Happy Birthday to a Classic

by Shannon Jaramillo // June 9, 2017 // 2 Comments

Today I wanted to share this fun birthday card I whipped up. Masculine cards can be tough but Stampin’ Up!’s new Coffee Break Designer Series Paper made this one easy!

Dimensions:

Thick Whisper White card base cut to 4 1/4″ x 11″, scored at 5 1/2″
Early Espresso card stock cut to 3 7/8″ x 5 1/8″
Pear Pizzazz card stock cut to 3 3/4″ x 5″
Coffee Break Designer Series Paper cut to 3 5/8″ x 4 7/8″
Early Espresso card stock cut to 2 15/16″ x 3 3/16″
Pear Pizzazz card stock cut to 2 7/8″ x 3 1/16″
Thick Whisper White card stock cut to 2 3/4″ x 3″

Details:

Guy Greetings is the star of this card! What a fantastic combination of fonts and images! Stamped here in Early Espresso they are the essence of cool and sophisticated. I used my MISTI to align the images and then used my Stampin’ Trimmer to trim the card stock down. I provided the dimensions for you, but really I just eye balled it to whatever looked good.
Coffee Break Designer Series paper isn’t just for coffee! The colors and clean lines lend themselves perfectly to any number of masculine themed cards! And you know I love to line my envelopes…isn’t the striped pattern of the envelope liner the perfect compliment to the card? Love it!
The combination of whites in the sentiment panel, the background of the designer series paper and then the card base keep the design of the card light and fresh.
I reached for my enamel shapes to tuck a few in the upper left hand corner, but alas, they are not available in the neutral palette, so I reached instead into my retired stash and pulled out some Early Espresso Candy Dots…love those things! They are the perfect accent! (I realize I’ve been saying that for about fours years now, but when it’s true, it’s true!)

I finished the inside off with coordinating card stock and a sentiment from the recently retired Balloon Adventures stamp set. It’s timeless!

This color combination is perfect for guy cards and one that I’ll go back to and use again!

Early Espresso

Pear Pizzazz

Whisper White

Today’s card was inspired by THREE challenges! CAS(E) this Sketch provided the layout and The Paper Players and Stamp, Ink, Paper provided themes! I can’t usually juggle that many but for some reason I managed all three with one clean and layered card!

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend doing whatever brings you joy!!

Supplies:

Guy Greetings Clear-Mount Stamp Set – 138828

Price: $39.00

Balloon Adventures Photopolymer Stamp Set – 142823

Price: $26.00

Coffee Break Designer Series Paper – 144155

Price: $11.00

Whisper White 8-1/2″ X 11″ Thick Cardstock – 140272

Price: $7.00

Early Espresso 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock – 119686

Price: $8.00

Pear Pizzazz 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock – 131201

Price: $8.00

Early Espresso Classic Stampin’ Pad – 126974

Price: $6.50

Stampin’ Trimmer – 126889

Price: $30.00

Whisper White Medium Envelopes – 107301

Price: $6.50

Neutrals Candy Dots – 130934

Price: $6.00

Stampin’ Dimensionals – 104430

Price: $4.00

Snail Adhesive – 104332

Price: $7.00

Supply List

So Special to Me – NBUS Challenge #11

by Shannon Jaramillo // April 5, 2017 // 5 Comments

Today’s card is so special to me! Pun intended 🙂 Seriously though, it’s so rewarding to disappear into my craft room after the day’s work is done and pour myself into making something pretty. Can you relate?

I was inspired by a card I saw (somewhere) using a big banner and a large die cut sentiment and it rolled around in my head and then this popped out 🙂

Almost all of the product used here came from a Stamps of Life Card Kit. The pattern paper is from an older kit. When I saw it, I knew it would be perfect for my banner card! I ran into a bit of a problem though when I discovered that although this paper was in a card kit, this deep blue-purple color is not offered as a card stock or ink in The Stamps of Life product line. What? Luckily for me there was a solid piece of pattern paper in the pad that I was able to use in place of card stock. And the ribbon? I found the PERFECT shade (Royal Velvet) in my Papertrey Ink stash! Can you believe it? A month or so ago, they had all of their ribbon on clearance so I was able to get one roll of almost every color for about $30 total. Wow, right? And it worked out perfectly!! 🙂

The die came in a card kit…isn’t it sweet? I did puzzle over how I would use it. “So Special” doesn’t really seem like a stand alone sentiment to me so I went hunting and found two different options of “You Are” in my TSOL stamp sets. I inked one of them up and then die cut it with a stitched circle die. But once I had it in place everything seemed off balance for me (and I had Lionel Richie crooning “You are so beautiful…to Meeee” in my head) so I went hunting again and found another sentiment that actually reads “To You, From Me”. A bit of creative stamping and voilà! I think it turned out very charming 🙂

The stitched banner is courtesy of a die from Sunny Studios. I HAD to have it about two years ago and I’m sorry to say, this is the first time it’s been used. But there are four options for the fishtail and this is a fun layout so I think we’ll see a variation on this card in the future…

Now, today I am playing along with the NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) challenge. And the challenge is not only to use something not used before, but also to share a boo-boo or two. GASP!! What?!? Imperfection? Never!! Well…okay, if you insist…

Yes, on my first attempt, I die cut the fish tail upside down. And then sat there staring at the half with the stitching thinking “How can this be?”. Yep, a great way to ruin a perfectly good piece of pretty paper 🙂

And since I’m owning up to my mistakes, when I put this card together, I adhered everything flat. Then I decided that the banner needed to be popped up from the other pattern paper so I lifted the whole thing and re-adhered everything. It wasn’t until I went to open the card that I realized that I had ADHERED THE WHOLE THING UPSIDE DOWN!!!! Lucky me, after scrapbooking for many years, lifting (very carefully) and re-adhering is something I am familiar with and though while never preferable, something I can manage to do. Whew! Especially since I didn’t have any more of this pretty blue-purple paper!

One last thing…the inside…

It occurred to me when I started to work on the inside of the card…what on earth do you finish with when you start with “You are so special to me” without coming across as creepy and stalker-ish? Well, I’ll tell you, I had to look through every stamp set I own to decide that this sentiment would be appropriate, lol. Now it can be an “I’m thinking of you” or “I’ve got your back” or “It’ll be okay” kind of card and won’t be creepy…;)

Well, there you have it, my nightly therapy all wrapped up and tidy with it’s pretty envelope!

Thanks for stopping by! I truly appreciate you!

Products Used:

Card Stock: Pixie, Kiwi & Powdered Sugar by The Stamps of Life

Pattern Paper: Friend Collection by The Stamps of Life

Ink: Royal Velvet by Papertrey Ink; Memento Ink Tuxedo Black

Stamps: flowerpower2fill & patterns4happymail by The Stamps of Life; Inside & Out: Healing Touch by Papertrey Ink

Dies: Stitched Ovals & Rectangles Dies by The Stamps of Life; Fishtail Banners by Sunny Studios

Tools: Big Shot; MISTI; Paper Trimmer

Embellishments: Flower Jewels by The Stamps of Life; Royal Velvet Ribbon by Papertrey Ink

Other – Envelope – The Stamps of Life

Rediscovering Cucumber Crush – The Paper Players 335

by Shannon Jaramillo // March 15, 2017 // 2 Comments

Today’s cute little number is courtesy of The Paper Players current challenge to use green and white on a card. Perfect time to revisit one of the soon retiring 2015-17 In Colors, Cucumber Crush!

The Details:

Thick Whisper White card base cut to 4 1/4″ x 11″, scored at 5 1/2″
Cucumber Crush card stock cut to 3 7/8″ x 5 1/8″
Thick Whisper White card stock card stock cut to 3 3/4″ x 5″

This darling scene utilities the Sprinkles of Life stamp set and coordinating Tree Builder Punch.
How sweet is the combination of Cucumber Crush, Tip Top Taupe and Delightful Dijon?
Hint: I used the entire grass/flower stem stamp on the left side of the tree and then masked part of it off with a Post-It note to stamp a smaller image on the right side of the tree for balance
I stamped and punch the flowers out with the Tree Builder Punch and then popped them up on two layered glue dots to give them a bit of dimension off of the base, but not too much to overshadow the tree base
Pearl Basic Jewels are the perfect centers for the pretty flowers!
Hint: I un-wound one of the three layers of the Cucumber Crush Thick Baker’s Twine to make it still hefty looking, but thin enough to tie into a sweet bow
Recognize the sentiment? It’s from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set! It’s an older set but has a wonderful variety of sentiments that makes it the perfect stamp set for someone just beginning their stamp collection 🙂

A sentiment from the Sprinkles of Life stamp set adorns the inside of the card and is the perfect compliment to the sentiment on the front

Well, what do you think of Cucumber Crush? It’s such a cheerful green, and really packs a punch when paired with Whisper White!

I hope you are enjoying the 2015-17 In-Colors! It’s so fun to mix and match them!

Products Used:

Card Stock: Thick Whisper White and Cucumber Crush by Stampin’ Up!

Pattern Paper: 2015-17 In Color Designer Series Paper Stack by Stampin’ Up!

Ink: Cucumber Crush, Delightful Dijon and Tip Top Taupe by Stampin’ Up!

Stamps: Sprinkles of Life and Teeny Tiny Wishes by Stampin’ Up!

Dies: Envelope Liner Framelit Dies(Retired) by Stampin’ Up!

Tools: Big Shot and Tree Builder Punch

Embellishments: Cucumber Crush Thick Baker’s Twin and Basic Pearl Jewels by Stampin’ Up!

Other – Whisper White Envelope and Glue Dots by Stampin’ Up!

You are Loved – CAS(E) this Sketch #212

by Shannon Jaramillo // March 13, 2017 // 1 Comment

Since the Grateful Bunch stamp set was out on my crafting table still, I decided to use it again with today’s card. It’s never seen ink before, I’m sorry to say, so I’m thrilled to be able to utilize more of the stamps in the set!

The Details:

Thick Whisper White card base cut to 4 1/4″ x 11″, scored at 5 1/2″
Thick Whisper White card stock card stock cut to 4″ x 5 1/4″

The sketch over at the CAS(E) this Sketch challenge blog is the inspiration for my design:

I masked off the upper portion of the card with Post-It notes and then repeatedly stamped the beautiful large daisy, covering the bottom portion of the card.
I then stamped the sentiment at an angle and off to the right to leave room for a pretty bow. The MISTI helped with the placement of all of my stamps.
I wrapped Basic Black Baker’s Twine twice around the card and finished it off with a double bow. Using the additional layer, popped up with Stampin’ Dimensionals, allows me plenty of depth to wrap the twine.

When I chose the paper for the envelope liner and saw the teeny Melon Mambo hearts, I knew I needed to add one to my card! I found the perfect size heart in the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch from the Holiday Catalog. Unfortunately, it’s retired now but I realized after the photos were complete that one of the Enamel Shapes would work perfectly as well!
I wasn’t able to capture the glimmer of the Wink of Stella that I added to the detail lines of the daisies as well as the little heart. They are SO sparkly!

There you have it! Super clean and simple today! See you next time!!

Products Used:

Card Stock: Thick Whisper White by Stampin’ Up!

Pattern Paper: Pop of Pink Specialty Designer Series Paper Stack by Stampin’ Up!

Ink: Tuxedo Black by Memento Ink

Stamps: Grateful Bunch by Stampin’ Up!

Dies: Envelope Liner Framelit Dies(Retired) by Stampin’ Up!

Tools: Big Shot, Cookie Cutter Builder Punch (Retired)

Embellishments: Basic Black Solid Baker’s Twine by Stampin’ Up!; Wink of Stella

Other – Whisper White Envelope and Glue Dots by Stampin’ Up!

Sweetly Sentimental – Freshly Made Sketches 278

by Shannon Jaramillo // March 11, 2017 // 2 Comments

Stampin’ Up! has five colors retiring on May 31st so I thought I would feature each color for you. Today’s color is Delightful Dijon. Supplies of the 2015-17 In Colors are limited to stock on hand so if you think you might need to stock up…don’t wait until it’s too late!

The Details:

Delightful Dijon card base cut to 4 1/4″ x 11″, scored at 5 1/2″
Thick Whisper White card stock card stock cut to 4″ x 5 1/4″
Delightful Dijon Designer Series Paper Stacks cut to 3 1/2″ x 3 1/2″
Thick Whisper White card stock cut to 2 3/4″ x 4 1/4″

The Petal Burst Embossing Folder adds a rich detail to the background while the crisp white allows the rich hue of Delightful Dijon take center stage
The delicate stem from the Grateful Bunch stamp set (don’t you just love the dotted outline?) has been stamped in Tip Top Taupe (another retiring In Color) and is a perfect compliment to Delightful Dijon
The cheerful daises, also from Grateful Bunch, have been stamped in DD and punched out with the Blossom Bunch Punch (say THAT three times fast!). It’s so easy to punch all three blossoms out at once!
Wink of Stella has been added to the flowers, of course, and three different sizes of Rhinestone Basic Jewels added to the centers
Stampin’ Up!’s Linen Thread is a staple in my craft room. It is THE perfect thickness for tying lovely rustic bows!
I left the sentiment off so the card could be used for a variety of occasions 🙂

Jen M. with the Freshly Made Sketches design team has provided the inspiration for today’s card…I would like to take a moment to thank Cécile for picking my card last week and making me a PRINCESS!!

Thank you so much for stopping by! I would so appreciate hearing your comments!

Products Used:

Card Stock: Delightful Dijon and Thick Whisper White by Stampin’ Up!

Pattern Paper: 2015-17 In Color Designer Series Paper Stack by Stampin’ Up!

Ink: Delightful Dijon and Tip Top Taupe by Stampin’ Up!

Stamps: Grateful Bunch by Stampin’ Up!

Dies: Envelope Liner Framelit Dies(Retired) by Stampin’ Up!

Tools: Big Shot, Blossom Bunch Punch, Petal Burst Embossing Folder

Embellishments: Linen Thread and Basic Rhinestone Jewels by Stampin’ Up!; Wink of Stella

Other – Whisper White Envelope and Glue Dots by Stampin’ Up!