Happy Halloween (repost of a favorite)

I had planned on a new, interesting Halloween project this year, but life got in the way. I had so much fun with this particular project last year, that I decided I needed to show it one more time. Without further ado: 

Up close and personal:

Click on this link to take you to the original post with detailed instructions and product information. There are also some other examples of how to use the awesome Christmas Pines stamp set with coordinating dies. 

• Today is the last day to earn the Merry Patterns stamp set for free. Click here for more info. It will not be available after today.

• Today is the last day for the buy 3, get 1 free DSP sale. Click here to see your choices. 

October Hostess Code Gift with Purchase

Want more to LOVE? Simply place an online order through me for the amount of $75 or more (before tax & shipping) and you will earn your choice of a Stampin' Up! Textured Embossing Folder valued at $8.50 or less. There are 14 embossing folders at this price point currently, including a few new ones that have just became available in the 2017 Holiday Catalog. Embossing folders will be mailed to out in November. Just use the hostess code in the top right corner when ordering, DO NOT choose "no contact" from demonstrator. Then email me at stampinartfully@gmail.com to let me know which embossing folder you would like to have. 

Do you have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator? If not, I would love to be your source for these amazing products and hopefully give you a good dose of inspiration from time to time. Live in the US and need a catalog? Just let me know. This is not just a hobby for me, it is a passion! Click on the header above to find out more info on how you can earn free stamp sets just by shopping with me. Earn Frequent Buyer Rewards!

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! 

As always, let me know if you have any questions about the project or the products used. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Artfully Yours,

The Remarkable InkBig Blog Hop: Give Thanks

Welcome to the Remarkable InkBig Blog Hop for October 2017. This month our theme is Give Thanks!  You may just be starting the blog hop here at my blog – Stampin' Artfully or may have come from the person previous to me in the list. If you get off track at any time, the full lineup below will help you move along from blog to blog so you see all the projects. At the moment you are visiting Stampin' Artfully. 

I always enjoy using leaf stamps so much around this time of year. I decided I wanted something with texture, a few layers and a bit grungy, but still elegant. Unless noted, all products Stampin' Up!

I cut a "frame" using the Lots of Labels Framelits from Soft Suede card stock, then embossed it with the Petal Burst embossing folder. I swiped Versamark on the high spots and embossed with a little gold and a little silver embossing powder. I stamped the leaf image from Vintage Leaves on vellum paper and embossed with gold embossing powder, before using the matching die cut to cut it out. 

A tip: I wanted a grungy feel to the Sheet Music background, so I inked the stamp up with Versamark, then wiped a bit off here and there before stamping and embossing the image with gold embossing powder on my card base. After the stamped image was cool, I sanded the embossed image with a sanding block to make it a bit more grungy. The little wispy threads are a snippet of cheese cloth. (I love the wispy look and am a bit addicted to using a bit of it on many of my cards.) 

Thanks for taking part in our blog hop, there are so many amazing ideas and inspiration you don’t want to miss. Remember that currently you are at my blog – Stampin' Artfully, so check the blog hop line up list to see who is next in the list.

As always, let me know if you have any questions about the project or the products used. 

Artfully Yours,

Splitcoaststampers Guest Author: Shaving Cream Sparkle

I'm very honored to be an included guest author during the Splitcoaststampers Falliday Fest Challenge! 

I'm sharing a gorgeous, elegant card with a twist on the old shaving cream technique and lots of sparkle over on Splitcoaststampers. The projects feature the Season to Sparkle Bundle in the 2017 Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog. 

 Watch video: Shaving Cream Sparkle Tutorial

The Season to Sparkle Bundle was actually one of the first bundles I saw in the holiday catalog. It is so elegant and I love that there is a chandelier stamp AND die. It also has some cool accents for Halloween, Anniversary or Wedding and a "Hang in there" sentiment. All in all, a very worthy purchase for your stash! 

A square version of the card. 

Another version without gold speckles. 

I hope you have enjoyed the Falliday Tutorial for Splitcoaststampers. If you never have before, I would encourage you to browse their website for tons of great samples and tutorials. 
Supply list:

October Hostess Code Gift with Purchase

Want more to LOVE? Simply place an online order through me for the amount of $75 or more (before tax & shipping) and you will earn your choice of a Stampin' Up! Textured Embossing Folder valued at $8.50 or less. There are 14 embossing folders at this price point currently, including a few new ones that are available in the 2017 Holiday Catalog. Embossing folders will be mailed to out in November. Just use the hostess code in the top right corner when ordering, DO NOT choose "no contact" from demonstrator. Then email me at stampinartfully@gmail.com to let me know which embossing folder you would like to have. 

Do you have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator? If not, I would love to be your source for these amazing products and hopefully give you a good dose of inspiration from time to time. Live in the US and need a catalog? Just let me know. This is not just a hobby for me, it is a passion! Click on the header above to find out more info on how you can earn free stamp sets just by shopping with me. Earn Frequent Buyer Rewards!

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! 

As always, let me know if you have any questions about the project or the products used. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Artfully Yours,

Inspired by Artist Colleen Holland

I've explained this in other posts, but I am SO inspired by other artists. Particularly abstract artists. When I see a piece of art that catches my eye, I immediately wonder how I can use similar colors along with my stamp or die images to not really recreate the piece, but somehow honor the artwork with my interpretation of it. All products Stampin' Up!

I ran across Colleen Holland on Instagram and she has graciously given me permission to include her in this post.  Colleen resides in Fort Worth, Texas. According to her, she started painting about 4 years ago and started painting abstract about 3 years ago. At about that time, she left a career in social services and uses art to supplement her income, while being a stay at home Mom. To purchase her art online, visit her Etsy shop here. If you are in the Fort Worth area, see her art (and her) in person this coming Saturday at ArtsGoggle at Near Southside or on November 4th at the Fort Worth Makers Gift Market at West Bend. 

This is the first card I made inspired by one of her pieces. Her use of strategically placed color with white space to showcase it, really caught my attention.

I stamped and embossed the flower image from the Remarkable You stamp set with a bit of white embossing powder and a bit of gold embossing powder. I then tried to replicate (somewhat) the colors she used, watercoloring with various Stampin' Up! Classic Inks. The sentiment is from the Best Birds stamp set. 

This was the inspiration for the above card.

Although completely different, this is the second card I made using one of her pieces for inspiration. Colleen has some amazing work that she paints using only a palette knife and acrylic paint. 

Using the "swoosh" stamp from the Sheltering Tree stamp set, I repeatedly stamped it using various colors. The black image is from the stamp set called Timeless Textures. I didn't ink it up completely, but colored just a portion of it with the SU Basic Black marker before stamping it. The sentiment is from the Colorful Seasons stamp set. I love how clean and simple this card turned out and I think it would look great in all kinds of colors. 

This was the inspiration for the above card. 

I hope you have enjoyed this post. Once you start thinking of your rubber stamps as your "paint brushes", you will see world of possibilities! Click here to see a prior post I did using another abstract artist as inspiration. 

October Hostess Code Gift with Purchase

Want more to LOVE? Simply place an online order through me for the amount of $75 or more (before tax & shipping) and you will earn your choice of a Stampin' Up! Textured Embossing Folder valued at $8.50 or less. There are 14 embossing folders at this price point currently, including a few new ones that are available in the 2017 Holiday Catalog. Embossing folders will be mailed to out in November. Just use the hostess code in the top right corner when ordering, DO NOT choose "no contact" from demonstrator. Then email me at stampinartfully@gmail.com to let me know which embossing folder you would like to have. 

Do you have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator? If not, I would love to be your source for these amazing products and hopefully give you a good dose of inspiration from time to time. Live in the US and need a catalog? Just let me know. This is not just a hobby for me, it is a passion! Click on the header above to find out more info on how you can earn free stamp sets just by shopping with me. Earn Frequent Buyer Rewards!

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! 

As always, let me know if you have any questions about the project or the products used. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Artfully Yours,

Bike Riding Weather!

This past summer, my son and his fiance visited Chicago. While there, they rented bikes to see the city. They enjoyed the bikes so much, they purchased some when they got home. The one on the left fits my son perfectly...not sure what he named his bike, but Jennifer named her bike "Pearl". Isn't Pearl darling? 

When I made this card, I had Pearl in mind. All products Stampin' Up!

To create the background, I used a piece of wood grain paper from the Wood Textures Designer Series paper stack. To give it even more interest, I embossed it with the Pinewood Planks embossing folder, then sanded the high spots with a sanding block. (I embossed the sentiment before sanding, it gave the sentiment an aged look) By the way, the Wood Textures DSP is included in the Buy 3, Get One Free special this month! More info below the supply list. 

Supply List:

October Hostess Code Gift with Purchase

Want more to LOVE? Simply place an online order through me for the amount of $75 or more (before tax & shipping) and you will earn your choice of a Stampin' Up! Textured Embossing Folder valued at $8.50 or less. There are 14 embossing folders at this price point currently, including a few new ones that are available in the 2017 Holiday Catalog. Embossing folders will be mailed to out in November. Just use the hostess code in the top right corner when ordering, DO NOT choose "no contact" from demonstrator. Then email me at stampinartfully@gmail.com to let me know which embossing folder you would like to have. 

Do you have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator? If not, I would love to be your source for these amazing products and hopefully give you a good dose of inspiration from time to time. Live in the US and need a catalog? Just let me know. This is not just a hobby for me, it is a passion! Click on the header above to find out more info on how you can earn free stamp sets just by shopping with me. Earn Frequent Buyer Rewards!

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! 

As always, let me know if you have any questions about the project or the products used. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Artfully Yours,

Pals October 2017 Blog Hop: Wicked Folds

Welcome to the Pals October 2017 Blog Hop featuring some very “Wicked Folds”. Thank you so much for joining us today. Sit back and enjoy the view while the Stampin’ Pretty Pals treat you with their wickedly folded projects. Whether you’re just starting the hop, or have come from a previous Pal’s blog, you’ll find the line-up toward the end of my post to help you move along.

I'm sure from the word "wicked" in the name of this blog post, many of you might have expected something with a Halloween look. I almost did a Halloween card, but then I ran across a fold similar to the one I used for this card and all I could think of was using the Sheltering Tree stamp set for the main images.

I know this card looks like a normal layered card. It is not.

Another view, where you can see the sentiment inside the card.

I hope you like this card fold as much as I do. I love that you can see a portion of the base layer and that the central image on the front is covering up the sentiment when the card is closed. I used a bit of my #foolproofwatercolor technique for this card. Click here for the original video showing this technique. I used the words from the Watercolor Wings stamp set. If you love this card and want a video tutorial for something similar, comment below this post.

Thank you so much for hopping with the Stampin’ Pretty Pals today. Please take a minute to mark your calendar for our next hop on November 8, 2017. Now hop along using the Blog Hop Line-up below. Don’t forget to leave us a comment.

Artfully Yours,

Thoughts of Autumn

This is absolutely my favorite time of year. I love the smell of wood burning fireplaces and I adore anything pumpkin spice flavored! I am constantly on the hunt for the "perfect" pumpkin spice flavored coffee.

The card below is a sample for a monthly workshop I hold in my home in Springfield, MO. All products Stampin' Up!

Using the Pumpkin Pie watercolor pencil, I scribbled on a piece of watercolor paper measuring 2.25 x 2.25. Then I dabbed it with a wet baby wipe. This is a bit of a take off of my #foolproofwatercolor technique I came up with. Click here to see the original technique video. You are basically softening the watercolor pencil scribbles with the wet baby wipe. After that, I inked up the detailed leaf image with Pumpkin Pie Classic Ink and I stamped it off once on a scrap of paper, before stamping the image on top of the watercolor paper. I did this three times.  I cut the base leaf from Pumpkin Pie cardstock and the detailed leaf from Early Espresso cardstock. The ribbon is in the new holiday catalog. 

Click on links below for supplies used. If you are reading this blog post in an email, hop on over to my blog to see complete list. 

October Hostess Code Gift with Purchase

Want more to LOVE? Simply place an online order through me for the amount of $75 or more (before tax & shipping) and you will earn your choice of a Stampin' Up! Textured Embossing Folder valued at $8.50 or less. There are 14 embossing folders at this price point currently, including a few new ones that have just became available in the 2017 Holiday Catalog. Embossing folders will be mailed to out in November. Just use the hostess code in the top right corner when ordering, DO NOT choose "no contact" from demonstrator. Then email me at stampinartfully@gmail.com to let me know which embossing folder you would like to have. 

Do you have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator? If not, I would love to be your source for these amazing products and hopefully give you a good dose of inspiration from time to time. Live in the US and need a catalog? Just let me know. This is not just a hobby for me, it is a passion! Click on the header above to find out more info on how you can earn free stamp sets just by shopping with me. Earn Frequent Buyer Rewards!

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! 

As always, let me know if you have any questions about the project or the products used. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Artfully Yours,

Retro Christmas & World Cardmaking Day

Happy Saturday! Did you know today is World Cardmaking Day? According to the "Days of the Year" website, (here), cards have played an important role in social circles for hundreds of years. If you have just stumbled on to my blog and are thinking about or new to cardmaking, please let me be your guide to this fun hobby. My contact information is on the right sidebar. Toward the end of this post, I have listed info on the special sale going on right now to commemorate this cool holiday. 

Last week, I posted this vintage Christmas card on a facebook group that is just for Stampin' Up! demonstrators. Imagine my surprise, to find out that a Stampin' Up! staff member picked my card for "pick of the week". My prize was a new stamp set in the mail this week! I did not already own the set called Christmas in the Making, so I was very excited see what I could come up with. 

Look how retro this card looks! When I'm going for a retro look, I adore using white, Bermuda Bay, Real Red & Black. It just POPS with those colors. And the red shoes! I love the tiny pumps and knew they needed to be red. This image is great for either coloring in totally, or just hints of color like I used. The full product list is later in the post. Hint: I stamped the little circle image twice on scrap paper, then stamped on the white cardstock. This made the Bermuda Bay just a bit lighter and perfect for the little bit of color I wanted. 

Supply List:

October Hostess Code Gift with Purchase

Want more to LOVE? Simply place an online order through me for the amount of $75 or more (before tax & shipping) and you will earn your choice of a Stampin' Up! Textured Embossing Folder valued at $8.50 or less. There are 14 embossing folders at this price point currently, including a few new ones that have just became available in the 2017 Holiday Catalog. Embossing folders will be mailed to out in November. Just use the hostess code in the top right corner when ordering, DO NOT choose "no contact" from demonstrator. Then email me at stampinartfully@gmail.com to let me know which embossing folder you would like to have. 

Do you have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator? If not, I would love to be your source for these amazing products and hopefully give you a good dose of inspiration from time to time. Live in the US and need a catalog? Just let me know. This is not just a hobby for me, it is a passion! Click on the header above to find out more info on how you can earn free stamp sets just by shopping with me. Earn Frequent Buyer Rewards!

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! 

As always, let me know if you have any questions about the project or the products used. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Artfully Yours,