Stamp Review Crew: Jar of Love

Welcome to our bi-monthly hop!  We are a group of international stampers that blog the first and third Monday of each month - highlighting a specific stamp set.  This month we are focusing on the Jar of Love stamp set.  I have made a few cards with this set - mainly showing the beautiful flowers and framelits - so this time I thought I'd try something with the fish.

Our neighbor (the same one who's daughter just got married Saturday) are really becoming empty-nesters, as their son is leaving for college tomorrow.  I thought we would send him off with something homemade.  We have an abundance of zucchini right now, so banana zucchini bread it is!

These new 6x17" gusseted bags are in the new holiday catalog and are HUGE! But, they're perfect for loaves of homemade bread or a bottle of wine.

I wanted to keep the card masculine and thought this was a simple enough card for a young guy.

I added a little Peekaboo Peach splatter to add a little something to the large white space.

I hope you like both projects!  This Jar of Love bundle is really great with endless possibilities.  Make sure to make your way around the entire hop.  You can go back to the lovely Val (you may see her awesome work on the SU! Artisan Design Team) or you can go in order and continue on to the very talented Heidi!

Thanks again for stopping by! Have a great week!

-Holly

     

Stamp Review Crew - Thoughtful Branches

Welcome to a special Stamp Review Crew hop!  Usually we hop on the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month, but Stampin' Up! has an exclusive, while supplies last, one month only set that will be released Aug 2 called Thoughtful Branches, so we decided to show off the set to you.  The Artisan Design Team for SU! has already shown some great previews to the set and we hope to do the same! I don't have a picture of the matching framelits, but here is what the set looks like:

I fell in love with the font right away.  (It's called Madina Script and I think if I ever buy a Silhouette machine, it will be the first font I purchase!)

Anyway, I made two things with the set that I wanted to share today (and the rest I will share over the next few days).  I really like the bare trees and decided to focus on them for my projects. First is a card that I made with a "Christmas in July" concept.  

I filled my Aqua Painter with Soft Sky Reinker and some water and brushed it on SU! Watercolor paper.  I then stamped the tree image over the background in Versamark.

One of the great sentiments in the set is this (large) "You're in my thoughts" stamp.  I love that it's big and fills about a 2" circle.  I stamped the tree image again in Soft Sky ink and then embossed the sentiment with Gold Emboss Powder.

I love stamping on the insides of my cards too - so this was no exception.  I think that you could even stamp "at Christmas" on the inside to make it a "thinking of you at Christmas" kind of card. :)

So that was my card.  What do you think?  Like the new set so far?  Here's another use of the trees - this time used with the "Thank You" sentiments.  With all of the negative news, we decided to make some cookies for our local police station to say thank you.  Our 5yo even added a sweet little note.

For the box, I used a retired gift box from SU! (measures 4.5"x6") but with the Gift Box Punch Board, you could make a similar box.  

I stamped the trees and stars around each side of the box in Crumb Cake ink.  

I stamped the "thank you" image all over the lid as well in Crumb Cake.

Tip:  When packaging cookies in a box with a Window Sheet, put what you want showing through the window opposite of the ziplock.  For example, here I put the cookies in the bag upside down so that when I turned it back over to put in the box, the cookies were facing upward and the ziplock was on the underside.

We made some of my favorite chocolate chip cookies - this time with some M&Ms.  If you're not putting pudding in your chocolate chip cookies, you're doing it wrong. =) Just trust me.  Here's the recipe I used.

Thanks so much for scrolling through my post! I know it was long :)  Make sure to continue around the hop to see all of the ideas for this exclusive stamp set!  Remember, August 2nd is the first day you can order from your demonstrator!  And if you order now during July, you can earn bonus bucks to have credit towards the new set!  Win-win!

Head on back to Bruno B or on to Kelly K! :)

    

Blessings,

Holly

Stamp Review Crew: Endless Thanks

Welcome to another Stamp Review Crew hop!  If this is your first time joining us, we are an international group of stampers that share our projects on the first and third Monday of each month - highlighting a particular Stampin' Up! stamp set.  Today we are showcasing Endless Thanks.  This is an inexpensive photopolymer stamp set that should be in everyone's stamp collection! Can hardly beat $16!

So get ready to be inspired! :)  If you came from Kelly's blog - thanks for continuing on to me!  Here are the three cards I made using the Endless Thanks set - also highlighting the Affectionately Yours Washi Tape.

I love the way this combo turned out: Night of Navy, Cucumber Crush and Crumb Cake.

I just received the Layering Circles Framelits this past week and they really are great!  I was hesitant because I still have the older circles framelits, but the small scallop circle peeking out from behind really sold me on this set.

I really like this set because I like to send thank you cards - but with this set you can also make this sweet "friendship" card.

Isn't that floral washi tape gorgeous?? LOVE it!

Lastly, I wanted to show off the copper color that's in the washi tape.  SU! came out with a Copper Emboss Powder with the new catalog, along with Copper Thread - both are beautiful in person!

I like the graphic look of the small sentiment repeated in the background.  Gives this somewhat simple card the extra detail it needs!

So there you have it!  I hope that you take time to head around to everyone's blogs - such great talent on the Stamp Review Crew!  You can head back to Kelly Kent's or click next and go to Yapha Mason's blog.  If you get lost along the way, or lose your spot - you can always go to the Stamp Review Crew's blog!  Thanks for stopping by! Have a great Monday!

Below are the materials used for the Endless Thanks cards.

Blessings,

Holly

Stamp Review Crew: Flourishing Phrases

Happy Independence Day to all of my US readers!! I actually hope you're reading this on Tuesday and not plugged in on a holiday!  I will forgive you :)

Well it's been over a month since I've hopped along with the Stamp Review Crew.  The last two sets that we featured, I don't own.  It was a nice little break but I did enjoy seeing what the rest of the team came up with for those weeks.

If you're new to the Stamp Review Crew, welcome!  We are a group of stampers from around the world that love Stampin' Up! and we love featuring a particular stamp set to give you plenty of ideas!  Be sure to make your way around to everyone's blog.  I believe there are 16 of us this week!

If you came from Mickey's blog, thank you for continuing on.  I hope you like what I made!

I made two cards with the large flourish framelit using both the cutout portion and the negative.

I love the look of having words stand out - either by a different color or with a dimensional.  The floral image is from the stamp set Floral Phrases.  I colored the images with the in-color markers and spritzed it once with water.  This gave it the murky/blurred look (which I love).

Did you know you could "ruffle" cardstock too? :)

I did cut the flourish a bit since this portion was covered up.  Makes a great detail for the inside of the card.

For the second card, I used the negative image as the focal point.  I used my aqua painter to splatter Island Indigo ink on the Mint Macaron cardstock and then adhered it to the white layer.

I LOVE the detail of these framelits.  So classy and elegant!

For the inside of the card I used the sentiment that paired with the "With Sympathy".  I used my aqua painter again to make a watercolor swash on the background.

I hope that you liked both cards.  I don't want to be an enabler, but I'm thinking there will be many Flourishing Phrases bundles on wishlists after today!  Definitely worth the price!

Head on back to the talented Mickey Roberts or continue on to the equally awesome, Shana Gaff!  You won't be disappointed!

      

Blessings,

Holly 

Stamp Review Crew - Guy Greetings

Hey everyone!  I'm back today with another fun hop with the Stamp Review Crew!  We are featuring the awesome set Guy Greetings!

If you're like me, making guy cards can be kind of challenging.  This set has it all covered and we hope that you make it all the way around the hop to find some inspiration.
Make sure you click the image below to take you to the list of us participating this week.  If you came from Bruno Bertucci's blog - thanks for checking my blog out!

All of these cards feature paper from the Going Places DSP Stack.  I will certainly miss this paper.   

For this card, I chose to use one of the new In-Colors: Emerald Envy.  It's a beautiful color!  And the ruched ribbon is awesome! 

This card I kept pretty simple.  Sahara Sand and Delightful Dijon - nice color combo I think. :) 

I fussy cut the tools and gave the wrench a little dimension. 

I must admit - Cucumber Crush is growing on me.  I don't quite have a "crush" on it yet - but I really like the new thick baker's twine in the color.

The Basic Black layer is embossed with the Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. 

This last one is my favorite.  I made this for a friend that just passed his bar exam.  Think it's worthy of a card like this! 

Notice another new blue?  That's Dapper Denim and it's beautiful too! 

Well that's it for me!  If you want to make your way backwards, head on over to one of the coolest stampin' guys: Bruno Bertucci or you can continue on to the next team member - my fellow Minnesota stamper - the talented Tanya Boser!

    

Again, if you get lost along the way you can click on the SRC image at the top of this post and you'll be directed to the homepage where all of the blogs are listed!  Have a great week!

-Holly