Encre, papier, ciseaux

Inkspirations #46 - Taking Note

 
 
  
 

 
I made this a few weeks ago when Brandi visited at Thanksgiving. She came over for a stamping session and I created this while we chatted out little hearts out. I picked a 3D project because I was putting together some Christmas gifts projects for an upcoming presentation at an event in Ottawa.

This little cork board is one of the projects I presented while I was there. The cork circle is actually something I got from IKEA in their kitchen section. As for the back of the board, you might not recognize this right away, but it is one of the Designer paper sheets from the Presto Patterns pack, which I glued on thin chipboard to make it sturdier (the one from the back of paper packs) and then cut around the shape printed on the paper (Brandi's suggestion). To add colour to the paper, I masked off sections with Post-It notes and added ink with a sponge.

The word was die-cut with the Go Go Boots Alphabet out of black cardstock, and I also used my Big Shot to create the flowers with the Petal Party die and the butterflies with the Beautiful Wings embosslits. I've added a couple of pearls in the middle of one of the butterflies to create a body.

I love how those three colours look together. Great combo from Keesh this week, and definitely one I'll want to use again later!

 

 

 

 
   

  

 

Here are the links to the other Design Team members' creations:

 

Kirsty

Makeesha

Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Cardstock: Vellum, Basic Black
Designer papers: Presto Patterns
Inks: Poppy Parade, Baja Breeze, So Saffron
Big Shot: Go Go Boots Alphabet, Beautiful Wings, Petal Party
Accessories: Pearls, sponge, jumbo eyelets, black satin ribbon, chipboard, cork (IKEA),
Vanilla Holdgepodge Hardware, buttons

Inkspirations #45 - Sepia Snowflake

 
 
 
 
 

 
This is a loose interpretation of this week's sketch. I had seen a beautiful Medallion card made by Lynn Weiss and I thought it could look wonderful turned into a winter version. The result is pretty cool! I love stamping sepîa snowflakes. This trend started out for me with a challenge on Splitcoast Stampers to stamp snowflakes in shades of browns and the whole gallery got filled with so many gorgeous creations, I've pretty much done one Christmas card is shades of sepia every year every since. Consider this one the 2010 version!

 

 

   

 
 
 

 

 

Here are the links to the other Design Team members' creations:

 

Kirsty

Makeesha

Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Medallion, Chantons Noël, Very Vintage wheel
Cardstock: Confetti Cream, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso
Inks: Early Espresso, Versamark
Punches: 2-1/2 Circle
Big Shot: Northern Frost die
Accessories: Gold embossing powder, Vintage brads,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Vanilla seam binding

Inkspirations Challenge #44 - Home for the Holidays

 
 
 
 

 
This week's colour challenge features some of the colours that were added to the new SU! colour line this year. This is a great opportunity to pull 'em out and put 'em to good use, so I hope you'll be playing along with the challenge this week!

My mind has been on Christmas gift ideas lately, and I had wanted to try transforming the Milk Carton box into a little house for a while now. I thought it could make a great stand-alone box or an oh-so-cute Christmas village if you were to make more than one! After seeing how long this one took, I'm not so sure I will manage to put together a whole village, but at least, this is a start.

I've inked all of my pieces with a dauber to give the house more depth, and I've used a two-way glue pen with Dazzling Diamonds glitter to add "snow" to the house. I am particularly happy with the awnings, which were stamped with the Sold Stripes stamp and embossed with white powder, then punched with the Scallop Edge punch. Really cute, huh? The Scallop Edge punch was also used to create the shingles on the rooftop.

I cannot (and will not) take credit for the little wreath on the door, but I will say that I think it is so darn adorable! The idea and how-to came from Carrie Gaskins, who shared a tutorial on her blog HERE. She had done a little wreath to hang on a candelabra, but I thought it was the perfect touch for my door. Big thanks to Carrie for the wonderful inspiration!

The Oval Wide punch was used to create the half-circle window at the top of the door. The door was created by cutting off the sides of a punched circle and adding "planks" with the help of a Daffodil Delight marker. The doorknob is simply a brad.

Tip: Do not assemble the box before decorating. This way, if you want to poke the brad inside, you will not have to deal with the prongs showing. I also punched a square window and glued the vellum windowpane inside the house - yet another thing you wouldn't be able to do once the house is assembled.

(On a side note, once I was finished with the house, I noticed how the pink walls, bleu rooftop and rounded door are very reminiscent of Nathalie's house on Le village de Nathalie, one of my favorite childhood show. I was drawing inspiration from the challenge's colours so I didn't realize this until I was finished, but add a couple of hearts on the door and there's a definite resemblance there!)

 

 

 

   

 
 

 

 

Here are the links to the other Design Team members' creations:

 

Kirsty

Makeesha

Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Solid Stripes, Confetti
Cardstock: Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight, Pretty in Pink, Vellum Cardstock
Inks: Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight, Pretty in Pink, Versamark
Punches: Circles, Scallop Edge, Pinking Hearts, Squares, Oval Wide
Big Shot: Milk Carton die
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds glitter, White gel pen, Daffodil Delight
marker, Daubers, White embossing powder, Pretty in pink brad

Baby Frame

I got another request for a baby gift from a coworker. She wanted a picture frame for a friend and she had shown me the baby quilt online so that I could match the colours in my project. The Tall Tales papers were just perfect to match the yellows and greens of the quilt, so I pulled them out and made this frame here:

 

 

What do you know, I used the Tasteful Trims die - again! I also used the Simple Letters and Simple Numbers dies to add the "ABC" and "123" to the frame. It is a total coincidence that there are three birds on the patterned paper, but isn't it a cute touch?

The actual frame is a chipboard frame I've had in my stash forever. I always thought I'd use it to make a frame for myself at home, with a family picture in it, but it has been gathering dust in my bookcase for a few years now, so I figured I might as well put it to good use. I covered it with pearlescent gold paint before adding the patterned paper and accents on it. If you look closely at the middle part, you'll notice I glued on photo corners so that the mother can add a 6x4 picture.

 

Supplies
Papers: Stampin' Up! (Tall Tales, Sweet Pea, Tastes of Textile)
Big Shot dies: Simple Letters, Simple Numbers, Tasteful Trims
Accessories: Buttons, Chipboard frame, Paint, White fun foam
Rickrack, Pearls: Stampin' Up! (Pretties), Needlework floss, Photo corners

 

Petites douceurs pour le bain

Another layout I've done a few weeks ago when I got on my scraboooking kick. The pictures are from last year's Christmas, when for some strange reason, we all gave each bath products as gifts. Not sure why we all did that the same year. In my case, it was because a new Sephora store had just opened where I live and they had the cutest gift boxes I had ever seen!

The layout is mostly non-SU!, but you'll notice I used the Northern Frost die to die-cut the snowflake at left and a pearl in the middle. I also used the Tasteful Trims die to make the scallop border at the top. Can I even stop using that thing? This is easily the best $50 I ever spent...

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned papers
Chipboard
Ribbon and trims
Alphabet and number stickers
Buttons
Markers: Stampin' Up!
Glitter
Christmas Stickers
Big Shot dies: Stampin' Up! (Northern Frost, Tasteful Trims), assorted dies
Rub-ons
Alphabet stickers
Alphabet stamps Playful Alphabet
Inks: Stampin' Up!
Pearls: Stampin' Up!
Stampin' Dimensionals: Stampin' Up!

 

Weird Trend

Here's another scrapbook layout I created a little while ago. Just something silly and fun, again inspired by a Page Map sketch. As you can see, those are wonderful inspiration for my scrapbooking. All three pictures were taken at different times and as I was sorting through my pictures, I noticed it could be fun to combine them together on one layout!

The sparkly green letter is actually a clear acetate letter that I covered with Crystal Effects and green glitter on the back. Turned out pretty cool!!

 

  

 

Supplies
Papers and die-cuts
Chipboard alphabet and accents
Green clear letters
Clear letter
Crystal Effects: Stampin' Up!
Glitter: Stampin' Up!
Rickrack
Buttons
Floss
Rhinestones: Stampin' Up!
Rub-ons
Glitter
Marker: Stampin' Up!

 

Stamping everywhere!

I have been working on an upcoming presentation this week so I thought I'd share a scrapbook page I've made a little while ago and had not posted yet. This page was designed around a Page Map sketch and is in a format that I like but seldomly use - 8½ x 11. I have a lot of cardstock that size for cardmaking so it'd be easy to stick to that format, but since most of my pages are in 12 x 12 and I like to arrange pages from a same theme in one album, if I start scrapbooking some pictures from, say, my trip to Leadership in 12 x 12, then I'll stick to that format for the rest of the pictures from that trip. That being said, I usually resort to 8½ x 11 for what I like to call "orphan pictures", pictures pertaining to a single story and not related to any other pages I've done.

This is the case here. The picture was taken during my trip to Orlando two years ago and shows the nifty nail stamping kits a woman was showing and selling at the mall. Since I was there with a bunch of stampers, it definitely piqued our interest. I didn't buy a kit myself, but some of the other demos did and we had fun trying it out at the hotel that night. The title of the page reads, "Stamping everywhere."

 

 

 

Supplies
Craft inks: Stampin' Up! (Perfect Plum, Ruby Red, Taken With Teal)
Cardstock: Stampin' Up!
Patterned papers
Alphabet stickers
Rub-ons
Twill: Stampin' Up!
Brads
Punches: Stampin' Up! (Circle, Spirals, Wide Oval, 1/2 Square, 3/4 Square)
White gel pen: Stampin' Up!
Buttons: Stampin'^' Up!
Gold cord: Stampin' Up!
Chipboard pennants
Rickrack and ribbon
Dimensional paint
Stampin' Dimensionals: Stampin' Up!

 

Inkspirations #43 - Baking You Some Birthday Wishes

 
 
 

 
Reached again for some of the papers and stamps I have brought back from Toronto this summer. Yes, I had quite the bag and I am starting to realize that as some of the new rubber still sits there, uninked. Which I don't particularly enjoy because I like to make sure every stamp I buy gets inked at least once. To appease my guilt, maybe? Either way, this is one more cute set I couldn't resist and that has finally seen ink. How cute is this monkey? And the "bananiversaire" sentiment was just perfect with the little banana. This one is hard to translate - the English version read "Happy Bird-day", which had to be adapted with a new pun, hence the banana in the French.

The "chocolate" twill is a ribbon I had received in a scrapbook embellishments RAK a long, looong time ago, back before I even started stamping. The remaining piece was just large enough for the card and perfect since Changito is baking - what else but a chocolate cake! The striped ribbon is a short piece I had leftover from a class, in which I assured my customer I would find a way to use this piece on another project. And if you look closely, you'll see that I used Sticky Strip to add a row of clear microbeads above the papers and ribbon. I like how it sort of look like granulated sugar. Again, perfect to go with Changito's cake. 

  

 

 

  

 

 

Here are the links to the other Design Team members's creations:

 

Kirsty

Makeesha

Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Baker, Messages illustrés (Picture It)
Cardstock: Brown, Very Vanilla (SU!)
Patterned papers
Inks: Early Espresso, River Rock (SU!)
Punches: Large Oval, Scallop Oval, Eyelet border (SU!)
Accessories: Chocolate striped grosgrain ribbon (SU!), button,
linen thread (SU!), snaps, daubers (SU!), markers,
clear microbeads (SU!), sticky strip, Stampin' Dimensionals (SU!)

All in the Family Ornament

Wanna see a fun idea to use your fabric and stamp? How about making a hand-stitched Christmas ornament? Being a cross-stitcher myself, I've had this idea rolling around in my head for quite some time, but like with many 3D item ideas, it took a while before I had enough time to sit, plan and execute.

What I did is that I took the All in the Family stamp set and stamped five characters to represent my family, namely Mom, Dad, my sister Judy, her boyfriend Seb and myself. I used a small piece of white embroidery fabric I had at home and stamped with Black StazOn ink, using the Stamp-a-Ma-Jig to make sure everything was perfectly lined up.

 

Tip: To make life easier on myself, I cut up a bunch of vellum cardstock square and stamped all of the images from the All in the Family set in Black StazOn ink on it using the Stamp-a-Ma-Jig. I will now be keeping those sheets in my stamp box as reference sheet, which will eliminate the need to stamp my image on my Stamp-a-Ma-Jig reference sheet every time I want to use this set. This trick only works with wood-mounted stamp sets, of course, since the image is permanently mounted in the same spot. With clear-mounted sets, you have to stamp a new reference image every time since the image is not always in the exact same spot on your acrylic block. Just one more cool use of the vellum sheets!

 

Then, I proceeded to select floss in colors that matched the Candy Cane Christmas fabric and used backstitch following the outline of the images. At first, I was planning on going over every single detail, including the faces, but as I started doing that, I found I was not liking the result. I found the characters looked cuter in black and white with their colored clothes.

I sketched the date on a piece of grid paper and added it underneath my family. Then, I sewed the ornament together and added red grosgrain ribbon and black lace trim all around the ornament. On the back, I added some green felt rickrack that I had cut using the Tasteful Trims die. (See, Brandi, how much use you'll get out of this die? *wink*) Since it is an XL Bigz, it cuts through thicker material like felt and fabric in a snap, giving you even more creative options.

I looped some black lace through a Big Designer button (sold in the Holidays mini) and used my glue gun to add it on top of the ornament. Then, I cut the prongs off of two red glimmer brads and used the glue gun to add the brads to the ornament.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: All in the Family
Inks: Black StazOn
Accessories: Tasteful Trims die, Green felt, Candy Cane Christmas fabric,
Black lace trim, Glimmer brads, Red grosgrain ribbon, Big Designer button,
Needlework floss (DMC), Stamp-a-Ma-Jig

 

Pumpkin Half-Fold

I swear, I had been wondering for the longest time how you could possibly manage to only cut half of the shape on a half-trifold card like the one shown below. I was so happy when I finally found the key to achieving this look!  I had to give it a try right away.

BTW, this will one of my October home workshop projects, if you're ever curious about how to make those yourself...

The pumpkin comes from the Paisley Prints set currently sold in the Holidays minicatalogue and I also used its matching wheel (Paisley Party) on the card front and inside the card. I added a little bit of sparkly rickrack. Even though it looks like ribbon in the picture, the rickrack border is actually chocolate glitter and it was made with the use of the Tasteful Trims die (also sold in the mini).

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Paisley Prints, Paisley Party wheel
Cardstock: Peach Parfait, Tango Tangerine, Whisper White
Inks: Versamark, Pumpkin Pie, Tango Tangerine
Big Shot: Curly Label Movers & Shakers die, Tasteful Trims die
Accessories: Chocolate Chip marker, rhinestones, Chocolate Chip striped
grosgrain ribbon, sticky sheet, Chocolate glitter, ticket corner punch, curly label punch,
paper cutter with scoring blade

 

Fall Scenery

To make this card, I tried out a technique I had seen before but never done myself, where you ink and mist your image with water before stamping it on watercolor paper, and then ink it again and stamp over it using the Stamp-a-Ma-Jig to line things up.  It is actually quite easy but the results are stunning. I pulled out an old favorite set to make this card, namely the Lovely as a Tree set.

The leaves were cut out of a wood sheet and watercolored using an Aquapainter and inks. I used the Woodgrain background (one of my faves) in the back and added cross stitches to the punched border using some linen thread.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Voeux mignons (Teeny Tiny Wishes), Woodgrain
Cardstock: More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, watercolor paper
Inks: Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive
Markers: Old olive, Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze, Chocolate Chip
Big Shot: Leaves die
Accessories: Chain punch, linen thread, Stampin' Dimensionals, envelope,
Stamp-a-Ma-Jig, Aquapainter brush, wood sheet, brad, Jewelry Tag punch, 2-1/2 Circle punch

 

Manager's Reception

This is a page I've done a while back but hadn't shared yet. The bright papers seemed like a great match for the colorful picture taken at last year's Leadership's Manager's Reception, which is a reward night SU! organizes for Consultants and above who attend Leadership. Last year, we sipped on rootbeers while watching a Mexican rodeo, then they treated us to a delicious Mexican meal and dance show. We had a great time - as always! The Manager Reception is definitely a highlight of the event and not to be missed. This year's Leadership will be held in Nashville and I can't help but wonder what SU! has in store for demos this year...

 

 

 

 

Supplies

Pattered papers
Rub-ons
Rickrack
Buttons
Markers: Stampin' Up!
Mats
Felt flower: Stampin' Up!
Punches: Stampin' Up! (Spirals)
Alphabet stickers

 

And the Stockings Were Hung...

Happy National Card-Making Day! Let me celebrate this special day by one of my latest card with you today, featuring some of the new supplies from the Holidays mini, namely the Candy Cane Christmas fabric, the Big Designer buttons, the Bright Christmas stamp set and the new Letterpress plates.

I was really looking forward to ordering and trying out the letterpress plates. They produce such a different and elegant look! I recommend using watercolor paper for that extra luscious look. You need to be careful when you place the watercolor paper down on the plate that it doesn't move around so you do not smudge your paper. To do so, my recommendation would be to tape the paper to the cutting plate using Dotto adhesive (which is temporary adhesive), which makes it easier to set it down and place your sandwich in the Big Shot without running anything. If you do make a smudge and move, then remember that you can simply turn your watercolor paper around and try it again the backside of the paper.

Isn't the result so pretty? I hope you have time to make a card or two today in celebration of the national holiday. Happy stamping!

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Chantons Noël (Bright Christmas), Confetti
Cardstock: Baja Blue, Garden Green, Pink Pirouette, Watercolor paper
Inks: Real Red, Garden Green
Accessories: Chain punch, Candy Cane Christmas fabric,
Big Designer button, twine, Joyful Season Letterpress plate