Happiest Place Blog Hop

Welcome to the Happiest Place Blog Hop. If you came from Darlys' blog, you're on the right path. The hop is a circle, so just keep going until you get back where you started from. Melinda's blog has a complete list of all the participants if you get lost along the way.

For my project, I wanted to go a little outside the box. I know...big surprise. But I'm certain my fellow consultants are giving you lots of inspiration using the product line as it was originally designed.

Here's the "Happiest Place" stamp set. Anything shaded in light blue shows you the shape of the coordinating Thin Cuts.

I decided to pair it with the "Gnome Matter" stamp set. Again, the light blue shaded areas show you the shape of the coordinating Thin Cuts. As I'm typing now, the stamp set alone is available the the stamps with the coordinating Thin Cuts is on back order.













Here's my card:

We just got back from a trip to West Point where my son married the daughter of a dear friend. There were lots of wonderful moments to celebrate, but the first one was walking into what used to be "my son's house" and seeing how it had become "their home." She's decorated in blue and brown, which is why I chose the colors I did. I stamped HOME in Glacier rolled in Sapphire, stamped everything else in Espresso, and used colored pencils on the center image. I also added some shading on "Home sweet" with the Melissa Esplin calligraphy pens. The paper is the current Mix-In paper suite. I didn't think I was going to like that Toffee colored print, but I keep using it. The Sapphire piece is from a Zip Strip in the same paper pack.

Notice the row of little hearts under HOME. That's also from the Happiest Place stamp set. I'm trying to be better about using all the little accent stamps that come in sets. They add so much to the overall project.

The only altering I needed to do to the original HOME stamp and thin cut was to trim off some of the castle flags at the very top.

Here's another card I made using a bit of Happiest Place paper combined with one of the current Hostess Only stamp sets.

The bottom square is Pixie paper stamped in Pixie and Candy Apple inks. I embossed the sentiment banner using Black Pigment ink and Clear Embossing Powder then cut it out using Micro-tip Scissors. The donut is stamped in Ballerina and accented with Red Stickles. I used a hole punch to create a center hole in the donut then widened it using Micro-tip Scissors.

Now you're off to Jen's blog. I'm right behind you. I can't wait to see all the wonderful inspiration!

Until next time,
Becca

July-August 2020 New Product Blog Hop

Welcome to the July-August 2020 New Product Blog Hop. You should have come from Gina's blog, but if you started here that's no problem. The hop is a circle, so just keep going until you get back to where you started. If you get lost along the way, head to Melinda's blog for a full list of participants.

The first thing that went into my cart when I saw the new catalog was "Joyful Sunflowers." I love sunflowers! And this set is beautiful.

I made three cards with it. Here's the first:

My upline challenged us to use Paprika. I'm not sure why it's not a listed color in the new Timber paper pack because it matches that small stripe in the plaid perfectly. I stamped the flower in Black and colored with alcohol based markers. I stamped the sentiment panel in Mink and the sentiment in Sapphire. I used the coordinating Thin Cut to cut out both the flower and sentiment panel.

For this next card, I used the sentiment panel in a different way.

I stamped in Espresso and Fern inks. Since they aren't archival quality, I used colored pencils on the flowers instead of alcohol markers. I'm in a shaker card kick, so it was fun to "shake it up a bit" with a different cut out other than a circle. I used lots of foam squares to border the shape of the sentiment panel.

For this next card, I went "outside the box" on my colors.

I had created another card which left me with that tiny piece of Candy Apple. Instead of throwing it out, I played with it. I paired it with Ballerina cardstock because I wanted to do something very non-traditional for sunflower images. I think this works.

I thought I was done with this post, but then the new Cricut collections went live so...here are a few more cards:

The picture didn't capture it, but I used the Clear Shimmer Brush on both ice cream cones. It really adds a fun touch. I love that our cardstock is two-toned. I used it to good advantage here (and with the Ballerina cardstock on the last sunflower card) and on the following card.

On these next two, I used this bowling themed stamp set to add decorative elements.

You can see the Clear Shimmer Pen a little better on this card. The diamond border and stamped "this is how we" both come from the bowling set. The woodgrain on the popsicle sticks comes from Joyful Sunflowers because that's what was on my desk, but you could use the bowling set for the woodgrain the same way I used it for the flower petals on this card...

Here's a close up of the flowers so you can see the detail a little better. I used the light side of Smoothie on the main flower which is why the stamped lines show up so well. The orange flower on the far left uses both the light and dark side of Nectarine. I used the same lined image to stamp in Nectarine ink over top of the darker side of the cardstock. It doesn't show up as well. The center of the Smoothie flower shows you what Nectarine ink over top of the lighter side of the cardstock looks like. I used the smallest star image (just to the left of "Let's go Bowling") and stamped it several times, rotating just a bit to create more lines.

I cut the leaves, tag, border, and "Happy" panel from the new Mix-In papers. The "Happy" comes from the Artistry cartridge. The top cluster of flowers included another leaf. I didn't want that, so I just cut it off with my scissors.

The "anniversary," as well as the Happy Birthday on the ice cream cone card above, are from stamp sets in the Core Catalog. I could have used the frame from Strike Up Some Fun for my sentiment. The "happy" from the same set that I used for "anniversary" fits right inside it.

The tags I used on both this card and the Happy Birthday one were released in the May-June catalog. As I'm writing this, the tags are on back order. Hopefully, they will be available soon and (crossing my fingers) maybe show up in the new Core Catalog which will be coming in September.

I bought the bowling set because, in addition to being on a shaker card kick, I'm on a scrapbooking kick for my son and his fiance. As this post goes live, we're at West Point getting ready for the big day. My son and met his future wife met while bowling, so I bought this set to scrapbook a single layout. I'm so glad I found fun new ways to use it.

Now you're off to Krista's blog. Again, be sure to visit all the blogs. I always find tremendous inspiration from these incredibly talented ladies. And with so much new goodness to work with, you're sure to find something that makes you go, "Ahhh!"

Until next time,
Becca

July SOTM Blog Hop - My Beautiful Friend

Welcome to the July 2020 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop featuring My Beautiful Friend. You should have come from Gina's blog, but you can start anywhere and just keep going until you get back to where you started. If you get lost along the way, head over to Melinda's blog for a complete list of participatns.  Here's a look at this lovely stamp set.

I have so many beautiful friends! I'll be using this a lot. My first card is going to a friend back in Virginia. Before I show you the card, let me tell you just a little bit about Sabrina. When I met her about two-and-a-half years ago, we clicked right away. I asked if she wanted to host an army spouse coffee. The plan was to do it at the chapel, but I had to switch things up at the last minute and do it at her home. We were setting out all the food when I asked, "How do you normally host?" She said, "I've never done it before." I felt horrible. I'd basically forced her into co-hosting with me then made her open her home. And then--a week ago--I found out this shy, retiring woman had agreed to be president of a large group of women on post. I'm so proud of how far she's come!! I wanted to send a card to celebrate her.

I chose colors that are prominent in her home. She has such an artistic flair. I started by embossing the focal image using black pigment ink and clear embossing powder. I then watercolored, including some shading around the image and grass at the bottom. After I added the sentiment, I ran the image through the largest Stitched Rectangular Frame then mounted it to Sangria cardstock before attaching it to my card base.

Here's another card with a completely different feel.

I stamped the background using just the flowers from the same image as the first card. I stamped in both Peach and Ballerina inks. I then ran it through the Multi-Circle Window Thin Cut.I stamped the sentiment, highlighted "My Love" using the bar in peach around the edges then overstamped in Ballerina for a two-tone effect. I colored the stamped images and the Acrylic Hearts with alcohol markers then topped them with Liquid Glass. I'm not sure I'm happy with that, but it looks much better in person than in the photo.

Now you're off to Kathy's blog. Be sure to make it all the way through the hop to see lots of inspiration for this fun, versatile set.

Until next time,
Becca