Delight of my Art

Magical Day – Dragon Cave

Posted on April 13, 2018 by debjoysmeak

My son just turned 8 and he wanted me to make him a birthday card with a blue dragon that was also a shaker card. Challenge accepted! This was a lot of fun to create, but it did take a while! It actually has quite a bit of painting involved, using my aquapainter. I think it turned out pretty fantastic, don’t you think?!

This Magical Day stamp set is amazing and I’m so surprised that it is on the retiring list. Get it now, while you still can! It’s so cute with the mermaid, unicorn, dragon, knight and wizard along with the nice sentiments and sparkle stamps. I’m getting a lot of use out of it. My son made thank you notes to his friends in his birthday goodie bags with the tiny sparkle elements in this set. I let him pick out exactly what stamps and ink colors he wanted to use. They turned out really cute! And he did them all himself. He chose Dapper Denim, Crushed Curry and Lemon Lime Twist.

Ok, back to the birthday card! I used Thick Whisper White as the base of my card. The top layer is Shimmery White because I knew I’d be water coloring on it. The middle layer is Basic Black. First I cut a circle out of the center of my shimmery white top layer, which I think was the second biggest in the layering circles framelits dies.

Then I laid that over the black panel to see where to stamp my sentiment. I wiped my embossing buddy on the black cardstock to reduce static, stamped my sentiment in versamark ink and sprinkled with white embossing powder. I tapped off the excess and heat set that with my heat tool. So far so good!

I stamped the dragon in Memento ink on Whisper White cardstock, cut him out with the matching framelit and colored him in with the Night of Navy Stampin’ Blends. I love those things! When they are back in stock, make sure you snag as many as you can. And there are new colors coming with the new catalog!!! (Can you tell, I’m so excited?!)

I used my aqua painter and ink pads to paint on the shimmery white piece. I made horizontal black stripes around the cave with Basic Black archival ink. Then I made a light wash with Smoky Slate underneath the cave and around the cave again after the black dried. Then I added a little bit of Crumb Cake all around for depth of color. I stamped a scrap piece of white multiple times with Smoky Slate using the heart from the Sure Do Love You stamp set (another one that’s retiring!). Then I used the larger cloud die from the Up & Away Thinlits to create the rocks. They looked kind of blah, so I added shadows with Basic black, and also some jagged lines to break up the circular cloud shape and then the crumb cake on top of that really finished those off nicely. I added some fire tendrils using Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango and Real Red up top, but it looked strange the rocks were on fire, so I added some mossy tufts to be on fire with Garden Green and Lemon Lime Twist. Whew!

For the shaker part, I turned over the shimmery white piece and adhered a window sheet square to match over the opening. Then I put the foam adhesive strips right around the hole and also a bit along all four sides for support. I poured in a generous amount of gold glitter flakes before I took the backing off the adhesive strips. This is the point of truth! Carefully taking all the backing off so as not to spill the glitter I also had to carefully align the black middle layer with the sentiment side down (so it would show through the cutout) so that the sides were even. Ahhh! Nerve wracking! I got it fairly straight but not perfect. Usually I don’t have a sentiment inside and just put a scrap down for the backing before turning it over and applying it to my card. This was a bit harder but I managed it in the end. I just had to adhere the dragon and my rocks and the card is finished! It took probably 2 hours of planning and execution, way longer than I anticipated, but my dear son is worth it. Let me know what you think! Please leave a comment below and join my mailing list to be updated on future posts.

I’m running a special this month, April 2018!! I will send you a gift in the mail for any order of $30 or more as a special thank you for helping me promote this month to the next level demonstrator! I’m super close, less than $150. Please help me reach my goal and let me spoil you! 😀

Use Hostess Code: R2YGTKCV at checkout before the end of the month. If your order is $150 or more, do not use the hostess code, claim your Stampin’ Rewards and I’ll still send you a gift in the mail.

To place an order, you can click on any of the products listed below and it will take you to my store. Have a wonderful day and happy stamping!

tams# 21967

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Color Revamp 2018

Posted on April 11, 2018 by debjoysmeak

We were due for a refresh on our color line to stay up to date and I think they really knocked it out of the park! These changes don’t take place until June 1st but I wanted you to have all the information as soon as possible as retiring inks, refills and papers will get snatched up quick.

We will have five new In Colors, like every year. But they also totally shook up all the color lines! We have to say goodbye to thirteen core colors and the five 2016-2018 In Colors. But we get sixteen new colors! Check out the charts:

IN COLORS

THE NEW COLORS

We also have previous In Colors that are returning and joining our core colors:

Mossy Meadow
Poppy Parade
Flirty Flamingo
Coastal Cabana
Mint Macaron
Blackberry Bliss

NEW COLOR COLLECTIONS

So pretty, right?!! I’m super exciting to announce these new colors. The neutrals has some color splashed in, which is so fun. The other color family colors really blend so well together so you can feel great about getting an entire color family. Which color family are you drawn to? I feel like it depends on my mood and what time of year it is, but I still think I’m mostly drawn to the Subtles. They also added an additional category, Basics, which is just Basic Black, Whisper White and Very Vanilla.

But wait, there’s more! The ink pads also have a brand new design and improved ink! I’ll be getting my new In Color pack of ink pads next week, so I’ll show them to you. They are easier and more intuitive to open, they stack (!!) and now include an extra label for the interior so it’s easy to see what color you are using. The ink has an anti-foaming agent added to the pads and the new reinkers so that the surface of the ink pads have no bubbles for optimal ink coverage. You can still use the old reinkers on the new pads and vice-versa, with the exception of the Basic Gray Archival ink pad…

Which brings me to my sad news. Basic Black and Basic Gray Archival inks are retiring. What?!! My go-to black is going away. (sad face) First my favorite adhesive, Fast Fuse, and now my favorite ink. I’ll be ok. Our black ink options will be Memento, which is a fast drying black ink that we have been using with the Stampin’ Blends (alcohol based markers). This will be the main go-to black ink. They are also bringing back StazOn ink, a fast drying waterfast permanent ink that can be used for watercoloring or stamping on non-porous items such as the window sheets or even wood. The StazOn does need a special different cleaner to clean off your stamps, as it is so permanent. So you see, we are not out of options and I’ll recover. But I did add another Basic Black reinker to my recent retiring order! See! Get the items you want before they’re gone!

If you want to get any of the retiring colors, you have to hurry because they are only while supplies last!

Click here and click SHOP NOW to stock up on your favorite colors before they’re gone.

***I have a special this month for ordering! I am very close to promoting to the next level of Demonstrator in the month of April, (less than $150!). As a special thank you for helping me reach my business goals, I will send a gift package to you in the mail for any order of $30 or more during April! I appreciate you!***

Last-Chance Products – Retiring List 2018

Posted on April 11, 2018 by debjoysmeak

Hey crafty friends! The new annual catalog was just released for demonstrators early for us to view online. You can start purchasing from it starting June 1st, but one of our perks of being demonstrators is the early peeks and pre-ordering products to play with them before they are released. I’m super excited about the new news, but first things first:

The list of retiring products (There are a few things retiring that I was shocked to hear!!)

I will be going through the catalogs live at 2 pm EST today, Wednesday April 11, and that video will be posted for future reference as well. So get your catalogs and follow along with me with your highlighter to see what is carrying on and what is going away. These PDFs will list the products that are retiring but I think a catalog walk-through will be easier for you and maybe you’ll notice some things you missed. The Holiday catalog already had a retiring list and carry over list. I’ll be going through that catalog on my walk-through as well.

Annual Catalog Retired List

Occasions Retired List

The retiring items are WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!!! Order now to not miss out on what you’ve been eyeing these past few months! I’ll let you in on what I ordered from the retired items during my walk-through. I thought I’d have more time to save up for them, but I don’t want to miss out and have to pay an arm and a leg for them on eBay later!

One more thing: I am very close to promoting to the next Demonstrator level and I greatly benefit from doing so before the end of April so I’m running a special this month! I will be mailing you a gift package in the mail for everyone that places an order $30 or more as a special thank you for helping me promote. Now is the perfect time to get those last-chance products and get a bonus too! Click here and go to SHOP NOW. I really really appreciate your orders!

Lots of Lavender

Posted on March 16, 2018 by debjoysmeak

This Lots of Lavender set is super pretty! I used every single stamp in this set on each card and envelope set. And these cards have a fun secret. THEY SMELL LIKE LAVENDER! What?! Ok, maybe you guessed that from the one where you can actually see the lavender through the shaker window…but they actually all have lavender chambers behind the front panel. Super fun, right? There is a limited time to earn this set for free, but for now Sale-a-bration is still going strong! I’ll be featuring the free sets you can earn with your qualifying purchases until SAB ends March 31. We made the ‘amazing’ one above in our weekly Cocktail & a Card class this week and I also made that one for my second ever Facebook live. You can view that video with this link and see how I put the shaker part together.

Amazing (Smelling) Lavender Card

All of these cards are your regular A2 size cards (half a sheet of cardstock folded in half) and the white panels are all 4″ x 5.25″. All of these have discreet small holes poked in the front so you can smell the lavender through the cards.

This was the first card I tried. I used Sweet Sugarplum cardstock and ink, but then added some Soft Sky ink over the top to make the lavender a little bit more blue. I think most people are using Wisteria Wonder ink for this set, which looks fabulous, but that is a color that I don’t have in my collection right now. It’s a way to stretch your imagination if you have to use what you have! You can see the small circle of holes I poked to the lower right of the flowers in the window sheet. I like this one, but I’m not a super fan of seeing the lavender. They just look dry and not really super pretty like the rest of the card. The sentiment here is from Picture Perfect Birthday. I love the fonts in this set! So scripty and pretty. I especially love the one that says ‘treat yourself.’

On the next two cards I decided to hide the lavender so you can smell it but not see it. I really like the color Rich Razzleberry so I decided on the others that I would just do a stamp-off technique to get a lighter purple. I made a mask using a sticky note pad that is fully sticky instead of just at the top. I fussy cut around it and stuck it on the center flower and then did the side ones. The purples here are all Rich Razzleberry in either full strength or stamped off once. The green is Pear Pizzazz. The ‘Thank You’ sentiment here is from another free Sale-a-bration set Heartfelt Blooms. You really can’t see the holes very well, but there are many throughout the blooms so you can smell the lavender. A word about getting dried lavender: I bought mine through eBay. I had no idea how much a pound of dried lavender would be. I have 2 ginormous bags of dried lavender now. Haha! I show one of them in the video above. You probably do not need to buy this much dried lavender!!

I really liked the clean look of this last one and it was the easiest to do for my class. Which one do you like best? Did you get this set for SAB?

Please click on the links below to shop for any of these products. Happy stamping!

tams# 21205

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Flower Basket of Encouragement

Posted on March 5, 2018 by debjoysmeak

I recently earned this new Sale-a-bration Blossoming Basket Bundle and I love it! The butterfly is so dainty and cute, the font is gorgeous and the basket of flowers is so versatile. But the Basket Weave Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (TIEF) is sooo coooool! It looks fabulous as a white on white textured background, like here, but I’ve seen so many other uses for it. I will definitely be playing around with this more and posting about it. I’m so glad it will be carrying over into the next annual catalog. And I got it for free!

I also used the Calypso Coral shimmer SAB ribbon here. I love Calypso Coral (can you tell?) and this card does a good job of showing it off. I used the *Blends to color the basket and butterfly, which I then fussy cut out. I cut inside the handle part too just by poking a hole with my scissor tip and then cutting around the inside. The text is embossed in white. I decorated the envelope with the mini butterflies on the front left side and the back flap.

Do you have this stamp set? It’s only around until March 31 so don’t miss out! It is free with a qualifying order of $100 or more. Let me know what you’ve created with this set and if you CASE this card I’d love to see it! You can email me at deb.smeak@gmail.com or post it in our Facebook group here.

*Certain Blends are on back order until June as they’ve been incredibly popular. They are definitely worth getting. If you want the entire collection make sure you order the minute they’re back in stock! If you’d like to be added to a contact list for when they are back in stock please email me your email address and/or phone number so I can email or text you as soon as I know when they’re available. I predict they’ll be on back order again soon after they’re back in stock.

If you would like to purchase any of the materials used here please use the easy links below. I would truly appreciate any orders from you and would love to be your demonstrator. Happy crafting!

tams# 20788

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Paper Pumpkin – February 2018 alternatives

Posted on February 24, 2018February 24, 2018 by debjoysmeak

I recently did my first Facebook live video to unwrap my February 2018 Paper Pumpkin. I was thrilled with the beautiful flowers in the kit. They were photographic flower stickers! So beautiful. So I made sure to sit down and do some alternatives with the stamps and embellishments in the kit. As I was looking at the kit it dawned on me that there are SO MANY letter stickers. What can we spell with these?! I looked it up online and there were over 1000 words with just one of each of the words! Whoa. I glanced through the list and wrote down the ones that I feel were the most usable for cards. I’ll attach this list below. Then I picked a few of those words to play around on a few alternative cards. I tried to pick words that would also pair with the other stamps from this kit. This is what I came up with!

For the blue card I used the Pool Party and Night of Navy Blends on the ‘rock’ letters and colored the guitars from Epic Celebrations from Sale-a-bration with Night of Navy, Bermuda Bay, Pool Party, Ivory and Crumb Cake Blends. All images are stamped in Night of Navy and I used a few of the berry vellum twigs and the natural twine from the kit as accents.

For the yellow card I used the Daffodil Delight Blends on the ‘honey’ letters, stamped in Daffodil Delight on a Sahara Sand banner cut from cardstock, although you could use a bit off one of the card bases from the kit. I so wish I had a bee stamp to go on the bottom of the flower panel going toward the flower on the bottom right! There are two great bee stamps in the catalog that would go wonderfully with this: Touches of Texture (page 152 annual) and Dragonfly Dreams (page 138 annual). I think the Touches of Texture one would work best, since it is a smaller bee. I really want that set…it’s going on my list! I also used the Hexagons embossing folder on Daffodil Delight cardstock and added embellishments from the kit. I love how it turned out!

For the green card I used Crumb Cake Blends on the ‘beautiful’ letters and stamped ‘friend’ in Crumb Cake on Sahara Sand cardstock. The Old Olive DSP is from the Petal Garden DSP Paper Stack. I also used light Old Olive Blends on the leaf sticker’s background so it would blend into the background more. I like how the flower stickers look like they’re in a bunch behind the panel, overflowing onto the card.

I think my favorite is the pink one. We can always use great teacher cards! I was ecstatic to see that the letters could spell ‘teacher.’ I wanted to play with pink so I chose the back of the mini hearts from the Painted With Love Specialty DSP Paper. To get the shape I traced the hole from the flower sheet on the green card onto the back of the pink piece I wanted to use. Then I fussy cut it out. This would work for the other thicker shape too if you don’t already have the Lots of Labels Framelits (another thing that is on my list…my long list). I outlined the letters using the Melon Mambo Stampin’ Write Marker. You can either get it from the Brights collection or the whole marker set Many Marvelous Markers. I used Melon Mambo for all the stamping and put the ‘teacher’ banner up on dimensionals, like the other cards. This one uses a Melon Mambo base with one of the provided card front pieces. We do want to celebrate the awesomeness of our teachers!

So I hope you like these alternative options to this kit. Here is the word list that I thought was helpful. Notice ‘unicorn’ is on there!! Somebody better do something cool with that one and send it to me! 😀 If you would like to order any of the extra materials I used you may click on the picture at the bottom of this post. Have a great day guys!

tams# 20484

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Watercolor Stocking Christmas

Posted on December 12, 2017December 12, 2017 by debjoysmeak

I love how this card turned out. I’m choosing this one to send out to family and friends this year with the exception of one special card I’m making for my grandma. I love watercolor washes and this is a great way to add a splash of color on shimmery white paper and a textured snowy background.

You can follow along how I made this card on YouTube here.

The items I used in this card are listed at the bottom of this post and also in the video.

The variation I did for my grandma is using the Quilted Christmas DSP to look like a quilt on a watercolor background. She has made dozens of quilts over the years and this piece reminds me of a square quilt she might make to hang on the wall. I used two different paper patterns from the same DSP stack. The red star background fit perfectly behind the 3″ x 3″ quilted piece to look like a border! I was thrilled about that.

I’m really thrilled with how these two cards turned out. I’m excited to see the variations that come from doing multiple cards because watercolor is never the same twice.

The shimmery white cardstock is a dream to watercolor on. I love how it has that wonderful subtle shimmer! I used all the colors from the DSP: Garden Green, Real Red, Lemon Lime Twist, Pool Party and Blushing Bride.

Please share with me the cards you are making for your family this year! I would love to see them. You can post on my new Facebook group here.

Merry Christmas!

tams# 18351

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Hang Your Stocking Photopolymer Stamp Set

Snowflake Sentiments Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Quilted Christmas 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

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Snowy Season’s Greetings

Posted on November 27, 2017 by debjoysmeak

I love the texture in the Cable Knit embossing folder! It adds so much depth to cards. This card features stamps from Snowflake Sentiments. This is a really easy and pretty card. I used Whisper White, Pool Party and Dapper Denim along with a splash of silver from last year’s Sale-a-bration sale. (Next one is coming up soon in January!)

I did not shoot a video for this one, but it’s fairly easy to explain so I’ll just give the measurements here:

Whisper White base – 5.5″ x 8.5″, folded to 5.5″ x 4.25″

Whisper White Stitched Shape oval – largest oval

Dapper Denim layer – 5.25″ x 4″

Pool Party layer – 5″ x 3.75″

1 Whisper White medium envelope

Directions:

Stamp the 3 different sizes of snowflakes in Dapper Denim onto the Pool Party layer. I found it easier to cut my 3 small snowflakes into 1 and 2. They line up nicely if placed together on the block and then I can use a single one when needed. After it is all stamped, emboss the Pool Party layer with the Cable Knit embossing folder with the ribs going up and down.

Stamp the greeting in Dapper Denim in the middle of the Stitched Shape oval. Stamp the single small snowflake in Pool Party in random places around the sentiment. Run a line of Fast Fuse on the back of the oval and attach a silver ribbon. Trim the ends on an angle. Place Stampin’ Dimensionals above and below the ribbon on the backside of the oval. Since the oval is so big, I recommend 4-6 dimensionals.

Attach the layers using Fast Fuse, since the Pool Party layer is so textured.

On the inside I stamped a retired greeting from Jar of Cheer in Dapper Denim and a few scattered small snowflakes in Pool Party. I also stamped the envelope front with a big snowflake in Dapper Denim and the triple line of small snowflakes along the back flap (not shown).

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Please support small businesses and families. Have a fantastic day!

tams# 17996

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Cable Knit Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

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Greenery in the Snow

Posted on November 14, 2017 by debjoysmeak

It’s time to start preparing for Christmas! Be ready to send out lovely Christmas cards to your family and friends this year by starting early and not being in a rush for once. (Tell me it’s not just me!) I recently got these Pretty Pines thinlits and I LOVE them. They are so versatile and lovely. They make great accents on cards, tags and gifts. Love love love!

For this card I used the Softly Falling embossing folder on the background and the Everyday Label Punch along with the Pretty Pines thinlits. I put Wink of Stella on the Real Red twig shape things because Wink of Stella is freaking awesome and it dazzles up everything. Wink of Stella would also make a great stocking stuffer…just saying. 😉

The card also features the stamp set Snowflake Sentiments. This stamp set has AMAZING greetings. I really hope this one sticks around for a long time. (And if it retires I’m still going to use it!) I did use the pine branch from the now retired set Merry Patterns, which you could have earned for free in October 2017. You can easily use another stamp as an accent on the envelope such as a single or triple small snowflakes or one of the larger ones from the Snowflake Sentiments. You can see all the included stamps in the links at the bottom of the blog post.

You can check out my YouTube tutorial about how I put this card together. And if you’d like to purchase any of these amazing materials to make your own fun Christmas cards you can buy them directly by clicking on the picture links below.

We are celebrating my family Christmas on the Saturday after Thanksgiving so I really have to get a scoot on! We usually get together in a big gym and enjoy snacks. The boys run around and play ball games and the girls and I get together and do paper crafts. Then we have a big dinner (including fondue) and finish up with stockings. We recently started a new tradition of having a paper tearing competition. It sounds so weird but it’s totally fun! We have dozens of strips of newspaper about 6″ wide by the height of normal newspaper. We have double elimination rounds and go two by two against each other tearing from top to bottom without going off the edge.

What are some of your fun family traditions? Share with us in the comments.

tams# 17500

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Stampin’ Blends Coral Yellow Rose

Posted on October 25, 2017 by debjoysmeak

I love roses and especially coral and yellow rose blends so when I saw these new artist quality alcohol blending markers from Stampin’ Up! I knew what I was going to do. These blend so nicely and are very easy to work with. You don’t have to be an artist to end up with gorgeous results. You can layer each color on top of others or themselves, creating layers of color. (They do bleed, so make sure to use scrap paper underneath.)

I only started with a few colors, namely the three I used here which are the light and dark version of Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral and Old Olive. I also picked up the Ivory, Bronze and Color Lifter, which acts like an eraser to add highlights to projects or as a nice way to erase an oops outside the lines. I love that the price point is the same for a single marker and the entire collection. I don’t feel bad at all collecting these as I am able. Essentially they are allowing us the single markers at the bundle price, which was really cool of Stampin’ Up!

For the card above I colored in the yellows first and then gradually going from light to dark coral. In the YouTube video I did it backwards to see if there was any difference. I think I blended in the video even more than the card above and it resulted in a more blended version of the picture. I really like both and they were both simple so it’s really a win win.

They can also be used to color in Perfect White Accents, Pearls, Rhinestones and ribbon! What a perfect way for us to continue our matching tradition and make even more options of embellishments for us to use on our projects. Thank you Stampin’ Up!

I hope you consider picking up a few for yourself or for your friends for Christmas or really splurge and get the whole set for yourself. Please visit my online store here after November 1, 2017 for these to be available for purchase. You won’t regret it. There is also a kit and special limited time stamp set available for use with the markers as well, which will also be posted November 1st.

For anyone wary about these compared to their older Blendabilities markers which were recalled, you know Stampin’ Up! stands behind their products and have extensively researched and perfected these markers to be high quality and perform well under scrutiny. Being a new demonstrator I did not have the pleasure of using the old ones but I understand there was an issue with *some caps having small holes so the markers would dry out too quickly. I know they offered complete refund for all those old markers for a few months and gave everyone an option to keep them or sell them back for credit. Stampin’ Up! truly cares about their customers, the quality of their product and providing excellent customer care service. I know they have worked extra hard to provide an exceptional product here and I have not been disappointed at all.

Cheers to a relaxing time coloring and stamping!

*Note – the link to the Stampin’ Blends markers below will not work until they are available for purchase on November 1, 2017.

tams# 17216

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