Creation Station Blog Hop - New Catalog Sneak Peek!

One of my most favorite times of the year as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is when I get to see the new catalog and look through it page by page. Not only do we get to have a first look at the catalog, but we can also pre-order some of the new in-colors and accessories, as well as choose from a select number of stamp sets and other products! For all of our customers, the catalog will be live to order from on June 2nd, but in the meantime...let us whet your appetite with some sneak peeks as The Creation Station is ready to share with you some fun, new products you're sure to love!

This month's theme is a Sneak Peek Free For All! You might have just hopped over from Jen Arkfeld's blog, but if you're starting here then get ready for some inspiration as you hop along with us today! We have some new members that have joined our team recently, so we would like to offer a big welcome to Martha Inchley, Dena Rekow and Sarah Klass. These are some amazingly talented ladies and we are excited to have them join us!

First up uses the ADORABLE new 6x6 DSP stack called Cherry on Top. These patterns in this paper stack are so bright and cheery!! It includes a few of the new 2015-2017 In-Colors called Tip Top Taupe, Watermelon Wonder, and Cucumber Crush, along with some originals like Crushed Curry, Soft Sky, and Bermuda Bay. I used the new Watermelon Wonder for the card base. The stamp set I used is also new and it's called Sprinkles of Life. This set you can find on the very last page of the catalog and with each purchase of this stamp set $3 will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House Charities. It's such a cute set ~ and you can even purchase a coordinating punch to help punch out many of the little pieces. To top it off there are so many cute sentiments in this set and the one I used on this card is one of my favorites! It might

Not sure if you could see it as well in the first picture, so I zoomed in to show you the new 2015-2017 In Color Ribbon. I just have it sneaking through on the bottom of the card, but it's actually 1" wide Dotted Lace Trim. It comes in all of the 5 new In-Colors.

The second card I am sharing today also uses a splash of the new Cherry on Top DSP pairs with a Crushed Curry card base. The tiny little banners on the bottom right are die-cut from the Bitty Banners Framelits. The focal point of the card is the new Build a Birthday stamp set. I love it! There are so many possibilities on creating a fun cake perfect for a birthday card. I also added a little Soft Sky Cotton Twine bow (from the 2015 Occasions Catalog). As you can see I don't have the greeting on the outside of the card, so you could really use this card for any sort of occasion meant to celebrate if you wanted to.

Or...you could add a birthday greeting on the inside! I wanted to spruce it up a little, so I added a piece of Whisper White and took a strip of the same Cherry on Top DSP I used on the front and placed it on the bottom then stamped my greeting in the middle.

Thanks for coming by today to take a look at some of the new goodies that are coming soon! This catalog is such a fun one and there are really some great new stamps to choose from! Continue on the hop to visit Jennifer Frost or if you're hopping backwards you can visit Jen Arkfeld next.

Creation Station Blog Hop - Lotus Blossom

Time flies when you're staying busy!! Unfortunately my creative juices haven't been able to flow much lately as I have been busy with planning a pretty big family Bingo Night event at my kids' school. Therefore, this little blog got put on the back burner. But...the event was on Friday and now I hope to be back into creating again! With my monthly card night coming up this week, I sure I hope I'm in the mood! ;)

For today's Creation Station Blog Hop we were able to choose from the following (any or all):
1. Theme: Easter
2. For Peeps Sake Stamp Set
3. Lotus Blossum Sale-A-Bration Stamp Set

Because of the aforementioned busy-ness I just have one sweet, but simple card to share with you today using the Sale-A-Bration Lotus Blossom stamp set. I actually created this card for one of my card nights last week, so it's one of those cards that is easily reproducible. 

This stamp set is a Two-Step Stamp Set, but technically it's a Three-Step stamp!

To create the flower I inked up the full flower image with Rose Red and stamped off once onto a scrap paper before stamping on my Whisper White. This gives the image a softer color. Then I used Rose Red again and stamped the second image right over what I had just stamped. Finally I used the third image and inked it up with Cherry Cobbler and overlapped it again creating this beautiful effect. There are SO MANY colors you can use to create this beautiful flower and I have seen some amazing samples. Just search "Lotus Blossom Stampin Up" in Pinterest and you will be WOW'd!

Adding the "thank you" on the inside of the card finishes off the sentiment from the front.

It's fun to use different embellishments clustered together. I used a Rose Red Candy Dot, Rhinestone, and Pearl to add a little something to the corner. Plus adding the texture to the background of the card base gives the card a fun look matching the dots from the patterned strip of paper in the middle of the card.

Stamp Sets	Lotus Blossom
Ink	Rose Red, Cherry Cobbler, Wild Wasabi
Paper	Whisper White, Rose Red, Wild Wasabi, Painted Blooms DSP
Accessories	SNAIL Adhesive, Stampin’ Dimensionals,Wild Wasabi Cotton Twine, Regal Candy Dots (Rose Red), Rhinestones, Pearls
Tools	Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine, Decorative Dots Embossing Folder

Thank you so much for coming by for a visit today! Continue on the hop to visit the talented Jennifer Frost or hop backwards to see what Sara Levin is inspiring us with today. Click on the buttons below to take you where you want to go!

Creation Station Blog Hop - Baby Baby!

For today's Creation Station Blog Hop we were able to choose from the following (any or all):
1. Theme: Babies
2. Little Sunshine Stamp Set
3. Simply Wonderful Sale-A-Bration Stamp Set

I chose to focus on the baby theme and I have double the fun for you today! I created a boy and a girl card option by just a flip of the DSP and changing up the ink and twine. Easy peasy & cutie patootie!

Stamp Sets	Zoo Babies
Ink	Hello Honey, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Baked Brown Sugar
Paper	Whisper White, Hello Honey, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Lullaby DSP
Accessories	SNAIL Adhesive, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Coastal Cabana & Crisp Cantaloupe Thick Baker's Twine
Tools	Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine, Bitty Banner Framelits, Hearts Border Punch

Thank you so much for coming by for a visit today! Continue on the hop to visit the talented Jennifer Frost or hop backwards to see what Sara Levin is inspiring us with today. Click on the buttons below to take you where you want to go!

Creation Station Blog Hop - Big Day

We're excited to be back for another week of The Creation Station Blog Hop! Are you ready for some inspiration today?!

For today's hop we were able to choose from the following (any or all):
1. Theme: Birthdays
2. Celebrate Today Stamp Set
3. Big Day Sale-A-Bration Stamp Set

I decided to create some fun card samples using the Big Day Sale-A-Bration stamp set. I earned this FREE with my $50 order and YOU can, too!! I am just loving the Sale-A-Bration options this year. Have you seen them yet? Take a peek HERE at this year's Sale-A-Bration brochure

This first card is probably my favorite of the three I created to share with you today. There are actually three different images here that I put all together onto one block. Makes it easy to have it all lined up at one time.

I stamped the images with Black Memento Ink and then colored some of them in with Blendabilities (Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral, Bermuda Bay, and Smoky Slate). I wanted the "celebrate" banner to stand out a little, so I stamped it on a scrap of paper and cut it out using Paper Snips then popped it up with some Dimensionals. The candle is an individual stamp from the set and I opted to just put one candle on the cake, but you can make your cake as candle heavy as you want! The cake has some Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the top and I attached a Bermuda Bay Baker's Twine bow on the front with a glue dot. The fun confetti paper is from the Birthday Bash Specialty Paper...a favorite of mine from the Occasions Catalog! (You'll soon see this is true!)

Next up also uses the Birthday Bash Specialty Paper. I just love those balloons. They are perfect for birthday cards! I added a strip of Gold Glimmer paper to bring in some of the gold from the balloons in the paper. I kept the image simple with just using the Happy Birthday colored in with Calypso Coral Blendabilities. I attached a {retired} arrow clip to the corner and tied a Bermuda Bay Baker's Twine bow onto it. The base of the card is Night of Navy, which pulls out the blue from the balloons on the patterned paper. Lastly, I added a trio of Calypso Coral candy dots in the right bottom corner for a finishing touch!

The last card was a simple one to pull together, as well. The base is Crushed Curry with a Bermuda Bay layer and then topped with a piece of paper from the Birthday Bash Specialty Paper. (Can you see a theme here?) I again colored in the image using both Calypso Coral and Bermuda Bay Blendabilities. I wanted some bling, so I added some rhinestones for underneath the word "cake". Did you know that with our rhinestones, there are some that come attached together as one long string? This was probably the first time I used them that way...I usually just cut them apart for individual rhinestones. The banners are cut from Mossy Meadow cardstock and I added a Crushed Curry bow for the top. It reminded me a of a bow for the top of a present.

Thank you so much for coming by for a visit today! Continue on the hop to visit the talented Jennifer Frost or hop backwards to see what Sara Levin is inspiring us with today. Click on the buttons below to take you where you want to go!

Creation Station Blog Hop - Irresistibly Yours

It's another fun Creation Station hop this week! Many of our group were at Stampin' Up! Leadership last week, so we postponed our "1st Sunday" hop for this Sunday instead, so that you could have a little more inspiration! Because of this you'll get back-to-back weeks of The Creation Station, so be sure to come back and join us next Sunday, too!

For today's hop we were able to choose from the following (any or all):
1. Sheltering Tree (Occasions Catalog)

2. Irresistibly Yours DSP (Sale-A-Bration)

3. Theme: Spritzing Technique

When I received my Sale-A-Bration freebies, I was very much intrigued by the Irresistibly Yours DSP. You can earn this pack of 12x12 DSP (6 sheets, 2 designs of each) for FREE with a $50 order. This paper is fantastic! It is all white paper with glossy white patterns and it is perfect for a variety of coloring techniques. Coloring reveals the pattern!

There are a variety of ways to color this paper, but today I am showcasing using the method of sponge daubing and sponging. I started with wiping with a sponge a layer of Wild Wasabi ink over the entire piece of DSP. This gave it a "base layer" of ink.

I wanted some accents of Garden Green ink, so I used my sponge daubers to also wipe over the DSP until I got the look I wanted. You could also just use a sponge again if you wanted to!

After inking the DSP, I used a tissue to wipe off the glossy leaves of the paper. I really didn't need to do this step for these particular colors, but sometimes you will need to wipe clean the white glossy part of the paper to get rid of the ink. Most of it was already gone anyway.

This picture shows you a better view of the glossy leaves. It's so beautiful in person!

My finished card! I paired up the Hello You Thinlits with the Crazy About You stamp set. I am loving the combination of Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, and Garden Green together!! The flower from the Crazy About You set was stamped in both Melon Mambo and Pink Pirouette on scraps of Whisper White and then I used my Paper Snips to cut them apart and then layered them on top of each other, ending with a Pink Pirouette candy dot in the middle. To add dimension, each layer is popped up with a Dimensional.

Stamp Sets	Crazy About You
Ink	Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo
Paper	Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Irresistibly Yours DSP (SAB)
Accessories	SNAIL Adhesive, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Glue Pen, Pink Pirouette Candy Dot, Sponges, Sponge Daubers
Tools	Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine, Hello You Thinlits, Paper Snips

With my next card I used the painter's tape technique to color stripes onto the polka dotted Irresistibly Yours DSP. First I masked up the card with 5 different lines of tape, leaving just a little bit in between each one. I left the bottom stripe unmasked and then sponged/wiped with my first color (Bermuda Bay).

After that I moved the second piece of tape down to the bottom and then sponged/wiped with my second color...and so on.

Here is the fun effect it made! After all the colors were sponged, I stamped a giant image in the middle (with an extra "celebrate" banner that I stamped and cut out separately). I did have to wipe the black ink from the sentiment away from the glossy dots. I added some random rhinestones for some extra bling! I have a friend who should be getting this card in the mail soon! I used Bermuda Bay, Pistachio Pudding, Coastal Cabana, So Saffron, and Calypso Coral.

Stamp Sets	Balloon Bash
Ink (see above)
Paper	Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Basic Black, Irresistibly Yours DSP (SAB)
Accessories	SNAIL Adhesive, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Rhinestones, Sponges,
Tools	Paper Snips

My last card I didn't take a picture of my process, but after seeing the first two cards you can kind of get the idea of how this sponging/wiping technique works. I think this is my favorite of the three! I used 4 different shades of blue and wiped the sponge diagonally across the card color after color so the blended with each other. I used Softy Sky, Marina Mist, Island Indigo, and Night of Navy. I just kept sponging and wiping until I got the desired look I was hoping for. It really looks like a starry night. I finished the card off with a simple balloon from the Celebrate Today stamp set. I tied a piece of Soft Sky Cotton Twine around the card and tied a bow at the base of the balloon. Perfect for a masculine birthday card!

Stamp Sets	Celebrate Today
Ink	Night of Navy, Island Indigo, Marina Mist, Soft Sky
Paper	Whisper White, Night of Navy, Irresistibly Yours DSP (SAB)
Accessories	SNAIL Adhesive, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Sponges, Soft Sky Cotton Twine
Tools	Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine, Balloon Framelits

Thank you so much for coming by for a visit today! Continue on the hop to visit the talented Jennifer Frost or hop backwards to see what Sara Levin is inspiring us with today. Click on the buttons below to take you where you want to go!

Creation Station Blog Hop - Best Day Ever!

The Creation Station is back! We took a little break for the holidays, but it's time to start inspiring again so we hope you will join us in the hop today as we share with you some new stamp sets coming from both the Occasions Catalog and Sale-A-Bration brochure.

For today's hop we were able to choose from the following (any or all):
1. One Tags Fit All (Occasions Catalog)

2. Best Day Ever (Sale-A-Bration)

3. Theme: Valentine's Day

I chose to showcase the new Sale-A-Bration stamp set called Best Day Ever. This is a set you can earn FREE with a $50 order. It's a pretty simple set, but it is full of some super fun images...I definitely love the style!

For the first two cards I paired this set with the Best Year Ever DSP also available as a freebie with a $50 order. It's such beautiful paper and many of the prints match perfectly with the stamp set. The colors are beautiful, too!

With this first card I added the "thanks" at the bottom as I felt the sentiment that says "you made my day" would be perfect finished with a thank you. I added some Crushed Curry washi tape (from the Beach House washi tape set). The button and ribbon are also part of Sale-A-Bration freebies. The buttons and ribbon come in coordinating colors to the paper...Crushed Curry, Coastal Cabana, and Calypso Coral. They're beautiful!

Stamp Sets	Best Day Ever, Another Thanks
Ink	Calypso Coral
Paper	Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry, Best Year Ever DSP (SAB)
Accessories	SNAIL Adhesive, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, White Baker's Twine, Coastal Cabana Ribbon & Button (SAB), Beach House Washi Tape, Rhinestone Accents
Tools	Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine, Circle Framelits, 2-1/2" Circle Punch

This next card is one of my favorites, but it did take some extra work with cutting out the flower-looking images. Oh well...the end product is worth it! The background is stamped with the bokeh background stamp.

This picture shows you the dimension of the flowers. It gives the card a fun effect!

Stamp Sets	Best Day Ever
Ink	Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry, Coastal Cabana, Versamark
Paper	Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede, Best Year Ever DSP (SAB)
Accessories	SNAIL Adhesive, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Soft Suede Candy Dots
Tools	Dotted Scalloped Ribbon Border Punch, Paper Snips

My final project combines the Best Day Ever stamp set along with our Valentine's Day theme. I thought it would be cute to use one of our new tiny treat boxes from the Occasions Catalog. These are stinkin' adorable!! They are only a 2" square, but oh. my. word. The cuteness! I am going to see if I can talk my daughter into doing something with these for her class valentines this year! This sample is super simple, but with such a petite box, it can be simple...and that's OK! I added some paper from the Stacked with Love Paper Stack to each square panel (measuring 1-14/16")

Here is a more up close view of the front. I added a couple extra mini red glimmer hearts and some red candy dots just to dress it up a bit.

Stamp Sets	Best Day Ever
Ink	Real Red
Paper	Whisper White, Real Red, Stacked with Love Paper Stack, Red Glimmer Paper
Accessories	SNAIL Adhesive, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Real Red Candy Dots, Tiny Treat Boxes
Tools	Two-Step Owl Punch (used for mini hearts), Paper Snips, Banner Punch, 1-3/4" Circle Punch

Thank you so much for coming by for a visit today! Continue on the hop to visit the talented Jennifer Frost or hop backwards to see what Sara Levin is inspiring us with today. Click on the buttons below to take you where you want to go!