New Technique

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Here is another card I made on Saturday...

It is using the brand new "Re-Inker Spread" Technique--more about this technique to come. For my Stamp Club members-this is May's monthly technique!!

A Walk In the Park With Mom

This was the card we made at my Stamp Club for April. Since Mother's Day is just around the corner I knew this would be a perfect card. It features a fun way to use the Texturz Plates for the Big Shot as well.

Brayered Texture:
1. Ink up your Brayer in the coordinating ink as your cardstock or a darker shade.
2. Roll Brayer all over the Texturz Plate.
3. Build your "sandwich" carefully laying your cardstock over the Texturz plate.
4. Roll "sandwich" through the Big Shot.
5. Pull out cardstock. Thoroughly clean Texturz plate.
6. Your cardstock will now be dry embossed in the color of the paper and the rest of the paper will be covered in ink.


RECIPE: Stamps-A Bunch of Love; Ink-Old Olive, Baja Breeze, Regal Rose, Basic Gray & Black; DSP-A Walk in the Park; CS-Baja Breeze, Whisper White & Basic Gray; and Ribbon-Regal Rose.

Faux Alligator

Okay before I get into the "Faux Alligator" technique, I wanted to let you all know that we got a camera. Apparently my whining about not having a camera to take pictures with and update my blogs (yes that is plural, I have a couple of bogs) and our upcoming vacation, paid off. Saturday my husband took me off of the Island to get my dream camera. I am so excited!



I was a photographer in high school and took quite a few photography classes in college. Unfortunately with the innovation of digital photography came the demise of my old, film SLR camera. I was heart broken but at the time could not see investing thousands of dollars into a new digital SLR. So I bought a few cheaper digital cameras until we could afford another SLR. Well I finally got it. Yippee!! I am so excited. But since I am having to get familiar once again with aperture, shutter speed, program mode, light meters, etc. I am going to borrow a few pictures from one of my best customers!

So for this months technique for Stamp Club we learned "Faux Alligator". This may look complicated but it is so simple. I first saw this technique on Jackie Topa's blog. Here is a PDF file of hers that you can download or just scroll down below the picture for directions. For my Stamp Club members you will receive your instructions and sample with your orders this month.

We made very cute little purses using Chocolate Chip Cardstock. These are so fun. You can make this same purse a "manly" briefcase by adding some hodgepodge hardware to give it a masculine appeal. Or add a flower or some of our decorative brads to dress it up.



Technique:
1. Cover area with versamark.
2. Cover versamark with embossing powder (we used clear).
3. Use your bone folder to draw lines diagonally across the cardstock through the embossing powder. Don't worry about keeping them straight. If they are crooked they look more realistic.
4. Emboss with the heat tool.
5. Voila! Faux alligator skin!

Shadow Effect With Bleach

After trying to get pictures off of the camera all day, I finally got a few to download.

We learned about stamping with bleach at my January Stamp Club. It is a fun technique but the smell can be a bit much. I recommend doing this either outside or in a well ventilated room. I used the "Upsy Daisy" stamp set for this card. I wanted to bleach out the flowers but have a bit of a shadow effect to give some detail. This is very easy to do...

Shadow Effect with Bleach:
1. This works better with lighter colored cardstock. Stamp the image with the same colored ink as the paper (So Saffron in this instance).
2. Make a stamp "pad" with a plate or bowl. Place paper towel in the bottom damp towel with bleach. ***Note: Bleach is only really active within the first 20 minutes of pouring it. So don't make your bleach pad until right before you go to stamp.
3. Press stamp into the bleach and stamp it onto the paper slightly off of the first image. This will give the "shadow". It will take a couple of minutes for the paper to bleach out.
4. Finish card. ***Be careful: The bleached cardstock is still active for 20-30 minutes after you bleach it. Meaning, if you lay it on another piece of cardstock, it will bleach it out.


Once again my picture isn't great quality. The shadow is a bit hard to see but it is there.

RECIPE: Stamps-Upsy Daisy; Ink-So Saffron, Ruby Red, & Bleach; CS-Ruby Red, So Saffron, Mellow Moss, Baja Breeze & Chocolate Chip (scrap); Ribbon-Baja Breeze Striped Grosgrain; and Punch-Heart to Heart.

Merry & Bright

I have loved this stamp set since I saw it in last year's Holiday Mini and I was so excited to see it back in the Fall/Winter Catalog. But it will be retired as of January 18th! Bummer! So I had to use it while it is still current. This card uses the "Faux Tearing" Technique. It is a great way to add texture without the bulk.



Faux Tearing Technique:

1. Take a piece of scratch paper and roughly tear one end of it. Lay it over your card base.
2. Using a sponge, spread ink over the cardstock using the scratch paper to mask off part of the card base. Make sure you firmly hold onto the scratch paper to keep it from moving.
3. Depending on the colors you are using and how firmly you press down on the sponge, you may not see much of a change at first, but keep coloring the CS with ink.
4. Add some kind of background stamp to the inked area (DO NOT remove the scratch paper until after this step).
5. Take away the scratch paper and you will have the look of a torn piece of DSP on your card! Super easy!

RECIPE: Stamps-Merry & Bright; Ink-Certainly Celery, Real Red, Brilliant Blue & Bashful Blue; CS-Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Certainly Celery, and Real Red; Tools-Cutting Tool Kit & Blender Pens; and Embellishments-Certainly Celery Grosgrain Ribbon.

Glittering Snowflakes

Here is the last card we made at Stamp Club. This card used the Big Shot and the Snowflake #2 Originalz Die. We also adhered the glitter with Heat N' Stick Powder which was a new process for me but I love the final result. The snowflake is so beautiful! I may make some more for some ornaments for our tree.



Oh...The background: We stamped the background using a scrap snowflake and stampin' sponges. We layed the snowflake down and sponged around it. I started with the lightest shade of blue and gradually got darker. I added some silver and white snowflakes to the background to finish it.

If you would like detailed instructions on how to create this card, e-mail me to receive a pdf file with instructions.

RECIPE: CS-Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Brushed Silver & Chipboard; Ink-Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Encore Silver, Whisper White & Not Quite Navy; Stamps-Snow Swirled; Big Shot; Dies-Snowflake #2; Embossing-Dazzling Diamonds & Heat N'Stick Powder.

Snowy Landscape

It has been a bit since I have posted. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Weekend full of family and friends. Unfortunately right after November's Stamp Club my baby and I became very sick and it has taken us both almost two weeks to get over this darn cold. So I have some catch up work to do with my blog posts over the next few days.

Here is the second card we made at Stamp Club and it was my swap at the Shoebox Swap earilier last month (told you I was behind!). This is a beautiful landscape card that I CASEd from Stamper's Showcase. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to re-create it. All of my ladies loved it.



Since November's theme was "Holiday Glitz" we added lots of fun glitter to everything. (I am still sweeping glitter off of my hardwood floors). This card was made using the MASKING Technique. If you would like a pdf file with detailed instructions on how to create this card e-mail me.

RECIPE: CS-Ballet Blue, Whisper White & Basic Black; Ink-Basic Black & Ballet Blue; Stamps-Lovely as a Tree & Heard from the Heart; Embellishments-Dazzling Diamonds & Two-Way Glue.

Cracked Glass Leaves

October's Stamp Club's technique was "Cracked Glass". I enjoy this time of year with all the leaves changing colors. The time of year inspired this project. The intricate veins and lines on leaves are so beautiful. I wanted to imitate that look with the "Cracked Glass" technique. I had a great time making this project and I hope to play with this technique more in the future.




If you would like a pdf file with the instructions for this technique, e-mail me and I will send it to you!

RECIPE: CS-Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango; Ink-Chocolate Chip; Big Shot; Dies-Originalz Leaves #2; Embossing Powder-Glassy Glaze and Tools-Crop-a-Dile, Heat Gun.

Faux Metal Hardware

Here is another project from September's Stamper's 30 Meeting. We learned different Faux Metal Techniques. This card features a faux metal piece of "hardware". Faux metal is a great technique to achieve the popular look of metal without the cost and bulk of real metal embellishments. This card also features one of my favorite new stamp sets Upsy Daisy. It is so much fun and you can do so much with it.

Tip: The Top Note die perforates the cardstock around the edge of the shape. Cut around the perforations and you can layer the dies for an elegant look.

RECIPE: CS--Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Brushed Silver and Not Quite Navy; DSP--Urban Garden; Ink--Baja Breeze, VersaMark & Not Quite Navy; Stamps--Upsy Daisy; Dies--Top Note Bigz (SU! Exclusive); Other--Silver Embosing Powder.

Dahlia Fold

This is a beautiful card we did using the "Dahlia Fold" technique. It is very easy to do. It just requires circle punches and a bone folder. Click here for a link on a tutorial for the "Dahlia Fold". I used paper from the Bali Breeze DSP to make the flower. This was one of my Stamp Club projects from this year.

Recipe: DSP--Bali Breeze; CS--Tempting Turquoise & Pumpkin Pie; Stamps--Embrace Life; Ribbon--Polka Dot Purely Pomegranate (Sherbert Ribbon Original) and Embellishments--Black Brads.

Emboss Resist Technique Tutorial

It has been driving me crazy! When I did the emboss resist, my emboss turned the color of the pastels. I have learned, not to use pastels but a sponge and classic ink pads. I also forgot to buff the color off of the embossed image with a tissue. Oh, well, it is all a learning process. Maybe I will play around some more tonight once the kiddos are in bed. Anyway, here is an awesome Emboss Resist Tutorial online. It walks you through the steps (with fabulous pictures). I will put up new pictures as soon as I try again.

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/embossingresist.php

It feels like Christmas!

I love it when I see that big brown van coming up my street and I know I have a Stampin' Up! box coming. It is so exciting (even if the order is for someone else), it is almost as much fun as Christmas morning.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on my new crop-a-dile. If you have not played with one, you do not know what you are missing. I love the look of using eyelets on cards and scrapbook pages but hate having to pound them into place, it is such a pain. With the crop-a-dile, setting eyelets is a breeze. It is as easy as using a hole puncher. I placed eyelets on my dragon fly card for my upcoming card swap. (I used the pick-a-petal set once again). It took no time at all and the eyelets really finish the cards. The only downside of the crop-a-dile is that my hand is a little too small for it. It is a little hard for me to grip and after doing 30+ eyelets, my thumb was a bit sore trying to hold onto it. It is also a little heavy. But don't get me wrong--it made setting those eyelets an absolute dream. It probably would of taken me an hour to do it with a hammer and set. It only took 20 minutes with the crop-a-dile.

I received all of my color families stamp pads today, which is so exciting. I only had the bold brights before, which is great for summer but with the holidays coming up I really wanted some more colors to choose from. Now I can really start playing with colors and designs. I also ordered some new holiday stamps, from the Fall/Winter catalog and the new mini. They are so much fun and they definately put me into the Holiday mindset. One of the sets I ordered was the Wonderous Gift set which I have fallen in love with, it is so elegant. I have been wanting to try embossing and especially the emboss resist technique. So I had fun playing with my new tools with my always eager daughter and my mom (a fellow, avid stamper).

To emboss resist: 1. Use a versamark or white craft pad to stamp the image on (preferably white paper). 2. Put clear or white embossing powder over the image. 3. Shake excess off into the tray. 4. Heat image with a heat gun until the emboss is set. 5. Use pastels or ink to color or sponge over the embossed image, the white lines will some through and you will see the white embossed image through the other colors. I am sure there are other ways to do this but this is the only way I know of at the moment. If I have missed a step or you know of another way, please let me know!

The emboss resist didn't turn out quite like I had envisioned. But I liked our cards, the first of many cards of the season. Chloe, my daughter, even got into the spirit and embossed a card for the first time tonight, she had so much fun. I will keep working on the emboss resist technique and hopefully I will get it down. But even if it is not perfect, I am very happy with it and I had a blast with the "girls" tonight working on it.