Do you love rainbows? Come on, who doesn’t? Well, how about a sneak peek
today? Do you want to take a look at one of the fabulous new bundles
coming up in the Stampin’ Up!® January-June 2022 Mini Catalogue?
The
Rainbow of Happiness bundle features the beautiful and versatile Rainbow
of Happiness stamp set and the coordinating Brilliant Rainbow dies.
Rainbows
can mean many things to many different people. They have spiritual
significance for people of various religions and cultures, they can be a
sign of good luck to those searching for a pot of gold at the end and
they are a sign of equality for the LGBTQ+ community. They are also
pretty amazing to see on a wet day, as I did when out walking in the
Derbyshire countryside on Saturday.
Whatever your reason for
loving rainbows, the new Rainbow of Happiness stamp set will enable you
to add more than a splash of colour to your craft projects and I made a batch of cards using this fun new set, to mark a number of celebrations.

First
of all I wanted to celebrate two of my team members who were recognised
by Stampin’ Up!® for their achievements during 2020-2021. I used the
Pattern Party Designer Series Paper which is only available if you host a
qualifying party but had just the right colourful vibe to go with these
projects. For the first card, picking the colours from this paper, I used Poppy Parade,
Pumpkin Pie, Granny Apple Green and Pool Party to stamp my rainbow to match the Designer Series Paper behind.
I
added interest to the white panel with a polka dot design created using
the Checks & Dots Embossing Folders and a subtle greeting from the Sweet as a Peach stamp set.
For the second team
card, I needed make the card a little more masculine so stamped in
shades of blue/green. I used Pool Party, Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay
and, after trying several blues and not finding the right one, finally
settled on Shaded Spruce.
I used a spotty piece of Designer
Series Paper from the same Pattern Party pack, so this time used the
checked embossing folder. These are narrow embossing folders which
means you can use them in the Mini Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine
– but you can also used them with a larger piece of cardstock if you run
them through twice as I did, carefully positioning the cardstock so the pattern
repeats.
Next up was a congratulations card to celebrate the birth
of a baby girl. I don’t currently have much call for baby cards so I was
struggling for a stamp set, but then saw this beautiful card created by
Canadian Stampin’ Up!® demonstrator Tina Zinck and used that as the basis for my own version.
I
used Shimmery White cardstock to add some sparkle (which doesn’t really
show up in the photos) and gave one piece a wash of Pool Party ink to
look a little like the sky. This was die-cut using the must-have
Stitched So Sweetly Dies.
On top of this I created a pink
rainbow and clouds using Brilliant Rainbow dies, and added a penguin
stamped using Count on Me and fussy cut.
Finally I wanted to
make a card to support a friend who is transgender and has been
receiving lots of hateful messages online purely for being her true self. I began by researching the
colours of the trans flag, which is pink, white and blue – not colours I
would normally use. I ended up making two cards as I couldn’t really
decide where I was going with it.

This one – the one I sent – is based on a card
demonstrated by Emma Parkin-Wilson at OnStage@Home, an event for
Stampin’ Up!® demonstrators. Emma’s card used Designer
Series Papers behind the white rainbows but I was limited to Balmy Blue
and Blushing Bride so stamped them to create my own pattern. As the
stamps I used were tiny, this was quite the task!
The greeting is
cut out using Tasteful Labels Dies. I keep spare labels die-cut in
Basic White to hand so I can finish projects without having to pull out
lots of different die sets. The card is finished off with a hint of
silver in the cord and rhinestones. The result was that this really did
brighten my friend’s day.

And finally, the one that got away,
which I didn’t send in the end. The rainbow is stamped in Balmy Blue and
Blushing Bride with the greeting fitting perfectly in the centre. The
cute border comes from the Brilliant Rainbow dies, and I still had the
Checks & Dots Embossing Folders out from the earlier projects.
I
hope you enjoyed these projects and will maybe consider adding this
bundle to your wish list for when the Stampin’ Up!® January-June 2022 Mini
Catalogue goes live in January. I have to say this is not my usual stamp
set style but I thoroughly enjoyed using it and plan to make many more
cards to brighten people’s days. Meanwhile, there are lots of fabulous products which are due to retire very soon, with some of them reduced by up to 50%. You can check them all out in my online store and, if you use the current host code TFBG2JJB, I’ll send you a thank you gift in January.
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.