Yellow Bear Stamping

Dainty Delight Fun Fold – Gatefold Pop Out Card

By Paula Reid | March 20, 2023

Hi there

A friend had a big ‘0’ birthday last month and I wanted to make her a special card to celebrate this milestone. I love making fun fold cards and had seen a ‘new to me’ fold called a Gatefold Pop Out card. After a quick Google search I found some instructions for an oversized card which was perfect for what I was wanting.

It looks complicated but once you’ve done the cuts the scoring is easy and then it’s a matter of ‘mountain’ or ‘valley’ folding on the score lines to create this fun fold card. I used Thick Basic White for my card base as it nice and firm.

I was glad of the oversized card as it allowed me to use the new Alphabet A La Mode dies. I love the thinness of these dies allowing you to make longer words to fit on your projects. To make it easy to adhere the letters I used our Adhesive Sheets. Adhesive Sheets are great for fine and delicate dies that are often hard to add adhesive to without getting the adhesive everywhere.

I had made a swap for a team event using the flower pot design and so I CASE’d (Copy And Share Everything or Copy And Selectively Edit) my own idea for this card. The flowers have all been cut using the Dainty Delight dies. The Brick and Mortar embossing folder works well for the background to the flowers.

The back of the card allows plenty of room to add your message and when the card is on show your message is out of view.

I made a belly band to keep the card closed and added the all important ’40’ to the front. As the card was taller than a normal card (from memory it was 8″ high) I was glad of 12×12 paper to adhere to the front panels.

I now need to sort the measurements for a normal sized metric card. I love a challenge like that so watch this space.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing this cool fold.

Until next time …

Beautifully Happy with Dandy Designs

By Paula Reid | March 13, 2023

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Hi there

Yesterday I shared the a card featuring the Dainty Delight bundle that I taught at a recent event. The second card I taught featured two Sale-A-Bration items – the Beautifully Happy stamp set and Dandy Designs Designer Series Paper (DSP). Unfortunately Sale-A-Bration has now finished but you could easily change the image and paper to supplies you have on hand. I like the layout of this card and it could be ‘upsized’ to a full sized card instead of the Notecard size.

Notecards using Beautifully Happy and Dandy Designs DSP

Beautifully Happy is a two set stamp. This means you stamp the outline image first then add in colour with the solid image stamps. Stamping in Memento Black can sometimes give too dark or strong an outline so for these cards we used Basic Gray or Gray Granite. For the flowers we used Calypso Coral or Fresh Freesia and the leaves were Soft Succulent or Soft Sea Foam to coordinate with the Dandy Designs paper.

Once the image had been stamped we die cut a portion using the second largest stitched circle from the Stylish Shapes Dies. This die set is my ‘go to’ set – it contains circles, squares and a variety of banner dies.

We used the same sentiment – Happy Birthday – from the Something Fancy bundle – stamped in Basic Gray and die cut with the coordinating die. When you want to add a coloured mat but don’t have a die the next size up you can do a partial mat as we have done here. Die cut the same shape from your coloured cardstock and just have a small amount showing at the bottom.

Well that’s all for now – until next time …

Dainty Delight Bundle and Artistic Mix Decorative Masks

By Paula Reid | March 12, 2023

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Hi there

After taking a break from blogging, social media and sending out regular newsletters I’m ready to get back into my paper crafting journey. I hope you’ll join me as I share my creations with you.

Last month I held a workshop with a lovely group of ladies and taught two cards. The first card features one of my favourite bundles from the January-April Mini Catalogue – the Dainty Delight Bundle (Page 55). This bundle consists of a stamp set and coordinating dies. When you purchase one of our bundles (stamp and dies or stamp and punch) you save 10% on the total cost.

Notecards using Dainty Delight Bundle with Artistic Mix Decorative Masks for the background

The Dainty Delight stamp set has five line art images and four sentiments. I love line art images as they allow a range of colouring techniques to be used. The image was stamped with Basic Gray and then coloured in with our Watercolour Pencils before being die cut with the coordinating die. Using the pencils allowed everyone to colour their flowers as they liked.

To add some colour and depth to the background we used the Artistic Mix Decorative Masks and Blending Brushes from the Annual Catalogue. I gave two options of design and colour – Pacific Point on the left or Flirty Flamingo on the right.

The sentiment is from the Something Fancy Bundle (Page 17). I have used this ‘Happy Birthday’ stamp so much and love the coordinating die that cuts it out perfectly.

No card is complete without some form of embellishment and here we used the Pastel Adhesive -Backed Sequins from the Country Floral Lane Suite (Page 9).

I hope you’ll check back tomorrow when I’ll share the second card we made.

Until next time

Split Circle Cards – CI#114

By Paula Reid | February 2, 2022

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Hi there

Over the weekend I saw a great colour challenge combo on the Colour Inkspiration Facebook group. As soon as I saw the colours I knew exactly what to create with them – a Split Circle card. This design has been around for awhile but I only made my first one last Tuesday when I friend showed me how.

To create these two cards I cut the following sized circles using the Layering Circles Dies. 1 3/8″ (Coastal Cabana & Granny Apple Green), 1 7/8″ (Balmy Blue & Pacific Point), 2 3/8″ (Pacific Point & Balmy Blue) and 2 7/8″ (Granny Apple Green & Coastal Cabana).

I dry embossed the Sahara Sand mat with the Tasteful Textile and Painted Texture Embossing Folders. These cards will be great to add to my stash for work birthdays – with over 200 staff now I need a few cards each month.

Well that’s all for now. Until next time …

Turtle Friends – Happy Anniversary

By Paula Reid | January 26, 2022

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Hi there

Last week Phil and I celebrated our 20th Wedding Anniversary – and this is the card I made for him using Turtle Friends.

This set is so versatile and can be used for any number of occasions and it has a good selection of sentiments to go with the images. I love my Blending Brushes so applied some Daffodil Delight and Soft Succulent to my Basic White base for the background. Did you know that Emeralds are the stone for 20th wedding anniversaries – hence the ‘green’ theme. Mr Turtle has been stamped in Memento Black, coloured with Smoky Slate Stampin Blends then punched out with the coordinating Turtle Punch. I then restamped his shell in Evening Evergreen and applied Shimmery Crystal Effects to his shell. Just make sure you give this plenty of time to dry – I left mine overnight.

The ‘hearts’ stamp has 3 individual hearts so by stamping the image six times I got to 18 – 2 short – so Plan B has needed. I covered two of the hearts with a piece of Washi Tape, inked up the stamp, removed the Washi Tape (the most important step) stamped away and then repeated this to get my two additional hearts. I also did this on the inside.

I used a favourite retired set Well Wishes to stamp the inside of the card. Washi Tape to the rescue again – to get my ‘TH’ after the number I covered the ‘anks’ from the ‘Thanks’ stamp.

We had a lovely day celebrating and remembering our happy day – bring on the next 20 years 🙂

Until next time …

Awesome Otters – Sale-A-Bration stamp set

By Paula Reid | January 14, 2022

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Hi there

Have you checked out the Awesome Otters on page 11 of the Sale-A-Bration brochure? They are so cute. For my first card I’ve combined a few techniques – masking, blending and fussy cutting – to create this fun birthday card.

I got the design idea for this card from page 26 of the Annual Catalogue. Using a scrap piece of grid paper I roughly torn it in two and adhered it to my card front with temporary adhesive leaving a big gap in-between to create my ‘river’. I applied Pacific Point and Pool Party ink with my Blending Brushes in the ‘gap’.

I originally stamped, coloured and cut the otter lying on his back then thought he looked a bit lonely so stamped, coloured and cut out two more friends to join him. I then went back and directly stamped the two otters coming out of the water on my ‘river’ and adhered the coloured images on top of the images stamped. Their party hats have also been fussy cut and adhered on top.

For the inside I stamped directly to the card and coloured it. I’ve gone with Ivory Stampin Blends for their tummies and Crumb Cake for the rest of the body. The water is outlined with Pool Party.

If you would like to have your own set of Otters place an order of NZD$110 with me between now and 28 February and you will receive the FREE stamp set.

Check back soon for more Otter creations.

Until then …

Sentimental Swirls – ROYGBIV

By Paula Reid | January 10, 2022

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Hi there

Happy New Year – for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere I hope you’ve had/having a lovely summer break. I am now back at work and getting back into the swing of things. Last week I managed to have some ‘me’ crafting time with some of the new products from the January to June 2022 Mini Catalogue. If you haven’t received your copy yet let me know and I’ll get one sent out. As a demo we get to pre-order a month before each new catalogue so we can have samples to share with you. My first purchase was Sentimental Swirls (page 56) which is the Million Dollar set inspired by Sam Hammond Donald aka Pootles. For those of you that follow Pootles you’ll know she likes the ‘rainbow’ colours hence I’ve called this card ‘ROYGBIV’.

I started this card by applying Daffodil Delight and Mango Melody with my Blending Brush then stamped the main ‘swirl’ image in Memento Black. On scraps of Basic White I stamped the flower outline in Memento Black then added my colour with the solid image. R = Poppy Parade, O = Pumpkin Pie, Y = Mango Melody, G = Granny Apple Green, B = Balmy Blue, I = Pacific Point and V = Gorgeous Grape.

This stamp set coordinates beautifully with two punches that are in the Annual Catalogue – Strawberry Builder Punch and the Flowers & Leaves Punch (both on page 148 AC). Here I’ve used the smaller flower from the Flowers & Leaves Punch. To finish off my card I added large Rhinestones to the centre of each flower.

This stamp set comes with 27 images and sentiments and I’m sure will be a popular set. Thank you Sam for creating such a wonder set. If you would like to purchase this set the ordering code is 157996 (NZD47.00).

It’s also Sale-A-Bration time again. During January and February you can choose a FREE Sale-A-Bration product with every NZD$110 or NZD$220 order you place. Check out the FREE products here.

Until next time …

Friday Fun Fold – Fold Over Card

By Paula Reid | December 31, 2021

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Hi there

What a year it’s been and what better way to finish off than with another Fun Fold card. When you’re in need of a Fun Fold card head over to the ‘Search’ field at the top of my blog and enter ‘Fun Fold’ and you’ll have 52 to select from. Card number 52 is a favourite design which I’ve called a Fold Over Card. Check out some previous ones here and here. The last one includes the measurements.

For this card my colour combination is Gorgeous Grape and Highland Heather with a touch of Granny Apple Green and I’ve used the Flowers of Friendship stamp set.

I prefer to use my Stamparatus for this card so that I know my top and inside images will be in exactly the same place. I’ve started using my Stamparatus more of late – it’s a great tool to have in your kit not only for straight stamping but if you need to reink your stamp for some reason you know that when you re-stamp you’ll still be lined up. There are also some great techniques you can achieve with the Stamparatus. To find what these are type ‘Stamparatus’ in the Search field at the top of my blog.

The stamped circle cut out didn’t go to waste – I ‘fussy’ cut the centre petals from each flower and then adhered them on top of the inside image to give a bit of dimension. For the petals on the front I stamped the images on a scrap piece of card stock, coloured them in with Stampin’ Blends, ‘fussy’ cut them and adhered. The reason I did this was that Stampin’ Blends tend to ‘bleed’ through the cardstock and I didn’t want this showing on the inside plus it again adds dimension to the front of the card.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the different Fun Folds I’ve shared during the year. When I started back in January I wasn’t sure if I’d have enough to share one per week for the whole year but I needn’t have worried as I still have more to share.

I hope you all have a wonderful New Years Eve and I look forward to sharing more creative projects with you in 2022.

Until next time …

Technique Tuesday – Black Ice

By Paula Reid | December 28, 2021

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Hi there

At the beginning of the year I decided I would share a different technique with you every Tuesday. Today is the last Tuesday of 2021 and for my last share I’ve chosen the Black Ice technique. There are still plenty more techniques to share so I’ll slowly slot them in with other blog posts during 2022.

Butterfly Brilliance - Black Ice Technique

I’ve used the Brushed Metallic Cardstock for this technique – you can also use foil. First up you want to create the ‘streaks’ of black on the cardstock before stamping your image. To do this lightly drag the edge of your Black StazOn ink pad across the cardstock. You want to get a bit of black on the edge of the cardstock and then subtle streaks across the center. Repeat this until you have covered your cardstock. Next stamp your image on top of the streaks. I’ve used the Butterfly Brilliance stamp with the help of my Stamparatus.

Even though the StazOn ink is an alcohol based ink and dries quickly I left mine for a few minutes before this next step. You could also apply your heat tool on a low setting for a few minutes. Taking your VersaMark ink pad lightly drag it across your cardstock to create streaks that run in the same direction as your StazOn lines. You want to barely touch the cardstock. Don’t press down with the VersaMark pad but simply use the weight of the ink pad to apply the clear sticky ink. Apply clear embossing powder over the top and heat with your heat tool. As the powder melts it bubbles and gives an extra dimension to your stamped image.

Here’s another card I created with the same image but a different colour cardstock.

This was my first attempt and was a bit ‘heavy handed’ with the StazOn streaks. Practice makes perfect.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the techniques I’ve shared over the year and have given some of them a try. To find all the techniques I’ve shared you can search for them using the ‘search’ field which can be found at the top right of my blog. Either type in ‘techniques’ or a particular technique you are looking for eg ‘Black Ice’. If you have any questions about any of the techniques I’ve shared please contact me.

Until next time …

Friday Fun Fold – Window Card

By Paula Reid | December 24, 2021

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Hi there

There are a number of variations for ‘Window Cards’ and this one uses a piece of Window Sheet so you can see through to the greeting on the inside of the card.

The card base measures 19.5cm x 10.5cm and is scored at 5cm – the 5cm section becomes the top front portion of your card. You will need three additional pieces that measure 5cm x 10.5cm to complete the card base. In addition you’ll need a piece of Window Sheet measuring 6.5cm x 10.5cm, two mats measuring 4.5cm x 10cm, two pieces of Designer Series Paper measuring 4cm x 9.5cm.

The Window Sheet is sandwiched between the upper and lower pieces of cardstock. Cardstock has been added on top of the Window Sheet to strengthen it and so that you don’t see the joins of the Window Sheet to the cardstock. TIP: if you want to stamp an image or sentiment onto your Window Sheet make sure you use StazOn ink.

I have one more Fun Fold card to share with you next week – that will make 52 different types of folds you now know how to make.

Until next time …

Technique Tuesday – Emboss Resist

By Paula Reid | December 21, 2021

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Hi there

Heat embossing is one of my favourite techniques – combine it with a bit of ink blending and you have a cool variation – Emboss Resist.

To create this card I stamped the Daisy Garden image with VersaMark, applied white embossing powder and heated it. As this is a large image I used my Stamparatus – it makes stamping so much easier than trying to hold the large block. My chosen background colours are Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody and Pumpkin Pie. Using my Blending Brush I covered the whole of the Basic White cardstock with Daffodil Delight then starting about a third of the way down I applied Mango Melody and then for the bottom third I used Pumpkin Pie. Where one colour meets the next make sure you blend the colours together so you don’t get a hard line.

I’ve kept with the heat embossing theme for the sentiment – white embossing on Basic Black cardstock to tie it all together. On the inside I stamped the image in Pumpkin Pie at the bottom.

Another great heat embossing technique is Josephs Coat – if you haven’t done heat embossing before check out the basics here.

Next Tuesday will be the last Technique Tuesday share for this year – I still have more to share so keep an eye out for those in 2022.

Until next time …

Friday Fun Fold – Pop and Flip Card

By Paula Reid | December 17, 2021

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Hi there

Our friends daughter turned 9 earlier this week so a fun fold card was in order. I’d seen this Pop and Flip card design on Dawn Griffith’s blog and been wanting to try it for ages. She had used the Oval dies but as they’re now retired I’ve used the Layering Circle dies.

From the front it looks like an ordinary card but when you open it the image ‘pops and flips’ through to the inside.

I used the same measurements that Dawn gives in her video to create the mechanism that ‘flips’ the image – 3″ x 4″ scored at 1″, 2″ and 3″ plus a piece 3/4″ x 2 1/4″ scored at 1 1/4″.

My ice cream is the Blackberry Bliss variety with a Soft Suede cone. The Sweet Ice Cream stamp set has a coordinating punch – Ice Cream Cone Builder – which makes light work of cutting out the stamped images. The cone is adhered directly to the Basic White circle and then I used Mini Dimensionals to adhere the ice cream.

Another demo, Rachel Tessman, has created a vertical version which shows the versatility of this card design.

After watching the video I’m sure you’ll want to give this design a go – it’s fun and an easy to make.

Until next time …

Technique Tuesday – Reverse Masking

By Paula Reid | December 14, 2021

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Hi there

Masking is a great technique to add depth to your project. It gives the illusion that an image is behind another image – check out my blog post here on masking to see how to do this technique. Reverse Masking is the opposite of masking – rather than the mask covering an already stamped image you create a mask to protect the outside area so that you can stamp on the inside of the mask. I’ve used a die frame from the Tasteful Labels Dies.

This version of masking still gives the illusion of depth. Don’t be afraid to have ‘white’ space on your card as this also helps with the feeling of depth.

The following steps can be used with any ‘frame’ die shape you have.

To create your mask die cut your chosen die from a scrap piece of cardstock. I find it’s easier to have this the same size as the piece of cardstock I’m going to be stamping on – in this case it’s 9.5cm x 13.8cm.

Place your mask on top of your cardstock. Use some temporary adhesive to keep it in place then select your ink and a Blending Brush and apply colour to the white space. Don’t be too ‘heavy handed’ with applying the ink otherwise you won’t see your final image. For this card I used Balmy Blue ink.

And this is the end result. Now you’re ready to add your stamped image and put your card together.

I’ve used the Painted Poppies stamp set and stamped my image in Memento Black. I added a piece of the Black & White 1/4″ Gingham Ribbon (which is carrying over) which I’ve secured only at the back of the card – this meant I could tie a knot to the ribbon and slide it along to the desired location. The final touch – adding some Artistry Blooms Adhesive Backed Sequins. You can just get a glimpse of the inside of the card where I’ve done the same technique in the bottom corner of the insert.

I hope you’ve enjoyed see this alternative masking technique and give it a go yourself.

Until next time …

Friday Fun Fold – Pop Out Swing Card

By Paula Reid | December 10, 2021

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Hi there

I have another quick and easy fun fold card to share with you that looks more involved than it is. When I’ve made this card previously I used the Layering Squares Dies but as these have retired I’ve gone with the Layering Circle Dies.

Pop Out Swing Card using Hand-Penned products

When I make my cards I don’t always have them planned out – they just evolve and this was one of those cards. I knew what fold I wanted to share but wasn’t sure which stamp set, papers etc to make it with. I pulled a few packs of Designer Series Paper (DSP) out but nothing really jumped out at me. I then saw this stamped/coloured image on my desk and decided to build the card around that. Next step was choosing the DSP design – something to coordinate with the stamped image. My paper is from the Hand-Penned 12″ x 12″ pack.

I then remembered I had the Hand-Penned Memories & More Card Pack. This card pack has double sided cards plus some sticker sheets which included the ‘Happy Birthday’ I used on the front and an image I used on the inside of the card.

The inside image was a black outline so I coloured it in with my Stampin Blend markers – Pale Papaya and Mint Macaron. The main image on the front uses the Hand-Penned stamp set which has been die cut and adhered with dimensionals. Instead of ‘sparkly bling’ I used the Pale Papaya Genial Gems.

If you would like to recreate this card for yourself check out my previous post here for measurements and instructions.

And here’s the view from the top.

Don’t forget to check out my Promotions Page for the ‘Last Chance Products’ list of retiring products from the July-December Mini Catalague.

Until next time …

Technique Tuesday – Hinge Technique

By Paula Reid | December 7, 2021

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Hi there

Last week I shared a card using the Stamparatus to create a circle of stamped images and today I’m using it to for the Hinge Technique. This is a great technique to use when you want the same image to be lined up across or down your card. I’ve chosen one of my favourite stamp sets to use – Biggest Wish.

Biggest Wish - Stamparatus Hinge Technique

This is such an easy technique to do and this set was perfect for it. My colours are So Saffron, Gray Granite, Pear Pizzazz and Real Red with Memento Black. The balloons are from the Penguin Place stamp set and ‘fussy cut’ out before being adhered with dimensionals. I used Shimmery White cardstock for these cards.

This technique is great for making sure that your words or images are perfectly straight and aligned. I had so much fun making this card I didn’t stop there. Keep reading and you’ll see more creations plus a quick step by step instruction.

This time using Polished Pink, Fresh Freesia, Highland Heather and Gorgeous Grape. The ribbon is Gorgeous Grape Sheer Ribbon.

I added in an additional ‘Happy’ and then stamped the ‘birthday’ on some scrap Shimmery White and ‘fussy cut’ it out before adhering with dimesionals. The colours for this card are Soft Sea Foam (double stamped for a stronger colour), Granny Apple Green (double stamped), Bermuda Bay, Night of Navy and Memento Black.

And for this one I used Pool Party (double stamped), Granny Apple Green, Poppy Parade, Flirty Flamingo and Petal Pink. The skies the limit with your colour combinations.

Biggest Wish - Stamparatus Hinge Technique - step by step

Place your cardstock in your Stamparatus and secure with your magnets. My cardstock measures 3 3/4″ x 5 1/2″. Place you stamp in the desired location and adhere to your plate. Stamp. Lift your plate out and place it in the next hinge slot (depending on the size of your stamp you may need to go down two slots). Reink your stamp and stamp. Repeat until you have the desired number of images.

If you don’t own a Stamparatus yet I would highly recommend you adding it to your next order. These are only a few ways to use your Stamparatus.

I had so much fun making these cards – I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing them.

Until next time …