Creativity Abounds Design Team Blog Hop - July 2021

 

Please welcome our new Design Team members Heather Thomas from the UK and Maheswari Rajaguru from Australia. I know you're going to love their designs!

This month we're showcasing the amazing Elegantly Said Bundle with beautiful sentiments and images as well as a new punch. The incredible Simply Elegant Specialty Designer Series paper is beautiful and many of the papers have copper or gold foil highlights. 

To make my card:

• Cut a 4.25" x 11.0" piece of Basic Black cardstock and score at 5.5". Use a bone folder to make a crisp fold on the score line. Cut the front card base 1.0" from the score line. Then cut another 1.0" strip to be used at the bottom of the card front.
• Cut out two 0.75" x 4.0" pieces of Gold Foil.
• Attach the two Gold Foil pieces to the top and bottom Basic Black pieces using your favorite adhesive.
• Use the second largest rectangle die from the Scalloped Contour Dies and the Stampin' Cut and Emboss Machine to cut out a rectangle using a piece of Simply Elegant Specialty Designer Series paper.
• Attach the top and bottom of the scalloped rectangle piece to the top edge and bottom top of the card front using your favorite adhesive.
• Stamp the flower image from the Elegantly Said Stamp set onto a 2.0" x 2.0" piece of Very Vanilla cardstock using Basic Black ink.
• Cut out a 2.25" x 2.25" piece of Gold Foil.
• Attach the stamped image on the Very Vanilla cardstock to the Gold Foil using your favorite adhesive.
• Stamp the "Happy Anniversary" sentiment from the Elegantly Said Stamp set onto a strip of Very Vanilla cardstock using Basic Black ink.
• Attach the Gold Foil and sentiment to the center piece of the card front using dimensionals.
• Cut a 4.0" x 5.25" piece of Very Vanilla cardstock for the inside of the card.
• Stamp both edges with the long border stamp from the Elegantly Said Stamp set using Basic Black ink.
• Attach the stamped Very Vanilla cardstock to the inside of the card using your favorite adhesive.
• Add Matt Black Dots to the center of the two flowers on the card front.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog - Sea Ranch Creations today! Please be sure to 'hop' to the other demonstrator's links so you can see all of their amazing designs. We hope they will provide you with inspiration for your card making.

Happy Stamping!

Susan

Have You Started Your Holiday Cards? 

Every year, I make approximately 100 Holiday Cards to mail to family and friends. Since I put a lot of love into each card I have to get an early start. 

Each month, I'll be offering a full day Holiday Retreat which will include Holiday Gift Ideas, Holiday Card Tutorials, and Make-n-Takes when you purchase the Suite or Bundle with additional supplies. Here is the information for August and September. I'm still planning for October, November, and December so if you have a favorite Holiday Suite let me know. Just email me at ses@aquarius.family to RSVP for the events.

August 14, 2021              Tidings and Trimmings Bundle plus           $63.00

This Holiday Retreat will include 6 Tutorials with Videos, Make-n-Takes, and lots of Bonus projects.

September 18, 2021       Whimsy and Wonder Suite Stamp Camp   $80.25

This Stamp Camp will be with the Creativity Abounds Design Team and will include 13 Tutorials with videos, Make-n-Takes and lots of Bonus cards/projects.

During August and September you'll also receive a Stampin' Up Sale-A-Bration reward when you purchase the Holiday Retreat supplies.  You'll also receive a Thank You card and the latest Creativity Abounds Design Team Tutorial Bundle which features the Elegantly Said Bundle. This is a truly stunning collection of cards that you won' t want to miss! 

Crafty Challenge Blog Hop - Color (July 2021)

 

Welcome to the July Crafty Challenge Blog Hop. We're a group of Stampin' Up Demonstrators from around the world that participate in this blog hop to inspire and encourage card makers to create new cards.  This month our challenge is to use Granny Apple Green, Bermuda Bay, and Melon Mambo when designing our cards. 

I really like color challenges as you can use any stamp set or bundle as long as you incorporate the selected colors into your design. I've been designing a card class with the Seascape Bundle  I'm offering on July 27th.  It's too late to receive the card kits but you can still purchase the pdf tutorials for all of the measurements by emailing me at ses@aquarius.family.

It was so easy to incorporate these colors into a card using the Seascape Bundle. Bermuda Bay cardstock was used for the card base and die cutting the two little fish. Using the Bark Embossing Folder, I simulated the look of water on a piece of Granny Apple Green cardstock. The coral die cut was made from Melon Mambo cardstock. I had a fun time coloring the large fish by first adding Melon Mambo to the body and blending Bermuda Bay on the fins using ink and a sponge dauber. 

I hope you've gotten some inspiration from my card today. I can't wait to see the card designs by the other demonstrators in this blog hop. Please check out all of their amazing creations and challenge yourself to make some cards with this beautiful card combination.

Happy Stamping!

Susan

Have You Started Your Holiday Cards? Every year, I make approximately 100 Holiday Cards to mail to family and friends. Since I put a lot of love into each card I have to get an early start. 

Each month, I'll be offering a full day Holiday Retreat which will include Holiday Gift Ideas, Holiday Card Tutorials, and Make-n-Takes when you purchase the Suite or Bundle with additional supplies. Here is the information for August and September. I'm still planning for October, November, and December so if you have a favorite Holiday Suite let me know. Just email me at ses@aquarius.family to RSVP for the events.

August 14, 2021              Tidings and Trimmings Bundle plus           $63.00

This Holiday Retreat will include 6 Tutorials with Videos, Make-n-Takes, and lots of Bonus projects.

September 18, 2021       Whimsy and Wonder Suite Stamp Camp   $80.25

This Stamp Camp will be with the Creativity Abounds Design Team and will include 13 Tutorials with videos, Make-n-Takes and lots of Bonus cards/projects.

During August and September you'll also receive a Stampin' Up Sale-A-Bration reward when you purchase the Holiday Retreat supplies.  You'll also receive a Thank You card and the latest Creativity Abounds Design Team Tutorial Bundle which features the Elegantly Said Bundle. This is a truly stunning collection of cards that you won' t want to miss!

Casually Crafting Design Team Blog Hop - July 2021

The Casually Crafting Design Team is a group of Stampin’ Up! demonstrators from around the world, gathered together to share our passion for creativity with you. Our focus is to bring you inspiration featuring projects that are easy to create while still packing a powerful creative punch. The projects are made with a few products, making them ideally suited to a beginner or casual crafter. From time-to-time, we may also include a project that is stepped-up for the added wow-factor.

This month our team will be creating cards inspired by this Sketch Challenge. As you're looking at each card, see how the designer used the sketch to create their card. 

I've used the Elegantly Said Bundle and Simply Elegant Specialty Designer Series paper to make my card. I really like how the Basic Black cardstock, Gold Foil, Very Vanilla cardstock, and designer series paper complement one another.

To make the card:

• Cut a 5.5" x 8.5" piece of Basic Black cardstock and score it at 4.25". Use the bone folder to make a crisp fold at the score line. Cut 1" on the right-hand side of the card front.
• Cut a 3.0" x 3.25" piece of Simply Elegant Specialty Designer Series paper and three strips of 0.5" x 3.0".
• Attach the Simply Elegant Specialty Designer Series paper with equal spaces between the pieces using your favorite adhesive
• Stamp the "Thank You" sentiment from the Elegantly Said Stamp set onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock using Basic Black ink.
• Attach it to the lower right-hand corner of the large piece of Simply Elegant Specialty Designer Series paper using your favorite adhesive.
• Stamp the flower image from the Elegantly Said Stamp set onto a 2.0" x 2.0" piece of Very Vanilla cardstock using Basic Black ink.
• Cut a 2.25" x2.25" of Gold Foil paper.
• Attach the stamped flower image Very Vanilla cardstock to the Gold Foil and attach the larger piece of Simply Elegant Specialty Designer Series paper using dimensionals.
• Stamp the border image from the Elegantly Said Stamp set onto the Very Vanilla cardstock using Basic Black ink
• Attach the Very Vanilla cardstock to the inside of the card using your favorite adhesive.
• Add three Matte Black Dots to the card front.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog - Sea Ranch Creations. Please take some time and "hop" to see the amazing cards designed by other members of our team. I know they will inspire you with their creativity.

Happy Stamping!

Susan

Monthly Blog Hop - July 2021

 

Welcome to our July Blog Hop! We're a group of Stampin' Up Demonstrators from around the world who design cards to inspire and each month we design Thank You cards for our valuable customers and team members. 

We've had beautiful weather on the northern coast of California and with the recent low tides I spent some time exploring the tidepools. During my visit, it was like looking through an aquarium window and I was able to see various seaweeds, sea anemones, starfish, blue mussels, and small fishes. I took inspiration from my tidepool visit and the amazing Seascape Bundle to create this card. 

My color combination includes Pacific Point, Basic Black, Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, and Basic White.  I used a piece of Expressions In Ink Designer Series paper for the background and highlighted the eyes with rhinestones. 

I especially like how the coral die makes multiple cuts which enables you to pull parts forward to make them look like coral polyps filtering the water for food. Likewise, the seahorse dies are flexible and allow you to wrap the tail around a branch of coral which replicates nature perfectly.

Sign up for my newsletter and you'll get a pdf tutorial for making this card.

If you place an order with me in July, I'll be sending you one of these Thank You cards.  If you place a $50 or more order and use my July Host Code, CZYMRU4T, you'll also receive a Creativity Abounds Hand-Penned Tutorial Bundle or you can purchase it for $15 by emailing me at ses@aquarius.family

Thank you so much for visiting my blog -Sea Ranch Creations today! Please make sure you take time to visit all the other amazing cards created for you on this blog hop.

Happy Stamping!

Susan

Blog Hop

Stampin' Dreams Blog Hop - Christmas (July 2021)

 

This month we're making cards with a Holiday theme! We're hoping our cards will inspire you to start thinking about the cards you want to send out for the Holidays.

I've fallen in love with the Penguin Place Bundle from the new July-December Mini Catalog and the Penguin Playmates 12 x 12 Designer Series paper you can earn with a $50 purchase using Sale-A-Bration rewards. 

I learned how to make a Curvy Pop Up Card watching a video by Lisa Curcio. I made a Holiday version of this fun fold design. It's much easier than it looks. I used Misty Moonlight for the card base, I fancy cut the images of the penguin, polar bear, snowman, fox, and bird out of the Penguin Playmates Designer Series paper. 

To make this card,

• Card Base: 
• Cut out a piece of 4.25" x 5.5" piece of Misty Moonlight cardstock and score it at 2.75". Use your bone folder on the score line to make a crisp fold.
• Cut out two 4.0" x 2.5" piece of Penguin Playmates Designer Series paper and attach them to the card base using your favorite adhesive.
• Attach the bird on the top left-hand side of the card base using dimensionals.

• Middle Layer: 
• Cut out a piece of 2.0" x 4.5" piece of Misty Moonlight cardstock and score it at 0.5", 2.25", and 4.0".
• Attach the snowman and the polar bear to the two panels using dimensionals.
• Line up the center of this layer with the center of the card base at the bottom and attach the tabs on each end using your favorite adhesive (see photo below).

• Front Layer: 
• Cut out a 1.25" x 6.5" piece of Misty Moonlight cardstock and score it at 0.5" on each end.
• Cut out a 1.0" x 5.25" piece of Penguin Playmates Designer Series paper
• Attach a strip of Misty Moonlight Ribbon to the center of the Penguin Playmates Designer Series paper and secure in the back. Tie a small knot onto the Misty Moonlight Ribbon.
• Attach the front layer to the bottom of the card base at the tabs on each end using your favorite adhesive (see photo below).
• Attach the Penguin and Fox to the front layer using dimensionals.

Now you may be wondering how to mail this card...just flatten the middle and front layers and the card will side perfectly into a regular A2 envelope. 

Thank you so much for visiting my blog - Sea Ranch Creations! Please take time to look at all the other amazing Holiday cards designed by other demonstrators. I know you will find some incredible card designs.

Stampin' Up is currently having a 15% off SALE on selected Designer Series papers. This would be a great time to stock up on some of your favorite papers! I just love the Hand-Penned paper so that will definitely be on my shopping list. I also want to start my Holiday cards so this is the perfect time to buy some of the Tidings of Christmas paper.

Place a $50 or more order on my Online Store and use the Host Code, CZYMRU4T, to receive a beautiful Thank You card and the Creativity Abounds Design Team Hand-Penned Tutorial Bundle as gifts from me.  You're going to love these cards. 

Technique Tuesday Blog Hop - Ink (July 2021)

 

This month we're sharing some interesting ways to use ink.  The last few weeks I've been obsessed  with making different backgrounds for my cards. Hopefully, you'll be willing to put up with some more experimentation as I create new backgrounds for cards.

I've been hearing about all the fun you can have with isopropyl alcohol. No, not for drinking but for making amazing card backgrounds. Today, I'm sharing two different techniques using 91% isopropyl alcohol...

To make this first background,

• Cut out a 4.0" x 5.25" piece of Vellum paper 
• Select a few different Stampin' Blends. I used Dark Highland Heather and Dark Polished Pink for this background.
• Use the brush end of each Stampin' Blend to lay down some ink at various places on the Vellum paper
• Use a water painter or paint brush to add drops of isopropyl alcohol to the Stampin' Blend ink on the Vellum paper.
• Watch as the isopropyl alcohol causes the ink to expand and make beautiful designs.
• Let the ink dry completely.
• Attach the Vellum paper to a piece of Basic White cardstock using glue or glue dots in each corner.
• Attach Basic White cardstock to card base and decorate as you wish, 

To make this background, I repeated the same process but I used a few drops of ink from three different reinkers (Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, and Daffodil Delight). This technique requires more time for the ink to dry. If you're in a hurry you can use a hair dryer to reduce drying time.

The ink from the reinkers reacted more vigorously spreading the ink across the Vellum paper. I wish I used the same colors on both backgrounds to make the comparison.

I like them both...Which one do you like better? 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - Sea Ranch Creations! Please visit all the other demonstrators blogs to see what techniques inspire you.

Happy Stamping!

Susan

Stampin' Up is currently having a 15% off SALE on selected Designer Series papers. This would be a great time to stock up on some of your favorite papers! I just love the Hand-Penned paper so that will definitely be on my shopping list. I also want to start my Holiday cards so this is the perfect time to buy some of the Tidings of Christmas paper.

Place a $50 or more order on my Online Store and use the Host Code, CZYMRU4T, to receive a beautiful Thank You card and the Creativity Abounds Design Team Hand-Penned Tutorial Bundle as gifts from me.  You're going to love these cards. 

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you're spending time with family and friends today - enjoying the opportunity to talk, catching up on life events, and sharing a meal together! Wishing you an awesome day!

Before the day ends, please take a moment to remember this day is a symbol of our fight for democracy and our declaration to be a free country. Each of us needs to do our part to make sure we protect our democracy and ensure that everyone can take advantage of the rights provided in the constitution.

May Our Flag Continue to Wave In Peace and Freedom.

Susan

Need I Say More...

 

What were the last craft supplies you purchased?  

Stampin' Up is having a 15% off SALE on selected Designer Series Paper starting today (July 2021) while supplies last. Don't miss the opportunity to save some money on some beautiful papers. 

Here are the designer series papers on sale...Which ones do you plan to purchase?

I'm planning to purchase the Beauty of the Earth, Hand-Penned, and Tidings of Christmas papers.

Place a $50 or more order on my Online Store and use the Host Code, CZYMRU4T, to receive a beautiful Thank You card and the Creativity Abounds Design Team Hand-Penned Tutorial Bundle.  You're going to love these cards. 

Happy Stamping!

Susan