Color Fusers March 2022

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Hello friend and welcome to the March edition of the Color Fusers Blog Hop! We are all so happy you have decided to check out our Hop and projects! I love this Hop because it helps me focus on NEW color combinations instead of using my go to favorites all the time!

Our color combination this month is a fun one as it includes 2 of my favorite In Colors—Soft Succulent and Evening Evergreen paired up with Rich Razzleberry! I can’t wait to see what the team comes up with this month!

Isn’t this a great combo? Now when I was considering my design, I knew I wanted my card base to be Evening Evergreen and upon searching my Designer Series collection I realized that I had few options for Soft Succulent patterns and decided this was a great opportunity to create my own!

It was easy to create my own stripy fun background with a Soft Succulent ink pad and the largest brush tip from the Water Painters. I just love how we have 3 brush tips to choose from! The widest makes creating a fun background so EASY!

To create the background, I used an acrylic block and stamped my Soft Succulent ink pad onto it, to create sort of a painters palette. I squeezed a bit of water from my Water Painter beside the ink and dipped my brush into the water and then into the ink.

 

I just swiped my brush across the Basic White card stock, starting at a different end each time. I don’t worry about the stripes being too perfect, I think it adds to the uniqueness and charm when they don’t. So its easy to create your own background using any of our colors!

I also decided to use my favorite bundle on this project as well—the Artfully Layered Bundle! It just has so much potential and it makes me think of vacations, the beach and sunshine!

I added some die cut shapes in Rich Razzleberry and Evening Evergreen, however I think the best part of the card is the large leaf (I am sure it has a fancy name but don’t ask me what, hahaha!). I stamped it on Basic White card stock with Rich Razzleberry ink and then used my Blending Brush with a light hand and Rich Razzleberry ink to add a light dusting of color over top! It is such a nice way to add a hint of color to the shape.

I stamped the sentiment with Evening Evergreen Ink on Soft Succulent card stock and added some Evening Evergreen Open Weave Ribbon and Linen Thread behind.

The final touch was to add some bling—of course! I used the In Color Jewels and the little teeny leaves that you can die cut with the Tropical Layers Dies. I always like to add a few little bits and bobs to my cards, I can’t help myself!

Because this card is made with a dark color as the base I find you always need to add a light layer on the inside to write your greeting. And its another opportunity to STAMP! I stamped the large leaf in Soft Succulent ink on the same color layering piece. I added Thank You in Evening Evergreen ink over top.

I hope this project inspires you to try making your own fun background! I can’t wait to see what the rest of the team designs this month! Please feel free to comment, I love to hear what you have to say!

You can hit NEXT to see what Bonnie has created or you can go in reverse and see what Tami has designed. Either way, make sure you pop around to each of our blogs! Thank you so much!

Hello Ladybug Artisan Design Team Project

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Hello friends! This month my group on the Artisan Design Team was assigned the Hello Ladybug Bundle to create with. I was really excited about this bundle as I immediately saw my cute ladybugs in pastel colors. That is the best thing about being the designer, we can create things in any color schemes we like!

I had the perfect picture of my kids for this page layout. This was taken several summers ago at our local zoo. I let the colors of the greenery impact the color of green I used in my layout.

Each month along with our projects we need to share a tip with everyone and as soon as I saw the Ladybug Builder Punch I knew I wanted to share my template tip. Each time we introduce a new builder punch I created a template. The template allows me to align my stamps on a block with perfect precision and have them punch out with little to no paper waste. I then store the template in the stamp case so I always know where to find it.

After you have created the template place the stamps on an acrylic block using the template, stamp and punch!

For both of the projects I designed I used the Vellum 12x12 Layering Designs. I absolutely love this vellum and am so happy it is in a 12x12 format for scrapbooking. Both projects also use DSP from the In Color 2021/23 In Color 6x6 stack.

The colors I used to create my scrapbook page and card are Fresh Freesia, Pale Papaya, Garden Green, Flirty Flamingo and Basic Grey. Black felt like too much of a contrast for the ladybugs so I softened them a bit by using Basic Grey.

Top Tip: Did you know that the daisy in the Hello Ladybug stamp set can be cut with the Medium Daisy Punch in the annual catalogue? I was so excited about that!

I did hand trim the leaves and the flowers to add as accents onto my scrapbook page. I added some of the Polished Dots as embellishments. They are such a great embellishment as they coordinate with everything!

I hope my projects have inspired you to think about using this cute little bundle for card making and scrapbooking! Make sure to check out the whole Artisan Design Team’s projects this month. You will be amazed at what everyone has designed!

Around the World on Wednesday--Fun with Basics!

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This month our team is focusing on BASICS—-this can be items with ‘basic’ in the title or crafting basics that are a must have for us. My project, a scrapbook page, combines Basic White as its my go to neutral and a focus on DIES because its very rare that I can make a project of ANY kind without using my Stamp Cut & Emboss Machine.

I also recently just hit a couple of fun milestones—15 years and 500,000 CSV in sales (which is Canadian dollars is over 600,000!) so I wanted to scrapbook a picture of my first meeting/photo with Shelli Gardner at Convention. Remember Convention? Were you ever lucky enough to go? I was blessed enough to go a few times and have such amazing memories!

I am absolutely in LOVE with how this page turned out. It is definitely going on display in my craft room so I can look at it all the time!

The base of my page is Basic White and I also used that for the 5x7 photo mat and all of the clouds. The various clouds came from the Give it a Whirl Dies and the Basic Borders Dies. Both are MUST HAVES if you love the Rainbow of Happiness Bundle. They support this bundle perfectly!

This page might be full of Basic White elements but it is anything but basic if you ask me!

It think it was destiny that my outfit in this page just happened to match the Sunshine & Rainbows DSP, haha! It was actually perfect and the little piece of colored strips on the left is what influenced the colors in the rainbows.

The sentiment “So Happy to Know You” is truly perfect. Over the years I have had the pleasure to meet and visit with Shelli on several occasions. She even came to one of my events in Calgary and we had a lovely phone call when she called to congratulate me on my recent achievements. Her call really affirmed to me the Stampin’ Up! value of “We Care About People First”.

You would never know by her megawatt smile that this picture was taken at the end of a very long day at Convention, there was barely anyone left when I nervously asked her to pose for this picture with me! Of course she said yes with her gorgeous smile!

The sentiment is stamped in Magenta Madness ink and is die cut with the Sweet Hearts Dies (I love when SU adds a great label die into a set) and has my favorite white twine (in truth I rarely make anything without twine. I LOVE IT) and Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon. Also a craft room must have. Any ribbon in Basic White has unlimited potential because we can color it to match our projects.

I love these Amazing Thanks Dies…add them to cart NOW! Haha! I loved how fresh they looked cut in Basic Black and Vellum. They are a great size for card making and paper crafting! And the phrase is perfect for this page!

I love how the Brilliant Rainbow dies bring this whole page to life with the accent clouds. I love the little rainbow tag above the stamped sentiment and how the pop of color in the bigger rainbow jumps off of the Basic White background. I hope this page inspires you to start your canvas with Basic White and layer in a bit of color. Let your photo guide you with what colors too add onto your project.

Please visit Tricia Butts from the United States who is next on the hop! Thanks so much for joining in with us!

See you next month! We always have unique and fun themes for our hop! And if my page layout inspired you, please click on any images or the Shop with Me tab on the side. Thank you in advance for helping me love what I do!

Color Fusers February 2022

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Hello friends! Welcome back for another edition of Color Fusers! This month we have three new friends joining our blog hop—Sue Vine, Julie Kettlewell and Janneke Dijkstra-de Jong! I am so happy to be a part of this hop with them as they are seriously inspiring. I love this hop because it forces me to play around with color combos that I maybe had not considered!

This month our hop focuses on Misty Moonlight, Pool Party and Calypso Coral. I decided to make a slimline card to feature this color palette! I am really happy with how this project turned out, because I only used ONE stamp set to make this card! That is not something I can say very often!

I wanted to feature the new stamp set Flowing Flowers because I recently added it to my collection. It is a “Distinktive” style stamp as well so it has alot of natural texture built into the floral stamp images.

I was also inspired to create a slimline style card because we have the fantastic Slimline Envelopes in the new January to June (JJ) catalogue in Soft Succulent, Smoky Slate and Basic White. I incorporated the Basic White version into my project as well.

I stamped the largest floral image in Pool Party ink on the left side of the envelope. I added the sentiment “Sending a card instead of a text” with Misty Moonlight Ink and a quick spray of my Calypso Coral Stampin’ Blend and all three of our focus colors were on the envelope! WIn!

 

Let’s talk about the slim line card now! I made the card base after looking at the size of the envelope. I decided on 8 1/2 x 7, score at 3 1/2. This creates the perfect size to slip into your envelope.

I did a little background stamping with the large floral image from Flowing Flowers (same as the envelope) in Pool Party ink on the right side of the card. Because the DSP is heavy on the left I decided to not add any stamping on that side of the card.

The DSP is from the Sunshine & Rainbows Sale-a-bration collection. It is so fantastic! The Misty Moonlight pattern is 1 x 3 1/4 and the Pool Party print is 3 x 6. I added a little edge detail with the Tropical Layers Dies in Calypso Coral card stock.

Top Tip: You can use your Blending Brushes to transfer the ink from your ink pad to your stamp. I find with the Distinktive style stamps this helps the details from the stamp transfer more clearly to your card stock.

I stamped the mid sized flower from the set in Calypso Coral ink and the trio of smaller flowers in Misty Moonlight and Calypso Coral. All of the flowers are hand trimmed as there is no hardware to support this stamp set. I actually don’t mind fussy cutting and breaking apart the trio of flowers gives you alot of design options.

The sentiment is stamped in Misty Moonlight ink on the coordinating card stock. I added some white twine and Misty Moonlight ribbon from the Cotton Ribbon Combo Pack.

I finished off my project with my favorite embellishment (this week!) which are the Polished Dots. I used both of the colors in the package as well.

I hope this card inspires you to create a slimline card and to not shy away from using 6x6 DSP t accentuate your card!

Next up on the hop is Bonnie O’Neill! Make sure you go all around the hop, especially to see what our new members have created this month! You can also go to ‘Previous’ to see what Tami Hewlett has created this month.

If my project has inspired you to ‘add to cart’ please consider me as your demo! Every order let’s me keep creating and loving what I do!

You can click on any of the images below to be directed to my store. Make sure you come back next month to see what colors we will be playing with. We ‘hop’ the first Monday of each month with a fresh new color combo!

Gumball Goodness-Artisan Design Team Project

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Hello friends! Welcome to a brand new year of Artisan Design Team projects! I am so happy to be a part of the team again for 2022. I think it took me most of 2021 to get my bearings so I am happy to have another opportunity! One area that I didn’t do the best at was creating a blog post to go with my monthly assignments. There are often lots of fun things to share with you that go along with our monthly posts that don’t always come across in the 2 photos we submit!

Fun fact, we submit 2 photos but I usually take like—30! hahaha! Then I narrow them down to the two best, edit them and all that jazz, and then fingers crossed they get approved! Sometimes we do have to make little tweaks and since I photograph my projects in natural light, even an hour difference can make the whole series of pictures look very different!

These cards feature the awesome Gumball Greetings Bundle from the new January to June Mini Catalogue—or the JJ catalogue!

My first assignment for 2022 was the Gumball Greetings bundle in the new JJ catalogue—the bundle can be found on page 12 and includes some really unique accents—the Gumball Machine Shaker Domes and the little Frosted Beads Assortment! I used these beads in two ways—-as filler for my gumball machine and as an accent or embellishment on my card front!

Now truth be told, I did actually struggle with this assignment! I spent alot of mental time thinking about my projects and ripped apart several attempts until I landed on these two cards. I think they are a good representation of the stamp set and the dies.

For the gumball shaker card I pulled in some DSP from the Pattern Party DSP Stack (a hostess benefit!) from the Annual catalogue. I then made my own striped accent with scraps of card stock in Granny Apple Green, Real Red and Pool Party as they were the focus colors of my project. I cut a strip of Basic White to 1 x 5, covered it in Tombow Multipurpose Glue and then added the strips of card stock on a diagonal.

This close up view shows you all of the fun things I added into the Gumball Machine Shaker Dome!

On the other side of my DSP panel I have used a die cut included in the Gumball Machine Dies that cuts out a strip of mini itty bitty hearts! The bottom of the machine is stamped in Momento Ink on Basic White, colored with Stampin’ Blends in Real Red and Grey Granite. It is then die cut. The topper of the gumball machine is stamped with Momento Ink on Real Red card stock and then I added a bit of detail with the coordinating Blends.

To add a realistic feel too the coin spinner, I added the little die cut handle and a shape from the Adhesive Backed Hexagons to the center!

The dome shape is cut with a die from the DSP and layered behind it, I stamped the dome filler. I added some stamped gumballs in Read Red, then I stamped and die cut some more in Pool Party. I added these with Mini Dimensionals inside the shaker dome area. I also stamped and die cut some hearts in Granny Apple Green and added some of the mini die cut hearts from the die strip in Real Red and Pool Party. Finally I added in some of the Frosted Beads in green and red. All of these elements made for some fantastic gumball machine filler!

I added a cute #tammybow using the new Real Red Faux Linen ribbon that was cut in half plus a few little gumballs rolling out of the bottom of the machine for some extra touches!

Each month we also need to incorporate a tip or technique into our project. I thought it would be fun to color the inside of the dome with a Dark Pool Party Stampin’ Blend to give a soft blue hue to the dome. Think of how cool this could look if you turned the Gumball Shaker Dome into fish bowl!

My second project uses the little mini gumball machine stamp as a background stamp which I love! I stamped them randomly in Pool Party ink on the coordinating paper. My favorite part of this card is how I used the heart border die as an accent behind the sentiment! I also used my Tombow Multipurpose Glue to add some of the green Frosted Beads to the card front as an embellishment, along with some stamped hearts and hearts from the die cut strip!

The sentiment is stamped in White Craft Ink with embossing powder to help the white pop on the Granny Apple Green. A little distressing of the edges and this card came together pretty quickly! I think its a fun one to give with a gift card inside!

Thank you for following along on my Artisan Journey again this year! I appreciate all of your comments and LIKES and if you live in Canada and my projects have inspired you, please consider shopping my online store!