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