Thursday, September 30, 2021

Sending Thanks with Inspired Thoughts - Stampin' Creative Global Blog Hop

 

Happy Blog Hop Day, with the Stampin' Creative Global Blog Hop!  Each month my friends and I bring you projects around a common theme, in hopes of inspiring you try a new layout, learn a new technique and/or put ink to the stamp set you bought but haven't used yet!  This month the theme is "Sending Thanks".  Along with Birthdays, Thank You cards are what I make (and send) the most, so I LOVE this theme!  With Canadian Thanksgiving just two weeks away it's a great time to send someone a Thank You or Grateful for You card.

I'm rather pleased with how my project turned out.  It is NOT my "usual" style at all.  It came to be last night during my free "Check It Out Tuesday" Facebook Live event.  Viewers definitely helped me move out of my comfort zone and this is what we came up with ...

Do you like it??  I do!  I wasn't convinced until the very last minute, when I coloured the trees with my Light Crumb Cake Blend Marker.  It was JUST the bit of contrast needed to bring the trees to life.  

It's VERY unusual for me not to have a layer of card stock on top of the base but this is one of those rare occasions!  I stamped directly on the card base with our Craft White Ink and using one of the tree top images from the Beauty of Friendship stamp set.  It wasn't enough colour, so I then used the Baby Wipe Technique to make my own multi-coloured ink pad and stamped colour on top of the white.  See the white and colour peeking through behind the branches of the trees?


I added a small strip of Mossy Meadow card stock along the bottom of the card (gotta ground those trees!) and then used liquid glue to attach the trees to the card base.  In hindsight, if I were to do it again, I would try cutting the trees out with our Foam Sheets to REALLY have them pop but I'm not sure the foam would work very well, given the intricate branches.  I may have to try it later to find out!  Alas ... 

I stamped a whole bunch of the multicoloured tree top images on some scrap Basic White card stock (using my baby wipe ink pad) so I could then use the leaf dies from the Inspiring Canopy dies to cut them out.  This gave me a really pretty pile of leaves to glue down to the base of the trees.  I also cut out some solid piles of leaves in Mossy Meadow, Crushed Curry and Cherry Cobbler.  After I glued them all down (using liquid glue) I realize I should have popped a few up on dimensionals for some more delicious texture!
I stamped the sentiment from Heartfelt Wishes (a MUST HAVE stamp set!) in Cherry Cobbler, fussy cut around it with my paper snips and popped it up on mini dimensionals.  I added some Artistry Blooms Sequins for a final "sumthin" and DONE!

Ta da!


A pretty fall card for me to "Send Thanks" to a dear friend.  I hope you like it!

Now hop along to see what my friends have made for you ... and have a stampy day!


Tam

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Sunday, September 26, 2021

Sale-a-bration Inspiration 2021

 Happy Sunday!

Well .... "done is better than perfect", right?  Ya, I had every intention of blogging over my coffee this morning but it just didn't happen!  I actually slept in this morning!  (Yay back pills lol).  I slept until almost 7:30 am didn't get up until almost 8:30.  Unheard of for me!  Of course that meant no "just me" time over coffee.  I also opted to walk Koda.  Craig is supposed to do the Sat and Sun morning walks but I LOVE fall mornings and I needed to loosen up my back (after kicking some Bertram butt at the bowling alley last night!) so blogging didn't happen.  All good!  It's a lazy Sunday and I'm getting to it 10 hours later than usual but I'm here now :). 

I just want to pop in to remind everyone that the (first time ever) Summer Sale-a-bration Promotion ends THIS Thursday night at 11:59 MT!  That means just 4.5 days left to scoop some fabulous FREE stuff with every $60 (CDN) you spend on current product.  Here are some projects showcasing the free stuff.  Some are mine, some are swaps I've received from my demo friends.  Check these out!

Swap from Lisa Henderson ..

Swap from Barb Stewart ...
Swap from Desiree Spenst ...
Swap from Glenda Mollet ...
Mine ...
Mine ...
Mine ...
Mine ...
Mine ... (LOVE this one!) ...
Mine ...
Mine ... (tee hee - I just love this bear!)
You can click this link to check out all the Sale-a-brations items you can choose from (sadly, the Be Dazzling paper is now sold out).   Remember, you get a free item with EVERY $60 you spend ... so if you spend $120 you can have a "level 2" item or two "Level 1" items.  You can order anything from either the Annual catalogue or the Mini Catalogue.  Click on the catalogues over on my right hand side bar to access those.  If you're ready to place an order (in Canada) you can click here.  

So that's it for today!  I'm off to walk the dog ... AGAIN ... and then do some gaming with the family.  Whatever YOU got up to today, I hope you had a stampy day!


Tam

Monday, September 20, 2021

Merry Snowflakes - Kylie's Maui Achievers Blog Hop

 
Happy Blog Hop Day!  Tamara Bertram coming to you from Edmonton, Alberta, in Western Canada.  Every month my friends from around the world and I share with you projects made with current Stampin' Up! products.  If you like what you see pop a comment down below.  We all LOVE to read them :).  We hope you are inspired!

My project this month was made using the Merry Snowflakes Bundle that is in the 2021 Mini (Holiday) Catalogue.  I only just recently bought this bundle, convinced "I have enough snowflake sets".  I was wrong and am VERY glad I ignored my (supposedly) logical/practical/frugal side.  I DIDN'T have enough snowflake sets.  You can NEVER have enough snowflake sets ... and THIS batch of dies have STITCHING on them .. so ... ya.  I needed it lol.  Check out what I came up with ...

I just LOVE these dies! ... and non-traditional Christmas colours!  I used Blackberry Bliss and Fresh Freesia together.  I really like the pop of contrast!  Truth be told, I tried several different colour combinations before deciding on this one.  They all looked great!  I tried Bermuda Bay/Pool Party, Pear Pizzazz/Soft Seafoam, Basic Grey/Smoky Slate, Blushing Bride/Polished Pink.  SO many options!  I decided on the purples for a fun "crisp" feel to the card.

I made the Fresh Freesia striped background using the Adorning Designs Decorative Masks and a Blending Brush.  Because the striped mask is fairly delicate, you will want to tape the mask down (using some retired washi tape, a post-it note or some painters tape) and blend the colour from the centre of the mask out towards the edge, following the lines of the mask.  You need to be careful not to move the thin lines OF the mask or you won't get crisp, clear coloured lines on your card base.
The rest of the card is mostly die cutting.  I LOVE the longest die in the set of 12.  It doesn't cut shapes OUT, but cuts shapes IN the paper.  It SUCH a great, subtle addition to your project!
My Blackberry Bliss layer measures 5" x 3 3/4" and the top, Basic White, layer measures 4 3/4" x 3 1/2".
The sentiment is stamped on a 3 3/4" x 1/2" strip in  Blackberry Bliss ink and the ends are flagged with our Banners Pick A Punch.  The sentiment, and the snowflakes, are all popped up on dimensionals.  Five rhinestones and some Wink of Stella finish it off.
I just love this bundle and this card.  It can be used for Christmas or Winter Birthday, increasing its versatility which, of course, helped me justify owning "another" snowflake bundle lol.  I hope you like it.

Thanks for popping in.  Now hop along and see what my friends have to share ... and have a stampy day!


Tam

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