International Stampin' Up! Blog Hop - Highlighting Retiring Products

Welcome to our International Blog Hop highlighting some of our favourite Stampin' Up! products that are retiring. We are sure that you will find some incredible inspiration from the projects that you are about to see. I am really excited to be participating in this blog hop. I entered this card in Kylie Bertucci's International blog highlight and somehow was voted as one of the favourites which resulted in me being selected to be in this hop. Thank you to all who voted.

You may just be starting the blog hop here with me - Lou Kitzelman - or may have come from the person previous to me in the list. If you get off track at any time, the full line up below will help you move along from blog to blog so you see all the projects. At the moment you are visiting me in Australia. If you live in Australia and were wanting to purchase some Stampin' Up!® Products I am happy to help you.

When I was thinking what to do for this blog hop I was surrounded by the retiring products and my New Year's resolution came to mind. I vowed that this year I wasn't going to hoard all my pretty things - keeping them for that 'special' project - and was just going to use them. Do you ever hesitate before cutting into that pretty piece of Designer Series Paper (DSP)? I also have fabric that I can't bear to cut up - but that's a whole other issue! So with my stash of retiring DSP, ribbons and trim (see list below) this is what I came up with.

As you can see I soon got over my problem with cutting up DSP! No difficult fancy card fold. Just a few scores and folds and I let the DSP take centre stage. Add in a flower made with my ribbons and trims and I soon had lots of special cards made. I wanted to make cards that wouldn't necessarily go into an envelope but could fit into a business size envelope if needed. Making the cards is easy. Cut a piece of DSP 21 x 24 cm and score along the 24 cm side as per the diagram below. Fold on the 2 middle score lines in towards the middle and then fold the 2 outer edges back. I like to lightly crease with my fingers and then when I have the 2 folded back pieces butted up together I use a bone folder to get a nice crisp crease.

I dug out my old daisy wheel (like the one on the right) to make some flowers to decorate the belly band. If you have experimented with lots of different crafts you might have one laying around. I've used thick baker's twine, cotton ribbon and Venetian Crochet trim to make daisies. It is super quick to whip up these cute flowers.

My cards are very simple - maybe too simple - but I really wanted to show off the DSP. Because the DSP is double sided you can choose which way to use it. Of course you could go crazy with decorating. Add in sentiments from the retiring stamp sets Sassy Salutations and Petite Pairs and you have quick but elegant cards in no time.

Regular Baker's twine also makes great daisies. Because it is thinner I have folded a Tea Lace Paper Doily (also retiring) to add to the design.

Cotton ribbon makes a chunkier, more casual, daisy.

Here I have used  Venetian Crochet trim to make the daisy.

The Dotted Lace trim makes beautiful rosettes. I cut a 40 cm piece, overlapped the ends by a few centimetres (making it into a circle) and ran a running stitch around the straight edge. As I stitched I pulled the thread and the rosette started to form. When you complete the circle, make sure it is all gathered and secure the end with a knot. Turn the rosette over and fluff up to even out the ruffles. As easy as that!

Add a Blossom Accent into the centre to cover your stitches.

 

A strip 3 cm wide is cut from the left over piece of DSP for the belly band. I wrapped it around, overlapping it and secured on the back. Secure your tags and flowers to this band. I have kept the card inside plain - just using a scrap of DSP to decorate.

In the spirit of not hoarding - here are a 2 cards I made with left over flowers and smaller pieces of DSP from some of the retiring stacks, using a similar card layout.

 

Millie my 'creative director' had some different ideas on how to shoot these projects! Let's just say it involved lots of smooching and testing how well secured the flowers were!

 

Thank you for looking at my part in our blog hop. Remember that currently you are visiting  Lou Kitzelman in Australia, so check the blog hop line up list below to see who is next. There are so many amazing ideas and inspiration you won't want to miss a single one!






Product List

Bohemian Designer Series Paper [138446] $19.25	Everyday Chic Designer Series Paper [138445] $19.25	Go Wild Designer Series Paper Stack [138441] $14.00	Cherry On Top Designer Series Paper Stack [138443] $14.00	Sassy Salutations Clear Stamp Set [126707] $34.00	Petite Pairs Clear Stamp Set [122497] $40.00	Tea Lace Paper Doilies [129399] $5.25
Venetian Crochet Trim [134581] $12.25	Rich Razzleberry 1/4" Cotton Ribbon [134564] $10.50	Mint Macaron 1" Dotted Lace Trim [138424] $10.50	Tip Top Taupe 1" Dotted Lace Trim [138422] $10.50	Smoky Slate Thick Baker’S Twine [138415] $6.25	Cherry Cobbler Thick Baker’S Twine [138414] $6.25	Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine [123125] $5.25
Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad [133642] $11.50	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931] $12.25	Blackberry Bliss A4 Cardstock [133682] $12.25	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] $15.00	Basic Black A4 Card Stock [121688] $12.25	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock [106550] $15.00	Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate [131291] $12.25
2015-2017 In Color Blossom Accents [138383] $14.00	Bone Folder [102300] $12.00	Stampin' Trimmer [129722] $50.00	SNAIL Permanent Adhesive [104332] $12.00	Glue Dots [103683] $9.00