Pansies for Thoughts

 

The Snowdrops bid you 'hope,'
The Bluebells say,  'I'm true!'
The pansy is for 'thought,'
Good luck (Heather) sweetheart for you!

The Victorians may just have perfected the Language of Flowers. Guides to flowers and their meaning were printed in 19th century ladies magazines, why? Proper conversation was dictated and defined; often thoughts that may not have been considered proper to whisper aloud or in person could be subtly conveyed with the presentation of a bouquet of symbolic flowers.

Ivy was symbolic of fidelity, red roses of love, lily of the valley of purity, daisy of innocence and so forth.

Flowers were sent between women and friends as well as between opposite sexes. London born writer and artist Kate Greenaway produced a small hand sized volume titled Language of Flowers in 1884.  Reproductions are still available.

The pansy is sometimes considered the best flower for beginner gardeners to plant and grow. Even I have never killed a pansy plant ~ about the only one.

But, I can turn to paper pansies thanks to the new Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog 2021 - 2022.

In my garden, a pair of scissors is my trowel and glue is the soil so that perfect flowers grow abundantly. This card was inspired by Jennifer Cotton. Before it looked like this, it looked like

something of a mess. The inspiration was just the beginning: which Designer Series Paperpatterns from Pansy Petals work well together, I asked myself.  Then, which of the three gingham colors to choose?  How to layer two patterns on top of each other? What color or colors for the pansies? I won't tell you how long that process took, but, I do like the result.

 My upcoming May class will feature the Pansy Patch Suite and the new 2021-2023 InColors, so one card design is not enough.

 

 More inspiration was found in a sweet fun fold card designed by Windy Ellard, and I wanted to play with it a bit. This is still in the works, but Stampin' Up! has more gardening tools I can use.

 

 

The Pansy Petals Dies include two different leaf outline dies and two flower outline dies that prune these perfectly. In each set of Pansy Petals Designer Series Paper there are two sheets of printed leaves in a variety of greens and two sheets of two sizes of printed pansy flowers. The new InColors of  Pale Papaya, Soft Succulent, Evening Evergreen, Fresh Freesia and Polished Pink combine with a few old favorites to create the sweet faced flowers and leaves. 

And an extra feature of these dies is that they fit in the new Mini Stampin' Cut and Emboss Machine. Die cutting them is just about as quick as cutting them yourself from the garden. And, they don't wilt or fade. Of course, the dies also fit quite easily into the larger Stampin' SU! Cut and Emboss Machine.

 You can find all of the items in the Pansy Petals Suite on pages 28 and 29  of the Annual Catalog. All images Stampin' Up! 

  This is my Shopping List :  

 https://www.stampinup.com/shared-lists/178d50fb-b06e-489b-8518-5f9068fabd8c?  

                         

You are welcome to order right from this blog, or I am happy to place an order for you.

 

Pansies - thoughts. Isn't that why we create our beautiful cards?

 

 

Let's stamp!

 

 

 

 

 Pansies for Thoughts

The snowdrops bid you  'hope,'

The Bluebells say, 'I'm true!'

The Pansy is for 'thought,'

Good luck (Heather) sweetheart for you!

The Victorians may just have perfected the Language of Flowers. Guides to flowers and their meaning were printed in 19th century ladies magazines, why? Proper conversation was dictated and defined; often thoughts that may not have been considered proper to whisper aloud or in person could be subtly conveyed with the presentation of a bouquet of symbolic flowers.

Ivy was symbolic of fidelity, red roses of love, lily of the valley of purity, daisy of innocence and so forth.

Flowers were sent between women and friends as well as between oposite sexes.

London born writer and artist Kate Greenaway produced a small hand sized volume titled Language of Flowers in 1884.  Reproductions are still available. 

The pansy is sometines considered the best flower for beginner gardeners to plant and grow. Even I have never killed a pansy plant ~ about the only one.

But, I can turn to paper pansies thanks to the new Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog 2021 - 2022.

In my garden, a pair of scissors is my trowel and glue is the soil so that perfect flowers grow abundantly. This card was inspired by Jennifer Cotton. Before it looked like this, it looked like

something of a mess. The inspiration was just the beginning: which Designer Series Paper  patterns from Pansy Petals work well together, I asked myself.  Then, which of the three gingham colors to choose?  How to layer two patterns on top of each other? What color or colors for the pansies? I won't tell you how long that process took, but, I do like the result.

My upcoming May class will feature the Pansy Patch Suite and the new 2021-2023 InColors, so one card design is not enough.

More inspiration was found in a sweet fun fold card designed by Windy Ellard, and I wanted to play with it a bit. This is still in the works, but Stampin' Up! has more gardening tools I can use.

The Pansy Petals Dies include two different leaf outline dies and two flower outline dies that prune these perfectly. In each set of Pansy Petals Designer Series Paper there are two sheets of printed leaves in a variety of greens and two sheets of two sizes of printed pansy flowers. The new InColors of  Pale Papaya, Soft Succulent, Evening Evergreen, Fresh Freesia and Polished Pink combine with a few old favorites to create the sweet faced flowers and leaves. 

And an extra feature of these dies is that they fit in the new Mini Stampin' Cut and Emboss Machine. Die cutting them is just about as quick as cutting them yourself from the garden. And, they don't wilt or fade. Of course, the dies also fit quite easily into the larger Stampin' SU! Cut and Emboss Machine.

You can find all of the items in the Pansy Petals Suite on pages 28 and 29  of the Annual Catalog. All images Stampin' Up!                                                                      

 This is my Shopping List :  

 https://www.stampinup.com/shared-lists/178d50fb-b06e-489b-8518-5f9068fabd8c?  

                         

You are welcome to order right from this blog, or I am happy to place an order for you.

Pansies - thoughts. Isn't that why we create our beautiful cards?

Let's stamp!

  I ❤ Stampin' Up!

              

I know, stating the obvious. But seriously, I do love Stampin' Up! 

Why? Well...

I am addicted to paper (and sugar, but Stampin' Up! has little to do with sugar), all kinds of paper. Salesman's receipt books were like magic slates to me when I was little and my daddy was a sales manager ~  an intriguing size, lined, perforated AND carbon paper! 

Paper used to be everywhere: wallpapered rooms, paperback books, Sunday comics, drawing paper, paper bags, magazines, wrapping paper ~ ooh, the stationery and school supply aisles in Rose's Five & Ten.

So really, is it any wonder that I have to have all the Designer Series Paper that Stampin' Up! creates? Am I a hoarder, no, but sometimes I am a little apprehensive about cutting into that last precious piece of my favorite paper.  I do think Stampin' Up! has wonderful designs and the quality cannot be beat.

Truthfully, I can open the catalog to almost any page, point to any item pictured there and say  'that's why I love Stampin' Up!'.  Especially if I open to the pages with Die Cuts and Embossing Folders!

I  ❤  Stampin' Up!  Demonstrators ~ some of my new best friends are fellow demonstrators.  I have met them online, in meetings, at corporate conferences,  at dinners, in lines at the ladies rooms. My demonstrator friends and acquaintances are generous and genuine and I consider myself fortunate to associate with them and to learn from them. And not to be sacrilegious, but whenever two or more are gathered, there is guaranteed fun. 

I ❤ Stampin' Up! because somewhere inside of me there is a teacher that did not major in education (even though I attended Virginia's best known school for such a degree), but loves to teach outside of the classroom. 

I love sharing my love for paper crafting.  My classes take place anywhere there is a table or two ~ in my dining room, your dining room, church social hall, library, museum. I get as excited as my stamper does when she's astonished with what she's created. 

Some of my other new best friends are my stampin' friends. 

 

I ❤ Stampin' Up! because as a demonstrator, the company gives me a discount ($) for shopping with them! Who doesn't like a discount? I joined eight years ago for the discount and have stayed because of the community of my Nite Owls team of demonstrators, my demonstrator friends and colleagues, the company staff and my Stampin' Friends in my classes.

 

I whole heartedly invite you to consider joining me and Stampin' Up! Scroll back to the top of the post and select Join the Fun for more details.  Then contact me and we can chat about it. 

I ❤ Stampin' Up!

 Mini or Mighty?

Just about eight years ago I hosted a Stampin' Up! party in my home. We were probably six gals gathered around the dining room table experimenting with stamps and ink , making cards. 

AND THEN...

the Demonstrator brought out her Big Shot. I don't really remember whether it was the magic of the Big Shot or the framelits that cut out miniature paper dresses, but I was SOLD! I had to have that machine; I was going to have that machine.  

I joined Stampin' Up! and purchased the Big Shot and the All Dressed Up Framelit Dies.

Well, one dress, one card was not nearly enough for me. I was back in my childhood of the '60s playing paper dolls. Every month McCall's magazine published a Betsy McCall paper doll with an ensemble or two for the season or the holiday: Betsy McCall has a Merry Christmas, Betsy McCall goes to the ballet, Betsy McCall visits the White House ...

 

Although I was pretty adept with craft supplies, Mama would help me; she did have an excellent idea for cutting around the dresses, mounting them onto index cards or old file folders, and then trimming them out. They were much sturdier that way and the tabs would would not tear. (Mama used rubber cement as her glue of choice ~ ahhh, I can still smell it, can you? )

So, although 50 some years have ensued, it just was not a far leap from Betsy McCall to this:

Designer Series Paper, ribbon, pearls, buttons, washi tape, all after die cutting those dresses. 

I have seriously told my stampin' friends that the best value in the catalog is the Big Shot, hands down. I kept and used my first machine until Stampin' Up! released their new Stampin' Cut and Emboss Machine last year (that first Big Shot still lives on in the craft room of one of those friends).

AND THEN ...

the Mini was born, just a few months ago.  

Do I have both? Yes.

Why? I have a lot of Stampin' Up! tools and supplies, so much that I need a little more room than I currently have in my craft space. I have wonderful storage in my kitchen craft space but I still need to spread out sometimes - out to that dining room table. The Mini is the perfect fit to sit on the table at my right hand - I can reach over and die cut smaller dies rather than getting up from the table, going back into the kitchen crafty space and cranking the Mighty Stampin' Cut and Emboss Machine. 

Lazy? I refuse to answer that question. I prefer to think of it in terms of convenience and efficiency.  Sometimes it is easier to cut out a few small dies on a smaller plate. This is all personal preference, but I will say that I am not the only Demonstrator finding it easy to use right on the craft table or dining room table or ... 

I die cut these detailed butterflies from a 3 x 6 inch strip of Designer Series Paper; I was able cut two and three detailed dies at once with the Mini and they cut perfectly (I did not get up from my chair at the table). It is a dream! 

However,  

this picture from Stampin' Up! shows the standard sized Stampin' Cut and Emboss Machine poised to die cut six butterflies from the Butterfly Bijou Designer Series Paper using the one large outline die from the Brilliant Wings die set. The Mini cannot take that size of a die as a whole. IF you snip the large die into six individual dies, one for each butterfly, then you can die cut the butterflies one at a time, BUT you will likely lose some important real estate on that paper. 

With that being said, the Butterfly Bijou Designer Series Paper will not be around for ever, but you can continue to cut from other papers and from the stamped images using the Mini.

If you notice in the catalogs, die sets that can be accommodated by the Mini are so indicated; as are embossing folders designed for use with the Mini. 

So, what'll it be? Mini, Mighty, or both?

Whenver you are ready to make a purchase, you can do so from right here - hit Shop Now and look around. I am happy to order for you and to offer any suggestions, answer any questions. 

Since I have named my machines Mini and Mighty, I can frequently be heard singing  "Mighty Mouse to save the day!" 

Let's stamp!