Jan 1, 2017 | 2017, Blog Hops, Occasions Catalog |
Happy New Year! The start of the year is an exciting time for a lot of the usual reasons, but for me, it means the beginning of the brand-new Occasions catalog and Sale-a-Bration begins. It’s also the theme of this month’s blog hop. If you’ve come from Di’s blog, I’m certain you loved her project. If you are just joining us, welcome!
Last week, some of my dear friends came over for a little Holiday celebration and, of course, some stamping. One of the things we did was a shoe box swap which is where each participant designs a card, then prepares a kit for the others to make her card. The card kits, tools, and embellishments are then put into a small box which gets passed from person to person to make that card. I just love seeing what everyone comes up with! Anyway, this card was the one I designed for the swap. 
I began with a Basic Black card base and added a 5 1/4″ x 4″ layer of Whisper White. Next is a Basic Black panel measuring 5 1/4 x 1 3/4″ and that is layered with a 5 1/8 x 1 5/8″ panel from the Pop of Pink DSP pack found in the Annual Catalog. The 3 1/2 x 2 1/8″ patterned paper behind the focal image is also from Pop of Pink. The focal image from the Beautiful You set was stamped in Archival Black on a 3 1/4 x 1 7/8″ Whisper White. Her dress was stamped with one of the ‘swooshes’ in Melon Mambo, and I colored her hat with a Melon Mambo marker. The greeting is also from the same stamp set and was also stamped with Archival Black. I added a few rhinestones next to the greeting so it had as much pizazz as the lady in the pink dress!
Make sure you have your Occasions and Sale-a-Bration catalogs in hand – they go live on January 4th! If you haven’t gotten your copies yet, please get in touch with me so we can fix that problem!
I know you’re going to love what Kathya has to show you – it’s always something fun! Make sure you are scheduling some time in to be creative – it’s a lot cheaper than therapy!!
p.s. If you get off track, all our hoppers are listed below…
Di
Barb (You are here)
Kathya
Ellie
Mary
May 18, 2016 | 2016, Occasions Catalog, Tutorials |
Are you tired of seeing my Botanical Gardens cards yet? I hope not – I have another free tutorial for you to download!
This birthday card starts with a Hello Honey card base and is a soon-to-be-retired color (sniff). Other retiring items used on this card are the Botanical Gardens designer series paper and washi tape. Get ’em while you can – they are going away for good at the end of this month!
A complete ingredient list, dimensions, and step-by-step directions are all on the tutorial. Download your copy here!
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May 13, 2016 | 2016, Occasions Catalog, Tutorials |
In my last post, I mentioned that the Botanical Builder Framelits Dies and Botanical Blooms stamp set were not retiring – Yay!! The beautiful Botanical Gardens matching DSP and Washi Tape, however is retiring in just a couple of short weeks. I know, right? (Heavy Sigh…) Here’s another card I made with these great items. 
Now, laying out those squares and getting them to line up so precisely is way easier than you may be thinking. Would a full tutorial showing exactly how it’s done help? I just happen to have one all ready for you, and you can download it for free by going here! Several items used on this card are retiring at the end of May. If you want to make it exactly as shown, get your order in now. Products like DSP and Washi Tape are available while supplies last.
I would love to see your version of this card – send me a photo of your card and I just may post it on my blog…
May 5, 2016 | 2016, Occasions Catalog |
I am sure going to miss the Botanical Gardens DSP pack when it retires at the end of this month! I have to admit to liking almost every design in the 
pack, but this one with the Bird of Paradise just left me a little flat. I challenged myself to use it on a card, and even if I do say so myself, I think this design really hit the mark! The simplicity of the paper is a perfect backdrop for the Cajun Craze flowers and Mossy Meadow leaves. Of all the cards I’ve done with this suite, I think this one just may be my favorite!
The Botanical Builder Framelits Dies and Botanical Blooms stamp set are carrying over into the new Annual Catalog (yay!), but the Botanical Gardens DSP and coordinating Washi Tape is not. If they are on your wish list, put your order in now because they’re only available while supplies last, and will officially retire on May 31st!
Apr 1, 2016 | 2016, Birthday, Blog Hops, Occasions Catalog |
Happy April Fool’s Day – thanks for hopping over from Di’s blog! Bet you thought we’d play a joke on you today. We thought about it, but then Connie suggested that we do a color challenge for this month’s blog hop and that seemed like a lot more fun. (Don’t worry – we’ll get you next year!) The colors we all worked with this time around are Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, and Mint Macaron which are all found in the It’s My Party designer series paper stack from the Occasions Mini catalog.
I have to admit, I have a hard time making masculine cards. The It’s My Party suite of products in the Occasions Mini catalog has really simplified the process for me this year! Here’s one I whipped up for a couple of the special guys in my life. It starts out with a Basic Black base. Three strips of Washi Tape were added to a 4″ x 4 1/4″ square of the ‘Confetti’ DSP. I used the Lots of Labels Framelits to die cut a piece of Crushed Curry DSP from the It’s My Party pack and it is layered with another die cut piece of Whisper White. The greeting is from the Party With Cake stamp set and was done with Basic Black Archival Ink. It was accented with the Confetti stamp from that same set in Crushed Curry ink. The piece of Mint Macaron cake is a stamp from that set as well. You can’t see it, but the cake has a shimmer applied with the clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush Pen. A pair of Rhinestones finished it all off!
As cool as the front of the card is, the real star of the show is the inside! A strip of the black and white dotted DSP from the pack was die cut with the Party Pop-Up Thinlits die. I masked off the words and colored the piece with Crushed Curry and Mint Macaron Markers. The flames on the candles were done with the Gold Wink of Stella. Another bit of the Washi tape was used to accent the edges of the die-cut piece before it was adhered to the inside of the card. Makes a statement, eh?
Thank you so much for stopping in today. Now off you go to see Connie’s lovely project! Just in case you get lost, links to all the stops on the hop are:
Di http://www.stampingwithdi.com
Barb http://www.beelinestamping.com (You are here)
Connie http://www.texasschoolmarm.com
Mary http://www.doggandponyshow.blogspot.com
Mar 8, 2016 | 2016, Occasions Catalog |
Thought you might like some details on the cards I did for the Creative Circle design team blog hop a few days ago. Here’s a close up of the first one. (the image will expand by clicking on it…)
This is a tent fold card that began with an 11 x 4 1/4″ base of Basic Black folded in half. The first layer is from the Botanical Gardens DSP pack and it is 5 1/4″ x 4. The banner is a 2″ wide strip of the same DSP, just flipped over and punched with the Banner Punch. Gotta love how easily this stuff coordinates!! The 3″ x 3 1/2″ Whisper White panel was stamped in Mint Macaron with a greeting from Birthday Blooms and layered onto a 3 1/8′ x 3 5/8″ piece of Basic Black cardstock; that panel was adhered to the card front with dimensionals. The flowers and leaves were die cut with the Botanical Builder Framelits Dies, and I sponged a little Hello Honey ink in the centers. Rhinestones were used for the flower centers and to underline the greeting – gotta have a little bling going on!
My daughter needed a last-minute card for a wedding, so I pulled out my Botanicals For You Sale-a-Bration set and added the phrase “…on your special day” to the inside and stamped a few of the flowers from that set in Hello Honey. Quite non-traditional for a wedding card, but the bride loved it!
Speaking of Sale-a-Bration, did you know that ordering the Botanicals bundle (Stamp set, coordinating framelits set, and DSP pack) from the Occasions catalog qualifies you for a free stamp set? Did you also know that the Botanicals For You stamp set was specifically designed to coordinate with the Botanicals bundle – and that you can get it for FREE?! But you gotta hurry – Sale-a-Bration ends this month. Get your list together and collect those freebies!
I’m off to enjoy our first 70 degree day of the year. How wonderful that I can have all the doors and windows open – I even heard Mr. Brown pull up with a box of new Stampin’ goodies!
