March Stamping Class Projects

My stamping group met on Friday night for a fun-filled evening of card making and some wonderful treats from Marilyn and Michelle!

Our first card was a new technique for the group–a skirt fold or other tutorials refer to it as a drapery fold.

I had been seeing this technique used on a few cards on Pinterest and thought it was delightful! I consulted a tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers as well as one on by Song of My Heart Stampers and used their info to produce the card in my blog post, Fancy Fold Botanicals For Stampin' Royalty. For stamping class, I needed to modify the technique so that we could use paper from a 6 x 6" paper stack.

We started with a piece of 3 x 6" paper from the Love Blossoms DSP. It was scored at 2, 2.25, 3.25, 3.5, 4.5 and 4.75." A pencil mark was placed at 1.25" from the top right corner and another mark was placed at the bottom at the first 2" score line.

A trimmer was used to trim diagonally from the 2" score line to the 1.25" mark. The paper was then folded, accordion-style, starting with a valley fold at the 2" score line. This produced the "skirt" pleats. It was necessary to trim off .25" from the right end for the folded piece to fit exactly on a 4.25 x 5.5" matte.

Because there wasn't as long a piece of paper to work with as in the tutorials I referred to for this technique, the amount of patterned paper showing from the opposite side was not a lot, but the technique was still effective.

We applied liquid glue to the back of the pleats and then used a sponge and Early Espresso to add detail to the top of the pleat folds. The top pleats were then glued in place.

Using the MISTI, the sentiment from the Help Me Grow Stamp Set was stamped with Rose Red ink onto the bottom right corner of a 4.25 x 5.5" Blushing Bride matte, after finding the correct position with the pleated panel.

The top 3.5" of the matte was then embossed using the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder. A sponge was used to apply Blushing Bride ink to the raised dots. The matte was then adhered to the Blushing Bride card base using Fast Fuse Adhesive.

A .75" strip of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper was adhered to the top of the pleated panel using Fast Fuse Adhesive, offsetting it about 1/8" above the panel. Dimensionals were then used to adhere the pleated panel to the matte.

The Big Shot and Magnetic Platform were used with the Botanical Builders Framelits to die cut the flower, leaves and fern from Garden Green and Rose Red card stock. Early Espresso was sponged on the edges of each and then the McGill Paper Blossom Tool Kit was used to shape the die cuts.

Placement on top of the Dazzling Diamonds strip was determined and then the leaves and fern were glued in place using both Fast Fuse and the Fine Tip Glue Pen.

A "thread nest" was made with Linen Thread and adhered with Glue Dots and then the flower was adhered with a Dimensional. An Iced Rhinestone was added to the flower centre to complete the card.

Our second card was a sympathy card created with the Rose Garden Thinlits Die.

The design for this card has appeared several times on pinterest in several color variations. It makes for a very striking card. However, nowhere could I find a tutorial as to how this card was made! Looking at the photos, it just was not immediately evident to me how the card was made. Because of this, I decided that I was going to work with the die to figure out how the card was made so we could make it in class! Hopefully, this will help someone else who is trying to make this card.

We started by using a 3.5 x 4.75" Sahara Sand matte and positioned the die on the matte so it hung off both the top and the bottom right by a little bit. We used a dryer sheet under the card stock to make it easy to separate the die cut from the pieces and we saved the right side of the matte from which the rose was cut.

Using a 3.5 x 4.75" matte of Blackberry Bliss, the retained piece of Sahara Sand was glued in place using liquid glue. The Fine Tip Glue Pen was used to apply glue to the die cut rose and then it was carefully laid in place on the Blackberry Bliss matte, placing the two largest petals of the rose die cut in place first. By doing this, the other edges of the die cut fall into place naturally, making it very easy to get the rose into place next to the Sahara Sand card stock piece. A piece of scrap paper was placed over the die cut allowing the die cut to be smoothed over with a hand to ensure it was properly adhered.

The sentiment was stamped on a scrap of Sahara Sand using Blackberry Bliss and then die cut. The edges were inked with a sponge and then the sentiment was adhered to the card front using Dimensionals.

The edges of a 4 x 5.25" matte from the now retired Painted Blooms DSP was inked with Blackberry Bliss and adhered to a Sahara Sand card base using Fast Fuse Adhesive. The matte with the die cut rose was adhered to the DSP matte using Dimensionals.

The second sentiment was stamped inside the card using Blackberry Bliss to complete the card.

I'm pleased with both these cards from class! Using the Stampin' Up dies can so quickly produce a stunning card!

Shake It Off!

Don't just sit there–shake it off!

You need to run–don't walk–to the computer and place an order with me right now before it's too late!

My all time favorite products are retiring and you need to act before they are gone! Painted Petals stamp set and Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper are leaving us as of June 2, or until stock runs out!

Not only are the Painted Blooms Designer Papers lovely, but they coordinate so well with the Painted Petals stamp set!

You can utilize the designer paper on your card and then echo the paper by stamping on a few petals of your own! In addition, the sentiments from the Painted Petals set are so lovely–you will find yourself turning to them again and again!

You will remember these projects where I used either the paper or coordinating stamp set:

• My Least Favorite Card To Create
• Painted Blooms Valentine
• Corner Garden Blues
• Butterfly And Broken Bokeh
• Creative Blog Hop

If you need more inspiration, you can check out this Pinterest search for Painted Petals and this search for Painted Blooms.

Today's card uses the Painted Petals stamp set to create a card with a lovely color combo of Bermuda Bay, Tangerine Tango and Whisper White.

Because I was making several of these cards, my MISTI came in very handy!

I first lined up and stamped the stems of the two flowers using Bermuda Bay on a 3.5 x 4.75" Whisper White matte and repeated this for all the cards.

Next, I stamped the flowers using Tangerine Tango. These I stamped 2X because at first stamping they looked too pale next to the Bermuda Bay stems. The double stamping was easily done using the MISTI.

Lastly, I stamped one of the sentiments from the set using Jet Black Memento ink.

After all the white mattes had been stamped, it was a simple matter to adhere the stamped mattes to 3.75 x 5" mattes of Tangerine Tango.

I don't know about you but I can get perfectly lined up mattes until it is time to glue them down and then all hell breaks loose! To ensure that my mattes are straight when adhering them, I now use a tip that I learned from one of my stamping ladies.

I use the black positioner tool from my Stamp-a-ma-jig to help me keep the correct position for my matte until I glue it down. To do this, I place my matte the way I want it to be, eye-balling that I have the matte centered. I place the black part into place at the top left of my matte and then carefully remove it to add my desired adhesive. Then I carefully hold the black part and line up my matte with the tool and press it into place. Ta-da! Perfectly positioned mattes every time!

At this point, I tied a length of Bermuda Bay Taffeta Ribbon around the mattes, securing the ribbon with a glue dot where the knot was tied, and then used Dimensionals to adhere the mattes to the Bermuda Bay card base.

For the inside matte, I used Naturals White card stock. I added a few blooms in Tangerine Tango and then inked the edges, using a sponge dauber.

A few sequins were added for a finishing touch!

This was a super easy card to create but I think its simplicity and color combo is what makes it so effective! What do you think? Leave me a comment below and be sure to purchase your Painted Blooms Designer Paper and your Painted Petals stamp set before they disappear! While you're at the store, be sure to pick up a Stamp-a-ma-jig as well, so you can keep your layers straight!

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My Least Favorite Card To Create

Though I am always excited to be creating a new card, I dislike having to make a sympathy card because it means that someone is hurting. This time, the father of the Head Customer Service Manager at Walmart passed away.

Because Michelle is such a special person who is always striving to be cheerful and encouraging, even under the most trying of circumstances, I wanted to create a special card to give to her.

I decided to use the Painted Petals stamp set along with the coordinating Designer Series Paper, Painted Blooms.

I cut a standard card base from Rich Razzleberry and a matte from Blackberry Bliss. I cut a piece of Vellum Card Stock and a piece of the DSP to 5 1/4 x 4."

I used my new MISTI (Most Incredible Stamping Tool Invented–more on this tool in the future!) to position my sentiment from the Love & Sympathy stamp set and stamped it using Jet Black Stazon ink. I next stamped the stems of the flowers in Wild Wasabi and the blooms in Rich Razzleberry.

Once the ink was dry, I used some Crystal Effects along the left edge to attach the vellum on top of the DSP. I knew the adhesive wouldn't be seen because I was going to attach a strip of card stock down the left side of the card front. I adhered the DSP to the Blackberry Bliss matte using Fuse Fast adhesive.

The Decorative Dots embossing folder was used to emboss a 1 1/2" strip of Rich Razzleberry card stock. I wrapped a piece of Mossy Meadow ribbon around it and adhered it on the back using Sticky Strip. I then tied a small piece of ribbon around the existing piece and knotted it. I secured the ribbon to the front of the embossed strip using a couple of glue dots.

I placed three Candy Dots down the top right side of the card front and added some Crystal Effects to the underside of the vellum, beneath the Candy Dots, to further secure the vellum to the card front.

I adhered a matte of Naturals White card stock to the inside of the card and to echo the front design, I stamped three tiny flowers.

Drop me a line below to let me know how you like the card! Also, please let me know how you like the scrolling list of products used compared to the large gallery display of products I was using previously. I thought that the scroll takes up a lot less space while still allowing you to view all the products used.


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Painted Blooms Valentine

It was a strangely quiet day at Walmart today, as our Credit/Debit machines went down about 1:30! They still weren't working properly when we closed at 6:00. Apparently this was a Canada-wide problem and some other stores in the area were also having intermittent problems. Pretty hard for a lot of people when most people don't carry cash anymore!

A quick little card for you tonight!

I cut a square card base from Wild Wasabi and used Fuse Fast to adhere a matte of one of the papers from the Painted Blooms Designer Paper—a lovely pack of paper!

I adhered a strip of the White Jute Ribbon and topped it with a strip of Mossy Meadow Satin Ribbon. I trimmed the ribbon at each card edge.

I cut a smaller square matte from Pacific Point card stock and embossed it using the Happy Hearts embossing folder. The edges were inked with Mossy Meadow. I adhered it to the card front using Dimensionals.

Using Pacific Point, I stamped the sentiment from Crazy About You on Whisper White and then die cut it using a shape from the Word Bubbles Framelits. I inked the edges in both Wild Wasabi and Mossy Meadow and adhere it to the top right of the matte using Dimensionals.

I utilized the Hearts Collection Framelits to cut one heart from the Painted Blooms paper and three from Pacific Point. I glued these together with the designer paper on top.

I used Versamark, Heat & Stick Powder and Dazzling Diamonds to create a glittery heart. I wound Wild Wasabi Twine around one side of the heart and tied a bow. Dimensionals were used to adhere the heart to the card front.

I die cut the word, "you" from Pacific Point card stock two times, using the Hello You Thinlits. I glued these together and then heat embossed the word with clear embossing powder a few times to get it really glossy.

Finally, I adhered the word to the heart using Glossy Accents.

I'm pretty happy with the way the card turned out even if it is a blue Valentine!

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Creative Blog Hop

Today I am excited to share with you because I was asked to take part in a Creative Blog Hop! Michelle Long, a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator from Oregon, invited me to participate. You will definitely want to check out her post for the hop as she designed a lovely group of items!

Saturday was my day off so I had all day to play and create for this post. I chose to work with watercolor again; I am really enjoying the many different techniques available to produce watercolor effects with ink.

I started by selecting a piece of watercolor paper. I used washi tape to tape it down on my craft mat so it would not curl up as it got wet.

I wet the paper with clean water using a large, flat brush. I then dipped my Aqua Painter in either Blackberry Bliss or Old Olive ink refills and dropped ink or painted portions of the paper.

As I went, I blotted or added more ink to areas, depending on how it looked to me. I also spritzed water on it using my Stampin Spritzer. It definitely did not look the way I had planned it! However, I grew to like it more and more as I continued the process.

Finally, I decided I had laid down enough color so I used my heat tool to dry it before continuing.
I wanted to add a few water spots so I picked up some clean water with my hand and flicked it onto the paper. I let it sink in for a bit and then blotted it with a paper towel. I repeated this a couple of times until I was pleased with the effect.

I then flicked some ink drops of both Blackberry Bliss and Old Olive onto the paper for added interest. I dried the paper using my heat tool and then trimmed it to 4 1/8 x 5 1/8", preserving some of the un-inked portions of the watercolor paper.

I cut pieces of Blackberry Bliss and Old Olive ribbons and adhered them with Sticky Strip to the back of the paper, both in a vertical and a horizontal format. I then wove the strips where they met and then adhered the remaining ribbon ends.

I used the Pansy Punch to cut a flower from Rich Razzleberry and inked the edges with Blackberry Bliss. I cut two additional flowers using the Petite Petals Punch, inking them as well. I also punched a flower from Mambo Melon and inked the edges with (you guessed it!) Blackberry Bliss. I used a punch from the now retired Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack to punch tiny flowers from Mambo Melon and Blackberry Bliss.

I used my Paper Blossom Tool Kit to shape each flower to make it more realistic. This set has been invaluable to me over the years and is always in my basic tool kit for card making. I adhered the parts of each flower using Crystal Effects.

I used the Bird Builder Punch to provide some greenery for the flowers, using the leaves and the bird wing to act as leaves. These were punched from Old Olive and inked with Mossy Meadow. They were also shaped with my Paper Blossom Tool Kit.

I attached the larger flower to the watercolor panel using a Dimensional and the smaller flowers were adhered with Crystal Effects. I also adhered the little leaves with Crystal Effects.

I added a rhinestone to the centre of each flower. To finish off the panel, I unravelled the gold thread from the Gold Bakers Twine and kind of shaped it into a pleasing shape. It was adhered in places with a little Crystal Effects.

The watercolor panel was adhered to an Old Olive 4 1/2 x 5 1/2" matte that had been inked loosely with Mossy Meadow.

I used Black Stazon Ink to ink the sentiment from Painted Petals on the 5 x 7" Mambo Melon card base and then adhered the rest of the card to it using Dimensionals.

To coordinate with my card I created a treat bag from the Painted Petals Designer paper, cut with the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies. I assembled the bag quickly using Fuse Fast adhesive.

I used the Banners Dies to cut a banner from Old Olive and embossed it using the Designer Dots embossing folder. I inked it with Mossy Meadow.

Using Mambo Melon card stock, I cut the For You using one of the pieces from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies. I cut it three times and adhered the layers together to make thick letters. I adhered these to the banner using Crystal Effects.

I created another flower, using Mambo Melon and Blackberry card stocks and adhered it to the banner using a Dimensional. I then attached the banner to the treat bag using a clothespin.

As part of this Creative Blog Hop, I need to answer a few questions.

1. What are you working on?

In the next few days, I will be designing some Valentine treats for my Granddaughter, Raine, as well as planning my projects for the March session of my stamping group.

2. How does your style differ from others in your genre?

I'm not sure that my style differs from others but I do tend to use bold, dramatic color combinations and I tend to favor texture in the form of embossing, burlap, ribbons, etc. I like to try a number of different styles in card making rather than sticking with one particular style. At the present time, I am enjoying experimenting with watercolor techniques.

3. Why do you create what you do?

I enjoy the creative process and love to share it with others! What could be more fun than playing with color and paper and ribbons and ink and glitter? :)

4. How does your creative process work?

My creative process can be sparked in various ways. Sometimes (quite often in fact!) I am inspired by a particular color scheme and I create a project based on it. Other times, I may be project driven in that I may have to create a particular type of card–birthday, thank you, sympathy, etc. Still other times I start with a particular technique I want to learn and combine that with a pleasing color scheme to design a specific project.

I nominate Carrie Rhoades who will be posting projects on her own blog on February 16. I found Carrie through Pinterest. She has some amazing projects on her blog! In particular, I love the flowers she has created using the Bouquet Bigz L Die to adorn some of her projects so be sure to browse back through her posts to see these!

Be sure to visit Carrie on February 16 to view her special projects!

Thanks for visiting today!

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