Merry Patterns Hostess Set - Artisan Design Team Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to another Artisan Design Team blog hop!  If you just came from Dani's blog, thanks for continuing on to me!  Isn't Dani awesome?!  Hard act to follow :)

Well, today we are featuring (again) the exclusive hostess set called Merry Patterns.  This is such a pretty set we thought we'd share even more ideas!  If you missed our first Merry Patterns blog hop, you can start here and make your way around the last hop.  We are a group of global demonstrators, so you have about 20 stampers to get inspired from!

Otherwise, grab a cup of coffee (or cocoa) and stay awhile.  I think you'll like what you see!

What draws me in with the Merry Patterns stamp set is the deer.  Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, there are deer everywhere.  I think they're beautiful, peaceful animals and I just love the look of this stamp.  And how fun is this one with the cozy sweater? :)

I decided to make a very simple card with a fun treat.  There's no Big Shot involved here making this card a quick card to piece together.  The fussy cutting takes time, but with the Paper Snips from Stampin' Up!, the task was easy.

I combined three Designer Series Papers (DSP) for this card:

stripes - Christmas Around the World (144629)*

wood grain - Coffee Break (144155)*

and the green plaid - Quilted Christmas 6x6 Stack (144617)

*Side note: Right now through the end of October, buy THREE select DSP packs and get ONE free!  Two of the papers I used today are on the list!

I stamped the deer in Early Espresso Ink on Crumb Cake Cardstock and adhered it to the DSP that I cut with the Starburst Punch.

I love these pine branches!

For the treat, I reconfigured one of the Acetate Card Boxes by cutting around 2" off.  This was perfect to fit 4 Treat Tubes filled with some hot cocoa ingredients.  (1 tube holds approximately 1 Tbsp, FYI.) :)

I made a belly band around the box using the same striped DSP.  I added some 5/8" Burlap Ribbon, Whisper White Bakers Twine, and a "rosette" or "lolly" using the Simply Scored tool.  I took two 1x12" strips of DSP and scored it at every 1/4" - I used adhesive and the starburst piece to hold it together.

I hope that you like my 2 projects.  If you don't have your hands on this great Christmas set, you can earn this set with a $300 USD order or party!  You will get this set FREE in addition to your other stampin' rewards!  Pretty great deal!

Please be sure to make your way around the entire hop, leave some love and pin your favorites!  Next up is the very talented Jennifer Sootkoos!

As always, you can find the supplies used for my projects listed below (minus the basics) - plus the list of the Artisan Design Team members.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Holly

Product List

Merry Patterns Photopolymer Stamp Set

[144973]

$0.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock

[140272]

$7.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[100730]

$9.00

Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[120953]

$8.00

Coffee Break Designer Series Paper

[144155]

$11.00

Christmas Around The World Designer Series Paper

[144629]

$11.00

Quilted Christmas 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[144617]

$9.00

Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad

[126974]

$6.50

Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad

[126973]

$6.50

Simply Scored

[122334]

$30.00

Starburst Punch

[143717]

$18.00

Acetate Card Boxes

[144628]

$6.50

Treat Tubes

[144612]

$5.00

5/8" (1.6 Cm) Burlap Ribbon

[141487]

$7.00

Twine Baker's Whisper White

[124262]

$3.00

Aqua Painters

[103954]

$17.00

Paper Snips Scissors

[103579]

$10.00

Allison Okamitsu, Aurelie Fabre, Cathy Caines, Dani Dziama, Holly Stene (that's me), 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

Beautiful You with The Stamp Review Crew

Hello!  Thanks for joining me today :)  If you stopped by the hop earlier and missed me, thanks for checking back in.  It's been a little busy lately with our newborn, t-ball games and well, life in general, so I fell a little behind and didn't get my post up early.  We usually post Monday mornings anyway, so I'm technically not "late".  Anyway, we are the Stamp Review Crew and we blog on the first and third Monday of the month featuring a particular stamp set.

Today we are featuring Beautiful You.  This is one of the sets that was new last year and unfortunately, I don't use it as often as I'd like.  But I do love the girl with the umbrella so I decided to make a card for a friend that needs a pick-me-up.

The navy designer series paper (DSP) is from the Naturally Eclectic DSP pack.  This is one of the many DSP packs on sale now - buy 3 packs, get one free.  This is one of my favorite paper packs in the catalog and I think I will be stocking up on it!  This particular sheet is perfect for the raindrops.

The bottom half of the card is made using one of the framelits from the Little Loves Framelits.  I absolutely love it when an idea turns out better than I had imagined!  I will have to recreate this again on more cards.

The girl was colored using our Watercolor Pencils and an Aqua Painter.  I then cut the image out using the largest oval from the Stitched Shapes Framelits.  Finished off with 2 of Stampin' Up!'s fabulous ribbons and the card is complete.

I sure hope you liked my creation!  I've already seen some of the projects on the hop and I know you won't be disappointed.  Make sure to make your way around, pin your favorites and leave us some love.  We really enjoy hearing from you!

Blessings,

Holly

Tricks of the Trade with The Creation Station

Happy October! I can hardly believe how fast this year is going.  Since it's the first Sunday of the month, I'm blogging with the Creation Station.  Last month I took off since we were only days away from having our little girl, but I'm back!

This month we are showing some "tricks of the trade" - a trick I hope will be a real treat.

See what I did there? :) 

I love watercoloring and wanted to show you a unique way to make your images really pop!  I was inspired by my friend Christy who made a similar card with the You're Priceless stamp set from Stampin' Up!. 

I started by stamping the diamond image in Versamark on to Shimmery White cardstock, sprinkling White Emboss Powder and heat setting it with my Heat Tool.  I then colored each image using an Aqua Painter.  The trick to make them pop is to make shadows - this was done with Smoky Slate between the diamonds all over the card with extra along the edges of the diamonds. 

To finish the card, I added some ribbon, metallic thread and some rhinestones.

I hope that you like this technique and give it a try!  Make your way around the hop! I know you'll learn some great tips from some amazing stampers!  You can head back to Mikaela, or on to Dena!

   

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful day!

-Holly

Hello Friend - Z Fold Card for TGIFC126

Happy Friday!!  Do you have plans this weekend?

I'm going to a community yard sale today, 3 tball games tomorrow and church Sunday.

(And hopefully in between some of that, I will get a nap or two!)

If you have time this weekend, why don't you join us over at TGIF Challenges?  We have a fun technique this week - a "Z" fold card.

I had yet to make one of these cards, but I have been wanting to try it out for awhile now.  A little time consuming (depending on all the layering), but I love the result.  I used the sketch made by my friend Natalie Lapakko.  You can find it here.

This particular pattern is a square card, but there are other tutorials and patterns for different sizes.  I used some Naturally Eclectic Designer Series Paper (DSP) for the 2 larger panels.  I used the Hello Friend stamp set for the rest of the card.

I wasn't quite sure if stamping coordinating flowers would be too busy or not, but I think it worked out fine in the end.

I also thought there wasn't enough room to write anything on the inside strip, so I put a piece of Whisper White Cardstock on the back of the card.

What do you think?  I hope you enjoyed this card.  I would love to see your creation for this week's challenge.  If you need more ideas, visit TGIF Challenges and see the rest of the design team's creations or browse online.

Have a wonderful weekend!

-Holly

For Your Furry Friend - A Sympathy Card

This week I have a few sympathy cards that I need to make.  These are never ones I wish to make, but I also know this is why I make cards - to bring joy in the form of paper.

Here's a card I made for my dear friend Karen who lost her kitty Carlos - he was 10 and well loved.

The Sorry for Everything stamp set is a great set as it covers a lot of things to be sorry for.  I took the large sorry stamp and covered the Island Indigo layer.  A few of the Glitter Enamel Dots matched perfectly.

I added a few ribbons, lace doily and of course the punch art.  I don't own this Cat Punch but a very kind lady punched a few pieces for me and sent them in the mail.  Love the stamping family!

Thanks for stopping by today!  I promise next week I will have a Two for Tuesday post!

Blessings,

Holly

Merry Cafe with The Stamp Review Crew

Hello! Welcome to another hop with the Stamp Review Crew.  Today we are featuring a fun set from the holiday catalog called Merry Cafe.  This set coordinates with the Coffee Cup Framelit Dies from the annual catalog.  This set also covers multiple holidays.

I chose to play with the pumpkin spice stamps to make a fall card.  I love this time of year for the beauty of fall but I have many friends that love the PSLs at Starbucks and other coffee shops, so this is a fun card to send to one of them with a gift card for a drink.

I covered the card base with the two-step leaf stamps in Sahara Sand.

The chevron paper is from the Painted Autumn Designer Series Paper pack - also from the holiday catalog.  I tucked in a little Pumpkin Pie cardstock with the Decorative Ribbon Border Punch.  The heart is from the Wood Crate Framelits.

Overall, a pretty simple layout - but lots of fun details :)  Hope you like it!

Make sure to make your way around the globe with my talented teammates.  You can head back to the super creative Natelie - or next to the lovely Charlett!

 Blessings,

Holly