Sunshine Wishes for Just Add Ink

Valentine's Day is coming soon and I really haven't done many Valentine cards so I thought I should try another design. I've been dying to use the Sunshine Wishes Thinlits again, as well, and they were perfect for a challenge I saw at the Just Add Ink Challenge Blog this week:

With a delicious colour combination from the Colour Throwdown Challenge folks, I was ready to go to it!

I mean, look at that inspiration photo! Red, pink, chocolate and white! Tomorrow, I have a Mom & Me class and I needed a project for the moms to do on their own. I thought they would have fun with this one.

• I started with an Early Espresso base and layered it with a simple striped panel from the Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack.
• I got out my Watercolour Pencils and Aqua Painter and did a little watercolour scribble on the Whisper White background. I had to use the pencil colours available. The Real Red and Early Espresso were perfect, but the only pink is Melon Mambo and it's a wee bit off Blushing Bride But with water from the Aqua Painter and the Real Red mixed in, it tones down considerably. You have to be really careful not to add too much water to this on the Whisper White, just enough to blend it and move the colour around.
• I die cut the hearts from Red and Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper. It worked better to die cut the back of the glimmer paper. It just preserved the glitter finish and it was easier to cut and to get out of the die.
• The word love is also part of the Sunshine Wishes set and it is cut from Early Espresso here with clear Wink of Stella added to only the lower part of the letters for a different look.
• The Fine Tip Glue Pen was perfect for gluing all the small areas on to the project. It was especially tricky gluing the banner, word and red heart on as they are interwoven. I glued the heart and word to the banner and then glued all to the project.

There are three new Sale-A-Bration Rewards being offered starting Feb. 21 and you can see a little sneak peek here! Check out that glimmer paper in particular! I think it's going to be a best seller! More on these later!

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

Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack [142733]	Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper [140550]	Red Glimmer Paper [121790]	Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119686]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]
Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [102482]	Subtles Enamel Shapes [141679]	Watercolor Pencils [141709]	Aqua Painters [103954]	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush [141897]
Sunshine Wishes Thinlits Dies [141489]	Big Shot [143263]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026]	Fine-Tip Glue Pen [138309]

Love Notes as As You See It Challenges Returns!!

I have a VERY BIG ANNOUNCEMENT today! After a painful five or six month hiatus, where we had to clean up the aftermath of a severe hack attack, As You See It Challenges is finally back.  The blog post previous to today's on their site contains the whole story, but suffice it to say that we had to start from scratch with no previous data and very little artwork in order to get things up and running again. But we'll put all that in the painful past and move onward and upward and get going with Challenge #141!

Although I have taken over the administration of the challenge, Amanda is still doing most of our designing and I know you'll all be happy about that. And this sketch is a perfect example of why. Here's what I came up with:

• I thought a Valentine would be a good seasonal use of this sketch, so I dug into my Sending Love Suite of products from the Occasions Catalogue with a little help from the Falling in Love Suite!
• The Whisper White background has been dry embossed using the Falling Petals Embossing Folder (which looks like falling hearts to me)! I used the clear Wink of Stella on each of the raised hearts to give them a little glimmer. You can't see the full effect in the photo, however.
• The banner is cut from some Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack paper using the Banners Framelits.
• I added a new Lace Doily which is Whisper White on one side and Very Vanilla on the other - super useful that way!
• The other embellishments are all die cut from the Love Notes Framelits Dies and stamped with sentiments from the Sealed with Love stamp set. There are so many fun images among these two sets which you can bundle for a 10% saving over buying them separately.

I hope you'll play along! We're worried that we've lost many of our followers with so long a disappearance from the challenge scene, so if you help to play and share, maybe we can make a good come-back!

I'm heading to my daughter's for a visit this weekend to celebrate lots of birthdays, including my own on Monday! Have a great weekend yourself!

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

Sealed With Love Photopolymer Stamp Set [142815]	Sealed With Love Photopolymer Bundle [144705]	Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack [142733]	Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [102482]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad [126949]	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush [141897]	Banners Framelits Die [132173]	Love Notes Framelits Dies [142752]	Falling Petals Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [142761]
Big Shot [143263]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026]	Glue Dots [103683]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]

Sending Love!

I realized that I'd better get cracking on my Valentine designs! It's one of the biggest card giving events of the year, but it seems like it gets such a short season. Christmas goes for months, but Valentine's get squeezed in in a month and a half. And Stampin' Up! has such cute product suites for Valentine cards this year in the 2017 Occasions Catalogue, which you will be able to order from starting on Jan. 4.

The one I want to show you today is called the Sending Love Suite and it includes the Sealed with Love stamp set** and the Love Notes Framelits Dies** along with the Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack**.

**New Products from the new 2017 Occasions Catalogue, available Jan, 4, 2017.

Let me just say, I love the "over-the-top-ness" of Valentine cards, the fancier the better, the more dramatic, the better, so I have only begun to plumb the depths of this Product Suite's possibilities, but I had fun with this one. Let's take a closer look:

• It's been awhile since I've made a rosette (lolly, medallion,..) and it was fun! I took three 1 1/2" strips from the 6" long Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack** paper, which is all Real Red and White, and scored each one every 1/4" using the Simply Scored. I joined them all together at the ends and then joined the front and the end to make a cylinder.  Remember the old Jumbo Sticky Rounds Stampin' Up! used to sell? Well, I kept some of them, so I used one for this task. I peeled back one of the films and flattened the cylinder to make the rosette shape right on the sticky round, which held it in place right away. If you don't have any of these, a hot glue gun works well too. Use your Silicon Craft Sheet and make a blob of hot glue in the middle, then flatten the medallion so that the center is in the blob of glue on the underside.
• You need a stabilizing cover for the center front, so I stamped this sentiment from the Sealed with Love stamp set ** on some Whisper White and die cut it with a Stitched Shape Framelit, which will be available again on January 16. I used Fast Fuse, or more hot glue will work, to glue it on top of the medallion.
• I stamped the lips image on Whisper White and fussy cut it, adding it to the center circle with a Stampin' Dimensional.
• The background paper is another design from the Sending Love DSP stack**. I stamped the sentiment from the Sealed with Love stamp set** right on it.
• The adorable little envelopes and notes inside are made with dies from the Love Notes Framelits Dies**. The notepaper inside is made from Sending Love Glassine Sheets.**

**New Products from the new 2017 Occasions Catalogue, available Jan, 4, 2017.

 Only 6 Days Left in this Sale! It's your last chance to get some of the retiring products from the Holiday Catalogue before they're gone for good! Check out what's still left in my OnLine Store  and order online yourself or email me with your order! Don't leave it too long!

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

Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [102482]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad [126949]	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708]	Simply Scored [122334]
Silicone Craft Sheet [127853]	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies [145372]	Big Shot [143263]	Paper Snips Scissors [103579]	Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026]
Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]	Glue Dots [103683]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]

Sealed with Love stamp set**, Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack**, Love Notes Framelits Dies**, Mini Paper Clips Combo Pack**

**New Products from the new 2017 Occasions Catalogue, available Jan, 4, 2017.