I can't believe June has blown past and 4th of July is a week away! I've been retired 6 months now and I have yet to figure out where the days go! I sincerely apologize for not posting weekly as I had been while I was working. I've seriously got to get a schedule that works and stick to it! I've been spending a large amount of time volunteering on my 45th High School reunion's committee. I volunteered for the 10th and 20th reunions and somehow forgot how much effort it takes to pull these off!
Are you ready for 4th of July? We are working out our festivities for my husband's 2nd favorite holiday. This year may be a quiet one this year as he ran out of most of his fireworks he brought back from Montana at last year's celebration. For me, I enjoy the family gathering and watching the city's fireworks from our backyard. How do you celebrate your 4th?
We had our Monthly Kit Gathering last Friday night. It was great to see what my crafting friends brought to work on! I worked on my June Paper Pumpkin Kit - Pick of the Crop. What a great kit - just in time for the Farmer's Markets! I made two each of the 3 designs provided in the kit and then made alternatives. I found some of my stash to put together 4 adorable cards. Then had a blast decorating the front of my free mini shopping bag! Here is my 1st alternative card using the market cart.
Alternative #1 - Market cart
I used my blending brushes along with Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral and Soft Succulent Stampin' Classic Pads for a blended background. I used Blackberry Bliss to stamp a row of the heather stocks along the bottom edge of the card. I adhered the cart with Stampin' Dimensionals. I adhered two small bread loaves to the cart table top. I stamped the "You are the sweetest" sentiment on Basic White cardstock with Blackberry Bliss. I die cut the sentiment with a die from the Beautiful Shapes Dies and distressed the edges with Night of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad and a blending brush. Lastly, I embellished the center of each cart's wheels with two small Rhinestone Basic Jewels colored with Dark Night of Navy Stampin' Blends.
Alternative #2 Herb Basket
My Herb Basket was made by stamping the nest from Sweet Songbirds Photopolymer Stamp Set with Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad on Soft Suede cardstock. This was adhered to a background from the Hues of Happiness 12" x 12" Designer Series Paper. I adhered 3 of the herb stems from the kit onto the card front - one with Stampin' Seal and the other two with Stampin' Dimensionals. I used the long sentiment die cut from the kit and stamped the "You're the pick of the crop" sentiment with Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad.
Alternative#3 Fresh Fruit
My Fresh Fruit card was started by running a piece of Soft Succulent cardstock through the Stampin' Cut and Emboss Machine using the Brick & Mortar 3D Embossing Folder. I used a blending brush and Uninked Stampin' Pad & Whisper White Refill and blended across the bricks to soften and give texture to the bricks. I adhered the large strawberry and blueberry die cut from the kit to the center of the card front with Stampin' Dimensionals. I adhered the smaller strawberry and blueberry die cut at the bottom center of the larger die cut with Stampin' Dimensionals. I blended a scrap of Basic White cardstock with Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad and another with Night of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad. I stamped the blueberry image from the kit with Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad onto the blended Night of Navy cardstock. Using the strawberry image from the kit and a Calypso Coral and a Garden Green Stampin' Write Marker, I colored the strawberry and then stamped the strawberry stamp onto the Calypso Coral blended cardstock. I fussy cut all the fruit and adhered to the card front with Stampin' Dimensionals layering in clusters. I stamped the "You are the sweetest" sentiment with Blackberry Bliss on the rectangular sign. I adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals behind the larger strawberries. I embellished the three bottom blueberries with 3 small Rhinestone Basic Jewels colored with Dark Night of Navy Stampin' Blends.
Alternative #4 Wine, Bread & Cheese
My Wine, Bread & Cheese card was made with a green checkered "tablecloth" from the Design a Day Dream 12" x 12" Host Designer Series Paper. I adhered the large loaves of bread, herb stem and cheese with Stampin' Dimensionals. Using the Bottles of Happiness, I stamped the bottle half full image with Merry Merlot Classic Stampin' Pad onto Basic White cardstock. I stamped the full wine bottle and bottle outline images on top of the bottle half full image with Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad. I stamped the cork image over the bottle top with Crumb Cake Stampin' Pad. I fussy cut the bottle of wine and adhered to the card front. I stamped the "Wine not" image from the Bottle of Happiness Stamp set onto the smaller rectangle tag using Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad. I tied it to the wine bottle with Linen Thread.
If you missed out on the Pick of The Crop Paper Pumpkin kit in June, you still have an opportunity to get the refill kit. You will need to be a Paper Pumpkin Subscriber to order a refill kit. Click here to subscribe today for your Paper Pumpkin Kit! Then click here to order your Pick of the Crop refill kit. The only thing that you don't get in a refill kit is the stamp set and the Calypso Coral Ink Spot. If you can make the next Monthly Kit Gathering on July 29th, you can use my stamps and ink to make your own beautiful cards.
These adorable mini shopping bags are a fun twist on card packaging. You can easily fit a couple of cards in each bag. You can stamp, color, and personalize each mini canvas bag. They measure 5 3/8" x 6"! If you are a Paper Pumpkin subscriber, you can purchase 4 mini shopping bags from my online store. Click here to purchase yours!
On Friday night, I brought out my new 2022 July - December Mini Catalog and Sale-A-Bration products I got in my big brown box a couple of weeks ago. We all had a great time talking about our favorites. The sparkle papers were the hit of the evening! Hopefully, you have received your copy of the new mini catalog and are making your wishlists! Ordering begins July 1st. Reminder that Sale-A-Bration runs from July 1 - August 31, where you can pick free products with a minimum $50 order. If you would like a new catalog, you can request one by clicking here and complete the catalog request form.
I'll be working on samples over the next couple of weeks to prepare for my Catalog Launch Party on July 16 from 10am - 2pm. I'll be sending details along with peeks of my samples over the next two weeks. Mark your calendars so you don't miss this fun event!
Along with the samples from the Catalog Launch, I'll also be designing Christmas projects from my Christmas in July Stamp a Stack card class tentatively scheduled for July 30. A great way to get a jump on your Christmas cards! Watch for upcoming emails in the next couple of weeks!
3 DAYS LEFT to get retiring products from the 2022 January - June Mini Catalog. There are still some great products available, like the Abstract Beauty Suite Collection.
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I brought out my Abstract Beauty 4" x 6" Specialty Designer Series paper, Abstract Beauty Cards & Envelopes and Abstract Beauty Ephemera Pack to make some cards from this suite this week. I've got them partially designed and hoping to pull them together by Wednesday afternoon to take to an event. These 3 products are at an amazing price point - $7.50, $5.00 and $4.55 respectively. That's 10 cards for $17.05 - $1.70 per card! And you will have plenty of paper and ephemera to make many more amazing cards!
Please be sure to get your last minute orders in by Thursday evening!
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Also, 3 MORE DAYS LEFT for the Kit Collection Buy One Get One 50% Off Sale! Stock up for our Monthly Kit Gathering, share with family and friends - something to craft on during the remainder of summer vacations! Kits are great to take along as all you need to bring along is some scissors and maybe your Take Your Pick tool. Everything is provided in the kit to make the project that you select! This is a great deal through 6/30 - don't miss out!
I hope you have a very Happy Fourth of July! Stay Safe and try to stay cool - it's been a scorching summer here in Colorado. Until next week...
KEEP ON CRAFTING!
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