Stampin’ Friends, get ready! The One Day Stamp Sale starts at midnight tonight Mountain time – and that’s 8 pm Hawaii time! Check out all the fabulous images, words and backgrounds you can choose at 15% off!
Visit my Online Store beginning at 8pm tonight HST/midnight MST – check out with Host Code 3VMBKDTG unless you’re spending $150 – then you should earn your own host rewards!
Open this file to see a list of all stamps, page numbers, product numbers and sale prices!
But whatever you do, don’t delay! This sale is 24 hours only, and stamps have been allocated for this special pricing. If they get to the end of the allocation, the price goes back up!
August…who would have imagined this is where we would be???
A tropical scene seems like a soothing vision for this month, and I think many of us need that right now. I feel so fortunate that I can take a walk and place myself in this setting, but if that’s not available to you, I invite you to enjoy this paper version!
Color Palette: Crumb Cake, Granny Apple Green, Mossy Meadow, Pool Party, Coastal Cabana, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Stampin’ Sponges, Sponge Daubers, Water Painters
I worked a bit outside my comfort zone with this project – lots of sponging and improvising and experimentation. I managed to cover up some of the printed dates, but to be honest, I hardly ever use these DIY calendars to actually check the DATE.
This is the second version I did for August. I got a little carried away with the first version, and after sleeping on it decided I would go back to the simpler version. Here’s the “I couldn’t stop myself” calendar:
I kept adding layers and details, and at some point I set it down and said enough. This one has a lot more sponging, some Wink of Stella, and a fair amount of glossing using the glue from the Fine Tip Glue pen. I kept looking at it and asking myself if I would be happy with it for 31 days, and it became pretty clear that the answer was NO. What do you think? Would you choose the calmer, simpler calendar, or would you take it over the top?
Just a few more days to take advantage of Bonus Days – earn a $5 savings coupon for every $50 you spend. Those $5 coupons can be redeemed beginning Tuesday, August 4 – which just happens to be the first day that the August-December mini catalog is available to customers! Shop Here.
Cheryl and Crystal have their own versions of August for your inspiration, and I hope you’ll stop by and see what they’ve done.
If you’d like to create your own calendar, please click on Contact Me and provide me with your email. I’ll invoice you for the bargain price of $5 and you’ll have your own pdf to print and enjoy for all of 2021.
I was staring at my shelf of stamps the other day, looking for ideas to make another (yes, another!) wreath card. I’m not sure if this worked quite the way that I imagined it, but it was fun and it makes me laugh.
I’m not sure if it looks like a wreath of palm trees or a really, really, REALLY bad hair day! Honestly, I don’t really care. I had such a great time with the Stamparatus that the results don’t change a thing.
The little shell is one of those Maui-Style kind of add-ons. It’s actually from a shell lei: if you live here, you end up with heaps of them. I’ve taken a few apart to craft with since the shells all have small holes.
Every month, every day is an occasion for gratitude, but November makes it official. I’m not consistently faithful to journaling, but this month I’ve made a commitment to observe and reflect, keeping a daily journal to record the process.
I’m tremendously grateful for the opportunities that I’ve had through Stampin’ Up! I’ve made amazing friends, traveled to wonderful events, and found incredible inspiration through this craft medium. I LOVE working with paper – it’s cheap! If you don’t like something you’ve made, THROW IT AWAY. I’m a bit of a hoarder, and it’s taken me a while to learn that one, but that’s my nugget of wisdom for today. If you don’t love it, pitch it. Don’t keep it around to make you crazy.
I also love where I live – Maui is a very special place – and I’ve chosen to celebrate Hawaii in my November calendar:
The Waterfront stamp set is one of the most versatile in the entire catalog. If I lived on an island in the middle of the ocean, this would be one of my keepers. (LOL. Obviously, it’s a keeper!)
I inked up the round shape in Waterfront with Daffodil Delight and daubed some Calypso Coral on one side to hint at a setting sun. I’ve tried creating sunset skies and been unhappy with the results (see above: they are history!). I’ll let the sun set on its own.
This year, I’m selling the 2019 calendar PDF. You’ll get the calendar itself, a page of covers to print if you’re making gifts, and a cutting guide. Cost is $5. Leave a comment if you’re interested and I’ll send you an invoice!
Go find a little more joy with Cheryl and Crystal – they’ve also created November calendars for your delight.
Need Waterfront or any other fabulous Stampin’ Up! products? Shop HERE.
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:
I’ve been fussy cutting this image from Blended Seasons all month, so that was where I began:
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.
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.
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.
Waterfront is a fabulous stamp set to use for tropical cards, but I recently started playing with the individual stamps and had a lot of fun thinking just a bit outside the box. With my favorite palette of blues and greens, I experimented with a very clean and simple concept and loved the results:
This is a super simple card, and the color combinations – and sentiments – are limitless. It would be possible to make this card without blue or green, but it would be a tragic loss. <wink>
Version two: Just palm trees. Nothing else! I thought about a LOT of different things to add, and maybe another time I’ll do a whole series (sun, surf, splatters…) but for now, it’s just about the palm trees. And the Linen Thread, of course. You MUST have Linen Thread. (Colors are Granny Apple Green and Soft Suede, in case you’re wondering.)
Next up: dots! You don’t get a whole lot easier than this! I subbed Balmy Blue in for the Coastal Cabana and used a little Ombre Lemon Lime Twist ribbon – it ties so beautifully and has such a soft hand.
This last card is inspired by the beach huts at St. Kilda near Melbourne, Australia. We were there about 5 years ago, and their whimsical, colorful rows along the beach are just delightful.
My son took this great shot, and it was the image I had in mind when I approached this card.
The Whisper White Note Cards are perfect for quick messages and can be mailed with standard First Class postage in the US. They lend themselves to creating sets, as well, and would make a great little gift.
I’m thrilled to have been voted the winner of CI34. This is a lovely group, and a new challenge – CI35 – has just begun. See the details HERE.
Time for another Colour Inkspiration challenge! I sat out the last round (remember? May is like December without the cookies) but when I saw this gorgeous photo my colour mojo kicked into gear:
My daughter lives in Australia, just north of Sydney, so I feel a special affinity for this group. I’m including the letter U in the word COLOUR in their honour.
I saw these fabulous colours as tropical sunset tones, and I’ve been looking for an opportunity to try a technique with the versatile Waterfront stamp set. You could say it was a perfect storm:
I would have never added Basic Grey to this card, and I’m so glad it was included in the challenge because I love how it anchors the other colours. Waterfront is a photopolymer set, so keeping the lines horizontal was easy to do.
It’s been a couple of years since I’ve visited Australia, and more than that since I’ve been on the East coast. I think I’m due. (I keep telling Mr. Maui Stamper that I need my own plane. He agrees, but then starts in on this thing about what it costs. I just hear that he agrees.)
If you’d like to contribute to my airplane fund, shop HERE. Make a note: Colourful Seasons is a bundle only through May 31. After that, the stamps and thinlits will be available separately, but there won’t be a discount.
My family has a spot at the beach near our home. When I say we have a spot, I mean there’s a place along the beach where we always sit. I laugh when I see my kids’ Instagram posts, because I know exactly where they were sitting when they took their photos.
We live near Keawakapu Beach, known as Sidewalks to the surfers. It’s a relatively long stretch, at least in Maui terms, because many of our beaches are really just coves. There are two entrances to the beach, and our spot is midway between them.
Often on holiday weekends, the space around the entrances is crowded with families and umbrellas and coolers and beach chairs. We just smile and walk down the beach to our spot, where there always seems to be room. Yesterday, Mr. Maui Stamper and I spent a few glorious hours there, watching an enormous pair of turtles feeding quite close to the shore.
You can see Kaho’olawe from our beach, so we really do look across at another island, although it is very small.
Stamps: Waterfront, Picture Perfect Birthday
Color Palette: Whisper White, Soft Suede, Daffodil Delight, Soft Sky/Crumb Cake or Wild Wasabi/Sahara Sand
Accessories:Â Big Shot, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Linen Thread, Wink of Stella
I was playing around with retiring colors, so I made a second version with a Soft Sky mat. Not sure which one I like best – what do you think?
And just in case you want to compare, here’s my spot:
The Maui Stamper 