Stampin' With Shawn

A Cut Above for PP655

Woohoo! My sweet little bird card was named A Cut Above for this week's The Paper Players challenge!! Thanks, Suzy Hinton. So exciting!!

See you soon with another card. Thanks for popping by!

~Shawn

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

Special Delivery

Hey there! Welcome!

I am so excited about this card! My friend and upline, LeAnne Pugliese, made a bridge card a few weeks ago and I've been wanting to try one ever since. I've known LeAnne since 2005 when I joined Stampin' Up! the first time. We've been friends ever since! Check out the card that inspired me here. LeAnne is a beautiful stamper! Her vintage style cards are my favorite!!

This is called a bridge card and it was my first time making one. Just like many things, the first time is a little challenging and then it's easy peasy! I am LOVING this little Trucking' Along bundle. It's worth the hype it's been getting. This is an online exclusive, which means it's not in any catalog. You can only find it online. The online exclusives are first come first serve. In many cases, when they're gone ...they're gone! I suggest scooping them up right away so you don't miss out.

I got my measurements from LeAnne. I took a piece of cardstock 5 1/2" x 7"', and on the 7" side scored it at 1",1 3/4", 5 1/4", and 6". Fold in the two sides so that it forms a sort of box shape, and that's it! The horizontal piece is 3 1/2" across. You can make it as high as you'd like to accommodate whatever you're putting on that piece. When you fold it flat, it still fits in a standard A2 envelope (4 3/8" x 5 3/4").

I recommend doing as much of the work as possible while the card is flat. Once you have it in the box shape, it's not as easy to decorate, in my opinion.

Here's a bit of a side view:

The truck is stamped with Real Red ink and the outline in Memento Tuxedo Black. I find that stamping the solid, color portion first makes it easier to line up the outline. The tires and road are stamped in Pebbled Path, which is quickly becoming a favorite of mine! The image was then punched with the Trucking' Along punch. This item is on back-order until sometime in October, but the stamp set is still available. I stamped the tree in Garden Green, stamped-off once to lessen the intensity of the color. The outline was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and then fussy cut and attached to the back of the truck. The truck is popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals. I LOVE Dimensionals and use them on just about every card I make. They add so much ....well, dimension. haha!!
This card has was a bit time-consuming, but well worth the outcome!

We will be making it at my August Stamp Class on Saturday. Hoping my ladies love it as much as I do!! If you live in the Southern Lancaster County area and are interested in joining us for Stamp Class, please email me at smostamps@gmail.com. I hold classes on the first Saturday of each month, minus January and December. February through June we make all occasion cards. July through November we make mostly Christmas cards. It's a great time!

Here's to a great week ahead! Hard to believe August is just a couple days away.

Thanks for popping by!

~Shawn

FMS596 All Kinds of Wonderful!

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

My card today is for yet another fabulous Freshly Made Sketches sketch challenge. When I first looked at this I thought, "Yikes!".

Then I looked at the cards made by the team and was inspired by Linda Callahan's adorable card using the Bird's Eye View stamp set. Go check it out. Sooo cute!! Here's my take on the sketch:

I am really happy with this card! I just wish I would've stamped the sentiment up a bit higher to allow more space above the leaves. Oh well, live and learn. haha!

I really love coloring with Stampin' Blends so much. I have a set of Ohuhu alcohol markers and a good bit of Copics. I've been very hesitant to jump on the Stampin' Blends wagon. You just can not beat the color consistency that Stampin' Up! has across all the things ...card stock, ink, markers, ribbon, embellishments. What a difference it makes in your finished projects! Not to mention eliminating the hassle of figuring out which marker from another company matches a certain Stampin' Up! color. It really makes coloring so much more fun!!

This card will go to a woman who has filled in for my friend and colleague who had her knee replaced. Deborah has been a God-send in Kim's absence. We were all worried because Kim keeps the office running like no other!! But Deborah has done an outstanding job and has been a huge help to me. I will miss her and her cheerful spirit. I will also be thrilled to have Kim back!!!

Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you a fantabulous weekend!

~Shawn

FMS507 Good Luck!

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

I needed a card for one of our interns. His last day is Friday. He's such a sweet guy and we will miss him very much! His Mom works in our office, too, so we'll get updates on how he's doing in college.

I used an old Freshly Made Sketches sketch, shown here:

Aden is a football player, so I printed out the school's mascot. I die cut the image (and some retired DSP) with the retired Stitched Shapes circle dies. The sentiment is from the retired Custom Tee stamp set. I know we all want new, fresh things ...but it can be very frustrating when solid, classic things are retired. Who doesn't "need" Stitched Shapes in their crafting arsenal?!?

This is currently being passed around the office for everyone to sign. I work with a bunch of Design Engineers, mostly men. I think after two years they are finally used to me making cards and asking for their signatures. haha!

Hope your week is off to a great start! Thanks for stopping by!

~Shawn

PP650 Sending Warmth

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

How are we at Monday again already!?! Boy, the weekends sure do fly by. My card today was inspired by The Paper Players. I love a good sketch to kick-start the creative juices!

The only stamping I did on this card was the sentiment, which I embossed with white embossing powder. The One Horse Open Sleigh DSP, an online exclusive, is ahhhh-mazing!!! The photos don't do it justice, truly! They are stunning! I ordered two more packs so I can use them in a class in September. Get your hands on some of this paper before it's all gone!

Loving this clean and simple layout and card!

Thanks so much for visiting today. Have a great week!

~Shawn

FMS595 Peace and Joy

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

I spent some time in my stamp room this afternoon working on the Freshly Made Challenges Challenge #595.

I flipped the sketch to accommodate the curved Peace and Joy sentiment. I'm loving this Online Exclusive stamp set, So Very Merry, from Stampin' Up!

I embossed the angel image on vellum with gold embossing powder, which was inspired by Erica Cerwin. She talked about doing this in her most recent Facebook Friday. I colored the backside of the image with Stampin' Blends. I used some retired circle dies to cut it out and mounted it onto some white card stock. I used those retired circle dies to make a frame from Azure Afternoon card stock. This allowed me to glue down the image without the card background showing through the vellum. I embossed the panel on the left with the Exposed Brick 3D embossing folder. Some gold Simply Elegant Trim tied in a double bow and some adhesive-backed sequins added the finishing touch!

I hope you've all had a wonderful weekend! My daughter, Jackie, and I visited my niece and her family yesterday. She has two adorable little ones, Cade and Avery. I'm so mad that we didn't take a single picture. UGH!! At least we made some fun memories and got to meet sweet miss Avery, who is now six months old. Time sure does fly!!

Wishing you all a fabulous week! Thanks for visiting!

~Shawn

BIG SALE!!!!

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

BIG NEWS!! Stampin' Up! is have a huge sale on almost all of their stamp sets tomorrow, 07/19. With the exception of the Hostess stamp sets, all stamp sets are 15% off! You do not want to miss this!! Act fast because this awesome deal only lasts for ONE DAY.

Shop with me at this link: https://stampinwithshawn.stampinup.net/ Click on Shop Now in the upper left corner to see all the incredible stamp sets.

Another great promotion happening in July is Bonus Days! Shop from July 6-21 to earn a $5 coupon for every $50 you spend! Then redeem your coupons in August!

Thanks for stopping by! Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

~Shawn

FMS 594 Take Two...

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

I love the Freshly Made Sketches challenges. Yesterday I posted a card I made for the latest challenge, #594. Looking at the card afterwards, I was not happy with the flower. It felt flat. I messed around with the outline image in the same stamp set, Delightful Dahlias ...a Sale-A-Bration set from a few years ago. Adding the outline image really makes the image pop! Using the (now retired) Stamparatus made this easy work. I stamped two different color flowers. I'm especially loving the Melon Mambo flower with the Granny Apple Green leaves.

This is a great stamp set if you like fussy cutting! In case you aren't sure what that means, fussy cutting is when you use scissors to cut out an image. Some people hate it. I think it's relaxing and soothing! This set doesn't have dies, so fussy cutting it is!! Woohoo!

Wishing you all a fabulous week! Thanks for visiting!

FMS594 Heartfelt Sympathy

Hello there! My name is Shawn Marie O'Connell and I'm an independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator in Southeaster, PA. Welcome!

I haven't had much time to stamp the past couple of weeks, as the owner of the company I work for was here from Taipei. Work took over most of my time to prepare for and help execute the visit. It's always such an adrenaline rush ...and then a huge crash! haha! While I thoroughly enjoy event and meeting planning, it's always really nice when it's all over and we can collectively exhale!!

The card is a CASE of Narelle Farrugia's card, and is my submission for Freshly Made Sketches #594.

A very dear friend of ours passed away suddenly a few weeks ago. His name was Gary and he was only 72 years old! So tragic. He was living in Oklahoma for the past several years to help his parents who are in their late 90's. The services being held here will be next weekend. This card will go to his parents.

This sketch was a great place to start for a sympathy card, and I fell in love with Narelle's card. I love the colors she chose and that chubby little bird is adorable!! I have three more sympathy cards to make for his daughters.

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend! It's still super hot and humid here in Lancaster County, PA. GROSS!! I love the vibes of Summer ...but Spring and Fall are my favorites.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Shawn

FMS593 & TTTC215 Thank You

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

In the paper crafting community there's a popular acronym: CASE. This means Copy And Share Everything. The majority of the cards I've made have been CASEd from someone else. I started this blog to push myself out of my comfort zone. I am determined to participate in at least two challenges each week. Some weeks that will be one card that combines two challenges. Some weeks it might be three or four cards. All depends on how much crafting time I can squeeze in!

After work today, I popped into my stamp room and got to work on the Freshly Made Sketches #593 and Tic Tac Toe #215 challenges. I chose the far right column on the Tic Tac Toe challenge.

This isn't one of my favorite cards, but I'm posting it anyway. Here I go ....out of my comfort zone! haha! I really like these colors, but I LOVE the Just My Type stamp set. It is sooo flippin' cute!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you're having a great week!

~Shawn

FMS592 Sending Love & Christmas Cheer

Hey there! Happy Saturday!!

I have Stamp Class at my house tonight. It's always a fun night making cards, and enjoying some wine and chocolate!! Tonight we are getting a head start on our Christmas cards. From February through June we make regular cards: birthday, sympathy, thank you, anniversary, congrats, thinking of you, etc. From July through November we make mostly Christmas cards and gift card holders.

The card below is one of the cards we'll be making tonight! The sketch is from Freshly Made Sketches. I've CASEd this card from Amy O'Neill.

Since this is a Christmas card, I chose to leave the leaves off. If you zoom in you can see that I didn't start blending the Azure Afternoon ink on scrap paper before moving onto the card. When you don't do this, you get heavy splotches of ink. My Azure Afternoon ink pad is especially juicy, which makes the splotches even more noticeable. I'm leaving it this way as a word of caution to the ladies tonight. A "learn from my mistakes" moment. haha! I used Masking Paper and a circle punch to mask the area for the sun while blending the Azure Afternoon sky. Then I used that same circle punch to create a mask for the Daffodil Delight sun.

I am slowly building up my Stampin' Blends collection, but didn't have what I needed for this card. The branch and bird were colored with Ohuhu alcohol ink markers purchased in a set of 120 from Amazon. Now that I'm looking at the photograph, I think I change the color of the bird. There's not enough contrast from the color of the sky.

Wishing you all a fabulous Fourth of July weekend! I'm so excited to have a four-day weekend!! Planning on getting lots of stamping done.

Thanks for visiting! Happy Birthday to this flawed, but still AMAZING, country of ours!! God Bless America!!

~Shawn