Monthly Archives: September 2014

DSP and texture

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As I have previously mentioned, I find the Designer Series Paper (DSP) challenging to put on a card. I also struggle a little with texture. I really like the embossing folders that produce the texture (and I have created quite a few Christmas cards using the Northern Flurry folder) but find that they can also overpower the card unless I’m careful. So I’m rather pleased with today’s offering – I have both DSP AND texture!

DSP dotty butterflies

Base: 8.5″ by 5.5″ in crushed curry

Top layer: 5.25″ by 2.5″ in very vanilla

DSP: Flowerpot

No inks or stamp sets – I think that’s a first!

Other: Elegant Butterfly punch, decorative dots embossing folder

This is a straightforward card to put together – the hardest part is the spacing of the punches. I ran the very vanilla card through the big shot in the decorative dots TIEF and then marked the centre on the back of it. I then punched out the centre butterfly lining up the centre mark with the middle of the punch and making the punch go as far up the paper as possible to ensure that I had the butterflies all in a row. I guesstimated the positions of the outside butterflies – a pencil and ruler would have been less nerve wracking but it worked out okay! Then I adhered the dsp on the back of the very vanilla rather than trying to position it onto the base. Then it was a simple matter of putting the very vanilla piece on the card.

I lined the envelope, using the envelope liner framelits and more of the flowerpot paper to tie the card and envelope together. I find it’s easiest to score the liner and then use snail glue and just glue down the paper onto the flap. A quick swipe of the bone folder over the crease makes the envelope fold crisp.

Avocets or oystercatchers?

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I’m not really sure what the birds on this stamp actually are (if they are in fact a real type) but having consulted with my mother, a keen birdwatcher, I’m pretty sure that they should be black and white. I had previously coloured them in a wheat kind of colour but for this card, I left them alone, giving them the effect of basking in the sun’s rays washing out the colour. This is another card I made with my friend Julia’s need for “thinking of you” cards in mind.

waders sahara stone

Base: 8.5″ by 5.5″ in sahara sand

Mat: 4″ by 5.25″ wisteria wonder

Top layer: 3.75″ by 5″ sahara sand

Stamp sets: Wetlands, A dozen thoughts

Ink: versamark

This stamp in the Wetlands set seems under used to me. I love the peacefulness of the image; it brings to mind the end of the day and relaxation, watching the sun go down. I stamped the birds in versamark and then used clear embossing powder to produce the shiny, restrained result. I did the same with the sentiment. I simply matted it on the wisteria wonder and I feel that the simplicity of the design adds to the restful feeling that the card imparts.

Congratulations!

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One of my colleagues at work just got promoted – actually two of them did, so there will be another congratulations card soon. I have some time to make it because Donna is on vacation for the rest of the week. Fortuitously, the second free stamp set that arrived last week was Bravo – lots of congratulatory stamps. So I thought that using it to make a card for Matt would be perfect.

night of navy and silver congrats confetti stars

This didn’t turn out the way that I had half planned. I was thinking to do the Congratulations text heat embossed in silver and then mat it in something yet to be decided. I grabbed a piece of scrap card and stamped and embossed. It happened to be a piece of night of navy which I’d punched the confetti stars into but I’d messed it up and the edge of the card was through the middle of some stars. But when I’d embossed the text, I realised that it looked really good with the stars – I like how the stars tie in with the one in the text. And it looked even better when I grabbed some silver foil paper and put that behind the stars.

Base: Night of navy 8.5″ by 5.5″

Top layer: Night of navy 4″ by 5.25″

Stamp set: Bravo

Ink: Versamark

I have found that using 5.25″ to punch the confetti stars leaves me about 1/8″ border at each edge of the stars so that all of them are whole.

Thinking of Koalas

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I really liked the single stamp, Kind Koala although I wasn’t sure how versatile it would be. However for $9.95 I figured, how could I go wrong? And now that I have it, I can see more possibilities than I expected. I got it last week in my Big Order (I got money for Stampin’ Up! for my birthday 😀 ) and there’s been so much to play with that I’ve only just used the stamp.

For the first go around, I went with the obvious. I stamped the image and coloured it in. But I really like how it came out.

cajun craze koala

Base: Cajun craze 8.5″ by 5.5″

Top layer: Sahara sand 4″ by 5.25″

This is so easy that you don’t need instructions. But just in case…

I stamped the image using memento black ink which I really like. I don’t actually have the classic Stampin’ Up! basic black but I hear that it’s easy to smudge. I do have the black stazon but having to use the special stamp cleaner is an extra step that I don’t really enjoy. So the memento is my favourite, smudge-free and easily cleaned with the regular stampin’ mist.

I then took a regular cajun craze stampin’ marker and coloured in the flower, his nose and the “YOU”. I adhered the sahara sand layer to the base that was it apart from the backgrounds DSP in cajun craze to decorate the envelope. Simple, easy and really cute. I’m planning on masking parts of this stamp and changing the sentiments as well as the flower. Stay tuned.

Technique Tuesday – Masking and Sponging

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Masking and sponging is a lot of fun – and gives me an opportunity to showcase yet another Christmas card. 🙂 My eagerly anticipated back-ordered stamp set White Christmas arrived last Thursday and I’ve been having a lot of fun with it.

white christmas car and tree

Base: 8.5″ by 5.5″ whisper white

Mat: 4″ by 5.25″ cherry cobbler

Top Layer: 3.75″ by 5″ whisper white

Stamp set: White Christmas

Ink: Memento black ink (I really like that the usual Stampin’ Mist will clean this off stamps – and it doesn’t smudge), soft sky.

Colouring: Cherry cobbler blendabilities (medium), colour lifter and garden green stampin’ marker

I started by stamping the trees onto a piece of scrap card. This image includes the hill. I cut along the line of the hill and let it extend to the edge of the card to create the mask. Then I took my top layer piece of whisper white and put the mask in place and using a sponge, dabbed soft sky onto the upper portion of the card. I ensured that I didn’t make it a uniform colour – since the sky isn’t – and ended up with the effect of a cold cloudy day.

Next I stamped the trees and then the car on the hill and then the tree on top of the car. It was easy to get the placement because this set is a see through photopolymer set. I coloured the car with the cherry red blendability medium pen and used the colour lifter under the windows for a bit of contrast. Colouring the tree in garden green was the final step before sticking all the layers together. Of course I lined the envelope using the background DSP stack and the envelope liner framelits. I’ve been finding that it’s more efficient – and quite relaxing – to cut a 12″ by 12″ sheet from this stack into 8 pieces of 3″ by 6″ and run them all through the big shot one after another to produce 8 envelope liners. This may be because my big shot lives on the opposite side of the table from where I stamp and it saves me from getting up to cut out a single (or more) liner.