Hello my friends! I’ve been MIA for several months now. Right after my last post, Fun Stampers Journey let all their coaches know that the company would be converting from a direct sales business model to a retail business model, and that they would be combining forces with Spellbinders. I had joined FSJ less than six months ago and invested heavily in product and business tools and had truly embraced their products and just like that – no more teams, up-lines, down-lines, conventions or catalogs. This news came completely out of left field and sent me reeling.

So. This girl has pulled up her big girl panties and chalked it up to ‘lesson learned’. The reality is, direct sales companies as a whole are struggling to be competitive and still stay afloat. I have been welcomed back to the Stampin’ Up! fold by Mary Fish and the Pals with open arms and I am truly grateful for all of them. Stamping is just more fun when it can be shared with your tribe! It’s my social outlet and I need my peeps! (of course, I met lots of new friends during my time with FSJ and I cherish each of them, and miss the daily interaction with all of them) The only thing constant is life is change and I have finally embraced it, however, I intend to be a hobby demo only. NO.MORE.DRAMA.

That resolved, my creative juices are flowing again and I couldn’t wait to play along with the latest Freshly Made Sketch’s challenge and their Design Team Call!

Measurements:

• Powder Pink Card Base 4 1/4″ x 11″ scored at 5 1/2″
• Basic Black Layer 3 5/8″ x 5 1/8″
• White Layer 3 1/2″ x 5″

Details:

• I chose super clean and simple for this project. This stamp set ‘Dandelion Wishes’ by Stampin’ Up! had my heart from the moment I first laid eyes on it! The dandelions are SO sweet and the font for the sentiments is adorable!
• I chose to use Powder Pink to highlight this set. The background is just a stamp block, dipped directly into Powder Pink ink and then directly onto my white card stock. That’s it!
• Then I just added the dandelions and the sentiment, mounted the panel onto black cardstock and then onto my Powder Pink card base.

• I used a piece of white fun foam to pop the stamped panel up and added a few moonstones for balance.
• And of course, I was very liberal with my application of Wink of Stella to the dandelion ‘fluff’ and centers. So sparkly!
• I used Stampin’ Up!’s new basic DSP (available in ALL of the colors-YUM!) to line my envelope.

• A bit more stamping on the inside and this card is ready to pop in the mail!

Thank you to the Freshly Made Sketches team for their weekly inspiration, I look forward to each new sketch!

You all are part of my stamping family and I have missed you! Your kind comments keep me motivated and stamping so THANK YOU!!!

Blessings to you!!

Supplies:

Card Stock: Basic Black and Powder Pink by Stampin’ Up! Stamper’s Select White by Papertrey Ink

DSP: 2017-2019 In Color Basics by Stampin’ Up!

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black

Stamps: Dandelion Dreams by Stampin’ Up!

Dies:  None

Tools: Stampin’ Trimmer by Stampin’ Up!

Embellishments: Moonstones by Simon Says Stamp

Other: Whisper White Envelope by Stampin’ Up!

Hello! I received a box of yummy fall goodies this week and had to jump right in and put them to work. I’m loving the rich fall colors in this pattern paper – isn’t the black a fun addition to the fall color palette?! Love!!

Measurements:

• Oatmeal Cookie Card Base 4 1/4″ x 11″ scored at 5 1/2″
• Cranberry Bliss Layer 4″ x 5 1/4″
• Pattern Paper Layer 3 3/4″ x 5″
• Cranberry Bliss Layer 3 1/2″ x 4 1/2″
• Oatmeal Cooke Stamped Layer 3 1/4″ x 4 1/4″

Details:

• The stamp set I used for this project is called “Hello Fall” and is a classic set of fall leaves. Kind of like your little black dress, it never goes out of style 🙂
• This bold plaid pattern paper grabbed my eye immediately with it’s bright distinctive colors. A bold pattern can easily overwhelm a project so I used it around the edges of my design and then added a popped up main element. The pattern and color grab the eyes’ attention and bring it in to the lovely die cut leaf.

• I stamped the leaf in Tangerine Fusion three times to make sure I had a bright saturated image, cleaned the stamp off and then used the rock and roll technique to add Cranberry Bliss just around the edges of the leaf. The rock and roll technique is very simple. Rather than inking the entire image, run the stamp pad just around the edges and then stamp. That’s it! Easy peasy, right?
• The MISTI stamping platform made it so easy to stamp the pretty sentiment and then I flicked Black Licorice Silk over the Oatmeal Cookie main panel. It’s SO sparkly!! A great invention and I believe that every color available will be a staple in my craft room! We can never have to much sparkle…right?1?

• Can you see the sparkly black licorice ribbon? YUM!! Sparkle without any glitter mess is the best!!
• I used Journey Foam Squares to pop up the pretty maple leaf and finished it off with a teeny bow made from Journey Natural Twine. Hint: I unwound the twine and pulled one of the three fibers out to get a softer look for the bow.

• I used the same papers to decorate the inside of the card, as well as adding two stamped leaves as an accent. I stamped off before stamping onto the Oatmeal Cookie panel so that while it looks pretty, it’s still light enough to easily write a personal note.

My layout inspiration for today’s project was provided by the ever-so-talented Freshly Made sketches design team. They do a great job week after week of providing inspiration and help keep me stamping!

Thank you for stopping by today! I hope you are inspired to create something yourself!

Hello there my stamping friends! I’ve had a bit of a busy week between moving at work and birthday fun at home (thank you for the birthday wishes!!) and all of that has kept me from my stamps until this afternoon!

The Fun Stampers Journey Coaches group I belong to has a fun challenge every week and I really wanted to play along with the sketch this week

so I pulled out some pretty stamps and paper and got to work!

Measurements:

• Card Base 4 1/2″ x 11″, scored at 5 1/2″
• 1st Layer 4″ x 5 1/4″
• Printed Paper Layer 3 3/4″ x 5″

Details:

• I switched up the hearts in the sketch for circles and added the piercing element as well. I had to use the largest size circle die to accommodate my elephant stamp so to create a bigger circle to layer it on to, I had to improvise. I cut the same size circle out of Pretty Pansy cardstock and then cut in in half. I then layered each half underneath my stamped image layer, matching up each half circle at the tip of the elephant’s nose and then rotating each half toward the back where the purple layer disappears. I accomplished a larger layer that way and you can’t even see the seam!

• The elephant and the sentiment are both from the Good Karma stamp set which can be found in the Spring into Summer Trends Mini Catalog. I stamped the elephant in River Rock, which is the lightest shade of Gray that FSJ carries. I adore the way the shading has been built into the rubber stamp so that it looks like I spent hours getting the coloring right when in reality I just stamped a stamp one time!
• And really, when have you SEEN such a beautiful elephant stamp!?! Love love love the images and fonts in this set!

• I trimmed off the left edge of my stamped circle to fit the sketch and then layered it onto the beautiful new Sunday Adventure Prints printed paper. Love the darling hearts with the map images inside!
• The pretty paper is layered onto Pretty Pansy cardstock and then onto the River Rock card base. I also snipped out matching banners to keep with the sketch and provide a base for the stamped sentiment.

• I got in really close so you could see these beautiful faceted gems, fittingly called Rainbow Drops. They are flat on the back just like enamel dots and are faceted like jewels on the top. And they come in six pretty colors! And they come in a wonderful clear storage container that can be reused for other goodies once I use up all the gems! But that might take me awhile as there are a total of 768 of these pretties in the container!! Yes, you read that right, 768!! 3 sizes for each of the colors! Amazing!

• A pretty twine bow is the final touch!
• Did you see the envelope liner I created? FSJ envelopes have a straight edge so it was easy enough to use one as a guide to create a matching envelope liner. Cause you know about me and pretty envelopes! 🙂

Together with maps inside the hearts and the sentiment, I feel that this makes a wonderful non-traditional graduation card. Adventure Awaits and the future is wide open!

If you like the products you see and would like to see more, pop on over to the catalog here! If you would like to make a purchase, please click here to shop my online store! And if you want to get your hands on either the Annual Catalog or the Spring into Summer Trends Mini Catalog, please send me an email here, and I will get one out to you!

Thank you SO much for stopping by!

Supplies: (All Fun Stampers Journey products unless noted differently below)

Card Stock: Whipped Cream, Pretty Pansy, River Rock

Printed Paper: Sunday Adventure Prints

Ink: River Rock, Black Licorice, Pretty Pansy

Stamps:  Good Karma

Dies:  Journey Circles

Tools: Journey Platinum Machine; Journey Blooms Paper Trimmer

Embellishments: Rainbow Drops and Journey Natural Thread

Other: A-2 Whip Cream Envelopes

Hello my stamping friends and happy Wednesday to you!!!

In my last post I mentioned that I had created another card with some of my new goodies from Fun Stampers Journey…and here it is!

I purchased a lovely stitched-looking stamp set called “Dreams Follow”, which can be purchased on its own, or as part of a bundle. I had very limited supplies and only one roll of ribbon so that made my color decision easy! Bubble Gum! Such a pretty shade of pink!

I used my Misti to ‘randomly’ stamp two butterflies on my main panel, then stamped the sentiment from “Sweet One”, tied the ribbon, added the popped up butterfly and a few yummy enamel dots and voila! Done! I did use Wink of Stella all over the main butterfly and it sparkles so nicely!!

I didn’t have any pattern paper from Fun Stampers Journey so I just went through my 6×6 paper stash until I came to this simple grey design and thought it would be a great compliment to all that pink. And that’s it!

Sometimes decisions are as simple as a pretty color, vibrant ink (I’ll explain that further in a future post), and some pretty stamp sets with pretty price tags. After making these two new cards I realized that I had come to a fork in the road, and made the decision to leave Stampin’ Up! and join Fun Stampers Journey. You will be seeing subtle changes to the look of my blog in the near future as I continue with my fresh approach to life. I also think that having a milestone birthday (50 years old today, heaven help me but I can’t believe that) has a lot to do with my wanting to refresh things.

Thank you SO much for all of your kind words of support. They have meant so much to me as I move out of my comfort zone!

Blessings to you!

Card Stock: Stamper’s Select White by Papertrey Ink

Pattern Paper: Unknown

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Bubblegum by Fun Stamper’s Journey

Stamps:  Sweet You and Dreams Follow by Fun Stampers Journey

Dies:  Dreams Follow by Fun Stampers Journey

Tools: Journey Platinum Machine by Fun Stampers Journey 

Embellishments: Candy Minis and 5/8″ Bubble Gum Satin Ribbon by Fun Stampers Journey

Other: Medium Whisper White Envelope by Stampin’ Up!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful moms out there! Thank you for all you do!

Hello there my stamping friends! I’d like to share a little story with you today.

Awhile ago, I can’t actually remember how long it’s been (maybe 5 weeks?), but I saw a stamp set I knew I just HAD to have. You know those moments, where you see a stamp set and it’s just like when you see an adorable puppy…and you just HAVE to have it?? So I ordered it, along with a few other goodies, and the moment I hit the ‘send’ button, I felt like a traitor, like I had turned my back on all that I held dear.

But then my little order arrived and I immediately sat down to play with that stamp set I just HAD to have 🙂 And oh my gosh, I was so enamored of the card I had created that I was hooked and had to create another card with some of the goodies…but that’s a future blog post 🙂

Drum roll please…

Isn’t it lovely? Yes, I know I made it but I’m still going to say that I love it! Why had I been feeling guilty, you ask? Because this stamp set called Sweet You is made by Fun Stampers Journey. If you aren’t familiar with the name, it’s a direct sales card making supplies company that is in direct competition with Stampin’ Up!. Hence the guilt. But I love the stamp set and creating this card was like a breath of fresh air…

Supplies:

Card Stock: Stamper’s Select White by Papertrey Ink

Pattern Paper: Loops & Lines from the Mila collection from Felicity Jane

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Bubblegum by Fun Stamper’s Journey

Stamps:  Sweet You by Fun Stampers Journey; 3 dots pencil stamp by Stamps by Judith

Dies:  None

Tools: Stampin’ Trimmer

Embellishments: Clear Epoxy Shapes by Stampin’ Up! 

Other: Medium Whisper White Envelope by Stampin’ Up!