Posts Tagged ‘Handmade Stationery’
Taking a Break to Play!
Aloha, all!
As those of you on my newsletter list know, I've been hip deep in boxes in the Craft Room getting all my retired "stuff" ready for my New Catalog Open House a week from Saturday.
But this morning, there was a Chat & Challenge on my SUDSOL (Stampin' Up! Demo) group, so I took a break to make a card.
This card is a mix of new and continuing products. The "new" is the Pear Pizzazz Card Stock, the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder that I used for the card front, and the Early Espresso color of the background card stock and the ink. Continuing from the last catalog are the Pretty in Pink Satin Ribbon and Card Stock, the Scallop Circle Punch (though now it's being offered in the new punch style) and the Lovely Letters Alphabet Stamp Set. Nice combo, I think!
Here are a couple of the techniques that I used to put this card together:
- I measured and cut the top (Pretty in Pink) and bottom (Pear Pizzazz) card stock so that, together, they made up the 5-1/4" x 4" central layer. Then I used standard transparent tape to hold them together at the back. Then I took this entire piece and ran it through the Sizzix Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper embossoing folder. So everything is nicely lined up.
- Rather than use Stampin' Dimensionals to raise the scalloped motif up from the background paper, I cut 4 pieces of Pretty in Pink Card stock and glued them all together with Crystal Effects to make a thick element to apply to the background. With that raised embossing on the card, I didn't think that the dimensionals permitted the motif to stay on so that it looked even.
- I used a sponge and some Early Espresso ink around the edges of the monogram motif and around the Pink/Pear layer. I think it gives it a nice "vintage" look. Next time I may try inking the ribbon, too. But it's so pretty by itself!
- I embossed the monogram letter. I first stamped the letter in Early Espresso. Then, using my Stamp-a-ma-jig I stamped over it with VersaMark, then applied clear embossing powder and heated it to a shine.
Now I have the beginning of some stationery – and one of the projects for my techniques classes that will be starting in the fall!
Here are the layout measurements for this card. Have fun making your own! As always, if you make a card using one of my sketches, I'll be happy to feature it in one of my blog posts!
Subscribe to the comments for this postWhat 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!
Use those Christmas Supplies all year long!
Aloha, all!
Now that we’re getting so very close to Christmas, I was thinking that I’m about to say, "Goodbye," to all those wonderful products that I’ve been using the past few months for making Christmas cards and gifts.
NOT!!!
Here’s just one example of a project I just made that’s totally NOT Christmas, but makes use of not one, but TWO, of Stampin’ Up!’s products featured as holiday products. The Old Olive Designer Series Paper that forms the larger border for this card is from the set, Merry Moments. But it is totally not looking Christmas-y at all. And the Ornament Punch is a – VASE!. How cool is that!
I’m pretty much booked up for the next couple of days with activities related neither to the holidays nor to my paper crafting. But as soon as I get back into the Craft Room (hopefully Wednesday afternoon) I’m going to pull out some more of those holiday products and show how you can use them even after December is gone!
Oh, and the vase is made from Perfect Plum Textured Card Stock, punched with the ornament punch, with just a teensy bit sliced off at the pointed end. I wrapped the top of the vase with Linen Thread. The stamp is from the set, Eastern Blooms, one of my favorites for stationery sets.
If you’ve been thinking about making some last minute purchases from the Holiday Mini Catalog, you’ve just got a couple of weeks! Many of the products featured in the mini won’t be in any future Stampin’ Up! catalog. If you have any questions about anything in the Holiday mini, feel free to call (808.854.6145) or e-mail me, and I’ll either answer you right away, or get an answer for you as quick as I can!
Back to Basics I
Aloha, all!
Beginning today, I’m trying to get back to some basic stamping and card making.
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When the Fall/Winter Idea Book and Catalog first came out, I was really taken by the Eastern Eclectic theme of many of the stamps and papers. For a Christmas gift to a special friend this year, I made a set of stationery using one stamp set–Eastern Blooms (111626)–and my favorite Designer Series Paper set-Green Tea ((112040). For those of you who have been using Stampin’ Up! Products for awhile, you probably noticed that the Green Tea paper is the same design as the Ginger Blossom design in the Spring/Summer 2008 Catalog. But Green Tea uses the new colors for the 2008-2009 Stampin’ Up! year. Whatever year it is, I just love the design.
I am especially exciited about the way that Eastern Blooms works with the Green Tea paper. So I’m going to be featuring some of that over the next few days. On January 1st, I’ll share how I used the papers with one of our newest stamp sets from the 2009 Spring/Summer Idea Book and Catalog. Just a quick peak to picque your interest in what’s to come!
Today’s card uses one of the designs from the Green Tea DSP, as well as one of the stamps from the Eastern Blooms stamp set. It’s accented with the 5/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon in the Baja Breeze color (111375), along with the Certainly Celery card stock. While it may not be easy to see with this photograph, I dry embossed the flowers from the stamp set using the Floral Frenzy Classy Brass Template (111807). I’ll be using this template throughout the next few days. The Classy Brass Templates are so exciting to use with the coordinating Stampin’ Up! stamp sets!
I hope that you’ve enjoyed using your Stampin’ Up! products for your Christmas and other holiday projects. And I’m sure that you’ll enjoy continuing to use them in the New Year. I can guarantee that they will be many new stamp sets and accessories for us all to use as we enter the Spring! Stay tuned here for news albout them all!
Stationery is a Great Holiday Gift!
Aloha, all!
I just finished completing an order for a customer who wishes to give one-of-a-kind, handmade gifts, but just doesn’t have the time to make them herself. She wanted to give the gift of a Stationery Set. I can’t believe how much fun I had selecting the papers and the stamps that I would use. It took awhile because I had to consider some guidelines that the customer gave me as well as stock I had on hand (she wanted them as soon as possible). Among the guidelines was that there had to be two of each card; there had to be a birthday card, a thank you card, and a general note card. While she didn’t specifically say that they should be coordinated, I felt that I needed to make the cards look like a set and not like 3 different cards just haphazardly put together into a set.
This is what I came up with. There is an interesting mix of colors. The greens are either Old Olive or Kiwi Kiss; the reds are either Real Red or Robin Hood Red. The pink is Pink Pirouette and the blue is Baja Breeze. The striped ribbons are all "In Color" colors (Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss, and Robin Hood Red). The stripes in the papers made mixing and matching the various colors very, very easy!
Two of the papers are from the Level 3 Hostess Set, Holiday Happenings Bundle. I may just have to see if I can put together another order this month to grab some more of that luscious paper!! The other stripe is from the Ski Slope Designer Series Paper set (112994). The stamp set throughout is Pocket Silhouettes (111672). I used the Wide Oval and Large Oval Punches (112082 and 107305) for the cards
When the cards were finished, I realized that the folio that I had wanted to make to hold the cards wouldn’t work as I had that nice knot in the ribbons that took up a lot more space than the folio provided.
Canadian Demonstrator Extraordinaire, Andrea Walford, to the rescue! Last Spring I had purchased a class planner from her, and the box for the stationery set in that planner was just the ticket! So a big Mahalo (Thank You) to Andrea! For decorating the box, I used the 1-3/8 Circle Punch (104401), Scallop Circle Punch (109043) and Scallop Edge Punch (112091), along with the stripe paper and some Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon (109054). Hmmm. Now that I look at the picture, I think I’m going to put a knot in that ribbon!. That should tie it all together, don’t you think!
If you’d be interested in my making some gift cards for you, it’s not too late to get an order in! I have most of my own Christmas Cards and gift already made (though I seem to keep making them up to Christmas Day itself!). So my time could be yours! Visit the "Cards" tab to download my Cards by Robin brochure.
Pocket Silhouettes – So Versatile!
The last few days, I’ve been featuring cards that I’ve made as gift sets. One of the stamp sets that I used was Pocket Silhouettes (item number 111672, if you’d like to order online). Here is another card that I made using the same stamp set, but using different techniques.
For this card, I stamped three of the flower images using Whisper White Craft Ink (101731) on Baja Breeze card stock (111352). Behind the stamped images is a strip of the Baja Breeze 1" Double-Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon (111847), some Whisper White card stock (100730), and one of the designs from the Green Tea Designer Series Paper (112040). The greeting, "Friend to Friend," is part of the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set.
Tomorrow I’ll summarize this week’s introduction to Pocket Silhouettes and Upsy Daisy stamp sets, and show you how you can make at least 20 sets of stationery to give as holiday gifts–for under $8 a set!! Not bad for a holiday season that’s going to challenge us to make the best use of our dollars!
