Quick and Easy Merry Woodland Moose Card

This card was easy to make, cute to look at, but really hard to photograph so that you can see the details. The basis of it is a Whisper White panel dry embossed with the Woodlands Embossing Folder and embellished with the ornament from the *Merry Moose stamp set.

*New Products from the 2019 Holiday Catalogue, not available for sale until Sept. 4, 2019.

Let's try a closer look with lower light to enhance the shadows:

• You can now see the birch trees embossed in the white cardstock more clearly which gives a bit of a snowy effect.
• The ornament from the *Merry Moose stamp set is just the right size to stamp in some of the flat areas hanging from some of the branches. I did 3 of them in Real Red ink, as the the Rule of Threes states that our eyes find 3 of something more attractive to look at.
• The sentiment is also from *Merry Moose and it just fits inside the Classic Label Punch. I mounted it on the card front using Mini Stampin' Dimensionals.
• I originally stamped the raccoon from the *Merry Moose set, with a jaunty red knit cap on his head and coloured him in with Stampin' Blends, but he just spoiled the white and red look of the card, so I didn't adhere him to it.

*New Products from the 2019 Holiday Catalogue, not available for sale until Sept. 4, 2019.

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today.

Product List

*Merry Moose Photopolymer Stamp Set [150494] $22.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [140272] $11.25	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [100730] $13.25	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad [147084] $10.25	Woodland Embossing Folder [139673] $11.50
Classic Label Punch [141491] $24.00	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [110755] $5.50	Mini Stampin' Dimensionals [144108] $5.50

*New Products from the 2019 Holiday Catalogue, not available for sale until Sept. 4, 2019.

Polar Express Quick and Easy

As a teacher, I loved reading to my students, and I especially loved it around Christmas time because Christmas stories are all so special and touching. One of my favourites to read was The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. It's the magical story of a young boy just starting to question his belief in Santa Claus. He gets picked up Christmas Eve by the Polar Express for a ride to the North Pole to see Santa and to be the symbolic recipient of the First Wish of Christmas!  His first wish is to have one of the sleigh bells on Santa's sleigh!

As soon as I saw the stamp set Christmas Magic in the Holiday catalogue, it reminded me of this story with the steam engine and the North Pole sign and the Sleigh Bell. I needed a sample for an up-coming Christmas Stamper's Dozen, which had to be relatively quick and easy to complete, so I reached for this set and came up with this design:

•  I stamped the engine and the bell (and sentiment) in Basic Black Archival Ink on Whisper White, then used Stampin' Write Markers in Real Red, Old Olive and Smoky Slate to add little touched of colour, just to give a hint, not to colour in completely. You can't tell from the photo, but I also added quite a heavy coat of clear Wink of Stella on the bell as a quick way of giving it some extra sparkle and shine without taking up too much time.
• I used the Layering Squares and Layering Circle Framelits to die cut the train and the whistle images and to provide frames for them. I am so glad I went ahead and purchased all those sets! I have used them constantly.
• The striped paper is from the Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper, one of the sets that is part of the Buy 3, Get 1 Free Promotion on from now until the end of October with Stampin' Up! Take advantage of that today!
• I used the Banners Framelits to die cut the sentiment and its two banner backgrounds. It's been awhile so it was good to air them out and let them see the light of day again.

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today.

Product List

Christmas Magic Wood-Mount Stamp Set [142116]	Christmas Magic Clear-Mount Stamp Set [142119]	Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper [141981]	Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [120953]	Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [102482]
Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931]	Brights Stampin' Write Markers [131259]	Neutrals Stampin' Write Markers [131261]	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush [141897]
Layering Squares Framelits Dies [141708]	Layering Circle Framelits Dies [141705]	Banners Framelits Die [132173]	Big Shot [143263]	Big Shot Magnetic Platform [130658]
Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]

Quick and Cute with You've Got This!

I just held a Quick and Cute Night class which doubles as a Beginner's Class. I love introducing new people to stamping and the idea that they can be creative without the need to be able to draw! I love the look on their faces when they stamp their first image and the pride in their voices when they look at the finished product! It's heady stuff! And it's fun designing Quick and Cute cards for these classes. I like to use a showy stamp and I steer clear of all but the simplest Big "Shotting" (yes, that's a verb!), opting more for punches to shape my paper.

The layout of this card was inspired by, but not strictly adhered to, a Mojo Monday Sketch:

This was the sketch for last week, so I am not entering the challenge, just using it as a design guide. In fact, Card Challenge sites are a great source of inspiration for your card making, even if you don't enter the challenges. Check out the ones I participate in regularly on the left side bar or just google card making or stamping challenges - there are dozens of them.

• The stamp set, You've Got This, is a good showy stamp set to use in a beginner's card. They don't have to colour it in for it to look good and the sentiments use a wonderful font. Here the flower is stamped in Blushing Bride and Crumb Cake, although you can't see much of the stem and leaves.
• The flag is made from paper in the Love Blossoms Designer Series Paper Stack. This will be retiring at the end of May and will only be available until supplies last, so get it soon if you like it. The background DSP is from Timeless Elegance Designer Series Paper. It is a favourite of many and will likewise be retiring.
• Good old Decorative Label Punch! It was one of the first I bought and it's still going strong, making a return appearance in the new Annual Catalogue! I stamped the sentiment on Blushing Bride cardstock and punched it out, then punched out another Decorative Label shape in Basic Black cardstock and mounted it just below and to the right of the Blushing Bride label, like a shadow.

So I said I'd share with you some of a game we played at my Celebrate Sale-A-Bration Event, held last Saturday. In this quiz, you have to change 1 letter in each word to make the name of a Stampin' Up! product.  For example - You're Not Thin becomes You've Got This by changing the v to an r in the first word, the n to a g in the second word and the n to an s in the third. Now see if you can figure out the next 5:

Baler's Twins _____________________________

Pig Show Dig Brush ______________________________

Rote Ponder ______________________________

Lumber or Yearn ____________________________

Tip Lap Top ______________________________________

Leave me the answers in the comments! Have fun! I'll share some more another time.

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today.

Product List

You've Got This Clear-Mount Stamp Set [139575]	You've Got This Wood-Mount Stamp Set [139572]	Timeless Elegance Designer Series Paper [138444]	Love Blossoms Designer Series Paper Stack [140548]	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045]
Blushing Bride 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131198]	Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101650]	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad [131172]	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [126975]	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931]
Decorative Label Punch [120907]	Banner Triple Punch [138292]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]