Color Fusers--April 2021 Blog Hop!

Welcome friends to another monthly Color Fusers Blog Hop! I love this hop because it really gets me out of comfort zone for color coordination!

This month we are all tasked with creating projects featuring Seaside Spray (which is also retiring), Old Olive and Real Red. I wanted to challenge myself to use these colors to create a scrapbook page!

By chance, I happened to have this photo of my youngest son, laying on my craft table. As soon as I glanced at it and saw our color challenge, I thought it was a perfect fit!

It worked so well to use the Real Red for apples with Old Olive green accents and a nice Seaside Spray background. I am really going to miss Seaside Spray. I was a blue that I used quite often. However, the new In Colors are also pretty fabulous too!

I added some large polka dots in the coordinating ink onto the background with the Circle Celebration stamp set. The photo mat is made up of a retired piece of 6x6 DSP in Seaside Spray (from the first round of this In Color), Old Olive and Real Red card stock.

I used the stamp Harvest Hello’s to do most of the design work for me on this page. I stamped the apples in Momento Ink and colored them with my Real Red Stampin’ Blends. You can punch out all of the elements of the apple with the coordinating Apple Builder Punch!

I love this stamp set and it will be a keeper for me, especially because I am nowhere near being done scrapbooking school memories of my 3 kids.

I added in the A+ and some Old Olive ribbon from the Ornate Garden Ribbon Combo Pack and a few cute red Resin Hearts to create a fun focal point on the corner of my photo. I love how I was able to tuck a cute little apple up underneath the photo too.

One of my favorite sets from this catalogue was Ridiculously Awesome. I can’t tell you how many times i have used it! It is such a fantastic set to use for scrapbooking!

I stamped the phrase in Seaside Spray and then again in Old Olive so I could hand trim out the word ‘Awesome’. I really wanted it to pop and this is an easy way to draw the eye to a certain word out of your sentiment.

Of course I added a few more apples and Resin Hearts!

I created another area of interest on the top left by adding in “You Make me Smile” and another A+, plus a couple different twines and Resin Hearts.

I love how this page turned out and am so happy I have this memory recorded of Shepard. This color challenge worked perfectly for me!

I can’t wait to see what everyone else on the Design Team creates this month! You won’t want to miss what anyone has designed. You can go back to see what Tami Hewlett has created or next to see what Melissa Kerman has stamped for us. Make sure to visit everyone, we are a small awesome group!

Please feel free to leave a comment and if you are in Canada and would like to order any of the supplies I used, please use Hostess Code on the side bar!

Create with Connie and Mary--White, White and all White!

This week our challenge was to design a project featuring WHITE. I was actually excited about this as I knew I wanted to create a scrapbook page and Stampin’ Up! actually has quite a bit of white products to work with!

I created my page on a base of 12x12 Basic White (naturally, hence our challenge!) and I created a photo mat to highlight a picture of my work bestie (@citrusandcedar). The picture is layered on Basic White and the Pearlescent Specialty Paper, which is still white, just a different tone of white! I love the subtle contrast.

I wanted to create some texture on the base of the page, especially because we are working with one color. I used one of our retired masks (I keep them all together so I wasn’t sure if it was retired or not until I wrote this) with our White Embossing Paste to add some texture and interest to the base.

I had a ton of daisy’s already punched out from a previous project so I decided to feature these on my page. Both the punch and stamp set, Daisy Lane, are being offered in our new upcoming catalogue. So that is an extra bonus! I placed some of the daisies off the edges of the page and then trimmed the excess away. I like the look this creates.

I like to create a couple of focal points around my photos on my scrapbook pages too. I decided to keep it simple by using only the Daisy Lane stamp set and stamped the sentiments in Basic Grey.

The sentiment “The Best Moments” is also layered on Shimmery White. You can see how it has a different tone as well, even though its white.

I added white pearls all over the page too as some accents.

At the top right corner of the photo, Friend is punched out with the Label Me Fancy tag and has Crinkled Seam Binding and Basic White Thread behind it as an accent.

Around the photo I tied some of the Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon and Basic White Thread as another fun accent.

I really love the crispness of this page and how nice and elegant it looks in tones of white. I can’t wait to see what the other ladies have created this week. You can go BACK to see what Melissa has designed and NEXT to see what Connie has created!

Create with Connie and Mary--Spring Flowers!

Well this week we are focusing our design efforts on Spring Flowers! There is still snow on the ground where I live so I don’t think I will be seeing any actual flowers for a while, nonetheless I was still excited to create a scrapbook page of a photo I did take last spring!

I wanted to use a bundle that I knew was carrying forward into our new catalogue being released in May. This is a set I was happy to see return as I have not had as much time to play with it as I was hoping, so I am glad I will have another catalogue run to be creative with it!

There are a couple things on this page that are retiring…have you seen the list? Can you spot them?

The base of my page is classic Basic White. Because this was a spring layout, I wanted a crisp background to start with. I began by blending some Balmy Blue into the background and I stamped the large from image from the Blossoms in Bloom stamp set in the same ink color. This created a bit of tone on tone imagery.

What I love about this die set is you get TWO large dies that match the stamped image. I used the more solid one up top, cutting it from Basic White card stock. The second more delicate one is die cut from Balmy Blue card stock. When you lay both of these over top of the stamped image you just get a peek a boo look at the stamping and blending beneath. LOVE!!

The small stamped flowers are hand cut as there is not a die that just cuts the perimeter out in the Many Layered Blossoms Dies. I used Bumblebee, Highland Heather (on Purple Posy card stock) and Petal Pink as to me these feel like spring colors. I love the soft pastel tones of this season.

I added small die cut flowers in Basic White to contribute to the crisp feel of this page.

I created two focal points on this page, the top right corner where I added in Happy (which is hand trimmed from the entire phrase of Happy Birthday). I used Flirty Flamingo ink on Petal Pink card stock so the sentiment would be a little more vibrant.

Opal rounds were the perfect embellishment for this page as they add texture without being distracting.

The Pinewood Planks 3D folder also add alot of natural texture to the photo mat.

This bottom second focal point highlights one of my favorite ribbons, the Bumblebee Gingham ribbon! I have gone through several rolls of this ribbon!

I thought the sentiment “I like you a lot” was perfect for this page and I am happy that this whole design used a single bundle! This is not something that I can say happens for me very often.

I love how this page turned out, especially because I was able to piece it together in less than 30 minutes! By focusing on a single stamp set or bundle it can make your designs come together a lot faster than trying to mix and match and incorporate other stamps . This bundle is definitely a winner for me!

I can’t wait to see what the rest of the team has designed with the theme SPRING FLOWERS! There are so many great stamp sets to choose from that the possibilities are endless. You can go BACK to see Melissa’s project or you can go NEXT to see what Connie has created this week for us. Either way, visit the whole hop and please feel free to leave me a comment. I really enjoy reading them.

So Happy...

Today I committed to making a project that was just for myself—this might sound crazy but with all of my Artisan commitments and the various classes and groups I offer, most of my creative time is designated to that. So it was refreshing to make a scrapbook page, my favorite thing, for just me and to display in my crafty space!

This is a picture from a family photo shoot 2 years ago already! Sometimes, moms can relate, I just can’t wrap my head around the passage of time. The days can be long but the years go fast, is such a perfect way to describe ‘time’ and this motherhood journey!

I started with a base of Basic White because I really wanted to use the So Happy bundle. I have had it sitting on my craft table for the last month and was itching to create a stencil of sorts to create some clouds. I also wanted to use this set in a non-traditional way as at first glance it looks like a birthday set. With a little creative design I think I did create a page that has nothing to do with birthdays!

I used Pool Party and the new Blending Brush to create the clouds. You could use any of our amazing blues, but I find Pool Party and Pretty Peacock look amazing together. I will be sad to say goodbye to Pretty Peacock next month but I am also excited to see the new In Colors that will be released.

I cut a ‘stencil’ using the cloud die from the Happy Die Set and then used its edge repeatedly create a cloud like look on my page.

I blended the clouds about half way up my page and added two feature areas to the page. The top left little area is where I was able to introduce Calypso Coral and Petal Pink—two other colors that I find look amazing together. The half 2 inch circles are from the new and exclusive Butterfly BIjou DSP and had a similar shape to the clouds which I liked.

Using the dies I was able to cut out the little banner in the Natural Touch Specialty Paper. I sniped it apart so it looks longer than it is in reality. “Happy” is stamped in Pretty Peacock and then cut with a Stitched Rectangular die.

I love to add texture and interest to my sentiments by combining different ribbons. Here i used the Polkadot Tulle ribbon and the gold thread from the Forever Greenery Trim Combo Pack. The Gilded Gem and itty bitty gold star (from the dies) just add a fun element!

What I also love about this bundle is how the different phrases build off of the word HAPPY. I was able to cut the die down a bit from its initial form to change its appearance a bit too. I cut the ‘Happy’ out of the Natural Touch Specialty Paper as well. This helps tie the two feature areas together.

I also modified how the ‘Happy’ looked by trimming the top edge off of the die and shortening the edges.

I stamped ‘to have you in my life’ on Petal Pink Card stock and stamped the stars in the same color. I used Calypso Coral for the actual sentiment. The stars are stamped using the four colors that make up this page and also serve to create continuity across the page.

Making this page just filled my cup today! I am so blessed that my hobby is something I love so passionately and has become a business that has allowed me to stay close to home to raise my kids.

If you are inspired by this page and want any of the project supplies I used, please feel free to shop my store or use my Hostess Code!

Artisan Design Team February Share!

Hello friends! I am so excited to share a few more details on my Artisan Design Team projects for February! My focus was on the A Touch of Ink stamp set and the Golden Garden Acetate Specialty Paper. I knew right away that I wanted to use this acetate paper on a scrapbook page and share an easy tip for coloring it.

The design is printed on a thick window sheet or acetate and is gold on one side and silver on the other! You can feature either side by just coloring on the opposite or backside of what you want to feature.

The easiest way to color our acetate sheets is to use our alcohol based Stampin’ Blends markers in the DARK option. Some of the alcohol inks depth is lost on the window sheet so I found I had better success using the dark option and then you can layer on a bit of color by adding in a different shade on top like I did on some of the leaves with Old Olive and Mossy Meadow.

You also want to make sure that you peel off the protective layer that is on the silver side of the acetate sheet.

Once you have done this you can start coloring with your Stampin’ Blends.

I also decided to hand trim around the flowers of the 12x12 sheet.

You can use this easy coloring technique embellish a scrapbook page or a card!

I used Basic White Note Cards for the two cards that I designed. I added a bit of the Gilded Leafing to both my butterfly on the note card and the hummingbird on my scrapbook page. I also stamped with the Gilded Leafing on the butterfly card and hand trimmed some of the florals from the Fine Art Floral DSP.

On the second note card I colored a strip of the acetate that I had left over from my scrapbook page and added it to a piece of the Fine Art Floral Designer Series Paper.

I hope you are inspired to try coloring the Golden Garden Acetate paper and adding into onto one of your crafty projects! Make sure to check out the whole Artisan Design Teams creations on Stampin’ Up!’s Facebook and Instagram accounts!