Dahlia Up Close

How about something totally different?

Come on now, admit it. Even if you are a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, you have one or two other craft products lying around that you use from time to time! Let's face it–we are crafty individuals or we would never have got involved with Stampin' Up! in the first place!

I have soooooooooooooo many crafting tools and media that sometimes I have to take a break from crafting with Stampin' Up! to play with my other stuff! Or, I combine it with Stampin' Up! to get the best of BOTH worlds like I have done with this card!

Today's card is one I created for my brother and his wife for their anniversary. It is CASEd from a card by Jenny Lee Yamasaki.

I started by stamping the Dahlia Up Close stamp from The Ton on watercolor paper using Versamark using my MISTI after first using my Embossing Buddy. I then heat embossed it with Rose Gold Embossing Powder.

Next, I gathered together a few of my Color Burst colors in blue: Cerulean Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Indigo and Turquoise. I tapped a little of each powder in a watercolor palette I had and then wet a #4 watercolor brush and dipped into the Cerulean Powder and changed it to liquid watercolor.

I painted this over most of the flower and then, painting spots of each of the other colors, I added strategically to the image until I was pleased with the result. Sometimes, I used a paper towel to blot up some of the watercolor to make it paler. When I was finished, I heat set the image.

The next step is where I made a mistake but due to using my MISTI I was able to rectify it. After watercoloring and then drying my image, the watercolor paper was severely warped. I wanted to get it as flat as possible before adding it to my card front. To do this, I placed it face down on a piece of copy paper with another piece of copy paper on top and then an old pillowcase. I then proceeded to iron until the watercolor paper was flat.

I did end up with a flat paper, however, the ironing reheated my embossing and transferred it to the copy paper leaving behind a white outline where the embossing had been! Now this is actually a technique in itself and can be used to good effect but for this image I WANTED the Rose Gold embossing in place!

So, I went back to my MISTI and after using my Embossing Buddy, I re-inked the image with Versamark and heat embossed it AGAIN! Luckily, my stamp had remained in place in my MISTI and I was able to re-stamp the image. I was very careful to warm up the heat tool for awhile before doing the embossing to minimize warping.

Next, I cut a Pacific Point card front 4.75 x 6. I trimmed my painted matte to fit the card front but leave about a 3/4" strip of card front on the left side. I placed a strip of Burnished Rose Gold Foil Tape down the card front and then trimmed off the excess.

On a strip of vellum I stamped the sentiment from the Falling For You stamp set using Versamark and heat embossed it with the same Rose Gold embossing powder. I folded the strip around the edges of the painted matte and then taped the ends to the back. The matte was then adhered to the card front using Fast Fuse. To add a little more zing, several sequins were adhered to the card front using liquid adhesive.

A watercolor matte was cut for inside the card and the matching sentiment was stamped and heat embossed on it. I then used sponges to ink the edges in both Tempting Turquoise and Pacific Point. The matte was then adhered with Fast Fuse to complete the card.

Delighted is how I feel about how this card turned out! I have never "painted" with the Color Bursts before so it was a learning experience but one that ended well for me! I can't wait to give this to my brother and his wife to see their reaction!

I hope you have enjoyed my deviation from projects made strictly with Stampin' Up! materials! I think that we can only become more creative by exploring all brands of media and by appreciating the resulting art forms.

Thank you for visiting today!

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.

Vellum Overlay For Stamp, Ink, Paper

It was opportune that Jennifer McGuire's post showed up in my Inbox this morning. Her video depicting how she created several stunning cards using a vellum overlay technique really grabbed my attention! I decided to attempt the technique for the color challenge over at Stamp, Ink and Paper.

I really like these colors–at least two of them! I think that Bermuda Bay really looks stunning with the Night of Navy. Soft Sky is not my favorite because it is so pale but I was able to include it on my card by using a ribbon.

I decided to use the Rose Wonder stamp set for this technique because I knew that it would look wonderful on the vellum, but for the inner card, I decided to use the Floating Reinker Technique.

I chose a piece of very light watercolor paper (non-Stampin Up) and cut it to a standard card size. The rose image was stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with White Stampin' Emboss Powder.

Instead of spraying the image with water as is done in most of the tutorials (they were using Shimmery White paper) I decided to add water with a paintbrush. That way, if I needed to re-wet any sections of the image, I could do so easily.

After wetting the image, I used my Aqua Painter to pick up a little bit of Night of Navy and dabbed it into the various sections of the rose. As soon as the ink touched the water on the rose, it "floated" into the embossed section it had been added to; it didn't float evenly, though, so a nice mottled effect was the result. I repeated this procedure for each section of the rose and then switched to Bermuda Bay reinker for the leaves.

I set the painted image aside to dry, and worked on other things for awhile. Then, I touched up the image with my heat tool to be sure it was totally dry. The paper had warped slightly so I touched it up by ironing it, between scrap paper and covered with an old pillowslip, using a low temperature.

Next, after determining the size of vellum for my outer card, I cut, scored, and folded it. I placed the inner card into place and set it into my MISTI. There I placed the rose stamp over the vellum, lining it up with the image showing through from beneath. I stamped it in Versamark and heat embossed it with White Stampin' Emboss powder.

While I had my MISTI out, I also stamped the sentiment from the Picture Perfect stamp set using Jet Black Stazon ink. I let it dry and then made sure it was using the heat tool. I then colored in the sections using the Wink of Stella pen.

Once that was completely dry, I put the painted card on the inside and attached the two with a length of Soft Sky Seam Binding. The final touch was to add a few rhinestones to the front of the card.

What do you think? Drop me a comment below–I'd love to hear from you!

Teal Toned Atypical Valentine

In my blog post Rustic Wooden Valentine I shared a technique I had learned for creating your own Woodgrain. I had so much fun making the first woodgrain that I made a few in other colors! Today I made use of these ones:

Panels created using the Woodgrain Technique and Weathered Wood, Peacock Feathers, Evergreen Bough and Black Soot Distress Inks.

Be sure to check Rustic Wooden Valentine if you didn't already read about the Woodgrain Technique. These colors are my favorites so I couldn't go too long without using them! I had another idea for a Valentine card that used both the larger panel for a background and the smaller panel for die cutting.

I started with a Bermuda Bay card base and adhered the background panel to it with Dimensionals. Using the Hearts Collection Framelits, I die cut three hearts from the smaller panel. I used a sponge dauber to add Black Soot Distress Ink around the die cuts.

I cut a piece of vellum to lay over the Woodgrain panel but still show the ends. I used a sentiment from the now retired Happy Watercolor Stamp Set to stamp with Versamark and then heat embossed with Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder.

I laid out my hearts on top to establish their positions and then cut some thick Bermuda Bay Twine to fasten between them. I used glue dots to attach the twine to the hearts. I applied Dimensionals to the back of each heart and then adhered them to the vellum. I then adhered the vellum to the Woodgrain panel by applying glue dots to the vellum under the hearts so that the adhesive would not show.

I adhered a selection of sequins to the vellum using glue to provide interest and a little sparkle. Gotta have sparkle!

For inside the card I used a matte of Thick Whisper White (because I had a piece the right size handy, otherwise I would have used the regular Whisper White) and used the heart from the Bloomin' Love Stamp Set to stamp with Versamark and heat emboss again with silver. I also stamped the little hearts from the Perpetual Calendar Stamp Set in Bermuda Bay. I inked the edges of the matte with more Bermuda Bay and then adhered the matte with Fast Fuse Adhesive to complete the card.

Sorry about the color here . . . it looks like Island Indigo but it really is Bermuda Bay like above!

I think that the teal tones of the Distress Inks work really well with Bermuda Bay to provide an atypical Valentine!

I am entering this in the Stamp Ink Paper Challenge #32 and I played the diagonal from the bottom left to the top right.

Glints of Gold With Wonderland

Last Friday, I had the pleasure of visiting my friend, Charlene, and working in her new craft room!

Wow! What a change from the bare basement in which she used to work to a sophisticated, secret hideaway tucked behind the wall-to-wall bookcase in her new rec room area!

Her new area is bright, functional, and welcoming! She has a large work table in the middle, designed to sit four, with storage on one end, as well as additional space to set up tables if she hosts a large group of stampers.

Counters with white cupboards above and drawers below are along one wall, giving her plenty of work and storage space for her Big Shot and Paper Trimmer and other tools.

The white contrasts beautifully with the Lucky Limeade wall color–it looks amazing! Though it is still a work in progress, her craft room is definitely a wonderful space in which to work! I would have posted pictures but her craft area and rec room are to be featured in an upcoming magazine issue so I do not want to spoil the surprise!

While at Charlene's, I was able to work on two different cards and start some coloring with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers. Of course, as is often the case when you travel somewhere to craft, you can't totally complete a project because the sentiment stamps or the embellishments with which you came are not the ones you need! However, I made a good start and was able to finish my two cards when I returned home. I have one of those cards to show you today.

To my dismay, Wonderland is on the Retiring Products List from the Holiday Catalog :( I love working with this stamp and have seen many lovely renditions of the stamp. Be sure you order yours before it disappears!

I wanted to use the stamp with Night of Navy but I thought it would look very nice paired with Soft Suede. I cut my card base from Soft Suede to make a 5 x 7" card.

I had previously stamped on Vellum card stock using Versamark and heat embossed the trees using Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder.

The Oval Framelits Collection were used to cut an oval from a 4.25 x 5.5" matte of Night of Navy and then I placed the vellum behind it and taped it in place. Because I liked the look of the Night of Navy through the vellum, rather than the Soft Suede, I cut a second Night of Navy matte and adhered it behind the vellum.

Wrapping two lengths of the 3/8" White Glitter ribbon around the bottom of the matte, I then covered the seam between the two pieces using a length of the Gold Sequin Trim.

I chose one of the wooden Snowflake Elements and covered it with glue using the 2-Way Glue Pen. I sprinkled on a coating of Dazzling Diamonds Glitter and set it aside to dry.

The matte was adhered to the card base using Dimensionals and then I used the Fine Tip Glue Pen to attach a few loose gold sequins to the top of the matte.

Once the snowflake was dry, I used the Fine Tip Glue Pen again to adhere a large gold sequin to the centre of the flake and then placed a rhinestone in its centre for a little added sparkle.

I adhered some glue dots on top of the Gold Sequin Trim and then bundled some Gold Metallic Thread and secured it to the glue dots. I used more glue dots to attach the snowflake on top of the thread.

Close up detail of the embellishment cluster.

For the inside of the card, I used a matte of the now retired Naturals White card stock. Using Night of Navy, I stamped the trees to the bottom right of the card and also added the sentiment from the same set. The matte was adhered to the card using Fast Fuse Adhesive.

To finish the card, I used the Fine Tip Glue Pen to add tiny drops of glue to the trees and then added some Dazzling Diamonds Glitter to give them a subtle hint of sparkle!

I definitely like the richness of pairing Night of Navy with the Soft Suede! Have you tried this combo before? Drop me a note below!

You may like to read my other posts where I feature the soon to be retiring stamp set, Wonderland.

Wonderland: My Go-To Stamp

Color Burst Christmas and Wonderful Wonderland

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Revving Up For Retirement

I had a slight mishap on Thursday that kept me home from work but luckily I was feeling much better on Friday so that I could continue as planned with my stamping group. To find out what happened, check out my Facebook post here.

My stamping ladies were busy last night, creating cards using products that are on the retiring list. It was good to work with these favorite products before they disappear!

Our first card was a departure from my usual colors and style but I wanted to create something that had a vintage feel to it.

To begin with, we distressed a Whisper White matte and a smaller piece of the same using a sponge and the retiring Baked Brown Sugar ink.

Next, MISTI came into play when we used the retiring Dictionary background stamp with Soft Suede ink. It was stamped off once and then gave a nice hint of text to the distressed matte. To further distress it, the Distressing tool was used and then the edges were inked with Soft Suede.

We used the retiring On Film Framelits to cut a frame from Watercolor paper and then sponged it with Early Espresso. We used the frame to determine where to stamp the two flowers from the Petal Potpourri stamp set.

Two flowers were stamped on the matte using Baked Brown Sugar and one was stamped on the smaller distressed piece, using Soft Suede. The centre of that flower was colored with Hello Honey using a sponge dauber and the flower was punched with the Flower Medallion punch. Its edges were then inked with Soft Suede.

A strip of Sahara Sand Lace and the previously retired Soft Suede Taffeta ribbon were adhered to the bottom of the matte and then it was adhered to a Soft Suede card base using Dimensionals.
The frame was adhered to the matte with glue dots and then the punched flower was adhered inside but overlapping the frame using doubled-up Dimensionals.

The Hello You thinlits were used to die cut the word "you" and the banner punch was used to cut two banners from Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper. These were each sponged with Baked Brown Sugar and the banners were edged with Soft Suede.

"You" was adhered with glue to the top of the card. The banners were angled and adhered to the bottom right of the frame. A dragonfly bead was painted with Tim Holtz Tarnished Brass Distress Paint and then adhered on top of the banners using Crystal Effects.

The sentiment, Amaze Me, from the Crazy About You stamp set, was stamped with Early Espresso at the bottom of the card base.

To complete the card, an inside matte was created from a piece of the retiring Naturals White card stock. A flower was stamped in the bottom right corner using Soft Suede and then the edges were inked with Baked Brown Sugar.

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Inspiration for a Mother's Day card came from a creation by the Stampin' Stud.

We used a card base of Calypso Coral. A matte of the retiring Strawberry Slush was embossed with the Spring Flowers Embossing Folder and the edges inked with Calypso Coral. It was adhered to the card base with Dimensionals.

A strip of Irresistably Yours was sponged with gold ink, heat set, and then the white leaves brought back by rubbing with paper towel.

The 1 3/4" and the 1 1/4" Scallop Circle Punches were used to punch circles from Gold Glimmer and Calypso Coral papers. The smaller circle's edges were inked with Strawberry Slush. The circles were then layered onto a 1/4 of a Tea Doily and adhered under the strip of leafy resist paper.

A square of vellum was sponged with a combination of Hello Honey, Pumpkin Pie, Strawberry Slush, and Blackberry Bliss. The Fun Flower punch was used twice, the Pansy Punch once and the Petite Petal Punch was used once.

The punched flowers were crumpled gently to give them some dimension and then a piercing tool was used to poke a hole in the centre of each. They were then attached together with a Candy Base Brad. A rhinestone which had been colored with a R24 Copic marker was added to the brad.

Glue dots were used to secure a length of Gold Baker's Twine in a pleasing circular arrangement and then the completed flower was adhered with Dimensionals on the left side of the leafy strip. The retired Secret Garden Framelits were used to die cut some leaves from Gold Glimmer paper and they were tucked under the flower and adhered with glue.

For the inside of the card, a matte of the retiring Naturals Ivory had its edges inked with gold and then the flowers and sentiment from the Mother's Love stamp set were stamped using Strawberry Slush and Crisp Cantaloupe, respectively.

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Lots of inky hands at the end of the night but some lovely cards were produced and a good time was had by all! Though it will be sad to see the products we used retire, the space they leave behind will be filled with more great products with which to create!

What products will you be sad to see retire? Leave me a comment below!

Fusion Card Challenge

It was a busy night last night for my stamping group! It was very quiet in the craft room while they concentrated on stamping each item needed to make first a Perpetual Calendar and then a simple Valentine Tag.

The Perpetual Calendar was cased from Debbie Mageed and she gave very good directions for its construction.

The Valentine tag was a simple one of my own design, utilizing the Irresistibly Yours resist paper from the Sale-a-Bration catalog. This paper comes in six patterns and can be obtained for free until March 31 with a $60 purchase. This paper is one of my favorites! It is a fabulous product and can be colored so many different ways–sponging, brayering, misting or coloring with Blendabilities. You can even stamp on it! What's great is that you can use this to coordinate with whatever you are making because you color it yourself!

Tonight, I made a card for the Fusion Card Challenge. I knew right away that I would substitute a heart for the circle and I was drawn to the card because of the little banners–so cute! I also decided that my card would use non-traditional colors.

I chose to use a 5 x 7 card base of Sahara Sand and then add a matte of one of the patterns in the gorgeous, Best Year Ever designer paper from the Occasions Catalog. I inked the edges of the matte in both Crumb Cake and Early Espresso.

I used Sticky Strip to adhere two pieces of the now retired Crumb Cake Taffeta Ribbon and then adhered a strip of Coastal Cabana Ribbon from the Best Year Ever Accessories Pack–another Sale-a-Bration freebie you can earn with a purchase of $60. I then topped the Coastal Cabana ribbon with a strand of thick, Crisp Cantaloupe Twine.

I then adhered the matte to the card base using Fuse Fast Adhesive.

Using one of the Hearts Framelits, I die cut a heart from Coastal Cabana and then embossed it using the Happy Heart Embossing Folder. I inked the edges like the matte but also put a little Crumb Cake on the raised heart embossing to give it a slightly distressed look.

I unravelled a piece of thick Summer Starfruit Twine and used a few strands to add texture and interest behind the embossed heart which I adhered using Dimensionals.

I punched the little banner pieces from Crisp Cantaloupe, Coastal Cabana, and Crushed Curry card stock using the Banner Punch. I adhered them just under the ribbons, using Dimensionals.

On a strip of Vellum I stamped the sentiment from the January 2015 Paper Pumpkin kit using Early Espresso. I used the Hexagon Punch to flag the ends and then attached the banner to the heart using Glue Dots. I hid the glue dots by using Candy Dots from the Regals Collection.

So, what do you think of my non-traditionally colored Valentine? Let me know in the comments below!
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5 Things I Learned While Working With The Wondrous Wreath Stamp Set And Framelits

Have you ever admired a particular stamp technique and drooled over the many cards on Pinterest made using it? When there are so many wonderfully executed cards being displayed, surely the technique is an easy one, right? Not necessarily.

Ever since purchasing the Wondrous Wreath stamp set and matching framelits, I have been itching to try them out. I thought I'd sit down and knock off a few different card versions in no time.

Uh, no.

Stampin' Up! designed these stamps and framelits a little differently from other sets in an effort to make lining things up a little easier. Each of the wreath pieces and the matching framelits (except for the small one) have a tab that is supposed to be oriented up, or at least in the same direction for each piece used.

Since it can be a bit tricky to cut out the wreath and its centre, Stampin' Up! advises us to

1. Use a framelit to cut out the centre of the wreath
2. Stamp the wreath itself (and any of its additions . . . extra leaves, berries)
3. Cut out the wreath itself.

My first problem occurred when I tried to stamp the wreath after removing its centre. The outer part of the framelit left an indent in the paper. Due to this indent, there was a bare spot where the stamp couldn't stamp. I was NOT a happy camper!

I researched online and found that some other demonstrators were also plagued with this indent. However, one enterprising demo, Diane J. Ouellette, found a work-around for this problem.

First she cut the wreath and its centre out of vellum card stock, being sure to mark the top of each piece. She kept the outer part of the vellum, rather than the wreath itself, and the centre piece.

To use these vellum pieces first she would stamp the wreath and any of its additions. Next she put the stamped wreath on the Magnetic Platform and arranged the vellum frame and inner piece over the wreath, using temporary adhesive to keep the pieces in place. Lastly she added both framelits and cut out the wreath. No more indent!

One problem solved! However, my second issue was the stamping itself.

When I stamped I made sure to apply the lessons I learned about photopolymer stamps from 3 Things To Know Before Using The Flower Patch Stamp Set. However, when I stamped the second set of leaves, they didn't look right! It took me a bit to realize that the extra leaves were meant to totally overlap some of the existing stamped leaves! Once I knew that, I had to practice, practice, practice to get the extra leaves placed correctly on my wreath. This is where scrap paper and a lot of patience can be a good friend!

One other frustrating problem occurred while using the Joy framelit included in the set. The two words, Joy and Noel are very intricate and thin. Removing them intact from the framelit can be a real challenge! In order to save my sanity, I resorted to putting a layer of waxed paper between the die and my glimmer paper. This enabled me to carefully remove my die cut word with the help of my paper piercer. I was able to get under the waxed paper and carefully push the glimmer paper out of the framelit.

So, if you are going to be working with the Wondrous Wreath stamp set and matching framelits, remember these things:

1. Cut a vellum template to use with the stamps/framelits.
2. Use the tips for photopolymer stamps I shared in 3 Things To Know Before Using The Flower Patch Stamp Set.
3. Practice, practice, practice stamping and lining up the additional stamps for the wreath.
4. Use a piece of waxed paper between your card stock and the intricate word dies.
5. A ready supply of patience!

Now here are a few shots of my card from different angles and a couple of close ups to show you the sparkle of the Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper and the twinkling Rhinestones.

I hope you will try working with the Wondrous Wreath set—it is truly beautiful! Drop me a comment below with a link to your creations.

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