AWOW – Sketch Challenge and New Christmas Product

The Around the World on Wednesday (AWOW) team and I are hopping today — here on our blogs, and on Instagram. Before I go on, let me first introduce the AWOW Team–here’s who we are and where we are in the world:

For our seventh month of CAS(e)ing team member, we are CAS(e)ing our American team member, Chris Smith. Chris is a Splitcoaststampers Dirty Dozen design team alumni. She is talented with her classic, elegant cardmaking and creativity. I love so much about Chris’s creative style, especially her interesting style of layering.

What do I mean by that? Well, take a look at some of her designs:

See what I mean? Clean and simple designs, but adding just enough of a twist to turn it into a WOW project. Love it! Here are two sketches that really stood out for me, and I’m CASEing these today:

If you follow me at all, you know my favorite Stampin’ Up! product is the designer series paper. I am always looking for a fresh way to use it. These two projects by Chris give that DSP a punch! And, the creative juices are flowing. I made two projects, using the same sketch, showcasing our new products from the Holiday Mini Catalog:

What a fun sketch to CASE! Let’s take a closer look:

This project is using the new Peaceful Garden Suite of products, that includes the Peace on Earth bundle, beautiful Peaceful Garden DSP, and pretty embellishments.

Let’s take a look at the same sketch, using the Christmas Tags & More 6 x 6 Mix & Match Specialty DSP:

The sentiments used on this card are from the stamp set called Wishing You Well. For a full shopping list, see below.

Now let’s see what my friends around the world did with this challenge. Click the next button below to follow along to Chris Smith’s Blog, or follow along the hop using the Roll Call Below.

Happy Stamping! Kelly

Roll Call

Leonie Stuart – AU
Rochelle Laird-Smith – AU
Cheryll Miller – AU
Marga Bultena – NL
Aurélie Fabre – FR
Annette Ball – CA
Kelly Taranto – US
Chris Smith – US
Bree Renwick – US
Lori Willcox – CA
Teri West – US
Cheryl Hamilton – US

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NC Demos Hop – We’ve Got Your Back

It’s the last Sunday of the month, which means it’s time to hop with my NC Demos group. You might have already stopped by the talented Laurie Meier and her blog, but if you are just popping in with me first, our challenge this month is to create a project using stamps and a technique to create a unique background. We could use ANY kind of stamp big or small, but can’t use DSP or specialty paper (my go-to for making backgrounds!) Okay, I must confess….I’m cheating…warning: DSP is used! (I can’t help it, sorry!) But, at least my background a little outside the box (which I think is the intention of this hop theme, so hopefully the ladies forgive me!)

I decided to use the Sweet Jar punch to make my background. I’m sure you’ve seen these before — you take any punched shape and using different DSP line them up to fill a background layer. A few weeks ago I collaborated with a demonstrator on the west coast and we had an all-day stamping retreat using the Sweet Jar bundle. What a BLAST! Well, I made this card as an extra idea card for our attendees:

For this hop, I decided to do this same design but make a Christmas version using the coordinating stamp set Jar of Joy. Here you go!

Isn’t it fun? The DSP is from the new Christmas Tags & More 6 x 6 pack. Some really great traditional colors, yet a little country with the added Crumb Cake, which I thought went well with the Jar products.

Now, let’s see what the others have done with new products! Visit the roll call below, or click the next arrow below to head over to Tracie Langley’s Blog:

Happy Stamping! Kelly

Roll Call

Tina Lesson 
Toni Campana 
Laurie Meier 
Kelly Taranto – The Late Night Stamper 
Tracie Evans Langley – the Sassy Stamper 
Frances Wagner 

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AWOW – Remember When

The Around the World on Wednesday (AWOW) team and I are hopping today — here on our blogs, and on Instagram. Before I go on, let me first introduce the AWOW Team–here’s who we are and where we are in the world:

For our sixth month, we are CAS(e)ing our US team member, Bree Renwick. Bree, like me, is on her second year as an Artisan Team Member (my 2-year anniversary with this group is September 13!) Bree is incredibly talented with her cardmaking and Paper Pumpkin alternatives. She also shares amazing scrapbooking pages. I love so much about Bree’s creative style, especially her use of layers and textures. They simply make her projects from ordinary to extraordinary!

Bree is also the wife of a firefighter and the mom of twin boys (who I think are also firefighters maybe?) Anyway, since this hop is happening the day before September 11th, and the theme is “Remember When,” I decided to focus on remembering September 11, 2001. While I was reflecting back, the word “peace” kept coming to mind. I thought of the day before, September 10, 2001, and even my drive into work the morning of September 11th (I lived in Boston), and how we didn’t know yet the world was about to change.

Then, the days that followed… In Boston, all flights were grounded for days after. Traffic into the city was almost nonexistent. The two flights that were flown into the World Trade Center were from Logan Airport, and our city was grieving. Everything was still and frozen for days, and all we were doing was praying for peace.

Let’s take a look at the project that this remembering, and Bree’s creativity, inspired:

This is a fun fold that shows off Stampin’ Up!’s gorgeous designer series paper. If you follow me, you know that DSP is my absolute favorite product. Some of my favorite projects showcase both the A side and the B side of the piece. Let’s take a look at the card opened up:

This project is using the new Peaceful Garden Suite of products, that includes the Peace on Earth bundle, beautiful Peaceful Garden DSP, Peaceful Garden 12 x 12 Glimmer Paper (LOVE!), and pretty embellishments, like the Hues of Blues Flowers that almost look like stars.

Measurements:

  • Back panel – 4 1/4 x 5 1/2
  • Layer (which I used the glimmer paper) – 4 x 5 1/4. NOTE: Do not let the middle of this layer go to waste! I die cut all the sprigs and the label layer on the front from the Secret Sea glimmer paper before adhering things. Since it’s a layered piece, you might as well get the most out of it!
  • DSP piece:
    • 5″ x 12″ (be mindful of direction if your pattern is directional!)
    • Score at 2 3/4, 5 1/2, 8 1/4
    • Optional panels: 2 1/4 x 4 1/2 (up to 3 of these)
  • I added labels on the front for the sentiment and on the inside for writing a little note. Decorate.

I hope my project conveyed my feelings of “remembering when” well.

Now let’s see what my friends around the world did with this challenge. Click the next button below to follow along to Chris Smith’s Blog, or follow along the hop using the Roll Call Below.

Happy Stamping! Kelly

Roll Call

Jan Clothier – NZ
Leonie Stuart – AU
Rochelle Laird-Smith – AU
Cheryll Miller – AU
Danielle Kassing – NL
Marga Bultena – NL
Kelly Taranto – US – You are here!
Chris Smith – US
Bree Renwick – US
Teri West – US
Cheryl Hamilton – US

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Stamping With Friends – Sketch Challenge with Love & Courage

Today I’m hopping with my Stamping With Friends group and our challenge is to use the same sketch for a Sketch Challenge. As always with a Blog Hop, be sure to hop along with us by checking out the Roll Call at the bottom of this post so you can carry through and see the other creations of my talented stamping friends.

Here is the sketch we are using today:

I decided to use the new Love & Courage stamp set for this challenge.

Love & Courage stamp set is new in the September – December Mini Catalog, and is a Making a Difference product. For every stamp set sold, Stampin’ Up! will donated $3 to breast cancer organizations. My mother is a breast cancer survivor, so anything I can do to help this cause, I’m there.

NOTE: anyone that purchases this stamp set through me will receive a free make & take in the mail from me with a project that shows a versatility in using this set (i.e. not pink, and not breast cancer related). Also, I will donate my entire commission on your entire order that contains this stamp set to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation! All you have to do is place an order through my online store (make sure I’m identified on your order as the demonstrator!) and that way I know you placed the order.

Okay, let’s see this stamp set in action!

I love the sunflower/inspirational word stamp – it’s my favorite in the set.

I hope you like what I did with the sketch, and thank you in advance for your support if you decided to add this stamp set to your stash!

Now let’s see what my friends chose to do for this month. Be sure to click through the Roll Call below to see all of my stamping friends’ creations!

Happy stamping! Kelly

Roll Call:

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NC Demos Hop – Upcycle with Sweet Jar

It’s the last Sunday of the month, which means it’s time to hop with my NC Demos group. You might have already stopped by the talented Laurie Meier and her blog, but if you are just popping in with me first, our theme this month is Upcycle! Our project can be ANYTHING, with the only rule that we had to upcycle something when creating it that would otherwise be thrown away. I’m using the Sweet Jar bundle and these amazing jars you get when eating Oui! yogurt.

I am loving this bundle and the Jar of Joy add-on stamp set. I’m having my first ever day-long retreat mid-September featuring these products so have been playing with both, quite a bit. Let’s take a look:

This product is so incredibly versatile and the little cookies in the Sweet Jar set made me immediately want to make a little jar of sweet treats for a friend. Yogurt jars to the rescue! Here’s a closer look at the cookie jar:

Then, since I had another one of these jars, I decided to make a little Christmas gift. Who doesn’t need tags at Chrstimas? Isn’t this a sweet gift for a friend, or a hostess gift?

Now let’s take a closer look at the tags:

The tags are cut out using the new Patterned Tags dies — a sneak peak of something in the new Sept-Dec Mini Catalog! This catalog goes live on Tuesday. There is a plain tag (that I used on the two tags on each jar, and to cut the pre-printed DSP from the new Christmas Tags & More 6 x 6 paper pack. The bottom row shows the other three tags in the die set: evergreen, candy cane stripes, and quilt-like snowflakes. Note: don’t through the evergreen negatives out — That’s what I used on the front of my jar tag:

Now, let’s see what the others have done with new products! Visit the roll call below, or click the next arrow below to head over to Tonya Bower’s Blog:

Happy Stamping! Kelly

Roll Call

Tina Lesson 
Jo Anne Hewins 
Toni Campana 
Tracie Evans Langley – the Sassy Stamper 
Laurie Meier 
Kelly Taranto – The Late Night Stamper 
Tonya Bowers 

AWOW – This or That Feminine vs Masculine

The Around the World on Wednesday (AWOW) team and I are hopping today — here on our blogs, and on Instagram. Before I go on, let me first introduce the AWOW Team–here’s who we are and where we are in the world:

For our fifth month, we are CAS(e)ing our Aussie team member, Rochelle Laird-Smith. Rochelle is known for her layers, layers and layers (and her love of DSP…girl after my heart!) She is also very talented with making double cards as in one feminine and one masculine using the stamp set/bundle, hence the This or That theme this month as well.

On Rochelle’s home page, she has her top five favorite things, and one of them is the Everyday Happiness DSP. I also love this paper. It is sold as part of a scrapbooking kit so comes with some die cuts and stickers, and could definitely be feminine or masculine depending on your paper and die cut choices. Let’s take a look:

Here is a card from Rochelle that I’ve CASE’d:

I love LOVE all of the textures and layers, as well as the layout. Let’s take a look at my take on her design, making a feminine and masculine version:

Let’s take a look at each.

THIS – Feminine:

Close-up:

THAT: Masculine:

Close-Up:

Now let’s see what my friends around the world did with this challenge. Click the next button below to follow along to Chris Smith’s Blog, or follow along the hop using the Roll Call Below.

Happy Stamping! Kelly

Roll Call

Leonie Stuart – AU
Rochelle Laird-Smith – AU
Cheryll Miller – AU
Marga Bultena – NL
Aurélie Fabre – FR
Kelly Taranto – US – You are here!
Chris Smith – US
Bree Renwick – US
Teri West – US
Cheryl Hamilton – US

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Stamping With Friends – Designer Series Paper

Today I’m hopping with my Stamping With Friends group and our challenge is pretty simple – showcase Designer Series Paper! DSP is hands-down my top favorite product Stampin’ Up! sells. Their papers are just gorgeous, and you can make a really stunning project, with limited supplies and time!

As always with a Blog Hop, be sure to hop along with us by checking out the Roll Call at the bottom of this post so you can carry through and see the other creations of my talented stamping friends.

I had a whole other card planned for this blog post, but then talked to my friend June and she showed me a card she made using DSP and WOW – I just had to do it. So, I switched it up and ended up making three different cards. I love this sketch with DSP because it forces you to do some extreme pattern mixing…something I LOVE to do in my projects.

Did you know that Stampin’ Up!’s DSP has an A side and a B side? Here’s what each is:

  • A Side (Front): Usually features a more prominent or intricate pattern, image, or design, often intended to be the main visual focus.
  • B Side (Back): Presents a complementary or coordinating pattern, often simpler, tonal, or with a different texture, designed to harmonize with the “A side” while offering a contrasting option.

I think this is why I love SU’s DSP so much…it is so versatile, and has built-in coordination. So, I can *FEEL* like a pattern-mixer-master, but really the paper is doing all the work!

Let’s take a look at my three cards showcasing designer series paper!

First, here’s the card sketch:

My first two cards showcase both sides of the DSP by using the DSP as the card base so you can see both the A and B sides:

Card #1

OUTSIDE
INSIDE

Card #2

OUTSIDE
INSIDE

Card #3

This card has a cardstock card base and uses Memories & More cards as the DSP:

I hope you like these projects! Break out that designer series paper and get creating!

Now let’s see what my friends chose to do for this month. Be sure to click through the Roll Call below to see all of my stamping friends’ creations!

Happy stamping! Kelly

Roll Call

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AWOW – Tic Tac Toe Meets Botanical Textures

The Around the World on Wednesday (AWOW) team and I are hopping today — here on our blogs, and on Instagram. Before I go on, let me first introduce the AWOW Team–here’s who we are and where we are in the world:

For this month’s challenge we are making projects using a tic-tac-toe board. In addition, we continue our 5-year anniversary celebration and this month we are CASEing team member Aurélie Fabre.  Aurélie is known for for her classic touch of techniques, layers and texture. What a better time to pull out the Botanical Textures Suite of product!

Okay, let’s get into my project. As mentioned, in addition to channeling our inner Aurélie, this is a Tic-Tac-Toe challenge. Here’s the board:

I decided to use the top row: Shadow, Circle, and Texture.

Aurélie is a beautifully, talented artist — I cannot do her work justice! But, after looking through her blog, these two projects stuck out at me.

I love the multiple layers and textures (and shadows!) and I really love the colors — browns, creams, whites.

Here’s my project, using the Botanical Textures bundle:

The background is a piece of the Woven Textures DSP, that I ran through the Stampin’ Cut & Emboss machine with the Corrugated 3D Embossing folder. This corrugated folder is awesome, and naturally adds a ton of shadow (one of my Tic-Tac-Toe squares) but to add even more, I used one of the stamps in Textured Notes stamp set in Pecan Pie to add some extra shadow, and backed the whole layer with a piece of Pecan Pie and popped that layer up onto my white card base.

Here’s a close up of the card so you can see all the textures (a Tic-Tac-Toe square). Note the textured circle (the last of my Tic-Tac-Toe squares!) The circle and the Textured Notes rectangle in the are in Soft Sea Foam green. And, of course, a little splatter of Pecan Pie Blends adds just the little extra.

Let’s take one last look:

Not *quite* like Aurélie, but I appreciate her creativity and inspiration!

Now let’s see what my friends around the world did with this challenge. Click the next button below to follow along to Chris Smith’s Blog, or follow along the hop using the Roll Call Below.

Happy Stamping! Kelly

Roll Call

Jan Clothier – NZ
Leonie Stuart – AU
Rochelle Laird-Smith – AU
Cheryll Miller – AU
Marga Bultena – NL
Ximena Morales – DE
Aurélie Fabre – FR
Kelly Taranto – US You are here!
Chris Smith – US
Theresa McEntee – US
Bree Renwick – US
Lori Willcox – CA
Teri West – US
Cheryl Hamilton – US

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NC Demos Hop – Fashion Stamping

It’s the last Sunday of the month, which means it’s time to hop with my NC Demos group. You might have already stopped by the talented Frances Wagner and her blog, but if you are just popping in with me first, our theme this month is Fashion Stamping. Say what? Our project can be ANYTHING, but we had to use either something from our own closet or an outfit we spotted out shopping for your inspiration. Fun!

I chose this blouse from my closet for the geometric shapes and colors (navy blue is my jam…and gold or bright green are my favorite pairings with navy).

For my project, I decided to case almost exactly…and then the hunt began to use my current Stampin’ Up! stash! Let’s see how I did:

What do you think? Fashionable??

This card was actually really simple to make and used minimal product (you can Shop the Supplies by using the link below!) For the navy squares, I used two Stylish Shape squares (#2 and #3 coming from the left on the bottom row) together to make a frame.

Then, I stamped the yellow inside of that frame, and then added a navy square and a white 1/2″ square on top of that. To stamp the yellow, I needed a square stamp and didn’t have one. So I improvised! I used this stamp from Impressions Abloom:

It fit PERFECTLY in the Stylish Shapes Square (#3 in from the outside). I also love that it’s wavy since the blouse’s squares (or diamonds?) are wavy.

Since I was using that stamp set, that’s where the sentiment comes from — and it fits perfectly on the big banner of the Stylish Shapes dies. Love it! I added some 2025-2027 gems, and viola – fashionable stamping!

Now, let’s see what the others have done with new products! Visit the roll call below, or click the next arrow below to head over to Laurie Meier’s Blog:

Happy Stamping! Kelly

Roll Call
Tina Lesson
Jo Anne Hewins
Tracie Evans Langley-the Sassy Stamper
Frances Wagner
Kelly Taranto – The Late Night Stamper
Laurie Meier

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AWOW – Think Outside the Box with Stripes & Dots and Layered Thoughts

The Around the World on Wednesday (AWOW) team and I are hopping today — here on our blogs, and on Instagram (@thelatenightstamper). This month as we continue to celebrate the 5th year anniversary of our blog hop, we are CASEing team member Mikaela Titheridge. Mikaela is known for using stamps and dies in ways that most of us would never think of. So our challenge is to put on our “Mikaela hat” and attempt to use our current stash in a fun, unimaginable way! I’m using Stripes & Dots and Layered Thoughts stamp sets…and no DSP.

Before I go on, let me first introduce the AWOW Team–here’s who we are and where we are in the world:

Okay, let’s get into my project. As mentioned, we were told to channel our inner Mikaela and use our stash in innovative ways. First thing I did was go to Mikaela’s blog to get inspired. Then, I reached for the new Stripes & Dots and Layered Thoughts stamp sets because I was super inspired by how Mikaela uses tone-on-tone on cardstock and/or cardstock strips to add dimension and interest.

Here are a few of Mikaela’s projects that inspired me:

I love her clean and simple cards, and how she’s letting Stampin’ Up!’s gorgeous cardstock do most of the work, rather than DSP — like I usually grab.

Here are my cards:

I decided to use the Stripes & Dots stamp set, along with the Layered Thoughts stamp set – both new sets in the Annual Catalog:

Let’s take a closer look:

I seriously would have never thought to use simple strips of cardstock to make my background. Thanks Mikaela, and as a huge fan of The Crafty Oink Pen, I hope I did her justice.

Now let’s see what my friends around the world did with this challenge. Click the next button below to follow along to Chris Smith’s Blog, or follow along the hop using the Roll Call Below.

Happy Stamping! Kelly

Roll Call

Leonie Stuart – AU
Rochelle Laird-Smith – AU
Cheryll Miller – AU
Marga Bultena – NL
Kim Fee – UK
Annette Ball – CA
Kelly Taranto – US — You here here!
Chris Smith – US
Theresa McEntee – US
Teri West – US
Cheryl Hamilton – US

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