Today’s fun fold is a style I’ve been wanting to make for ages and just never got round to it. I’ve teamed it up with the Snail Mail Suite from page 55. This suite combines a stamp set, coordinating dies, Designer Series Paper (DSP), twine and embellishments.
The card base is Bermuda Bay with a piece of 10cm x 14.4cm Snail Mail DSP. I used the Ivory Stampin’ Blend to colour the snail and Bermuda Bay for the shell. The snail on the inside is Crumb Cake with a Bronze shell. The parcels are Light and Dark Pool Party.
To create the card start with your standard card base – 21cm x 14.8cm scored at 10.5cm. Cut an additional piece of cardstock measuring 10cm x 14.8cm. Score on the short side at 1/2″. On the long side make a mark at the half way point – 7.4cm. With the score line on the right measure in 2 3/4″ from the top left and make a pencil mark. Repeat for the bottom left. Place the cardstock in your paper trimmer lining the pencil mark on the top and the middle pencil mark in the groove of your trimmer and cut – repeat with the other pencil mark. This will create the ‘point’ for the fold over flap. To create the ‘window’ I used the second smallest Stitched Circle from the Stitched Shapes dies but you could use any shape. Cut a piece of DSP to cover the front of the card. I cut mine so that the ‘Mail Snail’ would peep through the window when the card flap was shut. Attach the ‘flap’ to the back of the card. To hold the card shut I stamped, coloured and die cut one of the snail images and adhered it with dimensionals so the point of the flap would tuck in behind the image when closed.
This style of card would work well for any occasion. You could use plain DSP or even a dry embossed piece of contrast cardstock and then add a stamped image or sentiment to show through the ‘window’. Now that I’ve made this card (and worked out the metric measurements) I think I’ll try it with different shaped ‘windows’ – watch this space.
Bring in the beauty of nature with the artistic designs of the Butterfly Brilliance Bundle and coordinating designer series paper, along with textured specialty paper that will put a pop of brilliance on every project. The Butterfly Bouquet includes early-release products from the 2021–2022 Annual Catalogue in addition to exclusive products. It includes a 10% discount on the stamp set and dies when purchased with the Butterfly Brilliance Bundle or the Butterfly Brilliance Collection.
The Butterfly Brilliance Collection which includes the Designer Series Paper and Textured Specialty paper will only be available from 2 March to 3 May 2021.
Last Friday’s Fun Fold card used the Herringbone Technique for the front panels and today I thought I’d show you how to make this. This technique is a great way to use up your scraps of Designer Series Paper (DSP). I had some off cut strips plus I cut some more. These strips can be various widths although for this card I’ve used 1″, 1 1/4″ and 1 1/2″ strips.
I’ve used the In Good Taste DSP and gone with a mix of textures and wood grains. The sentiment is from the Happy Thoughts set on page 28 of the January-June Mini Catalogue.
I always start with a piece of scrap cardstock bigger than I want my finished panel to allow for trimming the excess paper off – for this card it measured 8.5cm x 14.8cm. The finished panel measures 7.5cm x 13.8cm. I’ve also found using our Adhesive Sheets to adhere the DSP saves time and isn’t as messy as using liquid glue. Follow the steps below to recreate this technique.
Add Adhesive Sheet to the cardstock or copy paper. Remove the backing sheet.Adhere your first strip of DSP. I find it’s easier to place it off centre to the corners top and bottom.Start adding your DSP strips – your paper will go off the edge.Continue covering your cardstock – alternating the orientation of the DSP.Trim the excess DSP off so that you have nice straight edges and your panel is the size you want it to beOptional – mat your panel. My mat measures 8cm x 14.3cm
Finally add your panel to a card base, adhere some ribbon – I used the Faux Suede Trim – a sentiment and you are done.
I’ve had fun creating these cards – I hope you’ll give this technique a go too.
A couple of weekends ago we had our annual Creative Inkers Stamp Camp in Rotorua. It was great to be able to get together with my fellow demos. The last time we were all together was Stamp Camp 2020 so there was much to catch up on.
Over the weekend we made 5 projects using products from the January-June Mini Catalogue. On Friday night we were entertained by Sylvia who shared the Dandy Garden Suite from page 24-27.
The Dandy Garden Suite has two bundles and we’ve used a mix of both bundles along with the coordinating Designer Series Paper and the really cute Ladybug trinkets. The Dragonfly has been stamped, coloured and punched from Basic White cardstock and then a second Dragonfly has been stamped and punched from Vellum. This was attached just on the ‘body’ so that the wings ‘float’. The Matte Blacks Dots are from the Love You Always Suite on page 11.
On Saturday morning Jan shared the Sand & Sea Suite from pages 40-42. I hesitated in getting this suite but am glad I purchased it. I love the look you get when you combine the Seashells 3D Embossing Folder with the Friends are like Seashells stamp and coordinating die.
This suite is unique in that selected stamps coordinate with the die and then the die fits perfectly into the Seashells 3D Embossing Folder. For this card we’ve used the embossing folder as the background then layered our ‘sea’ scene onto a panel of Coastal Cabana. The shells have been individually stamped, fussy cut and then dry embossed to give a real 3D effect. The background ‘sand’ and ‘sea’ have been sponged using the new Blending Brushes from page 70 – they make blending colours a breeze.
Our next project taught by Jacque features the Hydrangea Haven stamp set from the Hydrangea Hill Suite on pages 18-20. The colours in this suite are Rococo Rose, Highland Heather, Seaside Spray, Misty Moonlight and Old Olive. When a stamp set has coordinating DSP we often find it hard to use that stamp with other colour combinations. Jacque’s card takes us away from the suite colours – we used Sahara Sand, Blushing Bride and Melon Mambo.
The main image has been stamped in Sahara Sand on Basic White cardstock then using the Blending Brushes Sahara Sand ink has been applied to give an ombre look. Using an Aqua Painter filled with water we flicked drops onto the cardstock – it’s a very neat effect. I also dry embossed my card front using the Subtle Embossing Folder. The background mat also started out as Basic White and has had the small image stamped in Blushing Bride and then Blushing Bride ink has been applied with the Blending Brushes.
Our last project for Saturday was taught by Karen – she went out of her comfort zone and taught this cut 3D box and gift card using the Simply Succulents bundle on page 39. I love making 3D projects.
The gift card is a 3′ square card and coordinates with the box – both have been made using Gray Granite cardstock. We created our own design on the box stamping the large succulent stamp and stamping it in Gray Granite all over the box. This bundle has a coordinating die set with dies to match the stamp and one large lattice die. The succulents have been coloured in with our Watercolour pencils using Granny Apple Green and Rich Razzleberry around the edge. The Blackberry Bliss Striped ribbon is from the Ice Cream Corner Suite.
On Sunday Tee Jay presented the final project featuring the Love You Always Suite – again this suite has two bundles and can be found on page 10-13. This suite is packed full of additional elements – foil sheets, treat boxes, ribbon, charms, dots, Specialty Designer Series Paper and Designer Series Paper.
The big flower and leaves stamps are from the Forever & Always stamp set while the small stamp is from the Always in my Heart set. The foil sheets come in a pack of three colours – Blushing Bride, Rococo Rose and Sahara Sand. My card uses the Rococo Rose foil. I changed my sentiment to a Happy Birthday so I can use this card for a special lady who has her birthday later this month. The stamped images have been coloured in with Rococo Rose and Granny Apple Green Stampin’ Blends. To create the ‘speckles’ on the background I used the end of the Stampin’ Blend and flicked it against the lid – just make sure you don’t have items in the ‘firing line’ other than the cardstock :).
Here’s another great fun fold that uses a standard sized card base. I like this type of card as it means you can get two cards from an A4 piece of cardstock.
Gate Fold Card
The base (Terracotta Tile) is a standard 14.8cm x 21cm. Instead of scoring at 10.5cm for the centre fold I made two scores – 2 1/16″ in from either end. I went with inches as it was an easier measurement. This then gives you three panels. The two outer panels fold into the centre to create the ‘gate’.
To decorate my front panels I used strips of the In Good Taste Designer Series Paper (DSP) – measuring 1″, 1 1/4″ and 1 1/2″ wide – and created a Herringbone design.
The Herringbone panel measures 1 3/4″ x 13.8cm (sorry for the mix of measurements) and the Basic Black mat measures 1 7/8″ x 14.4cm. I’ve die cut two Stitched Rectangles to create the ‘latch’ for the gate fold. Only the left hand side has been adhered to the card base. Make sure you give your folds a good burnish with a bone folder to create crisp folds.
And here’s a view of the inside. I couldn’t decide what to stamp on the inside so have left it blank for the time being. You could also decorate or write on the side panels.
Don’t forget the 2019/2021 In Colours – Terracotta Tile, Rococo Rose, Pretty Peacock, Seaside Spray and Purple Posy will be retiring at the beginning of May. If you want to stock up on these colours or you need to order reinkers for your ink pads please make sure you order soon before items goes on ‘while stocks last’.
Today’s technique is one I haven’t done for ages – it’s called the Eclipse Technique. Most Eclipse cards use alphabet dies but you can use other dies and even punches.
Here I’ve used the Playful Alphabet Dies which are a great size allowing for longer words. Our old Large Letter Dies only allowed words of about 5 letters on a standard sized card. My Playful Alphabet Dies have had a good workout of late. They are reasonably priced and there are a couple of letters where you get two dies – comes in handy for a number of words.
The In Good Taste Designer Series Paper (DSP) works so well for masculine cards. I’ve teamed it up with a Basic Black mat and a Terracotta Tile Base. I found I still had a whole pack of Terracotta Tile cardstock so thought I’d better use it up before it retires on 3rd May.
To create your Eclipse Card die cut your letters from a piece of DSP or a stamped piece of cardstock. My DSP measures 9.5cm x 13.8cm and my mat is 10cm x 14.3cm. Make sure you keep all the little ‘cut out’ bits from the letters. TIP: I held my letters in place with Washi Tape as they still tried to move around the cutting plates and magnetic base.
For this card I then die cut the letters from Basic Black cardstock and adhered this to the back of the DSP for extra strength.
Adhere your main piece of DSP to your mat. There are a couple of ways to attach your letters to the base – I added Mini Black Dimensionals to my letters then slotted them back into the hole where they’d been cut. You will now be left with gaps where there are cut outs eg: in the middle of the ‘A’, ‘P’, ‘B’ etc. Now comes the fun part of adhering these little pieces in. Put a small ‘dot’ of Multipurpose Liquid Glue on the back and carefully place it into the hole. I used the end of my scissors to move it into the correct place.
The final touch to my card was adding some of the wooden accents from the In Good Taste Elements. These are best adhered with some of the Multipurpose Liquid Glue.
I hope you give this style of card a go. I’m going to try doing it again soon with one of our punches.
I wasn’t sure what to call the fold on this card – so went with Concertina Fold – not very original :). I’ve loved the papers that were on offer during Sale-A-Bration – Paper Blooms, Flower & Field and Oh So Ombre. This card style requires a long piece of DSP so I went with Paper Blooms.
How often do you stamp images or sentiments and then not use them on the original project? Well this card uses items that have been sitting on my desk for some time. The sentiment was originally going to be used on this card and the flower was from this card but ended up being too big.
The DSP measures 14.4 cm x 29 cm and is scored at 10, 17 and 24 cm. The DSP is then folded (from left to right) Valley, Mountain, Valley.
I love the pattern of this paper and decided to leave it in full view to be enjoyed. I adhered the DSP to a standard card base so it will stand up.
I found a piece of the same DSP on my desk left over from a previous project so used that to decorate the inside of my card.
You never know when those ‘reject’ items will come in handy – so don’t discard them.
I hope everyone has a great weekend – not long till we’re able to meet up with family and friends again – roll on Level 2.
For the last two weeks I’ve shared projects created with the same stamp set – Forever Blossoms – but coloured in with different methods – Daubers and Stampin’ Blends. Today’s card has been coloured in using ink and our new style Water Painters.
When water colouring an image in you need to use a non watered base ink for the outline image. If you stamp the outline image with a water based ink it will then ‘bleed’ when you start colouring in with the Water Painter. I’ve used Black StazOn for the outline image and then used our standard ink pads to colour in. I’ve found it easiest to ‘stamp’ your ink pad onto a clear block and then use this as your palette. It makes it easy to pick up the right amount of ink onto your Water Painter. Use your Water Painter just as you would for colouring in with a marker. When water colouring you can use Water Colour paper, Shimmery White or Thick Cardstock.
The colour combo for this card is Mossy Meadow for the stems and leaves, Petal Pink for the flowers. I die cut the ‘swirly’ label from the Painted Labels dies in Mossy Meadow – this is a great shape to use for matting sentiments. I like the stitching around the edge. The sentiment – from Peaceful Moments – has been stamped in Soft Suede on Shimmery White cardstock then die cut using the 3rd smallest Layering Circle die. The card base is Mossy Meadow with a Pear Pizzazz mat. The Petal Pink front has been dry embossed with the Subtles 3D Embossing Folder – a must have for any crafter.
I’ve kept the inside simple by partially stamping the image in Soft Suede on Shimmery White Cardstock.
And here you have all three styles of colouring – do you have a favourite? I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the different ways you can colour an outline image.
Today’s card style is one that I used for my first ever workshop back in 2012. I haven’t created this card for some time – it’s another great card fold that uses our Designer Series Paper (DSP). As Sale-A-Bration is coming to an end I thought I’d use some of the Flower and Field DSP. It has a colourful design on one side and a plainer one on the other side.
I CASED this design from Dawn Olchefske. It uses a half sheet of DSP and is best used with papers that don’t have a definite pattern direction. If you do have a direction you just need to double check the direction before cutting. Hopefully you can see what I mean in this card here – I had to make sure my words were going across and not up and down 🙂
The paper measures 5 1/2″ x 12″ and is scored at 2, 4, 8 and 10″. The card base is 4 1/8″ x 5 3/4″ with the insert being 3 5/8″ x 5 1/4″.
To decorate the inside I used a die set that I have really only used the words in the set. The Well Written dies also include some images and it goes perfectly with this paper. The image is die cut in Granny Apple Green with Pool Party flowers to coordinate with the sentiment on the front. The Daffodil Delight butterfly image is also from this die set.
I decided to make a second card – you can never have too many birthday cards. I’ve kept the base as Daffodil Delight but used the Flirty Flamingo from the paper as my accent. The ‘Happy Birthday’ sentiment is from the new set Happy Thoughts.
The inside decoration uses the same die but die cut in Just Jade which is the background colour for this paper design. The sentiment and mat have been die cut using the Stitched So Sweetly dies – these are also part of my ‘go to’ dies.
If you are interested in making a card in this style why not get some friends together and we can make it. Contact me for more information if you’re interested.
Carrying on from last weeks technique – different colouring methods – today we will be using our Stampin’ Blends for colouring in our outline stamp.
When using alcohol markers to colour in you need to stamp your outline image with water based ink – my ‘go to’ ink for this is Memento. Don’t forget to reink your pad regularly so that you get a good clear stamped image. I good rule to follow is whenever you buy an ink pad always purchase the coordinating ink refill. Ink refills are not only good for reinking your pad but there are a number of techniques that use the reinker – watch this space.
The large image from Forever Blossoms is again my focal point of the this card. I normally let my ink dry for a few minutes before I start colouring. I’ve kept with the same colour combo as last week’s card – Petal Pink for the flowers and Mossy Meadow for the leaves and stem. I start off with the light Stampin’ Blend then add some of the dark for shading and then go back in with the light for the blending part.
The Concept Artists at Stampin’ Up! have done a lot of the hard work for us when they designed these stamps – they have given us the areas where the shading needs to go.
The panel of Champagne Foil has been dry embossed with the Parisian Flourish 3D Embossing Folder – it really highlights the design of this folder. The sentiment is from Peaceful Moments and has been stamped with Soft Suede and die cut from the Tasteful Labels die. The mat is Petal Pink and some Champagne Rhinestones have been added to finish off the card.
The same image has been partially restamped on the inside in Soft Suede and adhered to a Petal Pink mat. The card base is Thick Basic White.
I have one more colouring technique to share next week so check back same time for another installment.
It’s been ages since I made a Joy Fold card – I’m not sure why I haven’t made more of these as they’re an easy fold to do and a great way to use our lovely Designer Series Paper. I have two cards to share – the first one I did in blue tones suitable for a guy and then one using the beautiful Paper Blooms paper from the Sale-A-Bration brochure.
The In Good Taste Designer Series Paper is a great pack that has papers suitable for masculine and feminine cards. I chose this paper as I like the texture look it gives – you can almost feel the raised paint on the background paper and feel the fibres on the front paper.
My sentiment is from my favourite set in the January to June mini – Pretty Perennials on page 31. The Stitched So Sweetly dies are one of my favourite dies and my sentiment – stamped in Night of Navy – fits perfectly within then stitched border. The candles are from the Sale-A-Bration set ‘Approaching Perfection’ and have been ‘inked’ using Night of Navy and Mango Melody Stampin’ Write markers. The image is die cut using the second smallest Stitched Shapes circle then adhered it to a 1 1/2″ circle. Dimesionals are adhered to the back around the lower left hand side – when adhered to the card this will allow the corner of the fold out flap to tuck in behind it.
The card base – Balmy Blue – measures 10.5cm x 21cm (scored at 14.8) and the fold out flap – Night of Navy – measures 7cm x 20cm (scored at 10cm). The Night of Navy mat on the base measures 10cm x 14.4cm. The DSP for the front measures 5.7cm x 10cm and the piece for the base measures 9.5cm x 13.8cm.
Here’s a quick tip – when stamping the ‘happy’ make sure you double check which way the p’s are going before you stamp it on to your cardstock :). For the next card the ‘happy’ was meant to have been stamped at the top of the card stock and not the bottom and used on a different design :). Not to worry we came up with ‘version two’ of the Joy Fold.
The measurements for this card are the same as above with a couple of additional layers. The ‘happy’ has been stamped on the third smallest Stitched Rectangle and the ‘birthday’ has been stamped on the fifth smallest die. The mat for the smaller die measures 5cm x 8.2cm
The Paper Blooms DSP from the Sale-A-Bration brochure goes really will with the Pretty Perennials Bundle. I used one of the stamps and coordinating dies from this bundle to create the closure. Again dimensionals have been added under three of the petals to give it height allowing the fold to fit underneath.
The card base is Rococo Rose and I’ve teamed it up with Merry Merlot for the fold out flap and stamping. The inside writing section has also been die cut with the fifth largest die. These have all been done using the Shimmery White cardstock. It’s a bit hard to see in the photos but Shimmery White is a bit warmer in colour than Basic White and has a lovely subtle shimmer to it.
Well I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing these Joy Fold card – I encourage you to have a go at recreating some of these folds.
I thought I’d share the versatility of our outline/line art stamps and the different methods of colouring you can use. Today’s card is a mix of Stampin Write Markers, Ink and Sponge Daubers.
To get the outline of the image I used the Direct to Rubber technique which I shared here. I used the Early Espresso Stampin Write Marker (brush tip) for the flowers and Mossy Meadow for the stems and leaves. I then stamped my image from Forever Blossoms (page 68 AC) on Shimmery White cardstock.
To apply colour to fill in the outline I used Petal Pink and Mossy Meadow ink applying it with our Sponge Daubers. This allows you to get some depth to the colour of your flowers by applying the dauber directly to the centre of the flower then ‘tapping’ the daubers again to finish coverage of the image. You may need to use the side of the dauber so that you don’t go too far over the outline. Repeat the same for the leaves. This stamp set has a coordinating die set – Cherry Blossoms (page 180 AC) so no ‘fussy’ cutting required. I die cut my image after colouring.
The Petal Pink mat that has been dry embossed using the Parisian Flourish 3D Embossing Folder (page 185 AC). The sentiment has been stamped in Sahara Sand and die cut from the Layering Circle Dies. The ribbon is the beautiful Petal Pink 5/8″ Organdy Stripped ribbon and to finish off this card I used the Champagne Rhinestones.
For the inside I partially restamped the image in Soft Suede. Again this is on Shimmery White cardstock. The card base is Sahara Sand.
Be sure to check back over the coming weeks to see more ways to colour our outline/line art stamps.
I have another version of the Double Easel Card similar to the one I shared here. For that card I started with the base and then built the ‘easel fold’ and attached it to the base. Today’s card starts the other way – I built the ‘easel fold’ then attached a piece of cardstock to create the base.
The previous card used one piece of cardstock measuring 10.5cm x 29.7cm (scored at 14.8cm) and one piece measuring 10cm x 29.7cm (scored at 7.2cm and 14.4cm). Today’s card uses a piece of Thick Very Vanilla measuring 10.5cm x 29.7cm (scored at 7.4cm and 14.cm) another piece of Thick Very Vanilla measuring 10.5cm x 17.5cm (scored at 14.8). This second piece becomes the back of the card base and the small section is adhered to the main card.
I then added Early Espresso cardstock to the base (3 7/8″ x 5 1/2″) and a piece of the Gilded Autumn Specialty Designer Series Paper (3 3/4″ x 5 3/8″). The front Early Espresso cardstock measures 2 5/8″ x 3 7/8″ and another design of the same DSP measures 2 1/2″ x 3 7/8″.
The images are coloured in with our Stampin Blends using a variety of colours that teamed with the papers I’d chosen. After finishing the cards I felt they needed something else so I added some Champagne Rhinestones – a little bit of bling really finishes them off.
The reason I created the card this way was that I wanted a Very Vanilla mat to be showing around the outside of the Early Espresso and this was the only way I could get the look I wanted. It uses around the same amount of cardstock as my first sample did.
This past weekend was a long one here in New Zealand – we were celebrating our national day – Waitangi Day. It was a nice relaxing weekend and I managed to make 20 cards for staff who have birthday’s in March.
Today’s card has a couple of techniques – a watercolour wash and stamping on window sheets.
My inspiration came from a card I received that had Designer Series Paper panels on the front and I also wanted to use this stamp from Ronda Wade’s Million Dollar stamp set – Ridiculously Awesome.
To start I die cut five Stitched Rectangles using Shimmery White cardstock and using an aqua painter gave them a light wash of water. I have a little painters tray that I put a couple of drops of reinker in and then squeeze some water from the aqua painter to dilute the ink. I then ‘wash’ over the cardstock with some ink using the aqua painter. You don’t want the colour too strong. Put the strips aside to dry or you can give them a quick dry with the heat tool.
I went with bright colours – Gorgeous Grape, Granny Apple Green, Mango Melody, Magneta Madness and Coastal Cabana.
I cut a piece of Window Sheet the height of my strips and wide enough to cover them and then stamped my sentiment with Jet Black StazOn. When you use StazOn make sure you clean your stamps straight away with StazOn Cleaner. If your image smudges you can wipe the Window Sheet clean with Isopropyl Alcohol and then start again 🙂
Once the wash strips have been adhered to the Shimmery White mat I added black dimensionals cut in half to the back of the Window Sheet. The lettering is wide enough to conceal the dimenisonals. The balloons are adhered directly to the Window Sheet and then I was also able to add more dimensionals to the back of the Window Sheet which got covered by the balloons.
One of my favourite sets in the new January – June Mini is the Pretty Perennials set on page 31. I love the size and font of the ‘happy’. The 40 is die cut from Gorgeous Grape using Playful Alphabet dies and the ‘th’ is from the retired Little Numbers.
Today’s card is my ‘go to’ fun fold. You start off with a piece of 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper then two cuts and one score later and you’ve got a fun fold card. You can see other cards I’ve made in this design here and here. Both links share measurements to recreate this card.
The card front looks like a normal card but take a closer look and you’ll see
that the front panel opens and you get to see more of the beautiful Designer Series Paper (DSP). Don’t throw away the sections you’ve cut as I’ve used mine to decorate the inside of the card.
The card base is Thick White with a mat of either Night of Navy or Rococo Rose. The little flower on the front was stamped in Seaside Spray with the Night of Navy (stamped off) as the overlay.
The DSP is called the Paper Blooms Designer Series Paper and is one of the FREE Sale-A-Bration products on offer when you place an order of NZD$110 between now and the end of February. I’ve used the Pretty Perennials Bundle (which just so happens to coordinate with the Paper Blooms DSP) for the front sentiment and flower. If you were to purchase the Pretty Perennials Bundle and a pack of Thick Basic White cardstock you would qualify for a FREE purchase from the Sale-A-Bration brochure.
I’ve fallen in love with this paper and couldn’t stop at making just one card. I ended up making a sample in all the paper options. You can never have enough birthday cards on hand.
Well that’s it from me. If you’re in New Zealand enjoy your long weekend. Until next time …
