Stitched World of Thanks

Paisleys & Posies is definitely one of my newest favorites. Both the stamps and the coordinating Framelits are stunning and can be used in so many different ways! Today I have a clean and simple card to share with you that uses both the Paisleys & Posies stamp set and the Paisley Framelits.

Because this was to be a thank you card, I had already selected my stamp–A World of Thanks–and I decided that my color scheme would focus on Island Indigo and copper.

To be different, I decided not to use the entire background stamp. I stamped on a square of Island Indigo using Versamark and then heat embossed using the Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder. I then used a circle die from the new Stitched Shape Framelits to die cut the stamp. I also die cut a scalloped matte from Copper Foil using the Layering Circle Framelits. These were adhered together using liquid adhesive.

After cutting a card base for a 5.5 x 5.5" from Island Indigo, I used the Softly Falling Embossing Folder to add some texture to the card front.

I adhered the sentiment piece to the card front using Dimensionals and then die cut two of the Paisley Framelits from Copper Foil and adhered them to frame the sentiment. These were adhered using Connie Stewart's tip for Adhering Detailed Die Cuts.

For the inside of the card, I used Island Indigo ink to stamp a flower and leaves with the Paisleys & Posies stamp set on Whisper White.

What have you created with the Paisleys & Posies set? If you haven't yet bought it, contact me today to order your own!

Thoughtful Branches Autumn Thank You

Friday, I needed a thank you card in a hurry so I reached for my Beautiful Branches Thinlits and a "dots" stamp from the Swirly Birds stamp set.

To begin, I die cut the tree from Soft Suede card stock and a matte from Whisper White. I placed the tree in the middle of the matte and drew a very light pencil line around the tree branches.

I removed the tree and then used the "dots" stamp to stamp several times within and slightly outside the pencil line using a variety of fall ink colors–Cherry Cobbler, Real Red, Cajun Craze, Delightful Dijon, and Garden Green.

Once the ink was dry, I erased the pencil lines. I then cut small pieces of Adhesive Strips to place on the back of the tree. The tree was then adhered to the matte so that the colorful "leaves" showed through the branches.

A 5.5 x 5.5" card base was cut from Cherry Cobbler and the front embossed using the Softly Falling Embossing Folder.

The white matte was adhered to a Soft Suede one and then to a Delightful Dijon one and finally to the card front. The last touch was to add the now retired wooden Thanks element to the tree to complete the card.

I love the design of this card, with the "leaves" peeking through the branches of the tree. I could remake this card, over and over again, using different color schemes each time and never get tired of it!

Catalog Party Prep Part 3

Today I bring you Part 3 in my 5-part series. You can view Part 1 and Part 2 if you missed them.

My card set today was CASEd from a card designed by demonstrator Annette Stewart but I can't link to it because it is displayed on the demonstrators' forum :(

I started with a standard card base cut from Thick Whisper White. I used the Softly Falling Embossing Folder to emboss the card front.

Using the Bold Butterfly Framelits, I die cut large, solid butterflies from each of the five In Colors and also five from vellum. I also used the Butterflies Thinlits to die cut small, intricate butterflies from the five In Colors and five from vellum.

On each of the vellum butterflies, I used my Embossing Buddy and then used the ornate stamp from the First Sight stamp set to stamp with Versamark. I then heat embossed using White Stampin' Emboss Powder. Because vellum is much more fragile than card stock, care must be taken to warm up the heat gun for a few seconds before attempting to heat emboss the vellum so as not to warp it.

Each vellum butterfly was attached to a matching card stock butterfly with glue dots. The smaller butterfly units were then attached to the larger ones also using glue dots. A large pearl was added to hide the glue dots. The wings were bent slightly to provide movement as well as to reveal both the ornate vellum wings and the colorful card stock below.

The sentiment from the Lovely Amazing You stamp set was used to stamp with ink that matched the card stock of the butterflies. Round punches were used to punch both Whisper White and In Color card stock circles. The circles were adhered together with Fast Fuse and then attached to the card fronts using Dimensionals. The completed butterfly for each card was also attached with Dimensionals to complete the cards.

Don't these butterflies look lovely in all five new colors? It is hard for me to pick a favorite! I think the embossing from the Softly Falling Embossing Folder also adds a lovely bit of subtle texture.

Too Late For Global Design Project #22

Sometimes, even if you have a design in mind for a card, you lack the time to bring that design to life. Such was the case with my idea for the Global Design Project #22!

The idea had been ripening in my mind after seeing the challenge sketch for GBD #22. However, I was unable to bring my design to life until today . . . two days late for the challenge :(

But that's ok. I wanted to make the card anyway to see if my design idea would work. I was pleased with the result!

My design was very, very simple . . . much different to my usual cards in both design and color!

Before creating my card, I tried out the stamps that I wanted to use on a scrap piece of Whisper White. I used the twine-like circle stamp from Project Life: Memories in the Making as well as the sentiment from Party Wishes.

I stamped the sentiment first by coloring the stamp with my new Gold Wink of Stella. I was amazed at how well it worked! After it dried (very quickly, I might add) I stamped the circle over it, using Versamark, and heat embossed it with Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder.

It looked just like I had hoped it would look!

I decided to use a card size of 4 3/4 x 6" because the standard size was just a little too small. I cut the card base from Thick Whisper White and also a matte that was just a hair smaller at 4 5/8 x 5 7/8". I also cut a sheet of Vellum Card Stock the same size as the matte.

Using a die from the Circles Collection Framelits Dies, I positioned both the stamps and the die on the bottom right of the vellum matte. My idea was to cut out a circular portion of the vellum to reveal the stamps on the matte below. Once I had my placement, I sent the vellum through my Big Shot.

Next step was to emboss the vellum using the Softly Falling Embossing Folder. Because the vellum was thinner than normal card stock, I knew it would emboss easily but I didn't want it to crack so I ran it through the Big Shot on the Multipurpose Platform with no Tabs.

The results were perfect!

I arranged the vellum and matte on my MISTI and positioned my sentiment stamp, colored it with the Gold Wink of Stella, and stamped! As soon as it was dry I positioned and stamped the circle with Versamark and embossed with Gold Embossing Powder, just like in my test run.

Wonderful results!

To adhere the vellum to the matte, a placed a few dots of Multi Medium Matte behind the embossed dots as well as along the top of the matte itself. I pressed and held it in place until it was set.

I cut a very thin strip of Gold Glimmer paper and glued it over the top of the vellum. My final step was to adhere the matte to the card front using Dimensionals.

Done!

Like I said, a very simple card yet I think it is very effective! This could be used for a birthday card or some other sentimental occasion. 

Drop me a comment below and tell me what you've been working on lately–I'd love to hear from you!

It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Today, after preparing my projects for next week's stamp class, I was able to finish coloring the stamp I had started last Friday.

I absolutely love my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers! They are like no other markers I have ever used! It's almost effortless to blend colors with them, either on their own or by adding water with an aqua pen.

In preparation for coloring, I actually stamped a number of images on watercolor paper. I chose the little boy in the snowsuit from Christmas Cuties because there were a lot of large areas that I thought would work well for blending with water.

I couldn't have been happier with the way he turned out!

After fussy cutting him, I stroked around all the edges with a Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker to hide any white edges.

I cut a Thick Whisper White matte and embossed it with the Softly Falling embossing folder. To create a couple of snowbanks, I used the Sleigh Ride Edgelits Dies to cut some Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper. I snipped off the houses and trees with scissors.

Besides snowbanks, I wanted a tree for my little scene. I chose a stamp from the Peaceful Pines stamp set. Using Mossy Meadow, I stamped it on Garden Green card stock and then die cut it with the Perfect Pines Framelits.

I played with the placement of the snowbanks, tree, and the little boy until I was satisfied with my plan. Next, I glued one snowbank onto the embossed matte and then applied Dimensionals to the top of the other snowbank and Fast Fuse Adhesive to the bottom.

The tree die cut also received Dimensionals and was put in place behind the second snowbank. The little boy was popped up with Dimensionals and added to the scene giving depth to the scene.

The sentiment, also from Christmas Cuties, was stamped with Basic Black Archival ink and then punched with the Washi Label Punch. I used a sponge dauber to ink the edges with Real Red. It was adhered to the matte with Dimensionals.

I cut a matte from a striped Tempting Turquoise paper from the Brights DSP stack and inked the edges with Basic Black Archival ink. It was adhered to a Real Red card base using Fast Fuse Adhesive.

Finally, the embossed matte was adhered on top using Fast Fuse Adhesive.

What do you think? Drop me a comment below!

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Pretty in Pink Poinsettia

I often wake up with an idea for a card. Today was no exception and since it was one of my days off, I was excited to create what I had envisioned!

I started by stamping the petals for a poinsettia using Pink Pirouette ink on Pink Pirouette card stock. I punched them using the coordinating Festive Flower Builder Punch. I also punched out three larger petals from Silver Glimmer paper for leaves and the centre parts of the flower.

Though you won't be able to see it in the photos, I used my Wink of Stella pen to trace over the stamping on each petal, giving each a subtle yet noticeable shimmer. I then folded each leaf in half and out again to give each petal a bit of dimension.

I used my 3/4" Circle Punch to punch out two Pink Pirouette circles to act as bases for the petals. Using my Silicone Craft Sheet and a glue gun, I proceeded to glue four larger petals to one of the 3/4" circles. Once the four were in place–clock fashion at 12, 3, 6 and 9–I glued the remaining four large petals in between the first four.

I glued the four smaller petals to the second 3/4" circle, again in clock fashion, and then topped them with the two double petals criss-crossed on top. I then glued the base for these petals onto the larger petals.

Next I glued the silver centre parts of the flower and finished up by gluing the three silver leaves to the back of the finished flower. What a pretty flower this made!

I cut a 5 x 7" card base from Whisper White Thick card stock. I glued a 3/4" strip of Silver Glimmer paper down each side, using the Fine Tip Glue Pen.

Using the Softly Falling Embossing Folder, I embossed a 5 x 6" piece of Whisper White Thick card stock. This card stock really holds the embossing very well!

On a 1 1/2 x 2 1/4" piece of Whisper White card stock I stamped the sentiment from the Embellished Ornaments stamp set. I first inked the stamp with Versamark and then Pink Pirouette and stamped using the MISTI This allowed me to re-stamp again using the Pink Pirouette to get a nicely colored sentiment which I heat embossed using Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder.

Using a sponge dauber I inked the edges of the tag in Pink Pirouette. I then used my Fuse to create a plastic pocket for the sentiment from a page protector, first fusing the bottom and sides and then adding in a selection of pink and silver sequins.

I left the top plastic about 1" in length but trimmed the back piece of the plastic even with the top of the tag. I then threaded the plastic through a jumbo size of silver paper clip and folded the long top plastic piece down the back of the tag. I fused three lines on the back, starting nearest the paper clip and spacing down about 1/4" each time.

An important tip about sequins . . . because they are so full of static, and the plastic pocket also holds a lot of plastic, I take a few precautions to try to eliminate as much static as possible. I pour my selection of sequins onto a dryer sheet and rub them down good with it. Before pouring them into the plastic pocket I stick a rolled up dryer sheet in there and rub it around. Finally, I pour the sequins into the plastic pocket from the other dryer sheet. This seems to help a lot!

I took my completed sentiment pocket and clipped it onto the top right of the embossed sheet of Whisper White. I applied Mounting Tape to back and then adhered it to my card base. I used a few little pieces of the Mounting Tape to adhere the poinsettia to the bottom left of the card.

My last touch was for the inside of the card. Using the poinsettia from the Reason For The Season stamp set and Versamark, I stamped a poinsettia on the bottom right of the card. I heat embossed this with Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder.

I love how this card turned out! The glitter of the Glimmer paper, the Wink of Stella shimmer on the poinsettia and the twinkle of the sequins all combine to produce a beautiful Christmas card!

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