Back home and a Mojo Monday card for you!

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Christmas Messages 002 Main R 2

Welcome home – Oh, that’s me!  In case you’ve been wondering where I’ve been, I’ve spent the last 2 weeks on the road in New York.  We had a fun family wedding, spent quality time with several members of our family in upstate and Western NY, and even had fun in New Jersey too!  Of course, Michael and I had fun driving up and down the eastern coast!  No, seriously, Michael and I love getting on the road together.  We leave late at night and drive all through the night.  We can usually make it to NY in 17 hours, though we took a leisure trip this time.  We’re rather good in the car and love playing games, chatting and just seeing where the road takes us.  We love to hit Farm Stands, go to new places and visit friends or memorable places along the way if we have the time.  Thankfully both our businesses are mostly virtual and we have the freedom to do this – especially since we added 4 extra days while on the road!

After seeing the beginning of the color change all through the northeast, I thought I’d give you a fall-ish card for my Mojo Monday Challenge card today.  I actually made a killer Christmas version that looks nothing like this one, but thought I’d save it for one of my 12 weeks of Christmas cards instead – so if you’re on the Creative Tips list – you’ll see that this week – it’s so cool, that I think I’m going to use it as one of my own Christmas cards this year!  If you’d like to get my 12 weeks of Christmas projects free and more click here to subscribe today.  So far you’ve only missed one week!

Supplies –

  • Stamps – Christmas Wishes, Gorgeous Grunge
  • Ink – Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake
  • Paper – Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper, Very Vanilla
  • Tools – Circle Collection Framelits, 1 1/4” Square Punch, Bone Folder
  • Finishing Touches – Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon (retired), Stamping Dimensionals

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    Here is the Mojo Monday sketch and my fall version.  Enjoy the tips below!

Mojo314SketchChristmas Messages 002 Front

Creative Tips –

  • I wanted to use this great plaid from the Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper Collection, so the rest of the card kind of fell into place.
  • If you want to add a little something to brighten the card up – try the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set as I did here.  The lines (my all time favorite stamp) are stamped in Tangerine Tango and the splats are stamped in Crumb Cake stamped off to make it more of the background.Christmas Messages 002 Side
  • The greeting is from a Christmas set, but honestly – it works for Thanksgiving too!  Gotta love versatility, right?
  • I wanted a larger ribbon for the knot, so I broke out a retired spool – I miss this collection, try anything you have!
  • To make the Banner Flag, you will want to use a square punch or some paper snips.  To get the end to curl up a bit, lightly curl your DSP upward using your bone folder.  The trick is not to over-work it.  View my video on how to make banner flagsChristmas Messages 002 Height
  • To add a little interest, try popping up the card front and greeting with Stamping Dimensionals.

 

        I hope you all enjoyed this fun project!

    Signature Snowflake 001Christmas Messages 002 Angle

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    Gorgeous GrungeChristmas MessagesSweater Weather Designer Series Paper

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    Stampin’ Up! Gently Falling

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    Gently Falling 003 001

    I hope you had a fabulous weekend  – are ready to get to a great Mojo start!  Today, we have another go to sketch for your arsenal.  This sketch will give you a great card every time.  It’s quick and easy to put together – all the things I love!  I looked at about 20 stamp sets this morning, and remembered the Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper and thought…can I really give them another card with Gently Falling?  But I knew you’d love it in the end, so here it is!

    Mojo311SketchGently Falling 003 003

    Creative Tips –

    • I think you will notice that this will work with just about any stamp set, but the plaids in this pack of paper scream fall.
    • You will only want to use the filler images if you are using them as a background as here.  The point was to allow the greeting to pop – that’s why it’s embossed in Early Espresso.Gently Falling 003 009
    • To add a little umph to the card (is that a word?), a little paper piercing goes a long way on the Tangerine Tango circle.
    • All the matting and stabilizing part of the card is in Chocolate Chip, so the accent with the Scallop Trim Border Punch is in the same.  Gently Falling 003 006
    • Rather than use some Chocolate Chip Ribbon, I wanted the stamping to really shine, so I enlarged that portion (4” x 2”), popped it up on Stamping Dimensionals, and just added a card stock strip in place of a bow or knot.
    • To give the card a little finishing touch, some Pearl Basic Jewels were added. Gently Falling 003 002

    It’s a classic, Julee Tilman did it again.  I love this sketch.  So, now it’s your turn – what are you going to make?

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    Stamp Sets – Gently Falling, Seasonal Sayings Ink – Crushed Curry, Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso, Tangerine Tango Paper – Whisper White, Early Espresso, Tangerine Tango, Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper (132184) Tools – Scallop Trim Border Punch, 1 3/4” Circle Punch, Early Espresso Embossing Powder, Paper Piercing Tool, Stampin’ Pierce Mat, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack Finishing Touch – Stamping Dimensionals, Pearl Basic Jewels

    Seasonal Sayings 128009LGently Falling

    Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper

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    Mojo Monday Gently Falling Thanks

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    Gently Falling 001 004

    Do you ever just need a go to sketch?  Well this week’s Mojo Monday sketch is perfect for you then!  It’s simple, straightforward and would look awesome with Designer Series Paper or just card stock.  You really can’t go wrong. 

    Try out some bright color combinations, play with your favorite stamp sets, or just make it all one color.  Either way, you’ll have a striking card that you and the recipient will love.  Here’s the sketch and my interpretation:

                            Gently Falling 001 006Mojo310Sketch

    Creative Tips –

    • If you decide to focus on the Gently Falling stamp set like I did, you may want to keep your color palate in the season.  This is great for men or women, which is great – don’t you just love versatile cards?
    • To give the real sense of fall, rock and roll the filler image of this two step stamp set.  That way you can get that change of color look you’re striving for.  Here you see Crushed Curry, Gumball Green and Cherry Cobbler with Early Espresso as the lined image.Gently Falling 001 010
    • Follow that up with a fun embossing folder and your big shot for the background – here you see Woodgrain.  Why not – it’s a tree!
    • The Pearl Basic Jewels complete the card with the perfect finishing touch to highlight the banner.
    • Rather than keep it to Thanksgiving, you can choose any sentiment you’d like!  Here you see the Thank You from Lots of Thanks. Gently Falling 001 008
    • Tip – to make quick and simple banner flags, use punches – like the Hexagon Punch or Square Punches.  To see a quick video on how to do this, click here.
    • The card front is popped up on Stamping Dimensionals to compliment the banner and leaf popped up as well.Gently Falling 001 009
    • To extend the matte and give it a little somethin’ somethin’, add some paper piercing!  You can quickly take a project from cute, to wow by just adding some piercing.  And you’ve heard me say it before – it’s the most inexpensive way to embellish a card.  All you need is a one time purchase – Stampin’ Pierce Mat, Paper Piercing Tool, and templates like the Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack.Gently Falling 001 005

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    If you love this card and creative tips, then be sure to sign up for my Creative Tips list!  You’ll get VIP project videos and projects, special list only sales and discounts, and stay on top of all the cool and great things not only available at Stampin’ Up!, but also here at The Creative Grove. Be in the know, first on the list!  I don’t like excess email or stuff I don’t want, so know that your email address is something sacred to me.  I would never abuse that trust!  Click here if You love creative tips and want to be one of my VIP’s!   Smile

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    How to use your Background Stamps

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    Really Good Greetings 003 002

    It’s Mojo Monday again and today I wanted to show you how to use all those Background stamps and papers that you have.  I love background stamps – they are super hard for me to part with when I have a sale, and I use them over and over – you should take a look at your stash too!

    Today’s card is perfect for backgrounds.  With this design, I show you how I used four different sets plus some of my Christmas Paper from Season of Style in a birthday card.  Here is this week’s sketch and my result.

              Mojo307Sketch Really Good Greetings 003 004

    Creative Tips –

    • Rather than use the Season of Style Designer Paper Stack paper as the accent triangles, you can go for a much bolder statement with it as the background.
    • You do not want to compete with the bold stripes, so when you choose your background patterns, you will want to stay away from bold lined patterns or Chevrons.  I chose some completely different designs plus one lightly lined (striped) pattern.  Really Good Greetings 003 006
    • The stripes from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp work because it has a varying amount of white space in-between the lines and they are thin lines, not bold like the Designer Paper.
    • The backgrounds you see here are Dictionary, Gorgeous Grunge, World Map and Swallowtail – yes, that’s part of the butterfly wing!  I love patterned images like that – other good ones are the flowers from Regarding Dahlias and Blooming with Kindness.Really Good Greetings 003 008
    • The greeting is from the must have greeting set of this year – Really Good Greetings.  To help it to stand out from all the patterns and busy goings on of the card, you will want to emboss it and leave it alone on that big circle (Circle #7, counting from smallest to largest in the Circles Collection Framelits) with the large amount of white space.  The contrast the extra white space brings to the card lets it shine.  After all – the greeting says it all – and it wouldn’t work if it got hidden by all the competing elements.Really Good Greetings 003 007
    • To help the circle stand out a bit more, you can edge it with your versamark ink pad and embossed it in black as well.
    • The flower is from the BigZ die – Blossom Party Originals.  You can add a center by itself – like the black center here, which was punched with the circle punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, or top it off like I did with the Large Rhinestone Jewel.  Really Good Greetings 003 009
    • To give the flower a little depth, pop it up with a Stampin’ Dimensional.
    • To make the banner ends, you can use the new Hexagon Punch or make your own with paper snips or a Square Punch.  View my Banner video hereReally Good Greetings 003 003

    The sketch this week is a classic that you can use over and over again. 

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    Each month, we are going to highlight a stamp set with four four creative cards that will wow your friends and family.  This month we are highlighting the Festive Flurry Bundle.  Pre-register today and save 10% through midnight, Tuesday August 20th!  Get all the Details Here

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    Stamp Sets – Really Good Greetings (130333c, 130330w), Swallowtail (129216c, 131943w), Gorgeous Grunge (130517c, 130514w), Dictionary (130351c, 130348w), World Map (130345c, 130342w) Paper – Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Season of Style Designer Series Paper Stack, Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler Ink – Versamark, Basic Black Cool Tools – Circles Collection Framelits, 1 3/4” Circle Punch, Blossom Party Originals BigZ, Hexagon Punch, Itty Bitty Punch Pack The Perfect Finish – Stampin’ Dimensionals, Large Rhinestone Basic Jewels

    DictionarySwallowtail Stamp 129216LWorld Map StampGorgeous GrungeReally Good Greetings

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    Mojo Christmas Wishes

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    Color Me Christmas 002 Main R

    Don’t you just love the color Cherry Cobbler with Crumb Cake?  I love the earthy feel to both and find they go very well together.  For this weeks Mojo Monday card we have a contemporary look with the Color Me Christmas stamp set mixed with a little frill – a doily, and some fun new elements to round the card out.  Here is this week’s Mojo Monday Sketch for the challenge:

                          Mojo306SketchColor Me Christmas 002 Front

    Creative Tips –

    • Be sure to make sure you are only grabbing one of the Tea Lace Paper Doilies out of the pack – they LOVE to stick together.
    • The new Pretty Print Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (TIEF) is a great background that gives your project a little character without taking over. Color Me Christmas 002 Doily
    • The new Deco Label Framelits pairs perfectly here with a 1 3/4” Circle Punch.  It makes a nice little background for your cut out Tree that is colored with an Aqua Painter.
    • The bold greetings from Joy to the World will compliment all your Christmas Cards this season – I just LOVE this one – it’s great to emboss with! Color Me Christmas 002 Banner
    • One of the new Regals Buttons adds a nice finishing touch with some Linen Thread. 
    • Pop the banner, button, and Deco Framelit are on Dimensionals to add a little depth to your project. Color Me Christmas 002 Side
    • A little Paper Piercing and tiny Pearl Basic Jewels help to balance out the button and put a little something in the white space on the design of the card.
    • The Season of Style Paper Stack offers just that little splash of Designer Paper that you want to compliment a project.  It has 48 sheets each of two double sided designs giving you plenty to make a stack of cards with! Color Me Christmas 002 Main L

      • Fun new items in the Holiday Catalog

      2013 Holiday Catalog

      Have you taken a peek at the new Holiday Catalog yet?  The projects are inspiring and the new products – well many are quite addictive!  My personal favorite is the new Expressions Thinlits Dies.  How about you?  View all our Catalogs here
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    Stamp Sets – Color Me Christmas (131745c, 131742w), Joy to the world (131796c, 131799w) Paper – Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Season of Style Designer Series Paper Stack Ink –Cherry Cobber, Gumball Green, Chocolate Chip, Crushed Curry, StazOn Jet Black Cool Tools – Pretty Print TIEF Folder, Paper Piercing Tool, Essentials Mat Pack, Stampin’ Pierce Mat, Aqua Painters, Deco Labels Collection Framelits, 1 3/4” Circle Punch The Perfect Finish – Stampin’ Dimensionals, Linen Thread, Pearl Basic Jewels, Regals Designer Buttons, Tea Lace Paper Doilies

      Color Me ChristmasGreetings of the Season 128033LSeason of Style Paper Stack
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    CAS Regarding Dahlias

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    Regarding Dahlias 003 Main

    Clean and Simple (CAS) cards are always great.  They’re quick, easy and striking!  The Regarding Dahlias stamp set has several greetings and one very powerful floral image.  Perfect for clean and simple cards. 

    Do you ever have an image remind you of someone?  That happens to me, and today I’m using flowers because I’m thinking of Yvonne.  Regarding Dahlias 003 Main Duo

    I teach card and scrapbooking classes locally here in my home and in various communities.  I’ll never forget the day I met Yvonne.  It was at a vendor event when she made her way to my table with her walker and oxygen tank.  Yvonne could not stop looking at my scrapbooks and cards – I could tell she was definitely an avid paper crafter!  She quickly arranged for me to teach scrapbooking in her community with a few of her friends religiously every month.  Each one became stampers in addition to scrapbookers, and I’ve loved every class that I taught there.  The friendships these ladies have with each other, in addition to just really loving every crafting moment together has always been special to be a part of for me. 

    Yvonne has been one of my die hard stampers who never let anything get in the way of her trying all the paper crafting techniques she could – not even a broken shoulder or arm.  I have truly admired her zest for life and not letting the little things get to her (As if those are little things!). 

    Yvonne was unable to make the trip up the stairs to my stamping studio for my stamping classes in my home, so one day I decided to bring class to her.  It was an awesome fun afternoon, stamping with a friend.  We made several projects using various techniques and to this day is one of my fondest memories of a private one on one class.  Yvonne never missed a class, and over time, I noticed that she gravitated toward the floral images.  So, today this card is for you Yvonne.  You will be greatly missed and I know that wherever you are, you are most definitely living life to the fullest and certainly stamping and scrapbooking!

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    Creative Tips –

    • To create the floral design, you will want to make a mask out of printer paper.  Card stock will be too thick, and you will find that you have a white gap at the edge of your masked images, which I know will frustrate you!
    • Turn your stamp as you stamp the other images.  This way you have variety and not a repetitive look.Regarding Dahlias 003 Main Front 1
    • This image above has two stamped identically and then one not – can you see the difference?  My other sample has the flower at a slightly different angle.  It’s a bit easier on the eye.
    • You can see that I chose to matte the strip two ways, white strip on white and white strip on matching Night of Navy card stock.  Both are lovely, and have very different looks.Regarding Dahlias 003 Main Duo
    • You might want to try stamping a long strip that you can cut to the size you need – that way you will have it for multiple cards.
    • Remember the law of 1/3rds when you are placing your images.  In CAS cards, you want to have a lot of white space, so placing your strip and greeting in the top or bottom third will be visually appealing to the reader.
    • For a finishing touch, add some paper piercing to the the opposite side of your strip. 
      2013 Holiday Catalog
      Have you taken a peek at the new Holiday Catalog yet?  The projects are awesome, the new products, well many are quite addictive!  My personal favorite is the new Expressions Thinlits Dies.  How about you?  View all our Catalogs here

    Regarding Dahlias 003 Main Angle 2

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    Stamp Sets – Regarding Dahlias (130327c, 130324w), Sweet Essentials (126457c, 132085w) Paper – Whisper White, Night of Navy Ink – Night of Navy  Cool Tools – Paper Piercing Tool, Essentials Mat Pack, Stampin’ Pierce Mat

      Regarding DahliasUntitled-12

    Filed Under: 10 Minutes or Less, Cards, Clean and Simple, Flowers, Personal Tagged: , , , , , ,

    Mojo Color Me Christmas

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    Color Me Christmas 001 Main R

    Do you like to color?  Then the Color me Christmas set is for you!  Today for the Mojo Monday challenge I played with some of my favorite new items from the new Holiday Catalog that went live last Thursday.  Did you get your free copy?

    This weeks sketch had some simple elements that came together rather quickly.  I think you will find that you can use this design for any card situation and will  use this go to sketch quite frequently.  Here is the sketch and my result.  Enjoy the Creative Tips for you on these products below.

    Color Me Christmas 001 Front Mojo305Sketch

    Creative Tips –

    • One of my top 5 items from the Holiday Catalog are the new Expressions Thinlits Dies.  Here you can see how I made the word Merry with the new Gold Foil paper that you will absolutely love!Color Me Christmas 001 CU2
    • For some fun backgrounds, you can see that I paired the Cherry Cobbler card stock that was run through the Big Shot with the new Stylish Stripes Embossing Folder and the fun Designer Series Paper (DSP) from the Season of Style DSP Stack.
    • You will love the Two new Season of Style DSP Stacks because you finally have 24 – 4 1/2” x 6 1/2” sheets each of two designs.  That’s 48 sheets total!  Perfect for your Holiday Cards!!
    • To pull all the colors together you can see that I chose to work with the two most basic neutrals in the DSP stack – Chocolate Chip and Whisper White.  These neutrals help to make this card pop for you visually.Color Me Christmas 001 Side (1)
    • The Color me Christmas stamp set was stamped in StazOn Jet Black before being water colored with Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip and Crushed Curry.  To make this go by quicker, you will want to use the Aqua Pens.
    • You will find that you do not need Watercolor Paper for small little items like this if you control how wet your brush is.  Of course if you have difficulty doing that, definitely try the watercolor paper out!  I used Whisper White for my little tree.
    • The tree was cut out using Paper Snips and you will want to make sure to leave a little white on the edge .  This will help pop the image on it’s background as it provides your eye with the color contrast it needs to be seen.Color Me Christmas 001 CU1
    • At first I had a piece of retired Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon that I was going to use.  Then I thought – where are you going to find that?  So I made my own Faux Grosgrain using – yup, you guessed it – the Gorgeous Grunge Stamp Set!  I am going to make sure that each and every one of you have this must have stamp set before you know it!
    • Isn’t this tree look just like a purchased die cut?  Can you believe that you can make this over and over again customizing it exactly how you want it?  I just love this set.
    • For a little character and finishing touch to the card, you can see that I added some paper piercing.  You will want to use both the Essentials and Occasions Paper Piercing Packs.Color Me Christmas 001 Main L
    • And of course for some drama, the tree and card front are popped up on Stamping Dimensionals.

    It’s cute, right?  That tree is really becoming one of my favorite new images.  I can’t wait to stamp now with the rest of this set.  Be sure that you tune in tomorrow!  Have a great start to your week.


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    Color Me Christmas 001 Angle

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    Stamp Sets – Color Me Christmas (131745c, 131742w), Gorgeous Grunge(130517c, 130514w) Paper – Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Season of Style Designer Series Paper Stack, Gold Foil Ink –Cherry Cobber, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Crushed Curry, StazOn Jet Black Cool Tools – Stylish Stripes TIEF Folder, Paper Piercing Tool, Essentials Mat Pack, Stampin’ Pierce Mat , Occasions Mat Pack, Expressions Thinlits Dies, Aqua Painters The Perfect Finish – Stampin’ Dimensionals

    Expressions ThinlitsColor Me ChristmasSeason of Style Paper Stack

    Filed Under: Cards, Challenges, Christmas, Clean and Simple Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

    Simple One Layer Wetlands

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    Wetlands 005 001

    I needed a super quick birthday card the other day and decided to try some acrylic block stamping.  The sandpiper image from the Wetlands stamp set is the perfect image for a beach scene. 

    Creative Tips –

    • I used my Stampin’ Write markers to create my own scene on one of my larger acrylic blocks. 
    • For my sand, I used Crumb Cake, and then created my water with Bermuda Bay.  Next I drew a sun in Crushed Curry and colored my sky in Island Indigo around it.  Wetlands 005 009
    • I spritzed my block with a light mist of water and stamped onto a folded piece of card stock.
    • My sandpiper birds were then stamped in Early Espresso as was my greeting from Four You.
    • Here is a similar card done and matted onto Bermuda Bay for a contrasting look, which do you like better – one layer or matted?  Let me know if the comment section.

       Wetlands 005 003 Wetlands 005 006

    This card literally takes minutes and is a cute simple watercolor of a fun beach scene.  It’s yet again just one more reason you want to have the Wetlands stamp set in your arsenal – it’s versatile, and easy to use!

    Wetlands 005 002


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    Wetlands 005 010

    Stamp Sets – Wetlands (126697c, 126695w), Four You (130538c, 130535w) Ink – Early Espresso, Stampin’ Write Markers: Island Indigo, Crumb Cake, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry Paper –Whisper White (100730)

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