Nature Sings - Bring Beauty and Ease to your Christmas Card Designs

Hello and Happy Thursday!  I hope you enjoyed the blog hop with the Carols of Christmas stamp set and Card Front Builder Framelits? I know I did; so many talented demonstrators, 40 to be exact, took part in this awesome hop. if you haven't checked it out yet, please do, I promise you won't be disappointed.
Today, I want to share a really quick and easy card this is also eye catching and will be loved by anyone that receives it, especially those that love nature and the beautiful animals that roam, such as in this case, the Elk. I LOVE this stamp set. Yeah, I'm a country girl at heart and I love critters....well most critters...I don't do well with mice or rats...they would be my all out phobia...eeek, I get the Hebe jeebees just thinking about them! Anyway, as I was saying, I love this stamp set and want to share a card I made using it. I was inspired by a card designed by Ronda Wade and her Rubber Queens. I changed up the stamp set and I used some retired ribbon that I had on hand, but I really love this card and am very happy with how it came out.

Instructions:

Supplies:

Nature Sings Stamp Set

Whisper White 8.5" x 5.5" and 4" x 5.25"; scrap piece to stamp and punch

Scrap Real Red Card stock to punch with 1.75" Circle Punch

Be Merry DSP cut 4" x 2.5"

Soft Suede Ink 

Basic Black Archival Ink

Real Red Ribbon

Pretty Label Punch

1.75" Circle Punch

Stampin' Dimensionals

Fast Fuse

Directions:

Adhere the DSP to the Whisper White panel with Fast Fuse. Wrap with the ribbon around the seam. Using the small Elk image and Soft Suede ink, stamp off onto scrap paper then stamp the image onto Whisper White. Then with the Archival Basic Black ink, stamp the sentiment directly over the Elk image and punch using the Pretty Label punch. Adhere to the front of the Real Red 1.75" circle and adhere to the card front with Stampin' Dimensionals. Finally, adhere the card front to the card base using Dimensionals. 

I hope you enjoyed this card and helps you get thinking about your Christmas cards. If you get started now, you will be ready to send them when the time comes and won't be stressed trying to make them and send them all at the same time while trying to get ready for the holiday's. Let's make it our mission to have a stress free holiday season and enjoy Christmas with the ones we love this year. 

Happy Stamping,

Katrina

Product List

Nature Sings Wood-Mount Stamp Set

[143653]

$23.00

Nature Sings Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[144406]

$17.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[100730]

$9.00

Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[102482]

$8.00

Be Merry Designer Series Paper

[144111]

$11.00

Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad

[126978]

$6.50

Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad

[140931]

$7.00

Pretty Label Punch

[143715]

$18.00

1-3/4" Circle Punch

[119850]

$18.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.00

Fast Fuse Adhesive

[129026]

$10.00

Real Red 5/8" Satin Ribbon"

[117286]

$8.95

Lovely Friends and Laurel Pop Ups

Well good morning and Happy Thursday! Well it looks like Spring or should I say Summer is finally making her appearance here in Central New York.We were seriously beginning to think she decided to vacation in the tropics and we were going to have to skip over it straight to Fall...our temps have been hanging in the 40's and 50's which is quite chilly even for us this time of year...but in CNY fashion, she is fashionably late and hit 88 today! Now, if it just sticks! What's the weather been like in your area?
Ok, well enough about the weather here in CNY, I have a pop up card for you using the brand new Lovely Friends stamp set and Lovely Laurel Thinlits. This set is just too cute and has so many possibilities.

I just love the new In-color Berry Burst. It's just so bright and cheery and it coordinates well with several of our core colors. Here I paired it up with Bermuda Bay and Old Olive and I think it just pops with these colors.

Whisper White

Berry Burst

Old Olive

Bermuda Bay

If you would like to see more color combinations with the new In-colors, be sure to sign up for my newsletter. As a free gift to my subscribers, I have included a free PDF for download when you subscribe.
For the inside, I added the Laurel pop up with banner. This makes such a great interactive card, your recipient will think you spent hours making it however, the Thinlits make it a breeze!

I hope you enjoyed today's card, please let me know your thoughts in the comments below. I would love to hear from you. I would also love to hear what you would like to see for future projects and posts. I am here for YOU and it's my desire to provide the content that you will find most useful.
Have an amazing day, and I will see you back here Sunday for a blog hop tour with some of my stamping friends with plenty more sneak peeks into the new catalog coming June 1st. The supplies for this card other will be available June 1st.
Happy Stamping,
Katrina

Product List

Lovely Friends Photopolymer Bundle

[145319]

$54.00

Lovely Friends Photopolymer Stamp Set

[143763]

$27.00

Lovely Laurel Thinlits Dies

[143731]

$33.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[100730]

$9.00

Berry Burst 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[144243]

$8.00

Old Olive 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[100702]

$8.00

Bermuda Bay 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[131197]

$8.00

Berry Burst Classic Stampin' Pad

[144083]

$6.50

Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad

[126953]

$6.50

Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad

[131171]

$6.50

Fast Fuse Adhesive

[129026]

$10.00

Fast Fuse Adhesive Refill

[129027]

$7.50

Oh What a Deal!

Oh my gosh! SU! has just revealed a FANTASTIC deal! Get your first months Paper Pumpkin for just $5! Can you believe it? But you have to act fast because this deal is only from 5pm MT today until 1150pm MT Friday! Now, this is only good for the recurring subscription, not for pre-paid. But $5? WOW!

If you haven't tried Paper Pumpkin, now is the perfect time to try it out! It's an AWESOME all inclusive crafting kit. It is 30 minutes of crafting fun and relaxation! Perfect when you want a little "me time" and perfect for crafting with your kids, a sister or a best friend! Seriously, if you have ever been curious about Paper Pumpkin, now is the time to act! Go ahead, click here and give it a try. You have nothing to lose, you can cancel any time, but trust me, you won't want to do that. It's totally awesome and I just LOVE my Paper Pumpkin. Join me and lets make our June kit together!

 

Happy Stamping,

Katrina

Where in the World Have I Been?

Well, right here to be honest. The new annual catalog went live on Wednesday and my order arrived on Thursday and I have been playing ever since, getting ready for my launch party next weekend! Oh the awesomeness! I am loving everything I got and my wish list remains LONG! Here is just one sample of what I have been doing, 

 

I will share more as the week goes along. But this little cutie is a 3-step stamp giving him his adorable huggable look. I started with a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" card base in Early Esspresso scored at 4 1/4" . I layered a 4" x 5 1/4" Crumb Cake then I stamped my little cutie onto a piece of Whisper White cut 3 3/4"x 5". I stamped the solid image (labeled 1) with the lightest brown family color I have, Sahara Sand. I then stamped the second layer, (labeled 2) with the Crumb Cake ink and the third, most detailed image I stamped in Early Esspresso. I also stamped the sentiment with Early Esspresso ink and layered that onto the card. Isn't he just the sweetest? I just love him! What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below. 

Happy Stamping,

Katrina

Just Sitting Here

Hey there! Happy Saturday! I think summer has arrived....it's pretty warm out there but I love it and it makes me think of hanging out on the front porch rocking and feeling the warm breeze against my face which made this card the perfect project!

 

This card uses the brand new Just Sitting Here stamp set. Isn't it just adorable? I used a masking technique to get the dog on the swing by stamping him first and I then painted him with liquid Frisket and while it dried I stamped, colored and fussy cut the throw pillows. Once the Frisket was dried, I stamped the swing right on top of the dog so that he was in the proper position using Crumb Cake ink. I colored in the swing cushion then I removed the Frisket using my rubber adhesive eraser. I added the throw pillows and stamped the grass image. Finally, I layered the panel onto Early Espresso and attached it to an extra thick Whisper White card base. Doesn't it just make you think of a peaceful afternoon on the porch?

This stamp set will be available Wednesday June 1st in my on-line store. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. In the meantime, happy stamping!

Katrina

More Swirly Scribbles

Happy Saturday! Wow, is it me or did this week just zoom by? I didn't even get to collect my $200! I'm sure I passed "go" somewhere along the way. Anyway, today I will be manning a huge 3 family garage sale, actually, all weekend. I think my house lost several hundred pounds from this little clean out. Doesn't it feel great when you get organized? I'm making my way into the world of organization, it just happens to be a process. 

Ok, so, here is another card project using the Swirly Scribble Thinlits. LOVE this set. I have a few more ideas to share with you using this bundle, but here is today's:

 

 

Here I attached a flirty Flamingo piece 4 x 5.25" to a standard Whisper White card base. I then stamped a Whisper White piece 3.25"x 5" with the Hardwoods background stamp with Basic Gray archival ink and cut out 1 each of the Scribble Thinlits from Peek-a-boo Peach, Flirty Flamingo and Sweet Sugarplum. I adhered them using the Fine Tip glue and the Sentiment, which comes from the new Confetti Celebration stamp set, I stamped in Basic Gray onto a piece of Whisper White and bannered the end using the Triple Banner punch...another must have. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. I look forward to hearing from you! 

Have a great day and happy stamping,

Katrina

Easter Floral

Hello! Before we jump into today’s project, I would like to take a minute to congratulate my team member, Sherry S, on her promotion to Bronze Elite! She accomplished this in record time! 3 months to be exact! That’s truly amazing and I am very proud of her!

Today, I am sharing a card from my Easter card class that I held Saturday..we had so much fun! I really enjoyed myself with these ladies! Anyway, here is one of the 3 designs we made with the instructions.

 

Elegant Eggplant Cardstock cut 8 ½”x 5 ½” scored and folded at 4 ¼” for the card base.

Wisteria Wonder Cardstock 5 ¼” x 4”

2 Whisper White CS pieces cut 5” x 3 ¾”

Scrap Whisper White CS for stamping and punching flowers

Scrap Garden Green CS to punch leaves

Flower Shop Stamp Set

Suite Sayings Stamp set

Pansy Punch

Bird Builder Punch for leaves

Elegant Eggplant Ink

Wisteria Wonder Ink

Daffodil Delight Ink

Snail™ Adhesive

Stampin’ Dimensionals™

Begin by adhering the Wisteria Wonder cardstock to the Elegant Eggplant card base. Then stamp the Easter wishes from the Suite Sayings stamp set onto the lower right hand corner of the Whisper White layer using Elegant Eggplant ink and layer it with the others. Punch 2 leave sets from the Garden Green cardstock using the Bird Builder punch and set aside. Stamp 3 flowers, 1 in each color, Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder and Daffodil Delight. Punch them out using the Pansy Punch. Adhere the Wisteria Wonder flower first using Snail adhesive, then place the Daffodil Delight flower using a single Stampin’ Dimensional. Finally, place the Elegant Eggplant using 2 Stampin’ Dimensionals stacked on top of one another for greater lift. Maneuver leaves under flowers, you will most likely need to trim the stems in order to hide them and adhere them down with an adhesive of your choice. (Snail will work, however, I used liquid glue)

  If you like this one and would like the instructions for all 3 designs, I am offering them in PDF format for $12 and if you would like the pre-cut material for them as well, I can ship the instructions and materials to you for $25. Just contact me above with your contact information and we will get them right out to you.

I hope you enjoyed today's card and would appreciate it if you left me a comment on your thoughts. Thanks so much for stopping by, I truly appreciate it.

Happy Stamping,

Katrina

The Best Advise I ever Got about Stamping

Can you smell it? Spring is in the air! I do love this time of year! Yesterday we hit 70 degrees here in Central  NY! I was actually able to open my windows and doors for a bit to let the outdoors indoors. I love how the house smells after a warm Spring breeze comes through. Now I am anxious for gardening season to begin!

Ok, today, I wanted to talk to you about the BEST advise I have ever gotten about stamping. I was told, ‘there are no mistakes in stamping!” At first, when my friend told me this, my face must have spoke volumes because she immediately recognized what I was thinking, because my first thoughts were, “oh yeah, you should see all my “mistakes”. And she said, “think about this, first of all, a little blemish can easily be concealed with an embellishment, and we should always add flair to our work anyway and second, even if you can’t conceal it with an embellishment, there is ALWAYS two sides to your paper!” After I had thought about this for a fashion, I realized she was 100% right on the money!

So many times, a little smudge here or there, just provides an opportunity to add a little extra sumthin’ Sumthin’ to the overall design of the project. So really, our mistakes aren’t mistakes at all, but opportunities.

So, the next time you make a “mistake”, don’t think of it as such, retrain your thinking and look at it as an opportunity and ask yourself, how can I further embellish my project and make it that much more spectacular? I will bet more times than not, you will come up with something that is even better than you had originally planned it to be. So, my advise to you…”there are NO mistakes in stamping!” Embellish away!

 

Happy Stamping,

Katrina



 

So Many Black Inks!

 Hello,
I wanted to take this opportunity and piggy back off of my last post regarding the many different inks and show you the differences among the 3 black inks that Stampin' Up! carries in their line, as each of the inks server a purpose.
First is the water-based dye ink, Memento® Tuxedo Black ink. This ink is formulated to work with alcohol coloring mediums such as Copic® Markers or Spectrum Noir®, however, it doesn’t work especially well with water-coloring as it does react to water and will smear, making for a bit of a messy piece as shown here:

Memento Ink

Using the Aqua-Painter

Adding Alcohol based Ink marker

Next is the Archival Basic Black® ink. This ink is also a water-based dye ink, however, it’s formulation makes it a permanent ink that does not react to water and therefore can be used for water-coloring and it will not smear and get messy, however, it does smear and react slightly with the alcohol inks. As you can see here in the photo, you could probably use the Archival ink with your alcohol based markers if you were careful to remain within the lines because as you see here, there is minimal smearing of the black color.

Archival Basic Black Ink

Water-color with Aqua-painter

Using Alcohol Markers

Last but certainly not least is Stazon® black ink. This is a permanent solvent based ink that can be used on non-porous material such as glass, plastic, acetate and tile just to name a few. It is water proof but does react to alcohol based inks, as you can see here, with the aqua-painter®, the color remains true while the Blendabilities® alcohol marker color blended with the black ink creating a much deeper shade of Daffodil Delight! Because of the solvent base to the Stazon®, you do need to use Stazon® cleaner to remove the ink from the stamp also, otherwise, you will permanently color/stain your stamps and you should never use Stazon® cleaner on your photopolymer stamps as the material used to make photopolymer stamps will react to the Stazon® cleanser and break down the stamps and will shorten their life span, and if you are like me, you love your stamps and want them around a very long time. So, to be safe, I avoid using Stazon® ink with my photopolymer stamps and then I don’t worry about that, I can clean them with the normal Stampin’ Mist®

Stazon Jet Black Ink

Using Aqua-painter

Using Alcohol Marker

Stazon Cleaner

I hope you have found this helpful in selecting which black ink to use for which coloring technique you are using. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think and please, if you have any questions that you would like me to address here on the blog, just let me know in the comments below and thank you so very much for stopping by and spending some time with me.
Have a great day and Happy Stamping!
Katrina