Tag Archives: Stampin’ Blends

Tricks? Treats? All through October!

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Seasonal Chums is a bit of a sleeper. It was featured in last year’s Holiday catalog, and to my surprise and delight was continued in the 2018-2019 Annual Catalog. The images are presented in pairs, front and back, and the coordinating framelits let you cut them out to create tags. The jack-o-lantern is an absolute classic!

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Seasonal Chums DIY Easel Calendar October 2018

 

 

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Seasonal Chums DIY Easel Calendar October 2018

How could you NOT love that face? I wanted to add a few more leaves behind it, and after a very thorough search of my stamps, I spotted the leaves in Petal Palette. They’re surrounding the blossoms images, and even had a thinlit to cut them out. I was pretty pleased when I found them!

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Seasonal Chums Stamps

The bats are from the Seasonal Tags Framelits and are the perfect accent to this not-so-spooky October calendar. There are lots of great little embellishments there – I’m telling you, these stamps and framelits should see more limelight!

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Seasonal Chums DIY Easel Calendar October 2018

If you’d like to make your own DIY Easel Calendar, this year I have permission to sell the PDF.  It includes  the12 months of 2019, a 2019 cover page, and cutting instructions.  The calendars are quick to stamp since the format is 3 1/2″ square, making them ideal gifts. The easels are available online as well as in most brick-and-mortar craft stores, and an easel plus calendar pages fit perfectly in the Stampin’ Up! Acetate Card Boxes.

Cost for the PDF is $5. If you’ve purchased Calendar Kits or Refills from me in the past, I have your email on file and you can just leave a comment to let me know you’d like the PDF.  You can also leave your email in the comments, or email me directly at AnneMatasci@gmail.com to let me know you want in on the deal.  I’ll send you an invoice via Square, and once you’ve paid I’ll email your PDF. You don’t need an account to pay via Square. It’s easy as can be!

Just a note…this is the honor system. $5 is a very reasonable price for this PDF, and there are no limitations on your personal use. If your friends admire your calendars, please direct them to this post to purchase their own PDF. It would be easy to forward the PDF, but it’s not right.

Cheryl and Crystal have created delightful October calendars to inspire you – I hope you’ll visit both of them. If you’re ready to add Seasonal Chums to your holiday stamp choices, shop HERE.

 

One Last Chance for Blended Seasons

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Today is your last chance to add Blended Seasons to your crafting stash! These gorgeous flowers officially retire at 7:50 pm HST tonight, and Stampin’ Up! demonstrators who decide to part with their stamps are required to wait a full year before they are sold. Don’t pay ridiculous prices at third party sites when you can order from your friendly SU! demo.

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

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

Skit skat skoodle doot flip flop flee!  Click on the link to shop with me!

(apologies to fans of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom)

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Blended Seasons August 2018 exclusive

Shop HERE today!

If you’re shopping after 7:50pm HST on August 31, 2018, you can’t get this set but you can shop HERE, okay?

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

Blended Seasons in Poppy Parade

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I know there are other stamps in this set, but I just can’t get enough of these gorgeous flowers. They lend themselves so well to coloring with Stampin’ Blends, guiding you along with well-placed lines to help you shade the images. I’ve done the flowers in lots of different colors, but I keep returning to Old Olive for the leaves. We’ve got a lot of fabulous new greens in our palette with the revamp this year, but Old Olive is still my favorite.

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

The Subtles Dynamic TIEF was a leap of faith for me. The catalog images don’t begin to do it justice! It provides just what the name says – a beautiful subtle texture that sits quietly in the background making everything else look great. If you’ve wondered about it, stop. Trust me, you need it! As for the Braided Linen Trim coming in the Holiday 2018 catalog, well, you know how I feel about Linen Thread – and this is Linen Thread in triplicate. I can’t wait til you can get it too.

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

I’ve used the words from Sunshine Sayings much more often than I imagined I would. They’re a little bigger than many of our sentiments, the font is a perfect Goldilocks font (not too serious, not too fussy, but just right), and they cover just about anything you’d like to say. I din’t expect to use them as much as I have, and I’m really glad I bought them.Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Blended Seasons August 2018 exclusiveBlended Seasons, the Stitched Seasons Framelits, and the Watercolor Pencil 2 assortment (Balmy Blue, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, Flirty Flamingo, Garden Green, Gorgeous Grape, Granny Apple Green, Night of Navy) are only available until the end of August. Shop HERE.

Colour INKspiration #CI40: Gorgeous Grape, Old Olive and Early Espresso

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I’ve missed a couple of the Colour INKspiration challenges and I was determined to submit at least one card to this fortnight’s challenge. The colours for #CI40 are Gorgeous Grape, Old Olive, Early Espresso, with neutrals or metallics. We had this gorgeous image to inspire our creativity:

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! CI40 Inspiration

I’ve been fussy cutting this image from Blended Seasons all month, so that was where I began:
Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! #CI40 Blended Seasons

A special shout out to Vicki Boucher, who frayed her Copper Trim and inspired me to do the same. It’s addicting to pull those threads this way and that and play with the shapes that result.

I used Old Olive Stampin’ Blends on the leaves, but there’s no Gorgeous Grape Blend (at least not yet!) I ordered a set of the Watercolor Pencils available this month, and sure enough, there was Gorgeous Grape! Problem solved.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! #CI40 Blended Seasons

I was a little challenged to add Early Espresso to the card, but when I added the Wood Textures DSP and the copper ribbon, foil and embossing powder, the tones of the card changed. I used an Early Espresso card base and tucked in a few little die cut embellishments from Petals and more. The Shimmer White card stock added to the overall gleam of the card.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! #CI40 Blended Seasons

To keep the intensity of the Gorgeous Grape Watercolor Pencil, I used a Blender Pen to smooth the strokes out. The Blender Pen does a beautiful job but doesn’t dilute the color in the way an Aquapainter might.

Colour INKspiration challenges are open to anyone – visit the Facebook group to see the quality images that are submitted.

Looking for supplies to create your own card? Blended Seasons and Watercolor Pencils 2 are only available until the end of August, so time’s a wasting! If you’re in the United States, shop HERE.

August Only: Blended Seasons Stamps, Framelits and Bundle

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Blended Seasons is a brand new stamp set (with framelits and a bundle price as well) available exclusively during the month of August. It’s perfect for coloring with Stampin’ Blends, watercolor pencils or brushes, or any other coloring technique you enjoy.  I thought I’d see if it would work on a DIY calendar:

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Blended Seasons DIY Easel Calendar

I used Gray Granite to ink the outline. It’s not a recommended ink for use with Stampin’ Blends, but I stamped off before I made my impression so there was less ink to smear. The colors I chose didn’t muddy even when I got close enough to the edge for a little blur. I like living on the edge once in a while (lol).

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Blended Seasons DIY Easel Calendar

I’d intended to color the flowers, but decided to do the leaves first. As I finished the leaves, I turned the panel and something caught my eye. I decided to leave the blooms white and add a little Wink of Stella as an accent. There’s a native Hawaiian poppy called Pua Kala that looks quite a bit like this flower, and I think that’s what made me stop.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Blended Seasons DIY Easel Calendar

 

We have a mini-DIY-Easel Calendar tour – stop by and see what Crystal and Cheryl are sharing today. And if you’d like your own Blended Seasons stamp set, shop HERE.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Blended Seasons August 2018 exclusive

Animal Outing Rhino and Birdie BFF

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I am a complete fool for charming animal images. It’s really outside my everyday aesthetic – I don’t have cute Rhino tee-shirts or Kangaroo print tote bags or Giraffe prints on my walls. But these guys, along with a half dozen other Stampin’ Up! Critter Stamps, just plain make me happy:

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Animal Outing

Animal Outing and the Animal Friends Thinlits are available in a convenient bundle. Did you know that you’ll automatically save 10% on all Stampin’ Up! bundles? Every little bit helps.

Crafty Friends, if you have not yet invested in the Stitched Shapes Framelits, I highly recommend you consider that purchase. I use them on EVERYTHING. You’ll get an assortment of circles, ovals and squares in one convenient package! Believe me when I tell you that you NEED this product.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Animal Outing

I’ve spent some time working with Stampin’ Blends, and I’m starting to get a feeling for it. My fundamental approach is Use The Lines. Shading this Rhino was simply a matter of using the Dark Basic Gray Blend along the lines and the Light version everywhere else.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! Animal Outing

This super-simple layout is made possible by Designer Series Paper, aka DSP. Today is the very last day to Buy 3, Get One Free. Get thee to the Online Store in great haste.

Colour INKspiration 35: Petal Palette in Khaki

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I loved my own layout so well that I did a second version. The gray version, lovely as can be, is a bit somber. I wanted to lighten things up:

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! CI35 Petal Palette in Khaki

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! CI35 Petal Palette in Khaki

This card parallels my first CI35 submission with just a few exceptions. I added the Linen Thread and the Corrugated Elements tag – much lighter in feeling – as well as a few clear sequins from the Metallics collection. I don’t know which came first – the chicken or the egg – but Glue Dots fit PERFECTLY underneath our sequins.

Maui Stamper Stampin' Up! CI35 Petal Palette in Khaki

Which version do you like better? If you’d like to try your hand at this, all the supplies can be found HERE. Happy Crafting!

PS. Back in the day, Crumb Cake was called Kraft in the Stampin’ Up! Colour Palette.  When I created my title, Petal Palette in Khaki just sounded better to my ear.