We Create Blog Hop—Look Ma, No Stamps!

Stampin' Up! is known for their artistically designed stamps, but did you know you don't have to use stamps to make a fun card? I have used the Playful Alphabet, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Stitched Triangle Dies and the Tasteful Texture 3D embossing folder to make this fun shaker card--I am just loving these colors!

You'll definitely want to use the brand new Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine to make this card! It folds up to make more space for your more crafting supplies! Who doesn't want that?

If you are interested in purchasing your own Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine, please contact me and I can help!

I can't wait for you to visit my blogging friends and see their projects--all done without stamps!

Up next, my bestie, Jeanna B.!

Happy Stamping!

Julie

We Create Blog Hop--Shower of Greetings

Well, that went downhill quickly!! It's hard to believe that in just one month we have gone from "business as usual" to quarantine throughout the world! I am still trying to wrap my brain around what is going on--but I am confident that things will work out and that we will be back to hugging our friends and spending time with our family members in just a little while.
Since many of us have a little more time on our hands or are having to adjust to a "new normal" (whatever that means!) I know we may have people in our lives who might need a little pick-me-up, something to show them we care and we are here for them, even though we cannot be with them!! I think we are being reminded what is important or necessary and what is not...people are important and necessary!

My card today uses Rooted in Nature stamp set, Poppy Moments dies, Perennial Essence DSP and the Subtle Embossing folder. I didn't think I would be a fan of the paper, I think it's beautiful, but it's not necessarily my style--but I saw someone run the paper through with the Subtle EF and I was wow'd! It looks so much like a painting with the texture! I will be making more of these, I'm sure.

Hop on over to Kimberley and all the rest of the group. I know all my blog hopping friends will be happy to hear from you! Let us know what you are doing to be more creative and reaching out to those around you.

Stay strong, my friends! We will make it through this!

Julie

We Create Blog Hop--Swing into Spring

Hello Everyone! This month was super busy, but I carved out time for me to be creative much more this time. I think it is definitely a practice in knowing what brings joy and serenity into your life and making that a priority. It will never be perfect, but I will continue to put my focus on what I am doing with my time and choosing if that is important to me.

This month's theme is "Swing into Spring" and to say that I am ready for Spring to be here is an understatement!! Yesterday was a bit gray and windy, but warm. Today has started out with fog and then a snowstorm...ugh! That is why this stamp set spoke to me. I have seen so many beautiful cards created with the Breathtaking Bouquet stamp set, and a few in particular called to me! I pinned these two cards (lynslinds_creativity and Coastalcrafter.com).The later card was my inspiration to create a make-n-take at work for our more experienced Demonstrator Support Agents (a few are Stampin' Up! demonstrators as well). I was showing them some basic watercoloring techniques and I know a few of them really enjoyed learning something they hadn't really tried before. The other one was so amazing, I just couldn't believe it was actually a stamped image--hers was definitely frameworthy!

My card uses Petal Pink card stock and our watercolor paper that is so great for using with Aqua Painters. I am not an expert in watercoloring by any means, but I do enjoy it and have taken a class or two to learn better techniques. The colors I used were Petal Pink, Flirty Flamingo, Balmy Blue, Blueberry Bushel, Granny Apple Green, Mint Macaron, and Shaded Spruce. The colors are so calming to me and it reminds me of a floral print I wore when I was a teenager.

I hope you enjoy our blog hop today! Next up is Jeanna! She always has something amazing! Share it with your friends and please leave comments, it's nice to know people like what you do.

Stay warm, kids, Spring is right around the corner (hopefully!!).

Julie

Kimberley Morris

Tanya Harvey

Libby Fens

Cheryl Curtis

Julie Davidse--You are here

Jeanna Kay

Anastasia Radloff

Tricia Butts

We Create Blog Hop--Plaid!

The holidays are upon us again. I love seeing the change of the seasons (although, I don't really like the snow).  I love sweaters, scarves, boots and sitting by a fire.  Soon, the smell of fall will turn to the frost of winter...Christmas is just around the corner!  This is an amazing time of year where families gather and people are a little more kind. With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I love to take a few minutes and create something fun.

This card was made with the Cable Knit Dynamic Impressions folder and the Christmas Around the World DSP. I added some black shimmer ribbon with mini sequins for some bling and then our new Green Sprigs for some fun! The Watercolor Christmas stamp set is one of my favorite Christmas sets in the Holiday Catalog. Simple images, beautiful script and you can add a cool project kit that is designed for this set.

Today, the new Stampin' Blends are available!  These markers blend beautifully and if you love coloring, these are for you!

Enjoy the rest of the hop--these ladies have great projects to share.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and that you can spend as much time as possible with those you love.

Julie

We Create Blog Hop--Yay! It's a Brand New Catalog!

I'm just trying to get back after our busy wedding month, but I'm glad everything is over and life is basically back to normal. I'll share more about the wedding soon, but until then, here's the happy couple. Congrats to Kylie and Matt! (photo by Heather Wagner)

Anyway...the new 2017-2018 Stampin' Up! catalog goes live today! So, we must celebrate!

This is such an amazing catalog! You can view it online, or you can get a copy from me, just message me and I will get one to you in the mail.

I'm LOVING the new In-Colors! Powder Pink, Berry Burst, Fresh Fig, Lemon-Lime Twist and Tranquil Tide. They work so well with so many of our Collection colors as well as with each other. One of my favorite colors is Lemon-Lime Twist, so I used it on both my cards.

The basic card uses LLT card stock and classic ink pad along with the Craft White pad. The Happy Celebrations stamp set is returning from the Occasions catalog (yay!). I love to use all the shapes for backgrounds, so many options. I added some Rhinestones I colored with the Chalk Marker (you can also color them with Sharpie markers!)

The stepped-up version uses Watercolor paper and some of the new Color Theory Designer Series Paper in Berry Burst. I stamped Berry Burst and Lemon-lime Twist on the watercolor paper and then I spritzed it with water. After it dried, I stamped Playful Backgrounds in Basic Black. Finally, I stamped the "celebrate" with White Craft ink and embossed with white embossing powder.

I'm excited to hear what you all think of the new catalog. Please leave your favorite new stamp set or accessory in the comments!

Julie

We Create Blog Hop--In Color Farewell

It's hard to believe that a new Stampin' Up! Catalog is just a couple months away...which means new In Colors coming! YAY! It also means old In Colors are leaving us--BOO!  I decided to use our soon-to-be-retiring 2015-2017 In Colors on my card today. I think my favorite is Mint Macaron followed by Delightful Dijon. Which ones were your favorites?

I got my card idea from a very talented demonstrator, Jackie Bolhuis. I loved how she used the bar stamp from Thoughtful Banners to make a simple pattern and then added the words in Basic Black for contrast.  My basic card uses just the '15-'17 In Colors (I decorated the envelope as well) and one of the many versitile phrases in this stamp set.  The stepped-up version added Basic Black metallic thread and black sequin hearts from the Metallics sequin assortment.

My stamping has been very, very limited of late. There are 5 weeks until my youngest child gets married! Life seems to be on fast forward, so please forgive me if I am MIA for the next few months--lots to do! I promise I will post pictures of the wedding!!
Enjoy the rest of the blog hop!!

Julie

We Create Blog Hop--Enjoy Your Day!

Hey everyone! Sorry about the delay. I did a super-simple card using the Badges & Banners stamp set and the Best Badge punch. You can whip a bunch of these out in an hour and even do them in different color combos.

The stepped-up card just added some Neutrals & Sending Love DSP along with the Metallics Sequin assortment (little clear stars).

Shhhhh, don't tell Julie W., this is her birthday card, her birthday is this weekend!! ;)

We're in the middle of wedding plans here, just 3 more months! We're all getting excited!  I'll try to keep up, but be patient with me!  Thanks for your support!

Julie

We Create Blog Hop--Love Sparkles

Well, we've had a very eventful holiday season!  First of all, our youngest child got engaged! We are so excited her and her fiancé and are looking forward to a beautiful spring wedding! Immediately after, both my husband and I got sick and that lingered for weeks (yuck!) It's really hard to get anything done during the holidays when you are sick...that being said, neither my Christmas tree nor the house got decorated until the middle of December. Our oldest child moved out into an apartment and a week later the youngest child moved back home (until the wedding!) We were empty nesters for about 1 week (hooray!!) Our youngest turned 21 and then it was Christmas and now it's New Years. That's a lot to happen in one month!

Now we get to look forward to the amazing new Occasions catalog as well as Sale-a-bration! Demonstrators have already been flooding Pinterest with many beautiful creations from these new catalogs and there were some new sets that at first didn't tickle my fancy, seeing the projects the other demonstrators have come up with have changed my mind. I will be posting the catalogs on January 4th so check back to see what Stampin' Up! has come up with!

I spent a bit of time stamping this week and was excited to get out my new product. Falling Petals Embossing folder is a lovely touch, one way it looks like hearts and the other way it looks like petals. Love Sparkles stamp set looks beautiful with our embossing powders and is perfect for many different occasions. On the stepped up version, I added some silver Glimmer paper and Rhinestones to the image stamped and embossed on paper from our new Sending Love DSP pack.

I think you will love the new catalogs and I hope you can get a little bit of inspiration from the bloggers today!

I'm looking forward to 2017! I wish you all the best in the coming year!

Julie

We Create Blog Hop--Gift Cards Galore

We are knee deep in the holiday season and Christmas is my very favorite of all holidays!  I love to serve, love, and share with my family and friends during the holidays. The reason for the season is the Savior, Jesus Christ and He has shown us how to love and serve others. We have opportunities every day to do things for others to bring happiness and joy, but during the Christmas season it becomes more of a focus.  This December we are trying to make Christmas more meaningful by doing service each day. You can join in by going to mormon.org to find many wonderful ideas for service that you can do. #LIGHTtheWORLD 

A gift card is always an easy gift for a friend or even a stranger, but if it's given in something that's handmade, it makes it more than just a "last minute" gift.

Take a small Kraft Tag a Bag gift bag and fold it in half. That leaves two small pockets-one for a note and one for a gift card (or two different gift cards)! Add some details like a ribbon or baker's twine to hold it together.

Our Envelope Punch Board makes a perfect size pocket for a gift card. Use one of our Designer Series Paper or Stacks and punch out a bunch of these and keep them on hand...you never know when you might need one!

This idea came from my upline Jill Olsen's get together! Using some fun coordinating papers ties everything together and makes even the smallest gift card seem more thoughtful.
From simple to extravagant, these gift card pockets will make your gift card giving cheerier!!
Hand one of these to your server at lunch, your hair stylist, or your kid's teacher and see how they react!

Please stop by and say hi to my blogging friends, a kind word is always meaningful.

Enjoy your holiday celebrations! Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2017!

Julie

We Create Blog Hop--Candy Cane Lane

It's here! The holiday season! I love to spend time with family and Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorites. While it's been abnormally warm here for fall, the leaves are changing and there is a crispness in the air--sweater weather is here.

I had a fun time in St. George at my second upline Jill Olsen's stampin' get together. We made some fun projects and had some great mini classes. It's always a fun time at Jill's!

Just a few of the many projects that were displayed at Jill's get together.

Since life has been a bit crazy, I didn't do a stepped up or stepped over project but this project is so simple, it only takes a few minutes to do several of these cute boxes.

I used Candy Cane Lane Designer series paper for this project, but any DSP will work. Our perfect little Clear Tiny Treat Boxes are the right size for many little goodies or a small gift. 

I took a sheet of the DSP and cut a 2" x 8"strip and scored it every 2". Place the strip in the box and add your goodies and DONE! I love walking the aisles of Target looking for little things to put in these cute little boxes--there's lots! Chocolate is always a good choice.

I finished it off with a tag using the tag punch with a couple of stamps from Oh What Fun photopolymer set. I embossed the sentiment and added some tiny dots of white craft ink on the berries with my stylus (thanks Jeanna!!). I also love the Candy Cane Lane baker's twine, adding a little shimmer to the package.  Since each sheet of this DSP is 12" x 12", you can get about 8 of these strips out of each sheet, that's almost 100 box liners from one pack of DSP! That's a great value!

Head on over to Tanya and the rest of the bloggers! I love what they come up with!

While I'm excited for the holidays, in the retail world I know it will start getting old in a couple weeks...wish me luck!

Julie