Since Stampin’ Up! has SO many fantastic stamp sets, punches and more that feature bugs from cute little ladybugs to elegant dragonflies and more! So, this month’s theme is Cute as a Bug!  Our projects could be ANYTHING as long as there was something buggy/buggish about it!

Well, I just couldn’t decide on on set or bug, so I sharing a sampler I created as at the request of one of my customers.  She wanted something she could put out during the summer besides her 4th of July one.  I think this one definitly fits the bill.  I was a slow process as it uses products from three different SU catalogs, the 2022 January to June Mini, the 2022-2023 Annual Catalog AND you get a sneak peek at an amazing new bundle from the 2022 July to December Min.  I don’t think I have ever used products from this many cattys on a single project.

The basic measurements for this particular sampler are:

• Sweet Sorbet 12 x 12
• Parakeet Party 10 3/4 x 10 3/4
• 5 Basic Black squares for layering 3 1/4 x 3 1/4
• 3 pieces of Basic White 3 x 3
• 1 piece each of Tahitian Tide, Sweet Sorbet and Lovely Layers Vellum
• 2 Basic Black pieces for layering 3 1/4 x 6 3/4
• 1 piece each of Basic White, Daffodil Delight and Heart & Home DSP  3 x 6 1/2

You will also need the following for die cutting and punching

• 2022-2024 In Color Glimmer Paper
• Perfectly Penciled DSP
• Basic Black
• Shimmery White
• Sweet Sorbet
• Tahitian Tide

The first butterfly square uses an emboss resist technique and the Amazing Silhouettes stamp set along with white Embossing PowderBlending Brushes, Daffodil Delight, Sweet Sorbet & Tahitian Tide ink.  I finished it off with the little hello tag and a few inches of White Glittered Organdy Ribbon.  This technique is SO easy.  Simply stamp your images in VersaMark, apply White Embossing Powder and heat emboss.  Use Blending Brushes, starting with your lightest to darkest color to apply the ink.  Don’t forget to gently wipe away excess ink from the embossed images with a facial tissue.

The second bumblebee square is super quick and easy!  I stamped the flowers from Daisy Garden in Parakeet Party then used a Blending Brush to add the Tahitian Tide.  I then created the bumblebee by punching out a piece of Perfectly Penciled DSP using the Ladybug Builder Punch and the wings out of Vellum cardstock.  I then used the dark Daffodil Delight Blends to color in the yellow stripes and a Basic Black Stampin’ Write Marker to color in the head and antennas.  The little flower are made from Sweet Sorbet Glimmer Paper and punched using the Bough Punch.  The square is assemble using Dimensionals.

The large dragonflies square goes together quickly as well.  I stamped the flowers from Dragonfly Garden onto the piece of Heart & Home DSP in Parakeet Party and then used Blending Brushes and Starry Sky and Tahitian Tide ink to add more color.  The dragonflies were stamped in Memento Black Ink and Tahitian Tide onto Shimmery White cardstock, then punched out with the Dragonfly Punch. I did add a little Wink of Stella to the wings and attached the dragonflies with Mini Dimensionals.  I finished it off some Red Rhinestones Basic Jewels.

The fourth square was inspired by a card made by a fellow NC Demo for the Annual Catty Swap by Mail that I hosted in May.  I love the layering created with the Dots & Spots Die.  This was a really basic piece to make.  I just stamped and punched!

The next square features the Splendid Thoughts Bundle that will be available next week in the July to December Mini.  I also used the Fern 3D Embossing Folder.  I did stamp and then color the little bee, but the rest of this square was die cut and then assembled with Mini Dimensionals and Glue Dots.  I think this is such a unique piece and am excited to create more projects with this very versatile bundle!

The second of my butterfly squares was created using the Butterflies & Flowers Layering Decorative Masks, Shimmery White Embossing Paste and Tahitian Tide and Sweet Sorbet Reinkers.

The final little dragonflies square was the most simple of all!  I just layered Lovely Layers Vellum onto the 3 x 3 Sweet Sorbet Square and punched the little dragonflies out of the Glimmer Paper. I attached the dragonflies with Mini Dimensionals and added a few of the Classic Matte Dots.

Thank you for letting me bug you for a few minutes this evening.  I hope I have inspired you to create your own Cute as a Bug projects.  Please contact me if you have questions or would like to order any of the products I have used.  I wold love to help you!

Now, let’s buzz on over to see what Tonya Bowers has created!  This is her first blog hop with us!  I know she did something great!

Thank you again for joining us!  I hope you will hop along with us again next month

Happy Stamping!

Supplies:

• Let’s Set Sail Bundle
• Gentle Waves stamp set
• Bark 3D Embossing Folder
• Rectangle Postage Stamp Punch
• Balmy Blue & Misty Moonlight ink pads

Cardstock:

• Misty Moonlight 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 & score at 4 1/4
• Basic White 4 1/4 x 5 1/2
• Balmy Blue, Cinnamon Cider, Crushed Curry & Real Red for punching the greeting and the sailboat
• Metallic Mesh Ribbon 4 1/4

1. Punch out the sailboat from the Cinnamon Cider cardstock and the sails from Bumble Bee and Real Red carstock. Set aside your sails.
2. Use the Bark 3D Embossing Folder to texture the Misty Moonlight cardbase and the Cinnamon Cider sailboat. Set them aside.
3. Stamp your greeting onto the Balmy Blue cardstock in Misty Moonlight. Trim the top and bottom to have a straight edge.  Set aside.
4. Ink the Gentle Waves stamp set with Balmy Blue & Misty Moonlight and stamp it onto the Basic White cardstock. A few hints; I used the Stamparatus for this to ensure I had good coverage.  Also, when inking this stamp you want to drag the ink pad across the stamp to get even coverage with no lines. The sky is the more solid looking part of the stamp and is the Balmy Blue.  The waves/water is in the Misty Moonlight.
5. Cut the Basic White in half so you have two pieces that are 2 3/4 x 4 1/4 inches. Attach to the Misty Moonlight cardbase with Dimesionals.
6. Use a little Tear & Tape to attach the Metallic Mesh Ribbon. I hide my adhesive behind the sailboat and the greeting. =-)
7. Attach the sailboat and your greeting using Mini and regular Dimensionals.

Now all I have to do is decide who I want to send it to!

If you have questions or need to order any of the supplies for this adorable card, please contact me!  I would love to help you!

Happy Stamping

So, it’s January which means it is time to Sale-A-Brate! Our projects for this month could be ANYTHING! The only rule is that we had to feature a SAB product.  Of course, I absolutely had to use the Island Vibes stamp set as I have a bit of an obsession with pineapples and I think the greetings from the Special Moments stamp set are perfect for almost every card!  While I had planned which products to use in advance I hadn’t really thought about anything else until yesterday.  The only problem was that my whole team were over for a play date, we had stuff everywhere and I was a little distracted.  Then suddenly I had a fantastic idea!  My fabulous downline, Allison, had helped me design a fabulous Make & Take for my Mini Catty Kick-Off party earlier in the month and I had one kit left!  I could totally use those supplies. So, once I had my supplies ready to go it only took about fifteen minutes to make my card and part of the reason for that was that I stamped the wrong greeting the first time and didn’t like the greeting on the Crumb Cake tag, so I had to die cut an new tag.

Here are the dimensions in case you would like to recreate or case this card:

• Crumb Cake 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 and scored at 4 1/4
• Old Olive 5 x 3 3/4
• Heart & Home DSP 5 1/4 x 1 1/2
• Basic White 3 3/8 x 2 1/4
• Denim Ribbon 2 1/2 inches
• Twine 8 inches

The first thing I did was to stamp the palm fronds in Old Olive on the Old Olive cardstock then emboss it using the Gingham Embossing Folder.  I also stamped my greeting using Old Olive and I will admit I did use my Stamparatus for this.  I think greetings are tricky to stamp and I wanted to make it perfect!  I trimmed the edge of my tag and then added the ribbon and twine.

Now it was time to create my favorite part of the card, the pineapple!  I used Old Olive and Crushed Curry markers to apply ink onto the pineapple stamp then stamped it onto Basic White cardstock.  I then filled in the white space around the pineapple using a Light Balmy Blue Blends.  I really love the texture that this gave to the image.

With all my stamping done all that I needed to do was assemble my card which I did using Stampin’ Dimensionals and a little Multipurpose Glue.

Want to add these awesome stamp sets to your collection for FREE?  Check out all the details at my Online Store and then contact me if I can help you placing your order!  Use Hostess Code:  W6Q9H4JT and get a sursie from me!

I am all done for this month, but you can come on along and hop over to see what our first time hopper Kelly Taranto has to share!

Happy Stamping!

January Blog Hoppers
Tina Lesson
Jo Anne Hewins
Laurie Meier
Amanda Howard
Tracie Evans Langley
Kelly Taranto, The Late Night Stamper
Frances Wagner

PS  Here is the original card Allison and I created using products from the Mini Catty!

Product List