Here's another one....

As you can see, there is no shortage of great new products in the new 2020-2021 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog.

As I did last week, I tried to keep this card simple.  Here is a pic:

It is hard for me to keep things simple (my husband always tells me I overthink).  This card could be made even simpler by not embossing the Rococo Rose layer with the Ornate Floral 3D embossing folder.  I love the embossing folder...I think it adds a bit of interest to the card but I bet it would look great just plain.

The designer series paper in this suite is so pretty...the pinks, greens and golds; but, I really think the best thing in this suite are the dies.  Look at the Ornate Layer Dies...you can layer them for even more versatility.    

Here is my latest YouTube video, here. 

I hope you enjoy it! Please check it out and give me a follow. I can't wait to show you the new catalog on Wednesday and to show you the new products.  

Thank you and happy crafting!

Megan

Hello papercrafter friends!

I can't stop trying out these new products from the upcoming 2020-2021 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog.

Everytime I use something I think it is my favorite, and then I try something else. And, then, I can't decide what I like the best...it is all pretty.

This week, I thought I would show you a #simplestamping idea. This is really hard for me; I love the ribbon and the bling...so I really tried with my first card which you can see in my YouTube video here:

My goal, when I do a video, is to show you all my tips and tricks. Maybe you will hear or learn something new. I have been doing this for over 25 years and I love it when I learn something that will make things easier or make me better. So, I hope when I do a video, you will learn something new, too.

As you will hear in the video, I did not originally get this stamp set.  A friend of mine, who is also a demo, started sending me texts of pics using this bundle.  So, I caved (that is a totally appropriate word).  Then, I caved again...I got the designer series paper...that will be here tomorrow.

One of the major perks of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator (besides the discount) is that we can preview the catalog before the general public and we get the opportunity to preorder selected items from the new upcoming catalog.  We all take advantage of it.  

I used the Forever Fern Stamp Set to make these cards.  This stamp set is from the Forever Greenery Suite.  As you can see from my video there are some dies that coordinate (they are the Forever Flourishing Dies). I did not use them for these cards.  You could and the cards would be stunning (that is another video). I really wanted to do these cards without dies.  

The results are still fantastic.

This is such a pretty card.  The gold thread is wrapped around the card and the very vanilla ribbon is tied in a bow. I've attached the bow with a glue dot.

I love the gold hoops...on this card below I used the multi-purpose liquid glue and very lightly put it on the back of the hoop.  I created a window using the 2" circle punch and a window sheet that I cut down to 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" .

On this card, I tied some of the coordinating ribbon from this suite (it is part of the Forever Greenery Combo pack).  I tied the ribbon around the hoop and applied glue dots to the ribbon.  

I hope you enjoy these posts.  If you would like a catalog and you don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, please let me know. I would love to show you how you can create these cards!

Happy Crafting.

Megan

Absolutely loving this!

As a crafter, I see new products all the time. I follow a number of designers on social media.  There are a lot of AWESOME products out there right now and sometimes, okay, a lot of the times, some things just speak to me. They call my name.  Maybe it's a color or a particular theme (I am an ocean girl and love, love, love the beach and the water). I live in New England and the ocean has been a part of me for my whole life.  But, that's not what caught my eye on this product.

When I saw this paper for the first time, what struck me were the colors. And, the sunflowers.  I love sunflowers.  The bright colors...and the memories that are conjured up when I see them.  We aren't too far from an ice cream place here in Connecticut and every summer they do Sunflowers for Wishes.  A whole field of sunflowers...it's just gorgeous.  

When I first saw the upcoming 2020-2021 Stampin' Up Catalog, the Flowers for Every Season definitely caught my eye...but to me there were some drawbacks.  The biggest one?  I love to scrapbook.  In particular, I love making my own scrapbooks and I find 6x6 paper a hindrance (or I used to anyway).  I can do anything with 12x12 paper, 6x8 is good...but 6x6 it just drives me batty...

Until this past weekend....let's just say I was busy (and I forgot all about work!)

I designed a 6x6 "mini" scrapbook using the new upcoming Flowers for Every Season Designer Series Paper and the Flowers for Every Season Memories and More Card Pack.  

I absolutely love this. It is bright and cheery (and isn't that what we could all use right now?).

My daughter (once again) was my inspiration.  She is 13 (going on 23, oy) and in 8th grade. She will be a Freshman in high school next year.  It's supposed to be a fun time for her but it's anything but. She is nervous about me and my husband going to work every day and fearful we will catch Covid.  She misses her friends. School is a struggle, not academically, but socially.  They don't have a typical school day anymore and there is no face to face learning.  Everything is independent study.  That's hard for a 13-year old (it's hard for some adults, let's be honest here). 

So, I want her to celebrate this year - even though it has had it's downs...we can still find some good in it.

So, I created this album for her. Someday, she and her friends will be together and they will celebrate. Celebrate their friendship and making it through Covid, or Corona.

Right now, that's all we want, right? To make it through Covid?  

Here are some more pages from the album:

I love this saying...I just wish she would stop growing!

When she was a baby (okay, and even a big kid) I would sing this song to her....

I am so grateful to be able to have my creative outlet and I hope that, if you don't yet have a creative outlet, I can inspire you to try some papercrafting.  I would love to show you how!

Here is a relatively short video showing the album:

Thanks for checking this out and if you like what you see...go check me out on social media and YouTube.

Happy Crafting!

Megan

It’s a New Day

While many of you have been stuck at home during quarantine, I have been working as a nurse.  It’s gotten to me.  I’m a hospice nurse and you never get used to dealing with death. Everyone who passes affects me and my co-workers.  We’ve been fortunate that we haven’t had anyone with Covid die but we have had some patients who have had Covid.  And, yes, they lived.  They stayed home. They didn't go the hospital. They were sick but they lived. That has given me hope.

The worst thing for me has been the anxiety.  

Anxiety from not having the “proper” PPE when we have had it ingrained in our heads since we were in college that we needed to wear it properly or we could get sick and die.  

Anxiety from being told that the PPE “isn't good enough” despite knowing that one surgical mask for the whole day is probably not.  Or, is it and we've been mislead all these years?

Anxiety from having to wear a thin, yellow “surgical” gown that tears the minute you put it on.

Anxiety from not knowing who to believe and anxiety because people in charge don't say the same thing.  

I have been fortunate.  I have my papercrafting.  I’ve been doing a lot of scrapbooking.  I’ve gone through many years of pictures.  It’s been therapeutic.  I have not been able to find my groove to make cards.  In March, I couldn’t even put my Paper Pumpkin kit together.  I did 3 cards a few weeks ago and couldn't do more.  Yesterday, I gave the rest of the kit away to a friend.

Yesterday, I decided I needed to just start over.  I needed to bury my head in all things Stampin’ Up! and get back to doing what I love.  So, I crafted. I did a video.  I texted with my friends.  I forgot about my full time job.  It was the best day I have had mentally in a very long time.

I organized my craft supplies.  That was the best.  I realized how much stuff I had and how much I don’t use.  I have Stampin’ Up! stuff from 2010.  I told one of my friends that I wished I hoarded toilet paper like I hoard embellishements.  It was cathartic and it also made me realize I had to use my stuff and stop hoarding my paper.

Paper. Designer Series Paper to be exact.  I have such a hard time cutting it up sometimes.  Especially the pretty ones, the blue ones, the green ones.  So, I devised a plan. 

I had purchased some of the new Stampin’ Up! products in the product preorder last week.  One of the perks of being a demonstrator is that we can order some stuff before the new catalog launches (and the new 2020-2021 Annual Catalog is launching on June 3^rd).  Yesterday morning, I did an unboxing video with the new products. Check it our here.  

Have you ever done a video?  The filming is the easiest.  The editing takes time – taking the stuff out you don’t want everyone to hear.  Like a cough or a sneeze, or when something falls and crashes, or when you can’t find something, or when your setup isn’t quite as organized as you thought so you waste time looking.  I like to watch videos that are helpful and to the point.  Some chatting is good; too much can be bad when you want someone to like your video.

The worst part of doing a video for YouTube is the uploading.  It took over 3 hours for my video to upload yesterday.  It was during these 3 hours that I organized and decided to use some of the gorgeous new paper from our upcoming catalog. 

Here are the cards I made. 

This paper, from the Flowers for Every Season Designer Series Paper, does all of the work.  It is stunning. 

The cards also show off our new 2020-2022 In-Colors.  Misty Moonlight, Just Jade, Magenta Madness, Bumblebee and Cinnamon Cider.  The blue is my favorite.  Yes, I say it all of the time and if we had every shade of blue available I would be happy.

The new ink is not available yet.  So, I stamped the Smile sentiment in our white craft ink on the new cardstock.  The Smile sentiment is from one of the new stamp sets called Lovely You.  The script on this stamp set is beautiful.

The ribbon and the gems are upcoming as well. 

One of the best things, in my opinion, in the new catalog is the Lovely Labels Pick a Punch. This is the punch that I used to make the banners on these cards. This punch allows you to do 6 punches.  It is great.  

I hope you watch the video and subscribe to my youtube channel. 

My advice to you today is to use that paper.  It will be hard (and having scraps left will be hard, too).  I may hoard the scraps...just saying.

Happy crafting and peace to all of you.  

And, thank you, for reading and for letting me be a bit too chatty today.

Megan