Creative Convention--Day 6!

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Welcome back friends! I hope you are enjoying everything I am sharing so far! I have had some much fun preparing all of these “Creative Convention” project ideas for you in anticipation of the new upcoming Holiday Catalogue! We are getting so close to the happiest time of year (which is my world is Sept-Dec!)

My project for today is a card with a fun fold that I make EVERY SINGLE YEAR! Its just one of my go to favorites as its a great way to give a gift card inside or hide some money or even a flat little chocolate.

This project is a combo one that uses both of the stamp sets from the Joy of Christmas Suite collection!

I love how these bundles work together so that you can build off of each one of them and I do appreciate the traditional aspect of this suite. I knew I wanted to add the Shaded Spruce gingham pattern from the Joy of Christmas 12x12 paper so I decided to make the card base the same color.

This is a standard card that is scored at 4 1/4, and then you score one side at 1 1/4 to make the flap that folds down creating the ‘pocket’. I also rounded the pocket on the flap and base for a little extra touch.

I added a 2 1/4 x 5 1/4 layer of Shaded Spruce that I ran through the Exposed Brick 3D folder in the annual catalogue—if you do not have this folder you need #addtocart now as its awesome and works with SO MANY things!

Both the Joy of Noel and the Christmas Classics stamp sets are a part of a bundle and the Christmas Classics dies have all the labels and some greenery, while the Joy of Noel dies of the word ‘Noel’ and some larger greenery. I am going to say that you will just need them both, hahaha!

The fun part of this card for me is the greenery that you see emerging from the top and bottom of this fold. I die cut this shape, which is really designed to be a label with the greenery and I cut it in half!

 

I then tucked this greenery under the DSP on the right and under the flap more in the middle leftish.

I sealed the card with 2 staples that you don’t see, to make the pocket. The I sealed the flap down with some Dimensionls.

Sometimes to keep the card closed I will use twine or ribbon. However, this time I wanted the Pecan Pie ribbon to be more of an accent in between the layers of my sentiment.

The sentiment is stamped in Cherry Cobbler and then I used one of the large images from the Joy of Noel set to stamp some imagery behind the sentiment. I used Crumb Cake ink that I stamped off on my scratch paper (or grid paper) so that it would be faint. I added the sentiment onto of a 2 1/4 inch circle of DSP to bring in a few color just peeking from the outside ring.

Lastly I added some embellishments, Adhesive-Backed Star Trinkets, from the O Holy Night suite. I thought they were a more unique touch to this project than just a gold sequin or such.

I am really really pleased with how this card turned out and I will no doubt be sharing it at my upcoming ‘Joy of Christmas’ Virtual Stamp Camp/Retreat.

Joy of Christmas Stamp Camp —co hosted with Tricia Schaelow from @stampint—if you are not following her, please do!

When: Saturday, Oct 21 at 10:30 am on Zoom (which is awesome as anyone from Canada can join in the fun with us)

Fun Stuff: The stamp camp is $75 and includes everything you see below —Joy of Noel stamp set, full roll of Black & Very Vanilla ribbon, and half a pkg of the Joy of Christmas 12x12 paper PLUS a special guest demonstration from my friend Julie @thepaperhaven and 6-8 make’n takes! These won’t be your ordinary make’n takes either—they will be a mix of 3D, holiday decor and cards!

Registration closes on Sept 30th for this event and your kit can be shipped anywhere in Canada at your expense! Please reach out if you are interested in registering (one of these days I will figure out how to take payment through Squarespace!)

I have one more project to share with you tomorrow as a part of my ‘Creative Convention’ weeklong extravaganza! I hope you will come back and please feel free to leave any comments!

Color Fusers--July--Hello Summer!

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Hello friends! It is OFFICIALLY SUMMER—Whoo Hoo! I love summer time, I love to water my flowers and I see it as a personal challenge to keep them alive ALL season long, which is a challenge as I do not have a green thumb. Our Color Fusers Blog Hop this month is featuring these 3 colors:

And because I have flowers on the brain, I knew that I had to incorporate the new Paper Florist Dies into my design. I also knew that I wanted to create a scrapbook page with one of my favorite pictures taken on the Norway trip. So here you go!

This awesome picture was taken in Stavanger, Norway

I decided to use Azure Afternoon as my base. Now if you have been following me on Instagram I have made a couple of comments about how this is currently my new favorite blue! I think it looks great paired with two classics—Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie. All three of these colors are also in the Brights Family as well.

The main sentiment on this page is from the Good Feelings stamp set and I felt it was appropriate because none of us live in the same area in the world. Kylie and Bruno on the right, live in Australia and Alanna and her family, while fellow Canadians, live a couple provinces away from me. So it is true, I do send sunshine and good feelings to all of my friends no matter where they are :)

I used Designer Series Paper from the Bright & Beautiful and the Brights 6x6 stack to add interest to my page along with a square ran through the new Exposed Brick 3D folder and a square stamped with hearts from the Little Monkey Stamp set.

The flowers are all from the amazing Paper Florist Dies which you need to serious #addtocart if you have not already!

 

I found a bunch of single words to add to my page such as ‘Love’ which is from the Seasonal Branches stamp set. A few Tinsel Gems and some Bakers Twine finished off this little vignette.

The cute tag and fringe are from the Beautiful Balloons dies. I love this die set and I thought they made the perfect addition to this layout. I added some of the new white Herringbone Ribbon through the tag and you can find ‘Hello, friend’ in the Inked & Tiled stamp set. The white sequins are from the Adhesive-Backed Sequins Trio and just added a little something to this area.

This page is really quite eclectic, which is what I love about Stampin’ Up! I really disagree with those who say you cannot scrapbook with our products. YES YOU CAN!

May is die cut using the Alphabet A la Mode dies and added using the Foam Adhesive Sheets. Look how awesome the Exposed Brick folder looks beside it! This new folder is definitely a must have.

I can’t wait to see what the rest of the team has designed with these three amazing colors—Azure Afternoon, Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie. I know you will be inspired and if you haven’t purchased Azure Afternoon yet, then I encourage you to give it a go. It is a really lovely blue.

My amazing friend and fellow Artisan teammate Tami Hewlett is up next on our blog hop—you can visit her by clicking the image below.

If you want to go in reverse or a link gets broken, you can visit the uber talented Stacey Marsh by clicking the Previous image.

Please feel free to comment, it makes me happy to hear that you have enjoyed stopping by my blog. If you do not have a Canadian Demonstrator, I would love to get crafty with you! You can reach out to me or shop with me by clicking any link in my supplies section or by using the monthly host code. Thank you in advance!

Around the World on Wednesday--April Showers Bring May Flowers!

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Hello and welcome friends! April is the 4 year anniversary of the Around the World on Wednesday Blog Hop! This was one of the first Blog Hops I ever joined and it was created by the amazing Angie Mackenzie. While as of late I haven’t been contributing each month (there are girls in the Hop that have NEVER missed a month which is amazing) I had to participate this month to celebrate!

Our theme is for this month is anything that makes us think of SPRING—so I created a soft and subtle scrapbook page with a picture of my family from a few years back!

My scrapbook page contains a little bit of everything—current, retired, retiring and Online Exclusive products!

I started with a base of So Saffron which is a soon to be retiring color, I am actually quite sad about this because our new yellow, is NOT the same, so I will miss having a pastel yellow to create with. I added a second layer of Basic White and then a nice big 4 x 12 strip of DSP from the Sale a bration paper Favored Flowers.

I added some stamping straight to the Basic White with the Irresistible Blooms (an Online Exclusive stamp set) in Mossy Meadow. The photo mat is Crumb Cake and adds a neutral anchor to my page.

I used the emboss resist technique on all of the flowers—White Craft ink embossed with White Embossing powder and then using the Blending Brushes add Petal Pink and So Saffron Ink. You can buff the stamped image with a tissue afterwards to brighten up the embossing. The Irresistible Blooms dies were used to cut out all of the flowers and the leaf dies that are added as accents.

The sentiment “You are Amazing” is from the Sentimental Park stamp set and punched with an ancient punch that I believe was called Word Window. I will NEVER part with it!

I added a few Rusted Metallic Adhesive Dots as accents along with some Linen Thread.

What is completely NEW on this page are the Nested Essentials Dies—there are 3 shapes with 4 of each size in this new die set and they have a double stitched detail which is beautiful. I die cut the largest shape with DSP from the SAB Favored Flowers and then added a solid Mossy Meadow die cut.

The sentiment “Nothing Fancy Just Love” is from the Something Fancy stamp set. This set is carrying over which is awesome! Behind the sentiment I added some vanilla Bakers Twine.

One of my favorite things is to cut using Vellum the circle die accent piece from the Irresistible Blooms dies and layer it behind flowers and tags as a subtle accent. It is a different way to think about using this die.

I love how this page came together, it feels nice and soft which is how I think of spring. I am looking forward to seeing some green and flowers over the next few weeks as the snow melts and the new growth emerges.

Make sure you visit everyone on the hop and please feel free to comment! I would LOVE to hear from you! You can also check out my Scrapbook Gallery if you are looking for more inspiration and follow me on Instagram @stampwithbrenda if you are not already!

Up next on the hop is….Tricia Butts from the United States! Click on NEXT BLOG to see what she has created!

 

If I have inspired you in any way, please help me continue to do what I love by shopping my online store! You can click any image below or the SHOP WITH ME button!

Color Fusers--April 2023

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Hello April…I am so happy you are here as it is finally beginning to feel like spring! Our Color Fusers Hop this month is featuring one retiring color, Polished Pink, and two continuing colors—Coastal Cabana and Gorgeous Grape. Now I won’t lie…Gorgeous Grape is a fun color but not one that I reach for alot, so it was fun to incorporate it into my design!

I decided to use a bundle and a single stamp set that are being carried forward into our new Annual Catalogue that is officially live in May. I chose the Quiet Meadow Bundle and the Good Feelings Stamp set. I feel that using the Quiet Meadow Bundle with this bright color combo has breathed some new life into it. And I forgot how amazing these dies are, I am so glad I dusted them off!

I started with a 12x12 base of Basic White to help settle these bright colors down a bit. I added a 3x12 strip of Coastal Cabana DSP to the left edge and I found it in the recent Sale a bration paper stack Dandy Designs. I then used a smaller 1 inch strip of Polished Pink DSP from the In Color 6x6 stack and hid the seam of the two pieces behind my photo mat.

I blended a large area on my page base with my Blending Brush and Coastal Cabana ink pad and added some stamping from the Quiet Meadow stamp set. The set includes some distressed words and spots so I added them on top of my blending.

TOP TIP: Make sure to stamp images off on your Stampin’ placemat to get lighter and different tones

You can see how easy it is to create a custom background for your scrapbook page by layering ink and stamps!

I cut a variety of the wildflowers from the Meadow Dies in the three focus colors and layered them behind the sentiment “You’re on my Mind and in my Heart”. What I love about the Good Feelings stamp set is how big the sentiments are. Perfect for memory keeping!

And if you don’t recognize the die the sentiment is on, it can be found in the Online Exclusive section of the Stampin’ Up! website or my store. The Polished Pink and Coastal Cabana heart are also from this same die set—Radiating Stitches. I also had some Glossy Dots in my stash and they were perfect for this page along with some retired Gorgeous Grape ribbon. #useyourstash

I decided to carry some of the ribbon, wildflowers and the heart over to the top left of my page as well so that the opposing corners of my layout felt connected.

Honestly, this page came together pretty fast and it will definitely brighten up my craft room! I can’t wait to see what the rest of the Color Fusers Blog Hop has created this month!

You can check out what the awesome Bonnie O’Neill has created and make sure you visit everyone to get some inspiration on how you can use up your Polished Pink supplies!

If you would rather go backwards you can do that as well by hitting the Previous tab as it will take you to my fabulous friend Melanie Hockin!

Thank you so much for coming by and checking out all of our projects. It has been a while since I have shared a card as you know I love to scrapbook so I appreciate you letting me showcase my passion, even if you are more of a card lover! Luckily the other members of the hop typically make cards so you will always have inspiration!

Artisan Design Team Project featuring Delicate Desert

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Hello friends! I could not be more excited to share my projects for March that I created for the Artisan Design Team. I absolutely loved designing with the Delicate Desert Suite especially because I used one of my all time favorite pictures of my youngest son, Shepard.

I recently updated my Scrapbook Gallery on my blog as well—so if you are looking for more scrapbook page inspiration, please check there!

Shep really was the happiest baby and such an easy toddler—I simply cannot believe at the time of writing this he is 12. I wish i had a time machine to go back and cuddle this little guy again.

I decided to make a scrapbook page AND a card for my Team projects this month. I really love the color palette of this suite—Petal Pink, Calypso Coral, Cajun Craze, Pale Papaya, Soft Succulent and Gray Granite look so AWESOME together!

For my scrapbook page, I started with a sheet of the Delicate Desert 12x12 DSP as the base and then I added a layer of Basic White over top that is cut to 11x11. This lets you see a little bit of the pattern behind. I used another piece of the DSP for the photo mat as well and cut out the leaf like shape out of the DSP and the Dry Brushed Metallic 12x12 paper. If you haven’t ordered the Dry Brushed paper yet, you should really take a chance on it. It is really cool and has alot of fabulous texture w the hints of gold layered through.

Seriously, look at Sheppie’s cute face. I can’t even.

Because the Dry Brushed Metallic paper has gold in the design I decided to stamp one of the larger flowers in Versamark and use Gold Embossing Powder. I then used my Blending Brush with Pale Papaya ink to a bit of emboss resist. It is such a classic technique, and I find everyone is impressed with embossing! I also die cut some of the triangular shapes (they remind me of a pattern on a western blanket) to add it to represent foliage. I think it worked really well!

The sentiment could not be more perfect for this scrapbook page! However, the Desert Details Dies do not have a label shape, so I borrowed this one from the He’s the Man Dies. The suite also includes the Pale Papaya Faux Velvet Trim which I cut in half to add underneath the sentiment.

My favorite part of this scrapbook page is actually the base where I used both of the large panels to create interest and texture by die cutting them in Basic White. They are added flat to the page with all of the other elements on top. I also used the Gold Faceted Adhesive Backed Sequins to add interest to the scrapbook page.

The stamp set also includes two longer border type stamps which I used along the right side of the photo. I thought it was an interesting way to bring in those design elements.

 

The sentiment in the top left, “Your Smile is Pure Magic” was also a fantastic addition to this page. I stamped it in Pale Papaya first and then used my Calyspso Coral marker over the ‘magic’ to make it pop. I added some of the Pale Papaya Ribbon and a die cut element.

TOP TIP: I cut the element horizontally into two pieces so I could spread it out and give the illusion of it being larger than it really is

For my card design, I started with a base of Grey Granite, and then I used a piece of the DSP as a base, with another DSP design die cut with the larger decorative panel. I then cut the smaller decorative panel in Basic White. I love the edge detailing on both of these dies and how they nestle together.

The Basic White panel has a touch of color added by using a Blending Brush and Pale Papaya ink. I also flicked my Pale Papaya Stampin’ Blend over top.

The flower is also stamped in Versamark, then I added ink in Pale Papaya and Calypso Coral with a Blending Brush and finished it off with Clear Embossing Powder. This gives the flower a glossy feel. I used both the Delicate Desert and the Dry Brushed Metallic paper with the foliage die to layer behind the sentiment.

The border die included in the set was used as an accent underneath my sentiment as well. And of course, who can resist bling? So I added some of the Gold Faceted Adhesive Backed Sequins to this project as well.

I hope you enjoyed these projects and all of the other amazing things created by the Artisan Design Team! For more inspo with the Delicate Desert Suite check out on Instagram and Facebook the Stampin’ Up! Official account as well as Heather Thomas @thesongbirdstamper , Karine Lison @karinelison73choupinette, Sandra Herzog @herzerlskreativecke and Tammy Wilson @stamppaperscissors

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