from my ink pad to yours: Life is Grand

March 07, 2019

Birthday Cheer with Blended Backgrounds

I've got two adorable birthday cards to share with you today. Both feature the Blended Background technique I shared with you on Monday and the Birthday Cheer Bundle.

This is what my sponging palette for today's cards looks like. I showed this technique on Sunday's Facebook Live. Mixing the refill ink with Whisper White Craft ink makes the ink so easy to spread on your cardstock and blend with other colors. Though today's cards will show embossing on the finished backgrounds I've also had good success stamping with our classic or dye ink on the backgrounds. The colors stay relatively true.

Let's get to that first card:

I used Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green, Coastal Cabana, Gorgeous Grape and Melon Mambo refill inks. Each was mixed with Whisper White craft refill. You can make the colors lighter or darker depending on the ratio you use. I usually start with a dime sized amount of white and 2-3 drops of classic refill and go from there.
I trimmed off 1/4" from each side of my finished 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" back ground, and flipped them around to go the opposite direction before attaching them back together with cellophane tape on the back.
Emboss the greeting and add the Whisper White die cut, enamel dots and ribbon and voila - you have an adorable birthday card!

I added the ribbon yesterday when the organdy ribbon collection was available. Sadly, it has run out. I decided to show it this way anyway because I know some of you have this ribbon and have it coming. It will still be a pretty card without the ribbon.

I had to do another one of these cards with the cupcakes to enter in this week's Global Design Project Challenge:

I think that these cupcakes could certainly be sweeter than candy!

This card was made pretty much the same way as the gift die cut card except that I omitted the Daffodil Delight and the ribbon.
I also substituted the "Make A Wish" greeting from the Life is Grand stamp. Both the Birthday Cheer Bundle and the Life is Grand stamp set can be found in the Occasions catalog. You can also easily check them out or purchase them by clicking on them in my project list at the end of this post.

Aside from the Organdy Ribbon being permanently out of stock as a Sale -A-Bration item, I also need to let you know that the Hop Around Framelits that coordinate with So Hoppy Together (the frog set) also sold out.

I really do appreciate that you have taken time out of your day to visit my blog. Let me know what you think and come back again soon! If you have questions, leave a comment and I'll try my best to get back to you as soon as possible.

Stampin' Up! catalogs can be viewed with the Current Stampin' Up! catalogs link at the top of my blog. If you don't have regular Stampin' Up Demonstrator and would like hard copies of any of our current catalogs please feel free to email me at [email protected]

Chris

***If you need a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a minimum $50 (US) order using the March host code, YDZJFZWA, I will send you the free gift . March orders are also eligible for a free Sale-A-Bration item . US customers only. Customers placing an order smaller than $50 will still receive my March thank you card.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Product List

Posted at 01:24 PM in Birthday Cheer Bundle, Life is Grand | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 14, 2019

Dies with Patterned Paper continued...

I didn't get a blog entry posted yesterday but I DID get a Facebook Live done showing how I assemble these designer series paper (DSP) and die cut cards. Today I'm showing you some of the cards I shared on the video. I won't go into the details because I've blogged about the "how to" here and there are even more hints on the Facebook Live. I will provide product lists for each card individually at the end of this blog post.

The first two cards feature patterned paper from the Painted Seasons Bundle which becomes available as a Free Sale-A-Bration item with a $100 merchandise order (US) tomorrow, February 15, 2019. Obviously this offering will be while supplies last and it will end when Sale-A-Bration ends on March 31st.

I used the border die from the Flourish Thinlets and a greeting from Life is Grand, a set from this year's Occasions catalog. Both are done in Early Espresso.

This border die is from the Petals and More thinlets. My greeting is from the Occasions' stamp set Strong and Beautiful and it fits into the little tag die from the Wood Crate Framelits. The ribbon is Pool Party 3/8" Shimmer Ribbon. They don't show well in the first photo but I also used the Granny Apple Green Glitter Enamel Dots.

The Happy Birthday thinlet is cut from How Sweet It Is DSP . The Glitter Enamel Dots also work perfectly with the How Sweet It Is suite of products. Please note that the enamel dots are also the free gift you receive from me with a $50 purchase with my hostess code this month.

Don't you just love the gears from Geared Up Garage Grapefruit Grove foil? This also features Classic Garage DSP.

Does this look familiar? This is another version of the All My Love/Be Mine card that started it all. This time it is backed with vellum which allows embellishments such as Happiness Blooms Enamel Dots to be placed within the frame you use.

As you can see this type of card can be done with a variety of papers and dies. Check out your stash and see what you can use to try this.

I really appreciate that you have taken time out of your day to visit my blog. Let me know what you think and come back again soon!

Chris

***If you need a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a minimum $50 (US) order using the February host code, 2MRXBEJM, I will send you the Glitter Enamel Dots . February orders also earn a free Sale-A-Bration item . US customers only. Customers placing an order smaller than $50 will still receive my February thank you.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Product List

Geared Up Garage Cling Bundle

[150610]

Tranquil Tide Classic Stampin' Pad

[144085]

Jet Black Stazon Ink Pad

[101406]

Classic Garage 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[148482]

Grapefruit Grove & Lovely Lipstick Foil Sheets

[149712]

Tranquil Tide 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[144246]

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

Big Shot

[143263]

Product List

Be Mine Stitched Framelits Dies

[148527]

All My Love 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[148576]

In Color 2018–2020 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[146963]

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock

[140272]

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

Big Shot

[143263]

Posted at 06:45 PM in All My Love Suite, Big Shot, Geared Up Garage, Life is Grand, Strong & Beautiful | Permalink | Comments (3)

February 11, 2019

Painted Seasons Blossom ... etc

We have a one day reprieve from the snow here in Minnesota. We had beautiful, sparkly snow almost all day yesterday and it will be starting up again late tonight sometime before midnight. Meanwhile, my sister sends me pictures daily of their travels in the warmth of Australia.

Whether you are enjoying winter or summer it is a great day for a blog hop, so today I'm participating in...

... with some cards featuring the Painted Season's Bundle which will be joining the wonderful line up of products you can get for free during Sale-A-Bration. This bundle, featuring botanical images in Stampin' Up!'s Distinktive® style plus gorgeous designer series paper will become available this Friday, February 15.

The sketch for this card is from the Sunday Stamps Challenge.
The blossom and leaves were stamped with the Painted Leaves stamp set and Petal Pink and Pear Pizzazz ink on Whisper White card stock.
Though framlelits will be available for this set starting in March and are available to demonstrators now I decided to test out the set before I ordered them. Now I know that I will be ordering them! I am impressed with the possibilities of this set. This time the flower and leaves were fussy cut with the paper snips.
The Lace embossing folder is from the Floral Romance Suite in Stampin' Up!'s Occasions catalog. I used it on both the small oval and the DSP strip.
I was using up left over elements from previous cardmaking sesssions. Ovals are from both the Layering Ovals framelits and the Stitched Shapes framelits.
A few Grapefruit Grove Faceted Dots finish it off.

This card shows a little more of this gorgeous DSP. (DSP is short for Designer Series Paper.):

I used a 1/2" x 5 1/2" strip of the botanical print with a 3 3/4" x 5 1/2" panel of the Pool Party geometric pattern. I used cellophane tape to attach these together on the back side so there would be no overlap. This makes it look as though the paper came with the border.
I love how the subtle shading changes is these papers make them look handmade.
These were adhered to a A2 sized Whisper White card. This is a basic US card size of 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card.
The hello greeting from Life is Grand is stamped with Pool Party ink on a 2" x 4 1/4" piece of Whisper White card stock.
I added 2 leaflets stamped in Pool Party and Granny Apple Green.
The border above and below the message panel are two trips of the tiny stitched scallop border included in the Be Mine Stitched Framelit dies. I just allowed the scallops to show through on this card. It seemed to call for a bit more simplicity.
Beautiful card that you can easily mail without a care in the world. No bows, knots or extra embellishments to worry your postal worker.

Now it is time to check out the other blogs:

I really appreciate that you have taken time out of your day to visit my blog. Let me know what you think and come back again soon!

Chris

***If you need a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Product List

Posted at 02:57 PM in Itty Bitty Greetings, Life is Grand, Painted Seasons | Permalink | Comments (15)

February 08, 2019

Valentine Variations

Happy Friday everyone! It's the last weekend before Valentine's Day. Are you ready?

In case you need some ideas I've got a few more Valentines to share, along with some techniques that will be fun to try far beyond Valentine's Day.

The first two were inspired by the Sunday Stamps' Pretty in Pink Challenge.

I've had those colors in the back of my mind since they published the challenge almost 2 weeks ago. Choosing the colors was my hurdle until I got a few of them out to get to know my new Painted Seasons stamp set. This is a Distinctive® set that will be available with its coordinating designer series paper starting February 15. It will be free with a $100 order while supplies last or until March 31. During the month of March you will also be able to purchase dies to use with it. My little get to know you session was basically a variation of the #simplestamping idea. I was just using stamps + ink + paper.

I chose to work with Melon Mambo, Berry Burst and Merry Merlot stamp pads.
I inked a stamp and started at the bottom of my paper, stamping full strength color at the bottom and continuing up my cardstock without reinking the stamp. I repeated this until the cardstock was covered with an ombre effect. This photo shows the fern/pinebough like stamp image done in Merry Merlot.

I continued doing this using other images with the other two colors. I've done this technique with solid images before but never with Distinctive® stamps, which are more photograph like. I love the texture that I was able to develop with this unique type of image.
I left one card simple with no special effects:

I pulled out the Rose Glimmer paper and Lovely Lipstick Foil to dress up my larger, more textured piece:

You can see how different stamps with different colors give you varying amounts of texture. I also liked the way the foil worked with this! The sentiment used on both cards is from an Occasions catalog set, Life is Grand. Definitely a Valentine, just without the hearts.

Here is a quick shot of one my other practice cards which will give you a better idea of the images:

Moving on. Another challenge calling for Valentine projects, the Paper Players, has a deadline for linking the cards this afternoon so I will quickly post that one too.

I've been wanting to perfect a card I first played with earlier. It uses the multi heart die in the Be Mine Stitched Framelits .

edited to add: I found the card that originally inspired this: It was done by Shari Carroll in 2014! And now I see she has a video...

Hints:

This time I got a little more contrast by adding the polka dot Lovely Lipstick DSP from the 6" x6" In color 2018 -2020 stack.
I started by attaching a 3 3/4" x 4" piece of All My Love DSP to a piece of 1 3/4" x 3 3/4" polka dot DSP. To do this you butt up the edges and apply cellophane tape from the back. Die cut across the front of this seam with the multi-heart die. You can save the pieces you cut out for another project since you only need the upper and lower parts left of the DSP.
In order to pop up the die cut layers you will need to back up all parts with an additional layer of Whisper White thick cardstock.
This means you will cut the die out of Whisper White card (thick) stock twice. Once should be from a small piece of Whisper White and one out of a 6" x 6" piece. You will only use the frame and the large upper and lower pieces so all of the other little white pieces and hearts can be saved or discarded.
I used Multipurpose adhesive to attach the white upper and lower pieces to the back of the DSP. Trim off any excess.
Making a double layer stack of the heart frames: You could add a Sizzix adhesive sheet to the small piece before die cutting. I usually forget until it's too late - so I'm pretty good with a sponge and multipurpose liquid glue.
You will need to use regular cellophane tape on the back to delicately attach the white heart frame to the upper and lower layers.
This is a good card to use up some of the edges of your Stampin' Dimensional sheets.
Hopefully this makes sense...after doing this a few times, I'm thinking it might need a Facebook video...

I really appreciate that you have taken time out of your day to visit my blog. Let me know what you think and come back again soon!

Chris

***If you need a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog.

If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.

Product List