Monthly Archives: August 2014

Thank you

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Thank you for the kind comments and all the likes on Facebook already after only three days!

Today’s card is a copy of the first card I made, about three months ago at the new 2014 catalogue sneak peek at my upline’s house. I’ve made it in various colours since then and tweaked the sentiment. It uses a new stamp set, Work of Art, which I initially completely overlooked but have since discovered it to be very versatile. This is another design which is easy to mass produce although the key, in my opinion (and this is my blog so it’s ALL my opinion!) is to use the stamp-a-ma-jig. This little tool is an absolute marvel and has already saved me from wonky stamping on many cards. From what I’ve read online so far, it is a feared tool or at least a neglected one. In a future post, I’ll try to demystify it and give a few tips on its use. It may even be my first video!

 

Details:

Base: 8.5″ by 5.5″ blackberry bliss

Mat: 4″ by 5.25″ Very Vanilla

Ink: Blackberry bliss

 

I took the swoosh from the Work of Art set and, using the stamp-a-ma-jig to keep everything straight, stamped it four times without re-inking. The Thank and you also come from the same set. I lined the envelope using the in colours backgrounds DSP. Although the DSP seems expensive at $21.95, you get 40 sheets of 12 by 12 each of which can line 8 envelopes so it does go a long way. The DSP has patterns in white but I find that the dots are so small that they work with the very vanilla envelopes.

Stampin' Up! Work of Art

Colour has such an interesting effect. Here’s the same card in different colours – and in one case, with a different font.

Strawberry slush on whisper white. The envelope is lined with paper from the All Abloom paper stack.

Stampin' Up! Work of Art

Perfect plum on very vanilla. Sentiment from the Sassy Salutations stamp set. I love the font but I don’t think it works so well on this card. But I do prefer the softer look of the very vanilla over the whisper white.

Stampin' Up! Work of Art

Marina mist on white

Stampin' Up! Work of Art

 

My favourites are the two purples on the vanilla paper. What do you think?

Another Christmas card

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It’s another August Christmas card although this time with non-traditional colours.

DSC_0137adj

Details:

Base: Whisper white cardstock 8.5″ by 5.5″ scored and folded in half

Mat: Night of Navy 4″ by 5.25″

I put the night of navy mat in my Northern flurry embossing folder (a great value at $7.95, as are almost all of the embossing folders) and ran it through the big shot. I originally intended this to be a vertical card but I liked how the Merry Christmas sentiment looked in the lower left hand corner. This is from the Good Greetings hostess set (available for free for hosting a party of $300 or more in addition to the normal benefits) and I again heat embossed it – this time in white. A very simple and easily mass-produced card.

 

A baby card

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A friend who used to work on the same team as me just had her second son. I wanted to send a card and only had one stamp – Baby Tees – so that narrowed down the choices which is sometimes a good thing! It was a wheel stamp which I converted – all wheel stamps are now retired. Stampin’ Up sells clear mount cling foam so all I had to do was carefully peel the stamp off the wheel and decide where to cut the rubber since it won’t fit on even the largest stamp. I ended up with four baby tees that fit beautifully on clear block I.

 

babycard

Details:

Base: Soft sky 8.5 by 5.5 scored and folded in half

Mat: Whisper white 4.5 by 2 3/8

Mat: Soft sky 4.25 by 2 1/8

For this card, I decided to use just three of the tees and heat embossed them in silver (you may have realised already that I adore heat embossing). I took my blender pen and coloured in a few details with the soft sky ink and then folded the new 1/8 inch soft sky taffeta ribbon around the corners (I’ve yet to manage incorporating a bow!). Ever since I’ve been reading Susan Itell’s blog I’ve become addicted to lining my envelopes using the envelope liner framelits and my Big Shot. Here I used the subtles backgrounds DSP stack in soft sky It really finishes the card off beautifully.

 

On the subject of the Big Shot. I love mine. Now. I didn’t to start with because it was a workout to use it (not a bad thing, I suppose). I’d run an embossing folder or framelit though and although I’d keep turning the handle, it would stop moving anything through. I’d have to use serious muscle to get the cutting pad and card out. I talked to my sister and demonstrated my problems on skype. She showed me how hers worked – everything just glided through. I called demo support on the Monday and explained and they were fabulous. They told me that all I had to do was pack my big shot up and UPS would come and collect it. Although I envisioned a long wait whilst my Big Shot was collected and examined, by Tuesday a new Big Shot was dispatched and UPS hadn’t even picked up my old one. The new machine arrived within two days and I was delighted. Of course, now I’ll have to do yoga or weights for my muscle building, but life is easier when card making now.

 

Welcome to my blog

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My sister recently got me hooked on making cards – not something that I ever thought I would enjoy and I have found that I absolutely love it! I think about card design at many odd moments, even when out running and it’s given me a greater appreciation of design in general. I am an independent Stampin’ Up! demonstrator and will be featuring cards and projects made with their products.

 

Today is a special day with the launch of the Holiday Catalogue (it’s also my birthday, so it seems a good day to start a blog!). It’s full of tempting items and I bought more than I initially planned. I confess it feels a little odd to be making Christmas cards in August when it’s 70 or so degrees outside, but I can’t resist playing with my new purchases.

 

christmascardredwithgoldstars

Details:

Base: Very vanilla card stock 8.5 x 5.5 inches scored in half

Mat: Cherry cobbler cut at 5.25 x 4 inches

I used the Merry Christmas sentiment from Sassy Salutations stamped in versamark and then sprinkled on the stampin’ emboss powder in gold. The heat tool did the magic and turned the dull looking embossing powder into a glorious gold. I then used the confetti stars punch at the bottom of the card. My experiments have shown that by having a 5.25 inch piece of card and starting the punching at just past the little star on the right of the punch, that no stars will be cut in two. Using my gold Stampin’ dazzle marker, I dotted the middle of some random stars to get the placement on the cream card and then scribbled a small square around the dot. I was really pleased with how this one turned out.

See you tomorrow,

Liz