I’m so happy to share with you the Stampin’ Up! 2022-2023 Annual Catalog! Just click the banner, above, to see 188 pages of wonderful, beautiful things. I suggest you pour a cup of coffee or tea, grab some sticky notes, and look at every single sample in this book, even those using returning products. There are hundreds of ideas!
My first priority was obtaining the 2022-2024 In Color products, so I won’t have any projects to show you using new stamps and dies for a few days. Coming soon!
(BTW, if you love the new In Colors, find out tomorrow how you can get them for FREE!)
I didn’t think about this at the time, but all the ink colors used in this All-Occasions Stamp-a-Stack card are retiring … today!
I still love all these colors and will keep the ink pads and Stampin’ Blends at hand, but it’s time to add some storage elements to my Towers of Color and decide how the new In Colors will fit in the “rainbowetical” color scheme.
This wasn’t a 10-minute card, but I thought it was worth the extra time!
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To be honest, I have bought Stampin’ Up! products that (a) I never used, or (b) I didn’t understand how to use, or (c) someone talked me into buying and I was too weak to resist. Are you with me on this?
One of those items is Embossing Paste — or rather was, until I practiced using it in preparation for the Marvelous Masks class a few months ago. So simple! So WOW! (It’s not just me; in the new Annual Catalog, it’s on the page entitled The Wow Factor.)
For this card, participants adhered a panel of Thick Basic White to their workspace Grid Paper, then secured the mask to the front. A drop of ink refill was all it took to tint a bit more than a teaspoon of Embossing Paste on a plastic palette (OK, the lid of a yogurt tub). And although Stampin’ Up! offers a pack of Palette Knives, I found a wooden craft stick (larger than a popsicle stick) worked perfectly to mix and “scrape” the mixture across the mask, forcing it through the holes of the mask.
When you’re done, the mask should have almost no paste left on it. Then you must remove the mask from the cardstock and wash the mask. Don’t wait to do this, or it will dry like cement! Meanwhile, set the pasted panel to the side to dry thoroughly. We cut the dry panel in half diagonally to use on a bonus card.
I’m not sure if you can tell how cool this technique is. The result is a very slightly raised, textured design — don’t envision a frosted cupcake! I wanted to show off as much of the design as I could, so I matted the sentiment label with a larger one cut from Vellum.
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If this card looks a bit wintery for this time of year, it’s because it was a February camp card! But this set, Amazing Silhouettes, is in the new catalog, so pin this picture for inspiration in the fall!
Spring here in north-central Illinois has been mostly coolish and wettish, so there has been a bit of impatience here over garden beds to be worked up and seeds to be planted. But, to put things in perspective, we are not farmers depending on growing crops for income, so we try not to complain.
But it is beautiful in our neighborhood, with flowering trees and bushes putting on a stunning show and bulbs bursting with color everywhere! The grass is green, and we are once again performing our annual effort to patch the lawn as needed and repair damage from the front yard horridness of a couple of years ago.
Note that the outline around the tree is not solid, so neither will your embossing be solid.
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Although the 2021-2022 Annual Catalog is expiring in just one week, we still have over two months to enjoy the January-June 2022 Mini Catalog. If you have the new Annual Catalog, you can see it includes a number of products from the Mini. However, that’s not to say there will not be other items that will still be available for a period of time (demonstrators get the Last Chance list for the mini on May 25, when all will be made clear).
So, although I can tell you that the Butterflies & Flowers Layering Decorative Masks are not in the 2022-2023 Annual Catalog, I hope they will still be available. If you like the idea of using masks, or stencils, I recommend this set — and the others, too! Here’s a card from my February Marvelous Masks class:
The floral panel on this card is created in two steps: (1) inking the mask directly with the ink pad and “stamping” it on the Basic White panel (as you would a background stamp), and (2) securing the mask over the “stamped” panel and adding color with a Blending Brush.
Every time I have done this, my results have been different! You would expect that applying ink all over the mask would give a pretty solid negative background, but you can see that’s not what happened here.
This panel began as a 4¼” x 5½” piece of Basic White, giving us enough margin to use temporary tape to secure the mask. After the panel was done, we used a large die from the Stitched Rectangles set to cut it down to size.
The irregularity of this negative/positive mask technique is charming!
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I’m so glad to be hearing from so many of you that the 2022-2023 Annual Catalog is arriving! I am itching to dive into some of the brand-new products, but meanwhile, I’ll share some of my favorites that may or may not be leaving my stamping area in a few weeks!
Pierced Blooms is an amazing set of dies, and it’s another instance of me not buying the bundle. Using these dies creates striking designs — perhaps not the quickest card you’ll make, depending on how many elements you need to die cut, but so worth it! The best news? The Pierced Blooms dies are on the Last Chance list of retiring products at a 50% discount! That means you can get this set of 25 dies for just $18.50. As I write this, they are still available.
The sentiment set, Best Year, is also retiring (but not on sale). It’s a keeper, and one I use over and over. Same with the Tasteful Textile 3D embossing folder — who is not using this on every other card????
I have used this angled element on cards here, here, and here. Do I hear you wondering, “How did she get those cards all the same?” When I found a size and angle that was pleasing to me, I made a master template that I keep close at hand!
Although I love Misty Moonlight, I have used all but a half-sheet! I’ve learned not to hoard retiring In Colors, as there’s always something wonderful around the corner. Such is the case with the 2022-2024 In Colors.
Thank you to those asking where I’ve been! Not enjoying a seaside vacation, I’m afraid, just visiting several doctors after being diagnosed with a radial head fracture to my right arm two weeks ago.
I fell while out walking, enjoying the first day of spring. And even though I’d like to say “Nothing good comes from exercising,” I walked again the next day (and every day since) in anticipation of being able to work in the yard and flower beds before long. It is spring training time here!
Meanwhile, I am gently preparing for this weekend’s All-Occasions Stamp-a-Stack. Oh, and reading (or re-reading) some of our Battle of the Books selections and writing review questions in preparation for the Final Battle between the first-place team (us!) and the second-place team. Go Royals!
If you regularly follow this blog, you’ve noticed a couple of recent posts with this graphic:
For those cards, I have created a pdf with a color photo, ingredients, measurements, and assembly tips. You may choose to bookmark, pin via Pinterest, print, or save the pdf.
Although I provide a list of items needed for the project, I’m assuming you’ll already have a paper cutter, scissors, adhesive, die cutting and embossing machine, and other basics.
I have added all pdfs to a Free Project Sheets page, accessible via the menu and the widget at right.
This is a new effort for me, so if you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them!
Use Host Code AC6P3V4P when you check out unless your order is $150 or more, in which case you will be earning your own Stampin’ Rewards. If that is the case, I’ll still give you Double Burgin Bucks and the anniversary gift.
My gift to you for every $50 in product is a Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack in your choice of color. Yes, $100 in product earns you two Combo Packs! Want to wait to redeem this gift until the new annual catalog debuts on May 3? I can do that!
This anniversary promotion expires Sunday, April 10.
Last week my stampin’ buddy and I had a virtual stamping experience via a FB video call. It’s not like being together, of course, but it’s fun to talk to someone who understands my obsession with stamps, ink, and paper!
Earlier in the week, she suggested using a sketch to get us started, specifically, this one from Freshly Made Sketches:
I added two other guidelines: color (pink or purple, plus green) and subject (flowers). I think you can see where my heart has been recently! After we set the “rules” of the session, we each got busy making a mess. This is my creation, based on a card by Kaitlyn of Stampin’ Through the Catalog.
I went a bit off-script, because that’s just what happens: I start in one direction and end up somewhere else!
I still have quite a few pieces of my favorite 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper Assortments. I recommend looking at these when the new catalog comes out; so often a “plainer” pattern is just what you need on a card. Of course, gingham (and its bigger sibling, buffalo check) has long been a favorite of mine.
I was surprised when my friend pointed out that the Mango Melody Stampin’ Blends had retired. I wonder when that happened — clearly when I wasn’t paying close attention!
Please check out Freshly Made Sketches — there are hundreds of sketches just waiting for you! Whether you play along and share your sketch-based creation with them or not, you’ll never lack for layout inspiration!
To download a free pdf project sheet for this card (with color photo, ingredients, measurements, and assembly tips), click here:
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