Drapery Fold Technique

Happy Wednesday, Everyone!

I recently saw this "drapery fold" technique idea, and just had to share it with my peeps at the last stampers' club.  I have seen several different fold dimensions, but I really liked this tutorial done by Lyssa Zwolanek.  It is really easy to follow, and simple dimensions as well.  You'll start with a strip of designer series paper -- 11 1/4 x 4".  Score at 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 10".  Cut a "wedge" off the bottom -- angling up from the 3" score line to the opposite short edge, leaving about 1 1/2" of that 4" side in tact.  Accordian fold your DSP and this is what you get!  So easy, and yet so awesome!  Lyssa did a great job with her photo tutorial, so be sure to check that out for step by step instructions.

For this card, we used Sahara Sand as the card base, and strips of paper from the Timeless Elegance pack, which has sold out already, unfortunately.  However, you could do this technique with any DSP that has a coordinating pattern on the opposite side.

Also featured on this card, are the Botanicals dies as well as the Blossom Bunch punch for the flowers.  The sentiment and that lovely little frame, is from the Rose Wonder stamp set and coordinating die set.  I really love the sentiments in that stamp set.  Simple, elegant, and coordinating messages for the insides of your cards.  We used Soft Suede ink to sponge around the flowers, to enhance that vintage look.  And, last but not least, some clear Wink of Stella adds that gorgeous shimmer to the flowers!  LOVE that stuff!  Easy to apply, dries quickly, and zero mess!

Only two weeks until the NEW Catalog will be here!  Yeah!  Grab your last retiring must haves before they are gone!

"By the Tide's" final debut

Happy Saturday!  Before the day gets crazy, I might as well post to my neglected blog while I enjoy my coffee!...

This card is one we are doing for my stampers' techniques club this month.  This stamp set, "By the Tide" is on the retiring list. :(  So sad, I love this set, and won't be getting rid of it, as it's a perfect realistic "ocean" type of set with the coral and fish and adorable sea horses.  I've used it for many projects -- from scrap pages to cards.

The hostess this month, wanted to use this set for a Father's Day card, so we are doing the "faux tile" technique -- read all about how to do these techniques in these posts.

Card stock colors I've used here are: Island Indigo, Soft Suede, and Whisper White.  That cute banner for the sentiment, comes from the "Number of Years" bundle -- a very useful set of dies and stamps!  The card base, is stamped in Island Indigo ink with the nautical looking stamp from another retiring set -- Open Sea.  It's a great stamp for adding that nautical touch to your project.  Ink colors used: Island Indigo, Cameo Coral, Memento Black, Soft Suede.  I strategically sponged my card to give the effect that sunlight is shining through the water to the ocean floor -- kind of highlighting the sentiment.  It's hard to photograph, but the fish panel is shiny -- just like tile -- since it's embossed with clear embossing powder.  Fun look!

Gorgeous Botanical Blooms!

I wasn't sure I was feeling the love for the  Botanical Blooms bundle when I first saw it in the Occasions catalog, but once I've started playing with this set, I've totally changed my mind.  First of all, for the price of $51.75, you get a pack of designer series paper, the Botanicals stamp set, and a large set of dies.  I was surprised when I saw this set in person, how many dies are included.  Made the price feel more justified.  Just sayin'!

The dimension of these flowers, is amazing.  The little petals are cut, so that you can curl up part of the petal while the other part is flat.  Unique.  I also love the leaf styles in this set.  The shapes are quite tropical -- and I can see that ferny leaf style working perfectly with a pine cone or Christmas ornament for a Christmas card.  By far, my favorite die in this set, is that little feathery flower stamen die that cuts that beautiful, delicate center for the flowers.  It is so pretty, and just makes me happy every time I look at it!  I also like the vine-like die that creates that cool edge on the right hand side.  Again, it's unique.  like nothing I've had before.  I recently posted a scrap layout here where I used this same die to create a scrap book border.

The sentiment on this card is from the Rose Wonder stamp set.  I like so many of the sentiments in this set, AND the fact that there is a stamp for the outside, as well as inside, of the card, made it a must have for me.

Card stock colors: Whisper White, Mossy Meadow, Blackberry Bliss, Blushing Bride, and So Saffron.

 Have a beautiful Saturday, Everyone! and I hope you have a little time to play today!

Rose Wonder creations

Happy Saturday morning!  :)  It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

I've been playing a bit with the Rose Wonder bundle from the Occasions catalog.  I was intrigued by the uniqueness of these dies, because they are an outline of the image die, rather than a solid die as we have had before.  Kind of a fun twist!  Here are some creations I've made with this bundle:

This first one, I die cut out of Whisper White card stock, and then used a sponge dauber to add Blackberry Bliss, Lost Lagoon, and Mossy Meadow ink to the die cut to create the color variations.  I then glued it down to my Crumb Cake card base.  I was also playing around with the gold Wink of Stella brush and got a wee bit carried away and got gold ink where I didn't mean to, as you can see in the second picture.  This Wink of Stella stuff, comes in clear and gold and is featured in the new Occasions catalog.  Knowing how much I adore all that sparkles, it was on my first order!  You just brush it on where you want some sparkle, it dries quickly, and leaves a lovely little gold or glittery trail behind it.  LOVE!!!  I colored the insides of the little Lost Lagoon flower petals in as well.  Fun stuff!

For this next card, I wanted to try a mosaic type of look -- I die cut it in black, glued that outline down, then die cut the rose part out of the new Blushing Bride Glimmer paper and the leaves out of Mossy Meadow and Pear Pizzaz card stock, and glued all the pieces back into the black die cut.  I found the easiest way to do this, was to put a little bit of Mono Multi glue into each space, then pick up the coordinating rose 'puzzle piece' and set it into it's slot.  I was going to do this card for the last club, but it is a wee bit tedious, so I changed my mind about that idea. :)  I might have had mutiny on my hands.....

For this final card, I used the die cut to create a stencil.  I die cut the rose/leaf image out of heavy weight Whisper White card stock, popped out the pieces, then used scotch tape to tape the die cut back into the piece I cut it from.  I then laid the stencil over the front card stock piece, and used a sponge dauber to add Blackberry Bliss and Mossy Meadow ink over the stencil. 

 I think it's fun how much variety you can create with this bundle!  I hope you'll give these a try yourself. :)

Let it SNOW!

Happy December, Everyone!

I know, I've been missing in action for quite some time, BUT I DO have a really cute, super fun project idea to share with you today -- these oh so popular (at my recent craft fairs) SNOW letters.  I sold three sets of these letters.

Here's a brief description of how to create them, in case YOU want to make some snow letters for your mantel!

Start by tracing your letters, face down on whisper white card stock.  Cut them out -- cutting just inside your pencil line.  I then stamped designs from the White Christmas stamp set in Black Memento ink across the letters, making sure to make the 'snow line' consistent between the letters.  I used markers to color in the car, deer, snowman, and christmas trees.  I did stamp the car on an extra scrap and cut it out and put it up on dimensionals.  Just adds to the cuteness!  The snowflakes on the top portions of the letters, are from the Wonderland stamp set -- in this year's holiday catalog. It is a gorgeous set that I know I will use for years to come.  The snowflakes are stamped in Island Indigo ink, and then the top parts of the letters are sponged with Pool Party ink, making sure not to get ink below the "snow line".  For the final step, I sponged the outside edges with Island Indigo ink.

You are now ready to glue it all together.  I use rubber cement, and apply it directly to the letter then add my paper on top of them.  Make sure they are all lined up properly, and let dry.

The final touch is adding glitter to the snow areas and trees -- simply use your two way glue pen and scribble glue onto the areas you want to sparkle.  Then dump Dazzling Diamonds glitter over top.  Shake off the excess, and you are done!

If you haven't checked out the Year end close out sale, you really should!  There are some great deals to be had in there!!!

Have a fantastic Saturday.  I'm off to build a snowman now. :)

Sleigh Ride Edgelits and a starry sky!

This card was inspired by Lydia from Understand Blue.  She does amazing stuff with coloring!!! and I was so incredibly inspired by her card, that I had to teach it to my peeps.

We started with a 4x5" panel of the thick whisper white card stock.  You do need to use the heavy wt card stock because you are adding a lot of color and moisture and lighter wt would not hold up.  We first sponged the entire panel with Bermuda Bay ink.  Put a lot of ink on -- not just a light layer.  Next sponge Night of Navy ink onto the top third or so of the panel.  Lastly, add Blackberry Bliss ink to the very top fourth or so.  Go easy with the Blackberry ink or your whole card will end up purple! :)  The final step is to splatter your panel with water -- dip your fingers in water and flick the water at the card stock OR you can spritz your panel with water to create a more even look.  The top card was spritzed and the bottom ones were "flicked".  At the class, some of the gals did a combination which looked really cool -- spritzed AND flicked. To me, this technique almost looks like Northern Lights in the sky.  Such depth of color.  I'm no color genius like Lydia, :) but I think the layers of sponged color gives you the depth of color when you add the water element.  We used a heat tool to speed up the drying process of the panel, then adhered it to a white thick card stock base.  We used the sleigh ride edgelits from the Jingle all the way bundle to create the winter scene.  If you do a Pinterest search for Sleigh Ride Edgelits, you will seriously HAVE to have these.  So many gorgeous cards -- and the new fine tip glue pen works great for adding a tad of glue to the little houses, sleigh, and trees when you're fastening it all down -- just sayin'!  In the first card, we cut the houses from silver foil paper.

Please excuse the poor lighting in the second photos here.  I took them when we were having all the forest fires in Montana in August, and this is truly how yellow it was outside!

Woodland Beauty

Happy Thursday, Everyone!

One of my very favorite things in the Holiday catalog, is the woodland embossing folder.  It is a 6" folder, so you can orient your card either horizontally or vertically.  Yeah!  I just love the natural birch tree kind of look it creates.  I saw a card similar to this one on Pinterest, and thought it was so pretty, so I gave it my own twist and used it for my Stamping Techniques club at my last class.  The little cardinals are from the White Christmas stamp set.  We stamped them on the tree branches, and then colored them in with a Real Red marker.  After embossing the Crumb Cake panel with the woodland embossing folder, we then used an Early Espresso marker to color in the "bark" openings in the tree trunks.  Next we added White craft ink to the trees with a sponge dauber.  We dried it with a heat tool to keep the ink from smearing.  Note: to get your white craft ink on the little branches without getting it where you don't want it, use a Q-tip! :)  We made  little snow bank for the bottom of the card, using the dazzling diamonds glimmer paper.  I simply cut a 2x4" piece of the glimmer paper, and cut it in a curvy line with my paper snips, creating two perfect snow banks for two cards at once.  The red border at the bottom, is the new red foil paper from the holiday catalog.  LOVE it! So beautiful!!!  I embossed it with the softly falling embossing folder -- also from the holiday catalog.

For the final touch, we added the wood snowflake elements -- another darling embellishment from the holiday catalog.  I love these little guys so much, I am using them on TWO of the cards we will be making at my Christmas card Stamp-a-stack.  Here, I just added the plain snowflake, but you can use a sponge dauber to color it and then add glitter on top -- Oooh la la!!!

For the final touches: use the new fine tip glue pen and add a little trail of glue on the branches.  Then dump a healthy portion of Dazzling diamonds glitter on top, and you get that kind of 3-D look of snow on the branches.

My kids don't have school today, and there are BIG PLANS!  Bryn is going fishing with his friend, and Sabina is having five little friends over for a tea party/play date -- "fancy dresses welcome, but not required."  I found a Frozen themed tea party set, and she has been working on the "tea party decorations" non stop since she got home from school yesterday.  Gotta love these little moments in their lives!  Each one is unique and special, and they all go by way too fast!!!

Stylus embossed "You've Got This"

One more post before I get on with my day. :)  Here is another card we made at my last Stampers' Hostess club class.  It features another lovely stamp set -- You've Got This.  I wanted to show how to use this stamp in a "non-watercolored" way.  This seemed to be the card everyone liked the most at that class, so I think it was a winner.
I started by cutting an oval out of velum cardstock, using the oval framelits.  I then used the same framelit and the next smaller one together, to cut an oval "frame" out of Pear Pizzaz card stock -- place your two oval framelits nested together on top of your card stock, and run it through the Big Shot at the same time -- it will create a nice "frame" to use however you like.
I then stamped the flower in Memento Black Tuxedo ink on the vellum oval.  Dry it with a heat gun, as it smears terribly if not dry.  Next, attach your Pear Pizzazz oval frame to the stamped vellum oval -- using Mono Multi glue.  Then, turn your oval over onto a paper piercing mat -- this gives you the cushion that you need to create this effect.  Next, use a stylus and rub it on the back of the flower image -- it stretches the velum and turns it white and makes the front side puff up -- such a cool affect.  You can even rub your stylus in a patterned way, to create a different look.  The reason you want to attach your oval frame to the vellum BEFORE you start using the stylus, is that it makes the vellum warp and it is really hard to attach your frame once it has warped.  Once you have achieved the stylus affect you want, use markers to color in the leaves and stem and flower center on the back side of the vellum -- I used Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, and Crushed Curry markers.  The rest of the card is straight forward -- I embossed the black panel with an embossing folder, and attached it to a folded heavy weight whisper white card stock base.  YES! We now have  Whisper White thick card stock which is perfect for card bases. And I used the new Banner Tripple punch to make that flagged sentiment panel -- LOVE this punch!  It is a must have in my book.  Makes punching flagged ends so easy and so uniform!  If you haven't gotten this punch yet, it is well worth the price.

Ok!  This has got to be a record! Three posts in one day. :)

Happy Tuesday, Everyone! and pull out your vellum and stylus and re-create this beauty on your own!

Awesomely Artistic is beautiful!

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!

I usually would be working today, but my boss is on vacation, so I am, too! :)

This card is one we did at my last Stampers' Hostess club.  It features a new stamp set -- Awesomely Artistic.  In my opinion, this is one of the prettiest sets in this year's catalog.  The images work so well together, and there are so many techniques you can do with this set to achieve beautiful results.  This card just features basic stamping -- a bit of a college type look, I guess.  I love how the burlap ribbon adds that special touch.

Supplies:  Card stock: Very Vanilla, Lost Lagoon, Rich Razzleberry
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake, Lost Lagoon, Soft Suede
Accessories: Burlap ribbon, Brights candy dots, gold dazzling details

The new holiday catalog is coming out September 1st, and my, oh my! it is full of beautiful things this year!  Almost every set is bundled with a matching set of framelits, with so many beautiful styles represented.  I have pre-ordered several of my absolute must haves, so stay tuned for coming attractions! :)