I love how quickly this easy and elegant card came together. It’s another one of those “looks like it’s more difficult than it actually is” type of techniques – aka my kind of technique!
Easy and Elegant Card
This card uses the Golden Garden Designer Specialty Acetate, which is available in the January-June 2021 Mini Catalogue. Trust me when I say the hardest part of this card is peeling off the layer of protective plastic from the back of the acetate. I actually thought that maybe these sheets didn’t have that layer because I couldn’t seem to catch the edge of it…but trust me, it’s there. And trust me, you need to take that layer off for this technique to work well.
Anyhow! Once I was able to peel of the plastic…..I simply added colour with my Stampin’ Blends alcohol based markers on the back of the acetate. I used Night of Navy, Rich Razzleberry and Granny Apple Green, and I actually only used one of the shades – I didn’t do any shading/blending. The variation in the colours that you see is just from the way I coloured and the way that the ink collected on the acetate and I love the effect!
Easy and Elegant Card close up
You can see that the colouring doesn’t have to be super precise! I’m not sure that it shows very well, but the background paper has been embossed with the Tasteful Textile 3D Embossing Folder, just to add a little texture without distracting too much from the main image.
On the close up of my easy and elegant card, you may be able to pick out the Mini Glue Dots that I used to attach the acetate to the cardfront – I placed them in the centre of the flowers, because I figured even if they showed a bit, they just make the centres more distinctive.
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I’ve spent the weekend in a virtual crafting session and it’s been so fun! In all honesty, I haven’t actually completed many of the projects, but it’s been great to watch the classes and get inspired. It’s also given me a bit of a kick in the pants to get working harder on -my- next online class offering! I think I actually prefer the online versions to the in person versions as a student….because there’s no rushing to get anywhere….and I can stay in my comfy clothes (which may or may not be my pyjamas…). Have you ever participated in an online class or retreat? I’ll be sure to let mailing list subscribers know when I’m ready to launch my next online class. Don’t forget that commenters have the opportunity to help me clear out my collection of sample cards! I’m randomly selecting a few commenters and sending some happy mail their way.
This is a clean and simple card (essentially)…using the Beautiful Moments stamp set. I love the outline images in this set – and you can choose to add colour or not.
Beautiful Moments card
For this quick card (it truly was a quick one, promise), I chose to add colour by using my Water Painters and some ink refills to watercolour the image. Watercolouring can be very forgiving – you don’t have to be perfectly within the lines – so that makes it a quick way to add colour. I stamped in Staz On Jet Black ink onto my Fluid 100 Watercolour Paper, and let it dry for a moment. You’ll want to be sure that your ink pad is well inked to stamp on the watercolour paper to get a good image. I find that my Staz On tends to need more frequent re-inking than some of my other ink pads, so I’d recommend purchasing the re-inker when you get the ink pad so you have it on hand.
One of the ways I like to add a background on my cards is by using patterned paper. For this card, I chose a more muted pattern from the In Good Taste Designer Series Paper. I liked the calm effect that seemed to go with the image. A bit of bling from the Blushing Bride 3/8″ Metallic Ribbon and some Rhinestone Basic Jewels to dress it up a little bit and I was happy with the resulting Beautiful Moments card. I added mattes in Basic Black because it seemed to go with the “arty” feel.
I just realized as well that I used the bottom right corner layout design again – that seems to be my “go to” right now?! I will have to try to mix it up a little bit more for the next card I share. Do you have a favourite card design layout? Leave me a comment – I obviously need some other layout ideas! LOL.
This Happy Mail Floral Card made me…happy! It was fun to create a card that primarily used stamps and ink. Sometimes I’m so focused on designing card for club and class that feature Designer Series Papers or different techniques that are not stamp-centric that I make a point of making a card that relies more on the beauty of the stamped images. (oh and read to the bottom to help me share my wealth of accumulated card samples…)
I love the watercolour effect of the images. By stamping full strength images (first generation) or stamping off onto scrap paper first and then onto the card (second generation images), you can vary the intensity of the tones and provide a bit more interest and dimension to the card. I had just re-inked my Highland Heather ink pad and was a little impatient so there was a lot of ink on the stamp initially so left a bit of a texture when I stamped off on scrap paper….but I personally don’t mind it! I added some Opal Rounds as a subtle accent for this Happy Mail Floral Card – kind of looks like dew drops I think?! If you are making this card, I might leave off the rounds if you’re planning on mailing it – kind of bumpy….
If you are looking to get some happy mail in your email inbox, be sure to be signed up for the YamStamps Newsletters!You’ll receive a video tutorial when you sign up, and then you’ll receive weekly emails featuring ideas and inspiration for your paper crafting. You can find out more details here or go straight to the sign up here.
I’m also looking to share the wealth of card samples that are starting to accumulate in my craft room – so starting with this post, if you leave a comment, I’ll select someone to receive a sample from my stash of cards!
OK I’m pretty sure that’s not the correct term for a group of butterflies, but March 2 brings the Butterfly Bouquet promotion to the Stampin’ Up! world. From now until May 3, you can order the Butterfly Brilliance bundle and some exclusive special papers too.
I’m not sure if you can see in this image – but the butterflies are actually all on one stamp – and the large die is all one piece -so you will be stamping all the images at the same time, plus die cutting at the same time as well (if you choose to do so). One other neat thing that was shared with us is that there is one design in the Butterfly Bijou papers that matches up with the dies as well. Demonstrators have had the chance to order the items in this promotion since February, and what another demonstrator shared is that they actually cut the stamp apart so they have many individual stamps. If you keep the outline rubber (that you punch the stamp out of), you could always use that as a guide if you want to “reassemble” the images into the original shape again. Or you could splurge and treat yourself to a second stamp set and keep one intact and cut up the other one.
Sale-a-Bration is ending on February 28th this year – which is earlier than previous Sale-a-Brations. There will be another Sale-a-Bration occuring in the summer, but this is your last chance to grab the January-February Sale-a-Bration items before they’re gone!
This curvy floral card was inspired by a swap I received from fellow demonstrator Kay Smith. While I do enjoy the design process, one of the things that Stampin’ Up! demonstrators do is share ideas – so then we can add our own twists (or not!). It’s great to see the beautiful work by others and get inspiration.
Curvy Floral Card
The floral paper is the Flower & Field Designer Series Paper that is a Level 1 Sale-a-Bration option. This means that if you place an order for $60 product, you could select it as your freebie. If you place an order for $120, you could get two packages…or one of the Level 2 Sale-a-Bration options (and so on, and so on…). The paper is cut with the curved edge die from the Curvy Dies. It’s layered on some Pool Party Cardstock that is embossed with the Ornate Floral 3D Embossing Folder. A few layered Daisy Punch outs add some more floral accents. Can you tell what the centres of the daisies are? I actually used the centre of the “O” from the Playful Alphabet dies! Added a sentiment from the Dragonfly Garden stamp set onto a Stitched Shape oval. I love oval die cuts for sentiments. The Layering Ovals Dies are a great option as well. They tend to fit a number of sentiments and I always find that curved lines are more forgiving in terms of lining things up. Plus I figured the curved angle went well on this curvy floral card.
So – February 28th is your last chance to grab the Sale-a-Bration items of your choice with your qualifying product purchase – visit yamstamps.com/shop! Also – Feb 28th marks the last day to register for the March Online Card Class – so don’t miss out. Contact me to register for class or for assistance placing an order!
My Stampers Club and Card Classes are being held virtually right now, and one of the Stampin’ Up! rules about class kits that I send out is that I can’t pre-stamp anything. It makes sense, especially when you want to learn about card making and stamping, but it has been stretching my creative brain cells a bit at times! This no stamping required card thankfully came together fairly quickly so that was nice!
No Stamping Required Card
One thing that made this card easy was that I used items from the same suite. They’re all from the Fine Art Floral Suite Collection in the January-June 2021 Mini Catalogue. This is one of my favourite suites! (OK disclaimer, I’m not into the Gilded Leafing because I’m a messy crafter to start, and that stuff would be absolutely everywhere for a very long time). Anyway. I used my current favourite embossing folder, Painted Texture for the backing piece and then added some of the 3/8″ Fine Art Ribbon. It’s a subtle metallic – if there’s such a thing.
No Stamping Required Card
To finish the card, I simply die cut some Stitched Rectangles from Poppy Parade Cardstock and the Fine Art Floral Designer Series Paper. I actually used my new Mini Stampin’ Cut & Emboss machine for this step – it’s such a cute little machine! It would be perfect to take to a crop (whenever we get to do things like that again). I also love that it doesn’t take up much room on my crafting surface – so I have more room to spread out my crafting supplies and mess LOL.
I really like putting main elements towards the bottom right of my cardfronts….I think it adds a bit more interest than always centering the focal image, which I otherwise tend to do.
No Stamping Required Card
Last but not least – if you’re missing card classes, join me in March for my Online Card Class. This is one of the no stamping required cards we’ll make together. I’ll send you the packet of precut class materials ahead of time, then we’ll get together on a Zoom conference call March 10th. If you can’t make it on that date, no worries! You’ll have access to the recording afterward so that you can watch at your leisure.
Class fee is $20 and includes postage of class materials to your home in Canada. You can contact me to register and to get payment links. Deadline for registration is February 28 to allow for postage time. You will need an adhesive of your choice and something that you can score and cut cardstock with, plus Stampin’ Dimensionals are a nice option. You can add stamping from your stash on hand after the class! When I had in person events, a lot of people would actually opt to leave the sentiments out at the time anyway and add them later, once they knew the occasion for which they would be using the card.
I hope you’re enjoying your Family Day (or whatever it’s called in your neck of the woods…). I’m looking to spending time with some of my crafty family tonight – aka the Stampers Club! It’s our online class, and it’s always fun to see each other and catch up a bit, while also getting to share some crafting. I’m off to make sure everything’s charged up and that I have a reasonably cleared worktop!
