The TGIF Challenges product spotlight challenge this week is background stamps. I have only the Birch background stamp (#149256). As it reminds me of a forest, I paired it with wildflowers: pretty dandelions from the Garden Wishes stamp set (#154408) and die cuts from the coordinating Dandy Wishes dies (#154315/bundled with the stamp set, #156220).
Wednesday, January 20, 2021
Dandelion Wishes--#tgifc299
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
A T-Rex for Easton--#tgifc298
This week's sketch challenge over at TGIF Challenges provided the inspiration for today's card. I made it for my 23-month old grandson, Easton. I want to send him a little love as he is being tested for COVID-19 tomorrow. One of his little buddies from day care tested positive last week.
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Black & White Studies in Texture -- #tgifc297
The TGIF Challenges color challenge this week is Black and White. My cards today were inspired by an old episode of Trading Spaces. I haven't watched Trading Spaces in years, so why it popped into my head I have no idea. I remember the episode so well--one designer did a room all in white and the other designer did one all in black. So I challenged myself to do the same with my projects using lots of texture to create the layers. One exception--the greeting on each card is in the opposite color to stand out. How did I do?
Sunday, January 3, 2021
Creation Station January Blog Hop: How to Be a Millionaire!
Hello and welcome to the January 2021 Creation Station Blog Hop. We are a group of Stampin' Up! Demonstrators from around the world who create themed inspiration for you each first Sunday of the Month. This month our theme is "How to Be a Millionaire". We are celebrating Stampin' Up!'s million dollar sales achievers, including our own team member Dena Rekow.
Rewards upon achieving a million dollars in sales include a visit to Stampin' Up!'s home office in Riverton, Utah, and working with a Stampin' Up! artist to create and inspire a stamp set for an upcoming catalog. You can find these stamp sets in our catalogs by looking for the gold 1,000,000 icon next to the stamp set title. There have been several of these great sets in our catalogs over the years, but I believe that Dena's stamp set is the first one to inspire the stamp set, a set of coordinating dies and coordinating designer series paper. Dena's stamp set, Pretty Petals, and the coordinating Perennial Petals dies make their debut in the January to June 2021 Mini Catalog out on January 5. The coordinating Paper Blooms designer series paper will be a FREE Sale-a-Bration product selection in the January-February 2021 Sale-a-Bration Brochure also out on January 5. (Tip: purchase the stamp set and die bundle, add in an additional $5 in product and choose the paper as your free product. You'll be set for some pretty and fun stamping this year!). So proud of and excited for Dena!
I am pretty sure you will be inspired by Dena's stamp set along the hop today, so I have decided to feature an oldie but goodie million dollar stamp set inspired by Connie Heisey: Waterfront (#146386). You'll find this one on page 129 of the current Annual Catalog. It includes images to create both mountain lake and sunny beach scenes. Since it is rainy and cold here, I decided to create with a beach theme:
Now head on over to Andrea's blog to check out her Million Dollar Project:
Hope you've been inspired by our Million Dollar stamp sets!
--Sara Nell
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
Winter Joy--#tgifc296
This week's TGIF Challenges theme challenge is "Let It Snow". Well, believe it or not, I only have two small snowflake images in my entire current Stampin' Up! stamp set collection. One from Snowman Season (#150458) and one from Curvy Christmas (#155364, which is available only until January 4). I decided to go with the small single snowflake image from Curvy Christmas and to celebrate the joy of a rare snowfall in the South for my card today:
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Christmas Tree Hills--#tgifc295
This week's inspiration challenge from TGIF Challenges came at exactly the right time--when I needed a few last minute gifts here on Christmas Eve Eve. I created some hills filled with Christmas trees using the Curvy Christmas stamp set (#155364, available only until January 4) and the coordinating Curvy Dies (#154319, available now as an early release from the January to June 2021 Mini Catalog).
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
Good Things--#tgifc294
Okay, I admit it. I am obsessed with the Feels Like Frost designer series paper (#150444) that is retiring soon. I should say, I am re-obsessed. Last year I went on a December spree making tags and bookmarks with this glorious photorealistic paper. This year I am obsessed with the foliage designs and coordinating the icy foliage in the papers with die cut foliage. Of course, the die cut foliage has to appear icy, too. So I am covering my die cuts with Shimmery Crystal Effects (#150892) to make them sparkle. I made the decision to not add the shimmery stuff to the last card I posted here for a TGIF Challenge--that won't happen again! It's just not the same without the shimmer. Fortunately, this little bottle of shimmer goes a long way--I think I'll have enough to finish off another bunch of shimmery projects (including new bookmarks for me) before Christmas.
The TGIF Challenge this week is composed of three horizontal layers. I used the designer series paper for my bottom layer (covering the entire card base), the die cut foliage for my middle layer and a greeting piece using the Tasteful Touches stamp set (#152562) as my top layer:
This paper pattern is my favorite of the purples and greens paper in my paper pack. The die cut layer starts with leaves die cut out of Soft Sea Foam using the large leaf die from the Forever Flourishing dies (#152714). Layered over the leaves is the ball shaped foliage in Purple Posy and Highland Heather that looks like the foliage in the paper. These pieces were die cut with a die from the Poinsettia dies (#153522), then coated with the Shimmery Crystal Effects.
Tip: Use a Silicone Craft Sheet (#127853) when you are coating your die cut pieces with the crystal effects. Once the pieces are covered, carefully move them to another place on the craft sheet to dry overnight. This will eliminate a lot of excess glue on your pieces and make them easier to remove from the sheet. The delicate stems will tear easily if you do not take the time to move the pieces before you leave them to dry. I have three or four of these silicone sheets (a must have for me) and use one for coating and one for drying.
The Stamparatus (#146276) was used to stamp the greeting twice in Gorgeous Grape ink onto Soft Sea Foam card stock. The greeting was heat embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder (#109130) and a Heat Tool (#129053). The greeting piece is one inch wide and was punched on each end using the Banners Pick a Punch (#153608).
A spattering of Clear Epoxy Droplets (#147801) complete the card.
This sketch is wide open for interpretation, so head over to the TGIF Challenges blog here to see how everyone created their layers.
Dandelion Wishes--#tgifc299
The TGIF Challenges product spotlight challenge this week is background stamps. I have only the Birch background stamp (#149256). As it re...


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This week's TGIF Challenges color challenge is Blackberry Bliss, Rich Razzleberry and Very Vanilla. It took a little thought for me to ...
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Hello and welcome to the January 2021 Creation Station Blog Hop. We are a group of Stampin' Up! Demonstrators from around the world w...
