Stamps & Stretchy Pants

Hello friends! Welcome to the Be Inspired Blog Hop! I recently joined this Blog Hop back in November and then had a couple month hiatus! But I am back crafting with them again! This months theme is “Brights” and I took this to mean two things—incorporating some colors from the Brights family and making a bright project!

As you can see I chose Poppy Parade and Granny Apple Green (my two favorite Brights colors) as the focus of my page and then added in some other supporting colors from other color families. In my opinion I think this is the way Stampin’ Up! intended our colors to work together. Supporting and uplifting each other. AND there is the rumoured color refresh happening so I am so excited and curious to see how the color families are going to change!

Normally I always add a picture to my layouts but in this case I wanted to share one without a photo to really help you focus in on the design.

I cut six swatches of DSP from the host stack of DSP Flowers & More in the brightest patterns I could find (I also used some from the retired stack from last years annual catalogue). Sometimes it is intimidating to know how to craft with these bright colors and patterns. So paring them down to smaller segments I find often works best. All of these panels are 3 x 4 so you can also get a lot out of one sheet of DSP.

I decided to use three stamp sets to add to my page design, Happy Labels and Love for You. This was my first time crafting with the Brushed Bouquet bundle and I really love the shape and design of the flowers. I always love when a stamp set has multiple sizes of flowers.

The multi stripped piece of DSP was the anchor for my page design as it let me bring in all the different colors. It is very bright and fun! I wanted to add it to the top left of my page to create a little vignette and having this pattern in the bottom right corner helps your eye look around the page.

I stamped out 3 different flowers and use the leaf dies to embellish the sentiment. The sentiment is cut using the new Happy Labels Pick a Punch. I love how you can use one punch to create multiple looks.

The bright bold patterns of this page are definitely softened by the Basic White base. I think it really helps the colors pop off of the page, especially the bold So Much Love which is stamped in Poppy Parade and die cut with the Stylish Shapes Dies.

I added tons of blooms and leaves to frame the sentiment. Placing it on the right helps to balance the layout.

I really love how this page turned out and I can’t wait to add a photo to it! I think it is a great page for February, the month of Galentine’s and love, friendship and family. These are all the things I think of for February. I love mixing and matching colors but anchoring many of the details with Poppy Parade and Granny Apple Green to create a bright fun layout with wild patterns! I used up some retired products too (the Pale Papaya ribbon and gems) with brand new products to encourage all my fellow crafters to #useyourstash which is my new personal goal for 2023. I think all crafters tend to hoard a teeny bit, don’t we? Hahaha!

I can’t wait to see what Janneke Dijkstra - de Jong has designed for us this month. You can click on the NEXT button to see what Janneke has created but make sure that you follow all through the Hop to see all the fabulous creations featuring ‘Brights’!

If my design has influenced you, please consider shopping my online store. This allows me to continue to love what I do! You can click any image to go directly to my store! AND if you are local to YEG and are interested in attending one of my many scrapbook page classes please reach out! I would love to share my passion with you!

Hello friends! Welcome to the February Color Fusers BLOG HOP! I love to hop with this creative crew and I look forward to crafting with our color challenges each month!

This month we have a really unique color combination for you—Calypso Coral, Balmy Blue and Pale Papaya!

I love that our color challenge this month is NOT what you would expect for Valentines projects but I decided to make one with this combination anyway!

The reason I liked this color combination for a valentine’s card is because it doesn’t have to be a holiday about your spouse or significant other. It can also be a holiday about those who you LOVE so I designed a card that you could give to your mom, or a friend, or someone in your life who means something special to you.

I decided to make the base of my card Pale Papaya and I am officially going on record to say how much I will miss this fun color. It is a tone that seems to works so well with so many of our core colors!

I also had not used my Dots & Spots die in a while so I pulled it out to created an interesting first layer on my card. And because its Sale a Bration I had to use some of the DSP from the Favoured Flowers collection to anchor the bottom half of the card and create a base for the design. I also love how it has a more geometrical design that works well with the polkadot first layer.

One of the things I was most excited about in the new Occasions catalogue was the Love for You bundle. I think it is fantastic for card making AND an amazing set for scrapbooking (my first love).

I stamped out the sentiment ‘So Much Love’ in Balmy Blue. Now I think Balmy Blue is having a moment. If you flip through the Occasions Catalogue you might notice that it is showing up in a lot of the new DSP designs!

The flowers from Love For You are stamped in both Calypso Coral and Balmy Blue. I stamped the solid layer of the flower off on my grid paper and then the detail part of the stamp full strength over top. You can also add a little center if you desire as well. Seriously! The designers at Stampin’ Up! think of every possibility!

The centers and the cute little hearts are stamped in Pale Papaya.

I added Happy Valentine’s Day onto the design but you could easily omit it. But I love that you can send this card to someone who isn’t your sweetheart. And I couldn’t resist a bit of Linen Thread underneath the sentiment.

A few Pastel Adhesive Backed Sequins in blue completed this unique card! I really hope you like the twist on this Valentine’s Day project!

Next on the hop is the amazing Bonnie O’Neill so click on the image to head directly to her blog. If you want to go backwards you can click on PREVIOUS to see what Sue Vine has designed this month.