Be Inspired May--Monochromatic!

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Hi friends! Welcome to another Be Inspired Blog Hop! This month our theme is ‘monochromatic’ which I have decided to use the 5 NEW In Colors to create 5 monochromatic cards with! This is something that I do every new year when we get our new color options!

I just love when we have new colors to play with, which is why I could not wait to make a batch of cards using our 5 new colors:

—Peach Pie

—Shy Shamrock

—Summer Splash

—Petunia Pop

—Pretty in Pink (if you have been stamping a while you might have thought this color name sounded familiar and you would be right—it was a core color many years ago!)

This is my take on monochromatic! I created one card featuring each of our new colors—repeating the same design and only using Basic White as my neutral element.

I wanted these card to have a bit of a ‘technique’ to them so I used the ink pad swiping technique. You simply drag your ink pad from the top to the bottom of your card stock. Each attempt with look a bit unique as well as you can see in my 5 cards. Don’t apply too much pressure when you are dragging, you want it to look like a swipe! That is part of the charm!

Each ‘monochromatic’ card has the same base elements—card base matches the color of choice, a die cut from the Spotlight on Nature Dies, which are a definite #addtocart item!

A die cut using the new Flowers of Beauty Dies, a sentiment and stamped flowers from the Labeled with Love stamp set, white Bakers Twine and a little bit of the In Color Glimmer Paper and In Color Shimmer Gems!

Once you have your initial design done, its so easy to create a batch of these fun monochromatic cards!

I added a bit of background stamping on top of the ink pad swiping as well as you get that tone on tone look which is really fun.

If you look close at the die cut image you can see that each is cut from the new 6x6 In Color DSP stack—this year they also changed up the patterns on the paper as well. So each card has a bit of different look to the die cut depending on the pattern that was used.

I really enjoyed putting these 5 cards together—I think the little strip of Glimmer Paper underneath the sentiment helps it shine a bit too! And everything is better with glitter—right?

I can’t wait to see what the rest of the design team created and their unique interpretations of ‘monochromatic’! I can’t even pick a favorite version of the cards above because each of our new 5 In Colors are so amazing. They look fabulous together and work so well with our existing color line up!

You can click on the ‘NEXT’ button to see what the amazing Artisan Design Team member, Maheswari, has designed this month!

And if you are inspired, please consider shopping my online store so I can continue to LOVE WHAT I DO :)

Color Fusers--May Color Challenge!

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Hi friends! Welcome to another fun Color Fusers Blog Hop! We are so happy you are here. Each month our Blog Hop team creates projects with our monthly color challenge—sometimes it really is a challenge! But its a fun way to create with a color combos that are unique and different, and this month is no exception as we are crafting with Pebbled Path, Bubble Bath and Moody Mauve!

This past weekend was National Scrapbook Day so in honour of that, I have created a scrapbook page with this color combination for May.

I won’t lie, I actually found this a tough color combination as Moody Mauve isn’t necessarily a color I gravitate too.

I started with Bubble Bath as my base and I traced a paper plate with pencil onto the middle of my 12x12 page. This gave me the ‘cicle’ shape to use as guideline for my design.

Isn’t this a cute picture of Hawkins? I came across it recently and I thought it was pefect for this page

My picture is matted on Pebbled Path and offset to the left. From here I did some stamping to poke out from underneath the picture following the circle that I traced. I added a little tab of Pebble Path ribbon at the top of the picture and a scallop border along the edge.

I cut ‘My Bestie’ out with the Alphabet a la Mode Dies with a Foam Adhesive Sheet underneath to give them some lift. After that I just started stamping and collaring a variety of flowers to place around my traced circle, erasing the pencil as I went.

I used a combination of dies with card stock and DSP to help create my page. I even pulled out some retired heart embellishments that I have been hoarding!

I really love the design of this scrapbook page and I will probable recreate it with a different picture and color combination in the future. YES! I often use my own pages for inspiration, especially when I am feeling stuck. Plus, I have 3 kids—so eventually all of these pages will be divided up amongst then, so why not use a design you love more than once?

The stamp sets I used to create this layout were:

  1. Flowers of Beauty

  2. Textured Floral

I found that they worked really well together!

I can’t wait to see what the rest of the Team has created with Bubble Bath, Moody Mauve and Pebbled Path this month. I do know that you will find lots of inspiration throughout the blog hop. Next up you can visit former Artisan Design Teammate, Janneke, to see what she has designed. Just click on the link below:

If my scrapbook page has inspired you, please consider shopping my online store to help me love what I do!

Be Inspired April--Anything Goes!

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Hi friends! Welcome to our April ‘Be Inspired’ Blog Hop! The theme for this month is anything goes, so I decided to share one of my favourite new product suites—A Little Latte Suite!

I think this suite is super fun for creating cards, but I was more excited to actually create some scrapbook pages! I have a TON of Starbucks selfie’s of myself (and no one is going to scrapbook ME, so I need to be on it!) that I want to capture as a paper legacy.

I started with a base of Early Espresso 12x12 and layered a really fun strip of DSP from the A Little Latte collection of papers. I added a strip of Pecan Pie 12x12 that I tore the edge of for some added texture and then a strip of the recently retired vellum in the stripe pattern.

I love how the main piece of DSP has a splatter and swirl element to it.

This is such a great starting point for a layout as you can simply pick any three of our fabulous papers and begin your scrapbook page!

I think it was a happy accident that my winter puffer coat and the wall behind me just happen to be starbucks green! hahaha!

In the awesome Latte Love stamp set you will find this fun coffee splatter stamp so I used it to add interest to my Early Espresso base piece in the matching ink.

My 4x6 photo is on a double photo mat of Pecan Pie and Basic White. And I went a little old school and wrapped some of the Natural Polka Dot Trim ribbon as a band over my photo mats. I added it to my tag as well as a fun tag topper!

The heart is from the Hooray for Surprises Dies which I love so much! I am so happy they will be in our new upcoming Catty in the Encore section.

The tag is created using the Tailor Made Tag Dies and some of the coffee bean print from the DSP. I added ‘Hello There’ from the Latte Love stamp set. I used my Pecan Pie Stampin’ Write marker to isolate that section of the phrase. It is cut with the County Corners Dies.

I thought it would be fun to use the ‘heart’ stamp as an element instead of a coffee cup filler. That is what I love about this stamp set—it has so much potential!

I think the sentiment ‘You’re the Best Part of my Day’ can also be used on a variety of things! I know we all look forward to our daily coffee’s or maybe they are a special treat for you, but either way, I think the sentiment is a really fun addition to this page.

This was a quick and easy page to put together and a design that you can easily replicate by changing up the elements! I hope you will give it a try.

I can’t wait to see what the rest of the Team creates this month for our ‘Anything Goes’ theme! You can check out Janneke’s creation by clicking this link!

Color Fusers--April Color Challenge!

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Hello friends and HAPPY APRIL! We are slowly inching our way to summer time and I just cannot wait. I do love spring, however, where I live I find we ‘endure’ spring because we get to experience all 4 seasons again in ONE! It is true!

This month the Color Fusers team is designing with a soon to be retired In Color—Parakeet Party along with Granny Apple Green and Calypso Coral.

Now I will be honest here, this is a unique color combo and I wasn’t quite sure what direction things would go. However, I absolutely LOVE what I have designed with this color combination! I am curious to know what you think!

I started with a base of Parakeet Party and added two 6x6 pieces of coordinating DSP to act like a full 6 x 12 piece. I think you need to look really close to see that it is actually two pieces of DSP.

I chose a fun family photo of my daughter with all of her cousins from our annual lake trip. We take these pictures every year and I want to preserve these moments for my daughter. Paper legacy for the WIN!

The title ‘The Girls’ is cut out of Calypso Coral card stock using the Alphabet A la Mode Dies and mounted on the Foam Adhesive Sheets.

Now the lovely flowers on this page are from an upcoming new catalogue bundle called Layers of Beauty. It has coordinating masks and dies. I cannot stress enough how much I love this bundle. The masks make coloring with Blending Brushes so quick and easy. I used both Parakeet Party and Granny Apple on the leaves and only Calypso Coral on the roses.

I think it is amazing what you can achieve with these masks by just blending!

The photo is on a double photo mat and if you look close you can see the first layer was run through an embossing folder. I also added some Parakeet Ombre gems around the flowers too.

On the left side of the page I used the Taylor Made Tags dies to cut out some Granny Apple Green card stock and a card base from the Sweet Thoughts Memories & More Cards & Envelopes. I added some coordinating retired ribbon because #usethatstash!

Both of the stamped sentiments are from the Layers of Beauty stamp set. The teeny tiny tag die is from the coordinating die set and it worked so perfectly with the Taylor Made Tag dies.

I stamped the main floral image from the stamp set twice, using Pebbled Path ink. Its an amazing alternative to Memento which I sometimes feel is too harsh. Once of the images remained ‘as is’ and the other one I cut apart after die cutting it to add in various spots on my layout. I love how this stamp set allows you to modify it!

I am so happy with how this project turned out! This is definitely a color combination I probably wouldn’t have put together myself!

I cannot wait to see what the rest of the team has created using Parakeet Party, Granny Apple Green and Calypso Coral! Following behind me on the ‘hop’ is an amazing Canadian friend of mine Kim! I love her style and I know you will be amazed with what she has made.

You can always flip it and reverse it to head over to my other former Artisan teammate Tami!

I would love your feedback on what you think of my scrapbook page! And if I have inspired you, please consider shopping my online store so I can keep loving what I do!

You can shop current items below!

Be Inspired Blog Hop-Retiring In Colors!

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Hi friends! Welcome to our fun monthly blog hop—I am proud to be on a team with so many amazing crafters and I know you will ‘Be Inspired’ by the terrific projects we have to showcase featuring the Retiring In Colors.

The 2022-24 collection is retiring and showcased Sweet Sorbet, Starry Sky, Orchid Oasis, Tahitian Tide and Parakeet Party.

I was able to add 4 of the 5 retiring colors to this project. I just couldn’t make the Parakeet Party work!

The base is Tahitian Tide which is a really lovely punching blue and I paired it up with a strip of Starry Sky with the Orchid Oasis twine wrapped around and a fun flower in Sweet Sorbet.

This card has a little bit of everything from retired DSP in the Tahitian Tide, to a NEW upcoming embossing folder called the Eyelet 3D Embossing folder, to products from the Annual Catalogue (card stock, twine and the Ombre Matte Decorative Dots) to Online Exclusive products like the Zinnia Dies AND the Beach Day stamp set from the Occasions Catty! Haha! Its quite the accomplishment to add literally a bit of everything to one project!

Thank you to whoever created this graphic! I appreciate you!

It is always sad to say goodbye to a color collection and I think I will miss Sweet Sorbet the most, if I had to pick.

I did however decide to go with the bright and fun Tahitian Tide as the base for my card. I like how the retired stripped DSP and the new Eyelet embossing folder work together as they are contrasting patterns.

The two patterns are separated by a 1/2 inch strip of Starry Sky with some Orchid Oasis Bakers Twine wrapped around, I love the new Zinnia Dies in the Online Exclusives Store so I knew I wanted to have a play with them. I cut two of each size to create this full feeling flower and added it with a Dimensional beside the twine.

The sentiment is really fun and I felt it was fitting for this relatively bright card. It is from the Beach Day stamp set, which I am happy to say the bundle will be carrying over. I stamped it in Starry Sky and then once again in the Sweet Sorbet to trim out the word ‘sunshine’. I added it on top of the original sentiment with a Mini Dimensional.

The leaves can be found in the Enduring Beauty Dies as they are a little more substantial than the delicate ones in the Zinnia dies. A few of the ombre dots and I thought this card was complete. I think it is a great card design that you can replicate with our huge selection of flower dies, folders and DSP!

I can’t wait to see what the rest of the team has created this month featuring the Retiring In Colors! Make sure to go all around the hop and please leave a comment!

If I have inspired you, please consider shopping my online store so I can keep loving what I do!

Next up on the hop is the AMAZING Maheswari who an amazing designer and member of the 2024 Artisan Design Team. I know you will love what she has created!