Happy New Year! Time to get organized

Happy new year friends! I don't have much in the way of 2018 resolutions this year, but I have been dying to reorganize my office/craft room. We promptly went to IKEA and then we promptly came down with colds, so I haven't had a chance to assemble my new Gnedby CD/DVD shelf. I have a couple from when they were called Benno. Not only are they good for CDs and DVDs, but paperbacks and Stampin' Up sets!

In the spirit of SU's motto "Inspire create, share", I hope to inspire you to create more by sharing by sharing this tip. I find when I'm designing and making cards, bits get everywhere and then I have to re-stamp or cut them again. Usually I toss everything into a dollar store basket, but do you know what's better than a dollar store basket? An IKEA Antonius basket. They're the ultimate project basket. The 6" middle compartments will hold your small paper pads and embossing folders or a bunch of quarter fold cards. The smaller compartments will wrangle your adhesives and scissors or keep all your Stampin' Blends markers together too! They are $2.99 Canadian and I scooped up four of them because IKEA is an all day trip for us. Oh, and the Antonius basket will fit in your Raskog. What's a Raskog? Stay tuned :-D

You'll thank me at Christmas!

December Stamping Project: Team Swap Christmas Card

I'm going to be posting a bunch of Christmas cards in the coming days and I'll start with one made for my team swap. At first I didn't know how to feel about my design, mostly because I made my cards with plenty of time to spare. The downside to getting cards done early is that you want to add or change them the more you look at them. I resisted that! I had some fun trying out new techniques though, such as inking an embossing folder before running it through my Big Shot. This effect is so sharp, especially when you use it with a contrasting colour instead of the matching paper colour.

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Here are just some of the cards I received in return from the swap. I'm so fortunate to have a great team.
 

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Stay tuned for more cards!

November Stamping Project: Peace on Earth Christmas Cards

Nothing puts more fear into some hearts than Christmas cards. Start them in July? Get them out on time? I would love to make handmade Christmas cards if I had the time...

Never fear! You can totally stamp a stack and give a special handmade card easier than you think! You just need a little planning and you'll have a stack in no time by designing a card around two stacks of paper. Pick one task per night and you can make them in a week. Promise!

This card uses the One Sheet Wonder technique, if you need to brush up on it. Another thing to note about this design is that you can make horizontal or vertical cards - as long as the sentiment square covers the seam of the two papers.



Supply list for many cards

• Be Merry 8.5x11" cardstock pack
• Whisper White 8.5x11" cardstock - optional - the Be Merry pack comes with extra thick Whisper White paper
• Quilted Christmas 6x6" DSP
• Old Olive ink
• Real Red ink
• Carols of Christmas stamp set
• Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies
• Year of Cheer Specialty washi tape
• White copy paper
• Dimensionals
• Ruler and craft knife or Stampin' Trimmer
• Adhesive, Stampin' Dimensionals and Big Shot

1. Score as many sheets of Garden Green and Cherry Cobbler down the middle for the number of cards that you want to make. Cut in half but do no fold to make card bases.
2. Measure the largest square from Stitched Shapes against a sheet of Whisper White cardstock and cut strips of paper. You should be able to get 9 squares from a sheet. Die cut the squares from the strips.
3. Use the Peace on Earth stamp to stamp sentiments on the squares. Use either Old Olive or Real Red ink, or both!
4. Select one sheet of each design from the Quilted Christmas 6x6" DSP paper pack. Follow the One Sheet Wonder technique to create a variety of pieces to create card fronts from.
5. Pair up a big piece of DSP with a small piece for the number of cards you are making. Line them up together and trim, if necessary, so that the two pieces are flush with each other.
6. Carefully tear two pieces of washi tape and adhere the two pieces of paper at the seam. Wrap the tape around the front and back edge - no need to cover the part that will be covered by the sentiment.
7. Run adhesive over the back of the new card front you just created and adhere to the front of the card, centering it in the middle.
8. Take your sentiment squares and pop them up with Stampin' Dimensionals.
9. Trim copy paper into 7.5x10" sheets, then cut them into quarters measuring 3.25x5". Adhere them to the inside of the card, or stamp another sentiment inside - it's up to you!

Here is step 4 and 5 in action. The washi tape is from last year's tin of cards.

You can have the small piece at the top or bottom of your card - it's up to you!

Now, this it the part of the card that I can't tell you how to do, because it's up to you! You can take your favourite Christmas dies and die cut shapes from gold and silver foil paper (hey, Stampin' Up! sells that too). In my sample photo, I used the stars from Starlight Thinlits Dies and discontinued nesting stars. You could add any of the lovely shapes from Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies. My tip for die cutting foil paper is to make sure that the foil side is against the die for a perfect cut. Cutting against the back can rag the foil.

And there you have it! You can stamp a stack for Christmas and share what you love with your special friends and family :-)

One Sheet Wonder - What?

I decided to introduce this technique ahead of November's stamping project - the One Sheet Wonder! If you haven't heard of it before, it's a great way to save paper and pennies by using one sheet of paper to cut out all your shapes. Given the cost of paper, I'm all for thrifty projects. You can One Sheet Wonder any size of paper. Here's how I decided to divide 6x6" sheets of Quilted Christmas paper from Stampin' Up.



How many card fronts can you make with one package of paper?



1. Cut the 6x6" sheet of paper in half so that you have two 3x6" strips.
2. Cut a 3x3.25" piece from each strip.
3. Cut the remaining piece in half so both pieces are 3" wide.

Super simple, right? If you choose one sheet of paper of each design, you'll have lots of pieces to mix and match for card fronts. Stay tuned for the finished project!

October Stamping Project: Smitten Mitten Greeting Cards

If it feels like I skipped over Halloween - I have! Unfortunately I don't have any little goblins and ghouls to make a craft for. Autumn in Calgary is a very short season - maybe a few weeks before we're launched into winter. I designed this card as mini-glove weather approached.



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Supply list for two cards

• Powder Pink 8.5x11" cardstock
• Whisper White 8.5x11" cardstock
• Rose Red 8.5x11" cardstock
• Powder Pink ink
• Rose Red ink
• Smitten Mittens stamp and die bundle
• Cable Knit embossing folder
• Stamping sponges
• Ruler and craft knife or Stampin' Trimmer
• Adhesive and Big Shot

1. Score a sheet of Whisper White down the middle. Do not fold or cut in half yet.
2. On the right hand side of the Whisper White sheet, stamp mittens and patterns all over in Powder Pink ink.
3. Cut in half to make two card bases.
4. Flip the cards over and stamp the non-mitten sentient inside with Rose Red ink. Add a tiny mitten too!
5. Use up largish scraps of Whisper White by stamping the mitten sentiment twice in Rose Red ink. Die cut.
6. Die cut two solid mittens from Rose Red cardstock.
7. Cut one long 2x11" strip from a sheet of Powder Pink cardstock and cut in half.
8. Emboss with cable knit embossing folder.
9. Go back to your card bases and sponge Powder Pink ink around the edges.
10. Time to assemble! Adhere the embossed strip to the front of the card. Layer the solid mitten behind the stamped mitten. Voila!

You could also try making this card vertical or use the Softly Falling embossing folder instead. Imagine all the cool colour combos you could do - purple, red, green, blue - I went with pink tones to be a little different :-)

September Stamping Project: Sunflower Blessings

My brother is finally seeing the results of all his careful tending of his sunflowers this summer - bright, beautiful blooms. I was thinking of him when I designed this card since we're both autumn babies. Fall itself, despite all its splendid colours, tends to get lost between back to school, Halloween and Thanksgiving. Of course I'm partial to the new designer series paper in the 2017 Stampin' Up holiday catalogue and couldn't wait to order some. In this card we can take advantage of the watercolour look of the Painted Harvest set and do some two step stamping.


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Supply list for two cards

• Very Vanilla 8.5x11" cardstock (2 sheets or 1 sheet and scraps)
• Painted Autumn DSP (green striped sheet)
• Early Espresso ink
• Crushed curry ink
• Daffodil Delight ink
• Sahara Sand ink
• Garden Green ink
• Wild Wasabi ink
• Leaf Punch
• Mesh stamp from Best Birds
• Sunflower stamps from Painted Harvest
• Sentiment stamps from Count My Blessings
• Adhesive, Stampin' Sponges and Stampin' Dimensionals plus scissor snips

1. Score an 8.x5x11” sheet of Very Vanilla cardstock down the middle. Do not fold. Cut in half to make 2 4.25x5.5” card bases.
2. Stamp all over the front of the cards with the mesh stamp from Best Birds in Sahara Sand ink.
3. Load up a Stampin' sponge with Sahara Sand ink and sponge around the edges and towards the top of the card front.
4. Cut one 3.25x8.5" panel from the green striped sheet from the Painted Autumn DSP package and cut in half to make two panels sized 3.25x4.25". Adhere each panel to the card front aligned to the bottom centre of the card front.
5. Stamp the "When I count my blessings" sentiment stamp on the inside of each card in Early Espresso ink.
6. On another sheet of Very Vanilla cardstock or a large scrap piece, stamp the "Thinking of you" sentiment stamp twice from Count My Blessings in Early Espresso.
7. I freehanded the banner shape - draw very lightly around the sentiment and cut out. Sponge around it with Sahara Sand.
8. Here's where you can really utilize your Very Vanilla scraps - we all have that box of them! Load up the more solid leaf and stem shape from Painted Harvest with Wild Wasabi ink and stamp 7-8 of them. Then load up the other leaf and stem shape with garden green and carefully stamp on top of the other stamped image. Punch each one out with the Leaf Punch.
9. Again on Very Vanilla, stamp the more solid sunflower shape with Daffodil Delight ink six times. Load up the other sunflower shape with all the petals with Crushed Curry and carefully stamp on top of previous image. Stamp the centre with Early Espresso. I used a brown marker to fill in the centre more, by the way. Fussy cut out each sunflower with scissor snips.
10. Time to assemble the rest of the card. Adhere the punched leaf shapes at the top of the green striped panel and save one for below the sunflowers. Adhere two sunflowers side by side and then use one or two Stampin' Dimensionals for the flower on the middle. Then adhere the banner down and you're done!

Well, winter's chill is on the doorstep, so stay tuned for some wintery greetings next time!

August Stamping Project: Sending Lots of Love Card

I missed blogging in July because July was full of tough stuff. One of my pets died, a family member had surgery and one of my SU team mates took ill and passed away. What do you - what does anyone - say in these heartbreaking times? Saying the right thing is so important and often we can find ourselves at a loss for the right words. Even Google can’t help sometimes. Fortunately I could lean on my Stampin’ Up collection for the perfect thing to say for one situation. Crafting definitely saved my sanity in July and August!

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Supply list for two cards

• Cherry Cobbler cardstock
• Pink Pirouette 8.5x11" cardstock
• Whisper White 8.5x11" cardstock
• Vellum cardstock
• Fresh Fig ink
• Melon Mambo ink
• Powder Pink ink
• Berry Burst ink
• Mesh stamp from Best Birds
• Large dragonfly stamp from Dragonfly Dreams
• Small flower stamp from Touches of Texture
• Large sentiment stamp from Lots of Love
• Ruler and craft knife or Stampin' Trimmer
• Adhesive and Stampin' Dimensionals plus scissor snips

1. Score an 8.x5x11” sheet of Pink Pirouette cardstock down the middle. Do not fold. Cut in half to make 2 4.25x5.5” card bases.
2. Stamp all over the right side of the sheet with the mesh stamp and Power Pink ink.
3. Stamp large dragonfly from Dragonfly Dreams in Fresh Fig on front of card bases. I used a Stamp-a-ma-jig to position the dragonflies.
4. Cut two 3.5x5" strips of vellum and stamp randomly all over it with the small flower stamp from Touches of Texture in Melon Mambo ink. Cut the strip in half when done.
5. Stamp two Sending So Much Love stamps on Whisper White cardstock and fussy cut around it with scissor snips.
6. I freehanded two hearts from Cherry Cobbler, but you could use one of the hearts from the Sweet & Sassy Framelits Dies set. You may want to add more hearts.
7. Time to assemble! Centre the vellum strip on the card base and adhere with tear tape in the middle. Affix the heart to the right side of the card. Use a few Stamping Dimensionals and mount the sentiment to the top of the card.

I hope this blog post finds you all well and until next time...