Oh, Happy Day!

(playing with the Cheerful Daisies dies, and the Playing In The Rain stamp set and dies) 

Hello!  Today I am sharing two projects I worked on this week using the Stampin' Up! Cheerful Daisies dies (item 161296), and the Playing In The Rain stamp set (item 160542) and co-ordinating Playing In The Rain dies (item 160550).  Since summer has officially begun why not celebrate with some  bright and happy projects?  Even a rainy day in summer won't be too dreary when spent with a friend!

Cheerful Daisies dies - 161296

Playing In The Rain stamp set - 160542

Playing In The Rain dies - 160550

A quick reminder that today (Friday June 30, 2023 - 11:59 p.m. MT to be precise!) is the last opportunity to take advantage of the 15% Off Select Designer Series Papers Promotion to stock up on some favourite DSP from the May 2023-April 2024 Annual Catalogue, including those I used in my projects:

• Fresh As A Daisy 12" x 12" Designer Series Paper - item 161289;
• Glorious Gingham 6" x 6" Designer Series Paper - item 163170;
• Masterfully Made 12" x 12" Designer Series Paper - item 161192: and
• Stargazing 12" x 12" Designer Series Paper - item 161175 - not just for space-themed projects!

Just a quick note about the standard tools and supplies I used to complete my projects this week:

• Paper Trimmer (item 152392) - to cut cardstock and DSP;
• Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine (item 149653) - for all die cutting;
• Paper Snips Scissors (item 103579) - a nice little pair of sharp scissors to do a little extra trimming of a few die cuts (despite using low-tack tape to secure the die and stamped image a slip can happen and a little trim with a sharp pair of scissors may be necessary to salvage a die cut!);
• Take Your Pick Tool (item 144107) - the paper piercer, mini spatula, and tacky putty tips are a great help in picking up and placing small die cuts; and,
• for the main adhesive, Multipurpose Liquid Glue (item 110755).

Additional dies that I used:

• Around The Bend (item 160649) - leaves, and large and small flowers (small flower used as the center for the large flower, and one large flower/small flower combination used for the center of one of the large Cheerful Daisies die cut flowers);

Around The Bend dies - 160649

• Dainty Delight (item 160674) - small daisy, small round flower centers, curving leafy sprig, Queen Anne's Lace, and small "shrubbery" greenery (I believe this die is actually meant to be flowers for the Queen Anne's Lace die cut but with a little artistic licence . . . )  In each of my projects I also used one of the small daisies as the center for one of the large Cheerful Daisies die cut flowers; 

Dainty Delight dies - 160674

• Lighting The Way (item 160496) - lantern, and body and wings of large flying insect;

• Stylish Shapes dies (item 159183) - to cut sentiment circles, circle frames (including holes and jumbo hole re-enforcers for the tags), and the square frame openings for my second project; and
• Tailor Made Tags (item 155563) for the "Rainy days" sentiment tag.

The stamped/coloured/die cut images were stamped on watercolour paper using Stazon Jet Black Ink (item 101406) and coloured with inks from Stampin' Up! ink pads.  With the ink pad closed I pressed against the lid to transfer some ink onto the inside of the lid, mixing in a little water and picking up and applying the ink to the stamped images with a paintbrush.  For the "dotty" effect on the umbrellas and bunny jackets, I added little drops of clean water with a fine-tipped paintbrush, blotting dry with a paper towel.   

I also used watercolour paper for the die cuts - foliage, flowers, tree trunk, bridge, main body parts of flying insect - and they were also coloured using inks from Stampin' Up! ink pads.  I applied the first layers of colour using the Blender Brushes (item 153611) and Small Blending Brushes (item 160518) - using a small sponge (ie Sponge Daubers - item 133773) to add additional shading by "pouncing" on the ink.  I applied colour (Pecan Pie ink - item 161665) to the centers of the large Cheerful Daisies die cut flowers using a paintbrush.  

Inks that I used for colouring (for both projects):

• for the Cheerful Daisies die cut flowers - Daffodil Delight (item 147094), Pumpkin Pie (item 147086), and Pecan Pie (item 161665) - the solid underlayer die cuts were sponged with Pecan Pie ink;
• for the large Around The Bend die cut flowers - Pumpkin Pie;
• for the small Around The Bend die cut flowers - Lost Lagoon;
• for the small Dainty Delight die cut flowers - Calypso Coral (item 147101), Pumpkin Pie, and Pecan Pie (for the small flower used on the back cover of the mini album I just sponged the tips with Pecan Pie);
• for the Dainty Delight die cut flower centers - Pecan Pie;
• for the foliage - Granny Apple Green (item 147095), Old Olive (item 147090), and Mossy Meadow (item 147111);
• for the tree stump - Pecan Pie and Basic Gray (item 149165);
• for the small twigs (the center pieces from the Cheerful Daisies die cut leaves) - Pecan Pie;
• for the bridge - Pecan Pie and Basic Gray;
• for the lantern - Lost Lagoon (item 161678), Pecan Pie, and Basic Gray;
• for the flying insect - Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie for the under body, and Basic Gray for the top body and small wings;
• for the turtles - Pecan Pie, Granny Apple Green, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, and Lost Lagoon (Daffodil Delight and Pecan Pie for the flowers);
• for the foxes - Pecan Pie, Daffodil Delight (coat and hat), and for the umbrellas, Granny Apple Green and Lost Lagoon;
• "Rainy Day" sentiment tag - Lost Lagoon - lightly spritzed with water (Stampin' Spritzers - item 126185) and blotted dry with paper towel;
• small "Oh, Happy Day" watercolour paper die cut circles - Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green, Lost Lagoon, and Starry Sky (item 159212) - the Granny Apple Green and Starry Sky/Granny Apple Green circles were spritzed with water and blotted dry with paper towel;
• for the clouds - Basic Gray (second project)
• for the bunnies - Pecan Pie, Sweet Sorbet (item 159216) for the noses, Daffodil Delight and Lost Lagoon for the jackets;
• for the off-center circle frame (watercolour paper) - Lost Lagoon;  
• for the watercolour frame on the second project - Starry Sky and Pecan Pie - these inks were applied with the Blending Brushes, then lightly spritzed with water (Stampin' Spritzers) and blotted dry with paper towel - these steps were repeated a few times - additional Pecan Pie ink was then sponged around the edges.

On with the projects!

For the base of my mini album I used two of the "almost Blueberry Bushel" gift bags I found at Dollar Tree.  These 8 1/4" x 5 1/4" gift bags come in sets of three and I also picked up the kraft bags for another project.  I was very happy to find the "almost Blueberry Bushel" bags - it can certainly pay off when I take my cardstock sampler shopping with me!

To prepare the two bags I first took off the handles - I had to be a little careful not to tear the bags but fortunately the adhesive wasn't too strong - and trimmed approximately 3/4" off the top edges so that the bags measured 7 1/2" tall.   In addition to the gift bags I used two items picked up at Dollarama:  three 1" binder rings and "almost Pecan Pie" Kraft Paper Covered Wire (used for the tag bows). To decorate the bases of the bags I cut panels and strips from the following Designer Series Papers, sponging all edges with Pecan Pie ink:

• Lemon Lime Twist patterned paper from Masterfully Made DSP;
• Blueberry Bushel patterned paper from Glorious Gingham DSP;
• Pecan Pie patterned paper from Glorious Gingham DSP;
• Lemon Lime Twist patterned paper from Stargazing DSP (a small piece of this paper was also trimmed to fit behind the "light" section of the die cut lantern);
• Pretty Peacock/Night of Navy/Lost Lagoon/Azure Afternoon patterned paper from Masterfully Made DSP; and
• Fresh As A Daisy DSP for the main panel for the back cover.

I also used Fresh As A Daisy DSP for the large sentiment circle on the back cover - edges also inked with Pecan Pie ink.

All sentiments were stamped using Stazon Jet Black Ink.

After attaching the DSP panels/strips to the front and back of the bags I added glue to the edges of the fold up bottom flaps - this created shallow pockets .  From light weight cardboard I cut a 7 1/2" x 1/2" template for punching the holes for the binder rings - after punching the holes in the template I clipped the template to the left edge of each bag and used a Crop-A-Dile hole punch to punch the three 1/8" holes.

I made four tags to fit in the two bags (each bag holds one large and one smaller tag) - two large tags measuring 8" tall x 4 1/2" wide; and two smaller tags measuring 6 1/2" tall x 4 1/2" wide - and one small tag measuring 5" tall x 4" wide to fit in one of the narrow pockets created by the fold up bottom flaps.  For each tag I used Blueberry Bushel cardstock (item 146968) - for the four larger tags I used two layers of cardstock for added stability (gluing the cardstock pieces together before I cut the diagonal corners.  The diagonal corners were cut on all tags using the Very Best Trio Punch (item 159878).  I made a template tag to ensure proper placement of the holes - for the holes I used the smallest circle die from Stylish Shapes dies, and the circle frames for the hole re-enforcers were cut from Pecan Pie cardstock (item 161717) using the same die and the next largest circle die.  I sponged all edges of the frames with Pecan Pie ink.

For each side of the larger tags and the front of the smallest tag I made mats - to be used as photo mats and for journaling.  For the mats I used Basic White cardstock (item 159276) and, for the framing mats, Pecan Pie cardstock.  For the largest tags the Basic White cardstock panels are 5 3/4" x 4", for the smaller tags 4 3/8" x 4", and for the smallest tag 2 3/4" x 3 1/2".  Each Pecan Pie cardstock panel was cut 1/8" larger than the corresponding Basic White cardstock panel.

For the flying insect I cut the wings from a small piece of Vellum 8 1/2" x 11" Cardstock (item 101856).  To add a little sparkle I painted the Vellum wings with my Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush (item 141897).

The base for my second project is a 7 7/8" square glass-less easel frame "plaque" I picked up at a local thrift shop for $1.25!  Worth the effort of removing a black bull-dog clip that was just attached to the "plaque" with a small screw!  

For the base panel I cut a just shy of 6 11/16" x 6 11/16" piece of Basic Black cardstock (item 121045) - to fit as snuggly as possible in the frame.  From a piece of watercolour paper I cut a square opening using the largest square die from Stylish Shapes dies - I cut the frame opening first and then trimmed the panel 1 1/2" out from each edge of the opening (this was the easiest way for me to ensure that the opening was centered!)  I then coloured the panel as described previously.  For the inner frame I cut a square opening using the second largest square die from Stylish Shapes dies from a piece of Basic Black cardstock that I had initially cut to be the same size as the watercolour paper panel.  After I decided against centering the inner frame I trimmed the Basic Black cardstock panel and glued it to the back of the watercolour paper panel.  On a piece of Fresh As A Daisy DSP (one of the panels from the "cut apart" sheet) I stamped the sentiment using Stazon Jet Black Ink (item 101406), which I then glued to the back of the watercolour paper/Basic Black cardstock frame panel.  After attaching the die cuts and the strip of Pecan Pie patterned paper from the Glorious Gingham DSP (edges sponged with Pecan Pie ink), I glued the completed frame panel to the Basic Black cardstock base panel. 

Thank you for visiting my blog!  As always I had a lot of fun working on these projects!  You never know what treasures you will find for a project at the local thrift and dollar stores!

If you are interested in purchasing any of the available Stampin' Up! products I have used in my projects, and you live in Canada and do not have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, please do not hesitate to visit my online store found on my website https://archiesatelier.stampinup.net/ at your convenience, or simply click under the "Shop With Me" tab on the right sidebar of my blog, which will take you directly to my website and online store.  I very much appreciate your business! The digital version of the May 2023-April 2024 Annual Catalogue is available for browsing at your convenience on my website.  Don't forget to also check out the Clearance Rack and the full selection of the products available as Online Exclusives! New Online Exclusives will be introduced on July 6, 2023!

Bonus Days - July 6 - July 31, 2023

Stampin' Up! has announced the return of Bonus Days!  From July 6 to July 31, 2023, earn a $6.00 CDN coupon for every $60.00 CDN spent (before shipping and applicable taxes), and then redeem the coupons on orders placed between August 1 and August 31, 2023!

Have fun creating!

Laurel

*It has come to my attention that quite often email correspondence from me is delivered to the recipient's spam or junk mail folder - if you have corresponded with me I have replied so be sure to check your spam or junk mail folder!  Thank you!! 

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