Very Simply Susan

I was very happy to see Glamper Greetings was a carryover stamp for the Holiday catalog!  I am definitely not a camper, but I have many friends and family who are. The camper is the main attraction, but the stamp set comes with sentiments and stamp designs for the holidays, birthdays, and more!

To show the versatility, you can see a Halloween card I did with this set HERE! With a choice of 32 different images in Glamper Camper, there is no end to card designs this cute little stamp set is perfect for.  Campers are a huge design theme now.  I have seen campers in tons of Christmas decor this year!  I think we all like the idea of being able to pack up and hit the road.  Campers are a great way to have a road trip, but still feel like you are at home.

I decided to make the camper the focal point and keep it simple.  Because the camper has a retro look, I picked a retro look paper from the This Christmas Specialty DSP. I love all the papers in this collection.  The designs are printed on a specialty lightweight paper that you can use for wrapping gifts or as envelope liners!  The designs all have a vintage/retro look and I have found this paper pairs well with a lot if this year’s stamp sets.

You cannot see it from the photograph, but I used a Wink of Stella pen to add sparkle to the string of lights, the star on the tree and the windows on the camper.  Just a little bit of sparkle really adds to the card.  I also used my old Stampin’ Up! water color pencils to color this in.  But great news! In the Occasions catalog launching January 4th, we have color pencils again!  I can’t wait!!!!

So, get on the camper craze,  get out your little camper stamp and try out some holiday ideas!

Recipe

Papers: This Christmas Specialty DSP, Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla
Stamps: Glamper Camper
Tools: Wink of Stella, watercolor pencils

Today’s card is my rather liberal interpretation of this week’s Global Design Challenge – Case the Designer Connie Collins.  The new Mediterranean Moments stamp inspired by Susan Nygaard has been a favorite since I got it.  And this challenge seemed like the perfect opportunity.

I love it that all the images in this set look like they may have been photographed or painted from a trip you would take. They are just the kind of scenes you encounter while site seeing.  This card also gave me a chance to use my favorite saying from Glamper Greetings, “Not All Who Wander Are Lost”.  This saying really is me!  I often go walkabout on my own.  I like to explore and more often than not, I simply get an idea and follow it.  Art Museums can keep me busy for hours as well as the local Botanical Garden. And when the weather is good, you may find me wandering about the zoo as well.  So, yes I wander, but with a purpose!

The images in this set are definitely the kind of scenes that attract me when I travel about.  The simple, the scenic, the unexpected.  They are the moments and memories that last a lifetime and make you appreciate beauty in the world when you see it!

There are lots of other beautiful interpretations of the current Global Design Project Challenge and I encourage you to see them. #GDP064 is live now with lots of beautiful cards to see.  And I encourage you to give it a try yourself!

In the stamp I used, I imagined a small, narrow street covered in bougainvillea with a really blue sky above. Just the type of street that a person like me would see and just have to walk down to see what is there!  I wanted to try my hand at watercoloring with the new watercolor pencils you will find in the new Occasions catalog.  You will love them! Watercolor pencils are a really easy way to add color to detailed images.

This beautiful new set of 4 images will not be available until the 2017 Occasions catalog debuts January 4th.  But when you do get your catalog in hand, turn to page 29 and take a look at all the beautiful images!  If you do memory keeping for your travels, these stamps are the perfect accents for those pages. Whether colored in or simply stamped in black ink, these stamps will bring back memories.

Recipe

Papers: Smoky Slate, Melon Mambo, Watercolor paper.
Stamps:Mediterranean Moments, Glamper Camper
Embellishments: Melon Mambo 1/8″ Stitched Ribbon, White Paper Doily
Tools: Brick Wall Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

This card was inspired by the need to have a card to go with a handmade food gift.  I have loved the Yummy Little Christmas set since I got it and now it is on sale!  I also wanted a chance to use the Kraft Rope Trim on a card.  So, this yummy little card will be perfect with any food gift you have wrapped and tied with the Kraft Rope trim!

The kraft rope trim seems like a difficult trim for a card because of the thickness.  But I was able to make it work by unravelling a bit of the rope and taping the end to the back of the card. This made the surface flat enough to work for layering the card stock.

I probably should have stamped the whisks in crumb cake, but I really liked the smoky slate once I did it. I love the detail of the whisk stamp and the way it looks as if it has some dimension.  You have a choice of 3 kitchen tool circles in this set, making it perfect for gift tags, invitations, recipe cards and place cards.  The image below shows you the all the stamp choices you have in the Yummy Little Christamas set. I say grab it this week while it is on sale!  This little set with 11 stamp designs solves a lot of your holiday gifting needs and can be used after the season as well!

I also used the Enamel dots to dress up the stamped images a little. On the middle image, I was able to use one of the new Simply Stitched dies.  I love how the perforated border really dresses up the look of a card.  Little things like adding the enamel dots and using a decorative framelit are simple ways of stepping up a card and making it really special.

Recipe

Papers: Candy Cane Lane DSP, Real Red, Early Espresso, Whisper White
Stamps: Yummy Little Christmas
Embellishments: Real Red Enamel Dots, Kraft Rope Trim
Tools: Stitched Framelits, Circle Punches, Big Shot