CRAFTDOC

My goal today was to play with the new Stampin’ Up! Soft Pastels and do some #simplestamping.  I’ve been a demonstrator 22 years – long enough to miss the pastels we used to have.  I’m happy to have pastel chalks back in our coloring repertoire.  I had fun remembering some of our old techniques and pairing them with some new stamp sets.

1.  Use Pastels to color in an image.  Below I used a high tech (lol) Q-tip to add soft color to the flower and leaves.  I stamped in our lightest color (Sahara Sand) and distressed the edges of the panel with Paper Snips for a muted, antiqued look.

2. Pick up some chalk with a Blender Pen.   For this succulent card, I colored the image directly with the Granny Apple Green chalk and then blended it with my finger (or use a sponge dauber or blending brush).  This also makes a soft halo around the image.  Then I grabbed some Gorgeous Grape pastel chalk with the Blender Brush to color the tips.

Here’s a close up.  Note a fun use for the Strawberry Builder Punch.  I punched out 2 stems and one flower to add some dimension to this #simplestamping card.

3.  The Oldie but Goodie Poppin’ Pastel Technique!  This works best with a solid image.  Stamp in Versamark Ink, then rub pastel chalk over the image.  Brush off and blend chalk with a sponge dauber or blending brush (or your finger).  Another #simplestamping card.

I had fun playing with the new Stampin’ Up! Soft Pastels and I hope you enjoyed my projects.  Thanks for supporting my home business with your purchases – be sure to check out the Last Chance Sale and the new Kits Collection.

Happy crafting,
Kim Wilson
Clickable Product List

It’s time to say goodbye to the Jan – June Minicatalog.  Many favorite stamps and dies are carried over into the new Annual catalog.  However, some fun papers and accessories are retiring.

One of my favorites is the Dandy Garden cards & envelopes.  Now at 50% off, these are beautiful and a great value.  I enjoyed some quick crafting projects with these cards.  Here are just a couple:

I added some of the other products from this Suite that are also half price (see links at the bottom of this post).

The Dandy Garden Memories & More Card Pack has some great layering pieces, as well as these fun stickers that I used on the inside of the cards.

Here’s a project right from the minicatalog:

And here is the recipe for the card.  It is so quick and easy with the fun Dandy Garden products.

It’s not often that you can make beautiful cards in less than a minute, so you might want to stock up on these!

Happy crafting,

Kim Wilson

Product List

Free Creative Download – link below.

I’m back from Maui, and having beach withdrawal along with my jetlag.  It was an awesome trip with a creative and caring community of friends.  Thanks Stampin’ Up! for providing this opportunity!   If you want to know more about how I work hard to earn Stampin’ Up! trips, check out this post from 4 years ago.  Traveling is one of my “whys” for joining.  The other Stampin’ Up! meetings for this year will be virtual, and those will be fun too, but it was so great to see my friends in person in Maui.

This was our view out the window, along with the leis from the resort.

Early in the morning I walked the beach and then took a swim in one of the many pools.  One advantage of the 6 hour time difference was getting out before the crowd to enjoy some solitude.

And then gathering with old and new friends was pretty awesome.

Every night we had a beautiful sunset.

and a fun pillow gift.  We even got the new minicatalog and some of the new products before anyone else.

We had a gathering place with displays and swaps.  Did you get your free digital download last week?  If not, here is the link to these lovely images and sentiments in celebration of the cultural diversity of Stampin’ Up! market countries.

Here are a couple of swaps, along with a couple of my own cards featuring some favorite products from the new Annual Catalog.  More about my Spiral Dye card is on this post.  I love how these demonstrators added the Hey Birthday Chick Bundle to their cards.  More about the amazing Days to Remember stamp set in a future post.

I’m here to serve your creative needs with fun products and classes.  I’m inviting you to join our fun community  and enjoy the perks of being a demonstrator.  We have a great JOIN special that ends this week.   Check it out here.

If you want an early peek at the Last Chance Sale from the minicatalog, contact me through my website and I can email you a copy.  It begins June 1 at 3PM Mountain Time.

Do you get my newsletter?  Are you a member of our exclusive Facebook group for my card classes?  How do you love the new annual catalog?  Let me know what new bundles you would like me to focus on in the upcoming weeks.

Happy crafting,

Kim Wilson

One of the perks of any Stampin’ Up! meeting is the opportunity to swap with other demonstrators.  The Incentive Trip, though mostly just a fun vacation to earn, is no exception.   I have my bag of swaps all packed and ready to hand off to the staff that take such good care of us on these trips.  This will be posting while I am gone and I’ll have the swaps I received to hopefully share next week when I get back.

I wanted to use the beautiful new Pansy Petals Designer Series paper, especially the fun gingham pattern on the back.  And I found an older project of mine that I wanted to CASE using a die cut opening for a butterfly to close the card.  So this is what I came up with.  The supplies I used are all linked at the bottom.

And here is a close up of how you fold up the butterfly wings to open the card.

You can use any thin die or punch to make the opening.  Just add the DSP first and cut through both layers of the card front.  Use the DSP cut out for inside the card, and the cardstock piece for the sentiment on the front – so clever and easy.  I added a pansy and a couple extra butterflies to decorate the card front.

Check my most recent post for some great Stampin’ Up! specials, and why not give this technique a try!

Happy crafting,

Kim Wilson

Clickable Product List

Do you love all the projects people are posting with the new Stampin’ Up! catalog products?  I want to feature the host sets and the new host PAPER, yes PAPER today.  (You know I love my Designer Paper).

First we have  Better Places.  I think this nature themed set will be perfect for masculine cards or graduation cards, or really any occasion.  It is quite unique in its line art work, and will bring your papercrafting up to the next level with just ink and paper.

I had a few minutes to play with this set and here’s what I did:

Notice the new Evening Evergreen In Color – perfect for this set.  I also used Misty Moonlight and Sahara Sand on the 3 panel card.

My next pick was the Natural Textures set.  I haven’t played with it yet, but who doesn’t need some fun textures for project backgrounds?

Next is  Prince & Princess.  This looks fun for baby cards and kids birthdays.  And who can resist the cute frog?

But my favorite of all is  Pattern Party.  It is 48 full 12×12 sheets of beautiful paper.  One side is brightly colored patterns, and the other side is black & white patterns.  A pack of this will last you for many fun projects!  I can’t wait to delve into my pack.

You know that I always try to get my crafty friends the biggest bang for their buck.  Well, I figured out that with the host special going on right now, you can get all 4 host items for just $3.  (Actually, that’s what I did myself on my first order from the new catalog).  Or you can mix and match host sets with regular merchandise.  But the only way to get the host items is with host rewards, so don’t forget to add them to that section of your order.  Remember, there is one host set in the mini catalog too (Suite Sampler).

The extra $25 in host rewards is on top of the $25 for a $250 party.

Here are some other options to double dip on the specials:

1.  Use the $50 host rewards from your $250 party to pay for half of the demonstrator starter kit and join Stampin’ Up!
2. Join Stampin’ Up! for just $99 (getting $155 in product of your choice with free shipping) and then have a party with yourself as host and claim the extra host Rewards.

However you decide to make the most of your crafting dollars, I am here to help you.  Just contact me through my website and I’ll get back to you soon.  Allow extra time as I will soon be on the Stampin’ Up! incentive trip to Maui – more about that next time.

If you want to order and reach the host rewards on your own, here is my store link.

And if you want to jump right into our fun community, here is my join link.

Happy crafting,

Kim Wilson
Product List

The new Annual Catalog went live today!  You can download it here, or just go right to the shop.

4 May 2021 – 2 May 2022

Download | Shop Online

What’s at the top of your shopping list?  For me it was the Expressions in Ink Suite.

There is a reason this suite made the cover of the new Stampin’ Up! catalog.  It is just gorgeous.  I can’t wait to play with it.

One stamp that you might miss at first is the Spiral Dye background stamp.  I had fun making multiple colors (Pale Papaya and Fresh Freesia) with my Stamparatus.

Tip:  Just rotate your paper 180 degrees between colors and they will be slightly offset.

Another tip:  Punch out of the mat to save paper.  Don’t you love these new In Colors!

Wouldn’t you love an extra $25 to spend in the new catalog?  Contact me to set up your own host code for online ordering or a small in-person gathering for some crafting fun!

If your shopping list is close to $99, why not consider the Stampin’ Up! starter kit and get $155 product of your choice – only in May – free shipping too!   Demonstrators get to pre-order products like my Spiral Dye stamp and enjoy a fun crafting community.  Whether to support your hobby or for a business, I’m here to help you get started.

I hope you enjoyed my Spiral Dye project and the new catalog!

Happy crafting,

Kim Wilson

Clickable Product List

I almost left out some of my favorites!  Just because they are Christmas stamp sets, does not mean that we can’t show them now, especially since they are retiring!  If you like to make your Christmas cards early, check out some of these and the matching dies before they are gone on May 3.

Click below to see if they are still available.

Happy crafting,

Kim Wilson
Product List

I’ve been covering some of my favorite retiring Stampin’ Up! products in my Lunchtime Lives (MWF on my page).  For #simplestamping I love our Notecards & Envelopes.  They fit nicely in the mini Paper Pumpkin Boxes.  Cute Fruit is a fun set to use.  And Comfort & Hope is another set that works great with the notecards.

All Wired Up is also retiring – you can see my Hey Chick slimline card below.  I used the Stamparatus to add bits of the wire with Smoky Slate ink.

The last Paper Pumpkin kit – So Cool was… So quick to make and perfect for traveling.  I was out of town for the first time in a year to celebrate my mom’s birthday.

I even had time to make a few #simplestamping alternates with the note cards.

I did 2 different techniques using the Ice Cream Corner Designer Paper and the popsicle stamp.  On the right, I completely cut it out (fussy cutting).  And in the center, I did paper piecing.  I stamped the popsicle on the card and then cut inside the lines that were stamped on the DSP.

There are just a few days left in the Last Chance Sale and stamps, dies, paper, embellishments are starting to sell out.  So check out the store to catch them before they are gone for good.

Did you get your new Annual Catalog?  Be sure you have subscribed to my newsletter so you don’t miss out on any new projects, specials and events.  There is both a host special and join special in May.

Happy crafting,

Kim Wilson
Product List

There are just a few days left to get these favorite Stampin’ Up! stamp sets.  Links will be at the bottom of this post.  Have fun shopping the Last Chance Sale!

What do you think of the Beautiful World stamp set that we used in the April Card Class?  If you missed class, you can catch it in my Facebook group for customers or on youtube.  I loved making the distressed look on the top 2 cards, and the bottom one is a fun fold to show off the beautiful World of Goods Designer paper (also retiring and on sale).

Gold embossed leaves?  Why not?

You can send lots of healing thoughts with this set.

Sweet sentiments come with this whimsical set.

Elegant 2 step stamping and more lovely sentiments.

Don’t miss this fun host set – perfect for watercoloring.

Elegant bands for fancy cards.

I couldn’t find my samples for this set, but it is too beautiful to leave out!

The Vase Builder Punch is 60% off!

I hope you enjoyed a last look at some of these favorites.  Check them out in my store at the thumbnail links below.

Happy crafting,

Kim Wilson

Product List

It seems like a lot of  stamping staples are retiring this year.  We were told that this is because of the cyclical nature of non-consumable items such as punches and dies.  Once everybody has them, the demand (and sales) go way down until another group of new crafters arises.  That tells me we better get crafting with the next generation!

Anyways, I wanted to show you some of my top retiring suggestions, just in case you don’t have these Stampin’ Up! essentials before they are gone.  Just click on a photo to see the details.

Product List

Happy crafting,

Kim Wilson