Artistically Inked

Artistically Inked made quite the splash when it was introduced. It had coordinating designer series paper that was absolutely beautiful in awesome bright colors. The dies and stamps were easy to create with and could make cards for anything that you needed. Now this set has been scheduled for its retirement but there is still time for a last hurrah!

Cajun Craze is not a color that I tend to gravitate towards. In fact, I have to force myself to use it once in a while. It is a beautiful color for fall but I struggle outside of the leaves. I stamped the larger background across the Crumb Cake layer with Cajun Craze ink. The die cut leaves add the perfect finishing touch.

Hope & Prayer

I love when Stampin' Up! has religious stamp sets. They really speak to my heart and I always have to buy them. I will admit to buying a few sets that I didn't love but they had something that I liked.

Hope & Prayer will be retiring at the end of the month so I had to play a little with it. I started this one with thick Basic White cardstock and added a few deckled edged rectangles for layers. The plaid layer is stamped with Sketched Plaid and then I added lines with my Gorgeous Grape marker and a ruler.

He's All That

He's All That is a masculine set with several images and dies that work well for many men in your life. You may want to take a look at this set before it retires to see if it will work for you and the men in your life. 

I started with Soft Sea Foam for a card base. I added a layer of Night of Navy and Crumb Cake. The Crumb Cake was embossed with the cross hatch embossing folder from the Basic 3 D embossing folders that are an online exclusive. I ran the Crumb Cake ink pad over the top of the embossing to highlight the embossing. The flags behind the main image are part of the coordinating dies for this set. I did cut 6 of the flags out.

In the Moment

I am going to try to share all the cards that I have made with stamps that are retiring soon. This set, In the Moment, is on the retiring list. I did get this set free for attending a conference that Stampin' Up! put on but I can't say that I feel in love with it. Don't get me wrong, I like the images but I wasn't sure it was really something I loved. Therefore, it took me a while to ink this set up. Once I did, I have enjoyed coloring these images.

This card was colored with blends. I have learned to color the edges with the dark color, go over with the lighter color, and then add some details with the dark color again. This really gives me the different shading in my images.

Darling Details

Darling Details is as bundle that I used for a Class at Home class a few months ago. I really like this set and had fun playing with beyond the class that I offered. I liked creating with this set and was surprised to see it on the retiring list. The dies are so much fun too. Oh well. Stampin' Up! has a plan that I don't know. That's OK. 

I stamped the flowers with Moody Mauve and the out line with Blackberry Bliss. The leaves, stem, and ground are Pretty Peacock. Pretty Peacock is quite blue in my opinion but it works as a "green" here. The ground was crumbled up and the smoothed out before adhering to the card.

Watercolor Melon

Well, I fell off the posting wagon again. Sigh...I will keep trying but life just seems to happen and I don't always get to post. Since I last posted, Stampin' Up! has released the retiring lists. Watercolor Melon we knew would not return after Sale-a-bration but I have learned that Biggest Wish and Charming Sentiments are retiring at the end of April. Take a look and see if they are something you want to add to your stamping supplies.

Watercolor Melon was one of the choice you had during Sale-a-bration. My youngest daughter, Belle, love watermelon. I knew I would need this set for her to have and play with. She hasn't had any time to spend with me in my stamping room as of late but maybe this summer she can arrange a few hours to have fun stamping. 

I used Flirty Flamingo and Granny Apple Green for these cards. I started this one by using a blending brush to add some Granny Apple to the background. The slices of watermelon are fussy cut after they were stamped.

Share a Milkshake

Yum! Ice cream! Sundaes! Shakes! This is right up my alley. This stamp set and coordinating dies allows you to create all of these goodies and then some. I have made a sundae with blue moon and pistachio ice cream. Hmmm...I'm not sure I really want to eat that but it sure is cute on a card! Did you notice that the cherry fits into a small cut on the ice cream? That cut is part of the die. You don't have to make that yourself and you don't really see it if you don't use it.

Sending Smiles

Sending Smiles was introduced to the Stampin' Up! lineup about two years ago. I know I purchased it and even used it but I'm not sure I have used it enough. Sigh. How do you create more time and energy to do the things that you love and the things that have to be done? I guess we keep moving forward and work on what we can, when we can.

The Garden Green background was embossed with the hobnail-glass dots embossing folder. This folder is part of the Basics Embossing Folders that are available online only. I love these folders and highly recommend adding them to your arsenal.

Pick of th Patch

I have more to share from the fall mini catalog. I love these pumpkins. They are so easy to work with to create some playful cards and scrapbook pages. I stacked them on this card after I had used the coordinating punch. The punch has two pumpkins, the stem and the leaf on it. This helps to make all the parts of the pumpkins fast.

Inked & Tiled

 Inked & Tiled an awesome stamp set and easy to use not matter what color combination you decide to use. I have used Calypso Coral, Petal Pink, and Pebbled Path for these three cards and I'm not sure which one is my favorite. 

I started with Calypso Coral card base and added a layer of Pebbled Path. The top layer is Petal Pink. I stamped the leaf with Calypso Coral and Petal Pink before I ran it through the Exposed Brick embossing folder. The thin strip under the greeting is a 1/4" strip of Pebbled Path.

Bird's Eye View

Aren't these birds adorable? I think they are so stinking cute and I had a ton of fun creating with them. I do wish there was a coordinating set of dies but you may remember that I don't mind fussy cutting items either. 

I inked up my acrylic block with Pumpkin Pie ink and then spritzed it with some water before "stamping" with it to create the background. The bird, branch, and leaves are all fussy cut and then adhered to the card with dimensionals. 

Heartfelt Hexagon

Heartfelt Hexagons didn't make it on my radar when it was introduced this fall. I glanced at it and went, "Eh" and kept moving. Then a friend shared several cards that she made with it and I went back to it to see if I thought I could work with it and create. I was still unimpressed with the set and the punch but I was thinking about it strongly. I decided that I would trust my friend when she said there was so much you could do with the bundle and I bought it. 

I got it home and starting playing with it. It became a fast favorite! I can't believe how easy it is to create with the stamps and punch. There is so much that can be done. I hope you don't pass by this set and then regret it later. 

I used some Calypso Coral as the card base with a piece of designer series paper from the Delightfully Eclectic pack. The flowers were stamped on a piece of Basic White that I put a watercolor wash on with Fresh Freesia ink. 

Thoughtful Expressions

 Every month I pick a bundle to focus on and create with. For February, I chose the Thoughtful Expressions. This class is called the Class at Home. You can purchase this class one of three ways. 

Sweetest Cherries

Cherries are one of my favorite fruits. They just hit the spot more often than not. Their bold flavor is so delicious. I paired Sweetest Cherries with Lemon-Lime Twist and Cherry Cobbler to create some exciting cards!

The Cherry Cobbler card base is layered with a piece of Basic White cardstock that has been embossed with Painted Texture embossing folder. A piece of the Lemon-Lime Twist gingham from Glorious Gingham pack of papers, gives more color for the cherries to pop from. I did using a blending brush to add some color the edges of the circle, the cherries, the leaves and the greeting. The little white areas of the cherries is a bit of white gel pen.

More Wishes

More Wishes was introduced in the July-January mini catalog. It has more greetings that are bold and scripted and coordinates with Biggest Wishes. This set is a carry over set which means that it is still available for you to purchase!

I really like to layer the two different fonts on top of each other. Here you see the scripted love over the bold you. Colors here are Crushed Curry and Melon Mambo.

All About Autumn Papers

All About Autumn were some of the most awesome designer series papers I have ever seen. They look like they were photographs of all the awesome fall leaves. The colors and images were so vivid. The pack of paper is just amazing. 

I used a one sheet wonder that I found on Pinterest to create these three cards. A one sheet wonder is a way to cut up one sheet of designer series paper to create cards with the newly cut papers. This one makes 3 cards.

Sweet Songbirds

The Sweet Songbirds have been around for a while. I did purchase them some time ago and they sat on my shelf waiting patiently for me to pick them to play with. Well, they finally were picked! I had fun playing with them but they can be a little putzy because everything is its own stamp. This has its advantages and disadvantages.

Blueberry Bushel is the card base with a piece of Bright and Beautiful designer series paper layered on it. The strip is Blueberry Bushel too. I stamped the bird with Blueberry Bushel, Berry Burst and Daffodil Delight. I punched the bird with Decorative Circle punch.

Sweet Citrus

This is a set of cards that I made using the Sweet Citrus stamp set. They all have the same basic layout. They have a card base and a 5-1/4" x 4" Basic White layer that I stamped the fruit on. I then added a greeting and a few embellishments to complete the cards. I changed up the colors therefore, changed the fruit!

Happier than Happy

Happier Than Happy retired in April but I didn't get a chance to share with you the cards that I had made with it. I know, I know. I'm behind on sharing all of my goodies and you want to see them! I'm working on it! Please be patient with me. I have good intentions but not always the ambition to get it done. 

So Saffron is the card base on this card. The layer was embossed with timber embossing folder. What would you use this card for? It works for many things, I'd love to hear what you would use it for.

Inked & Tiled

Here is pretty easy set to create with. Once I sat down with this set, I had lots of ideas and fun making cards. I even made a set of scrapbook pages with this set. It really is an easy set to work with. 

I stamped the Crushed Curry base card with the leaves and Crushed Curry ink. I then punched the two shapes from the Inked Botanicals designer series paper and adhered them to the card base so they pieced together a pattern. I stamped the flowers with Crushed Curry and Lost Lagoon. (I used the markers to color the stamp and then stamped.)