Star Card: Simple Sophistication

I had lots of time to daydream during my shift at Walmart today. I'm not sure if it was the weather that kept people away or what but I was able to brainstorm several card variations to create.

The card idea that I tried first is a simple little number that uses the Heated Copper Technique that I used previously to create this card:

The technique involves heating a piece of copper sheeting with a butane torch until it changes color. When doing this, the copper changes color in this order: copper, dark orange, pink, blue and finally, silver. You move the torch to different spots until you create an effect you like. After the copper cools, you can die cut and emboss it.

I thought this effect would be wonderfully different for using with the Stars Framelits.
After heating my copper piece, I die cut a star and embossed it using the Lacy Brocade embossing folder.

I wanted my star to actually be on the inside of the card but show through to the front. To achieve this, I cut out a larger star on the front of my 5.5 x 5.5" Blackberry Bliss card base.

Next, I used two star framelits together to die cut a star border from Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper to sit on the card front, framing the copper star.

I adhered the copper star to the inside of the card, lining it up carefully through the star opening on the front of the card. I used Crystal Effects for a secure adhesion. I then glued the star border to the front of the card
.
I stamped the sentiment, from the Festival of Trees stamp set, on some Whisper White and flagged the end. I used a sponge dauber to ink the edges with Tangerine Tango.

I adhered the banner with a glue dot and then added a smaller copper star over top. In the centre of the star I added one of the large silver sequins from the Frosted Sequins and a rhinestone which I colored with a Rich Razzleberry Blendability marker.

The card is somewhat hard to photograph but here are a few shots of it.

The card is quite simple but I think it has a sweet sophistication to it as well. What do you think?

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Here's Hoping It's Subtle

A new card today, based on a color scheme that germinated while I was working at Walmart the other day.

Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I have a big crush on Blackberry Bliss. Well, this time I decided to use just a few hints of Blackberry Bliss so this card is my attempt at subtlety!

The structure of the card comes from the Card Challenge #163 over at Freshly Made Sketches.

I decided to rotate the sketch 90 degrees to make it a vertical orientation.

I cut a 5 x 7" card base from Soft Suede and then stamped the Dictionary stamp onto a piece of Sahara Sand using Sahara Sand ink. I used my distressing tool to rough up the edges.

I used a sponge dauber to ink the edges with both Sahara Sand and Soft Suede ink. I then adhered it to a Blackberry Bliss matte so that only a thin matte edge was seen.

I needed a paper for the bottom section of the card but none of the papers I had looked quite right so I made my own using the same technique as the card in my blog post, Creative Gathering. This time I used Soft Suede and Blackberry Bliss ink on Sahara Sand card stock.

It was just what I needed! The paper was adhered to the bottom portion of the card front. The matted piece was adhered over top of it, sandwiching some Linen Thread between it and the card base, to add a little visual interest and texture to the top of the card.

I then used the Bordering Blooms stamp set to stamp a border in Soft Suede on a strip of Sahara Sand. I inked the edges with Blackberry Bliss and adhered it across the bottom of the card front.

I used a flower punch from the now retired, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, to punch several flowers from Blackberry Bliss. These I glued in an alternating pattern across the strip. I added tiny pearls to the centres of the flowers.

I stamped a sentiment from the Bloom With Hope stamp set on the top part of the stamped matte, using Blackberry Bliss. To draw more attention to the sentiment, I added another flower to complete the card.

In retrospect, I wish I had done a couple of things differently.

First, I would not have put so many flowers on the strip itself and I would have tried to place them more randomly rather than them being so symmetrical.

Secondly, I think the Soft Suede card front needs some sort of subtle stamped texture. It just looks a little too smooth to me.

So, what do you think? Did my card turn out to be a little bit more subtle this time? Do you agree with my suggestions for improvement of the card? Let me know in the Comments below!


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Candle, Candle, Burning Bright

Hi there! It's been a bit since I've posted but I have been busy.

On the weekend, I attended the Stampin' Up! Fall Conference in Winnipeg with my upline and best friend, Charlene. There was one session on Friday evening and two on Saturday.

Friday was a "play" session where you could bring non demonstrators with hopes that they would be inspired to become a demonstrator. We got a chance to play with different tools as we moved from station to station around the room. It was a bit hectic at some stations but good fun all the same!

Saturday morning was a business session and the afternoon session was another "play" session for demonstrators only. I have some neat creations to show you from the conference but you'll have to wait until another post for those!

The rest of the weekend was spent babysitting my beautiful granddaughter. We just can't get enough of her! My mother was coming over to our house for supper to celebrate her 89th birthday so Raine was dressed up in a special dress I had bought her. Of course, I had to snap a few shots of her . . .

She was a little shy at first but she had Bunny to comfort her!

She can't resist playing on the keyboard when she comes over!

My mother really enjoyed watching Raine! I was able to snap a few candids of her.

I was hoping to get a good picture of them together but Raine was a little bit shy around her so we didn't force the issue. I did manage to catch them in a couple of pictures together with the help of people holding her!

Here's my mother with her cake and a little sidekick:

All in all, it was a pleasant get together!

The last few days, I have been preparing some cards and planning for my last stamping class before Christmas. Unfortunately, I can't show you pictures of those items yet because it would ruin the surprise! I promise I'll post those after December 5.

Tonight, after work, I got a chance to try out an idea that I had been rolling around in my mind for over a week. I wanted to use the Star Framelits to create a festive tea light holder.
This was my first attempt at a 3D item so please be kind!

I knew that I wanted to use both Gold Foil and Gold Glimmer papers but I wanted to be sure that my idea would work BEFORE cutting! I made one mock up with scrap paper and another with Whisper White before I was satisfied with my design.

I used two of the star framelits–the smallest and the third largest–to cut a template for the star shapes so that each one would be identical. Then, for each star, I cut one from gold foil and one from gold glimmer paper. I also cut four small squares of vellum, which I trimmed into pentagon shapes.

Using Crafty Owl's Box Buster (a handy online tool for calculating measurements for boxes created with the Envelope Punch Board) I got the measurements for a box that was 2 x 2 x 3/4" in size. I created the box using my Envelope Punch Board and Gold Foil. (If you have never used the Box Buster, give it a try. It is a wonderful tool for using with the Envelope Punch Board.)

I then glued the pentagon shaped pieces of vellum to one star of each of the four star pairs. I glued the Gold Glimmer stars on the inside of the box so that they would really catch the sparkle from the candle. I glued the Gold Foil stars to the outside of the box and pressed together with the Gold Glimmer stars to act like a sandwich with the box in the middle!

I was quite pleased with the way it turned out! What do you think?

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It's All About The Sparkle

Mojo Monday definitely is living up to its name for me! Did a quick review of the various Monday challenges and fell in love with this sketch.

I knew just what I wanted to do with it, other than picking the designer paper and deciding which card stock to use for the base and which for the matte. I also tried several different ribbon choices until I felt I had the best one. The card came together quickly after these decisions.

I started with a Lost Lagoon card base of 5 x 7." I cut a matte from Smoky Slate and a piece of All Is Calm Designer paper (love that stuff!).

I used the On Film framelits to cut a polaroid frame from Silver Glimmer paper. I also cut a 3/4" strip and a snowflake from the Glimmer paper. The snowflake is from the Snowflake Card Thinlits Dies, a beautiful set of framelits.

Because I found the frame and snowflake to be so flimsy, I also cut two snowflakes and two frames from Kraft card stock. I glued the two duplicate Kraft die cuts together and then glued the Glimmer paper die cuts on top. In retrospect, I should have cut the duplicates from Smoky Slate card stock instead of Kraft; because you could see some of the edge of the Kraft, I had to color it using a Smoky Slate Blendabilities marker.

I colored the frame using the darkest Coastal Cabana Blendabilities. I love how you can easily change the color of the Glimmer paper by using the Blendabilities and you still get that great glittery effect!

Look at that wonderful sparkle!

I adhered the both Designer paper and the frame to the Smoky Gray matte. I then added the strip of Glimmer paper layered with first Lost Lagoon Ribbon and finally by Silver 1/8" Ribbon. I then adhered the matte to the card front.

I dropped a smattering of All Is Calm silver sequins within the polaroid frame, being sure I had an odd number. I find that dropping sequins from a height above the paper surface gives me a good random pattern, better than what I could come up with myself! I snapped a picture with my camera just to be on the safe side, and then adhered the sequins with a bit of Crystal Effects.

I adhered the snowflake and then added a rhinestone which I had colored with the Coastal Cabana Blendabilities marker.

I chose the sentiment from the Good Greetings Hostess stamp set. I inked it first with Versamark and then Bermuda Bay before stamping it on the bottom left of the matte. I heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. I find that the new stamp pads dry too quickly to emboss well so I use a layer of Versamark and then the regular ink so that the stamped image catches more of the embossing powder.

The final touch was to add two small rhinestones on either side of the sentiment.

I just love all the sparkles on this card–the frame, the snowflake, the sequins, the ribbon and the rhinestones bracketing the sentiment! Hope you like it too!

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Frivolous Frippery

Once I get rolling, it's hard to stop! I'm submitting a card to the Can You Case It card challenge #44–a color challenge. It was hard to resist since one of the colors was Blackberry Bliss!

I was excited about the colors and it didn't take me long to decide what I wanted to create. I decided on a gate fold design.

I cut a standard card base from Mossy Meadow but scored instead at 2 1/8" from each side. I cut panels to fit on each gate from Blackberry Bliss. I embossed these using the now retired Ornate Swirls embossing folder and then dabbed them with the now retired Frost White Shimmer Paint, using a sponge dauber. When they were dry I adhered them to the gates of the card base.

I used the now retired Dress Up Framelits to cut a dress form from Gold Foil and a dress from Very Vanilla card stock. I also cut the top part of the dress from Mossy Meadow and embossed it using the Fancy Fan embossing folder. I then adhered the Mossy Meadow top to the dress and the dress to the dress form. I wrapped a Mossy Meadow ribbon around the waist of the dress.

I used the now retired Vanilla Flower Trim to create the skirt of the dress, adhering it with Crystal Effects.

I adhered a piece of Gold Satin Ribbon around the card and trimmed it where the gates met. I followed this by adhering Gold 1/8" Ribbon on top of the Gold Satin Ribbon.

I used Dimensionals to pop up the Dress Form but only removed adhesive from one side. It was centred over the card front and adhered to one gate. This was done to allow the gate to open and to keep the Dress Form popped up evenly on both sides.

I stamped the sentiment from the Good Greetings Hostess set with Versamark and heat embossed it with Gold embossing powder. I used the Modern Label punch to cut it from Very Vanilla card stock. I inked the edges with Mossy Meadow.

The label was popped up with Dimensionals over the centre of the card base, using adhesive only on the side opposite to that of the Dress Form.

To complete the card, I adhered pearls to create a necklace on the Dress Form.

My card is a fait accompli!

Close up details.

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Fussy Cutting: Necessary Nightmare

I realized yesterday that I had a LOT of crafting to do in a very short time, the least of which was to create a card for my mother's birthday this week.

Luckily, I knew exactly what I wanted to use–the Corner Garden stamp. I had a brief play with it this week but nothing that was card worthy. However, I did find a technique done with the stamp that I thought would be perfect for my mother's card.

I started by cutting and scoring a Whisper White card base. I did not yet fold the card but I needed the score line so I could tell where the fold would be. I used a large post it note to mask off the back of the card so it would not get inked.

Because this stamp is large, I turned it on its back; after inking it up with Versamark I carefully placed my card front down onto the stamp and placed scrap paper over top to allow me to smooth over the entire surface of the stamp. I then heat embossed it with Whisper White embossing powder.

I used my Blendabilities to color in all the flowers and foliage. Because the spaces are so tiny, I did not worry about blending with the markers; I simply colored with them, like coloring in a coloring book, making sure I had scrap paper below my card stock.

As I colored, I realized that what was to be my card front would show the marks of the markers on the inside of the card. Due to this, I decided to create an inner card of Bermuda Bay which I adhered to the card base when it was completely colored and dry.

The next step in the technique was to fussy cut around the flowers where there was a large white space on the card.

Fussy cutting is definitely not for the faint of heart! You need to have a very good pair of sharp scissors (this is where my Stampin' Up! paper snips came in handy) a LOT of patience and a LOT of time.

Actually, I think that the term fussy cutting is a misnomer; the technique should really be called, Cutting Out Something That Was Never Meant To Be Cut Out!

Of course, I knew going in that this would be labor intensive and somewhat frustrating but I persevered, even using my favorite tool, the Fiskars Fingertip Craft Knife, to finish up the most difficult bits. I highly recommend this tool. The knife fits comfortably over your index finger, allowing you to wield it comfortably.

When I finished, I needed to add a few bits of glue to adhere the little bits of the front to the Bermuda Bay interior card. I was quite pleased with the results!

I then added the sentiment and a daisy-like flower from the Flower Patch stamp set to the inside of the card where it could be seen in the cut out area. These were both heat embossed with Whisper White.

I used a glue dot to adhere a bow made from the now retired Pumpkin Pie 1/8" ribbon (why do they retire this stuff?).

The finishing touch was to use the medium marker from the Mambo Melon Blendabilities to color a rhinestone for the centre of the flower.

Some close up details.

I think my mother will enjoy the card. What do YOU think? Let me know in the comments below.

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Making It Sparkle

Last night our stamping group met and we had a great time! It was my turn to sit back and have fun while one of the other members of our group, Shawna, taught the class. We got really inked up as we were playing with Alcohol Inks, both on foil and on vellum.

This is the card Shawna created using foil. It was inked and embossed. Beautiful!

For this card, we stamped the butterfly on vellum and then colored it with Alcohol inks. After cutting it out, we mounted it on a card front that had been misted with ink and attached sequins and a word that had been cut out with the help of a Silhouette machine.

Shawna is very talented and has just opened her Etsy store, Blue Painted Dragonfly Designs. You can check out her Facebook page as well–be sure to give her a like!

Today was great for me as well because I didn't have to work! In fact, I have the entire weekend off–woohoo!

I was up fairly early and sent in our Stampin' Up! order from last night. I then headed to Winnipeg for a bit of a haircut and on the way homeI decided to stop at Dollarama in Selkirk to pick up some foam tape.

BIG MISTAKE!

All of their Christmas decorations and crafting supplies were out so I had to buy the stuff while it was still available, of course! I walked out with two very full bags!

Back at home, I decided to choose a card challenge to get me started. I chose the Friday Mashup.

This was quite an interesting challenge because you could do one of three things:

• create a project using the Diamond Dust Technique found here.
• create a project using these colors: Island Indigo, Garden Green & Rich Razzleberry

OR

• create a project using the technique and the colors.

I was a little leery of the color combo but decided to go with the flow and create a card following the third option.

The sparkle suggested Christmas to me and it also reminded me of the Bright & Beautiful stamp set. I mean, stars twinkle and when they do, they look like they're sparkling, right?

I chose the medium star and inked it up using my Stampin Write Markers in Garden Green and Island Indigo. I used the markers because I wanted to ink certain sections of the stamp and it has quite an intricate design.

If you recall from yesterday's post, when using markers on the stamps you need to huff on the stamp to refresh the ink before stamping it. I stamped it on Whisper White and the star looked fabulous just like that! However, I went ahead and used one of the Stars Framelits to die cut the star.

I thought that the starburst from Kinda Eclectic would look neat behind the star. That idea required a matte. I cut a square matte from Garden Green card stock and stamped the Starburst in Versamark. I heat embossed it using a Sparkly Silver embossing powder.

I used Island Indigo to ink the edges of the matte, using a sponge dauber. To enhance the embossing, I cut a second matte from Silver Glimmer paper and adhered the stamped matte to it. These eventually mounted on a Rich Razzleberry matte which would be adhered to a card base of the same color.

Following the tutorial, I completely covered the star with Versamark and heat embossed it with a Iridescent embossing powder. It got so vibrant and sparkly!

Then I made a pleasant discovery involving the book plate framelit from the Apothecary Accent Framelits. I'll share it with you in the form of a picture tutorial.

Here are what the framelits look like when cut. The book plate is on the top right.

I cut a book plate from Garden Green.

 Next, I grabbed my Tag Topper Scalloped punch.

I centred the book plate and stuck it into the punch a far as it would go.

After punching both ends, this is the result.

Cool, huh? The reason I thought of this technique was because I knew you could modify one of the Chalk Talk Framelit tags in the same way but that tag doesn't look as ornate as this one.

I stamped the sentiment with Versamark and heat embossed with the same Sparkly Silver embossing powder. I then inked the edges of the book plate with Island Indigo.

Because I now had holes in the tag, I was able to add a a now retired Island Indigo ribbon to it and make it into a slider. The book plate was just a bit too wide for the front of the card so I trimmed it a bit. It still looked very ornate!

I played with the placement of the matte and the book plate and then adhered both to the Rich Razzleberry matte. I added some Dimensionals to the back of the book plate and some Sticky Strip to the ends of the ribbon, wrapping them around the back of the Rich Razzleberry matte.

A few rhinestones for added glitz and my card was complete!

A couple of close ups so you can see the effect of the Diamond Dust Technique.

I hope you'll try the Diamond Dust Technique–I know I'll be using it again!

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Stampin' Up! Giveaway and Fab Friday Challenge

Project Life fans and those who should be fans will want to enter the contest that Stampin' Up! is hosting. Simply click the image below to enter and have a chance at winning either your choice of Card & coordinating Accessory Pack or the grand prize of every current Project Life by Stampin' Up! product available!

WOW!

Don't miss your chance–register to win before November 30 by clicking the image below.



Other than the above announcement, it was kind of a dreary day today. It only got worse as the day went on . . . rain, wind . . . the dogs didn't even want to venture outside!

To stoke my creative juices, I opted for the color challenge at the Fab Friday Stampin Challenge blog.

Small wonder, right? Blackberry Bliss was on the menu! (Have I mentioned that is my FAVORITE color?)

I gathered some scraps of each color and played around to see which I would use for the card base, which would be accent colors, etc. I also decided to use the now retired Sunflower stamp which lent itself nicely to stamping with all three of the colors.

Because the Sunflower is a HUGE stamp, I turned it on its back to ink it. I used a sponge daubers to ink the outer petals with Crushed Curry, the ring around the flower centre with Cajun Craze, and finally the centre with Blackberry Bliss.

I decided that the Crushed Curry petals might need a bit more life to them so I used the Thumping Technique. This technique requires you to ink up a stamp normally and then use a darker color of one or more Stampin Write Markers to tap on the stamp (sort of like beating with a drumstick on a drum) using the painting tip of the marker. Finally, I huffed (technical term) on the stamp to refresh the applied ink.

I left the stamp on its back and carefully laid Whisper White card stock on top of it and then a sheet of scrap paper. This allowed me to smooth all over the surface of the stamp without inking up my hand on the exposed bits of it. I use this procedure for all large and/or background stamps.

The resulting print was quite to my liking and the thumping produced some interesting flecks in the petals.

I proceeded to cut the flower in half with my Stampin Trimmer and then fussy cut one of the halves.

I intended to mount the flower on the edge of a Cajun Craze matte but decided to add a strip of Designer Paper from the Color Me Autumn paper pack. That added additional interest to the design but I still needed more.

Out came the burlap ribbon but it looked too pristine so I cut off the sewn edges and removed some short strands to fray it out a bit. That helped. I layered the sunflower half on top of it and followed that with Blackberry Bliss ribbon. Better but still needed a bit more something.

I chose to distress the Cajun Craze matte by using Cajun Craze ink with the Gorgeous Grunge stamps. Much better! I added the Blackberry Bliss sentiment from the Kinda Eclectic stamp. but something still wasn't quite right.

I dug around in my embellishments drawer and twirled my Stack & Store Caddy till I found my Essential Wooden Elements. I chose a circle with a starburst edge and four chevrons.

I used my Stampin Write markers to color the wooden pieces. In coloring the starburst with Blackberry Bliss I inked up myself rather well. This ink then transferred itself to the chevrons when I colored them with Crushed Curry. I decided that it gave them a good grungy feel, in keeping with the style of the card. (Some mistakes actually turn out for the better!)

Because I wanted the embellishments to be held firmly, I used Crystal Effects to adhere them on top of the ribbon. They were the crowning touch to my card!

Here's a close up so you can see more details of the burlap.

I think my card has a shabby chic style to it, don't you?

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