Happy (Half) Hour Facebook Live Projects - Ghiradelli Holder & Stamp Trick To Double Its Use

I'm making a separate post for today's Facebook Live so that the resources are easily found in one spot.  If you couldn't watch live, I've posted the replay below.  Make sure to follow me on Facebook to get notified when I go live and subscribe to my YouTube channel (hit the bell, too!).

You can find the project sheet here.

Remember, any order of $35 or more (before shipping and tax) receives the project kits for today's Live!  Use Host Code 349VN7VY and be sure to place your order by Midnight ET this Friday!

If you are enjoying The Joyful Stamper site:

• New to stamping?  Welcome!  The Beginner Brochure was designed for you.  Also check out this card for a perfect first dip into cardmaking.  I can mail it to you with a free catalog package - just email me at nicole@thejoyfulstamper.com to request one.
• High-quality stamping products make your crafting experience better so don't cheat yourself!  Shop my store for your crafting supplies!
• You'll love my crafting videos on The Joyful Stamper YouTube channel!  Subscribe while you're there and click the bell so that you always have fresh inspiration.
• Looking for community, a hobby, or a way to make extra money?  My team of My Joyful Stampers has a place for you (and the Starter Kit is the especially ULTIMATE bargain right now)!  Read more here.

Thank you for choosing me as your demonstrator!  I appreciate your business!

The Joyful Stamper Stampin' News

The Happy (Half) Hour Live Stamping Class

Every Tuesday at 2 PM ET I go live on The Joyful Stamper Facebook Page.  Today I have a small Ghiradelli chocolate holder and Valentine's Day card for you.  These are so easy to whip up a few to have on hand!  The From My Heart suite has been so fun to play around with!

I'll post a project sheet and the video in a separate post later today.  Don't forget to join me at 2 PM ET!  Follow my Facebook page and set your notifications to be alerted when I go live.

Sneak Peek of 2 Cool Tricks

Watch my blog this week to see a cool trick that stretches the use of your crafting supplies, plus an easy cut that has a triple impact.  Type your email in the Subscribe box to get my posts delivered straight to you.

Sale-A-Bration Coordination Product Release

Beginning February 4 (or now, if you are a demonstrator), products that coordinate with current Sale-A-Bration offerings will be available.

• Dies that coordinate with Positive Thoughts stamp set
• Dies that coordinate with Someone Special stamp set
• Dies that coordinate with Little Ladybug stamp set
• Dies that coordinate with Sending You Thoughts stamp set
• Dies that coordinate with Happy Birthday To You stamp set

We'll also be getting a 12"x12" pack of Designer Series Paper that has images and patterns that work with 4 of our punches:

• Umbrella Builder Punch
• Tulip Builder Punch
• Small Bloom Punch
• Heart Punch Pack

These new dies and paper CAN be added to a Starter Kit (your BEST DEAL), so if you just can't wait to have them, join my team of My Joyful Stampers now! 

Paper Pumpkin Subscribers:

The monthly newsletter that is part of your subscription will be sent out via email tomorrow, so watch your inbox for it.  Inside the newsletter you'll find alternate ideas for your January kit, a link to order refills, the stamp set case insert to help you stay organized, and more.  Watch the short how-to video on my Paper Pumpkin page.  If you aren't already a subscriber, sign up for a prepaid subscription and get your choice of FREE Sale-A-Bration items (the perfect option if you're new to stamping)! 

Start with a sketch

Is your stamp time limited?  Do you struggle with where to start when you do sit down to play?  Do you need fresh ideas to liven up your cards?  Start with a sketch!

------->>See more card sketches!<<-------

If you are enjoying The Joyful Stamper site:

• New to stamping?  Welcome!  The Beginner Brochure was designed for you.  Also check out this card for a perfect first dip into cardmaking.  I can mail it to you with a free catalog package - just email me at nicole@thejoyfulstamper.com to request one.
• High-quality stamping products make your crafting experience better so don't cheat yourself!  Shop my store for your crafting supplies!
• You'll love my crafting videos on The Joyful Stamper YouTube channel!  Subscribe while you're there and click the bell so that you always have fresh inspiration.
• Looking for community, a hobby, or a way to make extra money?  My team of My Joyful Stampers has a place for you (and the Starter Kit is the especially ULTIMATE bargain right now)!  Read more here.

Fresh New Color Combination with Breathtaking Bouquet and Blends

Hello, my stamping friends!  I've been doing something different on the weekends lately - watching movies!  Books, not movies, are my thing, but wow!  There have been some fantastic flicks released.  A couple weeks ago I saw Little Women and Spies In Disguise with my daughters and mom.  Then this past weekend, Brian and I viewed 1917.  Just a few hours later, Caitlin introduced us to The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials as we ate pizza.  All 5 of those movies were SO good!  I'm eager to see the third one (The Death Cure) in the series.  No one wanted to stay up until 2 AM watching it with me, so I reluctantly went to bed and will have to wait another day to see it.  What movies have you seen and loved lately?

Another thing I did over the weekend was to scout out stamping challenges.  Handstamped Sentiments is one I've played in before but it's been a long while.  I love this fresh color combination!  

Breathtaking Bouquet is a new background stamp in the Mini Catalog, on page 31 in the top right corner.  It's easy to miss, so keep your eyes open!  A background stamp means it's large enough to cover the entire card front.  This stamp has so many beautiful possibilities!  

 

I stamped Breathtaking Bouquet on 2 pieces of 4"x5-1/4" Thick Whisper White cardstock in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink.  Why 2 pieces?  Because I wanted to color and cut the largest flowers to layer on the originally stamped image.  Lifting them up with Stampin' Dimensionals adds so much interest and it's such a small thing to do.  

I used Stampin' Blends alcohol ink markers to color the image.  Stamping in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink means the image won't smear when using Blends. Stampin' Blends used:

• Light & Dark Flirty Flamingo 
• Light & Dark Mossy Meadow
• Light & Dark Pretty Peacock
• Light Old Olive
• Dark So Saffron

View a photo tutorial on using Stampin' Blends.

The sympathy sentiment is from Itty Bitty Greetings, a great set that has 32 little greetings to cover any occasion.  I used an Embossing Buddy to rub a 6"x5/8" strip of vellum cardstock, stamped the greeting in Versamark, then heat embossed with Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder.  The vellum ends were wrapped around the card and adhered to the back with SNAIL.

Check this out!  I added epoxy droplets to the flowers!  These particular ones are retired (I didn't realize it when I used them) but there are other Epoxy Droplets on page 178 in the Annual Catalog that will work just as good.

This card did take more time because of the coloring and blending, but it was fun and I did it while chatting on the phone with Emma who is back at school.  She could hear the markers squeaking as I worked which made us laugh for some reason.  Do you ever laugh over things that aren't all that funny but they become even funnier the more you giggle over them?  I love those moments!

Shop my store to get the supplies for this card and many more - high quality crafting tools make stamping enjoyable so don't cheat yourself.  

Stampin' Blends

Breathtaking Bouquet - cling mount or wood mount

Itty Bitty Greetings

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad

Frosted & Clear Epoxy Droplets

Vellum cardstock

Thick Whisper White cardstock

Join me Tuesdays at 2 PM ET on The Joyful Stamper Facebook page for my weekly Facebook Live stamping class.  I demo 2 projects and post a project sheet so you can make them, too!

Bonus 6th Way To Use Peaceful Poppies Elements

It's Friday!  Fun things happen on Fridays, right?  When my daughters were little, we called it Fun Friday and planned special things for this day.  It didn't necessarily involve going anywhere - we'd make ice cream sundaes for dinner, or play all their favorite board games.  Other times, we'd get movies from our library and Brian would make his "famous" popcorn.  One Christmas, knowing our Fun Friday tradition, my brother and sister-in-law got us a family scrapbook that had a variety of silly activities and fill-ins we could do together.  It gives us lots of laughs now to page through it and see what the girls recorded 12+ years ago!

In the spirit of Fun Friday, I have a *bonus* sixth way to use the Peaceful Poppies Elements.  

I watercolored three of the pieces from the included pre-printed watercolor sheets, using an Aquapainter, and Blackberry Bliss and Old Olive inks.  The white embossed lines resist the applied ink and really stand out from the watercoloring!  

Tip: to watercolor, squeeze a drop of ink from a bottle of re-inker into the lid of an ink pad.  Fill the barrel of an Aqua Painter with water, then squeeze a few drops into the ink pad lid to dilute the ink.  Pick up color with the Aqua Painter and apply to the Elements piece.  I found it easier to watercolor first, then pop out the pieces.  If you are uncomfortable watercoloring, practice on scrap watercolor paper first.  You'll get more comfortable with it and enjoy the process!

I also used a black embossed circle and black embossed banner from the Elements Pack.  The circle highlights and anchors the boquet of flowers while the banner is the perfect spot for my heat embossed sentiment (from Sending You Thoughts).

What I love about the Peaceful Poppies Elements:

• You get 4 paper mediums to work with (colored printed pieces, black embossed, vellum embossed, and watercolor embossed).  The variety gives you many looks for just $6.50!
• You can use them as is (just punch out and adhere) or try techniques on them (like coloring with Stampin' Blends).  Both ways look pretty!
• You can make a card without any stamping at all.  This option is great when stamping somewhere other than your home (like while waiting for a child's practice to be over, or on vacation).  Just add some card bases, smaller pieces of Desiger Series Paper, a spool of ribbon, and adhesive to a plastic bag - instant DIY stamp kit!

Peaceful Poppies Elements

Peaceful Poppies suite

Aqua Painters

Check out more Elements ideas from this week's Live!

Remember, any order of $35 or more (before shipping and tax) receives the project kits to make both cards demo'd during Tuesday's Live!  Use Host Code 349VN7VY and be sure to place your order by Midnight ET tonight!

You can find the project sheet here.

A Giant Pineapple!

It's amazing what a walk on a sunny day can do to lift one's spirits.  I got up yesterday and was fine really but the need to MOVE was strong!  So I leashed up Lily and off we went, making a pit stop at my parents' home (just over a mile from us).  I talked to my dad and grandmother for a long while.  By the time Lily and I returned home, my mind was energized and I felt like the world was my oyster and anything was possible!  My eyelashes would suddenly be longer, thicker, and darker!  My house would have dusted itself!  Consuming chocolate everyday would turn out to be great for my waistline!

The walk was a good one.  

And so is this card!  But I can't take credit for the original idea.  I found it on page 11 of the Sale-A-Bration brochure, in the bottom right corner.

If you think every project you make has to be 100% your own idea, stop with that thought!  Stampin' Up! packs its catalogs with beautiful samples for all skill levels and styles of stampers.  It's okay - and encouraged - to make something exactly like you see it!  I changed just two things on this card - the sentiment and the color of the flower - and that was only because I needed a "hello" card and I had a Grapefruit Grove ink pad sitting on my desk.  Let's focus on the details and at the end you'll find a tutorial to download for your personal use.

The background is the stunning Coastal Weave 3D Embossing Folder.  Tip: to get a deeper impression, lightly spritz your cardstock with water before running it through a die-cutting machine.  

After it was embossed, I used a Stampin' Sponge to lightly rub Soft Suede ink across it.  The raised parts of the embossed pattern pick up the ink from the sponge while the more recessed areas do not get inked.  It's such a FUN look!

The pineapple top and bottom and flower dies are found in the In The Tropics dies set.  Before die-cutting the flower, I stamped the image from Timeless Tropical in Grapefruit Grove ink.  Tip: use a bone folder to gently curl the pineapple top's leaves to give it more interest.  

I added a striped sequin from the Metallic Baker's Twine & Sequins Combo Pack, a free Sale-A-Bration item.

"Hello" was stamped on So Saffron cardstock in Pear Pizzazz ink, then trimmed with Paper Snips.

Click to download your free tutorial for this Hello, Pineapple! card.

Remember, any order of $35 or more (before shipping and tax) receives the project kits to make both cards demo'd during Tuesday's Live!  Use Host Code 349VN7VY and be sure to place your order by Midnight ET this Friday!

You can find the project sheet here.