Thursday, August 30, 2018

Tip for Decorating Envelopes - Quick & Easy!

I have a quick tip to share with you about envelopes.  A beautifully decorated envelope gives the recipient a little hint that there's something very special inside it.  I'm sure you've heard it's important to make a good first impression!  Stamping the outside is nice, but I don't always have time to do that.  Here's what I do instead...


The Petal Pair embossing folder makes an elegant envelope and you can make it in the time it takes to crank it through the Big Shot!


It's a set of 2 embossing folders sized smaller than the standard sized folders - perfect for this application.



The envelope flap fits perfectly inside the folder.  (Open the envelope - only the flap goes inside the folder.)


Place the envelope and folder between 2 clear plates and crank it through the Big Shot.  Even if your plates are well-used, like mine, they will make a perfect impression.


The impressions create a rough surface on the envelope adhesive, so you will need to use a strip of Tear & Tape to seal it.  This is true anytime you are adhering embossed cardstock to a project - always use a strong, double-sided adhesive tape.




Monday, August 27, 2018

Military Thank You Cards

Two of my team members have a nephew currently serving in the military, so this month we are making cards of gratitude and support for his platoon.  I don't have any stamps that are specifically for military cards, so I had to get creative and think outside the box!


I used my Stamparatus with a wreath template to create this design.  You can read the details of how this works on my previous blog post HERE.  My colors used in this design are Real Red, Whisper White & Blueberry Bushel.  The sentiment is stamped in Night of Navy.  The background of the card is embossed with the Seaside Embossing Folder.  It reminds me of a flag waving in the breeze, don't you think?


The stamp used to make this wreath is a trio of stars from Balloon Celebration.  I stamped it 8 times in Blueberry Bushel, then rotated the stamp 180 degrees and moved it to stamp the red stars in the gaps between the blue.


This illustrates how the red & blue stars are stamped in opposite directions.  Keep in mind that you stamp all 8 of one color first without ever moving the stamp; then you move the stamp once and stamp 8 more in the second color.  





The sentiment is from the Painted Harvest Stamp Set.


The beautiful die-cut bow is from the Stitched Seasons Framelits.  The center pieces of the bow are designed to pop out, but I wanted a more solid bow for this project so I chose to keep them in place,




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Don't forget about Bonus Days - every $50 spent in August earns you a $5 coupon to use in September!  Perfect timing for the 2018 Holiday Catalog - ordering begins September 5!



Thanks for stopping by today!



Thursday, August 23, 2018

Marigolds in Mason Jars

Looking at all of the different floral images in the Beautiful Bouquet stamp set, it occurred to me that this particular one looks like a marigold.  I took that and ran with it...


Here I've used the Burlap background stamp with Soft Suede ink on Crumb Cake cardstock.  The card base is cut from Soft Suede.


Copper is my favorite embossing powder, perfect for this card.  Linen Thread ties easily into a bow  to attach the "for you" tag.  The tag has a Stampin' Dimensional on the back to hold it perfectly in place.  The two marigolds nearest the mouth of the jar are also attached with dimensionals.


About the marigolds...

I created the ombre effect using my Stamparatus and 2 sponge daubers with Pineapple Punch and Mango Melody inks.  I've shared this technique before - read about it here.


Click on any of the product links below to create your own jar of marigolds!

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Thanks for visiting today,

Pat