Apr 26, 2008 | rubber stamping
Anything using watercolours always makes me feel so "artsy" despite the lack of my visual arts educational background.
This card uses the set "Wonderful You" (p 91 of Stampin’ Up!’s current Spring-Summer Collection) and the coordinating jumbo wheel, Stems & Silhouettes (p. 91 as well). To do the watercolouring, I spritzed water across the rubber surface of the solid stamp, then coloured directly onto the rubber with my watercolour crayons (p.183) – Love these crayons. I gave another light spritz of water and then stamped onto watercolour paper. The absorbancy of the watercolour paper means I don’t have to wait _too_ long… I stamped the outline of the flower in basic grey, and used my stamp-a-ma-jig to make sure the images lined up well. Tore the edges of the paper, mounted onto some garden green cardstock & wrapped with natural hemp twine. I stamped "wonderful you" in basic grey onto a scrap of watercolour paper, punched with the small oval punch & used the small oval frame from the silver hodgepodge hardware (Occasions mini). After using the jumbo wheel on the cardstock, I assembled everything. I actually used stampin’ dimensionals to attach the silver frame to the cardfront as I didn’t want the backs of the brads to be showing through the card.
OK so here’s the reality of my lack of advanced visual arts education….the colours I used on the flower blossom in the picture are regal rose & rose red (so, essentially coordinating shades of the same base colour). My first attempt (relegated to the recycling bin) was summer sun & ballet blue. Learn from me…..I ended up with a very murky, kind of khaki green coloured flower. Not so wonderful! LOL.
Stampin’ Up! just announced that the Occasions mini will now be active until the end of JUNE! (so ignore the May date on the cover! LOL) – the new big catalogue will be out in August, so they’re shifting the dates around a little bit. More time to shop! If you do want to take advantage of the free wheelin’ promotion, though, you still only have until the end of April, so please contact me before then!!
Apr 20, 2008 | rubber stamping
I know you’re shocked… another quick & easy card from me! LOL.
The image on this card is Stampin’ Up!’s Pretty Petals stamp – it’s a large background stamp that can be the focus of a card without too much difficulty, I think. The card was inspired by a fellow demonstrator (but I can’t give full credit since I can’t actually find the original right now….again, shocking – NOT). Anyway – glossy white cardstock is brayered with two colours – in this case, soft sky & certainly celery, and the image is stamped in Basic Black onto this, then cut into 3 pieces. In this case, I cut the pieces evenly, but they could be cut in different widths and at different angles to give the card a different look. As long as you keep the pieces in the right order! The images were mounted onto basic black and the card is made from basic grey cardstock. I made a small notch at the card fold with my 3/4" circle punch to slip the rose grosgrain ribbon through to tie in the front, just to add a little extra colour & texture.
OK back to work! I’m coming up with some more ideas for my May class & workshops! (Don’t forget to RSVP if you want to attend my May class – date of class if Weds May 7th, but cut off for registration is May 5th).
Apr 15, 2008 | Announcements
This is a GREAT promotion, to benefit a Canadian organization! For every Loonies for Littles kit sold ($32.50 adjusted price), Stampin’ Up! will donate $2 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada – their in school mentoring program.
The Loonies for Littles Stampin’ Kit includes the following:
• Exclusive double-mounted Good Together stamp set
• One 5" x 5" On Board Art Journal
• Two sheets of double-sided Designer Series paper from Boho Blend
Simply Scrappin’
• Three sheets of self-adhesive die cuts from Boho Blend Simply
Scrappin’
• Four sheets of 12" x 12" textured card stock
• Two Classic Stampin’ Spots: 1 Old Olive, 1 Pumpkin Pie
• Full-color insert with photos of projects, along with step-by-step
instructions
• One Craft Keeper
I personally am especially thrilled that one stamp features the "correct" spelling for "FavoUrite" 🙂 Yay Stampin’ Up! If you’d like to get in on this special, please contact me before May 31st to help support a great cause.
Apr 9, 2008 | rubber stamping
The cord has been found! Yay! To celebrate – here’s a simple but effective card… Stampin’ Up!’s Stitched Exotics stamp set with gold embossing powder creates a very cool effect, I think! (and right now, if you order the Stitched Exotics stamp set, you get the It’s Beautiful jumbo wheel for FREE).
I love the stitched look with the embossing. I added a half pearl (adhered with a mini glue dot – fits perfectly!) from my favourite Pretties kit to give the card a little dimension. The card is in bravo burgundy, and I backed the main imaged with some brushed metallic gold cardstock. This is another card that comes together really quickly and gives good impact.
Here’s a close up of the image (because I was playing with the camera…)
Free wheels until the end of the month ONLY – so contact me before April 30th to take advantage of this special offer!
Apr 3, 2008 | Announcements
Just to let you know that I’m still here but I’ve misplaced the cord that connects my camera to my computer…so while I’ve got some great card samples to share…I can’t get them uploaded just yet! Stay tuned… (and apologies!)
Mar 27, 2008 | Uncategorized
This card design is based again on one we did at the Stampin’ Up! regional seminar in Hamilton quite a while ago. It’s fun to have a standard sized card that isn’t quite so standard… The large flower from the Ginormous Flowers set is inked first in regal rose ink, the the stamp is rolled onto a rose red ink pad so that the edges of the stamp pick up the darker shade of ink. A little fine cosmo glitter in blue gives the card a little more bling factor. And hey, glitter always makes a card more "wow". Colours of the card are sage shadow with so saffron; a bashful blue layer under the image. The other stamp set I used was Celebrate Everything… this stamp set of phrases covers a whole range of occasions, which makes it a perfect set to use while when you’re making a whack of cards to have handy!
I’m going to be trying to do a few video tutorials in the near future, so if there’s anything that you’re curious about (technique, card, etc) – or if you’ve been in one of my classes and need to see something again, let me know & it may be the subject of a future video tutorial here!!
Mar 23, 2008 | rubber stamping, TV/Video/Web/Tech
HA made it just in time…still Easter here! LOL) OK here we go – trying out a new toy of mine! Here’s a video of an Easter slider card made with Stampin’ Up!’s Loads of Love and Loads of Love Accessories sets. I am not talking in this one, because I’m concentrating on what I’m doing….LOL. I angle the card at the end so you can kind of see the mechanics of the card. Kind of. Supplies: Almost Amethyst cardstock, Creamy Caramel Cardstock (torn for mountain effect), basic black cardstock (for road); white gel pen (for lines on road); almost amethyst ink sponged onto whisper white cardstock for sky. Image stamped with basic black ink & coloured with blender pens & stampin’ pastels; Zig painty pen on hubcaps & bumpers; caramel gingham ribbon. Slot cut with paper cutter, word window punch used to create slider portion that truck is mounted onto. Enjoy, and feel free to leave feedback!! Here’s hoping it works…..
Mar 19, 2008 | rubber stamping
Love this sentiment…..it’s from Stampin’ Up!’s Occasions mini catalogue – the set is Full of Life.
This is a rectangular card that fits into the small open ended envelope. The images are from the set Just Celebrate (I mounted the images separately from the sentiments) and are stamped in StazOn Jet Black onto glossy white cardstock, then coloured with Stampin’ Write markers. Love using the markers on the glossy cardstock – the colours go on smoothly and the glossy cardstock looks so professional. The ribbon slide is from the styled silver hodgepodge hardware, also in the Occasions mini. LOOOOOVE all the neat new pieces in this kit – embossed brads with flowers, stars, etc – very cool.
I have 2 spots left in the Many Marvelous Markers club that starts at the end of this month. Over four months (and 4 payment instalments) you’ll end up receiving a complete set of 48 double-ended stampin’ write markers with carrying case, coordinating cardstocks, envelopes, blender pens….. Contact me to reserve your spot or to get more info (but act quickly)!
Mar 16, 2008 | Announcements
Sale-a-bration runs until March 17th….so there’s still some time for you to pick up some free Sale-a-bration product! Check out my Sale-a-bration kit page – tons of product in $70 groupings so there’s sure to be a kit that catches your eye! Contact me to let me know which one works for you!
Mar 14, 2008 | rubber stamping
Ever have one of those moments when you think "ARGH! I don’t have any (insert name of occasion here) stamps!"? There’s a way around everything! Here’s an Easter card that we did at a recent class without a typical Easter stamp set.
Using the Illuminations set (not featured in the Spring-Summer Collection, but still available to order from the Dormant List), we created an Easter card. I actually used this same stamp for a Christmas card with the same group, and love how it applies to both occasions.
The cross was created from scrap cardstock, and simply held in place to use as a mask; lavender lace ink was sponged outwards to create a resist effect. "Joy" was stamped in versamark & embossed with gold embossing powder on cardstock vellum, and then held in place over the card by white taffeta ribbon. Vellum adds a little elegance to everything, I think!
Another example of an Easter card without Easter stamps….the punch bunny card! (in the Easter projects photo album; link is at the right, or click above for the link)
So now you have no excuse for not being able to make some sort of an Easter card for someone, right?! (Oh, and might as well contact me to order an Easter stamp set for next year!! LOL)
Anything using watercolours always makes me feel so "artsy" despite the lack of my visual arts educational background.
