Category Archives: cards

Merry Christmas Thinlits

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I have a weakness for die cut words. When I spied the Merry Christmas Thinlits in the Holiday catalog, my radar went PING PING PING.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Merry Christmas Thinlits

I used a pencil to trace the inside of the Stitched Shape Oval die on the front of the card. It’s a smaller oval than the actual die cut, so it won’t show once the card is completed, but it provides a stamping guideline to get all of those branches in place before adhering the oval.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Merry Christmas Thinlits

You’ll definitely want to use the Precision Base Plate for these foil letters. The foil shows any little bump or bruise, but the Base Plate smooths all of that out.

I used the Shaded Spruce sprigs as they were, but I cut the Silver Foil sprigs in half. The silver is an accent here!

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Merry Christmas Thinlits

These elegant card bases are quick and easy to use, and come with a coordinating envelope that really finishes the look. If you haven’t quite gotten to your holiday cards, these will step up your design in a flash! They would make fabulous New Years cards as well, and there’s no shame in sending those, either.

Need supplies?  Shop HERE.

Goodies and Crafties and Santas, oh my!

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The elves have been very busy – and on Saturday, we’re setting up our tables and hoping you’ll come shop with us! The 4th Annual Waikapu Gardens Christmas Street Fair is this Saturday from 8am until noon on Ulu Kanu Street. Santa will make an appearance, and the Maui High School choir will be filling the air with holiday music.

I’ve been a busy elf myself, making cards, gift packaging and a few small gifts for your shopping pleasure. These deluxe gift card holders are created to showcase your gift card and provide space for your handwritten note of appreciation:

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! First Frost Deluxe Gift Card Holder

I’ve added a strip of adhesive to the back of the note card – just peel and stick your gift card. The envelope is a beautiful, heavy weight foiled paper from a few years ago that I’ve had stashed.  I should have made these a long time ago!

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! First Frost Deluxe Gift Card Holder

The Merry Merlot band slides smoothly over the envelope to create a smooth, elegant finish to your gift.

If you’re on Maui this weekend, stop by and see us!  Shop local, shop your community!

Snowflake Showcase Final Hours!

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There are just a few hours left for these elegant snowflakes!

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Snowflake Showcase Limited Edition 2018

I paired the snowflakes made with the Snowfall Thinlits with images from Beautiful Blizzard.  The sentiment is embossed with White Embossing Powder, and the snowflakes are inked in Versamark for a more understated look.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Snowflake Showcase Limited Edition 2018

The white snowflake is cut from Shimmery White. It’s such beautiful paper, and it really adds another layer of grace to an already elegant image. The silver Glimmer Paper is a luxurious touch as well.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Snowflake Showcase Limited Edition 2018

I struggled with layering the snowflakes – and which jewel to put in the center. I guess it’s kind of a mom thing: I love them equally.

You’ve got until 11:50pm Mountain Time tonight (November 30) to order the thinlits. Get them HERE.

Spooky Nights

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I don’t have kids at home any more, and there aren’t too many kids in my neighborhood. As a result, my Halloween decorating and crafting has dwindled to just a few projects. My dear friend Robbie absolutely LOVES Halloween, and in her honor we did some spooky themed projects at our monthly meeting.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Spooky Suites Night Owl Holiday 2018

I loved how this one turned out. It’s a little more grown up than a typical Halloween card, and the Galvanized Metallic Paper really sets that tone. It has a gorgeous matte gleam, and I used my first package up so quickly that I immediately ordered several more. If I were you, I would do the same! This is going to have lots of uses.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Spooky Suites Night Owl Holiday 2018

Spooky Suites and the Spooky Bats punch are available in a discounted bundle. I love that there are such great punches available in the Holiday and Annual catalog this year – punches are a quick and easy solution.

The gorgeous branches from the Night Owl Thinlits are dramatic and lend themselves to a variety of uses. When we were making this particular card, everyone kept referring to them as antlers.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Spooky Suites Night Owl Holiday 2018

That little tag is the happy result of double cutting. It’s a nice long thinlit, about twice that size. If you stamp your image and cut it out with the words justified to one end, it’s really easy to place the thinlit on the opposite end and run the tag through a second time, cutting it down.

What else would you do with that gorgeous starry night DSP? I might have stocked up on that when I placed my order for “several” packages of the Galvanized paper. Need a little for yourself? Shop HERE.

Brusho Experiments 2.0

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A couple of weeks ago I shared the first card I made with my inaugural Brusho experiments, and today I have another. There’s a strong similarity between the cards – the major difference lies in the embellishment.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Petal Palette with Brusho

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Petal Palette with Brusho

I’m thrilled to have brads back in the catalog. They’re charming, and even better, so functional! And if you’ve missed the Corrugated Elements, look again. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Petal Palette with Brusho

Remember, our goal was to focus on watercolor techniques with Brusho. I’m really pleased with the results, as Brusho gives much more variety than ink refills (not that I don’t love ink refills, I do – but for this technique, I’ll put my money on Brusho!)

Ready to shop? Visit the store HERE.

Making my own Bokeh

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The bokeh technique has been a very hot look for quite a while, and I wanted to try to create it on my own. Stampin’ Up! does have a stamp that creates this technique, but it’s not quite a full card size and I’m stubborn about things like that.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Dandelion Wishes Bokeh Technique

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Dandelion Wishes Bokeh Technique

I punched a number of circles from scrap card stock and put some SNAIL on the back of them. (You could cut them with framelits, but punches are faster. I recommend card stock over sticky notes because you’re going to accumulate ink on them, and the sticky notes get saturated.) Then I tapped the SNAIL with my fingers so it wouldn’t stick fast, but would be tacky and hold in place. Then it was sponge, sponge, move the circles, repeat!

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Dandelion Wishes Bokeh Technique

You can do this with multiple colors, but I chose to stay monochromatic. I embossed the image and sentiment with Black Embossing Powder to make it pop a little. (When was the last time you re-inked your Versamark Ink Pad? Seriously…it makes a HUGE difference!)  Since I chose to make this into a sympathy card, I kept it very, very plain. (Maybe too plain. I’m still debating.)

Want to play with your own version? Shop HERE.

 

A CASE of a VASE with a lot of variations

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I am certain I CASEd this card just about verbatim, but I can’t find the source. If this is your card, A) Please let me know and I’ll give you credit, and B) I hope you’re flattered, because I really love this design! I’ve searched high and low through my files and on Google, and if Google can’t find it, well, I give up.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Varied Vases Mango Medley

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Varied Vases Mango Medley

 

The original version used the Birthday Wishes sentiment from Varied Vases, but as I started to recreate this card, I got tired of masking off the sentiment to place it on either side of the vases.  You could still stamp Happy Birthday on the inside – Thankful for You is a great birthday sentiment!

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Varied Vases Melon Mambo

I started playing with color combinations and got a teeny tiny bit carried away – this is Lovely Lipstick.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Varied Vases Grapefruit Grove

I did this version in Flirty Flamingo, which I really love paired with Basic Gray.

As a completely irrelevant but fascinating aside, apparently Granny Apple Green gets translated to Little Green Frog in the European market. SERIOUSLY. I would MUCH prefer to have Little Green Frog in my color palette!  Granny Apple Green is a mouthful (sorry for the terrible pun) but even worse, I find myself abbreviating it GAG.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Varied Vases Highland Heather

This version is done in Highland Heather, and I think would work well for an expression of sympathy.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Varied Vases Poppy Parade

Last but not least, I created a version in Poppy Parade. I am thrilled to have Poppy Parade back in our color palette and I think it’s a stunner with GAG.

Which one was your favorite combination? I’m asking for a friend <wink>

Ready to add Varied Vases, the Vases Builder punch, or the bundle to your crafting options? Shop HERE.

A very cheerful Painted Harvest

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Painted Harvest is so versatile – it can be subtle and monochromatic, or it can be Put-On-Your-Sunnies-Bright! For this version, I CASEd (Copy And Share with Everyone) myself:

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Painted Harvest

There were leftover “parts” from THIS card. (What do you do with “parts”?)

  • Stamps: Painted Harvest, Picture Perfect Birthday
  • Color Palette: Whisper White, Peekaboo Peach (retired In Color), Rich Razzleberry, Lemon Lime Twist, Call Me Clover
  • Accessories: Naturally Eclectic DSP (retired)

If you no longer have the Naturally Eclectic DSP, this look is easy to achieve with an Aqua Painter and Ink Refills. You can customize it to any color palette you like, or you can copy this one.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Painted Harvest

A lot of people work really hard to align those sunflower Two-Step Stampin’ images so they’re Just Right, but I didn’t. I just kind of slapped ’em in there, because I was really focusing on finishing this group of cards and getting those “parts” off my desk. I think it turned out okay.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Painted Harvest

This is a perfect birthday card for that friend who brightens up your life just by being who she is. She’s authentic and positive and just a little bit whack-a-doodle. You know the one.

Need supplies? Shop HERE.

A little Brusho experiment

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WEEKS ago, Crystal and I got out some watercolor paper and the Brusho and experimented. We were both a little unsure and apprehensive, and you’ll see we started pretty small. We stamped a bunch of small flower branches from Petal Palette (still one of the best stamp sets in the entire catalog) and started playing with the concept of watercolor. I’ve had the results sitting on my desk ever since, waiting to become something greater.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Petal Palette with Brusho

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Petal Palette with Brusho

I know I’ve mentioned the Subtle Dynamic TIEF before, but friends, YOU NEED THIS.

We used Ink Refills to watercolor the images, and then used Brusho to create a background. We were really experimenting more with the concept of a watercolored background than with Brusho as a product, but it ended up working extremely well and we were pleased with the control we achieved.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Petal Palette with Brusho

Adding the doily and the leaf embellishments takes this card up a notch while still making it absolutely mailable. I love ribbon, but I’m frustrated when any embellishment makes a card hard to mail. I don’t hand deliver many cards and they really need to go in an envelope and go out in the world!

Don’t miss that Marbled background stamp. It’s another sleeper. Shop HERE.

Soft Sea Foam – don’t let the name throw you

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Soft Sea Foam isn’t really an ocean color to me. I guess I should say I don’t generally see it in “my” ocean. I see Pool Party and Coastal Cabana and Island Indigo (sob) and way out there towards the horizon, I see a color that is somewhere between Pacific Point and Blueberry Bushel and maybe the long-retired Midnight Muse. But none of that is really relevant to this card – it’s about the “Soft” in Soft Sea Foam:

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Color Your Season August 2018 ONLY

  • Stamps: Blended Seasons (retired, sorry!)
  • Color Palette: Whisper White, Basic Black, Soft Sea Foam, Daffodil Delight
  • Accessories: Stamparatus, Big Shot, Stitched Seasons Framelits (retired), Wink of Stella, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Stampin’ Blends, Paper Snips

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Color Your Season August 2018 ONLY

 

The shimmer from the Wink of Stella is subtle in the photograph, but much more obvious in person. It’s the little things – like a Wink – that make a card special.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Color Your Season August 2018 ONLY

The Stamparatus makes this card really simple to assemble. I stamped the floral image 3 times – once on the background of Soft Sea Foam, once on the Whisper White front panel, and one more time on Whisper White to fussy cut with my Paper Snips. I didn’t cut everything, just the flowers, and I think it helps the image to stand out.

Hope you’re having a fabulous day – enjoy this little bit of inspiration. Shop HERE.