Today is the Autumnal Equinox so here is a First Day of Fall Pumpkin Thinking of You Card to celebrate!  Equinox means equal light so most places will see equal amounts of daylight and night. I was hoping the Autumn Equinox would mean Houston, Texas would cool off to comfortable temperatures with low humidity, but I don’t think that’s what it means!  In fact, it means the opposite! It’s not going to feel like fall here for a long time yet!

My card is one that came out of nowhere. I couldn’t really think of what to make but I knew I wanted to use the pumpkins on the paper in Toil & Trouble.  Eventually, I chose another paper in the package for the background on the card that would go with a few of the cut-out pumpkins. I just cut out a few pumpkins with my Paper Snips.  I chose the Crumb Cake 3/8″ Classic Weave Ribbon to tie around the front of the card. I chose the greeting from the Rooted in Nature Stamp Set because I didn’t want it to be a Halloween card.

Just to make sure I stamped the greeting just right on the designer paper, I used my Stamparatus! I used a piece of vellum over the paper on which I was going to stamp so that I could “test” the stamp to make sure I had it positioned correctly. When it looked okay, I removed the vellum and stamped right on the designer paper.  I wasn’t sure the ink was dark enough, so I just reinked the stamp and stamped again!  You can’t do that without a Stamparatus!  If you don’t have a Stamparatus yet, you might want to get one for yourself!

I hope you will have a lovely first day of fall!  I wish I was going to be seeing colored leaves and wearing a warm flannel shirt and jacket tomorrow!  But I will be starting to think about pumpkins and fall and Halloween decorations that will be coming soon!  I hope this First Day of Fall Pumpkin Thinking of You Card gets you in the mood for a lovely fall season!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE!

(Be sure to use your Bonus Coupon Codes from August if you earned some!)

One of my favorite things to do since I first learned about Stampin’ Up! and stamping was coloring with Watercolor Pencils. We had a set of Watercolor Pencils back 16 years ago or so when I started stamping as a customer, but they were not the exact Stampin’ Up! colors.  They went away for years, then they were brought back in an assortment of Stampin’ Up! colors. Of course, for us stampers, one assortment is not enough!  We need more colors!  So during the month of August, you can buy a second assortment of colors of Watercolor Pencils! These pencils will likely be in a future catalog, but if you want them now, you better purchase them in August so you don’t have to wait!

I decided to make my card using the Oh So Eclectic Stamp Set and Stazon Ink to stamp three flowers to later color.  The leaves are stamped in Granny Apple Green, stamped off once first.  The card base is Flirty Flamingo Cardstock with a layer of Whisper White. When I was finished, I stamped the little images around in the empty spaces of the card with Flirty Flamingo Ink. Then I tied on a piece of Crumb Cake Twine from the Nature’s Twine assortment to embellish the card.  The greeting is from the same Oh So Eclectic Stamp Set.

I love the Watercolor Pencils because you don’t have to be really precise.  Notice how I colored in the flowers rather sloppily in the photo below!  Just lay down some color.  You can always go back and add more or mix two colors, whatever you like.

Then, use a Blender Pen or Aqua Painter to smooth out the coloring. On Whisper White Cardstock I prefer the Blender Pen (used lightly) so that the paper doesn’t pill from too much moisture. For more serious watercoloring, use Shimmery White Cardstock or even better, Watercolor Paper.

Here is a closer look AFTER I used the Blender Pen to smooth out the colors.

The original set of Watercolor Pencils has 13 colors:  Basic Black, Basic Gray, Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White.

The second assortment, Watercolor Pencils Assortment 2, have 10 colors:  Balmy Blue, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, Flirty Flamingo, Garden Green, Gorgeous Grape, Granny Apple Green, Night of Navy.

Watercolor Pencils are a great inexpensive way to have a lot of colors at hand for coloring. Be sure to pick up this second assortment during August to avoid a wait! Also check out the Limited Time Blended Seasons Bundle and save 10% on both the stamps and dies. (The Watercolor Pencils are not included in this Bundle.)

I know you will have fun coloring with the new Watercolor Pencils and trying different techniques!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE TODAY! 

BONUS DAYS with every $50 purchase!

Today is the day we’ve been excited about – the launch of the new Stampin’ Up! 2018-2019 Annual Catalog! To welcome the new catalog, I made a Hello Card with the Accented Blooms Stamp Set!  I think it is a bright and happy card  which reflects the way we feel today about a new catalog available to us!

Perhaps you have received your own copy of the new Stampin’ Up! catalog or seen new products used online. In just a few more hours, you will finally be able to order those new products you have been longing for!

The Stampin’ Up! ordering website is currently unavailable online while they transition to the new products. Ordering should begin by Noon (MT) – I always say “Stampin’ Up! Time” because they are located in Utah, in the Mountain Time Zone.  That will be 1:00 PM Central, 2:00 PM Eastern and 11:00 AM Pacific. This is a day for patience as a higher number of customers may be ordering!

To make this card, I used a new stamp set, Accented Blooms, available to Demonstrators during our pre-order period. It’s unique in that a couple of the greetings in the set FIT into a space created by the stamp – which also fits the Tailored Tag Punch.  I decided to make a 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ sized card using the bright and happy new In Color Pineapple Punch!

Instead of using Whisper White cardstock for the card layer, I used Shimmery White Cardstock so I could do some coloring.  The flowers are stamped with Stazon ink, making a comeback in the new catalog!  I’m thrilled!  If we are watercoloring, we need to use Stazon ink, not Memento. Then, for a change of pace, I used my Watercolor Pencils and an Aqua Painter to color the flowers and leaves.  You just apply a little bit of color with the pencils and blend it with either the Aqua Painter or Blender Pen.

The Hello greeting is stamped in Pineapple Punch Ink.  I punched it out with the Tailored Tag Punch, but then I trimmed it a bit along the edges so I could layer it on a Tailored Tag in Basic Black.  Then this is popped up in the open space with Stampin’ Dimensionals. For a finishing touch, I added the new 5/8″ Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon around the bottom and just tied a knot.  A bow was too much.

It’s like the world has stopped this morning while we await the new catalog transition at Stampin’ Up! and can begin ordering from the new catalog!  If you are interested in Stampin’ Up! products and do not have a Demonstrator you are currently working with, I would be happy to help you and mail you a complimentary catalog if you would like one.  The catalog will also be available online in a few hours!  Just email me with your contact information at Karen@Karenstamps.com.

Enjoy the NEW CATALOG DEBUT DAY!

Shop Stampin’ Up! Online today at Noon MT!

Today I am playing with two WONDERFUL Stampin’ Up! products, coloring on the Springtime Foils Paper with the Stampin’ Blends markers to make an all-occasion card. I was just experimenting with the actual coloring and trying different colors of makers, not trying to make the perfect card.

I love coloring with the Stampin’ Blends markers. There is just a certain feel to them that I like and that feels calming while you color! LOTS of people have loved the Stampin’ Blends, especially in recent months, which is causing a backorder situation at Stampin’ Up!, coupled with Chinese New Year in China where factories shut down for a period of time and causes delays in getting products to the market.

Here are the markers that are on backorder:

• Bermuda Bay (Light and Dark)
• Bronze
• Calypso Coral (Dark)
• Crumb Cake (Light and Dark)
• Ivory
• Pink Pirouette (Light and Dark)
• Pool Party (Light and Dark – currently on backorder)
• Pumpkin Pie (Dark)
• Smoky Slate (Light and Dark)

I was told by Stampin’ Up! that if a customer ordered the whole Stampin’ Blends Collection, they would go ahead and ship the colors that are available now and send the backordered ones as soon as they are available. Now there is no price break for ordering the entire batch of markers, so if you only want individual markers, you aren’t missing out on anything. I would suggest ordering whatever markers you want as soon as possible because there might be more of rush on the markers when people find out they are getting scarce! It may be the end of April before Stampin’ Up! is re-supplied. If you want to take advantage of Sale-A-Bration, go ahead and order the Collection or any backordered markers so you can get your FREE Sale-A-Bration products!  That will put you at the front of the line when the backordered ones come in rather than waiting until they are back in stock to order.

Here is a closeup of the coloring with the Stampin’ Blends markers. Since the Springtime Foils Specialty Designer Series Paper (FREE during Sale-A-Bration with a $50 order!!) has a glossy finish as well as the foil outlines, the markers color a little differently than on other paper. They do blend but I would say the colors maybe almost pool at times, sort of like watercoloring. So I’m seeing that they give a little bit different variation in blending and I’m not sure you can totally control it. So just go with it and enjoy the different look!  You can also use regular Stampin’ Write Markers or sponge or brayer on ink.  Lots of different techniques to try with this beautiful paper!  Be sure to consider choosing it for your Sale-A-Bration gift.

And here I have assembled the card on a base of Pool Party with strips of the Copper Foil along the sides.  This card has the fold at the top to the panel goes all the way from the top to the bottom.

The greeting is from Petal Palette Stamp Set and then layered on a die cut piece of Copper Foil with a die from the Petals & More Thinlits Dies.  For the copper piece underneath, I simply cut it in half so just the ends would look layered.

Order your markers soon! And earn your FREE Sale-A-Bration products with every $50 purchase.  I know you will enjoy coloring on various papers with the new Stampin’ Blends like I did on this Stampin’ Blends coloring on the Springtime Foils Designer Paper to make this any-occasion card.