february swap cards

february swap cards

I LOVE getting HAPPY MAIL!
What is Happy Mail – for me it’s most anything sent by mail that is not advertising, junk or bills! When you get a hand written card in the mail doesn’t it bring you joy?
Demonstrator swaps are like that too! Every month I participate and cannot wait to get 10-20 cards in the mail from sister stampers that create some lovely cards for me to share with you all!

The first card is actually a late arrival from my January Swap that arrived in the mail after I posted my January Swap blog so this one features the most popular Sale-a-bration requested FREEBIE – the Bloom Impressions DSP. Carol S’s swap card uses that Sale-a-bration DSP paired with the Beautiful Butterflies dies and the Painted Plaster 3D embossing folder. For all of you that EARNED this gorgeous paper here is a lovely idea for how to use it on your own creations!

This Mediterranean Blooms DSP card from Lyn L shows an easy way to create a card using our gorgeous Designer Series papers as the main attraction! She used the coordinating bundle on top of the DSP.
Marie W’s swap card features the Linked Together bundle from the current January to April 2025 mini catalog products to create a lovely die cut creation full of colorful flowers and sentiment oval die set atop the neutral Country Woods DSP.
Judith P’s masculine swap card used the Terrific Toadstools bundle in neautral shades of Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla and Basic Black with splatters of Craft White ink over it to create a “magical” vibe!
Jeanna T’s swap card gives us an excellent peak at the newly released Online Exclusive suite Botanical Textures that features the Mini Corrugated 3D embossing folder, gorgeous masculine paper showing textured textiles in neutral shades and great dies and stamps to coordinate!
The Thankful Garden Bundle with it’s coordinating die, masks and stamp set is featured on Veronica S’s swap card in Bubble Bath and Lemon Lime Twist set on a background of contrasting black and white for a stunning thank you card! This is the first time I have seen the Starburst Sequins from the Lovely Garden Suite and they are stunning!
STARBURST SEQUINS #165539 $7.50
* 180 adhesive-backed pieces
* 5 mm, 6mm
* Crushed Curry, Fresh Freesia, white
This delightful swap Thankful Garden card is from Carol S. Using the sentiment from the Country Birdhouse stamp set and the flowers and foliage from the new Thankful Garden bundle with masks for easy coloring this cards focal pieces pop in Melon Mambo and Garden Green set on Black and White! The rectangular dies from the Textured Notes bundle set the tone on both the front and inside of the card.
Susan W’s swap card in beautiful green hues features the Layering Florals embossing folder, the Winter Meadow DSP, the Everyday Details stamp set and the coordinating (retired) Everyday Details dies and the Shaded Spruce ribbon all set on a Shaded Spruce card stock base.
Robin C’s swap card features the lovely Wildflower Birthday Suite of products including the Wildflower Specialty Designer Series Paper and die cut sheets, the Spotlight on Nature dies, and the eyelet embossing folder for a fun Gatefold Offset fun fold card with coordinating envelope flap with an additional piece of Designer Series paper!
This Tower card fun fold from Nancy F uses a fun stand alone display card featuring the Lovely Garden DSP and the sentiment from the Bright Borders stamp set and the coordinating To the Point Label punch for a very springtime card! She also decorated her envelope flap with DSP – clever!
Lori V’s swap card uses a belly band with a die cut from the Mixed Labels bundle to close around this gorgeous DSP from the Mixed Media Suite. But the best is the surprise inside with a pop up floral arrangement from the Mixed Florals bundle over the Painted Plaster 3D embossing folder panels!
The last card in my February Swap collection is from my upline Denise W and she made a Tri-fold Shutter card – fancy! I will be highlighting my own version on one of my upcoming blog posts and I will teach you have to make this fun card! Denise used Petunia Pop In Color for the base card and the Meant To Bee bundle with coordinating DSP to complete the look!
Hopefully we inspired you with all these fabulous swap ideas and now it is your turn to go and create some artwork of your very own – one stamp at a time!

Happy Stampin’
Natalie

more color mondays – melon mambo, peach pie, and flirty flamingo fun fold

more color mondays – melon mambo, peach pie, and flirty flamingo fun fold

Today’s More Color Mondays color challenge picks the colors from the SALE-A-BRATION Fruit Salad DSP featuring Real Red, Peach Pie and Flirty Flamingo.
Measurements:
BASE: Petal Pink CS: 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″
scored at 4 1/4″
DSP: 6″ x 6″ cut at 5 1/4″ and cut into two pieces
2″ x 5 1/4″ and 4″ x 5 1/4″
Basic White” scraps for punches and sentiment
and die
Early Espresso CS: 7/8″ x 4 1/4″
Cut the 6″ x 6″ DSP at 5 1/4″ then cut the remaining portion into 2 sections at 2″ and 4″.
Adhere the 4″ x 5 1/4″ DSP to the card base.
Die cut the tressel die from the Linked Together die set – cut in half and attach to the upper right hand corner.
Adhere the 2″ DSP piece over the cut section of the die.
Stamp the hello from the Layering Leaves stamp set in Real Red ink and use a blending brush to color the background.
Adhere the sentiment piece to the Early Espresso strip.
Pop up the strip across the card front.
Punch out two small bough sprigs from the scrap Basic White CS and slip one under the hello sentiment piece.
Stamp in Petal Pink ink the larger sprig from the Layering Leaves stamp set.
Punch out 2 sprigs and tuck under the Early Espresso strip.
Adhere 5 Basic Rhinestones on the card front to add a little bling. This color challenge was a stretch for me and it is always a creative exercise to create with set colors and these are not my favorite color combination and it was a challenge to design this card.
Try to stretch your creative potential and create some artwork of your very own – one stamp at a time.

Happy Stampin’
Natalie

bloom impressions double panel z-fold card

bloom impressions double panel z-fold card

Today’s card is an easy variation on a simple Z fold fun fold card just by adding two layered panels you get an added look and lots of space to decorate and embellish!

Measurements:
BASE: Shy Shamrock CS: 4 1/4″ x 11″
scored at 2 3/4″ and 5 1/2″
DSP: 4″ x 5 1/4″ for inside BASE panel
and (2) 2 1/2″ x 4″ two left BASE panels
Melon Mambo CS: (2) 3 1/4″ x 4 1/2″
Peach Pie CS: (2) 3″ x 4 1/4″
Basic White CS: (2) 2 3/4″ x 4″
scrap for large butterfly die

I grabbed a 4″ x 5 1/4″ scrap of Basic White and stamped the largest butterfly image from the new Beautiful Butterflies bundle in Memento Black ink.
I colored the butterfly with the Peach Pie and Melon Mambo Stampin’ Blends markers and then die cut the image.
PAPER SAVING TIP: Whenever you have multiple layers that will be adhered to a surface you can die cut from the middle and reduce the weight of the card and get extra embellishments and dies from the paper that would have been covered!
I die cut four detailed smaller butterflies from the Beautiful Butterflies die set from the middle of the Melon Mambo layers.
(HAPPY ACCIDENT: forgot that the front layer would only be half adhered! See the results at the end LOL!)
Adhere the panel layers together and decorate as you wish.

I die cut one of the Basic White layers with the lattice die from the new Linked Together bundle.

Then I adhered and stamped and decorated with the Beautiful Butterflies bundle!

I adhered the 4″ x 5 1/4″ DSP to the inside BASE panel then I adhered the two smaller DSP panels to the two smaller left BASE panels.
I adhered the inside colored cardstock layered panels to the center of the back BASE panel over the 4″ x 5 1/4″ DSP layer.
I adhered three Sunny Day Iridescent Dots Embellishments to the front layered panel and adhered it so that it covers the panel on the inside so it is a little surprise when you open up the card!
Make sure that you only place adhesive on the left side of the panel as half the panel will be hanging off the first Z fold panel!
I adhered one last detailed small butterfly die back into the area I die cut that I forgot would not be covered OOPS! but here is my HAPPY ACCIDENT – think it looks like I meant to do it!

Hoping you can turn all of your accidents into happy ones!

Sale-a-bration is in full swing and you can earn FREE merchandise or get an awesome deal on the Starter kit!

My Open House will be moved to next Friday as I am still settling back in from vacation I realized that I did not schedule the e-mail invitation correctly and it did not send to you all! Another OOPS! In my defense my brain is still on island time!

Now go and try this fun fold whenever you get a chance – it is snowing here so that is always a good time to create! Go and create some artwork of your very own – one stamp at a time!

Happy Stampin’
Natalie

more color mondays – crushed curry, peach pie and calypso coral exploring analogous colors

more color mondays – crushed curry, peach pie and calypso coral exploring analogous colors

I have written a little about color theory before. Most of us know only the basics about color unless you majored in ART! I majored in Pharmacy pretty far away from an art major! Although I have loved the art of stamping for almost 25 years now i am still no expert in color theory. I do know the basics and I think I have an innate eye for what colors look pleasing together but I love tools that can help me with what colors WORK together and our newer tool the Color Wheel does just that!
On pages 132-133 of the current 2024-2025 catalog we have devoted two pages to color theory and our new color wheel.

Monochromatic –
choose colors with the same tints or shades
of the same color
Complementary – opposites attract – pair colors
that are opposite each other on the color
wheel to create bold, contrasting color
combinations
Analogous – choose three colors that are side
by side on the color wheel. These
neighboring colors work together to create
harmony and balance.
Triadic – choose three colors evenly spaced
around the color wheel. Our wheel is
created with a triadic line pointing in the
inside window that points out these special
combinations.

Today’s card is an analogous example of color theory and Crushed Curry, Peach Pie and Calypso Coral all belong in the Orange to Yellow-Orange spectrum.

This is a single layer card as simple as simple stamping gets but the mask creates an incredibly layered look that belies it’s simplicity!

Measurements:
BASE: Basic White CS: 4 1/4″ x 11″

I die cut the Linked Together rectangular trellis and actually used the negative space as a mask to prevent the ink from going outside this rectangle. Save the trellis die for another card!
Place the #1 mask over the rectangular negative die and mark the notch on your grid paper so that the following masks line up.
Using a blending brush and a circular motion pick up Crushed Curry ink from the ink pad and brush through the mask onto the card front below the mask.
Remove mask #1 but keep the rectangular paper mask in place.
Place mask #2 in the notch created with mask#1 and brush with a new blending brush and Peach Pie ink.
Remove the plastic #2 mask keeping the paper rectangular mask in place.
Place mask #5 in the notch and using a new blending brush and Calypso Coral ink I brushed the lower half in a diagonal line with this ink.
Remove both the plastic and rectangular masks.
Stamp the sentiment of choice from the Linked Together stamp set in Calypso Coral ink and tie the Peach Pie ribbon around the center of the card front.
Add the embellishments and your simply stamped card is complete! I used the white sequins from the Adhesive-Backed Sequins Trio and colored them with the Dark Calypso Coral Stampin’ Blends marker to make them coordinate perfectly!

Do you have masks at home? This is a fabulous bundle with incredible possibilities and I cannot wait to do some more creating! Try a mask card today or if you don’t have one order this one on January 7th!

Now go and create some artwork of your very own – one stamp at a time!

Happy Stampin’
Natalie

Reminder: the Linked Together Bundle is a sneak Peak and will be available tomorrow so it will not be listed in the photo directory below at the time of posting.