Lots Of Love Card

This is a "fancier" card than I usually make, but it was still fairly simple.  I think this is a nice card to use for Mother's Day (coming up on May 13) or as a birthday card for someone special.  I have 3 tips to share with you today . . . 2 old ones and 1 new one.  First the new one . . . 

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #36 - Use patterned paper to dress up your envelope.

This only took a couple of minutes to do, but I think it makes it look extra-special.  Simply cut a strip of paper that will cover the flap.  Adhere the paper strip to the flap of the envelope (I use Stampin' Up's Multipurpose Liquid Glue) and then trim the excess paper.  

Then, the next tip I used . . .

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #1 - Copy a design from our catalog.  Modify, if needed to fit your own style or the supplies that you have on hand.

So there's the card that I copied; do you see it?  I modified it by using layers of black & green cardstock as the base, but I totally copied the placement of those little flowers and leaves.  I also added a length of black shimmer ribbon at the top, instead of the embellishment that is shown in the catalog.

Then, one final tip . . .

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #33 - Find inspiration in the objects around you.  Find ways of re-creating the style on a card!

Have you seen these postage stamps?  They came out a few months ago.  As soon as I saw them, they reminded me of the Lots of Love stamp set.  (It makes me wonder if Stampin' Up & the US postal service coordinated on this!)

This has been one of my favorite stamp sets from the 2017-2018 Annual Catalog.  Unfortunately, it is being "retired" and will no longer be available after May 31, 2018.  The coordinating paper, Whole Lot of Lovely (that I used on the envelope) has already sold out.  If you are interested in seeing a list of the other retiring products, you can click here.  

I have already had a sneak peek at the new catalog, which will be released on June 1.  There are so many fabulous new products!  If you would like to have a free copy of the catalog, let me know & I will be glad to put one in mail to you.

Stamping In Black

I had been stamping cards for several years before I ever thought about using black cardstock.   As soon as I tried it, I liked how classic and clean it looked.  When I was recently stamping cards for Halloween, I decided to make some non-Halloween cards, using black cardstock as the base.  These cards I'm sharing today are the results!

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #16 - - - Use black cardstock, paired with a black inkpad for a simple, classic look on your cards.

For many of these cards, I used papers from the Whole Lot of Lovely collection. 

On the card below & the one above, I stamped my greeting directly onto the paper.  Also, on this "Happy Birthday" card, I used my Wink of Stella glitter brush over the words, to match the black shimmer ribbon.  (The camera doesn't capture the subtle bit of glitter.)

This paper is my favorite one from this collection.

I like how the black cat (punched from the new Cat Punch in the Holiday Catalog) stands out against this background paper.

I love this paper from the Spooky Night paper collection!  

I have lots of black going on in this birthday card that I stamped for my friend Lisa.  I like the contrast of the pink against the black & white.

Another common "thread" in all of these cards, is that I used some sort of black trim in all of them.  The Black Vintage Crochet Trim is in the Holiday Catalog.  The Black Shimmer Ribbon and the Black Solid Baker's Twine can be found in the Annual Catalog.  

As you can see, black isn't just for Halloween!  If you haven't used much black in your stamping, give it a try.