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!
