Cheery Happy Birthday & Saleabration Almost Over

Ever need a card in a hurry? I needed a card that packed a lot of punch and I needed it quick. This one only took about 15 minutes to make. All products Stampin' Up!

I love how using a sponge with one of the masks from Happy Patterns Decorative Masks really gave the background some interest and depth. The sentiment is from a hostess set listed below and it is so bold, you can pretty much just build your design around it, which is what I did. 

Supply list:

Don't forget that Sale-A-Bration is ending March 31. For every  $50 worth of products you purchase, (before shipping and tax) you will receive one item from either of the  Salebration catalogs. (Click here to see catalogs) The products  you choose to make up the $50 may be chosen from any current catalog, clearance or weekly deals.  Please use the hostess code shown in the top right corner when ordering online, unless your order will total $150 before shipping & tax. At that point, you become your own hostess and get all the rewards! 

One last thing: ever thought about being able to buy all of your Stampin' Up! products at a discount? Too many people think if you sign up to be a demonstrator that it is all about building a business. It's not. Building a business and hosting workshops is a blast, but if you are a hobby stamper and just want your items at a discount, I welcome you as part of my team!  Until March 31, it is only $99 to become a part of my team with Stampin' Up! The $99 starter kit allows you to build a personalized bundle of your favorite Stampin’ Up! products up to $155 in value.  That’s up to $56 FREE (includes a $30 free product bonus that ends when Sale-A-Bration ends) and it ships FREE for another 10% savings. Just think of it as the Ultimate Bundle.  Click here for more info and to sign up. I look forward to crafting with you!

As always, I appreciate you stopping by my blog. I hope it offers some inspiration. Let me know if you have any questions. 

Artfully Yours,

Kim 

Watercolor Thank You

Good Morning...

I've been desperately trying to get over a terrible case of the flu. I literally hate that I've been at home and haven't felt like stamping or creating as much as I would have liked. 

I follow an amazing Australian Stampin' Up! demonstrator named Kylie Bertucci. See her blog here.  She is hosting an International Blog Challenge starting today and I decided I would participate. The theme is "Thank You". I personally think that not near enough thank you notes are mailed in this day of email & Facebook, but we should all try harder, right? (This card will go out to one of my customers.) There will be voting during this challenge and 5 lucky participants will win a coveted spot in an International Blog Hop that Kylie hosts. Click on the link above, which will take you to Kylie's blog. Cast your votes...you get to pick your 5 favorites. 

For my entry, I decided on a watercolor card. All products are Stampin' Up! I love the Remarkable You stamp set. The images offer so much inspiration and possibility. 

I decided to use the calla lily image. I inked up the flower portion of the image with Melon Mambo, then used an Old Olive marker to color the stem. Once I stamped it on watercolor paper, I just applied water from the border of the image and pulled color to the center, adding more Melon Mambo when I needed it and using Daffodil Delight for the center portion of the flower. I made my own "paint palette" by tapping each ink pad on the edge of one of my acrylic stamping blocks. A CD case also makes a great palette. 

To add some interest to the background, I sponged Daffodil Delight on top of one of the masks (stencils) from Happy Patterns Decorative Masks, then used one of the Gorgeous Grunge stamps to add what looks like paint splatters. I cut the word using one of the Greetings Thinlits dies. I think using the negative instead of the actual word added some interest to this project. 

Now for a little tip: see what appears to look almost like a twisty tie in the photo below?

I've been playing with seeing how I can break down the properties of a piece of cardstock without just disintegrating it in order to use it for interesting embellishments. I trimmed a very narrow piece of the Melon Mambo cardstock (think skinny strip, maybe an 1/8 inch wide) and slightly wet it. Once it was wet, not soaking wet, just slightly wet, I rolled it back & forth in my hands kind of like you would an ink pen. (while holding it, put your hands together like you are going to clap, then slide your hands back an forth) I haven't ventured in to making videos yet, but this would be the time for one...Once it looks the way you want it to look, let it dry. I painted my piece with clear Wink of Stella to give it a little sparkle. 

I hope you enjoyed this project. Here are a couple of older projects using the same stamp set. Click on the photo to take you to the original blog post. 

Supply list:

Please use the hostess code shown in the top right corner when ordering online, unless your order will total $150 before shipping & tax. At that point, you become your own hostess and get all of the rewards. Don't forget that Saleabration is winding down. You have until March 31 to earn your Salebration freebie(s). Click on the catalog link at the very top of this page to see what your choices are. Please keep in mind if you choose "no contact" from the demonstrator, I'm unable to see your name to send a thank you note.

Thanks,

Kim

Pals March Blog Hop: Spring Has Sprung

Welcome to the Pals Blog Hop for March 2016. We are thankful you stopped by to take a look at our new 2016 Blog Hop monthly themes.  This month we are featuring Spring and Spring related projects. We hope you enjoy our creations.

You may just be starting the Blog Hop or may have come from the previous link from the Line-up on the Pals Blog Hop listing shown below.  The full lineup will help you move along from blog to blog so you may see all the projects.

I started my project thinking I would do a simple watercolor background with the flower being gold embossed and watercolored also. What ended up happening is a different story...With the exception of the large sequins, all products are Stampin' Up!

The central image is from the hostess set called "Best Thoughts". Even though there were newer sets in the most recent catalog, I knew I wanted to use this flower image for this blog hop. 

I dyed the Whisper White Seam Binding with Watermelon Wonder ink straight from the ink pad. I ended up using a variety of images on the background for a collage effect. I won't list all of them, but please let me know if you have questions. 

Hadn't planned on using any black at all on this card, but it just really worked well in the end to have the pop of black. I absolutely love how this turned out and hope you do too!

Thanks for visiting. To continue with the hop, please refer to the Blog Hop Line-up below. We hope to see you on next month’s Pals Blog Hop! 

1. Mary Fish at Stampin' Pretty
2. Nicole Everitt at Stamp Scrap Love
3. Shawn de Oliveira at ShawnStamps
4. Maggie Mata at Maggie Made Cards
5. Tricia Chuba at ButterDish Designs
6. Pam Dotts at Clearly Southern Stampin'
7. Jackie Diediker at Stampin' Jackie
8. Kim Jolley at Stampin' Artfully  (you are here)
9. Beth Beard at My Little Craft Blog
10. Debbie Crowley at expressively deb...
11. Debbie Mageed at Secret Stamper
12. Dawn Tidd at Tiddbits from Dawn
13. Wendy Klein at Doggone Delightful Stampin'
14. Natalie Bradley at NatalieBradley.com
15. Becky Volpp at inkblossomwithBecky
16. Lisa Ann Bernard at Queen B Creations
17. Michelle Gleeson at StampinMojo
18. Patti MacLeith at Papercrafts by Patti
19. Jennifer Michalski at Stamping Serenity
20. Pamela Sadler at Stampin pink rose
21. Peggy Noe at prettypapercards
22. Beth McCullough at Stamping Mom
23. Karen Hallam at Karen's Stampin' Habit!
24. Jennifer Spiller at Westside Paper Creations

Please use the hostess code shown in the top right corner when ordering online, unless your order will total $150 before shipping & tax. At that point, you become your own hostess and get all of the rewards. Please keep in mind if you choose "no contact" from the demonstrator, I'm unable to see your name to send a thank you note. 

Let me know if you have any questions about this project or any others on my blog. 

Artfully Yours,

Kim