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.

Sunday Sketches - December Christmas Cards

Check back in a couple of weeks to see how the sketches becames reality. It's a little hard to show off Christmads cards because I don't want to ruin the surprise for my friends. Two of these sketches didn't work out as planned...but that's why it's a sketch!

SU Giant Year End Close Out PLUS Clearance Rack Refresh

Some days I wish SU gave demos a little more notice about sales, but surprises keep life exciting! It's the giant year end close out on now until January 4th, 2021! Plus the clearance rack was also refreshed with lots of goodies from last year's catalogue and even Stampin' Blend markers. Wow! Don't wait, because supplies are limited in the clearance rack.

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

Autumn Stamping Project--A Variety of Cards!

Whew! I didn't think that I would finish my September project, which turned into an October project and finally became the November project.

As we cope with working from home, missed loved ones and celebrations, I want to remind everyone that crafting of any kind is so restorative. A few minutes a day by yourself or over over Zoom--the arts keep us in touch with ourselves and others. They allow us to indulge in our imaginations and fantasy lives, help us grow confidence and give ourselves a bit of control too :)

Here are the supplies I used to make four cards:

• Life Is Beautiful Photopolymer Stamp Set
• Autumn Goodness + dies bundle
• Very Vanilla cardstock
• Cinnamon Cider cardstock
• Plaid Tidings DSP
• Cinnamon Cider ink
• Pumpkin Pie ink (Petal Pink will also do--I used Peekaboo Peach forgetting it was discontinued, whoops!)
• Seaside Spray ink
• Early Espresso ink
• Assorted Stampin' Write and Stampin' Blend markers
• Stamping Sponges

The idea I had in mind changed a little bit. Stamping the wheat stooks in Peekaboo Peach pushed them into the background. I used a 2" circle punch to make a mask and sponged around it for the sunset. 

Originally, Life is Beautiful was not on my to-buy list, but I realized it had a lot of potential. I stamped the leaves on and off with Cinnamon Cider and Peekaboo Peach for a layered look and then sponged the empty space with Peekaboo Peach. It's a little hard to see in the picture.

Sometimes when I have a hard time getting started, I just stamp! This is how I ended up with a lot of die cuts from the Autumn Goodness set. Again, the leaves from Life is Beautiful made a nice ground and some more Peekaboo Peach sponging knocked back the brightness of Very Vanilla. The two colours go surprisingly well together, which was a nice surprise.

I wasn't sure how the fourth card would turn out, so I just stamped all over the Very Vanilla panel. A little Seaside Spray ink on the panel and the plaid DSP brought a cool green to the card. Add a doily from the stash, and voila!

Now that my autumn cards are done, I can finally start on some Christmas designs :) 

Sunday Sketch - September Stamping Project

Since I post my projects at the end of the month, I decided to share the sketch for them at the beginning of the month. Check back in a few weeks to see how the sketch becomes reality!

August Stamping Project - Label It!

Every so often I need a reminder that stamping is more than just card making or scrapbooking. A friend gifted me a jar of homemade jam and later asked if I had the label stamps to go with a particular punch. I did not, but I could do one better!

For this project you will need:

• Stamps with a small pattern
• Label paper or plain paper or Whisper White cardstock
• Computer and printer
• Tear tape adhesive

These are rather loose guidelines. Sometimes I describe how to make something and other times I describe how to make it yours. Plus, there are lots of labelmaker programs out there.

If you have labels...

• Open Microsoft Word or visit Avery’s website, http://www.avery.com.
• Enter the label code and follow the instructions to create a sheet of labels. You may need to create an Avery account.
• Design a label with your chosen text such as “From me to you” or “From my kitchen to yours”. Make sure to leave some room at the edges to stamp.
• Print labels according to your printer's settings.

If you don’t have labels...

• Open Microsoft Word or visit Avery’s website, http://www.avery.com.
• Choose a label template that matches a punch that you have, such as a tag or a circle.
• Design a label that will fit within the space of the label template and ensure that you have left some space around the text to stamp around the words. For example, if you have a 2" circle punch, a 1-1.25" label design would work well.
• Make a test print on plain paper and see if the design fits the punch. This way, you won’t waste good cardstock. Make adjustments as necessary. When you are satisfied, print on Whisper White, Very Vanilla or plain paper.
• Punch out the labels.

Additionally, if you are handy with CorelDraw, Adobe PhotoShop or Adobe Illustrator, you can make a page of labels in those programs too. However you do it, your goal is to get a page of labels like this:

Punch them out! 

Get stamping! Choose stamps that have small designs and pick a contrasting or complimentary ink.

A current set that works well is Pattern Play and I also used the discontinued set Budding Borders.

Add some tear tape adhesive to the back and you're ready to go. Don’t forget you can add embellishments too like ribbon or string, especially if giving as a gift.

There you have it—a fun project that you can label your gifts with or make a gift for others. Did you know before that you can print on Stampin’s Up’s Whisper White or Very Vanilla cardstock? I have used both an inkjet and a laser printer with great results. See you in September!