"BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP" AND EMBOSSING ON ADHESIVE STRIPS

Looking for a quick-to-make card that has pretty gold-embossed lines?  This is the one for you!  After using painter's tape to mask the center of the card, I stamped the Beautiful Friendship images using Petal Pink, Pear Pizzazz, Highland Heather, and Balmy Blue ink.  The tape was then removed, and I placed Tear & Tape strips along the edge of the stamping.  I used the (retired) embossing buddy around the area where the gold embossing powder would go, and then inked the sentiment with VersaMark and stamped the sentiment.  The liner was removed from the adhesive, gold embossing powder was sprinkled in place, and then set with the heat tool.

The finishing touch was the butterfly, which was die-cut from vellum cardstock.  I used the Highland Heather dark Stampin' Blends marker to color the four rhinestones, and then adhered them to the butterfly.  They are so pretty and sparkly in person!

Having the embossed lines gives the illusion of extra layers.  Aren't the stamped flowers and leaves so pretty?  I 💗 the Beautiful Friendship stamp set!

PURCHASE BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP STAMP SET

"FOREVER GREENERY" SYMPATHY CARD

"Forever Greenery" is a beautiful product suite from Stampin' Up!  Whether you combine several products (stamps, dies, embossing folders, DSP, gold hoops) or use any of them individually, they will not disappoint.  Everyone knows that any colors can be used with any craft products but, if you're like me, you often create by assumption (auto pilot) rather than ingenuity.  What I mean is that when you see leaves (for example), you think various shades of green.  As you can see from this card, two of my leafy stems are unexpected colors--Pool Party and Sahara Sand.  

The color of the card itself (Pretty Peacock) I found to be striking.  I wish I could take full credit for the awesomeness of this design, but I stole CASE'd it from Chandra Junck's gorgeous card that I saw on Instagram.  I may not have used the exact same colors that she used, and I definitely used a different (unusual) card base design.  My card base was approximately 4" x 4-1/2", and the longer decorated panel was adhered to the card front so that about 1/2" extended over the top and bottom edges of the card.  

Stampin' Up! products featured on this card include:

Pretty Peacock cardstock

Pool Party cardstock

Sahara Sand cardstock

Pear Pizzazz cardstock

Whisper White cardstock

Greenery embossing folder

Gold Hoop

REMINDER:  Earn a $5 coupon code for every $50 merchandise purchase until the end of this month, and redeem the coupon codes on an order next month!  When you shop with me and enter the current Hostess Code (found at the top of the left sidebar), I will send you a handmade thank you card.

SUMMER HAT CARD

How about a short and sweet post today?  There's not really a lot to say about this hat-shaped card that I sent to a family friend for her birthday.  I have made hat cards like this before, and I think they are just so sweet . . . and soooooooo easy to make!  The most difficult part was choosing the cardstock colors! The detailed hat image is from Cricut's "Kate's ABCs" cartridge, and I used Cricut Design Space to design and size the card.  I think JoAnn will be happy to receive it, don't you?

"BACK ON YOUR FEET"

Stampin' Up!'s Back on Your Feet stamp set has three cute animal images, but the sloth is my favorite.  I guess he's moving even slower with that injury.

Making this card began by lightly sponging Pool Party ink in the center of the cardstock.  The sloth image was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and then colored with markers.  The edges of the Basic Black cardstock mat were distressed, and then I adhered the stamped cardstock to it.  You can see a little of the embossing on the Pool Party cardstock layer.  I used the Woodland embossing for that.  The sentiment was stamped onto Magenta Madness cardstock and was cut with a retired punch.  Before the Pool Party layer was adhered to the front of the card, the (newly retired) Whisper White Baker's Twine was wrapped around it and tied in a bow.  Now I ask you . . . WHY did Stampin' Up! retire the Baker's Twine?  Did I use it so much that it was difficult for them to keep it in stock? 

I enjoyed making this card for a very sweet lady and hope that it put a smile on her face.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

A LITTLE CHRISTMAS IN JULY

My preorder from Stampin' Up!'s August - December 2020 Mini Catalog arrived on Monday, and I had every intention of playing on Tuesday.  While I got the stamp sets, dies, and embossing folders labeled and prepped on Tuesday, I didn't play until tonight.  I actually didn't plan to complete a card--I just wanted to see what the gorgeous Poinsettia dies could do.  Oh. My. Goodness!  I realize that it's hard to tell, but can you see a little of the embossing on the petals and leaves?  I love that the embossing happens at the same time the layers get cut, but you don't have to use the embossing dies if you don't want to.  

There are so many wonderful products in the upcoming mini catalog, and I really tried to talk myself out of purchasing the Poinsettia Petals bundle.  I'm so glad I bought it and even though I have only made this one card, I know that these products will work overtime on my Christmas cards this year.  Other new products featured on my card include Wrapped in Christmas stamp set (fantastic holiday sentiments!!!) and Heartwarming Hugs DSP.  My cardstock colors are Very Vanilla, Mossy Meadow, and (retired) red glimmer paper, and that lovely sentiment is heat-embossed with Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder.

What do you think?  You're falling in love with the poinsettia, aren't you?

PATRIOTIC CARDS FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY

It's Independence Day in the USA and, to celebrate the occasion, I have three patriotic cards to share.  BUT . . . before I do that, I have a special garden flag to share:

How cute is that flag???  My son and Ramsour (the Border Collie on the flag) share a birthday, and this was one of their gifts last month.  Choosing a photo for the flag was very difficult because we have so many excellent choices, but I thought this photo perfectly captured Ram's handsome face and his love for playing outdoors.  The fact that one of his all-time favorite toys was in the picture further sealed the deal!

As for the cards . . . I always enjoy making patriotic cards, but I didn't really have any great ideas this year.  Following are some of my creations:

It's hard to tell from the photo, but the white background was embossed with a woodgrain texture.  I loved the punched banners (from the retired Banner Blast stamp set) and glittery stars, but the card just seemed like it needed something else--even with the silver heat-embossed sentiment and twine.

The above card with the cute hanger was an idea I saw on Pinterest, and I loved the hanger.  However, I wasn't sure that the hanger would stay attached to the card since the bottom of it was just barely resting on Stampin' Dimensionals behind the punched banners.  So, I ditched the idea of using hangers and went with this one:

The final design (shown above) was my absolute favorite!  Can you see the star-embossed background?  I'll probably never let that embossing folder leave this house!  The retired Seaside embossing folder was used to give texture to the Whisper White layer, and I really like the way it mimics stripes that appear to be waving.  Again, the sentiment was heat-embossed with silver embossing powder, which paired nicely with the silver glittery stars.

Wherever you are and whatever you do today--especially if you live in the USA--I hope you find a way to celebrate Independence Day.  There have been a few times in my life when I thought our founding fathers would be so disappointed if they were alive today, and I especially feel this year that their heads would hang very low.  Perhaps the best thing we can do for our country is pray--pray very hard that we learn to live in harmony and just be kind.