DogGone Delightful Stampin'

Mix-It Up Mondays ~~ Week 3 - 16 Weeks of Christmas

Hello Fellow Stampers ~ 

Haha !!!  What a week this past week has been!!!  Could I be ANY further behind in sharing with all of you???  Yikes!!  Not only that, it's SEPTEMBER!!!  OMG!!!  Now I'm seriously overwhelmed!

 

Okay, this means, I'll be working like mad in the Studio this week !!  There is A LOT going on!!  But enough panicking!  It's time to get down to business.  And boy, do we have "business" to get down to this week; starting with this week's installment of my 16 Weeks of Christmas (did you see I tried to count "backwards" last week on my weeks??  LOL 🤣😂🤣).  So, really, it is ONLY Week 3!!  Don't YOU all start panicking on me too!!!  haha

 

This week I'm dipping my toes into the gorgeous Dove of Hope Bundle.  This sweet little stamp and die set is going to provide you some pretty fabulous options for card making this Fall season.

 

Today's design is all about the sparkle, shimmer and glimmer!  The more the better!

And yes, I snuck in a little bit of retired product today -- our pretty Sparkle Glimmer Paper.  I'm not exactly sure why Stampin' Up! retired all our glimmer paper in June.  I definitely have my stash; and I hope you have yours.  I think it's interesting that they are sneaking some glimmer paper back into the mix (with the Balmy Blue Glimmer in our August - December Mini Catalog).   If you don't have any of the glimmer paper displayed here; try Michael's.  They usually have a wonderful selection of glimmer and shimmer papers.

 

I used a wonderful "watercolor" looking paper from the Snowflake Splendor DSP - this one a beautiful soft Pool Party color which I set against a Pool Party card base.  The iridescent colors of the glimmer paper pick up the Pool Party coloring perfectly!

And it all looks perfect with the new Snowflake Splendor 1/4" Ribbon which looks like it was meant to go with this ensemble!!

 

The sentiment was stamped in Pool Party on a piece of the designer paper; and cut out with the Ornate Frames Dies.  I very carefully colored over each letter in the sentiment with Clear Wink of Stella to add that extra shimmer

 

The beautiful Detailed Dove Dies are a breeze to work with; and this little bird carries his olive branch with a coordinating bow to bring Peace to the World this Chrismas.

 

The entire card is finished off with a "sprinkle" of Snowflake Sequins (a returning fave from last year!)

 

I PROMISE PROMISE PROMISE that I will indeed be back this week with a "late" Wednesday Spotlight on a pretty Autumn card design!  See you soon!!!

 

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

Hugs, . . .

 

 

 

Mix-It Up Mondays ~~ Week 2 - 16 Weeks of Christmas

Hello Fellow Stampers ~  (ooops!!!  I'm counting backwards -- LOL; it's Week 2 of 16!!)

I sure hope you will forgive me for being so late this week with our Mix-It Up Monday 16 Weeks of Christmas post.  It's been crazy around here lately.  We moved Mike's mom to his sister's house on Sunday after having stayed with us for a little over a month.  She will stay with Linda now for about 2 to 3 weeks; and then shift back with us in the mid-September timeframe (at least that's the plan).  We'd like to keep her from returning to the Assisted Living facility until after her birthday on October 2nd.  We shall see how it all goes 😉.  I do know this has been really good for her to be out from behind locked doors for sure!!  When I get a chance, I'll have to share with the stories of Sadie Ann and Oscar 😁😁😁😁

 

 

Today I'm featuring the Poinsettia Place Suite in our Week 15 of Christmas designs.

I am so in love with this suite of products!  Beginning with the incredible Plus Poinsettia Specialty Paper - soft velvety patterns that all you want to do is "pet" -- LOL

And, yes, I'm just a little bit obsessed lately with the Gold Hoop Embellishments.

It's funny, because when I first saw them, I was like, ugh, what do we do with these.  But now, it's like I love the way they create an element that seems to pull the whole design together!!

This card is cut from Thick Whisper White cardstock - 8-1/2" x 5-1/2", scored at 4-1/4".

I picked an easy pattern from the Poinsettia Place Designer Series Paper that wouldn't be too busy in the background, and matted it with Garden Green cardstock.

The center panel of Whisper White is cut 4" x 2-3/4" and matted with Gold Foil.  I decided I wanted to pop gold throughout the entire design.

That same Whisper White panel has been embossed with an embossing folder from the Wrapped In Texture Embossing Folders set - it compliments the background paper nicely.

I ended up deciding to "make it easy" on myself and used the Poinsettia Dies to cut these gorgeous flowers right out of the paper!  Can you see that fabulous velvet against the vellum background?  Yeah!!

Then I used more of the dies to cut the smaller gold foil flowers and the green foil sprigs.

All of it is carefully popped on dimensionals or laid in using glue dots!

 

I ended up fussy cutting the sentiment.  I find myself doing that more and more these days, as I just want the sentiment to be small and slip in with the design; not be overwhelming.

Don't you just LOVE those Beaded Pearls ??

 

Here come the new Envelope Dies!!  Yeah!

I love our new dies, which come in various sizes to fit different size envelopes.  What a wonderful way to make your envelope "pretty" !

Cut your designer paper 6" x 5-1/4" and cut with the middle-sized envelope liner die, and it should fit right in our regular Whisper White or Very Vanilla envelopes.

 

I hope you find some inspiration here for one of your Christmas card designs this year!!

I'll definitely be back with more on this gorgeous suite of products!

 

I'll be back with a "late" Wednesday Spotlight on a pretty Autumn card design!  See you soon!!!

 

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

Hugs, . . .

 

 

 

Mix-It Up Mondays ~~ Kicking off 16 Weeks of Christmas

Hello Fellow Stampers ~

Running just a tad behind this week; but we're working hard to get caught up around here.  Plus, I've been dabbling with my new "hobby" -- embroidery with my fabulous new Pfaff Creative 3.0!  I'm loving it -- and it's VERY addicting -- LOL

But back to card making, paper crafting, and all things Stampin' Up!  Considering the incredible heat we're experiencing right now, the best place to be is right down here in the nice, cool DDS Studio!!  Beginning this week, and for each Monday through the end of November, I will bring you a featured Christmas design - exclusively!  This will be our kick-off to the upcoming holidays; and to help give you some inspiration to get those Christmas cards started BEFORE you're against the "wall" and running out of time to get all those holiday tasks done!!  LOL

 

I found inspiration for today's design while exploring Pinterest; but of course, I always step things up and add "Wendy" features!  Oh yes!!  LOL

Today's card design touches on 2 different stamp/die bundles as well as an additional third die set to create a wonderful collage.

I also used all 3 of the glorious new brushed metallic foils!  I am so in love with this new paper!

Here's a quick supply list for your reference when looking at today's design:

• Wishes & Wonder Bundle
• Cherish the Season Bundle
• Pine Woods Dies
• Evergreen Forest 3D Embossing Folder
• 'Tis the Season 6" x 6" DSP
• Brushed Metallic Cardstock
• Real Red 3/8" Sheer Ribbon
• Gold Hoops Embellishments

 

I chose this fabulous tree image from the designer series paper pack to create woodsy background that I think works perfectly with our foil reindeer today!

The rest of this card design is all about the die cuts and fabulous papers!

 

I love creating "collages" - and this mix of elements is perfect to fulfill my desires!

Did you know that the North Pole Wonder Dies has that wonderful tag die that you see in the background of this design?

It has a wonderful zig-zag bottom edge; and matching stitched line that runs along the zig-zag.

I then embossed the tag with the Evergreen Forest 3D Embossing Folder.  Yummy!!!  Gonna be one of my "top picks" from this catalog!

 

I've layered in a green foil tree using the Pine Woods Dies - are you lovin' our new Green & Red Foils yet ??

Then I used one of our Gold Hoop Embellishments to create a draw for the eye; then layered on top of that are our Reindeer, ivy leaf sprays, and the copper bells.  All of these elements were cut from the Brushed Metallic Foils, each one in a different color (the leaf sprays in the lightest foil; the deer in the medium foil; and the bells in the dark copper).  I just love this foil collection of cardstock!!

Finished off with a pop of red in the ribbon/bow and the stamped, fussy-cut sentiment.

 

This is a special card that really is "in the details"; a wonderful Christmas card this season!

 

We'll be back later with more fun; and updated Stampin' Up! news too!!

 

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

Hugs, . . .

 

 

 

Mix-It Up Mondays ~~ Planting Kindness; Harveting Love!!

Hello Fellow Stampers ~

 

My goodness!  Somehow all my plans went out the window last week!!  I hate it when that happens!!  🤣😂🤣😂

And I had the MOST wonderful box arrive from Stampin' Up! on Saturday.  There is so much to play with and share in the weeks ahead.  I really hope I get around to everything I want to try and do!!  But let's get started.  As those of you who have been with me for awhile know, I always kick off the new catalog with Autumn/Fall fun!  And we'll follow it up with Halloween pretty shortly too!!  This year, I'm going to mix in a little Christmas here and there earlier than I normally would.  Because we have such a beautiful (and large) "mini" catalog this cycle; and because we're all stuck at home and probably starting our holiday cards and other fun early, I'm going to try to get with the program and help inspire you as we go!!

So without further meanderings, . . .

 

Fall is most certainly my favorite time of the year!  My favorite "Season" when we finally begin to shake ourselves of the overbearing heat of Summer, when there is a distinct change to the air, a cozy sweater in the evenings, the wonderful harvest arriving at the Farmer's Market from the fields, and the smell of the bon fire!!  I am looking forward to apple cider, and candles and a walk thru the falling leaves!

We have an absolutely incredible collection of Autumn sets and bundles (with all the accessories) this year!!  I am so over the moon!  I don't think we've had this good a selection in probably a decade or more!  And so I'm having trouble figuring out where to start!!  LOL

Let's start today with a set called Autumn Goodness with a coordinating die set called Autumn Wheelbarrow dies.  Get ready!!  I'm going to be dipping into this adorable stamp set a lot!  Order the Bundle - and save 10% !!

This 4-1/4" x 11" Very Vanilla card base (scored @ 5-1/2") sports a variety of the pretty designer papers from the Gilded Autumn Specialty Designer Series Paper collection.  I'm not showcasing the "gilded" patterns here (LOL) because these two patterns were just perfect backdrops for my Autumn wheelbarrow full of harvest goodness.

I used the MOJOSketch 543 as my design inspiration.  For those of you who have been following since long ago, you know that I often played along with the Mojo Monday design contest when my favorite artist Julee Tilman (Poetic Artistry) was still running that group.

Using a sketch like this can help you decide on a layout for your elements to create a fabulous card design!

I used Cajun Craze as my background mat color; with an overlay of Very Vanilla to show on the right; and the acorn and leaves pattern to overlay in the background.

Then I added the 2-1/4" x 2-3/4" striped piece (again matted with Cajun Craze) to give some "interest" to the design.

You'll see I created the horizontal piece using the Forever Greenery Very Vanilla 1/2" ribbon overlaid with 1/4" Terra Cotta Tile ribbon from the Ornate Garden collection.

I popped the ribbon on top of the circle to draw the eye to the ribbon running across the card behind it.

I love how Stampin' Up! is providing us with more and more stamp sets that have coordinating dies with them.  I love being able to stamp and cut out this wheelbarrow; and then the goodies that go inside too!!  I stamped the Wheelbarrow in Crumb Cake; the wheel in Smoky Slate; then I stamped in the harvest goodies in Sahara Sand so that I could color with my Stampin' Blends and the "lines" would fade away and not show too much.  I love this effect.

The circles and wheelbarrow are popped up for some nice dimension.  And I added the requisite Clear Wink of Stella to just the right places on the harvests goodies for a lovely shimmer!

 

And of course,  you must finish off the inside.  This image just makes me yearn for the ranch and wide open spaces!! 

Yes, I do love Fall!!!

 

 

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

Hugs, . . .

 

 

Mix-It Up Mondays ~~ A Snowman Ornament!

Hello Fellow Stampers ~

 

We're starting out a new week -- the last week of July!!!  I can hardly believe we're facing the month of August!!  It has been such a strange year!!  At this time last year, we were busily getting ready for our wedding - and it was such an exciting time!!  Oh my!!  What a difference a year makes!!

 

It's time for my next Christmas In July installment (I've been having so much fun with this year's Christmas In July, have you?); and to "mix things up" this Monday, I'm bringing you a fun Globe Ornament!!

This little guy is created using the Snowman Seasons Stamp Set & and the Snowman Builder Punch; AND the Snowglobe Scenes Dies.  You'll also need the Snowglobe Shaker Domes.

It's surprising how easy it is to put this together . . .

I took one Snowglobe Shake Dome, laid it face down, pulled off the sticky liner, and put some snowflake sequins and some of our retired Ice Stampin' Glitter in the dome (I wish I had added more; but I was trying to be careful and didn't know how it would come out - oh well!!).

Then I stamped my snowman in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, punched him out and dressed him up, hat and all!!  The "scarf" is a piece of the new 1/4" Pool Party Ribbon from the Playing With Patterns Combo pack, which I carefully cut the "edge" off of to get a thin little piece for my snowman.

Then I used the sticky edge of the globe to attach him and the trees behind him.

I also used the remaining piece of the Pool Party ribbon as the "hanger" by attaching it between the two globes on the sticky at the top.

Finally, I laid a second globe (after taking off the strip on the sticky) to the first globe - and voile!!

Then I used the dies to create a "base" for my snowglobe ornament -- you need two! One for the front; one for the back!

And glued them together!

 

Here's the backside view!!

Now how cute and fun is that!!!  😁😁😁😁

 

 

Terrific Tuesday round up is coming tomorrow -- we're down to our final days of Bonus Days, and so much more fun!!!

Be back soon!!

 

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

Hugs, . . .