SILLY OLD BEAR AND THE WORLD OF POOH

Deb Smeak runs a mystery stamping event on Facebook, and she offered this concept in February. I just discovered it, and I knew it would be perfect for the Silly Old Bear.

I created a second project because I wanted to put the book title on the spine. It turned out very “Winnie-the-Pooh”-like, a bit wobbly. I used an old alphabet set and I’ve sadly lost the name.

I changed the inside, too. Not sure which one I like best – let’s vote! Leave a comment as to which one you like best.

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BEACH SCENES WITH THE ROLLING WAVES DIES

I brushed the Water mask with Pool Party ink on Pool Party card stock. I also added a little Petal Pink ink to the shells with a dauber. These small additions give the card depth and keep it from feeling flat.

I’ve found so many uses for Rolling Waves! Take another look beyond the sea foam.

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COLOUR INKSPIRATION 213 – ON THE BEACH WITH ROLLING WAVES

This reminds me of the color scheme of the local diner when I was in high school, and let’s just say that was the Flower Power Era. I struggled for a bit with those bold, bright colors, but decided a beach umbrella seemed like the perfect image.

There are Rolling Waves dies to make a solid umbrella as well as a set of concentric shapes that coordinate with it. I alternated the shapes as well as the base colors of the umbrella.

Our 12×12 Water and Dotted Line masks made perfect, subtle backgrounds for this bright card. I find myself reaching for them a LOT – expect to see them again!

Colour INKspirations is a Facebook based color challenge group. Take a minute to check out the CI#213 entries as well as previous color challenges – there are some very talented crafters participating in this group!

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FLOWERS FAIR WITH A GINGHAM DSP

  • Color Palette: Basic White, Peaceful Pine, Hydrangea Hue, Golden Glow, Barely Blush, Hybrid Black
  • Accessories: Stamp Cut & Emboss Machine, Everyday Arches dies, 26-28 In Color Dots, Gingham Gallery DSP (coming July 1), 26-28 In Color Ribbon, Stampin’ Blends, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I am absolutely smitten with Flowers Fair and love experimenting with new color combinations. I have a stamped stack of images sitting on my craft desk for whenever I’m inspired!

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FLOWER FAIR: GET TWO CARDS FROM ONE IMAGE

Don’t you love getting double the results from one image? A large image like Flowers Fair is a great candidate for double dipping. Take a look at what I did:

After I’d colored the original image, I cut out middle with the Everyday Arches dies and used it for the second card. It was easy to cover the opening on the first card with a matted second image, and I stamped the same full image for the second card in Lemon Lime Twist to keep it softly in the background.

I kept the focal panel for the first card simple with plenty of white since the background was so colorful. The little butterflies from Cutest Crew fit perfectly on the edges.

Keeping the background softer allowed the focal panel to, well, be the focus. I stamped the sentiment in black to mute what was otherwise a very colorful card.

Flowers Fair was released during the March 2026 Online Exclusives. It’s a keeper – have some fun with it!

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ENHANCE YOUR CRAFTING WITH MOONLIT FLORA DSP

I’ve added some shimmer to the fern die cut with our new Shimmer Brush. I got the idea after I’d adhered the fern to the card front, so the accent isn’t as precise as I’d like. In my house we call this Delayed Intelligence. Sigh.

All of the Fern & Flora images are beautiful, but I chose to use just the paper and the die cuts for this card. This layout is very simple – it uses 2 pieces of DSP and a strip of Secret Sea run through the Fern & Flora embossing folder. The hardest part is choosing which papers to feature!

Give this one a try with the Moonlit Flora DSP or any other paper you have in your stash. You’ll love the results!

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COLOUR INKSPIRATION #210: GUEST DESIGNER!

It took me a while to decide where to start as I love all five 26-28 In Colours. I ultimately chose to begin with Crisp Cantaloupe, as it’s a returning colour from the 2013-2015 Palette. Anyone else who has been around that long??

Flowers Fair can be used so many ways. Here I’ve coloured it, then cut it with one of the arch dies. Stampin’ Blends are my favorite way to colour these images, but you could use Watercolour Pencils, Blending Brushes, Watercolour, or even daubers to fill in the colour.

I decided to emboss the greeting with White Embossing Powder on a Peaceful Pine panel. I’m happy with the way the embossing makes the greeting “pop” on the card front.

Take a look at what the Design Team has created for this great colour challenge. If you’ve never played along, I hope you’ll give it a try! You can’t go wrong with such a gorgeous set of colours.

*Although I’m in the US and the standard spelling is “COLOR”, I’ve chosen to use the alternative spelling of “COLOUR” in recognition of the group identity. I’m sure you can make the translation. 😆

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COLOUR INKSPIRATION #208: LOVELY ARRANGEMENTS

I stamped off the Lovely Arrangements leaves to keep them from competing with the other elements. I actually like the uneven result as it increases the textural feeling. The flowers are colored with Stampin’ Blends. I’m going to miss the 24-26 In Color Collection!

The Nested Essentials dies are new to my craft arsenal, and the biggest hexagon said “try me!” It was too wide for the card, but when I cut it in half it worked perfectly. And the stripes in the DSP played so well with the stripes in the (most sadly retired) Pattern of Friendship die – I hope you’re lucky enough to have that die in your arsenal!

Take a minute to check out the Colour INKspiration page on Facebook. The challenge is open until Monday, May 11th at 5pm (AEST). You’d best check your favorite time zone calculator on that, and don’t forget that Australia is on the other side of the International Date Line from the USA. 😉

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CUTEST CREW KITTENS AND TWO TONE CARD STOCK

  • Stamps: Cutest Crew
  • Color Palette: Basic White, Memento Black, Pretty in Pink, Crumb Cake, Gray Granite, Pebble Path
  • Accessories: Stamp Cut & Emboss Machine, Cutest Crew dies, Eyelet 3D Embossing Folder, Two Tone Card Stock, Stampin’ Blends, 1/8″ Ribbon (Bubble Bath), Pebble Path DSP (retired), Stampin’ Dimensionals

I hope you’ll excuse my use of retired DSP – I didn’t have Gray Granite, but I had Pebble Path, and I thought it worked pretty well! (A moment of silence, please, for Pebble Path, I loved that In Color!)

Along the same lines, I slipped in the Bubble Bath ribbon as it played very nicely with Pretty in Pink. Sometimes embellishments will give you double duty that way 😉

The kittens are a lot of fun to color with Stampin’ Blends. This little crew is an active bunch and they make for a very playful card!

The Cutest Crew dies are out of stock and due in the Warehouse the week of April 27th. Have you used the “Notify Me” option in the Online Store for out of stock products? It works like a charm!

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CUTEST CREW KITTENS WITH LOTS OF TEXTURE

I love the patterns of lines, both horizontal and vertical, anchored by the Misty Moonlight circle in the middle. The patterns in the embossing folder lined up almost perfectly with the Designer Series Paper – what a lucky coincidence! Oh, and have I mentioned the kittens??? 😉

I love how our embellishments are flattened out. I usually add a piece of card stock to the front of my cards before I put them in the mail, and I haven’t had any problems. Stampin’ Up! really does listen when we tell them things that work – and that don’t work!

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