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