It’s been a busy few months, and I’m afraid my blog posts have suffered.  A huge project at school with my sophomores ended last Friday, January 27, with a celebration that took place at our local nursing home/assisted living center.  With that celebration our Life Story Project ended.

Well, I’m back, and I’ve fallen in love with the Stampin’ Up! products in the new Occasions 2017 Catalog, including the  “Falling in Love” Suite.

I combined the Designer Series Paper from that suite with the beautiful intricate “Bloomin’ Heart” thinlits in the Annual Catalog, cut in Rose Red paper with a Crumb Cake heart slightly offset behind it.  The sentiment is also from the “Bloomin’ Heart” stamp set.  The lace border at the bottom is in Crumb Cake ink using a stamp set from the Sale-A-Bration catalog called “Delicate Details.”  I stamped the same lace stamp on Very Vanilla cardstock and cut out a flower from the “Bloomin’ Hearts” thinlits, mounting it with a dimensional.  A bit of Very Vanilla ribbon sets off that pretty lace.  Together, these elements create a soft, lacy, and very romantic Valentine!

This card is made with Stampin’ Up!’s Holiday Fancy Foil Designer Vellum in silver.  The gold version of this beautiful paper is on sale on in the Clearance Rack at Stampinup.com. You could easily replicate this layout in gold as well.  The Star of Light bundle is one of my all-time favorites for the holidays.  I know I will be using it for days to come!  I used silver foil paper and finished with a rhinestone to add even more shine and sparkle.  I like the striped paper set on a diagonal — do you?

I made a simple yet sparkly and fun card for the Pal’s Paper Arts challenge this week.

  I used Very Vanilla cardstock and This Christmas Designer Series Paper to create a card base.  Then it got glittery!  I broke out the new Stampin’ Up! Red Glitter Embossing Powder and used Versamark to heat emboss snowflakes from the Tin of Tags Stamp Set.  A great way to add sparkle without the glitter falling all over your house!  (Well, I don’t mind that as much as some might!)

It’s difficult to photograph what a beautiful red this glitter embossing powder really is, and how it makes the card just come alive with holiday sparkle!  I used a sentiment from the Oh What Fun! stamp set and a little red metallic thread to finish off the card front.  So easy with the DSP and embossing powder!

The Halloween Night Designer Series Papers are a great start for all kinds of Halloween Treat Bags.  The possibilities are endless when you add the bundle of Halloween Scenes thinlits and Spooky Fun stamp set, all from Stampin’ Up!  Check out the super sparkly Paper Pumpkin glimmer paper circles.  The bags are cut from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlit Dies.  In person, they are so yummy!

There are so many ways to build little scenes of spookiness — the moon, witch, bat, pumpkin, ghosts, fence, and lovely tree — on and on!

The new 2016 Holiday Catalog is STUFFED (get it? I said stuff in the title) with Halloween goodies for you to use on your projects.  Each year, I am struck by how many people really LOVE Halloween as a holiday.  It is tons of fun, with less pressure, don’t you think?  The Halloween Scenes bundle, which contains thinlits and the Spooky Fun stamp set, has so many possibilities for spooky little scenes — the cool tree, the fence, the cute pumpkins, the bats….and so forth and so on!  This shaker card builds a scene behind little window using the Hearth & Home Thinlits.  Some elements are stamped, and some are simply cut out using the thinlits and the Big Shot to create silhouettes.  I added some gold thread and a couple of fun spider webs on the wall.  

It’s been a busy time for me with school just around the corner.  I finally had a chance to do some stamping, and had such a fun time with a card inspiration from Stampin’ Up! Artisan Cindy Schuster.  I used my own combination of colors and decided these beautiful leaf thinlits needed the Woodland embossing folder as a backdrop.  The colors are Raspberry Ripple, Perfect Plum, and of course the beautiful copper foil paper in the center of the three leaves.  This card, in person, just GLOWS.  The colors are beautiful, and the copper foil paper is so rich!

We’re over halfway through the month of August, and the Thoughtful Branches August Free Card Kit has been a huge hit!  Don’t forget to get your Thoughtful Branches exclusive bundle from Stampin’ Up!, available only in August.  I cannot tell you how versatile and lovely this stamp set and thinlits are.

If you order the bundle from me, you will receive a kit to make 8 cards, two each of the four designs below — FREE!  You supply the ink and adhesives.  Email me at marya2hanson@mail.com, or click on the Let’s Go Shopping button above.  I’ll take care of the rest!

What’s full of wonderful papercrafting ideas for Fall, Halloween, and (of course) Christmas? Yessssssss…the 2016 Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog has arrived. Please let me know if you’d like one, and I’ll send it your way. If you’re a customer of mine, you’ll be receiving one soon!

Here’s a sneak peek at Stitched with Cheer, a stitched card kit in which you’ll make 18 darling cards with — yes — stitching!  Everything is included for assembly, and I will provide the stamp set, inks, and adhesives!.  This kit gives me that warm feeling of handmade and old fashioned Christmas past!  SO on trend!

I am SO impressed by the Thoughtful Branches Bundle, the limited edition stamp set and framelits by Stampin’ Up!  I saw the photos and sneak peeks, but could not be happier with what happened when I got the set in my own hands — it is THAT pretty.  So versatile year round.

If you order the Thoughtful Branches Limited Edition Stamp Set and Framelits Dies BUNDLE, you will receive this Free 8-Card Kit, with all the supplies you need to make EIGHT cards, 2 of these four designs, including envelopes. You supply the ink and adhesives.

144328 Thoughtful Branches Bundle (ENG) $52.00

If you order the Thoughtful Branches Stamp Set only, you will receive the supplies to make these FOUR cards, including envelopes, with you supplying the ink and adhesives.

143539 Thoughtful Branches Photopolymer Stamp Set (ENG) $27.00

Here are the four designs you will create — stunning in person!

Please let me know if you have any questions, or would like to place an order with me. I can’t wait to see what YOU create with this gorgeous bundle!

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It seems like there are so many beautiful items to be found in the Annual Catalog that we might forget about the very BASE on which our cards can be built — in this case, the many beautiful Designer Series Papers that Stampin’ Up! carries.  Affectionately Yours goes so beautifully with my favorite COPPER accents.  This card, inspired by Stampin’ Pal Windy Ellard, uses coordinating colors of Watermelon Wonder and Pool Party, along with copper thread.  The big sentiment is a part of the Tin of Cards stamp set — love the fun script!  Notice how the paper just shines with the copper foil accents!  LOVE!