Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends and family! Pumpkin pie is baked and I will be putting the turkey in the oven in the next while. I am so grateful to be able to get together with family and friends this weekend. Sunday’s Swap Share celebrates this fact!
A tip if you are creating multiples of one design but want to use Designer Series Paper as part of the project – copy this card design – use smaller pieces as accents. You’ll be able to stretch your sheets a little further. For this demonstrator card swap, we had to make 21 cards. If you have a standard Designer Series Paper package, it will have two 12″ x 12″ sheets of each of the double sided designs. You could cut six 2″ strips and then cut them down further – if you make the pieces 2″ x 3″, you’ll get 24 pieces for example. If you’re trying to be super efficient and thrifty, I’d just recommend doing any number that divides into 12, if you’re trying not to tax your brain too much, I’d recommend doing whole numbers rather than fractions!
I’m looking forward to our family Thanksgiving dinner tonight, and will work it off by walking alongside the Burlington Teen Tour Band at the Kitchener Waterloo Oktoberfest Parade tomorrow! Happy Thanksgiving!
I shared this simple die cut window card the other day in a Facebook Live Video. Did you see it? It was for World Cardmaking Day. If you missed it, go to the YamStamps Facebook Page, click “like” and “follow” and “all notifications” so that you can be notified when I do a Live video! (if you scroll down once you’re on the page, you should be able to find the recording of the video too).
In the Live video, I actually did a side fold card, but nevermind that…LOL. I chose to die cut the oval window using the Layering Ovals Dies, and then die cut a the lacy floral piece using the Christmas Layers Dies. I like that even though it is a Holiday Catalogue item, this die cut can be used for something other than a holiday card. I used a sentiment from the Path of Petals stamp set to create a sympathy card. Often sympathy cards are the ones that we don’t often feel like creating, but often need. Obviously, though, with this pattern and images, you could use almost any sentiment to create a card for almost any occasion. The random extra floral images are from the Shine Bright stamp set, but I thought they were similar to the die image.
In the sample above, I used Thick Very Vanilla Cardstock and Merry Merlot Cardstock. By cutting the die from the same tone cardstock, it makes the die cut look like it’s more continuous with the window, and using Merry Merlot ink for the images ties everything in and adds a bit more dimension without being too distracting. I did add dimensionals behind the Merry Merlot layer to highlight the window and die cut a bit more.
If you are looking for more ideas for easy and effective paper crafting, make sure you’re also on my Newsletter List! You’ll get ideas like this simple die cut window card sent to your inbox– but not this exact card, because the newsletter projects are typically not shared on my social media outlets! Tomorrow is the second of the Twelve Weeks of Christmas mailings – so if you’re a subscriber, I’ll “see you in your inbox” tomorrow!
Happy World Cardmaking Day! Yes, who knew there was such a thing? Sharing this sunflower card to celebrate and thank you for visiting the blog. My personal mission is to follow World Cardmaking Day with a “Mail It Monday” – meaning I get card(s) in the mail to people!
You’ll know that I’m all about the quick and easy card – and this is one of them for sure. Let the images take the centre stage and get the card done and mailed! The sunflowers are created with the Painted Harvest stamp set – I love how the two petal images layer to add shadow and dimension. They were stamped in Crushed Curry. The centre is done in Early Espresso (stamped off onto scrap paper once to lighten up the image a bit) so the “seeds” show up a bit more.
This is one of those stamp sets that is so versatile – just by switching out the colours used! I shared a Christmas Wreath card using this set on the YamStamps Instagram Channel.Click here to see it.
So Happy World Cardmaking Day! Are you following the YamStamps Facebook Page? I did a Live video showing a different card today. If you follow the page, click all notifications so that next time I go live, you’ll know about it!
In the meantime, I’m off to address an envelope to get this sunflower card mailed!
This glittery star card was one of my personal favourites from last month’s Christmas Card Class! While we set it up as a holiday card, I’m sure you could use this accent on a celebratory card for any occasion. (Oh, and surprise, it’s navy and silver….but there’s copper accents and the card is grey….so I’m kind of getting away from that recurring theme? Maybe? I’m trying, really I am!). Though now that I write that, I realize what the colour scheme was for the first of the YamStamps Twelve Weeks of Christmas project emails yesterday…. (Get on my newsletter list so you don’t miss any more of the subscriber exclusive projects!).
This is a square card, because I really wanted the large star to take up a lot of space on the cardfront. The background is the Brightly Gleaming Specialty Designer Series Paper so I took my colour scheme from that. The large copper foil star is from the Brightly Gleaming Foil Elements – you get 10 of them in the package (if I counted correctly). While I was playing around with the elements, I discovered that the star is the same size as one of the Stitched Stars Dies! So the Silver Glimmer Paper was cut with the star and then the Copper Foil Star was stuck onto it. Once it was secure, we just had to trim the ends of the silver star – because the die has pointy star ends and the foil element is rounded.
I try not to stray too much outside a bundle if possible, but I couldn’t resist using the Shine Bright stamp set sentiment – because I thought it was perfect! If you’re keeping track – the Stitched Stars Dies come in a discounted bundle with the So Many Stars stamp set, while the Shine Bright stamp set comes in a discounted bundle with the Stitched Brightly Dies. It’s heat embossed with Copper Embossing Powder and cut out with a Stitched Rectangle Die. Even though it’s an extra step to die cut a sentiment, it often means I don’t have to re-do a card because at the last moment I stamped the sentiment crookedly! Just stamp the sentiment on a scrap piece of cardstock, then die cut (and of course, position the die so the sentiment is squared and centred within the cut out portion!).
And it was pointed out to me that I missed an embellishment opportunity – a little rhinestone bling in the centre of the star?! Ah well – for the next time I make this card – or YOU could make it!
Are you a member of the Paper Crafting with YamStamps Facebook Group? I did a last minute Facebook Live on Wednesday, showing how you can heat emboss with Stampin’ Up! inks. Click on join and follow so that you can be notified of future Lives – because I’m on a mission to do a few more live videos on a regular basis! If you make a version of a glittery star card, please post it in the group – I have a participation challenge going on right now! Thanks for stopping by.
This week’s Sunday Swap Share has an autumn feel to it – though it’s using product from the Holiday Catalogue, which often seems like the Christmas and Halloween Catalogue…LOL. Created by Sophie Ouellet, this wildlife card features Stampin’ Up!’s Nature’s Beauty Stamp Set and seems appropriate for the first official Sunday of fall!
One other thing to note – a portion of each sale of this stamp set goes towards supporting mental health in the country in which it is sold. Stampin’ Up! has designated the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health as the Canadian beneficiary. I know that crafting is a great stress reliever for me, and helps my mental health – and it’s great to know that this stamp set goes towards helping support mental health in Canada!
The Petal Pink Vellum is from the Perennial Essence Vellum Cardstock package and coordinates with the Petal Pink Organdy Striped Ribbon. I would never have thought to use Petal Pink and Blackberry Bliss on an autumn card – part of the reason I love participating in swaps! I don’t have to think up every single design on my own, and can borrow from ideas and inspiration from others. While I do enjoy coming up with my own designs, there are times when I need a little creative boost.
Did you know that if you purchase a starter kit through me, you become part of my group of demonstrators known as the “Eh” Team? You aren’t out there on your own – you have my support and training, plus Stampin’ Up!’s trainings, plus our team in total – when you want it or need it. I’m having an Information Night on Thursday, October 9th at 7pm. It’s a short, free event for you to have your questions answered. If you’re not local to Burlington, ON, or can’t make it that evening, you can contact me for other options. Check out my Demonstrator Information Page by clicking the link, or typing in the shortcut yamstamps.com/join. As always, you can contact me if you have any questions or need any information – about becoming a demonstrator with my team, crafting supplies, or paper crafting techniques! Thanks to Sophie for this great wildlife card, thanks to Stampin’ Up! for a great fundraiser, and thanks to you for stopping by the YamStamps blog.
If you’ve been visiting the YamStamps site for a while, or checking out the YamStamps Facebook Page or Instagram Account, you’ll know that I like projects that look impressive but don’t take too much work. Sometimes I like to colour – but it’s got to be something that will be effective while also being easy!! Here’s the latest in that line of Lazy Crafting…in which I colour ON the lines.
This easy colouring card uses the Animal Outing stamp set and coordinating Animal Friends Dies. How is this an easy card? Well, I only used 3 colours of Watercolour Pencils and a Blender Pen. I took advantage of all the artist drawn shading and contouring lines to give the image a bit more dimension. The image is stamped in Staz On Jet Black ink onto Shimmery White cardstock – which deals well with wet media and techniques. I coloured along the outlines and shading lines with the Watercolour Pencils, then went over it with the Blender Pen to move the colour out to the rest of the image. I used Bermuda Bay Cardstock to tie in the colour of the card with the pencil that was used to colour the bird.
The leaves were cut along the side of the Smoky Slate Cardstock and had to be cut twice to span the entire length of the card. What you can’t see behind the rhino image is that there is a bit of an overlap of the cut images which isn’t so pretty….but it’s hidden so it’s all good!
So remember – colour ON the lines to make your colouring quick, easy and effective! If you’re interested in learning more paper crafting tips and techniques, be sure to be subscribed to my Paper Crafting E-Newsletters. Starting NEXT WEEK all subscribers will receive a bonus newsletter installment – the Twelve Weeks of Christmas! Each week, for the next twelve weeks, in addition to the regular YamStamps Email, you’ll get an exclusive Christmas Project email – complete with picture, supply list and step by step instructions. Don’t delay – the first of the Twelve Weeks emails goes out October 2nd!!
