Pressed Petals Thank You and a Blog Hop!

Happy Saturday...or perhaps I should say happy BOGO-day! Today is my big, big BOGO sale where I give away new product from the annual catalogue of equal value to purchases of retired products from my sale. It is a crazy-popular event...doors open at 8 am and I typically have a line-up of eager shoppers waiting. I mean, who doesn't love free stuff, right?

Today also marks our monthly Stamping Symphony team blog hop...

This month we are all about new products and, since I'm focusing on the gorgeous new Pressed Petals Suite this week, I thought I'd share another project I demonstrated in this week's Live @ Five video...

This simple, vintage-inspired thank you card is made quickly and easily thanks to the gorgeous DSP and awesome washi tape. The sheet music DSP is crumpled, smoothed out and distressed with Soft Suede ink before being adhered to the Crumb Cake card base. I love the extra texture the wrinkles add!
Speaking of texture, isn't that linen-look label fabulous? That's more of the DSP, die-cut using the Stitched Nested Labels dies. It is so realistic, you pretty much have to touch it to see if it is actual linen! Here's a closer look...

Now, how about that pretty flower? Can you believe it is Washi tape?? This stuff is, hands down, my favourite new product. It is so fast and easy to create pretty flowers by just peeling each petal off the roll and sticking it down! If you haven't already gotten your hands on some of this tape, you NEED it. Trust me. The sentiment label is die-cut from Mossy Meadow card stock using the Petal Labels dies...another must-have in my book! I added a little Bird Ballad Trinket and some Braided Linen Trim by way of embellishment. Gotta love simple, but pretty!

For a demonstration of how I put this card together, check out my video...

Ready for more new catalogue inspiration? Hop on over to Sandy's blog to see what she's been up to!

1. Leena (You are here)

2. Sandy

3. Barb

4. Jennifer

5. Steph

Thanks for stopping by this weekend...see you Monday for my weekly feature.

Product List

Path Of Petals Bundle [151131] $56.50	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad [147111] $10.25	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [147115] $10.25	Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [120953] $12.00
Mossy Meadow 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [133676] $12.00	Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101650] $13.25	Pressed Petals Specialty Designer Series Paper [149500] $20.00	Stitched Nested Labels Dies [149638] $48.00
Pressed Petals Specialty Washi Tape [149585] $10.25	Bird Ballad Trinkets [149594] $9.50	3/16" (1 Cm) Braided Linen Trim [147808] $9.50	Sponge Daubers [133773] $7.00

A Musical Christmas

Happy Wednesday! I hope you are having a good week. I've been spending lots of time playing with my new Holiday Catalogue pre-order products and am I ever having fun! SO many fabulous ideas for classes this fall! Today I thought I'd share a little sneak peek with you....

This card makes my musician-heart just sing! ;) There are several music-themed products in the upcoming catalogue, so naturally I had to order them ALL! I used several of them on this vintage-inpired card. The background paper is from the Merry Music DSP pack. (You'll find this paper on page 13 of the new Holiday Catalogue) This pack is all black and white, so I sponged the paper with Crumb Cake and Soft Suede ink to make it look aged and worn. I also tore one side to make it look like it had been ripped from a songbook (not that I would EVER destroy perfectly good sheet music!) I also crumpled the DSP to add texture and interest.

The die-cut French horn is cut from gold foil using the new Musical Instruments Framelits. SOOO excited about those! The sentiment is heat embossed in gold using the coordinating Musical Season stamp set. (Both the stamps and dies are available in a discounted bundle on page 25...yippee!!)  The pine boughs behind the horn are cut from Always Artichoke and Garden Green card stock, using the new Christmas Staircase Thinlits. I think these dies are already my most-used from the new catty (you'll find them on page 6). The pine boughes make perfect accents and embellishments! The only embellishments on this card are some pearls that I coloured with an alcohol marker and some gold metallic thread.

On the inside of the card I added a Very Vanilla panel on which I stamped another sentiment in Soft Suede ink and the border image in Cherry Cobbler. Both are from the Musical Season stamp set.

I designed this card for a creative challenge I issued to my Tri-City Stampers team recently. We were to create a project using our least-favourite Stampin' Up colour. My least favourite colour is Always Artichoke. I find it very muddy and difficult to use, but, on this vintage-looking card, it totally works! Maybe I misjudged poor Always Artichoke...perhaps it's time to rethink its virtues ;)

If you are in Canada and don't currently have a demonstrator I would be happy to send you a copy of the new Holiday Catalogue. There are sooo many fabulous new products in there! Just send me a quick message and I'll get one in the mail to you lickety split so you'll have lots of time to make your wishlist before it goes live on September 1st.

Have a great day!


Product List

Always Artichoke 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [105119] $10.00	Garden Green 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [102584] $10.00	Cherry Cobbler 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119685] $10.00	Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101650] $11.25
Gold Foil Sheets [132622] $5.25	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [126975] $8.50	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad [126966] $8.50	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [126978] $8.50
Versamark Pad [102283] $11.25	Embossing Buddy [103083] $8.00	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder [109129] $6.75	Heat Tool [129053] $40.00
Big Shot [143263] $136.00	Gold Metallic Thread [138401] $4.00	Pearl Basic Jewels [144219] $6.75	Sponge Daubers [133773] $7.00

Carousel Birthday

Happy Monday! I hope you had a good weekend! Today marks the start of the second semester at school...officially half-way done the school year! Summer can't come soon enough for this tired-out teacher!
Today I have a fun, vintage-inspired birthday card for you.

One of the things I love most about Stampin' Up! is the way they offer suites of coordinating products that make putting together fabulous projects a breeze. This project features products from the Cupcakes and Carousels Suite, which is full of vintagey images and a fabulous colour pallette. Here I built my card on an Early Espresso card stock base that I embossed using the Festive TIEF. I layered a 3" x 5-1/2" piece of Cupcakes and Carousels DSP on top of the embossed card base.

The focal image consists of a Very Vanilla oval die-cut using the Stitched Shapes Framelits and layered on a scalloped oval, die-cut from another piece of Cupcakes and Carousels DSP using the Layering Ovals framelits. On the vanilla oval I stamped several images from the Carousel Birthday stamp set using Early Espresso, So Saffron and Bermuda Bay ink. I added some gold 3/8" metallic Sale-a-bration ribbon behind the layered ovals which reminds me of streamers at a carnival.

The sentiment, from the Suite Sentiments stamp set, is stamped in Early Espresso ink on yet another piece of Cupcakes and Carousels DSP. I used the Triple Banner punch to create the banner ends. The only embellishment I added, besides the ribbon, are a few Bermuda Bay enamel dots.

On the inside I added a piece of Very Vanilla card stock on which I stamped more images from the Carousel Birthday stamp set in So Saffron, Bermuda Bay and Early Espresso (the latter two were stamped-off once).

What's not to love about coordinating products when it makes pulling together fabulous projects so easy?? Click any of the images in the Product List below to visit my webstore and start creating with this amazing suite.

Product List

Carousel Birthday Clear-Mount Stamp Set [142832] $23.00	Suite Sentiments Clear-Mount Stamp Set [142971] $25.00	Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119686] $10.00	Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101650] $11.25
Cupcakes & Carousels Designer Series Paper Stack [142744] $12.50	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [126974] $8.50	So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad [126957] $8.50	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad [131171] $8.50
Big Shot [143263] $136.00	Festive Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [141471] $11.25	Layering Ovals Framelits Dies [141706] $46.00	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies [145372] $40.00
3/8" Metallic Ribbon Combo Pack [143601] $0.00	Brights Enamel Shapes [141680] $12.00