Lighting the Way Bundle for Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies

 

One of my bucket list items is to see and catch firefies or lightening bugs, whichever you want to call them!  They fascinate me and seem so magical. I've never lived anywhere that they existed! So I've been excited to play with the Lighting the Way Bundle. I have so many plans for the set. One is to make a card that lights up, but I need some specialized parts for that and they won't arrive until Wednesday.

In the meantime, I remembered a technique I used a few years ago called the Bokeh effect and I thought it would be a great one to use for this set. I'm entering the Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies challenge.

I used dies in two ways for this challenge. I used the circle dies from the Stylish Shapes die set to create a template for my Bokeh effect, and I used the Lighting the Way dies to create a firefly to add to the card. 

Here's how it turned out:

• On a piece of Stargazing Designer Series Paper measuring 4 3/4" x 3 1/2", I stamped various foliage or grass images in Memento Tuxedo Black ink.
• Then I used a template die cut from thick Basic White cardstock using the two smallest circle dies from the Stylish Shapes die set and several smaller circle punches and a sponge dauber to sponge on the White Craft Ink in overlapping circles as you see here. I would first remove some of the ink from the dauber to get a more translucent look.
• I stamped a couple more grasses over top of the circles once they were a bit drier, to create more depth. I also stamped some smaller fireflies and used a gel pen to colour in the tails, as yellow ink just didn't show up enough.
• I added more dots of light using a white gel pen.
• I die cut the large firefly from Copper Brushed Metallic Cardstock, Vellum for the wings and Lemon Lime Twist for the tail. I coloured over the body with Dark Basic Black Stampin' Blends Marker for that shiny black effect and added gel pen on the embossed lines in the vellum wings. A dot of glue on each piece adhered it all together and I mounted it using black dimensionals.
• The sentiment was from the Lighting the Way stamp set and was embossed in white on Blueberry Bushel cardstock, then die cut with one of the banners from the Stylish Shapes die set. I also mounted it with black dimensionals.
• Finally, I mounted that panel on a 5" x 3 3/4" piece of Granny Apple Green cardstock and both of those on a regular Blueberry Bushel card base.

If you live in Canada, and don't have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I'd love to be yours. I can help you with ideas, get you catalogues and provide you with Stampin' Up products. You can leave a message in the comments or contact me using any of the methods listed in the right side bar at the top of the page. You can shop with me from anywhere in Canada by clicking on the SHOP NOW button in the top menu or clicking on any of products below from my Online Store.

Product List

Lighting The Way Bundle (English) [162381] $67.50	Lighting The Way Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) [160868] $32.00	Stargazing 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper [161175] $17.00	Brushed Metallic Cardstock [153524] $21.00	Vellum 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [101856] $13.75
Blueberry Bushel 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146968] $13.75	Granny Apple Green 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146990] $13.75	Lemon Lime Twist 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [144245] $13.75	Whisper White Craft Stampin' Ink Refill [101780] $6.25	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] $9.00
Versamark Pad [102283] $13.00	Basics Embossing Powders [155554] $25.00	Basic Black Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154843] $13.75	Sponge Daubers [133773] $7.50	Heat Tool (Us And Canada) [129053] $43.00
Stylish Shapes Dies [159183] $41.00	Lighting The Way Dies [160496] $43.00	3/4" (1.9 Cm) Circle Punch [119873] $18.00	1-1/2" (3.8 Cm) Circle Punch [138299] $22.00	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [110755] $7.50
Black Stampin' Dimensionals Combo Pack [150893] $8.25

Paper Florist Dies for As You See It Challenge #303

This week is a colour challenge at As You See It Challenges, and it's called Bright 'n Basic and is created by Team Member Heather H. The colours are so vivid but tamed by the neutrals so I'm really happy with it and delighted to get out a new set of dies called the Paper Florist Dies, to try out for the first time.

Here's the Challenge Banner:

Even though it's a bit of an unusual combination of colours, it's a pretty generic one and there are so many different things you can do with it, as you'll see when you view the range of examples from the Design Team. So I hope you'll have fun with it! I thought it would look good with red and blue florals with the neutrals creating interesting backgrounds and foliage and just toning down the brightness a bit. Here's how it turned out:

• Using the Paper Florist dies takes a bit of experimentation. When you open them up at first, they are a bit mysterious looking, but as you try them out you can easily see how they work and how each die can be mixed with the others. 
• The one that might stump you at first is the one that looks like this:

        This creates a roll up center for a flower like the ones on the two flowers on 

        the upper right of my card.

• I used the Poppy Parade and Tahitian Tide for the petals and some of the centers. I saved the Crumb Cake for centers and foliage.
• I used the Gray Granite for the sentiment layer, die cut with the largest Stylish Shapes square and embossed in white with a sentiment from the Biggest Wish stamp set. I chose that because everything in this design is scaled in a larger scale, from the flowers to the embossed design so a large, bold sentiment is fitting.
• Speaking of embossing, on the thick Basic White card base, I added another 4" x 5 1/4" layer of thick Basic White embossed using one of the Basics 3D embossing folders with the large polka dots on it.
• Finally I added a multiloop bow using the  1/8" Metallic Woven Ribbon in Tahitian Tide. Using a multiloop bow is one option of getting this bow to be noticed due to its narrow width. You can widen the mesh, but it's hard to keep it wide and any tension on it narrows it back down again.

I recommend this die set for many reasons! It's versatile, useful for home decor and good all year round, and just a lot of fun to play with! It's a little hard to find in the catalogue and you might not have noticed it, since it's not connected to a stamp set, but it's well worth having.

  

You can now subscribe to August's Paper Pumpkin kit. It's a floral design and you get a free DistINKtive stamp set, so it's really beautiful! The theme is loyalty and encouragement, something we all could use! To subscribe before Aug. 11, click HERE.

If you live in Canada, and don't have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I'd love to be yours. I can help you with ideas, get you catalogues and provide you with Stampin' Up products. You can leave a message in the comments or contact me using any of the methods listed in the right side bar at the top of the page. You can shop with me from anywhere in Canada by clicking on the SHOP NOW button in the top menu or clicking on any of products below from my Online Store.

Product List

Biggest Wish Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) [155052] $24.00	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [159229] $12.25	Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [120953] $13.75	Gray Granite 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146983] $13.75	Poppy Parade 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [119793] $13.75
Tahitian Tide 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159261] $13.75	Versamark Pad [102283] $13.00	Basics Embossing Powders [155554] $25.00	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [147116] $12.25	Poppy Parade Classic Stampin' Pad [147050] $12.25
Tahitian Tide Classic Stampin' Pad [159210] $12.25	Small Blending Brushes [160518] $16.50	Tahitian Tide 1/8'' (3.2 Mm) Metallic Woven Ribbon [159197] $12.25	Basics 3 D Embossing Folders [161598] $41.00	Heat Tool (Us And Canada) [129053] $43.00
Paper Florist Dies [161284] $51.00	Stylish Shapes Dies [159183] $41.00	Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653] $175.00	Mini Glue Dots [103683] $8.00	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [110755] $7.50

Horse & Sleigh Bundle from the New Selection of Online Exclusive Offerings

 Yes, it IS a Christmas card in the middle of summer, but that's when many crafters get their start on their Christmas card supplies. Do you still make Christmas cards? How many are you planning for this year?

The other reason I'm posting this card today is to make you aware of the new Online Exclusive Offerings that will be appearing July 5 on the Stampin' Up! website. You can find them by following this link: Online Exclusives.

These photos are only a small part of the actual online offerings that you can check out July 5th, next Wednesday.

The horse and sleigh stamp and die are amazing of course, but one of the really incredible parts of this suite is the beautiful One Horse Open Sleigh 6" x 6" Designer Series Paper, which barely needs much more than a sentiment to create a wonderful Christmas card all on its own! It is forming the background on this card. And there are 11 other double sided patterns!!

Basically, I stamped the horse and sleigh and coloured them in with Stampin' Blends and die cut them. I stamped the pine tree and die cut two other trees as well as a couple of snow banks from Pool Party cardstock. Then I just assembled the pieces. The sentiment was stamped right on the page.

If you want in on these products, again follow this link: Online Exclusives.

If you live in Canada, and don't have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I'd love to be yours. I can help you with ideas, get you catalogues and provide you with Stampin' Up products. You can leave a message in the comments or contact me using any of the methods listed in the right side bar at the top of the page. You can shop with me from anywhere in Canada by clicking on the SHOP NOW button in the top menu or clicking on any of products below from my Online Store.

Product List

Shaded Spruce 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146981] $13.75	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159276] $14.50	Pool Party 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [122924] $13.75	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] $9.00	Shaded Spruce Classic Stampin' Pad [147088] $12.25
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad [147084] $12.25	Real Red Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154899] $13.75	Basic Black Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154843] $13.75	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154885] $13.75	Bronze & Ivory Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154922] $13.75
Natural Tones Stampin’ Blends Collection [160940] $61.25	Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653] $175.00	Stampin' Seal [152813] $11.00	Mini Glue Dots [103683] $8.00	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $6.00

Horse & Sleigh Bundle*, One Horse Open Sleigh 6" x 6" Designer Series Paper*, Adhesive Backed Snowflake Collection*

*New products available for sale on July 1st, 2023.