Inspired by Designer Series Paper

Posted on May 3, 2020 by mauistamper

I love our DSP. The colors are rich, the designs are versatile, the finish of the paper is smooth, and the weight is Goldilocks perfect – not too heavy, not too light, but juuuuuust right. I’ve been challenging myself to dig into my stash (it’s a little embarrassing) and create with all of the beautiful paper I’ve found there.

Maui Stamper Stampin Up Peaceful Poppies

Stamps: So Sentimental
Color Palette: Whisper White, Mossy Meadow, Pool Party, Rich Razzleberry.
Accessories: Stitched So Sweetly dies, die cutting machine, Peaceful Poppies DSP, Stampin’ Sponges, Red Rhinestone basic jewels, Stampin’ Dimensionals, retired ribbon

I used a Stampin’ Sponge to lightly shade the front edge of my Whisper White card. I didn’t want the bold color of Pool Party card stock, but the WW seemed too stark. Sponging was the perfect solution as it provided a hint of color and a very simple technique.

That Peaceful Poppies DSP is gorgeous and completely IN YOUR FACE. The colors and images are really bold, but they’re really easy to use. I reached for this combination first when I decided to dig into my DSP stash.

The So Sentimental bundle is a versatile bundle with unique and very useful stitched shapes that layer in a multitude of ways. This one is a keeper, and it’s carrying forward into the new Annual Catalog.

Stamps: Peaceful Moments
Color Palette: Whisper White, Basic Black, Mossy Meadow, Petal Pink
Accessories: Stitched Rectangles dies, Whisper White Crinkled Seam Binding, Magnolia Lane DSP, Stampin’ Dimensionals

This same layout has a simpler construction. The DSP panels stand on their own without a complimentary mat behind them, and the Whisper White card base is left in its natural state. I struggle with simple stamping (ink, stamps, paper) but this is pretty close for me.

Are you a DSP hoarder? I confess that I am, but I have been sending a lot of cards lately, and my stash is getting a little thin. Cutting into this gorgeous paper is hard – you know, the first cut is the deepest – but the results are worth it!

A lot of our beautiful DSP is on sale in the Online Store. Hurry, supplies are limited!

A Chunky Lamb…again!

Posted on April 7, 2020 by mauistamper

How can you not love this lamb? This is the I-can-do-yoga, Upavista Konasana lamb! She is fluffy and has a perfect little half-smile that says “If I can do this, you can too!”

Well. But I cannot. My legs will not do that, no matter how I try. Even as a young girl, I could never do anything resembling the splits. But once again, I digress.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Welcome Easter

Stamps: Welcome Easter, So Sentimental
Color Palette: Whisper White, Basic Black, Pool Party, Petal Pink, Basic Gray
Accessories: Stampin’ Blends, Painted Labels dies, Parisian Blossom DSP, Silver foil sheets, Wink of Stella, Gingham Gala Adhesive Backed Sequins, Stitched Shapes dies, Stitched Rectangle dies, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Retired Artisan Pearls, die cutting machine

Just cuz she’s fluffy doesn’t exclude the possibility that she’s sparkly too!!

The Parisian Blossoms DSP is a specialty paper with foil embossing on one side of each sheet, and I think it adds the perfect glimmer to this card. That little silver foil ornamentation is from the Painted Labels dies which are sadly unavailable right now. Don’t have them? If you rummage through your stash of dies and even trims, I’ll bet you can find a substitute!

Have some fun with what you have – that’s the name of the game right now! And if there’s something you truly need, you can shop HERE!

Triangle Fun Fold Swaps

Posted on March 28, 2020 by mauistamper

I made a big stack of cards to swap at an event…that has been deferred. This was to have taken place a couple of weeks ago, and I was so discouraged that I set the entire project aside for a while, but they’re done now – and I’m quite happy with them, if I do say so myself:

Maui Stamper Stampin Up Triangle Fun Fold

Stamps: So Sentimental
Color Palette: Whisper White, Petal Pink, Pool Party, Basic Gray
Accessories: Stitched So Sweetly dies, Parisian Blossoms Specialty DSP, Vellum card stock, Petal Pink Organdy Striped ribbon, Leaf Punch, Stamparatus, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Paper Trimmer, Die cutting machine.

This is an exceptionally easy fun fold to do, especially with our paper trimmer. Score a sheet of 8 1/2″ x 11″ card stock both horizontally and vertically. Place it diagonally along the cutting edge of your trimmer, making certain that you’ve centered the top and bottom corners. (The “X” in the center of the scored lines should be along the cutting line of the trimmer as well.) Cut your card stock diagonally – the trimmer cutting edge isn’t quite long enough to make it to the ends, but if you slide the cut piece of card stock out of the trimmer, you can finish it up with your snips – it’s less than 1″ on either side.

Cut your DSP into 4″ x 5 1/4″ rectangles, and cut them diagonally as well. One design goes on one triangular panel, the other design goes on the other. A focal point/shaped image attached to one panel finishes the card and helps to keep it closed at the same time.

Here’s what it looks like with one panel open. And here it is with the other panel open:

I used the Stamparatus to mass-produce those white die cut sentiment panels. It’s MUCH easier to cut them without the sentiment – you don’t have to position the die so precisely, and if it wiggles a little before it goes through the die cutting machine it’s NBD (No Big Deal). If you use the lighter weight Whisper White card stock, you can even cut two at a time!

Now you have a stack of die cut panels ready to be stamped.

Create a template by cutting your die cut out of the center of a good sized piece of card stock. Place your mass-produced die cut blank in the center of that template.

Align the clean sentiment stamp you have chosen on top of the positioned die cut and close your plate, picking up the stamp.

Add ink to your stamp, press the plate, and lift. Perfect placement every time – and you can do a stack of these in a hurry!

Since this design was being mass produced for a swap, I used two different DSP combinations to finish them. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I oriented the card stock on the opposite diagonal between the batches, so they open differently. Here’s the second version:

You can see the difference in the way the card opens:

This opens up instead of down compared with the card above, but the side still opens to the left – the shape is just inverted.

This card uses the gorgeous Peaceful Poppies DSP, and the sentiment is from Love What You Do. The two cards are the same layout, with the same embellishments. The difference is the DSP and color palette, and the sentiment on the focal point.

There are just a few more days until Sale-a-bration 2020 is in the rear view. We have one final release of SAB Rewards that include current catalog product, so be sure and take a look at the choices available as a free reward for your $50 purchase. You can start shopping HERE!