France Martin has a video tutorial of how to make the pieced bird and also shares a photo of a quilt that prompted her to make a paper version.  

This first card that I'm sharing features Stampin' Up!'s "Perennial Lavender" designer paper and a sentiment from the fantastic "Timeless Arrangements" stamp set.  The rhinestone jewel that I used for the bird's eye is from the retired Noble Peacock Rhinestones, but any rhinestone, small sequin, or brad would certainly suffice.

As I followed along with France's video tutorial, there were only two things that I did differently.  Instead of using scissors to round the top right corner of the bird's head, I used a Corner Rounder punch.  She may have demonstrated with scissors because Stampin' Up! doesn't currently offer a punch for rounding corners--and that's perfectly understandable.  If you have a punch, use it.  The second thing that I decided to do--which I find to be extremely helpful when it comes to selecting which papers to use for which part of piecing the bird--was to create a cheat sheet of sorts where each piece is labeled as A, B, or C.  Below is the cheat sheet that I made for myself:

For my cheat sheet and for the second card, I used the oh-so-gorgeous "Flowering Zinnias" designer paper, which is one of Stampin' Up!'s newest Online Exclusives products.  Don't miss out on this paper because it is sooooooo pretty!

For the second card, I chose to make one with a Book Binding fold.  It's so simple to make, but that one extra score line gives the card just enough interest to keep it from looking like any other card.  It also provides a perfect place for a pretty strip of coordinating designer paper.  And the pieced bird . . . I think he is so beautiful.  Hopefully, you can tell that there is a fluffy cloud above and below him because . . . well . . . he's flying high.  Below is a closer look:

And how about one more photo that does a better job of showing the Book Binding card design:

So . . . be honest . . . are you ready to cut some 3/4" squares and start piecing some pretty birds?  This is a fantastic project for some of your smallest scraps of designer paper.  I've already got a container to hold cut squares for the sole purpose of making more, more, more pieced birds.  

Have a stampin' good day!

SUCH A NICE MASCULINE CARD

 

Don't faint, but the card I'm sharing today is not another Square Column creation.  I know, I know . . . it's shocking and hard to believe.  

I needed a masculine card.  One of the members at the club where I work makes beautiful pottery pieces, and he recently gave this creation to me:

I don't often use the word "lovely" in my everyday speak, but isn't it just that . . . l-o-v-e-l-y?  I cropped the photo to spare your eyes the condition of the plant that's in the pot because I'm not doing a great job with it.  But the pot and dish are such a treasure, and I love the texture on the pot.  

When trying to decide what kind of card to make, I thought that it should be somewhat earthy.  In some ways, that just added to the stress of making a masculine card . . . until . . . it just kinda fell into place.

It has wood, grass, metal, a rope-like frame, and texture.

Obviously, you can't see how the card looked in the beginning, so I'll just tell you the things that made it pop.  Adding the embossed white layer to a piece of Boho Blue cardstock proved to be a great separator between it and the wooden designer paper.  It still needed something, and the die-cut grass added so much to the appearance and made that layer feel grounded.  Lastly, the little tab at the top with the leafy metal trinket really took the design up a notch and was a perfect finishing touch.  

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a stampin' good day!

ANOTHER SQUARE COLUMN CARD AND MORE "SIMPLY ZINNIA".

 

Can you see too many zinnias?  Or too many Square Column cards?  I think the answer is no, and I hope you agree because I have more of both to share today.  I used the flower dies in the "Simply Zinnia" bundle on today's card, along with that gorgeous designer paper and some of the Adhesive-Backed Shiny Sequins.

This card was made for my great-niece, and I think she's going to love it.  When she was a little girl, she enjoyed stamping--and had her own box of stamping supplies at my house but, sadly, she rarely had the opportunity to visit and enjoy those supplies.  It's hard to believe that she's going to be 22 y/o on March 6th.

The above photo shows the left side of the "column".

It's not necessary to decorate the inside of the column, but I think it's a nice finishing touch.

Aren't the colors in the designer paper simply stunning?

You might can tell from one of the pictures that the flower centers were brushed with Wink of Stella.  Speaking of the centers . . . I couldn't decide if the Lemon Lolly die-cut should go on top of the die-cut Crushed Curry or vice versa, so I just layered those cuts the way that I thought looked best.  I almost forgot to mention that the white layer behind the fussy-cut designer paper was embossed with the Exposed Brick 3D embossing folder.  Even though this layer would be mostly covered, I think the embossing added a nice amount of texture.  After I had assembled the die-cut zinnias, I used Stampin' Brushes on the tips to darken them just a tad.

Thanks for stopping by today!  And just so you know . . . I've already decided to make it my mission to do something other than a Square Column card for my next blog post.  :-)

Have a stampin' good day!

"SIMPLY ZINNIA" SQUARE COLUMN CARD

 

Have I got a pretty card to share today?  Oh yes!!!

My "Simply Zinnia" bundle arrived earlier this week, and today's card features images from the stamp set, coordinating dies, shiny sequins, and designer paper, which is simply bursting with rich, vibrant colors!  This is a GORGEOUS bundle!  The collection of products will be part of Stampin' Up!'s Online Exclusives and will be available on March 5th, so you might just want to mark your calendar to make a purchase that day.  Don't let this one get away!!!

You may remember from a previous post that I mentioned having a few Square Column cards already scored and ready to make?  I love making these cards, and they are perfect for showcasing designer paper.  Since the flat panel to the right of the column featured a die-cut sentiment and designer paper, the back of this card will be used for writing a note, greeting, etc.  Speaking of the die-cut sentiment . . . I really liked the faintly-stamped zinnia as a background, don't you?

The little bunch of zinnias were stamped with Memento ink and colored with alcohol markers. A bit of Wink of Stella was brushed in the center of the flowers to give them a little glimmer, and I think the colors coordinate so nicely with the designer paper.

For the past several years, my daddy has grown gorgeous zinnias!  They're so colorful, and just a few of them look so pretty in any vase.  As long as his zinnias are growing, he will have a bouquet for my sister and I when we visit on the weekends--this is always such a treat, and I love having them in my home.  This collection of products really called to me, and I hope that you love them, too.  But don't forget . . . March 5th is the first day to buy any or all of them.  

If you don't already have a Demonstrator, I'd love it if you would shop with me.  Here is a link to the Online Exclusives, but remember . . . Simply Zinnia won't be there until March 5th.

Have a stampin' good day!

"SO REFRESHING" ON A MAGIC CARPET

When I first looked through Stampin' Up!'s main catalog (when it was brand new), I had pen and paper and was ready to make a wish list.  The "So Refreshing" stamp set gained a lot of interest but, over time, it kept getting bumped off of my orders to make room for something else.  I finally purchased the bundle and was so excited to work with it!

I'm the first to admit that I have no artistic ability, and I didn't realize as I was working on this card that the cloud designer paper (from the "Sunny Days" Sale-a-Bration collection) was only going to make the cute picnic blanket look more like the refreshing lemonade was on a fun magic carpet ride.  How did I miss that???  🤣  

As you can see from the above photo, about 1" was cut off of the right side of the card front, which left that much of the inside of the card visible.  Perfect place for a strip of that pretty red floral paper, huh?  One of the Perennial Postage dies was used to cut the sentiment, which was layered onto a square of Lemon Lolly cardstock and placed to hang off the right edge of the card front.

As usual, it isn't too easy to see that Wink of Stella was brushed on the die-cut lemons and ice cubes, but they are glimmery.  And those teensy die-cut strawberries with detail . . . aren't they adorable?  "So Refreshing" is definitely another of those bundles that is fun to use and will probably get even more use once we get into the summer months.

That's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by!  

"SIMPLY SPARKLING" ROCKING CARD

The "Simply Sparkling" bundle seems to include everything you could think of, including such fun fruits!  As someone who enjoys coloring, I chose to stamp, color and then die-cut the images, but there are dies in this bundle that are perfect for someone who might not want to color--just cut the shapes--which include embossed/cut details--from designer paper or cardstock.

Creating the rocking card was easy.  I just folded my cardstock in half and then placed a die on the cardstock so that only the lower portion (below the fold line) would cut.  Of course, you can use any size circle die for a rocking card.

And then, of course, I had lots of choices and decisions to make--all enjoyable, of course!  It's impossible for me to say just how fun the "Simply Sparkling" bundle is. And those fruits . . . aren't they sweet?  They'd be pretty on a project without the soda can.  In case you need another look at the bundle:

"Simply Sparkling" is one of Stampin' Up!'s Online Exclusives and only available while supplies last, so don't let this one get away.