Grandparents Day
Ron and I spent a lovely day with our grandson Ethan at his Pre-School to celebrate Grandparents Day. When I saw this week’s sketch by Maria at Scrap.Love.Create I knew that I would use the photos that Ethan’s teacher took of us on the day.
I went with green to match Ethan’s shirt, so I used the Woodland Walk Designer Series Paper. My base card is Chocolate Chip. My photos have been added to a strip of Chocolate Chip cardstock as well. I printed my journalling onto Very Vanilla card matching the colour of the ink to Wild Wasabi and added a mat of Chocolate Chip card. I used my Timeless Type Junior Alphabet medium sizzlits to cut the letters for my title and my “ABC” from Chocolate Chip Card.
Just for fun and to add a little texture I used my crop-a-dile to randomly emboss little circles onto the Chocolate Chip card.
I love the way the photos are the most important thing on this page. They remind me of how proud he was to have us there and to be able to show us his school and how much we enjoyed being there.
Bye for now, Kris.
A Romantic Card
I love MaryJo’s Technostamper Sketch Challenges, they are always fun to play along with. Istarted out with a completely different card in mind – it kind of took on a life of its own but I am really pleased with the end result.
My base card is Basic Black. I added a layer of Very Vanilla card on which I stamped my greeting from the Occasional Quotes stampset using Basic Black ink. I added a layer of Newsprint Designer Series Paper but before attaching it to the card front I added a strip of Basic Black card which has the edge punched with the Scallop Trim Border Punch. I also wrapped it with Basic Black 5/8″ Satin Ribbon. I cut two sets of leaves using Old Olive card and the Little Leaves Sizzlit. I made my flowers in 3 sizes, 3/4″ circle, 1 1/4″ circle and Scallop Circle. Each flower is made using 3 punched shapes which are each separated to give 6 layers. They are scrunched and unfolded, stacked and pierced with the paper piercer and then they each have a brad inserted through the hole to keep them together. Then each layer is scrunched back up over the brad before opening them to get these glorious flowers.
Now I just need someone to get married or have an anniversary and I have the perfect card.
Bye for now, Kris.
Another Sketch
I just love the sketches that the team at Stamping 411 post each week. They are always great sketches and the samples by the Design Team are always inspiring. My favourite this week is the one by Selene Kempton – what a great sample for Sale-A-Bration.
Anyway, this is my take on the sketch this week. I started with Very Vanilla card and then added a layer of Real Red cardstock. The next layer is Very Vanilla and it has been embossed using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder – I seem to use this embossing folder all the time, but the results are sensational and it seems to go with just about any type of card. I wrapped this piece with Real Red 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon before attaching to the Real Red mat. I stamped the flowers from the Upsy Daisy stampset on Very Vanilla card using Real Red ink and then stamped it again without reinking just to the right. I haven’t done this type of stamping much but I love the effect with this image. I matted the image onto a piece of Real Red card which has one edge punched using the Scallop Trim Border. This piece is added to the card front using dimensonals. I tied some Real Red 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon through a Real Red Button from the Brights Designer Button Collection and then attached it to the card using mini glue dots.
It was a little tight getting that ribbon through the button but I think it was worth it. I did take a little licence with the sketch but I think it still fits the criteria.
I love the effect of stamping the image a second time and this is just one of the most perfect stamps to use.
I would love to hear what you think, don’t be shy.
Bye for now, Kris.
Let’s get Wheelin’
Yesterday I held a technique class to show my customers how to get the most from their wheels, standard, jumbo and builders. We also learned how to use our Wheel Guide to create a mitred corner on a 6″ x 6″ scrap page.
We used our Wheel Guide and our Grid Paper to line up our border and to mitre the top right hand corner. The 6″ x6″ card is Whisper White and we rolled it using Perfect Plum ink and the So Swirly Jumbo Wheel. Next we added a photo frame of Perfect Plum cardstock which is cut 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ to matt a 4″ x 4″ photo. The flowers are from the Vintage Vogue stampset and have been stamped on Whisper White card using Perfect Plum ink, the small flowers were stamped off once first to get a lighter shade and then cut out. One flower has a Large Clear Rhinestone Brad through the centre and the others all have small Clear Rhinestones in the centre. The leaves have been cut using Wild Wasabi card and the Little Leaves sizzlit. The leaves have been attached to the back of the flowers and then added to the page using dimensionals so that the photo can be slipped under the leaves and flowers.
Here you can see a close up of the flowers and leaves.
All in all a simple page but I love it. I know just the photo I am going to add to this and I might even turn it into a 12″ x 12″ page.
My ladies all had fun and were impressed with all the fantastic things that can be done with our Wheels, particularly the new Builders Wheels.
Perhaps you would like to learn more about our fabulous range of Wheels, just give me a shout and we can organise a date to show you and a few friends this amazing product.
Bye for now, Kris.
Is it a Butterfly or
is it a Sweet Pea. I saw this fantastic video on Maria Vanderform’s blog showing how to use the Butterfly Punch to make Sweat Pea’s. I love these goregeous little flowers so decided to have a go.
My base card is Early Expresso. To this I have added a layer of Very Vanilla which has been cut into three. The top section and the left hand side section have been embossed using the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder. The last section has been embossed using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder.
I am not going to try and explain how I made the flowers, just visit Maria, her tutorial is excellent. The colour I used for my flowers is Pretty in Pink and I used Certainly Celery for rest.
What do you think of my new card stand? It is a present from my friend who happens to be a very talented papercrafter as well as carpenter. You can check out all her designs here.
Here is a close up of the flowers. They are not hard to make but you do need a certain amount of patience.
What do you think? I feel I need a little practice but I am quite happy with the finished product.
Bye for now, Kris.
Fast and Fabulous Watercolour
The challenge at Late Night Stampers this week is to create a sympathy card. I have played with the technique wet watercolouring in the past and thought I would try again. I used the colours from the Diva Coffee Break Designs challenge 210.
I started with Night of Navy as my base card. For the next layer I cut my Night of Navy card, punched one edge with the Scallop Edge Punch and then attached it to the Sahara Sand Card. Then I ran it through the Big Shot using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. (This technique is called Inlaid Embossing.) For my image panel I used Watercolour Paper which I spritzed with water, so it was quite damp. Then I took the “fill” stamp for the long stem flower from Fast and Fabulous, inked it with Bashful Blue ink and stamped onto the wet Watercolour paper. This makes the image “bleed” a little and give a nice soft effect. I repeated this several times to cover the Watercolour Paper. The next step requires patience (or in my case a heat gun) to allow the Watercolour paper to dry completely. Once the paper was dry, I stamped the “fill” image again using Bashful Blue ink and no water. Then I stamped the “outline” image using Night of Navy ink over the top. I love the soft dreamy effect. I layered the Watercolour paper onto Bashful Blue card. Next I stamped “so very sorry” from the Three Little Words stampset onto Very Vanilla card using Night of Navy ink. I punched it out using the Curly Label punch and adhered it behind my image panel. I used dimensionals to add the image panel to the card front.
Here you can see the really gorgeous effect you get using wet watercolour paper and ink.
I am quite pleased with the way this has turned out. I absolutely love the colour combo and will have to add it to my Colour Combo Book.
I’d love to hear what you think.
Bye for now, Kris.
A simple Cottage Garden
I need to make some more boxed sets of cards for raffle prizes at a Fishing Week my husband and I are attending in March and I thought that I could make a start using this weeks Clean and Simple sketch.
I have used Whisper White as my base card and added a layer of Certainly Celery which has been embossed using the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder and wrapped with Pretty in Pink 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon. I stamped my greeting from the On Your Birthday stampset using Certainly Celery ink. The images from the Cottage Garden stampset were stamped using Certainly Celery and Pretty in Pink ink onto Whisper White card. This image panel is layered onto Pretty in Pink card and added to the card front using dimensionals.
I have made 6 cards using this exact same formula and I just need to make a folio to hold them. I will pop back with a photo of this when it is finished.
Bye for now, Kris.
Just take a sketch
and add some colour. Today my card uses the sketch from Stamping 411 and I had added the colours from this weeks Diva Coffee Break Challenge.
The base card is Night of Navy and I have swiped myNight of Navy ink pad over it to give it some texture. The Sahara Sand card has been torn along the top (a bit hard to see but trust me) and then embossed using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. To make my focal image I stamped the flower from Pocket Silhouettes using Night of Navy ink onto Sahara Sand card and punched it out using the 2″ x 1 3/8″ Oval Extra Large. I added this to the centre of a Bashful Blue tag cut using the Big Shot and one of the dies from the Lots of Tags Sizzlit 4 pack. Using dimensionals I centred this onto a piece of Night of Navy card embossed using the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder and layered it onto a piece of Bashful Blue card.
I love this card. I love the clean lines and I love the colours. Not a combination I have used before but one I will definitely keep in mind.
Bye for now, Kris.
A Little Bit of Black Magic
Last Friday I went to a class run by my friend and fellow Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator Gwen. She showed us how to do Black Magic in 3 different ways.
These are the cards we made. Gwen has an amazing style and I just love the way the cards turned out. I came away with a new understanding of the technique and inspired to try it a little more. The only problem is now I have to spend money updating the colours in the Stampin’ Pastels.
Bye for now, Kris.
Another Scrap Page
Now don’t all fall off your seats. I told you I had some gorgeous photos to get me scrapbooking. The scrapbook sketch challenge at SUDSOL this week fit perfectly with these photos of my daughter Emma’s three children.
I used some of the Jolly Holiday Designer Series Paper because I love it and because these photos are from December. I used Old Olive 12″ x 12″ card as my base. I added a layer of Very Vanilla card at the bottom of the page with the top edge punched using the Eyelet Edge Punch. Next I added a layer of Designer Paper with the bottom edge punched using the Eyelet Edge Punch. I added some Old Olive 5/8″ Satin Ribbon to the Designer paper. I matted my photos on a piece of Cherry Cobbler card and attached it to the Designer Paper. I used my Scalloped Heart of Hearts embosslit to cut one Old Olive heart. I punched one Old Olive and one Cherry Cobbler heart using my Full Heart Extra Large Punch and put them into the same embosslit to give it that gorgeous polka dot texture. I arranged these two hearts on the left hand side of the Very Vanilla card. The Cherry Cobbler heart has been added using dimensionals. I cut “Family” using my Timeless Type Junior Alphabet (and the Big Shot). I punched hearts from Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive card using my Heart to Heart Extra Large Punch. The Old Olive hearts have also been embossed using the Scallop Heart of Heart embosslit. The larger Cherry Cobbler Heart is added using dimensionals.
This close up shows the gorgeous texture that you get from this embosslit. I also love that you can punch out a heart with the Extra Large Heart Punch and pop it into the embosslit and it will emboss the punched heart and it will line up with the scalloped heart perfectly.
Here you can see a close up of the hearts on the right hand side of the page.
All in all a simple page but I am happy with it and I love these photos of my gorgeous grandchildren.
I’d love to hear what you think.
Bye for now, Kris.
