Hues of Happiness

The Hues of Happiness Designer Series Paper has been my favourite patterned paper from this Annual catalogue. And I’m so sad to see the whole suite is retiring! So before it’s gone for good I’m sharing one last card.

I’ve actually managed to use almost all the paper from this DSP pack. So for my colour combination I started with picking a design from what I have left. The rainbow design offers lots of options. But I went with Gorgeous Grape and Melon Mambo, with a little bit of Pear Pizzazz. Gorgeous Grape is the card base to help the DSP and other elements really pop.

I stamped the large flowers and sentiment using Gorgeous Grape ink. And for the smaller flowers I used Melon Mambo. The leaves are of course stamped with Pear Pizzazz. Then I cut them all out using the coordinating dies for the leaves and flowers. I used one of the Something Fancy dies for the sentiment.

I layered the flowers and leaves straight onto the DSP. If you want, you can play around with this a little bit and pop up a couple of the flowers with Stampin’ Dimensionals. With this card just the sentiment is popping up. Then to finish it off I added two of the large Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

Hues of Happiness

While I’m sad that the Hues of Happiness DSP is retiring, I know it won’t last long! There’s lot of gorgeous paper coming in the new Annual catalogue that launches on Tuesday.

If you live in Canada and would like a copy of your own contact me. I’d be happy to send you one!

And don’t forget there’s still a few more days to get retiring products, or products that are increasing in price. Head over to my online shop before it’s too late!

#SimpleStamping Just Because

Before this month is done I want to make sure I do this month’s #SimpleStamping challenge! This month we’re making a #SimpleStamping just because card. A card to say ‘hello’. And this month we can use something extra. This month we can use a punch on top of the usual stamps, ink and paper.

This time I’m using some retiring products and colours for my card. Two of my favourite colours are retiring; Rich Razzleberry and Pear Pizzazz. I’m especially sad about Pear Pizzazz. That’s been my go-to colour for leaves and foliage. So I had to use it one more time with the Happiness Abounds stamp set (which is also retiring).

Rich Razzleberry is my card base. And Pear Pizzazz is my card mat. Then in the background I stamped a mix of Pear Pizzazz leaves and Rich Razzleberry flowers. I also added a splash of Boho Blue, one of the new In Colours from the upcoming Annual catalogue. Then along the centre strip of Rich Razzleberry cardstock I did some tone on tome stamping with the large flower.

To make this a simple card to say hello, I stamped “friend” in Pear Pizzazz ink. Then I punched it out with the scalloped oval from the Double Oval punch. And to add at least a little something to the card, I popped up my word with some Stampin’ Dimensionals.

#SimpleStamping Just Because

I enjoy making cards for all occasions, so to do some #SimpleStamping just because was pretty fun!

Check out the card I made for last month’s #SimpleStamping challenge here. It also features the Happiness Abounds stamp set.

And there’s only one more week to get any of the retiring products. Don’t miss out! See what’s still available before it’s gone for good in my online shop here.

Goodbye Fresh Freesia

Stampin’ Up! shared how they’re freshening up their colours for the upcoming catalogue with demonstrators this week. I’m sad and excited about what’s to come and I think you will be too! With the new Annual Catalogue coming in just a few weeks I’ve been taking some time to share projects with the 2021-2023 In Colours. As part of this I’ve been sharing projects this week to say goodbye Fresh Freesia. So imagine my surprise when I find out that I don’t have to!

Fresh Freesia is one of my favourites of the 2021-2023 In Colours. So I decided to use it to craft my card for my team’s monthly sketch challenge. Here’s the sketch we’re working with…

goodbye fresh freesia

For my design I’m using the Happiness Abounds bundle (which sadly is retiring) to create a pretty bouquet of flowers. Fresh Freesia is the main colour, of course, but I’m also using Pale Papaya and Pear Pizzazz. I did a little bit of tone on tone stamping with Pear Pizzazz for the leaves. And then I used Fresh Freesia and Pale Papaya for the different kinds of flowers.

Behind the flowers I added a strip of Burlap ribbon from the Real Red & Burlap ribbon combo pack. Then popped up the centre, larger flower with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. The sentiment comes from the Friends are like Seashells stamp set. And I stamped that with Fresh Freesia ink and then used the Layering Circles dies. To have it on the same level as the centre flower I added a few more Dimensionals. Then finally to finish it off I added a few Brushed Brass Butterflies.

Goodbye Fresh Freesia

I’m so glad I don’t have to say goodbye Fresh Freesia! Sadly we do have to say goodbye to Pale Papaya. Check out one of the projects I featured last week using that colour here.

And if you want a sneak peek at some of the new colours, check out this YouTube video from Stampin’ Up!

Collage Stamping with Happiness Abounds

I don’t know if you can call this a technique. But I think it kind of is. And it’s a great one to use if you’re into making more simple cards without lots of die cuts and embossing. I’m talking about Collage Stamping! And I’m doing some collage stamping with Happiness Abounds. This is such a great stamp set for this! Lots of sentiments to choose from and a variety of images to create your collage. Of course you can always mix and match different stamp sets if you like.

Since I’m crafting with Pale Papaya that was the first colour in my combination. This is one of my favourites from the 2021-2023 In Colours and am definitely going to miss it when it retires in a couple of weeks! And since I’m using the Happiness Abounds stamp set I chose Pear Pizzazz as my second colour. Then for my third colour I went with Crumb Cake. I always like at least 3 colours for a card like this and Crumb Cake is a nice subtle, neutral colour.

To create my collage for the background I started with the larger flower image with Pale Papaya ink. Then I stamped the ink splatter image from Quiet Meadow with Crumb Cake ink. And to fill in any open spaces I used Pear Pizzazz ink with one of the leaf images.

For the next layer I simply stamped a sentiment with Pear Pizzazz ink and then stamped a few of one of the smaller flowers around it. Then I die cut it with the Stitched Rectangles dies and did the same with the next larger die to create a Pale Papaya frame. I popped this up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. And then to finish it off I added a few Brushed Brass Butterflies.

Collage Stamping with Happiness Abounds

I just love this card using Collage Stamping with Happiness Abounds! Check out my card from earlier this week using Pale Papaya and Happiness Abounds here.

And be sure to check out my online shop! Some of he 2021-2023 In Colour products are already low inventory!

#SimpleStamping with Happiness Abounds

I’m sharing another #SimpleStamping challenge today! This time I’m doing some #SimpleStamping with Happiness Abounds. And this month we’re only allowed to use stamps, ink and paper to make a birthday card.

For this design I wanted to use Pale Papaya. Each week over the next few weeks I’m featuring one of the soon to be retiring 2021-2023 In Colours. I’m sad that this colour is retiring soon! This have been one of my favourites from this group. So to go with the Happiness Abounds stamp set and Pale Papaya, I’m using Pear Pizzazz to finish off my colour combination. I’m using the Pear Pizzazz for the card base. And then I’m also doing some tone on tone stamping to create a border with some of the smaller images.

With the Pale Papaya, I stamped a few of the larger flowers on a piece of Basic White cardstock. Then framed it with some Pale Papaya cardstock. To make it a birthday card I stamped “happy” in one font from the Biggest Wish stamp set right on top of the flowers. Then on a separate piece of cardstock I stamped “birthday” in a different font with Pale Papaya. And then I popped all these up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals.

#SimpleStamping with Happiness Abounds

To step this card up there are a few different options. You can add some Wink of Stella to the flowers in the centre. Or you can add a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels. And if you want to you could use some of the great rectangular dies!

Even without those, I really like this card using #SimpleStamping with Happiness Abounds. Simple can still look pretty!

Check out the In Colours I featured last week here… or here. Since it was St. Patrick’s Day last week I ended up using both Soft Succulent and Evening Evergreen in my projects.

And don’t forget to stock up on any of the 2021-2023 In Colour products soon! Polished Pink inkpads are already on low inventory! Once these sell out they are gone! Here’s the link to my online shop.

Triple Floating Diamond Card

Fancy Folds Design Team

The Fancy Folds Design team is back for another blog hop! And this month we’re making a Triple Floating Diamond card. It’s a little bit of a bigger card than I usually make so I’ll need to find or make my own envelope, but it’s such a pretty card. You can check out Amanda’s video here. She’s the Scrimpingmommy, from the UK and give you the measurements and steps so you can follow along if you need to.

For my card I decided to not make a holiday card this time. I’m not quite in full holiday crafting mode yet. Instead I’m using the Hues of Happiness Designer Series Paper. It’s so pretty! And I decided to make a sort of thank you card using the coordinating Happiness Abounds stamp set. The colour combination I chose came from the DSP, of course. I used Gorgeous Grape cardstock for the card base. Then I used 2 different designs from the DSP pack for my diamonds. For my ink colours I used Gorgeous Grape and Melon Mambo.

I used a simpler design for my outer diamonds and a darker one in the centre. That way I could have my phrase and stamped flowers stand out. I cut out the flowers using one of the Layering Circles dies and my phrase with one of the Stitched Rectangles dies. Plus I popped these up using some Stampin’ Dimensionals. Then to add a little something more to the outer diamonds I used the Blossoming Happiness dies to cut out a couple of the larger flowers from one of the other designs.

Triple Floating Diamond Card

The Triple Floating Diamond card is such a cool looking card right?!

Make sure to keep hopping so you can see all the cards! Up next is Gina Conner and you can see her card here.

And if you want to check out last month’s blog hop where we made a Curvy Pop-Up card, you can start that hop here.

Paper Craft Crew Challenge #484

I find inkspiration in a lot of different places. Sometimes by something I see in nature, sometimes by another crafter’s design and sometimes when I’m simply looking at my craft stash. That last one doesn’t happen too often, so I’m excited when it does. Today’s card was inkspired by Paper Craft Crew Challenge #484 (PCC484). It’s a Tic Tac Toe challenge which means you can choose any 3 boxes in the grid for your design as long as they create a line. Here’s the grid…

Paper Craft Crew Challenge #484

For my design I choose a diagonal line; ribbon, leaves and watercolour. And I decided to go with some more fall like colours since it is September. I just love Fall colours! And to help these colours pop I’m using a Basic Black card base along with some Black & White 1/4″ Gingham ribbon. The phrase and images come from the Happiness Abounds stamp set. I used a combination of Pear Pizzazz and Tuxedo Black Memento ink for my leaves. And just Memento ink for the flowers and phrase. To watercolour my leaves and flowers I used Pear Pizzazz, Crushed Curry and Calypso Coral.

Behind the leaves and flowers I embossed piece of Basic White cardstock with the Painted Texture 3D Embossing folder. It adds a nice little something in the background and doesn’t take away from the other elements. Then I cut out the centre piece Basic White cardstock using one of the Stitched Rectangles dies and framed it with a piece of Basic Black. From here I popped up the centre rectangle with some Stampin’ Dimensionals and then layered my leaves and flowers on top.

Paper Craft Crew Challenge #484

Check out the other entries for the Paper Craft Crew Challenge #484 here. And check out a card I designed for one of the previous Tic Tac Toe challenges here.

Pretty Patterned Paper

I love pretty patterned paper! Sometimes I love it so much that I have trouble cutting it up and using it. Who’s with me?! Anyway… I think that’s why I love the two cards I’m sharing today from our larger team’s Annual Catalogue card swap. They really show off some great designs featuring two of my favourite Designer Series Paper packs!

This first card was made by Paulette Melanson. She uses the gorgeous Sunprints DSP and Fern 3D embossing on some Starry Sky cardstock to create something that looks like it comes from the same DSP pack. The stamped images come from the coordinating Nature’s Prints stamp set. And the phrase also comes from that set. She also added a few of the Starry Sky dots from the 2022-2024 In Colour Decorative Matte Dots and some of the Starry Sky Metallic Woven ribbon. So pretty!

Pretty Patterned Paper

The other card was made by Rosina Petrella. I love how she layers one of the more colourful designs from the Hues of Happiness DSP on top of one of the more simple designs. She uses a gatefold for this design and uses the more colourful design to keep the card closed. The phrase comes from the coordinating Happiness Abounds stamp set which she stamped using Orchid Oasis and cut out using one of the All That dies. And the die cut leaves are made using the Artistic dies.

Pretty Patterned Paper

I love my team! And I love all of Stampin’ Up!s pretty patterned paper! So of course these two cards are some of my favourites from our team Annual Catalogue card swap.

Check out my card for our Annual catalogue swap here. And if you want to get in on the fun… and the discount… then join my team here!

Watercolouring with Happiness Abounds

I’m really enjoying all this watercolouring for World Watercolouring month! It’s something I love to do, I just don’t always think of it when I’m designing my cards. Hopefully that’ll change after this month. In the meantime I’m enjoying myself and watercolouring with Happiness Abounds is so much fun. The images in this stamp set make it so easy! Plus the Hues of Happiness Designer Series Paper makes for a nice background. And that’s exactly where I started for this card.

To pull my design together I started with choosing the piece of DSP. All these designs are so colourful, but I wanted to choose a design that wasn’t too busy. I wanted the watercolouring to be the main focus. The piece I chose was nice and simple, plus I love purples and blues. Then to really help the colours pop I used a Basic Black card base.

Layered on top of my patterned paper I stamped some flowers on a piece of Basic White cardstock using Tuxedo Black Memento ink. Next I used 2 different Stitched Rectangles dies to add a little something more to the stamped cardstock.

For the other flowers I stamped them using the same ink but on some of the Fluid 100 Watercolour paper. Just to be sure I gave them lots of time to dry. Then I used my Water Painters to add Pool Party and Rich Razzleberry ink to them. To get the darker colours I added the ink straight onto the stamped watercolour paper. And for the lighter shades I brushed off a little bit of ink onto the side of the ink pad lid before colouring. Once these dried I cut them out using the Blossoming Happiness dies and popped them up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. Then to finish it off I added a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels. Gotta add some bling!

Watercolouring with Happiness Abounds

So pretty! I just love how this card turned out. Watercolouring with Happiness Abounds is super easy. This suite has become a fast favourite of mine… if you haven’t noticed yet, lol! Check out another card I created using Happiness Abounds here. And you can check out the entire Hues of Happiness suite in my online shop.

Don’t forget about Sale-a-bration too! Products are starting to sell out and we’re not even half way done. Remember to use this month’s host code when you shop with me online. When you do and your order is $49 or more you’ll receive a FREE card making tutorital complete with a list of supplies and step by step instructions.

Mirror Fold Card

Fancy Folds Design Team

It’s blog hop time again! And this month the Fancy Folds Design Team is making a Mirror Fold Card. I saw this card a little while ago and am excited to share it with you. For measurements and steps to try this yourself check out my YouTube video. Just as a heads up there were a couple of parts that were a bit tricky, but I still love how these cards turned out.

For whatever reason I decided to make two different versions of this card. Maybe it’s the excitement from the newly launched July-December mini catalogue. Who knows?! Anyway… I made one version using the Hues of Happiness suite of products to make a birthday card. And the other version is a Christmas card using the All Spruced Up bundle.

For the birthday card I used Melon Mambo for the card base and a simple design for my patterned paper. The Hues of Happiness Designer Series Paper is sssooo pretty, but I wanted a simple design so the the flowers would be the focus. I cut out the flowers using the coordinating dies. Don’t you just love it when the dies work for both the stamped images AND the images in the DSP pack? I know I do! I popped up the flowers on the front panel using some Stampin’ Dimensionals and then heat embossed “happy birthday” in white on a piece of Basic Black cardstock. Then to finish it off I added a couple of Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

Mirror Fold Card

For the Christmas card I used Pear Pizzazz for my card base and the Painted Christmas Designer Series Paper. I’m so glad this pack of patterned paper is back! The designs are so pretty and some can be used for occasions other than Christmas too. To decorate this version I used the All Spruced Up dies with a few different papers, including the Gold & Silver Foil DSP from the Sale-a-bration catalogue. I cut out the phrase with one of the He’s All That dies and popped it up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. And when I finally found my Festive Pearls I added a couple of the gold ones to the card to finish it off.

Mirror Fold Card

I hope you enjoy this month’s fun fold! Keep hopping around the world and check out the next Mirror Fold Card from Mette Nordling Shaw here.

And you can always check out what we made last month, which was a Diamond Z Fold card. Check out that hop starting here.

Blossoming Happiness

Usually my cards are fairly simple… pretty but simple. I’ve seen some cards with layers upon layers of different things and can appreciate the work that goes into them. For me those designs can be a bit much sometimes. But lately I’ve been wanting to add some more layers to my cards while still keeping it simple. I think it all started with the Hues of Happiness suite. The images from the stamp set and Designer Series Paper are so pretty and the Blossoming Happiness dies lend themselves well to layering.

So in the spirit of keeping it simple I went with a neutral colour combination, Basic Black and Crumb Cake. Then I added a pop of colour with Flirty Flamingo. I stamped some leaves and one of the smaller bouquet of flowers images around the edge of the piece of Crumb Cake using Crumb Cake ink. The tone on tone stamping keeps it subtle and really helps the Flirty Flamingo stand out.

I also stamped a couple of the larger flowers on a piece of Basic White cardstock using Crumb Cake ink. Once that was dry I used one of the Blossoming Happiness dies to create a torn notebook page look. This is such a cool die! I added that to the Crumb Cake card mat on an angle with some Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Then for my last layer I stamped a few flowers using Tuxedo Black Memento ink on some Basic White cardstock. And here’s where the Flirty Flamingo comes in. I coloured the flowers using the Flirty Flamingo Stampin’ Blends. I just love colouring with these markers!! Then I cut them out using the coordinating dies and added them to my card. To finish it off I added a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels and some Wink of Stella to the centre of the coloured flowers.

Blossoming Happiness

I’m slowly easing my way into adding more layers to my cards. It’s a new kind of design, so it’ll take me a few attempts before I start to get the hang of it. But I love the Blossoming Happiness dies and know that they will definitely be a part of future layered creations!

Check out one of my other cards using the Happiness Abounds stamp set here. And you can check out the full Hues of Happiness suite in my online shop.

Simple Handmade Wedding Card

I’m finally getting around to sharing the card I made for my team’s recent Annual Catalogue card swap. With every new catalogue we always do one and I just love all the different card samples I get! I can’t wait to share some of my favourites with you. In the meantime here’s my simple handmade wedding card.

For our swaps we have to use a new stamp set as our main focus. And we need to have an embellishment of some kind. It could be Designer Series Paper, ribbon, jewels. Just something a little extra to step up your card design. For my design I used the Happiness Abounds stamp set. I wanted to make something simple as I needed to make 15 cards. While I sometimes enjoy making cards with a few different pieces/layers, those cards do tend to take a little bit more time.

For my colour combination I used Pale Papaya and Pear Pizzazz. Both are such nice soft colours and they go so nicely together. And instead of adding some of the coordinating DSP, Hues of Happiness, I added some extra colour using the Blending Brushes. I added some Pear Pizzazz behind the flowers and Pale Papaya to colour the flowers. You can stamp the flowers first and then use the Blending Brushes or vice versa. It’s completely up to you. Just make sure if you stamp first that you give plenty of time for the ink to dry so you don’t end up smudging the lines from the stamped images.

From here I used the Blossoming Happiness dies to cut out the two smaller flowers. Then I popped those up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. And the embellishment I used was a few of the Rhinestone Basic Jewels. If you want to add a bit more sparkle you can add some using the Wink of Stella Glitterbrush to the flowers.

Simple Handmade Wedding Card

Such a simple handmade wedding card! Check out this other card I made using the Happiness Abounds products here. And you can check all the products from this suite in my online shop.

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.

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.