Simple stamping with Forever Fern

  

Could you make a card in 15 minutes or less? That is the challenge I set to my customers last week – and they have until tonight’s Show & Tell session to complete their projects.

I know it can be done because I’ve done it myself – and here’s one to prove it. Forever Fern and Ornate Thanks on a Whisper White Note Card; Bish, bash, bosh - done! I even stamped the envelope!

#Sharesunshine with Mini Paper Pumpkin Boxes

I talked last week about sharing sunshine through the new Box of Sunshine Paper Pumpkin Kit, which is an exclusive kit currently available while supplies last.

There are many ways we can #sharesunshine and one is through the Mini Paper Pumpkin Boxes which are sized to fit our Notecards & Envelopes and ideal for little gifts. 

I wanted to thank my customers who had shown incredible commitment during lockdown to complete the 12 craft challenges I set them. They had from the start of lockdown until the end of June to complete the challenges and could do them in any order. One lady did them all in the first week, others tackled them methodically and went right up to the wire.

Somewhat conveniently, 10 ladies completed all 12 challenges, so I use one full pack of Mini Paper Pumpkin Boxes to hold their gifts of Rainbow Glimmer Paper, mini note cards and... I think there was some yellow ribbon in there, too. To be honest, these gifts went out a while ago, I just haven’t got round to posting them here.

I tried to stick with the sunshine theme and decorated the lids using Bumblebee cardstock, with some stamping and die-cutting from the Forever Fern Bundle from the Forever Greenery Suite and label made with the Tasteful Labels dies. They were all tied with different ribbons because I thought I had purchased some specially but couldn’t find it in the chaos of my craft room!

The greeting is from Rooted in Nature and felt perfect for the occasion. 

My ladies are now working on weekly challenges via my private Facebook group. This is open to my customers and class-goers so if you fit into this category, please let me know so I can add you. 

Pop up the label using Stampin’ Dimensionals, keeping the centre clear so the ribbon slides through freely. This will enable the recipient to untie the ribbon and open the box without destroying the décor.

Bonus tip: If you’re in the UK and plan to mail out these boxes, be warned that they’re just a little too deep to go as a Large Letter and will incur the Small Parcel rate.

Forever Greenery - letting the dies and DSP do the work

Staying with the Forever Greenery theme... I realised I never showed you the Make & Take from my catalogue launch party last month. It's a simple note card decorated with just die-cut pieces and Designer Series Paper, to allow me to send out prepared kits for guests. They used their own stamp set to stamp a greeting.

The Forever Fern stamp set has been consistently in the top-selling stamp sets since the launch of of the new Annual Catalogue and with very good reason. Do you have yours yet?

Die-cut your leaves then trim them into smaller pieces for even greater versatility.

Tutorial: Z-fold cards with Forever Greenery Suite

I’m proud to say that Crafty Friday has kept going throughout lockdown - ever since April it has been running on the first Friday of the month in my home. Well, only I am in my home - everyone else is safely in theirs, taking part over Zoom.

This month, our fourth socially distant Crafty Friday, the focus was on Z-fold cards – and we made these two using the Forever Greenery Suite.

 

I have lots of tips for making these projects but to save me typing them all out again, why don't you download the tutorial here.

Please bear in mind the tutorial was written for the class guests, who received a prepared kit, but you can adapt it if you have the Forever Fern bundle, Stitched Shapes Dies and Forever Greenery DSP with coordinating inks and cardstock. Have fun!

Forever Greenery Suite from Stampin' Up!®

I have been enjoying the Forever Greenery Suite from the new Stampin' Up!® catalogue – it’s the first time I’ve ever purchased a whole Suite in one go.

If you want to add glamour to your projects, you can't beat the Forever Gold Laser-Cut Specialty Paper. Here are some of the projects I've been making with this paper, and indeed the whole of the suite.

When using the Greenery Embossing Folder with the small repeating leaf pattern, because it has a repeating pattern, you can emboss a whole card front panel if you do half the piece at a time. Simply reinsert the cardstock into the embossing folder, slotting part of the embossed area back into coordinating indentations on the folder

Video: One-sheet wonder with Forever Fern

The one-sheet wonder technique never goes out of style! Simply update it by using the latest stamp sets. Here I've used Forever Fern with one of my In Color combinations. This combo really stood out to me as I loved the retro feel.

As always, my tips for a OSW are the same: Start with the largest stamp in the lightest colour and work your way through to the smallest stamp in the darkest colour. Of course, rules are made to be broken, so feel free to play around and see what you come up with.

When you have cut up your sheet into smaller pieces to make a card or other project, you may find you have some white edges but these can be filled in with a little more stamping. But if you've kept your images close together and overlapping to start with, this shouldn't be necessary.

These are all going out to my new team members who have joined me in June. The four ladies receiving these felt it was an offer they couldn't refuse; around £170 of products for just £99 (and free shipping). Want to find out more? Please get in touch.

Stamping tip: Maximising your Forever Gold Laser-Cut Specialty Paper

I have another tip for the Forever Gold Laser-Cut Speciality Paper for you today. This time it maximises every last scrap of that lovely gold paper.

When you’ve used all your elements – and even before – don’t discard the outer pieces as you can use these for die-cutting yet more leaves using the Forever Flourishing Dies. Waste not, want not!

Sneak Peek: Forever Greenery Suite

Who could fail to love the Forever Greenery Suite? You’ll be seeing a lot of it online at the moment because it was part of the Stampin’ Up!® pre-order, and I’m sure it’s going to be a firm favourite with customers, too, when the new catalogue goes live on 3rd June.

I just love the delicate leaf images in the Forever Fern stamp set and the bold colours of the Forever Greenery Designer Series Paper – and I can’t wait to get my customers crafting with it!

Leaves don’t have to be green. They even look fab stamped in Blackberry Bliss... but let’s face it, Blackberry Bliss looks good on everything – even your fingers!

Sneak Peek: Forever Greenery Suite

I can't wait a moment longer to show you some of the products from my favourite Suite in the new catalogue.

The suite is called Forever Greenery and the stamp set is Forever Fern. I was naturally drawn to the lovely green colours – I think the Designer Series Paper probably uses all the greens we have!

Here I’ve created three cards for three stages of crafter...

The #simplestamping project uses just one Garden Green ink pad and a pack of notecards and envelopes, and is perfect if you don’t have many supplies or if you’re just in a hurry. 

The second project is for the casual crafter who may have some ribbon, embellishments and a punch (GREAT new punch, by the way!). 

Finally, there’s a project for the avid crafter which uses ribbon, embellishments, the co-ordinating Forever Flourishing dies, along with the absolutely gorgeous Forever Greenery Designer Series Paper and some vellum, too. Which one is your favourite?

If your Designer Paper is too bright for your project, you can tone it down a little by overlaying a piece of vellum as I’ve done here. This allows you to retain the design and keep the colours in the same palette without it dominating. 

You, too, can get early access to brand new products if you sign up as a demonstrator! Please get in touch if you would like to find out more.