Cuttlebug Valentine
Posted: February 8, 2009 Filed under: Cuttlebug, Ever After 2 Comments
This heart is the first stamp I have from the new catalog. I didn’t have a heart stamp so I decided to get this beautiful one. Simple though this card is, it took me forever! I had hoped to post it a few days ago but I just couldn’t work out what was missing. I changed orientation, added words, removed the ribbon, etc, etc. As it turned out all it needed was the embossed background; I had been working with a blank vanilla piece which was just too plain. The embossed background filled in the space without making it too busy.
I stamped the heart in red, cut it out and cut a matte out of real red. The heart is raised slightly over the ribbon by stampin’ dimensionals. Thanks for dropping in, I have another heart card which I am almost finished which should be up soon.
Supplies:
Inks: Real Red
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Real Red
Stamps: Ever After
Also: Red grosgrain ribbon, Birds and Swirls cuttlebug folder
Need to be negative
Posted: February 5, 2009 Filed under: Happiness is a Journey, Stamp Simply challenges 10 Comments
That’s right, I needed to be negative when I made this card. Sharon’s Stamp Simply challenge this week is to use negative images or negative spaces left after using a punch. The stamped image is the only negative thing about this card, because I am actually feeling very positive about being the Stamp Simply Guest Designer for February! Thank you Sharon for including me in your team for the month.
This card is truly a “stamp simply” card. One stamp set, three markers and one piece of cardstock! I coloured directly onto the train stamp and then spritzed some water onto the stamp to blur the edges a little between my colours. After I had stamped one image using these colours I realised how much the green strip looked like foliage so Istamped another using the green marker a little more intentionally to create a background of trees for the train going past. I also used markers to highlight the word “Journey” in the sentiment.
I had a few trial images of the train lying around on my craft table so I decided to make a less simple card and use some mattes and embellishments. You can see the result below. I was happy with it but I prefer the simplicity of the one layer in the first card.
Make sure you check out the designs by the talented Stamp Simply design team:
Julie, Janine, Jennifer, Tammy, Dee, AJ, and of course Sharon.
Supplies:
Inks: Night of Navy, Bordering Blue and Always Artichoke stampin’write markers
Cardstock: Whisper white (Night of Navy, Bordering Blue, Always Artichoke)
Stamps: Happiness is a Journey (Fundamental Phrases)
Also: Navy grosgrain ribbon, hodgepodge hardware buckle
Celery Drawing Set
Posted: February 4, 2009 Filed under: Designer Paper 1 Comment
I mentioned the other day that Certainly Celery is one of my daughter’s favourite papers, so I was not surprised to see that she chose to decorate her drawing book with it. She has been very keen on drawing for several years now, but when she first started she always did it on many different little scraps of paper. That’s when we decided that she should always have a sketch book. The one pictured above is the latest in a long line of sketch books which are filled with all sorts of pictures and designs. She had fun trying out my new circle nestabilities for the cover adding her own title drawn with a versamarker then embossed with white e.p. The pencil case is a chocolate tin covered with cardstock, d.p. and ribbon.
Supplies:
Inks: Versamarker
Cardstock: Whisper white, Certainly Celery, Certainly Celery Designer papers
Also: White e.p. , White grosgrain ribbon, celery organza ribbon, circle nestabilities(Spellbinders)
Watercolour blossoms
Posted: February 2, 2009 Filed under: Eastern Influences 2 Comments
I am inspired by so many amazing stampers whose blogs I visit when I can. Some of them have very individual styles, which has prompted me to wonder whether I have any particular style at all?! When I look back through my archives there are vintage, modern, embossed, watercoloured, overdone, underdone, large, small, etc, etc! Perhaps I have several styles, I do know that I keep on seeing wonderful ideas and techniques that I am keen to try.
I have used watercolouring on my cards in the past, but Jerri Jiminez’s gorgeous watercolours have inspired me to try again, with a gold outline this time. I was fairly happy with the blossoms but could not get the background colour the way I wanted it. My older daughter, whose style is definitely “less is more” told me to” leave it alone, it looks good as it is!” A few days after I had finished this card Jerri posted a very detailed tutorial on watercolouring, so I shall be trying again, with her instructions to guide me.
Supplies:
Stamps: Eastern Influences, Sincere Salutations
Inks: Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Garden Green, Almost Amethyst
Cardstock: Pirouette Pink, Whisper White, Bella Rose d.p., Brushed Gold
Also: Gold embossing powder, ticket corner punch
More Celery
Posted: January 31, 2009 Filed under: Designer Paper, One of a Kind Leave a comment
This designer paper is my daughter’s favourite out of all my stash. It is not surprising really as it always looks crisp and fresh with very little needed in the stamping department. For the card above I decided to try the CPS sketch#7 again. Once I find a sketch I like I tend to use it over and over. The stamped images are from Pocket Silhouettes and the sentiment is from One of a Kind.
Here is another one I did using d.p. as the feature. I stamped and embossed the flower from One of a Kind on three different pieces of Celery d.p. and cut them out. They are stuck on with Stampin’ dimensionals to raise them above the layers of cardstock, dp and ribbon.
I’m hoping to get to some stamping later tonight, but we have a skating party here tonight for my daughter’s Sunday school class and the rink we plan to skate on is covered in snow!
Supplies:
Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes, Upsy Daisy, One of a Kind
Inks: Versamark, Certainly Celery
Cardstock: Whisper white, Certainly Celery, Certainly Celery Designer papers
Also: White e.p. , White grosgrain ribbon, circle punch, circle nestabilities(Spellbinders)
Sun behind daisies
Posted: January 28, 2009 Filed under: Upsy Daisy 1 CommentI have had the idea for this card floating around in my head for a while so decided to try it on the weekend. (After seeing the finished card my daughter did make the comment that I should use some other sets, otherwise people will think I only own Lovely as a Tree and Upsy Daisy!)
To make this card I did the sky first. I began by sponging with Brocade Blue, and then a little bit with Summer Sun. When there was a a very light layer of Summer Sun I punched a circle out of a post-it note and then stuck it on before sponging some more Summer Sun, some Apricot Appeal and finally at the bottom Pumpkin Pie.
I wanted daisies stretching across the bottom of the card so I stamped, covered the daisies and stamped again, completing any cut off daisies with a black marker. It is quite hard to see but I have a strip of black grosgrain ribbon across the bottom with a knot tied on it. I didn’t want to matte the whole picture so I placed a black strip at the bottom and added a thin frame on the image with a marker.
Thanks for dropping in.
Supplies:
Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Inks: Brocade Blue, Summer Sun, Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black
Cardstock: Whisper White, Brocade Blue(card base), Basic Black
Also: Black grosgrain ribbon, black Stampin’ marker
A modern edge
Posted: January 24, 2009 Filed under: Stamp Simply challenges 5 CommentsI have some new toys that arrived this week so I decided to use them for Sharon’s Stamp Simply challenge and the CPS sketch challenge as well. Sharon asked us to keep it modern, and CPS gave us the option of choosing any sketch from the 99 they have posted so far. Unfortunately I didn’t get my card up in time to enter the competition on CPS, but they have a new competition starting tomorrow with anniversary give aways and chances to be published.
I chose sketch #7 and tried out my new Forest Branches cuttlebug embossing folder. To make it modern I was thinking of a clean layout with minimal embellishments. I stamped the trees three times in Always Artichoke then punched them out with a 1¼” circle punch. I have matted the tree circles with a very thin black matte and highlighted the split in the card, again with black. I chose a bold unadorned sentiment to stay modern.
Supplies:
Stamps: Upsy Daisy,Single tree stamp from I know not where?
Inks: Always Artichoke, Basic Black
Cardstock: Always Artichoke, Going Gray, Whisper White
Also: Forest Branches embossing folder(cuttlebug) Nestabilities circle die(Spellbinders) ,1¼” circle punch
Snowscape
Posted: January 22, 2009 Filed under: Stamped Landscapes 4 Comments
I started out with a landscape orientation for this scene but ended up chopping chunks off both sides. As with other snowy scenes I’ve done I tore pieces of paper to mask off the sky and the snow. The stamp is a small three tree stamp which a friend passed on to me.
I started by tearing a jagged piece of paper for the mountains and a wavy piece for the snowy hill below the mountains. With the mountain mask in place I sponged the sky with Bashful Blue and Brocade Blue. I then added the hill mask and covered the sky to sponge the mountains in Night of Navy. I stamped trees in Going Grey over the navy and further down also.
The foreground trees I stamped in Basic Black, then restamped slightly higher in versamark before embossing in clear. This left a snowy outline around the top of the trees. In real life the trees are very black but in the picture the light has reflected off the embossing making it look whiter. I did a bit more sponging on the snowy hill with Bashful Blue and then realized that such a snowy scene needed snowy mountains not plain navy ones. To add snowy tops to the mountains I masked the sky again and sponged versamark along the top edge of the mountains. After sprinkling white embossing powder on the versamark I used a small paintbrush to brush off some of the powder before I heated it.
I realize that a tutorial might make more sense than my description, I’ll try to manage one soon. I know I’ve said that before…
Supplies:
Stamps: Three Tree stamp (Embossing Arts), Hugs and Wishes
Inks: Brocade Blue, Bashful Blue, Basic Black, versamark
Cardstock: Whisper White, Brocade Blue, Basic Black
Birthday pair
Posted: January 21, 2009 Filed under: Designer Paper Leave a comment
I picked up a few pieces of paper on sale at Michaels the other day and decided to make birthday cards. In my stash I have quite a bunch of blank cards and several thank yous but very few birthday cards, which means that I usually reach for a blank one. So in the interests of building up the birthday supply I made these two.
There is not much to either card, just designer paper, ribbon and punched flowers. for the card below I punched the flowers and then ran the Rose Red marker around the edges. I stuck them on the white card and then punched out the centres before sticking the white onto the Rose Red matte. The flowers on the card above just happen to be the size as the littlest one in the Boho Blossoms punch.
Supplies:
Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Hugs and Wishes
Inks: More Mustard, Rose Red
Cardstock: Whisper White, Rose Red, Marigold Morning, Simply Fabulous dp (Making Memories)
Also: Mustard and Rose grosgrain ribbon, Boho Blossoms punch
No Stamps involved
Posted: January 16, 2009 Filed under: Rub-ons 1 Comment
That’s right I didn’t do any stamping on this card, I just had a good look at what was on the sheet of Chateau Bella rub-ons and went from there. I have used this layout numerous times, I first CASEd it from the talented Laurie Schmidlin some time ago, and I keep coming back to it. I think the chocolate and vanilla looks classy together without the addition of any other colours, just textures and patterns.
The strip down the side, the patterned circle and the sentiment are all rub-ons, the rest is just layering, nine of them to be exact!
My friend Sharon, from No Time to Stamp is celebrating her birthday today so pop over to see her latest Stamp Simply Challenge featuring a beautiful vintage style card.
I would like to settle down for some stamping time now but my craft table is in the basement and it is too cold tonight. Outside it is -23°C (that’s -9°F) so I might just have to go to bed instead!
Supplies:
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Bella Rose d.p.
Also: Chateau Bella Rub-ons, Chocolate grosgrain ribbon.
Heather Telford 