Archive for the ‘Tutorial’ Category:
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!
Subscribe to the comments for this postMmmmmm – 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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Windows Redux
Aloha, all!
Back when I first started this blog – can you believe it's been TWO YEARS!!?? – I was making my very first swaps for the Stampin' Up! Convention. One swap was a "no-layer" card and I used a round punch to make windows in the card front so that an image from the inside showed through. Ever since then, I've used different ways of punching shapes to provide "windows" through which to view pictures.
Recently I came across instructions for making a 4-pane window to frame an image. The instructions used retired products (as many of my tutorials have ended up doing! – I'll try to fix that soon). I really liked the idea, so I updated it using, um, fairly current products. The "fairly" in that statement is that I am not yet replacing my entire collection of punches with Stampin' Up!'s new style of punches. While I LOVE the new style – so much easier to store as well as to use – my checkbook is not yet supporting doing all the replacement that needs to be done. And so the instructions for making the window for this card use the still useful "old" style 1-1/4" Square Punch. As I use this punch for a lot of my projects, and likely a lot of my tutorials, I will probably purchase the new style sooner than later. But for now, instructions for making the window for this card are here.
Besides the 4-pane window, you might be interested to know about some of the other Stampin' Up! products and techniques that I used to make this card. I originally thought I'd use my Watercolor Wonder Crayons for this card. But I really wanted to capture the lovely new color, Marina Mist. Unfotunately that color is not available in the Watercolor Wonder collection yet. So I decided just to use my Stampin' Write Markers to try the watercolor look. Wow, it sure worked wonderfully! I colored the stamp from the set, Inspired by Nature with the markers (the other colors are Daffodil Delight and Garden Green) and then spritzed them a bit with Stampin' Mist Stamp Cleaner (it's the closest spray bottle to the craft room table!). Nice look!
I trimmed the window to 4-1/8" x 4-1/8", placed the stamped image behind it, then adhered it to a card made of Daffodil Delight, stamped with a sentiment from that old faithful stamp set, Sincere Salutations. The butterflies are made with the Sizzix Embosslit Beautiful Wings, and the ribbon is Marina Mist 5/8" Satin Ribbon.
Before I layered everything up, I texturized the window layer using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. I have a couple of notes about that. If you texturize with an embossing folder AFTER you have made the windows, you'll skew the shape and width of everything a bit. But it doesn't look too bad. I tried a sample made by texturizing the card stock FIRST, and THEN punching the windows. All in all, I think that I like the latter technique better. Why don't you try it out and let me know what YOU think!
Have fun with the project!
A Fun Daisy Wreath!
Aloha, all!
By golly, I got to play in my craft room TWICE today! Well, it's pretty late in most places on the mainland. But I'm still posting here on June 30th. Not to worry, though – everything that's in this fun project is also in the brand new Stampin' Up! 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog. It's still not "out there" for me to link to; but check back later on July 1st, and I'm sure you'll find a link to it right over on the left of this blog post!
One of our FCE club's fund raisers every year is a rummage sale. BIG rummage sale! As I was helping set up and, of course, browsing through the goodies, I came across a stack of Card Maker magazines from a couple of years ago. Score! No one else had a chance at those babies.
A project that caught my eye as I leafed through them this past weekend used one of the Sizzix Big Shot dies to make a wreath. The die they used was the Stars #2 die (guess what just got added to my July 1st order list!). Not having that die, I worked through some of the other dies trying to make a similar wreath. The Stampin' Up! Beautiful Butterflies die makes one that's to die for! But it's more scrapbook page size than greeting card size. While I'm sure that I'll show that off before long (think some new designer series paper with some round pages!) I really wanted to show off a card. So the Flower Daisies #2 die it was!
I took some more time out today (yes, I did get some chores done, but I was really not that into housework today as you can tell) and made this card. My Stampin' Up! demos group, SUDSOL, had a great sketch challenge this week, and this fit right in.
New colors: Pear Pizzazz and Daffodil Delight. New Designer Series Paper: Greenhouse Gala. New Ribbon: 1/8" Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon. Not new but still fun stamp from the set On a Pedestal.
Here is a set of instructions for making the Daisy Wreath! As soon as I get my hands on the Stars #2 Die, I'll make a sample using that and update the instructions!
Have fun with this!
A Workshop for Wendy
Aloha, all!
I originally posted these projects as part of a blog tour. What fun that was! The tour group was made up of demonstrators who belong to the group, SUDSOL, which is for Stampin' Up! Demonstrators exclusively. Great group! And I provide a free 3-month membership to the group for anyone who joins my Stampin' Up! team. For more information, just e-mail me.
Now for my creative projects for the day. My first workshop using the Stampin' Up! 2010 Summer Mini Catalog was with my new friend, Wendy, and lots of her friends. After much discussion about how the workshop would be organized, we decided on three Make and Takes, with some of the luscious new Designer Series Paper set, Island Oasis, the Stamp Set, Tropical Party, and (of course) the Sizzix Big Shot.
For our first project, we made a Favor Bag with the Stampin' Up! Exclusive Sizzix Bigz XL Die, Fancy Favor. Wow has this been popular with my friends here in Hawaii, who love to give parties with lots of, well, fancy favors! You've already seen some of my designs using the stamp set, Tropical Party, and I'm just not even close to getting tired of stamping the coconut cup. Here on the Big Island, this cup is most likely to to have been purchased at one of the local farmers markets and contain coconut "milk." We rarely see the little umbrella at the markets, but it sure is cute anyway.
The accents on the Fancy Favor bag coordinate with my favorite colors in the paper I used for this sample: Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, and Old Olive. This bag does well with or without a handle, but I decided to use some of the Pumpkin Pie 1/2" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, which I tacked down on the sides with a couple of Turquoise Circle Ice Rhinestone Brads. I added a Turquoise Brad from the Bold Brights brad collection. (I'm really hoping that we'll continue to see the Turquoise Brads, even though I fully expect to the set to retire as two of the colors in that set will retire at the end of June. Lots of new products this year for sure!)
The two flowers that accent the upper right corner of the bag front are also stamped with the Tropical Party stamp set. I stamped on Tempting Turquoise card stock with Tempting Turquoise Classic Ink, and on Pumpkin Pie with Pumpkin Pie Classic Ink. I then trimmed close to the stamped image and popped them on with some adhesive. I got the idea for using these flowers from fellow SUDSOL member, Gretchen Barron, who used them in a sample for a recent Stamping 411 challenge.
Project Number Two was a Tea Bag Holder made with (what else?) Tea Party Designer Paper. Fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, Maria Matonti, introduced me to the basic project four or five years ago. I frequently make it as a "get well" card as tea always seems to sound good to me when I'm under the weather.
The stamped saying is what connects this project to the Stampin' Up! 2010 Summer Mini Catalog. I have to confess that I have altered my stamp a bit by removing Eleanor Roosevelt's name from it. It just wasn't going to work with this particular design. But isn't the saying perfect for this kind of project???!!!
Finally, here's what the inside of the project looks like with the two tea bags nestled into their little pockets. Here are complete instructions on making the Tea Bag Holder and the Punch Art Teacup.
The Third and Final Project for the workshop was a greeting card. There I was back at the Stamping 411 blog, looking for this week's challenge project and I stumbled on the layout for this card. Here is another use of the Island Oasis Designer Series Paper – there are actually 4 of the papers represented here! For the greeting, the wonderful old fall-back Stamp Set, Sincere Salutations seemed to be perfect. The measurements for this card aren't really important. What's important is that you scrounge around and find scraps to use to make your own unique card front! Any set of Designer Series Paper – or even combinations of paper sets – works wonderfully.
I hope you enjoyed this brief look at Wendy's Workshop! If you're on Hawaii's Big Island and would be interested in your own workshop, I'd love to talk with you! Just call or e-mail me any time!
What A Wonderful Blog Tour That Was!
Aloha, all!
And a special "Thank You" to all of you who visited my blog during the 2010 Royal Blog Tour. I have to confess that I didn't make it to all of the blogs. But I'll be checking them out from time to time as the week goes on. While most of us will have new blog posts going up right after the tour, most of those wonderful projects will still be around to share.
Here are a couple of additional photos of the box that I made to hold the stationery set that I featured on my tour post, and here are the instructions for making it. It's really very simple to make, despite the number of scores that have to be made on the box itself. Haul out that Stampin' Up! Fiskars paper cutter, pop in the scoring blade and off you go! As I promised, here are the instructions for making the box. I did not include the embellishments because you'll be making your own to match your own card design. It's really just like making the front of a greeting card, and that's always lots of fun!
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I wish I could say that this was my original design. It's not, but I have no idea whose design it is! I've hunted around the Internet and asked a few fellow demonstrators if they know, and so far I've learned nothing. Once I do, I'll be sure to give her (him?) credit! But the set of instructions is my own, and you should feel free to use it as much as you wish!
Some Great Workshop Projects!
Aloha, all!
Dana's workshop was a great success, even though we may have had a few logistical glitches. The good news (for me) is that I didn't forget ANYTHING! I'm amazed because there's usually something critical that I leave at home (SNAIL, snips, the stamp set we're using for the make and takes).
In preparing the kits for the make and takes, using that wonderful Sweet Pea Paper Stack, I found that I had been so eager to make sure that the projects were designed just perfectly that I didn't have enough of the paper I'd chosen for the Note Pad Cover left for all of the kits. What to do, what to do. Well, it is a paper STACK! So there had to be something else in the stack that would still coordinate well with the Sweet Pea Stitched Felt and Flower Fusion embellishments that Dana and I had chosen to use. And, of course, there was. Here is the second of the two designs for this project. Um, well, actually there were 3 designs because (gasp!) I ran out of Old Olive card stock. How could that happen???? There weren't even some 12" x 12" pieces in the "greens" box in the craft room. So the last couple of kits had to be made with Certainly Celery card stock. Would you believe no one noticed??? Oh, and as I promised earlier in the month, here are the instructions for making this great gift project!
It’s A Beautiful Thing!
Aloha, all!
Well, it's the stamp set, A Beautiful Thing! I have no idea how long it's been around, and I'm just a tad too tired to go researching that tonight.
BUT – I've never owned it until the last week, when I was looking for something to go with the new Extra Large Fancy Flower Punch featured in the Stampin' Up! 2010 Occasions Mini Catalog. Those flowers in A Beautiful Thing looked like they would be just PERFECT with that punch! Looking at today's card, I think I'm right.
This card is a 4" square card, and is the same Easel Card that I showed off last week using Sale-A-Bration stamp sets. I stamped the image with Pumpkin Pie Ink on a scrap of Whisper White Card Stock, and then punched it with the Extra Large Fancy Flower Punch. I finished it off with a bit of sponging around the edges using the Pumpkin Pie ink.
The Designer Series Paper is from the Sweet Pea Paper Stack, also featured in the 2010 Occasions Mini Catalog. The other accent color is Taken With Teal, and the front is finished off with one of the brads from the Flower Assortment Brads, which are in the current 2009 – 2010 Idea Book and Catalog.
The inside of the card also has a stamped image from A Beautiful Thing, the saying that gives the stamp set its name. It's a great little stamp set, and I'm sorry I've waited this long to get it!
Here are the layout measurements. Click here for the basic Easel Card Instructions – a one-page tutorial!
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Getting Ready for Dana’s Workshop
Aloha, all!
My friend, Dana, has asked me to do a Stampin' Up! workshop for her next week, and I've been having lots of fun coming up with the projects. She almost swooned over the wonderful stitched felt pieces from the Sweet Pea set featured in the current 2010 Occasions Mini Catalog. I've added in some felt pieces from Flower Fusion and pulled out some of the wonderful papers from the Sweet Pea Paper Stack (another Occasions Mini offering), and there's a kit all ready for a Make 'N Take for Friday night!
This is the project we'll be making, and here are the instructions for making it! The two printed squares are from one sheet from the Sweet Pea Paper Stack, as is the Rose Red print paper. The Pretty in Pink/Chocolate Chip flower and the little piece in the lower right square, are from the Sweet Pea Stitched Felt collection, and the other flower is from Felt Fusion. The flowers are backed with squares of Take With Teal Card Stock to match the trees in the prints. I ran a length of the Fast Flowers Wheel on the Old Olive Card Stock cover for the pad. We're definitely going to have fun with this project!
A Sale-A-Bration Easel Card
Aloha, all!
We are still right in the middle of Stampin' Up!'s great annual FREEBIE promotion, Sale-A-Bration! (Quick note: to save a bit of typing time, I'm going to refer to this promotion in the rest of this post as SAB.)
For today's project, I've made an Easel Card (one of my one-page instructions sheets here!). The best thing about this card is that there are THREE SAB FREE PRODUCTS that I've used in constructing it!
- The Bouquet is made with a stamp from the set, Happy Moments.
- The greeting inside the card is made with a stamp from Wonderful Words
- The sides of the scalloped layer (made with So Saffron Card Stock) is punched with the Scallop Edge Border Punch. Yes, you can get a PUNCH, in Stampin' Up!'s new style, FOR FREE!
And do you recognize the Designer Series Paper? I've only used it here a few times in the last week or so – it's Tea Party, still my favorite of Stampin' Up!'s luscious papers. Peeking out through the scalloped border is a layer of Pretty in Pink Card Stock, and some Soft Subtles Brads set everything off so nicely. For the "stop" inside the card – which helps that easel front stand up and be notices – I punches some small flowers with the Trio Flower Punch.
Here is the layout if you'd like to try this cute little all-occasion card!
