Glitter Magic Incorporated!

As all of you know, I love glitter and bling! so this technique was right up my alley.  I don't even know what it's called, or if it has a name, but I call it "Glitter Magic"! 

Just look at how those lovely stamped flowers sparkle!  Speaking of flowers, these are from the new stamp set, Summer Sillhouettes.  I just LOVE this set -- it's a two-step stampin' set, but it's not "complicated" to line up the images -- i.e. no stamp-a-ma-jig required!  Just stamp and go.  This branch that I stamped here, would be lovely embossed in white on Crumb Cake card stock for a fall look, as well, or on a masculine card to look like branches....  I have lots of ideas in my head for this set!
Anyways, I digress!  For the card at hand, stamp the stems and flowers on a Whisper White panel in Lucky Limeade, Rich Razzleberry, and Daffodil Delight inks.  Next, cut a pc of the Big Shot multipurpous adhesive sheets to the same size as your Whisper White panel.  Peel the liner off your adhesive pc, and press it straight down onto your stamped image.  Next, burnish over the top well with your bone folder -- this will make the adhesive all stick to your image and not leave you with empty glitter patches.  Finally, peel off the other liner to this double sided adhesive, being careful not to stick your fingers to it or you will pull adhesive off your image -- dump tons of Dazzling Diamonds glitter onto your sticky panel, shake off the excess, and turn it face down on some scratch paper and burnish the back side a little to get that glitter "well stuck".  That's all there is to it! Another wonderful aspect of these sheets, is that you can punch through them with your punches.  So, try stamping a gorgeous ornament, or a snow flake, apply your adhesive, and punch it out! peel off the liner, and add glitter, and you have a dazzling focal point for a card or page.

Other uses for this adhesive include adhering DSP to chipboard, adhering fabric to cork to cut out coasters, or attaching ribbon to a card or page -- just lay your ribbon on a strip of the adhesive, and then peel and stick.

Hope you will feel inspired to try some Glitter Magic yourself!

Summer Smooches Card Class

Ok, so I have seriously been missing in action for a long while, but I am back! with a card kit class idea to share with you.  A fellow demo, Alisha, shared this idea with me, and I recently offered it to my customers.  The class included the Bright Blossoms stamp set, a sheet of dimensionals, a pkg of rhinestones, 6 half sheets of the Summer Smooches DSP, and supplies to make these 7 cards featured here -- for the low price of $30.  It is a great kit for beginner stampers and experienced alike.  I enjoyed making the cards, and I've been stamping for more than 10 years! 

So,.... here they are!  Tell me what you think. :)

Happy Stamping to each and every one of you!

French Faux Patina

Happy Wednesday to you!  Here is another card we are doing at my techniques club this Friday.  The technique is called "faux patina", and I thought it would pair perfectly with the Artisitc Etchings stamp set.  This is a perfect technique for a masculine card.

To create the the faux patina, use a series of ink pads -- with a range of color from light to dark -- to sponge color onto an embossed neutral panel.  Add Crumb Cake ink to the inside front of the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, and emboss the white panel.  Sponge more Crumb Cake ink onto the panel to highlight the pattern a bit more.  Next, sponge Marina Mist ink on, rubbing fairly firmly over the pattern to really spread the color around.  Now, add some darker ink -- Always Artichoke -- to deepen the color a bit more.  Finally, add Early Espresso ink until you achieve the desired result.  Let panel dry a little, or use an embossing buddy to rub over the surface, then use a Versamark pad and just dab it here and there over your panel -- don't use too much Versamark!  Add embossing powder (pewter used here, but gold would also be pretty).  If you have too much powder sticking, remove some with a paint brush -- you don't want too much embossing powder, or your whole panel will be silver!  Emboss with a heat gun, and that's it!  This look would be amazing to create a little box for someone, or a tissue box cover for your bathroom or the background inside a frame with the Eiffle tower in the foreground -- lots of options!

I hope you'll try this at home! :)

Happy crafting!

Faux Silk and Rolled roses!

I know that "rolled roses/rolled flowers" have been around for years, but I just recently attempted them, and was pleasantly surprised to find they are not as hard as they look!  My Stampers' techniques club is coming up this Friday, and I wanted to feature the "faux silk" technique using one of my new favorite stamp sets -- Flowering Flourishes.  The rolled flowers were the perfect accent to complete my card!

For the faux silk panel, first stamp a square of white gift tissue (larger than your Whisper White panel) in Espresso ink using the Flowering Flourishes stamp set.  Let the ink dry a little to prevent smudging, then wrinkle up your tissue into a wad.  Gently unfold, but don't take all the wrinkles out.  Use a glue stick to completely coat your white card stock with glue.  The card stock will buckle, but that's ok.  Next, lay your stamped tissue on top and press down onto the card stock, making sure that some wrinkles remain -- to give you that faux silk look.  I then added some adhesive to the back of the card stock, and folded the tissue to the back and adhered.  I find this creates a more finished edge than just trimming it off.  Finally, I used a sponge dauber dipped in Crumb Cake ink to add a little color to the "wrinkles" to accentuate the pattern.

The colors used in this card, are the new In Color -- Raspberry Ripple (a beautiful deep pink -- a little like the old Purely Pomegranite, only I like it better), Early Espresso, and Whisper White. The ribbon is the Early Espresso taffeta ribbon, and of course, Basic Pearls by the dozen.  I used the new Apothecary Accents Framelits and a sentiment from the World Treasures stamp set for the sentiment.  I love those new framelits -- very versatile and add a lovely touch of class!

For the rolled flowers, you can just do a Google search and come up with bunches of options to choose from, but here is a great link to start with.  She cut out a circle by hand, but I used my Scalloped circle punches in two different sizes.  You can also use any circle punch you have on hand.

Happy crafting to each of you!

If you haven't checked out the July special yet, it is get a beautiful, exclusive stamp set -- "Reason to Smile" -- for $5 with a $50 order.  Click on the special on my sidebar to see the juicy details!

Mixed Bunch meets Flowering Flourishes

Here is a simple card we made at my New Catalog Open House yesterday.  It features three new In Colors -- Primrose Petals, Gumball Green, and Raspberry Ripple, as well as a new stamp set -- Flowering Flourishes and the new Bitty Banners framelits.

Of course, the flower is punched out using the Blossom Punch and Mixed Bunch stamp set, the flower stem is stamped in Gumball Green using the new Flowering Flourishes set, the Primrose Petals card base is stamped in Primrose ink with images from the Mixed Bunch stamp set as well.  A few basic rhinestones colored green with a green Sharpie, and ta dah! super simple, super cute card!  Of course, the little Happy Birthday is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set, and cut out with the Bitty Banners framelits. :)  Just a little extra added something!

Happy Monday to each of you!

A scholarly owl graduates!

Here is a simple graduation card to share with you.  I've seen the owl with a graduation cap in several different places, so this is my take on this little guy.  I created this card to make with a new friend who recently joined my stamping group and needed some graduation card ideas.

I know I've said it a hundred times, but this little owl punch has to be one of the most versatile punches we have.  From owls (of course:), to ghosts, to penguins, to cows,... lots and lots of critter possibilities with this one.

For the top of the grad hat, I used the Petite Pennant Builder punch, and just snipped the two base corners of the triangle piece off at an angle to form the diamond shape.  The base of the hat, is an oval -- with just the tip cropped off.  The wings are the scalloped oval punch, cut in half lengthwise, and the diploma is just a strip of scrap paper rolled up and tied with linen thread.

After embossing the black panel with the Vintage wallpaper embossing folder, I inked it with my white craft ink pad to make the pattern stand out.  The Designer paper frame around the owl, is made with the Labels Framelits -- with paper from the Brights paper stack.

And, that's pretty much it!  Some googly eyes put on with glue dots, some basic rhinestones, and the scalloped polka dotted ribbon and a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes and you have a lovely graduation card!

Happy Thursday to you!

Fabulous Peacock is truly a treasure!

I knew when I saw this new stamp set, World Treasures, it would be first on my list to order.  I just LOVE this peacock!  It is elegant and spectacular! 

I inked the peacock stamp first in Pool Party ink, then used a sponge dauber to add Lucky Limeade ink to the base of the tail, and Island Indigo ink to the tips of the feathers and then stamped it onto a die cut made with the Apothecary Accents Framelits -- another new favorite!  I then sponged the edges with the Island Indigo ink, and added some Dazzling diamonds glitter with my two-way glue pen.  The sentiment is stamped in Lucky Limeade ink and cut out with the same framelits, as was the shape behind the sentiment.  The Island Indigo panel is stamped in Island Indigo ink with another new favorite stamp set -- Flowering Flourishes.  What a beautiful, versatile set -- great for backgrounds, flower stems, and much, much more!  Can't wait to play some more with this set.

The ruffled Pool Party ribbon and basic Rhinestones add some spunk to this creation!  Come to my Open House next Sunday and make this beauty for FREE!  Read all about it here: New Catalog Open House and Huge BOGO sale!

Happy Saturday to each of you! :)