Today my card share uses the retiring Watermelon Wonder–I'm going to miss it!
I started by embossing a matte of Watermelon Wonder using the Petal Burst Embossing Folder. Turning it to the debossed side, I sponged Cherry Cobbler ink all over the matte, concentrating on the edges.
The sentiment, from the now retired Another Thank You stamp set, was stamped using the MISTI to allow it to be stamped first with Basic Black and then with Versamark. It was heat embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder. After die cutting with an oval from the Stitched Shapes Framelits, it was also sponged with Cherry Cobbler ink.
An scalloped oval from the Layering Ovals Framelits was used to die cut an oval from Basic Black. It was stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder to make it shiny. The sentiment was then adhered to it using liquid adhesive.
The Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits were used to die cut a dragonfly from Basic Black and it was heat embossed like the scalloped oval.
The embossed matte was adhered to a thin Watermelon Wonder matte and then to a Basic Black card base. The dragonfly was adhered to the card front with Glue Dots and the sentiment with Dimensionals. Rhinestones were added for a little bling.
A Whisper White matte was stamped with a dragonfly in Watermelon Wonder and then adhered inside the card to complete it.
Unfortunately, the pictures of this card do not do this card justice. The combination of of Cherry Cobbler and Watermelon Wonder gives a stunning play of light and shadow, enhanced by the shiny black of the dragonfly and embellished sentiment.
If you would still like to order Watermelon Wonder, you can order the remaining products from my online store.
Not convinced yet that you need more Watermelon Wonder? Check out more of my creations that use Watermelon Wonder by visiting the links below (can you tell that I love this color?):
Friday night, my stamping ladies did a little gardening, though a green thumb was not required!
Succulents and dragonflies were the focus of my class as we created a darling pot of succulents with a matching gift card.
The Succulent Framelits are so much fun to use to create a vast array of colorful succulents. All six framelits required for the largest succulent can be fit onto a 4.25 x 5.5" piece of card stock and run through the big shot at the same time so this means that you save paper AND time!
In designing the succulents for this pot, I did a Google search to get some ideas for how to color the plants. Little did I know that succulents come in all the colors of the rainbow! Such fun!
I did a little experimenting with different colors of card stock and ink before deciding on my final choices. I save small strips of card stock just for the purpose of testing my ideas for colors. It is amazing what you can discover by sponging various ink colors onto different colors of card stock. For example, by sponging Wisteria Wonder with Pool Party, I was able to create a kind of Periwinkle Blue color.
In the end, I designed three types and sizes of succulents because I knew it was important to mix sizes and colors to produce a balanced design.
You can view the following video explaining how the succulents were created and assembled. This particular video shows a slightly different method to those portrayed in the photographs in this blog post. The succulents created in my class were fuller looking and more realistic as detailed in the notes below.
In addition, the second video shows the assembly of the pot and uses two types of moss to add further texture to the finished project.
Large succulent:
Wisteria Wonder card stock was cut with all six framelits; Pool Party ink was sponged on the petals of each piece and then Melon Mambo was sponged on the tips; double Dimensionals were used to adhere the two largest bottom layers as well as the next layer; liquid glue was used to adhere the remaining pieces.
Medium succulents:
Mint Macaron card stock was cut twice with five of the framelits to produce two separate succulents; Pool Party ink was sponged on the petals of each piece and then Old Olive was sponged on the ends of each petal; double Dimensionals were used on the two largest layers and liquid glue for the remaining pieces.
Small succulents:
Sweet Sugarplum card stock was cut three times with the three smallest framelits to produce three separate succulents; Old Olive was sponged lightly over the petals and then the tips were sponged with Melon Mambo; the layers were adhered using liquid glue.
After sponging the pieces for each of the succulents, a large-ball stylus from either the Heartfelt Creations Deluxe Flower Shaping Kit or one from the McGill Paper Blossom Tool Kit was used to shape each piece. The piece was placed in the palm of the hand and the stylus was circled over the middle until the piece "cupped."
To add further dimension to each piece, a bone folder was used to curl each petal downward. Double Dimensionals were also used to create separation between the largest layers and to produce a fuller looking succulent.
Once all the succulents were assembled, it was time to prepare the pot.
A sheet of newspaper from a community paper was crumpled tightly into a ball and then carefully undone. It was re-crumpled but this time ensuring a smooth, top section to the ball. A glue gun was used to apply glue to the bottom and sides of the metal pot and the newspaper ball was pushed inside to adhere it. Some tutorials for succulent pots found on Pinterest use half a styrofoam ball to form this part of the pot but that adds to the cost. I much prefer using the easily attained newspaper!
Pieces of moss, in both natural and green were then hot-glued to the top of the newspaper. Some tendrils of moss were allowed to fall outside of the pot for added interest. After gluing enough moss to cover the newspaper, the pot was turned upside down and tapped to remove any loose moss.
The front of the pot was determined and the arrangement of the succulents was chosen. Each succulent was glued in place using the glue gun. A glue eraser was used to rid the pot of any clinging glue gun trails.
A glue dot was adhered to the middle back of the pot rim; two more were adhered to each side of the pot's rim. A length of the 5/8" Burlap Ribbon was adhered to the glue dots and tied in a bow at the front of the pot.
Finally, a dragonfly was die cut from Gold Glimmer paper, shaped slightly, and adhered to one of the succulents in the pot with Glue Dots.
To create the accompanying card, a 4 x 4" card base was cut from Old Olive. Mattes of 3.75 x 3.75" were cut both from Mint Macaron and Whisper White.
On the Mint Macaron matte, the sentiment was stamped in Basic Black. The dragonfly, from the Dragonfly Dreams stamp set was stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder.
The edges of the matte were sponged generously with Pool Party and then, less generously with Old Olive. The matte was adhered to the card front using Dimensionals.
A dragonfly was stamped offset on the Whisper White matte using Pool Party and then adhered inside the card.
Using the Envelope Punch Board, a matching envelope in Mint Macaron was created. The flap of the envelope was stamped with another dragonfly using Pool Party.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about my projects and viewing the video tutorials! If you have yet to order the Succulent Framelits or the Dragonfly Bundle, you can purchase them in my online store! Just think what you can create with these products!
Tonight I was supposed to be teaching a stamping class but it ended up being postponed until Sunday so I got some play time!
With all the frigid temperatures we've been having, most people are longing for sunshine and warmer temperatures. I decided to make a card to reflect that hope.
With this one card, I was able to use a number of products and a try a few techniques.
I started by die cutting a small circle from a piece of the Inside The Lines paper. This designer paper is one of the FREE Sale-A-Bration products you can receive by placing a $60 order!
I used my new Watercolor Pencils to color it and blended with my Clear Wink of Stella pen. If you haven't yet purchased these, you should put them at the top of your list! They are wonderful! They can be used alone or with an Aqua Painter or Blender Pen or my personal favorite, Wink of Stella. My only complaint? I want more of them–in all of Stampin' Up's wonderful colors!
After coloring, I matted it with a Mambo Melon scalloped circle and then with a Pacific Point circle. I then die cut petals from Marina Mist using an oval from the Stitched Shapes Framelits. I used liquid adhesive to adhere them to the back of the circles.
Next I stamped a bee from the Dragonfly Dreams stamp set on watercolor paper using Basic Black Archival ink. I colored in the stripes of the bee with a watercolor pencil and then fussy cut the bee. Unfortunately, I cut off one of his antennas so I had to stamp another bee which I die cut with the Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits. I cut the wings off this one and glued it under the colored bee. I then used a Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker to trace the edges of the bee to cover up the white spots.
I cut a matte from Melon Mambo and embossed it with the Festive Embossing Folder. I used a piece of adhesive foam to adhere the matte to a Basic Black card front. I then adhered the flower to the matte using Dimensionals. The bee was added using Adhesive Strips.
I die cut the sentiment from both Daffodil Delight and Basic Black using a die from the Sunshine Wishes Thinlits. I gave the yellow piece a coat of Wink of Stella before using liquid adhesive to adhere the black behind the yellow, offset to create a shadow effect. The sentiment was then adhered to the card front.
I cut a Whisper White matte for inside the card and adhered a strip of the Inside The Lines paper down the right side. I used my Watercolor Pencils and Wink of Stella to color the strip to complete the card.
I'm hopeful that the warm thoughts I was thinking while creating this card will bring some warmer weather our way! What's the weather like where you are? Does it affect the type of cards you make?
In sending thank you cards to my stamp club members, I just had to choose the Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits to use on my cards! By combining it with a stunning embossing folder, Stitched Shapes Framelits, gold embossing and gold foil, I was able to create an elegant card very quickly.
I cut a standard card base from Thick Whisper White and also cut a 4.25 x 5.5" matte from Whisper White which I embossed using the new Falling Petals Embossing Folder. The embossed matte was adhered to the card front using Fast Fuse.
Next, I die cut a square using the Stitched Shapes Framelits. Using Versamark, I stamped the sentiment, from the now retired Another Thank You stamp set, and heat embossed it using Gold Embossing Powder. I used Dimensionals to adhere it to the card front.
Finally, I die cut the lovely dragonfly from Gold Foil and used an adhesive strip to adhere it to the front of the card.
If I were you, I would put this set at the top of your wish list for the new 2017 Occasions Catalog. I know mine is going to get a LOT of use!
It was easy to figure out that the Dragonfly Dreams Bundle was going to be one of my "go to" sets from the 2017 Occasions Catalog! Not only is the stamp set and its sentiments beautiful but the thinlits are superb! I chose this set recently when creating a thank you card for a friend.
I started by cutting a 4.75 x 6" Basic Black card base and a Watercolor paper matte to go on top of it. Using Versamark, I stamped several dragonflies, offset, on the watercolor paper and then heat embossed them using Clear Embossing Powder.
For my next step I blended Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point and Rich Razzleberry onto the watercolor paper using Stamping Sponges. I used a paper towel to buff up the dragonflies to remove any lingering ink from them.
I die cut a dragonfly from Basic Black and then used Versamark and Clear Embossing Powder to make it really shiny. I then wanted to add some shimmer so I used the now retired Iridescent Embossing Powder.
The watercolor matte was adhered to the card front using Fast Fuse and then I popped up the dragonfly by using an adhesive strip.
The sentient was heat embossed in white on a strip of Basic Black and then the Triple Banner Punch was used to flag the end. It was adhered to the card front.
A matte was cut from Whisper White and a dragonfly was stamped in the bottom right corner using Pacific Point. The matte was adhered inside the card to complete it.
Close up details of the shimmer on the dragonfly.
I'm pleased with how this card turned out and I look forward to using this set with my classes!
I am an independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator and the use of and content of the classes, services, or products offered on this blog is not endorsed by Stampin' Up! I enjoy sharing my love of creating with others and helping them to make beautiful cards with stamps and paper!
