Fairless Stampin' Flair: December 2023

Friday, December 29, 2023

AN APPLE A DAY

I remember Mom and Day using the "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" bit-of-wisdom often. But I don't remember us eating an apple every day. What is your favorite kind of apple? Can you guess what mine is? It just may be featured on today's cards.

I have two cards for you today. Both were made by using acrylic blocks as my stamps. Have you done this? Our acrylic blocks can be used for many things besides just holding our stamps.

The card on the left uses watercolor paper and the card on the right uses Basic White cardstock.

Last week for my Learning with Friends video I showed how to create the backgrounds for each of these cards. If you missed it you can watch the replay here.

I asked in the video which card you liked best, so I'll ask the same question here.

Here is a closer view of the card that was made with watercolor paper and spritzing.

Here is a closer view of the card that was made by stamping directly on Basic White cardstock -- no water.

Now it is your turn to vote in the comments.

Other than the cardstock used to create the background and water vs. no water the only other difference is the layout of the sentiment.

The longer sentiment on the Basic White card was necessitated by inky fingers. I had a smudge I needed to cover! I think I actually like the sentiment better that goes across the width of the card. Sometimes covering up those mistakes turn into a happy surprise, right?

Which sentiment layout do you prefer?

The inside of both cards are exactly the same. And the envelopes each have a single apple on the flap as shown in the photo below.

If you would like a written tutorial for these cards, please use this link to download a copy.

Refer to the following list for the Products used.

NOTE: The Watercolor Paper and Blueberry Bushel Stampin' Write Marker were only used for the card on the left in the first photo. If you want the speckles you can use any dark color Stampin' Write Marker.

Product List

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Wednesday, December 27, 2023

CRACKED GLASS APPLES

The card today uses the Cracked Glass Technique. I've used this technique in my Technique Classes several times and it's always interesting.

The cracked glass is made by applying several layers of clear embossing powder until a fairly thick layer is created. Then the piece is put in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes. This makes the layer of embossing brittle. When you remove the piece from the freezer, you quickly bend it to create cracks.

Can you see the cracks in this close-up? You just have to be a little careful not to crack your "glass" too much. If you do, small pieces may break off the surface of the cardstock. If that happens, just reheat to remelt the embossing powder and freeze again.

The piece with the diagonal stripes behind the cracked glass is Vellum cardstock. I used my Simply Scored tool to create the stripes with the scoring tool. Vellum is very interesting cardstock to use because different effects can be created by embossing it with embossing folders or using your scoring tool. Both the Cracked Glass piece and the Vellum were die cut with Deckled Rectangle dies.

I embossed the front of the Early Espresso card base with the crosshatch Basics Embossing Folder, and this is one thing I would do differently on this card if I were to make it again. Next time I would emboss a separate piece of cardstock and then adhere it directly to the front of the card base.

The Cracked Glass Technique causes that cardstock to curl when you freeze it. When you crack the "glass", it removes much of the curling, but you still want to adhere it well to another piece of cardstock to stabilize and flatten it further. The scored vellum does not provide that stiffness. And by embossing the front of the card base that softens that cardstock also. As a result, it does not add much stiffness to stabilize the Cracked Glass. An additional unembossed layer of the Early Espresso cardstock would help that.

To decorate the inside of the card, I stamped a few apple blossoms and colored them with Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Blends.

Use this link to download a tutorial for the Cracked Glass card. As always, if you ever have any questions on the tutorial, please feel free to ask in the comments or you can also email me. I'm here to help!

Products used are listed below.

Product List

Apple Harvest Cling Stamp Set (English)

[159944]

Stylish Shapes Dies

[159183]

Deckled Rectangles Dies

[159173]

Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[119686]

Night Of Navy 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[100867]

Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[101650]

Vellum 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[101856]

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

[132708]

Versamark Pad

[102283]

Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154880]

Old Olive Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154892]

Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

[154884]

Basics Embossing Powders

[155554]

Heat Tool (Us And Canada)

[129053]

Sponge Daubers

[133773]

Iridescent Rhinestones Basic Jewels

[158130]

Basics 3 D Embossing Folders

[161598]

Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine

[149653]

Simply Scored

[122334]

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Monday, December 25, 2023

AN APPLE IN YOUR CHRISTMAS STOCKING

Did you ever watch Little House on the Prairie? Didn't they receive apples in their Christmas Stockings? I wonder what kids today would think of that?

Well, I have some apples for you today and all this week as I am featuring the Apple Harvest stamp set.

This stamp set was gifted to me by my awesome upline. She said I could choose any stamp set I wanted, so I chose one that I thought I would probably never purchase. Stamp sets that feature fruit are not sets I am typically drawn to as I just don't know what to do with them. So, I have challenged myself to use this set this week.

For today's card, I started with Watercolor Paper and added a Boho Blue color wash for the background. I like creating backgrounds like this with my Water Painter because basically I just get to scribble!

Scribbling is a great way to relieve frustration. My other favorite thing to do when I feel like I need a stress reduction, is to pound on the piano! I don't necessarily make beautiful music, but I do make a lot of noise!

After creating the color wash I stamped this branch of apples on Basic White cardstock and then colored it with my Stampin' Blends. I also find coloring relaxing, so I must have been feeling stressed the day I made this card.

This isn't particularly a "Christmasy" Card, but since it is Christmas Day, I wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas, so I grabbed the sentiment from Ringed with Nature and stamped it with Pecan Pie ink. A little bow made from Natural Wavy Trim and three Speckled Dots completed the card front.

For the inside of the card, I stamped and colored some more apples and added a Pecan Pie sentiment from Perched in a Tree. Apples seemed like something from nature to me, so I thought the sentiment worked. What do you think?

Use this link to download a Free Tutorial.

A list of the products I used is shown below.

Product List

Apple Harvest Cling Stamp Set (English)

[159944]