Striped Quilt: Merry Christmas

What’s better than a card created with scraps of some of the most beautiful paper ever? Ever Eden Specialty Designer Series Paper had Evening Evergreen, Soft Succulent, and gold in its designs (I say “had” because although it was available in the Clearance Rack after it retired, it is now gone). The gold was not obnoxious, just rich. So here I combined two Ever Eden patterns with the equally beautiful Distressed Gold Specialty Paper.

Christmas to Remember | Ever Eden Specialty Designer Series Paper | This card has three 1" strips of patterned paper adhered at an angle.  Simple.  Impressive.  Please click to read more! | Stampin' Up! | HeartfeltInkspiration.com | Debra Burgin

This October Jingle Jump card is so simple, consisting of three 1″ wide strips adhered to a panel at an angle and embossed. The embossing gives it a quilted feel, but also serves as to “mash” the strips so they are less likely to lift if they are not completely adhered from edge to edge. In addition, embossing a panel that is the same color as the card base is a good way to give it some contrast without adding a mat.

Christmas to Remember | Ever Eden Specialty Designer Series Paper | This card has three 1" strips of patterned paper adhered at an angle.  Simple.  Impressive.  Please click to read more! | Stampin' Up! | HeartfeltInkspiration.com | Debra Burgin

Although we made this as a Christmas card, using other long sentiments it totally works as a birthday or anniversary card. I’ll show you one of my most frequently used birthday sentiments later this week.

Click the images below to add current products for this card to your cart in my Stampin’ Up! online store. Disclosure: I get a commission for purchases made through these links, at no additional charge to you. Thank you!

Posted in Christmas, Jingle Jump | 1 Comment

Seasonal Sale ends today!

Still working through your Stampin’ Up! 2022-2023 wish list? If you have punches, stamps, dies, embossing folders, or non-specialty Designer Series Paper on that list, don’t miss the Seasonal Sale that ends todayall of those are on sale, but items are only available while they last!

Click here to see a list of all items in the Seasonal Sale.

Shop with me using Host Code P2HYC3MK with an order of at least $50 in product, and I’ll send you a package of Simply Elegant Trim (Annual Catalog page 145) free as a thank you!

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Christmas Scottie: Merry Christmas

No candy canes for you, buddy! Sweet as they may be, these are for decorative purposes only.

As with this card from last week, stampers at last month’s Jingle Jump used a Stamparatus to get the coat of this furry friend a deep black. Never used a Stamparatus? This “stamp positioner” can help line up two images (as in two-step stamping) or stamp one image multiple times in exactly the same place for complete ink coverage. Of course, stampers have discovered tricks and techniques that make this quite a wonderful tool to have close at hand as you are creating. (And wouldn’t it make a fabulous gift!)

Christmas Scottie | Using the Stamparatus helped get a deep black Scottie -- please click to read more! | Stampin' Up! | HeartfeltInkspiration.com | Debra Burgin

We could have left the white background plain, but a subtle, overall pattern made it much more interesting. I use this Tasteful Textile embossing folder on lots of projects. (Click here for a slightly different version of this card.)

Christmas Scottie | Using the Stamparatus helped get a deep black Scottie -- please click to read more! | Stampin' Up! | HeartfeltInkspiration.com | Debra Burgin

There is a stamp for the bow, but I couldn’t resist a polka-dotted bow punched from the same Sweetest Christmas Designer Series Paper as the candy cane pattern. Life is better with dots, wouldn’t you agree?

Click the images below to add current products for this card to your cart in my Stampin’ Up! online store. Disclosure: I get a commission for purchases made through these links, at no additional charge to you. Thank you!

Posted in 2022 July-December Mini, Christmas, Jingle Jump | Tagged , | Comments Off on Christmas Scottie: Merry Christmas

Framed & Festive: Fancy Frames

I was so excited about the results of my first experiment using one of the Fancy Frames dies, I just had to use the other one! Fancy Frames (#159176) is included in the Seasonal Sale (November 15-18) at a 20% discount!

Framed & Festive | Fancy Frames | Affixing an Adhesive Sheet to the back of a piece of Glimmer Paper ensures this filigree frame will adhere to a cardstock panel with no trouble at all!  Please click to read more! | Stampin' Up! | HeartfeltInkspiration.com | Debra Burgin

This “filigree” die is the same size as the other one: 4½” tall x 3″ wide. So I was utterly perplexed why this fit perfectly on a standard card base, with equal margins all the way around. And yet, when used on a note card, it also fit with equal margins. But the proportions of the cards are not identical. How could this be? I used my grid paper to do the math. The frame (matted here) should have narrower margins on the side. And then, SMH, I measured the card base and discovered it was actually 5½” tall x 4″ wide — not 4¼”. The difference will not be noticeable to the recipient, I’m pretty sure, and I will continue to make this “mistake” when I use these dies again!

Framed & Festive | Fancy Frames | Affixing an Adhesive Sheet to the back of a piece of Glimmer Paper ensures this filigree frame will adhere to a cardstock panel with no trouble at all!  Please click to read more! | Stampin' Up! | HeartfeltInkspiration.com | Debra Burgin

To add more shimmer and shine, I used a little trick. Did you know you can heat emboss images stamped in Classic Ink? You can do this two ways: (1) immediately pour clear embossing powder over the stamped image (before the ink has time to dry) and heat emboss; or (2) ink up the stamp in VersaMark ink, then in Classic Ink. Then sprinkle with powder and heat emboss the image. I used the first method. It’s kind of magical to see the image shiny and raised, but you must act quickly! The second way is more reliable, but if you’re going to do several, you need to thoroughly clean the ink from the stamp before starting over so the VersaMark pad is not totally trashed (just maybe a little). Don’t forget that Framed & Festive will not be in the January-April 2023 Mini Catalog and is only available while supplies last.

I flat adhered the stem ends of the little holly leaves using Multipurpose Liquid Glue. When the glue was dry, I stuck a tiny piece of Stampin’ Dimensional under each tip, then brush on Wink of Stella.

Click the images below to add current products for this card to your cart in my Stampin’ Up! online store. Disclosure: I get a commission for purchases made through these links, at no additional charge to you. Thank you!

Sparkle Glimmer Paper
Sparkle Glimmer Paper
[146957]
Posted in 2022 July-December Mini, Christmas, Tip | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Framed & Festive: Fancy Frames

Seasonal Sale begins tomorrow!

Create more and spend less during the Seasonal Sale! For four days only — November 15-18, 2022 — select products from the 2022–2023 Annual Catalog will be on sale with the following discounts:

  • 10% off all punches
  • 15% off all stamps (Host stamp sets are not included in this sale)
  • 20% off all dies
  • 20% off all embossing folders
  • 20% off all non-specialty Designer Series Paper

Click here to see a list of all items in the Seasonal Sale.

With the season of giving upon us, the Seasonal Sale is an excellent opportunity to buy gifts for your fellow crafting enthusiasts or stock up on supplies for all your upcoming handmade projects. Remember, this sale is for four days only, and items are only available while they last — don’t miss out!

Shop with me using Host Code P2HYC3MK with an order of at least $50 in product, and I’ll send you a package of Simply Elegant Trim (Annual Catalog page 145) free as a thank you!

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Peace to You: Church in Snow

This October Jingle Jump card (the most popular card over the weekend) was inspired by Amy Koenders. This simple scene of a classic country church in the snow is such a striking image, there’s no reason to get complicated or fussy.

Peace to You | Night of Navy against white creates the perfect night sky.  Please click to read more! | Stampin' Up! | HeartfeltInkspiration.com | Debra Burgin

The night sky, created with Night of Navy ink, was best accomplished with a Stamparatus in order to ensure deep and total coverage. However, this could make for a saturated Thick Basic White scrap, and it must be dried thoroughly before using the Stitched Rectangle die. If it is not dry, the ink actually gets pressed into the die, and on the next panel that is cut the ink will be squeezed onto your project. You can see a bit of that on the stitching to the lower right in the photo below. I warned the Jingle Jump stampers about this and never heard anyone with an issue. Or perhaps I’m just fussier than most stampers — and this has been brought to my attention more than once!

Peace to You | Night of Navy against white creates the perfect night sky.  Please click to read more! | Stampin' Up! | HeartfeltInkspiration.com | Debra Burgin

I loved the idea of a white-on-white background with the Merry Melody embossing folder. The song on this folder is Joy to the World, but many times I have used it to emboss such a small panel that it could be anything, like Happy Birthday to You or We are the World. However, you may want to make sure the embossing is going in the correct direction; the dots should be on the right side of the notes. I give you this advice as a college music major, but you may want to refer to the last sentence of the paragraph above.

Click the images below to add current products for this card to your cart in my Stampin’ Up! online store. Disclosure: I get a commission for purchases made through these links, at no additional charge to you. Thank you!

Posted in 2022 July-December Mini, Christmas, Jingle Jump | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Peace to You: Church in Snow

Go to Greetings: Fancy Frames

When I send out Burgin Bucks coupons for free stamp sets, I include a blank note card that can be used by my stamper. I try to keep its design generic but seasonal, and also easy! So although I was excited to take my new Fancy Frames dies for a test drive, I couldn’t really spend a lot of time coloring.

You may recall this card that featured a strip of cardstock that was colored with Sponge Daubers, then cut with the leaves dies. I love that effect but just couldn’t manage a bunch of them.

Go to Greetings | Fancy Frames | Forget about coloring -- just use patterned paper to create this cut-out background!  Please click to read more! | Stampin' Up! | HeartfeltInkspiration.com | Debra Burgin

Designer Series Paper to the rescue! This piece was part of Rings of Love, a recent (and retired) Sale-A-Bration pack. I couldn’t believe how stunning it looked, and then my dilemma became deciding the color of the card base. So many choices! Evening Evergreen was particularly beautiful, but I kept to my routine of providing a note card rather than a full-size card and stayed with the beautiful Kraft Note Cards & Envelopes. Interestingly, this die (and the other one in the set) is perfectly sized for a note card.

Go to Greetings | Fancy Frames | Forget about coloring -- just use patterned paper to create this cut-out background!  Please click to read more! | Stampin' Up! | HeartfeltInkspiration.com | Debra Burgin

Before die cutting it, I affixed a piece of Adhesive Sheets to the DSP to make it easier to adhere to the front of the note card — and to reposition it. When satisfied, I burnished the reverse side of the cardstock so it would remain in place.

Funny thing about the sentiment panel; I searched through my sets of dies to find something that would cut the sentiment to the perfect size — 1.5″ x 3″ — for the opening. No luck. Then it dawned on me (and you can laugh) that all I had to do was use the same Fancy Frame die over the Very Vanilla scrap I had stamped on to give me the exact size. Duh.

You can tell by the product list below just how simple and quick these cards were!

Click the images below to add current products for this card to your cart in my Stampin’ Up! online store. Disclosure: I get a commission for purchases made through these links, at no additional charge to you. Thank you!

Posted in 2022 July-Aug Sale-A-Bration, Autumn, Hello, Note card | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Beauty of Friendship: Joy

It makes me just a little sad to think about stamping cards next Christmas without Soft Succulent and Evening Evergreen, which retire in May 2023 (at the end of the current Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog). I know other In Colors will come along that will turn my head, but these two are standards for me when I want a peaceful winter card.

Beauty of Friendship is an excellent two-step stamping set, and as usual, I stamped the dark image first for easy placement.

Beauty of Friendship | Brightest Glow | Green and gold is a classic combination for winter, isn't it?  Please click to read more! | Stampin' Up! | HeartfeltInkspiration.com | Debra Burgin

To prove that I don’t sell everything that retires, you see two retired products on this August Jingle Jump card. I’m not sure why the coordinating dies to Beauty of Friendship retired, but they are essential for me. Likewise, this charming gingham ribbon from the Flowers for Every Season Ribbon Combo Pack has been one of my all-time favorites. I am clinging to the last little bit in my stash.

Beauty of Friendship | Brightest Glow | Green and gold is a classic combination for winter, isn't it?  Please click to read more! | Stampin' Up! | HeartfeltInkspiration.com | Debra Burgin

Here you can more clearly see that the tag is embossed with snowflakes. I could have added an additional step and embossed the Soft Succulent panel with a contrasting folder — probably Timeless Type, since it is my go-to when I need just a little something extra.

To accent the gold pearls on the tree, I used a narrow gold mat on the sentiment circle, and snipped a bit of Gold Foil for the tree trunk.

Click the images below to add current products for this card to your cart in my Stampin’ Up! online store. Disclosure: I get a commission for purchases made through these links, at no additional charge to you. Thank you!

1-1/4" (3.2 Cm) Circle Punch
1-1/4″ (3.2 Cm) Circle Punch
[119861]
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Cottage Wreaths: Christmas

Sparkle and shimmer — is there a better way to say “Joy to the World” via paper? This Jingle Jump card uses the angled layout you’ve seen many times here. It’s simple to start with a 4″ x 4″ piece of patterned paper (or plain cardstock if your lower panel is patterned) and cut it an at angle with one of the dies from Basic Borders.

Cottage Wreaths | So much sparkle and shimmer!  Please click to read more! | Stampin' Up! | HeartfeltInkspiration.com | Debra Burgin

The wreath on this card is the same image as the card I showed in yesterday’s post, but it is simply Old Olive ink on Pear Pizzazz cardstock. You will notice the shading in the coloring, built into this Distinktive set. Like many photopolymer stamps, you get best results with a foam pad under your cardstock when you stamp. I use a pretty unattractive vinyl placemat that I cut into several pieces.

To make it easier to adhere the sparkly white overlay, I first affixed a piece of Adhesive Sheet to the back of a same-size piece of White Glimmer paper. Cut it from the front side (i.e., on the Glimmer paper), then slowly peel off the backing of the Adhesive Sheet. Most of the tiny pieces of both layers will be pulled away at the same time, with only a few that need to be poked out. I learned that trick from one of my stamp-a-stack stampers a while back!

Cottage Wreaths | So much sparkle and shimmer!  Please click to read more! | Stampin' Up! | HeartfeltInkspiration.com | Debra Burgin

The sparkly Cherry Cobbler panel is one of the patterns in the Festive Foils pack. It’s beautiful, as are the two other patterns.

This is an easy card to produce in multiples, perfect for your Christmas card!

Click the images below to add current products for this card to your cart in my Stampin’ Up! online store. Disclosure: I get a commission for purchases made through these links, at no additional charge to you. Thank you!

Posted in 2022 July-December Mini, Christmas, Jingle Jump | Tagged , | Comments Off on Cottage Wreaths: Christmas

Cottage Wreaths: Autumn

No, this isn’t your usual color palette for autumn! I’ve done a lot of orange and brown cards, and for this Stamp Review Crew blog hop design, I wanted to go beyond Halloween, with a tapestry of changing leaf colors.

Cottage Wreaths | No matter the season or occasion, there's a wreath for that!  Please click to read more! | Stampin' Up! | HeartfeltInkspiration.com | Debra Burgin

Stamping the wreath image using the baby wipe technique yielded a subtle coloring, and that’s actually the way many of our trees look right now, as fall moves along. Still, I think I’ll try this again using ink applied with Sponge Daubers.

Cottage Wreaths | No matter the season or occasion, there's a wreath for that!  Please click to read more! | Stampin' Up! | HeartfeltInkspiration.com | Debra Burgin

I was really happy with this wreath die cut from Distressed Gold Specialty Paper. I never really gave this product (from the Stampin’ Up! 2022-2023 Annual Catalog) a close look until a fellow stamper ordered her second pack! Now, I get it.

The little tag is from a retired set of dies, Ornate Frames, marked Do Not Sell, Ever!

Click the images below to add current products for this card to your cart in my Stampin’ Up! online store. Disclosure: I get a commission for purchases made through these links, at no additional charge to you. Thank you!

Posted in 2022 July-December Mini, Autumn, Thank You, Thanksgiving | 1 Comment