 I love Monet's waterlilies and their invocation of a peaceful day quietly sitting by the pond. The Lily Impressions Designer Series Paper, available FREE with a $50 order, mimics these famous paintings and creates a beautiful backdrop for the cattails from the Friendly Silhouettes dies.
Ink: Blackberry Bliss Accessories:
Accessories:
0 Comments
 Are you new to stamping? My next virtual class is the perfect opportunity for you to plunge into the world of stamps, ink, and paper! March 11, 2020, I will be demonstrating 3 cards and 1 mystery project featuring the Witty-Cisms stamp set. If you're a seasoned stamper, don't worry - these cards and project are perfect for you too! I'm sharing photos of the cards with you today, but because I'll be demonstrating everything on the 11th, there are no instructions in today's blog post. You can stamp along with me on March 11 - all you need to do is place an order of at least $40 (before S&H and tax) that includes the Witty-Cisms stamp set before Saturday, February 29, and I will send you a complete Make-N-Take kit. There are only a couple of other supplies you will need for this class including the watercolor pencils assortment #1, a Jet Black Stazon ink pad, adhesive, and a clear block or two. That's it! I will send you all the cardstock and accessories already pre-cut and ready to go. Click the button below to order all the supplies or just the ones you need. And don't forget, every $50 includes a FREE Sale-A-Bration item of your choice! 
  Aren't these little ladybugs adorable? You can get them FREE right now through Sale-A-Bration when you host a workshop - virtual or live - totally at least $300. Did you know that in the US, you can get stamp sets in French as well as English? While these are primarily for the Canadian market, they will ship to addresses in the US as well. I have a number of French friends, so I love having a few stamp sets in French. For these samples, I used three different methods of coloring the ladybugs to show you their differences: Stampin' Blends, watercolor pencils, and Aqua Painters with ink from a stamp pad. Each method gives a little bit different look to the ladybug.
I colored the ladybug with watercolor pencils. These colored pencils are fabulous because when they get wet, the color softens and looks more like watercolor paint than colored pencil. After coloring, you can use either an Aqua Painter or a Blender Pen to turn it into a watercolor. When doing any type of watercolor, it is important to use a permanent ink like the Jet Black Stazon. As you can see, I colored two different ladybugs. Then, I colored over the one on the left with an Aqua Painter and the one on the right with a Blender Pen. As you can see, they give similar results. With the Aqua Painter, you want to make sure that the tip isn't too wet. If it is very wet, the color may run too much. The Aqua Painter is also at a higher price point, but will last for a very long time as you can refill it with water. The Blender Pen cost less and comes in a pack of three. However, they are not refillable and will eventually dry out. When the pen becomes a little too dry, the pencil lines will not fade away as much and the colors won't blend. Cardstock:
Accessories:
Cardstock:
Cardstock:
Stampin' Blends:
 New Sale-A-Bration items are coming in March! Stampin’ Up! is releasing a second batch of brand-new limited-edition FREEbies will be here soon, including the So Very Vellum pack. There are three different colors, Pool Party, Soft Sea Foam, and Purple Posy, and each one features this cool dot pattern that feels both delicate and industrial mixed in with a little pop. I pushed the design in each of these directions for these cards featuring the So Very Vellum.
I combined this with a simple image from the Varied Vases stamp set stamped with Pool Party and Highland Heather ink with the outline stamped in Jet Black Memento. I added the centers to the flowers with the Light Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blend and tied a piece of Baker's Twine around the front. The card front is attached to a Pool Party card base.
I stamped the roses from the To A Wild Rose stamp set in Petal Pink ink on Whisper White cardstock. I added the centers with Crumb Cake ink. I cut these out with the Wild Rose dies. I also cut leaves from the Soft Sea Foam So Very Vellum as well as other leaves from Soft Sea Foam cardstock. I layered these on the card front. I cut a tag from the Soft Sea Foam So Very Vellum using the Wild Rose dies. I adhered this to the card front by putting liquid adhesive where the greeting would be added. This way, the sides of the vellum are loose and you can't see where it is attached. I tied the card front with a piece of White Seam Binding that I colored using a Light Petal Pink Stampin' Blend. Then, I added an oval cut with the Stitched Shape dies and stamped with "thanks" from the Here's a Card Stamp Set. Finally, I adhered the card front to card base using Crumb Cake cardstock.
For the Eiffel Tower itself, I used the Parisian Dies from the January-June 2020 Mini Catalog. I cut the tower from Gray Granite cardstock then I heat embossed it by sponging the front with Versmark ink and covering it with silver embossing powder. To age the Eiffel Tower, while the silver embossing powder was still hot, I sprinkled on Copper embossing powder and heated it again. To a Blackberry Bliss card base I added a Blackberry Bliss card front that I had run through my Big Shot with the Subtle 3D embossing folder. I added the sunset to the front of that and then the Eiffel Tower. The sentiment is from the Parisian Beauty stamp set. I stamped it in Blackberry Bliss ink on Whisper White cardstock and layered it on Basic Black cardstock. I attached it to the card front using Stampin' Dimensionals. I can't wait for these products to become available for FREE in March! Check back here on March 3 for more details.
 This month's Stampin' Friends blog hop is all about our favorites. If you're following the hop, you've joined me from Cheryl Taylor. I hope after you've read through my blog that you'll continue through the whole hop. You'll find a list at the bottom of this post with links to all the blogs. I have soooo many favorites that it's hard to choose just one or two. Here are some of my favorite design elements and accessories that I included in these projects:
In addition to the cards, I also created some fun bookmarks using my favorite design elements and accessories. I purchased these slightly oversized, gold-coated paper clips during back-to-school clearance last fall. I think I got the jar of 70 for $1. What a steal! I created the toppers using dies and stamps and adhered them to the paper clips with sticky strip. The backs have an additionally piece of cardstock so that the paper clips are sandwiched between the layers. They are great for marking pages in your Stampin’ Up! Catalogs!  Stampin' Friends February Blog Hop:
 Do you remember shrinky dinks? Those plastic images that you could color and then shrink in your oven? They're just as much fun as a grown-up as they were when I was a kid! Stampin' Up! used to carry shrink plastic years and years ago. I still have a partial package in my drawer and the Honey Bee stamp set from the 2020 January-June mini catalog was just begging to be stamped and shrunk. While SU! doesn't carry it anymore, you can still find it in craft stores and online.
I adhered the patterned paper from the Golden Honey DSP to a piece of Basic Black cardstock. Then, I used the beehive die from the Detailed Bee dies to cut a hole through this card front. I used sticky strip to attach a piece clear plastic to the back of the card front. Years ago, I bought a package of overhead projector (remember those?!) sheets on clearance. I use these for shaker cards, but you can also purchase window sheets. On a separate piece of Whisper white cardstock, I stamped the beehive in Daffodil Delight ink. When you purchase SU! cling stamps, they come still stuck in the full sheet of rubber and you have to punch them out. I have some of these saved and used some for the foam between the card front and the beehive. I simply peeled the red rubber off the foam cushion and used adhesive to attach it carefully around the edges of the beehive that I had stamped on Whisper White cardstock. I was very careful not to leave any holes, but I also tried to stay fairly close to the edge because I didn't want all my bling to wind up outside the frame where you couldn't see it. I put the shrinky dink bees, some seed beads in clear and a golden brown, and a few sequins on top of the bee hive. Then I put more adhesive on the top of the foam and adhered the card front over the beehive so that the opening aligned with the stamped beehive. This created an enclosed compartment filled with bling that shakes. Finally, I added a piece of Daffodil Delight ribbon and adhered the card front to a Daffodil Delight card base. I stamped the greeting on Daffodil Delight cardstock and used two circle dies to cut it out before adhering it to my card front to finish the card.
Supplies: Cardstock:
I used the colors from the Birthday Bonanza Designer Series Paper which coordinates well with the Metallic Baker's Twine and Sequins combo pack available FREE during Sale-A-Bration. The colors aren't technically the same, but they could be! That's how well they match. Cardstock:
The layering of Whisper White on Whisper White adds that little extra touch to take this card from basic to elegant. Cardstock:
For the diagonal cut on the DSP, I simply took a piece of the ice cream DSP that was 4 1/4" x 5" then I sliced off the end at a diagonal that looked good. I then laid 1/4" strips along the angle cut and trimmed the sides to create the stripes at the bottom. Cardstock:
Accessories:
This Bonanza Buddies stamp set is so much fun and has so many possibilities, that I'm sure you'll see a couple more blog posts focused on different ways to use it in the coming weeks!  When I think of poppies, the red poppies in the fields in France come to mind. But these light pink poppies exude elegance. Paired with a primarily white on white color scheme, these cards are stunning in their simplicity. Not only that, but they were quick and easy to put together too! All of these cards use the following supplies:
Tips:
This card uses the masking technique. I stamped profile poppy on two post-it notes and cut them out on the outline. Then, I stamped two of these profile poppies on the card front. I covered them with the cut-out ones on sticky notes. I then stamped the other poppies over top of the post-it notes. Finally, I removed the sticky notes to reveal the line of poppies. 
To get the Meerkat stamp set, be sure to check the Sale-A-Bration rewards in the lower left of your screen after you've ordered at least $50 in product.
Tips: Cut the larger circle out of the piece of Crumb Cake cardstock first. Then, adhere the Crumb Cake cardstock to your card front. Next, cut the smaller circle from the Soft Suede card front by positioning a smaller circle die inside the hole already cut from the Crumb Cake cardstock. Adhere the piece of Whisper White on the interior of the card. Finally, close the card and stamp the meerkat in the middle of the circular hole. Use the Light Crumb Cake Stampin' Blend to color the sand under the meerkat. Then go over it with the Color Lifter to make it lighter. Add a little Light Flirty Flamingo to the meerkat's cheeks to give him extra personality!
Tips: The full sentiment stamp says: Happy Birthday to a Stand Up Guy. Carefully ink only the "Happy Birthday" and stamp it on a scrap of Whisper White cardstock. Then, stamp the greeting above it and cut with the smallest circle from the Stitched Shapes dies. Adhere the Whisper White card front to the piece of Flirty Flamingo. Wrap a piece of Linen Thread around these 3 times and secure with tape on the back. Adhere this card front using Stampin' Dimensionals to the card front. Also use Stampin' Dimensionals to adhere the greeting.
Color the sand under their feet with the Light Crumb Cake. Then, go over it with the Color Lifter to make it lighter.
 Whether you're new to rubber stamping and card making or you're a seasoned pro, Rooted In Nature is a gorgeous stamp set that is perfect for making elegant cards for all occasions. Because I'm stuck on plaids right now, I used with a blue plaid patterned paper from the Country Club Designer Series Paper pack. I created three cards that use the same basic layout and go from simple to oh là là!
Tips:
Tips:
Tips:
|
Virtual
|
