Let's Celebrate #100! Casing Mercedes for TGIFC100!

Happy Friday everyone!  Wow, I can hardly believe TGIF Challenges is on #100!  It seems so long ago.  (I was actually living in an entirely different state when this challenge site started.)  This was one of the first sites that I participated in regularly as a challenger.  It really helped me grow as a stamper and a blogger and I give this team and challenge site a lot of credit for who I am today!

One sweet lady in particular - Mercedes - has really inspired me over the years and I admire her for not only her insanely creative style, but for her love of Jesus.  Now we are on the SU! Artisan Design Team together and I consider her a great friend!  Check out her blog and I'm sure you'll see why she's been on the ADT 3x!

Here is the card I made for today.  I wanted to make a card with Kraft cardstock - one of Mercedes favorites, add some shabby chic details and some punches.  Lots of layers and details!

I used the Oh So Succulent stamp set and stamped the succulents on a large tag I made with one of the Lots of Labels Framelits.  I also added a piece of Sending Love Glassine Sheet punched out with the Best Badge punch and topped that off with the embossed sentiment from Badges & Banners punched out with the Duet Banner Punch and a doily.

One of my favorite things about Mercedes is her simple and creative approach to stamping.  Sometimes she can find a really unique use for a punch or die that you would've never thought of - but other times it is something really simple.  One thing in particular that I picked up on with Mercedes' cards is the half circles punched on the sides of the card that hold the Linen Thread or other twine.

I think it's one of her signature styles :) I love it!

For the inside, I added a little more of the Succulent Garden Designer Series Paper and a doily scrap for that extra detail.

I'm so happy that we get to honor the one who started TGIF Challenges!  I hope you join along!

Have a wonderful weekend!

-Holly

Circus Fun for GDP079

Wow! It has been awhile since I've played along with the Global Design Project.  In fact, the last one I think I did (according to my saved photos) is GDP065 when I was a guest - and #61 before that!  When I saw this week's challenge I knew I wanted to play along.  The Cupcakes & Carousels stamp set from Stampin' Up! is probably the obvious choice - but these fun images in the set are hard not to use for this theme.

I have not used this set as much as I had hoped but I have found that I really like this sentiment.  I used my Stampin' Write Markers to color the sentiment for some extra fun detail.  When I think of the amusement park or the carnivals I think of all the fun colors, fonts and lights that are on the food trucks/buildings.

 I added some Bermuda Bay DSP from the Cupcakes & Carousels Designer Series Paper Stack on the bottom half of the Calypso Coral card base.  (This card is 3"x 6")

I created my own banner by simply adding some extra white cardstock at an angle underneath the sentiment.  Cut each piece like a small banner and place a Stampin' Dimensional between the pieces of white CS.

Extra details on this card include the Peekaboo Peach enamel dots from the In-Color Enamel Shapes, some Peekaboo Peach 3/8" Ruched Ribbon and some Calypso Coral splatter made with an Aqua Painter.

I masked the tent image a few times - looks like a grand circus!

I hope you like this card!  Makes me want to go to the state fair now! :)

Be back tomorrow for our 100th challenge for TGIF!

Blessings,

Holly

Moon Baby Boy - TGIFC99 Last Call!

Happy Wednesday to you!  We are almost through the week which means you don't have too much time left to play along with this week's challenge over at TGIF! This week at TGIF Challenges we are challenging our followers to play along with the "baby theme" - there's not many cards cuter than baby cards!  I'm also playing along with the baby challenge at The Paper Players this week!

Almost makes me want another baby...

Almost...

The Moon Baby stamp set form Stampin' Up! is so adorable - one of my favorite baby sets ever.  The images are great for watercoloring - like I did here with Aqua Painters and Shimmery White Cardstock.  You can also use the new Watercolor Pencils with these images.

Here I used the little baby on the moon.  I cut the star out and attached it closer.  It does hang from the moon a little longer but it wasn't ideal to fussy cut the string :)

I added the moon using Stampin' Dimensionals to give the card a little more detail.  I also did the same with some clouds that I cut using the Up & Away Framelits Dies.  The moon and sentiment are on a large circle cut with the Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies - the inside says "do you know how loved you are?" - so sweet!

The Lucky Stars Textured Impressions Embossing Folder gives it one final detail.

I hope you can join us this week!  You can submit you card by 10pm CST tomorrow (Thursday).

Be sure to be back on Friday for our 100th challenge!!

Blessings,

Holly

Happy Birthday to the Best. Guy. Ever.

Happy first day of spring! Our boys have been asking when it is going to be Spring, so today is a good day for them!  They say a little sunshine is good for the soul - and boy do we need it.  Yesterday we decided to get outside and we took a walk in the woods behind our house - it must have been exactly what we needed! We all slept well last night and (so far) we seem to be on the mend.  As of Saturday, all 3 boys were in antibiotics and my husband was in bed for the 3rd straight day.

I was spared.

So far...

So since the sicknesses have been in full swing at our house, I forgot to post my husband's birthday card that I made for him.  If you missed my Instagram post of the boys' cards they made, you can see it here.

I wanted to keep my husband's card fairly simple.  I think I've used the same masculine sets over and over in the past years, so I decided to just highlight the Large Numbers Thinlits Dies and make a cheerful and bright card using some scraps of paper and ribbon.

For the background I used the "Best. Guy. Ever." stamp from the Suite Sentiments set from the Occasions Catalog.  This set is one of my favorites as the fonts and sentiments coordinate with each of the 7 "suites" in the catalog.  (This stamp coordinates with Urban Underground.)

Because the words are in "threes", I was able to stamp the image repeatedly in a way that you can read it from top to bottom or left to right.  I was pleased with how it turned out.  I did this without a Stamp-a-ma-Jig, but if you wanted it to line up perfectly, that would be the best tool to use!

Thanks for swinging by today!  Enjoy your Monday :)

Blessings,

Holly

Watercolor Basket Bunch - Artisan Design Team Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the Stampin' Up! Artisan Design Team blog hop!  You should have arrived from Dani's.  She is amazing - love her style - and she never disappoints!  Either way - I'm so glad you're here.  We are a group of 20 demonstrators from around the globe highlighting some of the latest and greatest Stampin' Up! products.  If this is your first time hopping with us, my name is Holly and I live in the US (Minnesota).  

This month we are featuring two bundles from Stampin' Up! - the Basket Bunch Bundle and the Dragonfly Dreams Bundle.  I chose to feature the cute Easter set Basket Bunch.  I love the little eggs, the peeps, chocolate bunny and the Basket Builder Framelits Dies.  

For the background of these cards, I used Aqua Painters, ink and Shimmery White Cardstock.  With the beautiful color choices SU! offers, finding spring colors was easy!

Do you remember the hollow chocolate eggs and bunnies?  They were never as good as the solid chocolates, right? - This sentiment makes me smile!

I also made the baskets different by adding Stampin' Dimensionals to different layers of the die-cut baskets. 

I love the pop of colors during Spring time and certainly wanted to use some of Stampin' Up!'s pretty colors.  Here I used So Saffron, Flirty Flamingo, Peekaboo Peach, Pool Party and Pear Pizzazz.

The washi tape and the DSP are both from the Tasty Treats Suite.

I also wanted to make a little treat.  I think these will be the treats we give to the boys for Sunday School friends.  The 2"x 8" Cellophane Bags are the perfect size for candy, chocolates and these sweet jellybeans.

I doubled up on the tag making a front and back.  This helps hid all the die-cut "mess" and gives me a place to write a cute little note.  I added some Peekaboo Peach 3/8" Ruched Ribbon and some Linen Thread to finish it off.

Our Stampin' Up! Stampin' Write Markers are perfect for coloring the details of these cute little eggs.

I hope that you enjoyed these Easter projects!  Be sure to make your way around the hop!  Up next is my lovely friend from the US - Jennifer Sootkoos =)

Have a blessed day!

-Holly

If you get lost along the way, you can always find the full list of blogs here!

Allison Okamitsu

Aurelie Fabre

Cathy Caines

Dani Dziama

Holly Stene

Jennifer Sootkoos

Jessica Winter

Katy Harrison

Kimberly Van Diepen

Louise Sharp 

Maike Ulbrich

Martha Inchley

Mercedes Weber

Mindy Bingamon 

Miriam van Eyden

Paula Dobson

Rochelle Blok

Shannon Lane

Sylwia Schreck 

Tanya Boser 

Giving Something Sweet - Dragonfly Dreams Corporate Highlight

One of my favorite things to do (other than stamping, of course) is baking and sharing the goodies with my family and friends.  Stampin’ Up! makes the “giving” part even more enjoyable by providing various food safe products and so many sweet sentiments to go along with some baked goods.  For these treats I focused on two main products - the Dragonfly Dreams Bundle and the Succulent Garden Designer Series Paper.

Of course, I usually make a card to go along with the treat.  Here I created a simple card using the Dragonfly Dreams stamp set stamped with Mint Macaron and Tip Top Taupe.  The square was made with the Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies.  For the sentiment banner, I took Sweet Sugarplum, added the dotted background and finished with the sentiment stamped in Rich Razzleberry.  The background is from the Succulent Garden Designer Series Paper finished off with Mint Macaron 3/8" Sheer Linen Ribbon.

For one of the banana breads that I made, I wanted to use one of the 6"x17" Gusseted Cellophane Bags.  These bags are amazing and have come in handy for many homemade breads and treats over the last few months.  The Tip Top Taupe tag was made with the Window Box Thinlits Dies.  I added a little extra hand-cut tag with the "thanks" sentiment tied with Whisper White Solid Baker's Twine.  I added some Sweet Sugarplum ribbon from the Succulent Garden 3/8" Ribbon Combo Pack to finish it off.

For the other loaf of banana bread, I wrapped the bread in the Sending Love Glassine Sheet and the same paper from the Succulent Garden DSP pack.  

The decorative tag was made with the same Mint Macaron ribbon and the reversible Lace Doilies.  I added a Sweet Sugarplum circle cut with the Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies and stamped with Sweet Sugarplum.  The dragonfly is stamped with Soft Suede Ink and Sweet Sugarplum.  I cut an additional dragonfly out of Vellum Cardstock with the Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits Dies.  I also added Clear Wink of Stella to the base dragonfly.

Lastly, I stamped the sentiment with the Versamark Pad and heat embossed the sentiment with White Stampin' Emboss Powder.

I hope that this post inspires you to bake something yummy for your friend and make your packaging look extra special!  

\

Blessings,

Holly

**You can view this post on Stampin' Up!'s homepage too!**

Creation Station: Boxes, Baskets & Bags - Oh My!

Welcome to this month's blog hop with The Creation Station.  We are a global group of demonstrators that blog on the first Sunday of each month.  We're so glad you are joining our hop today and I'm excited that you are here to see my creations!  If you came from Denita's blog, thanks for continuing on to me.

Yesterday I sat down to create something for this post and was really debating on what to make.  I'm pretty weak in the "creating boxes" category.  I really like packaging and gift giving, but I like when the basics are made.  Now don't get me wrong, SU! provides some pretty awesome tools for this theme like the Gift Box Punch Board, the Gift Bag Punch Board or the new Window Box Framelits Dies.  However, one thing I really miss that a year or two ago are these long kraft boxes.  Lucky for me, I have a lot in stock.  

I took one apart, made myself a template and voila!  I made a replica! :)

I was also inspired by Val Moody's masculine card made with Nailed It.  I had CASEd this card earlier in the week and decided to make the box match the card.

I made the box with Basic Gray Cardstock and covered it with the tools from the Nailed It stamp set.  I added some basic black splatter using reinker and an Aqua Painter.  I also used my Fringe Scissors and cut up some Smoky Slate cardstock for some filler.

You can see how neatly the bottom folds in to secure the box.

For the belly band I used a piece of Urban Underground DSP and some Urban Underground Washi Tape.  I also added the hexagon (cut with the Build It Framelits) and embossed with the Hexagons Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  The hammer was also cut with the coordinating framelits and colored with a Blender Pen.  The sentiment is stamped on Watercolor Paper - the Delightful Dijon wash was made with an Aqua Painter.  To top it off, I added one of the screw heads from the Urban Underground Embellishments.  This are the coolest embellishments!

I sure hope you enjoyed my creation!  You can head back to my lovely friend Denita or on to the talent Sara!  Be sure to check out the entire hop and pin your favorites!  Have a wonderful week!

Blessings,

Holly

Happy Celebrations Scrapbook Page - Stampin' Up! Artisan Blog Hop

Welcome to another Stampin' Up! Artisan Design Team Blog Hop!  We are so glad you are following along.  If you came from Dani's blog, thanks for continuing on to me! :)  We are a group of 20 demonstrators from around the world.  If you come across a blog not in your language, be sure to use google translator so you can follow along!

Today we are featuring a number of sets from the Occasions Catalog.  I really liked the Happy Celebrations stamp set (item 143012) when I first saw it - mainly for the splatters and smudges, but also for the coordinating embossing folders.  

For today's project, I wanted to do something other than a card.  I've had these photos printed for awhile and when the idea for this page came to mind, I was so excited to finally get them on paper!

I really like playing with different stamps to create borders and couldn't wait to try this.  Because Happy Celebrations is a photopolymer set, lining up these triangles was a piece of cake!  The darker (larger) triangle is stamped with Archival Basic Gray and the lighter (smaller) triangle is stamped in Smoky Slate.

I also thought the triangles coordinated with the fun black and white print from this Project Life card.  I took a PL card from the Moments Like These Project Life kit and cut it up to tuck behind some Dapper Denim DSP from the 2016-2018 In Color DSP Stack.

For the focal point of the page (other than these cute little gentlemen) is the happy stamp that I repeated down the side.  Again, since this is photopolymer, lining these words up was super easy.  For the colored word, I actually stamped this on another piece of Whisper White cardstock and colored each letter in with a Blender Pen and Dapper Denim ink.  I wanted to make sure I liked it before I put it on the page.  It "made the cut" so to speak and I fussy cut each letter.  The "together" is stamped and adhered with a Stampin' Dimensional.  I used the Classic Label punch for the ends.

Another fun detail I added was the sketchy lines around each letter.  I used my Dapper Denim Stampin' Write Marker just to added a little extra detail and I was pleased with how it turned out.

The words were written with a PL Journaling Pen on two circles made with the Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies.

Because I cut up the Project Life card, I had some extra pieces to use for this extra detail.  I added some Dapper Denim 3/8" Ruched Ribbon and some Basic Black Solid Baker's Twine to finish it off.

I hope that you enjoyed my creation.  Be sure to check out the entire hop - I'm certain you will be inspired by this global team!  Next stop is my talented friend Jennifer from New Jersey!

Thanks again for stopping by!  Have a wonderful day!

-Holly

You can also click below to visit each member's blog:

Allison Okamitsu

Aurelie Fabre

Cathy Caines

Dani Dziama

Holly Stene

Jennifer Sootkoos

Jessica Winter

Katy Harrison

Kimberly Van Diepen

Louise Sharp 

Maike Ulbrich

Martha Inchley

Mercedes Weber

Mindy Bingamon 

Miriam van Eyden

Paula Dobson

Rochelle Blok

Shannon Lane

Sylwia Schreck 

Tanya Boser