sympathy card

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #27 - Use trees as the focal point image on sympathy cards.

I recently made this sympathy card to send to a co-worker of Pete, whose father had passed away.  I feel that sympathy cards should have a quiet and calming look to them, and the Thoughts & Prayers stamp set seemed to fit that description.  

I also used a new set of paper, True Gentlemen, from the new Occasions catalog.  I love all of these blues and greens together!   And some of these patterns look like fabric, which is another look that I love.

Here are a couple of other stamp sets featuring trees:

 Sheltering Tree

Lovely As A Tree

Obviously, trees make a nice image to use on a card for any occasion.  If you would like to purchase one of these tree sets, or any other stamping supplies, let me know!

Card for February

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #2 - Stamp a stack of cards each month to have ready to send.

For my "all-purpose card" for February, I used a few products from the new Stampin' Up Occasions catalog.  There are several birthday sets, as well as sets designed to be used for the spring holidays (Valentine, Easter, Mother's/Father's Day).  Many of the sets can be used interchangably, which is what I've done for this week's card.

One of the new packs of paper is called Petal Passion.  All of the designs in this pack have a hand-painted look in shades of black & white.

I love the variety of patterns here!  There are several ways this paper can be used, including using various coloring techniques.  The neutral color scheme means that you can use it with any color.  For my card, I used Cherry Cobbler.  This card has somewhat of a Valentine-look to it, but I think it can be used for any occasion or simply as a note card. 

The sentiment is from the coordinating Petal Palette set.

 

This is a great set, for the sentiments alone!  But the floral stamps, plus that cute little chickadee, can be used for practically any occasion.

The heart stamp is from the Heart Happiness set.  Take a look at all of these different styles of hearts!

Every paper-crafter needs a set of heart stamps, in my opinion!  Even just a little heart stamped in the corner of an envelope can let someone know that you think they are special.

You can browse through this new catalog by clicking on the Occasions Catalog image in the right sidebar.  If you see something you would like to order, let me know!

Wintry Snowflake Card

How is the weather where you are?  Here in Michigan, we have had snow on the ground since Christmas.  And more snow is on the way!  Today I'm showing you a card that goes along with the weather we've been having.

I used the very versatile Colorful Seasons set from Stampin' Up.  If someone wanted to buy only one set, this would be a good one to get!  There are images for every season, plus a nice selection of sentiments.

I am sharing two tips that I used to make this card special:

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #25 - Give your cards a "splattered" background.

I used an old retired stamp to make my splattered background, but there are several sets in our current catalog that include a stamp that gives the splattered effect.  (Touches of Texture - pg 152, Awesomely Artistic - pg 153, Painter's Palette - pg 160)

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP # 26 - Use white embossing powder to make images stand out on dark backgrounds.

Snowflakes naturally call for white embossing powder.  This technique requires a few extra supplies (a VersaMark inkpad, embossing powder, a heat gun) and takes a bit longer, but the results are worth it!

If you look in the right sidebar, you will see two new catalogs, just below the Annual Catalog. One is the Occasions Catalog, with beautiful new stamps for upcoming holidays & special occasions.  The other new catalog is the Sale-A-Bration catalog.  This has items that you can choose for FREE, when you order $50 of Stampin' Up products.  If you've been thinking about ordering some paper-crafting supplies, this is a great time to do it!

Let me know if you have questions about any techniques, products, or ordering.  Winter is the perfect time to stay indoors and make pretty cards!

Christmas 2017 Scrapbook Page

This is the scrapbook page that I created with a few photos from our Christmas.  All of my scrapbook pages are very simple, but this one may be the most simple one yet!  

I always begin my scrapbooking process the same way . . . by laying out all of my photos.  What I noticed was that there were a lot of patterns in the photos (in mine & DeDe's sweaters, in the rug, etc).  So I knew then that any embellishments would need to be "quiet", so they wouldn't compete with the photos.  As I looked though my Christmas-themed patterned paper, the one that I thought would work best was this simple black/white paper from the Merry Little Christmas collection.  Then it seemed natural to use black cardstock as my background.  My photos took up most of the room, so the only other element I used was the journaling tag.  At first, I was just going to have a block of white cardstock for the journaling, but then I thought that cutting off the top corners to make it look like a tag, would give it more of a Christmas look.  The red tinsel trim added a festive touch.  And that's it!  I am pleased with how it turned out.

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #24 - Use narrow strips of patterned paper to border your scrapbook pages. 

As you can see, scrapbooking doesn't have to be time-consuming or expensive.  I hope that as we begin the new year, that you will feel inspired to put some photos into a scrapbook!