DogGone Delightful Stampin'

Not in the Blog Hop - Gorgeous Leaves

Good Morning Fellow Stampers ~~

Well, after our several month hiatus, I am back on cycle, and it Pals Blog Hop day!  As we have been doing all year, I'm not actually participating in the Pals Blog Hop - rather, I've created a "Not In the Pals Blog Hop" series that aligns with the monthly theme, but follows our own drummer so to speak!!  That allows our more latitude and more creativity.  

So, this month's theme for the Pals was "Fun Folds or 3D Projects."  My design today features the DDS Studio weekly "Fall Themed" design as we explore the wonderful products in the July - December Mini that help us celebrate Fall; and at the same time, I've created a VERY special design today, that while not a full-fledged "fun fold", creates a special look to our basic 5-1/2" x 8-1/2" (scored @ 4-1/4"), card that will keep you guessing.  😉😉

 

This card turned out so "gorgeous" today (pun intended - LOL), that I can hardly stand it!!  In fact, I needed a Fall birthday card for a family friend ~~ and it magically all came together for me!  So I'm very excited both to send it to her; and to share it with you today!

Today's design centers around the Gorgeous Leaves stamp set & die bundle.  And with the use of Gold & Rose Gold Metallic specialty papers and emboss powder, this is truly a "gorgeous" card!!

This card base is cut from Basic White Thick cardstock, 8-1/2" x 5-1/2", scored @ 4-1/4"; and then 1-3/4" was cut from the front of the card before being die cut along the edge with the Basic Borders Dies.

Then I used the smaller scattered "splotch" image from the Gorgeous Leaves stamp set, stamped along the die cut edge using Versamark ink; then embossed with Copper emboss powder.  Then I went back in and stamped again with Sahara Sand classic ink to add some extra depth to the overall effect.

From there, it's about the "pieces and parts" that make this design come together.

As you can see, I used two circles from the Layering Circles Dies, to create both a circle "frame" as well as the circles that you will see on the inside of the card further down.  The circles I chose are approximately 2-5/8" and 2-3/8" in diameter.  The circle that you get when you cut out the Rose Gold Metallic ring you want to keep to shadow the Basic White circle (2-3/8" diameter).

The rest of the dies all come from the Intricate Leaves Dies, including the stamped images that coordinate with their respective dies.

 

DESIGN COLOROLOGY . . .

Bumblebee

Cinnamon Cider

Sahara Sand

Soft Suede

Copper Foil

 

After I was all done, I realized how really wonderfully the colors I ended up using worked together in this design.  This is a wonderful color combination, and I'd encourage you to give it a try as you are designing your Fall cards this season.

My next step was to attach the Rose Gold Metallic ring to the front flap of the card I created (half on; half hanging off); and then align my stamped circle(s) on the back inside of the card, so that the ring seemed to perfectly frame them.  I love the effect when this was done.

Then I started layering my dies and stamped leaves to create a lovely Fall spray around the left edge of the ring on the front flap.

 

As with most any card, pictures don't do it justice.  The metallic die cuts just shimmer in the light; and the finishing Gray Granite looped ribbon, and the Brushed Metallic Dots really finish things off.

 

The "inside" of this card design is not really intended for writing a message to the recipient (you could probably do that on the back if you wanted).

The background panel of Basic White has been embossed with the Timeworn Type 3D Embossing Folder; and is matted with a piece of Rose Gold Metallic Specialty Paper.

Here you can see the center circles I referred to above; the sentiments come from the Welcoming Woods Stamp Set (I will be coming to you next with that stamp set and another pretty card design), stamped in Versamark ink and embossed with Copper emboss powder to match the front of the card.

The center offset circles are popped with dimensionals, and a few of the Gold Metallic leaf dies tucked behind.

Because of the front "flap", you can see how several of the Brushed Metallic Dots work both for the front of the card when it is closed, and the inside of the card when the flap is open.

The little Sahara Sand leaf images on the center circle come from the Welcoming Woods stamp set as well!

 

And so this lovely card will be off in the mail shortly.

I hope you have enjoyed this as much as I am hoping the recipient enjoys having it!

I hope you are feeling inspired after today's creative sharing!

We'll be back soon with more fun!  Stay tuned!

 

I Love to hear from you.  Leave your questions or comments below!!

Hugs, . . .

 

 

 

Mix-It Up Mondays ~~ Pansy Birthday

Hello Fellow Stampers ~

Aren't you exited?!?  Two blog posts in a row!!  LOL  We're on a roll I think; we'll see.  I have to have unexpected oral surgery on Wednesday this week due to a tooth that has cracked.  Not fun!  As many of you know, my last round with this experience did not go well.  So we're trying to mitigate any issues right up front to keep this implant from failing and from going through that whole fiasco again!  It means tooth extraction, sinus lift, and bone build-up this time around; and the post implant in late September.  So cross you fingers for me!!  Prayers would be good too!!  I plan to be with you through the Wednesday early am blog post this week; and then you'll probably see a break until next week!

 

Today we're celebrating birthdays with a bright summery Pansy card.  This bundle has to be one of my #1 picks from the Annual Catalog!  I am having so much fun playing with different elements to create these.

 

Today's card base is cut from Pale Papaya cardstock (8-1/2" x 5-1/2", scored @ 4-1/4").

I accented with Daffodil Delight; and used the Scalloped Contour Dies to create the Basic White overlay panel.  It's a lovely combination of colors!

Notice that I rounded all of the corners to the mat background panel and the card base using the Detailed Trio Punch.  Rounding the corners gives a different feel and look to your card; and makes me think I'm picking up a lovely book for some reason! 😉😉😉

But it's the Pansies that are the most fun on this card.

The main body of the pansy is cut from Pale Papaya Shimmer Vellum; the upper petals are cut from regular Vellum.

Then I used a combination of Daffodil Delight and So Saffron cardstock for the outline details; white for the center throat; and of course Basic Black for the center eye (which has an additional Matte Black dot added for a fun detail).

The leaves are cut from Evening Evergreen and Soft Succulent Shimmer Vellums.

Then everything is attached in layers with glue dots, mini dimensionals and regular dimensionals.  Technique Note:  Did you know that there is a difference in height between the mini dimensionals and the regular dimensionals?   This means you can set one piece slightly higher than other by using different dimensionals and give the lovely illusion of varied tapered heights to your artwork.

 

The piece is finished off with a sentiment from the Pansy Patch stamp set stamped in Daffodil Delight classic ink, and a lovely array of Matte Black Dots across the card to accent the flowers.

 

Hope you have enjoyed this bright, cheerful card today!  If you haven't snagged this wonderful bundle yet, click below on the product carousel or HERE to shop my Online Store today

I hope you've had fun with me today!!  We'll be staying out of the hot sun and hanging in the cool Studio today.  See what we come back with tomorrow!!

 

I Love to hear from you.  Leave your questions or comments below!!

Hugs, . . .

Mix-It Up Mondays ~~ Art Gallery Shabby Chic Birthday

Hello Fellow Stampers ~

Oh my ~~  the best laid plans and all, as they say!!  😁😁  I had such good plans for last week; funny how that happens!!  LOL

But now, I sent my hubby off to Las Vegas for a few days to get him out of my hair (haha), and the puddy dawg is off to daycare to play with her boyfriend, Chubbs.  And so I have the house to myself, peace & quiet; and a list a mile long of things I want to get done (inbetween actually working my "real job"!).  This should be interesting - haha. 

The card I have for you today has been on my work table for over a week now.  I started playing with this fun shabby chic-style card (one of my favorite type of designs to create), and then got waylaid last week and never got it finished and posted up.  So, my bad!!  But here it is -- and boy am I excited to finally be sharing some fun with you using the Fine Art Floral Suite from our Spring Occasions Catalog!

 

This fun Birthday card was inspired by several different designs in our fabulous catalog, and online.  I took a number of ideas and "meshed" them to create this fun work of "Art" (see how I did that?!)  LOL

I'll walk you through the layers and steps so you can get a closer look and feel of how I put this together!

 

I don't often cover the entire front of my card with DSP; as you all know, I'm a layer girl!  But for this card, the layers will come in a slightly different format!

So the front of this card base is covered with a beautiful piece of Fine Art Floral Designer Series Paper - 4-1/4" x 5-1/2".

 

The next layer to this card is also a background layer -- this one cut from Watercolor Paper 3-5/8" x 4-3/4".  It has been die "impressed" with the fun Stitched With Whimsy dies (I say "impressed" because these dies cut a stitched line into the cardstock; they don't "cut out" a shape!); then watercolored with Pool Party classic ink.

I then stamped an image from the Art Gallery stamp set, using Pear Pizzazz classic ink; and I spritzed the stamp after I inked up before stamping to get an even more "watercolor" effect.

I then added some stamped images using Versamark and our Heat & Stick Powder, so I could use the fabulous Gilded Leafing embellishment on the background.  I probably could have added more, but since this is in the background, much of it will be covered up.

 

Next I cut out some of the floral images from the Golden Garden Designer Specialty Acetate.  Cutting around these is super easy being the acetate is nice and sturdy.  And I can cut apart and around anything I want to preserve for my images.

 

I then cut out this floral spray from the Pale Papaya from the In Color Vellum using the Floral Gallery Dies.  Then I cut a slit between images in the acetate where I wanted this die cut to overlap and lay.

From there it's about additional elements and a lot of fun!

I stamped the main floral image from the stamp set (remember, this is a 2-step stamp set), using Petal Pink and Flirty Flamingo classic inks; and some Pool Party for the flower center.  I cut some "leaf" pieces using the Forever Flourishing Dies and the new Gold/Rose Gold Metallic Specialty Paper.   And then I just started layering (use your Glue Dots folks!!) 😉😉

The layered piece is popped to the front of the card using Dimensionals.

 

I tied a piece of Very Vanilla Scalloped Lace Trim with the Gold Fine Art Ribbon as I tied the bow.  This is a really pretty and fun way to create a shabby chic look.

The tag is stamped and embossed with Versamark and Gold Emboss Powder; and punched on either end using the Banners Pick a Punch.

 

The final result is really lovely!1

 

The inside of the card is finished with a simpler touch and to carry some of the elements of the front of the card to the inside!

Here I used Shimmry White cardstock instead of Watercolor Paper which holds up well to watercolor washing like this.

 

I hope you've had fun with me today!!  I'm working on getting caught up and hope to be back soon with some more fun!!

 

I Love to hear from you.  Leave your questions or comments below!!

Hugs, . . .

 

 

 

Not in the Blog Hop - In Color Showcase

Good Morning Fellow Stampers ~~

Happy Hump Day to you all!!  The 2nd Wednesday of May already!  My Goodness!!  It's Stampin' Pretty Pals Blog Hop Day . . . and as indicated earlier this year, I'm sitting out the "real" blog hop, and running on my own for awhile!  Nevertheless, I thought this month's theme was right in line with my current blogging showcase -- the New 2021-2023 In Color Collection!!  You may have seen recent blog posts from last week, and early this week in which we've been talking the new In Color collection, and showcasing some fun new products along the way!!

So if you're hopping with the Pals today, yahoo!!!  If you've slid over to visit with me, welcome!!

 

Today's fun Slimline design features our Sweet Ice Cream stamp set showcasing a 5-scoop ice cream cone with a wonderful array of In Color flavors!

And although I've never had green ice cream quite like these, I'm sure they are some sort of wonderful Pistachio or Mint flavors, right ??  LOL

I showcased my first Slimline on my DDS Business Facebook page last month using the Woodland Wonder set.  And I LOVE this type of card!

It was perfect to showcase my towering ice cream cone as well.

 

For this Slimline, you cut a piece of cardstock 8-3/8" x 7", scored at 3-1/2".  Today's card base is cut from Evening Evergreen cardstock.

And today's Slimline has a slight alteration to the design - I took 1/2" off the front flap, and laid a piece of this gorgeous Soft Succulent check from the Pansy Petal DSP to peek out along the side edge.

The the front layering includes Soft Succulent and a fun pattern from the In Good Taste DSP as a backdop.  These layers are wrapped with the gorgeous Evening Evergreen 3/8" Open Weave Ribbon before being adhered to the front of the card base flap.

 

The ice cream scoops were stamped on Shimmery White cardstock, in each of the five new In Colors; and the cone is on Cinnamon Cider with the same color ink for the stamping.

Once stacked and adhered to the card front, I added Clear Wink of Stella to my ice cream scoops so they would shimmer aplenty!!  LOL

 

It's all finished off with a lovely bow and a sprinkling of 2021-2023 In Color Jewels.

 

The inside of the card looks lovely with the plaid pattern down the right-hand side.

 

I hope you have enjoyed today's In Color showcase.  And a special card cut besides showcasing the Slimline - one of my favorite card styles!!

We'll be back soon with more fun!  Stay tuned!

 

I Love to hear from you.  Leave your questions or comments below!!

Hugs, . . .

Masculine Merry Moose Birthday Card

Hello Fellow Stampers ~

We're starting the final week of 2020 - I cannot quite believe it!!  What a year it has been!!  Both on a personal level; and for DDS Studios.  We've struggled through, and we're still here!!  😊😊😊  That's a good thing!!  As we are exploring new ways of doing things here at DDS Studios, I hope to start 2021 with a fresh outlook.

We are busily clearing the decks this week of the "old" (so hard we're calling that beautiful "August - January 2020 Holiday Mini" "OLD" -- sheesh!); and organizing in all of the Brand New - the 2021 January - June Spring Mini catalog.  Did you get yours yet?  If you need one, contact me ASAP!  And I'll be sure to get one into your hands!

 

Today I'm showcasing the card I designed for my Husband's Christmas Eve birthday ~  always a neat trick to try to separate Christmas from the Birthday celebrations; but I'm learning to pull it off!!!

The other "trick" is creating that perfect masculine birthday card without too much froo-froo!!

This design was inspired by the tissue paper I found to wrap his birthday gifts in!  Seemed the perfect color combination to me!

 

Design Colorology . . .

Whisper White

Gray Granite

Basic Gray

Basic Black

Silver Foil

Night of Navy

This is a fabulous color combination for a masculine-inspired card design.  I really like the subtleness and how the colors go so well together.  I will point out that Gray Granite has a Taupeish/brown undertone, and so using something like Sahara Sand in its place would also work.

I'm using a combination of our Moose Punch, Pine Woods Dies, and the Itty Bitty Birthdays stamp set to create this card.

Keep in mind, that we are losing both our fabulous Moose Punch and the Pine Woods Dies on January 4th.  Don't miss out on these spectacular tools!  I LOVE them!!

The card base is cut from White, 8-1/2" x 5-1/2", scored at 4-1/4".

The background is cut from Basic Gray and embossed with the Absolutely Argyle 3D Emboss Folder.  VERY masculine!

Then I created "offset" layers down the center of the card - Night of Navy, Gray Granite, Silver Foil, and a lovely Gray plaid piece from the Plaid Tidings DSP.

The measurements are as follows:

Night of Navy - 2-1/2" x 5-3/8"

Gray Granite - 2-3/8" x 5-3/8"

Silver Foil - 2-1/4" x 5-3/8"

Plaid DSP - 2-1/8" x 5-3/8"

By "offset", I means that you should align all these layers on their left edge and allow the right side to have that "peek" of color.

From there I cut two of the tree trio from the die set - one in Night of Navy, one in Basic Black as a "shadow".  They are layered together and then to the front of the card (no dimensionals).  I also cut the larger "detail" tree die cut out of Night of Navy, and laid it so it looks more "forward" of the "background" trees.

Then the moose is punched from Basic Black and popped with dimensionals over all of that.

I finished off by stamping this fabulous "masculine" looking font sentiment from Itty Bitty Birthdays in Night of Navy, and punched with the Classic Label Punch.  This punch is a GREAT masculine punch.  It is also popped with the mini-dimensionals.

And I finished off the card with 3 of the beautiful Iridescent Pearls - sadly these are also retiring!!  They were my favorite embellishment from this catalog -- don't miss out on stocking your stash!!

The inside was finished using the trees from the Merry Moose stamp set, and this fabulous sentiment from Itty Bitty Birthdays.  This is a MUST HAVE stamp set for your basic collection!  It is so versatile and useful!

Overall, it is a fabulous card; not too hard to throw together!  And yes, he loved it 😉😉

 

Be sure to snag retiring products soon!!

 

Hope everyone is having a quiet week and getting into those craft rooms for some creative time!!

I Love to hear from you.  Leave your questions or comments below!!

Hugs, . . .