2021 Stampin' Up! Christmas Cards from Your Friend, Christine

Oh my goodness, the ol' blog was getting dusty! I took some more classes this year and unlike last year, they were in-person. No more rolling out of bed at 7:30 to fire up the tablet for an 8:30 start. Now it was get up at 6:15am, actually get dressed like a human being, and run out to catch the bus like it was 2019 or something :-D

All this back and forth on top of work took up creative energy. It's important, especially at this busy time of year, to remember that there are several different kinds of rest. We might be getting plenty of sleep, but still remain tired. If that's the case, it's possible mental rest is required. And goodness knows, I took in too much screen time, oof.

I'll be sending out more New Year's cards than Christmas cards this year, even though I started early, I couldn't find the energy to keep the festive train going. Ah well! As a friend said, "The people who love you will understand and when your ready to send cards they will be happy to receive them." Aw! With that beautiful thought, here are the two designs which may show up in friends' mailboxes next year :-)

Tis the Season works on so many layers and works on many layers too! I started with a Crumbcake base and stamped, also in Crumbcake, using the big Birch background stamp. Layers of diecuts in Evening Evergreen and Early Espresso set the festive mood using Christmas Pinecone dies. A matching set of labels from Seasonal Labels and a sentiment from Christmas to Remember builds the scene. I don't know about you, but Christmas sentiments always get a free pass! Some gold foil paper scraps and the Deer Builder Punch brings the bling! There's a tiny dot for Rudolph's nose which is perfect for the extra highlights.

Now, the other card, Happy Christmas, is much simpler, but also eye-catching. I like to design cards for everyone to make--something for those who like a challenge or those new to cardmaking. I really hope maybe by 2023 an in-person stamp camp will be possible. Not only do I miss my crafty pals and stamping sisters, but I miss teaching. This card shows off embossing, sponging and die-cutting, three super essential cardmaking skills, IMHO! It's also super thrifty when it comes to cardstock. Simply cut and score a bunch of bases. Cut rectangles about 5x4" from aother colour (or DSP). Sponge the rectangle with your choice of ink--in this case, Night of Navy and some silver on Misty Moonlight cardstock--and run through an embossing folder with a slight textured background. I used the discontinued Subtle embossing folder, but Merry Melody or Bark would also work. Carefully rip one edge of the rectangle, just enough to make a fancy edge and leave room for a sentiment. Apply your favourite diecuts--it doesn't have to be snowflakes--and your flashy card is done!

Hopefully my next post won't be so long in-between--until then, have a safe, happy and festive Christmas and see you in the new year!

July's Stamping Project--Sweet As A Peach

Here’s a project where putting in the effort really pays off. It may seem like it has a lot of fussy steps, but you’ll definitely refine your sponging technique to create some beautiful cards! In case you're wondering, the sketch for this card is from the bottom right corner of July's Sunday Sketches.

Materials

• 6 sheets of 8.5x11” Crumbcake cardstock
• 5 8.5x11” cardstock or 4 12x12” sheets of Very Vanilla
• Scrap pieces of Very Vanilla for tags and blossoms
• Sponge daubers or Stampin’ Sponges
• Yellow-green pencil crayon
• Crushed Curry ink
• Mango Medly ink
• Daffodil Delight ink
• Soft Succulent ink
• Balmy Blue ink
• Pale Papaya ink
• Early Espresso ink
• Evening Evergreen ink
• Sweet As a Peach dies and stamps
• Embossing and die cutting machine
• Birch background stamp
• Scalloped Contours dies
• White acrylic paint and brush
• Scrap paper with a straight edge for a sponging mask
• Glue, tear tape or your favourite adhesive

Instructions

1. Score 8.5x11” sheets of Crumbcake and cut in half to make 12 4.25x5.5” bases.
2. Before folding card bases, stamp all over the front side in Crumbcake with the spotty stamp from Color & Contour (or any kind of spotty stamp you have on hand).
3. Stamp the front edges of the card with the Birch background stamp in Crumbcake ink next.
4. Cut 12 3.25x4.75" Very Vanilla pieces and die cut with second largest scalloped die from the Scalloped Contours set.
5. Get ready to sponge! Sponge Balmy Blue ink  onto the scalloped Very Vanilla fronts using the straight edge of a piece of scrap paper to cover the scallops. Of course, you don’t have to do this—-make it your own and sponge all over the place! Work from the outside in.
6. Stamp 24 single large peaches on Very Vanilla cardstock and die cut.
7. Stamp 24 branches on Very Vanilla cardstock in Soft Succulent and die cut.
8. Stamp 12 two leaf leaves on Very Vanilla cardstock in Soft Succulent and die cut.
9. Sponge a little bit of Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry and Mango Medley ink on the large peaches to give them some dimension and colour.
10. With the light yellow-green pencil crayon, colour lightly on top of the Soft Succulent leaves to add some warmth and dimension to the leaves.
11. Cut 12 0.75x2.25” Very Vanilla tags for sentiments. You can make them longer if you want to extend them across the front of the card. I used Early Espresso and Evening Evergreen ink for the sentiments.
12. Stamp 12 sets of large blossoms on Very Vanilla cardstock and brush white acrylic paint onto each petal.
13. Time to assemble!
14. Affix the Very Vanilla fronts to the Crumbcake bases.
15. Divide the peaches into two piles. One peach will be the front peach and one will be the rear peach.
16. Glue a two leaf die cut to the top of the front peaches.
17. Glue a peach to each of the branches and let dry.
18. Glue the top peach branch to the rear peach branch. You can arrange them as you like. If you want to position them all the same, glue one set together for a model and then place a piece of wax paper over top and match each successive set together.
19. Add blossoms where a gap in the branch shows or wherever you feel like it!
20. Affix the sentiment and you’re done!

If you’re not completely tired of sponging by now, you can sponge a little Crumbcake ink around the edges of the card—I bet even a little gold would look great too!

The Sweet As A Peach set is a great bargain too. Not only do you get a nice number of nature images, you get plenty of sentiments for any occasion too!

July's Sunday Sketches

Every weekend has been pretty lazy so far this summer. We're still working from home and sometimes I think we just work so hard on the weekend that our hobbies are suffering during the days off. Or, you know, it could be the blistering heat waves or wildfire smoke that's sapping our energy lately.

I sketched out four ideas tonight and I'm not sure which ones will become a reality--stay tuned!

May Stamping Project - All Occasion Tulips

I’m a little behind sharing this project, but it’s still kind of springy where I live—cherry and apple trees are blooming! When the new In Colors were revealed, I instantly thought of card using Timeless Tulips and the co-ordinating Tulip Builder punch!

The fun part of this project is that you can stamp and punch oodles of tulips to mix and match. Try stamping with a matching colour or a bold combo like Magenta and Pale Papaya. The results may be surprisingly and pleasing.

Here are the supplies I used to make ten cards:

• Basic White cardstock
• Variety of 8.x5x11” pastel cardstock like So Saffron, Petal Pink or Soft Seafoam
• Simply Scored score board
• Scissor Snips
• Dimensionals
• 2021-2023 In-Color inks
• Timeless Tulips stamp set
• Tulip Builder Punch
• 2021-2023 In-Colour cardstock variety pack
• Paper Trimmer
• Grey pencil crayon

Instructions

1. Score, cut and fold a variety of bases from pastel cardstock bases.
2. Stamp and punch rows of tulip blossoms on one sheet each of Pale Papaya, Polished Pink and Fresh Freesia.
3. Stamp and punch rows of tulip leaves on one half sheet each of Soft Succulent and Evening Evergreen. Save scrap bits for tulip stems.
4. Cut 2.5x5” pieces of Basic White to make the fence pieces.
5. Cut 1x5” pieces of Basic White to make the front white strip for sentiments.
6. Score the fence pieces in 0.5” increments with the Simply Scored score board. You only need to do a few markings on each side as the tulips will cover the middle area.
7. Use the flat side of a grey pencil crayon to add some dimension around the score lines.
8. Cut three notches for pickets on either side of the fence piece. Again, the tulips will cover up the middle, so don’t do work you don’t have to :-)
9. Time to assemble! Affix the fence to the front of each base.
10. Arrange four of the tulip blossoms as you like. You can attach them all together and then attach the stems, or you can add the stems first. You can pop up some of the tulip blossoms with dimensions—it’s up to you!
11. Add the stems next—align them to the bottom of the card. Don’t worry if they overlap or look funny—they will be covered by the front white piece.

Ta-da! You have your own miniature spring garden on a card to give for all those April and May occasions like birthday, Easter and Mother’s Day. You can stamp a sentiment on the front Basic White strip or leave it blank for a punched sentiment later on.

There are tons of fun possibilities with this idea. You’d could make an exploding card with scored fences or use the fence idea for the inside part of a Z-fold card, or simply decorate the outside of a pencil cup or centrepiece. Remember, I just provide the ideas and know how—you make it special!

What Happened to Whisper White?

Now that you've had a chance to peruse the new catalogue, you may have noticed a little product name change. Whisper White has been replaced by Basic White. Unfortunately the paper mill that produced Whisper White cardstock closed down last year. Whisper White has always been a favourite for its smooth surface and crisp stamping, but don't fear, Stampin' Up! found a similar replacement. As 2020 taught us, some things are beyond our control--even if you are a large craft company! Here's a video explaining the difference (embedded below).



Always keeping you in the loop...

It's Here--2021-22 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue!

Don't worry--it's not pandemic brain setting in. The new Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue starts May 4 instead of dropping in June. It's packed full of great new papers, lots of new florals and some old favourites. Plus, new In Colors--Polished Pink, Soft Succulent, Pale Papaya, Evening Evergreen and Fresh Freesia--will join us for the next two years. Contact me for a printed catalogue or shop with me online.

April Stamping Project - May Good Things Grow

It's always hard to say goodbye to Stampin' Up's In Colors even though there are new colours to welcome to the craft stash every new catalogue. Some colours just grow on you and I certainly felt that way about Pretty Peacock and Seaside Spray. Recently I sat down with the four retiring In Colors--Rococo Rose, Terracotta Tile, Pretty Peacock and Seaside Spray--and made up a batch of cards. If you haven't checked out the year end clearance sale to see what else is retiring, I highly suggest looking for some good buys before the products go goodbye! You can place an order online or contact me to place an order.

Try Something New With Vellum!

You may have a pack of vellum in the stash, but have you ever thought about trying different things with it? You may already know that it’s great for layering or toning down a busy background, but its transparent properties can be used in so many other ways!

I encourage you to make your own little sample folder, even if it means sacrificing a sheet to trial and error. Experience is the best teacher, after all. Vellum can be intimidating because of its precious nature. It is easy to mark it in unintended ways, but don’t let that discourage you.

What materials can you use with vellum? Vellum is not as porous as other papers, so it won’t absorb as much moisture as plain paper or cardstock. You can stamp with Memento, Staz-On or SU’s Classic Stampin’ pads. You can even take advantage of vellum’s transparent properties by stamping on both sides, or stamping on one side and colouring on the other. Different inks may take longer to dry on vellum, so don't be too eager to work with the stamped piece right away!

A stamped image on vellum using Gray Granite

You can draw on vellum with pencil or pencil crayons. Just be careful to watch your pressure—too hard and you may leave an imprint. You can gently shade with the side of a pencil crayon or colour in an area. Watch out for flecks of colour though.

Alcohol markers like Stampin’ Blends work really well on vellum and leave smooth coloured areas. Water-based markers will leave a different effect, but it depends on the size of the area to be coloured. Water-based markers may take longer to dry as the colour sits on top of the paper. 

Click on any of the images for a closer look

You can combine all the above techniques in one image too! Here I have stamped on one side, coloured with alcohol inks on another side and outlined the image with pencil on the facing side.

You may accidentally bend vellum. It’s almost impossible undo a crease—but you can creatively rip it to make a visually interesting edge or use it as a stencil.

A torn piece of vellum

You can mark vellum in a good way! Embossing folders can leave an interesting texture and look on both sides of vellum.

You can punch and die cut vellum too! Here are a couple of punched dragonflies:

Here is a die cut piece. In my experience, large, solid shapes work well in a die cutting machine as opposed to delicate ones. Delicate dies may need several passes and then still not cut completely. 

And lastly, layering shapes under vellum can boost the look. For example, a simple punched white circle brings the center of the stamped image to life!

There you have it—a crash course in vellum. Working within the limits of vellum can really add that special touch to a card to scrapbook if you don’t mind a little trial and error first!

It's here! Time to Sale-A-Brate!

There are so many happy times throughout the stamping year and the beginning of a new year is one of them! It's time to get a few bonus products with your regular purchases and check out a new mini-catalogue. Fun fun!

You can place an order online or contact me to place an order.