from my ink pad to yours

Measurements

Lisa asked about measurements on yesterday's BFF card.  The finished card is a regular A2: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches.  I cut a 8.5 x 11 sheet down to 5.5 x 11 and then scored it at 3.5 and 7.75. The main thing is that you want the middle section between the two score lines to be 4 1/4" wide. the other two sections will be your flaps or flap and pocket. You can adjust these measurements to meet your design needs.

I hope this makes sense.

BFF with a nod to formality

I didn't think I would take a quite such a break from posting as I did last week but, well, I did. I'm taking on some new responsibilities at my "day" job which have a bit of a learning curve. As a result, some of the free time that I had planned on last week dried up a bit.  Then I got to do a little preparation for a stamping slumber party I had this last Sunday and Monday. A few of my downline came down to Belle Plaine from western Minnesota for  winter stamping retreat. We stamped and talked and stamped and laughed and stamped and ate and  stamped and slept and stamped, stamped, stamped! I think we all ended up with at least 2 dozen cards etc. before they headed home yesterday afternoon. Though several of the cards have already made appearances on my little blog I do have a few new pieces to supply blog fodder for awhile.

Now I'm sitting in a Caribou,  after leaving extra early for a workshop (for the aformentioned day job) in order to avoid what was forecast as a messy morning commute (my usual commute is about 3 minutes.) and I have the luxury of time to blog a bit.

I haven't spent a whole lot of time playing with the new edgelits until the end of our afternoon yesterday.  As long as you use a little Dotto on the edgelits and the cardstock - to keep them in place - they work pretty well. I had been working on a folded/envelope style card with an edgelit flap as I had seen something similar with doilies. When I went to pull out the doily stamps, I happened upon the Best Friends Forever set I featured in my last post. Isn't the border type stamp perfect with this edge?

I don't think the evening light captured the ribbon very well. It's Basic Black Taffeta, which is a little more gray than black. After initally doubting that the gray tones would work with the crisp Jet Black Stazon image on Very Vanilla, I was surprised to see that it was perfect. Then I had to rush and whip up three more so I could send them with my visiting stampers who were already loading their stamping goodies up for thier trip back home.

This could easily be made with an inside pocket for a gift card or the inside could be printed with an invitation.

Supplies for this are simple:

Stamps: Best Friends Forever

Ink Jet Black Stazon

Paper: Very Vanilla, Basic Black

Accessories: Big Shot and Adorning Accents Edgelit (bracket edge), Basic Black Taffeta Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by. I'll try to be back soon.

 

 

Simple Card with Simple Accessories

This simple card is one that I put together during a lunch break one day last summer while I was at convention. I had just a few supplies with me but they were enough to create this card featuring the Best Friends Forever and It's Your Day, two of the convention stamp sets. It would be easy to change out the saying with one that is a little more oriented to Valentine's Day.

• The card is Crumb Cake with a Pink Pirouette heart
• The Designer Series Paper is Belle Chateau
• The taffeta ribbon is Soft Suede, as is the ink.
• Embellishments: Basic Pearls and, of course, a Stampin' Dimensional to pop the heart.

Have  a fun weekend!

Apothecary Birthday

I haven't blogged this card yet. It was part of that first page that I stamped on So Saffron. This shows the embossed edge that shows up on the piece you cut the label out of. I used the same label framelit to cut the So Saffron label as I did to cut the opening out of the Always Artichoke piece.

 

• This is colored with Bluch Blossom, Regal Rose, and Pear Pizazz.
• The sparkle comes from Dazzling Details, a carryover from the Holiday Mini catalog. (124117 is the item number.)
• I usually use a marker on the outline of the label, just to soften the look.
• The Always Arichoke piece is embossed with Elegant Bouquet.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Color Challenge - Not

I decided that I was going to participate in this week's color challenge ( Island Indigo, Basic Gray and Lucky Limeade) over on SCS and promptly chose Mixed Blossoms and the Twitterpated designer papers since both Basic Gray and Island Indigo are represented. I also decided that this card should be CAS or Clean and Simple. This certainly isn't the first time it happened but nothing I put together with these elements really worked  for me.I guess I was in more of a monochromatic mood.

Today I needed to get the stamping counter cleared off so I finished them off without getting all the colors together.  So, here they are. My color challenge inspired but not attained cards.

• I like this Basic Gray-hexagon-doily print. It lends a soft touch.I did a little white on white by layering  the Twitterpated layer on Whisper White card stock and then again on a Whisper White card.
• It seemed to me that the detail in the Mixed Bunch stamp echos the paper. The flower is embossed on vellum, punched out with the Blossom punch and layered over a Whisper White blossom. A rhinestone top off the center.
• The greeting, from Loving Thoughts is also embossed on vellum card stock and graces the lower part of my panel. 

Card #2 follows the same layout as the first without the vellum.

• This Island Indigo print is really striking on its own. So far I think I like it best this way.
• The rather bold flower center from Mixed Bunch stands up well to the print. 
• "{friend to friend}" is from the stamp set, Teeny, Tiny Wishes.
• Both cards make effective use of my favorite accessory, Stampin Dimensionals. (#104430, in case you need to add them to your next order.)

And finally, you can check out the Occasions Mini Catalog online today!. There is a link on the upper right side of my blog. If you don't already have a regular demonstrator feel free to shop with me at my online store linked at the top. You can see the new Occasions Mini products there too.

Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been doing.

Chris

 

One o' the Mix

Quick post here of a simple card with one of the flowers from Mixed Bunch, a set debuting in the Occasions Mini catalog tomorrow. The Dazzling Details on some of the images details doesn' t show up real well in this photo but I hope that you can get the idea. I keep a drawer of Tasteful Trim in various colors; so often it provides a quick finishing touch.

• Stamp sets: Mixed Bunch 125535 (w), Perfectly Penned 122890(w)
• Paper: So Saffron (105118),  Basic Black (121045) First Edition Specialty (121878)
• Ink: Black Stazon (101406)
• Accessories: Tasteful Trim Die (120893), Pumpkin Pie Marker (105115), Dazzling Details (124117) , Basic Pearls (119247), 3/4" Circle punch (119873), Blossom Punch (125603)

The 2012 Occasions Mini starts tomorrow and it. is. awesome!

 

Cherry Gray Duo

Now, I know I told you earlier that these label images really aren't that hard to color but look how great they look even if you barely color them at all:

Just a little bit of Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details glitter adds all the color the front image needs on this card. I used the writing tip of the Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write marker to add just a bit of red to the image on the inside corner:

Since this is a thtank you card, all I did to embellish the inside of the card is the the little bit of stamping on the lower left corner. BTW, I used a black marker to ink just the part of the label stamp that I wanted. I tiny bit of color is dotted on with the Cherry Cobbler marker so that there was little risk of ink bleeding.

Here is another shot of the card with a peek at the inside:

As you might have guessed, the offset frame was cut  with the framelit die that is one size larger than the die used to trim the focal point image. When texturing a piece I usually cut the shape first and then do the embossing. This left me with another shape so I had to make another card...

 

...

Same label, colored with just a bit of Cherry Cobbler marker, set off with Cherry Cobbler and Basic Gray patterns from the Twitterpated collection of designer series papers. Additional embellishments include:

• scalloped trim made with the Tasteful Trim die
• a swig of Cherry Cobbler seam binding
• sponging on the edges of the papers and gray framelit
• an Antique Brad   
• more Twitterpated DSP added to the envelope flap.

Football is on. Time to go stamp.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

 

Blue Suede... Bird

Someday I'm sure I'll again show you a card I've made without a framelit.  I just don't know when it will be. I like using these SO much!

This lovely bird design is from the same Take it to Heart stamp set that I used for the Cherry Cobbler heart in yesterday's card. And, of course it has a framelit to cut it out leaving a nice border around the outline.

Something about the Elegant Lines embossing folder always makes me think of wings so even though I had colored this to coordinate with the blues in the Twitterpated papers I chose to use a Soft Suede Elegant Lines background instead. This image is actually from a sheet I colored a few weeks before Christmas. Though I often use watercolor, this time I sat down in front of a movie with a couple of sheets of cardstock (stamped with new Occasion Mini sets) and markers.

 

Some pointers for coloring with markers:

• Use the lightest colors possible and layers of color for depth.
• Use a light touch with the marker - press as lightly as possible, this reduces the lines from the marker
• Make good use of subtle colors like Crumb Cake and Sahara Sand to soften edges.
• Don't forget about using your blender when you need to.

 

As I said earlier, I colored these a few weeks ago, mostly with Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake, Pear Pizazz, maybe with a little Soft Suede, Sahara Sand and Island Indigo. If you want to use the darker colors, consider using just the fine point.

The Occasions Mini goes live in just a few days... January 4th!

Thanks so much for stopping in. I hope your year is off to a wonderful start.

Chris

 

Twitterpated Happiness

One of the new sets of Designer Series Papers from the soon-to-be released Occasions Mini Catalog is Twitterpated. I might not have ordered it if it weren't that as a demonstrator I was able to preorder it in a bundle with other items I wanted. As it turns out Twitterpated is a pure delight to use: lots of delicate textures for spring cardmaking. Here' s the first of the cards I put together with this paper:

• The greeting/focal point is from the set "Pursuit of Happiness".
• The cute little heart is from "Take it to Heart" and is clear embossed on Cherry Cobbler card stock.
• This second shot might show it a little better and also gives a peek at the strip of DSP that I cut with one of the new Adorning accents edgelits to perk up the inside of the card.
• You can't see them, but the Stampin' Dimensionals that pop up the white layer carry a lot of weight in my stamp studio. It seems like I use them on almost every card. They add dimension without bulk that causing trouble with the post office.
• Embossing folders Square Lattice and Finial Press add a last little bit of dimension , a nice contrast with the silky seam binding.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today.

Have a Happy New Year too!

More Apothecary Art on So Saffron

Here is another of the Apothecary labels from the So Saffron sheet I filled a few weekends ago:

This monochromatic card takes some added elegance from the Very Vanilla trim cut with the new edgelits die from the upcoming Occasions Mini Catalog that goes into effect on January 4, 2012. The tiniest of pearls underline the elegance without overpowering the ensemble.

Here is a peek at the inside:

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog!

Chris

Embossed Framelit update

I've had some questions about embossing with the framelits.  I use tab 2, the same tab on the multi-purpose platform that we use to cut the framelits. There are basically two things that are different from cutting with the framelits.

1. The lower cutting mat is replaced by two silicone mats. I've tried it with one and that doesn't work on my Big Shot, which I think is just a little bit on the tight side. For those of you with only one silicone mat, I have successfully done some of the smaller framelits with the silicone mat folded in two. 
2. The framelit is placed with the cutting edge facing up. If you need to shim I would put the shim between the cutting edge of the framelit and your cutting mat.

You will get a little shadow, was you see from my previous post. I find this to give an elegant finish to the card.

Sorry no extra pictures as my battery is charging - I just added an extra battery to my Christmas list.

Have fun with this if you are a demo and can try this with your preview supplies. Do leave me a comment about how it works for you.

If you aren't a demo, I am anxious to do it with you in January!

Dry Embossed Framelit

I was messing around with my Big Shot tonight and figured out how to dry emboss the framelit.

The sandwich for this is:

1. Multipurpose paltform, Tab 2
2. two silicone mats
3. cardstock
4. framelit with cutting side up
5. Cutting mat
6. copy paper - optional, I wasn't sure if I should have paper between the framelit and mat

The colors on this card are Blushing Bride (Card stock and marker) and Regal Rose.  Dazzling Details on he hearts and "stitching".

ETA:

I've had some questions about embossing with the framelits.  I use tab 2, the same tab on the multi-purpose platform that we use to cut the framelits. There are basically two things that are different from cutting with the framelits.

1. The lower cutting mat is replaced by two silicone mats. I've tried it with one and that doesn't work on my Big Shot, which I think is just a little bit on the tight side. For those of you with only one silicone mat, I have successfully done some of the smaller framelits with the silicone mat folded in two. 
2. The framelit is placed with the cutting edge facing up. If you need to shim I would put the shim between the cutting edge of the framelit and your cutting mat.

You will get a little shadow. I find this to give an elegant finish to the card.

Have fun with this if you are a demo and can try this with your preview supplies. Do leave me a comment about how it works for you.

If you aren't a demo, I am anxious to do it with you in January!

 

 

 

More Doilies

To be very honest the Paper Doily sizzlet went on and off my wish list. I was intrigued by the look but afraid I'd spend hours making a mess while I punched little pieces.  It turns out that you can get a lot of the pieces out by rolling the doily around a pencil.  (This particular doily was in better shape before I took it off the card to try putting a ribbon underneath. The ribbon didn't end up adding anything so I took it off anyway, arghh!). The image in the doily is from Fresh Vintage, a set that you can free during Sale-a-bration.

 

My second doily card features an image from Bordering on Romance and a second greeting from Petite Pairs. I used mini glue dots to attach the ribbon. Dazzling Details lends a little sparkle.

Bumblebee Bunch

I don't recall that I've ever met a flower I didn't like and the flowers from Mixed Bunch along with the matching punch are no exception.

Tips:

• Combine Daffodil Delight with More Mustard for extra dimension on the flower center and houndstooth texture.  I brayered the embossing folder with More Mustard ink before running a piece of Daffodil Delight through the Big Shot.
• More dimension comes from curling the petals outward.
• Cut a bunch of Tasteful Trims and keep a supply handy in your designing area.

Happy Stamping!

 

Apothecary Christmas

I splurged on Stampin' Up!'s Occasions Mini pre-order, even express shipped it so I could play with it during my recent 3-day weekend. Needless to say I was impressed with what I saw in the catalog, but I've had even more fun than I expected playing with the new Big Shot "toys" and coordinating stamps.

Paper Player's challenge this week is to make a Christmas card out of non-Christmas stamps and colors. That challenge combined with my new box of goodies led to this:

Apothecary Art is a new set of 6 stamps that I thought might be a little more coloring than even I enjoy, but it really does color up quickly. I had a whole page stamped on So Saffron, colored and ready to cut up with the new Framelit Labels Collection in no time. I used the same framelit to cut the label as I did to cut the opening into the front of the card. This gave me a sort of dry embossed frame on the card in which to set my colored label.The roses were colored with Regal Rose and Blushing Bride; the leaves with Pear Pizazz and Lucky Limeade. The picture may not have caught it but Dazzling Details adds shimmer to the roses and border on the ribbon.

The Pear Pizazz label cut out of the first card ended up as a background layer for my next label image, after running it through the Snow Burst embossing folder. Once again the label is stamped on So Saffron. oloring is with the white gel pen and Pear Pizazz with Dazzling Details. Several of the Petite Pairs greetings will work on these labels if you offset them.

Stay tuned. I've got photos already of even more...

 

 

Playtime with Medallion and Decor

Inspiration for this card came from a couple of challenges. To start with I found this last Monday's Technique Challenge on Splitcoaststampers particularly enticing because it called for making your own background with layers of stamping. I looked to another challenge I recently discovered, The Paper Players for my colors: Bravo Burgundy, Cajun Craze, More Mustard and Very Vanilla.

I don't have craft ink pads for More Mustard and Bravo Burgundy but I do have many craft refills so I squeezed a little of the ink out onto some large square blocks and applied the ink to my stamps with my brayer. This also allows me to mix the inks a little. I'll let  you in on a little secret. I don't have Bravo Burgundy either - yet. So, I mixed some Cherry Cobbler with Early Espresso until I had a color which looked a lot to me like Bravo.

I don't have pictures of each step of the process but here are a few that will give you an idea of how I played with this;

 

I had mixed the colors before applying them with the brayer to my Medallion stamp. I wheeled the Decor wheel through the mixed Bravo ink.

More Mustard ink on an acrylic block.

I took a bit of a detour and decided to try adding a Very Vanilla Doily so I squeezed some Very Vanilla craft ink onto an acrylic block:

I spread it around with my brayer:

and inked the doily stamp:

and stamped

Unfortunately,  I didn't like the result so much after heating the doily ink

So I took this block:

and smeared it randomly over my background and added a little more of the decor wheel. And then I liked it! I added a border from a 1/4 sheet that had some of the Decor wheel on Cajun Craze. Since I didn't want to cover up too much of my background I just added a greeting from Alway Grateful to the lower corner.

That's it.

This kind of stamping and brayering really feel like the ultimate way to play with ink. I also didn't realize how well the Medallion backgroung stamp coordinates with the Decor wheel. I'm going to have to try those to out together again!

Happy stamping.

Autumn Spice

It's back! For a little while anyway. Autumn Spice specialty paper is available on Stampin' Up!'s clearance rack for just $4.79. I thought I had posted this last year but it isn't on my blog yet so here is a set of cards with box that I put together last fall using this beautiful card stock weight designer paper.

The gorgeous Early Espresso satin ribbon is also on the clearance rack for the low, low price of $3.59 and the stamp set, Day of Gratitude is still in the current catalog. You can purchase them all from my Stampin' Up! website, by clicking on "shop" at the top of my page. Here are close-ups of the individual cards. You can see how well this specialty paper works for cards.

I used the box pattern from Andrea Walford's Everyday Elegance Class. If you place a $50 order from me I can email you the directions for Andrea's ensemble. Just make sure you send me your email.

A few more Day of Gratitude/ Autumn Spice cards:

Item numbers:

• Autumn Spice Specialty Paper 120808
• Early Espresso Satin Ribbon 119753
• Day of Gratitude wood: 120835, clear:121148
• Small Open end (6 3/4 x 3 1/2") envelopes 107286

You might also be interested in the Nite Owl DSP (3.99 on the clearance rack) which I used with Day of Gratitude to make this card:

Houndstooth Oak

Do you keep favorites over on the Splitcoaststampers Gallery? Well, I do. And I rarely go back and eliminate any so I have 4123(!) pictures in my favorites. Well a little over a month ago the technique challenge on Splitcoast was to case the oldest card in your favorites. My favorites go back to 2004.  Anyway, I lucked out as my oldest favorite happened to be made by none other than Beate Johns and it used probably the only stamp set from 2004 that is still current, Lovely as a Tree.

Though some of the accessories that Beate used have since retired, it wasn't hard to identify new accessories to use in their place. I used Stampin' Up!'s new stripe and houndstooth embossing folders instead of stencils and background stamps on River Rock and Soft Suede card stock.

Tips:

• For added definition of the texure use a brayer to ink the embossing folders with versamark  ink.
• I substituted paper dots for brads and in retrospect I did it the hard way. I punched them and used the paper piercing tool to place them onto the card. It would have been easier to just make the holes in the card stock and let the Soft Suede show through.
• Sponge daubers are perfect for quick coloring of the oak tree.
• I freehand cut the curve of one edge and used it as a guide to cut the other.
• I did change the placement.

I know that I mark many as favorites thinking I'll go back and copy them but rarely get around to it. I was glad the challenge forced me to go back and case at least one. I should do it more often.

How many do you have in your favorites?

Halloween Trim

A few weeks ago the theme of Splitcoaststampers CAS (for Clean and Simple) challenge was shoes. I knew exactly what I would do and then... I didn't. I did water color the "Happy Halloween" image intending to add a simple mat and apply it to a card. But I couldn't leave it alone. I just had to add more of those fun Halloween colors and it was no longer CAS! Here's how it ended up:

Tips:

• I used the white gel pen for the "N" made of bones and then watercolored the shadow with basic Gray to make it stand out a little more.
• Rich Razzleberry shadows added to the bat.
• Dazzling Details added to several of the "letters".
• Sahara Sand is one of my favorites for adding shadows.
• The Basic Black trim is actually the area between two of the intended trims.
• The textured Rich Razzleberry and Lucky Limeade textured layers are sponged for added character.

Jolly Color Challenge

This card is made with the set Festive & Fun, from the Holiday Mini Catalog. The color combination, Pool Party, Cherry Cobbler and Early Espresso is from this week's Splitcoaststampers Color Challenge.

Festive & Fun is the perfect stamp set if you like a little bit of coloring. Non of the spaced are too big, making it very easy to color with markers.

Some hints:

• I always start with the lighter colors (Pool Party) and finish with the darker colors.Shades of red are considered among the darker colors. For some reason they have a high propensity for smeaing.
• It is quite subtle but you might notice I shaded the left side of each letter/portion of the image with a light swipe of my Sahara Sand marker.
• Think of thirds when you divide your design area. The Cherry Cobbler portion is roughly 1/3 of the area covered by the Cherry Cobbler/Early Espresso layer.
• Repeat colors or elements whenever possible to help create a sense of rhythm: I added the punched white trim. I also repeated the dots and stripes in my textured backgrounds.
• The stripes in the Early Espresso piece are sanded for a little more worn look.

 

I repeated the striped look of the stockings by drawing a stripe border on the inside of the card: