Happy Birthday Graceful Vellum - another catalogue sneak peak

I'm just loving the new Graceful Vellum and here is another card made using that specialty DSP.

I start with a base slightly larger than usual - 4 1/4 by 12 folded in half to form a 4 1/4 by 6" top folding card.  This is layered at the bottom by  a 2 by 4" piece of Whisper White card stock embossed with the Trellis embossing folder.  Some 1/4" Rich Razzelberry velvet ribbon was adhered to the top of this embossed piece before adhering it to the card front.

The vellum image was colored with blendabilites and matted with Whisper White card stock before adding it to card front with dimensionals,  The sentiment is from "Hand Delivered".  Some Clear Wink of Stella applied to the colored images really make them "pop".

Some self adhesive sequins added randomly finishes the card off nicely.

Supplies Used:

Stamp:  Hand Delivered

Inks:  Rich Razzelberry, Blendabilites

Papers:  Rich Razzelberry ,Whisper White, Graceful Vellum DSP

Accessories:  Trellis EmbossingFolder,1/4" velvet Rich Razzelberry ribbon, Dimensionals, Clear Wink of Stella, Tutti Fruiti self adhesive sequins.

Graceful Glass Vellum - Sneak Peak new vellum DSP

My Dad made some wonderful Stained Glass window hangings, and almost 20 years after his death I still have them hanging in my window.

There's an enduring nature about this artistic medium, and for Stampin' Up to bring out a 6 by 6" Vellum pack of various patterns to color is absolutely marvelous!

Coloring can be done with markers, watercolor pencils, blender pens, but for me the preferred method are the Blendabilities.  They are not available for ordering until June but I managed to get some earlier so I am using them to color this stained glass image.

The card base is a top folding Bermuda Bay card, layered with a Striped embossed Whisper white layers.

The stained glass vellum (there are 2 images on a 6 by 6" page) was colored on the wrong side using blendabilites.  Then I matted it with glimmer paper leaving a1/8" margin around the outside before adhering it to the card front.  Some Clear Wink of Stella on the flowers and butterflies completed the picture.

The sentiment is from "Love What You Do"- and is stamped with Bermuda Bay ink on Whisper White card stock - and added to the card top using dimensionals.

To finish the card I added some  Bermuda Bay enamel shaped embellishments.

Supplies Used:

Stamp:  Love What You Do

Inks:  Bermuda Bay, Blendabilites

Papers:  Graceful Glass Designer Vellum, Whisper White, Glimmer Paper, Bermuda Bay

Accessories:  Stripes embossing folder, Bermuda Bay Enamels shapes, dimensionals, Clear Wink of Stella

Valentine Card - Me and My Dog - The Paper Players #230

I wasn't going to make any more Valentine cards, but this challenge with The Paper Players here I couldn't resist.
The "theme" challenge is all about a Valentinte TO or FROM a FURRY friend! I had a particular  stamp set in mind called "Bobby and Me" - a Stampavieve stamp.
You can just see that the boy and his dog just love each other, so Bobby is giving the dog a Valentine, and the dog is giving one in return - Woof means I love you in dog language. I had to do a bit of creative stamping to get the word "Woof", but I managed.

 

After colouring the image with blendabilities, it was cut out and placed on two die cut hearts - one die cut from DSP and a smaller one from Real Red card stock.  Dimensionals were used to pop the image up a bit because I wanted to put a Valentine in  Bobby's hand.  The stamp set "Just Sayin" and its coordinating framelits was used to make the "woof" for the dog sound.  I removed the red ink from all the letters except the "woo" and then added the "f" with a Real Red marker.
The heart in Bobby's hand is from "Snuggles & Smooches" and punched with the new Sweetheart punch.  The sentiment was from a retired stamp set  "P.S. I Love You"

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With Sympathy - Bloom with Hope

The stamp set that I used for this card is a Hostess one, and I just love it.  I love to colour the images and I think that's what appeals to me.
I saw a similar card on Pinterest, so that's what got me into making this card.
This morning was dedicated to making sympathy cards, and I made 3 - not bad considering it's only 10 a.m.  Well, to tell the truth, I did do some of the colouring last night.....

I used several images from this stamp set to create this composite image.  The leaves and the smaller flowers were stamped with memento onto whisper white cardstock, but the larger one was stamped onto a smaller, separate piece of Whisper White.
The colouring was the fun part.  I used the new blendabilities - Pink Pirouette for the flowers, and Wild Wasabi for the stem and leaves.  I did throw in a little Melon Mambo for extra depth to the petals.  For the center of the flower I used Daffodil Delight, with a bit of Crumb Cake along the outer edges.
After I was finished colouring, the larger flower was cut out using SU paper snips.  Then it was attached to the card using dimensionals.

The main card is Pink Pirouette, layered with Basic Black, and then Whisper White.

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Happy Birthday - Wood You Be Mine

I've been playing with this stamp set all day, and I made 3 Valentine Day cards using the "Wood You Be Mine" stamp set.  But I thought the stamp set would make a wonderful Masculine Birthday Card.  And I was right!  Here's what I came up with.

All the images were stamped with Black Memento ink, and coloured with Blendabilities.  They were then cut out.  The woodsman was attached to a Whisper White oval die cut, the edges sponged with Island Indigo.

The basic card  is Island Indigo, layered with Whisper White.  In the center is a strip of Adventure Bound DSP pack layered with Island Indigo.  The oval was added to the card front centered over the DSP.

The sentiment "Happy Birthday" was stamped on the saw using the stamp-a-ma-jig, and added to the top of the card.

The other cut out items were added at the bottom right and left.

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Altering a Composition Book

In class this week, students will be altering a notebook which is smaller than this composition book. I picked several of these up in the Dollarama store.

Today, I altered one of the Composition Books.  My new video camera came today and I'll try and do a video tutorial in the next week or so.  I think learning the operation of this camera will be a steep learning curve.

This is what the book looked like before alteration:

I covered the outside of the book in 3 stages.  Measurements were very carefully made.
I measured from the front inner edge to the edge of the black binding, and added 1".
Then I measured from the top edge to the bottom edge and added 2" (an inch for the top and an inch for the bottom.
Here are the materials used:

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I also used a paper crimper.

Happy Birthday in Purple and Blue - Pals Paper Arts #234

Another miserable snowy day.  The weekend weather was miserable - snow, freezing rain, rain, and then a deep freeze.  Today snow again.  What do you expect in a Canadian January heh?

Today's card is for the Pals Paper Arts challenge here  and it's a colour challenge. It took me a while to figure out what I was going to make, but I just had to settle on flowers and a birthday card.

The card base is Night of Navy, layered with Wisteria Wonder and that wonderful silver vellum paper in stripes.

Each flower was stamped on Whisper White cardstock, and was coloured with blendabilities: Night of Navy for one, and Wisteria Wonder for the other.  I used a silver marker to highlight the veins in the leaves. The images were then die cut using the Square framelits, but then I scalloped the ends of each with the scallop edge punch.

To add that touch of silver required for the challenge, I added 1/8" silver taffeta ribbon at the scalloped end and added a little bow.  Each was then matted with their respective colours.

The Night of Navy flower was adhered to the vellum with snail adhesive; the Wisteria Wonder one with dimensionals.  It slightly overlapped the top flower.

Sentiment is by Petite Pairs and a retired small oval punch was used to punch it out.

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The stamp sets I used:  Best of Flowers, and Petite Pairs

Get Well - Pal Paper Arts #233

Hello Boxing Day!  I'd don't know about you, but I'm Christmased out.  After all the travelling, the turkey dinners, and opening the presents, I'm pooped.

Today I'm relaxing, making some cards, organizing my retired DSP, and generally enjoying myself.

I wanted to make a Get Well card, because I just heard that a friend of mine in Newfoundland is in the hospital after suffering a stroke.

The card I just finished is for the Pal Paper Arts challenge here  I used some of the new DSP in the Occasions catalogue, a Hostess Stamp set, and new blendabilities colours (all of which will be available Jan. 6, 2015)

Here's how I made the card:

1. Start with a Sky Blue card base 8 1/2 by 5 1/2, scoring at 4 1/4 to make an A2 card
2. Layer with a piece of 4 by 5 1/2" piece of DSP - in this case "Best Year Ever"
3. On a 3 5/8 by 4 3/4" piece of Whisper white cardstock, stamp the image using Black Memento ink.
4. Colour the image with blendabilities - Pink Pirouette, Sky Blue, Wild Wasabi
5. Mat this with a 3 1/2 by 4 7/8" piece of Pink Pirouette cardstock.
6. Adhere a 1 1/8 by 3 1/2" of DSP to a 3 by 1 1/4" piece of Pink Pirouette cardstock.
7. Attach Pink Pirouette chevron ribbon to the center of this piece.  With the left over piece, tie a piece of Baker's twine in the middle and tie tightly.  Attach to the middle of the ribbon with a glue dot.
8. Adhere this strip to the left side of the card.
9. Stamp the sentiment on a 2 by 1/2" piece of Whisper White, and attach to a 2 by 3/4" piece of Soft sky.  Attach to the card.
10. Punch 3 arrows of 3 different colours using the Pennant punch and attach to the end of the sentiment strip.
11. Using the small heart punch, punch a piece of the DSP and adhere to the Itty Bitty Accents Eposxy Stickers.  Attach this to the farthest arrow with a glue dot.
12. Put some glitter in the middle of the flowers.

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I also used the following products not available until Jan. 6
I Like You - Hostess set, Best Year Ever DSP, Epoxy stickers, Blendabilities: Pink Pirouette, Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi, Bermuda Bay

Love Life - Stampin' Celebration Challenge #94

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, then Christmas, and then on to New Year's Eve.  The challenge at Stampin' Celebration here is "Let's Celebrate" with a photo to draw inspiration from.
The black and yellow clock counting down the time to the end of the year and the beginning of the New Year caught my eye.  Now, I'm not one for overly celebrating at that time of year, so I chose one of the upcoming Sale-a-Bration stamps "A Happy Thing" - the lemons, because that is a fruit that is put in a lot of celebratory beverages - plus I like the colour partnered with black.

These lemons were just crying to be placed on a Joy Fold card.  In making this special fold I used the tutorial from Splitcoaststampers here.

 

Two lemons were stamped on a 3 1/2 by 1 1/2 piece of  Whisper White cardstock, and coloured them with blendabilities.  My light Daffodil Delight was drying out, so I finished colouring them with a Daffodil Delight ink pad and an Aqua painter. This just goes to show you that the blendabilites can be used in conjunction with other colouring materials. This piece was matted with a 3 3/4 by 2 3/4" piece of Basic Black cardstock.    This was attached to the front of a 3 by 8" piece of  Daffodil Delight cardstock scored at 4".

To the inside of this front piece a piece of 3 3/4 by 2 3/4" of Back to Black DSP.  An identical piece was adhered to the other side, and then a 3 1/2 by 2 1/2" of Whisper White was added for the sentiment and messages.

This Daffodil Delight piece was adhered to the center of a 5 1/4 by 4" piece of the reverse side of the chosen DSP.  This was attached to a piece of Basic Black cardstock 8 1/2 by 4 1/4" scored at 3"

On the outside flap of the Basic Black piece a 4 by 2 3/4" piece of Daffodil Delight cardstock that had been embossed using the  wax paper resist technique using the Stripes Embossing folder.  For information about this technique check out a video done by Patty Bennett here

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Plus I used  the Sale-a-Bration stamp set:  "A Happy Thing" which will not be available until Jan. 6, 2015. You can get this product free with the purchase of $60.00 worth of products from the catalogue.

Any of the above items can be purchased through my On-Line store, the link for which is in the side bar of this blog.

Our Friendship - The Friday Mashup #190

I think I've had enough of Christmas cards, and besides, I'm itching to play with the new stuff.  The stamp set I am using for the challenge with The Friday Mashup here is a sneak preview of what you could get free during Sale-a-bration(January 6) when you purchase $60 worth of products from the regular or Occasions catalogue.  It is called "A Happy Thing".  I'm also using some of the new blendability colours from the Occasions catalogue which also comes out January 6

The challenge with The Friday Mashup this week is to "Keep it Simple". There is a sketch but in addition to the sketch the challenge is to use only the sketch that's 2 layers or use 2 layers with a grungy element in the background.

For my card, I put the sketch on it's side.

 

 Using the "Gorgeous Grunge" stamp set and Calypso Coral ink, I randomy stamped onto the background of the front of the Calypso Coral card base.

I then stamped the image on a 2 3/4 by 2 5/8" piece of Whisper White cardstock using black Memento ink.  It was coloured using blendabilities, and when I was finished, I stamped some grunge on the background with Calypso Coral ink.  The edges of the image were sponged with Chocolate Chip ink and a sponge dauber.

Dimensionals were used to adhere the image to the front of the card base, just off center.  The sentiment was stamped using Bermuda Bay ink, made into a banner, and adhered to the card front on one side with a glue dot, and the other with half a dimensional.

Of course a card has to have bling, so some rhinestones were added randomly to the card base.

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Tip:  Use half of a dimensional rather than a whole one and your dimensionals will go further.

P.S.  I think this bird might be a Cuban Toby (saw it on Pinterest)

Nice, Naughty or Fabulous - a partial case

This card is a partial case from one I saw on Pinterest.  I was particularly interested on how this demonstrator created the sky.
 I used the new star decorative mask to help create stars in the sky and a stamp from the Visions of Santa stamp set and Soft Sky ink to create the snow.

This time I placed Santa on the back of the Moose.  He looks like he's giving an Olympic score for a performance - are you nice, naughty or fabulous?

I used a white gel pen for the hair, beard and cuffs of the sleeves and pants.
Stamps: Visions of Santa
Inks: Memento, Basic Black, Blendabilities (Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso), Soft Sky, Daffodil Delight
Papers: Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Accessories: Decorative Mask, Dazzling Diamonds, White Gel Pen

Tis the Season to be Fancy

 I'm continuing to make Christmas cards using the stamp set "Visions of Santa".  I'm still not sure  if I like this stamp set, but it's growing on me. The Santas still look a little weird (but in a cute sort of way) .
Today I featured  the Moose.

The image was stamped with Memento ink and coloured with blendabilities.  It was then die cut using the circles framelits, and  dazzling diamonds put under his feet.

Stamp: Visions of Santa
Inks: Memento, Basic Black, Blendabilities (Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso)
Papers: Early Espresso, Whisper White, Trim the Tree DSP Pack, Real Red
Accessories: Circles Framelits, Oval punch, Bitty Framelits, Cherry Cobbler seam blinding, Decorative Dots embossing folder, dimensionals, dazzling diamonds.

An Open Heart - Thank You

What a beautiful day today, the best day we've seem in a long time.  I must admit I took a break from making Christmas cards, and made this Thank You card instead.

The images were coloured with blendabilities.  The background was stamped using Chocolate Chip ink.
After colouring the bird, I cut it out and placed it on the greenery using dimensionals.

Stamps: An Open Heart, Woodgrain
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Memento, Blendabilities
Papers: Chocolate chip, Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Old Olive
Accessories: Chevron ribbon, dimensionals

A Partridge in a Pear Tree

It was actually fun colouring this single stamp from the Holiday Catalogue using blendabilities.  It looks like there's a lot of detail there but once you start colouring the process goes pretty fast.

Once coloured, the image was die cut using the circles framelits, with a larger circles framelit in Old Olive to mat it.  The edges of both of these were sponged with chocolate chip ink.
The designer paper I used was from a retired set from last year.

Stamp: Partridge & Pears
Inks: Black Memento, Blendabilities, Chocolate Chip
Papers: Old Olive, Whisper White, retired DSP
Accessories:1 1/4" striped Hello Honey grosgrain ribbon, Circles framelits, dimensionals, Dazzling diamonds

Today and Everyday - Happy Birthday

This 3rd card did have a sentiment on it "You Light up My Life" but I decided to make it a birthday card.  This image in this card is again coloured with blendabilities, then die cut and adhered to a card.

Stamps: Today and Everyday, Remembering Your Birthday
Inks: Black Memento, Blendabilities (Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Smoky slate)
Papers: Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Moonlight DSP Pack, Tempting Turquoise DSP
Accessories: Deco Labels Framelits, 1/4" Daffodil Delight cotton ribbon, rhinestones (coloured with blendabilities), Modern word label punch, dimensionals

Today and Everyday Enjoy the Ride

For the next 3 posts I will be posting cards I made using the Today and Everyday stamp set.
Today is the scooter, which I coloured with blendabilities and then applied Crystal Effects on the body to give it that metal look.

The basic card is comprised of Basic Gray card stock, layered with Whisper White cardstock embossed with Stylish Stripes folder.  At the bottom of this layer, I applied a piece of designer paper from the All Abloom paper stack.  A piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock punched with a retired border punch.  Some daffodil Delight seam binding was attached just below this punched strip.

After colouring the image, I die cut it using the Circles Framelit.  This was attached to a piece of designer paper die cut using the Ovals Framelit.  Both of these were applied to a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock die cut using the Labels Collection framelits.

Stamp: Today and Everyday
Inks: Black Memento, Blendabilities (Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Night of Navy, Basic Gray)
Papers: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, All Abloom  Designer Paper
Accessories: Stylish Stripes folder, Circles framelits, Oval framelits, Labels Collection framelit, Edge punch, Daffodil Delight seam binding, Crystal Effects

Congratulations using Blendabilities

Today I thought I would share a card I partially cased from Diane Dimich, whose card and video I saw on Pinterest.  It uses embossing with white embossing powder and 3 colours of blendabilities.

Diane explains the technique very well on  her video.  You can see the video on You Tube
here

Stamp: Bravo
Inks: Versa Mark, Blendabilities (Light Old Olive, Dark Rich Razzelberry, Dark Coastal Cabana)
Papers: Rich Razzelberry, Whisper White, Basic Black, Moonlight Series Designer Paper Pack
Accessories: White embossing powder, 3/8" Blackberry Bliss stitched satin ribbon

Swallowtail Anniversary- Out of the box with Framelits

I've been busy the last few days getting ready for a craft show on Sunday.  It's a big weekend, as it's Canada's birthday so there should be lots of tourists around - well, hopefully anyway.

This is one of the cards I made for the occasion.  It features the Swallowtail stamp partially extended outside the framelit.  I used the tutorial from Splitcoaststampers here

Part of the image was stamped on a piece of Whisper White cardstock using Memento ink.  I then used an oval framelit and laid it over the image to determine where I would like to die cut it.  Then, following the tutorial, I cut out the image of the butterfly that would extend outside the oval die cut, and then die cut the oval. The oval was matted first with a Coastal Cabana oval, and then an oval die cut using Silver glimmer paper.
I coloured the image of the Swallowtail using Coastal Cabana blendabilities.

Stamps: Swallowtail, A Word for You (retired)
Inks: Black memento, Coastal Cabana blendabilities, Coastal Cabana ink
Papers: Coastal Cabana, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer
Accessories: Just Saying' framelits, Oval framelits, Modern Mosaic folder, dimensionals

Perfect Peacock

Today is a perfect day to stay indoors and make cards.  The rain, which we have been needing for some time now, has finally arrived.  Boy, did it arrive!  This morning it was raining cats and dogs (the jokster in me would say "Watch out for the poodles!", but it cleared up this afternoon.  Unfortunately, along with the rain came the humidity, and that's one thing I don't like.
I had a physiotherapy appointment this afternoon.  My back has been bothering me for over a year, and thought I'd better do something about it.  Did I ever have a thorough assessment!  The therapist took over an hour, and at the end of it I felt like I had had a workout.  Now to do the exercises I had been assigned to do!
After my appointment, my friend came over and helped me set up the room for the Open House.  I needed some help moving tables.

I'm still making cards for my Open House.  Here is another one I made.  I followed the colouring depicted in the catalogue.

One would think that this image would take forever to colour, but it went rather quickly.  I was able to colour this peacock while I was watching the evening news.
The edges of the coloured image were sponged with Coastal Cabana ink, and matted with Coastal Cabana card stock.  Then it was adhered to a Daffodil Yellow card the spine of which had been braided.

Stamp: Perfect Peacock
Ink: Memento, Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive blendabilities, Coastal Cabana ink.
Papers: Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Coastal Cabana
Accessories: I didn't use any.

Sweetbriar Rose - blendabilities

It's been a couple of days since I have posted and there's a reason.
I am having a catalogue Open House this weekend and its taken a lot of work to get ready for it.  Then my Stampin' Up order didn't come in until yesterday - I was really panicking that the order would not arrive in time and then I would little to display.  But it did come, and now I'm frantically making sample cards etc.
I've been trying to relax by taking frequent short walks.  The weather has been so beautiful that a walk next to the Otonabee River was just what I needed.  I did take time to smell, well not the roses as they are not in bloom yet, but the wild phlox.  There were several large patches along the path and their perfume was quite heady.  On the way home I picked a bouquet to place on a table on my deck.
Here's the patch of wild Phlox:

Once I got home I felt in the mood to create,  One by one the stamp sets were put together and cards made.  I even made a rose from the new Fun flower punch.
Here's one of the cards I made coloured with the new blendabilities:

The image was coloured with the Blendabilities, then matted with Rich Razzelberry card stock.

Stamp: Sweetbriar Rose
Inks: Memento ink, Rich Razzelberry, Old Olive, and Daffodil Delight blendabilities
Papers: Whisper White, Rich Razzelberry, Rich Razzelberry DSP
Accessories: Venetian Crochet Trim, dimentionals

And here's the rose made with the new Fun Flower punch.

I did not purchase the coordinating stamp set for this punch, so thought a 3D item would suffice for the Open House.
Here's how I made it:
I punched 5 flowers, slit between the petals, curled up the side of each petal, and then proceeded to form the rose.