Dandy Designs

I am just loving all the patterned paper in this year’s Sale-a-bration catalogue! There is a nice variety with the colours and images, even in the packs themselves. But I think my favourite pack is the Dandy Designs Designer Series Paper pack. For one it’s free during Sale-a-bration. But also because it’s a HUGE pack of paper filled with lots of colours and some really fun designs. You can use these designs for just about any occasion… including Valentine’s Day.

The inkspiration for this design comes from a card swap that one of my team members shared. I used it as a sort of sketch to follow. Then since I wanted to make a Valentine’s Day card I used that theme for the colours and stamps. The card base is Petal Pink and the card mat is one of the Petal Pink designs from the Dandy Designs DSP pack. I like this design because it has a few different shades and the design isn’t too big or overpowering.

On top of that I created a tag of sorts using some more Petal Pink cardstock and one of the Something Fancy dies. The dies don’t actually work with this sized piece of cardstock the way you typically would use them. So to make the top of the tag I slid the cardstock through the die horizontally and used one of the other dies to make the hole. Then I stamped the sentiment and image on a piece of Basic White cardstock; Petal Pink ink for the sentiment and Tuxedo Black Memento ink for the cat. I coloured the heart with the Light Petal Pink Stampin’ Blend and added some White Crinkled Seam binding ribbon. Next I popped up the tag with a few Stampin’ Dimensionals. And to finish it off I added a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

Dandy Designs

Check out another card I created using the Dandy Designs DSP here.

And if you love this patterned paper, don’t wait to put in your order! Sale-a-bration is almost over and then this pack of paper will be gone! You can get this pack free with a $120 order, but there’s also lots of options with a $60 order. Check it all out in my online shop!

Beautifully Happy

This year I decided to focus on featuring one products in all my projects for the week. For this week it’s the Dandy Designs Designer Series Paper from the Sale-a-bration catalogue. And for this card I’m pairing it with the Beautifully Happy stamp set, which is also from the Sale-a-bration catalogue. This is such a great stamp set! There are lots of different sentiments that make it versatile. And you can use the images for colouring or for 2-Step stamping.

For this card I started with a few different strips from the Dandy Designs DSP pack. To help the colours pop I’m using a Basic White card base and I decided to pop up the strips with some Stampin’ Dimensionals to be a bit different this time. On top of the DSP strips I added a piece of vellum that I cut using one of the Layering Circles dies. Then on top of that I have another die cut circle of the same size in Basic White.

Instead of doing 2-Step stamping I wanted to colour my images. So I stamped them with Tuxedo Black Memento ink. Once it was dry I used the Watercolor Pencils, assortment 2, to colour them in. I used Flirty Flamingo for the flowers and buds. And to give a little more depth to them I pressed more firmly in certain areas to get a darker shade. For the centre of the flower and the bee I used Crushed Curry. And then for the leaves and stems I used Granny Apple Green.

To finish it off I stamped the sentiment with Fresh Freesia ink. And then added a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

Beautifully Happy

I’m going to miss the Beautifully Happy stamp set. I can’t believe that Sale-a-bration is already more than half over!

If you want to learn more about this year’s one and only Sale-a-bration check out this post. And to take advantage, and earn FREE exclusive products, before February 28th head to my online shop!

Favored Flowers for Valentine’s Day

For a pack of Designer Series Paper I wasn’t so sure about I’m sure having a lot of fun crafting with it! This time I’m using the Favored Flowers for Valentine’s Day. Can you believe that Valentine’s day is only a week and a half away?! Already it seems like time is flying by. But for today that’s a good thing because it’s super cold here and I can’t wait for Spring!

For this card design I pulled a few similar designs from the Favored Flowers Designer Series Paper pack, but in different colours; Blackberry Bliss, Calypso Coral and Petal Pink. I love Blackberry Bliss and so I used that for the card base. I also used it to frame the sentiment which comes from the Love Cats stamp set. Which is also stamped in Blackberry Bliss ink.

I punched the hearts using the plain heart punch from the Heart Punch pack. And behind those I embossed a piece of Basic White cardstock using the Cane Weave 3D embossing folder. This way the colours and designs on the hearts stay the focus, but the background isn’t too boring. I popped up all of the hearts and the sentiment with Stampin’ Dimensionals. Then I finished it off by adding a couple of Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

Favored Flowers for Valentine's Day

Favored Flowers for Valentine’s Day may not be the typical Valentine’s Day card, but I really like it! Check out another card I made using this same pack of patterned paper here.

And head over to my online shop if you want to get your hands on this beautiful paper! Remember Sale-a-bration is only on until the end of this month, so don’t wait too long!

Favored Flowers

At first when I saw the Favored Flowers Designer Series Paper in the Sale-a-bration catalogue I was not a big fan. I love flowers, but I wondered if the patterns were a bit much for me. But I’ve been seeing some card designs lately that are helping change my mind. So I pulled out my pack and I think the designs look much better in real life. This pack of patterned paper uses some of my favourite colours and some of the blooms are easy enough for fussy cutting. I’m not fussy cutting for this card, but I did want to show off some of this pretty paper.

This card is a nice simple one because I really want the DSP to be the focus. I started with deciding which design I wanted to use for this card. This one has Petal Pink and Calypso Coral in it for the flowers. And Mossy Meadow and Evening Evergreen for the leaves. I used Mossy Meadow for my card base because it’s a nice neutral colour and not too dark. Plus it really helps the colours from the blooms to stand out.

Next I stamped a phrase from the Something Fancy stamp set using Mossy Meadow ink. I cut it out using one of the Stitched Rectangles dies. And then I framed it with the flip side of the same sheet of patterned paper. Finally I popped it all up with a few Stampin’ Dimensionals and added a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels for a bit of bling.

Favored Flowers

I’m so glad I opened the Favored Flowers pack of Designer Series Paper! It really is pretty!

There’s lots of great patterned paper that you can earn for free during Sale-a-bration. Check out this card that I made using the Dainty Flowers DSP here. And you can see all the great free Sale-a-bration products over in my online shop! Don’t wait too long though! Sale-a-bration is only here until the end of February and things could sell out before then.

Case the Catalogue

Stuck for an idea? There’s lots of different things you can do when you want to craft but don’t know what to make. When I get stuck sometimes I pull out a kit to get the creative juices flowing. Sometimes I look through the MANY pictures I have on my phone of projects I found on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest. The other thing to do is case the catalogue… meaning I copy a project idea from the catalogue.

This past weekend I did just that! Not because I was stuck for an idea this time, but for a team challenge. Every once in a while challenges, and other things, are posted to spark our creativity. The card I chose to copy is one I’ve been looking at for a while. It shows off one of my favourite stamp sets from the January-April Mini catalogue… Love Cats! These cats are super cute right?!

I used Sweet Sorbet for my card base. And one of the Petal Pink designs from the Country Gingham Designer Series Paper pack for the card mat. The next piece is the Sweet Sorbet tag which is simply a piece of cardstock with the corners trimmed. To make the hole for the Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon I used one of the Something Fancy dies.

I layered the other part of the tag on top with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. This piece needed a bit of fussy cutting and one of the smaller Petal Pink Country Gingham designs. My “Hi there, Valentine” is stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink on a piece of Petal Pink cardstock. Then I used the plain heart from the Heart Punch pack to cut it out. I used some Pearl Basic Jewels to finish it off, but I think the Heart Pearls in the Annual catalogue would look super cute too! The Linen Thread is also a nice touch. Just a little something different to contrast all the shades of pink.

Case the Catalogue

This is such a cute card! I really need to case the catalogue more often!

If you’re still not sure what I mean by “case” the catalogue, check out my blog post where I explain it all. And if you live in Canada and would like your very own copies of the catalogues (aka idea books), send me an email – inkspirationwithteresa@gmail.com. Or you can dive right in and start shopping the catalogues in my online shop!

Country Gingham Valentine’s Card

It’s been a long time since I joined a Paper Craft Crew Challenge. And I love the Country Gingham Designer Series Paper that I got recently so I thought I’d join in and make a Country Gingham Valentine’s card. I think this patterned paper works great for this week’s challenge. This week’s challenge is a vertical sketch challenge (PCC502). And here’s the sketch design…

Country Gingham Valentine's Card

For my design I’m using two of the colours from this pretty pack of paper; Sweet Sorbet and Petal Pink. My card base is Sweet Sorbet and then I mixed some of the different Sweet Sorbet and Petal Pink DSP designs for the card mat and strips. I used a smaller, softer design for the card mat and two bigger patterns for the strips.

On top of my strips of patterned paper I layered a few hearts using the Heart Punch pack from the Annual catalogue. I used the scalloped heart punch for the Sweet Sorbet heart. And the plain heart for the Petal Pink and Very Vanilla hearts. The sentiment comes from the Love Cats stamp set. And I stamped that with Sweet Sorbet ink. Once I layered the three hearts together I popped them up on my card using some Stampin’ Dimensionals. Then to finish it off I added a few of the Flat Adhesive-backed Pearls.

Country Gingham Valentine's Card

I enjoyed joining this week’s Paper Craft Crew Challenge and making this Country Gingham Valentine’s Card!

Check out all the other card designs for this week’s vertical sketch challenge here. And you can check out my last card for the Paper Craft Crew here, where I did some #SimpleStamping.

Framed Florets

The Framed Florets bundle was an early release product from the January-April Mini catalogue. Somehow though I haven’t used it much yet. So I thought I’d pull out the dies for this card.

The design for this card stared with a design from the Dainty Flowers Designer Series Paper pack in the Sale-a-bration catalogue. This is my favourite pack of patterned paper from the Sale-a-bration catalogue. And I really like the subtle design on this sheet! So I pulled Blushing Bride from the design as one of my colours and Crumb Cake for my other. Other than the patterned paper, I used Blushing Bride for the sentiment and stamped flowers. The Crumb Cake is my card base and frame.

The sentiment comes from the Something Fancy stamp set. And the flowers some from the Beautifully Happy stamp set. Then for the flowers and sentiment I stamped directly onto the cardstock. But for the leaves and buds I stamped off my Old Olive ink on a scrap piece of paper first. I wanted to make sure the green didn’t come out too strong.

I used the Framed Florets dies to cut out both the stamped image and the frame. Then I strategically placed my Stampin’ Dimensionals to hold the two pieces together and popped it all up. I cut out the ‘congratulations’ with the Stitched Rectangles dies. And layered that on top of the frame. To finish is off I added some Wink of Stella to the Blushing Bride flowers and added a few Pearl Basic Jewels.

Framed Florets

I can’t wait to use the other dies in this set!

Check out another card I made using the Dainty Flowers DSP here. This pack of patterned paper and the Beautifully Happy stamp set are part of Sale-a-bration which is on until February 28th. Don’t miss out on getting these and other great products for free! Here’s my online shop.

Dainty Flowers

Since my Paper Pumpkin isn’t sure where in the world it is, I made this card on my Facebook page last night. Check out the replay here. For this card I’m showing off the pretty Dainty Flowers Designer Series Paper. This is one of the few different packs of patterned paper that you can earn for free right now during Sale-a-bration.

There are so many great designs in this pack! For this card I’m using one of the multi-coloured floral designs. And on this one the flowers are smaller and the background is Fresh Freesia. I debated between Rich Razzleberry and Starry Sky for my card base pulling from some of the different colours in the design. In the end I liked how Starry Sky looked more than Rich Razzleberry. I also decided to add a bit more Starry Sky cardstock behind the four square panels.

Behind the patterned paper panels I embossed a piece of Basic White cardstock using the 3D Painted Texture embossing folder. Then I wrapped a piece of Black and White Gingham ribbon around it. I stamped a phrase from the Beautifully Happy stamp set with Starry Sky ink. And then I popped up the phrase and the panels using Stampin’ Dimensionals. To finish it off I added a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

Dainty Flowers

The Dainty Flowers DSP pack is probably my favourite from the Sale-a-bration catalogue! To find out how Sale-a-bration works and how you can earn this pack of patterned paper for free, check out this blog post. And if you want copies of the current catalogues send me an email (inkspirationwithteresa@gmail.com). I’m happy to send copies anywhere in Canada!

Good Things Come in Small Packages

Over the years I’ve come to love Stampin’ Up!s Paper Pumpkin kits. I always liked the idea of everything you need being sent right to your door and all I have to do is stamp and stick. And in the last couple of years the kit designs have really leveled up! This includes December’s kit Good Things Come in Small Packages. I was hoping to take this kit with us on our trip to Disney, but unfortunately it didn’t arrive in time. So instead I get to craft with it now that we’re back!

This kit was a bit different because instead of cards you get to make cute little boxes. And these boxes are perfect as gift card holders. So I’ll totally be storing these away for when I need them! There were also coordinating notecards and envelopes as an add on. Such a great idea and I was able to get mine early (and on sale) because I attended OnStage back in November. I love making alternative projects with my Paper Pumpkin kits. This time I cut up some of the belly bands for the boxes to create some patterned paper for my notecards. You can see how I made them over on my Facebook page here.

The other thing I love about Paper Pumpkin is that during Sale-a-bration you can get free Sale-a-bration products when you buy a pre-paid subscription. Plus when you buy a pre-paid subscription you’re saving money. Here’s a simple break down for you. And if you want more info on how Sale-a-bration works, check out my post from earlier this week here.

Good Things Come in Small Packages

Good things come in small packages for sure… especially when it says Stampin’ Up! on the box!

How Sale-a-bration Started

January is here, which means it’s that time of year… it’s time for Sale-a-bration! Have you ever wondered how Sale-a-bration started? I have to admit that I haven’t. I’m usually too excited about all the free products! But recently I found out where the idea came from and that I would share it with you all.

If you didn’t already know, Stampin’ Up! was started by Shelli Gardner and her sister in 1988. And just like with any business there are good times and not so good times. Unfortunately, not too far into business things weren’t going very well and their accountant said that they were on the verge of bankruptcy. So they introduced Sale-a-bration which ended up saving the company and has become a yearly tradition.

So now that you know where it comes from, you need to know how to maximize this next 2 months!

Between now and February 28th you can choose an exclusive, free Sale-a-bration product with every $60 order! So if your order is $60 you can choose one Level 1 product. If your order is $120 you can choose either two Level 1 products or one Level 2 product… and so on. This is a great time to cross things off your wishlist or simply stock up on those things you need all year long like adhesives and cardstock. Plus if you get together with your friends and family to do some crafting and host a party you can potentially get an exclusive stamp set for free just for hosting a qualifying party!

And as always there’s a special offer to join the Stampin’ Up! family too! Right now you can choose from 3 different Starter Kits. The simplest kit is to join for $135 and choose $225 worth of Stampin’ Up! products. The other two kits are similar… for only $40 more ($175) you can choose up to $225 worth of Stampin’ Up! product AND get a Mini Stampin’ Cut & Emboss machine ($86 value) too. What’s the difference? With one kit you get the original white machine and in the other you get the Boho Blue machine. Boho Blue will be one of the new In Colours in the upcoming new Annual Catalogue. And there’s no tax or shipping on any of the kits if you live in Ontario and some other provinces!

So now that you know how Sale-a-bration started don’t miss out! This is the only Sale-a-bration event this year and products do sell out so don’t wait! Here’s my online shop and if you have any questions about joining my team and what that means, check out my Join My Team page here.

Happy 2023!

Happy New Year everyone! Happy 2023! We finished the Disney part of our vacation and will be off to Wizarding World soon. But in between we have to ring in the New Year. Since we’re away from home and can’t do our usual get together with friends I wanted to do a little something special. We have our usual hats and noise makers and I also have some crackers to pull. But the best part is that I bought us all some sparklers to celebrate.

I used the Lights Aglow Designer Series Paper to make little pockets to hold them. then to make the pockets a little fancier I used the retired Delightful Tag topper punch. And I used the also retired Playful Alphabet dies on some of the Metallic Specialty Paper for the “2023”s.

Happy 2023!

It’s been a hectic, but super fun vacation! And I’m looking forward to the last couple of days before we head back home.

There’s still time to get some of the retiring July-December mini catalogue products! This has been a very popular catalogue. Many things have already sold out! See what’s left in my online shop.

And check out this other card I made using the Lights Aglow DSP here.

Happy 2023!

Merry Christmas everyone!

As you read this we’re in the final bit of driving to get to Orlando. It’s been a long drive and we’re all looking forward to not being in the car for a while. But before we get carried away with all the Disney Christmas fun I wanted to say Merry Christmas everyone!

On top of the cards I make for friends and family I also make cards for my customers. This is card I designed this year. I used Shaded Spruce cardstock for the card base to make this simple fun fold card. It’s just like two cards layered together, with one of them being a little smaller than the other. Plus this is a great way use what’s left of my Painted Christmas Designer Series Paper.

Most of the Painted Christmas DSP went on the outside, but I also added a little bit on the inside. And because of the design of the card base it was easy to use one piece of DSP. The sentiment is from the Joyful Flurry stamp set. I stamped it with Shaded Spruce ink. And I added a few snowflakes in Shaded Spruce ink to frame it.

Merry Christmas everyone!

To check out the cards I made for my friends and family you can find them here.

Things will be a little quiet around here for the next week or so. So you can follow our Disney adventures over on social! You can find me on Facebook and Instagram.

Merry Christmas everyone!

DIY Disney Autograph Books

Only a couple more days and then we’ll be on our way to Orlando, Florida! I haven’t gotten to packing yet. The past few weeks has been all about getting everything we need for our trip. And no trip to Disney is complete without DIY Disney Autograph books!

To make it I pulled out some of the chipboard I saved from some of my Paper Pumpkin kits. I cut two pieces in half and punched holes in them. Then I covered them with some more Disney patterned paper I picked up at Scrapfest. I cut it strategically so that when the chipboard bent to open the book the patterned paper didn’t get in the way.

On the inside I simply cut down printer paper to fit inside. Then I used my corner rounder on the edges and punched holes in the sheets to line up with the back and front covers. To hold it all together I looped some of the Black and White 1/4″ Gingham ribbon through and tied as tight a bow as I could.

Then to finish them off… and because I didn’t want to have my two munchkins arguing over who gets which one… I added a Mickey and Minnie to the fronts of the books. To make them I just used the Layering Circles dies with Basic Black cardstock. And for Minnie’s bow, I used the Scottie Dog punch with some of the Lights Aglow Designer Series Paper.

DIY Disney Autograph Books

Too cute right?!

They love their DIY Disney Autograph books and I hope they’re able to get all the autographs they want!

Check out the countdown calendar I created for our trip here. And you can see some of my other projects and glimpses from our trip over on my social media! Follow me on Facebook and Instagram.

Shaded Gatefold Card

Fancy Folds Design Team

It’s time for the last Fancy Folds Design team blog hop of 2022! I really enjoy these hops and can’t wait to make even more fun and fancy folds next year! For this month’s hop we’re making a Shaded Gatefold Card. This one works out to be a different size than my usual cards, so I’ll just have to make a special envelope for it with some pretty patterned paper. Jan B, a demonstrator from the UK, has a great video to help you through all the steps. I highly suggest taking it slow once you’ve scored and folded the card base. The folding in of it took me a couple of tries. You can find her video here.

For my card design I stuck with a Basic White card base. Keeps it simple and helps with the snowy winter theme. I wanted to create a cute little scene inside the card using the Penguin Place bundle. The snowflakes and hill are stamped with Pool Party ink. And for the penguins I used Tuxedo Black Memento ink and Pale Papaya. The coordinating punch makes it really easy to create more friends. These penguins are super cute! I’m sad to see these guys retiring.

To go with my penguin friends I used the Snowflake Specialty Vellum. And on the outside I used some of the snowflakes from the Joyful Flurry stamp set. To adhere the vellum I was very strategic with my Multi-Purpose Liquid Glue. I definitely didn’t want any glue peeking out from behind these iridescent dots!

The Shaded Gatefold card was definitely a fun one to make! My littlest munchkin is already asking me if he can have it, lol!

Keep hopping to see the other’s designs! Up next is Mette Nordling Shaw. You can see her design here.

You can also check out last month’s hop where we made a Dual Pop-Up card.

For My Team

This past weekend I had my holiday party for my direct team members. I always like to do a little something for my team to celebrate them throughout the year… birthdays… stampaversaries. But for Christmas I like to do a little more. And I try to make sure to do it before the craziness of the holiday season kicks in.

To get ready there were a few things I wanted to put together. Of course they each got a Christmas card! These ones I used either Evening Evergreen or Soft Succulent cardstock along with some coordinating Lights Aglow Designer Series Paper. I cut out a peep hole in the top layer using the Stitched Rectangles dies. And the phrase from the Joyful Flurry stamp set is on the middle layer with a piece of Basic White cardstock on the third inside layer. I also made a simple belly band using the Painted Christmas DSP and the Spruced Up dies around some chocolate.

For My Team

Then last but not least is the Triple Pocket Fold card I made to fill with some stamping goodies! For this I used some of the DSP and stamps from the upcoming mini and Sale-a-bration catalogues. I made a belly band for these as well using the same design of patterned paper and then die cut the sentiment with the Layering Circles dies.

We had such a great time crafting, listening to Christmas music, playing games and just chatting! I really appreciate my team members and I hope that comes across in what I made for my team.

For more information on my direct team as well as the larger team that I’m a part of, you can find that here. And if you’re all set to get in on all the crafting fun then you can join my team here. I’m happy to answer any questions you have. And I’m happy to support you no matter why you decide to join my team!