Aloha, all!
From my very first look at the Stampin’ Up! 2021-2022 Catalog – online, no less! – I have been in love with the Hand-Penned Peals Designer Series Paper. Even after seeing and using all the other papers I showed off all during the month of July, I still love this paper set more than all the others. Oh, come Christmas time, I may shift my allegiance to the Tidings of Christmas set. But until then, it’s Hand-Penned.
The Hand-Penned Paper Set
From the start, I was captivated by the designs in the set that really did look like they were hand-painted on a piece of paper that I could hold in my hands. Then, just a few weeks back, Stampin’ Up! posted a video on YouTube that showed one of their artist as the paper was being created.
After watching this, it seems almost anti-climatic to view a picture of the paper set itself. So I’ll just suggest that you click on the link in the slide show at the end of this post to see all the patterns.
The colors in this set are:
- Blushing Bride
- Daffodil Delight
- Garden Green
- Highland Heather
- Mint Macaron
- Misty Moonlight
- Pale Papaya
- Pool Party
- Basic Black – the outline color
I’m pretty sure that I’ve covered all the colors in the set in this set of cards except for Cinnamon Cider (thought there may be a speck of it somewhere). My favorites in this set are Highland Heather, Misty Moonlight and Mint Macaron. And it looks like those are the featured colors in these three cards.
Featuring Purple — Highland Heather
I think that, over the past few years, I’ve taken a particular liking to all shades of purple. I look around and see a purple iPad cover, pens with purple ink, and lots and lots of purple ribbon. So what was not for me to like about the sheets in this Designer Paper set that featured purple.
The purple in this set of papers is Highland Heather, and these are two sheets that really celebrate that color. But look at that line that runs between the two papers. That’s yet another purple from Stampin’ Up! – Gorgeous Grape. That’s the color of the cardstock that I used for the background on this card.
I also brought Gorgeous Grape into the picture with the Gorgeous Grape Sheer Ribbon that I finished with a large bow. The ink that I used for the sentiment – from the Art Gallery Stamp Set – is also the Grape color, along with the mat for the sentiment element.
Misty Moonlight — A Favorite In Color
When I saw the patterns that featured some blue, I was so glad that Misty Moonlight, a 2020 – 2022 In Color, is still in the Stampin’ Up! catalog for one more year. I just love blue flowers, and especially one like Misty Moonlight that has such a warm-ish shade for what is really a “cool” color.
To help highlight the blues in the floral pattern that I used in the middle card, I added not one but two layers of Misty Moonlight Cardstock. I embossed the 5-1/4″ x 4″ top layer with the Ornate Floral 3D Embossing Folder. Then I adhered that whole set of layers onto a Misty Moonlight card base.
Of course I wanted some Misty Moonlight ribbon to tie around this card. Alas, the only ribbon of that color retired with the 2020-2021 Stampin’ Up! catalog. I was saved by the fact that I’d included the Pale Papaya monochrome patterned paper as one of the design in this card. There are two ribbons in my stash in that color. I ended up choosing the Pale Papaya 1/2″ Woven Ribbon. With those two pieces of Papaya Paper right beneath the bow, it worked out perfectly.
All Those Beautiful Pastels
I think that the last card in this set really brings out the wonderful pastels in the Hand-Penned Papers. As I mentioned in the original post about the diagonal strips card design, these colors all sit together on one side of the color wheel. When you put colors such as these together, especially when they all have the same tone, they kind of blend together. You can barely tell that there is a bit of the Pale Papaya paper in the upper left and lower right corners of the card.
But all that softness in these pastel colors creates a card that carries the “Cherished Friend” sentiment beautifully.
This card design is not one where I wanted to add ribbon. I like the diagonal “feeling” and tying ribbon diagonally is a bit of a pain. I never can seem to get that right. One way to do that is to attach a short length of ribbon diagonally and adhere it to the back of the card front. Then you can tie a bow around that piece of ribbon. But I don’t think it looks as nice as a naturally tied bow to finish a piece of ribbon.
But there are some embellishments. Since I’d used Mint Macaron Cardstock as the accent color for this card, it was so easy to pick out the Mint Macaron gems from the Genial Gems set.
This Is the Last Day for the Paper Sale
15% off of Stampin’ Up!’s Designer Series Paper can really add up if you like to buy papers. I hope you’ve seen how much fun you can have making cards where the main features are different designs in the same set of papers. I’ve already bought and mostly used up two sets of today’s featured paper set, Hand-Penned even before the sale. Between that set and the Tidings of Christmas set alone I’ve saved a bunch by buying the papers now. I’ve already got plans for the Hand-Penned set for Easter and Mother’s Day 2022, so I’ll be ready. And the Christmas Card list this year will be filled with papers from the Tiding of Christmas set. I’ve already started on them!
Don’t forget the Sale ends at just before midnight Mountain Daylight Time – do take that into account if you’re procastinating!
Tomorrow is a New Catalog
Happy stamping!
