Finally, Cluster Stamping Success!

The Try a New Technique challenge at SplitcoastStampers this week was to try Cluster Stamping. The instructions were to create a stencil with a die or punch. place the stencil over a cardbase, and then select some small stamps to stamp through the stencil onto the cardbase to create a cluster.

I cheated a little. I didn't stamp right onto my cardbase, but onto a piece of cardstock. I actually didn't notice that the challenge said specifically to stamp on a cardbase until just now. Oh well.

As soon as I read this challenge I knew I had to try it. I had it all figured out in my head and couldn't wait to try it. Well, things didn't quite go as I thought they would. I was not impressed with my first attempt. But I wasn't willing to give up. Yesterday I posted a picture in my blog post that showed some of my attempts to conquer the technique. After much experimenting I finally had success!

I used my big shot and one of the dies from the Circles Collection Framelits Die to cut the stencil out of plain typewriter paper. I had tried using cardstock for my stencil but it didn't work as good as the thinner typewriter paper. The stamps didn't stamp as good right around the edge, but the typewriter paper worked fine.

I decided to use stamps from a number of different sets - 

Perpetual Birthday Calendar  

Mother's Love

Your Perfect Day

Butterfly Basics

I placed my stencil over my cardstock and set up my stamps and inks, all ready to go to work.

I decided to go with the 2013-2015 colours for the card, because I just love this colour collection! And I love how it turned out!

I decided to round the corners of the cardstock using my envelope punch board.

I decided that it still needed something when I was done so I stamped the little stamp in each corner. The button and ribbon are from the Best Year Ever Accessory pack, which was a Sale-a-Bration item and is no longer available for purchase. The colour looks a bit off in the picture but the ribbon and button are actually Coastal Cabana, one of the 2013-2015 In Colours.

Though I struggled a bit with this technique, I do think I will use it again. It was fun experimenting with it.

If you're interested in trying this fun technique let me know and we'll set something up.

A quick last minute reminder that today is the last day for Stampin' Up!s free shipping promotion and it's also the last day to subscribe for Paper Pumpkin in time to receive this month's kit. Let me know if you need help placing an order.

Birthday Bokehs

The background paper for this card was created using shades of red - Real Red, Melon Mambo, Strawberry Slush, and Blushing Bride. Here is a video of me making the background paper:



To make the card I cut an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of Crushed Curry card stock in half to get an 8 1/2 of 5 1/2 piece and scored it at 4 1/4.

I trimmed one side of the background paper so that it was 4 x 5 1/2.

I used my Big Shot and one of the framelits from the Secret Garden Framelits set to cut the flower out of Strawberry Slush card stock. I used a Stampin' Write marker to draw some lines on the petals to give the flower a bit of detail and I rubbed my fingernails along the edge of the petals and shaped them a bit to give them some dimension.

I used my Big Shot again and one of the shapes in the Fun Flowers Bigz die cut set to cut the flower centre out of Crushed Curry card stock. I drew some dots with a Stampin' Write marker on it to give it a bit of detail.

I adhered the centre to the flower and the flower to the card with glue dots.

I used Memento ink to stamp the greeting using one of the stamps from the Big Day stamp set.

I cut a 4 1/2 piece of Crushed Curry Ribbon from the Best Year Ever Accessory Pack and wrapped it around and adhered it to the panel with glue dots.

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A friend created this card when she was visiting one day. I was so excited about just learning the bokeh technique I just had to teach her how to do it. She used Blackberry Bliss, Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, and Hello Honey, along with Whisper White Craft to create the bokeh look. The card base is Blackberry bliss and the greeting is stamped on a piece of Crushed Curry. The greeting is stamped with Blackberry Bliss and is one of the stamps from the December Paper Pumpkin kit. She also used one of the stamps from the Perpetual Birthday Calendar stamp set to add some of the Whisper White ink. I love how it turned out!

I'd love to see your creations with the bokeh technique.

Fun technique - Bokeh with sponging

I learned about this technique on our Newfoundland Stampin' Up! demonstrators FaceBook page. The group in St. John's had someone show them how to do it at a team meeting. As I'm on the other side of the island I don't get to go to these team meetings so I hit google to find out what it was all about. After watching a number of different videos of different ways to do the technique I finally decided to give it a try.

For my first attempt, shown on the right, I used re-inkers and water in a Stampin' Spritzer. I wasn't thrilled with the result but I probably will try it again. For my second attempt, shown on the left, I used sponging. It was so much fun and I love how it turned out. I will definitely be trying it again. I loved both even more when I used them to create cards.

This card was made with the paper on the left. I'll share the card made with the other paper soon.

For this card I cut a 5 1/4 x 4 piece of whisper white card stock.

I gathered my Pistachio Pudding, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Canteloupe, and Hello Honey ink pads. I prepared a small piece of sponge for each one.

Starting with one of the colours, I dabbed the sponge on the ink pad a few times to ink it up before using the sponge to apply ink to the card stock in a circular motion. I did this in random places all over the card. I repeated this with each colour and continued adding circles of colour, overlapping in places, until all the white was covered and I was happy with the result.

It is important to let this ink dry for a bit before proceeding to the next step.

Using a piece of paper with circles punched out as a stencil and placing it randomly over the card, I used Stampin' Up!s Whisper White Craft ink pad to sponge circles. Using the stencil gave these circles a more defined edge. Finally I used the eraser part of a pencil as a stamp to make the tiny dots.

I let this dry for a long time before stamping the sentiment in the corner.

The sentiment on this card is from the Simply Wonderful stamp set, which is one of the Sale-A-Bration items that can be earned for free when you spend $60 during Sale-A-Bration. I stamped it with Memento Ink.

Next I prepared a card base by cutting a 4 1/4 x 11 piece of Calypso Coral card stock.

I cut a 5 inch piece of the Calypso Coral ribbon from the Best Day Ever Accessory Pack, another item in the Sale-A-Bration Brochure. I taped it around the background piece before attaching it to the card front.

Supplies I used to create this card:

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With the help of my 9 year old, I created this video demonstrating how to do the bokeh technique with sponging.



I will show you what I did with the paper I created in the video in a coming post.
(Update: Check my Birthday Bokehs blog post to see what I did with the paper)


If you are interested in trying out the Bokeh technique, let me know by filling in the contact form at the right and I'll try to arrange a class.

If you place an order with me for
- three ink pads of your choice
- card stock to match at least one of your ink pads
- ribbon to match at least one of your ink pads
- whisper white card stock
- whisper white craft ink
- sponges (pack of 3)
you will have an order totally just over $60 which, will make you eligible to pick a free product from the Sale-A-Bration brochure. If you pick the stamp set I used you would be able to make 48 or more cards similar to the one I made here.
If you live out of town you can have the order shipped directly to you and I can teach you the technique via Skype or FaceTime.

No Stampin', Just Paper and Embellishments

This card was inspired by this pinterest pin.

I cut an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of whisper white card stock in half long ways to get a peice that was 4 1/4 x 11. I then scored that at 5 1/2. I cut three 1 5/8 x 4 pieces of Lullaby Designer Series Paper and adhered them to the front of the card. I cut a 1 x 5 1/2 piece of Baked Brown Sugar card stock and a 1 1/4 x 5 1/2 piece of Calypso Coral card stock and adhered the two together before adhering them to the card front. I tied a piece of ribbon into a bow around the card and adhered three buttons with glue dots. the ribbon and the buttons are part of the Best Year Ever Accessory pack that is one of the products available for free from the Sale-a-Bration Brochure.

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