Wednesday, July 16, 2025

REPAIR IT WITH COPPER - KINTSUGI

Today's card uses several of the products included in the Kintsugi Inspirations Suite and all of the "Kintsugi repairs" are made with copper embossing powder.

The background was embossed with the Joined Together 3D embossing folder which is one of the products in the suite.  The "cracks" in the background where heat embossed with Copper embossing powder (EP). 

I experimented with a couple different ways to add the Copper EP in the cracks.  My first attempt was to add VersaMark ink to the raised "cracks" on the embossing folder and then dry embossed the Basic White cardstock.  After dry embossing, I added Copper embossing powder to the embossed Basic White cardstock and heat embossed.  However, the "cracks" were not covered with copper as much as I envisioned.  So, I then took that same embossed Basic White cardstock and used a VersaMark Pen to add additional ink to the debossed cracks and heat embossed a second time with Copper EP.  That filled in the "cracks" nicely.

If I make a second card, I think I will skip the first attempt and use only the 2nd process.

The vase was stamped with VersaMark ink on Basic White and heat embossed with Copper EP.  I used the coordinating Inspiring Imperfections dies from the bundle to die cut the vase.

To add just a bit of color, I used a Blending Brush with Lost Lagoon ink to highlight the vase.

The bouquet in the vase was created with two additional dies from the bundle.  The "flowers" (I'm not really sure what those are, but they qualify as flowers for me.) were die cut from copper foil.  To create the "twig" in the vase, I used the longer of the two Kintsugi crack dies to die cut a twig from Blackberry Bliss cardstock.

The twig and the flowers were arranged in the vase and the assembly was adhered to the focal point.

The sentiment from Inspiring Imperfections was heat embossed with white embossing powder on Blackberry Bliss cardstock and die cut with another of the dies from the die bundle.


To dress up the inside of the card, I used two layers of Basic White cardstock.  The Inspiring Imperfections sentiment was heat embossed in copper and a copper foil strip was embossed with the Joined Together embossing folder.

If you enjoy heat embossing, you will love making this card.  Heat embossing is a technique that never ceases to amaze me -- particularly when I'm using metallic embossing powder.  If you also enjoy heat embossing, you will love making this card. 

For all the measurements and step-by-step instructions, use this link to download a copy of the tutorial.

Stampin' Up! no longer carries VersaMark Pens (also called "embossing pens"), but they are available at craft stores and also on Amazon.

A list of the Stampin' Up! products used is shown below.


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Monday, July 14, 2025

KINTSUGI FAN CARD

This week I am featuring products from the Kintsugi Inspirations Suite.  About a year ago, I made a video for my Learning with Friends series showing how to do the Paper Kintsugi Technique.

Well, with the Kintsugi Inspirations Suite from the 2025-2026 Annual Catalog, Stampin' Up! has done all the work for us!

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by fixing the broken areas with urushi lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver or platinum. It embraces the history of a piece and believes the repair makes the object even more beautiful.

You can see the gold "cracks" in the design of some of the Kintsugi Inspirations Designer Series Paper (DSP) patterns.  It makes very interesting and beautiful patterns in the DSP doesn't it?

I was introduced to the Fan Fold "Fun Fold" card by my good friend and fellow demonstrator, Kathi, from Simply Kards by Kathi.  Since I was working with the Kintsugi Inspirations Suite, I couldn't wait to give this card layout a try with its beautiful DSP.  My card features three of the pretty designs from the Kintsugi collection.  Since the "cracks" in the DSP designs were "filled" with gold, I used gold Textured Metallic foil as the accent mats on my fan and on the sentiment.

The texture of this foil creates even more shine and glimmer than regular foil cardstock.  It is gorgeous!

If you would like to make this Fan Fold card with your favorite DSP, use this link to download my tutorial for all the instructions.  Several easy to follow diagrams are included to make cutting the cardstock and DSP easy to understand.  Cutting triangular pieces can be a bit tricky sometimes -- particularly if you are picky, like I am, and like to have equal borders all around the DSP.   I tweaked some of the dimensions that you may see from other demos to insure that my borders are equal.

Once you get your pieces cut, all that is left is simple assembly!

The beautiful gold Flower Accents are also from the Kintsugi Inspirations Suite.  They give the Textured Metallic Gold foil a run for its money with their shimmer and shine!

On the inside of the card I used the same Misty Moonlight Kintsugi DSP design so it coordinates with the largest fan layer on the card front.

Below is a list of all products used on the card.

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Friday, July 11, 2025

MOTIF PANELS

How much variety can you achieve with a Greeting Bundle?  That was the challenge I gave myself this week.  I am always drawn to sentiment stamp sets, and when I purchased this bundle that was my main attraction - the greetings.  The beautiful and unique dies were just a bonus for me.  

But today I decided to highlight one of the "non-sentiment" stamps.


I knew this particular stamp would be a great stamp to use to create vintage backgrounds or "grungy" cards, but I wanted to try to feature it as a bright and pretty focal point.


For bright and cheery colors, where better to head than to the 2024 - 2026 In-Colors.  This card uses all 5 of the pretty In-Colors.  One of the things I love most about using In-Colors is that I know the colors all work well together.  Thus, I don't have to stress about color coordination.


The card base is covered with a Pretty in Pink Designer Series Paper (DSP) from the Unbounded Beauty DSP Collection.  The 3 background "focal points" are stamped in Petunia Pop, Peach Pie, and Summer Splash.  And for the 5th In-Color, the fern behind the greeting, was die cut with a Beautiful Motifs Die from Shy Shamrock cardstock.

The sentiment was die cut with a die from Unbounded Love Dies.  To make the card truly elegant, it was wrapped with Striped Iridescent Ribbon and a few Iridescent Faceted Gems were added to the scalloped oval sentiment.


To coordinate with the card front, Pretty in Pink was used to step-up the inside of the card.  The congratulations sentiment was found in the Sunrise Sailing stamp set.

A list of the products used is shown below.  Click on any image to learn more about that product or to make a purchase.
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Wednesday, July 9, 2025

THANKS FOR EVERYTHING

As I share ideas using the Beautiful Motifs Bundle this week, I have challenged myself to try to show how much variety can be achieved with this bundle.  Since this stamp set is mainly a Greeting Stamp set, this has been a good challenge for me as it has forced me to work a bit outside of my comfort zone.


The purpose of today's card is to show the possibilities with the amazing dies that come with this bundle.

Three of the five dies create partial cuts rather than the traditional full die cuts.


I chose a design from the Beautiful Gallery Designer Series Paper (DSP) that would show off two of the "filagree" dies.  I wanted a subtle pattern on the DSP so the cuts and texture created with these unique dies would be highlighted.


Partial sections of the filigrees are cut through while other sections remain connected.  After cutting, I gently lifted the cut sections to maximize the texture.

While these two dies could certainly be used alone, I thought they worked very well together.  I placed one above the greeting and one below to subtly draw attention to the sentiment.

The Calypso Coral for the card base and Basic Beige for the sentiment was chosen based on the DSP.  But then I felt I needed a pop of color, however, being the color-challenged person that I am, I was stumped.  My first thought was a shade of green, but I wasn't sold on any of the shades I tried.   So, I consulted my Color Coach. One of the suggestions was Mossy Meadow, but since I had just used that on Monday's card, I really wanted something else.  Another suggestion was Night of Navy, a color I never would have come up with on my own.  I laid a piece of Night of Navy next to the card, and voila!  That was it!

I embellished the sentiment with the little piece of shimmery Calypso Coral Ribbon and Adhesive Backed Pearls -- both of which are now retired.  I'm a huge proponent to use what you have.  You bought it because you liked it, right?  So use it!


For the inside of card I added a layer of Night of Navy and then used a scrap strip of the DSP from the card front to add a bit more interest.  But honestly, I think the Night of Navy "made" this card -- both on the inside and out!


A list of the products used is shown below.


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