Poppies not weeds

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Those leaves growing behind our year-round resident, Mr. Skele-a-gnome, beneath the tree in front of my house may look like weeds, but they’re not. They’re poppies and every year they bloom around late spring or early summer. Poppies are on my list of favorite flowers. When my husband and I first moved into our house 18 years ago, the previous homeowner admonished us that there would be poppies growing under the tree and not to pull them out because they look like weeds. Not knowing what they would look like, we let all the weeds grow under the tree and then determined which ones were the poppies. (Note: We had a busy toddler at the time and didn’t have the energy to look up the information.)

I was delighted when Stampin’ Up’s January-June 2020 Mini Catalog arrived covered in cards created with supplies from the Peaceful Poppies product suite. I recently created this card:

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Product List

Quick & Cute Bee Card

My favorite product from the Stampin’ Up January-June 2020 Mini Catalog is the Honey Bee bundle, which includes the Honey Bee stamp set and the Detailed Bees Dies. I love this card because it is simultaneously elegant and whimsical. Also, it requires minimal time and supplies to create it. As far as paper goes, you only need a 5.5″ x 8.5″ piece of white cardstock and a 1″ x 5.5″ strip of patterned paper. I’ve used a piece of paper from the Warm Honey DSP that was available during Sale-a-Bration, but other pattern paper could work as well if you didn’t get the chance to acquire some while it was available.

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Product List

Make do

My friend Liz and I usually stamp together once every couple of weeks. Since we’re adhering to our governor’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” mandate, we haven’t been able to meet in person. We are, however, virtual crafting over video on Messenger and it’s been so wonderful. Although she has been an avid scrap-booker over the years, Liz is fairly new to Stampin’ Up products and card making. She’s a Paper Pumpkin customer, so we have those stamp sets in common and a few other overlaps in what we own.

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We’ve been finding card samples online and recreating them, or using them as inspiration for creations of our own. Recently we recreated this card by Sue Mor.

The main obstacle we faced in recreating this card was that neither of us own the Brick & Mortar 3D embossing folder (149643) which, as you can see, is a prominent element on the card. Our solution to overcoming this bump was to use a scoring tool to create the brick wall.

The scoring tool didn’t give the same level of 3D effect that the embossing folder would have, but it was still effective. I used a sponge dauber with Gray Granite ink to give the brick some more contrast and texture. Also, we changed the card from portrait to landscape orientation.

Here is my card:*

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And here is Liz’s card:

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*Supply list for Molly’s card:

Stamps:  Thoughtful Blooms
Paper: Whisper White, Shaded Spruce
Ink: Shaded Spruce, Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather
Embellishments: Noble Peacock Rhinestones
Dies: Painted Labels