Constantly Stamping

Birthday Butterfly for Veronica

2013-05-20T14:48:30-07:00

A few weeks ago I saw a blog post by a fellow SU demonstrator, Bronwyn Eastly, for a beautiful butterfly easel card. I was able to figure it out just by looking at the design, but she has a very reasonably priced tutorial on her blog on how to create the basic card using the My Digital Studio .svg butterfly punch and an electronic cutter here. I decided to make one of these gorgeous cards to send to my good friend and downline, Veronica, for her birthday.

For my card, I started with So Saffron card stock. I cut the large butterfly portion with my electronic cutter and the smaller butterfly with the Beautiful Butterfly Bigz Die. I embossed them with the Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions embossing folder (#127819).

I created a bow with some Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon that I colored with Pool Party ink. The combination of those two colors results in an unusual color, something like a seafoam green. It looks beautiful with the So Saffron. I stitched on a Pool Party button that I had leftover from Sale-a-bration and added a cute little hand-stamped tag.

The Last One!

2013-05-16T09:12:32-07:00

A few months ago I started sharing all of the cards I made as potential workshop card for my upline, Jill Olsen. Well, today, I have finally come to the very last card. This isn't exactly my favorite card, but I realize that there are different strokes for different folks. When I create workshop cards, my creative brain is in a different mode. I try to create a variety of cards in hopes of at least appealing to most people at a workshop. I also take into consideration using my supplies wisely so that I don't break the bank. So what does that mean? It means that I sometimes I "think too hard" and I don't always let my creativity flow in the same way it might if I am crafting just for the joy of it.

With all of that being said, with this card I only used small sections of the Print Poetry Designer Series Paper Stack (#129312) so that I could stretch my supplies. I like for my customers to be able to use different products, so I try to incorporate as many as I can into my workshops. Here I used a variety of products from the Spring Mini Catalog as well as from the main catalog. I really love the dress form die, but I have to admit that I haven't really used it much. Just to let you know, even though the Dress Form die will be available in the new catalog released on June 1st, the coordinating stamp set "All Dressed Up" (#129171/129174) will not be included in the new catalog. So if you think you may want it, you should grab it now before it is too late.

Happy Mother's Day Weekend!

2013-05-11T06:00:00-07:00

Since it is Mother's Day weekend, I thought I would share the card that I made for my mother. I started with a Crumb Cake card base and then embossed a seperate piece of crumb cake card stock. The woodgrain folder really makes the card stock flimsy, so it helps if you can mount it to another piece for stability. The flowers are from the Blooming with Kindness set. I can believe I have never even opened this one until this week. The sentiment is from the Delightful Dozen stamp set. Everything is stamped with Primrose Petals ink. I stamped off onto some scrap paper for the lighter flowers. The patterned paper is from the Print Poetry Designer Series Paper Stack. I have always thought that particular pattern looked like a quilt, so I decided to add some stitching around the edges.

I added some Crumb Cake bakers twine and the resin flower is from the Artisan Embellishment Kit. Of course You know that rarely a card goes by where there isn't a little ink sponging around the edge. I hope she likes it! Happy Mother's Day!

New Look!

2013-05-08T08:00:55-07:00

Stop right there! Yes, you are in the right place. I have been working hard trying to update the look of my blog. It is difficult to find anyone who will design TypePad blogs, so I decided to design my own. I am still in the process of tweeking things, but I hope to have everything the way I want it soon. So...I thought I would share another card with you that I made a few months ago for Jill Olsen's St. George spring stamping event. She asked me to design mostly workshop cards, but she also wanted a few WOW cards for display. This one was way too over-the-top for a typical workshop, but I did have some fun making it.

SECRET GARDEN CARD
I started with a A2 Marina Mist card base. Added a Bashful Blue CS layer embossed with the Honeycomb embossing folder and lightly sanded to bring out the design. Then I used a VersaMark pad and stamped the flower images on Calypso Coral, Real Red, Daffodil Delight and Lucky Limeade CS. I heat embossed everything with White embossing powder and cut them out with the matching framelit die. Then I stamped the sentiment from the Vintage Verses stamp set. I used Real Red and Marina Mist markers to color the stamp. Then I stamped it on Whisper White CS. I cut out the sentiment using the Labels Collection Framelits. I die cut a second piece of Marina Mist to layer behind the sentiment and attached everything to the card using dimensionals. I added some stick pins from the fabric store. Then for the finishing touch I added lots and lots of pearls.

Spring Fever

2013-05-05T08:25:29-07:00

Every year around this time I write about how I have a love/hate relationship with spring. This year is no different! Yes, I love, love, love the beautiful flowers and warmer weather, but then there are those pesky allergies. UGH! I made the mistake of doing some yardwork earlier in the week and now I am paying the price...literally. There's the trip to the doctor and then all those medications he prescribes. Thankfully I am feeling a wee bit better today, so I thought I would attempt to share something.

Today's card is another workshop card. I love the clean and simple feel and the cool tropical color scheme.

CARD BASE:
A2 Calypso Coral CS Base
5.25”x4” piece of Pool Party Coordinations CS embossed with the Honeycomb Embossing folder. Sand away some of the embossed design to reveal pattern. Attach to card base.

FLOWER:
Stamp largest flower from “Secret Garden” stamp set with VersaMark ink on Calypso Coral CS and heat emboss with white embossing powder. Do the same with the smallest flower on Daffodil Delight CS. (HINT: be sure to use the Embossing Buddy on the card stock before stamping.) Cut out both flowers
using the coordinating Framelits die. Also cut out some Old Olive or Lucky Limeade Patterns DSP using the leaf die from the same set. (HINT: you can cut two pieces of DSP at one time. If you do this, then put the patterns back-to-back so that the leaf images will be reversed.) You can also substitute Lucky Limeade CS for the leaves, but you may want to use a crimper or emboss the leaves for more interest. Assemble flower using dimensionals.

SENTIMENT:
Stamp sentiment from “Oh, Hello” stamp set in Lucky Limeade ink on a 1”x3” piece of Whisper White CS. Give left edge a “ribbon cut”. Punch a small strip of Calypso Coral CS with the scallop edge border punch and attach to bottom edge of sentiment. Attach sentiment to card.

Thanks So Much Card

2013-04-26T06:00:00-07:00

Here is one more workshop card sample using supplies from the Spring Mini Catalog.

CARD BASE: Create a standard 5.5" x 4.24" Bashful Blue card base. Stamp "Oh, Hello" in upper right corner using Basic Black ink. Emboss card front with Cloudy Day Embossing folder. Trim away 1/2" from bottom edge of the card front. Punch a strip of Melon Mambo CS with the Scallop Edge border punch and adhere to bottom of the card front. Cut three leaf stems using the Secret Garden framelits from Lucky Limeade CS. Sponge leaves with Lucky Limeade ink and attach to card base. You may want to snip away the top portion of the stem for the smallest flower so it won’t show later. Attach a thin piece of Tangerine Tango Sycamore Street ribbon (Sale-a-bration) over seam at bottom.

FLOWERS: Stamp three "line art" flowers from "Secret Garden" set with Basic Black ink on Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight and Tangerine Tango CS. Cut out using coordinating framelits. Attach flowers to top of stems using dimensionals. Thread buttons from Brights Collection with white baker’s twine and attach to flowers using glue dots.

BUTTERFLIES: Cut two small butterflies from Tangerine Tango and Daffodil Delight card stock using the Beautiful Wings embosslit. Attach with mini glue dots or Tombo Multipurpose Adhesive.

Miracles Happen

2013-04-20T06:00:00-07:00

I can't believe that a whole week has passed since my last post. Things are always crazy for me this time of year. Here is another card sample I designed for Jill Olsen for her spring workshop. I really love the DSP used on this card. Here are the instructions:

CARD BASE: 4.25" Square Card Base from Very Vanilla CS - Sponge edges with Early Espresso ink. Cut 4" square piece of polka dot paper from Tea for Two DSP collection. (HINT: I chose this size because you can get nine cards from one sheet of DSP.) Distress edges and sponge with Early Espresso ink. Attach to card base.

CARD LAYER: Cut 2"x3" piece of rose DSP from Tea for Two DSP. (Make sure the pattern goes in the correct direction.) Cut 1"x3" piece of Lucky Limeade DSP from Tea for Two DSP.

(NOTE: you can also substitute the dot or stripe pattern of Lucky Limeade DSP from the Patterns Collection. Attach to a slightly large piece of Lucky Limeade CS. Add Calypso Coral ribbon. Attach to card front using dimensionals.

SENTIMENT: Stamp sentiment from "Bloomin’ Marvelous" set with Calypso Coral ink on Very Vanilla CS. Punch out using Large Oval punch. Punch out piece of Lucky Limeade CS using the Scallop Oval punch. Ink edges of both. Attach to card.

BUTTERFLIES: Stamp two butterflies from the "Bloomin Marvelous" set in Calypso Coral ink on Very Vanilla CS and punch out using the Bitty Butterfly Punch. Stack on top of each other and attach to card using mini glue dots.