A card for the artsy type

This is definitely not a card that would appeal to everyone, but I do think there are people it will appeal to. It has a definite artsy/grungy look. It is the result of a few inspirations all mixed together.

The focal point of this card was created way back in April when I did the Watercolours Ways to Use It Challenge Part Two: Embossing Folder Stamping. For the card featured in that post I used one side of the embossing but I also decided to try the same technique on the other side of the embossing folder, but I just used regular card stock instead of watercolour paper. The card stock curled and twisted and didn't lay flat so I just laid it aside thinking I might find a use for it some day because I did think it was kind of cool. Today was the day.

Way back in April I used my sponges to add colour to the Lovely Lace TIEF. Then I misted the folder with my water using my Stampin' Spritzer before pressing the 4 3/4 x 3 1/2 piece of Whisper White card stock on top of it. When it was dry I stamped the greeting using a stamp from the Butterfly Basics stamp set. I laid it aside in my scrap box until I picked it up today.

I liked the little rumpled look of it and decided I didn't want to try to flatten it so I adhered it to a 5 x 3 3/4 piece of Crisp Canteloupe in such a way that it retained it's rumpled look.

When I got that done I remember that there was a challenge on SpiltcoastStampers recently that involved rolling the edges of papers on a card. It was the Try a New Technique Challenge the week of June 8th. I decided to try that technique on this card. First I rolled the edges around a pencil but I wanted the roll to be tighter so I tried the skinny end of a paint brush. That looked a little better.

I adhered the matted piece to a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card base and inked the edges of the card base with my sponge a little with Crisp Canteloupe and Blushing Bride.

As I said, it's not a card for everyone, but someone would definitely appreciate it.

New Embossing Folder Technique

I was browsing pinterest and came across a pin from Robin's Craft Room's New Stamps 1: Circle of Spring post. She had layered some card stock and then embossed all the layers at once. This was a new idea to me and I had to try it. I used her card design as inspiration, but I did change it up a little.

I cut a 4 x 5 1/4 piece of Whisper White card stock, a 1 x 3 1/2 piece of Watermelon Wonder, a 1 x 3 1/4 piece of Delightful Dijon, and a 1 x 3 piece of Mint Macaron. I adhered the coloured strips on the Whisper White and stamped a greeting from the Sprinkles of Life stamp set with Tip Top Taupe.

I then used the Zig Zag TIEF (Textured Impressions Embossing Folder) and the Big Shot to embossed the whole thing.

Next I used the new Tree Punch to add some decoration. When I first got this punch I was a little frustrated with the thought that you had to punch everything out of the one piece of paper at the same time. I knew I would want to punch the different items with different colours and I thought it was very wasteful to punch the whole thing out of each colour. I played with it a bit and figured out earlier that you could cut little strips of paper to punch just the part of the punch that I wanted in whatever colour I wanted without having to punch the whole thing. I put a note on my punch so that I would remember what size strip I needed for each item. You still get some waste but it's not too bad.

I cut a 1 inch strip of Tip Top Taupe and stamped the tree trunk from the Tree Punch with Tip Top Taupe on the strip before placing it in the punch to punch it out.

I cut a 1 1/2 inch strip of Cucumber Crush and stamped the tree leaves using the Cucumber Crush before punching it out.

I used part of the 1 inch strip of Watermelon Wonder that I had cut earlier and stamped the flower a couple of times using Watermelon Wonder before punching them out.

I adhered the tree and flowers and added tiny pearls to the flower centers before adhering the piece to a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 card base.

The Sprinkles of Life stamp set is extra special because for every set that is sold Stampin' Up! donates $3 to Ronald MacDonald House Charities.

Watercolour Ways to Use It Challenge: Part Two - Embossing Folder Stamping

The Ways To Use It challenge this past Thursday at SplitcoastStampers was to use a watercoloured background and the challenge contained links to a number of different technique tutorials and I just had to try a couple.Yesterday's post is about my attempt to try one of these tutorials. Today's post is about another one.

The Embossing Folder Stamping Watercolour Technique is so easy, and fun! I used the Lovely Lace embossing folder and using my Stamping Sponges I sponged on some Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Tangelo Twist, and Hello Honey.

When the colours were all on, I misted it with water using the Stampin' Spritzer.

 

Then I pressed the cardstock down onto the embossing folder.

And Voila! this is how it turned out - 

I left it to dry before moving it, but looking back now I think I probably should have soaked up the excess water with a paper towel because it pooled in a couple of places and looked a little wonky, but I managed to cover that with the design of the card when I put it together.

Using my Big Shot and one of the Butterfly Thinlits I cut a butterfly out of Wild Wasabi cardstock. I stamped the greeting with Wild Wasabi using one of the stamps in the Butterfly Basics stamp set and I also sponged the edges of the watercolour paper with Wild Wasabi. I adhered the finished piece to a Hello Honey card base.

Connecting with some great ladies

Last night I attended a Connections event at our local church. Connections is the Ladies group at the church. They meet once a month with a different theme each month and it's usually pretty fun. Last night the theme was Winter Warm Up and they invited everyone to come in their jammies for a relaxing evening and hear some people share about their hobbies. I was asked to share about my card making and I had a great time doing it.

Another lady shared about her hobby of making homemade soap. It was so interesting! You can check out her Made by M.E. Handmade Soap website and check out some of the cool soap she makes on her Our Collection page. It looks, and smells, good enough to eat!

The card above is one I made in preparation for my presentation. I wanted a card that would allow me to demonstrate a few different tools and techniques. Here's what I did:

I used my trimmer to cut the card base and the card mat out of Very Vanilla cardstock.

I put the 4 x 5 1/4 card mat through the texture boutique machine with the Lovely Lace embossing folder.

I used sponges to apply some colour to the embossed flowers with Crisp Canteloupe and to the embossed leaves with Pistachio Pudding, though the Pistachio pudding had a brown tint to it so I'm thinking I must have accidentally put the sponge in baked brown sugar at some point and not realized it. I sponged the edge of the mat with Pistachio Pudding.

I used a piece of the left over Very Vanilla and the Big Shot to cut the middle size butterfly of the Butterfly Thinlits*. I sponged a little of the same two colours on the butterfly and around it's edges.

I stamped a greeting from the Good Greetings hostess set** onto a thin piece of cardstock and used the What's Up Punch to make the v's in each end (a neat tip I learned from the Back to Black Funky Fruit Card post at Patty's Stampin Spot).

I adhered it all together and Voila! - an elegant looking card appeared.  :-)

It was a fun night at Connections and I'm hoping maybe it may inspire more people to join in the fun of cardmaking!

Anybody that was there last night, and even if you weren't there, and you are interested in learning more about cardmaking, trying out some of my supplies, or taking a class, let me know and we'll set something up. I'd love to hear from you.

*unfortunately the Butterfly thinlits were so popular that Stampin' Up! ran out of them! They may have more in the future so keep your eyes open.

**the Good Greetings hostess set is no longer available for purchase.

Chase away the winter blues with stampin' and tunes

My "almost double digiter" "CASEd" my Easy Stained Glass Look Butterfly card. I love what she did with it! She embossed the card front with the Lovely Lace embossing folder. You can get the rest of the instructions on my Easy Stained Glass Look post.

Here's what she wrote on the inside:

Isn't that cute!?! What a great way to make a blue day brighter.

My oldest daughter is singing her Winter Blues away. This is a song she wrote and recorded recently. Have a listen. Maybe you'll be like me and think she must have been inside your head and stole your thoughts when she was writing the lyrics.

So, if you're suffering with the blues, maybe some stampin' and tunes will turn your day around, I know it does mine.

Super simple stunning valentine card

This card is so easy and fast to make, yet it's beautiful!

I made a card base made by cutting an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of whisper white card stock in half to get an 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 piece, which I scored at 4 1/4.

Using the Texture Boutique Machine, I embossed the edge of the card with one of the delicate impressions embossing folders, and then trimmed the edge with scissors following the line of the embossing. There is a large scallop edgelit you can get to make the same cut but I don't have it so I improvised. Some day I hope to get that edgelit.

I then stamped with real red ink and stamps from the January 2015 Paper Pumpkin kit: Filled with Love. I stamped down the side of the card with the plain heart stamp, tipping the stamp alternately while going down the card, and added the greeting.

So fast and easy! And I think it is beautiful!

If you haven't tried out the Texture Boutique Machine yet you don't know what you're missing.  It is so much fun! This particular embossing folder is one of my favourite from the ones I've collected so far. If you'd like the chance to try the Texture Boutique, let me know and I will arrange a class for you to try it out.

Unfortunately the stamps that I used on this card are not available for purchase. They are from an exclusive stamp set for the January 2015 Paper Pumpkin kit and only available to those that subscribed for the January 2015 Paper Pumpkin. Past kits are sometimes available to current subscribers so there is a possibility you may be able to get it if you become a subscriber, but there's no guarantee this particular kit will be available as there are a limited supply. However, if you become a subscriber you won't have to worry about missing any more exclusive stamp sets.  :-)

I am sending out my Paper Pumpkin Subscribers a card base so that they can make this card. To learn more about the perks of signing up for Paper Pumpkin with me, check out the Paper Pumpkin tab at the top of the page.

The Groovy Love stamp set has similar stamps that you could use to create a similar card. If you place an order with me to purchase the Groovy Love stamp set, a red ink pad, and a one month subscription to Paper Pumpkin I will send you the card base needed to make one of these cards.

If you subscribe to Paper Pumpkin before the 10th of the month you will receive that month's kit, so tomorrow is the last day to subscribe in time to receive the kit for February. I have no idea what is in the kit and I can't wait to find out. Why don't you sign up and join in the fun?

During Sale-A-Bration there is a special on a 3-month Paper Pumpkin Subscription. For $68.85 you get a 3-month subscription to Paper Pumpkin and you are eligible for one of the free products in the Sale-a-Bration brochure.

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Cards for difficult times

The Thoughts and Prayers Stamp set is one of my favourite. It is a great set for creating cards for friends that may be going through difficult times. I love the images and the sentiments in the set. I am only featuring one of the sentiments in this post.

For this card I started with a whisper white card base which I created by cutting an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of card stock to get an 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 piece which I scored at 4 1/4.

I cut a 5 3/8 x 4 piece of Early Espresso card stock and adhered it to the front of the card.

I cut a 5 1/4 x 4 piece of pistachio pudding. I embossed the edge of the card with one of the Delicate Designs embossing folders and trimmed the scalloped edge with scissors before adhering it to on top of the Early Espresso.

I cut a piece of 4 1/4 x 2 3/8  piece of whisper white card stock to stamp the images on. 

Instead of inking the stamp with an ink pad, I applied the ink by colouring directly on the rubber stamp before stamping. I inked the tree trunk and branches by inking that part of the rubber stamp with an Early Espresso Stampin' Write Marker. I didn't have a Pistachio Pudding Marker but I learned a little while ago that you can pick up ink from any stamp pad with a Blender Pen to use to colour stamped images or to apply ink to a stamp before stamping. I inked the leaves by using a Blender Pen and picking up ink from a Pistachio Pudding ink pad to ink the leaves on the rubber stamp. I then "huffed" (kind of like blowing) on the stamp a couple of times to ensure the ink was wet before stamping it onto the card. I coloured the sentiment with the Early Espresso marker and stamped it on.

I cut a 4 1/2 x 3 piece of Early Espresso card stock to make a mat for the image. I adhered the two together before adhering them to the card front.

I love how it turned out.

For this card I again started with a whisper white card base which I created by cutting an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of card stock to get an 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 piece which I scored at 4 1/4.

I cut a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 piece of Calypso Coral card stock and embossed it with the Filigree Embossing Folder which was in the Holiday catalog but sadly is no longer available.

I cut 3 3/4 x 2 3/4 piece of Very Vanilla card stock. Once again I used the Early Espresso Stampin' Write maker to ink the stem of the flower image directly on the rubber stamp. I used the Blender Pen to pick up ink from a Wild Wasabi ink pad to ink the leaves and also to pick up ink from a Pistachio Pudding ink pad to ink the flowers. Once the stamp was all inked I "huffed" on it to make sure the ink was wet before stamping the image. It took a bit of time but I love how it turned out. I inked the sentiment with the Early Espresso Stampin' Write Marker before stamping it.

I cut a 3 x 4 piece of Early Espresso card stock and adhered the stamped image to it before adhering both to the card front.

You can't really notice it in the pictures but the Very Vanilla gives the card a softer look than if I had used Whisper White.

If you are interested in trying out this method of inking images, let me know by filling in the contact form to the right. If you live close by I'll try to arrange a class for you to attend. If you live too far to come to a class, I can arrange to demonstrate it for you through Skype or FaceTime if you are interested.

If don't already have the supplies and you place an order with me for all of the following:

1. a Thoughts and Prayers stamp set, 

2. an Early Espresso ink pad or marker, 

3. a Pistachio Pudding or Wild Wasabi ink pad, 

4. a Coral Calypso ink pad, 

5. a blender pen, 

I will send you the paper supplies needed to make both of these cards and guide you through making them, either in person or through the internet. If you add a little more to your order, so that it totals $60, you will be eligible to receive one of the free products in the Sale-a-Bration brochure. You can have the order delivered directly to you. Let me know if you are interested and want more information.

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