Aloha, all!
In my last article, I mentioned that I’d traveled to the island of Maui to attend a stamping retreat. The retreat lasted two FULL days and we were knee deep in crafting projects the whole time. One of my favorite sessions was the one in which we used a brand new Stampin’ Up! product, Cork 12″ x 12″ Specialty Paper. The frame under the flowers in this card is made from that paper. And what fun that was!
Cork Can Be That Thin?
I have to tell you that before I went to the retreat, I hadn’t even considered buying that paper. How could cork be paper thin and still feel like cork? And wouldn’t it just fall apart with the least little pressure? I knew that eventually I’d try it out. After all, I love making Fall projects, and this did look like something perfect for fall. Boy was I surprised when a whole pack of the cork paper appeared in my retreat supply package! The bottom line? The paper not only looks like cork, it feels like cork, too. And it stays together just fine.
To make the frame, we first cut a piece of cork 3-1/2″ x 4-3/4″. Then we used our Paper Trimmer to cut another rectangle out of the center of that piece. The measurement of the center rectangle was 2-1/4″ x 3-1/2″. And never fear – we were NOT going to waste that precious little cork rectangle.
The Rest of the Card
Cheryl Hamilton, who designed this card, made sure that we had some techniques to learn and practice while we were using the new cork paper.
To make the flowers, we used a 6″ x 6″ piece of Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper as the base. Using three colors – Calypso Coral, Bumblebee and Soft Succulent – and the widest of the Water Painters, we painted 2″-wide sections of the watercolor paper with each of the colors. Then we splattered some of the Soft Succulent ink all over the piece of paper. Finally we used the Harvest Dies to cut out the three floral images, which we glued to the frame. If you look closely at the picture at the left, you can see some of the splatters. I think the overall effect is to make the images look a bit worn and that goes well with the rustic look of the rest of the card.
The card base itself is made of Crumb Cake Cardstock. The base layer is also Crumb Cake Cardstock, but we treated it to make it coordinate with the rest of the rustic look of the card. First we embossed it using the Timeworn Type 3D Embossing Folder. Then we “brushed” it with a Craft Stamp Pad filled with White Craft Ink.
Now For the Second Card
Remember that piece of Cork Paper that we cut out of the center of the frame? That did not go into the scrap pile. Instead we used it for a very easy to make Note Card.
The base for this card is one of Stampin’ Up!’s Very Vanilla Note Cards set (it comes with envelopes!). First we cut a piece of paper from one of the sheets in the Harvest Meadow Designer Series Paper set. The note cards are 3-1/2″ x 5″, so we cut the paper at 3-1/4″ x 4-3/4″. Then we mounted the cork paper rectangle onto the middle of that layer. Finally, we die-cut a couple of the same flowers we used in the larger card. But this time we cut it out of another piece of the Harvest Meadow patterned paper set. Done with no muss, no fuss!
Next Time – More Cork!
When I got home from the retreat, I dutifully put everything that I got in my goodie bag away, including the cork paper. But I kept thinking about it and definitely didn’t want to let this Fall get away without at least one more project using it. Next time, I’ll show you what I did with it. Check it out on Monday!
Meanwhile, Happy Stamping!
