September Projects for Stamping Group

Friday night was the beginning of the 2016-17 stamping year for my stamp group. It was so good to see everyone and catch up with their news from the summer.

To welcome them back, I made them each a little box that held a container of Tic Tacs, CASEd from Linda Parker.

For our evening's projects, we made two fall–themed cards.

The first card introduced the group to the versatility of the Cookie Cutter Punch by using it to create this card using the scarecrow stamp image. The image was stamped on Thick Whisper White using Basic Black Archival ink and then colored with Stampin' Write Markers. Glue Dots allowed "straw" (Linen Thread pieces) to be adhered to the scarecrow's hands and feet. Soft Suede and a sponge dauber was used to provide a little definition to the "straw."

Pumpkins, from the Spooky Fun stamp set were also stamped and then colored with markers. Clear Wink of Stella gave them some shimmer.

The sentiment, from the Butterfly Basics stamp set was stamped on a Marina Blue matte using Basic Black. The stamped matte was offset over a white one with a strip of burlap ribbon wrapped around.

A matte from the Halloween Night DSP was cut and inked with Early Espresso and then adhered to a Marina Mist card base. The offset mattes were adhered with Dimensionals. The scarecrow was attached to the burlap ribbon using Dimensionals and the pumpkins were adhered with a Dimensional and an adhesive strip to complete the card.

The second card had a tie in to fall by "canning" some of the Fruit Stand DSP within the Jar Framelits and mounting the jar on a belly band that secured a Pinwheel Fold card. This idea was CASEd from Leena Girsa.

Though my example shows flowers within the jar, the other papers in the DSP pack displayed a variety of fruits—pears, strawberries and peaches.

The largest jar from the Jar of Love stamp set was stamped on Thick Whisper White using Smoky Slate; the lid was stamped with Basic Gray. The jar and lid were die cut with the coordinating Framelits. As well, a jar was die cut from Window sheet and the fruit DSP was die cut with the die for the jar contents.

Next, liquid glue was used to adhere the DSP to the jar die cut with the "glass" (window sheet) and the lid adhered with Glue Dots.

The folded card was created by first measuring and marking all four sides of a two-sided piece of DSP at 3" and 5" and then the paper was scored by aligning at the 3" mark on one side of the paper with the 5" mark on the adjacent side. This was repeated with each of the three remaining side. (I demonstrated this method with the group since none of them had purchased the Diagonal Board for the Simply Scored tool. If you have this, you need not do any of the above measuring and marking. Simply place the paper on the Diagonal Board and score at 3" on each side. Done!)

The scoring produced four small triangles which were snipped out with a pair of scissors. The paper was then flipped over and scored at 1" on each side.

The paper was then folded and burnished on all the score lines, with the 1" flaps being folded back to expose the contrasting side of the DSP.

A coordinating fruit (or flower) was stamped on the bottom corner of a Whisper White matte. This was adhered to a matte of complementary card stock (matching the belly band strip) and then adhered inside the opened card using Fast Fuse.

The flaps of the card were then folded inward, following either a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction (which ever produced the final pinwheel formation, with the last flap being tucked in to "lock" the card.

To create the belly band, a strip of complementary card stock was wrapped around the card and adhered together with a piece of burlap ribbon wrapped around it. The jar was attached to the band using Glue Dots.

Here's a tip for creating a belly band that is easily removed. Place the card stock strip under the card and fold one side of the strip around the card and crease firmly. Slide the card over about 1/8" from the crease and then wrap the other side of the strip around the card and crease and then adhere the ends of the strip together. This gives a finished look to the belly band and it is just the right size to it to easily slip off the card.

The sentiment, stamped in Pear Pizzazz on Thick Whisper White had its end flagged with the Triple Banner Punch and then was adhered in place using Glue Dots.

We're off to a great start for our stamping year with many more projects to come!

Tic Tac Box

Scarecrow Card

Pinwheel Fold Card

Jar of Love For Father's Day

I have so many new products from the new catalog that it is hard to choose what to play with next!

When I sat down to craft today, I had planned to make a Father's Day card for my husband. I was prepared to use the Best Birds stamp set and was going to watercolor one of the birds. Much to my annoyance, I discovered that once you use rubbing alcohol in a water brush pen (I use the Kuretake Fude Water Brush Pen, Small because I like the detailed tip better than on the Stampin' Up Aqua Pen) it should only be reserved for alcohol as the alcohol.

It seems that somehow the alcohol gets trapped in the end and it didn't seem to work properly for water after that! So, I have another one on order (that will be marked for water only!) but it won't arrive until Friday.

Shifting gears, I decided to work with the Jar of Love stamp set instead. Because I was drawn to the "You Light Up My Life" sentiment, I decided to put fireflies in a jar.

I used my MISTI to stamp the largest jar on a piece of Window Sheet using Jet Black Stazon. I set it aside to dry while I stamped the fireflies on vellum and heat embossed them with the now retired Black Stampin' Emboss Powder. I also stamped the lid for the jar on Thick Whisper White card stock using Versamark and heat embossed it with Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder.

I used the Everyday Jars Framelits to die cut the jar, lid, and fireflies. Before die cutting the fireflies, I used a Crushed Curry Stampin' Write Marker to color on the backside of the vellum. Afterwards, I decided that the "light" wasn't bright enough so then I colored on the front side of the vellum.

On a small Night of Navy matte, I stamped the sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed it with White Stampin' Emboss Powder. I attached the lid to the jar using glue dots and then adhered the jar to the matte using Dimensionals just under the lid. I was able to position and adhere the fireflies under the jar by lifting it up.

The Night of Navy matte was adhered to a Thick Whisper White matte using Fast Fuse. A matte cut from a sheet of the Floral Boutique DSP (you have to get this–it's wonderful!) was adhered to another Night of Navy matte with Fast Fuse and then the matte with the jar was adhered to the larger matte with Dimensionals. This entire matted piece was then adhered to a Thick White card base using Dimensionals.

After it was put together I liked it but still didn't like the "light" from the fireflies. I decided to use a Y18 Copic Marker to color some rhinestones and stuck these to the fireflies. Finally, they had lights I could appreciate!

The inside of the card was plain except for a Happy Father's Day sentiment from the Crazy About You stamp set.

I'm pleased with how my card turned out and I am sure my husband will like it. The crisp navy and white really look nice together! If I could change only one thing, I wish that I had stamped the jar in White Stazon instead of the black because I think it would have shown up better.