Aloha, all!
While I was traveling, I missed listening to most of my favorite podcasts. Today I decided to catch up on some podcasts and get some paper crafting done at the same time. While I listened to NPRs,"Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me," they announced that their guest "contestant" was going to be Martha Stewart. As most of you know, I don't buy Martha's paper crafting products (I run a Stampin' Up! Only craft room!). But I do enjoy Martha's ideas, and was pleased to hear her say something to the effect that curiosity kept her creative juices flowing all the time.
The timing of that little "quote" was perfect as I was working on today's project. It started out to be a simple Baby Congratulations card, but I kept wondering, "How would this work?" or, "How would that work?" Curiosity struck! So a planned 30-minute project turned into a much longer period as I tried out a ton of ideas!
The first thing I wanted to do was to try out my newest toy, the Sizzix Texture Boutique Embossing Machine. Stampin' Up! announced last week that it would be selling these on a test basis just to see how well we liked it. Yes, I have a Sizzix Big Shot so don't need a separate machine. But it was being offered as a less expensive machine for those of us who just want to use the Textured Impressions Embossing Folders. Since I'm sure a few of you will be asking me about this, I decided to try it out for myself. So – the first bit of sidetracking was using that for the texture on the scallop border of the front of the card.
I had decided on the stamp set, Bordering on Romance, because the name of the new baby is Stella Rose and I love the roses in those stamps! But I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do with those pretty stamps. I've been thinking that this would be a good set for the "Triple Time Stamping" technique that I've seen a lot (and haven't shared here – I will have to do that!) where you stamp three layers of card stock all at once and then create borders for each of the top two layers. It makes it look as if you've done some pretty precise stamping to get all those images lined up. Well, that's what I did here, but with two layers only. I cut the top middle piece of Pretty in Pink Card Stock, laid it in the center of the card base with a bit of removable adhesive on it to keep it still, and then stamped the images from Bordering on Romance across the edge of the top layer. I used Regal Rose ink to do all the stamping.
Then I had to decide what my border was going to be (got out the Scallop Trim Border and Corner punches), which colors I was going to use to fill in the flowers and leaves (decided to leave the parts on the card base uncolored, tried Melon Mambo, Regal Rose, Old Olive and Pretty in Pink markers to color the top layer – not too bad!), and which embellishments I was going to use (I'm happy with the brads, though Pearls were also in the running).
You can see how the time got away from me. This was supposed to be a three or four project day. Instead it was just one. But one with which I had lots of fun!
Oh, and the inside. My friend who ordered this card really likes to have a personal note printed on the inside. So I printed her note from my computer and that was supposed to be that.
Well, that could NOT be just that! I decided to add a stamp to the greeting. Then I thought that some Regal Rose Card Stock would be nice to frame the scallops on the front of the card. And, oh, a straight edge was just not going to do, so out came the Scallop Trim Border Punch again!
This whole project turned out to be one that I really didn't want to come to an end. Yes, there are some things I would have done differently and could have done better. But I had so much fun with it. As I started to package it up for my customer, I just had to have one last crack at it and stamped the envelope to decorate it a bit.
So Martha was right – a little bit of curiosity about what you can do with some of your tools really can keep your creativity going!
I got so carried away that I'm not sure I covered all the Stampin' Up! products I used in this project. So here goes:
- Ink: Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive, Melon Mambo
- Card Stock: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Whisper White, Old Olive
- Stamps: Bordering on Romance, Friendly Phrases
- Sizzix Tools: Adorning Accents Embossing Folder and Edgelit
- Punches: Scallop Trim Border Punch, Scallop Trim Corner Punch
- Embellishments: Old Olive and Pretty in Pink Brads
What a gorgeous card!