Sara Jane's Studio

Sweetheart

2010-02-13T11:28:00-05:00

In the 2009 Holiday Mini Catalog Stampin' Up! introduced Sweet Treat Cups, which are three-dimensional clear plastic cups with an adhesive lip that you can use to create cards containing, what else? sweet treats! And for Valentine's Day (or any other time!) they have now introduced heart-shaped cups.

This card is a variation on one that SU designed. It uses the Heart Treat Cup, the Full Heart paper punch, and a coordinating stamp set called Sweetheart. (This is one of the new sets that comes either wood mounted or clear mounted.)

Start with a piece of whisper white cut 2-1/2" X 5". On the bottom half, about 1/4" from the bottom, stamp one of the heart outline images from the Sweetheart set (I used Melon Mambo ink). Using a scrap piece of paper, punch out a heart with the Full Heart punch, and use this to trace the heart in the correct position inside the image you just stamped. Punch out the traced image. Fold the card stock in half so you now have a piece 2-1/2" square. If you like, you can stamp a sentiment or greeting through the heart "window" that you just created. Then, on the back piece (not the piece with the heart punched out) use the Slit punch to create a semi-circle slit in the cardstock. (This will make it easier to remove the candy from the packaging later!)

Now place a heart-shaped cup through the punched out heart, from the back to the front, and carefully remove the paper-backing from the adhesive. Fill the cup with candy (or confetti, or glitter, or whatever else will fit!!). Fold the cardstock together, so the back adheres to the heart cup. You can open the cardstock, with the candy filled-cup attached to the back piece. Add a couple of pieces of Sticky Strip on the inside to hold it closed.

That's the hardest part!! Now use the new Pinking Hearts Border punch from the Occasions Mini catalog to create a border strip of Melon Mambo cardstock. Trim this to 5-1/2" long X 3/4" wide. Adhere this onto the back of a piece of Whisper White cut to 2-1/2" wide X 5-1/2" tall. Then adhere this to a Gable Green card base as shown.

Stamp the leaves from the Sweetheart stamp set with Gable Green on another piece of Gable Green cardstock, and trim close to the image. Use markers to color the little bird with Bermuda Bay and Crushed Curry (two InColors). Mount the Sweet Treat Cup onto the card with lots of SNAIL, and then add the leaves and the little bird using Stampin' Dimensionals. Finish it off with a piece of ribbon (I used some from last year's Sale-A-Bration!) and you have a sweet treat for your own sweetheart!!

(P.S. You can use the Padded Envelopes that Stampin' Up! made to go along with these cards, if you want to mail them!!)

Donne moi ton coeur

2010-02-12T23:25:56-05:00

It means "Give me your heart" in French. And it's one of many great sentiments that you can find in French or Spanish with Stampin' Up! stamp sets. If you look carefully at the listings in the English version of the catalog you'll see in small type that many sets are offered in other languages. So you don't need a Canadian catalog or the Spanish-version catalog to order them! You can use the Search feature on the SU shopping website to see the actual images in other languages.

This particular image is, of course, perfect for Valentine's Day, and is part of the set "Expressions Festives" (catalog #116554), which is the French equivalent of the Level 1 Hostess Set, "Holiday Best." And the card designed is borrowed from another demonstrator and modified somewhat.

The card base is Real Red, and right side has the word images from the Charming set stamped repeatedly in Versamark ink to create a subtle backgroud. The piece on the left is a piece of Basic Gray, cut to 2-1/4" X 4-1/4". The fleur-de-lis image from the Charming set was stamped repeatedly in Basic Gray ink, and it was attached to the left side of the card base with SNAIL.

The words were samped in Basic Black on Whisper White, and the flowers were colored in with a Cameo Coral marker. I also filled in the rest of the letter "D" with Pretty in Pink. The birdcage is from the popular Sale-A-Bration set "Happy Moments", and is also stamped in Basic Black. I used a marker to then "hang" the birdcage fro the letter "D".

This whole image was trimmed to 2-7/8" square, mounted on Basic Black cut to 3" square, and then again on Basic Gray cut to 3-1/8" square. All of this was adhered to the front of the card with SNAIL, and the whole was finished off with three black brads.

Donne moi ton coeur.... Happy Valentine's Day!!

A Year of Collage - February 2010

2010-02-04T08:58:00-05:00

Each month I'll be presenting the collage that was created for my Year of Collage calendar set. Of course February is the month of love, so who can resist and Valentine-themed calendar page?

All of the collages are a great opportunity for me (or you!) to use up things in your crafty stash- which is exactly what I did. The background is a pretty filigree tone-on tone paper in ivory. The red paper serving as the frame is an embossed mulberry paper in a beautiful rich red color.

The Image is one that I had from my collection-I believe it's from a vintage post card. I duplicated it once to be able to cut out the image of the little cupid on the dove (yes, it was tedious to cut out- but worth it!). And then (with just as much tedium) I applied snippets of Stampin' Dimensionals to mount the image and give it a 3D feel.

The little "Adore" sentiment was also from my stash, and mounted with Stampin' Dimensionals, and the three little red beads were added in the lower corner as a design element to keep your eye moving around the whole page.

Happy Valentine's Day to you!

Sale-A-Bration For You

2010-02-02T08:55:26-05:00

Here is another card made with the Happy Moments stamp set that you can earn for free from Stampin' Up! It is very elegant in its simple black and white style.

It is largely based on a card from another demonstrator, with just one slight twist in the "for you" sentiment.

The background was made with the French Filigree background stamp, using Basic Black ink on Whisper White cardstock. It was trimmed to 3" wide X 5-3/8". The Scallop Edge punch was used with Basic Black cardstock to create the scallop, and trimmed to 3/4" wide before attaching it to the back of the French Filigree piece. Then another piece of Whisper White was trimmed to 1-1/2" X 5-3/8".

Attach the plain Whisper White piece to the front edge of an A2 card (4-1/4" X 5-1/2") in Basic Black, leaving only 1/16" on the top, bottom and right edge. Then attach the French Filigree piece with the scallop edge, leaving 1/6" on the left, folded edge.

The birdcage is stamped with Basic Black on Whisper White, and trimmed to 2" wide X 2-1/4" tall, before using the Corner Rounder punch on each corner. Cut a piece of Basic Black to 3" wide X 2-1/2" tall, and round the two left corners with the Corner Rounder punch. Tie an 8" piece of Organza Ribbon to the right side.

Mount the birdcage image onto the black piece with Stampin' Dimensionals, and then mount the whole onto the card base, again with Stampin' Dimensionals, lining up the right edge with the edge of the card.

Now, here is where the new Clear Mount Stamps come in very handy: You can easily see where to place the "for you" sentiment where you want it on the lower right.

Add a piece of white cardstock to the inside of the card on which to write your message, and you have a beautiful card for any occasion!

Don't forget: You can earn this stamp set for FREE by purchasing $50 of other Stampin' Up! product. Check out all of the Sale-A-Bration goodies here, and contact me or go online to place your order!