It’s Fun Copying the Stampin’ Up! Artists!

Aloha, all!

     Sometimes when I'm looking for inspiration I go through my magazines.  But often I also flip through the Stampin' Up! Catalog to see what the Stampin' Up! Artists have come up with.  This time my eyes landed on a project that included a technique I'd never tried before!

     The original of this card is on page 141 of the 201-2015 Stampin' Up! Catalog.  It wasn't exactly the kind of project I was looking for, but it stopped me in my tracks as I asked myself, "How did they do that?"  While I can find out what products Stampin' Up!'s artists used for their project, I have to figure out HOW they did it on my own.

     The first thing that I found out is that the original was made as a note-card sized project.  I wanted my project to be a standard sized 5-1/2" h  x  4-1/4" w card.  It turns out that the Hexagon Hive Thinlit that I'd be using to make my card front would layer up nicely on a standard card.

     The technique that was new to me was using a Stampin' Spritzer to spray color through a stencil, in this case the stencil being the Hexagon Hive Thinlit.  So off I went to add some Lost Lagoon Reinker to some alcohol in one of my Spritzers.  I ended up making mine a bit darker than the original, but I liked it anyway.  I used 10 drops of reinker, and I would imagine that the original artist used maybe 5 drops.

     To get the ink onto the Whisper White Cardstock that I was using, I laid the Thinlit face down (that is, with the cutting edges facing up) on the cardstock.  Then I spritzed until all the little hexagon areas were filled with the ink.  On my first try, I left the Thinlit on the paper for a short while thinking that I might get a better image if I let it dry a bit.  That did not happen.  In fact what happened was that the extra time gave the ink time to spread out a bit, and that definitely was not the look I wanted.  On my second try, I picked up the Thinlit as soon as I was finished and I think it looks fine.

     For the outlines on the lower right hexagons, the original had the hexagon from the Geometrical Stamp Set stamped in Basic Gray Classic Ink.  I decided I wanted to use Lost Lagoon Classic Ink.  Perhaps if I'd stamped the image off one time before I stamped on the card it might not have been as dark.  But, again, I liked the look with the darker/thicker outline. I used a scrap of Lost Lagoon Cardstock to die cut just a few of the little hexagons using the Hexagon Thinlit, and applied them to the bottom right hexagons.

     To finish this layer, I stamped the sentiment, also from the Geometrical Stamp Set, using VersaMark clear ink and Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder.  Then I trimmed the colored layer to 5" h  x 3-3/4" w. 

     For the decoration on the top, I used one of the gold stars from the Basic Hodgepodge Clip set to clip a 4" piece of Whisper White 1/4" Cotton Ribbon to the colored layer.

     Finally, I matted the colored layer to a 5-1/4" x 4" piece of Lost Lagoon Cardstock, then adhered all of that to a Whisper White card base.  I was pleased with the way this turned out, and even more pleased that I learned a new technique!  As my sister-in-law and downline, Deb, would quickly tell you, I'm not much of a technique person.  But I'll be visiting her next month, and I'll bet I'll learn some more new stuff then!

     Meanwhile, if there are any other projects in the Stampin' Up! catalog that you'd like me to try to copy and give you some instructions, just send me an e-mail, and I'll get right on it!