Wednesday, August 31, 2022

HUES OF HAPPINESS WITH COLOR & CONTOUR

Today's card is a simple fun fold.  The panel on the front attaches the small top flap to the bottom section of the card.


This is an extremely easy design to create.  I did give it a bit of Fairless Flair by adding the large scallops to the top and lower sections, but these sections can be left straight for a more simplified version.

Since I was using the Color & Contours Stamp Set for and its coordinating Scallop Contours dies, I thought I may as well make use of those scalloped dies and add a bit more WOW!


The designer series paper is from the Hues of Happiness Designer Series Paper collection which I am featuring all week. 

This flower from Color & Contour Stamp Set is super easy to make.  It is a two-step stamp so, first the outline image was stamped with Night of Navy and then the coordinating 2-step stamp was used to create the Daffodil Delight Flowers.  A coordinating die was used to quickly cut it out.  It doesn't get much easier than that!  I gave the leaves a quick swipe with my Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends.

 
The sentiments on the front and inside the card are from the Celebrating You Stamp Set.  If you are not familiar with this stamp set, click on the ink in the Product List below to see all sixteen sentiments that are included in this all-purpose set.  It is a very versatile sentiment set, and we all need at least one of those!

To finish the inside, I added a Night of Navy bordered strip of the same designer series paper as was used on the card front.  You can also see a little peek of the envelope flap which is also covered with the same DSP.

If you would like a detailed tutorial that provides all cutting and scoring dimensions required for this fun fold, you can use this link to download a copy.

A complete Product List is shown below.

Product List

Monday, August 29, 2022

ART GALLERY HUES OF HAPPINESS

This week I am doing something a little different.  Rather than feature a specific Stamp Set or Bundle, I'm going to be featuring the Hues of Happiness Designer Series Paper (DSP) and combining it with some of my favorite flower stamp sets

If you have not checked out the Hues of Happiness DSP in the Current Annual Catalog, you should take a closer look.  It is gorgeous!  I will admit, when I first saw it, I recognized that the colors were beautiful, but all I saw were flowers, and I thought, "I have plenty of flowered DSP", so was in no hurry to purchase it.  However, eventually, once I took a closer look and paid attention to the "reverse" side, I could no longer resist.  The reverse sides of several of the designs are gradients of all those same beautiful colors and they are perfect to use for backgrounds.

Today's card uses three different patterns of the Hues of Happiness DSP.  

The bottom layer is made with one of my favorite patterns.  You can only see two of the colors (Gorgeous Grape and Granny Apple Green) that are on the full sheet but the full 12 " x 12" sheet actually has stripes of eight different colors--plus variations of those colors as they transition one to the other. 


The above photo shows a complete 4" strip from the full 12" x 12" sheet.  Aren't these colors beautiful?  You can see that I only used the top portion of this strip for my bottom layer.

For the middle layer I used one of the floral designs.  The top layer is made with a third pattern that I thought made a great "sky" and backdrop for my flower.


The flower from the Art Gallery Stamp set is made with a two-step stamp.  I chose Melon Mambo for my flower, but since the Melon Mambo in the DSP was more of a muted Melon Mambo, I stamped off three times before I stamped the background layer, and once before I stamped the detailed top layer.  The leaves are Granny Apple Green.  All were quickly die cut with the coordinating Floral Gallery Dies.


The birthday sentiment is also from the Art Gallery Stamp Set.  I used a die from Stylish Shapes Dies to cut the sentiment and then snipped off the right end.

The Ribbon is Polished Pink Open Weave Ribbon.  I love this ribbon which is available in each of the 21 - 23 In-Colors.  It is easy to tie and not at all bulky.  Using a short piece of the silver cord from Simply Elegant trim to create a small loop at the folded end of the ribbon is also an excellent way to keep the "bulk-factor" low -- making for easier mailing.


To decorate the inside of the card I used a narrow strip of the same floral pattern DSP that was used on the card front.  In the sneak peek of the envelope, you can see that the same DSP was used to cover the flap.

What do you think?  Are you loving the colors in this Hues of Happiness Designer Series Paper?

If you would like a free tutorial with all the cutting dimensions and step-by-step assembly directions, one is available for download at this link.  This is an excellent layout to use with Designer Series Paper as you can mix and match several patterns.

See the following Product List for more information on the products used for today's card.


Product List

Friday, August 26, 2022

HERON IN FLIGHT

I used the final bird in the Heron Habitat Stamp Set -- the Flying Heron for today's card.  I also used more of the dies that are part of the Heron Die Set.


The "Rolling Waves" die was used to create a mask for the sky and water, and a circle die from Stylish Shapes Dies was used to create the setting sun.   The water was blended with Pacific Point Ink and the sky with layers of So Saffron, Highland Heather, and Pacific Point.  Even though both the water and the upper sky were made with Pacific Point ink, you can see that depending on how much ink you apply, you can get a significant difference in depth of color.  Since Pacific Point is an intense color, the sky was made by applying a minimal amount of ink


After blending colors on the Basic White Cardstock to create the water and the sky, the Flying Heron was stamped twice with Black Stazon ink--once over the sun directly on the card front, and a second time on a separate piece of Basic White cardstock.  The second stamped Heron was fussy cut and then layered over the "Sun Heron" with dimensionals.

The reason I stamped it directly over the sun and then a 2nd time and fussy cut it is because if you already have a detailed image stamped behind where you are planning to place the fussy-cut image, you don't need to be as "fussy" with the cutting as all the details will show from behind.  This is a little trick I learned to save time fussy cutting.  By adding the layer with dimensionals, you get the 2-dimension affect, and if you did not do so, you would need to create a mask to prevent having a So Saffron Heron.

There is a coordinating die for the Flying Heron, but when I cut it with the die, a small white border remained, and I thought it looked more real and natural without that white border, so I ended up fussy cutting the border to remove it.


Several different dies were used to create the tall Granny Apple Green grass on the front of the card.

To complete the card front, two sets of birds were stamped with Black Stazon.  The Thank You sentiment was stamped with Granny Apple Green ink and die cut with the smallest "flag" die from Stylish Shapes Dies.  The sentiment was then adhered with dimensionals.


In keeping with my philosophy of no naked insides, I stamped the grassy area with Granny Apple Green and then added some cattails.  This leaves plenty of room for a personalized thank you note.

If you would like a detailed tutorial for this card, please use this link to download a FREE copy.  It will give you all the cutting dimensions as well as step-by-step directions for creating the card.

A list of products used is shown below.  Click on any item to learn more details.


Product List
Stampin Write Markers - Brights Collection
Stampin Write Markers - Brights Collection
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