Winter Meadow projects inspired by November mood board

 

Kickstart your Christmas creativity with my November mood board. There’s enough inspiration on this board to help you create all kinds of projects, and I used it as my starting point for several Stampin’ Up!® projects using Grassy Grove, the Christmas Classics bundle and Winter Meadow Designer Series Paper. 

 

But first, how to use a mood board. It’s simple: just take inspiration from any or some of the photos and colours. 

 

In this board, the colours are Soft Sea Foam, Lost Lagoon, Pecan Pie, Crumb Cake and Lemon Lolly. 

 

There are no hard and fast rules so you can add extra colours, use the nearest you have, or ignore the colours and simply be inspired by one or more of the images. 

 

Grassy Grove Stampin’ Up! set gets the vintage and distressed treatment

 

 

Do you ever get a creativity block? This happens to us all, even Stampin’ Up!® demonstrators. Perhaps especially Stampin’ Up!® demonstrators because some of feel the need to create new content all the time for our crafty audiences.

I think we all need to let go of the idea that every creation should be brand new and original. After all, there is no point in reinventing the wheel. 

Fragrant Forest and Grassy Grove in a gorgeous autumnal colour combination

 I have a colour combination for you today, and a card which blends the brand new Fragrant Forest background stamp with a Stampin’ Up!® old favourite, Grassy Grove.

13 projects using the Grassy Grove bundle from Stampin’ Up!®

As a Stampin’ Up! UK demonstrator, I get to see new products early, so I’ve been lusting after this Grassy Grove bundle since way back in December.

I knew it would be perfect for my all-day craft event and had lots of projects in mind.

Everyone who attended the event on Zoom received the Grassy Grove bundle and a full pack of the Sale-a-Bration Designer Series Paper, Simply Marbleous. We made seven projects, and I’ve made some extra variations using New Horizons Designer Series Paper, too, as it’s just so absolutely gorgeous.

Finally I can show them off – so here are 12 projects using the Grassy Grove stamp set and Grove Dies. I haven’t included tutorials – please appreciate that these projects were exclusively created for the guests at my event. Nevertheless, I hope you love them as much as I do!

 

We began with this light-up card, which fits in a standard postage mailing box and will send in the UK as a Large Letter. This is the project I had in mind from the moment I laid my eyes on the Grassy Grove bundle. 

I’ve used tiny fairy lights within a box, covered in vellum and surrounded by white cardstock die cut with Grove Dies. 

 

Inside the box is a background of Designer Series Paper. Check out the video to see how it looks simply by changing the colour of this paper. The yellow really makes it glow with a lovely sunset-like warmth. 

 

Our second project was this fancy fold which is so easy to make. Again, simply changing the Designer Series Paper can give the card a completely different look. 

 

 

This is a really simple fun fold which is simply made from two card bases. One is cut slightly smaller and inserted into the first with the fold on the right. So, as you can see in the video, you just open the card as normal to reveal the next layer, then open the ‘backwards’ card to reveal the message inside. 

The deer are die cut from Designer Series Paper and sponged/brushed with ink to darken the silhouettes. This meant everyone could make their deer match their projects, without me having to send out lots of scraps of different coloured cardstock. 

 

As well as their stamps, dies, craft supplies and snacks for the day, I also sent everyone a bar of natural vegan guest soap, so they would have something to pack into this little gift bag. The bag is made from a single sheet of 6"x6" Designer Series Paper, which we decorated using stamps and die-cut shapes from our bundle. These would make ideal table favours for any special occasion. 

The Grassy Grove bundle is perfect for creating “scene” cards like this one. I used a sheet of Designer Series Paper as a background then overlaid the various elements on top.

I’ve stamped these in Old Olive and Mossy Meadow, two of my favourite greens, with a Soft Suede deer, all finished off with some linen thread. 

To mix things up a little, I made another version of this card using New Horizons Designer Series Paper. This wasn’t available when I was planning my projects, but I have it now and don’t like making the same card twice so created this one on the day. 

This time I have stamped in Soft Succulent, Evening Evergreen and Early Espresso, for a much bolder look. Here they are together... for comparison.
 

Whatever events I run, I always start with the most complicated projects and work my way down to the simplest. This means we get the difficult crafting out of the way early on and can relax into the day. It also means if anyone has to dash off early, they have had help on hand for the challenging bits and can finish off their projects unaided. 

So the next few projects are nice and simple, so everyone could chat and craft at the same time. 

This is actually a variation of this Christmas card I made last December – and I don’t think anyone noticed!

This is the version from the class, using Simply Marbleous paper in So Saffron and Bumblebee. I’ve stamped in Crumb Cake, stamping off for the grass to make it paler.

And this is my alternative version, using New Horizons paper. I’ve covered the whole card front using the paper as this is my favourite way to use DSP at the moment, and stamped using Soft Succulent, Crumb Cake and Soft Suede. 

A simpler version is this card, with no die cutting at all, just stamping...

This would be really quick to turn out, especially if you used the Stamparatus for the grasses and deer, and just stamped the trees freehand. 

I particularly love the alternative version here, using New Horizons paper and stamping in Soft Succulent, Evening Evergreen and Early Espresso. The greeting comes from Wildlife Wonder and makes this the ideal masculine birthday card. 

 

You don’t have to use deer on your projects all the time though; this really simple card uses one of the die-cut shapes as a mask to create layers of greenery at the bottom of the panel, which are over-stamped with grasses. 

The clouds are created by using the template, that’s the piece of cardstock left behind after die cutting. This is again used as a mask with some very light brushing of Pool Party to evoke the sky. 

Finally, here’s one I made earlier... another Grassy Grove project using New Horizons Designer Series Paper to show just how perfect these products go together.

I hope you have enjoyed my Grassy Grove projects and are inspired to make your own. While the Simply Marbleous paper is no longer available as it was a Sale-a-Bration freebie, I highly recommend the New Horizons Designer Series Paper to coordinate with this bundle and many other products you are sure to have in your craft stash.

If you are in the UK and would like to order these or any other products, please visit my store and, if you use the current host code UDVDUXFH, I’ll send you a thank you gift in the following month.

To make it easy for you, please shop using this link

Does your wish list come to more than £99? Please get in touch and I will help you get more for your money and unlock discounts all year round.  

 

Please message me via my website 

 

Grassy Grove bundle cards with Expressions in Ink DSP

 

You know how every time a new Stampin’ Up!® catalogue comes out, there’s usually one stamp set or bundle which you absolutely MUST have? In the January-June Mini Catalogue, for me it was the Grassy Grove bundle. 

 

I’ve always loved the look of intricate laser-cut and paper-cutting designs but would never attempt them myself as I just know I would end up cutting my finger. Honestly, I have previously cut myself on a guillotine which was described as “impossible to cut yourself”, a Stampin’ Up!® ink pad and even some ribbon. Yes, ribbon. 

 

So when I saw this Grassy Grove bundle it tapped into both my love of intricate paper-cut designs and my love of wildlife. In the January-June Mini Stampin’ Up!® Catalogue, these gorgeous dies are used with New Horizons Designer Series Paper but due to global shipping issues, this product has not yet arrived in the European warehouse. I believe it’s due in next week. 

 

However, I had almost a full pack of Expressions in Ink Designer Series Paper which I love but haven’t really used much yet. This proved ideal for serene sunset/sunrise backgrounds like this one...

 

 

For this card I have also stamped some of the beautiful detailed grasses onto the Expressions in Ink Designer Series Paper. By flipping the deer around, you can mix up the scene. I haven’t added a greeting to this one as I didn’t want to detract from the scene but may add a small happy birthday later as I am very low on birthday cards. 

 

With these dies you can create stunning cards very quickly – these cards I have made are really simple, but I love the look of the amazing backgrounds behind the stark black silhouettes.

This card uses a different and more intense piece of Expressions in Ink Designer Series Paper to create a lovely orange sky. Again I have stamped with the grasses directly onto the paper to add further interest. 

In this version (how many did I make? I think I’ve lost count!), I added a small thank you banner on a die-cut panel using Tasteful Labels Dies, plus some coordinating Pale Papaya ribbon. 

For a gorgeous enchanted woodland effect, there is this piece in the Expressions in Ink DSP pack, with its dreamy greens and threads of gold. For this card, I have added an extra die-cut piece behind the main trees. This die cuts out a stamped image of a grassy mound, but I think it works well on its own too. 

 

I love that you can create such very different looks with just Basic Black cardstock and simply by changing the background. You could also leave the background plain, stamp it, ink it, watercolour it, blend it with our fabulous Blending Brushes or use any number of fun background techniques. 

I love this bundle so much that it will be the focus of my All-Day Craft Event in March. This will take place on Zoom, to give us all an element of certainty. 

The price will include the Grassy Grove bundle (Grassy Grove stamp set and Grove dies), as well as a full pack of Simply Marbleous Designer Series Paper from the Sale-a-Bration brochure. There is also the option to swap to a different SAB item if you already own this paper or have something which would work just as well. 

 

As the event will be held on Zoom, it is open to anyone in the UK. If you are unable to attend the event you can still register to receive the kit and instructions to complete the projects at your leisure.

For more information and registration, please click here

 

 

Alternatively, if you would just like to order the bundle, or anything else from Stampin’ Up!®, I would love it if you used my store. If you use the current host code RNU3JCR9, I’ll send you a thank you gift in the following month.

To make it easy for you, please shop using this link

Does your wish list come to more than £99? Please get in touch and I will help you get more for your money and unlock discounts all year round.  

 

Please message me via my website 

 

Sneak peek: Grassy Grove bundle

 

My final Christmas project of the year is this set of simple cards, which blend Stampin’ Up!® products old and new. I have used the absolutely gorgeous Blackberry Beauty Designer Series Paper which is retiring soon... in fact in Europe I believe it has now sold out.

But I couldn’t pack it away without giving it one last outing so used it to make these Christmas cards, combined with the brand new Grassy Grove bundle which is coming in the new Mini Catalogue on 4th January.

This new Mini Catalogue has lots of products which are out of my comfort zone, so I have been having fun with some of those to challenge myself – but it also has many which are right up my street so I bought some of those as well, to satisfy my cravings for projects themed around wildlife and trees. 

 

For these cards I began my creating a background using Blackberry Beauty Designer Series Paper, as many designs have quite a festive feel. The design on the left in this image even features holly, albeit in Blackberry Bliss on Rich Razzleberry. 

 

I used a panel created with the Stitched So Sweetly Dies, which are among my most-used dies, especially since I lost my favourite die from the Stitched Rectangles set! Some are cut from Basic White and some from Very Vanilla – with this Designer Series Paper it really doesn’t matter which you use and I am trying to use more vanilla because it’s so soft and lovely... plus it doesn’t go on back order quite as often as Basic White!

I stamped the trees in Rich Razzleberry, the greeting in Blackberry Bliss and the deer in Cinnamon Cider. I used the Stamparatus for this as it meant I could get the trees and greeting in the correct position each time, and also that I could die-cut the deer in advance then just stamp straight onto them, maximising my use of cardstock and saving time. 

 

For the ground, I experimented with blender pens but didn’t like the look, so eventually settled on one of the cloud images from the stamp set that comes with the No Matter The Weather Kit. Many of these kits come with really useful little stamp sets which are well worth hanging on to once your kit is completed. I stamped this in Cinnamon Cider, stamping off onto scrap paper first. 

 

 

In fact, the greeting – along with the one inside – comes from the Christmas Whimsy Card Kit – this is a stamp set I have probably used more than any other this Christmas, as the greetings are so useful. 

Finally I tied a piece of Elegant Trim around the whole card to finish it off. 

 

 

This Designer Series Paper may have sold out but there are still some amazing products on the Last Chance List and Clearance Rack. If you are in the UK and would like to order, please visit my store and, if you use the current host code TFBG2JJB, I’ll send you a thank you gift in the following month.

To make it easy for you, please shop using this link

Does your wish list come to more than £99? Please get in touch and I will help you get more for your money and unlock discounts all year round.  

 

Please message me via my website