It's a Wild Wheat kind of day!

I've been posting lots of the Cheerful Daisies cards made by some of my demonstrator friends across the country. My bundle arrives in June as I'm taking a class by another demonstrator that includes it so I'll have lots of samples now to copy! Today's card is from Jacynthe Gauthier and has this mish mash of coordinating paper strips on the card front. How much more interesting is that than a simple layer, takes no more time and may help you use up some scraps?! The ribbon is that Wild Wheat again...keeps cropping up. Perfect for this card. Enjoy your day!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Vellum and Blues

Today's pretty card is a very duplicatable one with any of the patterned papers, embossing folders and punch/die shapes in your stash. Shared with me in a recent swap by Genevieve Ko (demonstrator and now our Demonstrator Development Manager for Stampin' Up! Canada). The soft touch of punch vellum shapes is a nice addition to the textured background on the card. Thanks, Gen!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Silhouette Stamping Technique

It's Monday and you know what that means....A creative escape to round out the first work day of the week. Don't know about you...but I sure need it!

Here's the card - a super simple, elegant and duplicatable technique called Silhouette Stamping. 

Any shape for the masking in the centre will do: square, circle, rectangle, oval. Use a punch or die cut and some repositionable adhesive to place it on your 3 3/4" x 5" layer. Then using your blending brushes (sponge daubers, sponges), add 3 coordinating inks. Remove your mask and stamp your images with a neutral. I thought Tuxedo Black would be too dark for the lighter colours used (Lemon Lolly, Lost Lagoon and Calypso Coral) so I went with the new In Color, Pebbled Path.

Check out the video replay for all the measurements and tips for making this card:

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Always Choose to Play Again

I remember the first time I learned to play a video game with a controller. The biggest task - and still is truth be told - was learning to work the controller! You can goof up on the buttons when you're trying hard to complete a task within a time limit or before it becomes "Game Over, Player 1". Recently I took up playing Tetris (yes, on N64) again. Didn't take long for my hands to have muscle memory and know which button combinations work for fast effective playing! I do like this greeting, too. A reminder that some days feel like "game over" but it's not. Take a breath and play again tomorrow.

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Good Things come to those who Wait

I think this is a saying I head in my household growing up: "Good things come to those who wait". Fishing was like that...often with my dad on the St. Lawrence River and it's smaller lakes in upstate New York when we went fishing on Saturday and Sunday mornings through the summer. But as a kid, I wasn't too patient! I do remember catching many a fish though and enjoying those early mornings together. Happy Sunday!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Seashells

"She sells seashells by the seashore" - do you remember that rhyme or am I dating myself? There's something about Crumb Cake and Boho Blue that's perfect for this motif. The two rectangles are from the Country Corners dies set and are placed perpendicularly to the embossed flap for a fun fold opening on this card. Hope you get to the seashore - or poolside - this summer!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Craft With You

A sewing machine stamp? Now that's new! The Craftering With You stamp set is perfect for the crafter in your life or you! I'm thinking this would make a great wall art decor that highlights various hobby crafts. On this one I was going for a quilted blanket with the patterned paper. What do you think?

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Circles & Daisies

I was playing with the Fresh as a Daisy DSP and Stylish Shapes stitched circles...just cut segments out of the 3 3/4" x 5" paper and layered them back onto circles of slightly larger shape to match the matted layer in Early Espresso. The cardbase is our new Wild Wheat which - when paired with the right tones - is a beautiful colour to work with. Love how this turned out!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Moody Mauve

Happy Hump Day!

Today's card pulls together some of our new In Colors and the returning Pretty Peacock which was once an In Color. What goes around comes around, eh?

The card base, ribbon, embellishment and stamping of the flowers is the new Moody Mauve. I just like saying that..."mauve". Enjoy your day!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

A Warm Hello

A warm hello to start the week! Today's card was designed by Betsy Rouw and shared with me in a swap featuring this pretty Countryside Inn patterned paper and matching embossing folder. With half the front embossed your patterned paper goes a long way. The ribbon is a soft 3/8" textured ribbon in coordinating Boho Blue with - you guessed it - matching embellishments to finish it off. Thank you, Betsy!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Little Monkey Pop & Twist Card

Front of the Pop & Twist Card I made last weekend with - oh about 300 of my favourite demonstrator friends! You must check out my facebook page, The Creative Inkster for an upcoming Monday Creative Escape where I will feature how to make this great card.

And now the inside:

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Sweet Cherries

The Sweet Cherries bundle is one we've had a year but it's NEW to my stash...so I've gotta make a fun card with it. I'm watching to see what else can be done with the cherry punch to make it an even better investment. Sometimes you have the right size label for every greeting and sometimes now...to avoid too much white space around your greeting, try fussy cutting around the letters. It's super easy. Such a happy card!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

May 15 Creative Escape

For tonight's Creative Escape on Facebook, we made this card using a cast off piece of patterned paper, a layer and vellum. Ooohhh vellum cardstock. Always makes a statement:

The card made on the video features some other new products but it's all the same layout pieces.

What's super interesting about it? Well...sometimes you have a bundle with the stamp set and dies and sometimes just the dies as is for me with the Meadow Dies. I die cut the floral shape in two colours and layered them together. This gave the flowers one colour and the stem or leaves another! All without stamping.

Measurements

Check out the video for all the instructions and give this layout a whirl!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Gold foil accents make this card

My thanks to Linda Yamamoto for today's card. Don't discard those really thin strips of foil and specialty papers...trim them and make a gorgeous border like on this card. How cool is that idea? More gold accents with the Gold Celebrations paper on the balloon adhered to a matching balloon in Lemon Lime Twist. Gold trim to finish it off attached to the tag that is part of the Beautiful Balloons bundle. This is a bundle you need - so much versatility!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Fresh as a Daisy and Wild Wheat

So do you love the Fresh as a Daisy patterned paper yet? So gorgeous...today's card is from Nadine Valle from our recent swap. I so wasn't sure if the Wild Wheat card stock was a colour for me but paired with Bubble Bath and Moody Mauve, it's a show stopper! Such a pretty birthday card or for any occasion.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothering figures near and dear to our hearts!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

For the Great Things

Today is a really special one for me! Together with my stamping friends, the Silver Sisters (NOT because we have silver hair), I'll be bringing a full day of crafting for our team members. Together we have over 300 team members. This is a HUGE Canadian only event. All free. Want to join us in September? Buy the starter kit through me and you get access for that day and ALL our previous content. Hours and hours of projects and videos with measurements. I'll be posting the project I'm demonstrating soon.

For today, here's a fun way to to stamp an animal on patterned paper. I stamped the bear on the left side first, full strength. Then without re-inking, I stamped the 2nd one slightly over the left one and then repeated that a 3rd time. Gives the illusion of the bear walking. The paper is from Cheerful Daisies so no special colouring needed on my part. I love this card!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Lazy Days Rockin' Out

I really pleased to bring you this card from Judith Levesque from a swap I'm in. This card is very unique from my style of card which is why swaps are great. I get to share some different ways of using the same products I am loving, namely the Lazy Days bundle complemented with Countryside Inn patterned paper. I could sit on a rocker like this for hours and watch the birds. Enjoy!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Let's Celebrate BIG!

It's that time of year when we're celebrating end of year events like the school year, dance recitals, plays, graduations and more! Those are big milestones for the little ones in our lives and a little "Yay - so thrilled for you!" would go such a long way!

I've paired our Beautiful Balloons bundle with the A La Mode letters for a special friend in my life. Let's celebrate big!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Show off BOTH sides of patterned paper

Today's card features a patterned paper that's retired but the idea is a good one!

I used the Around the Bend dies to cut half off the Basic White card front. Then I glued a full 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" of the patterned paper on the inside of the card so that below the scallop cut, you see one side of this beautiful paper and on the inside of the card the other side. From there it was some simple decorating with die cuts, a greeting and embellishments. See that tiny box on the front? So when you cannot decide which side of beautiful paper to show off, use this technique to show both.

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerful Daisies in Tone on Tone Fab

My dear friend, Glenda Mollet from BC sent me this card highlighting the very pretty Cheerful Daisies bundle. Sometimes a simple white on white card makes the best statement as done here with the white card base, white embossed layer (Painted Texture 3D folder) and the flowers with a splash of Berry Burst accents in the flowers. I've just started using these embellishments - Flat Adhesive Backed Pearls - with my projects. When you take my Little Monkey Avid Stampers class in May (in person or as a kit to go), you get the Little Monkey bundle, plus 24 sheets of patterned paper and a full pack of these pearls. Contact me to get in on this deal!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Sweetest Technique for this Birthday Card

I was sorting cards this weekend and came across one made using rubber bands dipped in ink for a fun pattern and thought, I need to share this idea! Thus became the May 8th Facebook Live card:

It's one of those techniques that's so simple you don't even think of it as a fancy technique! And rightly so...just wrap your rubber bands (mine are from the celery and brocolli bought at the grocery store!) around your clear blocks, tap them in your ink pad just like a stamp and add to your Basic White cardstock. On this card I used Poppy Parade, Granny Apple Green and Azure Afternoon and stamped them higgly-piggly around the 3 3/4" x 5" layer. Then added a greeting and some punched cherries to finish it off.

For the video replay with measurements and such, visit:

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Pretty Countryside Inn Card

So many blues...just so pretty. This is new paper called Countryside Inn and comes in 12" x 12" sheets. This pattern will go with so many projects and occasions and I'm excited to be playing with it. The cupcake is from Circle Sayings and is a line art stamp - where you can colour in with your favourite tools: Stampin' Blends, Blending Pens, Watercolor Pencils, Stampin' Write Markers and Chalks. Loads of options and I went with a Blender Pen and the corresponding ink pads. Love how it turned out!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Delightful Patterns in Fresh as a Daisy

The patterns in the Fresh as a Daisy patterned paper pack are just gorgeous prints. You'll want to display them full on a layer in your cards and memory keeping pages. All sheets are 12" x 12" and feature our earthy toned new In Colors. I featured this layout in a Facebook Live some time back...two smaller squares matted and one larger on in the centre. The Petal Park punch flowers layer beautifully together, too. Excited to share this card with my May Monthly card attendees. Hope they'll love it!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Add ink to your Embossed Layers!

So many different ways to use Embossing Folders! Try adding ink to them once embossed with a Blending Brush or Sponge Dauber and see them come to life. I try to keep the ink to the raised edges but not necessary...it all looks great. Then just need to add a greeting and some punched leaves/flowers for decoration. Another card from our Team meeting this week that was a hit!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Beautifully Blended ink on Naturally Gilded Speciality Paper

Blending Brushes are the star of the show here: I used Lemon Lolly and Azure Afternoon inks with the Blending Brushes to add colour to the Online Exclusives Naturally Gilded Specialty Paper. Don't waste that blending work and pretty paper by hiding it behind the middle rectangle - instead use a smaller rectangle to die cut out a rectangle to pop on a coordinating Azure Afternoon matte. Great way to make that specialty paper go a long way. Enjoy!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Circles, Circles, Everywhere!

How cute is this new Bright & Beautiful patterned paper with circles in so many of our new colour line up! The circle is of course the right focal point on this one...with birthday wishes. We're making this card at my team meeting tonight and I'm super excited to share this layout with them. Measurements:

Cut your cardbase to 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and score in the middle at 4 1/4"

Then from both sides of the front, cut off 1 1/8" so your middle panel is 3 1/4".

Neat card layout!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Relaxing Lazy Days

Do you have a special chair or swing for relaxing? Perhaps by the pool, your garden, under a shady tree? This rocking chair in the Lazy Days stamp set reminds me of sitting out in the back garden reading a book or doing a word puzzle on a warm Sunday afternoon. What a great way to rest and recharge!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Hey, Little Monkey!

It's time to share some fun cards from very talented stampers across the country. Here's my first one - a Little Monkey card. I'm featuring the Little Monkey bundle in my May Avid Stampers Class with a bunch of fun folds so ask me about joining in. Elizabeth Ames' card here highlights one of our new In Colors, Wild Wheat as an embossed layer with the Stripes folder and loads of leaf stamps coloured in. Love this happy little monkey!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Beautiful Balloons Duplicatable Layout

Tonight's Facebook Live featured a super simple layout for using patterned paper, embossed cardstock or stamped images on cardstock. You pick! So versatile and duplicatable.

Here's the first card I made ahead of time:

Then on the Live, I demonstrated how to make these two cards:

Measurements are here:

The video replay can be found here so you may add this layout to your favourites:

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!

Around the Bend with a Curved Greeting - say what?

I really didn't think I needed the "Around the Bend" dies but then was drawn to their versatility. My Avid Stampers class liked it too as it was one of my most attended classes this year! It has a matching stamp set but I used others from my stash. Did you know if you have photopolymer stamps you can "curve" them? The Congratulations greeting on used on this card is rectangular in shape. I just curved it on my clear stamping block so it fit the arc of the die cut. Brilliant!

SUPPLIES LIST

Thanks for stopping by!