SENDING THANKS

Today's Sending Smiles card has a very different look than yesterday's card.  While yesterday's card was elegant and created with warm tones, today's card is all about bright colors with lots of white space.

While some stampers have a definite style and if you see one of their cards you can probably recognize that they made it.

I am not one of those stampers.  For a long time, I felt like I needed to "create my style", but it just wasn't working for me.  I like to make cards that are wildly different from one another.  One of my stamping friends told me recently that she had figured out my "style"--Eclectic and Fun.  Well, I definitely like to have fun and if loving to have a lot of variety in my cards is "eclectic", that's OK with me!

The graphic background on today's card was created with a die from Artisan Additions Dies.  It is basically just slots die cut in the Basic White cardstock so that the Night of Navy can show through the slots.

Since one of my latest favorite color combinations is Night of Navy and Parakeet Party, I decided that would make a nice color combination for my "Sending" script.  Besides, I already had that die cut laying in my "leftovers stash".  

Are you a stamper that has a "pile" of leftovers that you started but then didn't like for the project you were making at the time?  I have many of those that I tossed in my "stash".  If I'm honest, most never get used, but today I found one that worked.  I'm just happy I found it BEFORE I made another!

My color coach told me that Pool Party coordinated with Night of Navy and Parakeet Party, so I decided to follow his advice and make Pool Party flowers.  Yellow centers for those flowers were my first "go-to" thought, but I felt like I needed a stronger color to offset the bright Parakeet Party and Night of Navy, so I consulted with my color coach again, and he suggested Calypso Coral.  Voila!  I was happy.  And even better, I found Calypso Coral Gems in my Iridescent Pastel Gems.  

On Thank You cards I like to leave plenty of room on the inside of the card to write a note.

So, I just stamped a flower in the corner, matted the Basic White with Night of Navy, and called it done!  You can see a little peek of the envelope which I also decorated with another stamped flower.

If you would like a tutorial for today's card, please use this link to download a FREE copy.

A list of the products I used on today's card is shown below.

REMINDER!  Tomorrow is the last day of Sale-a-Bration!  If you haven't yet taken advantage of this once-a-year promotion, time is running out!  The joining special is one of the best ever, and who doesn't love to get FREE STUFF!  Visit my Demonstrator Business Website to shop or join the fun!  I'd love to have you as part of my Fairless Flair Team.  We believe in Friendship, Fun and Creativity!

Product List

Sending Smiles Bundle (English) [158707]	Artisan Additions Dies [159172]	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [159229]	Night Of Navy 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [100867]
Parakeet Party 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159259]	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159276]	Parakeet Party Classic Stampin' Pad [159208]	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad [147110]
Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad [147107]	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad [147101]	Iridescent Pastel Gems [160429]	Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653]

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SHARE IT SUNDAY BLOG HOP

 

Today I am hopping along with The Crafty Collaborations Team on Share it Sunday.  We are a group of Stampin' Up! Demonstrators from around the world.  There is no theme for our hop today so, we are just sharing projects we have been working on.

Since today is the first day of the week, and if you follow me, you know that I usually feature a particular stamp set or bundle each week.  All this week, I will be sharing projects made with the Sending Smiles Bundle from our Annual Catalog.

To create the background for today's card I used the Faux Painting with Plastic Wrap Technique.  I recently shared how to do this fun, easy & quick technique on my video for Connect to Create.

If you missed the video, you can watch the replay here.  

The colors I used for my background were all the brown-tones within Stampin' Up!'s Neutrals Collection.  The shimmer was provided with All-Purpose ink in Frost White and Vegas Gold.

All the flowers were stamped with Starry Sky ink -- even the tall "Snap Dragons" (is that what they are called?).  

For more information on how to make this card including a tip on how to maximize the use of your Foil Cardstock, you can download a FREE TUTORIAL at this link.

In keeping with my philosophy of "no naked insides" for my cards, I used a leftover scrap from my Technique Sheet to decorate the bottom of the Basic White cardstock.  When I create special technique backgrounds, whenever possible, I like to make them larger than needed for my finished size because then I can trim them down and use the scraps to decorate the inside of the card and sometimes the envelope.

The "I'm so Happy you were Born" sentiment is from the Happy Labels stamp set in the January - April Mini Catalog.  Isn't this a wonderful sentiment?

A list of the products I used for this card is shown below for your reference.

I hope you will follow the links below to be inspired by all of the talented participants in our Blog Hop.  Don't forget to sprinkle some love as you Hop Along with Us!

Blog Hop Index

Product List

Sending Smiles Bundle (English) [158707]	Happy Labels Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) [160856]	Soft Suede 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [115318]	Gold Foil Sheets [132622]
Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159276]	Starry Sky 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159263]	Starry Sky Classic Stampin' Pad [159212]	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad [147087]
Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad [147090]	Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad [147117]	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [147116]	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [147115]
Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [147114]	Champagne Rhinestone Basic Jewels [151193]	Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653]

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SCRAPBOOK SATURDAY - 7 MONTHS OLD

Summer is in full spring, and August is a time for long, lazy, relaxing, days at the beach!  Let's take our toys and play on the sand and have a bit of ice cream!

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PAINTING BY THE SEASIDE

I have another card for you today made with the Seaside Bay Bundle.  This may be the last card for this week using this bundle, but I have a feeling you will be seeing more cards made with this collection.  I've had so much fun making cards with this set.

Today's card uses the Faux Painting with Plastic Wrap Technique that I demonstrated a couple of weeks ago for Connect to Create on my YouTube Channel.  This is a fun and quick Technique that uses Plastic Wrap to add the ink to the card.  If you haven't seen the video, you can watch it here.

As I explained in the video, I developed this technique many, many years ago (long before I was making cards) to paint a room in my home.  That was back in the day when Faux Painting was all the rage.  At that time using Sea Sponges to "paint" a wall was one of the popular techniques.  But I wanted a more subtle texture than I got with a sponge.  I tried many different items as my "paint brush", but I liked the result from a loosely crumpled "ball" of Plastic Wrap the best.   So, the Technique on this card uses that same technique -- just on a smaller scale.  And, of course, I used ink and not paint.

The shimmery part of the technique on today's card was made using All-Purpose Ink.  I have had my All-Purpose ink for many years from back when Stampin' Up sold it.  It is no longer sold by Stampin' Up!, but it is still sold on Amazon and is available in many colors.  This ink definitely lasts for a long time!  

I used Frost White which just gives a nice white shimmer.  As I indicated in the video, you can also use Clear Wink of Stella for this technique.  Wink of Stella provides lots of sparkle, but you don't get the "splotchiness" that you get with the All-Purpose Ink.  Both are pretty, they just look different.  If you would like to compare, check out The Valentine Kitty card I showed on February 3.  I used Wink of Stella for the Shimmer step of the technique on the Kitty card.

As I make a card, I don't always have a solid plan--Particularly when it comes to the die cut elements like the grass, shells, and birds.  So, as I am die cutting them, I often make extra.  For this card I ended up using two tall grass die cuts and two short grass die cuts--one each from Shaded Spruce and Crumb Cake cardstock.  The die that cuts the small shells cuts two at a time, so I ended up with two of each color.  These were die cut from the Pearlescent Specialty Paper and the Blushing Bride Brushstrokes Specialty Paper.

Because I had made extra of each of the elements, I had leftovers that I used to decorate the inside of the card.  The Technique Strip was a leftover scrap from the Technique sheet I created for the card front.  

You can also see a peek of the envelope flap behind the card.  I used the same Faux Painting technique to decorate the flap.  Some techniques don't work well on envelopes because the paper is different, but this particular Technique works very well on our Stampin' Up! envelopes!

A tutorial for this card is available for download at this link.

Current Stampin' Up Products that I used are listed below.  Click on any image to learn more.

Product List

Seaside Bay Bundle (English) [160445]	Banners Pick A Punch [153608]	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [159229]	Brushstroke 12” X 12” (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Paper [159250]
Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [120953]	Shaded Spruce 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146981]	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159276]	Pearlescent Specialty Paper [154291]
Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [147116]	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad [147096]	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad [147100]	Neutrals Stampin' Write Markers [147158]
Faux Sea Glass Shapes [158139]	Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653]

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