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A Hint for Making Sympathy Cards!

Aloha, all!

     One of the hardest kinds of cards to make is a Sympathy Card, especially if you've waited until you actually need one.  The absolutely best time to make a sympathy card is when there is no thought in your mind that you or one of your friends might need it any time soon.  This came to mind when I was going through my brand-new issue of Paper Crafts Magazine and I saw a card design that seemed to me would be perfect as a sympathy card.  And, since there is no one at the moment to whom I need to send one, I took my own advice and got to work CASEing the card in the magazine.

     What caught my eye about this card was that it looked like there was a layer on top of those flowers, but at the same time, it was obvious that there wasn't!  The card in the magazine was a very simple example of a beautifully effective no-layer card.  As I wanted to use the Stampin' Up! Whisper White Patterns paper for my card, and I knew that I'd probably need some brads to spiff things up, I needed to add in some layers.  But all those stamped flowers were actually on a single layer stamped on top of the sentiment!  What I did to make that possible was to mask the sentiment (and the lines above and below) with a piece of paper (plain copy paper, not card stock) all the way across the Patterns Paper.

     This is the order in which I stamped the images:

• I stamped the sentiment, from the stamp set Loving Thoughts, with Rich Razzleberry.
• I drew the lines at the top and bottom of the sentiment with the thick end of my Rich Razzleberry Stampin' Write Marker.

Then I masked what I'd already stamped (see below for a bit more information about the masking), before stamping the rest.

• I stamped the vines (this stamp and the flowers and leaf are from the stamp set, Vintage Vogue) with Old Olive.
• I stamped the small flowers with Regal Rose.
• I stamped the large flowers with Rich Razzleberry.
• I stamped the small leaves with Old Olive.

     The real key to this whole layout is the masking.  I cut the mask so that it came just short of covering the lines drawn with the marker.  Even when you're using plain copy paper as a mask, there's a little bit of unstamped space just beyond the edge of the masking paper.  Making the mask just a teensy bit smaller than the area bordered by the lines kept that from showing.

     Also, to make this layout work well, you should mask across the entire width of the layer.  The first time I tried this I only masked the center greeting area, and some of the flower and leaf images ended up on the side of the greeting.  The result was that I lost the whole effect of the flowers seeming to be behind the sentiment "layer."

     After I finished all the stamping, I adhered the stamped layer onto Rich Razzleberry Card Stock, and added two Pear Pizzazz Glimmer Brads (they really do look good with the Old Olive Ink!) and two of the larger pearls from the Basic Pearls embellishment pack.  Finally I adhered this all to a Regal Rose Card.

     Have you noticed that I've been doing a lot of "CASE"ing (Copy And Share Everything) lately?  Some of that has to do with my seeing something and really wanting to copy it, changing it a bit using the stamps and embellishments I have in stock.  But some of it also has to do with my having been away from my stamping for so long that I really need something to jump start me!  And it's working!  I'm really feeling like I'm back in the swing of things and I'm having a blast with all this paper crafting!

     I hope you're having fun with your paper crafting, too.  It really does do wonders for one's temperament!!

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A Glimmery Christmas Card!

Aloha, all!

     I told you that I'd share some samples made with some of the fab new products to be offered in Stampin' Up!'s Occasions Mini Catalog, and here's another:  A gorgeous Sizzlit Die called "Paper Doily."  This die is 4" in diameter and so beautifully fills up the center of a 5-1/4" Greeting card (which fits perfectly into Stampin' Up!'s Medium Square Envelope).

     The big trick with this is removing all those little pieces from the doily.  But it didn't take me too long and it really felt very peaceful just sitting and relaxing while I used my paper piercer and piercing mat to free up the little critters.  I reminded myself that not everything that I do has to be easy.  Some beauty requires a bit more work to make it happen!

     To make this into a card that feels like a Christmas Card, I used some of Stampin' Up!'s Jingle Bells and stamped "Merry" from the stamp set, Tiny Tags, and punched them all out with the Jewelry Tag Punch.  The colors I used were Real Red and Night of Navy (the same colors as I used in the card and mats).  I stamped one with VersaMark and heat embossed it using Silver Embossing Powder.  I tied them to the center Red Glimmer Brad with some Wisteria Wonder Baker's Twine (another new product from the Occasions Mini!), which seemed to accent the Night of Navy background pretty well for its being more purple than blue.  The corner pieces are each 1/4th of a circle of Silver Glimmer Paper punched with both Scallop Circle Punches (first the 1-3/4" then the 2-3/8").

     Today in the Craft Room I'm working with some more of the new products, but I won't be sharing them with you until after the first of the year.  I'm working on some designs for the Create With Connie and Mary Occasions Edition and I have to get at least one or two completed before I get back into my last-minute Christmas projects.

     I hope you're having as much fun paper crafting this Christmas season as I am!

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My Favorite Holiday Colors

Aloha, all!

     The Stampin' Up! Only Challenge theme this time around is as the title of this blog post states – I'm supposed to have created a card or other project using my favorite December holiday colors!  Every year I go through this same argument with myself:  Is it Red/Green or Blue/Silver?  If you look around at what I've been making over the past couple of months since the Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini Catalog was released, you'll see a lot of Red and Green.  So this time around, I decided that, at least for today, my favorite color combo is Blue and Silver!

    And it's not the dark blue that I've used in the past – Stampin' Up!'s Night of Navy.  No, this time around I wanted something a bit brighter, so I decided on Marina Mist.  Actually, in the Stampin' Up! color galaxy, Marina Mist is one of the "Subtle" colors.  But it surely did look bright enough for me to pair with the silver. 

     And I wanted this card to SPARKLE!  So I needed lots of glitter.  The Silver Star was easy because I could just cut that out of Stampin' Up!'s new Silver Glimmer Paper.  No muss, no fuss with that star!  But the Marina Mist star was going to be slightly more work.  I covered a square of Marina Mist Card Stock with VersaMark ink and Heat and Stick Powder and, after the heating part of the routine, sprinkled it liberally with Dazzling Diamonds glitter.  I used my heat tool again to set the dazzling diamonds into the heat and stick powder and then ran the square through the Sizzix Big Shot with the Stars #2 Die, as I had with the Silver Star.  There was a bit of the sparkling blue card stock left, so I cut a small star out, too.

     I decided to try to use the Pines and Poinsettias stamp set with the poinsettias and rose, even though I wasn't sure how it would work in blue.  I think it came out lovely!  I actually stamped it twice, once on some Whisper White Card Stock using VersaMark and then Silver Embossing Powder, and once with the Marina Mist Classic Stampin' Pad, from which I cut out just the flowers.  I then adhered the flowers on top of the silver part of the first image.

     I cut the circle with the Circle Scissors, so I'm not sure what the final measurement is.  I put the stamped image under the Circle Scissors and adjusted the center and diameter of the circle until it was just where I wanted it. 

     To give the white circle a bit of texture, I stamped some snowflakes using the snowflake stamp in the Jolly Bingo Bits stamp set, and then sponged the edges.

     No ribbon this time around – but I did add some of the Marina Mist and Silver Glimmer Brads and a few Basic Rhinestones to finish the glittery look off!

     Now I'm seriously into my Christmas crafting.  I hope you're getting into the holiday spirit with your crafting, too – and having fun with it!

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Lots of Glitter Without the Mess!

Aloha, all!

     We're just finishing up the 4th week of the wonderful Create with Connie and Mary Holiday Edition!  I have been designing and making projects that are very different from those that I usually feature here, even during blog hops.  Connie and Mary encourage – actually require! – original designs and well-constructed projects and tutorials for everything that we do for them.

     For the Saturday challenges, though, we are not held to the original design standard too closely, and I'm sure that you've seen lots of cards in different places that use three stockings made from Holiday Mini products.  But for this one, I wanted lots of glitter to accent the color challenge for the week.  The challenge was to use Real Red, Wild Wasabi and Cherry Cobbler, the colors featured in the Holly Berry Bouquet product suite in the Holiday Mini. 

     I have to confess that there's only the slightest bit of Cherry Cobbler in this card – in the holly berries on the Holly Berry Bouquet Specialty Designer Series Paper at the top of the card and in the card base itself.  OK, I got that out of my system and headed for the "Real" Red as well as the Wild Wasabi green.  (I have to tell you that I was really disappointed when Glorious Green was retired from the Stampin' Up! collection; but Wild Wasabi has grown on me – just wish it had a different name!)  And, of course, I wanted all that red to be glittery!  That was really easy because not only do we have the Real Red Glimmer Brads and Red Glimmer Paper, we also have the glitter designs on two sheets of the Designer Series Paper set.  That's why the word, "Specialty," appears in the product name.  The striped and polka dotted sheets are glittered!

     So now that I had 3 different sheets with glitter, I just punched each of the sheets using the new Stocking Builder Punch and mixed and matched the results.  One trick that I used was to cut up smaller pieces of the designer paper and arrange them in the punch so that the designs fit the shape I was punching, especially with the stripes.  So it's no accident that the large stripe and the one polka dot fit perfectly in the heels of the stockings, or that the stocking and cuff are punched so that the stripes run parallel with the design.  It just took a bit of care and I didn't waste much paper at all.  Love the result, too!

     For the basic design, I wanted this to look like stockings hung "by the chimney with care."  But with no fireplace in my Stampin' Up! collection, I had to make do with a shelf and a plain wall, which is what I have in my house.  So after I created the "shelf" with the Red Glimmer Paper, I embossed the Wild Wasabi "wall" using the Sizzix Stripes Textured Embossing Folder. 

     I wrapped the whole scene with a mat of Red Glimmer Paper, a teensy sliver of Whisper White, and mounted it all onto a Cherry Cobbler greeting card base.

     And after I finished the whole project, there wasn't the slightest speck of glitter sticking to anything or anyone!  Love that Stampin' Up!'s looking out for the welfare of my vacuum cleaner

     I hope you'll check out the other designs for this week's color challenge over at Create with Connie and Mary.  That site is always free, and we're all posting our challenge cards there as well as in the Holiday Edition subscription site.  If you haven't subscribed to the Holiday Edition, you can do so any time and have access to everything in the entire program – for one year!  But, of course, now's the time to subscribe because the 2011 Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini Catalog is still in effect for another 2 and a half months!

     Hope to see you there!  And I hope you'll have fun with whatever Holiday Mini products you've already got.  Just 10 more weeks 'til Christmas!

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An Elegant Valentine Card

Aloha, all!

     It certainly is in the eye of the beholder whether a card is elegant – or not.  I felt that this card had a touch of elegance that is not typical in the kind of greeting card that I usually make.  Most of that feeling as far as I am concerned comes from the elegant products that Stampin' Up! has available for all of us as we get ready for Valentine's Day 2011.  And, of course, the design provided by the Diva Coffee Break Design Team added to the sense of elegance!

     Two of the products that I used in this card are new products in the Stampin' Up! 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog.  The first and most visible because of its sparkle is the brand new Red Glimmer Paper.  This paper comes in a pack of two 12" square sheets, and is a breeze to use with Stampin' Up!'s punches and Sizzix Dies.  The scallop trim border punch went right through this paper beautifully, as did the Sizzix Ovals Die, which I purchased from Stampin' Up!

     The main color in this card is Pink Pirouette, in the form of one of the embossed sheets in the new Love Impressions Specialty Designer Paper set.  This paper is card stock weight, and is filled with teeny embossed polka dots.  There is also a large motif of embossed hearts, and that is a part of the sheet that I also cut with the Sizzix Ovals Die.  I think it's so lovely with the embossed white hearts against the Pink Pirouette background!

     I'd also like to highlight the stamp on this card, which is from the stamp set, Filled with Love, that was featured in the 2010 Holiday Mini Catalog.  And, yes, it's still available!  But it's only availalble as part of the Filled With Love Bundle, which is only available until next Monday, January 24th!  There is more information about this bundle here.  This bundle includes papers and buttons as well as this fun Valentine Stamp set.  So don't delay purchasing it if you've been thinking about it!

     The final touches are the bow based on a tutorial by fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator, Mary Brown, on which I still need lots of practice!  It's held together and down onto the card with a Real Red Glimmer Brad.  The Glimmer Brads were also featured in the 2010 Holiday Mini Catalog, but they, too, are still available as part of the 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog.  The only expiration of which I'm aware at this point is the expiration date for the Occasions Mini, which is April 30, 2011.  I'm waiting to see if these become a part of the Stampin' Up! regular line up of products!

     Today's card is based on a sketch at the Diva Coffee Break Design Team blog.  But I'm providing the measurements for my card to help make it easier for you to copy if you'd like to be a part of this week's challenge.  Or even if you just want to make a card!  If you'd like a whole book full of all the sketch layouts I provided for you in 2010, it's now for sale as an eBook on CD.  Just click on the picture at the top of the column to the right for more information!

     And whether you decide to join us at the Diva Coffee Break sketch challenge, or decide just to make a card for yourself – have fun with it!

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Countdown to Christmas! 4 More Days – and Another Card for My New Layout Book!

Aloha, all!

     Every card that I'm doing this month is using a layout from my soon-to-be-published card layout book.  I'm having fun making new cards with the layouts, and I can't imagine you're not going to have just as much fun!  And for two of you who comment on my blog this month, there will be a Christmas Present of a FREE copy of the book!  So don't forget those comments!

     The article that includes the layout for today's card also had a bit in it about color, and a challenge to use an accent color that seems totally out of character for the main color.  So why not take on that challenge again with today's card!?

     And of course I had to use that fabulous new Red Glimmer Paper that will be featured in the 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog that will go live on January 3rd.  You'll recognize one of the snowflakes from the Northern Frost Decorative Strip I'm sure.  I punched the whole strip for yesterday's card and so I still had quite a few snowflakes left over.  Why not use it here as long as I'm using the Glimmer Paper again.  The accent color that I used today is Tempting Turquoise.  Who would think of that color for a Christmas Card?  Well, I would be one, though it helped that there was a Tempting Turquoise Glimmer Brad that kind of tied this all together.  There are a couple of more brads hidden under the bow, too, though just the plain brads from the main catalog.

     OK, now I'm going to go let myself see what the challenge colors for this week's Diva Coffee Break Design Team challenge will be.  I'm sure hoping for no more Tempting Turquoise because I think I just had my fill of it for this season!

     When I make these cards using the layouts that I'm going to publish, I'm also adding them to the book – so it's really still a work in progress, though it has all its book parts – Cover, Table of Contents, Chapter pages.  It's a fun book with which to be working and I'm going to miss it!

     Whatever colors you're using as you finish up your holiday cards this week and next, I hope you're having as much fun with them as I am!

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Countdown to Christmas! Back in the Craft Room Again

Aloha, all!

     What a wonderful time we had on the island of Kaua'i last week!  My husband treated me like a princess the entire time, and I probably even learned how to relax a bit too much.  I've been back for two days, and haven't felt stressed enough to do anything, let along all the "stuff" I need to get done by Christmas.  So I started just kind of taking it a bit slow, easing my way back into the craft room a bit.  Then I opened the box that had arrived from Stampin' Up! that had my 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog pre-ordered products in it, and I couldn't wait to start cutting and punching and stamping!

     But I promised that everything that I'd do this month would be related to Christmas.  I also promised that I'd use layouts from my soon-to-be published Layout Book for all new cards that I made this month.  So here we are!  A card that uses an old layout – from back in August - and a brand new product from Stampin' Up!'s next mini catalog – Red Glimmer Paper!  Fabulous stuff and I can hardly wait to order more!

     Can you believe all that sparkle!?  And there is NONE of it on my craft room table or floor.  You can also see that it even can be cut by a Sizzix Sizzlet as I made the snowflakes with the 2010 Holiday Mini Northern Frost Decorative Strip (which is a sizzlet type die).

     With all that red glimmer on the paper, I couldn't resist using Glimmer Brads.  These are Old Olive Glimmer Brads from the Glimmer Brights collection.  Those of you who really like those Glimmer Brads will be happy to know that they'll be continued in the 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog.  In fact, there are lots of products that will be carried over into the spring, and I'm quite happy about that.  Thank you very much, Stampin' Up!

     This is the last week for you to have a chance to win a FREE COPY of my new Layout Book.  Just leave a comment on my blog about why you'd like to have a copy!  I'll be announcing the winners on Christmas Day!  Some good comments so far! 

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Day of Gratitude – It’s Not Just for Thanksgiving!

Aloha, all!

     I can't believe it's Wednesday again already – and time for another Divas Coffee Break Design Team challenge!  This week's challenge was a sketch, and I decided to use a stamp set from the Stampin' Up! 2010 Holiday Mini Catalog, Day of Gratitude.  This stamp set is a great set for Thanksgiving – but it also has a design that allows it to be used for so much more!

     For today's project, I paired Day of Gratitude up with the Stamp Set Vintage Vogue, as well as some of the newest Designer Series Papers, Autumn Spice.  Again, while the colors are just perfect for fall (though not a Hawaii fall!), they also do well making a card that doesn't scream, "Autumn."

     There are so many parts of the large circular stamp in Day of Gratitude that it just cries out for lots of different colors in it.  I've seen all sorts of combinations and haven't seen one that I didn't like.  So much imagination among Stampin' Up! demonstrators and customers!  For this card, I first inked up the stamp with a More Mustard classic Stampin' Pad.  Then I used a Sponge Dauber to add in first some Old Olive, and then on the edges, some Cajun Craze, one of Stampin' Up!'s newest colors.  Before mounting this on the background of one of the sheets of the Autumn Spice Specialty Designer Series Paper set, I cut the stamped design out very close to the edge of the stamped image.  I sponged the edge of the smaller square element (with the stamp from Vintage Vogue) with  Cajun Craze, then matted it with Old Olive Card Stock.  The main part of the card, again sponged with Cajun Craze, is matted with Cajun Craze card stock.

     There are more embellishments from the 2010 Holiday Mini Catalog on this card – both are Glimmer Brads from the Brights set of Glimmer Brads.  I wasn't sure at first that I would like these brads because they're so much bigger than regular brads.  But now that I've seen them in "action" quite a few times, I've ordered up samples of all of the rest of the colors.  Look for them in more projects over the next few months!

     Oh, and you'll very likely be interested in the sketch from the Divas Coffee Break Design Team.  Here it is.  Best of all, YOU ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE!  Just make a  card using the sketch, and add it to the Links at the bottom of this week's post! We'd love to have you join us.

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