My Favorite Things

This month's Stampin' Friends blog hop is all about our favorites. If you're following the hop, you've joined me from Cheryl Taylor. I hope after you've read through my blog that you'll continue through the whole hop. You'll find a list at the bottom of this post with links to all the blogs.

I have soooo many favorites that it's hard to choose just one or two. Here are some of my favorite design elements and accessories that I included in these projects:

1. Layers - I love layers! Layers and layers and more layers. I love depth. These cards have lots of layers.
2. Texture - my cards are all about texture and layers. I love embossing folders, particularly the Subtle 3D embossing folder. I seem to use it on so many things and when a card needs a little something, it's usually the Subtle 3D embossing folder.
3. Bold colors - While pastels and earthy tones can be nice too, there's nothing quite as awesome as bold colors! I love this adjacent color scheme of Granny Apple Green and Bermuda Bay. The colors just pop!
4. Bling - I love a little bit of bling, not too much, just a little sparkle. That's why I love the metallic thread. It's so fine that it adds just a hint of shimmer. And who can resist some rhinestones? Not too many, just a few to jazz things up a bit. 
5. Dies - I particularly love the Stitched Rectangle dies. The Well Written dies are a close second. I love being able to add a die-cut word to my projects. 
   

​Many of my cards incorporate these basics, and they are the first things I turned to when I start a card. It was so much fun to be able to combine so many of my favorite things for this blog hop. I hope you'll click through the whole hop to see everyone's favorite things! The next artist is Barbara Welch. You can see the complete list after the descriptions of the cards. 

Thank You
It's a little hard to see in the photo, but the vine on this card is cut from the Bermuda Blue cardstock with the Granny Apple Green cardstock showing through. The Bermuda Blue front piece is raised up using Stampin' Dimensionals so that there is depth between the blue and the green. The Gorgeous Grape flowers are then added on top. Finally, rhinestones were added to the flower centers for a little bling.

Cardstock:

• Bermuda Bay: 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 folded in half, other pieces cut with dies
• Granny Apple Green: Cut with dies
• Gorgeous Grape: scraps for flowers

Ink: Gorgeous Grape
Stamps: Check You Out
Dies:

• Stitched Rectangle
• Well Written

Embossing Folder​: Subtle 3D

Thanks
For this card, I created frames using the Stitched Rectangle dies. Two frames are layered on another full rectangle. This card also uses one of my favorite little tricks which is to have a layer of cardstock in the same color as the base cut only 3/16" smaller than the card base (5 5/16" x 4 1/16"). On top of the frames I layered a die cut of the same vine that I used in the first card as well as leaves, silver thread, and a large rose. 
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Cardstock:

• Bermuda Bay
• Granny Apple Green
• Soft Suede
• Whisper White

Inks:

• Bermuda Bay
• Granny Apple Green
• Soft Suede​

Stamps: To a Wild Rose
​Dies:

• Stitched Rectangle
• Wild Rose
• Well Written

Accessories:

• Silver Thread
• Noble Peacock Rhinestones

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In addition to the cards, I also created some fun bookmarks using my favorite design elements and accessories. I purchased these slightly oversized, gold-coated paper clips during back-to-school clearance last fall. I think I got the jar of 70 for $1. What a steal! I created the toppers using dies and stamps and adhered them to the paper clips with sticky strip. The backs have an additionally piece of cardstock so that the paper clips are sandwiched between the layers. They are great for marking pages in your Stampin’ Up! Catalogs!

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Stampin' Friends February Blog Hop:

1. Rachael Rife
2. Jo Blackman
3. Teri Pocock
4. Jean Bolan Beaulieu
5. Stephanie Jandrow
6. Katja Ettig
7. Tiziana Milano
8. ​Kim Quade
9. Kim Lamos​
10. Anne Marie Hile
11. Cheryl Taylor
12. Heidi Collins <-- YOU ARE HERE!
13. Barbara Welch
14. Maureen Rauchfuss