"COUNTRY FLOWERS"

In the previous blog post, I mentioned Stampin' Up!'s Country Woods Suite Collection and that it includes the "Country Birdhouse" bundle.  Well . . . it also includes another gorgeous bundle - "Country Flowers".  I love, love, love the colors in the card that I'm sharing today, which features some of the dies and images from "Country Flowers".  Speaking of dies . . . I seem to be making a habit of die-cutting a handful of shapes from white cardstock and stamping them after they've been cut.  Sometimes I just do my best to line up a stamp with a die-cut shape, and then there are times when I go to a teensy extra step.

The photo above shows the scrap of white cardstock that I used to cut the floral images for my card. This scrap is now kept in the stamp case (along with the dies) to be used again and again as a template for accurately stamping the coordinating images.  I should mention that I always use a stamp positioning tool for this method in case I need to stamp the images more than once. The photo above shows the template on the tool.  On the acrylic part of the tool (which you can't see in the photo), I have used the template to line up the respective stamps.  

The die-cut shapes are placed back (on the template) into the spaces where they were cut. The stamps are inked and then stamped onto the die-cut shapes as you can see in the above photo.  When removed from the template, the die-cut and perfectly stamped shapes (see photo below) are ready to be colored. 

I should use this method all the time because it always feels like a win to have a perfect border around die-cut shapes.  Don't they look great?  Can you guess what makes them even better?  That's right . . . color!  Below is a photo of the finished card:

The images were colored with alcohol markers.  I played around with mixing some colors to get the dirty/aged texture on the gray and green pots, which I think gave them some much needed depth.  For the stool, I adhered a scrap of "Country Woods" designer paper to a piece of cardstock prior to die-cutting it, and that turned out to be good thing because the stool was nice and sturdy--and the embossed texture of the card behind it didn't get pushed through the DSP when all the layers were assembled.  The floor of the card is also from the "Country Woods" designer paper collection.  Now . . . those deeply embossed dots?  They were created with the brand new "Dotted Circle" 3D embossing folder.  

The Adhesive-Backed Shiny Sequins were a perfect finishing touch for this card.  My cardstock colors are Lemon Lolly and Bubble Bath.

I'm really excited about this fantastic suite of products!  My plan is to prepare plenty of stamped and die-cut images that I can work on coloring whenever and wherever.  Then . . . all of the time-consuming elements will be complete and ready to land on some cards.

This suite of products is probably going to end up on your wishlist. :-)

Have a stampin' good day!

 

"COUNTRY BIRDHOUSE" BOXED CARD SET

 

There are some FUN new products featured in today's post, including the brand new "Country Birdhouse" bundle.  It's part of the Country Woods Suite Collection and, if you're like me, it will be at the top of your wish list.  It's such a clever little bundle because you can stamp and color the birdhouse or, if you don't want to color, just use the dies to piece a birdhouse together.  The box in the photo above features the die-cut birdhouse pieces, but the four cards inside were colored with alcohol markers.  Let's take a look at them now.  Here they are all in a row:

And now let's see them one by one.

Up first is this little golden beauty on a Pumpkin Pie card base.  All of my cards were embossed with the brand new Eyelet embossing folder after they were colored and accented with a white gel pen.  The flower and leaves were cut from dies included in the bundle.  The sentiment is from the "Flower Cart" stamp set.

The second card features a pink birdhouse on Melon Mambo cardstock.

The next card is on a Summer Splash card base, which is one of the new In Colors.  This color is really close to Coastal Cabana, which I had planned to use, but I thought Summer Splash looked just a smidge better.  I forgot to mention earlier that each of the die-cut flowers feature a dimensional dot from the Glossy Dots Assortment.  

The last card is on a Highland Heather card base.  I couldn't decide which of the four cards was my favorite, but Highland Heather and Pumpkin Pie were tied for first place.  Something else that I forgot to mention--and I'm sure you've already noticed--is that the cards are 4.25" square.  

As you can see from the above photo, the cards were pretty on the inside, too.

Let's look at the box once more.  The birdhouse and that adorable little bird were adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals onto that gorgeous square of brand new "Country Woods" designer paper.  I suppose it's a good thing that Stampin' Up! limited the number of packs that demonstrators could purchase (on preorder) because it probably would have sold out.  I will definitely buy an ample supply after May because I can never have enough wood texture paper choices.  Below is a closer look:

This turned out to be a cute set of birdhouse cards, huh?

Have a stampin' good day!

"LAZY DAYS"

As I was going through the Stampin' Up! catalog weeks ago and looking at the list of retiring products, I came to the "Lazy Days" bundle and thought it looked quite nice.  I turned the page, but then I turned back for another glance.  This time I really studied the stamps and dies.  How had I missed this incredible bundle of goodness?  Even after I continued going through the catalog--page by page--and marking all of the retiring products, I kept thinking about "Lazy Days".  Of course, I had to have it.  This lovely bundle has been in my possession for about two weeks, and I finally had a chance to work with it.  Not feeling very creative, I started looking on Pinterest where I found tons of inspiration!  I can't claim any credit for this card's design, and I'd love to give credit to the designer but I have no idea who made it.  I didn't see where the design needed any improvement, and the only two things that I added were the bird on the banister and the pillow in the chair.  I actually die-cut a couple of pillows, but none of them seemed "right".  I finally decided to use a marker to draw a plaid/crosshatch design on the cardstock prior to cutting, and I finally had a tiny pillow that I loved.  The glasses of lemonade were given a brush of Wink of Stella, which you can see better in the photo below:

Want a better look at the pillow?

In the photo below, you can see the texture created with the die-cut elements and an embossing folder.  The hanging plant and table were adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals, which added an extra bit of dimension.

And why not finish this post with another photo of the card?  

As I mentioned, the "Lazy Days" bundle is on the list of retiring products and, unfortunately, some of the retiring products sell out quickly.  I wish I'd paid attention to this one sooner, but I'm glad I have it and know that it is definitely a keeper.

I hope you have a stampin' good day! 

SWEET LITTLE "FLOWER CART" CARD

Oops!  It's been almost two weeks since I shared a project.  I didn't mean to stay away quite so long, but it's been a bit busy.  At work, we were short staffed at the Concierge desk, and I agreed to work a fourth day every other week.  One little day doesn't sound like a lot, but I haven't had much time for playing (aka creating).  The card that I'm sharing today is smaller than the usual A2 size . . . this one finished at 2.75" x 4".  

When I made this card, my goal was to play with the stamps and dies to see what they would do and how to assemble some of the cuts.  I'm not gonna lie . . . I was scratching my head and saying "hmmmm" a lot.  I will definitely have to re-visit this bundle when I have more time.  Actually, it was the options for the cart that had me a bit stumped.  I adore the two-step process for stamping the flowers because it's soooooo easy, and aren't they gorgeous?  This bundle is loaded with creative options!  The Lemon Lolly and white cardstock were cut with two of the Radiating Stitches dies, and I really like the subtle detail that they add.  Circle punches and Stampin' Dimensionals were used to layer the sentiment, which was topped with a pretty little twine bow.  Here's one more look:

Cute little card, huh?