Sunday, October 25, 2020

NC Stampin' Up! Demos October Blog Hop

Welcome to the October NC Stampin' Up! Demos Blog Hop where we are celebrating the holidays. We could choose any holidays we want but the challenge was to pick two different holidays. I chose Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you are following through the hop, you just came from Laurie Meier's. blog. Aren't her projects fantastic?

Edit: In looking through the other blogs, it looks like I interpreted the challenge differently than it was intended. I did not catch the line about showing how versatile our stamp sets are which meant I missed that I was supposed to use the same set for both projects. The ironic thing is, I like thinking outside the box and using our sets in ways they weren't originally intended so this was right up my alley. You've still got cards from 2 holidays, but I used different sets for them. Sorry! I hope you still enjoy them and find some inspiration.

We did/are doing this Thanksgiving card in my October Zoom class. I use both tenses because one class was yesterday and the other will be Tuesday. Those who were there yesterday really enjoyed all of the techniques we talked about while creating 3 projects using the Gather Together bundle.


To get colored rhinestones, I colored them with my dark Old Olive Blends marker. I leave them on the backing paper when I color them and don't move them to my project until they are completely dry.

I used a sponge dauber to rub gently over the leaves with Soft Suede ink. This brings out the embossed lines on the leaves and adds a little extra visual interest. When I do this technique on leaves I don't mind if I rub a little hard and some ink gets on the rest of the leaf. After all, real leaves are multi-colored when they change. However, with some embossing folders I am much more careful and light handed with this technique because I really don't want the ink on the inside parts.

To create the background I set my Woodland embossing folder on a flat surface and rubbed my Soft Suede ink pad all over the inside of the front panel. A few tips: 1) Hold the ink pad horizontal to the embossing folder as you rub so that none of the ink gets in the depressed parts - in this case the trees. 2) When I say ink goes on the inside of the front panel - the front is the piece that has the logo on it; inside I think is clear, but just in case, it's the part the will be inside when you fold it in half with the cardstock in it. 3) Once you lay the cardstock on the embossing folder be very careful that it does not move. If it does, you'll have smudges where you don't want them. The same goes when removing it after you've run it through your embossing machine. I usually open the folder and turn it upside down so the embossed piece gently drops onto my work surface.

In this next card, you can see what happens if you ink the other side of the embossing folder.


When dry embossing, the part that is depressed on the folder is what pushes up and will be the embossed image. Therefore, the directions I gave you will leave the trees uninked and the background colored with ink. If you want the trees colored with ink and the background to remain uninked bare cardstock, as in the above picture, then you would rub ink on the back inside part - the trees will feel raised and the background will be depressed. If you do it this way, your trees will be colored but they will be debossed (pushed into the cardstock) instead of embossed (raised).

This Christmas card is one of the three cards we will make at my upcoming Stamp-a-Stack featuring Winter Woods. The background was done with the Buffalo Check background stamp.


It's hard to see in this picture, but I added Wink of Stella all over the tree, especially on the snowy areas. The tree layer is flat on the Mossy Meadow cardstock and then I popped up the Mossy Meadow layer with Stampin' Dimensionals. The pennant sentiment is similar. The Very Vanilla piece is flat on the Mossy Meadow, but this time I only put Stampin' Dimensionals on one side so the part over the tree layer is flat against it and the other end is popped up from the Buffalo Check.

Thank you for stopping by my blog and for hopping through this month's NC SU Demos Blog Hop. Next up is Dawn Colby. Hurry on over to see the great projects she has for you.



Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Celebrate Sunflowers Again

As promised yesterday, here's another card using the wonderful Celebrate Sunflowers bundle. I just love today's sentiment - Know that you are loved. Everyone should hear that message.


This card was CASEd from Australian demonstrator Alice Tomal. For those of you who don't know, CASE means Copy And Share Everything. It can be used as a verb as I've done here. We demonstrators love to share our creativity with others and when we're stumped for an idea are grateful for others who have shared. You don't always have to copy an idea exactly. Sometimes it's a stepping stone to get your own ideas flowing. Either way, I think it's always fun to see what other people create.

Supplies:

Celebrate Sunflowers Bundle: Celebrate Sunflowers stamps and Sunflowers dies
Cardstock: Bumblebee and Whisper White
Ink: Early Espresso

Cardstock Measurements:

4.25 x 11 Bumblebee – The card opens up rather than to the side with this cut. It is a design choice. 
1 x 2.25 Bumblebee 
3.5 x 3.5 Bumblebee for die cut 
4 x 5.25 Whisper White – 2 pieces, one for the front and one for inside 

I added pearls that I colored with my Blends marker. I used the Dark Daffodil Delight and did 2-3 coats to make it darker. Let dry in between coats and thoroughly before adding to project.

Here's how I finished the inside. Sorry about the shadows. I couldn't seem to avoid them.


And here's a CASE of my CASE. As I mentioned, other's ideas can be a spark for your creativity. I think the first card looks very bright and summery. I changed this one up a bit to seem more like fall. 


For this card, I didn't pop out all the little pieces from the die cut. I sponged the center and also a little bit on the petals to give them some definition.

I hope today's cards have inspired you to create something beautiful. If so, I'd love to see what you make. Please share a picture in the comments or on my facebook page. Happy stamping!

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Celebrate Sunflowers

I'm a big fan of the Celebrate Sunflowers Bundle, which includes the Celebrate Sunflowers stamps and Sunflowers dies. Here's a card I designed that we made in my last online class.


Supplies:

Celebrate Sunflowers Bundle: Celebrate Sunflowers stamps and Sunflowers dies
Cardstock: Bumblebee, Old Olive
Ink: Early Espresso

Cardstock Measurements:

4.25 x 11 Old Olive – You will find it helpful to cut your 8.5 x 11 cardstock in half vertically for this card because it is much easier to line up the sentiment piece when neither side is a fold. 
1 x 4.25 Bumblebee 
3.5 x 3.5 Bumblebee for die cut 
4 x 5.25 Whisper White – this is for the inside

I stamped the background using the large sunflower stamp. The die cut sunflower is popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals so it stands out a little more. The strip with the sentiment is flat on the card.

For the inside, I stamped the small sunflower in the bottom, right corner of the Whisper White layer. I always like when dark cards have a white layer inside. It's a nice pop when you open the card, plus it makes it easier to read the message.

Check back tomorrow to see another card using this bundle.

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