Create with Connie and Mary--Christmas Beauty

Hello! I hope you didn’t miss me too much on the Hop last week! I was having some massive techie problems that have not been solved, but I have found a work around so at least I can share in the fun!

This week, the FINAL Saturday, of November we are featuring cards with the theme Christmas Beauty. I decided to make a Z Fold fun card and pair it up with the In The Pines bundle and Tag Buffet stamp set.

Now to be honest, I am not sure I have ever actually MADE a Z Fold card before! Isn’t that wild? I did a quick search on Pinterest (do you follow me?) to get some basic dimensions and then I started stamping!

I actually chose a bit of an unusual color combo as well—Mint Macaron, Rocco Rose and Rich Razzleberry!

We all have our visions of beauty and I decided to create this project with a non-traditional color palette.

I used some designer paper from the Poinsettia Place collection and that helped jump start my color palette.

In my middle panel I decided to stamp the trio of trees in Whisper White Craft Ink and emboss them for a subtle effect. The sentiment is stamped in Just Jade ink of Mint Macaron card stock and cut with the largest circle die.

I added in some Holiday Rhinestones and some Mint Macaron ribbon for some bling! I hope you enjoy all of the amazing projects everyone has to share this week!

Joy of Sets-Thankful for You

Hello and welcome to another Joy of Sets Blog Hop! This month we have an awesome line up and I can’t wait to see how everyone interpreted our theme of “Thankful for You”. I do know you will leave feeling inspired!

Once I knew what our theme was I knew right away that I wanted to use the Snowflake Wishes stamp set and coordinating die set, So Many Snowflakes, from our Handmade for You catalogue. I was really intrigued that Stampin’ Up! had decided to add the sentiment “Thank You Snow Much” into this set and I wanted to find a clever way to use it.

I started my design by stamping the sentiment on a piece of vellum using Momento ink. I then stamped the snowflake cluster in Highland Heather ink around the phrase as a border. Be careful when stamping on vellum as it does need a little bit more drying time.

I layered this piece on a slightly larger piece of Whisper White card stock that I ran through the Winter Snow embossing folder and then finally added that piece to a square of the Snowflake Splendor Designer Series Paper.

This photo shows off all three layers nicely I think! I also stamped the same image on the top left and bottom right corners of the card. The base is Purple Posy and the ink is Highland Heather.

I decided to add another strip of the designer paper along the left side and add a few ribbon details. I love our Denim Ribbon! Did you know its still current and available in the Annual Catalogue? A bit of the Purple Posy ribbon from the Playing with Patterns combo is also a great addition.

And finally, got to have some bling so I added in the Snowflake Sequins. Adding sequins to your project could not be easier if you have the Take a Pick Tool! It is one of my favorite craft room must haves!

I absolutely love the Snowflake Spendor suite or set in the Handmade for You Catalogue! If you are in Canada and would love to get your hands on any of these items, please use the Hostess Code on my sidebar or shop with me directly using my online store!

I hope you are able to visit everyone on the Joy of Sets Blog Hop today! Thank you for visiting! Please feel free to leave a comment and visit Susan Webster next on the hop!

Create with Connie and Mary-Christmas Flowers!

Welcome back to another great week of blog hopping with the Create with Connie and Mary crew! This week we are featuring Christmas Flowers, which is pretty much synonymous with poinsettia’s, don’t you think? Luckily for us Stampin’ Up! crafters we have the amazing Poinsettia Place suite to use!

I knew immediately that I had to create something with this fantastic suite as it has everything. Two amazing designer papers, Beaded Pearls and Red Sheer ribbon plus the most amazing die set that cuts and embosses! LOVE LOVE LOVE!

To create this page I started with a 12x12 base of Old Olive. I added a strip of the designer paper along the side and photo mat of Very Vanilla. I will admit, its been a while since I pulled that neutral out. I typically head straight for Whisper White but this particular pattern in the DSP had vanilla flowers so I went with it!

I stamped two different poinsettia sizes on the background of my page in Old Olive Ink.

I knew I wanted to create a large poinsettia flower with the dies and Very Vanilla card stock. I decided to flick my Wink of Stella pen over top for a little extra shimmer before I added the Beaded Pearl to the center. I love how it turned out.

The DSP strip actually has three different shades of green, Old Olive, Shaded Spruce and Pear Pizzaz which gave me a few options for adding in other colors.

Look at the amazing detail you get from these dies. I love that you can cut and add in the embossed detail at the SAME TIME. Or you can simply cut out the shape.

And the Beaded Pearls, so great in person!

I wanted to play off of the gold accents in this suite so I stamped the sentiment, Happy Holidays, in gold ink and embossed with gold embossing powder. I added in the little sprig from the die set by cutting it from Gold Foil paper.

I decided to add in a phrase from another stamp set, Warm Hugs, as it was a great size to punch with a circle punch and layer with a bit of Soft Suede. The leaves beside it are stamped on Pear Pizzaz card stock in Old Olive ink.

I added a few mini poinsettia flowers up at top of the page to carry that Very Vanilla color across the page.

For me this page came together in a snap and I think you could reproduce it with any type of flower that you have in your collection. I hope you are inspired and if you live in Canada you can shop with me by using my Hostess Code (found on my side bar) or by visiting my online store!

I can’t wait to see what the rest of the gals have created this week! You can go BACK and visit Melissa if you are just starting here or you can go NEXT and see what Connie has designed!

Around the World on Wednesday--Textures!

Welcome to another Around the World on Wednesday blog hop! These blog hops are a fantastic way for me to feel connected to those around me in the Stampin’ world because we have not had a very usual year. It would be easy to think of all the things we have missed out on, but I am choosing to focus on all the things that have actually been fantastic so far this year and this blog hop is one of them! From the stellar line up of stamping talent to the awesome and unique themes that Angie has developed for us, you are guaranteed to be inspired and feel connected to other stampers!

I wanted to create a scrapbook page that has a variety of texture on it and showcase some of the fun ways we can achieve it with our Stampin’ supplies.

My first idea was to create a custom stencil using our Window Sheets so I could use some embossing paste.

Well, seems that I didn’t have any Window Sheets! So I decided to use some retired Mercury Glass Acetate paper instead! Sometimes you have to be resourceful!

I used the circle dies and a small 3/4 circle punch to make this custom stencil. I placed it over top of my Whisper White 12x12 base and ran some Embossing Paste over top that I had mixed with a couple of drops of Calypso Coral Re-Inker.

When I was using the spatula to cover the circles I tried not to focus on getting the circles perfectly smooth. I thought that would also help created some texture on the page.

I tinted my embossing paste with re-inker and mixed it in an empty embellishment container! I never throw those containers away as I find I can always repurpose them for something!

I am in love with the color palette for my page today! I used Calypso Coral, Bumbleebee, Just Jade and Pool Party for this cozy page. I think these colors look so fantastic together no matter the time of year!

Another great way to showcase texture is to use our embossing folders. I chose to use the Winter Snow Embossing Folder and I wanted to add in some snowflake imagery to this page. I continued with that theme by using the So Many Snowflakes Dies. Both items are from the Snowflake Splendor Suite in the Handmade for You catalogue. The snowflakes and the sprig are cut from Shimmery White card stock to add a little dazzle.

You can find the sentiment “Eat, Drink and Be Cozy” in the Warm Hugs stamp set and the worlds cutest to go coffee cup is from the Press On stamp set.

The big white sprig is from the Beautiful Boughs dies in the main catalogue and is a carry over set from last holiday season.

I stamped the phrase “Its the Most Wonderful Time of Year” on Just Jade card stock and punched it with the Label Me Fancy punch and added some Gingham Bumblebee ribbon behind. Another way I created texture was by adding in some of the In Color Enamel dots in Just Jade and Bumblebee in select areas on the page.

I really hope you are inspired to pull out your embossing paste or add it to your next order! It is a really fun product to play around with an experiment! You can always shop with me if you are Canada! You can use the hostess code on my side bar or visit my online store!

Create with Connie and Mary--Home for the Holidays!

Hello and welcome to our weekly Saturday Blog Hop! This week we are sharing projects with the theme “Home for the Holidays” so naturally I thought of the Trimming the Town suite as it has stamp images to create a bunch of different homes!

Recently my team had a virtual meeting and we made a Cube Card together! Have you tried this fun fold style yet? I actually thought it would be complicated but its actually surprisingly easy!

This is my ‘Home for the Holidays’ themed Cube Card! I really enjoyed designing the panels and putting this project together.

To create a cube card you will need a piece of 12x12 card stock. I used Poppy Parade as my base because its coordinated with the Trimming the Town DSP.

On your trimmer cut down one side of the 12x12 to 11 1/2 inches. On this side (11 1/2) SCORE at 2 3/4, 5 1/2, 8 1/4 and 11.

Rotate the paper so your 12x12 length is across the top and CUT at 2 3/4, 2 3/4 and 5 1/2. Thus creating 3 strips of paper—-2 will be at 2 3/4 width and one at 5 1/2 width

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You will notice that you have a 1/2 inch section and this will be where you will add your adhesive to fold your paper into cubes. You will have two cubes that are 2 3/4 wide and one that is 5 1/2. The largest one is the base.

You will attach each of the smaller cubes to the largest cube, ONLY adding adhesive to the bottom cube. If you glue the whole thing is will not pop up into the cube card shape.

Hopefully this visual helps you as well. There are a bunch of YouTube videos you can also watch on how to create a Cube Card.

Once you have the basic design mastered, decorating and embellishing is all up to you! I decided to mix up some of the panels with DSP and card stock that I ran through the Wrapped in Texture embossing folders from the Heartwarming Hugs suite.

I added in Merry Christmas and ‘Tis the Season from the Tag Buffet stamp set.

I hope you are inspired to give this fun Cube Card design a try! My team had a lot of fun putting its together and I challenged them to share their finished design on our group page.

I can’t wait to see what the other gals create this week! You can go BACK to see what Melissa has designed and NEXT to see what Connie has created!