Glancing Back But Moving Forward!

This has been a harried month for me!  Starting up this new blog, setting up my stamping space to make room for new products--new colors, new stamps, new papers. Still more than a little bit to go on all of it, but it is getting there.  There's nothing like Spring cleaning in a stamping/crafting place.  You always get waylaid with fun discoveries.

Speaking of being waylaid, I've been going through my box of completed stamping projects.  I've been more thoughtful this past year about making projects to give and send to folks, so my box is smaller than usual but still filled with some great cards that I have yet to use.  I found this little gem in my box:

This note card was designed for a Simply Stamping class to teach heat embossing.   It uses two of my favorites from the Last Chance retiring list:  Post Script background stamp (Item #143989) and the Pressed Flowers hostess only stamp set (#146789).  The greeting is from the returning Botanical Bliss stamp set (#151284), stamped on a die cut label from the returning Stitched Labels dies (#146828). The background and greeting were stamped in Soft Suede.  The flowers were stamped in VersaMark and embossed with Lovely Lipstick embossing powder.  A simple, pretty card.

There is a whole new suite of products called Pressed Petals in the upcoming catalog.  Can't wait to stamp with it.  There is never a reason to mourn the retiring products for very long, but it has been fun to look back at the projects I've made with these great sets. 

My old blog on my Demonstrator Business Web Site has also had me glancing back as I've read my old posts.  It's been fun to read my old posts, see my inspiration to continue and to change through the years.  So fun to read my stories--especially my Master & Commander connection to the retired The Open Sea stamp set.  I still look at those cards and think of Captain Aubrey's dear old ship, Surprise.   

I had a choice to save these old posts, but decided not to do so.  I will save some of my favorite projects on Pinterest and Instagram.   I loved glancing back at these old posts, but decided just to move forward with this new blog.  A new and exciting stamping year is coming.  

Gingham Thanks--#tgifc213

This week's product spotlight challenge at TGIF Challenges is Gingham Gala designer series paper.  I've used this paper many different ways, so I wanted to try something a bit different for me.  I decided to stamp directly on the paper:

I took a piece of the Daffodil Delight small square gingham paper and stamped the "thanks" image from the Floral Statements stamp set in Mossy Meadow.  I colored the leaves with an Old Olive Light and the roses with Mango Melody Light and Dark Stampin' Blends.  I love that you can still see the gingham pattern through the Mossy Meadow  letters.

I am going to miss stamping with the retiring Floral Statements stamp set.  The gingham paper and the Old Olive linen thread I tied in a bow at the top of the card are also retiring favorites.  But saying goodbye to old favorites makes room for new ones!

You'll get plenty of inspiration to use up your Gingham Gala designer series paper over at the TGIF Challenges blog here.

Here's my supply list:

Floral Statements stamp set, clear mount, #144701

Card stock:  Whisper White Thick, #140272; Old Olive, #100702

Gingham Gala 6" x 6" designer series paper, #148554

Mossy Meadow classic ink pad, #147111

Stampin' Blends:  Old Olive Light, #144574; Mango Melody Combo, #147945

Old Olive linen thread, #148811

Come Sail Away Sneak Peek

Of course, Come Sail Away is my favorite new suite of products in the new annual catalog (going live to customers on June 4).  I met my husband on a sailboat some 45 years ago. It is a wonderful suite of all things sailing and nautical:  Sailing Home cling mount stamp set, Smooth Sailing dies, High Seas embossing folder (can't wait to get my hands on it as it was not in the pre-order), beautiful Come Sail Away designer series paper and Memories & More card pack, Night of Navy and Sahara Sand baker's twine, and Sail Away trinkets. You'll see lots of projects using this suite in the future.  For today, I have a card I created for my team shoebox swap and for an upcoming college graduation:

For the background I used the Soft Suede and Night of Navy square knots pattern from the Come Sail Away designer series paper pack. The banner flags were made with Vellum and Night of Navy card stock, using the Banner Triple punch.  I embossed the Night of Navy one with the Subtle embossing folder.  The baker's wine was wrapped around the Night of Navy flag and then tied in a square knot. 

The sailboat was stamped in Night of Navy ink and then die cut using the Smooth Sailing dies.  Stampin' Up! is introducing new dies in the new annual catalog.  They die cut closer to the stamped images so there is not as much white space showing.  I am in love with this new style die.

The other two images were stamped and punched out with the 1-1/2" circle punch and the Everyday Label punch.  The greeting image was too short for the Everyday Label Punch, so I punched it out with the image close to one side, then reinserted the piece into the punch, adjusted it and punched it again to shorten the size of the finished piece to fitting the greeting image better.  I stamped the greeting on a 1-7/16" strip of card stocK.  See below: 

      

Bird Ballad Suite--Sneak Peek

After over 16 years as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, I can't really say I have a favorite Annual Catalog.  However, the new 2019-2020 Annual Catalog "Creativity is Calling" ranks at the top of my list.  I love lots of things about this new catalog, but the stamp sets and suites of products are outstanding.  It is hard to pick and choose what I will purchase--there are so many that I absolutely love.  

The retiring stamp set Best Birds is one of my most used and loved sets. When I saw the new Bird Ballad suite, I knew it would be a more than worthy replacement.  I love the stamp set, the wonderful nested labels dies, the designer series paper and all of the accessories.   Included in the suite is a beautiful tin in Petal Pink with a gold leaf design filled with 12 laser cut cards and envelopes.  I used one of the cards for my project today.  I created this card for my team shoebox swap:

The laser cut design on the front of the card shows the inside of the card, so the written note inside the card distracts from the outside design.  I solved this issue by layering a piece of the Bird Ballad designer series paper to the backside of the laser design.  I used a less busy pattern from the paper pack to highlight the laser cut design--but it has a pretty side on the back and that decorates the inside of the card:

TIP:  I cut my piece of designer series paper for this card just a bit too small at 4" x 5-1/4".  I recommend that you cut it at 4-1/8" x 5-3/8" so you have enough room to apply Multipurpose Liquid adhesive to adhere the paper to the card without a glue showing on the edges. I also recommend that you just do small dots of the glue around the edge of the paper, so it does not ooze out of the sides and under the laser design. 

For the front of my card, I added a greeting from the Free as A Bird stamp set.  It is die cut with one of the Stitched Label dies in the suite.  I stamped three of the leaf image from the stamp set, colored them with an Old Olive Light Stampin' Blend, fussy cut them and then arranged them on the back of my greeting piece.  I adhered the greeting piece to the front of the card with Stampin' dimensionals, then add a Linen Thread bow and one of the flowers from the Bird Ballad Trinkets.     

Make sure you check out the new Bird Ballad suite when you get your copy of "Creativity is Calling".  You are going to love it!

Thanks for stopping by today!--Sara Nell

  

A Floral Wreath--#tgifc212

Hi!  Welcome to the first post on my new blog!  I've been putting off creating my own blog for a long time. Thankfully,  Stampin' Up! forced my hand by eliminating the blog feature on my Demonstrator Business Web Site.  I'll be adding some more blog elements later, but today I have to get my TGIF Challenges entry up.

The TGIF Challenges design team gave us a fun challenge this week:  paper flowers.  I pulled out my Bitty Blooms punch pack and had fun creating a 4-1/4" square note card with a floral wreath:

I started my note card with a 4-1/4' X 8-1/2" piece of Whisper White thick card stock, scored and folded in half to form my card base. Next, I ran a 4" square piece of card stock through the Big Shot with the Subtle embossing folder.

To create my wreath, I traced a circle lightly on my piece with a Layering Circle framelits die.  I punched out a bunch of flowers and leaf shapes using Poppy Parade, Mango Melody, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive and Granny Apple Green card stock. I used the tip of the the Paper Piercer handle and the palm of my had to give the flower blossoms a bit of dimension, then arranged them around the circle using Mini Glue Dots.  I added the leaves in pairs using a touch of Multipurpose Liquid Adhesive.

To complete the card, I added a greeting banner using an image from the Needle & Thread stamp set, a bow of Old Olive linen thread, and some Basic Pearls for the centers of the Poppy Parade blossoms.

You'll see lots of paper flowers over at the TGIF Challenges Blog here.  

Thanks for stopping by!--Sara Nell