Monday, January 31, 2022

IT'S TIME TO RELAX

What is your favorite way to relax?  Do you enjoy sitting on the beach, doing crafts, reading a good book, listening to music?

Today's card depicts one of my favorite ways to relax.


I love to cuddle under a cozy warm blanket with a good mystery book!  And what could be better than hanging out with your furry friend?  My problem is, once I start reading a book, especially if it is one filled with mystery and suspense, I don't want to stop until it is finished -- and as a result I get NOTHING done until the book is done.

My furry friend, Baxter, wasn't much of a cuddler.  He'd tolerate it for a few minutes, but much preferred hanging on the other end of the couch or at the foot of the bed.  But wasn't he a cutie?  He was as sweet as he was cute, but he was a little too independent to be much of a cuddler.


The stamp set I'm featuring this week is the In the Moment Stamp Set.

I also find coloring relaxing, so this stamp set is a great stamp set if you like to color.

Today's card is colored with Stampin' Blends, and I love these alcohol markers because they make coloring so easy!  



I paired today's image with the new Abstract Beauty Designer Series Paper from the Spring Mini.  I love, love, love this paper.  Abstract and geometric based art is my favorite, and this paper offers lots of abstract choices.  It is so pretty, and it even has bling!


I chose this particular pattern for today's card because I thought the colors of Blushing Bride and Just Jade were soft and calming.  That's what we need when we are trying to relax, right?

I used the largest die from the Stitched Rectangles die to die cut the paper and then matted it on Mint Macaron cardstock.

The sentiment and trim below it were die cut with dies from the Painted Labels Dies.



I kept the inside clean and simple and just trimmed it with a piece of the pretty Abstract Beauty Designer Paper.  Often, I leave the inside sentiment free as I can always add that later when I know where the card will be sent.  

In the background you can see that I also covered the envelop flap with the same designer series paper.  This is a quick and easy way to coordinate your envelope with your card.



For a list of the products used, please reference the list below.

This card is a simple card, but if you would like a detailed tutorial with all cutting dimensions and step-by-step directions, you can download one using this link.

I hope you will come back on Wednesday and Friday this week to see cards made with the other two images from In the Moment and the techniques that I used to create them. 

Also, tomorrow, I will have a special introduction of the new Here Together Bundle which will be available for purchase beginning tomorrow, February 1st.  You aren't going to want to miss this set!  It has beautiful sentiments and special images to show others we care.  That's really what making and sending cards is all about, isn't it?  Showing someone, we care.


Product List
Pink Pirouette Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack
Pink Pirouette Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack
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Friday, January 28, 2022

BRAYER THE BOUQUET OF LOVE

Today is the last card this week with the Bouquet of Love Embossing Folder and Dies, and I thought I would try a technique that I haven't used in a while.  This technique uses a brayer to ink up one side of the embossing folder before embossing your cardstock.  Depending on the side you choose to ink, you will get a completely different appearance.


For this card I inked up the side of the folder that would color the "depressed" portion of the design.  If I had inked the other side of the folder, the flowers would have been Flirty Flamingo and the background would have been white.  Does that make sense?

For the background on this card, I used Shimmery White cardstock, but you can do this technique with any type of cardstock.  

If you look closely at the small heart, you will see that I used the same technique for this piece.  I again inked the folder with Flirty Flaming, but this time I used Flirty Flamingo cardstock.  


This gives a very tonal effect which is also stunning.

It is a simple and fun technique.  The main thing to be aware of is that when you place your cardstock on the inked embossing folder don't move it around or you will smear the ink--so place it carefully.

If you haven't done this technique before, I challenge you to try it.  Experiment with various colors and inking each side of the embossing folder. I think you'll have fun.

The large heart was created from the darkest foil in the Silver Foil Specialty Pack.  It was embossed and cut in the Bouquet of Love Embossing Folder, and WOW, embossing that foil sure makes it shine.  The picture does not do it justice.  I did create a second heart out of Night of Navy and adhered it to the back of the foil heart.  I felt it needed a little extra support so that I could pop it up on dimensionals.


I wanted to keep the sentiment tiny, so that I could use the small label die in the Bouquet of Love dies.  To find a sentiment with the message I wanted, I needed to go to an old, retired favorite set, Itty Bitty Greetings.  If you can't find the sentiment you want in that set, it probably doesn't exist.  


As I was making this card, I ended up with lots of embossed scraps, so to decorate the inside of my card, I just punched a bunch of little hearts from those scraps and let them cascade down the left side of the Basic White Panel.  I love it when I can use scraps -- especially scraps as pretty as these!

Have I tempted you this week to try a Hybrid Embossing Folder?  I'll admit, when I saw the first one in the 2021-2022 Annual Catalog, I had my doubts.  Putting a die inside an embossing folder just didn't seem like a great idea.  We all see the scars on our cutting plates, right?  And I was very skeptical and concerned that the die would cause similar "damage" to the folder.  But I have now used both the Art in Bloom Hybrid Folder from the Annual Catalog and this Bouquet of Love Hybrid Folder from the Spring Mini many times, and I see minimal scaring on the folder. 

If you would like a tutorial for today's card, you can download one at this link.

A list of all current products used for this card is shown below.

Note: For the Brayering Technique used on this card, I would recommend using a firm rubber brayer for the best results.  A sponge brayer may have a tendency to ink recessed areas of the embossing folder rather than just staying on the top of the raised surfaces.


Product List

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

HELP, I CAN'T MAKE UP MY MIND!

I am going to share two cards today.  They are both made with the same colors and a the same 5-1/4" x 5-1/4" format.

I'll be honest, I struggled with these cards.  I wasn't crazy about the first one I made, so made another and tried something a little different.  I'm not sure how I feel about that one either, so I just decided to share them both -- in no particular order.




The colors on both cards are Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight and Granny Apple Green.

The background for the first card shown above was created with Blending Brushes and then embossed with the Bouquet of Love Embossing folder and dies.  The second card was created using the Poppin Pastel technique.  It was embossed first and then VersaMark Ink was added to the raised surfaces.  The flowers and leaves were then individually colored with powder scraped from the Pastels.  A small eye make-up sponge was used to do the coloring as my sponge daubers were too large for the detail required.



They are both very bright and cheerful cards, and in-person the hearts have plenty of sparkle, thanks to a generous application of Wink of Stella.  

The sentiment is from Celebrating You, an awesome new versatile sentiment stamp set in the Spring Mini. 

For the floral card I used some of the additional dies in the Bouquet of Love Dies to create a small floral bouquet on the left edge of the sentiment.  The center of each flower is accented with a black Classic Matte Dots.

For the blending brush background card, I left it with what I would call a more contemporary clean look.  I added three Opal Rounds to the front of the card for a little added bling.

Both cards use the Crinkled Seam Binding White Ribbon applied in slightly different ways.

Here is one more look at each of the cards.


I'm curious which one you like best.  Truthfully, I'm not so sure that I'm crazy about either one, but I do definitely have a preference.  I'd love to have you leave me a comment with your preference.  Floral?  Contemporary?

In case you are wondering, the inside is exactly the same for both, except for the fact that one card opens right to left and the other opens vertically.  That's one nice thing about a square card -- you can make the inside exactly the same no matter which way it opens!


Tutorials are available for both cards using the links below:



The Product List below shows all supplies used for both cards.  The tutorials list supplies specific to that card.

Product List