Pretty Printed Papers!

Aloha, all!

     The printed papers to which I refer are, of course, Stampin' Up!'s Designer Series Paper sets.  I can hardly wait for each new catalog to see the new Designer Series Papers, and I want to have them ALL!

     While I can't have them all (or at least so says my checkbook), I do try to have as many to use and show off as possible.  I'll definitely have quite a few of the newest papers to show at this Saturday's New Catalog Open House in the Craft Room.  If you're on my newsletter mailing list, you already have all the details.  If you'd like more information, just e-mail me and I'll get right back to you.

     Here is one way in which I'm going to show off what you can do with these wonderful papers:  just use them to decorate the front of a card!  Yes, the papers can be as much of a card front feature as any stamped image!  The following four cards also have something else in common – they all use the new Stamp Set, Fabulous Phrases.  I am just crazy about this set because it's the first set like this that I've purchased in the Clear Mount form.  I can put any phrase I want to make from the words in the stamps onto one clear block and stamp them all at the same time.  Fabulous!  All of these cards just use two words – but there are lots of possibilities for using more with this stamp set. 

     So here we go with the cards.  They all use the same basic layout, and the measurements are at the end of this post.  The layout is based on one I found in the January 2008 issue of CardMaker magazine.  Love the inspiration from this magazine!

     I made the above card using the Sunny Garden Designer Series Paper set.  It's the same design set as the "Cottage Wall" set that was in last year's catalog, but all made up of Stampin' Up!'s bright new colors, including Daffodil Delight and Poppy Parade, which I feature in this card.  Other new colors in this set are Pear Pizzazz and Peach Parfait. The ribbon accent is some of Stampin' Up!'s new 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon in Daffodil Delight.

    

     This card features the paper set, Lap of Luxury.  Luxurious colors for sure!   The highlighted colors here are Pretty in Pink and one of this year's "In Color" colors, Concord Crush.  Love that grape!  Again I finished this card off with some ribbon, in this case the Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon.

     In keeping with the fruit theme, this card uses the paper set, Blueberry Crisp and an "old" color come back to life this year, Pacific Point.  I "stepped up" the design of this card by texturizing the front Very Vanilla Layer with a design from the Sizzix Texture Plates #4, and added some of the brand new Chantilly Lace ribbon.  Luscious! 

     Finally, the card with what I think (so far anyway) is my absolute favorite in this year's Designer Series Paper collection, the Sweet & Sour Specialty paper set.  One side of each sheet has Gloss!  You can see some of it shining in the flash of my camera.  Wow!  Both colors that I featured in this card are old favorites, Pumpkin Pie and Rose Red.  I'm so glad Stampin' Up! kept those colors!  Again, I stepped up this card, but this time with a bit of a deeper texture provided by one of the newest Sizzix Embossing Folders, Square Lattice.   Of course, a bit of Very Vanilla 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon to finish it off.

    Here is my set of measurements for the card layout.  Rounded corners are made with the 3/16" Corner Punch.  I hope you'll try it out yourself!  If you have young crafty children at home, just cut them some papers and have them make their own Designer Series Paper arrangement.  I'd love to see what they come up with!