Seaside Notions

Hi Stampers!
I've got something very different and not at all Montana for you. The stamp set I want to share today has been in the catalog for a couple of years now so I'm guessing it will be on the retired list and I figured I better share it before it's gone!  It's called "Seaside Notions" and is set of lovely sketched style images with a ocean theme and really amazing sentiments/fonts. I have to admit I had a lot of fun playing with it!  Here are some ideas:

For my first card, I tried a couple of different finishing techniques. I stamped everything you see on Shimmery White card stock. Then I spritzed it with water to make the ink bleed just a tad. THEN, I spritzed it again with our Frost shimmer paint/alcohol combo to make it shimmer even more. It's hard to photograph all the shimmer but it really sparkles in real live!

I also tried a favorite technique on this card. I stamped my images with the new Stazon Saddle Tan (currently out of stock) on vellum paper. I then colored the images with my Stampin'Blends alcohol markers on the back side of the vellum. I added a few sequins to step this card up.

My last idea involved stamping directly on Designer Series Paper, this piece from the Perennial Essence pack. It seemed to be very "seaweed-y" so I thought it would work. I fussy cut the shells and the sand dollars are leftovers from a Paper Pumpkin kit a few months ago.  I hope you've noticed the sentiment in all of these cards. Aren't they are great font?

I've got my supply stuff listed below for easy ordering. Be sure to contact me if you have any questions!

Today's an exciting day for demonstrators!  The new Annual Catalog goes live in PDF format at 1 p.m. and we will be able to start preordering a select group of products in early May. There are many perks to being a demonstrator and it's a no-brainer investment to try it and see if you like it. For $99, you get $125 worth of product, all your choice, and are entitled to access to the demonstrator website, Facebook groups, etc. As part of my team, Big Sky Stampin' Stars, you'll have access to our FB private group page, training, group get togethers, card and idea swaps, team meetings via Zoom, personal one on one coaching and mentoring from me, perks and discounts and freebies from SU with different promotions. I'm always happy to chat with you about joining! I did it 9-1/2 years ago and have more fun every year!

I hope you are well and looking forward to spring and returning to some normality soon!
Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Birthday Bonanza Suite

Hey Friends!
I've been eager to share this awesome suite/bundle with you for many weeks now but it was backordered and didn't want to promote something that was difficult to obtain. It's back on the regular supply list so now I can share my excitement. This is a great set for any age but especially if you make cards, party favors, tags, etc for kids, or the young at heart. The animals are so cute and the color scheme is as cheery as it gets. This bundle is called "Birthday Bonanza" and it includes stamps, dies, gorgeous Designer Series Paper, cute pompoms, ribbon and treat bags. Let's get started!

My first project combines the Birthday Bonanza set with an Annual Catalog set called "For the Win". Don't you just love the colors?  I've included them in my supply list below so you can accurately match the Designer Series Paper. The koala bear was fun to stamp and easy to cut out with a coordinating die. If you look closely, you'll see the Daffodil Delight and Bermuda Bay banner dies too.

Any time Stampin'Up! creates some ice cream themed paper, I want it! These cute koalas are cut out of the Designer Series Paper with the die too.

This toucan bird is pretty cute and it's fun to color his beak with Stampin'Write markers!

One of the dies in this bundle is a tag die!  Perfect for gift bags, presents, party favors, sweet treat add-ons or anything you can think of!

This card features a ton of the stamps - presents, balloons, the lion, a party hat etc.  They are photopolymer so it's easy to line them up accurately and get as detailed as you want!

This is such a fun bundle of creativity for animal lovers and little people in your life. All the supplies are listed below to help you easily order them. You can click on any product and you'll be directed to the online store.

The Mini Catalog will continue going strong through May but as we get closer to June 1st, if product supplies sell out, they won't be replaced so don't wait if there's something you know you want. I've had a few disappointed customers in the past because they waited until the last minute to order a favorite bundle, only to find out it was gone.

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what I'm up to!  I hope you are staying healthy and finding something you love to do each day, just to stay sane, right?!!

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Bird Ballad Online Card Class

Hi Stampin' Friends,
Well, last Friday was a first for me. I held my first online card class. While I've done Facebook Live's before, featuring how I made a card, this time was a legit card class!  The participants signed up ahead of time, ordered the supplies they needed and then we virtually gathered via Zoom to put the cards together, from the packets I had sent ahead of time. I chose to work with the Bird Ballad suite because I knew several people already had it and the availability was good from SU.  I want to share what we made with you today:

The Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper was featured prominently in all of our cards. I think it has such a pretty color scheme and the feather motif was really fun to work with. The die cut feathers are from the "Nature's Thoughts dies. We also used the Bird Ballad Suite coordinating nested dies. For our coloring on all the cards, we used Watercolor Pencils and a blender pen.

This was a Z fold card which is actually easy to make, just more complicated to visualize at first. The base of the card was 4-1/4" x 11" and scored from left to right at 2-3/4" and 5-1/2". The smaller piece is 2" x 11" and scored in the same places. When you assemble the card, you just flip the smaller piece of card stock so the score lines are on the right side of your work instead of the left.  You do have to think through the stamping process and stamp first if you can, then adhere the Designer Series paper where you can, covering up anything you don't want to be seen!

This fun card uses a precut laser card which is part of the Bird Ballad Suite. They come 12 to a decorated tin and include envelopes. We included a trinket from the suite on this card as well.

The last card features more of the Designer Series Paper that we fussy cut. The embossed background is made using the Tin Tile 3D folder.

I have another class coming up in the next two weeks, Family Birthday cards using the Mosaic Mood Suite. Let me know if you're interested. I have an event set up on Facebook under "Big Sky Stampin' " page and you can see more details there.  My online classes include all the precut paper and die cuts you'll need, any ribbon or embellishment, pictures of the completed cards and a video tutorial you can watch at your own leisure if the time of the online class doesn't work for you.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you keep stamping in the midst of staying home!

Happy Monday!
Sarah

Country Club Suite

Hey Stampers!
I hope you had a lovely Easter weekend, even though I'm sure it was quite different than your normal.  Our "in-town" daughter came over and we watched several online church services and ate some great food so in that sense, it felt like it should. Then later, the whole family gathered on Zoom for another game night. I have a feeling some of the Zoom game times will continue even after this quarantine time has passed as it's so fun to all be together when you live separately. It's kinda ironic it took a pandemic for us to figure out ways to connect when distance is a must.

I'm still spending time in my stamp room creating however, my mojo is affected by not having my in person classes. I was also prepping for the next class and thinking up new ideas so it's not as easy to motivate myself. Some days are better than others and when the creativity spark isn't happening, I move on to something else and then return. Last week, I revisited the Country Club Suite in the Mini Catalog. I had made some cards originally, though never got around to featuring them in a blog post. This time, I will!  I like what I made with my second attempt even better!  Here they are:

Even if you are not a golfer, the first thing to love about this suite is the "Country Club" Designer Series Paper. It's perfect for all your masculine card needs with luscious plaids and argyle designs. The color scheme is so vibrant with Poppy Parade, Crushed Curry, Garden Green and Night of Navy - all the basics!  For this card, I used 3 different DSP patterns, stamped the golf ball and tee image and also the badge. I used our retired badge punch for a background for my Happy Father's Day sentiment.

This card features the golf ball and tee dies in the bundle, as well as some wood element cut outs that are part of the suite.  I used my favorite Buffalo Check background stamp for the background!

One really unique paper in the DSP pack are sketched drawings you can color. I used my watercolor pencils and a blender pen to color this. The sheet has 9 images on it, perfectly centered for cutting into 4" x 3" pieces.  There's even a tiny golf ball die included in the suite!

One of the largest stamp images is that of a golfer. I stamped him here in Momento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored with my Stampin' Blends alcohol markers. There are grass dies and golf club dies which are also featured on this card. I figured this was a perfect time to pull out my old dotted embossing folder too!

Three of the images on the sketched sheet of DSP do not have any golfers in them so they can be repurposed for another theme. Here I made a thank you card but this would also work well with sympathy cards. I used the watercolor pencils and blender pens again.

This card shows off some more DSP as well as the coordinating twine that comes in the set. I think you can see if you love golf or the people you make cards for love golf, you should probably get this suite or bundle!  My parents were avid golfers until they aged out and it was such a fun, enjoyable past time for them to share. I would have had a lot of fun making cards for them with this set!

How are you doing?  I'm seriously asking because I'm struggling a bit. I can't really put my finger on it as I look around me and I have absolutely nothing to complain about. I have tons of food and toilet paper (well, not tons, but you know.....), hobbies I enjoy, a husband that loves me, a gorgeous view out my window and the ability to take a walk or read a book at leisure with almost zero demands on my time. Even so, I just want life to go back to the way it was and I'm struggling with the idea that things are going to be different going forward. Change is hard but unknown change is really hard I think. Have you found some ways to spend your time that seems to lift your spirits? I would love to hear about them!  I think we are all realizing how important the other humans in our lives are and I miss them a lot. Meanwhile... it's another day somewhat like all the rest.

I've listed my supplies below in case you want to take advantage of this fun golf-themed suite. It will be only be available through May and supplies could run out before then so don't delay if it's a "must have" for your stash. Thanks so much for stopping by. I do pretend I'm talking to you as I type these blog posts out and it is a connection that I enjoy!  I would love to hear from you with any comments or questions!

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

Hi Dear Stampin' Friends,
I have an easy and special card for you today that was the result of a dream I had. It's hard to explain and kinda crazy but I often dream design ideas, particularly cards but also quilting or knitting and then wake up anxious to remember all the details. If I can't get to it soonish, I try to write down the ideas so I can see if my dream can become a reality. Last night, I dreamed this Easter card and I have it to show you today!

The specifics of my dream were the sponged ground and sky with a cross on a hill and then some colorful butterflies signifying new life and resurrection.  I used some Shimmery White card stock for my background because that is really fun to sponge on. I used daubers with Pear Pizzaz ink and Pool Party ink and I used the cross stamp from "Hold On To Hope".  I brainstormed a few different ideas with butterflies including stamping, die cutting and a punch and settled on heat embossed butterflies on some "See a Silhouette" Designer Series Paper that mostly featured tones of blue and green. I added a little bit of braid and baker's twine and pulled out a retired Easter stamp from the "His Grace" set from last year and I was done!  I made four of these to get out to my kids with one leftover for me to keep as a sample.

I decided since I was doing this, I might as well show you how so I hopped on YouTube and did a video as well!

I invite you to still celebrate Easter and the resurrection of Jesus by taking part in online church in your area. And, in a shameless plug for the worship services my kids are involved in, check out:

Trinity Church - Bozeman

Faith Chapel - Billings

Both will have services posted on Friday for Good Friday and Sunday for Easter. Hallelujah, He is Risen Indeed!

Have a very Blessed Easter!
Sarah

French Countryside

Hi Stampers!
Last week I did a blog post focusing on the "Parisian Blossoms" suite and today I'm back with another French theme - the French Countryside! These stamps could actually represent any rural area and evoke warm, cozy memories of a place captured in another time.  I'm not a gardener, but if I was, I'd want to live in a place like here:

This house looks amazing, doesn't it!  I used some random background paper and retired SU ribbon to create this card but enjoyed heat embossing the house stamp with an Early Espresso embossing powder. The sentiment is from the "Welcome to the Team" stamp set.

For this card, I used my Watercolor pencils and blender pens to create a watercolor look. This is such a fun technique, very relaxing and easy to succeed at.  My flower border at the top of the card is from the new "Ornate Garden" dies, available now and an early release from the 2020-2021 Annual Catalog. The sentiment is from the "Beautifully Braided" stamp set, available from the Mini Catalog.

My last one is a little harder to see. I used Night of Navy ink to stamp on a piece of "Woven Threads" Designer Series Paper. Next time, I would emboss what I stamped to make it stand out more. I love this color scheme! I neglected to write down where I grabbed the sentiment from and now can't find it quickly. I'll update the blog if I figure it out!   A stamp set like "French Countryside" coordinates with any sentiments and can easily be used for any occasion such as birthday, sympathy, thinking of you, get well, wedding, anniversary, etc.

I hope you are doing well as we continue to social distance and isolate. Yesterday the isolation hit me a little harder than normal but today is sunny and bright and at least I can add a bike ride to my very busy schedule (hahaha).  I hope you are well and weathering this time by spending at least a little time stamping. It will boost your morale!

Thanks for stopping by! I really appreciate it!
Sarah

Coronavirus Cards - What??!!

Hi Stampers!
Some times it's a challenge to come up with a new idea. I don't spend a ton of time on Pinterest or other DIY sources but every now and then, there's something that inspires me and makes me laugh. Today I have an example for you and based on that, took the theme a little further. It got me wondering what stamps I had in my stash that could be used to make cards reflecting our current state of affairs, isolation due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. I figure I could go crazy or I could make cards, right?  I made some cards:

This card almost needs no explanation, right?  I saw this idea from another SU demonstrator on a Facebook group I belong to but neglected to write down her name to give her the inspirational credit.  I used the cute Meerkats from a SAB stamp set as well as some Tropical Oasis Designer Series Paper. My sentiment is from the "Cuckoo for You " Bundle! I used the arrow from one of this year's Valentine bundles!

I grabbed a piece of my favorite Peaceful Poppies Designer Series Paper for this card and the SAB "Tags in Bloom" set for this card.

I can't get over how cute this raccoon is in the "Special Someone" bundle and I paired it with a stamp from the "Well Said" stamp set - really a good investment if you need a sentiment for anything and don't have a lot of room to store your supplies or money to spend on stamps!

This final card features more of the SAB products including the "Lily Impressions" Designer Series Paper and the Rise and Shine stamp set and Cup of Christmas dies. I'm hopeful I will be meeting some friends soon!

What are focusing on in your stamping time? I hope it brings you joy and cheer as we strive to remain positive and hopeful. I think I will do this again if this goes on much longer!

There's an easy way to get to our online store by clicking on the "shop now" picture on the right side bar. While some of our products availability has been affected by the pandemic, most of our supplies are in and ready for purchase so give yourself the gift of some new stamps or other products to brighten your day and then bless someone else with a handmade card!

Stay calm and Keep Stampin'!
Sarah

Music From the Heart

Hey Friends,
I was going to start out by saying I hope you had a good weekend but if you're like me, we seem to be in a perpetual "Saturday" mode. There isn't the normal weekday routine, there isn't Sunday church and family dinners, there isn't school, there aren't any appointments to dash off for... Life is certainly  weird right now. I'm bouncing around between some hobbies I enjoy, reading, going for a walk and staring out the window at the mountains. It's not a bad way to spend time but it's not normal and I miss my friends and family so much. I'm sure you are in the same boat and we will get through this. I'm hoping it's sooner rather than later.

One of the things I miss the most is attending church and while I can see the sermons online, I really miss raising my voice with everyone else around me. I miss the singing, the piano, the guitars, etc. I thought maybe playing with the "Music From the Heart" set would help so that's what I did on one of my "Saturdays" this week. Have a look!

Do you enjoy making your own background paper?  I love to do it but don't remember to do it often enough.  I used some Granny Apple Green DSP from the "Pleased As Punch" Sale-A-Bration DSP and stamped various musical images in Granny Apple Green ink.  I used a black and white stripe piece of DSP from the Botanical Prints medley kit to mimic the look of a keyboard. I fussy cut the keyboard and then hand cut the green background to make it stand out a little better.

This card features some more stamping on Designer Series Paper, this time on Woven Threads DSP. I also colored with my Stampin' Blends on this paper and that works great as well. The bird stamps are included in the set so I decided to use those instead of notes on the musical staff.

This is the first card I made, awhile back. My kids were/are very involved in music so I was most anxious to get my hands on this set. My inspiration for this card was our annual school fundraiser called "Hawks Night Live" which was such a spectacular showcase of musical talent. Our school colors are black and red so that's what I used!

This final card uses some of the Honey Bee paper, also from Sale-A-Bration and no longer available. Black and Gold are so elegant together and it was fun to combine them for this card.

If you are a musical person or family, you should take advantage of this set as you never know how long it will be around. Although I didn't use it in my examples, there is a great Happy Birthday sentiment included  so you can make some musical birthday cards as well.

I feel like we all need a pep talk to hang in there about now. This is starting to drag on a bit. If you have too much time on your hands, might I suggest you make some cards and get them in the mail to encourage others?!  If you don't have supplies, consider purchasing a card kit. You'll enjoy the activity of making them and even more, you'll brighten someone else's day with happy mail. At this time, we have these many kits available and I've listed them all in the supply list below so you can readily get to the online store by clicking on any of them.   I promise stamping will improve your day, your mood and your well being!

Thanks for stopping by and having a peek!
Happy Stampin'!
Sarah

Parisian Blossoms Suite

Hi Stampers!
Well, it's Friday but for the past few weeks, everyday seems the same doesn't it. I have to think pretty hard every morning when I wake up about what day it actually is and if there's anything I was supposed to do today. I'm not complaining, I'm just confused!  I hope you are safe and healthy and finding ways to spend time that works for you. I keep wandering between stamping, knitting, quilting, reading, walking the dog, baking and cooking and contacting friends. It's a nice life, just not the one I'm used to. There's some fear of the unknown lurking in the background that I try to keep at bay. I'm choosing to stay positive and limit my intake of news and negative info for now, otherwise I think I would go crazy or despair which I don't want to do.

One of the things I'm working on is trying to backtrack to January and see what I've missed blogging about as far as the new Mini Catalog goes. April and May are the last months to enjoy this beauty and most of the products are still available to order, while many on back order are coming soon.  Did you notice the Parisian Beauty bundle on page 17?  It's a French-inspired set which is not completely unusual as we've had them before, but this one includes some Eiffel Tower dies that are new and different. I played with this earlier this winter but don't think I every shared what I did so here you go:

There are two different Eiffel Tower dies, one an outline and the other a detailed cut.  I featured them both on this card  and because they are different scales, I placed the outline behind the foil detailed cut. The dies also include the words "Amour" (love) and "Merci" (thank you). I took French all thru high school and a year in college and barely remember a thing, haha!

This card features more of the stamps which include the Eiffel tower, post mark and stamp and some sentiments. I know there is a bridge in Paris that is famous for keys and locks as well, which this Designer Series Paper captures. It's called "Parisian Blossoms" Specialty Designer Series Paper and is featured in all of these projects because I loved it so much.  The color palette includes Petal Pink, Pool Party and Cherry Cobbler. My key and bow are from the "Bird Ballad" trinkets.

My last card features the Eiffel tower again and an elegant swirl die in silver foil paper. I love any kind of script background, either stamped or in the paper as this one happens to be.

My final card features some more products from this luscious suite. I fussy cut the flowers out of the DSP, used the Parisian Flourish Embossing Folder and some of the Petal Pink metallic edge ribbon.  What a gorgeous color scheme for spring. I plan to make some wedding and anniversary cards with these products.

While we can't travel to Paris right now, we can celebrate it with this fun bundle. You'll find all my supply information below and I encourage you to jump in if you are a fan of Paris or French-inspired themes. I think I've inspired myself today and I'm going to spend some more time with this bundle this weekend and revisit it! I know there's more to create out there....

I sure miss my classes and seeing my demo team and customers.  I'm brainstorming how to connect with customers in some kind of virtual card class experience so stay tuned for more on that. It's a bit complicated but I'm hoping to come up with something soon.  Meanwhile, I hope you are giving your stamping stash some love. It's great therapy and great for making you feel like it was time well spent!

Blessings,
Sarah

More About Paper Pumpkin - April Preview!

Hey Friends,
I'm back today with some fun ideas from the extra stamp set we received in March 2020's Paper Pumpkin kit. Have you tried Paper Pumpkin yet?  It is so fun and the perfect set up for a time like this. Are you a little restless or bored? Need some crafting therapy?  You should give this a try!  You can sign up for a subscription for as little as $22 a month or save a little more by signing up for a prepaid 3, 6 or 12 month subscription. You can pause or cancel your subscription at any time or you can keep it going for a monthly box of fun delivered via USPS right to your door. 

March was Paper Pumpkin's 7th anniversary so they included an extra set of stamps for us to play with, also with a rain/spring/boot kind of theme. Here are some cards I made playing with this extra set and some stamps from the March Paper Pumpkin kit as well.

Part of my projects during this time of quarantine has been cleaning out shelves and drawers in my stamp room and I've found several pieces of paper and ribbon that were originally cut for some project but got left behind. It's fun to use up stuff that you have. Anyone who's been with SU for awhile will recognize some old ribbon and old colors like Wild Wasabi and Primrose Petals. 

I would love for you to try Paper Pumpkin!  It's easy to subscribe and I think you'll really enjoy it. You get all you need to complete the projects included in the box with the possible exception of a pair of scissors to cut some ribbon or twine. The directions are easy to follow and the projects include lots of parts and pieces to give you a multidimensional, layered look. You won't believe how accomplished you'll feel, especially if you are a brand new stamper.  There are always extras included so you'll be starting a collection of stamps, inks and leftover paper to use for another time.  Here's the link:

Paper Pumpkin Sign up link

Curious about April's kit, coming up soon?  Here's a clue!

You need to sign up by April 10th to receive this kit. It sounds like perfect timing for our circumstances, reaching out to those we love especially if we can't be together in person!  I hope to see you soon on Paper Pumpkin!

Keep Stampin'!
Sarah

Ornate Garden Suite, Early Release!!

Hi Friends!
I'm coming to you today from about 6" of more snow on top of the snow we've already gotten this week in Montana. Just to make things interesting, we had a regional earthquake last night too. It's hard to know what to focus on so I'm sticking in my happy place, which most of the time is some kind of crafting. How about you?

Little did Stampin'Up! know we would all need something new to cheer us on April 1st this year. Probably long ago, they decided to release a new suite from the upcoming Annual Catalog (out June 3rd) today and boy am I glad! I was able to preorder it last month and have been playing with it. It's called Ornate Garden and it is quite lovely.  I have lots to show you today!  There are cards that I've made, the look at the suite itself and a couple of videos. Hang on!

Here are some of my ideas so far!

As you can see, the overall theme is flowers and thanks. There are so many options with the stamps and dies however. Look at the products you get in this suite:







Here's a video I created to show you the suite up close, plus some ribbon and embellishments that are also included:

 And a video from Stampin'Up!

That's a lot to play with, isn't it!  I'm especially glad for the spring theme which gives me hope amidst all the winter I'm looking at.  I've listed the complete suite below, as well as the components so click on any of them to get yourself to the online store. If the entire suite is too much right now, consider maybe a set of the dies and a stamp set, or even a pack of the gorgeous Designer Series Paper.  I hope this is just what you need to brighten your days!

Thanks for stopping by and keep stampin'!
Sarah