Stamping Mistake? Learn How I Fixed Rather Than Trashed This Card!

It was with great pleasure that I sat down to create this thank you card for a friend. She had told me the type of sentiment she wanted and I chose the Floral Phrases stamp set. After she decided on the colors and style, I showed her a couple of cards in the style she wanted and we had a plan!

I started by cutting a standard card base from Crumb Cake and two mattes from Very Vanilla. Next, using Sahara Sand, I stamped the leafy image from the Number of Years stamp set all over one of the mattes.

One of the edge stamps from the Timeless Textures stamp set was stamped around the edge of the matte. Finally, I stamped the distressed leafy image in Cherry Cobbler in two opposing corners of the matte.

A piece of the Regals Designer Paper Stack was adhered to the middle of the matte. Two lengths of the Sale-A-Bration gold metallic ribbon were adhered to hide the seam of the DSP. Linen thread was then wrapped around the matte and secured at the back using Fast Fuse. The matte was then adhered to the card front using Dimensionals.

Using my MISTI, the sentiment from the Floral Phrases stamp set was stamped three times on a strip of Cherry Cobbler using Crumb Cake. I had wanted to use a stitched die for the sentiment but it was too long to fit  a Stampin Up die, even if I extended one of the stitched squares into a rectangle. As a work-around I used Lawn Cuts Stitched Borders to create my own stitched rectangle. I then matted this strip onto a strip of Very Vanilla. This was then adhered to the card front using Dimensionals.

On a piece of Very Vanilla, I stamped two identical butterflies using the Watercolor Wings stamp set and Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake and Cherry Cobbler inks. The two butterflies were die cut, one with Bold Butterfly Framelits and one with the Butterflies Thinlits dies. The two butterflies were adhered together using Glue Dots. A strip of pearls was adhered to the body of the top butterfly. After shaping the wings a bit, the butterfly was adhered to the card front using Foam Adhesive Strips.

For the remaining matte, it was prepared in the same way as the one for the card front with the exception that the stamp was stamped off each time as well as stamping the corner stamps in Sahara Sand as well. The sentiment was stamped using Crumb Cake.

The smaller butterfly was stamped on Very Vanilla using Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake and Cherry Cobbler. The Bold Butterfly Framelits and one with the Butterflies Thinlits dies were used to die cut the butterflies. They were adhered together and to the matte using Glue Dots.

Lastly, I used the Envelope Punch Board to create a matching envelope from Crumb Cake. It was stamped on the front using Crumb Cake and the leafy stamp from the Number of Years stamp set. The envelope was lined with a matching piece of Regals Designer Paper Stack. Mary Fish has a great tutorial for an envelope liner.

After finishing the card, I noticed that the sentiment on the front of the card was not totally distinct after having dried completely. How exasperating!

I knew that I would have to use a darker ink to correct the look of the sentiment. With hopes that I didn't have to remake the sentiment strip, I used some of my trusty Un-Du to remove the butterfly and sentiment strip. The card front and strip were completely saturated with the Un-Du solution so I used my heat tool to dry them.

Next, I used my MISTI to stamp the sentiment on the clear matte from my Stamp-a-ma-jig using a bright color of ink. I then placed my sentiment strip under the matte and played with it until I thought that both sentiments were in total alignment. I then carefully removed the plastic matte and secured the sentiment strip with magnets. I then inked up the sentiment with Early Espresso and re-stamped the sentiment.

Upon careful examination, I discovered that the restamp was not in exactly the same spot as the original. However, by happy accident, the stamping looked like it had been planned "shadow" stamping because the lighter, originally stamped sentiment acted as a shadow for the newer, crisply stamped sentiment! BONUS! It actually now had a kind of 3D quality to it!

Original sentiment stamped in Crumb Cake.

Sentiment Restamped in Early Espresso. Click on the
image to view a larger size to see the 3D shadowed detail.

So, the moral of this story is . . . if you make a stamping mistake, think about it and attempt a fix before having to trash your card completely. You might be pleasantly surprised!

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Beautiful Butterfly Birthday

On Sunday it was my mother's 91st birthday. Quite a milestone! I wanted to create a very special card for her. I looked through Pinterest for ideas and decided to CASE one by Areli Johnson.

I started by cutting a 4.25 x 5.5" vertical card base from Crumb Cake. I also cut a Very Vanilla matte on which to stamp.

A stamp from the Number of Years stamp set was used to stamp a random leafy pattern all over the card stock using Sahara Sand. I then used an edge stamp from one of my all time favorite sets, Timeless Textures. I stamped this all around the edges of the card stock, again using Sahara Sand.

Choosing another stamp from the same set, I switched to Sweet Sugarplum and stamped in the top right and bottom left corners.

I cut a piece of the Playful Palette DSP and adhered it to the centre of the matte and then added some lace trim (it's a retired one from a Stampin' Up kit but it was unmarked so not sure which one) to the top and bottom of the DSP. Linen Thread was wrapped around the centre of the DSP and adhered to the back with Fast Fuse.

The sentiment, from the Butterfly Basics stamp set, was stamped with Crumb Cake on Sweet Sugarplum card stock and then die cut using an oval die from the Stitched Shapes Framelits. A scalloped oval from the Layering Ovals Framelits was die cut from Very Vanilla and adhered to the stamped oval. The finished piece was adhered over the linen thread using Dimensionals.

Next, I used my MISTI to stamp two butterflies using the Watercolor Wings stamp set. I used Sahara Sand and Sweet Sugarplum and stamped two of the same butterflies and then die cut one using the Bold Butterfly Framelits and one using the Butterflies Thinlits. The two were adhered together and then adhered to the card front using Glue Dots. A strip of pearls was added to the body.

For inside the card, I stamped a Very Vanilla matte using the same two stamps from Timeless Textures but stamped each in Sahara Sand after first stamping off. I also stamped the smaller butterfly, from the Butterfly Basics stamp set, two times using Sweet Sugarplum. One was die cut using the Bold Butterfly Framelits, and one using the Butterflies Thinlits. This was adhered near the top of the matte (not the best place as I discovered!) to complete the card.

I also decided to stamp the envelope and used my Envelopes Liners Framelits to line the envelope with matching paper.

I'm pretty pleased with how the card turned out! Who wouldn't love a combination of Timeless Textures and butterflies?

Here's a picture of my Mom carefully studying the card I gave her.

And here is a picture of her holding one of the nighties I gave her!

All in all I think my mom had a happy day!

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 . . . "

Painted Rose For Global Design Project

On my way home from work today, I stopped to pick up a prescription for my husband. As I passed the magazine rack in the store, some colorful covers caught my eye and I had to stamp some pictures for inspiration. As I drove home, a card design was staring to gel in my mind.

After supper, I quickly began making my card because I had to finish it tonight in time for the Global Design Project deadline!

The color scheme for my card changed dramatically from the one I first thought I'd use! I will still utilize the color scheme I first thought of but I'm pleased with the one I selected for this card.

I used Jet Black Stazon to stamp the rose from the Rose Wonder stamp set on a piece of the Typeset DSP. I used the same watercolor technique as I did yesterday, placing rubbing alcohol in my Aqua Painter instead of water, and painted using the Watermelon Reinker. I set it aside to dry thoroughly.

A Basic Gray card base for a 4.75 x 6" card was cut and then I cut a partial matte from Watermelon Wonder and used one of the now retired Adorning Accents Edgelits on it to give an ornate edge to my matte. I then used the matching piercing template from the Paper-Piercing Pack Essentials to pierce a line that followed the cut edge.

Next, I stamped the matte using Watermelon Wonder and stamps from the Timeless Textures stamp set. The matte was then adhered to the card base using Fast Fuse adhesive.

I used the Rose Garden Thinlits to cut the rose and two stems of the leaves from Basic Black and cut off the rose's leaves. Now that my painted rose was dry I was able to glue the die cut rose over top of the painted rose using Multi Medium Matte.

I cut a strip of Basic Gray to go across the card front and embossed it using the Pretty Print Embossing Folder and then sponged a bit of Smoky Slate ink onto it to make the embossing stand out more. It was adhered to the card front using a strip of self-adhesive fun foam. The leafy stems were adhered to the strip using Multi Medium Matte and then the rose was adhered over top using Dimensionals.

Using Jet Black Stazon ink, the sentiment from the Bloomin' Love stamp set was stamped and the scroll from the Number of Years stamp set was stamped over it on Watermelon Wonder. It was then die cut using the die from the Large Numbers Framelits. It was adhered at the bottom of the card using Dimensionals.

Three pearls were placed under the embossed strip of Basic Bray to complete the card front.
The inside was kept pretty simple. Whisper White was matted with Watermelon Wonder and adhered to the card with Fast Fuse. One stamp from the Timeless Textures stamp set was stamped in the bottom right corner to complete the card.

So, do you like it? I think the Watermelon Wonder and Basic Gray work well together, accented by the Basic Black. If you would like to use this color scheme, feel free to save the graphic below.

I've entered this card in the Global Design Project #30. Why don't you come and play sometime?

I'd love it if you could leave me a comment below to let me know you stopped by! Have a great day!

Botanical Wedding Card

It happened again the other day.

I was at work at Walmart, waiting on another customer, when I spotted a new magazine in the rack. I quickly recognized the colors of Blushing Bride and Very Vanilla, on a background of green and a card idea started bubbling on the fringes of my mind! Here's the magazine cover that sparked my creative juices:

My vision for this card was that of a bride's bouquet, complete with ribbons and pearls on a lovely green background. To be able to fit in both the bouquet and ribbons, I chose a 5 x 7" format for my card.

I cut a matte that was 4.75 x 6.5" so that it would fit within the embossing folder I wished to use–Craft Concepts Tuscan Tiles. After embossing, I used Garden Green ink with a sponge to color the raised portions of the embossing. I adhered the matte to a 5 x 7" Cucumber Crush card base.

Next, I chose a circle die from the Circles Collection Framelits Dies and used that as a frame to create my bouquet simply by laying it on top of my embossed matte and adding flowers within it.

Using the Botanical Builders Framelits Dies, I cut flowers from Blushing Bride and Pink Pirouette as well as a couple of centres from the Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper. I also punched flowers using one of the punches from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack and one from the now retired Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack. I inked the edges of the pink flowers with Strawberry Slush and the Blushing Bride ones with Calypso Coral. I also shaped them using the McGill Paper Blossom Tool Kit.

I assembled the few flowers that needed centres and then started adding flowers to the circle die on my card front. I started by adding the largest flowers, filled in with the next largest small flowers and finally the smallest flowers. Once I was happy with the design, I snapped a photo for reference and then removed all but the largest flowers.

Circle die used to arrange the blossoms in a circle.

One by one, I used Multi Medium Matte to adhere each flower to the card front. Once I had filled up the circle, I removed the die and then added pearls to the centre of each blossom.

I used Glue Dots to adhere a bow of Pink Pirouette Seam Binding and a length of Blushing Bride Sequin Trim beneath the bouquet.

On vellum card stock I stamped the sentiment in Calypso Coral using the MISTI and both the Crazy About You and the Number of Years Stamp Sets. I also stamped in Versamark and then heat embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder. I die cut the sentiment using a die from the Large Numbers Framelits Dies. I placed two pearls on the front of the sentiment and then positioned glue dots below them on the opposite side to adhere the banner to the card front.

For the inside of the card, I cut a matte from the now retired Naturals White card stock. I used Cucumber Crush to stamp the sentiment from the Beautiful Ride Stamp Set and added some flowers from the Bloomin' Love Stamp Set using Calypso Coral. I added the couple stamp in Blushing Bride to the bottom of the card. I inked the edges with Blushing Bride and then adhered the matte with Fast Fuse to complete the card.

Close up details.

I love the richness created by the embossing and sponging on the card front and the flowers looks so nice on top of it!

Let me know what you think by dropping me a comment below!