A Tropical Thank You--#tgifc348

The TGIF Challenges team gave us a technique challenge this week:  Masking.  I haven't used masking in a while, so it was fun to get back to this simple but fun technique.  I am using a lot of thank you notes lately, so that is what I made using the Timeless Tropical stamp set (#151497).  Haven't used this stamp set in a while, either.

The large blossom was stamped in Saddle Brown StazOn ink onto a piece of Shimmery White card stock and again on a post-it note to create the mask.  The mask was fussy cut close to the edge of the image and laid over the big blossom.  Then the two smaller blossoms were stamped in Saddle Brown over a small portion of the mask.  The images were watercolored with Poppy Parade, Flirty Flamingo and Daffodil Delight inks.  After those images were dry, the background was watercolored with Pool Party ink.  The greeting was also stamped in Saddle Brown on a scrap of shimmery White card stock and die cut using the small label die from the Harvest Dies set (#156504).  

The watercolor piece was layered over a Basic White Thick card stock base which was covered with a piece of Cork specialty paper (#156393).   Pool Party sheer ribbon (#152462) and Coastal Cabana rhinestones from the Holiday Rhinestone Basic Jewels pack (#150457) complete the card.

Find some variations on this simple masking technique over at the TGIF Challenges Blog here.

Wishing you joy in the New Year!

--Sara Nell

 

 

Gift Card Envelope--#tgifc347

This Christmas week TGIF Challenge is for all of us last minute shoppers:  Gift Card Holders.  My last minute shopping includes some printable gift cards--the kind you have to fold up and put in an envelope.  So, my Gift Card holder is actually a Gift Certificate envelope:

I looked at my stash and discovered these cute Gold Holly Leaves (#156311) that I'd totally forgotten about.  So decided to incorporate them in my last holiday project of this season.  I made them into a holly swag on a "decorative wooden plaque" which was die cut using a Tasteful Labels die (#152886) and a wood patterned paper from the In Good Taste designer series paper (#152494) that I rubbed with a bit of white craft ink (#147277) to make the gold leaves pop a bit. The holly berries are Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels (#146924) that I colored with my Cherry Cobbler Dark Stampin' Blends to darken.  The swag is topped with a bow of Cherry Cobbler & Gold 1/2" ribbon (#156312).

The "plaque" is layered over a piece of  Tidings of Christmas  designer series paper (#155718), die cut using a Stitched Rectangles Die #151820).  Three Wonderful Snowflakes (#156340) were attached to the left-hand side of the rectangle.  

The decorated piece was adhered to an Evening Evergreen Ombre Gift Bag (#155479).  The bag was scored 1" from the top  and folded to the back.  A retired gold clip was used to hold a bow of Gold Simply Elegant Trim (#155766) at the top of the bag and as a closure for the bag.

Inside the bag is a card for writing a note to the recipient.  A piece of the same designer series paper pattern as on the front of the bag was adhered to the bottom of a piece of Basic White card stock and then it was die cut with the largest rectangle in the die set. The "for you" is from the Peaceful Cabin stamp set (#156395).  It was stamped in Cherry Cobbler and die cut using a Tailor Made Tag die (#155563). A piece of the ribbon was pulled through to the front of the tag before it was adhered to the card.

Now all I have to do is write my note, print and fold my gift card and slip it and the note in the the gift bag.  There is space on the folded edge on the back to write "to and from" names if you are not handing or mailing this directly to the recipient.

More ideas for last minute gift card holders are over at the TGIF Challenges Blog here.

Happy Christmas!  My grandson is arriving any minute now--so my holiday will be busy with painting, making cookies for Santa, reading stories and reassuring Roxie that she is still #1 (well, she is when Easton goes back home).

--Sara Nell

 

   

Blessings of Home Thank You--#tgifc346

It's sketch challenge week over at TGIF Challenges.  It has an interesting mix of elements.  I chose to give you another sneak peek into the Heart & Home Suite from the upcoming mini catalog out on January 4.  I think you're going to see a lot of this suite in the next few months.  I am enjoying working with it.

I started with a Cinnamon Cider card base, stamped the edge in VersaMark ink using an image from the Blessings of Home stamp set (#157930, bundled with coordinating Flowers of Home dies, #157939 for 10% off).  Next came a layer of Garden Green patterned Heart & Home designer series paper (#157928), a wood grain patterned tag from the same paper patterned paper punched at the top with the Fancy Tag Topper punch (#152711).  Next is a floral bouquet image from the stamp set stamped in Basic Gray and colored with Pale Papaya, Cinnamon Cider, So Saffron and Just Jade Stampin' Blends and die cut with the Flowers of Home die (#157938).  And, finally, a bee die cut from the same designer series paper using a Tasteful Labels die (#152886) and a greeting from the stamp set stamped in Basic Gray on Basic White card stock and fussy cut into a rectangle.  A  doubled piece of Basic Gray baker's twine from the Baker's Twine Essentials pack (#155475) tied in a bow at the top of the tag and three Classic Matte Dots (#158146) from the Heart & Home Suite complete the card.

See other projects created with this sketch over at the TGIF Challenges Blog here.

Have a great week!

--Sara Nell

Embossed Snowflakes--#tgifc345

Since I've been doing a lot of non-traditional colors in my holiday cards this year, I thought this week's color challenge from TGIF Challenges would make a wonderful "Let It Snow" card:  Misty Moonlight, Just Jade and Pool Party. They are not too far off the holiday color spectrum, though, when I think about it.  Maybe it's just the way I've used them:

The background started with three bands of the three challenge colors arranged dark to light.  They are each 1-3/4" wide and glued to a 5-1/4" X 4" piece of Basic White card stock over a card base of Pool Party.  I used White Matte finish embossing paste (#141979) and the Snowflake design from the Adorning Design Decorative Masks (156328) to add the embossed snowflakes to the background stripes. 

The sentiment is from the Snowman Season stamp set (#150458), was stamped in Misty Moonlight on a Basic White circle then layered on a Pool Party scalloped circle, both die cut using the Layering Circles dies (#151770).  A piece of Pool Party sheer ribbon (#152462) and a spattering of Opal Rounds (#154289) complete the card.

Check out some great card designs using this fun color combo over at the TGIF Challenges blog here.

Have you made your Christmas cards yet?

--Sara Nell

  

December Creation Station Blog Hop--Anything but a Card!

 

Good Morning, Stampers and Paper Crafters, or good whatever the time of day you've arrived at my blog!  This is the first Sunday of the month which means its time for the Creation Station design team monthly hop.  So glad you've joined us today!

Our theme this month is Anything But a Card, so you will see lots of different projects.  Enjoy all the inspiration we have for you today by clicking on the "Next" link at the close of each post until you've returned to where you started this hop.  Don't know what the other team members have in store for you today, but I am sharing some holiday decor pieces I'm sending out as Christmas gifts to family and friends. I have two different style banners and a little ornament for you:

For each of these I used the Peaceful Place specialty designer series paper (#156394) and the Silver Foil specialty pack (#156457).

For both of my banners, I made rosettes out of the designer series paper and letters from the Playful Alphabet dies (#152706).  For my Peace Banner, I die cut the letters and the large Tasteful Labels die (#152886) out of the darkest silver foil piece. The label in the center of the rosettes is from the Pretty Pillow Box dies (#156321) and was die cut out of the lightest silver foil. The banner pieces were strung on a piece of Black & White 1/4" gingham ribbon (#156485).

I used the Layering circle dies (#151770) and another label die from the Tasteful Labels dies on my Joy banner.  I picked out some of the shimmery paper designs  out of the designer series paper pack and the lightest Silver foil for this banner.  The letters were die cut using Black glitter paper (#153518).  Both the foil for the letters on the Peace Banner and the glitter paper on this banner were mounted on Adhesive Sheets (#152334) before they were die cut.  I adhered the Black Glittered Organdy (#147897) to the back of the foil scalloped circles with glue dots to keep it in place as I placed Smoky Slate card stock circles over the backs of the foil circles using a hot glue gun.

I used the medium range foil for this ornament, eliminated the rosette and added a Wonderful Snowflake (#156340) using the iridescent side.  The Merry Christmas words were die cut using the Word Wishes dies (#149629), once out of the foil and three times out of Basic Black card stock to stack behind the foil and raise the words off the snowflake background.  Both the White Glittered Organdy ribbon tied in a bow at the top of the ornament and the Opal Rounds (#154289) added to the front also have an iridescent look.  A bit of silver Simply Elegant Trim (#155766)  was threaded into the back of the ribbon to create a hanger for the ornament. 

Hope I've given you a bit of inspiration for your own Christmas decor or for last minute gifts!

Now, I have the pleasure of introducing our newest design team member,  Barb Pfeffer at justBstamping.  I love her creations, am so happy she has joined us and am excited to see what she is going to share with us today.  Just click on her link below to hop over to her blog:

To Barb's blog . . .
 

Have a Wonderful and Blessed Christmas season.

--Sara Nell

  

 

 

Product Spotlight: Soft Pastels--#tgifc344

The TGIF Challenges Team challenged this week us to share projects using the Soft Pastels Assortment (#154585).  I decided to use them with a new stamp set coming in the January to June 2022 Mini Catalog and a piece of designer series paper which will be a FREE Sale-a-Bration choice in the January-February Sale-a-Bration.

The stamp set is Daffodil Daydream (#157786).  The stamp set can be bundled with a coordinating die set, Daffodil dies (#157794), but I chose not to purchase those. . . yet.  With my new Mini Catalog pre-order, I was able to add on a Free Sale-a-Bration designer series paper, Daffodil Afternoon (#158127). It coordinates with the bundle and I adore it!!!  The black and white paper layered behind the focal image is from that paper pack.

I stamped the daffodil image in Jet Black StazOn ink on Shimmery White card stock and colored it with the Granny Apple Green, Mango Melody and Daffodil Delight pastels.   I have experimented with using the pastels in different ways and coloring with a damp (#151298) water painter is my favorite way.  I use the Shimmery White card stock because it takes water better than Basic White.

To use this way, I scrape a bit of the pastel bar using the spatula end of my Take Your Pick Tool (#144107) onto a clear block. Then I squeeze a bit of water out of the water painter and mix the powder and water together to form a bit of a paste.  I will add more water as needed while I am coloring an image.  Once you use you these tools with the powder, be sure and clean them thoroughly as the powder does tend to stick to them and you don't want the powder to mess up your colors on your next project. 

I stamped around the Daffodil Delight card base in VersaMark in using the random dot image from the Daffodil Daydream stamp set.  The greeting is from the Biggest Wish stamp set (155052).  I stamped it in Versamark onto Basic Black card stock and heat embossed it with White Stampin' Emboss Powder (Basics Assortment, #155554).    I added a piece of Black & White 1/4" gingham ribbon (#156485) under the greeting and a trio of black Classic Matte Dots (coming in the new mini catalog in January) to finish the card.

For more cards and tips for using the Soft Pastels Assortment, check out the TGIF Challenges blog here.

I hope you are getting excited about the new Mini Catalog--but don't forget our Last Chance Sale going on now to pick up your "have to have" items from the July to December 2021 Mini.  The favorites sell out fast, so shop early--they will all be gone on January 4.  

--Sara Nell