Category: So Many Stars

A Little Star Power

10/30/2019

I have been using the So Many Stars stamp set from the 2019 Holiday Catalog a lot lately. Well, I've been using the matching Stitched Stars dies a lot and adding on a greeting or one stamped image from the stamp set. I haven't really been using the stamp set, at least not to its fullest. So, today, for this week's Color Throwdown Challenge (ctd567), I pulled out the stamp set and challenged myself to make a card with it and without using the Stitched Stars dies. Boy oh boy, am I glad that I did! I figured out some fun tricks with this stamp set that I hadn't noticed before.

This week's Color Throwdown is to use the colors Teal, Olive, Rust, and Navy on a card. I pulled out Coastal Cabana, Old Olive, Night of Navy, and Gold Glimmer paper for the rust color.

The So Many Stars stamp set has these pieces that I thought were just to make radiance lines for the stars. I had used them with some solid stars that I cut with the Stitched Stars dies, but since that die set was off the table, I tried stamping them with a stamped star image. The results were a little busy.

I didn't realize that when the curly radiance line stamp is stamped in a line, the curls on the ends meet up and create a continuous pattern. On top of that, the more solid radiance stamp can be used to fill in the center of the curly one. This makes an awesome pattern for the edge of a card!

You can see on the finished card that I used these stamps to make a pattern that accents the greeting I pulled from the Here's a Card stamp set. I'm so glad I sat down to really play with this stamp set. I can't wait to use these stamps on other cards!

Complete Supply List

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Tag! You're it for the Holidays!

9/18/2019

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In December, I will be teaching a class at our local community college through their Continuing Education program. It's pretty close to Christmas and a little late for starting to make all of your Christmas cards, so instead, we will be making a dozen gift tags and then turning a couple of them into full-sized cards. So today, I have been working on making some samples to advertise the class. And you get a sneak peak!

I used the Brightly Gleaming Designer Series Paper from the 2019 Holiday Catalog and three stamp sets. Two of the sets are retired. One is from last year, Beautiful Blizzard, and the other is from over 10 years ago, Season of Joy. This is the one with the Christmas tree. I love it! It is such a fun, whimsical Christmas set. The third set is from the 2019 Holiday Catalog, So Many Stars.

Click here to see a complete supply list for all of the currently available supplies.

It was so much fun making these tags! I hope my students in December have as much fun learning some basic stamping and papercrafting techniques on these mini canvases.

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Technique: Acetate and Tissue

8/28/2019

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Are you ready to get messy? Today's technique involves quite a bit of mess, but lots of fun and beautiful results!

Supplies needed:

Window Sheets (142314), acetate sheets, or Photocopier Transparency Film
Shimmery Crystal Effects (Holiday Catalog p. 41, 150892)
White tissue paper
Re-inkers (I used Bermuda Bay 131156, Pacific Point 111840, Pool Party 122933, and Crushed Curry 131158)
Light colored cardstock
Versamark ink (102283)
Embossing powder (I used white 109132, copper 141636, gold 109129, black 146956, and white 109132)
Heat tool 129053
Embossing buddy (103083)

Years ago (10+), I bought a package of Plain Paper Copier Transparency Film on clearance. I've trucked it through at least 5 moves, including twice across country. I knew that some day - some day! - I could use it to make window cards. Since I still hadn't used 1 sheet out of the hundred in the package, I decided it was high time I used it for something. I browsed through some technique tutorials on SplitCoastStampers and came across this gem by Beatte. It's an oldie, but since Stampin' Up! has Shimmery Crystal Effects in there upcoming Holiday catalog, it seemed like perfect timing.

I started by cutting a piece of the window sheet down to a size I thought I would use. Then, I used the new So Many Stars (150496) stamp set from the upcoming Holiday catalog to heat emboss star images on these pieces. The clear plastic has unbelievable static, so it's extremely important to use an Embossing Buddy (103083) for this project.

I stamped a number of different pieces to try out different color combinations.

Cut a piece of light colored cardstock just a smidge bigger than your piece of window sheet and a piece of tissue paper that has about a half inch overhang on all sides.

Now comes the fun messy part! After you have heat embossed your images, turn your piece of window sheet over and squirt on a fair amount of Shimmery Crystal Effects (150892). Crystal Effects is basically a clear glue. When it dries, it leaves a shiny wet look. The Shimmery Crystal Effects has glitter in it and is a great way to add sparkle to a project without the mess of glitter. Be sure to shake the bottle well before you start so that the glitter is evenly dispersed in the glue.

After you've applied the Shimmery Crystal Effects, put a couple of drops from your re-inkers on different areas of the glue. I used two different colors and added one drop of each. Start with just a drop or two. If it's too dark, you can add more.

Take your finger and dab it all over the ink and Shimmery Crystal Effects. Smart people would wear gloves to do this, I couldn't be bothered, so my fingers were a little blue when I finished. (No worries - it washed off in a day or two.) You want to overlap the colors a little bit, but not so much that it just mixes into one color.

Take your piece of tissue paper and lay it over the back of your window sheet in the Crystal Effects. You can press it down and let it crinkle and pucker up a little. You'll want to play around with it to get the look you are going for. Then, lay the piece of light colored cardstock over the tissue paper.

I found that I didn't use enough Crystal Effects that it would completely adhere to the light colored cardstock. But It did stick in places, and once it was dry, I used a little Snail Adhesive to stick it down completely.

When your image is dry, trim off the excess tissue paper and cut the image to the size you desire. I found that the white and silver embossing powders showed up the best. The black, gold, and copper tended to get lost in the background design unless you turned them to the light just right.

I finished up the cards using Bermuda Bay, Night of Navy, Pool Party, and Crushed Curry cardstock, Copper Foil Sheets (142020), some old Brushed Silver cardstock, and various ribbons. I also added greetings with the Well Written dies (148534) and the Varied Vases stamp set (146644) and accents with the Stitched Stars dies (150653) from the upcoming Holiday Catalog.

As a variation, I used this same technique to create a card with the Friend Like You stamp set (149237). Instead of embossing the image of the cattails on the window sheet, I stamped it using a Jet Black Stazon Pad (101406). I used Flirty Flamingo and Poppy Parade for this card as well as Basic Black cardstock and some old Black grosgrain ribbon I had in my stash.

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A Little Star Power

Tag! You're it for the Holidays!

Technique: Acetate and Tissue

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