Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Thoughtful Branches in Copper

Linda Vich Creates: Thoughtful Branches in Copper. Masculine birthday card using Thoughtful Branches with copper foil and copper embossing.
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.

Linda Vich Creates: Thoughtful Branches in Copper. Masculine birthday card using Thoughtful Branches with copper foil and copper embossing.

Linda Vich Creates: Thoughtful Branches in Copper. Masculine birthday card using Thoughtful Branches with copper foil and copper embossing.

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!


Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Thoughtful Branches Autumn Thank You

Linda Vich Creates: Thoughtful Branches Autumn Thank You. A tree trunk from the Beautiful Branches Thinlits floats over an autumn-hued leaf background in this pretty thank you card.
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.

Linda Vich Creates: Thoughtful Branches Autumn Thank You. A tree trunk from the Beautiful Branches Thinlits floats over an autumn-hued leaf background in this pretty thank you 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!




Monday, September 12, 2016

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.

Linda Vich Creates: September Projects for Stamping Group. Tic Tacs treat hold box created using Night of Navy and Floral Boutique Designer Washi Tape.

Linda Vich Creates: September Projects for Stamping Group. Tic Tacs treat hold box created using Night of Navy and Floral Boutique Designer Washi Tape.

Linda Vich Creates: September Projects for Stamping Group. Tic Tacs treat hold box created using Night of Navy and Floral Boutique Designer Washi Tape.

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.

Linda Vich Creates: September Projects for Stamping Group. Cookie Cutter Halloween scarecrow graces the front of this fall-themed card.

Linda Vich Creates: September Projects for Stamping Group. Cookie Cutter Halloween scarecrow graces the front of this fall-themed 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.

Linda Vich Creates: September Projects for Stamping Group. Pinwheel Fold card created using the Jar of Love stamp set and coordinating dies with Fruit Stand DSP.

Linda Vich Creates: September Projects for Stamping Group. Pinwheel Fold card created using the Jar of Love stamp set and coordinating dies with Fruit Stand DSP.

Linda Vich Creates: September Projects for Stamping Group. Pinwheel Fold card created using the Jar of Love stamp set and coordinating dies with Fruit Stand DSP.

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





Monday, September 5, 2016

Vintage Leaves Card Set Winner Announced!

Linda Vich Creates: Vintage Leaves Card Set Winner Announced! Autumn-hued gate fold card set created with Vintage Leaves and Detailed Floral Thinlits.
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!