simple and cute

So Cool Alternatives

The sun is shining here in the beautiful Okanagan Valley in my little piece of Canada. I could almost imagine that it’s summer. My son mowed the lawn for the first time this year and it’s amazing how much better my yard looks when the grass is freshly cut. It’s the big thing that makes the yard look so much tidier – similar to how making your bed can make the whole bedroom look cleaner!

The April 2021 Paper Pumpkin kit definitely has that summery feel with images of watermelons and popsicles. I have a couple of alternative projects to share with you today using some of the supplies in the kit.

I used the Stitched So Sweetly dies to cut a scallop stitched rectangle from Basic Black cardstock for this card. The watermelon was coloured with Flirty Flamingo and Granny Apple Green Stampin’ Blends Markers.

The second design is a slimline card in Granny Apple Green cardstock. I did some fancy ink blending with my Blending Brush for the background along with the added texture of an embossed outline using my Simply Scored Tool. See the little Clear Epoxy embellishments? They’re hiding an unsightly smudge and are not even available to customers until the new catalogue goes live on May 4th.

If you’re in Canada, you can sign up with me to receive your monthly Paper Pumpkin kit and have your own personal creative escape to enjoy each month.

 

Watch the video to see more on the making of these two Paper Pumpkin alternative designs.

Birdies for You

This sweet Sunday design has a little bit extra with fancy score lines, some ink blending, and coloured ribbon.

I started with a Gray Granite cardbase and layered a strip of Rococo Rose cardstock. I created the grid pattern on the square piece of Very Vanilla cardstock with my Simply Scoring Tool, then used a Blending Brush with Rococo Rose Ink to emphasize those score lines with a bit of colour. The little birdies from the Quite Curvy stamp set were stamped with Tuxedo Black Momento ink to look like they’re standing on the grid lines.

After adhering the Pearlescent Paper behind the vanilla piece, I coloured a section of the Pool Party Sheer Ribbon using the Dark Blackberry Bliss Blends Marker and wrapped it around the two layers, adding a Heart Charm into the knot before tying a bow.

The final touch was to stamp the sentiment on the strip of Crumb Cake cardstock, flag the end with my Paper Snips and adhere it to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

This was one of the 10 cards offered as part of the Stamp Camp event in January. Registration for the next stamp camp (only available in Canada) ends April 30th and features the Hand-Penned stamp set from the upcoming 2021 – 2022 Annual Stampin’ Up! Catalogue. Click on Events and Classes in the menu on the top of the page to find out more.

Happy Thoughts Note Card

Welcome to this simple Sunday blog post.

Here’s a sweet little design featuring one of the smaller card bases from the Assorted Memories & More Cards and Envelopes pack from Stampin’ Up!©. The 3″ x 4″ size makes them perfect for a simple note to send with a gift.

I love the contrast of Magenta Madness and the black cardstock.

Supplies include: Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Forever Ferns stamp set, Many Messages stamp set and Messages Die. Pool Party cardstock and Basic Black cardstock. Shaded Spruce ink, Versamark ink, White Embossing Powder, and the Heat Tool. Magenta Madness In Color 1/4″ Ribbon and Linen Thread. Glue Dots and Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Some of the current annual catalogue products are retiring, so be sure to check out the last chance products list by going to my online store.