Sailing, Sailing...

 I saw this idea on Pinterest but it wasn't until i make one that I realized how clever this was. You just cut one of the triangles from the Paper Pumpkin kit with the little adhesive tab attached. Then cut off the tab and flip it over using the adhesive strip already on it to make the sailboat. Then cut the triangle down the middle. I did cut a little off one side to make the sails a different size., The largest sail was adhered using a dimesional . All sailboat pieces were adhered to a piece of sponged Marina Mist cardstock. I used a torn sheet of copy paper and repositioned it as I sponged for the wave effect. A little Marina Mist  enamel shape or candy dot was added to the boat.
My biggest challenge was picking the expression. I started with "get well sooner" from the Greatest Greetings, then saw the "Sending Smiles" also in that set.

 Then I spied the "Little Mr. Right" stamp and thought it would make a cute baby card. So, stamped one with it.

 And lastly pulled this retired stamp out to use.

For this card I used the retired tree punch and some gold foil sheet to make the center tree flanked by trees cut from the box paper (a little gold foil cut for tree trunks). The trees were adhered to a piece of white sponged (Emerald Envy and Soft Sky).
After all was done I decided I should have stamped the ground with snow. Oh well!

Gems!

Here I used some of the gem stamps from the July Paper Pumpkin to create a background. I used another one of the tag fronts for the expression and this time added rhinestones to cover up the punched hole. I little of the thick baker's twine and two of the triangular shapes cut from the tag fronts to make the banner. A few more rhinestones scattered on the card and it's finished!

Your Day to Sparkle

Here I used some Elegant Eggplant and Emeral Envy card stock along with circles punched from the Paper Pumpkin box. The expression  and little gem were stamped with VersaMark ink and embossed with gold embossing paper.

Same Sketch, Two Cards

These two card are made using some of the supplies from the July 2016 What a Gem kit.
In the top card I used the prescored paper box paper to make the triangle side box. I just cut the box piece on the score lines. Then added stamped expression and some candy dots.
The bottom card is a layer of embossed white cardstock topped with one half of one of the tags from the kit. There was a prepunched hole in the upper left corner. So I added a gold metallic Enamel heart to cover the hole. Then I used some more of the box paper to punch squares for the gift bags and layered them over slightly larger gold foil squares. The thick baker's twine for the handles was also from the kit. And even the pool party tissue paper that is packaging from the kit was used in the bags.

Star of Light Sparkles

It is a little hard to see in this photo but I used the stardust swirl as a background for this birthday card. The circle image was cut and stamped from one of the tags in the July 2016 What a Gem Paper Pumpkin.
Sometimes Paper Pumpkin is 3-D projects as this Gem kit. The kit made little gem shaped boxes and had lots of tiny gem images and cute little expressions that wen along with those gems.
I stamped one of the tags in the kit and then punched with a circle punch, adhered with a dimensional and added a punched gold foil star.
Next week I'll showcase some more ways I used the kit to make cards as I decided I didn't need all the gem boxes.

It's Not Just for Christmas

Star of Light stamp set can also be sued to make generic cards. Here's a birthday card I made using the stars from that set.
And inside I continued with the slanted layout in my stamping.

Star of Wonder...

This card using the Star of Light bundle. The layered star was made using Red Glimmer paper for the solid star, then layered with filigree star cut out of gold foil sheet and lastly one of the small star framlets used to make the center with gold glimmer paper. I saw a similar card using red foil sheet, gold glimmer and then gold foil as the layering. So pretty either way you choose.
The little stars surrounding were stamped with gold Encore pad using the little triple star stamp from Star of Light bundle.

Star of Light with All Ye Faithful

One of the reasons I decided to order Star of Light stamp set is because I thought it would pair perfectly with last year's All Ye Faithful set. And here's one of the cards I made combining those two set.. The experssion from Star of Light pairs perfectly with the shepherd image from All Ye Faithful.

The second card I made using the two sets, both the card front and inside. I just love the expressions in Star of Light stamp set.

Star of Light Bundle

The last three cards from Judy's Open House use the Star of Light Bundle. This is the bundle I ordered with my bonus coupons on a preorder from the Holiday catalog. (One of the perks for being a demonstator.)
This first card using some of the silver Glitter Ribbon and a rectangular piece of the Fancy Frost Specialty Designer Series Paper. We lightly sponged that paper with Marina Mist ink. The stamped star and expression are from the Star of Light stamp set. This set has great sentiments!

Next up was this beautiful layered star card. The Starlight Thinlits Dies give you lots of options for creating beautiful cards. I've got a few ideas of my own and will be sharing them the rest of this week. For this star we used some Silver Foil paper to cut the solid thinlit. At the same time we ran a piece of Pool Party cardstock through with the largest filigree star thinlit and a piece of Bermuda Bay cardstock using the smallest filigree thinlit. Glue dots were used to attach the filigree stars and a dimensional to attach the foil star to the white cardstock. The expression was stamped using Dapper Denim ink (that's Dapper Denim cardstock for the base).
The little trio of stars were stamped using Pool Party ink. And the final touch a rhinestone in the center of the star. Gorgeous!

The third card we made that day using the Star of Light stamp set. This is so pretty in person, I wish you could see it with your human eyes and not the camera lens. First we stamped the expression just slightly to the left on the white cardstock using Night of Navy ink. Then we stamped the star in the upper left corner. The swirl of stardust was stamped last. It's a beautiful stamp; many were wishing it was sold as a single stamp.
Again some rhinestones were added; one in the center of the star and three scattered in the stardust swirl.

Seasonal Bells Bundle

This Seasonal Bells bundle in the Holiday catalog is one I needed even notice the first time through. There are so many great things in this little catalog. The bundle consists of the Bell Punch and the Seasonal Bells stamp set. The stamp set also has expressions that can be used for wedding cards. The musical designer series paper comes from the This Christmas Specialty Designer Series Pack in the annual catalog. The Kraft Rope Trim in available in the Holiday catalog. Wouldn't it be fun to use on masculine cards!

Cable Knit Dynamic Embossing Folder

Stampin' Up! is introducing the newest type of textured embossing folders. Dynamic Textured Impressions from Sissix. Oh, my you have to see this in person. The folder is thicker than the regular embossing folders so that you get different degrees of depth. In this folder the cable sticks up from the card more than the rows in between. Since the folder is thicker you eliminate one of the acrylic plates when you make the Big Shot sandwich. The company also suggest to spritz your card stock lightly with water before running it through so it doesn't break down the fibers. We didn't do that and it worked fine. I've heard from another demonstrator that they also found that wasn't necessary. It may depend on the pressure of your particular Big Shot. Or maybe it's another example of the great quality of product SU! sells.
The Sweet Sugarplum ribbon is from the 3/8" Glitter Ribbon Combo Pack (silver being the other color included). This ribbon would also look great on valentines. The expression and holly and berries were stamped using the Hang Your Stocking stamp set.
I told Judy I would never have imagined putting Cherry Cobbler and Sweet Sugarplum together but it works! This color combo would also be pretty with valentines.
I hope SU! will be introducing more of these Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folders.

Hang Your Stocking

Here's a card that just uses the Christmas Stockings Thinlits. The detail on the stockings is just beautiful and the Noel strip makes the perfect place for hanging them. Judy had us save a few of the little swirls from the curly-cue stocking to use as hangers. That way we only had to do one pass through the Big Shot. Clever! She also had us save the snowflake from that stocking and adhere it inside the card in the lower right corner. Sweet touch!

This card uses several new this year products. The expression is from the Hang Your Stocking stamp set. We added a rhinestone to the graphic below the words. The washi tape to decorate that square comes with the Warmth and Cheer pack. The white card stock was embellished using the Big Shot and the new Holly embossing folder from the annual catalog.
This layout could be used for a lot of different cards and occasions.

Candy Cane Lane Suite

Another card Judy had for us to make used some of the products from the Candy Cane Lane suite in the new Holiday catalog. The diagonal patterned stripes are three of the designs in the Candy Cane Lane Designer Washi Tape pack. Just love how quick you can step up a card using washi tape! The gingerbread houses are from a sheet of the Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper pack. Really cute papers in this stack of 12; 2 each of six double-sided designs. It was a bit of fussy cutting to cut out the houses. Judy's sample didn't have the two candy canes on the sides of the smaller houses, but I decided to see if I could cut around them without messing up. I did it! My friend, Karen decided to just cut around the houses leaving a little of the Crumb Cake background color around them. And to be honest her card was just a cute.
The thing you can't see in this photo is how we used the Wink of Stella clear brush to add clitter to the snow on the roofs and chimneys. Sparkle! The expression comes from the Embellished Ornaments stamp set in the annual catalog.

Stamping Open House with Judy

 On Saturday, I attended another of Judy Vogelsang's Stamping Open House events. Judy is a local Stampin' Up! demonstrator who does this once a month and has graciously invited me to join in even though I don't order from her, since I can get the products myself. But she does know I will peruse and usually find some supplies on her retired clearance rack in her studio. I love the chance to pick up things I use at a good price or get something that I regret not ordering.
Anyhow, this is the 10 cards we made this month. Usually we only make five and it just takes a few hours to make them. This month she hosted a special Christmas Open House where we made 10 cards, she served a little buffet lunch.
This was such a fun day for me with my friend Karen along. Karen is a beginning stamper.
Another part of the fun was using so many items in the new Holiday catalog. Judy really had a lot to show us. Fun!
But first I'll showcase the card using the Joyful Nativity from the annual catalog. It's simple but elegant card.

Just some stamping which is super easy since the set is photopolymer and lining things up is a snap! Then add a rhinestone to the star and some gold thread at the bottom and you're done. Looks like I need to tame my gold thread with a rolled up glue dot!

The second card I'll share today uses the Banners for Christmas stamp set from the Holiday catalog.
It's another quick card that just makes me think, "Warmth and Cheer."  That's the name of the Designer Series Paper Stack used on this card. This is a stack of 48 six by six sheets of DSP and each one just exudes warmth and cheer.  The Merry Christmas expression is wavy because it is meant to fit inside one of the Bunch of Banner framelits. Since this is photopolymer set I could have placed the stamps on the block to make it straight but decided I liked the curvy look.

We colored in the berries using a Cherry Cobbler marker and then added a piece of the new 5/8" Burlap Ribbon from the annual catalog with a mini glue dot. Feels like home, doesn't it?

Triple Pane

Washi Tape Seams