PP655 Back to School Bird

Hey there! Today's card is for The Paper Players challenge. This week's challenge is a sketch by my friend and Stampin' Up! Upline, LeAnne Pugliese. It's a great sketch that I will use often in the future!

My niece and nephew started school on Monday. I popped cards in the mail to wish them a good year. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of the card for my niece, Devon. She is a Junior this year. UGH! Jack is in 4th grade. This is a picture of them in May before Devon left for her prom. How are they this grown?!

Here's the card for Jack. I used Bird's Eye View, a set I reach for often. It's soooo cute!! I mean, how can you resist an adorable, chubby bird with glasses?!? You can't!!

I started off by stamping the adorable bird and his glasses on Basic White cardstock. I colored him in with Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends, and a little dab of Pumpkin Pie for his beak. Using SU!'s fabulous Paper Snips, I fussy cut (cut out by hand, not with a die) the little bird, being very careful around his tiny legs. I used Ranger Mini Glossy Accents on his glasses to give them some shine and set him aside to dry.

The books were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto a piece of Basic White cardstock that was cut with the retired Stitched Shapes square dies. WHY oh why did these dies have to retire?!? They're such a staple in my stamp room! I digress. The books were colored with Stampin' Blends in Boho Blue, Shaded Spruce, and Smoky Slate. The bird is popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals.

I used some retired DSP, Gingham Cottage, over a Basic White card base. The mat is Garden Green. Using the Best Family Ever set, I stamped "Nephew" with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto a strip of Smoky Slate. The bow is done with In Color Baker's Twine in Starry Sky and adhered with a mini glue dot.

Here's wishing all the students and teachers a wonderful, productive, and fun year ahead! My kids are 31, 28, and 24 so no more school days for us. I miss those days ...shopping for school supplies and clothes, first day pictures, fresh routines, etc. But this season is fun in it's own way!! To everything there is a season, right?

Thanks so much for popping by!

~Shawn

FMS600 and PP654 Lighting the way!

 Hey there! I've been a little MIA this past week. My daughter, Jackie, and I went down to my Aunt Kate's house near the Jersey shore...affectionately called "Camp Kate"! My Aunt Teresa joined us, too. It was a GREAT weekend full of so much talking and laughter ...my favorite! And some awesome food and cocktails, too. YUM!! The weather was absolutely gorgeous! This will be an annual event, for sure. Here's a pic of us on the beach.

On to the reason you're here ...the card! haha! I'm late for the PP654 Don't Bug Me challenge and I'm not thrilled with the card, but this blog is to document my creative journey which includes the cards I don't love. So here we go...

I struggled to find a stamp set in my stash that includes any bug stamps. The only one I could find was Lighting The Way, which has lightning bugs. This challenge also called for CAS, which stands for Clean and Simple. CAS cards are always a huge challenge for me! I love layers and embellishments and ribbon/twine ...all the things! In fact, many years ago when Jackie was still in high school I asked her what a particular card I was working on needed. She said, "It needs you to put it down!" hahahahaha! She is a riot and wasn't wrong! 

This card is about as CAS as I get. I used a Basic White card base of 4.25" x 11", scored at 5.5". A strip of Orchid Oasis is stamped with the tiny lightning bugs and dotted with Wink of Stella. I used vellum for the circle element of the sketch. The lightning bugs are stamped on Basic White with Memento Tuxedo Black and Lemon Lolly was used for their cute little light-up bottoms. They have Wink of Stella on them and are popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals. No card is complete without Stampin' Dimensionals, in my opinion! I go through a ton of them!! The sentiment is stamped with Orchid Oasis ink.

This card also follows the Freshly Made Sketches. They are celebrating their 600th sketch challenge!! So exciting!

Hope you're having a fabulous weekend! Hard to believe it's the last weekend in August and next weekend is Labor Day weekend!?!? It just whizzes by, doesn't it? 

Thanks so much for popping by! See you soon!

~Shawn

Project Details - All Products Stampin’ Up! Unless Otherwise Noted
Stamps	Lighting The Way
Cardstock & Papers	Basic White, Orchid Oasis, Vellum
Ink	Orchid Oasis, Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories	Wink of Stella
Tools	2.5” Circle Punch (retired), Stamping Dimensionals

Two cards for SS732

 Hello there! Welcome!

I have two cards for this week's Sketch Saturday Challenge. I started off trying to make this work with this week's The Paper Players challenge, too ...but failed!

Both cards use the retired Best Dressed DSP. Anyone who knows me knows I love all things girly! This set was a must have back in 2020. I played with it a ton at first, but then you know what happens ...a new catalog comes along with new stamps. Sadly, I've neglected this set. It was great to get it back out and play again!

The first card has a Blackberry Bliss base ..even though it looks black in the picture. What a fun saying, "Be as bold as your lipstick"! When Covid hit and we were all working from home, I got out of the habit of wearing lipstick every day. I should get back into it though, as it makes me feel more put together!

The second card also uses a Blackberry Bliss base. I pulled the other colors from the DSP. Stampin' Up! is famous for their impeccable color coordinating. It really makes designing so much more fun, just knowing that the paper, the ink, the ribbon will all match. I colored the stamped flowers with a Blender Pen and some Blackberry Bliss and Old Olive ink. Fun! This is another great sentiment and 100% true in my opinion.

I WILL tackle the Paper Players color challenge when I find some time to get back in my stamp room this week. If you haven't tried any challenges, I highly recommend them. They really push you and stretch your creativity. I've really enjoyed playing along with several different challenges over the past couple of months.

Thanks so much for popping by! Have a great afternoon!

~Shawn

GDP406 You Warm My Heart

 Hello there! Today's card is for the Global Design Project challenge #406. 

I played with this sketch so long it started to feel like work. Ugh!! Some days that happens, right? In the end, I'm happy with the result. But, man, it was a hard-fought battle. Here's my final card...

Part of my original struggle was that I wanted to use a specific sheet of DSP from the fabulous Delightfully Eclectic pack. The striped design is very 70's to me and I felt like that would go great with the adorable thermoses in Warmest Heart from the new September-December mini catalog. Well, what I discovered (not for the first time!) was that forcing something never works!! After four other cards, trying to make the DSP work, I tried Night of Navy card stock for the back piece and VOILA! It all came together and I love the end result. I guess that's why they're called challenges, huh? 

This photopolymer set is adorable and is also offered as a bundle with dies. They will be available on September 6th. One of the many benefits of being an SU! Demonstrator is that we get to pre-order new products typically a month ahead of customers. This gives us time to make samples and play with the products. Have I mentioned how much I love being an SU! Demonstrator!?! 

If you are interested in joining my team, shoot me an email (smostamps@gmail.com). I'd love to help you get started! You can join as a side hustle or just for the discount. We call those hobby demonstrators. That's what I've been for the past 19+ years. Now's a great time to join because you can order from the September-December mini catalog as part of your starter kit!! It's full of fabulous fall and holiday products!!

I'm off to my in-laws to celebrate my sister-in-law's and my youngest son's birthdays. At my son's request, I made a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. YUM! Now I just need to get it to their house in one piece. Haha!

Have a great rest of your weekend! Thanks for popping by!

~Shawn

FMS597 On My Mind

Hello there! My name is Shawn Marie O'Connell and I'm an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Welcome!

What a week! Finally got into my stamp room today and worked on the Freshly Made Sketches challenge. 

This challenge was, well ... challenging! haha! I made two cards and, honestly, I'm not thrilled with either. Oh well, sometimes that happens! I used the Delightfully Eclectic DSP as the background for both cards. I am absolutely LOVING this stack of DSP. It's a HUGE stack and full of super fun prints. 

For this card, I wish I would've placed the Pretty Peacock strip along the far right side instead of along the bottom. This print is one of my favorites in the pack of DSP.

Here's a version with less contrast. A softer version of the first.

I send a lot of "thinking of you" cards. One of these will be going to my Aunt Sandy. She asked me to make some cards for her to send to several friends who were recently diagnosed with cancer. As I mentioned in one of my first posts, my Aunt Sandy is the person who inspired my love of cards and sending happy mail. One of these cards will be sent to her, along with the ones she requested.

How about you? What's the type of card you send most often? I'd love to hear in the comments.

I have Stamp Class at my house tomorrow night. It's a fun night hanging out with the ladies! Cards, friendship, laughter, snacks ...what more could you ask for? If you're in the Southern Lancaster County area and want to join us sometime, please email me at smostamps@gmail.com.

Wishing you all a great weekend! Thanks for popping by!

~Shawn

Project Details - All Products Stampin’ Up! Unless Otherwise Noted
Stamps	Good Feelings
Cardstock & Papers	Crushed Curry, Petal Pink, Pretty Peacock, Whisper White, Delightfully Eclectic DSP
Ink	Pretty Peacock
Accessories	Iridescent Pearls
Tools	Nested Essentials dies, Stampin’ Dimensionals