Every Little Kindness

This sentiment found in the Waterfront stamp set is really resonating with me right now, especially during this unique time in our lives. I chose this card specifically to start off my “A Card a Day in May” creative challenge! I am going to create and share a new card on my blog each day this month for a total of 31 inspiriting, I hope, cards for everyone! This challenge will help give me purpose and intention and I am hoping to use some of those ‘rarely’ touched stamp sets I have and of course you will see some new stamp sets, embellishments, designer paper and more as the month goes on!

So I hope you will check back every day for a new idea and I would love your feedback too! So leave a comment and have a fabulous MAY!

This card is inspired by one in the Idea Book & Catalogue featuring the Waterfront stamp set. I used Soft Seafoam (my favourite of all our greens) for the base layers of this card. The DSP strip is from Woven Threads and the sequins are from the Basic Sequins collection. I also added a touch of Wink of Stella to the water, its just tricky to capture in a photo!

I won’t lie, I will be sad to see White Bakers Twine retire at the end of this catalogue. It has been an embellishment that has served me well over the years!

What little kindness have your been spreading during this time? I have sent cards to all of my co-workers, seniors homes, parents of friends and as many of my stamping friends as I can to try and brighten their day. I want them to know that they matter to me, and I miss seeing them, and they are loved.

Awesome April Card Mailing Challenge

At the start of April I posted on my private group stampin’ page a request for those who wanted to participate in a card mailing challenge for the month of April. I set up an exclusive page for us (12 members in total) and each day our goal was to post a mailbox selfie of us sending out a card. Let me tell you, these ladies rose to the challenge typically sending more than one card a day for the ENTIRE month. One of the members sent 150 cards prior to Easter to her church family! The best part of this challenge was it gave many of us a purpose during this challenging time. It forced us to leave our homes every day to post a picture at our mailbox or post office and I looked forward to seeing everyone with their pets or their kids assisting in sending out these cards. Think of how many happy smiles were on the other end of those cards. I have been known to say that a card is a “happiness with a fold in the middle”!

I wanted to share one of the cards that I made in bulk to send out over the course of this month. Many of these cards also had pictures inside of me and the recipient as well as I am someone who regularly prints photos and I wanted to share some happy memories with them!

This card features products from the new Ornate Garden suite and Designer Series paper from the Peaceful Poppies Suite.

The sentiment is from the Sale-a-bration stamp set Rise and Shine

Scrappy Strip Technique

Well it is true that Bruno Bertucci’s Scrappy Strip technique is taking the world by storm! It is a really easy technique and a great one to share virtually in a team meeting or class. I recently shared the technique with my team and then went on to make a whole bunch of these cards for Mother’s Day. This technique is a great way to use up scraps and showcase our wonderful DSP.

After creating a card with this technique I decided to apply the technique to a scrapbook page, and I absolutely LOVE how it turned out!

My Scrappy Strip card features the Best Dressed DSP which is in the current Occasions Catalogue. The flower is from the Healing Hugs stamp set and is stamped in Highland Heather. The Textile Ribbon in Mint Macaron is perfect for this card. You can find the Happy Mother’s Day sentiment in the Itty Bitty Greetings stamp set. Both stamp sets are in the Idea Book & Catalogue.

On my scrapbook page, I cut the base white strip to 3 1/5 x 8 and then cut three 4x4 squares that I applied the Scrappy Strip technique to. I used the new Ornate Gardens Specialty DSP. I think this is a fantastic page that showcases many elements from this suite well. The Under my Umbrella bundle felt like a create option to pair with this spring photo taken earlier in March.

From This to That!

The benefit of having some extra time on my hands is I have been going through my craft room and discovering things, like this layout from several years ago. It gave me the inspiration for another “From This to That”!

On my updated version I used the Honey Bee Specialty DSP from Sale-a-bration as the base and layered a piece of Whisper White card stock over top, I sponged some Soft Seafood in the background under the word ‘cousins’ which were cut with the Hand Lettered Prose dies. I used the Seriously The Best stamp set for the other sentiments paired with the Mountain Air stamp set (which is carrying over to the new annual catalogue!). The best part of this whole layout are the trees along the side!

Supplies you will need:

-cello bag

-two contrasting ink colors but of the same color family (I used Granny Apple Green and Call Me Clover)

-a Spritzer filled with water

-a piece of water-colour or Shimmery White paper

-a die of your choice (I used the two large trees from the Majestic Mountain dies)

How To:

Stamp your two ink pads straight onto your cello bag. Lightly spritz with water and place your paper on top making sure to get both ink colors on the paper. Remove, let dry and cut with your die of choice.

I just love the detail of these trees! I rotated the die on the paper so one tree is bright on top and the other on the bottom!

And because I was feeling super inspired, I recreated this layout with a completely different color pallet, keeping the elements the same. For these trees I used Merry Merlot and Melon Mambo!

I also discovered how awesome Merry Merlot looks stamped on Rocco Rose!

Color Coach Combo

Do you ever reach for the Color Coach cards that Stampin’ Up! created? I do find myself looking at them for inspiration when I feel stuck, or want to add a pop of color but not sure what! You can see how I used one of the Calypso Coral cards to influence the color pallet for this scrapbook page. I wanted to create a page that was bright and floral but could be used with a picture from any moment of your life. The pictures I actually used on these pages are from quarantine. I think it is important to document this experience in our lives too, and it is important to me that these paper memories are positive and bright.

Fun fact: I drank the whole bottle that day!

The colors used on this page are Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Petal Pink, Sahara Sand and Bermuda Bay with a hint of gold accents. I used the Golden Honey Specialty DSP which was the NUMBER ONE item redeemed during Sale-a-bration! The stamp sets used are Beautiful Friendship, Beautiful Promenade, Capture the Good and Well Said.

The ribbon on my selfie is the Whisper White Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon that I coloured with the dark Petal Pink Blend marker. If you take the ribbon and lay it on an acrylic block, you can pull it underneath the marker— It is so fast and easy to do and drives immediately.