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

Painted Poppies Cling Stamp Set

$23.00

Painted Labels Dies

$35.00

Peaceful Moments Cling Stamp Set (English)

$21.00

Poppy Moments Dies

$37.00

Peaceful Poppies Designer Series Paper

$11.50

Whisper White 8-1/2

$9.75

Basic Black 8-1/2

$8.75

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

$6.00

Fine-Tip Glue Pen

$7.00

Quick & Cute Bee Card

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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

Honey Bee Bundle

$41.25

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock

$8.25

Golden Glitz Delicata Metallic Ink Pad

$11.00

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

$6.00

Metallic Pearls

$7.00

Make do

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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

 

March Paper Pumpkin Workshop: No class, no problem

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I won’t be holding my monthly Paper Pumpkin Workshop tonight due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Instead, here are samples of the projects we would have worked on tonight. I was really looking forward to this month’s project kit since it included an extra stamp set to commemorate Paper Pumpkin’s sixth anniversary and I wasn’t disappointed. I loved the sets they sent! The stamp set included in the kit is called No Matter the Weather.

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These stamps are great, but I was especially excited about the bonus stamp set, Spring Splash!

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The rain boots, a.k.a. wellies, remind me of a song my grandma sang to me when I was a little. It mentioned rain boots and bumbershoots. I guess that its kind of fitting that I grew up and moved to the Pacific Northwest, a place of excess rain and occasional sunshine that makes it all worth it.

I’m just going to jump right to one of my favorite alternatives. I sacrificed one of the envelopes with the striped Petal Pink liner to make the bottom portion of the card. Basic Gray ink on Basic Gray resulted in an ominous and looming presence, so I stamped the clouds on the top portion in Versamark to give them a watermark effect. I considered embossing the clouds with clear embossing powder, but I decided against it because it would smooth out the dimensionality of the cloud stamp.

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Supplies:

Stamps: Spring Splash and No Matter the Weather from March 2020 Paper Pumpkin kit

Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Basic Gray, Balmy Blue, Versamark

Paper: Gray Granite

(5.5″ x 8.5″), Whisper White (3.5″ x 3.5″ plus scraps for bunny and boots), Petal Pink liner from envelope (3″ x 4″)

Accessories: Rain and Dewdrop embellishments (included in kit), Stampin’ Dimensionals, Pear Pizzazz ribbon (retired*), Stitched Shapes Dies (152323)

*Suggested alternatives for ribbon: a 3/8″ x 4.25″ strip of Pear Pizzazz paper brushed with Wink of Stella, Gray Granite Textured Weave Ribbon (147656), Petal Pink Metallic Edge Ribbon (151194), Whisper White Crinkle Seam Binding Ribbon (151326), Burlap Ribbon (141487)

As far as minor alterations, here are a few cards that I created by rearranging elements from the Paper Pumpkin kit. I had a fun time incorporating the bunny into my modifications.

Below is my stamps only card. I decided to take the card to the max and fulfill Stampin’ Up’s #simplestamping challenge: one piece of paper, no layers. I didn’t even use any embellishments. It’s my first completely compliant #simplestamping card. Using only one piece of paper and stamps is a challenge I haven’t risen to until now. The Stamparatus helped me perfectly line up these boots.

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Stamps: No Matter the Weather & Spring Splash from March 2020 Paper Pumpkin kit

Paper: Thick Whisper White Cardstock (140272)

Ink: Basic Gray (149165), Gray Granite (147118), Poppy Parade (147050), Memento Tuxedo Black (132708)

Accessories: Stamparatus (146276)

I hope to have the privilege of running a Paper Pumpkin Workshop in person next month. I’m not counting on it though. You, however, can count on me to deliver lovely samples and alternate designs from next month’s Paper Pumpkin kit, My Wonderful Family. Subscribe by the 10th of April here.

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Stamping 101 Class: Embossing Folders

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Here’s a card we made in my most recent Stamping 101 class using the Stampin’ Up Sale-abration set, Thoughtful Blooms. This set, and its companion punch, have been sitting on my shelf since January and I wish I had started playing with it earlier. No reason to lament too much because the COVID-19 virus has pretty much put external life on standstill since I run an after school program and work in retail. Now I have lots of spare time. I’m grateful for the opportunity to craft and spend time with my family. Okay, some days I’m not as grateful for the opportunity to be cooped up with my two hormonal teenage daughters, but that’s what therapeutic paper-crafting is for, right?

BTW, I have to give credit where credit is due. The design for this card is a modified version of a card made by a woman named MaryAnne Cowan.

Here’s the card:

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Stamps:
Thoughtful Blooms

Ink:
Old Olive (147090), Daffodil Delight (147094), Crushed Curry (147087), Seaside Spray (150085)

Paper: Seaside Spray (150883), Whisper White (100730), Vellum (101856)

Accessories:
Stylish Scrolls embossing folder (retired), Daffodil Delight ribbon (retired), Small Bloom Punch (152316), Metallic Pearls (146282) Stampin’ Dimensionals (104430)