Be Inspired by Designer Series Paper

It’s time for another Be Inspired Design Team Blog Hop – what fun!  The Be Inspired Design Team is a group of Stampin’ Up! demonstrators from all over the world who are excited to share our themed projects with you.  I’m so honored to be a part of this group of talented stampers!

The theme for today’s Be Inspired Hop is “Stampin’ Up!’s Designer Series Paper.”  The timing couldn’t be more perfect – my World Card Making Day presentation was all about ways to be inspired by Designer Series Paper – color inspiration, pairing patterns, coloring on the paper and manipulating the patterns.  If you missed my recap of this awesome event, you can read more here and here.  What fun!  If you aren’t starting the hop here, then you probably just popped over from a visit with my adorable and oh-so-talented friend Louise Sharp at louisesharp.com.

Today’s project showcases one project in two ways – I love both, but they both use the same page of Designer Series Paper Here are my cards for today’s hop:

Merry Cafe, Santa's Sleigh, Be Merry, Stampin' Up!, Brian KingMerry Cafe, Santa's Sleigh, Be Merry, Stampin' Up!, Brian KingTips, Tricks and Reminders

  • Be Merry Designer Series Paper.  Stampin’ Up!’s Be Merry Designer Series Paper (from the 2017 Annual Catalog) is filled with great images and patterns for almost any Christmas card you want to make.  While there are patterns that mix Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green, my favorite pages are the ones that feature only one of those two colors – and my absolute favorite page is this one with bold, diagonal stripes.  What a fun stack of papers.  Here’s a look a the pages in this stack:  Be Merry Designer Series Paper, Stampin' Up!If you’d like to see my suggestion for color combinations that work well with Be Merry Designer Series Paper, click here.
  • Creating a Zig-Zag from Diagonal Stripes.  When I see a pattern of bold, diagonal stripes, I instinctively want to cut it up to create a zig-zag pattern.  It’s simple!  Here are both of these cards, side-by-side:  Merry Cafe, Santa's Sleigh, Be Merry, Stampin' Up!, Brian KingI first shared how to make your own zig-zag pattern in a post from September 2012 – that’s more than five years ago!  I went back to the post, and the description is still A-OK.  If you would like to learn how to create your own pattern, please check it out.
  • Supporting Players.  While the star of this card is the Be Merry Designer Series Paper, the card features a cast of supporting players that are just as exciting and fun.  For starters, don’t you love this fun Christmas tree from the Santa’s Sleigh Thinlits Dies?
    Santa's Sleigh Thinlits, Stampin' Up! 140278

    Santa’s Sleigh Thinlits, Stampin’ Up!

    It looks so modern against these stripes.  And the sentiment is a combination of words from Merry Cafe.

    Merry Cafe, Stampin' Up!, 144965

    Merry Cafe, Stampin’ Up!, 144965

    I love both of these stamp sets – and they look great together!

Stamp Sets:  Merry Cafe  Papers:  Be Merry Designer Series Paper, Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Emerald Envy, Whisper White  Inks:  Cherry Cobbler, Archival Basic Black  Accessories:  Santa’s Sleigh Thinlits Dies, 1-3/4″ Circle punch, Layering Circles Framelits Dies, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I’m so glad you stopped by and hope you like my project. I also hope you’ll continue the Be Inspired Design Team Blog Hop to see more projects that I’m sure you’ll love. The next stop is my super-fun and oh-so-talented friend, Allison Okamitsu at Nice People Stamp. Click on the banner below to continue through the hop:

Thanks for stopping by today!

Brian

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In case you get off-track at any point during the hop, here’s a listing of all the participants in this hop:

Here are links to the products I used to create this card:

32 Comments

  1. This card has such a whimsical feel to it! Love it! I’m sure you know this, but there’s only 74 days until Christmas!

  2. Brian, I love this CAS yet bold and beautiful card. Great idea!

  3. Brian, that zig zag trick is pretty cool! 🙂

  4. STOP! I can’t handle how adorable the striped paper is flipped into chevron! Genius – that’s all I can say!

  5. Stripes to chevrons! Will your surprises never end! Love both cards. Great hop!

  6. Love the chevron look! Thanks for the link on how to make it. Great card with a wonderful artsy look! Enjoy your day!

  7. Beautiful cards Brian. I love how you created the chevron dsp. I grow creatively by just sitting back, watching and learning from you. Great job

  8. Well, will I never mr King !!! That trickery you employed with that gorgeous striped paper is nothing short of miraculous. What a brilliant idea and how blooming easy (when you know how of course). Thank you for welcoming me to the team. You are sweet <3

    • Thanks so much, Monica! I’m so glad you like this little trick – it can really add something special to a card. I’m so happy you joined in on our little hop this time! Welcome! <3

  9. O.K. Brian – I admit it – I’m jealous of your innate ability to see beyond what you are looking at and then bringing what you see to life. Also, I thank you for the link to your 2012 post on how to make the Chevron with striped paper. I often make Chevron shapes in my quilts but was clueless (at least until today) as to how to do it with paper. I’ve followed you for years and you still manage to amaze me every day. Thank you.

    • Thanks so much, Grace! I’m always happy to hear from you and so glad you like this project. I have to pop this technique out every once in a while to remind people how fun it can be. <3

  10. I love getting an up close view of this amazing technique you demonstrated at WCMD. Absolutely fantastic design!

  11. Brian isn’t it enough that you know how to mix and match the sentiments to perfection. . . You have the DSP mastered as well! ?
    Love your skills!

  12. Mr King, you are just too clever for your own good! Love them both 🙂

  13. These cards are so awesome Brian! I love the chevron idea! I might have to CASE this one day soon! Thanks for inspiring! ?

  14. Hallo Brian, eine sehr schöne Karte! Danke auch für den Tipp, dass man das Designerpapier ganz einfach in ein Zickzack-Muster verwandeln kann! Sehr schön. Liebe Grüße Maike

  15. WOW!! You have an eye for design like no other Brian, these cards are amazing and beautiful, what you are able to do with DSP is beyond fabulous.
    Thank you for sharing how you managed to create the Chevron card.
    XO
    Maria.

  16. I love your Christmas card Brian, also the zigzag dsp is so much fun!

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