Encre, papier, ciseaux

Peace, Love and Smiles All Year Long

Inspiration: CAS Colours & Sketches #359 + The Card Concept #129 + TGIF challenge #253

The Card Concept inspiration picture gave me a good excuse to dig out the stamp set from the Crate Paper Snowflake collection, which I had been wanting to use. I thought it would work well with the CAS sketch, as the element placed on the circle. I looked for sentiments and I landed on "We wish you peace, love and smiles for the year to come," which could work for the holidays, but also for a winter birthday, really. It's from the Everything Festive stamp set from the last Holidays catalogue. I got this one on the late side, right before the catalogue retired, but it has great French sentiments that are unique in nice big fonts, so I knew I wanted this one whether it was retiring or not. I stamped the sentiment in Pretty Peacock ink and embossed it with Deep Sea Baked Texture embossing powder. I die-cut the sentiment with the Stitched Nested Labels dies and embellished the label with a puffy sticker from the Snowflake collection, a metal-rimmed pearl and Woven Threads sequins. 

For the circle, I used polka dot patterned paper from the Snowflake paper pad but I added glittery snowflakes on it using a stencil and White Glitz Glitter Gel from Gina K. I love how this product looks! The snowflakes from the stencil are quite delicate and all of the details are showing up very nicely. The product didn't run under the stencil even though I didn't use spray adhesive and most of all, I like how the sparkle is white. A lot of clear or white glitter has shades of purple, blue, greens or oranges when it catches the light. This is pure white. I feel like it will work with more colour schemes. This collection is a good example, since the colours are muted and soft. 

I embellished the envelope with the leftover piece of the circle that was cut off the edge of the card and I added a puffy sticker. Aren't those adorable? I'm loving that companies are bringing back the puffy stickers. Might be because it is reminiscent of my sticker collection when I was young. I remember I had albums with glossy pages where I collected all of pretty stickers. Those were the early days of my love for paper craft products.

 

 

   

Supplies
Stamps: Snowflake (Crate Paper); Festivités à l'année (Everything Festive - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Petal Pink, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Paper and Puffy Stickers: Snowflake (Crate Paper)
Ink: Early Espresso, Baja Breeze, Blushing Bride, Hello Honey,
Pretty Peacock, Merry Merlot
Dies: Layering Circles (Tonic); Wonky Stitched Rectangles (MFT);
Stitched Nested Labels (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Falling Snowflakes (Echo Park); Baker's Twine (My Mind's Eye);
White Glitz Glitter Gel (Gina K Designs); A2 Aquamarine Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com);
Metal-Rimmed Pearls, Stampin' Dimensionals, Woven Threads Sequin Assortment (Stampin' Up!);
Deep Sea Baked Textured Embossing Powder (Emerald Creek)

 

Gilded Condoleances

Inspiration: Try Stampin' on Tuesday #446 + Festive Friday #53 

I was watching videos on YouTube and one showing various ways to use gilding flakes sparked inspiration. I pulled out my old jar of Heat 'n Stick from Stampin' Up! and a set of full images (Deco Fall from Paper Smooches in collaboration with Simon Says Stamp, a set that was offered for a limited period during their last Stamptember offering) and gave it a try.

For this technique, you essentially stamp your images in VersaMark, use powder glue (such as heat 'n stick) and then you use your fingers to burnish the gilding flakes into the tacky melted powder. You then use a brush with sturdy bristles to take the excess away. I noticed when I heated my images that a lot of the powder flew away (my desktop was covered with it) and that the powder was pretty coarse, so I think you might get better result with something finer. I still liked the result enough to keep for a project, but we are missing the finer details of the stamps, which the YouTuber was able to get in her own video. 

For the background, I used the Flea Market 6" x 6" paper from Doodlebug and I dressed it up a bit using texture paste and stencils. I reused a trick from a former project, where I mixed my Stampin' Up! texture paste with the pearly Aladine texture paste to give it more body (as the Aladine pastes have beautiful colours but they are very runny). I used Mango and Cactus with the Bubble stencil on the top part and the Zig Zag stencil on the bottom paper. I dusted some fine Champagne glitter on the paste with the Glitter Duster from Tim Holtz. I divided the two sections with a punched border and I added some braided burlap trim from the current minicatalogue. 

I then looked through my French sentiment dies for something appropriate and I decided to turn this into a condoleances card, as we unfortunately always need to have some on hand. I had leftover paste, which I used with the same stencil on a woodgrain envelope. I had also stamped and foiled extra leaves, which I used inside the card and on the envelope to finish them off. 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Deco Fall (Paper Smooches/Simon Says Stamp)
Cardstock: Soft Suede, Lost Lagoon (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Flea Market (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Heat & Stick Powder, Baja Breeze Corduroy Buttons, Braided Burlap Trim,
Pinking Heart Border Punch, Texture Paste, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Champagne Fine Glitter (Stampin' Up!); Calypso Gilding Flakes (Cosmic Shimmer); 
A2 Oak Woodgrain Envelope (envelopes.com); Zig Zag Stencil (Simon Says Stamp);
Mango and Cactus Pearly Texture Paste (Aladine);
Sincères condoléances sympathies Dies (Simple à souhait);
Bubble Stencil, Glitter Duster (Tim Holtz); Outside In Stitched Rectangles Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

Dandelion Wish

Inspiration: Colour Inkspiration #71 + MFT Sketch #477

Rejoice: the new Lawn Fawn Spring release is here! Expect to see some new creations on my blog inspired by it in the next few weeks.

This card is a different size: 6" x 4". Can you guess what inspired the format? I have all of this clear packaging from unpacking my new stamps and dies and I figured I could use it as clear envelopes to protect my cards. I pretty much picked one, measured it with my ruler and then I looked at card sizes on my envelope punch board and that's how the size was picked. It actually worked out well, as the larger panel allowed me to create a cute scene for my cute mice playing with dandelions.

I wanted to make a French card and the sentiment "Make a Wish" seemed like an obvious choice so I used my sentiment spreadsheet to find what I was looking for in one of my retired stamp sets. The size and font was perfect, as well. 

The main scene was created using the Grassy Stencil from Lawn Fawn. I like that they thought to include the positive and negative image on the same stencil so that you can hide the grass to create the sky afterwards. You'll see my first attempt is not perfect as there's a bit of white around the grass, but I think that's just the learning curve. Lawn Fawn also released a cute cloud stencil, but since I already have two from MFT (the regular and mini clouds), I didn't see the need to reinvest. I used the mini clouds one here, paired with Tumbled Glass and Shaded Lilac Distress Oxide inks. 

When came time to add the two stripes from the sketch, I struggled a bit. I tried out the Spiffy Speckles patterned papers, but instead of adding to my design, it was distracting from it. For a minute, I almost decided to stick with just the middle panel and forego the sketch, but then I found the Woodgrain cardstock and tried out white panels and I decided I liked it. I tried staggering the strips to have them shorter on one side, but I actually glued one wrong (right up to the edge) and I decided I liked the look better so I reajusted the other one to be that way as well). I went looking for ornements to finish off the strips. I found Iridescent Bubbles, which didn't work out great on the white woodgrain pieces, but looked fabulous as the centers of the dancelions, so I added those, and I decided to add Earl Grey Vintage Drops to the woodgrain strips instead.

The envelope was made out of purple Spiffy Speckles paper. (Couldn't use the Dandy Day paper as I purchased this one in 6" x 6" format.)

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Dandy Day (Lawn Fawn); Faut fêter ça (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder
Patterned Papers: Dandy Day, Spiffy Speckles, Woodgrain Cardstock in Neutrals (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Jet Black Premium Ink (Lawn Fawn); Shaded Lilac, Tumbled Glass,
Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Dies: Dandy Day (Lawn Fawn); Nested Rectangles (scrapbook.com)
Accessories: Iridescent Bubbles (Studio Katia); Mini Cloud Edges Stencil (My Favorite Things);
Envelope Punch Board, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Corner Rounder Punch (Stampin' Up!); 
Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studios); Markers (Copic); Grassy Stencil (Lawn Fawn); 
Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush, Earl Grey Vintage Drops (Nuvo)

 

A Day Filled With Good Times

Inspiration: Lawn Fawnatics #71 + Festive Friday Friday #53 (blue + green + silver + birthday)

This card is made using the new Really High Five stamp set from Lawn Fawn. I wanted to see if I could make a double pull tab so I could have two characters jumping on the trampoline. I'm happy to report that it worked on the first try! The Pull Tab remains my favorite interactive die and easiest to use or modify, in my opinion. The cute patterned paper I used is also from the Spring release and it's called Hello Sunshine Remix. I didn't own the original paper, so it's fun to discover this one.

The current Lawn Fawnatics challenge is interesting: it calls for us to bring back embellishments that haven't been used in a while. I've used washi tape, a button, my navy blue embossing powder (which is one of the first embossing powder I ever purchased almost two decades ago!), my arrow punch (which hadn't been used in years) and seam binding, but I think the square eyelet is probably the embellishment that has been the most neglected in my recent crafting. Another "older" thing I pulled out to make this card is my Cardmaps Today 5 book, from which I selected a sketch as inspiration (hence the grouped elements at the top). The sketch had a scalloped rectangle, which inspired me to use the Flippin' Awesome Add-On dies without the flippin' awesome mechanism.

I wanted this card to be about a birthday or a special day and I was looking at sentiments for options that would fit. I found something I liked but that was larger than I had room for, so I stamped the "Hooray" in the arrow on the front of the card and I added the rest ("May your day be festive and filled with nice moments") inside, also embossed in navy. I barely ever stamp sentiments inside my cards, as I prefer to leave room for a personalized message, but this one went with the images perfectly.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Really High Five (Lawn Fawn); Levons nos verres (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Grey Granite, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Hello Sunshine Remix, Spring Fling (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Jet Black Premium Ink (Lawn Fawn)
Dies: Really High Five, Grassy Border, Let's Toast Pull Tab Add-On,
Flippin' Awesome Add-On (Lawn Fawn); Wonky Stith Rectangle Stax (My Favorite Things)
Accessories: You're a Star Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design); Button (Foof-a-La);
Envelope Punch Board, Silver Washi Tape, Arrow Punch, Square Eyelet,
Daffodil Delight Seam Binding, Silver Cord (Stampin' Up!);
Markers (Copic); Navy Embossing Powder (Top Boss)

 

Fairy Celebration

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Monday (Frame It) + Time Out Challenge #155

This card took forever to complete, in parts because it includes a ton of little pieces from different sets, but mainly because it took me a while to find a way to make it interesting.

The initial inspiration was to combine the Fairy Friends and A Little Sparkle sets with the magnifying glass from the new Hey Lady set. This way, I had the super small fairies and I could include a bigger one in the magnifying glass. This was also a good opportunity to test out the Magic Iris dies. So I prepared the iris frame following the instructions from the lawn Fawn video. I used patterned papers from the Hello Sunshine Remix pack for it and I added clouds made out of Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper at the bottom. I then stamped and colored a few images from the Fairy Friends and A Little Sparkle set.

Initially, I planned on using the little rainbow patterned paper on a square card. I pulled out some ready-made square cards I have on hand (5-1/4" x 5-1/4"). I didn't like the white border, so I added Daffodil Delight Classic ink with a blender brush around the edges. So I was playing around with the background paper and I was finding the result to be quite boring, so I discarded the paper and decided I liked the yellow ink blending much better than the patterned paper, so I switched gears. I added more clouds at the bottom, using more glimmer paper and adding Pearlescent Vellum in the back. Then some more vellum, then two layers of washi tape (silver stars and sparkly white). I added the twinkle stamp to the background in two shades of yellow. This was getting somewhere, but it still felt so plain. 

I added the fairy house, two flourishes and the lantern, then an additional little step. I then decided to add a rainbow made with the Shadow Box Card Rainbow Add-On dies. The space still felt too empty, so I dug through my stamps and I used the cloud from the Foursquare Backdrop Portrait die set, on Purple Posy cardstock. (On a side note, I've barely used this shade since it first came out. It took Stampin' Up! a while to come out with the ink because of problems and in the meantime, I soft of forgot about it - plus I'm not a big user of purple in general - but I have to say, here, it was a perfect choice, especially since I already had the soft blue on the iris part of the card.) I added three clouds and Grape Crush YNS gumdrops on each one. Because the Foursquare Backdrop set also includes a sun, I was inspired to add one in the top corner. I felt it needed a smile, so I pulled out the Rain or Shine Before 'n Afters stamp set for it, and I gave it pink cheeks as well. 

The last thing i needed was a sentiment. I tested out a couple of options, but when I stamped the "Celebration" one, I knew I had a winner. I stamped it in VersaMark on clear acetate (which I had also used to line the inside of the magnifying glass) and embossed it in Melon Mambo powder. This is where serendipity stepped in, because I had the perfect space between my lamp and the fairy house for the sentiment AND the washi tape that I had previously added was a perfect way to glue the acetate in place and hide the adhesive. (I was able to gently pull it up and place it back down over the acetate.) Now, this card is very much to my liking.

Because I had to cut the rainbow four times, I had a ton of leftover pieces, so I was able to add a second rainbow inside the card and a third one on the envelope, which I also ink-blended the same way I had the card. 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Fairy Friends, A Little Sparkle, Hey Lady, Rain or Shine Before 'n Afters (Lawn Fawn);
Project Life Je me souviens (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Lovely Lipstick, Green Galore, Gorgeous Grape, Daffodil Delight,
Tempting Turquoise, Window Sheet, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Hello Sunshine Remix (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Blushing Bride Classic Ink, VersaMark, Tuxedo Black Memento (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Magic Iris, Magic Iris Scalloped Add-On, Shadow Box Card Rainbow Add-On,
Puffy Cloud Borders, Foursquare Backdrop Portrait, Hey Lady, Fairy Friends,
A Little Sparkle (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Grape Crush Gumdrops (Your Next Stamp); Liquid Stardust (Lawn Fawn);
Stampin' Dimensionals, Washi Tape, Melon Mambo, Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder (Stampin' Up!);
Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo); Square Cards and Envelopes (DoCrafts);
Watercolors (Gansai Tambi); Markers (Copic)

 

Birthday Balloons

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #531 + Time Out challenge #155

As I pulled out the Memorable Moments stamp set to use a sentiment on my last project, I realized I hadn't done much with this set so I decided to pair it with the Birthday Bonanza Designer Series Paper from the current minicatalogue. I stamped the woman and balloon images in Jet Black StazOn ink on watercolor paper and watercolored the image with inks and an Aqua Painter brush. The sentiment was stamped on a piece of patterned paper, embossed in black powder and die-cut with a Stitched Frames die. A piece of baker's twine from the SAB offering was tied on the card as well. (Love that twine, with the tone-on-tone metallic thread!) I used the stitched border die from the Stitched Nested Labels to add a frame around the watercolored image for added interest. Gems and colored rhinestones were added to the card to finish it off. 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Moments merveilleux (Memorable Moments)
Cardstock: Grapefruit Grove, Watercolor Paper
Designer Series Paper: Birthday Bonanza
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Early Espresso, Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana,
Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody, Terracotta Tile
Accessories: Gold Faceted Gems, Noble Peacock Rhinestones, Stampin' DImensionals,
Stitched Nested Labels Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies, White Medium Envelope,
Aqua Painter Brush, Baker's Twine (SAB 2020), Black Stampin' Emboss Powder

 

Hot Chocolate Weather

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Monday (Frame It) + Inspired By #111 

I have been wanting to make something with the Cozy with You stamp set from The Greeting Farm for two months now and today was finally the day. I had put some winter-themed patterned papers aside to use soon and the Celebrate Winter papers from Echo Park were the perfect colour scheme to mirror the Inspired By picture. By using the Foursquare Backdrop Portrait die from Lawn Fawn, I was also able to import the patchwork square look into my design. It was easy-peasy, since I die cut a piece of patterned paper and simply turned the squares around to fill the windows. No need for a second cut! The red rickrack was also a leftover from a project made before the Holidays that was sitting on my desk and was the perfect colour and size to fill in the bottom. I was initially planning to add my own sentiment, but the "hot chocolate weather" sticker from the paper kit was perfect, in size and in content, so I went above the rickrack.

My little images were stamped on watercolor paper and embossed with Platinum embossing powder. I used my Faber-Castell watercolor pencils to fill the images in. The images are so small that it was hard to color in with the pencils directly on the paper, so I wiped my waterbrush directly on the pencil to pick up pigment and I watercolored with it directly on the paper. This produced a smoother result that when I was trying to lay the pigment down with the pencil directly before watering the colour. I didn't purchase the dies for this set (I think I was trying to stick to a budget) so the images were handcut. I popped them on dimensional adhesives. The blue cup is large enough that it was filling up the square nicely, but the red cup seemed so lonely in its square that I ended up adding something behind. Again, another scrap inspired this detail: I used Hail Storm specialty paper from Tonic, die-cut with a stitched circle and to keep the design balanced, I added a snowflake sticker behind the blue mug. Red gems were added in the squares, and vanilla cream sequins to the rickrack.

I picked a Nautical Blue linen envelope, added a rectangle die-cut out of patterned paper and I embossed the little cup in Cherry Cobbler embossing powder, before stamping the steam in Night of Navy.

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Cozy With You (The Greeting Farm)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Watercolor Paper (Fabriano)
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Celebrate Winter (Echo Park)
Specialty Paper: Hail Storm (Tonic)
Ink: VersaMark; Night of Navy Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Foursquare Backdrop Portrait Dies (Lawn Fawn); 
Albrecht Durer Watercolor Pencils (Faber-Castell); Nested Rectangles Dies (Scrapbook.com);
Vanilla Cream Sequins Mix (Little Things From Lucy's Cards);
July Crystals (Studio Katia); Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Emboss Powder, 
Mini Stampin' DImensionals (Stampin' Up!); Platinum Embossing Powder (Ranger);
A2 Nautical Blue Linen Envelope (envelopes.com)

 

Christmas Memories 2017

Inspiration: Page Maps December 2019 + Lasting Memory challenge #485 (die-cuts)

I still have a bunch of Christmas pictures from the last few years to scrapbook, so after I was done with my first layout using the Santa Squad collection from Bella Blvd., I decided to use the supplies I had out and make a second layout. This is loosely inspired by a December 2019 Page Maps sketch, although it evolved based on the pictures I had and how they would fit on the page. 

I included the last two Bella-Pops I had, which I always prefer to use on pages rather than on cards because this way I get to keep them! I placed the car in a phone die-cut made with the Selfie Frames dies from Lawn Fawn. I also used the Peekaboo Backdrop to fit four more pictures on the layout. The second Bella-Pop, the hedgehog, was added over a folk heart which I used hand-stitching on to male it stand out better. 

For the title, I used one of the cut-aparts from the paper, which I thought was really cute. It reads Christmas Memories, and I added one of the border stickers, cut in half, to the top and bottom to break the yellow out a little. Since I had my red floss out for the heart, I added hand-stitching around the title block as well. Finally, I added two die-cuts from the ephemera pack on either sides using dimensional adhesive. 

I wanted to have the date somewhere on the layout, so I pulled out some old green rub-ons. I knew they would get lost on the busy background, so I used my Postage Stamps dies, which were already out because I had used them to create a frame for one of the pictures. I used the second smallest die and added the rub-ons to little stamps, which I popped up on the page. 

I had initially created a little envelope with my envelope punch board to have the heart placed in, but it was not turning out the way I was hoping, so I kept the heart directly on the page and I moved the envelope down on the page. I wanted to make my own sceal with hot glue and embossing powder and then I remembered I had those gold sceal stickers from Stampin' Up! so I used those instead. The envelope is currently empty, but I used a poster dot on the flap (the kind of dots they use to glue a credit card to a letter, for example) so I could go back and add a little message inside if I decided to.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Garden Green, Myths & Magic Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Stickers, Ephemera Die-Cuts: Santa Squad (Bella Blvd.)
Dies: Stitched Shapes, Layering Circles (Stampin' Up!); Peekaboo Backdrop, Selfie Frames,
Dotted Rectangle Stackables, Stitched Oval Stackables (Lawn Fawn);
Folk Hearts (Essentials by Ellen); Postage Stamps Infinity Dies (Hero Arts) 
Accessories: Hedge Hugs Bella-Pops, Home for Christmas Bella-Pops (Bella Blvd.);
You're a Star Shape Sprinkles, Bright Glitter Sprinkles, Winter Hugs Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design);
Floral Romance Seals, Stampin' DImensionals, Envelope Punch Board, Toile Tidings
Glitter Enamel Dots, Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels (Stampin' Up!); Green Rub-Ons (Scrap Works);
Red Needlepoint Floss (Anchor)

 

Your Guiding Light

Inspiration: Just Add Ink #492

I wanted to make a card for my downline members, so I dug through my current Designer Series Papers and realized I hadn't used the Come Sail Away collection yet since ordering it. (This one got lost in the shuffle of Christmas and SAB projects.) I looked at stamps and went back to High Tide, which I hadn't pulled out in a while. The Just Add Ink sketch was perfect for this larger image, so I created a scene, masked the light and lighthouse and I added ink blending to create a night sky. I used Balmy Blue and Night of Navy and it turned out even better than I had hoped. I think using blender brushes instead of my usual sponges made a big difference on the result. I tend to pair the blender brushes with my Oxide inks, so it was nice to see that they allow for very nice blending with dye inks as well. 

I was initially planning to use an oval die as shown on the sketch, but when I went digging through my dies for the oval ones, I found the Stitched Nested Labels and figured it might look even better, especially since the die adds a stitched border to the cut piece. I also found the Smooth Sailing dies, which I used to embellish the card. Two of the die-cuts were cut out of the Noble Peacock foil sheets. (Don't forget that those can easily be paired with other suites as well, as shown here.) 

I used the rest of my patterned paper to create a matching envelope and added the address panel using the Nested Labels again. I reused the nautical dies to decorate as well.

One more fun detail: Initially, I didn't know how big of a die I would need, so I stamped and blended my whole image on a full card front panel. It looked so cute, I even thought for a moment about including the whole thing and abandoning the die-cutting idea. I didn't, but after I was done, I wound up with a pretty cool leftover frame. I was wondering how I could recycle it into another project and then I realized I could simply include it to decorate the inside of my card! I simply die-cut another piece of Balmy Blue cardstock to fit the inside, and that will be where I will write my message. Pretty cool way to reuse what would otherwise have been a scrap and make the inside of the card pretty.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Marée haute (High Tide), Moments merveilleux (Memorable Moments)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Balmy Blue, Noble Peacock Foil Sheets
Designer Series Paper: Come Sail Away
Ink: Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Balmy Blue,
So Saffron
Accessories: Stitched Nested Labels Dies, Smooth Sailing Dies, Sail Away Trinkets;
Sttched Rectangles Dies, Night of Navy/Sahara Sand Baker's Twine

So Very Lucky

Inspiration: CAS Colours & Sketches #357

This card probably took twenty minutes to put together. Because it mostly features die-cut images, I only had to die-cut and layers some patterned paper to create a background and I was ready to pop the images on dimensional foam and have the card finished in a flash. I used die-cuts to decorate the envelope and inside of the card as well. 

I love Doodlebug Design products, their images are instant mood lifters! I hope this is what it does for the recipient of this card.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Call Me Clover, Gold Foil (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers and Die-Cuts: Lots o' Luck (Doodlebug Design)
Accessories: Dotted Rectangle Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn);
Black Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo);
August Crystals (Studio Katia); A2 Fairway Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com)

 

Watercolored Pineapple

Inspiration: Freshly Made Sketch #422

I was happy to see the tropical suite in the Spring minicatalogue. It's slightly retro and I love the Hawaian-shirt vibe of the patterned papers. I was looking forward to making a card with that beautiful pineapple die. I wanted it to have dimension so I cut it out of watercolor paper and used my Aqua Painter brushes and various ink colors to get it to look like this. I used the fantastic Coastal Weave embossing folder on the brown patterned paper and I added the braided burlap trim from the same suite. I remembered I had those Tropical Elements from last year's catalogue (and was disappointed to find out they are not in this year's catalogue, as they are absolutely perfect with this suite). For the sentiment, I die-cut the cute and dainty aloha from the same die set. I inked the edges of most of my pieces and distressed the edges of the pink paper to keep with the retro look. I can't wait to play with this suite some more.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Tropiques éternelles
Cardstock: Mango Melody, Terracotta Tile, Soft Suede, Watercolor Paper
Designer Series Paper: Tropical Oasis
Ink: So Saffron, Mango Melody, Soft Suede, Early Espresso,
Pear Pizzazz, Mossy Meadow
Accessories: Tropical Elements, Layering Squares Dies, Stitched  Rectangles Dies,
In the Tropics Dies, Aqua Painter Brushes, Distressing Tool, Braided Burlap Trim

 

Typing You a Love Letter

Inspiration: Lawn Fawnatics #70 (Love) + Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Patterned Papers)

This is the second Valentine project I've made for my nieces. This one was for the oldest, who absolutely loves interactive cards. (Although I'm finding the young one does too, even though she's a little rough on the handling of delicate interactive cards.) I looked at my various interactive dies and I decided I hadn't used the Magic Picture Changer in a while, so I paired it with the You're Just My Type stamp set to have a love letter come out of the typewriter. I had pulled out my 6" x 6" patterned papers and dove in the stack to find the collections that were love-related. I ended up picking Sweet Things from Doodlebug Design, which also happens to have a page with little typewriters on one side and "You're Just My Type" in a small grey font on the other side. How perfect! I also know my niece loves everything Doodlebug so I figured this would appeal to her.

I stamped and colored my images with Copic markers, then I started assembling the moving part. I learned from my last project: always color your background way past the edges, as my first project done with this die had a little bit of white showing when the pieces were moving. This time, I colored most of my cardstock to avoid this problem. The first image seemed a little bare, so I added the big heart above the typewriter, and then went in again to add the three little hearts, which improved the overall look. I started layering pieces, using the Add-On dies to frame the front. I added Lacy Borders die-cut out of Silver Foil paper and the card still felt a little bare, so I ended up pulling the cute bow from the Mini Wreath dies to top the red frame, and I also stamped the "P.S. I love you" underneath. I was a little worried since the whole project was already assembled, but the stamping turned out okay and filled out the space nicely. The word added to the sheet of paper, "bisous" means "kisses." 

I'm two for two with the Valentines, as my older niece was also very happy to get a card. When she got the envelope, she said, "It's thick, so it means that it's going to be a card that lights up!" to which I answered, "Oh, you're going to be disappointed when you open it up..." But she saw the card and said, "Oh, it's one that moves, I knew it!" I guess the absence of light didn't matter. She was just happy to have a card that "does something." Can't go back to regular folding cards now, they're just too boring! 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Love Poems, You're Just My Type (Lawn Fawn);
P.S. Je t'aime, Amour par définition (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Silver Foil Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Sweet Things (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Real Red Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Magic Picture Changer, Magic Picture Changer Add-On, Dotted Rectangle Stackables,
Mini Wreath, Lacy Borders (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: A2 Lagoon Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com)

 

No Desire to Fit In

Inspiration: Festive Friday #52 (Glitter + Mask + Bright Colors + Sequins) + Paper Craft Crew Card Sketch #369

I'm so happy with how this card turned out, especially since it's a little different from my usual style, while still being me. It took a long time to finish, mostly because I was watching videos on my laptop and getting distracted, but I think once I decided what my layout was going to be. I did use the Paper Craft Crew sketch, but I rearranged the elements on it to make it vertical. You can still see the layered strips on the edge and the rectangle piece with a stripe underneath (the yellow washi tape) and the stripe over it (in this case, the sentiment, which I fit on two lines). 

The initial point of inspiration was spotting the word "mask" in the Festive Friday list. I've purchased the Masquerade dies from Tim Holtz last fall and hadn't had yet the chance to use them, mostly because they were purchased after Halloween. I was curious to see how I could make them work on a paper doll for a project other than Halloween. Since the challenge list was calling for bright colours, I picked patterned paper from the Abandoned paper pad, which I love because it is more colorful than what the Tim Holtz line usually offers.

This is the first time I ever use a paper doll. I discovered those when I took a distress project class at my local store last year and I really liked their look and feel in person, with the thick, glossy cardstock, so I finally purchased a pack at the same time as the Masquerade dies to try them out. I went through the whole stack (there's a LOT in there!), placed a couple aside and I finally decided I really liked the guy leaning on something and that I'd put his feet up on the rectangle from the sketch. I pulled out my Distress crayons to color the flower on his lapel and his buttons. I don't have a wide array of colors - I mostly purchased metallics and neutrals, but I do have two colors I received for free with an order and they happened to match the papers (Peacock Feathers and Carved Pumpkin)! Probably because I was using so many Tim Holtz products, I figured I should add some mixed medium in there somewhere, so I got out my stencils to pick one. When I saw the half-starburst in the mini stencils #38 pack, I knew it would look really cool behind my character. I also had not used this one in the pack yet.

Looking through my pastes, I realized that the Izink texture pastes I have were the right colours to go with the paper, especially the Cactus one (green). That being said, I've purchased three beautiful shades of pearly paste from Aladine when they were on sale at a local crafts store and it turns out that while the color is beautiful, the texture is a little too liquidy and tends to run underneath stencils, which does not give the sharp edges you would normally expect from such a product. This time around, I figured I could use it my Stampin' Up! texture paste (which is white) and add the izink paste to it to color it. This way, I get the color I like AND  the texture I like. Gave it a try - five star results! When I have to make my own mix, though, I never know how much product I need. I know not to make too much but I also know I don't want to run out, so in this instance, I had enough to do the star on the card, then I quickly did the envelope as well, and I had so much leftover, I quickly picked another stencil I had close by and added a star swirl to the rest of my patterned paper used for the purple block on the card. Because I was doing stars, I thought it'd look great if I added glitter, so I was trying to get some out fast to sprinkle on the paste before it dried and then I remembered I have the glitter duster! Quickly located it and sprinkled the glitter that was in it, which is fine champagne glitter (purchased from Stampin' Up! many, many catalogues ago), then I quickly ran to the sink to wash my tools and stencils before they became too crusty.

I finished off the card with two layered pieces of washi and a metal button. I also stapled the purple rectangle and added a teal sequin. For the sentiment, I thought it might be fun to pull something from the Snarky Small Talk stickers. Looked at options and when I spotted "I have absolutely no desire to fit in," I knew I had a winner. The second I added the sentiment, I also immediately knew who I want to send this card to.

Since I had done my envelope to match, I thought it should have its own paper doll, so I went looking for a small one, and I dressed him up with a orange glitter mask as well. Because I had pulled out the sequins for the card, I started adding some to the starburst and I think it totally made the envelope! I love when my envelope stands on its own and is as cool as the card itself. I've gotten a lot of compliments on my envelopes over the year, and people who have received my cards have admitted they are already getting excited just looking at the envelope itself. (So if you're wondering if it's worth putting time into them, the answer would be, yes.) 

I didn't have a clear vision of where I was going with this card when I started it, but I love where I landed. This makes for a great masculine card.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Fresh Fig, Pistachio Pudding, Pumpkin Pie Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Abandoned (Tim Holtz for idea-ology)
Dies: Wonky Stitched Rectangles Die-namics (My Favorite Things);
Masquerade (Tim Holtz for Sizzix)
Accessories: Carved Pumpkin, Peacock Feathers Distress Crayons (Ranger);
Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Stapler, SAB 2020 Sequins, Texture Paste, Washi Tape (Stampin' Up!);
A2 Anthracite Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com); Cactus Izink Pearly Texture Paste (Aladine);
Button (unknown); Needlepoint Floss (DMC); Mini Stencil Set 38 (Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymours);
Snarky Small Talk Stickers (Tim Holtz for idea-ology)

 

Hawaii Travels

Inspiration: Mojo Monday # 530 + Just Add Ink #491

I had this inspiration yesterday that I could pair the little guy from the On to Adventure stamp set with the new Tropical Oasis Designer Series Paper, using paper piecing to give him an Hawaian shirt. It was too late to get started on a new project when the idea occurred, but today, I sat down to put this idea to life. It worked out well, but I did a lot of layering on my little image to make sure the dimensions were right. I paper pieced the shorts in brown paper first. I then paper pieced the shirt from the tone-on-tone olive design. I added shading to both pieces using Stampin' Blends markers. The flowers were getting lost in the pattern, though, so I stamped my image on the pink patterned paper and handcut the flowers. (Those are tiny!) Then, I wanted the camera to stand on top of the shirt, so I stamped it on a piece of white cardstock, colored it with the Stampin' Blends and handcut it. I then wanted his face to go over the shirt, so I stamped it on another piece of white cardstock, colored it and layered it on my main image. One of the tricks I picked up online when paper piecing or handcutting parts of an image is to go over the edge with the felt tip of a black marker to hide any white spot there might be. It works well, but my problem was that I had only done it for the face and it was too stark compared to the rest of the image, so I took a fine-tip black pen and went over the rest of the image as well. It made a huge impact, with the image standing out way better on the card. 

I used the Stitched Shapes dies to die-cut my image and I added a scalloped mat made out of green foil paper (from the Noble Peacock Foil Sheets pack). I used the Bermuda Bay foil paper from the same pack to die-cut the word "aloha," from the In the Tropics die set. 

I created my background by layering a few pieces of patterned paper and a piece of embossed cardstock to break up the business a bit. I used the beautiful Coastal Wave 3D embossing folder on Terracotta Tile cardstock to add texture. I love embossing folders that are texture. They go with everything and they really make cardstock come to life on a project. This one is worth seeing in person, as the depth and texture is pretty impressive. It's not just chevrons, there's little grooves and dots in there to mimick actual wicker. 

Since my tropics dies were already out, I added a few flowers and branches in there to fill out the card a bit. To make the multi-colored flowers, I die-cut the flower trio twice, out of Terracotta Tile cardstock and So Saffron cardstock. I placed my flower on a black mini-Dimensional and I use my tweezer to add the tiny center in there and stick it directly on the DImensional's adhesive. I added a little bit of ink on the edge of the petals and the flowers were ready to pop on the card.

On top of stamping the envelope, I also used the same Coastal Weave 3D embossing folder on the flap to add the weaving pattern on it.

 

  

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: On to Adventure, Tropiques éternelles
Cardstock: Terracotta Tiles, So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Whisper White,
Noble Peacock Foil Sheets
Designer Series Paper: Tropical Oasis
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Pretty Peacock, Terracotta Tile
Accessories: Stitched Rectangles Dies, Noble Peacock Rhinestones, White Medium Envelope,
Coastal Weave 3D Embossing Folder, Layering Circle Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies, In the Tropics Dies,
Stampin' Blends Markers, Magnolia Lane Ribbon Combo Pack

 

I'm Late, I'm Late... For An Important Date

Inspiration: Hand Stamped Sentiments #332

This card got created slowly and randomly. I was catching up with my mom on the phone and wanted to keep myself busy while chatting, so I randomly pulled out an image that I could watercolor. I happened to have the Oddball Alice in Wonderland White Rabbit stamp in my "use next" pile, so I pulled it out. I didn't have a clear plan of what I would use with it, so I chose the colors randomly, in part inspired by the colours shown on the packaging. I used my Faber Castell watercolor pencils with Aqua Painter brushes. Once I was done coloring, I tried figuring out how I would pull the colours in my design. I started by adding the royal blue and burgundy to a kraft card base using the Mint shifter stencil from Tim Holtz and Distress Oxide inks (Aged Mahogany and Blueprint Sketch) applied with a blending tool.

Inspired by a video on Distress crayons I had watched recently, I pulled out the Tin Tile 3D embossing folder and rubbed a Tarnished Brass crayon on the raised surface. LOVE the result! I was always using shimmer paint with this embossing folder, but the metallic crayons are even easier to apply and control. 

For the main image, I pulled the Large Deckled Rectangles dies from Spellbinders. The size I wanted to use would have cut part of the ears off, so I used an old trick of handcutting around the ears and leaving them hanging over the edge of the dies when running it through the Big Shot to avoid cutting through the cardstock. I then applied three shades of Distress Oxide inks using the blending tool: Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap and Ground Espresso. Since I was going for an overall distressed look on my card, I added some images from The Open Sea stamp set around the images. It's a little weird since my card is not nautical, but the ledger and compass just add texture to create a background. I reused the same colors of Distress inks for those images.

The buttons at the top of the image are upcycled - I have a bin where I keep the extra buttons received with new clothes. I was running out of space, so I went through the bin and kept the buttons I really need as spare for clothes and put all of the others in my craft stash. Those two mother-of-pearl buttons were part of that decluttering effort and because they were in a little baggie with beads, I had kept them aside on my desk and I realized they could fit well on this card. The rickrack border is another project leftover that was also sitting on my desk, so I stapled that in place on my blue cardstock.

I wanted my card base to have additional texture. I remembered the Numeric stencil, which would work well with the rabbit and his clock, so I was trying to decide how to add the stenciling to the project and I remembered I could use Distress Resist spray and pour embossing powder over it to get textured embossing. It was a trick I learned when the spray first came out and I'm sad to report that the Distress spray has been sitting in my drawer getting seriously neglected. So I spritzed numbers in both corners and used Rose Gold embossing powder from Simon Says Stamp on it. I love the color of this powder, although I find the name "rose gold" to be a bit misleading. It is not really rose gold, more like a burgundy with a pronounced gold sheen to it. It's gorgeous, but it is not the pinkish copper shade you might expect based on the name. Here, it was perfect complement to Aged Mahogany. I reused the same powder to add embossed stamping on the burgundy cardstock, using the clock image that's also included in the Stamping Bella package (along with an English sentiment). 

Speaking of sentiment, I wanted something in French, and I was hesitating between using the "I"m late, I'm late" line from Alice in Wonderland or simply finding something about sending late birthday wishes. I opted for the latter option, using a long-retired stamp set from my stash. I added a little punched heart, using the Owl Builder punch. Funny, I used this punch a ton of times, but almost always for the tiny heart instead of the actual owl. That was not how I had planned it when I purchased the punch, but at least, it paid for itself that way.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Oddball Alice in Wonderland White Rabbit (Stamping Bella);
The Open Sea, Pour ton anniversaire (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Thick Whisper White, Gold Foil (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Aged Mahogany, Blueprint Sketch, Frayed Burlap, Antique Linen, 
Ground Espresso Distress Oxide (Ranger); Crumb Cake, Merry Merlot Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers);
Ultra Fine Rose Gold Embossing Powder (Simon Says Stamp); 
Blending Tool,Tarnised Brass, Walnut Stain Distress Crayons, DIstress Resist Spray (Ranger);
Crumb Cake Medium Envelope, Tin Tile 3D Embossing Folder, Tasteful Trims, Mini Stapler, 
Deco Label Punch, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Stampin' Dimensionals, Owl Builder Punch (Stampin' Up!);
Large Deckled Rectangles Dies (Spellbinders); Albrecht Durer Watercolor Pencils (Faber Castell);
Mint Shifter Stencil, Numeric Stencil (Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous); Buttons (Recycled)

 

Love Letter

Inspiration: Lawn Fawnatics #70 + CAS Colours & Sketches #540

The starting point for this design was using the Speech Bubble Backdrop over an inked background and pairing that with the You're Just My Type stamp set from Lawn Fawn. The colours were inspired by the CAS challenge. I don't know how I feel about this one. It's not a bad design, but it turned out a little flat. It's missing something to be exciting. I did add the frame in the upper left corner to try and fill the space out a bit. The little kitty image is from the Tiny Halloween set, and I used the two square dies that are in the You're My Type set to create the frame. I had initially pulled out the Mini Picture Frames dies but the sizes were too big. I did use the little bow from this die set to use on my frame, though. The sentiment at the bottom is from an old Stampin' Up! set - back when they still offered wood-mount on their French sets. (They kept wood-mount longer, but only for their non-translated English sets, so you know the set I used is old based on that fact alone.) Sentiments reads, "Thinking of you." I voluntarily kept it generic, so it can be used beyond Valentine's Day. I've sold a lot of cards over the years, but I've always been surprised to find out that the love and Valentine ones were not big sellers. Valentine's Day has always been known to keep the card and chocolate industries going, but based on my experience, birthday and Christmas cards still remain the biggest sellers.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Jolies pensées (Stampin' Up!); You're Just My Type (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Silver Foil (Stampin' Up!)
Designer Series Paper: Neutrals (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Black Tuxedo (Memento); Worn Lipstick, Spun Sugar, 
Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Accessories: Opaque Bright White Embossing Powder (Wow!); Markers (Copic);
A2 Jupiter Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com); Sweet & Tart Heart Sprinkles (Trinity Stamps);
You're Just My Type Dies, Mini Picture Frames Dies, Speech Bubble Backdrop Die (Lawn Fawn);
Share What You Love Artisan Pearls, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

 

Valentine Racoon

Inspiration: Lawn Fawnatics #70

I offered my sister to babysit on Valentine's Day so she could go out with her spouse. Once I realized I would be seeing the kiddos on Valentine's Day, I realized I should come in armed with Valentines for them, so I quickly put together two projects during the afternoon. The first one was for the youngest, and I decided I would make a cute little racoon holding a heart for her. The picture doesn't pick it up well, but the little heart was die-cut out of Shimmer Sheets from Elizabeth Craft Designs. Those sheets have a sheen that reminds me of oil on a wet surface. It picks up various shades of green, purple, green and orange when you move the project in the light. This gave this simple project a little bit of wow.

I used the Stitched Gift Card Pocket on the bag to slide in a tag with a message for her. The pocket felt a little bare even with the stitched heart, so I colored the inside with pastels (those had not been pulled out in AGES!) and then I added three different types of Nuvo drops around the edges.

The reaction to the racoon was good so I think I scored brownie points.

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Grey Granite, Basic Black, Basic Grey (Stampin' Up!);
Shimmer Sheets (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Dies: Say What? Gift Tags, Outside In Stitched Heart Stackables,
Lacy Heart Stackables, Stitched Gift Card Pocket, Woodland Critter Huggers (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Bubblegum Blush Crystal Drops, Earl Grey Vintage Drops, 
Silver Moondust Glitter Drops, Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo);
Winter Hugs Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design)

 

Vintage Fashion

Inspiration: Page Maps August 2019

I wanted to use my In Vogue papers from Carta Bella, so I pulled out some of the pictures from my London trip. They showcase the intricate garments that were entirely made out of paper for an exhibit at Kensington Palace. As a paper crafter, I can certainly appreciate the time and effort that went into the creation of those masterpieces. Considering that this page is not the most involved I've ever done, it took a lot of time to finish, probably because I kept thinking it looked a little plain and I was trying to find a way to make the result more interesting. 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Vanilla (Bazzill); Very Vanilla, Calypso Coral,
Shaded Spruce, Gold Foil (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: In Vogue (Carta Bella)
Dies: Lacy Heart Stackables, Selfie Frames, Outside In Stitched Heart Stackables (Lawn Fawn);
Tasteful Trims Bigz XL (Stampin' Up!); Deco Alphabet Bigz XL, Alphanumeric Label (Tim Holtz for Sizzix)
Accessories: Scalloped Edge Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Vintage Faceted Buttons,
Jumbo Pearl Basic Jewels, Gold-Foil Tag, 1/8" Handheld Circle Punch (Stampin' Up!); Button (Foof-a-La);
Blue Dotties (Queen & Co); Needlepoint Floss (DMC); Gold Posca Pen (Mitsubishi);
Winter Hugs Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design)
Font: Felix Titling