This weekend, I had a fabulous time at On Stage Atlanta and World Card Making Day 2016 #WCMD2016!  In many ways, so much was happening all weekend I felt like I had been gone for a week instead of a couple of days!

The best part of the weekend was the first “FLO-MO” reunion.  We had not met up since the Stampin’ Up 30th Anniversary convention a few years ago. So getting my Florida and Missouri friends back together was a real treat! Another great part of the weekend was #WCMD2016! We had a full day of stamping, learning and having fun. Pam Morris and Brian King put on a fabulous event.  And On Stage was a fabulous showing of the upcoming 2017 Occasions catalog and the new products in it. We also got to celebrate the top Demonstrators in the country and well… the world! It could not have been a better weekend.

Saturday night after all the whirlwind of activity,  we had dinner together and a card swap of our own.  The theme was fancy fold cards and mine was a simple, “double z” design.  I wanted to use some copper and Christmas Pines seemed like the perfect way to add a touch of copper.  For a fancy fold, I think you beed some kind of a “wow” focal point and the “Merry” cutout in copper foil seemed to do just that. I love the bold look and the copper works well with the retro look of the DSP.  And of course, I love. love. love the Pretty Pines thinlits.

The fancy folds card and swap was a lot of fun.  I will be sharing a few more from that swap with you later this week!

Don’t forget to vote today!

Recipe

Papers: Emerald Envy, Early Espresso, Presents & Pinecones DSP, Copper Foil Paper
Stamps: Christmas Pines
Embellishments: Metallic Enamel Shapes
Tools: Pretty Pines Thinlets, Simply Scored Scoring Board, Big Shot

I have to admit this card was inspired by one of the Challenge Designers in #GDP058.  The designer admitted in his post that he had trouble using the Affectionately Yours DSP.  The designer was Brian King and you can see his card HERE! I loved his card, but I was happy to know someone else had my same issues!

I too,  find myself in a dilemma whenever I look at this DSP.  It is one of the prettiest of the DSP papers, yet it confounds me every time I try to come up with a design. Well, the beauty of a template challenge is that you have the design to begin with.  All you have to do is find something that works within that template. Since I had a copper “thing” going this week, I picked the paper with the copper metallic accents.  I have had this paper since the catalog came out.  And I have to admit I took it out and looked at it all the time.  I just never figured out a way to use it and show off the paper.  Well, this week’s Global Design Project and the designers gave me the inspiration!  To see the fabulous design and ideas, just click the link below.

You can see I pretty much followed the template.  The only challenge with this paper was how to add a sentiment without covering up too much of the paper.  A small sentiment with small designs embossed in copper were just the thing!  Although it is hard to see, I added copper thread behind the sentiment.  If I am doing copper, I might as well do copper, right?

I encourage you to head over to Global Design Project and see what is going on!  I think you too will be inspired by what you see!

Recipe

Papers: Affectionately Yours DSP, Copper Foil Paper, Watermelon Wonder, Night of Navy
Stamps: Love & Affection
Embellishments: Copper Embossing Powder, Copper Metallic Thread

This is a card I have had in mind for a while.  Mostly because I love the frame in the Ornamental Pines set.  When I sat down to make it, I decided to use the new copper foil with red and green.

This is not a card you would sent to everyone on your list.  The copper foil paper, while beautiful is a precious commodity! But if you want to make a very special card.  use the copper foil paper for beautiful effect. My goal for this card was to have a simple look, but use lots of copper.  With paper, embossing powder and embellishments all available in copper, this was easy to do.  And copper is a huge look this year. Pier One has a great commercial with the tagline Copper Mining for the Holidays!  I love that phrase and it is perfect when thinking of all the copper items Stampin Up has to offer.

So, if you have had some copper foil paper in your stash and  haven’t gotten it out, I recommend you try it!

Recipe

Papers: Presents & Pinecones DSP. Copper Foil Paper, Emerald Envy, Whisper White
Stamps: Christmas Pines
Embellishments: 3/6″ Silky Taffeta Ribbon in Cherry Cobbler, Mini Pinecones in Copper, Copper Metallic Thread
Tools:Pretty Pines Thinlits, Big Shot