Suzanne's Stamping Garden

Our biggest sale event of the year is upon us --> Sale-A-Bration! There are three ways to earn free product-- SHOP --Choose a FREE Sale-A-Bration product from the Sale catalog with every $50 or $100 you spend (before tax and shipping). Shop with me from the catalog or online at Suzanne's Stamping Garden Webpage   HOST --Host a qualifying party and select an additional $30 in FREE products. JOIN --Join Stampin' Up! during Sale-A0-Bration and you can build a Starter Kit full of products you choose, plus you get to select one of two FREE bonus options. Stampin' Up! allows us as demonstrators to preorder before you see the catalog so we can play with the products and generate ideas for our customers. The first stamp set I played with was the Sending Love Bundle. My first creation was this faux step-card. The background was created using DSP (designer series paper) from Fresh As A Daisy (161289). The clouds behind the mailbox were done by hand using the clouds Basic Borders d...

  Sometimes the card-making juju just hits at just the right time. You start making a card and everything seems to fall into place. I had one of those days while creating this card! Please click on the card to appreciate the details! All of the products I mention are Stampin' Up! You can find them on my website, the link is below. I chose a splotched background from the Dainty Flowers DSP that was a free option during SaleABration. My card layers include Crushed Curry 131199 and Mossy Meadow 133676. From the Queen Bee cling stamp set there is a stamp of word gibberish that I stamped onto the background using Crumb Cake ink 147116. The circle with the Bee Hive embossed was a retired embossing folder from Stampin' Up! Also from the Crushed Curry I used the dies that came with the set to add three hive outlines to the card front (the third one is layered onto the bee hive circle. Sentiments are stamped onto Very Vanilla cardstock 101650. with Black Momento ink 132708. Crown and he...

  If you are like me, you save some of your bigger scraps of paper while making cards. I also save my strips of white and ivory papers in case I need to stamp a saying. There is a business size envelope on my craft desk and as I cut down my papers, I tuck the strips inside. Well! My envelope of strips is now overflowing, so I decided to use them as a background. I was inspired by HGTV - the trend of having shiplap decorative walls...so I have shiplap on my card background! You can glue or tape your strips any direction--let them overlap your base until you are done.  Once you are done, flip the base over so you can see the base and put it in your trimmer to trim the overlap around each of the four edges. In this example, I used the Fancy Flora stamp set (160844) to add some colorful flowers and leaves with a birthday sentiment.  https://www.stampinup.com/products/two-tone-flora-photopolymer-stamp-set?demoid=2187995 Come join me for a Fancy Flora class this weekend! We wi...

 The holiday decorations are put away (almost all of them!) and I needed six thank you cards so I could write out thank you notes for holiday gifts I received. So I pulled out an older technique--using reinkers and acetate. So first, pull out those old overhead projector sheets you have in the depths of your desk drawer! Alternatively, if you do not have any, they can be ordered on my website https://www.stampinup.com/products/window-sheets?demoid=2187995 For space purposes, I cut my sheet in half. To one side of one sheet, add drops of color from your favorite reinker bottles. I like to use an odd number and chose three colors.   Lay the other half of the acetate sheet on top of the sheet you just added ink to. Watch the magic happen! You can drag your finger across the dots to drag the ink into other open areas. Separate your two acetate sheets and then lay your paper on top. I had some white cardstock cut into 4X5 1/4" rectangles. Allow your inked cardstock time to tho...

  Happy New Year my friends! I hope you are enjoying your long weekend, and for those of us in the Midwest, our unseasonably warm temperatures. Masking Technique The pictured card I made recently uses two different masking techniques. The first one is simply taking painter's tape horizontally on my card and then sponging a rainbow of colors in between the two pieces of painter's tape. After removing the painter's tape you can ink a sentiment into the stripe or add decorations using markers. If you'd like to take that a step further, to complete a piece like mine on the left, before you sponge on the rainbow of colors for the background in the stripe, stamp some floral images in the white stripe you created between the painter's tape.  Before putting those stamps away, stamp one of each floral image onto some Stampin' Up! masking paper or you can use sticky/post-it notes, making sure that a portion of the stamped design is on the opposite side of the sticky part....

When I retired in July 2022, one goal I had was to work on the digital footprint for my business. I've discovered much about myself in the months since my retirement. The driven, early morning worker I was, is now a lazier, laid-back retiree! Crafting has always been my creative outlet. Crafting has also been a heavy influence in my life since I was in 4H as, a kid. Crocheting, sewing, quilting--any craft that struck my fancy. Lately though, my focus has been jewelry- and card-making. Occasionally I stray off and do something different, but for the most part, card-making is my main focus. Stay tuned for weekly (or more often) card creations for now, but more projects in the future where you will be able to create along with me. There are numerous plans stewing in my subconscious, but it all takes time to put into place. Please check the Events section of my Stampin' Up! website for upcoming classes in January and February. suzannestamps.stampinup.net So what are your New Year r...