Bleached Thoughts & Prayers

This is the second card we were supposed to do at my workshop this past week (it ended up being canceled). I have to say that I really love the new Thoughts & Prayers set. I took it on and off my order a few times because I didn't think I really "needed" it, but I'm so glad I went ahead and got it. Great images and sentiments for those difficult cards!

For this card, I used the bleaching technique to stamp the tree on Baja Breeze cardstock. (Just pour a little bleach onto a paper towel in a small container and use that as your stamp pad.) The sentiment was stamped in Chocolate Chip, and the rest is just layers - Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, and Parisian Breeze Specialty DSP. A few scallops with the scallop edge punch, some Chocolate Chip Taffeta, and the card is complete!

If you haven't had a chance to see or feel the new specialty DSP SU! is offering in this catalog, be sure to check it out! It is a cardstock weight paper with just a little bit of texture. I love it!

Supplies Used (All Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Thoughts & Prayers
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Kraft
DSP: Parisian Breeze Specialty
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Taffeta
Tools: Scallop Edge Punch, Household Bleach
Techniques: Bleaching

Spider Suspension Card

This was my first time trying a suspension card. If you haven't tried one, check out the tutorial on SCS - they are very easy!

The only thing not SU! on this card is the spider and the small web in the corner of the sentiment. They are both from a $1 stamp I got from Michael's last year. I don't have a SU! spider stamp, but I thought he was appropriate to hang in the web of the Ghostly Greetings DSP. The hardware is from the Stylized Silver Hodgepodge collection, and the Happy Halloween sentiment is from the retired Fancy Flexible Phrases. I don't think you can tell from the picture, but the Pumpkin Pie cardstock in the middle of the card is wheeled with the Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel (also retired) and sponged on the edges.

Here is a close-up view of the spider.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Fancy Flexible Phrases, Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel, Spider & Web (Michael's $1 bin)
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Basic Black, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie
DSP: Ghostly Greetings
Accessories: Stylized Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, Basic Grey Taffeta Ribbon
Tools: 1 1/4" & 1" Circle Punches
Other: Dental Floss

Grid Technique

I used the recent Grid Technique tutorial on Splitcoast to create this card for my husband’s aunt who is retiring after many years of teaching. I’ve had a Scor-pal for awhile now, but this is the first time I’ve used it to create the background for a card. This card of Beate's also served as my inspiration.

My card base is a standard size piece of Chocolate Chip with a layer of Basic Black and Whisper White adhered on top. To create the focal background, I stamped the swirl from Baroque Motifs in River Rock and the small flower in Ruby Red and then sponged all over the cardstock in River Rock as well. I then scored the cardstock with my Scor-pal, every ½” on the diagonal (in both directions).

The small rectangle and scalloped rectangle were cut out with Nestibilities dies and stamped with Happy Retirement from Papertrey’s Mixed Messages set. The card was finished with some Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon.

Recipe:
Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Mixed Messages (Papertrey)
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: River Rock, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Vintage Brads
Tools: Nestibilities Dies, Scor-pal

No Stamping Required!

It's extremely rare that I do a scrapbook page, let alone a card, with no stamping at all, but here is one. A friend asked me to make some graduation cards for her and requested the Mahatma Ghandi quote "...be the change you want to see in the world." Since I didn't have a stamp with the quote, I generated it on my computer, and then used the Textile Cuttlebug embossing folder as my background. I used the "negative effect" for the embossed layer - inking up the negative side of the embossing folder before inserting the cardstock and running it through the machine. This technique was featured in TLC160 in mid-March.

Recipe:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Basic Grey
Ink: Basic Grey
Accessories: Basic Grey Taffeta Ribbon, Silver Brads
Other: Cuttlebug Textile Embossing Folder

Gel Pocket Card

Maybe I’m behind the times, but I had never tried this gel technique before this past weekend. I was looking at some of Nichole Heady’s sneak peeks for the April Papertrey release and saw her adorable fish pocket card using the technique.

She has a template for her card on her blog, but I just used my own measurements to make the pocket. I started with a 4 ¾ x 11” piece of Bashful Blue cardstock, scored at ¼” and 4 ½” on the short side and 2 ¾” and 5 ½” on the other. The finished card size is 4 ¼ x 5 ½” with a 2 ¾” pocket. After scoring, I cut off the top and bottom sections of the ¼” scored sections, leaving only the middle the full size (I hope that makes sense!). I followed the remainder of Nichole’s directions with the exception of the middle tabs. Since I used smaller tabs than Nichole did, I tucked them inside my pocket instead of wrapping them around the back.

The bottom portion of my pocket is wheeled with the Rough Texture wheel in Bashful Blue. The tag insert is stamped at the bottom with some old fish stamps I have from CTMH in Pumpkin Pie and third generation Old Olive (not sure the name of the set). The sentiment from It’s Your Birthday was stamped in Brilliant Blue.

To finish the card, I added a Round Tab Punch from Jersey Shore at the top of the tag, adhered with white eyelets, and the Happy Birthday sentiment from Papertrey’s Borders & Corners Monogram Edition.

Recipe:
Stamps: It’s Your Birthday, Borders & Corners Monogram Edition (Papertrey), Fish stamps (CTMH)
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie
DSP: Jersey Shore
Ink: Bashful Blue, Brilliant Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive
Accessories: White Eyelets, Pumpkin Pie Striped Ribbon, Hair Gel, Small Ziploc Bag (from the jewelry section of Hobby Lobby)
Tools: Round Tab Punch, 1 ½” Circle Punch, Crop-a-dile

Ways to Use It Challenge

This card was created for this week's Ways to Use It challenge, Just Spray It - using Glimmer Mist, water misting, color spritzer, airbrush, hairspray...or whatever else you can think of on your card. I used the misting with markers technique recently highlighted on SCS.

I colored the flower from Heartfelt Thanks with Ruby Red and Old Olive, misted the stamp with water, and then stamped it on a piece of Very Vanilla. I did this a few times and used some of the stamps multiple times for a 2nd and 3rd generation look. I also stamped the Linen background on the Vanilla cardstock in second generation River Rock. I'm not sure I totally achieved the watercolored look I was aiming for, so I'll have to experiment again. I really like how the focal piece turned out though.

The finished card is a 4 1/4" square with a layout I've used before (but have never posted). The layout came from a card I saw on Papertrey's site, and I really love it for the square cards.

The congratulations from Hugs & Wishes was added to a 3/4" strip with the corners rounded on one end. This card is going to my husband's aunt who recently won a teaching award, so we wanted to send her a quick note with our congratulations.


Recipe:
Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks, Hugs & Wishes
Cardstock: River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
DSP: Ginger Blossom
Ink: Ruby Red, Old Olive
Accessories: Vintage Brads, River Rock Double-Stitched Ribbon
Tools: Corner Rounder, Rectangle Punch
Technique: Misting with Markers

Chalkboard Apples

I've wanted to try the chalkboard technique for awhile now, and I thought the apples from Tart & Tangy would be a fun stamp to use. I guess I fell into that old tradition of associating apples with school! Anyway, I liked the combination of black with the Real Red and Old Olive from the Summer Picnic DSP, so I thought it all worked well together.

This technique is different from anything I've tried before. I haven't really used my Pastels since I got them in my demo starter kit. I wasn't sure how I felt about not having totally smooth and even coverage on my stamped images, but I do like the way the card turned out. With the addition of the thank you stamp, I think it might be a fun one to give a teacher at the end of the year.

ETA: The card is a 4 1/4" square. The Basic Black and Summer Picnic DSP are 4" wide and about 2" tall (the middle green strip is 3/4"), and everything is matted on a 4 1/8" square of Whisper White.

Recipe:
Stamps: Tart & Tangy, Stem Silhouettes (thank you)
CS: Basic Black, Whisper White
DSP: Summer Picnic
Ink: Whisper White, Real Red
Accessories: Black Gingham, Old Olive Poly-Twill, Basic Black Grosgrain
Other: Pastels

Every Day is a Gift

This card is a CASE of one I saw on Laurie Schmidlin's blog, Just Give Me Stamps. I loved the layout and layering Laurie used, so I recreated it with Papertrey's, Out on a Limb set. I also tried the Faux Linen Technique she used on her main image, but I'm not sure mine came out as well as hers. It is very subtle in real life, but I'm not sure you can see it on the card.

I just finished preparing for Stamp Club on Monday, so I will share that project with you early next week.

Recipe:
Stamps: Out on a Limb (Papertrey), Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel
CS: Ruby Red, River Rock, Glossy White
DSP: Ginger Blossoms
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: River Rock Double-Stitched Ribbon, Gold Brads
Technique: Faux Linen

A New Beginning!

Happy New Year! I can't believe it's 2008 already! And I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted to my blog. I started out with good intentions of working on a watermark and getting right back into posting. However, life seemed to have another plan for me. I won't go into detail, but my husband and I had a difficult end to the year (no, we're not splitting up or anything like that). We are looking forward to great things in the new year though.

I haven't had any desire to stamp for quite awhile and hadn't even touched my stamps for around 6 weeks or so. I was finally able to get into my workroom today and play around a little. Even though I didn't come up with anything earth shattering, it was good to get back into it.

This first card is the one I made today. It uses a color combination and stamp combination I've used before - just a little different layout. The main image also uses the cracked glass technique.

Recipe:
Stamps: Stem Silhouettes, So Many Sayings, Linen, Baroque Motifs
CS: Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Very Vanilla
Ink: Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Versamark
Other: Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Vintage Brads
Technique: Cracked Glass

This second card is one that I've had in my stash for quite awhile, but I don't think I ever posted it to my blog. I needed a special thank you card to send to my parents for a generous gift they gave my husband and I while we were visiting over Christmas. And I decided this was the one. The left panel uses the emboss resist technique with the open flower from Heartfelt Thanks.

Recipe:
Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks
CS: Whisper White, Glossy White, Pretty in Pink, Going Gray
Ink: Versamark, Pretty in Pink, Going Gray
Markers: Regal Rose, Certainly Celery
Other: Clear Embossing Powder
Technique: Emboss Resist

I hope to be able to post a little more regularly now and have some more new things soon! Hope you had a great day with family and friends!

Birthday Slider

Monday's technique challenge was to create a treat slider. If you aren't familiar with these, they can hold bags of microwave popcorn, candy bars, or some other type of flat candy. Well - I thought they were really cute, but I couldn't think of anything I could use it for soon, so I decided to make mine a card. My niece's 5th birthday is next week, so I needed to start working on a card for her anyway. And I thought she might enjoy an interactive card like this.

I used the dimensions from Nichole Heady's blog Capture the Moment for my card. The outside of the slider is a 4 1/4 x 9" piece of Rose Red cardstock scored at 4 1/4 and 8 1/2. I used sticky strip to adhere the 1/2" flap to the other side of the slider. For my front layout, I used Jen del Muro's weekend sketch. I don't remember the exact dimensions of all the pieces because I played around with them a little bit until I was happy with the layout. The striped DSP is from the Cutie Pie package. It is matted on Basic Black cardstock. The bottom DSP is from the Rose Red Prints package. I loved that paper in the 6x6 pack, so I had to buy a whole package. The focal image is the cupcake from Big Bold Birthday. The cupcake bottom is stamped in Certainly Celery, and the top is stamped in 2nd generation Rose Red with Rose Red polka dots. The small flower was stamped in Rose Red, cut out, and adhered with a black brad. I added doodling around the cupcake and then matted it on Certainly Celery cardstock.

The one thing I changed from the layout is the bottom strip. I moved mine to the middle of the card since I thought it would look more balanced to have the ribbon in the pull out be an extension of this strip. For the strip, I stamped the Happy Birthday stamp multiple times in Basic Black and then matted it on a small strip of Basic Black cardstock.

After the front layout was adhered to the card, I set black eyelets on the center right edge to thread the ribbon through for the inside message. I used sentiments from It's Your Birthday for the inside and just made sure to stamp them above and below where the ribbon would be. I added doodling around the inside card as well.

Recipe:
Stamps: Big Bold Birthday, It's Your Birthday
Cardstock: Rose Red, Basic Black, Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Cutie Pie DSP, Rose Red Prints DSP
Ink: Rose Red, Certainly Celery, Basic Black Marker
Other: Vintage Brad, Black Ribbon, Black Eyelets
Technique: Treat Slider

Embossed Baroque

[NOTE: This image has been temporarily removed. This card will appear in the August 2008 issue of the CARDS idea book series. It will return here sometime after publication.]

I was having trouble sleeping last night, so I found the Tuesday color challenge for this week a little earlier than normal. I figured I might as well do something productive with my time, so I decided to give it a try. The colors for this week are Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip and River Rock. I really like these colors together and did a card with them a few weeks ago.

For this card, I used a 4 1/4 x 11" piece of Blue Bayou folded in half for my card base. To that, I added a 4 1/8 x 1 1/2" piece of River Rock. The River Rock piece was stamped with a portion of the swirl from Baroque Motifs and the kindness definition from Define Your Life, both in River Rock. I also added vintage brads in the bottom 2 corners.

For the focal piece, I used a 3 3/4 x 3" piece of Very Vanilla and stamped the swirl in Chocolate Chip and then in River Rock and added flowers in Blue Bayou. I then covered the entire piece in Versamark and embossed it with clear embossing powder. While the powder was still hot, I added a couple of additional layers of embossing powder to give the piece a tile look (similar to my other card). After embossing, I cut the piece into three 1 1/4" panels and adhered them to a 4 x 3 1/8" piece of Chocolate Chip and added the Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon (I love that stuff!).

After the card was assembled, I added the sentiment on the top right. I've been hoarding my cards lately, so I decided to make this one a thank you card so I could send it to a family that had my DH and I over for lunch on Sunday. I hope they like it. (And I hope I can stay awake at work today after stamping in the middle of the night!)

Have a great day!

Recipe:
Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Define Your Life
Cardstock: Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Very Vanilla
Ink: Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip, River Rock
Other: Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Vintage Brads
Techniques: Embossing

Tiled Baroque

I wasn't able to do much personal stamping last week because I had 2 workshops, a crop day and stamp club to prep for. It was a crazy week, but it was a lot of fun! I was able to find a little bit of time for this card though. I really love the look of the tiled cards but hadn't tried one yet.

The card base is a 4 1/4" square of River Rock. For the tiles, I cut a 3 3/4" square of River Rock and stamped the swirl from Baroque Motifs in Blue Bayou. I then cut it into nine 1 1/4" squares and labeled the backs of the squares so I wouldn't forget what order they should be in. To create the tiled look, I inked each square with Versamark and then embossed with clear embossing powder. I added 2-3 layers of embossing on each. The tiles were then layered on a 4" square of Blue Bayou and a 4 1/8" square of Chocolate Chip.

To finish the card, I added a piece of Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon and the sentiment. Kind was stamped with Chocolate Chip on River Rock, and then I added 2nd generation Blue Bayou flowers. (The sentiment was embossed as well.) The final addition was a Blue Bayou flower stamped on Blue Bayou and cut out.

I love the result and know I'll be making more of these in the future!

Recipe:
Stamps: Baroque Motifs
Cardstock: River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Blue Bayou
Ink: Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Other: Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon
Techniques: Embossing

Emboss Resist Thank U

I can't seem to put down the True Friend set. I just love it! I know it will be one that I keep after the mini catalog ends. Wouldn't it be great if it's one of the few mini sets that makes it to a big catalog - a girl can dream! Anyway, back to the card.

I stamped the large image from True Friend in Versamark on Glossy White cardstock and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I then inked up my brayer with River Rock and covered the cardstock. After letting it dry just a little bit, I added the other images in Really Rust and Chocolate Chip. After adding the focal piece to a Really Rust base, I added a strip of Chocolate Chip that I had wheeled with the Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel (I think that wheel works so well with this set). The Thank U stamp was stamped in Really Rust on Whisper White. I added the texture wheel and sponging to this piece, as well as a small piece of Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, before adding it to the card.

Recipe:
Stamps: True Friend, Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel
Cardstock: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Glossy White, Whisper White
Ink: River Rock, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip
Other: Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Vintage Brad
Technique: Emboss Resist

Sketch Challenge - Christmas Card

I've really enjoyed doing the challenges on splitcoaststampers lately, so I decided I'd like to try to do at least a couple a week. It's definitely helping me stay out of a rut and try some new things. Today was another sketch challenge. Here's the layout and my interpretation.

I've been working on my Christmas cards, so I had those colors and stamp sets on my mind and decided to use them for this sketch as well. Hey - it gets me that much closer to having a stack of cards to send out come December!

For this card, and my other Christmas card layouts, I used a Blue Bayou card base. This one is stamped with linen on the base. The main panel is River Rock, stamped with the swirl from the Priceless set in Whisper White, and layered on Basic Black. The smaller focal image is stamped with the middle snowflake from Snowflake Spot in Blue Bayou, covered with Glassy Glaze for the Cracked Glass technique, and again, layered on Basic Black. The image was then layered over 2 lengths of Basic Black grosgrain.

Finally, I added the Merry Christmas sentiment from Holidays & Wishes.

Recipe:

Stamps: Priceless, Snowflake Spot, Holidays & Wishes

Cardstock: Blue Bayou, River Rock, Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink: Blue Bayou, Whisper White

Other: Basic Black Grosgrain, Vintage Brads

Technique: Cracked Glass

I should have a couple of samples of my Christmas cards to post soon. I'm doing about 80 cards this year, so I'm working on them assembly line style. I decided to do 2 layouts this year so I wouldn't get bored with just one (and my DH and I couldn't decide which one we liked better).

ETA: If you've never tried the Cracked Glass technique, here's a great tutorial.

Crayon Resist

I've been wanting to try the Crayon Resist technique for awhile but hadn't had a chance yet. Can you believe I didn't own any crayons - at least not until yesterday. I finally remembered to pick some up on my weekly trip to Wal-Mart.

Here's my first attempt at the technique. I really love how the background on this card turned out. It reminds me of a bandana.

In case you've never tried Crayon Resist before, there's a great tutorial on splitcoaststampers. For this card, I stamped the two images from True Friend with Basic Black ink on glossy cardstock. I used a white crayon to add some highlights to my images and then used a brayer to add the Really Rust ink. After removing the excess ink from the highlights, I layered the background on Basic Black cardstock and added it to a Really Rust card base.

The True Friend sentiment was stamped with Whisper White craft ink on Basic Black cardstock and layered on Whisper White that had been sponged with Really Rust. I added a couple of Vintage brads to complete the card.

This card doesn't have as many layers, images, etc. as the cards I normally create, but I really wanted the background to be the focal point. I wasn't sure if I liked the final result at first, but I've really grown to like it and can't wait to try out some additional ideas with this technique!

Recipe:
Stamps: True Friend
Cardstock: Really Rust, Basic Black, Whisper White, Glossy White
Ink: Really Rust, Basic Black, Whisper White
Other: White Crayon, Vintage Brads

All About Gratitude - Layered Brayer Technique

The layout of this card changed multiple times before I finally settled on this one. My main purpose in creating it was to try the Layered Brayer Technique.

For the left panel, I stamped the posie from the All Occasions Hostess bundle with Versamark on glossy white paper. I then heat embossed the flowers with white embossing powder. After embossing, I inked up my brayer (which I haven't used in years) with Groovy Guava ink and rolled it all over the strip. While that was drying, I punched out several 1/2 inch circles from Post-It notes (from the sticky end). I covered the flower centers with the circles and then inked my brayer with Purely Pomegranate. I rolled that over the entire piece and let dry for a little bit. Once it was dry, I removed the punched circles and rubbed the excess ink off of the embossed flowers with a towel. I was then left with the Purely Pomegranate background and white flowers with Groovy Guava centers. The piece was layered on Basic Black cardstock.

The center panel was done with the All About Gratitude jumbo wheel (from the bundle). It was wheeled with Groovy Guava ink and layered on Basic Black cardstock.

After these pieces had been added to the card, I decided it needed a little more so I added a posie that had been stamped in Groovy Guava and cut out as well as the brads at the bottom right. I have a thing about not letting brads show on the inside of the card, but I broke my "rule" this time. I just felt like the card needed a little something in that spot and am happy with the end result.

Card Recipe:
Stamps: All About Occasions Hostess Bundle (Posie and All About Gratitude Jumbo Wheel)
Cardstock: Groovy Guava, Basic Black, Glossy White, Whisper White
Ink: Groovy Guava, Purely Pomegranate, Versamark
Accessories: Black Gingham Ribbon, Black Brads
Tools: Brayer, Embossing Heat Tool, White Embossing Powder