Karen’s Hostess Gift
I held a workshop recently for a good customer and friend of mine (Hi Karen). I always like to give my Hostesses something personal from me and this is what I made for her.
This is called an Undercover Book of Cards and I purchased the tutorial from LeeAnn Greff. The basic construction of my box is done in Basic Black cardstock. I decorated the front by taking a piece of Whisper White card and embossing the bottom section only with the Square Lattice Embossing folder. I added a narrow strip of Basic Black card which has both edges punched with the Scallop Trim Border punch. I also wrapped the Basic Black card with Old Olive 3/8″ Taffeta Ribbon before attaching to the Whisper White card to mask the end of the embossing. To make the embellishments I cut Real Red card using the Floral Fusion Sizzlit. I also punched two leaves for each embellishment using Old Olive card and the Two Step Bird Punch. I attached the leaves behind the largest of the Real Red flowers and then attached them to a square of Whisper White card punched using the 1 1/4″ Square punch. Then I ran the piece through the Big Shot using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder to embed the flowers and the leaves onto the Whisper White square. I attached these squares to Basic Black squares punched using the 1 3/8″ Square punch. I took the two smallest flowers and using my bone folder curled them on both sides until the flowers separated. I scrunched the flowers and then stacked them onto a small Rhinestone brad making sure that the petals were staggered. I scrunched them again around the brad and opened them out. I attached these little flowers to the centre of the embossed flower using mini glue dots.
This shows the inside of the box. I have decorated the inside cover to match the front of the box without the embellishments. I also decorated the spine and back of the book in the same manner.
The box holds 4 cards and envelopes.
The cards are made in the same manner as the front of the box, except I added a greeting from the Cute By The Inch stampset (level 2 Hostess Set). These are stamped with Real Red ink onto Whisper White card, punched out with the 1 1/4″ Square Punch and matted with a Basic Black square punched using the 1 3/8″ Square Punch. I used the “Thinking of You”, “For You”, “Friends” and “Eat Cake” images from the Cute by The Inch stampset.
I absolutely love the way this set has turned out. I did have to make a few adjustments to the box dimensions to fit our Australian sized cards but it is a really simple box to make and could be used for lots of things other than cards.
If you would like to receive a gift like this then contact me and schedule a workshop and I would be happy to give you one of these or something equally gorgeous.
Bye for now, Kris.
A new blog…
…and a new tutorial. My friend Gwen sent me the link to this great new blog call Three Sisters which is owned by Maggie Skerrett (Gwen’s sister). There is a tutorial on this site for a cute little star box which as Gwen says would be fantastic to hang on the Christmas tree filled with a little treat as a countdown for the children (or grandchildren in my case).
The template is printable, so I just printed mine onto an A4 sheet of Wild Wasabi card. The instructions for assembling the box are easy and despite the complicated look of the template, the box is suprisingly easy to assemble.
I haven’t embellished the box very much, just added some ribbon to hang it from the tree or wherever and a small embellishement to the front. I used the cupcake from the Party Hearty stampset. I inked the cupcake using my Chocolate Chip and Wild Wasabi Stampin’ Write Markers and stamped onto Whisper White card. I coloured the icing with my Two-Way glue pen and added Dazzling Diamonds. I love how the glue pen comes out blue and dries clear, so you can see exactly where you are putting the glue. Once the glue does dry you do get the faintest impression of the colour underneath. I punched the image using my 1 3/8″ circle punch and added a Chocolate Chip Scallop Circle mat.
You should be able to see the Dazzling Diamonds and faint Wild Wasabi colour coming through.
Be sure and pop over to the Three Sisters blog and try out this great little box. I am sure that I will be making more of them in the future.
Bye for now, Kris.
Sudsol Design Case
Every week Sudsol has a design case challenge where you have to CASE a card from the US Stampin’ Success magazine.
Although I didn’t have some of the stampsets, I decided to have a try. I used Night of Navy for my base card. I used Whisper White for the main panel with a little strip of Ridinghood Red card which has been punched along the edge using the Scallop Edge Punch. I stamped the bird from Punch Potpourri onto Whisper White card using Night of Navy ink and punched it out using the Two Step Bird punch. I also punched the Old Olive leaves using this punch. I inked the “happy birthday” from the Perfect Punches stampset using my Old Olive marker and stamped onto the card front. I stamped the small “fleur de lis” type image from the Tiny Tags from tn the top and bottom right hand corners using Old Olive ink. I attached the leaves and the bird image. Lastly I tied some Old Olive 1 1/4″ striped grosgrain ribbon around the card front and tied it in a knot.
I am glad I decided to play along with this one, the card is really pretty.
Bye for now, Kris.
Happy Birthday Sean
It is my son-in-law’s birthday today and this is the card I made for him.
I used the Extreme Elements stampset and the Motorcycle single stamp from the Autumn/Winter mini catalogue which will be released on the 1st April. I created my background by stamping various images from Extreme Elements onto Whisper White card using Sahara Sand, Night of Navy and Pacific Point ink. Then I cut this card into 2.5cm strips and attached it to a piece of Night of Navy card. I wrapped a length of Night of Navy 5/8′ Satin ribbon around the centre and then attached it to my Sahara Sand base card. I stamped the large image from the Extreme Elements stampset onto another piece of Whisper White card using Sahara Sand ink and overstamped this with the Motorcycle stamp using Night of Navy ink. I added a Pacific Point cardstock mat and then attached this to the card front using dimensionals. I stamped Birthday Wishes from the Occasional Quotes stampset onto Whisper White card using Night of Navy ink and punched it out using the Word Window punch. I added a Night of Navy Modern Label and attached the greeting to the card front again using dimensionals.
I love the way this has turned out. I am really loving the Extreme Elements stampset and the new single stamps in the Autumn/Winter mini are all fabulous.
Bye for now, Kris.
Technostamper Sketch 165
Well today I am sharing a card I made using the sketch from Mary Jo’s Technostamper blog. I also used my Colour Coach to select the colours. I wanted to use Sahara Sand and when I looked at the Colour Coach the Creative Combination -Sahara Sand, Bravo Burgundy and Pink Pirouette – sounded really pretty.
I used Sahara Sand card as my base. Then I took a strip of Pink Pirouette 5cm wide and ran it through the Big Shot using the Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder. I added a mat of Bravo Burgundy card which has one edge punched using the Scallop Trim Border punch. I used the Punch Potpourri (Level 1 Hostess) stampset to create the focal images. I stamped the heart, bird and flower images onto Pink Pirouette card using Bravo Burgundy ink. I punched each image using the co-ordinating punch – Full Heart Extra Large, Boho Blossoms and Two Step Bird. I sponged the edges of the heart and all three flowers.
To shape the flowers I used my bone folder to fold the edges of the petals outwards ever so slightly and then using my mat pack and the back end of the Paper Piercing Tool, I shaped them slightly so that they cupped upwards. I attached the heart and the flower using mini glue dots. I used dimensionals under the body of the bird. The bird wing is Pink Pirouette card which has been sponged with Bravo Burgundy ink and attached to the bird body using a mini glue dot. The greeting is from the Bring on the Cake stampset (released in the Autumn/Winter mini on 1.4.11). I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to position correctly and stamped using Bravo Burgundy ink.
I really like the way this card has turned out and I love that the Colour Coach is always right when it comes to selecting colours.
Bye for now, Kris.
A Sneak Peak and a Challenge
Ok for those of you who love to get excited about what is coming up then this is for you. The card I created for the Stamping 411 challenge this week uses some new product from the Autumn/Winter mini.
The cupcakes are made using a stampset called Create a Cupcake and the sentiment is from a great new set called Bring On The Cake. Both of these are absolutely fantastic sets and the Create a Cupcake set has a matching punch. Yes you can actually stamp the image and then punch them out or just create your cupcake using the punch.
Ok now for the details… The base card is Early Expresso to which I have added a layer of Whisper White card. At the bottom I have added another layer of Whisper White card which has been embossed using the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. To this layer I have added a strip of Early Expresso card which has been punched with the Pinking Hearts Border Punch. Each of the cupcakes has been stamped with Early Expresso and Pretty in Pink ink onto Whisper White card and attached to a mat of Certainly Celery. The little heart, flower and cherry have been inked using my Rich Razzleberry and Certainly Celery Stampin’ Write markers onto Whisper White card and cut out before attaching them to the cupcakes. The greeting has been stamped using Early Expresso ink.
Here is a close up of the cupcake and the punched border. This border punch is in the current mini which ends on the 31st March.
I think I am going to find lots of ways to use this little stampset.
Bye for now, Kris.
An Easter Basket
I have been experimenting with a mini tutorial that was shared on Sandy Hancock’s blog. I think the little box was actually made by Cheryl Lefore. The mini tutorial was for a little box with 3 x 3″ note cards. I thought the box would make a great little Easter Treat Basket.
I cut two Chocolate Chip Scallop Circles using my Scallop Circle Bigz Die. I added a circle of Wild Wasabi and Whisper White cut with my Circle Scissors. I embossed the Whisper White card with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. The strip of card to make the box in the mini tutorial is cut 2″ wide. For this box I cut the strip 2 1/2″ wide. The bottom of the scallops is cut off at about 3 1/2″ to give a flat edge. For the front of my basket I stamped “Easter Wishes” from the Occasional Greetings stampset using Pretty in Pink ink onto Whisper White card. I punched the greeting using the Wide Oval Punch and then sponged the edges with Pretty in Pink ink. I punched 2 Pretty in Pink Wide Ovals and layered them behind the greeting and attached it to the bag. I stamped the 3 flower image from the Punch Potpourri stampset using Pretty in Pink ink onto Whisper White card and punched them out using the Boho Blossoms Punch. I also punched one set of flowers using Pretty in Pink card and the Boho Blossoms punch.
I sponged the edges of the stamped images with Pretty in Pink ink to add a bit more colour. Then I simply attached the flowers around the greeting and added some small and medium Basic Rhinestones to the flower centres.
The back of the basket is decorated with a “bunny behind” which I cased from Kim Score. You might remember these bunnies from this post. All the pieces are punched from Pretty in Pink ink and sponged with the same ink. Punches used – 1 3/4″ circle (body), 1 3/8″ circle (head), small oval (ears) and Butterfly punch (cut in half for legs). I punched Whisper White card using the Boho Blossoms Punch and inked the edges of the flowers with Pretty in Pink ink. I scrunched the flowers and then stacked them adding a Pretty in Pink brad to the centre. This is attached to the bunny using a mini glue dot. I cut a 3cm strip of Chocolate Chip card and punched both edges using the Scallop Border punch. I added a .5cm strip of Pretty in Pink card to the centre and attached this to the box using Pretty in Pink brads to make a handle.
All the box needs now is chocolate.
Bye for now, Kris.
A bit of green
In honour of the Irish and St. Patricks Day, this week’s challenge at Late Night Stampers was to add a bit of green. The card I am sharing with you today fits this challenge and also uses the sketch from Sudsol this week.
I started with a base Crumb Cake card. I embossed across the top section of the card using the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. I used a piece of Woodland Walk Designer Series Paper and added a mat of Garden Green card. I stamped the beer mug from the Cheers to You stampset using Basic Black ink onto Very Vanilla card. I coloured the glass using a Crumb Cake Stampin’ Write Marker. The froth was coloured using the two-way glue pen and dipped into Dazzling Diamonds to give a lovely sparkly effect. I punched the image out using the 1 3/4″ Circle Punch. I cut the Garden Green circle using the Circles #2 die ( 2″ circle). Lastly I cut the 2 3/8″ Scallop Circle from another piece of Woodland Walk Designer Series Paper. The image piece is attached to the card front using dimensionals.
I quite like how it turned out even though it is very simple.
Bye for now, Kris.
Sudsol Case Challenge
Every week Sudsol has a challenge where you have to case a particular card. The example to case used Eastern Blooms stampset and textured card, neither of which I possess.
I decided to use the floral branch image from Thoughts & Prayers which I stamped on Rich Razzleberry card using Rich Razzleberry ink. To add texture I embossed the card front with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. The greeting is from the same set and I used my Rich Razzleberry marker to ink it up before stamping on Very Vanilla cardstock. I punched it out using the Large Oval punch and sponged the edges with Rich Razzleberry ink before distressing them slightly. I added a Rich Razzleberry Scallop Oval and attached it to the card using dimensionals.
I was a little disappointed with the outcome, as the stamping became hard to see once the card was embossed.
For my second attempt I used Whisper White card with the same stamps and ink. I am much happier with the outcome for this one and think it is rather sweet.
Let me know which one you prefer, the Rich Razzleberry or the Whisper White card.
Bye for now, Kris.
Stylish Blogger Again
I am really a little humbled that I have been passed this award again. This time the lovely Teresa Hafso has bestowed this honour. Teresa is the queen of Scrap Challenges at SUDSOL and the reason that you have seen so much scrapping by me lately. Anyway THANK YOU so much Teresa (and sorry I have been a little slow in responding).
Since I have already received this award twice before I am just going to ask you to visit Teresa’s blog and be inspired by her fabulous work.
Thanks again Teresa for the fabulous honour.
Bye for now, Kris.
Stamping with Kris 