Encre, papier, ciseaux

Occasions Mini Feature: Sewn with Love

I just had to pull out the Sweet Stitches stuff one last time before it retires. This card was made for the VSN "wood" challenge. I've used my wooden sheets quite a bit since they came out, stamping on them, die-cutting them, watercoloring on them, embossing on them, but the one thing I hadn't tried was adding rub-ons on them. I am glad to report it works like a charm!

The idea for this card came to me this morning when I woke up and so putting the whole thing together was really fast because I had a really clear idea of what I wanted the card to look like. I wanted to add rickrack round the circles and remembered we have a rickrack border on the Tasteful Trims die so this is what I used to die-cut the patterned paper. I ran the paper rickrack through the crimper to make it more pliable and be able to follow the circle shape when adding it to the card.

The measuring tape on which I added my sentiment is the border of one of the patterned papers from the Sweet Stitches pack. I first planned on cutting the end banner-style, but then I thought I could fold a circle in half and add a brad to mimick the end of a measuring tape instead. I really like how this detail turned out! At the other end of the sentiment strip, I layered a fabric brad on a Big Designer button and glued it in the centre of the second circle, over the sentiment strip.

  

  

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Voeux mignons (Teeny Tiny Wishes)
Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight
Designer papers: Sweet Stitches DSP
Ink: Tempting Turquoise
Big Shot: Tasteful Trims DSP
Accessories: Daffodil Delight pompom trim, Circle Scissors Plus, Wooden sheets,
Sweet Stitches rub-ons, Sweet Stitches fabric brads, Sweet Stitches Big Designer buttons,
Stampin' Dimensionals, brads, Circle punches

 

Inkspirations #67 - All Aboard

 
 
 
  

 
I received my Summer Mini preorder last Friday, just in time for the weekend. I had company coming over for the weekend plus a team meeting to plan on Satuday night, so I had to be patient and wait for Sunday to try out my new stuff. I decided that I would use my free time wisely and get going on the weekly Inkspirations challenge. As soon as I looked at this week's sketch and saw the circle, I thought, "Ooh, sailboat in a porthole!" After getting this idea, the card came together in a flash. If you are struggling to put together masculine cards, you are going to want to get this stamp set (The Open Sea) and matching papers (Nautical Adventures). They are AWESOME! The sentiment reads, "Happy Father's Day" and is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set.

The porthole was created using the 1-3/4 in. and 2-1/2 in. circle punches and I added silver brads around before mounting it on the card using Dimensionals cut in half.

To decorate the bottom of the panel, I created a 1-in. square mask and sponged some grey ink and stamped images from the set in the opening and then punched the cardstock with the new stamp punch from the Summer mini. I then layered two buttons (navy button from the Retro Spring Big Designer buttons from the current mini and a Basic Grey corduroy button, which are still available in the Clearance Rack) and held everything in place with twine. I was so excited when I saw that we would be adding this embellishment to our line of product! I've been using a ton of linen thread to tie small embellishments in place, but I love that we now have twine in three different colours (White, White and Cherry Cobbler, White and Early Espresso) as a cool alternative.

Finally, I added the sentiment to a piece of white cardstock and rolled both ends with the tip of my paper piercer to make it look like a scroll. I folded the corner of my patterned paper, stamped part of the map image on the corner of the Cherry Cobbler cardstock and held the paper in place with a mini library clip.

 

 

 

  

   

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' up! Supplies
Stamps: The Open Sea, Voeux mignons (Teeny Tiny Wishes)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Not Quite Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Basic Grey
Designer papers: Nautical Adventures
Inks: Basic Grey, Cherry Cobbler, Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand
Punches: Stamp, 2-1/2 Circle, 1-3/4 Circle
Accessories: White envelope, Retro Spring button, Basic Grey corduroy button,
Cherry twine, Mini library clip, Silver brads

 

Occasions Mini Feature: Fashion Pearls

I must admit although I am looking ahead to the new stuff coming up, I have to admit I am a bit sad to see the Occasions mini come to an end, as I really liked the items it featured. I have been taking a little break of stamping lately as I've been on a stitching roll, but I decided I wanted to stamp tonight and use some of the about to retire stuff. I pulled out the cute Sweet Stitches rub-ons and decided to match them with the Springtime Vintage DSP for a different look.

For inspiration, I turned to the Paper Players sketch (#44) and the Pals Paper Arts button challenge (#91). Another item of the mini I pulled out is the Baja Breeze glass glitter SU! gave as a gift to all of the guests who attended Regionals. I must admit I hadn't really looked at the glass glitter twice when it came out in the Holidays mini, but I am finding I like working with it because it is SO easy to put back in the container and clean up. It is chunkier than the fine glitter, so it slides right off of the project and back into the container, and it doesn't cling to your clothes and face, which makes me a very happy stamper!

See the flower border on the pink paper? If you are wondering how I created it, I first stamped the stem stitching from the In Stitches wheel in Not Quite Navy and then applied the rosebuds rub-on border over it, then accented the middle of some of the flowers with small pearls. I added a ruffled border with Vanilla seam binding held in place with Sticky Strip. I love how soft and thin the seam binding is, it makes it really easy to create pleats like I did here or to tie bows that look terrific without being too bulky when your card is slipped in the envelope.

The main image was created by adding the little girl rub-on image to watercolor paper and using a blending pen and ink to color her. I then used the Wide Oval punch to punch her out and added her on top of a Springtime Vintage button, threaded with small strips of paper. The sentiment was stamped with the Teeny Tiny Wishes set and punched with the Jewelry Tag punch, one of my personal favorites. I punched two other tags in matching cardstock colours, layered them and held them together with a brad from the Neutrals pack. The tag at right is also from the Sweet Stitches rub-on pack, and I decorated it with pearls as well since the text reads "Fashion Pearls."

 

Remember, the following items are retiring tomorrow as the Occasions mini ends:

1. Springtime Vintage Designer papers
2. Springtime Vintage Big Designer buttons
3. Sweet Stitches rub-ons
4. In Stitches wheel
5. Glass Glitter
6. Seam Binding

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Voeux mignons (Teeny Tiny Wishes), In Stitches wheel
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Ivory Confetti, Watercolor Paper
Designer papers: Springtime Vintage
Ink: Early Espresso, River Rock, Certainly Celery, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Rose Red
Accessories: Designer buttons (Neutrals), Pearl Jewel Basics, Baja Breeze Glass Glitter,
Wide Oval punch, Vanilla Seam Binding, Stampin' Dimensionals, Blending Pen,
Distressing Tool (Cutting Kit), Jewelry Tag punch, Springtime Vintage Big Designer Buttons,
Sweet Stitches Rub-ons, Envelope Template, Top Note Die

 

Occasions Mini Feature: Cute as a Button

Today, I am sharing a card I had originally created for and submitted to PaperCrafts magazine. It showcases the Sweet Stitches papers, buttons and rub-ons, the In Stitches wheel as well as the A Slice of Life hostess stamp set.

I stamped the baby onesie on watercolor paper with StazOn ink, used a blending pen and ink to watercolor it and then layered it over a Decorative Label rub-on punched with the matching punch. I wanted the sentiment to read, "Cute as a button" and use one of the button rub-on to finish the sentence, so I pulled out my trusty Calendar Alphabet stamp set and created the sentiment myself. Whether you are a scrapbooker or a card-maker, I would strongly recommend getting this alpha set because I have used it on a ton of different projects ever since winning it at convention when it first came out. I love that I can write all sorts of captions with it due to its small size and use the numbers from the set to add dates.

Anyway, the rest of the card is pretty straightfoward, as I used my unmounted In Stitches wheel to add stitching all around the background paper and then added the four matching buttons around my main image to frame it.

  

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies

Stamps: A Slice of Life, Calendar Alphabet & Numbers, In Stitches wheel
Cardstock: Pink pirouette, Tempting Turquoise, watercolor paper
Designer papers: Sweet Stitches DSP
Inks: Black StazOn, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso
Accessories: Blending pen, Sweet Stitches rub-ons, Sweet Stitches buttons,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Decorative Label punch

Occasions Mini Feature: Easter Treat

Last Sunday, I was invited over for Easter dinner and did not want to come in empty-handed, so I picked up a bottle of my favorite red wine and decided to create a little topper to give it some oomph. I pulled out the Vintage Spring DSP, the Something to Celebrate hostess set, a rosette and some Baja Breeze glass glitter and created the following tag.

 

 

 

Would you believe this is the first time I give those paper rosettes a try? They've been everywhere and they are super easy to do, so I'm not sure what was holding me back. Maybe the fact that they are everywhere? Anyway, I am just glad I decided to give this technique a try because it allowed me to put this tag together in a flash before leaving for dinner. If you look closely at the center, you will notice that I have layered a flower punched with the new three-step punch from the Summer mini (I cannot wait to demo those to you, they are something else!!) on a Scallop Circle and then used Crystal Effects to add the rosette to the center. Crystal Effects is definitely the way to go with the rosettes if you don't want them to fall off of your project later, as even mini glue dots do not seem to have enough hold on the satin ribbon to keep them in place. The CE works like a charm, though, and while it was out, I added a thin line of Crystal Effects all around my main circle and added some glass glitter on it. Again, the Crystal Effects will give you a strong enough bond to keep this chunkier glitter in place, as regular glue like the two-step glue, for example, will not work as well.

I should note that even though the back circle looks like it was cut out of patterned paper, there's also an additional circle cut out of cardstock on the back of it to make the tag sturdier. The sentiment banner was created by die-cutting a banner with the Petal Cone die, folding it in half and using a marker to ink only one word of the sentiment at a time so that they could be separated on the two end of the banner.

Before I sign off, I would like to remind you that the Occasions minicatalogue is coming to an end on Saturday. If there is anything in it you think you cannot live without, you have until then to contact me to place an order for them.

 

 

Stampin' Up! supplies
Stamps: Quelque chose à fêter (Something to Celebrate)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla
Designer papers: Vintage Spring
Ink: Not Quite Navy
Accessories: Scallop Border punch, bone folder, Baja Breeze glass glitter,
Crystal Effects, Rosette, Bouquet punch, marker, Scallop Circle punch, Baja Breeze ribbon

 

Even on my off days...

I like to blog-surf in my free time. Mostly stamping blogs, obviously, but I have recently come across a hilarious blog called Cake Wrecks. It is amazing the atrocious cakes that people not only put together, but sell! My personal favorites are when bakers take notes that are meant for them and write the whole thing on the cake - like so...

 Needless to say, since this blog is about cakes, the last thing I expected to find on it was some Stampin' Up! stuff. But look at THIS post here. Scroll down to the second cake, the yellow and black one, then click on it for a close-up. Looks like our two-step bird punch inspired a cake! Neat, huh?

While you are there, I encourage you to have a look around and take the time to read Jen's posts. She's just hilarious!

Here are some of my personal favorites to get you started...

 

Problem with Phone Order

How to Make Your Twins Hate You

Olympic Games

Lost in Translation

Hmm, Yummy!

Mickey Mouse Club

 

 

On a side note, the Inkspirations DT will be taking a break this week for Easter. We'll be back with a new challenge for you next Friday! Happy Easter weekend to you!

 

Warm Thank You

A few weeks ago, I received some very fun mail in the form of a card from the oh-so-talented Leigh O'Brien. Her projects are always pure perfection down to every last detail and I'm just in awe of everything she creates. Needless to say, I was really excited to add one of her cards to my collection and be able to study it up close.

Of course, I had to send her a thank you note and make it a good one! I pulled out my stamps and looked through my papers for something to match, and this is what I came up with. Now that I know that Leigh has received my card, I can safely share it with you all.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Jingle Bells (The Cat's Pajamas)
Designer papers: Love Ya
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Soft Sky
Acessories: Tag, Chocolate Chip rub-on, felt accent, Nestabilities die,
markers, Pearls Basic Jewels, Pretties kit (clear beads), crochet flower,
snowflake border punch, envelope template

 

Inkspirations #66 - Birthday Vase

 
 
  

 
I cannot wait for this week to be over. Seems like I've been off beat for most of it and running in circles, getting nothing accomplished. To end the week on a high note, I am posting this challenge late because a) I had been working on challenge projects ahead of time and totally forgot that I had not made this week's project until yesterday evening, then b) stamped by project and hurried to take a picture of it, save it on my computer and then head to bed because it was late... only to remember this morning that I had taken the picture, but totally forgotten to upload it on my blog! *sigh*

But it's there, now. I have been wanting to use the flower vase image from the A Slice of Life hostess set and I wanted to do something with a clean design to really show off the cute vase.

The card base was stamped with the Teahouse background in Sahara Sand ink. I stamped the vase in Versamark on Sahara Sand cardstock and white-embossed the image, then watercolored it with ink using a blending pen. Underneath, I stamped a sentiment from the Something to Celebrate hostess set. I thought about using a wish I hadn't inked often, but really, birthday cards are what I sell the most of and use the most myself, so I added "Happy birthday­." At the top, I glued a strip of Regal Rose cardstock that had been punched with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch and I used the holes as a guide to add cross stitches with white floss. Then, I selected three flower buttons that I added to the bouquet, and added a small pearl to the sentiment and I decided to fight the urge to further embellish and leave it as is.

 

 

  

   

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' up! Supplies
Stamps: Teahouse, A Slice of Life, Something to Celebrate
Cardstock: Tempting Turqoise, Regal Rose, Sahara Sand, Whisper White
Inks: Versamark, Sahara Sand, Regal Rose, Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: White embossing powder, Pearls basic jewels, buttons, envelope,
White needlework floss (DMC), Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch, blending pen

 

MDS Winner {Almost}

This picture was taken at convention two summers ago right after I had won the MDS. To say I was excited would be an understatement... I think the picture says it all... or maybe not.

The upcoming MDS had been announced at Leadership in 2009. Being that I am a scrapbooker, I was quite excited and curious about this new product and patiently waiting for it to become available. Somewhere in between the unveiling of the product and its launch, Quebec demonstrators were informed that the product would not be made available in Quebec. What a bummer... So then when I went to convention, I was hoping and praying that I could win a copy during Prize Patrol because it was the only way I would be able to get it for myself. I'm sure I must have annoyed some of my traveling buddies because I kept on repeating that Orange would be the winning color for MDS.

So convention rolled around and on the very first morning, they showed the MDS to us, then announced they would be giving some away. On with the drum rolls and - ta-da! Orange wins! I jump up and down, we take the picture you see below and then... they announce that the MDS isn't quite ready to hand out just yet but should be in a month or so so they say they'll write down the name and adress of the winners and send it to us when it's ready.

Can you guess the rest? Yup - my prize cannot be mailed to me in Quebec. I was SOO bummed! I may even have pouted a little. SU! did come through by offering me a shopping spree in the amount of the MDS, which was a very substantial prize and which allowed me to get the Simple Letters die for free.

Made for a good scrapbook page...

 

 

 

 

 

Inkspirations #65 - Mother's Day Paisley

 
 
  

The card I created for today was inspired by a mix of free stamps received during SAB (Fine Flourish and Elizabeth) and some new designer paper (Paisley Petals) from the 2011-2012 catalogue that is offered as a promotion in April. Isn't is gorgeous? It totally grabbed my attention and I just had to use it right away.

I liked how the Elizabeth stamp sort of reflected the paisley pattern on the paper, so I decided to try and watercolor it, which I hadn't tried up until now. I embossed the image in silver and used a blending pen and ink to color in the image. I love how it turned out! I then stamped the Fine Flourish background in Marina Mist on Very Vanilla cardstock, overstamped the Elizabeth image in Always Artichoke and the "Happy Mother's Day" sentiment in Soft Suede and cut the oval out. (I am very sorry to report that the centre of this image does not match any of our oval punches. Such a sad and rare occurence, but I thought I'd mention it in case you figured you could just punch the middle out when making a project.)

The stamped image was then handcut and matted with a piece of Marina Mist cardstock die-cut with the Oval die and dry-embossed with the Finial Press embossing folder. I then distressed the edges with the Cutting Kit.

The crimped bow is an idea I got from a swap card I received from Sophye Bergeron at the Montreal Regionals last weekend. Such a sweet and simple idea - I just had to try it. The blue rose on the bow was made by punching out and layering two shapes flowers made with one of the Bitty punches and the retired Flower Trio, adding a pearl jewel in the middle and curving the petals up a little bit.

 

  
 

  
  

 
Color Combo: Old Olive + Always Artichoke + Marina Mist + Soft Suede

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' up! Supplies
Stamps: Elizabeth, Voeux mignons (Teeny Tiny Wishes), Fine Flourish
Cardstock: Old Olive, Always Artichoke , Marina Mist, Whisper White, Soft Suede
Designer paper: Paisley Petals
Inks: Versamark, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Marina Mist
Accessories: Silver embossing powder, Pearl Basic Jewels, Bitty punch, Distressing tool,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Finial Presse embossing folder, Flower Trio punch, Crimper,
Pinking Hearts border punch

 

Icing on the {Cup}Cake

In March, Shelli Gardner had issued a Cupcake challenge on her blog and I decided to use the cupcake shape from the Mix & Match chipboard set to create a card for it. I wanted some sweet Designer papers, so I looked at my evergrowing stash and found these from an old Spring mini.

The bottom of the cupcake was covered with some patterned paper that was run through the crimper to give it that corrugated texture the bottom of cupcakes have. I colored the candle with a marker and added Iridescent Ice embossing powder to the flame. I colored a piece of Glossy White cardstock in pink, using the Mother of Pearl technique to add some extra shimmer to the icing. I traced the icing on the back of it, cut the shape, glued it in place and used sanding files to sand the edges. I then dipped one of our rosette in ink to color it teal and added it the cupcake with a glue dot.

At the bottom of the cupcake, I stamped a sentiment from the Something to Celebrate hostess set and I used a paper piercer and mat pack to add a pierced frame around the cupcake. I also stamped a border on one of my pieces of patterned paper using my unmounted In Stitches wheel.

I pulled a scallop border from the same chipboard pack as the cupcake, covered it with Whisper White ink and added clear embossing on top, then decorated the border with rhinestones. I added a Sweet Stitches fabric brad from the Occasions minicatalogue and a piece of white lace at the top of card. I used some Chocolate floss to add cross stitches to "hold" the ribbon in place, in the upper right corner.

Finally, I used a template to make a matching envelope out of a matching sheet of paper.

 

 

 
Inspiration: Mojo Monday Sketch #184

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Quelque chose à fêter (Something to Celebrate), In Stitches wheel
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Glossy White
Designer papers: Love Ya
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Accessories: Mix & Match On Board chipbaord, Rhinestones Basic Jewels,
Clear embossing powder, Sweet Stitches fabric brads, Rosette,
Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Crimper, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack,
Lace trim, Sanding files, needlework floss (DMC)

 

Stampin' Success Projects: Sisters By Chance

This is the last page I prepared for the Stampin' Success publication. I knew I wanted my last page to use a sentiment I had seen recently and really liked, "Sisters by chance, friends by choice." I went for a 8x8 page for change and I pulled out a picture of my sister and I that I really like. Up until a few years ago, I could never understand why some people said my sister and I really look alike. She has brown hair and brown eyes, I have red hair and blue eyes... and then my BIL took this picture of us at Christmas and when I saw the pic, I thought "Oooh... Okay, now I get it."

To create the background of the page, I stamped and clear-embossed images on cardstock and then used my square punch to create a mosaic. To create the tag, I die-cut a tag from the Lots of Tags die set twice (once out of Pear Pizzazz  Designer paper and a second time out of Very Vanilla cardstock). I stamped the word Sisters in Blushing Bride ink using the Broadsheet Alphabet and Sweet Shoppe Lower Alphabet on the Very Vanilla tag and used the scoring line as a guide to cut the middle out. I used my Wide Oval punch to mat my stamped word and added those two ovals to the tag.

The rest of the title was stamped in Early Espresso on Crumb Cake cardstock with the help of my trusty Stamp-a-Ma-Jig. I then used my unmounted In Stitches wheel to add a row of stitching right underneath the words. I used the Square punch again to cut the end of the cardstock strip and then embellished it with a Vintage Flower Adornment.

Super simple, but I really like the result.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies

Stamps: Tendresse (Love & Care), Sweet Shoppe Alphabet Lower, Broadsheet Alphabet
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazzz, Early Espresso
Designer paper: In Color Hostess paper pack
Inks: Blushing Bride, Early Espresso, Versamark
Big Shot: Lots of Tags die
Accessories: Clear embossing powder, Vintage Flower Adornments,
Pearl Basic Jewels, Stampin' DImensionals, Wide Oval punch

 

Stampin' Success Projects: 1920s

This is the third page I created for the Stampin' Success publication. This time, I decided to try a 8½ x 11 page to showcase a different page size. The picture was taken at our office party. I was part of the planning committee last year, along with the two other ladies you see with me in the pic. The theme was the 1920s, hence the costumes.

I wanted to create  a vintage feel, so I used a piece of First Edition paper in the background. I cut a circle out of Pear Pizzazz polka dot paper (from the In Color Hostess pack) and then layered a couple of cardstock strips over it. The Vanilla one was used as a journaling block, and I stamped the Crumb Cake one with the In Stitches wheel. I pulled out a chipboard scallop border from the Mix & Match set and covered it with Pink Pirouette Craft ink, then added Iridescent Ice embossing powder on top. A Sweet Stitches fabric brad was added to the cardstock strip.

The flowers were colored and shaded with Watercolor Wonder crayons right on the rubber, spritzed with water and stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock. It gives the flower a very nice, soft watercolor effect. I then handcut the two flowers and glued the big one at the left of the journaling block.

To create the title, I cut numbers out of sticky sheets using the Simple Numbers die. Before glueing them to the page, I slipped the stem of the long flower through the "0", glued it down and then I covered the numbers with fine Chocolate glitter. The sparkly title looks SO nice in person, I just love it! 

I wanted to add the date somewhere and as I was looking for an idea for a small tag or something, I came across a scallop circle that was leftover from the last time I had used the Banner die. The nice thing about those scallop circles is that they are already scored, since the idea is to glue a few together at the bottom of the pennant, so I figured I could just fold one in half over my picture and handwrite the info on it. Granted, you could also use your scallop circle punch and make the score line yourself, but the die-cut version also has a nice perforated circle border as well. I added a third watercolored flower on it as well.

Once I was done, I realized I had forgotten a very important 1920s accessory: pearls!!!! Can't do a 1920s page without pearls... So I added some between each scallop on the tab, on the chipboard banner and an assortment of sizes in the middle of my big flower as well.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Tendresse (Love & Care), In Stitches wheel
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Pear Pizzazz
Designer paper: In Color Hostess pack, First Edition
Inks: Early Espresso, Petite Pirouette (Craft)
Big Shot: Simple Numbers dies, Pennant die
Accessories: Watercolor Wonder crayons, Pearls Basic Jewels, Chocolate fine glitter,
Sweet Stitches fabric brad, Early Espresso marker, Stampin' Dimensionals, Sticky sheets,
Mix & Match chipboard, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Circle Scissors Plus

 

Stampin' Success Projects: Nature

This is the second page that was published in the Stampin' Success. I started by stamping the stems from the Love & Care set in Craft ink on the Crumb Cake cardstock. Then, I stamped the big flower in Very Vanilla ink six times and handcut the flowers to create a scallop border at the bottom of the page. I really like how that detail turned out!

I reached for the Tasteful Trims die again and cut out eight scallop strips out of Pear Pizzazz cardstock. On half of those strips, I stamped a small flower in each scallop (which, as you can see, is just the right size to fit perfectly). I layered those on the page and then added ribbon at the top. I wanted to use twill but I thought it looked too narrow, so I glued down two pieces of twill on the page and hid the seam with a piece of Vanilla taffeta ribbon. I then used linen thread to tie a Vanilla button around the ribbons, and added a pearl in the middle of the button.

I matted my picture with a piece of Early Espresso cardstock torn at the bottom. I then die-cut my title out of Very Vanilla cardstock using the Go Go Boots alphabet (upper-case letters) and added backstitch around the letters using linen thread. I really like the texture it adds to the page.

Finally, I covered a chipboard tag from the Mix & Match collection with Very Vanilla cardstock and stamped a flower in Pear Pizzazz in the background. I then added my quote by stamping the first word with the Broadsheet Alphabet and the Sweet Shoppe Alphabet Lower, and then handwrote the rest with a marker. The quote translates to something like this: "The day humans will not have room for nature anymore, maybe Nature will not have room for them anymore, either." I added a Big Designer button from the Spring Vintage kit on which I had tied a piece of Vanilla taffeta ribbon.

Finally, I pulled a chipboard tree from the same On Board set and I covered the trunk with Early Espresso Craft ink and the leaves with patterned paper from the In Color hostess paper pack.

As you can see, I used the same color combo as before on this page, but omitted the Blushing Bride to keep with the nature theme.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Broadsheet Alphabet, Sweet Shoppe Alphabet Lower, Tendresse (Love & Care)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Pear Pizzazz, Very Vanilla
Designer papers: In Color Hostess Paper Pack
Inks: Pear Pizzazz, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla
Big Shot: Go Go Boots Alphabet dies, Tasteful Trims die
Accessories: Mix & Match On Board chipabord, Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon,
Twill, Hemp twine, Neutrals Designer buttons, Springtime Vintage buttons,
Pearl Basic Jewels, paper piercing tool

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Success Projects: Love with a Capital L

Some of you know by now that I was lucky enough to have my work featured in the April issue of the Stampin' Success, the magazine SU! publishes for their demonstrators each month. I had been asked last November if I was interested in creating a few projects for publication. The answer was a resounding yes. I've been not-so-patiently waiting for the magazine to be posted on the demonstrator Website and now that it is, I can not only share the great news, but also some pictures of the pages I have created for SU!

The only guidelines I had to follow was to create scrapbook pages that were 8x8 or bigger, use the stamp set they had sent me (Love & Care, an upcoming hostess set from the Summer mini) and to use the same color combo on all pages. That last part was a bit tricky, because I usually select pictures first and colours second, to ensure that the colours really complement the pictures. I knew I wanted to use Early Espresso paired with Blushing Bride and Pear Pizzazz because this combo has been a favorite of mine ever since I made that Holidays Tradition mini album and I figured I could make it work for various themes.

The first pictures I pulled out were an easy choice. My sister and her boyfriend had a photo session with a professional photographer last year and the resulting shots are just awesome. I had some black and white pictures of them already printed, so I decided I would make a "Love with a Capital L" page. The strangest of coincidence is that I hadn't really looked all that closely at the sentiments included in the stamp set because I wasn't making cards, but it turns out that one of them says, "Avec amour." With the help of my markers, I turned the two words around to get "Amour avec" and completed the rest ("un grand A") using the Sweet Shoppe Alphabet and the Go Go Boots Alphabet dies. Don't you just love it when things work out like that? The oval frame comes from the Notably Ornate set and I also used markers to ink only the frame and omit the words inside. I used the second frame from the same set to create the insert on which I handwrote my journaling and that was slid inside the pocket.

The heart and arrow are chipboard pieces from the On Board collection. The arrow was covered with Celery Craft ink and embossed with Iridescent Ice embossing powder. The heart was covered with patterned paper from the In Colors hostess paper pack and then I added piercing all around and created a scallop border using the Dotted Scallop Trim punch and crimper. The die-cut A was covered with Crystal Effects to give it more volume.

The pocket was created with the Top Note die. I folded a piece of Espresso cardstock in half and ran it through the BIg Shot to create the pocket, and then I die-cut two pieces of patterned paper and glue them on the back and on the front of the pocket. I added some Pear Pizzazz ribbon and a Vintage brad decorated with a pearl.

Tip: To make sure the pearl stays in place on the metal brad, I recommend adding a drop of Crystal Effects or else the pearl will shift around or even fall off the brad when you handle the project.

 The flowery paper was created with the Chalkboard technique. I started with Early Espresso cardstock, on which I stamped the flowers and leaves in Whisper White Craft ink and then rubbed some pastels on the images to color them, using multiple colors to add shading. As you can see, the pastels pop up very nicely on the dark background. I did spray the cardstock with a fixative once I was done to make sure it wouldn't smudge. I added a border that was die-cut with the Tasteful Trims die and embellished with pearls.

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Tendresse (Love & Care), Déco noble (Notably Ornate), Sweet Shoppe Alphabet Lower
Cardstock: Blushing Bride, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Pear Pizzazz, Vellum
Designer papers: In Color Hostess Paper Pack
Inks: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Certainly Celery (Craft)
Big Shot: Top Note die, Go Go Boots Alphabet, Scallop Circles
Punches: Corner Rounder, Heart to Heart, Dotted Scallop Trim, Scallop Trim, Wide Oval
Accessories: On Board chipboard, Iridescent Ice powder, Crimper,
Crystal Effects, Stampin' Pastels, Daubers, Pear Pizzazz ribbon,
Vintage brads, Pearls, Markers, Paper Piercer

 

A Flower and a Note For You

Something simple and cute that I put together this weekend. I used the corner of the patterned paper where the stitching and needle to add a fun detail to the card. I also used the Lattice die to make the leaves. I was first planning on using the inside part of the motif, but then when I took the cardstock off of the die, I thought that the outside pattern would look even better. I really like the look! The flower steam was made using some green floss wrapped around the patterned paper three times, and the main flower was created by running a piece of thread through the side of a large striped ribbon and pulling it tightly into a rosette. Then, the middle was adorned with some pompom trim glued around a circle punched out of cardstock and a matching button decorated with a rhinestone. Finally, the side of the card was decorated with a Daffodil Delight strip punched out with the Scallop Trim border punch.

The card size is 3 x 6-1/2 and fit in our long, narrow envelopes.

  

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Sentiments chaleureux
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Wild Wasabi
Designer papers: Sweet Stitches
Ink: Early Espresso
Accessories: Corner Rounder punch, Lattice die, Scallop Trim punch,
needlework floss (DMC), Pumpkin striped ribbon, Daffodil Delight pompom trim,
Sweet Stitches Big Designer button, Rhinestone, Circle punch