Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Untitled

 

I case'd this card from Carroll Ann on SplitcoastStampers because I thought it was so pretty and perfect for Easter. It also uses my favorite paper from the SAB paper. I do not usually do monochromatic cards but I just love this one which uses the Petite Petals stamp set and punch.

 

 

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Year Round Christmas

 

I have a group of customers who like to do Christmas cards year round so by the end of the year, they have several all ready made up. This is a card I case'd from Darlene McCallum. Thanks for the inspiration Darlene!
The card was made using Midnight Muse, Soft Sky, Whisper White and Silver glimmer paper. The stamp set, Festive Flurry, is from last year's holiday catalog and is still available to order as are the coordinating framelits. The Northern Flurry embossing folder was used and Dazzling Diamonds was applied. The sentiment is from the Sweet Essentials stamp set.
 
 
 
 

 

Monday, June 23, 2014

A Timeless Technique - Shaving Cream!

This technique has been around for as long as I can remember but I still have requests for it. For this card, we used Pool Party, Coastal Cabana and Pacific Point for our base colors. The stamp sets are By the Seashore and Lots of Thanks.

For those that haven't done this technique, put a 1/4 to 1/2 inch layer of shaving cream in a flat shallow dish which is larger than the piece of paper you are working with. Take 3-4 reinkers (I used Pool Party, Coastal Cabana and Pacific Point) and randomly drop ink around the shaving cream. Take a bamboo stick or other stick and begin swirling around in the shaving cream creating swirls of the different colors. Once you have the ink spread around, place your paper down in shaving cream and press lightly to make sure it touches everywhere. Pull the paper out of the shaving cream and wipe it off using a baby wipe or paper towel. Give it 5 to 10 minutes to dry before trying to use adhesive on it.

The card below was made using the same shaving cream after I pulled the first one out. Depending upon your mixture, you can get 2 or 3 pieces colored before the shaving cream becomes too blurry.

 

 

Friday, June 20, 2014

Wax Paper Resist on Embossing Folders....

 

I found this technique and this card on Patty Bennett's blog. Thanks Patty! The image is from the Serene Silhouettes stamp set. The colors used are Marina Mist and Gumball Green. We inked the stamp using the Gumball Green and then took a blender pen and wiped the color away from the flowers and used a marker to ink them. Now, to the technique:

Take a piece of wax paper and run it through the Big Shot using an embossing folder. I used the Vintage Wallpaper folder. Heat your iron without steam. Place a piece of copy paper down on your ironing board and then place the piece of embossed wax paper down. (You will get a different look depending upon which side you have up.). Place a piece of glossy white Cardstock face down on top of that and then another piece of copy paper on top of that. Next, lay your iron straight down on the stack of papers and hold in place for 30 seconds. Do not rub back and forth. If you need to move your iron over to get full coverage, pick it straight up and move it over. Also, do not press down real hard as you will iron out the pattern. Once you are done, take your glossy piece out. Ink up your brayer and run it over the glossy paper. The areas that picked up the wax from the wax paper will resist the ink. Continue adding ink until you have the desired color. A tissue can be used to remove any ink from the waxed areas.

TIP: If you missed yesterday's tip, here it is again for this card. In this case, I cut the glossy Cardstock at 4"x6" so there will be two 1/2" pieces to cut off the bottom. Once I did that, I then cut the sides down from 4" to 3 3/4". The two 1/2" x 4" pieces then go on the inside.

 

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Embossing Folder Bleaching..

 

Awhile ago, I had a technique class. The cards were more simple than I usually do because our time was taken up with learning techniques! You should have seen 12 attendees bouncing around my dining room and kitchen making up these cards! Over the next four days, I will show you the cards that we made. If you want a picture tutorial, let me know and I will get one posted as soon as I can. Right now, I will just describe how to do the technique.

Embossing Folder Bleaching Technique -- first, do this technique in a well ventilated area as the bleach does smell strong. Rubber or latex gloves are recommended for this technique. Take a cotton ball and dip it into the bleach, pretty much saturating the cotton ball but not dripping wet. Dab the bleach over the raised portions of the inside of an embossing folder. Place your Cardstock inside and run through the Big Shot. When you take it out, the raised areas that had the bleach will change color and the depressed areas will still be the original color.

In my sample, the paper was Midnight Muse and the bleached areas turned out like Always Artichoke. I have been told that dark Cardstock like Midnight Muse or Night of Navy start out as Cardstock that has been dyed before in a lighter dye. This came up when I demonstrated another bleaching technique at a class a few years ago. We were all bleaching Night of Navy Cardstock. Most of the class ended up with a green image on the navy paper but a couple people ended up with a pink image! Imagine our surprise. Turns out that I had used two different dye lots of Navy paper. Maybe there is some truth to what I was told!

Okay, back to the card -- the stamps are from the You're Lovely stamp set from SAB. I used the Deco Labels framelits to cut the layers. The Always Artichoke piece was embossed using the Square Lattice embossing folder.

 

 

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

By The Tide.... Again! So versatile....

 

Here is a card that I case'd from Amanda Mertz. Thanks Amanda! I love this set and thought it would be an appropriate card for a male sympathy card. The coral was embossed using Pool Party embossing powder on Midnight Muse (I miss this color!). The images were stamped in Pool Party and Midnight Muse. The Pool Party strip was embossed using the Decorative Dots embossing folder and the ribbon is two strips of Coastal Cabana 1/8" Taffeta ribbon. The sentiments are from the Petite Pairs stamp set. The punches used are the Label Bracket and 1 3/8" circle punches.

 

 

 

Monday, June 16, 2014

Always in Search of a Great Masculine Card?

 

I am! My wonderful customers are often asking for masculine cards. Here is one that we recently made using punches. I came across this punch art on Jessica Lewis' blog. I am always amazed by the vision of some people. I had some colored metal sheets that I picked up at a stamping convention years ago and thought it would work perfectly for this card. We embossed the red metal using the Woodgrain folder and then sanded it to reveal the silver. The black Cardstock was embossed just at the bottom using the Chevron embossing folder and the sentiment was taken from the Delightful Dozen stamp set. The stamp had additional sentiments on it so we used a marker to ink just the portion we wanted.

Have you ever done that and ended up catching another portion of the stamp so you get a "shadow" on your card? I do - often enough and on this card too! How did I fix it. Like that piece of Washi tape from the Epic Day This &That Washi Tapes? Well, it is hiding my goof!

The wrenches were made using the silver foil paper. The head was made using the Word Window punch which I punched alone the edge of the silver paper. I then came back and punched it using the 1" circle punch. The base was made using the flower from the Itty Bitty Shapes punches and then again using a 3/4" circle punch. The stem was just a cut strip of the paper. We also sponged the edges in Basic Black before assembly.

The inside sentiment is from the Remembering Your Birthday stamp set and has a strip of Washi tape along the bottom.

 

Friday, June 13, 2014

Why is the Sale-A-Bration Papers Always the Cutest?

 

Last year, the designer series paper that Stampin' Up! offered during Sale-a-Bration was my favorite that they offered. I can't believe it happened two years in a row! I just love the paper they offered at SAB this year. I hope you squirreled some away like I did. Here is a card that we made back during SAB.

Everyone loved the flower made from the elastic ruffled ribbon. Here's how to make it: Take a piece of ribbon approximately 18" in length. (This will definitely depend upon the size of the circle you use. I used a Jumbo Sticky Round cut down to 2". Starting at the outside, begin to stick the ribbon down to the outside edge of the sticky round. Wrap around twice layering them by about half the width of the ribbon. After going in a circle twice, begin to fill in the rest going back and forth in a zigzag fashion. If you continue in a circle, your flower will look like a spiral - not very realistic! Continue until you fill the entire sticky round. Trim the excess ribbon and press down on the ribbon to make sure it is well adhered.

Colors used in this card are Crisp Cantaloupe, Basic Black, Pool Party, Pear Pizzazz and the Sweet Sorbet DSP. The sentiment is from the Sketched Birthday stamp set. The leaves were cut with the Little Leaves sizzlet, embossed using the Vintage Wallpaper folder and sponged using Old Olive ink.

 

 

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Acrylic Block & Alcohol Spritzing Technique

 

To make this card, we took Stampin' Up!'s largest acrylic block and using the corners of the Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi and Bermuda Bay ink pads, inked up most of the surface of the acrylic block. We then filled a spritzer with alcohol and lightly spritzed the block. Give the alcohol about 30 seconds to pull at the ink. For the stamped image (Summer Silhouettes stamp set), stamp down onto the block to pick up the alcohol/ink and then stamp on a piece of white Cardstock. For the background, place a piece of white Cardstock down onto the acrylic block and press down to make sure you get complete coverage. I don't recommend picking up the block and turning it over onto your Cardstock as the alcohol/ink solution could run and ruin the effect -- or make a new one!

TIP: When making your background, cut your piece about 3/4" longer than you want it. This way you can cut that off the bottom and use it on the inside of the card like I did.

 

Friday, June 6, 2014

Thoughts &Prayers...

This is another set that has been around for quite awhile but a great one for any time you need a sympathy card.
I cased this one directly from SplitcoastStampers - my go to place for inspiration. I usually mix it up a little bit - adding the "Cathy touch" but I don't think I changed anything on this card. It was so gorgeous just the way it was.
Everyone loved the card but it is slow going coloring the stamp with all the little flowers. I showed everyone how to ink up the stamp in the green and then, using a blender pen, remove the ink from the flower portions of the stamp and finally coloring the flowers with a marker. If you try this technique, make such not to "color" back and forth with the blender pen (that just moves the ink around). You want to wipe it in one direction so you are actually removing the ink from the stamp.

 

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Feel Better Flowers...

When I was younger, an old boyfriend brought me flowers when I was really sick. He called them "feel better flowers" and they did just that. I am guessing that this card would have the same effect on the recipient.

I used the Field Flowers stamp set and the Express Yourself hostess set for this card. I stamped in Pear Pizzazz, Tangerine Tango and Crisp Cantaloupe.

Here is the really cool inside of this card! The paper was Watercolor Wonder DSP from the Everyday Occasions catalog this spring.

 

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Wedding Bells...

I rarely attend weddings anymore - perhaps it is the age - so when someone wants a wedding card, off to SplitcoastStampers I go! I cased this card and even had to borrow the stamp set for the sentiment because I no longer had it because it was retired last year but it was so cute that I had to do it.

The bells are from the Embellished Events set.

 

 

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

All Those Leftover Ribbon Scraps.....

Do you have a bunch of ribbon scraps that you just can't seem to get rid of? Here is a great way to use those up. I have seen this idea on SplitcoastStampers and other blogs and I just think it is a great way to use up all those little pieces.

Just take a piece of paper and put some adhesive down in the center of the paper. I used the multipurpose adhesive sheets which retired but we have new ones which I am sure will work just as well - if not better! Lay your ribbons down on the diagonal and punch a shape out of the Cardstock you are placing on top. Super easy and super cute!

Here is the inside of our card. The stamp set was one of the Sale-a-Bration sets but Remembering your birthday has some stamps that will work. Also, in the new catalog there is a new set called Age Awareness that would be perfect too!

 

Monday, June 2, 2014

Stampin' Up!'s Sketched Birthday

Here is a birthday card that we made recently. It seems like I am needing cards that will hold a gift card and this card is perfect.

To make this card, you place one card inside the other. The inside one is cut on a diagonal about two inches from the right side of the card. The outside card is cut on the diagonal about 3 1/2" down on the right. The back of the inside card is glued down to the back of the outside card. (You will need to trim a bit of the inside card along the right side.). Finally glue down the fronts along the right side and bottom to create the two pockets.

Stamps used: Sketched Birthday

Inks used: Gumball Green, Melon Mambo, Pool Party, Daffodil Delight, Basic Gray, Black StazOn

Paper used: Gumball Green, Calypso Coral, Tempting Tourquise, Birthday Basics DSP

Other: Summer Starfruit ribbon, tasteful trim die