Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge

I'm up to my eyeballs in Thanksgiving Day food preparation today.  I last made this feast 21 years ago when I was 23 and with the help of my mom (so in other words, half a lifetime ago)!  My brother, sister-in-law, 7 year old niece, and 5 year old twin nephews are also coming to stay with us in our one-story, 1200 square foot home.  Oh, and did I mention we have one bathroom and 3 children of our own?  And that we're all running a Turkey Trot tomorrow, including the cook (me)?  It sounds like the Griswald's Christmas Vacation movie!  But not by a long shot, because we love our family and are excited to see them!  My little niece and nephews are adorable and funny.  And my sister-in-law is an incredible cook, so nothing can go wrong with this feast that she can't salvage!

No matter what, though, there's always time for stamping 😊  And a Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge comes to the rescue when I need a quick creative fix.  

Not gonna lie - I am patting myself on the back for this card.  I ADORE those gorgeous, deep, rich autumnal hues.  I especially love the contrast of the dark Early Espresso card base and Stitched Rectangle panels with the leaves die-cut with Come To Gather Designer Series Paper.  The Cajun Craze and Merry Merlot colors in that paper really stand out!

Just arrange the die-cut leaves on the panels and trim off the excess.  Adhere the panels with Stampin' Dimensionals and add sentiment strips stamped in Cajun Craze and highlighted with tiny Gold Brads.  The measurements and supply list are in the tutorial below - just click the image!

Enjoy the downloadable tutorial.  Don't forget to print it and add it to a binder, along with my other free tutorials (look for the "Click here for free tutorial image on my blog posts)!

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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!

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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!

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