Hold on to Hope

March 30, 2018 By Mary Haugen

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

Today’s card uses the Hold on to Hope set and coordinating Cross of Hope framelits to create a note of encouragement.

I love the detail in the cross framelit. I used the Petal Pair embossing folder to add some texture to the shite panel and stamped the flower in crumb cake on the crumb cake piece. Both sentiments are stamped in Soft Suede. Here is a closer look at the stamped panel.

I like the subtle flowers behind the sentiment. The Tutti-frutti cards and envelopes make a nice base. This card would look good in any of the colors in the pack.

Thanks for stopping by. As we prepare to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday, I leave you with the words of one of my favorite hymns:

O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, Thine only crown.
O sacred Head, what glory,
What bliss, till now was Thine!
Yet, though despised and gory,
I joy to call Thee mine.

-Mary

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Thinking of Springtime

March 27, 2018 By Mary Haugen

I am so over winter – COME ON SPRING! It has been cloudy with snow, sleet, rain then sleet again today. I am done. Brett has been gone for the past week taking Stamp-n-Storage on the road to Arizona and California. I am a little jealous. I need sunshine and warmth.

Today’s card is featuring the Sale-a-Bration Springtime Foil Specialty DSP. This paper is gorgeous! The picture really doesn’t show off how stunning this paper really is. The metallic shine is so pretty. And this pattern features gold and my favorite Rose Gold! I really hope Stampin’ Up! brings out more Rose Gold stuff. Ooooh – how about a Rose Gold embossing powder! That’s what I need. Anyway, here’s todays card.

I kept it very simple to let the beauty of the paper stand out. The flowers are rose gold foil. The flower centers and dots are gold foil. As I said, the photo doesn’t capture the elegance of the Rose Gold. The sentiment is from the Heartfelt Blooms set. I stamped it in black on Gold Foil paper. The Springtime Foil specialty designer series paper would be perfect for wedding cards. Grab this paper while you can – once Sale-a-Bration is done, it is gone forever!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!

-Mary

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Inky Friends DC 4

March 23, 2018 By Mary Haugen

I’m back with my Inky Friends for another design challenge. This time it’s a color scheme found on page 79 of the 2017-18 Annual Catalog.

This one had me stumped for a bit. I rarely use Marina Mist or Blushing Bride. But, I like a challenge and it is good to step out of your comfort zone occasionally. After some thought, I settled on this:

I used Lots of Lavender set with the addition of Basic Gray for the outline and sentiment. Stop by the Inky Friends blog and see what the other designers created with this color scheme. There really is a lot you can do with it! Then play along and share your creation.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!

-Mary

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Heartfelt Blooms

March 21, 2018 By Mary Haugen

With just ten days of Sale-a-Bration left, I wanted to share some of the other projects I have made – ones that do not use Party Pandas. (What can I say, they are sooooo cute.) Today I have a card I made with the Heartfelt Blooms set. This set is AMAZING! It has a photorealistic look.

A fairly simple card looks very detailed with this set. I colored the Pearls with the light Rich Razzleberry Stampin’ Blends and went over them with the light Smoky Slate to get a color close to Sweet Sugarplum. The ribbon is from the Sale-a-Bration Ribbon pack. This card would be great for a lot of different occasions.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!

-Mary

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Birthday Cupcake

March 16, 2018 By Mary Haugen

Hey, Hey, It’s my Birthday! On the sad side, it is the first birthday I don’t have any of my kids around. On the happy side, I am going to Chanhassen Dinner Theatre tonight to see Newsies! Going to see a show is the perfect birthday celebration for me! Brett and I celebrated last night with a pre-birthday dinner at Zella’s (Local Restaurant). They even brought me a red velvet birthday cupcake, complete with candle! I don’t remember the last time I actually had a candle to blow out. It was very tasty! (And, they DIDN”T sing at me. Bonus!)

The past two months, I have focused a lot on sharing Sale-a-Bration and Occasion catalog stuff, and have made some very fun birthday projects. But let’s not forget the great sets in the Annual catalog. In honor of the delicious treat above, I thought I would share two cards using one of my favorites: Sweet Cupcake.

I love the simplicity in this one. It really lets the cupcake stand out. Flirty Flamingo makes for some great looking frosting!

I really stepped things up for this next card.

I love all the little details on this one. The coordinating framelits really help make this card extra special.

Is it strange that I really don’t want to give these two away. Can I give myself a birthday card? I’ve bought myself a birthday present before – so, Why not! Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!

-Mary

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Eclectic Birthday

March 14, 2018 By Mary Haugen

Sale-a-Bration is soon coming to an end, and I realized that there are several sets I haven’t played with yet. I had better get to work! Today’s card is a quick and easy birthday greeting with the Eclectic Expressions Sale-a-Bration set. This card size is 3 1/2″ x 5 1/2″. Color scheme is Bermuda Bay, Lemon Lime Twist and Pumpkin Pie.

I love the style of this set. It can be used for great backgrounds or as a focal point. I definitely need to create more with this one.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!

-Mary

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Panda Birthday

March 12, 2018 By Mary Haugen

I have another Party Pandas card to share with you. I seriously can not get enough of these little guys. They are so cute!

I like how the little panda is partly off the panel. Looks like he is stretching up with his balloon. I stamped the balloon on Lemon Lime Twist, stamped the confetti image in it and fussy cut it out. It is popped up on a mini dimensional. The main Lemon Lime Twist card base is embossed with the Oh My Stars embossing folder. A strip from the Picture Perfect DSP stack helps set off the image panel. What a cheerful birthday greeting!

Sale-a-Bration is almost over – don’t miss your chance to get these adorable Pandas (or any of the other great Sale-a-Bration items) for FREE with a qualifying purchase. You can hop on over to my Stampin’ Up! store from the pull down tab at the top of this page and grab yours today!

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Hidden Gems Blog Hop

March 9, 2018 By Mary Haugen

I’m back with my Inky Friends for another Blog Hop. This time we are featuring Hidden Gems – sets that are often overlooked in the annual Stampin’ Up! calendar. Be sure to make your way through all of the stops on our hop. You may find a new favorite set or two along the way.

I am featuring Celebration Time. This set is a lot of fun for birthday projects and the coordinating framelits add to it’s versatility.

This first project has a very classy look thanks to the silver stripes from the Sale-A-Bration Springtime Foils Specialty DSP. The black panel is embossed with the Petal Pair Textured Impressions embossing folder. I couldn’t get it to photograph well. I cut out the cake framelit in silver and white (which had been stamped with the sentiment). I trimmed off the bow and base on the white and layered it on the silver. A paper doily, some silver sequin trim and a few rhinestones finish off this elegant card.

For this next card, I played around with some watercoloring. I started with a wash of Pool Party on panel of watercolor paper. Once it was dry, I stamped “celebrate” in Calypso Coral. I flicked some Bermuda Bay ink from my aquapainter for a little more depth. For the cake I cut out the framelit in Pool Party and Watercolor paper. I Slowly built up layers of Calypso Coral to create the ombre look on the cake. The little flower is actually on of the pieces for the top of the party hat. There are also a few of the clear epoxy shapes scattered on the card. Simple, but fun!

This time I decided to focus on some of the bolder images in the set. Pair them with Lemon Lime Twist and Tempting Turquoise and you have a bold, fun card. This flower was created using both of the tops for the party hat.

For my final project, I made some fun gift tags. I hope you see what a great set Celebration Time is.

I now send you over to Mickey Roberts featuring Pocket Full of Sunshine. Don’t forget to check out all of the other great sets along the hop. Or you can click on the previous button and go to Sharleen and her Jar of Love.

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You’re Grand

March 7, 2018 By Mary Haugen

Sharing one last project with the Truly Tailored Suite today. How about a little treat box filled with goodies to let someone know how “grand” they are.

I started with on of the adorable little pizza boxes. I sponged Night of Navy all over it and let it dry over night. I layered the DSP and stamped image on top. I created the bow tie by punching out a piece of DSP with the Tailored Tag punch and cutting it in half and adding the tiny center piece. A couple of True Gentleman buttons finish off the box. And then I had to find the perfect treat to put inside –

100 Grand bars, of course (three will fit nicely in this little box).

Make sure you stop by on Friday. It’s time for another Inky Friends blog hop and we have some great projects lined up. Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!

-Mary

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A Dapper Day

March 5, 2018 By Mary Haugen

The title of today’s post definitely refers to the card I made, not the weather. Freezing rain, high winds, snow coming – Yuck! But that means more time in my studio. I have another card featuring the Truly Tailored suite. What can I say, I was on a roll.

I started with a Night of Navy card base and added a Navy panel I embossed with the Simple Stripes embossing folder. I used Stampin’ Write Markers in Night of Navy, Tranquil Tide, Chocolate Chip and Crushed Curry on the sentiment stamp and cut it out with the Stitched Shapes framelits. Finished off with a True Gentleman button and some Linen Thread. Fun greeting for the dapper gent in your life.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!

-Mary

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