Pretty Pines Sparkle & Shine

Hi Stampers,

Even though temps are still in the 80's here, I was thinking about how beautiful an evergreen tree looks after a heavy snowfall - that's what this card reminds me of.

I used a mixture of old and new products in this design.  The pines are from Lovely as a Tree (and incidentally, the first Stampin' Up set I ever purchased!) and the sentiment is from Wondrous Wreath. The die-cuts are the fun Pretty Pines Thinlits (#141851) in the new holiday catalog, as is the Presents & Pinecones Designer Series Paper (#141986).  I love the way the sentiment is framed in the Layering Ovals Framelits (#141706).  

I'm all about glitter and the dryer sheet technique on this card is right up my alley.  You've seen the t-shirt that says "I craft so hard I sweat glitter"?  That's me.  There are a lot of You Tube videos available on the dryer sheet technique if you don't know how it's done.  It's really pretty simple-start by stamping your image.  I used Early Espresso to stamp the pine from Lovely as a Tree.  The darkest images are stamped full strength then I stamped off once more before re-inking.

Next you'll need a well-used dryer sheet, preferably one that has gone through 2-3 loads of laundry. What most of the videos don't show you, and this is Very Important, is iron the wrinkles out of the dryer sheet using the low setting on your clothes iron.  It only takes a few seconds and it's so much easier than trying to work the wrinkles out after you place it on the card!  With your nice, flat, used dryer sheet ready, spray the stamped image thoroughly with spray adhesive - I like one made by 3M.  Place the dryer sheet on the card and smooth it with your hand or a brayer.

Trim the excess dryer sheet from the edges of the card.  If you're only going to use the tops of the trees like I did, trim the card front to the size you want it.  I did this so I could incorporate some beautiful Designer Paper into my card.  You may want to use the entire piece for even more sparkle!

Finally, and this is so much fun, give the card one more very light coat of spray adhesive.  Sprinkle Dazzling Diamonds glitter over the entire piece and prepare to "ooh" and "ahh"!  

Can you see all that glittery goodness?  Ooh!  Aah!  I almost forgot to mention that I embossed the sentiment with Emerald Envy Glitter Stampin' Emboss Powder (of course).  

Another pine finishes off the inside.  This sentiment is part of the Wondrous Wreath set, too.

I made so much fun with the dryer sheet technique that I made more...many more!

I hope you're inspired by my ideas!  If you would like to purchase any of the products mentioned here, please visit my online store here.  

Happy stamping,

Pat

Wondrous Wreath in Blues

Hi, Stampers!

I was so happy to see that one of my all-time favorite go-to stamp sets for Christmas is back in the new catalog - Wondrous Wreath (135047) and the matching Wonderful Wreath Framelits (135851)!

Every month on the 25th I have a Christmas Only class and this was one of the projects for this month's class:

I wanted to get away from always using red & green for every Christmas project.  These colors work wonderfully together, I'm just sorry that Lost Lagoon is retiring at the end of May.

This card is 5 1/4" square.  You should know, and if you were at class I forgot to mention this so take note, that square cards ALWAYS require extra postage.  The weight doesn't matter.  They require special handling at the post office due to the shape of the envelope so a square card, even if it is less than one ounce, requires a 21-cent "non-machinable surcharge".

Although I've used this stamp set & framelits many times, I've never used the "Noel" that comes with it.  I really like it!  I will be using it again, for sure.  The framelits also come with the word "Joy" to die-cut.




Here are the details for my card:

Card base, Lost Lagoon 10 1/2" x 5 1/4".  Score at 5 1/4".
Second layer, Pool Party 5" x 5".
Third layer, Smoky Slate 4" x 4".
Fourth layer, Whisper White 3 3/4" x 3 3/4".
The Pool Party layer is randomly stamped in Versamark and clear embossing powder then heat set.  I used the wreath image with fewer leaves on it for this step.
The wreath is stamped first in Pool Party, and the second layer of leaves is stamped in Lost Lagoon.
The berries are stamped in Versamark and silver embossing powder then heat set.  You can see the detail on the berries in this photo -

The "Noel" is cut from a Silver Foil Sheet (132178) and the bow is Pool Party Glitter ribbon (140561).  The ribbon is retiring along with Lost Lagoon, so don't miss your chance to stock up on these two!

Because our creations deserve No Naked Envelopes, I decorated the flap of mine like this:

Cute, right?  I simply stamped the bottom half of the wreath to make it look like garland and added a bow in the middle.  Colors are Pool Party and Lost Lagoon.

Here you can see another way to decorate your envelopes, but the garland on the flap is my favorite.









 Here are some other ways I've used the Wondrous Wreath - it's not just for Christmas!

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  Thanks for stopping by!

Pat

Wondrous Wreath

Hello friends,

I've missed sharing projects with you these last few weeks.  As some of you know, I've been in California helping out my son as he recovers from surgery.  I do have one card to share with you, it's a thank you card I made for my customers who placed orders in September.

The cardstock used is Very Vanilla and Really Rust (retired).  Cajun Craze would be another great option.  Emboss the front with the Brick Wall embossing folder and sponge it with the matching color ink (either Really Rust or Cajun Craze).  The Wondrous Wreath is stamped in Crushed Curry, overlaid with Really Rust or Cajun Craze.  The berries are stamped with Cherry Cobbler.  The bow is stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with gold embossing powder.  I punched the heart out of Gold Glimmer Paper using the Itty Bitty Accents heart punch.  The words on the banner are from Endless Thanks; the leaf and dots are from the September Paper Pumpkin stamp set.  The wreath and heart are attached with Stampin' Dimensionals.  The gold 1/8" ribbon is non-SU.  

I hope you like this project and have a wonderful day!  You can email me with any comments or questions.  To purchase your Stampin' Up! products please visit my website:  stampwithptecza.stampinup.net