Friday, September 15, 2017

Colorful Seasons SBTD Blog Hop


Welcome to Stampers by the Dozen (SBTD Blog Hop for September. We are a group of 12 Stampin' Up! Demonstrators from around the world, sharing our creative projects to help inspire you. This month's theme is all about trees, leaves and branches. If you are following along with the Blog Hop, you have just visited Susan Simpson's blog and her wonderful projects.

Stampin' Up! has so many wonderful stamp sets featuring trees, leaves and branches to choose from.  I chose the Colorful Seasons Bundle, one of my new favorite bundles from the 2017-2018 Annual Catalog. This bundle is so versatile and can be used for projects all through the year.

Here in Colorado, we are preparing for the arrival of Fall. I love the warm colors that reflect the changing of the leaves as nature prepares itself for Winter. The leaves begin to change from their Summer green to warm tones of yellow, orange and red, signaling that cooler weather is here to stay.

For my first card I used the Pinewood Planks 3D Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (item #143708) to create the look a wood fence. I love the texture this folder creates and when I sponged the Crumb Cake cardstock with Crumb Cake Classic ink, it really brought out the detail of the wood grain. I used the large and small solid leaf dies from the Seasonal Layers Thinlets dies (item #143751) to cut out one large leaf and two of the smaller leaves from the Crumb Cake cardstock layer. Using the detailed Leaf die, I cut out one leaf from a scrap of Gold Foil.

To create the color for the smaller leaves, I punched out one circle of Lemon Lime Twist cardstock and one circle of Pumpkin Pie using the 1 3/8" Circle Punch. I adhered the circles to the back side of the Crumb Cake cardstock so that the colors were visible through the die cut openings.


Next, I adhered the Crumb Cake cardstock layer to a piece of Cajun Craze cardstock and then inlaid the Gold Detail Leaf die cut into the large leaf opening using a little Snail adhesive to hold it in place. The sentiment is from the Ribbon of Courage stamp set (item #143855) and I heat embossed it with Gold embossing powder. I then used the Oval Layering dies to cut out the sentiment and layered it with a scalloped oval of Chocolate Chip cardstock. I attached the sentiment to the card using Stampin' Dimensionals. To finish off the card, I attached the layers to a Chocolate Chip cardstock base. For a little sparkle, I outlined the smaller leaves with Wink of Stella to help them stand out.
This card design would work well for a masculine card for the men in your life.


My second card has a slightly more summery feel to it with just a touch of Fall from the Pumpkin Pie leaves. With this card I used the Colorful Seasons stamp set (item #143726) for a watercolor look to the leaves. For the large and small Pumpkin Pie leaves, I stamped off once to give a lighter shade of orange and then stamped the detailed leaf stamp image full strength in Pumpkin Pie to give it added depth and definition. I stamped the smaller leaf stamp in Pear Pizzazz Class ink  The sentiment has been embossed with Copper embossing powder for a touch of elegance.

The card base and first layer of this card are Pear Pizzazz cardstock, one of my go-to greens. I embossed the layer with the Layered Leaves 3D Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (item #143704) to add a some texture to the card. I punched out circles of Gold and Copper Foil with the 1 3/8" Circle punch debossed them also using the Layered Leaves embossing folder. The large Whisper White circle was die cut with the largest circle die from the Stitched Shapes Framelits dies. I love the detail of the stitching on the circle to finish it off.  This card design would be wonderful as a birthday or Thank You card.

I hope you have enjoyed the two cards I have created for you today. Now it is time to visit Lyndsay Carara and see her wonderful creations. Just click on her name or the Next image to reach her blog. If you get lost, use the Blog Hop Roll Call below to find your way.



Blog Hop Roll Call

Karie Beglau 
Judi Anderson 
Susan Simpson 
Tricia Butts  You are here
Lyndsay LaRae Carara 
Courtenay Heuston 
Carly Middleton 
Sharleen Luciano 
Vicky Thompson 
Anastasia Radloff


Purchase the Bundle, Save 10%! Colorful Seasons Bundle item #145348 


Sunday, September 3, 2017

Stampin' Up! Blog Hop - Anything But the Holidays Blog Hop

Welcome to the Anything But the Holidays Blog Hop, featuring products from the new 2017 Holiday Catalog in a way you might not have thought to use them. We all love Holiday products but wouldn't it be great if you had ideas on how to use these products for your every day projects for added value.

With so many amazing products to choose from, I decided to use the Painted Harvest Bundle, which includes the Painted Harvest photopolymer stamp set (item #144783) and the Leaf Punch (item #144667). When you purchase these two products as a bundle (item #146021), you save 10%.

So this bundle is a Fall themed bundle in the Holiday Catalog, and I thought it would be fun to try out some non-traditional colors for the flowers to show how versatile this bundle is. I had a lot of fun playing with different color combinations and today I am sharing just two of the color combinations that I tried.

My first color combination features Berry Burst and Flirty Flamingo, two of our amazing In Colors. I loved how well they worked together and the depth it gave to the flower petals. The center of the flower was stamped with Soft Suede and the leaves were stamped using Pear Pizzazz. I punched out the leaves using the Leaf Punch to add a little depth and dimension. The flower was punched out using the Starburst Punch (item #143717) and layered onto a scalloped circle of Pear Pizzazz cut with the Layering Circles Framelits dies (item # 141705).

The Gold Snowflake adds a touch of elegance to this card and is just one of the fabulous embellishments available in the Holiday Catalog (Foil Snowflakes item #144642). I love the way the gold foil makes the flower come alive and it ties in beautifully with the gold foil oval that I used as a matte for the sentiment, which I embossed with Gold Embossing Powder. 

To add a little dimension to the card, I embossed a piece of Berry Burst cardstock with the Layered Leaves 3D Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder and highlighted the embossed leaves with Clear Wink of Stella for a touch of sparkle as well as the flower petals and stamped leaves. 
Put it all together and you have a beautiful birthday card for someone special.

My next color combination led to me creating two cards using the same layout. When I created the first card, I couldn't decide whether I wanted the card to be vertical (portrait) or horizontal (landscape). Needing help, I posted my dilemma on my Facebook page and asked my followers what they thought. After many wonderful responses and suggestions, it still ended up a tie. Some people suggested I do both, so that is what I did. It is a good example of how you can create a design that will work in either direction to create a beautiful card. 

Both cards were created using the same color palette: Sweet Sugarplum and Rich Razzleberry for the flower petals and Crumb Cake for the center of the flower. The leaves were stamped using Old Olive and Pear Pizzazz.  I added a touch of Clear Wink of Stella to the flowers and leaves for a little sparkle. I layered the stamped panel onto a layer of Rich Razzleberry cardstock and then mounted it onto an Old Olive card base. 

The frame and sentiments were stamped from the Rose Wonder photopolymer stamp set (140697) and I embossed them with Gold Embossing Powder for a touch of elegance. I die cut the sentiment using the frame thinlet from the Rose Garden Thinlets dies. I used the smallest pearls from the Pearl Basic Jewels to embellish the sentiment and then layered it onto a piece of Gold 3/8" Metallic-Edge Ribbon. 

I hope you have enjoyed my journey of exploration with the Painted Harvest Bundle. Don't be surprised if you see more of my projects with these products as I continue to explore using different color combinations and designs. 

Now it is time to visit Chris Slogar and see her amazing projects. I hope you will be inspired by this blog hop to create your own fabulous projects. 



Until Next Time,
Happy Stampin'

Tricia Butts
Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

Like What you see? Visit My Online Store Here
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Friday, September 1, 2017

Global Stamping Friends September Blog Hop Color Challenge


It's time for the September Global Stamping Friends Blog Hop and this month we have a Color Challenge to share.  We were all given the challenge to create a project using the following colors: Whisper White, Smokey Slate, Pool Party, Night of Navy.  

I really enjoyed working with these colors and I decided to focus on clean and simple card designs that would work well for masculine cards. it is always a challenge designing cards for the men in our lives, so I thought this would help me step outside my comfort zone a little.

Stampin' Up! Tabs for Everything Photopolymer Stamp Set item #143907
I chose the Tabs for Everything photopolymer stamp set (item #143907) as it was a new set in the 2017-2018 Annual Catalog that I had not had a chance to use yet. It has a coordinating Circle Tab Punch (item #143754) but I decided to focus on using just the stamp set. 

For my first card I decided to create a birthday card with a geometric feel to it, using circle punches and the Layering Squares Framelits Dies (item #141708). I chose to use Smoky Slate cardstock for my card base and used Night of Navy and Whisper White cardstock for my layers. I embossed the Whisper White cardstock with the new Polka Dots Basics Textured Impressions Embossing Folder with my Big Shot. I stamped around the raised polka dots randomly with Pool Party, Smoky Slate and Night of Navy Classic Ink with one of the circle stamps to add a little color to the background.

Stampin' Up! Tabs for Everything Birthday Card

I stamped the images onto Pool Party cardstock and Smoky Slate cardstock using Versamark ink and heat embossed with White Embossing Powder. I punched the images out using the 1" Circle Punch. I stamped the images for the square onto Whisper White cardstock and then die cut it with one of the smaller square dies from the Layering Squares Framelits dies. The matte layers were die cut from Smoky Slate and Night of Navy cardstock. The mattes for the circles were punched with the 1 1/4" Circle Punch from Night of Navy cardstock. I used Stampin' Dimensionals to pop up the stamped elements.
Stampin' Up! Tabs for Everything Birthday Card Close Up

Thrifty Tip: Cut the mattes for the square and circles from the layer of Night of Navy cardstock to save cardstock. The cut outs will be hidden by the Whisper White cardstock.

My second card could be used for a variety of occasions and this style of card is great to have in your card stash in case of an emergency. I love the way the "thumbs up" image works with the sentiment and the Best Badge Punch in Night of Navy creates a great focal point for the card design. I used the Oh My Stars Textured Embossing Folder (item #143710) to add texture to the layer of Pool Party cardstock attached to the Thick Whisper White cardstock card base. I used Smoky Slate cardstock as an accent color with the thin strip across the middle and the matte around the sentiment circle. I used  Stampin' Dimensionals to pop up the circle and badge punches to add a little dimension. 

Stampin' Up! Tabs for Everything You're Amazing Card

Even though both of these cards were created with the same stamp set and the same color palette, they both look very different. It is a good example of how you can create a variety of cards with a limited supply list and I enjoyed the challenge. I hope you have enjoyed my projects as much as I did creating them.
It's time to move on to the next blog and visit Sharleen Luciano here to see what she created for this color challenge.
Sharleen Luciano

Here is the list of participating blogs in case you get lost along the way:

Blog Roll Call


Thank you for taking the time to view my projects. I hope you will visit again soon.


Until Next Time

Happy Stampin'

Tricia Butts
Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator 

Like What you see? Visit My Online Store Here
Visit my Facebook Page


Supply List

Cardstock: Whisper White, Thick Whisper White, Pool Party, Smoky Slate, Night of Navy
Ink: Versamark, Pool Party, Smoky Slate, Night of Navy

Tools: 1" Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Best Badge Punch, Oh My Starts Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Polka Dot Basics Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Layering Squares Framelits dies, Big Shot

Misc: Stampin' Dimensionals, Snail Adhesive, White Embossing Powder