It's Been A While!

 Hello and welcome back! I can't believe this is only my third blog post this year! I haven't had much mojo and there's been some personal stuff going on so I just haven't been motivated. But my boss is celebrating a special birthday this week, so I had to make a card for her! And here it is:

This design was inspired by the following challenges: Just Add Ink, Tic Tac Toe Challenge (diagonal - metallic, free, floral), Double Trouble Challenge, and Festive Friday.

Cathy is a big Green Bay Packers fan, so I wanted to incorporate the team's colors into the card. Lucky for me that two challenges this week were looking for green and gold!

I used the Everyday Details stamp set and dies to create the focal piece, then layered it onto a base of Crushed Curry cardstock and Metallic & Shimmer DSP that was embossed with the Hammered Metal embossing folder. The texture reminds me a bit of a football. What do you think? :)

After coloring the focal piece with Stampin' Blends I added a few gold Festive Pearls to the flower centers and added a bow with gold Simply Elegant Trim. I decided to leave the front without a sentiment, and just added one inside the card.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp set - Everyday Details

Paper - Basic White Thick Cardstock; Basic White and Crushed Curry Cardstock; Metallic & Shimmer Specialty Paper

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Blends: Evening Evergreen Dark and Light, Soft Succulent Dark and Light, Pumpkin Pie Light, Lemon Lolly Dark; Stampin' Write Marker: Crushed Curry

Accessories - Festive Pearls, Simply Elegant Trim

Tools - Big Shot, Everyday Details Dies, Hammered Metal Embossing Folder, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

Joy of Noel Christmas

 Hello and welcome back! Here's today's card:

I feel like the universe has been conspiring against me as far as my holiday preparations have gone. I was way behind on getting my cards made, and then a friend who was planning a weekend visit decided to come two days earlier! Then my husband (who is the family cook) came down with covid. Add those things to the three singing events I had over the weekend, and you'll understand why my cards have not yet left my house! This is the last one I'm making this year!

When I designed this card, I used the sketch for the Atlantic Hearts challenge, but as I was creating it, I found 5 other challenges that it fits as well - Shopping Our Stash, Just Add Ink, Double Trouble, NBUS, and SUO Challenges!

I borrowed the stamp set from my friend, so maybe I was shopping her stash! But the embossing folder has been in my collection since at least last year and hadn't been used yet. This card is for the organist at my church, so I had to use something musical!

As I said, my cards are now all done - I'll post pictures later (maybe next week...). I just have to decide who gets what - there are more than 20 designs and more than 130 people on my list. I think tonight I'll be watching a movie, or two or three, and prepping the cards for mailing tomorrow. Hey, at least I'm getting them out before the 25th!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp set - Joy of Noel

Paper - Basic White Thick Cardstock; Basic White, Cherry Cobbler, and Shaded Spruce Cardstock; Joyful Specialty DSP; Distressed Gold Specialty Paper

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Cherry Cobbler; Stampin' Blends - Old Olive Light, Cherry Cobbler Dark, Evening Evergreen Light; Stampin' Write Marker - Shaded Spruce

Accessories - Metallic Pearls

Tools - Big Shot, Merry Melody 3D Embossing Folder, Stylish Shapes Dies, Joy of Noel Dies, Layering Circles Framelits, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

Peaceful Christmas

 Hello and welcome back! Here's today's card:

This design is for the challenges at Just Add Ink, Inkspirational Challenge, and Tic Tac Toe Challenge (right column - red or green, patterned paper, die cut).

So right now, I'm in the midst of my Christmas card-making frenzy! I always put it off till the last minute and then lose my mine mid-December! I decided to pull out a couple of old Paper Pumpkin kits from prior years and make some alternatives, along with making the cards just how the kit is meant to be. I love the many alternative ideas on Pinterest, but I came up with this one to match the sketch challenge. Lucky for me, it also fits the other two challenges!

Items from the original kit include the vellum trees, the woodgrain sentiment banner, the sparkly gems, and the solid and gingham Shaded Spruce layers. I got those layers by cutting up an envelope. I added the Basic White Thick Cardstock card base, the Basic Black layer and Nested Essentials die cut, and the black glittery ribbon.

I should have planned the glue dots on the vellum trees to be a bit more random, since I used the gems to cover them up. 

I may try a couple more alternatives, but I'm running out of time, so soon I'll be back to either making kits the way they're intended, or raiding my stash for already completed cards!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp set - Peaceful Christmas (October 2021 Paper Pumpkin)

Paper - Basic White Thick Cardstock; Basic Black Cardstock, elements from PP kit

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories - Black Glittered Organdy Ribbon, sparkly gems from PP kit

Tools - Big Shot, Nested Essentials Dies, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals

Deck the Halls

 Hello and welcome back! I'm getting in the groove now, so here's today's card:

This design was inspired by the challenges at Freshly Made Sketches and Just Add Ink.

I stamped the ornaments in several bright colors as inspired by the photo, then "tumbled" them across the card to match the sketch. I also embossed the background with a Pine Bough embossing folder, then highlighted the boughs with Clear Wink of Stella. I think you can see it in the photo.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Frosted Gingerbread, Beautiful Baubles

Paper - Basic White Thick Cardstock; Basic White and Granny Apple Green Cardstock

Ink - Tahitian Tide, Flirty Flamingo, Daffodil Delight, Parakeet Party, Pumpkin Pie, Balmy Blue, Melon Mambo, Granny Apple Green

Accessories - Iridescent Pearls Basic Jewels

Tools - Big Shot, Gingerbread Dies, Pine Bough Embossing Folder, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals

Decorative Borders Birthday

 Hello and welcome back! Here's today's card:

This design was inspired by the challenges at Color Throwdown, Freshly Made Sketches, Just Add Ink, and Paper Craft Crew.

Clean and simple cards are difficult for me - I'm a "how many layers is too many?" kind of stamper! I've had this set since last year's OnStage gathering and hadn't inked it up yet. I used my Stamparatus to line up the floral sprays in the corner so they'd be even, added the sentiment in the center, and then colored in the flowers and leaves using the color challenge colors. I had to add a little bling - even a CAS card needs bling! - and the little diamonds at the ends of the floral sprays were the perfect size for the epoxy shapes I had in my stash.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Decorative Borders, Go-To Greetings

Paper - Basic White and Garden Green Cardstock

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Blends: Daffodil Delight Dark, Granny Apple Green Light, Lemon Lolly Dark, Poppy Parade Dark

Accessories - Silver & Clear Epoxy Essentials

Tools - Stamparatus, Multipurpose Liquid Glue

Love You Gnome

 Hello and welcome back! Here's today's card:

This design was inspired by the challenges at Just Add Ink (just add two - flowers and gingham), the Paper Players tic tac toe challenge (left column - flowers, feminine, blue), Tic Tac Toe Challenges (left column - layers, ribbon or twine, patterned paper), and the sketch at Try Stampin on Tuesday.

I've had this stamp set since early this year and hadn't used it yet, but I have a friend with a birthday coming up who loves gnomes, so I figured it was time to ink it up! The pink patterned paper might be more of a plaid than a gingham, but it was from the Country Gingham DSP, so I think it works! The floral pattern is from the Regency Park DSP, and I added a layer of vellum over it so the gnome would stand out a bit more.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp set - Friendly Gnomes

Paper - Basic White Thick Cardstock; Basic White, and Petal Pink Cardstock; Vellum Cardstock; Regency Park DSP, Country Gingham DSP

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Balmy Blue; Stampin' Blends: Balmy Blue Dark and Light, Smoky Slate Light, Calypso Coral Dark, Ivory, Natural Tones SU600

Accessories - Linen Thread, Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems

Tools - Big Shot, Gnomes Dies, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

Dotty Birthday

 Hello and welcome back! Here's today's card:

This card was inspired by the challenges at As You See It, Just Add Ink, and Tic Tac Toe Challenges (right column - die cut, squares, free).

There's no stamping on this card (except for the inside), but my Big Shot got a workout! And I did use some ink for accents. For the center panel, I used Coastal Cabana ink with a blending brush to create the base, then used one of the masks from the Foursquare Decorative Masks and some Pretty Peacock ink to create the pattern (the little squares in the mask were just what I needed for the Tic Tac Toe challenge!). The Lemon Lolly layer was embossed using one of the Basics 3D embossing folders. My son thought it looked liked the candy dots on the paper strips so I decided to try and bring that out a bit by dragging an ink pad across the raised dots. Of course, nothing ever goes as planned! Some of the ink "splotched" in between, so I figured I'd just go with it and add more splotches to make it less obvious that there was a mistake.

The vellum circle was embossed with another of the Basics folders, then I popped up the die-cut birthday sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Paper - Basic White Thick Cardstock; Basic White, Lemon Lolly, Coastal Cabana, Pretty Peacock Cardstock; Vellum Cardstock

Ink - Coastal Cabana, Lemon Lolly, Pretty Peacock

Tools - Big Shot, Wanted To Say Dies, Stylish Shapes Dies, Basics 3D Embossing Folders, Fourquare Decorative Masks, Blending Brushes, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

Christmas Cheer

Hello and welcome back! Today may be the first day of summer, but that means that Christmas is only about 6 months away. Maybe it's time to start thinking about Christmas cards, rather than waiting until December to make them! In that spirit, here's today's card:

I used three challenges to inspire this design - the theme challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown, the sketch at Just Add Ink, and the weekly board at Tic Tac Toe Challenge (center column - free, stripes, white heat embossing).

There's really no explanation needed for this card - it's pretty straightforward! The candy canes were stamped in Versamark on Real Red cardstock and then heat embossed with white embossing powder. The Basic White layer was embossed with a striped folder and the layers were put together. I added the sentiment on a punched oval that was layered with a Real Red scalloped oval from the same punch. Some red rhinestones were added for bling - easy peasy!

 Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp set - Sweet Candy Canes

Paper - Basic White Thick Cardstock; Basic White and Real Red Cardstock

Ink - Real Red, Versamark

Accessories - Real Red Sheer Ribbon, Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels, White Embossing Powder

Tools - Big Shot, Candy Canes Dies, Simple Stripes Embossing Folder, Heat Tool, Double Oval Punch, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals

Hello Friend

 Hello and welcome back! Here's today's card:

Today's card was inspired by the challenges at Just Add Ink and Tic Tac Toe Challenges (left column and center row).

Ink blending is not one of my strongest skills, but I knew I needed to do it for the inspiration challenge. I tried to replicate the feeling of that sunset, then added the wreath for the silhouette. I die cut the wreath from Basic Black and Basic Gray and layered them, offsetting a bit, to get a shadow effect. The sentiment was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black on vellum and embossed with clear embossing powder to help it stand out a bit. 

I knew I wanted to add a bow and really wanted some baker's twine to match the center of the sunset but I didn't have the right color. I tried coloring some white twine with a Stampin' Blend but didn't like the way it looked, so I added the ribbon bow instead, along with some Iridescent Rhinestones. I love the way those rhinestones pick up the surrounding colors!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp set - A Touch of Ink

Paper - Basic Black, Basic White, Basic Gray, Pumpkin Pie Cardstock, Vellum Cardstock

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Blueberry Bushel, Pumpkin Pie, Orchid Oasis

Accessories - Iridescent Rhinestones Basic Jewels, Pumpkin Pie Taffeta Ribbon, Clear Embossing Powder

Tools - Big Shot, Natural Prints Dies, Stylish Shapes Dies, Blending Brushes, Heat Tool, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Mini Glue Dots, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

Celebrate with a Milkshake!

 Hello and welcome back! Here's today's card:

This design was inspired by the challenges at Color Throwdown and Just Add Ink.

I didn't order this set from the mini catalog, but when it carried over to the annual catty, I decided I needed it! And a couple of new colors were perfect for the Throwdown challenge.

Can you see the Wink of Stella on the cherry? It's so hard to photograph that!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp set - Share a Milkshake

Paper - Basic White Thick Cardstock, Lemon Lime Twist and Bubble Bath Cardstock, Gingham Gala DSP

Ink - Lemon Lime Twist, Bubble Bath

Accessories - Pastel Adhesive-Backed Sequins, Clear Wink of Stella

Tools - Big Shot, Share a Milkshake Dies, 2-3/8" Circle Punch, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals