A Special Birthday
On the weekend Ron and I attended a 70th birthday celebration for a friend and this is the card that I made for him.
I decided to make a Waterfall card and there is a great tutorial for this on Splitcoast Stampers. I used Basic Black and the fabulous Newsprint DSP. I stamped my images from Cheers to You using Basic Black ink and then used my Stampin’ Write Markers to colour them it.
I love how much fun these cards are. Just pull on the ribbon and the images flip over until you get to the end.
Now I did make one little faux pas on this card and I wonder if you can spot what it is.
Anyway I don’t think our friend will notice and hopefully he will like his card.
Bye for now, Kris.
Paper Flowers
Yesterday I held my second workshop during which we learned how to make paper flowers 3 different ways.
To make this flower we punched a 1 3/8″ circle from Real Red cardstock and then punched a scallop circle around it. By cutting between two of the scallops and rolling the cardstock up really tightly you get a gorgeous little flower. Now I know that there was a tutorial somewhere on the net about this and if I can find out where I will post a link.
The Base of the this card is Crumb Cake with a layer of Basic Black. The Top Note die is cut using Very Vanilla card and the Real Red cardstock has been run through the Big Shot using the Petals A Plenty Embossing Folder. The leaves are cut using the Little Leaves sizzlet and Old Olive cardstock. To make the large flowers we joined 3 of the pieces I described above and then when they are finished we attached a circle of real red card behind them and attached to the card front using mini glue dots. We made two flowers like this and then two flowers using 2 of the pieces described above and then one flower using only 1 of the pieces described above. Some Basic Black grosgrain tied around the middle to conceal the top edge of the Real Red cardstock.
The flowers on this card are made by punching out a Scallop Circle, then cutting between two of the scallops and continuing to cut in a spiral until you reach the centre of the scallop circle. You begin at the outside edge and roll until you get to the centre as tight as you can, then you let the cardstock go so that it springs open. These flowers are attached to a 1/2″ circle of matching cardstock using crystal effects. They take about an hour to dry enough to add to the card front.
This card uses Rich Razzleberry as the base card. The layer of Regal Rose has been stamped using the Friendly Words Jumbo Roller and Versamark ink. The edges were sponged with Regal Rose ink. The Sahara Sand cardstock has been embossed using the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder. 5/8″ grosgrain Very Vanilla ribbon has been wrapped around the card. The bow was made by wrapping a Clear Rhinstone brad around a piece of ribbon that has been folded into three and then it was attached using mini glue dots. The Little Leaves were cut using Old Olive cardstock and then the 3 flowers we made from Rich Razzleberry card were attached using mini glue dots. The greeting from Sincere Salutations was stamped using Real Red ink.
The flowers on this card were made by punching 3 layers of cardstock and then piercing a hold through the centre of them. Then we distressed them so that each piece could be separated into 2 layers. The layers were then scrunched up and opened out again. The six pieces were attached using a brad and then each layer scrunched up around the brad. Once all six layers are done, then they are opened from the outside giving a gorgeous almost carnation like effect. One good thing about these is that you can use up all the retired brad colours because you don’t see the brad once the flower is completed.
This card also has a base of Crumb Cake and a layer of Basic Black card. The Top Note is cut using Very Vanilla cardstock. 3 Little Leaves were cut from Old Olive card and then we made the flowers. 1 from the Scallop Circle, 2 from the 1″ circle punch and 2 from the 3/4″ circle punch. They are attached using mini glue dots. The greeting from Sincere Salutations has been stamped using Real Red ink.
They also made a presentation box which was very simple so that if required the card could be posted.
This class was very “full on” and for the first one, the ladies had to punch out all their own pieces. For the class on Saturday I punched out all the pieces for the flowers for them and also did most of the distressing to save time. The ladies only had to punch out the pieces for their technique card.
Making paper flowers can be quite time consuming, but the finished product is so worth the effort.
Bye for now, Kris.
A Wedding Card
My neice got married in Bali this week and I needed to make a wedding card. This card by the very talented Shelley Bierma was one of the swaps that I received at the Brisbane Regionals and was the inspiration for making my card and gift card holder.
I added a little more red to my card and used my Big Shot dies to cut out my hearts and added a little ribbon.
The gift card holder also uses my Big Shot and the new Scallop Trim Border Punch.
I started with Real Red as my base card and then added a layer of Whisper White which I has been run through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dot Impressions folder. I cut one black and one white heart using the Scallop Heart of Heart Embosslit Die. For the Groom’s heart I punched out a Full Heart Extra Large from Basic Black. I cut it partway down, folded back the cut section and then added a bow tie made out of a little 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon and a small Clear Rhinestone Brad. For the Bride”s heart I punched out a Full Heart Extra Large from Whisper White and then ran it through the Big Shot using the Elegant Lines Embossing Folder and making sure that my two circles were centred on the heart. I added a small and a medium Basic Rhinestone to the circles. I stamped the sentiment from Occasional Quotes (a level 3 Hostess Set) onto Whisper White card using Basic Black ink. I punched the sentiment out with the Oval Extra Large Punch. I added a few Basic Rhinestones to the punched piece and layered it onto a Basic Black tag cut using the Big Shot and the Lots of Tags sizzlet. I wrapped the card front with Real Red 1/4″ grosgrain and attached the greeting over the top using dimensionals.
Here is a close up of the Bride and Groom. I love the way these turned out.
The hearts on the belly band for the Gift Card Holder were made by firstly cutting a Basic Black and Real Red heart using the Scalloped Heart of Hearts sizzlet. Then I punched out two Whisper White hearts using the Full Heart Extra Large. I placed the punched hearts back into the Scalloped Heart of Hearts sizzlet so that they could have this gorgeous small polka dot embossed onto them.
I love the way this card and gift card holder have turned out and I hope that my niece will too.
Bye for now, Kris.
A New Stampset
I have loved the Just Believe stampset since it was first released in the United States catalogue but have only just purchased it. In fact it was only delivered yesterday. I do love my parcel man.
I decided to use this set and complete the challenge on Late Night Stampers to use Incolours. I started with Poppy Parade as my base card and stamped the large image from Just Believe in versamark. Then I sponged the edges of the card with Poppy Parade ink. I ran the piece of Concord Crush through the Big Shot using the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder. I inked up the large flower image using my Poppy Parade and Pear Pizzazz Stampin’ Write Markers and stamped onto Whisper White card. I matted the image onto Pear Pizzazz card and attached it to the card front using dimensionals. This card is very simple but the image is so beautiful you don’t need to embellish it to create something lovely.
I am sure you will be seeing this set used much more (now that I have it).
Bye for now, Kris.
Playing With My Big Shot
I saw some fabulous flower garlands made with circles of fabric on the Once Wed blog and immediately knew that they would be easily made using the Circles #2 die and the Big Shot. In fact these garlands are the reason I bought this die.
I had some felt lying around so decided to have a go. I had enough to cut 6 circles of each of the 4 sizes, All you have to do is fold the circles in half and then in half again and stitch them in the folded corner. String them together and join in a circle. Then I attached them to hair elastics for my granddaughters to wear. Cute aren’t they?
Here you can see Elyssa proudly showing off her new hair decoration. This one is made with 6 of the smallest circles on the die. It actually cuts 4 different sized circles at the same time.
While I had the Big Shot out I used my Flower Folds die and some more felt I had to cut out the 3 smallest flowers on the die. I layered them and then used some old SU buttons I had lying around to add to the centre. I used linen thread to attach the buttons and at the same time attach the flowers to the hair elastics. I am already planning a trip to collect more material. I think they would be fabulous in organza or chiffon or satin….mmm.
Here is Abigail modelling her new hair decoration “Made By Nan”. I guess these sorts of things are what I truly love about my Big Shot. I don’t have to use it just for papercrafts, there are an endless array of projects that can be made using material as well. With 4 granddaughters, I can see me making lots of these in the future.
I’d love to see some of the projects that you have made using your Big Shot and materials other than paper.
Bye for now, Kris.
Some Scrapbooking
As you all know, I am not much of a scrapbooker. I love it but just don’t get around to it often enough. Last week we had our five eldest grandchildren sleepover all together for the first time and so I decided to make a page to remember how gorgeous they all are now.
I used Crumb Cake as the base of my pages and stamped them with the Sanded Background using Crumb Cake ink and sponged the edges with the same ink. I added strips of Garden Green card with one edge punched with the Scallop Edge Punch and tied Pumpkin Pie 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon around them. I ran the circles of Garden Green card through the Big Shot using the Petals a Plenty embossing folder. I used my Timeless Type Junior Alphabet to cut the letters from Basic Black card. The photos are all matted on Basic Black card as well.
To add some decoration to the page, I cut the Little Leaves Sizzlet using Garden Green card. I added flowers that I punched out using the 5 Petal Flower Extra Large Punch and also the Boho Blossoms Punch. I scrunched then, separated some of the layers to give dimension and added Basic Black brads and also a large 1/2 pearl from the Pretties Kit (now retired). To finish off I used my Beautiful Wings Embosslit and Pretty in Pink card to add some butterflies to the page as well.
Here you can see the largest butterfly from the Beautiful Wings embosslit. Can you believe that you get 5 butterflies on the one die. I used the smallest one on the leaves on the top of the left hand page and the others spread over the two pages.
All in all I am most pleased with these pages. I guess the best thing about it is that I have recorded how much fun we had and how much Ron and I enjoyed spending time with all these gorgeous kids.
Till next time, bye for now, Kris.
Thoughts & Prayers
I love this stampset and use it quite a lot, especially for those hard to make “Thinking of You” and “Sympathy” cards. This was the first set I thought of when I saw the Stamping 411 sketch this week.
I think that Certainly Celery is a gorgeous colour, so soft and it teams well with many colours. This time I decided to take the colours straight off the Colour Coach. These colours are the Creative Combination on the back of the Certainly Celery card. I stamped Soft Suede card with the Sanded Background and then sponged the edges using Soft Suede ink. I used my Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery markers to ink up the image from Thoughts and Prayers. After stamping it on Very Vanilla cardstock, I cut the card into thirds and layered each piece onto Certainly Celery card. I attached them to the Soft Suede card and wrapped the whole piece with Pretty in Pink 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon. This piece was then attached to the Pretty in Pink base card. I stamped “Thinking of You” from the Three Little Words stampset onto Very Vanilla card using Soft Suede ink and punched them out using my Word Window Punch. I layered this onto a piece of Certainly Celery card I had punched out with the new Modern Label Extra Large punch.
I’d love to hear what you think.
Bye for now, Kris.
A Big Shot Workshop
As you know last weekend I held a great workshop with my friend and customer Michelle. Well Michelle’s Mum, Norelle requested that I show lots of Big Shot projects. I also took along some retired cardstock and all my dies so that everyone could have a play after the demonstration.
Firstly I demonstrated how to make this cute little bag/treat holder using the ever versatile Top Note die. After cutting the Top Note shapes, I trimmed one edge so that it was flat and then ran them through the Big Shot using the Finial Press Embossing Folder. To make the box I cut a piece of Whisper White cardstock 6″ x 5 1/2″. On the 6″ side I scored at 2 1/2″ and 3 1/2″ and on the 5″ side I scored at 1″ and 4″. I cut the 2 1/2″ and 3 1/2″ score lines on each side up to the 1″ score line. I used sticky strip to hold the box together. Then I added lengths of Marina Mist 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon to the box and then using stricky strip attached the embossed Top Notes to each side. Next I cut the leaves using Wild Wasabi cardstock and the Little Leaves Sizzlit (and the Big Shot) and attached them to the front of the box. I cut a tag from Lots of Tags (also using the Big Shot) and stamped the words from the Great Friend stampset using Marina Mist ink and then sponged the edges with the same ink. I attached this to the front of the box over the leaves using mini glue dots. Using Marina Mist card I ran the Beautiful Wings embosslit through the Big Shot and attached one of the smaller butterflies to the tag using a dimensional. Everyone love this little bag/treat holder and so do I.
Next I demonstrated how to use the Movers and Shapers to cut two Ornaments which were overlapping from the front of the card. I used the large swirly motif from Baroque Motifs and Cherry Cobbler ink to make the “hangers” for the ornaments on the card front. I stamped Seasons Greetings from Many Merry Messages also using Cherry Cobbler ink. Then I showed everyone how to brayer ink into the Petals a Plenty Embossing Folder and how this coloured the White cardstock. By brayering the whole of the folder I was able to get both sides of the cardstock to colour differently. I punched out two ornament shapes using the Extra Large Ornament punch and attached them to the inside of the card through the cutouts I had already made. I tied some Old Olive 5/8″ Satin ribbon around the Whisper White card and attached it to a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock. I absolutely love the way you can cut out the shape and create a card all at once using the Movers and Shapers Die.
This last card everyone made. I kept is simple because I wasn’t sure how experienced some of the attendees would be. The Whisper White card is run through the Big Shot using the Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder. The bauble from the Tree Trimmings stampset was stamped using the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig and Real Red ink. Then the “strings” were drawn using a Real Red Stamping Write maker. “Very merry” from the Short and Sweet stampset was also stamped using Real Red ink. Real Red 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon was tied around the top of the Whisper White card. Lastly the whole piece was attached to a folded Real Red card.
I think everyone had a great time and were surprised at the many different ways and dies there are to use in the Big Shot. The Embossing Folders and the Beautiful Wings Sizzlet were a huge success.
If you would like me to show you how to use these great products then contact me k.mcintosh1@optusnet.com.au and we can organise a get together.
Bye for now, Kris.
A Simply Unique Challenge
Well that’s not entirely true. I recently joined a group called SUDSOL (Simply Unique Demonstrators Sharing On Line) and this is the first time I have completed one of the challenges.
This is another Christmas card but this time I decided to make it in blue’s. I love blue for Christmas Cards. I started with a base card of Night of Navy and rolled it with the So Swirly Jumbo Wheel using Night of Navy ink and sponged the edges using the same ink. My next layer was actually a scrap from another card, a piece of Whisper White which I have run through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dot Embossing Folder. The next layer is a piece of Baja Breeze and I have stamped this with the large swirl from Priceless using Baja Breeze ink and again sponged the edges using the same ink. It has been attached to the card front using dimensionals.I stamped the dove from A Wish For Peace using Night of Navy ink onto Whisper White card, sponged the edges with the same ink. I used double dimensionals on the left hand side of the piece so that it would be lifted above the Baja Breeze piece.
Another relatively simple card but I am quite happy with how it has turned out.
Bye for now, Kris.
My First Christmas Card
for this year. I have a couple of Christmas card stamp-a-stack nights coming up and when I saw the Stamping 411 sketch this week thought I would make a start on some cards for them.
I have used very traditional Christmas colours Real Red and Old Olive. I think these colours look lovely, especially with the addition of Whisper White. I ran the Whisper White layer through my crimper to add some texture (as a change from using the Big Shot). The Real Red cardstock has had the bottom edge punched with the Scallop Edge Punch. I then stamped the star from the Christmas Classics stampset using Real Red Ink. I layered the Real Red cardstock onto the crimped Whisper White piece and wrapped it with Old Olive 1.6cm Satin ribbon (loooove this satin ribbon). I stamped the tree and greeting from Christmas Classics in Old Olive ink on Whisper White card and sponged the edges with the same ink. I added an Old Olive Cardstock layer and attached this to the front of the card over the ribbon using dimensionals.
I am trying to come up with some fairly simple designs for some ladies who will be attending a class with me for the very first time. I would like them to see that they don’t need lots of things to make pretty cards. Have I succeeded? I would love to hear what you think.
Bye for now, Kris.
Stamping with Kris 