Posts Tagged ‘Handmade Greeting Cards’
Punch Parfait Potpourri
Aloha, all!
How do you like all that alliteration in the topic today? Perfect for this post!
The topic comes from all the "p" words that are appropriate for today's pretty project: Punch Potpourri (as in the Level 1 Hostess set) and Peach Parfait (as in the orange-ish color that's featured as part of the presentation. Hmmm. Let's count the "p"s in this post so far! Or not.
I copied the overall design of this card from a project featured in a recent issue of the Stampin' Up! magazine, Stampin' Success. (Great magazine with tons of ideas – but just for Stampin' Up! demonstrators.) All of the images are from Punch Potpourri, and all coordinate with one of Stampin' Up!'s fabulous punches.
- The two flowers are part of the Boho Blossoms Extra-Large Punch, with the top one first stamped in Marina Mist and the bottom flower stamped with Peach Parfait.
- The butterfly, stamped in Peach Parfait is punched with the Butterfly Extra-Large Punch.
- The heart, which in this project is stamped directly onto the card stock and not punched out, could have been punched with the Full Heart Extra-Large Punch.
- Finally, the lovely Marina Mist Bird is punched with the Two-Step Bird Extra-Large Punch.
Oh, and then there are the other embellishments: I cut a strip of Peach Parfait card stock and ran it through Stampin' Up!'s Crimper (remember I said earlier this week that I was really into texture as an added element these days?). And I added a Button and a Brad in the Marine Mist color. Unfortunately, as Peach Parfait is just a temporary Stampin' Up! "In Color," there are no brads or buttons in that color. But I think that the Pumpkin Pie Brad fits the bill for this card just fine.
This is a stamp set that will get lots of use in Robin's Craft Room, and one that I think you'll love to have to use with all those punches. In fact, I'm going to feature this stamp set and all those punches in one of my product classes this fall – we'll make several different cards and at least one 3-D project featuring this stamp set and these punches with colors of your choice in early November. I've almost got my class schedule for the fall and early winter completed, and I'm going to be sending out my class schedule to people on my mailing list early next week. If you'd like to get the brochure, just sign up for my newsletter and you'll be among the first to get the list and have first dibs on the limited class space!
Here's the layout for today's card. Have fun! And wish my newest recruit, Dana, good luck on her first workshop on Friday night!!! Go, Dana!
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Subscribe to the comments for this postAnother 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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Another New (to me!) Fun Technique
Aloha, all!
First of all, don't forget that I'll be teaching "technique" classes this fall! I'll be sending my brochure out to everyone on my mailing list early in the week. So sign up for my newsletter or mailing list NOW to get all the scoop!
Meanwhile, here is a card using one of the techniques. The card layout itself is very simple. It's the flowers that really make this card as lovely as it is (if I do say so myself!). Making these flowers was absolutely the most fun I've had in weeks. I have to tell you that I avoided this project like the plague. Even when I had the flowers cut, I just couldn't bring myself to scrunch up all those carefully cut and dyed pieces of paper. Yes, my hands just literally wavered over them as I picked them up gingerly and I winced when I wadded them up into a ball. Painful. But oh, what fun I finally had when I realized I wasn't going to ruin them! So come on over to the Craft Room for some of the same fun yourself! Sign up for my list, or call (808.854.6145) or e-mail me and I'll send the brochure (either by e-mail or snail mail).
Oh, and what technique might this be? Sign up for my newsletter and you'll find out!
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!
Not Just For Babies!
Aloha, all!
"Not Just For Babies" refers to one of Stampin' Up!'s newest set of Designer Series Specialty Papers, Nursery Suite. As I have no new babies in my family or circles of friends at the moment, and none on the way, my eyes just skipped right over this set while I was first looking through Stampin' Up! newest Idea Book and Catalog.
Then I remembered an article in an issue of Stampin' Up!'s demonstrator magazine, Stampin' Success, that had used this set to mimic Bargello stitching. So I went back and looked a little bit more closely at the paper set AND decided to buy it. So there I was with this big package of papers and I had to figure out what to do with it! AND - I wanted to prove to myself – and to you! – that this set of papers is Not Just For Babies! Thus my first card, using one of the die cut sheets from the set, some coordinating Pear Pizzazz Stitched-Poly Ribbon, and one of our brand new stamp sets, For Everything. The colors featured in this card are Pretty in Pink, Pear Pizzazz, and Baja Breeze. Accented with a Flower Brad and a greeting motif using the Scallop Oval Punch matted with a scallop oval cut with the Sizzix Movers and Shapers die, this is a nicely pastel card – and Not Just for Babies!
While I had the Pear Pizzazz Stitched-Poly Ribbon out, I went for a different piece of paper from the set, this time featuring more of the Baja Breeze and Pear Pizzazz, without any of the Pretty in Pink. For this card, I used another new type of product featured in the newest catalog, the Quick Accents Self-Adhesive Die Cuts (stickers to the rest of the world) that goes with the paper set. Stampin' Up! has fewer Simply Scrappin' sets this year, but has added some of the self-adhesive die cut sets which you may purchase to accent some of your Designer Series Paper sets. The strip of scalloped Pear Pizzazz is from the Quick Accents set, and it matches up perfectly with Stampin' Up!'s Scallop Edge Punch. Nice touch! The accent color for this card is Chocolate Chip, and the mat behind the "Get Well Wishes" (from the Stamp Set Teeny Tiny Wishes) also comes form the Quick Accents pack. To finish the card off, I added some of Stampin' Up!'s newest Designer Buttons, tied with a bit of white embroidery floss. A comforting Get Well card – and Not Just for Babies!
Remember that I said that Stampin' Up! featured a bargello-themed card in a recent issue of its magazine. This card is totally copied from that sample. It also highlights one of the other colors featured in the Nursery Suite papers, So Saffron. I still had those buttons out, so accented the greeting made from the Brand New Stamp Set, Fabulous Phrases, and tied on a piece of 5/8" Very Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon. Stampin' Up! designs nice cards! And even they know this set is Not Just For Babies!
But YOU might want to see how this set can be used to make a quick and easy Baby Card! This is about as quick and easy as it gets. Just cut some paper and ribbon, layer it up, and add a pre-made greeting from the Quick Accents set!! No stampin' at all! And those little bunnies are as cute as a, well, bunny.
For this last card, I used the other die cut paper in the Nursery Suite set of papers, and accented it with TWO of the sticker strips from the Quick Accent set. It's all on a card made of Pretty in Pink and tied together with some 5/8" Pretty in Pink Satin Ribbon, with a Thank You from the For Everything Stamp Set! Definitely Not Just for Babies!
This Blog Post was originally a part of the SUDSOL (Simply Unique Demonstrators Sharing Online) second Blog Tour. I had so much fun creating the post with all these various designs! But, to keep things simple, I did not include the card layouts for these cards. As the month of August goes on, I'll try to revisit some of these designs and provide some layouts.
For now – just remember that Nursery Suite Designer Series Papers and Quick Accents are NOT JUST FOR BABIES!!
Love That Morning Cup…
….of coffee or tea!
Aloha, all!
At the beginning of this week I shared a card using the stamp set, Morning Cup. Oh, I have just too many "favorite" new stamp sets. But this is definitely one of them. (Actually, whichever new stamp set I have out on the Craft Room table right now is my current "favorite"!) I played around with it quite a bit last week making samples for my workshop display boards. There's so much that can be done with it, I could probably play around with Morning Cup to the exclusion of the rest of my stamp sets for a month! But that wouldn't be fair to the other sets now would it?
Enough rambling – here is another card that I made using some of Stampin' Up!'s newest Designer Series Paper sets, as well as this new stamp set. I loved the idea that fellow demonstrator, Sandra Grimes, had of pairing up the Coffee Pot with the Newsprint Designer Series Paper. What better combination than morning coffee and the newspaper! For this card, I placed those two elements on a background of a sheet of Real Red Patterns Print designer paper stack (doesn't that paper just look like old fashioned wall paper?). Stampin' Up! has put together a gigantic pad of papers in each of its color families this year, and this is one of the patterns in the stack.
To tie the elements on the card all together, I matted both front layers with Real Red Card Stock. Then I stamped the coffee pot on a scrap of the Patterns Print that I used as the background and cut out the center part of the coffee pot and adhered it to the stamped image. Nice!
A bit of a finishing touch with some Very Vanilla Brads and a thin layer of Basic Black Card Stock to frame the card, and it's done!
Here's the sketch for this card – a nice all around sketch if you want to show off some Designer Series Papers along with a favorite stamped image!
Learning a New Technique With Ink
Aloha, all!
One of the most recent challenges for my SUDSOL online Stampin' Up! Demonstrator groups was to use the technique called Fossil Stone. I had never done this before, and I can tell you right away that I'll definitely be doing it again – and again, and again!
In fact, this will be one of my first technique classes for my fall series of Techniques classes that will begin in September. I can hardly wait to show it off! While I can give you the instructions here for it, I learned so much from trying it out myself that you'll really want to take this class from me if you're on the east side of Hawaii's Big Island in September!
Here's the card that I made, using Perfect Plum and Concord Crush Classic Ink Pads, overstamping the background with a stamp from the new set, Just Believe. I definitely think that the overall effect is stunning! The sentiment on the card was stamped on a left over piece of matching inked card stock, then cut out and mounted on the front of the card with Stampin' Dimensionals. The finishing touch was the Whisper White Organza Ribbon. Lovely, if I say so myself (oh, I guess I just did!)
The basic instructions are pretty simple: You will need two pieces of plain acetate and two Stampin' Up! Classic Stamp Pads. Use one light color and at least several tones darker. You'll also need two 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" pieces of Glossy Whisper White Card Stock and a brayer. Begin by using the lighter stamp pad to ink an area on one piece of acetate, making sure that the area covered with ink is larger than a piece of the card stock. Then ink over that in a random motion with the darker stamp pad. Place the second piece of acetate on the top of the first and rub over the inked area with a brayer. You'll get some air pockets, but that will form a lovely part of the final image. Remove the top layer of acetate and set it aside ink side up. Place one piece of the glossy card stock on the first piece of acetate, glossly side down (or facing the ink). Place the second piece of card stock glossly side UP on top of the first piece. Finally, place the inked side of the second piece of acetate on top of the second piece of card stock. Again use your brayer to press evenly over the acetate-card stock sandwich. Remove the acetate and carefully pick up the top piece of card stock and set it aside, inked side up, to dry. Remove the other piece of card stock and set it aside to dry also. You can wash the acetate and reuse it many times. Note that, if you use transparency acetate for this project, you will have to wash off the coating while you are washing off the ink.
Try it out yourself! Or sign up for my September 18 (Saturday) or September 20 (Monday) class!
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!
Pretty Printed Papers!
Aloha, all!
The printed papers to which I refer are, of course, Stampin' Up!'s Designer Series Paper sets. I can hardly wait for each new catalog to see the new Designer Series Papers, and I want to have them ALL!
While I can't have them all (or at least so says my checkbook), I do try to have as many to use and show off as possible. I'll definitely have quite a few of the newest papers to show at this Saturday's New Catalog Open House in the Craft Room. If you're on my newsletter mailing list, you already have all the details. If you'd like more information, just e-mail me and I'll get right back to you.
Here is one way in which I'm going to show off what you can do with these wonderful papers: just use them to decorate the front of a card! Yes, the papers can be as much of a card front feature as any stamped image! The following four cards also have something else in common – they all use the new Stamp Set, Fabulous Phrases. I am just crazy about this set because it's the first set like this that I've purchased in the Clear Mount form. I can put any phrase I want to make from the words in the stamps onto one clear block and stamp them all at the same time. Fabulous! All of these cards just use two words – but there are lots of possibilities for using more with this stamp set.
So here we go with the cards. They all use the same basic layout, and the measurements are at the end of this post. The layout is based on one I found in the January 2008 issue of CardMaker magazine. Love the inspiration from this magazine!
I made the above card using the Sunny Garden Designer Series Paper set. It's the same design set as the "Cottage Wall" set that was in last year's catalog, but all made up of Stampin' Up!'s bright new colors, including Daffodil Delight and Poppy Parade, which I feature in this card. Other new colors in this set are Pear Pizzazz and Peach Parfait. The ribbon accent is some of Stampin' Up!'s new 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon in Daffodil Delight.
This card features the paper set, Lap of Luxury. Luxurious colors for sure! The highlighted colors here are Pretty in Pink and one of this year's "In Color" colors, Concord Crush. Love that grape! Again I finished this card off with some ribbon, in this case the Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon.
In keeping with the fruit theme, this card uses the paper set, Blueberry Crisp and an "old" color come back to life this year, Pacific Point. I "stepped up" the design of this card by texturizing the front Very Vanilla Layer with a design from the Sizzix Texture Plates #4, and added some of the brand new Chantilly Lace ribbon. Luscious!
Finally, the card with what I think (so far anyway) is my absolute favorite in this year's Designer Series Paper collection, the Sweet & Sour Specialty paper set. One side of each sheet has Gloss! You can see some of it shining in the flash of my camera. Wow! Both colors that I featured in this card are old favorites, Pumpkin Pie and Rose Red. I'm so glad Stampin' Up! kept those colors! Again, I stepped up this card, but this time with a bit of a deeper texture provided by one of the newest Sizzix Embossing Folders, Square Lattice. Of course, a bit of Very Vanilla 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon to finish it off.
Here is my set of measurements for the card layout. Rounded corners are made with the 3/16" Corner Punch. I hope you'll try it out yourself! If you have young crafty children at home, just cut them some papers and have them make their own Designer Series Paper arrangement. I'd love to see what they come up with!
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Bargello?
Aloha, all!
This month's "Stampin' Success" magazine has an article about using striped Designer Series Paper to make a Bargello-type pattern as a feature on a card or scrapbook page. The samples that the publisher shows in the article are made using some new Designer Series Paper that will be in the 2010-2011 Stampin' Up Idea Book and Catalog. Lacking any of that at the moment, I decided nonetheless to try out the technique using some current striped paper.
Lesson learned: You really need to have a design with a dominant stripe to truly imitate Bargello stitching. But here are a couple of the designs that I tried out.
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This Razzleberry Lemonade card shows a bit of what a Bargello pattern can look like. That Melon Mambo stripe with the white flower is almost good enough to be the dominant stripe that you need. Even though it's not quite good enough, I still really like the different look of this paper with stripes cut from it and rearranged vertically a bit. I debated a bit about which color of the 1/2" Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon I should use. The Razzleberry won out as that was the color I had chosen for the card itself. I continue to just love that flower from Vintage Vogue Stamp Set, and I am quite happy that this set will be in the new catalog. I'll have it to use for a year – yay! Here's a bit of a close up of the design.
Then I tried a pattern with a real stripe. Now I think that this made a very interesting pattern. But, with all the dominant colors in this paper from the Island Oasis Designer Series Paper set, the Bargello pattern is totally lost. I really can hardly wait to try out the new papers!
The real fun that I had with this card was cutting out the Tropical Party Stamp Set flowers and palm leaves stamped with Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red and Old Olive on Whisper White card stock. That detailed cutting required me to be still and calm. I really needed some quiet "down" time as we're having a bit of a crisis here at home with my husband in the hospital. I made this card while he was in a hospital in Hilo on our island – the Big Island of Hawaii – and, as this is being published, he's in a hospital in Honolulu on the island of O'ahu. For my stay over there with him, I turned to the crocheting side of my Craft Room, leaving the papers and inks at home. But hopefully both my husband and I will be back before too many days, and I'll be able to relax back with my Stampin' Up! goodies!
To make the strip pattern in the papers, I cut 12" strips of the designer series paper perpendicular to the stripes. I made a 1" strip for the center then made some alternating 1/2" and 3/4" strips on either side of it. The key to a Bargello pattern is that the design be symmetrical to the left and the right of the central motif. Once I get my hands on some of that new paper, I'll demonstrate this technique a bit better. For now, if you've got some leftover designer series paper as you're waiting for the next stuff to come out, have some fun cutting it up!
