Welcome to November's Global Stamping Friends blog hop. Today we are sharing projects with a snowflake theme and the best snowflake item in the Jul-Dec Mini Catalogue is the Peaceful Place Specialty designer series paper. The gorgeous metallic accents in this pack of paper makes this card pop!

Stampin' Up!'s Whimsy & Wonder Specialty Designer Series Paper can be found in the Jul-Dec Mini Catalogue and it's a fun pack of paper to use for your wintery crafting. You could use the coordinating Whimsical Trees stamp set with this DSP but I've decided to pair the Christmas to Remember stamp set for my card today.

Have you ever received an interactive card for your birthday? Stampin' Up!'s Sheep stamp set and dies make this card  Turning the wheel to get the sheep to "jump" over the fence will bring a smile to your face. I shared how to create this card at this month's team meeting on Zoom. 

Welcome to this month's Pretty Cards & Paper blog hop. We are sharing projects created using Stampin' Up!'s Painted Christmas designer series paper (shown below) to help inspire your creativity! To visit the other's blogs scroll down to after the video below to find a list of all the blogs.

Hello! Welcome to September's Colour Combo Blog Hop. Autumn is my favourite time of year. Doesn't this month's colour combo of Blushing Bride, Cinnamon Cider and Mango Melody give off fall-ish vibes? 

When I think of polar bears and the Arctic, I picture ice burgs and impressive skies. The Water Painters and the Fluid 100 Watercolour paper were used with Misty Moonlight and Pool Party ink refills to create the sky and water. Working with the Water Painters can be a little intimidating at first. Using them with the Fluid 100 Watercolour paper will help you because it can handle the water better than either Basic White cardstock or the Thick Basic White cardstock.

Hello and welcome to the next stop in August's Pretty Cards and Paper blog hop. My project uses the Peaceful Prints designer series paper. 

Isn't the tree design so pretty? Usually I start a scrapbook page with photos but this time I started with the designer series paper. If you're unsure of where to start with creating a layout Pinterest is a great place to start. Another option is to cut some paper and place it down, more items around a bit, or maybe walk away from the layout for an hour or two. 

Hello and welcome to my blog in this month's Colour Combo Blog Hop. Our projects for this blog hop use Gray Granite, Bermuda Bay and Gorgeous Grape.

Have you tried the Painted Texture 3D embossing folder before? It was available in the Jan-Jun Mini Catalogue and has carried over to the Annual Catalogue. I went digging through my embossing folders yesterday wondering what one I should use. It was hard to pick between the Painted Textured and the Tasteful Textile embossing folders. The best thing to do when you cannot chose between which embossing folder to use is to make a sample of both in the colour you will use. Then you can put the embossed cardstock down and place the items (without gluing them down) over top to see which one you prefer. Add the piece you don't use to your stash so that it's ready to go or make a 2nd card using it while you have all the items out. Then you'll have a few cards ready to send out for the time when you need it!

Do you love to colour? The Beautifully Penned designer series paper is designed for you to add colour! Or you can leave it black and white. You're choice. On this card I've used a piece of the polka-dot design and coloured the whole piece using Pool Party ink and a Blending Brush. The striped piece across the center is from the same pack of designer series paper that I didn't colour in. If you would like to see how to create this card watch my Instagram Reel: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CSNrYRJH_b0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link. I was going to try colouring it with Gorgeous Grape ink but thought the purple might be overpowering! What do you think, would the purple be a good addition or not?

You can find the Hand-Penned Petals bundle, the stamp set and dies used to create this card, in the Annual Catalogue on page 105 along with other items from the Hand-Penned Suite. While I do like the coordinating Hand-Penned designer series paper, I wanted to share that you can choose which designer series paper (DSP) you want to pair with any stamp set. Using DSP that is designed to work with a stamp set or bundle is an easy way to recreate project seen in the catalogue or create your own designs. But sometimes the DSP is either not in our favourite colours, design or perhaps there is already some DSP stashed in your crafting supplies? No, that last one cannot be the case! shhh, I won't tell. I have lots that I haven't used too!

Canadian Stampin' Up! demonstrators gathered together a few weeks ago on Facebook. It was fun! We were given a mystery stamping challenge and this is the card I made using the pieces we were told to gather. My favourite part of this challenge was the designer series paper strip. Can you believe that all the DSP is from one strip measuring 2" x 12"? Even the brick design is from the same sheet. To create each of the layers cut from the strip of DSP on the long side, cut at 3", 4" and 5". The Evening Evergreen cardstock layers behind each pieces of DSP are 2.25" x 3.25", 2.25" x 4.25" & 2.25" x 5.25". Before gluing the pieces together layer them on your card front and arrange the layers in the design you like or copy what I've done with my card.

The January–June 2021 Mini Catalog will be retiring soon - on June 30! It’s always bittersweet to see a classic Stampin’ Up! catalog take a trip to retirement. Stock up on your favorite products before they’re gone for good! Save up to 50% on essential craft supplies. I'm looking forward to all the new products on their way and I look forward to sharing with you how to use them and projects we can make. I hope you are excited, too!

Free ship is coming for one day only - June 24! Any order placed that is $65 or more qualifies for free shipping. Use the following link to order on Thursday: https://www.stampinup.ca?hostcode=34VERA7X

Thank you for stopping by! ~ Amanda 

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On Saturday I participated in an online event where a fellow Canadian demonstrator hosted an online training and creative session. This was one of the cards she designed for us to create using stamps, dies and designer series paper from the Plentiful Plants suite. It's fun to gather with other demonstrators virtually or when there were in person events. The community that enjoys being creative and loves Stampin' Up! products is what I enjoy the most about events and meeting other demonstrators. It's one way I can feel connected and part of something bigger than me. Knowing that there is someone else out there that enjoys the same things I do is a great comfort. 

There can be a striking and bold impact when using only black and white. And it can be fun to create with limiting your colour choices. A great way to get started is to look for black and white designs in Stampin' Up!'s designer series papers. There are a few you could use, such as the True Love designer series paper from the Jan-Jun Mini Catalogue or use the Pattern Party designer series paper in the Annual Catalogue like I have for this card.