Another Ooh La La Card!

Can you ever have too much of Paris?  Emma and Caitlin would say "no!"  They went last April with a group from their school.  Emma was especially in love with Paris and confessed to me that she was sad to leave (and they'd been gone 10 days).  Well, I don't want to leave this Parisian Blossoms suite.  And today, I DID stamp on my card, using Parisian Beauty (my last post's card used no stamping, just dies).

Lots of fancy details on this card!  

I stamped the Eiffel Tower image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Pool Party cardstock, then used the solid outline Parisian die to cut it.  The "merci" sentiment is die-cut just once and adhered to the card base with a Fine-Tip Glue Pen.

More details:

• The script image was stamped on Petal Pink cardstock in Petal Pink ink for a subtle background that doesn't compete with the two beautiful patterns (from Parisian Blossoms Specialty Designer Series Paper).  What makes it a specialty paper is the champagne foil in the various patterns in the pack.
• Notice the Very Vanilla Scalloped Lace Trim edging the left side of the card.  It adds a sweet touch!
• Using Basic Black cardstock for a card base and mat makes all the other details of this card stand out.  I also love the sophistication and class it adds.
• Champagne rhinestones!  I LOVE THESE!!!!  The metallic edge of the Petal Pink ribbon is even in champagne!
• Soft Suede ink and a Stampin' Sponge were used to create a slightly vintage look to the Parisian Blossoms papers.  It's a look I never tire of.

See the Parisian Blossoms suite here.

To help you make this card, here's a tutorial for you!  Just click to save and print.

See my other Parisian Blossoms tutorial.

Today's card was based on the most current sketch challenge over at Splitcoaststampers.  You are always welcome to upload what you make with this sketch.  We love seeing it!

Don't forget about my Facebook Live special!

Any order of $35 or more (before shipping and tax) receives the project kits to make both of the

candy holders!  Use Host Code 349VN7VY and be sure to place your order by Midnight ET Friday, January 10, 2020!

shopwithnicole.stampinup.net

Video and post here

Ooh La La!

I'm an armchair traveller.  Yes, I go places (Alaska and Las Vegas in the last 4 months) but my strong preference is to stay home.  Everything I love most is here!  The great thing about this personality quirk is that I will listen to your travel stories and look at your travel photos for as long as you like because I genuinely enjoy hearing about others' adventures.  So set that projector up, load up the slides, and invite me over!  

Wait, I think I'm in the wrong decade with that sentence.  Not having a cell phone, I get confused at times and think I'm back in the '80s.

Parisian Beauty is all the Paris I need.  It's part of Stampin' Up!'s Parisian Blossoms suite, found on page 14 in the Mini Catalog (don't have a copy?  Click here to see it online or to request a free catalog package).  My card today features this suite and uses last week's Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge.

I just realized I did not stamp at all on this card!  I did, however, use the Parisian dies, which coordinate with the stamp set.  Look at the detail of the Eiffel Tower die!  I die-cut it with Champagne Foil paper to match the Champagne Rhinestones Basic Jewels.  I also sprinkled in a few Holiday Rhinestones Basic Jewels in Pool Party.  ❤

The "merci" is also a die from the Parisian set.  I cut three from Petal Pink cardstock, then glued them together using a Fine-Tip Glue Pen.  I like the lift and attention that trick gives.

A swirl die-cut with Pool Party cardstock and a sweetly tied Petal Pink Metallic-Edged Ribbon add elegant detail.  I also used a Stampin' Sponge to apply Soft Suede ink to the edges of the Parisian Blossoms Designer Series Paper.

Don't forget about my Facebook Live special!

Any order of $35 or more (before shipping and tax) receives the project kits to make both of the

candy holders!  Use Host Code 349VN7VY and be sure to place your order by Midnight ET Friday, January 10, 2020!

shopwithnicole.stampinup.net

Video and post here

If you enjoy my blog, tutorials, videos, and tips, please consider choosing me as your demonstrator.  My goal is to give you a fantastic stamping experience!

White Christmas or Tropical Christmas?

Are you anticipating a white Christmas or a more tropical one?  We're stuck in the middle.  Last week, we had beautiful soft, fat snowflakes swirling but the forecast for Christmas Day is almost 50 degrees!  That seems wrong.  Maybe I'll turn the furnace off to put a little chill in the air.  No one will complain, I'm sure of it!

 

Well, if you're having a white Christmas and you don't want one, I made a Timeless Tropical card just for you!  It's a new set in Stampin' Up!'s Mini Catalog that becomes available January 3 (you'll be at my Catalog Launch Party on Facebook, right?).  There are a TON of colors in the Tropical Oasis Designer Series Paper - I pulled Grapefruit Grove, Soft Sea Foam, Daffodil Delight,and Soft Suede for this card.

The coordinating In The Tropics dies are amazing!  I don't usually buy dies that are so specific to a stamp set, but these dies have a giant and mini pineapple, "aloha", the palm trees, and tons of little palm leaves and flowers that I found impossible to resist.

Some tips for this card: 

• Die-cut three "aloha"s and use Fine-Tip Glue to stack and adhere.  It makes it stand out more.  Add the glue to the bottom die-cut, not the one you are laying on top.  You won't get glue on your fingers doing it this way.
• The Coastal Weave 3D Embossing Folder adds so much to this card!  I embossed both the Grapefruit Grove and Soft Sea Foam layers.  More is more in my book!
• That teeny Daffodil Delight flower is from the center of the die-cut flowers on my card.  It's so cute!  I used Fine-Tip Glue to adhere it.

I can't wait for you to see this Mini Catalog!  This is just a teaser of all the good to come.

I'm inviting you to my Catalog Launch Party!

I'm so excited about the January - June 2020 Mini Catalog that I'm devoting an entire day to showing off the stunning projects you can make with its new products!  January 3 is the day it goes live, along with the 2020 Sale-A-Bration catalog.  Follow my Facebook page and set your notifications to alert you when I go live so you don't miss it!

What is Sale-A-Bration? It's a special brochure with tons of fun product that you can earn for free.  Level 1 items are earned with every $50 order and Level 2 items are earned for every $100 order.  There are no limits to what you earn.  

• Order $50-->earn one Level 1 item
• Order $100-->earn two Level 1 items OR one Level 1 item
• Order $150-->earn three Level 1 items OR one Level 1 item plus one Level 2 item PLUS Stampin' Rewards (free product of your choosing)!
• And it just keeps going!

Need your own copy to follow along with during my Catalog Launch Party on January 3?  Request a catalog package here or email me at nicole @thejoyfulstamper.com with your mailing address.

Thank you for choosing me as your demonstrator and giving me the opportunity to earn your business!

Tags & Feathers Elements, Oh My!

Remember my delight last week in being asked to be on the Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge Design Team (okay, that was a really long sentence.  My apologies)?  Well, I'm still just as tickled!  Take a look at this week's sketch.

As soon as I saw the branch in the sketch above, I knew I wanted to use the feathers from the Tags & Feathers Elements in that spot.

The top two feathers are stuck down with Tear 'N Tape as they came in the package.  The bottom feather, though, is dressed up with embossing powder.  Smoosh the feather into a Versamark ink pad, then dip into a jar of Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder.  You can hold the feather embellishment with tweezers for this next step to avoid burning your fingers.  Melt the powder with a Heat Tool and watch the magic happen!  Ooooohhh pretty!  

Ready to make this?  You can!  Shop my online store here (use Host Code GZU4ASKR and I'll send you two fall card kits as my gift to you!).  Be sure to post what you make with this week's Splitcoaststampers sketch.

Did you miss Tuesday's Stampin' News?  Get it here!

Take A Break For Some Tea & Halloween Blog Series

Are you a tea or coffee drinker?  We're tea drinkers in the Steele home.  In a big way!  We drink tea with breakfast and in the evening, and I usually have another mug mid-afternoon.  In the summers, there is always a pitcher of iced tea in the frig.  I put a squeeze of lemon in my tea, hot or cold.  

While I love the taste of tea, what I really love is the ritual that surrounds the tea.  Brewing a mug of tea means it's time to slow down and relax.  To chat with loved ones.  To enjoy a good book.  To have a cookie or two.  If you prefer coffee, you probably have rituals, too, that evoke warm associations and feelings.

My card today was inspired by a sketch challenge from Splitcoaststampers.  I chose my colors of Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral, and Petal Pink from the Bird Ballad DSP pack.  I thought these colors were so pretty for the teapot and flowers in the Tea Together stamp set!  And that pretty polka-dotted paper is part of the Bird Ballad DSP pack, which is included in Stampin' Up!'s Buy 3, Get 1 Free DSP sale (see bottom of this blog post)!

The Ornate Frames dies are meant to coordinate with the Spooktacular Bash suite in the Holiday Catalog, but I find they go with so many other sets.  The dies come in a variety of sizes and have such pretty details that they work on any project and fit a lot of sentiments from other sets.

I put together a little photo tutorial of how I used Stampin' Blends to color the flowers from the Tea Together set.  My colors used were Light and Dark Petal Pink; Light Calypso Coral; Light and Dark Granny Apple Green (for the leaves).

Once I finished coloring the flowers, I used the Tea Time dies to cut them out.

These markers lay down color so smoothly, without coloring lines or streaks.  I'll stamp a bunch of images on Whisper White cardstock in Memento Tuxedo Black ink (you must use that ink in order to avoid image bleeding) and color while watching a favorite TV show (Jeopardy....)  - or when my husband wants me to watch TV with him but I don't really want to watch TV because I don't have a favorite show other than Jeopardy (gosh, I love Alex Trebek.  He makes me feel like everything will be ok).

Speaking of everything being ok, I have a 6 Days of Halloween Blog Series starting Monday!  Each day will feature a cute treat holder along with a free pdf tutorial - just because I love you, dear readers and friends!!  I'm so thankful to you for reading my blog, commenting, and choosing me as your demonstrator!  So make sure to stop back Monday and start your week with some Halloween fun.

Through September 30

See Details Here

 Through September 30

Click here to see selected DSP.

Register by September 11

See Details Here

The Prodigal Stamp

One of my stamps decided to go wayward today.  Of course, the stamp was from a brand-new set that I had just opened.  I had to stop in the middle of my project yesterday afternoon because of the need to feed my family and didn't return to said project until this morning.  And the stamp was gone!

I spent 20 minutes painstakingly going through each piece of trash; turned over every trimmer, block, ink pad, and stamp case; did a little dance to shake my clothes out; crawled on the floor to run my hands over the carpet; and wiped my desk clean.  Nothing!  

That's when I decided to pray about it.  God has been answering a LOT of prayers lately for myself and family members, so I figured He's got this, too.  I sat quietly for a minute, eyes closed, telling God He's been so faithful in so many other ways that I just knew He'd show me where my lost stamp was in due time.  I remained sitting quietly for another few seconds, opened my eyes, glanced down and over to the right, and my eyes immediately fell upon the stamp:

No joke, a shiver ran up my spine and I got goosebumps!  I was so excited at the absolutely crazy way my prayer was answered that I ran upstairs to tell my 14-year-old daughter the story.  No prayer really is too small for God!

So what WAS the card I was trying to make during this miracle? 

The TGIF challenge this week was to make a card all in black.

My mind immediately went to white pumpkins.  I love how they look and I thought I could recreate it with a white watercolor pencil on Basic Black cardstock.  It worked!

All those pumpkins were stamped in Versamark and heat set with white embossing powder.  I then used the Gathered Leaves Dies to die-cut the pumpkins and glue them to a Basic Black panel.  I added strips of Come To Gather Designer Series Paper (don't you LOVE that plaid?!) to the top and bottom and also die-cut leaves from it (the leaf die is also from the Gathered Leaves Die set).

Tip for stamping on vellum: I inked up my sentiment with Versamark, then immediately (before putting stamp to vellum) inked up with Early Espresso ink.  This trick allows you to sprinkle on clear embossing powder in any color of ink!

Here are the supplies for this card:

* (starred) supplies will be available September 4 in the Holiday 2019 catalog

• Gather Together stamp set *
• Gathered Leaves dies *
• Gather Together Bundle (stamp set and dies together at a discount) *
• Come Together Ribbon Combo Pack *
• Come To Gather DSP *
• Versamark ink pad
• Early Espresso ink pad
• white embossing powder
• heat tool
• embossing buddy
• vellum
• Basic Black cardstock
• Cajun Craze cardstock
• watercolor pencils (white)
• bone folder
• SNAIL adhesive
• Mulitpurpose Liquid Glue

I so appreciate your business!  Thank you for choosing Nicole Steele as your demonstrator when shopping.  Please let me know if you would like a catalog if you don't already work with a demonstrator that you love.

Making The Toughest Card Of All

I've been stamping for 20 years and have talked to many cardmakers in that time.  We've shared how much we love making Christmas cards, how excited we are to construct Valentine's Day treat holders for our kids' class parties, whether or not it's worth fancying up the candy we pass out at Halloween (yes, it is, just for the fun factor).  We've discussed the appropriate colors for sympathy cards and how many ways we can creatively present a gift card.  

The ONE project that generates a collective groan among SO many cardmakers, though, is the masculine card.  Because I love delving into the mysteries of the human psyche, let's puzzle this out, shall we?  Is it that we find it easier to work with a more feminine color palette?  Do we love our bows and ribbons and rhinestones and pearls so much that we can't imagine what we would embellish a man card with?  Do we struggle with knowing just what stamped image a man might enjoy receiving on his card?  

(Layout uses Hand Stamped Sentiments Sketch #317)

I love using Stampin' Up!'s High Tide stamp set to make masculine cards.  The lighthouse conveys ruggedness and stability and all the images look great in traditionally darker male colors.  Linen Twine and Braided Linen Trim also make great embellishments with this set and style of card.  Read on for the card recipe!

More sets that would make fantastic cards for men, young and old:

• Capture The Good item #150388
• Sailing Home item #149457 or Bundle with Dies item #151066
• A Good Man item #149270
• Rooted In Nature item #148217 plus Nature's Roots Dies item #146341
• Best Catch item #148598 plus Catch of the Day Dies item #148815
• Country Road item #151356
• Geared Up Garage item #148590 plus Garage Gears Dies item #148521

Card Recipe:

• High Tide stamp set
• Crumb Cake cardstock (5-1/2 x 81/2 base, 4 x 5-1/4)
• Night of Navy cardstock (2-7/8 x 4-1/8)
• Balmy Blue cardstock (3-1/4 x 2, scrap for lighthouse image)
• Sahara Sand cardstock (1-7/8  2-3/4)
• Night of Navy Ink Pad (lighthouse, water)
• Early Espresso Ink Pad (sentiment)
• Crumb Cake Ink Pad (sponging, sand) 
• Sponges
• Basic Pearls
• Braided Linen Trim (frayed)
• Paper Snips (to fussy cut lighthouse)
• Stitched Shapes Dies
• Stitched Rectangle Dies

Shop my online store here to begin making masculine cards with confidence!

If you prefer a hard copy of Stampin' Up!'s annual catalog and don't already 

work with a demonstrator you love, you can request a catalog here by providing your name and address.

Thank you for visiting my little blog on the big Internet today and I so appreciate the opportunity to earn your business!

Pretty Card Elements Using Patterned Papers

If you've read a number of my blog posts, you can tell I love to use DSP - especially scraps - in my projects.  You see, I have trouble choosing colors.  No joke, brown is one of my favorite colors and some wouldn't even call it a color!  But using Stampin' Up!'s Designer Series Paper means a color palette has been chosen for me that already looks beautiful.  So I go with it!  Using all this DSP, though, means scraps are plentiful.  Fortunately, there are loads of ways to use those pretties.  Today I'll show you one of those ways.  At the end of this blog post, I'll link to two other ways I showed of using DSP scraps.  

That stitched circle in the middle of the card front was made using 1/2" wide strips of Bird Ballad DSP.  The strips varied in length since I was using scraps.     

And the smallest circle on the left of the card front with the bird isn't stamped - I die-cut it from a sheet from the Bird Ballad DSP.

Experiment with different shapes - squares, rectangles, hearts, labels - anything could be used!

Check out my posts here and here for some more ideas on using DSP scraps.

Card Recipe:

• Painted Harvest stamp set (sentiment)
• Petal Pink cardstock (5-1/2 x 8-1/2, 4-1/8 x 5-3/8)
• Smoky Slate cardstock (stitched circle sentiment)
• Whisper White cardstock (scraps for stitched DSP circle)
• Bird Ballad DSP (scraps of varied lengths cut to 1/2" wide)
• Basic Gray Ink Pad (to stamp sentiment)
• Soft Suede Ink Pad (to sponge edges of Petal Pink stitched panel)
• Stitched Rectangles Dies
• Stitched Shapes Dies
• Very Vanilla Scalloped Lace Trim
• Metallic Pearls
• Basics Pearls
• Sponge

If you would like a Stampin' Up! Catalog and don't already have a demonstrator, contact me with your name and address and I'll send one out to you. I so appreciate the opportunity to earn your business!

Last few days to earn Bonus Days coupons!  Earn a $5 coupon redeemable in August for every $50 order (before shipping and tax) placed in my online store.  Shop online here.  

TGIF and Splitcoatstampers Challenges

Woo-hoo!  I got to stamp this past weekend!  After being on Hilton Head Island for a week, then jumping right into our church's kids' Bible camp, it had been a few weeks since I'd created anything.  Sometimes that break is a good thing, though, because I find the ideas come easily after returning from one.

I made this for TGIF's #tgifc220 and Splitcoaststamper's CC747 challenges.  TGIF's is a sketch challenge and Splitcoaststamper's is a color challenge, so combining the two allowed me to focus on the elements of my card.  I had to substitute the retired Primrose Petals for Rococo Rose since I did not have any of the latter, but it worked!

As I was coloring the images from the Free As A Bird stamp set, my mind wandered to time spent at my parents' camp in the Allegheny National Forest near Tionesta, PA.  They have a big front porch with rocking chairs and, when my three girls were small, we'd sit there with my mother as she played bird calls on this little machine she had.  The machine came with cards that had calls from loads of bird species recorded on them.  Whichever bird the girls wanted to call, my mom would put the proper card in the machine and the girls spent so many hours having fun trying to lure real birds to call back.  My mom also had a hummingbird feeder on the porch and it was constantly seeing activity.  The girls loved seeing how long they could sit quietly so as to attract more hummingbirds to the feeder - sometimes there were so many they'd "flit" each other away so as to get a drink!  My daughters' sweet excitement and joy in God's creation is such a beautiful memory.

I encourage you to play along in challenges like these two if you find yourself short on stamping time or in a creative rut.  They really are fun, plus you get to see others' takes on the same challenge.  

Here's the Card Recipe so you can make this, too: 

• Free As A Bird stamp set
• Stitched Nested Labels Dies(used to die-cut strip under sentiment)
• Free As A Bird Bundle (stamp set and dies together to save 10%)
• Primrose Petals cardstock (5-1/2 x 8-1/2 card base, 5-1/4 x 3-3/4)
• Soft Sea Foam cardstock (scraps to stamp images and die-cut strip)
• Very Vanilla cardstock (scrap for sentiment)
• Shimmer Detailed Laser Cut DSP
• Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad
• Soft Suede Ink Pad (to stamp sentiment)
• Whisper White Craft Ink Pad (swiped onto Primrose Petals layer)
• Rococo Rose Scalloped Linen Ribbon
• Light & Dark Soft Sea Foam Stampin' Blends
• Light & Dark Pink Pirouette Stampin' Blends (retired)
• Light & Dark Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends
• Light & Dark Balmy Blue Stampin' Blends
• Dark Poppy Parade Stampin' Blends
• Paper Snips for fussy cutting images

Last day to register for the Daisy Lane Class To Go!

Use Host Code KVQ6SS4R

Details here.

Sign up now - I promise you'll love this class!

Bird Ballad Notecard Set Part 2

I showed you two of the four notecards I had made in this post from Friday.  Now I'll show you the next two!  They use stamped images from Free As A Bird.

Coloring with Stampin' Blends markers means your images will not have marker lines and there will be nice blending of shades.  You can use different colors on the same image and not worry about the colors contaminating each other.  My bird above uses Dark and Light Petal Pink Blends and Light Crumb Cake Blends.  My flowers use Dark and Light Daffodil Delight and the leaves Dark & Light Old Olive.

In this sample, I added a couple cute little flowers colored with a Dark Calypso Coral Blend.  Both of these cards were made with Stampin' Up!'s Whisper White Notecards and Envelopes, which come already cut and scored for you!  

See the other two notecards I made with this product suite in this blog post.

Wouldn't a set of these sweet notecards make a fantastic gift?  Bundle some together with the included envelopes stamped to match and they make a perfect welcome gift for a new neighbor, or for a new mom to write thank yous, or even as a wedding or baby shower game prize.  So many uses!


You Can Make It:

• Bird Ballad Bundle (save 10%!)
• Free As A Bird stamp set
• Stitched Nested Labels Dies
• Bird Ballad DSP
• Crumb Cake cardstock
• Early Espresso ink pad
• Basic Pearls
• Paper Snips
• Scalloped Lace Trim
• Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes

 Click on any of the links above to go to my online store and shop!  I would so appreciate your order!