Feb 24, 2019 | Birthday, Step-It-Up Sunday |
Hello friends,
Isn’t it lovely to have a weekend where we can just have a bit of a pause from the busy working week? I’ve had such a busy week and feel like I’ve been in a bit of whirlwind. One day I got to work and my beautiful friend had blessed me by leaving a box of chocolates on my desk just to know she was thinking of me. It was a beautiful gesture and made me feel good for days. The power of an encouraging word.
I received the How Sweet It Is product suite in my last order. The patterned paper is filled with vibrant and bright colours. With images of lolly jars, lollies, gummy bears, lolly dispensers and candy stripes, it’s just a fun pack of paper.
The stamp and die bundle has lolly jars in different shapes and I’ve used one of them for today’s card.
Basic
I love the panel of Designer Paper with the stripes. It’s reminiscent of lolly shops and ice cream parlours – all things sweet. I stamped the jar and lollies in Basic Gray. This is nice when you prefer a softer look rather than black. The lollies were coloured in with Pineapple Punch, Melon Mambo and Highland Heather Stampin’ Write Markers.
Intermediate
I cut a border on the Designer Paper with the Seasonal Layers die. The lolly jar has been stamped and die cut. I added colour to the jar with Melon Mambo and Blushing Bride Stampin’ Write Markers. 
I’ve added some added interest with some die cut lollies. These dies emboss the detail as well and have a nice detail to them. You get 2 of each so you can cut multiples at the same time.
Advanced
For this card I used the Thick Whisper White cardstock and embossed it with the lolly dies using the embossing Mats. The thicker cardstock doesn’t crease during the process of embossing. This creates an interesting background which looks like an embossing folder has been used.
I used the ink refills to create a light water wash under the area where the lolly jar was going to be placed. Then I added a Coastal Cabana water wash to the sentiment panel and also to the ‘glass’ of the lolly jar.
Using the same refills and making it really watery, I picked up the colour with the aqua painter and tapped it over my index finger on my left hand. This created the speckled effect.
Have a great Sunday and share your beautiful cards by giving someone a card for whatever occasion or ‘just because’ and let’s be encouragers this week.
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Feb 17, 2019 | Step-It-Up Sunday |
Hi Friend,
It’s really nice to have you here and if it’s your first time, a special welcome. Today’s card uses another of my Top 5 sets which is the Let it Ride stamp set. I love the horses in it and there are some encouraging sentiments to use on cards.
Basic
I’ve used Old Olive as my card base and stamped the trees in Old Olive ink. The horse has been stamped in Soft Suede on Very Vanilla cardstock and the sentiment in Cajun Craze. The strips of paper have been extended to wrap around the back to give a neat finish.
Intermediate
To step this up, I coloured in the horse with Stampin’ Blends. Each time I use my Blends I love how simple they are to use. Even the beginner can master this in no time. I also punched out the sentiment and layered it to add some extra colour and dimension.
Advanced
This background was created with Brushos – Moss Green. I had forgotten how much fun it was to use it. Once dry, I stamped the trees in Old Olive. Then I embossed the Crackle in White embossing powder. A little bit crazy about this crackle stamp. I remember the days I used to do some folk art and using crackle medium to achieve this effect. This is much quicker!
I distressed the edges with Soft Suede and Cajun Craze for an aged look.
I could see this in a nice frame as a gift for someone as It’s got that homely look about it.
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Go for it!
Jan 30, 2019 | Baby/Kids, Challenges |
Designer Series Paper – we all love it. We can never have enough of it. We love it so much we hoard it sometimes. Isn’t it hard when Stampin’ Up! bring out a whole new and fabulous selection of Designer Series Paper for us to drool over each time a new catalogue comes by? So many choices. I did a bit of a clear out on the holidays (as us craft-a-holics do) and the amount of brand new, unopened packages of paper I found …. oh my! I really need to stop. Or should I say – I really need help!
This week’s TGIF Challenge is all about showcasing pretty patterned paper. My difficulty was choosing which ones I wanted to use. So I began by choosing the stamp set first. This was a little bit easier as I wanted to ink up a set I hadn’t used as yet. I chose So Hoppy Together with the little frogs.
I’ve seen several cute and creative projects made with this stamp set. However, I do confess, I have an aversion to frogs so it was kind of translating into my stamping life and I was having a bit of trouble being creative with this set. So it was really good to be able to mix it with the Animal Expedition Designer Series Paper to come up with this card.
As this challenge was to showcase paper, I incorporated it in various ways and even added an accent piece with a circle punch. I also included a strip of Tropical escape DSP, stamped it with some dots from Amazing Life stamp set in Lovely Lipstick and then punched the edges with the Everyday Label Punch.
The sentiment is from the new Itty Bitty Birthdays stamp set which has some great sentiments for the inside of cards as well. The Lilypad Lake bundle gave me the perfect lilypad for my frog to sit on. Colouring in these images were fun and Stampin’ Blends allow you to add shading very easily and quickly.
Colours used:
Adding strips of DSP to decorate the inside of your card and envelope give a lovely coordinated look and is another way of using and showing those beautiful papers you have on your shelves or in your drawers.
See the other entries for this challenge on the TGIF site featuring great use of Designer Series Paper and be inspired.
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Neutrals Designer Series Paper Stack
[138435]
$38.50
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Jan 28, 2019 | Challenges, Friendship |
Hi Friends,
My card today is inspired by the colours of Soft Sea Foam, So Saffron and Petal Pink as I’m playing along in the Global Design Project Color Challenge. 
I immediately thought of creating a vintage look card with an aged feel and the Lovely Lattice stamp set seemed it could work for this. I wanted to recreate the look of cards my parents used to get, over 40 years ago, on their wedding anniversary – the flowers with the distressed look on cream card.
For many years I used to create paper tole images and when I started creating this card, something inside me snapped (for want of a better word) and made me want to create different layers to these flowers. If you don’t like fussy cutting – fear not. Get yourself some Stampin’ Up! paper snips. They are second to none. Paper, ribbon – I use it on everything. That is all I have used to fussy cut around these flowers. And fussy cutting can be therapeutic in a weird kind of way – just follow the lines!
I stamped several images in Crumb Cake on Shimmery White Cardstock. Using the ink refills of Soft Sea Foam, So Saffron and Petal Pink, I coloured the images. Then I fussy cut and layered the flowers and leaves, adding sponging around all my images – a mix of Soft Sea Foam and Crumb Cake.
Drop by the Global Design Project page to see the other lovely projects that have been created for this challenge.
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Jan 20, 2019 | Step-It-Up Sunday |
Hi Everyone,
Step-it-Up Sunday is back with a Sale-A-Bration stamp set. The beautiful By the Bay stamp set is a free Sale-A-Bration production you can earn with any $90 purchase during this promotion. There are some lovely beach images of seagulls, a seashell and a house by the sea which is beautiful and tranquil. There are so many ways to feature these on cards either by themselves or paired with other stamp sets. This was one of the first sets that caught my eye in this catalogue and as I live close to the beach, it was a definite ‘must have’.
I’ve teamed up this stamp set today with Home to Roost which is another Sale-A-Bration offering. It’s got an image of a rooster, the reeds which I’ve used on these cards and some great sentiments. I think Stampin’ Up! have come up with a fabulous range of Sale-A-Bration items to choose from this season.
Basic
To create this card, layer the Basic Gray cardstock on your Balmy Blue card base. Stamp the image in Stazon ink on Whisper White cardstock. Highlight some areas of the image with some basic colouring in with water colours. Use an aqua brush to soften the edges of the lines (this is optional). You don’t need to spend too much time on the colouring. Just enough to bring out a few elements of the picture.
Stamp the reeds and sentiment in Early Espresso.
Intermediate
Add some texture to the Whisper White layer by embossing it with the Pinewood Planks embossing folder. Using the edge of the Smoky Slate ink pad (the edge without a lip) run the ink pad down the embossing of the cardstock. Run it bottom to top as well. Do the same with the Balmy Blue ink pad. This gives it a beachy feel with the distressed look.
Stamp the reeds on top of this with Early Espresso ink. I could have done this prior to embossing however I liked the look of this.
Die cut the circles, stamp part of the image and colour sections of it. Stamp the sentiment and punch out with the Classic Label punch. To shorten the label, insert one side back into the punch and this will give you a shorter label.
Advanced
To step this card up, colour in the image in detail. Die cut 2 labels and attach in the top right corner. adding the linen ribbon which has been frayed.
Hope you give some of these ideas and techniques a try. I’d love to hear from you with feedback and enquiries.
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