Vintage Leaves Card Set Giveaway

Jennifer McGuire posted a tutorial the other day for a gate fold technique that used border dies. I really liked the result and kept mulling it over in my mind as to how I could make it my own. With Autumn just around the corner, I decided to create a card set using Autumn hues and employ Jennifer's technique.

For my colors, I chose Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze, Delightful Dijon, and Garden Green. I cut a piece of each color at 11 x 4.25", modifying Jennifer's size to be more in line with that of a standard size card. Each piece was scored on the long side at 4" from one end and 2" from the other end. After folding on the score lines, the card front overlapped slightly.

I placed the single edge die from the Detailed Floral Thinlits along the edge of the longest flap and ran it through the Big Shot. It easily cut through the top and partially through the next layer. I had to open the card, reposition the die and run it through again to finish cutting the second flap. There was a resulting indent from the die on the inside of the card but that would be hidden by a matte.

I chose a leaf stamp, from the Vintage Leaves stamp set, for each of the four colors and then stamped the front of the card using matching ink except for the Cherry Cobbler card. When using my Cherry Cobbler on the matching card stock, the color appeared "greenish" so I chose to use Real Red as an alternative.

After stamping the card fronts, I cut white mattes for the inside of the cards and stamped a leaf on each of those to match each card. In addition, I used my Envelope Punch Board to create envelopes for each card and stamped leaves on the fronts of those as well before assembling the envelopes, using Post It notes to mask off the non-inked sides of the envelopes.

Next, I stamped sentiments from the Watercolor Wishes Card Set, in Versamark on the four colors of card stock and heat embossed them with Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder. These were then die cut with the matching Leaflets Framelits. Each die cut had its edges inked with the corresponding ink.
It was then that I got the idea to heat emboss the edges of the die cut gate fold edges themselves! To do this, I used a Versamark Pen to ink each edge, repeating the process to really get a nice embossed gold effect.

Another idea struck and I decided to add flecks of ink onto the cards to provide a bit more texture to my design. I used both my Stampin' Write Markers, flicking the marker off the edge of the cap, and my Tim Holtz Distress Splatter Brush with reinkers, which produced larger splatters.

To finish each card, I added a thread nest, using Gold Metallic Thread secured with a glue dot, and adhered a leaf over it using Dimensionals.

After completing the cards and envelopes, I needed a container to put them in so I consulted this tutorial by Catherine Pooler on how to create a box. Once I had figured out what size I needed for my card box and lid, I cut the two pieces from Kraft card stock.

I scored, cut and glued the piece for the box bottom and then used my stamps to create my own paper for the box top. After stamping the leaves, I again used my Tim Holtz Distress Splatter Brush to add flecks of Crumb Cake reinker. After it was dry, I scored, cut and glued the lid together.

A belly band was created for my card box using a strip of Garden Green card stock topped with the now retired Cherry Cobbler Sheer Linen Ribbon. I stamped two oak leaves in Delightful Dijon on the matching card stock and die cut them with the framelits. The edges of the leaves were inked with matching ink and then I used my McGill Paper Blossom Tool Kit to give some dimension to the leaves. I used Glue Dots to adhere them to the top of the belly band to complete the box.

I am really loving the rich hues of this color combo! Feel free to copy this image if you'd like to use it!

I'm very pleased with how this card set turned out! And now the fun part–I'm going to give it away!

If you live in either Canada or the United States, here is what you need to do to be entered into a draw to win this card set:

1. Leave a comment either below or on my Facebook post (or both!).
2. Pin any image from this blog post to Pinterest.
3. Share my Facebook post about this card set.

On Sunday, September 4, at 7:00 pm CDT, I will draw to see who wins the card set! Be sure to check back here for the announcement of the winner. I will need the winner to contact me so that I may get a mailing address for where to send the card set.

The lucky winner could be YOU!

Copper Congratulations

Today I designed a congratulatory card with hopes of giving it to my son-in-law who is waiting on the results of a job interview.

If Steffan gets the job, it will be a wonderful change for him. It will be closer to home so he can save on gas,  there will be lots of training (he would get to go to Minneapolis for two weeks!) and good opportunities for advancement. Even better, he would not have to lift a lot of heavy items so it would be better for his back.

The card itself is quite simple but I think that it makes an effective masculine card because it incorporates a lot of texture with its simplicity.

I started with a standard card base of Island Indigo. On a small piece of Island Indigo, I stamped with Versamark the sentiment from the stamp set that comes with the Watercolor Wishes Card Kit. I heat embossed it with Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder and then flagged the end using the Triple Banner Punch. I also wrapped the non-flagged end with Linen Thread and added a bow.

Cutting a piece of Copper Foil Sheet, I used the punch again and then then embossed the piece using the Petal Burst Embossing Folder.

To add even more texture to the card, I cut two pieces of the 5/8" Burlap Ribbon and angled the ends, fraying them a little. These were adhered to the middle of the card front using Fast Fuse. The embossed copper banner was adhered using Dimensionals with the sentiment banner on top.

For the inside of the card, I cut a matte from the now retired Naturals Ivory card stock. I added a further sentiment as well as some grunge from the Touches of Texture stamp set; both the sentiment and grunge were heat embossed with copper. I adhered the matte with Fast Fuse to complete the card.

This photo shows off the copper to its best.

I think that the copper works wonderfully well with the Island Indigo. I'm hopeful that Steffan will hear soon about the job and that I can give him this card!

Always An Adventure Bendy Card

For some time now I have wanted to make a bendy card. This is a card that allows you to construct a 3D kind of scene yet allow the card to be flattened for inserting into an envelope.

When I saw the Outdoors Adventures Framelits and the Always An Adventure stamp set, I knew that they would be wonderful for using in a bendy card.
In preparing to make my card, I consulted two video tutorials from The Mad Stamper. The first, a tutorial on how to make bendy cards, and the second, a tutorial on how to make a template for making bendy cards.

After viewing both tutorials, I started by making the template for bendy cards by using the Grid Paper. Once I had that done I realized that the scene I wanted to create would look better if the bendy card opened towards the left so I made another template for that type of bendy card! After sketching out my design for the card, I set to work.

I cut one piece of Old Olive at 5.5 x 8.5". I then made two additional cuts to end up with three pieces–4.25 x 5.5", 2.5 x 5.5", and 1.75 x 5.5". Using my template, I cut slots in two of the pieces and tabs in two of the pieces. I also scored the two smaller pieces at .5" from the end opposite the tab.
I used the Outdoors Adventures Framelits to cut some mountains from Smoky Slate (and the tops from Whisper White) and then used the Always An Adventure stamp set to stamp the other items–trees, bear, tent and lake–in Garden Green, Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise and Island Indigo. I used Stampin' Write Markers in Crushed Curry, Tangerine Tango, and Early Espresso to color and stamp the campfire. Each item was die cut except for the campfire and lake which were fussy cut.

I used liquid adhesive to adhere the "snow" to the mountains only to realize later that the little die in the set that I couldn't figure out was actually for the snow caps! I used an Early Espresso Stampin' Write Marker to color the trunks of the trees.

In planning to use the trees edgelit in the die set, I did not allow enough paper to include the trees so I had to discard the 2.5 x 5.5" piece and substitute one that was 3.5 x 5.5"; I also had to prepare the slot and tab on it using the template. I was then able to die cut the piece so that I had the pine trees at the top of a curvy piece of land.

The next step was to adhere a strip of Night of Navy card stock for the sky to the 4.25 x 5.5" card base. I used the retired 1/2" Circle Punch to punch a circle and then re-punch it to create a crescent moon and glue it to the sky. I also adhered the mountains.

I used the Fine-Tip Glue Pen to add dots of glue which I then sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter to create the stars. I then set this card base aside to dry.

I used liquid adhesive and a few Dimensionals to glue the pine trees, lake, bears, tent and campfire to the other two pieces of the card, being sure that they were adhered well because I did not want them to pop up when the pieces of the card were bent. I used a sponge dauber to color the die cut strip of trees using Garden Green ink.

Finally it was time to adhere each of the two panels to the card base using Tear & Tape on the 1/2" scored ends. The sentiment, from the Thoughtful Banners stamp set, were stamped on both Tempting Turquoise and Whisper White using Basic Black Archival Ink. The longer sentiment was punched with the Classic Label Punch. The shorter sentiment was punched, trimmed in length and then one end stuck in through the top of the punch to create a shortened sentiment in the same punch style. These were adhered to the card using Dimensionals.

To display the card, the middle section is slotted into the card base and then the smallest front section is slotted into the middle section. The rounded look is caused from the pieces of the card being put into slots at a shorter distance than the length of the pieces. This results in a nice 3D appearance.

Shows the curvature of the card when it is placed flat on a table.

Space was left on the right inner panel for a note to the recipient of the card.

I am pleased that my first bendy card turned out so well! The card t took a long time to create because I planned as I designed the card but I think my effort paid off!

Thoughtful Branches with Layering Squares

In my email today I found a delightful card technique that used both the Thoughtful Branches stamp set and the Layering Squares Framelits. Kelly Acheson provided an informative video tutorial for this technique in her blog post.

In choosing my color scheme for my card, I consulted my 2016-17 Stampin' Up! Color Coordinator. You can download and print your own Color Coordinator and Nicole Watt has a wonderful video tutorial that details the ways in which you can use the Color Coordinator to select colors.

I began with a Very Vanilla matte and stamped the flowers/tree canopy stamp from Thoughtful Branches using Blushing Bride full strength. I then stamped it several times around the image to produce a lighter halo effect. I cleaned my stamp and stamped again, positioning the stamp a little off centre, using Sweet Sugarplum. Lastly, I used Watermelon Wonder.

I stamped the stems with Wild Wasabi and then stamped the sentiment using my MISTI, which allowed me to double-stamp. I then finished by stamping two leaves.

Two of the Layering Squares Framelits were used to cut out a "frame" and a smaller square from the stamped flower section. The stamped matte was then adhered to a Watermelon Wonder matte, using my Marsupial Tool, leaving a hole where the card stock showed through.

I replaced the "frame" and then inset the smaller square piece, being sure that both stamped die cuts were lined up the way they had been originally. I then removed the square, applied Fast Fuse and replaced it after once again checking that I had the correct alignment. (Am I anal? Yes! However, when applying adhesive, I have a habit of turning the piece around so I needed to verify that it was positioned correctly!) I then removed the "frame" die cut.

I cut a standard card base from Very Vanilla and then used the Marsupial again to adhere the mattes.

I used the Foam Adhesive Strips to apply to the "frame" die cut and then inserted it carefully back into the space from which it came. I added a small bow, made by folding the now retired Wild Wasabi Seam Binding in half, adhered with Glue Dots. Inside the card, I simply stamped two leaves in the bottom right corner to complete the card.

What a fun little technique! This could be used in a number of ways and gives a nice little "pop" to a relatively flat card.

I selected the following colors for my color scheme. Feel free to save them for your own projects!

Spiderman Birthday

They say that time flies when you are having fun. How true is that? We've certainly enjoyed the last few years we've had with our granddaughter, Raine. On Sunday Raine turns three years old! So glad that this little girl–correction–big girl is in our lives!

Because Raine is really into Spiderman and the other super heroes right now, I thought if fitting to make her a Spiderman birthday card. I CASEd this card from Sharon Lim.

I started with a standard card base cut from Pacific Point and a Real Red matte. I embossed the matte using the Tangled Webs Embossing Folder from Taylored Expressions. The matte was adhered to the card front using Fast Fuse Adhesive.

For the eyes, I used the Sweet & Sassy Framelits to cut two hearts, one from Whisper White and one from Basic Black. I cut each in half with my Stampin' Trimmer and then layered them using liquid adhesive. These were adhered to the card front using Dimensionals.

On a Whisper White matte cut for the inside of the card, I stamped the sentiment from Number of Years using both Real Red and Versamark ink and then heat embossed it using Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder. The large number three was stamped in Pacific Point (Raine's favorite Color is blue) and Versamark on a scrap of Whisper White and then heat embossed using Recollections Blue Blaze Sparkle Embossing Powder. I then restamped it in Versamark and heat embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder. It was die cut using the coordinating Large Numbers Framelits and then popped up using Dimensionals to finish the card.

I can't wait to see Raine's expression when she opens her card!

"Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can . . . "

First Play With Home Sweet Home

Between working and swimming in the pool with my granddaughter, Raine, I carved out some time to try out the new Home Sweet Home Thinlits and coordinating stamp set, Sweet Home.

I first watched the video from Stampin' Up! but it didn't have a lot of step-by-step info but I found another excellent video by demonstrator Satomi Wellard that had English subtitles and this helped a lot!

I thought that blue and white would make a nice color scheme for a house so I die cut the house from Dapper Denim. To make the house, you need to cut the same piece twice. You then stamp and/or die cut and embellish the house and glue it together.

I used my MISTI to stamp the window and door on the front of the house using Versamark and then heat embossed them with the White Stampin' Emboss Powder. I also stamped the same window on the back of the house and embossed it as well. These sections were then all die cut using the necessary dies. Because I wanted to leave the back of my house unglued, I used the smallest circle to die cut a hole in the back of the house which would allow me to open the house to put something inside.

Stamping the details on the house using my MISTI.

When die cutting the windows and doors, it is important to make sure you have the correct pieces. The smaller window piece is to die cut the hole in the house itself and the larger piece is to die cut the frame around the window. The door is meant to fold open so one side of the door die is for cutting and the other side is for scoring. It is very important to make sure you have the score line on the correct side of the door when you die cut it so that the door opens properly. My door was created for left-handed people! I cut my door frame and window frames from Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper and adhered it to the house.

Next, I scored all the folds for the house and set about gluing the front and back of the house together at one side. Each piece had a bottom flap; I cut off the flap from the back of the house. Once I glued the bottom flap for the front of the house to create the floor, I glued the cut off flap and adhered it inside the bottom of the house to reinforce the floor, using my bone folder to press down the edges inside the house.

Cut off the bottom flap from the back of the house.

Glue the cut off flap inside the house to reinforce the floor.

The roof was a little tricky due to the fact that I chose to use Glimmer Paper! I die cut six shingle pieces for each side of the roof. I used liquid adhesive for gluing the first shingle piece, spaced evenly across one side of the roof, at the bottom of the slope. I then worked my way up to the top of the roof, carefully overlapping my roof pieces so that each new piece shifted either to the right or the left so that the shingles were staggered. I repeated the process on the other side of the roof.

Because the Glimmer Paper didn't allow the glue to set as quickly as with normal card stock, I really had to take my time. A couple of times, the shingles either came off or I managed to push them all into a straight line instead of a staggered one!

I gave the shingles some time to dry before attempting to "cap" the roof by gluing a 1/2 x 3 1/2" piece of Glimmer Paper scored in half lengthwise, to complete the roof. For this piece, it was necessary to use the adhesive from the Fine-Tip Glue Pen and hold it in place for awhile.

Shows the "cap" on the roof.

Hole at bottom allows you to insert a finger to open the back of the house.

Leaving the back of the house unglued allows something to be inserted in the house.

It was at this point that I thought it would be neat to showcase the little house in a winter scene.
Going with my blue and white color scheme, I die cut several fence sections from Thick Whisper White using the Halloween Scenes Edgelits Dies. I also die cut the tree.

It is important to note that with these edgelit dies, the bottom section of the die cut can be any size you choose, depending on the placement of the die. Only the top section of the die cuts.

On a square white dinner plate, I planned out my fence. I ended up gluing the sections together and scoring the fence where I needed it to turn a corner. Because my measuring wasn't entirely accurate, I ended up with a few extra score marks so I then scored the whole fence to create the look of boards.
I masked off the bottom of the tree and sponged both sides with Soft Suede. The tree was set in place against the fence.

I used circle punches to create my snowman from Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper, adhering it with the Fine-Tip Glue Pen. The hat was die cut using a die from the Snow Friends Framelits. The face and buttons were added using a Copic marker. The snowman was set in place against the fence in the backyard. To complete the scene, I added fake snow dug out from my Christmas decorations.

For my first play with the house, I am pleased! In retrospect, the scene could have used some more trees and the fence would have shown up better if it wasn't white but when I started creating the house, I didn't intend to create a scene!

Creating the house was a lot of fun and I look forward to creating future houses using a variety of colors and papers. These houses will be perfect for almost any occasion—Halloween, Christmas, Spring . . . So many ways these houses could be decorated! I'm thinking that they would make lovely little ornaments for the Christmas tree or you could cluster several houses together on your mantel to create a village!

Be sure to contact me to order your Home Sweet Home Bundle when it becomes available on September 1!

Mini Treat Bag Cutlery Holders

Our neighbors, Rob and Debby–both teachers–are newly retired. Usually, we see them several times over the summer but you know how it is with retired folk . . . they are busier than ever!

On Thursday I phoned to see if they were free for dinner on Saturday, but I expected to be turned down. I was pleasantly surprised though when they were able to come!

When we have them over, I try to use some new creative recipes but this time round I had to work until 5:00 so we simply had steaks, potatoes on the barbecue and corn. Debby brought a wonderful dessert.

Because I felt I needed to create something special for our evening, I decided to use an idea I had seen somewhere on Pinterest where the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits were used to make a cutlery holder.

Since I knew I would be using my favorite summer plates with flamingos on them, I decided to mimic the colors from the plate.

I started by die cutting the treat bag pieces from Dapper Denim and then embossed them using the Seaside Embossing Folder. In adhering the pieces, I turned them to use the debossed side.

Next up, I stamped the flamingo, from the Pop of Paradise stamp set, two times using Flirty Flamingo and my MISTI. I used Watermelon Wonder and Basic Black Stampin' Write Markers to add details to the flamingos by coloring on my stamp and re-stamping. Each flamingo was fussy cut.

I die cut a variety of leaves using the Botanical Builder Framelits and Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Mint Macaron, Old Olive and Mossy Meadow. I used the Blossom Bunch and the Blossom Builder Punches to punch flowers from Watermelon Wonder and Peekaboo Peach.

I used a Delicate White Doily as a base for the flamingo and then played with the arrangement of leaves and flowers. My daughter, Courtney, was actually the one who came up with the winning design which involved sponging of the doily with first Blushing Bride, then Flirty Flamingo, and finally Crumb Cake on the edges.

The leaves and flowers all had edges inked with matching ink using a sponge dauber. The doily was then adhered to the front of the treat bag using Fast Fuse and then a circle of Linen Thread was attached with a Glue Dot. The flamingo was popped up slightly with some Dimensionals.

The leaves were adhered behind the doily using liquid glue and then the flowers added in the same manner. Tiny pearls were added to the flower centres to complete my project.

Here is one of the cutlery holders on top of one of the plates. Can you see why I love these plates?

I love how they turned out but once I put them on the plates I quickly regretted using Dapper Denim for the treat bag :(

I think that I should have chosen Peekaboo Peach to make the bag stand out from the plates more. Of course, we always have our best ideas in retrospect! Luckily, Rob and Debby loved them regardless and we spent a wonderful evening with them!

Cable Knit Christmas

Today I had my first play with products from the new Holiday Catalog and all I can say is, "Woweeeeeee!"

The products I played with rocked and the rest of the catalog is AMAZING! Stampin Up has outdone themselves this time! Seriously, you will want it ALL!

The first product I chose was the Cable Knit Embossing Folder. This is unlike any of our other embossing folders. It is very thick and produces a really 3D emboss!

I cut a matte from Real Red card stock and spritzed it lightly with water on both sides before putting it in the folder. This is done to relax the paper fibers so that they will be able to stretch and not break while being embossed.

Because the folder is so thick, you will place the folder directly on your platform. If you are using the old platform, you will want to use "no tabs" (flip both of the tabs back off the platform) and then place the folder with one cutting pad on top of it and run it through. The result is stunning–looks just like a knitted sweater!

I set the embossed matte aside to dry and cut a card base from Thick Whisper White. I then die cut three pine branches from Emerald Envy using the new Pretty Pines Thinlits. I used the dryer sheet method and they popped out perfectly!

Next, I die cut a large pine cone from Early Espresso using the same die set. For the small pine cone, I used the cooridinating stamp set, Christmas Pines. I used the set of three photopolymer stamps with my MISTI to stamp the cone using Tip Top Taupe, Soft Suede, and Early Espresso. I then die cut the cone and inked the edges of it with Soft Suede.

I stamped the sentiment on a strip of Thick Whisper White using Emerald Envy and then Versamark so that I could heat emboss it with the new Emerald Envy Glitter Embossing Powder. I used Emerald Envy ink first, rather than just Versamark because it gives the embossing powder a richer color base.

I found the new embossing powder a little challenging to use because it is hard to know when the embossing powder has been set because it looks basically the same before and after unlike our other embossing powders that seem to "turn" as heat is applied to them. If anyone has some tips for using this new powder, I would love to hear them!

I attached the now dry embossed matte to the card front using foam tape. Glue dots were used to adhere the pine pieces. The Banner Triple Punch was used to flag the end of the sentiment strip and it was adhered over the pine with the cones on top, adhered with dimensionals. Before adhering the cones, I used my bone folder to shape the cones a bit.

Though I did think about adding further embellishments to this card, I held back, allowing the wonderful embossing to take centre stage!

If you are in Canada and would like to get your hands on these wonderful products before anyone else, contact me to sign up as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and choose products from the new Holiday Catalog to start your stash!