Cable Knit Thank You

Though Autumn is not my favorite season–I much prefer Spring–I do love leaves! The Vintage Leaves stamp set is one of my most treasured because I think it is very realistic and it can be used in so many ways and the coordinating Framelits are nice too!

For my thank you card today, I started with a standard card base cut from Cajun Craze. I cut a matte from the now retired Naturals Ivory card stock and embossed it with the Cable Knit Embossing Folder. I find myself reaching for this folder over and over again!

Though the color and texture of the Naturals Ivory was what I wanted, the paper did not react well to being spritzed with water and then being embossed. The dried paper was very warped and I resorted to placing a sheet over it and ironing it to get any sort of flat matte from it! It was finally adhered to the card front using Fast Fuse.

Next, I stamped both the maple and oak leaves, on Cherry Cobbler and Delightful Dijon respectively, with Versamark and heat embossed using Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder. Each leaf was then die cut using the coordinating Leaflets Framelits.

The leaves were adhered to the card front using Dimensionals and then one of the now retired Gold Basic Metal Buttons was threaded with Linen Thread and adhered to the leaf stems.

The sentiment, from the now retired Happy Watercolor stamp set, was stamped with Basic Black on on a strip of Cajun Craze and then the Triple Banner Punch used to flag the end. It was adhered just under the leaves.

A matte of the Naturals Ivory card stock was stamped with both the oak and maple leaves using Cherry Cobbler and Delightful Dijon and then adhered inside the card.

I love all the texture achieved by combining both the embossing folder and the embossed leaves!

Blogging Hiatus and Sympathy Cards

In returning to my blog, it seems that I have been on a blogging hiatus for a little while. Believe me, it is not because I was away on holiday! I have been busy crafting and preparing projects for a new stamping group and just haven't been able to keep up with the picture taking, photo editing, and blogging for each project I have created. I don't know how some of these other bloggers do it–they must never sleep!

The next little while will be dedicated to the blogging of those projects but first I must post two sympathy cards that were necessary to create over this time period as well.

Both cards involve feathers because somehow, my mind associates sympathy cards with feathers. In both cases, the feathers used were from the Feather Finery stamp set from Papertrey Ink.

For the first card, I stamped the largest feather from the set using Early Espresso ink on Early Espresso card stock and then die cut the feather using the coordinating die. The feather images in this set are ethereal in nature (probably why I chose them for sympathy cards) and stamp beautifully. The coordinating dies make sure that these images can be cut out for even more versatility. The sentiments in the set are also lovely!

On an Island Indigo matte I stamped the sentiment from the now retired Love & Sympathy stamp set in Versamark and heat embossed with White Stampin' Emboss Powder.

The matte was adhered to the Thick Whisper White card front and then the feather was adhered using Dimensionals. A small feather was stamped inside the card in Early Espresso.

A few Rain Stones were added to the card front to complete the card.

For my second sympathy card, I chose to use the Feather Finery set again but in a slightly different way. I knew that I wanted to use a vellum overlay but didn't know what I wanted to put behind it. Luckily, the Serene Scenery DSP came to mind.

I chose a piece of the DSP which had a kind of beach scene on it and cut it to completely cover my 4.25 x 5.5" card front. I cut a piece of vellum to the same size.

Prior to embossing a small feather on the bottom of the vellum I tore a strip off the bottom to allow me to stamp a sentiment on the DSP as well as to add a little textural interest. I used the now retired An Open Heart stamp set and stamped with Crumb Cake on the bottom right of the DSP.

Versamark was used to stamp the feather on the bottom of the vellum and then it was heat embossed using Pearlustre Pearl White embossing powder from Stampendous. I chose to use this rather than Stampin' Up's White embossing powder because I wanted a warm tone to the embossing. Unfortunately, the embossing doesn't show well in any of my photos :(

Next, I used liquid adhesive to run a line of glue near the top of the DSP and adhered the vellum to it. I then wrapped a piece of the Pool Party Stitched Ribbon around the vellum and DSP to hide the glue line. I also wrapped two pieces of Linen Thread over the ribbon and knotted them. These mattes were then adhered to a Sahara Sand card front using Fast Fuse.

For the inside of the card, I chose to use a leftover strip of the DSP down the side of the card. I stamped another sentiment using Crumb Cake and then used Sahara Sand to stamp the same small feather inside the card. In addition, I stamped a feather in Pool Party on the envelope.

In retrospect, I wish I had stamped the feather on the vellum using White Stazon rather than embossing it because the detail of the feather was lost when the embossing powder melted.

For the most part, I am pleased with how both cards turned out but I hope that I don't need anymore sympathy cards for awhile.

Thoughtful Branches in Copper

I needed a masculine birthday card for my brother's birthday this week and decided that I could use the Thoughtful Branches set again but with a more masculine color scheme.

A card base was cut from Pacific Point card stock for a 5.5 x 5.5" card. On this I adhered a copper foil matte with Dimensionals and cut another matte from Cajun Craze. I dry embossed the Cajun Craze matte using the Woodland Embossing Folder and adhered it to the foil matte using Dimensionals.

I used Versamark to stamp the leaf canopy from the Thoughtful Branches stamp set on Very Vanilla and then heat embossed them with Copper Embossing Powder. I die cut the leaves using the coordinating die. I also die cut the tree trunk from Pacific Point.

Pieces of Adhesive Strips were used to adhere the tree to the Cajun Craze matte and then adhered the leaf canopy over it, using more Adhesive Strips.

I stamped two banners from the Thoughtful Banners stamp set on Pacific Point and heat embossed with copper, and stamped the sentiment from the Sweet Cupcake stamp set on one, heat embossing also with copper.

The Duet Banner Punch was used to punch the two banners and then I trimmed the one with the sentiment and layered it on top of the other with Dimensionals. The complete banner was then adhered with Dimensionals over the base of the tree.

Using Pacific Point, I stamped the bird on Very Vanilla and die cut it with the matching die. It was adhered to the tree using rolled up glue dots. Clear Wink of Stella gave the bird a little shimmer.
I used Versamark to stamp three of the leaves from the Thoughtful Branches on Very Vanilla and heat embossed them with copper. They were die cut with the matching die.

A Very Vanilla matte was cut for inside of the card and the edges inked with Cajun Craze. The sentiment was stamped in Basic Black and then the leaves adhered to the matte using both liquid adhesive and Dimensionals.

I really like the Pacific Point blue with the Cajun Craze and the copper! I think that the card has a definite masculine feel to it though I believe this card would also appeal also to females! What do you think? Leave me a comment below!

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!

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

Vintage Leaves Card Set Winner Announced!

I'm just popping in to announce the winner of the Vintage Leaves Card Set!

I must say that I learned a few things from this venture.

It seems that though I might be excited about a particular project I have created does not necessarily mean that others will share my excitement. Though I worked long and hard on this card set, it did not seem to inspire many viewers to comment for a chance to win this set. This is a little disappointing but I won't let it deter me.

Be that as it may, I am grateful to both Donna Ellis and Charlene Erb for their support! In retrospect, I wish that I had two giveaways so that I could give you both a gift for your loyal support. In the end, though, it was Donna that won the card set.

Donna, I will be contacting you to arrange to post this card set to you. I hope you'll enjoy it!

Vintage Leaves Card Set Giveaway

Jennifer McGuire posted a tutorial the other day for a gate fold technique that used border dies. I really liked the result and kept mulling it over in my mind as to how I could make it my own. With Autumn just around the corner, I decided to create a card set using Autumn hues and employ Jennifer's technique.

For my colors, I chose Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze, Delightful Dijon, and Garden Green. I cut a piece of each color at 11 x 4.25", modifying Jennifer's size to be more in line with that of a standard size card. Each piece was scored on the long side at 4" from one end and 2" from the other end. After folding on the score lines, the card front overlapped slightly.

I placed the single edge die from the Detailed Floral Thinlits along the edge of the longest flap and ran it through the Big Shot. It easily cut through the top and partially through the next layer. I had to open the card, reposition the die and run it through again to finish cutting the second flap. There was a resulting indent from the die on the inside of the card but that would be hidden by a matte.

I chose a leaf stamp, from the Vintage Leaves stamp set, for each of the four colors and then stamped the front of the card using matching ink except for the Cherry Cobbler card. When using my Cherry Cobbler on the matching card stock, the color appeared "greenish" so I chose to use Real Red as an alternative.

After stamping the card fronts, I cut white mattes for the inside of the cards and stamped a leaf on each of those to match each card. In addition, I used my Envelope Punch Board to create envelopes for each card and stamped leaves on the fronts of those as well before assembling the envelopes, using Post It notes to mask off the non-inked sides of the envelopes.

Next, I stamped sentiments from the Watercolor Wishes Card Set, in Versamark on the four colors of card stock and heat embossed them with Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder. These were then die cut with the matching Leaflets Framelits. Each die cut had its edges inked with the corresponding ink.
It was then that I got the idea to heat emboss the edges of the die cut gate fold edges themselves! To do this, I used a Versamark Pen to ink each edge, repeating the process to really get a nice embossed gold effect.

Another idea struck and I decided to add flecks of ink onto the cards to provide a bit more texture to my design. I used both my Stampin' Write Markers, flicking the marker off the edge of the cap, and my Tim Holtz Distress Splatter Brush with reinkers, which produced larger splatters.

To finish each card, I added a thread nest, using Gold Metallic Thread secured with a glue dot, and adhered a leaf over it using Dimensionals.

After completing the cards and envelopes, I needed a container to put them in so I consulted this tutorial by Catherine Pooler on how to create a box. Once I had figured out what size I needed for my card box and lid, I cut the two pieces from Kraft card stock.

I scored, cut and glued the piece for the box bottom and then used my stamps to create my own paper for the box top. After stamping the leaves, I again used my Tim Holtz Distress Splatter Brush to add flecks of Crumb Cake reinker. After it was dry, I scored, cut and glued the lid together.

A belly band was created for my card box using a strip of Garden Green card stock topped with the now retired Cherry Cobbler Sheer Linen Ribbon. I stamped two oak leaves in Delightful Dijon on the matching card stock and die cut them with the framelits. The edges of the leaves were inked with matching ink and then I used my McGill Paper Blossom Tool Kit to give some dimension to the leaves. I used Glue Dots to adhere them to the top of the belly band to complete the box.

I am really loving the rich hues of this color combo! Feel free to copy this image if you'd like to use it!

I'm very pleased with how this card set turned out! And now the fun part–I'm going to give it away!

If you live in either Canada or the United States, here is what you need to do to be entered into a draw to win this card set:

1. Leave a comment either below or on my Facebook post (or both!).
2. Pin any image from this blog post to Pinterest.
3. Share my Facebook post about this card set.

On Sunday, September 4, at 7:00 pm CDT, I will draw to see who wins the card set! Be sure to check back here for the announcement of the winner. I will need the winner to contact me so that I may get a mailing address for where to send the card set.

The lucky winner could be YOU!