Grateful for You - TGIFC74

Happy Friday!  We have a fun theme for you this week at TGIF Challenges! Sewing and stitching!  Sewing on cards has been around for awhile, but has been trending lately.  Stampin' Up! even has a Stitched with Cheer Project Kit in the catalog where you get needles and thread to stitch on your cards!  It's super cute and fun to do.

You can use a sewing machine, hand stitch, draw stitch marks or even use some of Stampin' Up!'s stamp sets that have stitching in them.  Wrapped in Warmth and the coordinating Stitched with Cheer stamp sets are two sets in the holiday catalog that have stamps with a stitched look.

There are many ways to play along :)

For me... I wanted to hand stitch. (I need my sewing machine fixed!) Hand stitching is really simple to do.  All you need is thread (or baker's twine), a needle, a paper piercing tool and a foam mat.  

I took Watermelon Wonder Thick Baker's Twine and threaded the leaves.

I added Daffodil Delight splatter, Cucumber Crush leaves and a Night of Navy flower to pull in the colors from the Affectionately Yours Washi Tape.  

I'll be honest and say, this is the first time I've colored like this and I'm so happy with the way the coloring turned out.  It really reminded me of the blendabilities.  To get the blended look, I added rubbing alcohol in my Aqua Painter.  This helps the paper not bleed or tear from getting too wet.  I also used Basic Black Archival ink.

So there you have it :)  Just a little bit of stitching - but it makes for a really neat extra detail.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you join us this week over at TGIF Challenges!

Have a wonderful weekend!

-Holly

'Affectionately Yours' Highlight #3

Welcome back to the last of my Affectionately Yours DSP feature.  If you missed the first two posts, you can go back to Tuesday and yesterday's posts to see more.  I've created 12 cards using all 12 designs from the paper pack.  Each piece was a 4x4" piece (or smaller) which was done to show you that you can get 9 pieces from each sheet.  That's 108 cards for $13!!

So here are the last 7 cards.  Again, make sure you check back on the other posts to see the first 5 cards.

If you want to know how you can get your own Affectionately Yours DSP, check back here on June 1st!

See you tomorrow for another TGIF Challenge!

-Holly 

'Affectionately Yours' Highlight #2 - A Card for Kelly

Hey everyone!  This week I am featuring cards that I have made with the new Affectionately Yours DSP from the upcoming catalog!  Today is my sister Kelly's birthday and I wanted to make her a very special card. I have been anxious to share it!

Isn't this paper gorgeous!?

This particular sheet has copper embossed into it - so so pretty in person.  I can't wait to order some of the coordinating copper emboss powder! :)

Inside the shaker, I stamped "Happy Birthday" from the Sprinkles of Life stamp set in Crumb Cake just to give the card a little more detail and let the numbers stand out a little.

Another new item that I purchased during the pre-order are the new Foam Adhesive Strips.  

They are perfect for making shaker cards!

The butterfly was punched from another sheet of the Affectionately Yours DSP - I just crinkled it up a little for some extra fun.  The Watermelon Wonder Ribbon and the Lace Doilies are both retiring, but there are new doilies coming out - so have no fear! :)

The arrow stamp is from a new hostess set called Pun Intended and the sentiment again fit perfectly inside.  The arrow is also used on the background of the card, the inside of the card and on the envelope.

I hope you're "bringing birthdays back" too by sending cards!  Don't just write on someone's facebook page! :)

Be sure to stop by this week to see more of the cards that I made with the new DSP!

Happy birthday smelly Kelly! <3

-Holly 

'Affectionately Yours' Highlight #1 - Hostess Set Lots of Love

This week I will be sharing 12 cards with you that I made with the new Affectionately Yours DSP that will be available June 1st!  It is beautiful!  I tend to hoard designer series paper (DSP) but I have already made 12 cards with all 12 sheets!  I used 4x4" pieces because I wanted to share with you how you can cut your sheets into 4x4 pieces and get 9 cards from each sheet! 108 pieces for $13?? yes, please!

Now you may notice there are only 11 cards in the picture above.  There is one more card but I can't share it until tomorrow because it's my sister's birthday card - and well, surprises are more fun, right?

So I'll share four today, four Wednesday and four more Thursday! :)  

These four were all made with one of the new hostess sets called Lots of Love.  It's super cute and my little ones love it too!

For this one, I cut my 4x4" piece into 4 1" strips.  The extra went on the inside.  The other Cucumber Crush strips are 1/2" pieces.  

This little elephant is adorable and I'm already brainstorming how to use it for a baby card!  My friend Robin already used it for a cute birthday card.  You can see it here.

I'm also not sure if this piece of DSP is a lighter shade of Watermelon Wonder, or if there's a misprint in the catalog and that Flirty Flamingo is part of the pack too?  Either way, I think it matches good enough!

Again, you don't have to use your entire 4x4 piece up.  Here I simply cut it at an angle.  Aren't those hedgehogs cute?!

And last but certainly not least are the cute ladybugs.  The DSP here is cut to 1x3" pieces.

Hope you like what you see so far!  I will be offering a share with this DSP as well so make sure you check back after June 1st to reserve a spot!

-Holly