post 500! double arrowhead full of life card

post 500! double arrowhead full of life card

Can you believe this is my 500th POST!!!
That is 166 weeks worth of Monday, Wednesday and Friday tutorials and cards and that is 3.2 years worth of content! I am proud of this blog I started and the business that I have built! The best part for me is the friendships that I have made and customer relationships that have been built over the last 23 years! I am grateful for every day that I can wake up and create something fun and beautiful and i am forever thankful for this awesome company!

I wanted to make a special card for the 500th post and one of my favorite stamp bundles right now is the Sketched Butterflies!
I was inspired by a very talented demonstrator in my side line named Susan Campfield and she made this awesome double arrowhead card a few months ago and I wanted to try my hand at it – so this is my version!

Measurements:
BASE: Basic White CS: 4 1/4″ x 11″
scored at 5 1/2″
(2) 4 1/4″ x 5″
scored on 5″ side at 1 1/2″, 3″ 3 3/4″ and 4 1/2″
(1) 2 1/4″ x 4″ embossed
Full of Life DSP
(2) 1 1/4″ x 4″
(4) 1/2″ x 4″

I folded the (2) 4 1/4″ x 5″ in a Mountain-Mountain-Valley-Mountain configuration. See the folded sheet at the top of the next photo.

Using the Multipurpose (green) glue, on the smallest edge (in between the 3 3/4″ and 4 1/2″ score lines) – glue to the back side of the first panel. This will make an arrowhead shaped piece of paper.
Do that to the second 4 1/4″ x 5″ piece of paper as well.
Adhere the 1/2″ x 4″ pieces of DSP to the gusseted part of both of the arrowheads.
With the points of the arrowheads facing in towards the middle of the card adhere the arrowheads to the outside edges of the card front.
Adhere the 1 1/4″ x 4″ pieces of DSP to the 2 front panels of each arrowheads.
Emboss the 2 1/4″ x 4″ piece of Basic White card stock with the Dotted Circle 3D embossing folder or another one of your choosing.
Adhere to the middle of the card in between the two arrowheads,
Stamp the sentiment on Basic White card stock scrap and die cut some of the Sketched Butterflies in Basic Black card stock and adhere to the middle embossed panel.
Add some Drusy Adhesive-backed embellishments to the card front.
I took an extra piece of DSP and adhered it to the inside of the card and added an extra butterfly die to the paper.
The gusseted arrowheads allow the card to stand freely for display!
HAPPY 500th post! Hope you love this card as much as I do! Thanks for the inspiration Susan! and I hope I inspire you as well! Now it’s your turn to create some art work of your very own – one stamp at a time!

Happy Stampin’
Natalie

july fall into christmas swap cards

july fall into christmas swap cards

My first swap card was a late arrival for the June swap – Jennie T featured the Spotlight on Nature Bundle – stamp set and dies with the Full of Life 6″ x 6″ DSP for the background with a Pretty in Pink base card and a Granny Apple Green sentiment die.
This July swap card comes from our faithful swap leader Denise W. and the technique is cracked glass with paper. I have highlighted the technique before – it’s also called stack and shuffle. (my sample for the cut, stack and shuffle cards were detailed on February 14th, 2022 – check it out if you missed it or need a refresher!)
She used the Seasons of Green and Gold DSP and the Gold Mercury Vellum!
This Die cut Rustic crate in Silver Foil and Lost Lagoon compliments the Winter Meadow DSP perfectly along with the poinsettas colored to match for Lori V’s swap card
Ginger S’s swap card features the Sophisticated Sled Bundle using Country Woods, Unbounded Love and Glimmer paper and DSP to lots of color and contrast.
Lyn L’s swap card uses the Sparkling Snowflakes stamp set embossed in white embossing powder over stamps in Misty Moonlight set above the Sketched Plaid Background in Balmy Blue.
The next swap card is clean and simple in Basic White embossed background of Snowflakes Sky 3D embossing folder and Shaded Spruce popped up circle with the Sophisticated Sled dies adhered to it from CarrollAnn A.
Marie W’s swap card in elegant Very Vanilla embossed Basics 3D embossing folder background and Mosst Meadow cardstock with images die cut from the Seasons of Green and Gold DSP.
Robyn M’s swap card uses epth and dimension with the detailed sled die cut from the Sophisticated Sled Bundle and red berries from the Enamel Effects Basics Pack.
This is my swap card for July that I featured in my 07/24/24 blog post detailing the Bokeh technique using the Golden Greenery bundle!
Susan W’s swap card features the Iconic Imagery bundle with the Seasons of Green and Gold DSP and two of the three Basics 3D embossing folders for a great Christmas card!
This card from Carol S uses the Changing Leaves Online Exclusive bundle with a sneak peak of the Birch Wood 3D embossing folder which will be available on September 4th from the upcoming Mini Catalog!
Veronica S’s swap card features lovely coloring with Stampin’ Blends to compliment the Seasons of Green and Gold DSP with the images from the Filled with Cheer stamp set!
Robin C’s swap card is a study in lovely Fall colors of Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry and Pecan Pie using the Autumn Leaves stamp set and dies!
And the final featured swap card from Kathi D uses an elegant blend of Cherry Cobbler, Gold and Very Vanilla to create a classic Christmas card with the Golden Greenery bundle!
Hope you enjoyed the ideas from all of my swap cards and that you go and create some art of your very own – one stamp at a time!

Happy Stampin’
Natalie

Product List
Paper Snips
[103579]
$12.00
sweet pea is so stinking cute

sweet pea is so stinking cute

I borrowed this set from one of my downline the other day and can I just tell you it is SO STINKIN’ CUTE that I could not stop creating cards with it!

I have so many samples to share with you today – if you are looking for a fun stamp set that crosses generational lines this stamp set check all the boxes. Stinkin’ cute enough for kids cards but “Pun”ny enough for the adults – I seriously could not get enough of it! The images are so sweet!

This first card I combined the Sweet Pea set with the Full of Life 6″ x 6″ DSP. I stamped the two peas in a pod – literally LOL on a Nested Essentials die and colored with Real Red, Lemon Lime Twist and Granny Apple Green Stampin’ Blends.
I cut a 2 3/4″ x 5 1/2” piece of Full of Life DSP adhered it to the center of an Azure Afternoon card base and popped up the Nested Essentials stamped and colored die over the center of the DSP. I added Adhesive-Backed Shiny Sequins to cap it all off!

I have a picture of the same card with the Crushed Curry card stock!
On a Poppy Parade card base I stamped the leaf tendril in Tuxedo Black Memento ink on the base. Stamped the same stamp on scrap Basic White paper, colored in with Lemon Lime Twist Light and Dark Stampin’ Blends and fussy cut four stems. I stamped the four peas in a pod and colored with Stampin’ Blends on a small Nested Essentials die. I popped up the die onto Stampin’ Dimensionsla in the middle of the sprigs. I stamped the You make me HaPEA on the bottom right-hand side of the card and added Iridescent Adhesive-Backed Discs to finish the card.
The next card uses a Basic White cardstock base and a Basic White layer that is embossed with the Distressed Tiles 3D embossing folder. I colored the card center with Lemon Lime Twist and a Blending Brush. I stamped the two peas in a pod and the You make me HaPEA sentiment in Tuxedo Black Memento ink on the largest circle of the Stylish Shapes die set. I colored them with Stampin’ Blends and popped it up on Stampin’ Dimensionals in the card center. Shiny Sequins finish off the card with coordinated sparkle.
This card uses a Crushed Curry cardstock base, a Basic White layer embossed with the Dotted Circle 3D embossing folder, a 2″ x 4″ piece of Full of Life DSP, and two scraps of Basic White for the two die cuts from Perennial Postage dies and Nested Essentials. The Adhesive-backed Shiny Sequins finishes this card.
This next card embossed the base Azure Afternoon card with the Dotted Circles 3D embossing folder. The stamped focal piece is a Deckled Rectangle die set, same Stampin’ Blends and Iridescent Discs.
This card starts with a Basic White Cardstock base and a Basic White layer embossed with the Dotted Circle 3D embossing folder that is colored with Lemon Lime Twist ink from a Blending Brush. Love this image Hello GrumPEA – too stinkin’ cute.
The Lemon Lime Twist card is the base for the next card. The smallest die from the Stylish Shapes is the focal point for the GrumPEA image.
This Sweet Pea card uses Gorgeous Grape card base, a 3 1/4″ x 4 3/4″ piece of Basic White negative die from the Nested Essentials die, a Brights 6″ x 6″ DSP cut to fit behind the negative space. The sweet pea image was colored with Stampin’ Blends and die cut with the Perennial Postage dies.
This card uses a 2 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ piece of Full of Life DSP on a Crushed Curry card base combined with two die cuts from Nested Essentials and Stylish Shapes die brushed with a blending brush and Shiny Sequins.
White on White is the base for this card. The frame is made from the Deckled Rectangle dies. Circle dies from Stylish Shapes and Spotlight on Nature make the focal points for the sweet pea image and sentiment. The Shiny Sequins finishes off this card.
The last card uses a Gorgeous Grape cardstock base, Brights 6″ x 6″ DSP pieces, and a circle die from Stylish Shapes with the sweet pea image finishes the card with Iridescent discs to accent!
Don’t you agree this is a STINKIN’ CUTE stamp set? It’s your turn to find a cute stamp set and create some artwork of your very own – one stamp set at a time!

Happy Stampin’
Natalie

Product List
Paper Snips
[103579]
$12.00
changing leaves water color paper negative and left over cards

changing leaves water color paper negative and left over cards

Did you love that watercolor paper we made last week for Friday’s water-colored Friends for Life card? I had lots of extra as I only cut one die from each colored sheet so I cut out as many leaves as i could fit on that paper and saved the negative space and the leaves for another day! Well I loved the extras and just couldn’t wait to create some cards with the dies and negative spaces left so today’s blog post is all about the cards created from the left-overs!

Since the colors of the watercolor paper created were Poppy Parade, Gorgeous Grape, Crushed Curry, Azure Afternoon and Lemon Lime Twist – I cut multiple pieces of those colors of card stock in 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ lengths scored at 4 1/4″ and was ready to start creating!

The first card I used a Lemon Lime Twist case with a Basic White 4″ x 5 1/4″ layer embossed with the Painted Texture 3D embossing folder. Then I adhered one of each of the colored die cuts to the card front and added a sentiment strip with the happy birthday sentiment from the Country Birdhouse stamp set. I added Adhesive-backed Shiny Sequins in matching green to finish it off with a lot of sparkle!
I took the five Basic White water-colored layers and created cards with each of them.
The next card I grabbed the Lemon Lime Twist negative space layer added Lemon Lime Twist 6″ x 6″ DSP behind the negative openings and adhered that to a Lemon Lime Twist card base.
I stamped a sentiment in Lemon Lime Twist ink on a Stylish Shapes circle die from the Unbounded love stamp set and added a leaf die cut from that Unbounded love die set. I mounted that circle die onto a Nested Essentials Lemon Lime Twist die and adhered it to the card front and then added the Shiny sequins to finish off this card.
The Poppy Parade negative layer was next and I essentially designed it exactly the same as the last card but added a different sentiment from the Unbounded Love set in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and added Iridescent Discs to match the card color scheme.
For my Crushed Curry version of the negative layer card I used the edge of the water-colored paper as the sentiment scrap for the Country Birdhouse happy birthday sentiment and the shiny sequins.
For the last two negative layer cards I mixed up the background paper and added two colors of DSP in 2″ sections.
The Gorgeous Grape card I changed to a vertical orientation and added a Lemon Lime Twist leaf on the Grape side and the Gorgeous Grape leaf on the Lime side for contrast. A round circle sentiment piece from Unbounded Love stamp set and Stylish Shapes dies sets off the sparkle from the Shiny sequins in green!
For the Azure AFternoon negative layer I added Gorgeous Grape and Azure DSP under the negative openings and did the leaves alternating colors like the last card. I also added alternating shading to the sentiment circle and Iridescent Adhesive-Backed Discs for the sparkle!
I had a bunch of die cut leaves to use up so I took some 6″ x 6″ matching DSP in Regals for the Crushed Curry and Gorgeous Grape.
I cut one piece at 2″ x 5 1/2″ and used the 1/2″ leftover for the banner. I cut the opposite side at 2 1/4″ x 4 1/2″. Layered it to the left of the striped DSP and popped up a sentiment in the middle. I added a Crushed Curry watercolored leaf die under the sentiment circle die and added shiny sequins on the sentiment piece and the banner.
I did a similar Poppy Parade layout with a 1 3/8″ x 5 1/2″ strip of floral DSP down the card and 2 12/” x 4 1/4″ piece of Striped DSP across the card front. I popped up another Stylish Shapes circle die and added a Poppy Parade leaves die and Iridescent discs for the sparkle!
The last two left over cards I literally used the bits and pieces of the DSP and made cards with the remaining leaves.
The first card is on a Lemon Lime Base and features all the scraps from the Poppy Parade, Gorgeous Grape and Lemon Lime DSP. Since there are alot of colors to this card I kept the patterns of the DSP the same and the more neutral stripes as opposed to the busier floral pattern. I added three colors of leaves in Azure Afternoon, Crushed Curry and Lemon Lime Twist and added two smallest circle dies from the Stylish Shapes set. I used the omitting technique and only inked up part of the “little one” stamp inking “little’ first and stamping higher on the small circle and then cleaning the stamp very well and inking just the word “one” and stamping in below. This allows you to stamp a longer horizontal line of words into a smaller space! I added shiny sequins and this card is complete!
The last card in this leftover series LOL is adhered to a Gorgeous Grape base card. I took three strips of Gorgeous Grape, Azure Afternoon and Lemon Lime Twist and adhered them across the card front. I added contrasting leaves and stamped the sentiments Faith, Hope and Love in the remaining circles dies I had left from the Stylish Shapes dies set. I added “makes the world a better place” along the bottom of the card front and added iridescent discs to finish off the card!
It is amazing the lovely cards you can make with extras from other projects and the negative spaces of your die cuts – try this sometime and let me know what treasures you can create!
Now go and create some artwork of your very own – one stamp at a time!

Happy Stampin’
Natalie

Product List
Paper Snips
[103579]
$12.00
another designer series paper tri-fold card

another designer series paper tri-fold card

Today’s blog post is another tri-fold using some of our beautiful Designer Series Paper! I had so much fun designing Wednesday’s tri-fold that I decided to go ahead and do another one!
Today we are using the Full of Life 6″ x 6″ DSP for this vertical tri-fold card.

Measurements:
BASE: Basic White CS: 4 1/4″ X 11″
scored at 4″ and 6 3/4″
(5) 4″ x 5 1/4″ for watercolor background die
cuts
scraps for the sentiments
DSP top layer: 3 3/4″ x 4″
DSP middle layer 2 1/2″ x 4″ mine is 2 1/4″ because this was a 6″ paper stack and I wanted to save paper.
DSP: bottom layer 4″ x 4″

Using an acrylic block ink up one color per watercolor wash. I used Azure Afternoon, Lemon Lime Twist, Crushed Curry, Poppy Parade and Gorgeous Grape. Add ink directly to the acrylic block and spritz with water in a Stampin’ Spritzer. Add the paper on top of the block and hold in place for a few seconds to allow the paper to absorb the water and the ink. Die cut one of the leave stems from each watercolor died paper.

Score the 4 1/4″ x 11″ Basic White cardstock at 4″ and 6 3/4″.
Cut the desired DSP – I wanted a color gradient so i chose the B sides of the Full of Life DSP.
I adhered the top layer of 3 3/4″ x 4″ to the top panel.
I adhered the middle DSP layer of 2 1/2″ x 4″ to the middle panel.
I adhered the Bottom DSP layer of 4″ square to the bottom panel.
Just think of the possibilities if you used a scenic 12″ x 12″ DSP you could create a continuous scene across the card and do this in either landscape of vertical!
I adhered the leaf dies to each panel close to the corresponding color gradient on the DSP.
I die cut the word friend from Basic White scraps and added it to the top of the bottom panel so that the word does not peek out when the card is closed and is a surprise!
I die cut 2 of the rectangular strip dies for the top 2 panels and stamped sentiments in Azure Afternoon ink for the top panel and Crushed Curry for the middle panel.
I added Iridescent Adhesive-backed Discs to the card in a gradient of colors and this is what the card looks like closed and open!

Try this fun fold design soon! Now go and create some artwork of your very own – one stamp at a time!

Happy Stampin’
Natalie