Expressions in Color Birthdays

Hello and welcome back! I've got some catching up to do today to finish up birthday cards for the end of the year. I've also gotten behind on my Paper Pumpkins and other kits, as evidenced by this photo.

 So in order to solve two problems at once, I pulled a kit from the middle of that stack and made all birthday cards with it.

The first two cards are made pretty much exactly as the kit describes. The second card has the birthday sentiment instead of the congratulations in the kit.

This is the card that is really different from the kit. It was originally a thank you note card but I used the parts to make it a full-sized birthday card. The patterned paper and solid card base were trimmed to keep the measurements proportional. I used the Artistic Dies to die cut the large floral motif out of vellum cardstock. I added an Adhesive Sheet to the back before cutting to make it easier to attach the piece to the card front. Even with that, it didn't want to stick so I ran over it several times with an old rubber brayer to help with the adhesion. I added some Evening Evergreen ribbon under the sentiment strip and then a few sequins from the kit to finish it off.

On to another kit! Maybe I can get a bit ahead for January!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Kit - Expressions In Color (Paper Pumpkin June 2021)

Stamp sets - Artistically Inked, In Your Words (inside sentiment)

Paper - Basic White Thick Cardstock, Vellum Cardstock

Ink - Bumblebee, Soft Succulent, Fresh Freesia

Accessories - Evening Evergreen Open Weave Ribbon

Tools - Big Shot, Artistic Dies, Adhesive Sheets

Eden's Garden Sympathy

Hello and welcome back! Today's card is for my son's friend whose grandmother passed away this week.

Once Christmas was over I finally got around to unboxing an order I had placed in November. It included the Eden's Garden suite of products, and I thought these would be perfect for a sympathy card.

 I still have lots of die-cut pieces from the Forever Gold Specialty DSP so I added one of those to the card front. Since there are gold accents in the Ever Eden DSP, this coordinates beautifully.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Delicate Dahlias, Heal Your Heart (inside sentiment), Eden's Garden (envelope)

Paper - Soft Succulent, Evening Evergreen, Basic White Cardstock; Ever Eden Specialty DSP; Forever Gold Specialty DSP

Ink - Evening Evergreen, Soft Succulent

Accessories - Soft Succulent Open Weave Ribbon, Gilded Gems

Tools - Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Dies, Eden Dies, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

Happy 85th Birthday!

 Hello and welcome back! Today's card is for a friend who is celebrating her 85th birthday today!

I used the sketch from Sunday Stamps for the design.

I had originally planned to put the "85" element on the card front, but I wasn't sure if she wanted to advertise her age, so I swapped it out for the birthday cake, which was colored with Stampin' Blends. Not wanting to waste that first element, I opted to put it inside and make it a pop-up, using the tutorial from Vy Tran. (I used this tutorial to create some cards last week too.) I had to tweak it a bit to get it to fit, but it worked perfectly!

I hand delivered the card today and Mary was very impressed!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Happy Birthday to You, Forever Blossoms (on envelope)

Paper - Basic White Thick Cardstock; Basic White, Blushing Bride, Pool Party Cardstock; Birthday Bouquet DSP

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Pool Party; Stampin' Blends: Pool Party Dark and Light, Mint Macaron Dark and Light, Old Olive Dark and Light, Petal Pink Dark, Bermuda Bay Light, Basic Black Light

Accessories - Blushing Bride Bakers Twine, Matte Black Dots

Tools - Big Shot, Layering Ovals Dies, Birthday Dies, Large Numbers Framelits, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

Dove of Hope Sympathy

Hello and welcome back! Well, I finally got all my Christmas cards done and put them in the mail yesterday. Sadly, while I was preparing them, I found out that one of my old high school classmates lost his wife last week. So the card I had already made out for them was out the window (so to speak). It's incredibly difficult to make sympathy cards right before Christmas and I can really empathize with those who lose loved ones near the holidays, as I have lost more than a few myself at this time of year.

Anyway, I needed to make a card to send to him so I went to Pinterest for some ideas and CASEd a card from Yvonne Pree.

Yvonne's card was all in white, but I felt like that was a bit too stark so I used Balmy Blue instead. She is an Australian demo and her card was sized differently so I had to adjust my "angel wings" more horizontally to fit on the front without hanging over. I added three Opal Rounds to the center to cover the glue.

This card was simple to make but I think those wings make a great impact.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Woven Heirlooms, Dove of Hope (inside sentiment and envelope)

Paper - Balmy Blue Cardstock, Vellum Cardstock

Ink - Misty Moonlight

Accessories - Opal Rounds

Tools - Big Shot, Stitched Nested Labels, Detailed Dove Dies, Tasteful Textile 3D Embossing Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Multipurpose Liquid Glue

Retro Merry Wreath

 Hello and welcome back! Here's another Christmas card.

The inspiration for this design came from the challenge at Retro Rubber.

This is pretty much a literal translation of the inspiration photo - I'm just missing the pinecone! I used my Stamparatus to create the wreath with the pine bough stamp from Cherish the Season, which was in the 2020 Holiday Mini Catalog. The banner was created with Banner Blast and the Simply Serif Mini Alphabet stamps, which appeared in the 2014 Sale-A-Bration catalog and the 2014-2015 Annual Catalog, respectively. Many of the tools I used are "retro" as well.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Cherish the Season, Banner Blast, Simply Serif Mini Alphabet

Paper - Crumb Cake, Real Red, and Very Vanilla Cardstock; Red Foil Sheets; Wood Textures DSP

Ink - Shaded Spruce, Real Red

Accessories - Linen Thread, Real Red Woven Satin Ribbon, Wonderful Gems

Tools - Big Shot, Circles Collection Framelits, Stamparatus, Banner Punch, 1/16" Handheld Punch, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

Christmas Greetings

Hello and welcome back! This card is another CASEd from the July-December Mini Catalog.

My sister recently adopted two Welsh Corgis, so I was excited to see this DSP! I've also got a couple of friends with Golden Retrievers, so they'll be getting the cards with those puppers on them.

The only changes I made from the catalog sample are the placement of the sentiment strip and the type of ribbon. I don't have the striped grosgrain so I substituted some retired ruffled ribbon in the same color.

 Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp set - Sweet Little Stockings

Paper - Pool Party and Cherry Cobbler Cardstock, Sweet Stockings DSP

Ink - Versamark, Cherry Cobbler

Accessories - Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon, Gold Embossing Powder

Tools - Heat Tool, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

Candy Cane Gifts of Christmas

Hello and welcome back! Here we go with another Christmas card!

This card was inspired by the color challenge this week at The Paper Players.

I was thinking that I needed more cards with Very Vanilla because I'm afraid I may run out of Basic White envelopes! I love this Candy Cane background stamp - it makes a statement without much effort.

 Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Candy Canes, Inspired Thoughts, Candy Cane Christmas (on envelope)

Paper - Shaded Spruce, Very Vanilla Cardstock; Very Vanilla Thick Cardstock; Gold Foil Sheets

Ink - Merry Merlot, Shaded Spruce

Accessories - Gold Bakers Twine, Gilded Gems

Tools - Big Shot, Stitched Nested Labels Dies, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

Very Merry Presents

Hello and welcome back! Here's another Christmas card! Time is running out!

This design was inspired by the sketch at TGIF Challenges this week.

 

How serendipitous that the Stockings Dies contain a piece that is tag shaped! Another easy card - no time for complicated now! Just a little coloring with Blends and topped with a bakers twine bow.

 Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp set - Sweet Little Stockings

Paper - Pear Pizzazz, Bumblebee, Basic White Cardstock; Sweet Stockings DSP

Ink - Evening Evergreen, Memento Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Blends: Cherry Cobbler Light, Old Olive Light

Accessories - Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine

Tools - Big Shot, Stockings Dies, Layering Circles Dies, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

Peaceful Cabin Sympathy

 Hello and welcome back! This card started out as a CASE from the July-December Mini Catalog for my Christmas card stash. However, it turned out to be much more involved than I anticipated, so I just made one and created a sympathy card for the widow of someone who recently passed at my church.

The card in the catalog uses the Cork Specialty Paper as a background. I don't have any of that but I did find some old adhesive cork in my stash, so I figured I might as well try that. This is actually cork, not just something printed to look like it, so it's got some real texture to it. I wasn't sure which adhesives would work but the green glue seems to hold paper to it just fine. The sample also had lots of layering with dimensionals but I didn't want to add more thickness because of the cork, so I only used them for the sentiment piece and the foxes.

I tucked a circle of silver foil behind the cabin and tree because I felt like it needed the moon. Surprisingly, this card isn't any heavier than any other with lots of layers.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Stamp sets - Peaceful Cabin, Inspired Thoughts

Paper - Basic White Thick Cardstock; Basic White Cardstock; Snowflake Splendor DSP; Silver Foil Sheets; Adhesive Cork Stack (DCWV)

Ink - Soft Suede, Early Espresso

Tools - Big Shot, Cabin Dies, Basic Borders Dies, 3/4" Circle Punch, Detailed Trio Punch, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

Celebration Tidings Anniversary

Hello and welcome back! I've only got two anniversaries this month, so this card will be going out for those.

This design was inspired by the color challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments and the sketch challenge at the Paper Craft Crew.

 Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Celebration Tidings, Christmas Season, A Word for You (inside sentiment)

Paper - Merry Merlot, Soft Succulent, Basic White Cardstock; Painted Christmas DSP

Ink - Evening Evergreen, Soft Succulent, Merry Merlot

Accessories - 2021-2023 In Color Jewels

Tools - Big Shot, Celebration Labels Dies, Ornate Layers Dies, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals

November 2021 Paper Pumpkin Alternatives

 Hello and welcome back! I've been so focused on Christmas cards that I've gotten behind on birthday cards again. I found some great Paper Pumpkin alternatives on Facebook, so I made one for Christmas and one for belated winter birthdays.

I CASEd this card from Vy Tran. Her ideas are so creative! I haven't made a pop-up card in a long time!

I got the idea for this belated birthday card from a couple of demonstrators. Tracy Elsom suggested outlining the snowman with a black pen to give him some definition. And Laura's Craft Closet had a card using the cute little wobbles to make a bobblehead snowman! 

I used a mask with some Shimmery White Embossing Paste to create the snowflake background. Because he's so big, I had to trim the snowman a bit to fit the card front.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise indicated):

Stamp set - from November 2021 Paper Pumpkin kit Gifts Galore

Paper - die cut elements from kit; Basic White Thick Cardstock; Pool Party and Poppy Parade cardstock

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Poppy Parade, Pool Party; Stampin' Write Markers: Basic Black, Poppy Parade

Accessories - Shimmery White Embossing Paste, Clear Wink of Stella, Recollections Mini Craft Springs (from Michaels)

Tools - Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Dies, Adorning Designs Decorative Masks, Palette Knives, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Tear & Tape, Stampin' Dimensionals

Grinchy Christmas

Hello and welcome back! At this time of year I'm always thankful for the demonstrators who share their creative ideas! I CASEd this card from Teresa at Stamping NoNo Style.

Teresa made a gift card holder, but I just changed it into a regular card. If I hadn't seen her post on Facebook I never would have thought to use this die for the Grinch's hand. So clever!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Christmas Means More, Frosted Foliage (inside sentiment)

Paper - Garden Green, Real Red, Granny Apple Green, Basic White Cardstock; Silver Foil Sheet; Be Merry DSP

Ink - Real Red, Garden Green; Stampin' Write Markers: Real Red, Garden Green

Accessories - Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine

Tools - Big Shot, Layering Circles Dies, Potted Succulents Dies, 1/2" Circle Punch, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals

Christmas Sweater

 Hello and welcome back! Here's another CASEd Christmas card from the July-December 2021 Mini Catalog.

I'd have to say the most difficult part of this card was lining up all of the Knit Sweater Dies. Since I was making multiples of this card, I laid them out on the stamped layer and then connected them with some Post-It Tape. This enabled me to remove all of the dies and keep them lined up for the next cut.

Moving on to the next card!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Knit Together, Celebration Tidings, Christmas Messages (inside sentiment)

Paper - Real Red and Basic White Cardstock

Ink - Real Red, Shaded Spruce

Accessories - Resin Hearts Embellishments, Shaded Spruce Metallic Ribbon

Tools - Big Shot, Knit Sweater Dies, Celebration Labels Dies, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals

Let It Snow

 Hello and welcome back! Here's another Christmas card.

Back in the day, our Annual Catalog used to be called an Idea Book. I don't know why we stopped calling it that, because it is still full of great ideas! You can copy a sample exactly or modify it to make it your own. This card is a CASE from page 23 of the July-December Mini Catalog. I have kept the bones but made a couple of adjustments. This is a standard A2 sized card and I've kept the DSP layer at a standard 4 x 5-1/4 inches. One of the layers on the ornament is vellum instead of silver foil, and I've changed the ribbon to a retired favorite from my stash. 

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp set - Encircled in Warmth

Paper - Smoky Slate and Basic White Cardstock; Vellum Cardstock; Silver Foil Sheets; Peaceful Place Specialty DSP

Ink - Misty Moonlight

Accessories - Seaside Spray Metallic Ribbon

Tools - Big Shot, Encircled in Beauty Dies, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

Speedy Snowflake Wishes

 Hello and welcome back! The Christmas cards will be coming quickly now, since I've put it off for far too long!

The newest challenge at As You See It is a speed stamping challenge with a snowflake theme. I was able to create this card in 9 minutes and 25 seconds. 

And this is what my workspace looked like when I was finished! 

One of the best things about a speed challenge is that you don't have time to do a lot of fancy stuff, so this is just a little die-cutting and a bit of stamping. Very simple, really, but pretty!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp set - Snowflake Wishes

Paper - Balmy Blue and Basic White cardstock

Ink - Balmy Blue

Accessories - Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems

Tools - Big Shot, So Many Snowflakes Dies, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals

Painted Christmas to Remember

 Hello and welcome back! I'm finally getting started on my Christmas cards so here's one for you today.

I used the challenges at Sunday Stamps and SUO Challenges for inspiration today.

Once again, this is a pretty simple card. I used one of the Wintry 3D embossing folders on the vellum die cut for a little added texture. This is one of my favorite techniques!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Christmas to Remember, Christmas Season

Paper - Evening Evergreen, Basic White cardstock; Vellum Cardstock; Kraft Paper Pack; Painted Christmas DSP

Ink - Evening Evergreen, Real Red

Accessories - Real Red Sheer Ribbon, Wonderful Gems

Tools - Big Shot, Seasonal Labels Dies, Wintry 3D embossing folder, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals

Santa Paws

Hello and welcome back! I've got a Christmas card today.

The theme at As You See It this week is Pets, so for this challenge I pulled out this set from a couple of years ago. 

Except for the cardstock and Stampin' Blends, I used all retired products for this card. I've got so much in my stash I don't think I could ever use it all!

 Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp set - Santa Paws

Paper - Real Red, Garden Green, Basic White Cardstock; Brights Patterns DSP; Merry Music Specialty DSP

Ink/Coloring Tools - Memento Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Blends: Real Red Light and Dark, Smoky Slate Light, Call Me Clover Light, Gray Granite Light, Basic Black Light, Soft Suede Light, Flirty Flamingo Dark, Petal Pink Dark, Misty Moonlight Light, Crumb Cake Light

Accessories - Real Red/Garden Green 1/8" Striped Ribbon Combo

Tools - Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals