Tiddbits from Dawn

The Stamp Review Crew: Buffalo Check Edition

October 1st! Can you believe it?? It may be more believable to me if it would feel even a touch like fall. We're still in the mid to high 80's this week! Since it is the first Monday of October The Stamp Review Crew is hopping around the world to bring you ideas for using the Buffalo Check Background stamp. We hope you're inspired, as you hop along, to use the Buffalo Check background stamp yourself. In case you get lost along the way or want more information about The Stamp Review Crew click the link or the banner above to find out everything you need to know. In the meantime, let's get hopping!

If you haven't started with me then more than likely you've come from The Stampin' Schach, Ann Schach's blog, where you have been thoroughly inspired already. Her creations are always out of this world!!

My card today is an idea I had that I just couldn't put out of my mind. I didn't use the Buffalo Check Background stamp for my background either!

I used the Stamparatus to stamp the Buffalo Check Background stamp onto Whisper White card stock. I've found that tapping the ink pad onto the stamp, rather than the reverse, works best for me and I usually have to stamp it twice to get the color I like so the the Stamparatus is perfect for getting the perfect image! After stamping in Blackberry Bliss, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie and Crushed Curry I trimmed out a bunch of leaves using the Detailed Leaf Thinlit dies. The checked leaves were then added to a Soft Suede card base after embossing it with the Woodlands Embossing Folder. Those trees must be unusual to have such strange leaves, right? :) The "Thank You" is from A Big Thank You and trimmed out with one of the Stitched Labels Framelits to add to the front of the card.

Inside the card a couple of leftover leaves were added to the sentiment from A Big Thank You!

Since I had even more leftover leaves I decided to make another card with a different color background, Coastal Cabana embossed with the Corrugated Embossing folder.

That's all from me today. I hope you'll hop along to Cindy Elam's blog, Hearts Delight Cards, where your sure to be delighted!

The Stamp Review Crew: Country Home Edition

Country Home is one of my favorite fall stamp sets in this year's Holiday Catalog. It just says "fall" to me. The Stampin' Blends make it simple to color in those cute images. Have you seen the new colors of Stampin' Blends in the Holiday Catalog? There are some fun colors in it. In case you've not hopped with The Stamp Review Crew before I'll tell a little bit about us. We're a group of Stampin' Up! Demonstrators who hop on the first and third Monday of each month and sometimes on the fifth Monday when there is one. What's different about us is that we all use the same stamp set to create our projects so you'll get lots of inspiration to use it yourself. If you'd like to find out more about us or find a full list of this week's hoppers just click the banner or link above and you'll find everything you need at our site!

If you didn't start here you may have come from Cindy Elam's blog, Heart's Delight Cards. I am always inspired by Cindy's amazing cards and creations.

See all fall images to color? For today's hop I used the Buffalo Check Background Stamp paired with the milk can image from Country Home. Here's what I did with them....

Red and white check and a milk can full of fall foliage and you're ready for a picnic...at least I could be! I love the sweet sentiments included in this set that fit neatly in the oval stamp. They to go right on the center of the milk can. After the coloring was finished on the milk can and fall flowers I fussy cut out the whole thing and added Stampin' Dimensionals to the back of it. It then became the centerpiece of this 5" x 5" square card.

Inside the card I added a scrap of the buffalo check paper and a sentiment, stamped in Memento Black ink, to finish it off. Then I remembered I had some 5" x 5" square envelopes still left in my stash. I added some buffalo check to the flap of the envelope too.

That's it from me today. But as I was making this card I jotted down some more ideas for using Country Home. I'll be anxious to give them a try now! It's time for you to hop along to my friend Mike Funke's blog, Stampin' Style! Mike always seem to have an eye to see these sets from a different perspective adding a fun twist to them. I'm always ready to see what he's created each hop. Click the "Next" button below to see what Mike has to inspire you!

 

A Big Thank You

I realized last week that I was short on Thank You notes. I decided to remedy that situation by using another new stamp set, A Big Thank You and the Thinlit that coordinates with it cleverly named "Thank You". :) 

I found this cute piece of Designer Series Paper in the DSP Stack, Tropical Chic. Isn't it fun? After cutting the triangle from the DSP there was no other color but Basic Black card stock to make it really "pop". Next up was the Thank You Thinlit and so pretty in Blushing Bride. Four of them were layered up for a thick die and coated it with Crystal Effects. You know what my next move was...leave the room for awhile and let that dry! After it was totally dry I used Tombow Multi-Purpose Glue added to the back of the die to attach it to the front of the card and added a few sequins to the front That's all it needed!

Inside the card is a sentiment from A Big Thank You. There are also some cute images in A Big Thank You that added just the right touch and mimic the DSP.

I worked all morning on one card yesterday. It's for our grandson who has a birthday next week. I never thought it would take nearly that long but you have surely had the same experience a time or two. I finally managed to complete it after a lot of card stock, stamping, die cutting and mess! I'll share it next week! I have more stamping to do today so I better get going. Have a great day! - Dawn

 

Abstract Thank You

Besides birthday cards I think it's a toss up between thank-you and thinking of you cards that I use the most. For Cards & Coffee on Monday our second card was a Thank You card. It was a really quick one too!

 

The Climbing Vine Embossing Folder is the perfect thing to pair with the images from Abstract Impressions. And the Call Me Clover card stock, nothing else would have worked better! Everyone loved this color and the comment was made that most any other color would go great with it. I like pink and green together so I chose Petal Pink since it hadn't been used yet. No one had to worry about their stamping looking like anyone else's since it's all abstract! That's what is so great about this set. We stamped on a Whisper White square cut with the Layering Square Framelits and the Petal Pink scalloped square was cut with one of those too! We all love those layering dies!

Inside the card we added another sentiment from Abstract Impressions. We also added a couple more of those abstract flowers too but I took this picture before adding them. Oops! :( It's a lot more interesting with the flowers, trust me! 

I'm off to visit a friend this morning. We've been trying to get together all summer and one or the other of us has had something going on but today is the day! After that I'm heading back home to cut out a quilt for one of our grandsons. He really wants me to make him a quilt and how can I not? It should be (I say that loosely) a fairly easy project though. I hope your day is wonderful and that you get some crafty time to yourself! - Dawn

Have you thought about becoming up a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator? Right now would be an excellent time to join with the free Ink Pads in Color Collection of your choice included and for $99 you can choose $125.00 of the product of your choice with FREE shipping. There's no obligation to purchase another thing. My plan was to just join and use my discount to keep the Stampin' Up! product coming. I'm still at it 8 years later! It's almost time to get the first look a the Holiday Catalog and you'll get in on that too! Think about it and in the meantime check out the details by clicking below. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

 

A Red, White & Blue Thank You

I need a few thank you notes and decided since it's almost the Fourth of July that I'd make red, white & blue note cards.

I love tags! This one started on some Thick White card stock. Adding 1/2" strips of Night of Navy card stock were the start to the nautical feel I was aiming to get. For the thank you sentiment the stamps and dies in the Stitched All Around Bundle are were I found this one. First I heat embossed the sentiment in White Embossing Powder on Real Red card stock. Then I used that cute circle die in Stitched Labels Framelits to trim it right out. I started with just the Night of Navy 1/2" Gingham Ribbon but decided quickly to add a bow in 1/8" Real Red Solid Ribbon to pull the red in again. All that was left was to add the tag, with Stampin' Dimensionals, to the top of the 3 1/2" x 5" note card.

Inside it's really simple with a sentiment I put together with stamps from the Thoughtful Banners stamp set.

Now all I need to do is write some notes!

I've got a busy week with more company coming in on Wednesday. I think I need a "Vacancy/No Vacancy" sign to hang. :) I also have a book pillow to finish for Garrett's birthday but I have the hard parts of that done! The first thing on the agenda is taking the dog to the vet this morning so I better get going! Have a great day! - Dawn

Bee Thankful

Bee Thankful is a new single stamp in this year's catalog and I think it's so cute! When I was making cards last week this in one of the stamps I wanted to ink up. Here's what I did with it....

 

I wish all bees looked as cute and friendly as this one does! I stamped this image right onto some Crumb Cake card stock with black ink. Then I pulled out my Watercolor Pencils and chose an array of rainbow colors. I switched the order of the green and yellow though because I wanted the bee to stand on yellow. You can't tell in this picture but his wings and eyes are sparkly from the addition of some Wink of Stella!

Inside the card is a sentiment from another new stamp set, A Big Thank You. I stamped it in rainbow colors too by inking it using Stampin' Write Markers to ink each word up before stamping.

This is a quick post today. I have Cards & Coffee this morning and I think I'm ready for everyone. We've got one of our grandsons, Garrett, staying with us this week. He's almost eleven so he can entertain himself while we stamp for an hour! This afternoon we're going to see the Incredibles 2 movie. He says his two younger brothers will be jealous. I don't know if I saw the first incredibles movie or not so I hope I'm not lost! I hope you have an incredible day! - Dawn 

Swirly Frames

One of the first things on my list from the new catalog was the 2018-20 In Color Embossing Powders. I love embossing powder, as I'm sure most of you do, and colors make them all the more fun. Since this year's In Colors are bright and cheery the embossing powder has to add a bright and cheery shine to your projects. I used them with the Swirly Frames stamp set for my first try with them.

Of course, I had to pull these colors in with the card stock and ink too.

I'm still getting used to the names of these new colors. Call Me Clover is the one I have the hardest time remembering! I used all the different Embossing Powder colors except the Pineapple Punch since the card stock the swirly frames are embossed on is Pineapple Punch. Tiny strips of the sticky part of some Post-It notes were cut and laid over the already embossed frames before I added the next embossed frame over it. I made sure to use my Embossing Buddy between each embossing session too. Colored embossing powders show up more than a few stray pieces of white embossing powders so you have to be a little more careful with them. I keep an old paint brush nearby to brush off stray embossing powder too. I found the big sentiment in the new Love What You Do stamp set and it fit right inside that large circle frame. I think Blueberry Bushel may be my favorite new In Color but I'm holding out on a full declaration until I used them a bit more.

Inside I added another Love What You Do sentiment and a cute line image from Swirly Frames.

I'm off for some more errand running this morning and then baking some really good Hearty Oat cookies for a friend. I may have to have a warm one before packaging them up. Shh...don't tell! I hope your Monday starts the week out on a good note! - Dawn

 

Hand Delivered Thanks

I told you that you'd see me use the host set Hand Delivered frequently and I think that's proving to be true. There are so many cute images for so many occasions. I found one that was particularly perfect for some "over-and-above" service I received from a librarian at our local library this week. I was having problems reserving a book on my iPad. When I went in to return some books on Monday I was talking with the librarian about my problem. She tried to help me but because it was on my iPad it was different than her computer. When I got home from running errands I found that she had left me a message, had done some research and took the time to give me detailed instructions about how to do what I had asked her about. It was unexpected good service and I decided to send her a card to thank her!

I left the apple off the stack of books when I stamped it in Memento Black ink so it was more suitable to a librarian than a teacher. Using most of my Stampin' Blends I colored the books and her skirt and then trimmed her right out with my Paper Snips. I chose a piece of Polka Dot Designer Series Paper from the Brights DSP 6" x 6" paper stack in Poppy Parade as a background for the librarian. The largest oval from the Stitched Shapes Framelits was backed by a Poppy Parade scalloped oval to mount the librarian on using some Stampin' Dimensionals. I tied some of the super cute Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon around the card before attaching the ovals to the card. I found just the right "thank you" in Thoughtful Banners to heat emboss in White on some Basic Black card stock. The little banner was die cut by using a die from Bunch of Banners Framelits. It fit perfectly around the sentiment.

Inside I added another fun gal from Hand Delivered and she's holding a sign to complete the sentiment. Now I need to get this card out to the mailbox!

Today is blank on my calendar but I have no idea if it will stay that way. Somehow all my free days quickly get full lately. I'm hoping to spend it in my craft room but I'm not saying that out loud. I hope you have a terrific Thursday! - Dawn

A Simple Thank You

We've been in a small group at our church for 3+ years now. It meets on Sunday nights and our group leaders have hosted in their home for the entire time. They're going to take a sabbatical from leading next year and we're going to do something different ourselves. We wanted to send a thank you to them for putting up with everyone and getting their home ready to open each week. I made this card with a gift card holder inside to send to them.

I started with a Cherry Cobbler card stock base embossed with the Brick Wall Embossing Folder. The slanted Whisper White was cut with die from one of the Blueprints collections by My Favorite Things Die-Namics. Using my Stampin' Blends I colored a house I trimmed from the Just Add Color Designer Series Paper. I got that paper when it was added on to the Sale-A-Bration choices and the Stampin' Blends came out for coloring. I attached it to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals and then used a black marker to add dots and dashes, a technique from my scrapbooking days, to the edges of the card. The sentiment from Better Together was stamped in Bermuda Bay on top of the card. I love that Better Together stamp set!

Inside the card I added a Gift Card holder cut with the Lawn Fawn Gift Card holder die. A friend of mine brought her die one time when we had a craft day. She let me cut a few and they've come in handy! 

We didn't have much rain yesterday after all! I carried my umbrella with me wherever I went and I'm thinking it kept the rain at bay! :) I'm still working on my book pillow but I'm inching closer to being finished. That's my goal for today but goals change, don't they? Another goal is to finalize my order from the new catalog and organize orders from customers that they've given me to place first thing! I hope you have a great day and meet your goals too! - Dawn

Coloring Outside the Lines

Yesterday I took my first foray into Brusho Watercolor Powders! It was interesting and fun but I think I still need to do some more experimenting with them. I will say it is fun to watch the color literally "pop" on the paper and see what transpires. I needed to make a card for my favorite employee at the Assisted Living Facility where my mother is and I had an idea in my mind that I wanted to use Brusho to accomplish. I got a card made but it's not exactly what I planned and this is my second attempt!

I did find that I preferred to stamp with Staz On ink, carefully sprinkle Brusho Powder in the areas where I wanted color on the flower from the Beautiful Day stamp set and then spritz it with water. That leads to color outside the lines but I like that look and, as a bonus, it matches the polka dots on the piece of Designer Series Paper from the Share What You Love Specialty DSP. I love that big image from Sorry for Everything and that sentiment is exactly what I needed today. I added a Mint Macaron Dragonfly cut with the Detailed Dragonfly Thinlit Dies. I propped the stamped layer at an angle o the DSP so you could see more of the DSP. All of this was added to a Fresh Fig card base. I started to use Blackberry Bliss, I have these card stock colors left from their previous release, but switched it up at the last minute.

Inside the card I stamped a dragonfly from Dragonfly Dreams and hoping, though everyone will miss her, that Tina lands the job she desires!

Well, you know today is a big day for those of you who want to order some of the Share What You Love prodcuts. See the bundles yourself by clicking this link Share What You Love products. There are three Bundles from which you are able to order for the month of May. You can get your hands on some of the fun new products and 2018-20 In Color Ink Pads too. Click the image below to see these products at my online store. Also, below this image I've included a video from Stampin' Up! about the early release bundles and the Free Product exclusive to those bundles and all just for the month of May. Once the Annual Catalog is released June 1st these bundles will no longer apply. So check them out!

 

I hope you day is delightful! I am walking, cleaning and working to organize my ink pads to get ready for the new colors when I can order them tomorrow! I'm looking forward to getting up close and personal with all the pretty new colors from the re-vamp! See you tomorrow. - Dawn