Hippest Hippos

Summer is officially here! I’m looking forward to a slower pace and more time for crafting. And I’m definitely looking forward to round 2 of Sale-a-bration. I especially love the Hippest Hippos stamp set and coordinating dies that you can earn for FREE starting next Friday with qualifying orders. So to celebrate the first day of Summer I thought I’d pair these cute hippos with the Friends are like Seashells stamp set.

With that in mind I went with a beach themed colour combination. Pool Party and Crumb Cake I feel work great for this. I used Crumb Cake for my card base. And then I added Pool Party to mat the images and phrase. Before I stamped my images I used my Blending Brushes on the main piece of Basic White cardstock. I used Crumb Cake along the bottom to create a kind of beach and then Pool Party along the top for a water/sky look. On top of the blended inks I stamped some specs of sand and a few seashells.

Then for the hippos I stamped them with Smoky Slate on separate pieces of Basic White cardstock. Once they were dry I used some of my Watercolour Pencils to colour them in. Then I cut them out with the coordinating dies and popped them up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The phrase comes from the Friends are like Seashells stamp set. And I cut it out with one of the Stitched Rectangles dies. Then I popped it up with some more Stampin’ Dimensionals and added a few of the Faux Sea Glass Shapes.

Hippest Hippos

This was such a fun card to make! I can’t wait to create some more with the Hippest Hippos. Stay tuned for more cards featuring these guys.

For information about how Sale-a-bration works check out this post from this past Sale-a-bration. And make sure to bookmark my online shop so you’re all set for when it kicks off.

Diamond Z-Fold Card

Fancy Folds Design Team

It’s that time of the month… time for a Fancy Fold Design Team blog hop! This month we’re making a Diamond Z-Fold card. I love the look of this card! It’s so neat! To see it step by step, check out this video from Jan, a Stampin’ Up! demo from the UK. She has a couple great tips and all the measurements you’ll need to make your own.

For my design as soon as I saw this fun fold I knew I wanted to use the Happiness Abounds suite. I just LOVE this Designer Series Paper… so pretty and so colourful! This is a great card to show off a couple of the designs. But with so many great designs to choose from I needed to pick my colour combination first. I went with Coastal Cabana as my base colour. It’s such a nice bright colour, but not too overpowering. Next I choose a design that had that colour along with a few others; Fresh Freesia, Gorgeous Grape, Melon Mambo and more. The other design is simply the flip side of the first one.

On top of each of the diamonds I have flowers from this same stamp set. To start I stamped them in Tuxedo Black Memento ink on some Basic White cardstock. Then I coloured them with Watercolour Pencils and softened it with a Blender Pen. Then I cut them out with the coordinating dies. The phrase comes from the Happiness Abounds stamp set and I cut it out with one of the Stitched Rectangles dies. Which I popped up with a few Stampin’ Dimensionals.

I love how my Diamond Z-Fold card turned out! This is such a fun fold to make. To keep hopping around the world check out Mette’s card here.

Check out last month’s blog hop here.

#SimpleStamping with Artfully Composed

This month’s #SimpleStamping challenge from Stampin’ Up! is to make a “just because” card using stamps, ink, paper and an extra bonus this month…. Designer Series Paper. So for my card I decided to do some #SimpleStamping with Artfully Composed DSP. This pack of patterned paper is retiring soon. I still have a few sheets left so I thought this would be a great chance to use it.

For my card base I used Evening Evergreen. It’s a colour that’s in a lot of the different designs in this pack. And it’s nice and dark so it’s almost like a neutral colour and it helps the other colours from the patterned paper really pop. I added a piece of Basic White cardstock behind the DSP. This makes it easier to create the jigsaw puzzle type layout. I really like this kind of card design when I’m using DSP. It’s such a great way to show it off. And it’s especially helpful when you can’t decide which design you want to use. So I chose a few different designs and cut them into different shapes and sizes.

On top of the different DSP designs I added a fussy cut leaf that I had left over from another project using the Artfully Composed DSP. And I used a phrase from the Dragonfly Garden stamp set, which I’m glad to say is not retiring. I popped these up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals to add a bit more depth to the card.

#SimpleStamping with Artfully Composed

While I love how my card using #SimpleStamping with Artfully Composed DSP turned out, I was tempted to add a little something more. If you want to level this card up you can simply add a few of the Faux Sea Glass Shapes. Or even use one of the smaller Stitched Rectangles dies to cut out the phrase.

That said I enjoy doing #SimpleStamping. Check out my last #SimpleStamping card here. And you can check out the Artfully Compsed DSP as well as all the other retiring products in my online shop.

Goodbye to Dahlia Days

The clock is ticking as we get closer to summer, warmer weather and of course the end of the January-June Mini catalogue. I’m always sad when Stampin’ Up! releases it’s list of retiring products. But at least that doesn’t last that long as there are new goodies on the way! In the meantime I’m sharing some projects over the next few weeks featuring some of the products that will soon no longer be available. This week I’m saying goodbye to Dahlia Days! I have been having so much fun crafting with this bundle. This is definitely one that I’m particularly sad to see retiring. I just love the images and phrases… this might be one that I hold on to even after it’s retired.

Anyway… for this card I wanted to show off both the stamp set and the coordinating dies. For my colour combination I used Petal Pink, Pear Pizzazz and Crumb Cake. Petal Pink is such a nice soft pink and Pear Pizzazz has become my go to colour when I’m stamping leaves, etc. The Crumb Cake is a nice, soft neutral colour to help the others pop.

Once I stamped my large dahlias and leaves I cut them out using the coordinating dies. For the phrase and smaller flowers I used one of the smaller Layering Circles dies. Then behind it all I used the more detailed die with some Basic White cardstock. I thought about using some Sponge Daubers to add some colour to the detailed die cut, but I like the simplicity of this. Plus it doesn’t take away from the other stamped images which I popped up using Stampin’ Dimensionals.

To add a little something more to this card I added some of the Petal Pink cotton ribbon from the Cotton Ribbon Combo pack. (this ribbon is retiring as well) And of course I needed to add a little bit of bling. But in this case I added a few of the largest Brushed Brass Butterflies.

Goodbye to Dahlia Days

I’m so sad that I have to say goodbye to Dahlia Days. If you love this stamp set too then make sure to head over to my online shop before it’s sold out. The sale is only on until June 30th!

You can also check out a project I did with another retiring bundle, Sweet Talk, here.

3 Reasons Why I Love Stamping Kits

All this month Stampin’ Up! is having a BOGO… buy one get one 50% off on all their kits! I love these kits for a few different reasons. So I thought I would share just 3 reasons why I love stamping kits.

First of all they’re great for beginner stampers! These kits come with everything you would need to get started… adhesives, paper as well as stamps and ink for the stamping kits. The projects are usually fairly simple and they come complete with instructions. So you don’t have to worry about not knowing what to do or feel overwhelmed.

My second reason is that they’re great for on-the-go crafting! Everything comes inside a neat little box that you can stuff into your bag no matter where you’re going. There’s also extra room in the box for extra supplies. I always bring a kit with me when we go camping in the summer. My husband shakes his head when he sees my packing my crafting supplies along with our tent, but I just LOVE crafting that much!

The third reason is the variety of projects. While with the Paper Pumpkin kits you’re in for a bit of a surprise, with these kits you can see exactly what the projects are. Right now there are card kits for birthdays, Christmas and just because. There’s also some great project kits. like the Celebrate Today Magnet Board kit and the newest arrival the Love This Memory Notebook kit for all of us scrapbookers who wish we had more time to scrap.

Here are a couple of cards from the For the Guys card kit. This is a great kit for Father’s Day or whenever you’re stuck for a masculine themed card, which for me happens regularly.

These are just 3 reasons why I love stamping kits. There are lots more, but I’ve gotta leave something for you discover yourselves! Stampin’ Up! adds new kits fairly regularly, so you’ll want to check back to see what’s new. But don’t wait, some kits become temporarily unavailable. To check out all the kits either for yourself or the crafter in your life head over to my online shop.

You can also check out how I craft when we go camping here!

3 Reasons Why I Love Stamping Kits

He’s All That

June is here! Which means that summer’s coming and Father’s Day is around the corner. In just over two weeks acutally. Maybe that’s why I’ve been making so many masculine cards lately… or maybe it’s because I just love the He’s All That bundle. Either way I thought I’d share another card using this bundle. Check out this one that I made for a Paper Craft Crew vertical sketch challenge here.

For this card I went with all neutral colours. Yes navy is a neutral colour. I used Basic Black for the card base. Then I mixed in some Smoky Slate and Night of Navy. To add a little something to the smaller pieces of cardstock I embossed them. I embossed the piece of Smoky Slate using the Painted Texture 3D embossing folder. And the piece of Night of Navy cardstock with the splatter folder from the Stripes & Splatter 3D embossing folders.

For the stamping I added a little bit of ink splatter from the Quiet Meadow stamp set using Night of Navy ink. And the phrase, from the He’s All That stamp set, I stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento ink. To cut out the phrase I just used one of the coordinating dies. Then to finish it off I popped up the phrase with a few Stampin’ Dimensionals. Here it is…

He's All That

The He’s All That stamp set and dies are great for masculine cards… and for Father’s Day. These kinds of cards are definitely more of a challenge for me so I’m glad to have something that makes it so much easier! Check out the whole suite of products in my online shop. I especially love the Designer Series Paper and can’t wait to get my hands on that too!

Colouring with Happiness Abounds

I crafted this card live on my Facebook page last night. Check out the replay here. I’ve been dying to do some colouring with Happiness Abounds! This stamp set from the new Annual catalogue is a great one. The images are perfect for colouring and the phrases are so versatile.

For this card I used Stampin’ Blends to colour. At some point I’ll use the Watercolour Pencils, but I love the depth of colour you get from these alcohol-based markers. For my colour combination I went with Pool Party and Old Olive. They really compliment each other. To start I stamped a phrase and some leaves using Old Olive ink. Then for the images I’m colouring I stamped them in Tuxedo Black Memento ink. Once that was dry I could get to colouring.

When I colour with Stampin’ Blends I tend to start with the light version. Then I add the dark where I want the depth and shadows. And to finish it off I do another layer of the light Stampin’ Blends. Some people start and finish with the dark version which also looks great. It just gives a different look.

Once the coloured images dried I popped them up with a few Stampin’ Dimensionals. And of course I needed to add some bling… so I added two Rhinestone Basic Jewels on either side of the “congratulations”. Here it is…

Colouring with Happiness Abounds

If you want to add a little something more to this card you can always use the Stitched Rectangles dies. It’s an easy way to cut your cardstock and add another level to your design.

I can’t wait to do some more crafting and colouring with Happiness Abounds! Check out the recent card I crafted using the coordinating Designer Series Paper here.

Happiness Abounds

I’m finally getting to some crafting with the new Happiness Abounds bundle from the new Annual Catalogue! This is one of the sets that was at the top of my list when I first saw it. But the He’s All That bundle just snuck in front for my pre-order back in April, so I was super excited when these finally arrived. I’m also loving the Designer Series Paper that’s part of this suite! I’ve already got a bunch of ideas in my head and think I might need to order another pack.

For this card I wanted to show it all off. So I have a Basic White card base to really help keep the focus on the other colours. Most of the colour for this card comes from the piece of Happiness DSP that I used for a card mat. Then I pulled the ink colours and colour for the other flower from there. I used Flirty Flamingo and Daffodil Delight for the phrase and flowers. And I threw in a little bit of Pear Pizzazz for the stamped leaves. Then I cut out both the DSP and stamped cardstock using the Stitched Rectangles dies.

I fussy cut a couple of Daffodil Delight flowers and some leaves to layer on top. (I started this design up at my in-laws farmhouse so I didn’t have my Stampin’ Cut & Emboss machine to use the dies.) But it wasn’t too bad to do the fussy cutting. I layered the extra flowers and stamped piece of cardstock onto the DSP card mat. And then popped it ALL up using some Stampin’ Dimensionals.

To finish it off I added a few Polished Dots. I always need to add a little bit of bling to my cards. Who’s with me?!

Happiness Abounds

I’m looking forward to crafting even more with the Happiness Abounds bundle, so stay tuned for more! In the meantime you can check out this card using the He’s All That stamp set here… Father’s Day is just around the corner!

And you can check out the full Hues of Happiness suite here in my online shop.

Masculine Birthday Card

Here I go again… I decided to dive in and join another Paper Craft Crew challenge! This week it’s a vertical sketch challenge (PCC471). I really like this sketch. It’s simple and still gives some chances to do some layering. Immediately I knew I wanted to create a masculine birthday card. These types of cards are usually a little trickier for me, but this card design came fairly easily. Here’s the sketch…

Masculine Birthday Card

As soon as I decided on a masculine themed card I knew I wanted to layer some different specialty paper. The Brushed Metallic cardstock and Layering Vellum Designs are great for masculine cards. And they work great here.

To really make these papers stand out I went with a Night of Navy card base. Then to add to the masculine theme I embossed it using the Timbre 3D Embossing folder. It doesn’t come through very well in the picture sadly. To layer the vellum on top of the gold brushed cardstock I used some very light layers of Multi-Purpose Liquid Glue in strategic places. That way you don’t really notice the glue.

The phrase comes from the He’s All That stamp set. My new favourite masculine stamp set! I stamped it with Night of Navy, of course. And then used one of the coordinating dies to cut it out. Next I popped it up with a few Stampin’ Dimensionals. To finish it off I added a few of the Brushed Metallic Dots. It helps balance out the card design I think.

Masculine Birthday Card

This is a great masculine birthday card and I think I might hold on to it for my father-in-laws birthday later this summer. Check out the other entries into this week’s Paper Craft Crew vertical sketch challenge here.

And you can check out the last time I joined in on a Paper Craft Crew challenge here.

Double Dutch Fold

Fancy Folds Design Team

Another month… another Fancy Fold Design Team blog hop! I just love doing these fun folds. And this month we’re making a Double Dutch Fold card. The Gatefold card is a favourite of mine and one of my go-tos when I want to do something different. This fold totally reminds of that one. Beata from Splitcoaststampers shows a cute version here. She shares the measurements for the card base towards the beginning of the video and then check the comments for the measurement of the cardstock band.

My design came from my desire to use the Artfully Composed Designer Series Paper pack from the January-June Mini catalogue. I started by picking the patterned paper I wanted and then pulled my colours from that. I used Pear Pizzazz for the card base and Evening Evergreen for my ink colour. To add to the tropical vibe I fussy cut a couple of leaves from one of the other designs from the same pack.

The image and phrase come from the In the Moment stamp set. I cut out the image using one of the Layering Circles dies and the phrase with one of the Stitched Rectangles dies. Then the image was popped up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. I didn’t pop up the phrase because I want it to help keep the multiple flaps somewhat closed.

Then to finish it off I added a few of the Faux Sea Glass Shapes. A different version of bling. Here’s my card…

This was such a fun and simple card to make. Make sure you keep hopping around the world to see the rest of our Double Dutch Fold cards! Next up is Mette Nordling-Shaw from Australia. Check out her card here.

And you can check out last month’s blog hop here, where we made a Double Triangle Fold.

#SimpleStamping with Orchid Oasis

It’s been a couple weeks now since the new Annual catalogue launched. And I hope you’re enjoying it as much as I’ve been! To keep up with the excitement of the new catalogue I’m doing some #SimpleStamping with Orchid Oasis, one of the new In Colours. This is for this month’s #SimpleStamping challenge from Stampin’ Up! And this time it’s just the basics; stamps, ink and paper. No extras this month and we need to use our favourite new In Colour. I love purple so Orchid Oasis was a fairly easy choice for me… although there’s a lot of great colours in the 2022-2024 In Colours.

For my card design I decided I’d take advantage of the opportunity and make some thank you cards. I have a few customers I need to thank for their orders. So I’m using the “thank you” from the Beauty of Friendship stamp set. Then to really show off the Orchid Oasis I used the Butterfly Brilliance stamp set. It’s nice and big and I love butterflies so I love any chance I get to use this set! Plus using the Stamparatus makes it super easy to stamp big images like this one, especially when you need to stamp multiples.

To really make the Orchid Oasis pop I added some Orchid Oasis cardstock behind the butterflies and the phrase. I also popped up the phrase using some Stampin’ Dimensionals.

#SimpleStamping with Orchid Oasis

I love how this card turned out! It’s nice and simple and beautiful. This bit of #SimpleStamping with Orchid Oasis is also a great example of a monochromatic card.

Check out my card for last month’s #SimpleStamping challenge here. It’s also all about the new In Colours. And if you want to check out all the new In Colours or the Stamparatus, head over to my online shop.

Book Fold Card

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to share here this week. But I knew that I wanted to do something different than my usual card design. So as I was thinking about options, the idea of making a Book Fold Card popped into my head. I’ve done this fold once or twice before, but I think this may become a fun and easy go to for me. Usually a Z-fold card is my go-to, but it’s always nice to have options! Here’s a modified Z-Fold card I made a while back.

For this design I used the Dahlia Days stamp set from the January-June Mini Catalogue. With all the excitement of the new Annual Catalogue you don’t want to forget about these guys! And the phrase comes from the Friends are like Seashells stamp set. For my colour combination, I used Crumb Cake for the card base and Petal Pink for the card mat and stamping. I also threw in a splash of Pear Pizzazz for the leaves.

To create the card base you’ll need a piece of cardstock that’s 4 1/4″ x 11″ scored at 5 1/2″ AND 4 1/2″. Adding some Tear & Tape Adhesive on the inside in between the two score lines is what gives you the book fold. Then from here you can add whatever you like! I added some Petal Pink cardstock that I embossed using the Painted Texture 3D embossing folder.

To step it up even further I added some of the Petal Pink Cotton Ribbon and cut out the stamped images and phrase using the Stitched Rectangles dies. Then I popped these up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals and of course added some bling!

Book Fold Card

This Book Fold Card turned out so pretty I may have a hard time giving it away! Lol!

To find everything you need to make your own version, head over to my online shop. And make sure to share your design. I love to see other people’s cards!

Crafting with the New Catalogue

This past weekend I celebrated the new Annual Catalogue that launched last Tuesday. I had an online and in-person party and we had a lot of fun crafting with the new catalogue! It’s so much fun getting together with people and crafting. I’ve really missed it.

For my online party I did some live crafting on my Facebook page. Check that out here. At my in-person party we made two cards. The first card uses the Bottled Happiness stamp set. I paired Parakeet Party, one of the new In Colours, with Pool Party for my colour combination. Then to add a little something more to the card I used some of the Supple Shimmer and Iridescent Specialty Papers. I also added some of the Denim Ribbon and a few Polished Dots. (You can find the Supple Shimmer Specialty Paper and the Denim Ribbon in the January-June Mini catalogue.)

Crafting with the new Catalogue

The second card uses the He’s All That bundle. I love this set! The stamp set is a nice versatile masculine set and the dies can be used with a variety of images and phrases, not just the ones from the stamp set. For this card I paired Starry Sky, another new In Colour, and Crumb Cake. And instead of Basic White cardstock I used Very Vanilla. It’s a little more subtle.

To add a distressed look to the card I tore the edges of the cardstock and the vellum. Just start with a little snip from your Paper Snips, or scissors, and tear away. The vellum came from the Vellum Layering Designs and I thought the map design works great for this card. Then to finish it off I added a few of the Brushed Metallic Dots.

Crafting with the new Catalogue

I’m having so much fun crafting with the new catalogue! And I can’t wait to share even more projects with you. In the meantime you can check it all out in my online shop. And if you live in Canada and want a copy of your very own just send me an email; inkspirationwithteresa@gmail.com. I’d be happy to send you one!

Scrappy Strip Technique with the new In Colours

I’m really liking how the 2022-2024 In Colours all work together. And so the idea popped in my head to use the Scrappy Strip Technique with the new In Colours. I haven’t done this technique in a long time. This is such an easy technique and it’s a great way to show off your Designer Series Paper. You can check out one of my last cards using this technique here.

The biggest part is cutting the Designer Series Paper into strips and then gluing them onto a piece of cardstock. You can make the strips as thick or thin as you want. And you can angle them any way you want onto the cardstock. You can even have the strips be uneven. Once the glue has dried, trim off the edges that are sticking out over the cardstock. For this design I alternated the colours and the designs. Then I popped up the whole piece of stripped cardstock onto a Basic White card base using some Stampin’ Dimensionals.

On top of my strips I wanted things to be nice and simple. To start I used the Layering Circles dies to create a vellum circle. On top of that I used some of the Meadow dies to create a Basic White bouquet for my ‘vase’. And the vase I made using the Bottled Happiness stamp set, Vintage Bottle punch and Tahitian Tide ink.

Since I already popped up the whole card mat I didn’t use any more Stampin’ Dimensionals. Although you could if you wanted to add even more depth to the card. Then to finish it off I added a few Pearl Basic Jewels.

Scrappy Strip Technique with the new In Colours

I love how colourful and bright this card is! Using the Scrappy Strip Technique with the new In Colours is definitely a win.

Check out the new Annual Catalogue in my online shop. Or if you live in Canada and want a copy of your very own, send me an email; inkspirationwithteresa@gmail.com. I’d be happy to send you one!

More Free Stuff

It’s an exciting day today! The new Annual Catalogue is out and I can’t wait for you all to see it. And what might be even more exciting is the chance at even more free stuff!

I’ve talked about Stampin’ Up!s Starter kit before. The Starter kit as it usually is gets you $165 worth of Stampin’ Up! product for only $135 (no tax or shipping on top). So $35 worth of product for free. But now and for the rest of this month you’ll get a bunch of extra new In Colour products too! What kind of new In Colour products you ask?! You’ll get a pack of In Colour grid paper, all 5 In Colour ink pads (Tahitian Tide, Sweet Sorbet, Parakeet Party, Orchid Oasis and Starry Sky), a pack of cardstock with all 5 In Colours AND a pack of In Colour 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper.

More Free Stuff

I love the new 2022-2024 In Colours. They’re so vibrant and colourful. I’m looking forward to crafting with them over the next two years.

If the more free stuff isn’t enough for you to take the plunge and join my team, maybe the discount of top quality products is. Or maybe it’s the stamping community. Since I joined Stampin’ Up! almost 10 years ago I’ve made so many great friends and met demonstrators from around the world. I call my larger Stampin’ Up! team my stamping family. I love, and miss, these people! They are so creative and fun and supportive no matter what you want to do when you sign up. And I know that when I finally do get to see them in person again it’ll feel like no time has passed… because that’s how it’s always felt.

I’m here to support you and answer any questions that you might have. And the bonus of joining my team is that you also get to be a part of my larger team. So anything I don’t know I know we’ll be able to figure out! Email me with any questions you have or if you’re ready to sign up you can do that here. I can’t wait to join you on your creative journey!