It is Friday and I have a fun fold to share with you.  This is a quick and easy one, so let's get started!

Are you beginning to wonder...fun fold?  It is coming, sometimes it is the surprise that makes it fun! This big sunflower is just fabulous.  The main flower was stamped, embossed with white embossing powder, colored using Cinnamon Cider and Bumblebee ink, and cut using the Sunflowers dies.  The detailed/outline was cut using Bumblebee CS.  The center of the flower is Cinnamon Cider CS with a brushing of Wink of Stella over it.  The leaves were cut out in Old Olive CS using the Sunflowers dies.  

The background is the sunflower stamped in Bumblebee ink and the splatters from the Forever Fern stamp set in Cinnamon Cider ink.  The sentiment was embossed using white embossing powder and then fussy cut.  

Surprise!  Yes, the front panel is a flap that lifts up.  The sunflower was inked and stamped once on a piece of scrap paper before stamping on the cardstock.  I didn't want the stamping to interfere with the message, just enhance it.

Here are the measurements:

• Cinnamon Cider CS base- 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" 
• Bumblebee CS flap- 3-1/4" x  8-1/2" scored at 4-1/4"
• Whisper White CS front -  3" x  4-1/4"
• Whisper White inside- 3" x  4"

Just a few more sleeps until Bonus Days will be just a dream.  Don't miss out!  

Product List

Celebrate Sunflowers Bundle (English) [154065]	Forever Fern Cling Stamp Set (English) [152559]	Cinnamon Cider Classic Stampin' Pad [153114]	Bumblebee Classic Stampin' Pad [153116]
Versamark Pad [102283]	Cinnamon Cider 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [153078]	Bumblebee 8-1/2X11 Cardstock [153077]	Old Olive 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [100702]
Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [100730]	White Stampin' Emboss Powder [109132]	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush [141897]

We made it to Thursday, which means it is time for the Create with Connie & Mary Challenge.  This is the last week we are casing the catalog.  The sample we are casing is on page 123 of the 2020-21 Annual Catalog.

We are just days away from the debut of the 2020 August-December Mini Catalog so I am showing a few products that are featured in that catalog as well as some of my favorites from the 2020 Annual Catalog.

Can you spot what products are in the upcoming 2020 August-December Mini Catalog?   Here's a hint there are 2.  

Still loving the beautiful Prized Peony bundle.  The flower  was colored using Cherry Cobbler, Real Red, Mossy Meadow, and Old Olive Stampin' Blends and then cut using the Peony dies. The sentiment is also from the Prized Peony stamp set and stamped on a Stitched Rectangle.  The Basic Black cs was embossed using the Scripty 3-D folder.  Just a little more texture to add to the card.  The pretty 3/8" Real Red satin ribbon is a returning favorite, it is soft and easy to tie.  

So, you have probably figured out that the 2 sneak peek items from the upcoming mini catalog are the black and white plaid paper and the pretty Real Red  gems.  The black & white plaid is from the Plaid Tidings 6" x 6" DSP.  I love all the plaids in the pack of paper but black and white is my very favorite.  The Real Red gems are part of the Wonderful Gems.  In this pack of embellishments you get 100 gems in 2 colors: clear and Real Red.  The gems come in 2 sizes and have a bit of gold glitter flecks in each gem.  Pretty and sparkly!

Just a quick reminder that Bonus Days are almost over!  Bonus Days end on August 3.  During Bonus Days you will earn a $5 coupon for every $50 (before shipping and tax), which you can redeem starting August 4th!  So don't miss out!

This weekend I spent some time playing with products I pre-ordered from the 2020 August-December Mini Catalog.  The first things I wanted to play with was the Little Treats bundle.  You can find this bundle on page 70 of the Mini Catalog (all the way towards the back!)

Isn't is cute?  First of all, you can cut this from a 6" x  6" piece of paper. The paper I used is the Plaid Tidings 6" x 6" DSP.  You do not need any adhesive to put this cutie together so this little treat box can be assembled in a matter of minutes.  The die does all the cutting, scoring & slit making.  If you make a lot of favors, little treats then this will be a BIG time saver.  

I used the Glittered Organdy Ribbon  to close up the box.  The cute little tag and the spooky spider were also cut using the Little Treats Box Dies.  The sentiment is from the Itty Bitty Greeting set and I used Pumpkin Pie and Basic Black Markers to color it in. 

What fits in this treat box?  I have 2 mini Tic Tac containers in this one.  They fit perfectly!  The mini Tic Tacs can be hard to find.  I bought mine at the Duty Free Shop when we were still able to travel.  I think 2 Nuggets will  fit. Looking at the sample in the Mini Catalog it looks like Ghirardelli Squares will also fit.  Next time I go to the store I will take a treat box with me so I can check out what else might fit.  I will keep you informed.

If you do not have a 2020 August-December Mini Catalog and are not working with a demonstrator, please let me know and I will send one out to you. 

I have a little sneak peek for you!  Yes, it is a sneak peek from the 2020 August-December Mini Catalog, the  Life is Beautiful stamp set.  This stamp set is extra special since it is Lee Ann Gref's Million Dollar Sales Achiever set and it was a great fit for the Festive Friday Challenge!

I knew I wanted to use pink and brown from the Inspo List but what would the third item be?  I found my answer in the Life is Beautiful stamp set.

The elements I used pink, brown, and circles!  Love the different sizes and shading of the circles.  The stamp set is a Distinktive set and I further emphasized the shading by stamping  the circles once and without inking stamped again.  Now I realize I also have circles in the In Color DSP!  

This is a 9 piece photopolymer stamp set.  I love that you can use this set all year round by changing the colors you use.  Here I used Magenta Madness and Early Espresso.  

I stamped part of the tree on a Stitched So Sweetly scalloped rectangle in Early Espresso ink and the dots in Magenta Madness.  The sentiment is also from the Life is Beautiful stamp set.  The tiny flowers were punched using the Confetti Flowers Border punch in Whisper White and Magenta Madness and finished with a rhinestone center.  I also used 2 designs from the 6" x 6" In Color DSP and finished it with Magenta Madness In Color Ribbon.

If you do not have a demonstrator you are working with and would like a catalog, please contact me.  Remember Bonus Days are ending soon!

Product List

Life Is Beautiful Photopolymer Stamp Set [154871]	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [147114]	Magenta Madness Classic Stampin' Pad [153117]	Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [119686]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [100730]
2020–2022 In Color 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper [153070]	Confetti Flowers Border Punch [152723]	Stitched So Sweetly Dies [151690]	Magenta Madness 1/4" (6.4 Mm) 2020–2022 In Color Ribbon [153623]	Rhinestone Basic Jewels [144220]

Yes, it is Thursday and time for the Create with Connie & Mary Challenge.  This month we are casing the catalog.  

I was inspired by the layout of the card.

I used the Playing with Patterns DSP to guide my color choices, Night of Navy for the card base and Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral and Coastal Cabana for my "stripes".  Let's talk about those stripes.  I used the Ornate Borders die to create them.    They certainly brighten up the card and add some more texture and fun.

Instead of twine I used the 3/8" Denim ribbon.  This ribbon is not bulky or stiff like regular denim, it is soft and lightweight and ties very easily.  It is easy to make pretty bows with this ribbon.  I used 2 different embellishments to sass up the card.  I used the Playing with Pattern Resin Dots in Coastal Cabana and the Artistry Blooms Sequins in Calypso Coral.  Fun to mix two different kinds of embellishments.

The HI! was cut using the Playful Alphabet dies.  I backed a piece of Night of Navy cardstock with a piece of Foam Adhesive Sheets and then cut out the letters and exclamation points.  The Foam Adhesive Sheets are like a solid piece of Stampin' Dimnesionals.  The letters were covered with Shimmery Crystal Effects to make them shine and add a little sparkle.

Remember Bonus Day ends August 3!

Product List

Night Of Navy 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [100867]	Coastal Cabana 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [131297]	Calypso Coral 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [122925]	Crushed Curry 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [131199]
Playing With Patterns 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper [152490]	Playful Alphabet Dies [152706]	Ornate Borders Dies [152724]	3/8" (1 Cm) Denim Ribbon [149590]
Playing With Patterns Resin Dots [152467]	Artistry Blooms Sequins [152477]	Shimmery Crystal Effects [150892]	Foam Adhesive Sheets [152815]

Yes, it is another card using the Prized Peony bundle.  I reach for this set a lot, as you probably noticed.  

This stamp is so pretty in black and white and also colored.  I started by stamping the peony with Tuxedo Black Memento ink.  I wanted to add some color and dimension to the card.  I stamped the peony on Whisper White card stock and did some quick coloring using Cherry Cobbler,  Real Red, and Old Olive Stampin' Blends.  I cut a piece of Foam Adhesive Sheet and attached it to the back of the cardstock, then ran it through the Die Cutting Machine.  The peony was then attached to the card front.  

The sentiment is from the Rooted in Nature set.  It was embossed using White embossing powder on black cardstock and then fussy cut out.  I think the 2 elements, the sentiment and the peony being raised up makes the card a little more interesting.  The final little touch were the addition of  Red Rhinestones.  

Product List

Prized Peony Bundle (English) [154056]	Rooted In Nature Clear-Mount Stamp Set [146482]	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708]	Versamark Pad [102283]
Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154880]	Real Red Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154899]	Old Olive Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154892]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [140272]
Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [121045]	Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels [146924]	White Stampin' Emboss Powder [109132]	Foam Adhesive Sheets [152815]

Remember that Bonus Days ends August 3rd!  For every $50 you purchase (before shipping and tax) during Bonus Days you will receive a $5 coupon you can use starting August 4 until August 31.  The August -December Mini Catalog goes live on August 4th so you can use your Bonus Days coupons for some fabulous products from the new mini catalog. 

They say that summer doesn't really start here in the Seattle area until after the 4th of July.  It was a few days late but it looks like summer has arrived!  When I think of summer I think of the beach, which may be why I keep reaching for the Whale of a Time suite.  

In today's card the Whale of a Time 6" x 6" DSP does most of the work.  This pack of DSP is so much fun  and perfect to create fun underwater scenes.  One of the whales was punched out from the DSP using the Whale Builder punch and the other was stamped. I used the Stamparatus to do a reverse image of the whale and then fussy cut it out.  The sentiment is from the Peaceful Moments stamp set.

Here's the scoop on how I made this card.

•     Card base 5-1/2" x 8-1/4" scored at 2", 3", 5-1/4", & 6-1/4"
•     DSP 2 pieces at 1-3/4" x 5-1/4" and 1 piece at 2" x 5-1/4"
•     Piece for the back to write a message, behind the center panel 2" x 5-1/4

Product List

Whale Done Bundle (English) [154053]	Peaceful Moments Cling Stamp Set (English) [151595]	Pretty Peacock Classic Stampin’ Pad [150083]	Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad [147092]
Pretty Peacock 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [150880]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [100730]	Whale Of A Time 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper [152460]	Metallic Pearls [146282]

Create something meaningful and beautiful!

Ready for another Catalog Case?  All this month the Create with Connie & Mary Challenge is taking inspiration from the 2020 Stampin' Up!® Annual Catalog.  

The repeated sentiment reminded me of stripes.  First I played with cardstock stripes and then i thought it would be fun to add some patterned paper.  

What do you think?  I used the Flowers for Every Season DSP and So Saffron CS embossed with the Tasteful Textile 3D folder for my stripes.  The DSP strips were cut 1" wide.  The label is from the Stitched So Sweetly dies .  The Playful Alphabet dies were used to cut out the "hi!".  Once I cut the hi out of the label, I applied  a piece of Adhesive Sheet behind it so I could easily inlay the So Saffron letters.

The Medium Daisy punch was used to create the Whisper White daisy.  Since on the DSP the daisy has leaves I stamped the leaves from the Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set in Just Jade ink on Just Jade cardstock and cut it out using the Sunflower dies.  I love this color combination of Poppy Parade, So Saffron, Just Jade and Whisper White.  It looks so fresh!

Hope you liked my case of the catalog for the Create with Connie & Mary Challenge!  Be sure to check out what the rest of the Design Team created for their case!

Product List

Celebrate Sunflowers Bundle (English) [154065]	Just Jade Classic Stampin' Pad [153115]	Poppy Parade 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [119793]	So Saffron 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [105118]
Just Jade 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [153079]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [100730]	Flowers For Every Season 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper [152486]	Medium Daisy Punch [149517]
Playful Alphabet Dies [152706]	Stitched So Sweetly Dies [151690]	Tasteful Textile 3D Embossing Folder [152718]

Welcome to another Stampers Dozen Blog Hop!  This month our theme is Red, White & any Blue!  

Usually when I think about red, white and blue, I think of using Real Red & Night of Navy.  I decided to try another combination so I chose Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy , and Seaside Spray.  I decided on this combination when I looked through a pack of DSP called Plaid Tidings.  This pack of paper is in the upcoming August-December 2020 Mini Catalog which will be available August 4th.   Lots of plaids in great color combinations.  

I used the Field of Flowers bundle for the grass and flowers.  Since this is a photopolymer set, I was able to curve the stamp on the block.  This allowed the grass to curve along the bottom of the circle.  The large flowers were stamped in Seaside Spray and fussy cut.  The smaller flowers were stamped in Cherry Cobbler ink.  The small flowers were stamped twice to get different shades of Cherry Cobbler and then punched using the Confetti Flowers Border punch.

The sentiment is from another stamp set in the August-December Mini Catalog called Life is Beautiful (this is a million dollar set by LeeAnn Greff).  I am a pushover for sentiments that have 2 fonts.  Love the look!  I used the Denim ribbon and am so glad it carried over from the last Annual Catalog.  It looks so good with this plaid paper and Night of Navy.  Love the little extra texture and color it adds.

Here's a list of all the stops on the Hop!

Stamper's Dozen July 2020 Blog Hop

1. Patty Chenail – Stamp-Patty’s - Stamping in My Flops
2. Judy Garza – Creativity Released
3. Sharon Hashimoto Burkert – As the Ink Dries
4. Carol Payne – Carol Payne Stamps
5. Joanne Cantrell – Keep It Simple, Stampers!
6. Rachel Yurkanin – Stamping with Rachel
7. Debbie Naylor – Unfrogettable Stamping!
8. Bonnie O'Neill – Bonnie Stamped

Be sure to hop all around to see what Red, White & Blue everyone used!

The first time I looked through the Stampin' Up!® 2020-21 Annual Catalog I marked the sample on page 13 (thanks a bunch).  Yesterday when I sat down to stamp I remembered that sample and decided to use that sample as inspiration.

The large sunflower was stamped using Whisper White Craft ink.  The images were colored using Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Delight Watercolor Pencils .  I stamped all the flowers first and then colored the flowers.  The ink was pretty dry by the time I started coloring them with the pencils.

I inked up only part of the sentiment (left out the "you") in Tuxedo Black Memento ink and then cut it out using a Stitched Rectangle die.  I wanted to use the Bumblebee Gingham ribbon so I used Bumblebee cardstock for the label and  the layer.  When I had everything layered up I felt like it was missing something so I stamped a few speckles using the stamp from the Forever Fern set using the White Craft pad.  The speckle stamp reminds me of a stamp set that we had a long time ago, Itty Bitty Backgrounds(I am pretty sure that is the name).  I never purchased it.  One day I had a bunch of demonstrators over to stamp and they were shocked that I didn't have it.  They said I wasn't a real stamper until I owned the set, so they bought it for me!  I remember that after that I used that stamp a lot and so I guess they were right.

Product List

Celebrate Sunflowers Cling Stamp Set (English) [152517]	Forever Fern Cling Stamp Set (English) [152559]	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708]	Uninked Stampin’ Craft Pad & Whisper White Refill [147277]	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [121045]
Bumblebee 8-1/2X11 Cardstock [153077]	1/4" Bumblebee Gingham Trim [153658]	Stitched Rectangles Dies [151820]	Watercolor Pencils [141709]

I decided to try another color combination.  This one is Gorgeous Grape and Balmy Blue watercolor pencils from the Watercolor Pencils Asst 2.  I love how this one turned out.  The sentiment was stamped in White Craft ink on Gorgeous Grape cardstock and cut using the Stitched Rectangle dies.  

I didn't have any ribbon that would work so I colored the White Faux Linen Ribbon from the Flowers for Every Season Ribbon Combo Pack with the Dark Highland Heather Stampin' Blends.  I probably colored over the ribbon a couple of times.  

Product List

Celebrate Sunflowers Cling Stamp Set (English) [152517]	Forever Fern Cling Stamp Set (English) [152559]	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708]	Uninked Stampin’ Craft Pad & Whisper White Refill [147277]	Watercolor Pencils Assortment 2 [149014]
Highland Heather Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154887]	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [121045]	Gorgeous Grape 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146987]	Stitched Rectangles Dies [151820]	Flowers For Every Season Ribbon Combo Pack [153620]

Hope you enjoyed my case of the catalog.  Hope you will try out this fun technique.  If you need any supplies, click on the pictures in either of the Products lists and it will take you to my online store.  Thank you!