Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Lift Me Up with a Double Flap Fold

Hey Stampers,

I have a different type of card to share today - who doesn't love a fancy fold?!


It's called a Double Flap Fold, and was inspired by an Easter card made by Dawn Griffith.  I'm still on a mission to use up those designer papers!  It's amazing how many cards you can make from a single paper pack - they really are a great value.  This designer paper from Sale-a-Bration was the best value of all (free)!!  I've made dozens of cards from this paper in my classes and for my own personal use.

Without further delay, these are the pieces you will need to make this card:


1 piece Peekaboo Peach cs, 4-1/4" x 5-1/2"
1 piece Whisper White cs 4" x 5-1/4"
1 piece Night of Navy cs 4" x 3-1/2", scored on the long side at 1/2"
1 piece Watermelon Wonder cs 3-1/2" x 3", scored on the long side at 1/2"
1 piece Whisper White cs 1" x 4"
Extra scraps of Whisper White, Peekaboo Peach and Mint Macaron cardstocks
2 strips designer paper 1/2" x 4"
1 piece designer paper 3-1/2" x 3-1/2"
1 piece designer paper 3" x 3"

I used Carried Away Designer Series Paper (a Sale-a-Bration item).


Begin by adhering the 1/2" strips of designer paper to the 4" x 5-1/4" Whisper White piece.  If you want to do any stamping on the inside of your card, now is the time.  All of the stamping on this card uses the Lift Me Up stamp setI used Night of Navy and Smoky Slate to stamp a balloon and clouds - see photo below.


Fold the Night of Navy and Watermelon Wonder cardstocks on the 1/2" scorelines.  Center the designer papers and adhere with Snail adhesive.

Center both decorated pieces of cardstock on the card front as shown here.  Using Tear & Tape adhesive, adhere the 1/2" folded sections to the back of the card front as shown.  Adhere these 3 sections as one assembled unit to the Peekaboo Peach card base.





The embellishment on the card front was assembled and then attached as a unit.  Die-cut one Stitched Shape Oval from Whisper White and randomly stamp clouds in Smoky Slate.  Stamp two balloons using Night of Navy ink, one on Peekaboo Peach cs and the other on Mint Macaron cs.  Die-cut the balloons using the Up & Away Thinlits.  Flag the end of the 1" x 4" Whisper White strip with the Triple Banner Punch and stamp the sentiment using Night of Navy ink.  Assemble these 4 pieces using Multipurpose Liquid Glue.


Adhere the embellishment to the smaller (Watermelon Wonder) flap.


The last step is to stamp and die-cut one cloud in Smoky Slate on a scrap of Whisper White cardstock.  Adhere it to the larger (Night of Navy) flap using Dimensionals, placing it so that the edge of the cloud overlaps the oval to hold the flaps closed.

I hope you will give this fun card a try -  mix it up by changing the cardstock colors to match the designer papers you have on hand!

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Thanks for visiting today,
Pat

Sunday, May 21, 2017

So in Love - Simply Lovely

Hi Friends,

Wedding season is almost here!  I was approached this spring by a bride who wanted a rustic invitation with lace - this is what I made for her.


 Simple but lovely, done all with neutrals - Crumb Cake,  Very Vanilla and Early Espresso.


This soft Very Vanilla 1/4" Satin Ribbon ties into bows so easily - and it's on the clearance rack at a 40% discount!  The tags were printed on my computer & die-cut with the smallest tag from the Bunch of Banners Framelits Dies.


I tried to match the font on my tag to the font in the So in Love stamp set - this isn't a perfect match, but I like it - the font is Lavanderia Regular.  You can download it for free from wfonts.com.


This gorgeous lace was cut with the So Detailed Thinlits.  You will definitely want to use the die brush with this one - makes all the little pieces fall out so easily!  I made 50 of these, so I used 3M spray adhesive to adhere the lace to the card front to make the job go fast.

The stamp set and dies used here are both retiring at the end of May.  As I wrote this, I checked and they were both still available - but this is one rare case where buying the bundle will not save money! The stamp set by itself is discounted 25% and the die-cuts alone are discounted 30%, but the bundle is regular price.  Go figure!  Don't forget to pick up a roll or 2 of the Very Vanilla 1/4" Satin Ribbon from the Clearance Rack, also.  It's regularly priced at $6.00, on sale now for $3.60 - great to have on hand for so many projects.

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I hope you like this project.  Check out some of the others on my blog and leave me a comment - I'd love to hear from you!

Happy stamping,
Pat






Thursday, May 18, 2017

Wetlands

Hey friends!

Today I'm featuring a stamp set that I haven't used nearly enough - Wetlands.  I wanted to create a card for a friend who was hospitalized this week, and he's an avid sportsman.  Wetlands fit the bill perfectly!  I've used this before with the cute little sandpiper image, but never played around with the other images too much - until now.



Wow!  I feel like an artist!  I know what you're thinking - this is way too complicated - but it's NOT!  If you enjoy sponging, you'll like making this.  Follow along:

The card base is Smoky Slate, 4-1/4" x 11".  Score in the center at 5-1/2".  The fold is on the left side so the card opens like a book.  Using the Hardwood background stamp, ink it up with Smoky Slate and stamp the card front.  You'll need to stamp twice - the stamp isn't quite wide enough to cover the entire card front going this direction.

The next layer is Basic Black cardstock, 5" x 3-3/4".  The sentiment is stamped in Versamark ink on a 3/4" strip of Basic Black, sprinkled with White Stampin' Emboss Powder and set using the Heat Tool.  Flag one end using the Triple Banner Punch and trim the other end to the right length to fit your card.  Yours may be a little longer or shorter than mine; it depends on where your geese are stamped on the card front.


Before you start to create your beautiful scene, stamp and fussy cut 2 images of the goose on Post-It notes to use as a mask.  Using the Up & Away Thinlits, die-cut 2 or 3 cloud images on Post-It notes also.


Now you're ready to start the fun part.  On a 4-7/8" x 3-5/8" piece of Shimmery White cardstock, stamp the goose on the left using Basic Black Archival ink.  This ink will give you a nice, dark solid black every time.  Now cover the first goose using one of the masks you made earlier.  Stamp the second goose, overlapping the first one a bit.  Leave these masks in place while you do the rest of the sponging!


Place the cloud masks in the sky wherever you like - I placed mine covering the heads of my geese.  Starting at the bottom, sponge on a layer of Old Olive using a sponge dauber.  Above that, sponge the next layer using Soft Suede, gently blending into the "grass" layer.



 Above the "sand" layer, sponge some Dapper Denim to give the illusion of water in the distance.  For this layer, I basically drug my sponge dauber back and forth across the cardstock.  When you are happy with the "water" layer, without reinking the dauber, cover the rest of the card using a swirling motion to create the sky.

Still keeping the masks in place, add the tall grass images using Old Olive ink.  I stamped the image four times starting at the left side of the page and covering the geese.  The shorter grasses on the right side of the page that you see peeking out from behind the greeting are the same stamp, but I only inked the bottom portion of the stamp for these.


Now it't time to remove the masks and see the magic!  When I took off the cloud masks I thought the clouds were too white, so I gently sponged a little of the dapper denim over them to soften them a bit.  I like this much better.  I used a Sahara Sand Stampin' Write marker to color the beaks and backs of the geese.  I trimmed just a smidge off each side of the card front so the edges would be nice & clean.



That's all there is to it!  Give this a try and bring out your inner artist!  If you don't own the Wetlands stamp set, don't delay ordering it, as this is another great stamp set that is retiring on May 31 (or when supplies are exhausted)!

Artistically,
Pat


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