Archive for the ‘Layout Sketch Provided’ Category:
Still a Kid at Heart!
Aloha, all!
When I was a little girl (loooooong time ago!) one of my favorite toys was paper dolls. I'd love it when my mom would bring home a book or a box with the doll and her clothes all ready for me to cut out. I was in little girl heaven for days!
And here I am at it again! The minute that Stampin' Up! came out with the Build-A-Bear line, I knew I'd be playing paper dolls again! Later in the season I'll probably bring out the Sizzix Die Cut Bear and make her some clothes. But for today, I'm just going to play with the Beary Best Friends Stamp Set from the Idea Book and Catalog, and the brand new Season of Hugs Stamp Set from the new Holiday Mini Catalog.
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What I love to do with the little girl bear is make her dress out of Designer Series Papers – just like I used to do when I cut out clothes for my paper dolls! Except, I can glue the dress to this little "doll" and not have to worry about making sure I don't mistakenly cut off a tab. I just have to call this sweetie Glenda, because she looks like such a good little witch all decked out for Trick or Treat. The paper that I used for her dress is, appropriately I think, from the Wicked Fun Specialty Designer Series Paper set. The witch's hat, the star and the bear "pumpkin" are all from the Season of Hugs Stamp Set, from the Stampin' Up! 2010 Holiday Mini Catalog.
What I have been doing with the little girl bears is putting a coordinating Flower Brad above their ears. However, this card was part of a swap in which I had to make 21 cards. I did not have 21 of those brads to coordinate with the dress. But I wanted something more than just a punched out flowerette. So I took a piece of Pumpkin Pie Card Stock and ran it through the Petals a Plenty Embossing Folder. I then used one of the punches from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack and punched out the centers of all the embossed flowers. Nice!
I had lots of fun coloring in the candy in the pumpkin with matching colors. But rather than just color in the pumpkin, I stamped 21 of them on Cajun Craze Card Stock and cut all those little critters out just like I did the dress. Oh, and the Witch's Hat – I stamped the hats and cut them out. But I used the back unstamped side of the Rich Razzleberry hat for Miss Glenda.
The greeting is also from the Season of Hugs Stamp Set, and is just too perfect for this sweet cutie. I tied the card front all up with a piece of Old Olive Taffeta Ribbon, and stamped a few stars in the "sky." It's all ready to send off to some sweet little girl for this Halloween!
Here's the sketch for this card – Have fun with it!!
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Subscribe to the comments for this postA Quick and Easy Layout
Aloha, all!
Last week, I was so bogged down with a bunch of different complicated projects that I needed some time just to make something simple. Some rectangles with one mat layer each – stamp, stamp, stamp. No ribbons or knots or bows or funny angles. At just this point, I happened upon a chat room that had a quick and easy challenge going on. Bingo! There was my layout.
It took me no time at all to make this card. I didn't agonize over where the flowers were going to be and where the stems would land. On the other hand, I was using the Cottage Garden Stamp Set in the clear mount form. So I could see pretty well where the flowers were being stamped. I wasn't quite so accurate with the stems. But remember that this was supposed to be simple and I was NOT going to stress over it! For my background, I used a sheet from the Designer Series Paper set Sunny Garden. (Can you tell that the papers and stamp set were meant to be coordinated? If not, the names of the products would give you a hint!) I chose the colors not only based on what colors were in the papers, but also on colors I might expect to be in a "sunny garden." Daffodil Delight, Peach Parfait, and Poppy Parade. For the mats for all the stamped pieces, I chose Pear Pizzazz, and that's the color I used to stamp the stems for the flowers.
Here's a stamper's hint: When you're a bit too relaxed, you might just get a little sloppy. We all do. When quickly thinking out the colors for this card, I intended for the darker of the three flowers to be in the center and coordinate with the color in the stamped sentiment (also from the Cottage Garden stamp set). But I started flinging things around and, oops! I got a smudge on the bottom of the Daffodil flower strip. Sigh. But not to worry (this was a "no worry" day). Just rearrange the flowers, and suddenly that smudge gets covered up by the sentiment strip.
I really did intend for there not be any embellishments on this card. But those Daffodil Delight Flower Brads kept calling out to me, so I let them decorate this card. Heck, all I had to do was punch some holes!
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Here's the layout for the card. Any time you want to make something simple, just cut the stamped paper the size you want it, then add 1/8" to the height and width to get the size for the mat layer. So simple! For this particular layout, the only stamped layer that you need to be a bit more careful about is the center vertical layer. Lay your card out on your working grid paper (or put a ruler up against the top edge) and find the center of the card (at 2-3/4"). Then arrange that center vertical layer so that ITS center is at the card's center. Then arrange the two outer vertical pieces the same distance from the center piece.
Have fun stamping!
Diva Fun With the Stampin’ Up! Summer Mini
Aloha, all!
Oh, no! Stampin' Up!'s 2010 Summer Mini Catalog is almost at its end!!! The good news is that there are a lot of products that will continue to be around until at least next summer! Tons of great stamp sets and embellishments that are in the 2010 Summer Mini are already in the new 2010-2011 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog.
Today's featured stamp set WON'T be around, though! I just love this set, and haven't used it nearly enough. The set is called Bouquet Bunch and makes such a nice greeting card and is perfect for accents for small scrapbook page elements.
Now you may be interested in how I came to use this stamp set with this delicious set of colors! Of course it's Wednesday, and that means it's time for a Diva Coffee Break Design Team challenge! This week the challenge was a color challenge:
I have to tell you that, when I saw this color grouping, I thought "Autumn." Nope, I'm not doing Autumn yet!! Too early for that, even though we're getting an evening chill in the air here on Hawaii's Big Island. Nope, it's still summer, gosh durn it!!! So where do I turn? To the Stampin' Up 2010 Summer Mini Catalog, of course! And that's how I chose this stamp set with which to work, and it was a blast to put together!
Not everything in this card is from the Summer Mini, though. A favorite product from this year's new 2010-2011 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog is the Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack. With each paper stack you get an assortment of ALL the colors in a particular family in four different patterns on two 2-sided papers. How cool is that? All four of these colors are in the Brights Collection of colors, and I almost ended up making a card showing off just the Designer Series Papers. But rubber and ink called out to me, so I relented.
There are so many different elements to this card that I thought I'd just make a set of bullet points so you can check them out:
- I stamped the flower pots on Rich Razzleberry Textured Card Stock using Rich Razzleberry Ink, then cut them out for adhering to the Very Vanilla Card Stock.
- Before I adhered each flower pot, I tied some Linen Thread around each of them.
- I stamped three flower images on Very Vanilla Card Stock, then colored each in (Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, and Old Olive) before cutting them out loosely around the end of the flowers.
- I added a Razzleberry center to each flower in the Daffodil and Tangerine bunches. For the Olive bunch, I colored in the flowers in Old Olive, then used a blender pen to add a lighter color of the Old Olive for the background.
- I'm having a 3 x 3 brad fit this week! In Monday's post , I added three brads in a vertical row in the upper left corner, and in a horizontal row in the lower right corner. No explanation – I just felt like it. Then today I added these new Basic Rhinestones in the same layout. Hey, that's what creativity's all about, isn't it! Artistic license gives us all the right to do stuff like this! Then I added just a little touch of rhinestones in the center bouquet.
- And knots are in in Robin's Craft Room this week, too! For this card, as well as for Monday's, I took a length of ribbon a bit larger than the width of the card and tied a knot in the middle. Remember that this is a textile, and you can twist and turn it within an inch of its little life until it looks JUST like you want it to. Perfect knots if I say so myself – that ribbon behaved itself quite nicely, thank you! And then I just taped the ends of the ribbon behind the layers it covers before adhering the group to the greeting card base.
- The final touch with this card is the border punched with the Scallop Trim Border Punch.
And here's the sketch for today's card: This is a very versatile layout and I'll probably use it again before long!
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New Challenges – Hooray!
Aloha, all!
Today I am officially a new member of the Diva Coffee Break Design Team! I have been playing with their designs off and on for awhile, and was thrilled to be accepted as a new member of the official team! Of course, this now means that you'll be seeing at least one design from each week's challenge here – and I hope that you'll go visit their website to see how all of the other Design Team Members worked the challenge.
Why is this good for you? Because you'll be reminded about how different we all are in the way that we approach the same project. Once you see all the different tastes and techniques on display on a site such as Diva Coffee Break, you might just have that "ah ha!" moment where you realize that you, too, have a unique idea on how to create using the sketch or color combo on display.
OK – what do you do then? Well, you go create your own take on the challenge AND you pop your card up on the Internet somewhere and post a link to it using the link system at the end of each week's challenge post. Don't have a public place to "park" your creation? Oh, yes, you do! It's on Split Coast Stampers! Call me (808.854.6145) or e-mail me if you need help with this. I'd LOVE to see YOUR creations posted on the Diva Coffee Break website!
OK – now onto my very first official card for the group!
Yes, this paper and this stamp set are still available to Stampin' Up! customers, because they're in the 2010 Summer Mini Catalog, and it's still Summer 2010! If you love all things Hawaiian (as I definitely do), then you won't want to miss out on the opportunity to order this before the catalog expires at the end of August.
But enough of the commercial. Let's get down to the design. Here's the sketch provided to the design team members, so you can see that I pretty much followed it to the letter (well, that's what newbies in any venture are supposed to do, isn't it?)
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Oooh, that color combo (not the challenge, believe me!) made me wince. So I had to squint a bit and try to see what in my stash of current Stampin' Up! stuff would work. The first thing that I thought was that the small rectangle at the top should have the sentiment or greeting. Easy that one because the Level 3 Hostess Set, Occasional Quotes, has several that would work. That left all that other space for images of one kind or another. Maybe some Designer Series Paper with a large print – ooooh, Island Oasis (now who would have thought that someone from Hawaii would have that pop into her head?) Now we're getting somewhere! There is that "party" quote in Occasional Quotes and there is a stamp set that coordinates with the paper that's called Tropical Party. How coincidental is that? And that diagonal? Screams for ribbon – and I just happen to have a large stash of Pumpkin Pie 5/8" Satin Ribbon that would fit the bill perfectly. And the design was done.
Actually, the design was NOT done. This is the FIRST card that I decided on. .jpg)
Do you see my "problem"? There was this very uninteresting spot towards the lower left corner of the quote element that just looked too, well, too much like a corner out in the middle of nowhere. Yes, I had the picture all ready to post, and I just couldn't do it. So back to the craft table (much more interesting than a drawing board) for the little flower that I popped onto that corner. And, just for good measure, another flower in the lower right corner of the card. Now THAT made a difference.
Lessons from today: Use a challenge to get your creative juices going. And if you don't quite like the end result, well then it isn't the end result! Spiff it up a bit!
Challenge for today: Make a card and link it to the Diva Coffee Break Design Team web page! Don't forget to call/e-mail me if you need help with the technical stuff.
Oh, and here are the exact measurements for the various layers on my card. Have fun with it!!
Another Oldie But Goodie!
Aloha, all!
You know by now that I just love stamp layout challenges – actually, I like card or scrap challenges of just about every kind! You might also recall that last week I posted a stamp set challenge in which I used an "Oldie But Goodie" stamp set, Simply Said. Shortly after that, there was yet ANOTHER challenge, and this one was a sketch challenge. When I went into the craft room to cogitate about what I might use to make the card, I found (as I all too frequently do) that I hadn't cleaned up after making last week's card with Simply Said. Well, that was certainly a message!
So here is yet another card with that oldie but goodie, along with a newer, but not really new, stamp set, Heard From The Heart. The fun thing about making this card was connecting the textured look of the flowers stamped over the heart backgrounds with the texture in the three hearts that I punched using the Heart to Heart Punch. Hey – I had that Square Lattice Embossing Folder still out from another project that needed to have stuff put away! (Yes, I do have to get in and clean up the craft room again – I'm procrastinating by blogging, another favorite trick of mine!) So I texturized the top layer of the square element of the card, then ran some scraps of matching Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, and Bashful Blue card stock through the same folder. Then I punched out the hearts and arranged them – quite artfully, if I say so myself! – and added one of Stampin' Up!'s newest products, Basic Rhinestones. You get 150 of those little gems for just $4.95. Great deal, I must say! Oh, and that background color is another fabulous new color from Stampin' Up!, Cherry Cobbler. As luscious as it sounds.
Here is the card layout, with those 1/8" measurement differences making the stamped images look so nicely framed! Have fun with it!
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Simple But Elegant Layering
Aloha, all!
Sometimes I get all involved in figuring out different shapes and positions of the various layers on my greeting cards and scrap pages that I forget that something simple can be very elegant!
I was impressed by this card's layout when I saw it in the Stampin' Success magazine. All the layers are in the same proportion and they are all centered vertically and horizontally. Normally I'd say, "How boring." But there are two features of this card that take it form boring to lovely: That little strip of "silver" around the Very Vanilla layers, and that angled piece of Satin Ribbon over the top set of layers. The "silver" in this case is Sahara Sand, but its color tone changes when it's put up against the vanilla and the Night of Navy colors. As I thought about this, I realized that this is the type of bordering and ribbon that I would see in a certificate folder presented at an awards ceremony! How elegant is that?! The Stamp Set, Just Believe, colored up with markers for the top layer and stamped with Pear Pizzazz on the bottom layer, adds very nicely to this elegant look.
I'm going to play around with this layout a bit more today and will share what I "discover" later in the month!
Meanwhile, here's the sketch for this card. Note that I scootched (that's a paper-crafting technical term!) the center section of my final card up just a tad (another tech term) to show off the leaves that I stamped on the top layer of the base section. I'll see how the rest of these cards turn out later – and so will you if you come back to visit!
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An Oldie But Goodie – Stamp Set, That Is!
Aloha, all!
Last Saturday I had some free time just to play in the craft room and the SUDSOL (my favorite online group for Stampin' Up! demonstrators) challenge team had a challenge to use some old stamp set that ended up not retiring this year and that we hadn't used in a long time.
Well, it's been a long time since I've made a greeting card with the REALLY old stamp set, Simply Said. I went through my stash of old Stampin' Up! Catalogs, and it looks like this stamp set was new in the 2006-2007 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog! Now this is a stamp set that has STAYING POWER!
So, how does it look today, four years later? Very nice, I think. I especially like the addition of one of Stampin' Up!'s newest products, the Basic Pearls. They accent the flowers on the heart motif beautifully, and coordinate oh so nicely with the Perfect Polka Dots Sizzix Embossing Folder. The colors are two of my favorite pinks, Regal Rose (the darker color) and Pink Pirouette (brought back this year to the Stampin' Up! permanent color collection). Whisper White is always a nice accent in a monochromatic type of greeting card.
Simply Said is a 2-Step Stampin' stamp set. For these older stamp sets, still sold only as wood mounted sets, you really need to use the Stamp-a-Ma-Jig to line up the stamps. When I first stamped the heart motif, I began by stamping the heart in Pink Pirouette; then stamping the floral inset using Regal Rose; and finally stamping the border, again using Regal Rose. Once the card was all done, though, I thought it might be just a bit classier to have that heart "pop out" a bit. So I 2-step stamped it again, cut it out, then adhered it over the original stamped image using Stampin' Dimensionals. Nice touch, I think!
Here is the layout for this card – there's one layer with a 1/16" increment to show just a hint of color around the edges of the stamped layer. Have fun with this!
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Cajun Blueberries?
Aloha, all!
I truly don't know if there are blueberries growing in Cajun Country. But I do know that Stampin' Up!'s Blueberry Crisp Designer Series Paper is a great set to coordinate with one of Stampin' Up!'s newest colors, Cajun Craze.
Yesterday I featured a 5" square card made with 2" squares of Blueberry Crisp paper. But, when you cut up those 2" squares, you're left with a bunch of scraps – and what a shame it would be just to throw them away!
So today I'm featuring a card using squares cut with the Stampin' Up! 1-1/4" Square Punch cut out of those scraps. Once I started fussing around with the colors and searching through my stash of embellishments, I decided that this would be a "Congratulations" card for a very special person. So I loaded it up with layers and buttons and ribbons, oh my! The buttons are from two of Stampin' Up!'s newest button collections, the Regals Collection (from which I chose a Cajun Craze and Night of Navy button) and the Neutrals Collection (that pretty little Very Vanilla flower button). I tied them up with a bit of crochet thread and then layered everything up with another sheet of Blueberry Crisp paper, and Cajun Craze, Night of Navy and Very Vanilla card stock. Before I used the Sizzix Square Lattice Texturz Folder on the Very Vanilla, I stamped "congratulations" from the stamp set, Curly Cute. It really is best to stamp BEFORE texturizing to get a nicely inked impression.
Here's the layout sketch for this card. The tutorial for making diagonal cuts for card fronts is here. Have fun!
Mmmmmm – Blueberries!
Aloha, all!
The Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper that I used for this card is named "Blueberry Crisp." Now, if I were at our family's cabin in Northern Minnesota, I might have had the real thing earlier this summer with all the wild blueberries growing, well, wild up there. That's definitely a "yum"!
But I wasn't there this summer, so I'll have to settle for the next best thing – luscious Stampin' Up! papers. And I love how this cutting and placement of one of the striped sheets of the paper set really shows off the different colors in the set. The layer just behind the striped pieces is also from the Blueberry Crisp set. The sentiment is from the brand new Level 3 Hostess Set, Occasional Quotes. I can't believe that, on my first choice, I passed up this set for another! But I had another personal opportunity to earn a Level 3 Hostess set, and grabbed this one quickly! And that quote fits one of the frames from the Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware set. To accent the sentiment motif, I tied together a piece of Chantilly Lace and Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbons and added it to the front with some Sticky Strip to hold it down.
This is a 5" square card – fits beautifully into Stampin' Up!'s Medium Square Envelopes which are 5-1/2" square. Here is the layout for this card, and some instructions about how to get those coordinating stripes cut out can be found by clicking here.
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A Colorful Tea Party!
Aloha, all!
I am just blown away by the fabulous new colors that Stampin' Up! has provided for me (you, too!) to use this year! And what a great way to show a group of them off than with a stack of tea cups from the New Stamp Set, Morning Cup. When I have a tea party, I love to use all different kinds of tea cups – just makes it feel as if I've raided my grandmother's kitchen cabinets for all those odd cups from old sets of family dishes. What memories!
But I digress – this stack of tea cups is what most recently brought that memory back to me – and look at those colors! Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Peach Parfait – all just so enjoying being together on one card, don't you think? I got the idea for using this group of colors from fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator, Connie Babbert, who does just wonderful design work. I sketched in the colors for my card with Stampin' Write Markers, and used some sheets from the new Designer Series Paper set, Sunny Garden. Hmmm. Tea Party, Garden Party – well THAT all works well together! And the papers work well with this color scheme because they included the very same new colors. The final touch is a luscious piece of Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon, and a base card of Daffodil Delight Card Stock. I may have to go make myself a cup of mango-flavored tea and go out into my Hawaiian Garden (yes, that's a piece of it peeking out from behind the picture!) to enjoy a beautiful day.
And there I go digressing again! Before I go out for that cup of tea, I want to share the sketch for this card with you. I have to tell you that I tried layering up the two layers of Designer Series Paper. But I always ended up going back to the simplicity of just having those two complementary strips of printed paper accent each other – which I think they do nicely. Have fun with this sketch!
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