Christmas Card Class June 2011

Christmas card classes are always fun, but it is not always easy to come up with new designs that showcase new products. For last nights class I used a technique that we were shown at our recent Stampin' Up! Convention in Melbourne - a technique that I knew I'd love as soon as I saw it demonstrated. 

That technique is the TORN PAPER FRAME TECHNIQUE that was generously shared with us by a very talented SU demonstrator, Sharnee Torrents

For my class I gave the participants 5 packs using different colour combinations. I was wanting to go non traditional with colour, while still using a traditional stamp set, and what better tool to help me out of a dilemma than the fantastic COLOUR COACH from Stampin' Up!®. This is a wonderful, compact little tool that gives you lots of ideas for combining colours. And yes, sometimes the combinations are a complete surprise, but they work. If you don't have one of these - you need one!

I also wanted to use my home made SHIMMER MIST (ask me how if you'd like the recipe) but at the same time have an earthy feel to the cards. What a contrast! Glimmer and Earth!

Oh well this is what I came up with...

This is the first card I made using 

Night of Navy, Pumpkin Pie and Cherry Cobler card stock.

The image is clear embossed then highlights are created with bleach.

Stampin' Up! stamps used are from the "A Wish for Peace" (p. 29)  and "Tiny Tags" (p. 93) and "Delightful Decorations" (p. 23) sets in the current Idea Book and Catalogue. It's easy to combine images from different sets together, and doing this gives you unlimited creative possibilities from just a few sets. 

This detail shows up another technique that I used - the COLOR SPRITZER TOOL. This is fantastic for "aging" your creations - it's easy to use and you can use it with the  SHIMMER MIST or by itself. You can control the amount of "spritz" that goes on your card too. 

Bleaching is another favourite technique of mine. (Yes! I love them all) This detail shows how you can get a variety in tints by adding more or less bleach.

Now let's look at a couple of other colour combinations. You'll see I've rearranged some of the elements a little and added details such as the faux stitching, different Vintage Brads and string/cord.

And finally after the girls went home I decided to go really grungy for my next and brightest colour combo.

Colours are Elegant Eggplant, Melon Mambo, Perfect Plum.

I sprayed the double layer of card with water and crumpled it in my hands. Flattened it out slightly and swiped the Mambo side with Eggplant Classic Ink then I worked out approximately where I wanted to tear open the card to create the torn frame. The card was still damp and very malleable at this stage. I sprayed with my White Frost Shimmer Mist that was nearing the bottom of the bottle and was quite strong in consistency - it came out quite thick! Next came the Color Spritzer with the Eggplant Stampin' Write Marker to tone that shimmer down a little!

I also added some sponging around the edges that had been distressed with a Bone Folder. Everything was then matted onto a Perfect Plum card base.

And here are the 4 cards I finished yesterday, showing how different cards can look by changing a few elements such as colour and accessories. 

Hope you like this idea and you'll give it a try. It's so much fun trying different things. I don't think I'll ever settle to a particular style.

I'm sharing these cards with the following challenges:

Oldie But A Goodie –stamp more than 6 months old       

The SpotlightChallenge  - try something new    

KB Cute Monday   - Anything Goes

Make It Monday      

The CorrosiveChallenge Blog – must be Christmas

Paper SundaesChallenge blog      - Vintage/Shabby Chic

You are more than welcome to join my monthly Christmas Card Classes if you live in the Canberra Regional Area. They are held on the first Wednesday of each month.

Hope you will give these techniques a try

Until Next Time,

Stay Crafty!  

Greenhouse Garden and Shimmer Paint.

Hi readers,

I have a cute little project for you today that uses one of Stampin' Up!'s fabulous 2-Step Stamp sets named Greenhouse Garden. You can find it on page 81 of the 2010 - 11 Idea Book and Catalogue.

The 2-Step stamp sets make it wonderfully easy to create  realistic images - all you need to do is use your trusty Stamp-a-majig to align the two stamps.

I made this little 3 x 3 inch note card by cutting some card into 3 x 6 inch pieces and folding it in half.

Stamp the floral image onto Vanilla card stock using Bravo Burgundy Classic Ink by Stampin' Up! Align the details (stamped in black) using the Stamp-A-Majig. You can't see it in the photo but in real life I stamped the details with Champagne Shimmer Mist first then rotated the stamp a little and re-stamped in black. there is quite a nice detail visible on the card. 

Cut out the image  using Paper Snips.

Next I took a piece of River Rock card and ran it through the Big Shot using the Elegant Lines Embossing folder.

Cut down to the appropriate size and apply Champagne Shimmer Mist with a Sponge Dauber. That way you can cover some of the background as well as the raised areas of the embossed card. Sponge the edges with Bravo Burgundy ink and mat onto Bravo Burgundy card stock.

Attach all of this to the card front. 

Stamp out one of the Teeny Tiny Sentiments, and punch out with the Jewellery Tag Medium Punch. Dust the tag edges with a little Bravo Burgundy and tie through with some Linen Thread.

Raise the flower image on one dimensional, tie the Linen thread around the dimensional and attach all to the card. Finished.

I think it took me longer to write this post than it did to actually make the card. They would make a lovely gift tag or group 4 - 6 together, add some of Stampin Up's Mini Square Envelopes, tie with some ribbon and you have a lovely gift.

Thanks for visiting! I'd love you to leave a comment and let me know you've stopped by.

Until next time

Stay Crafty,

Nature Walk

I've enjoyed playing with this wonderfully versatile stamp set from the Stampin' Up!® Autumn/Winter Mini Catalogue.

Nature Walk has 7 co-ordinating stamps in the set and enables you to create a wide range of styles. The cards I have to show you here are natural and Vintage and they include collage stamping, direct to rubber multi-coloured stamping, sponging and embossing to name just a few techniques. 

I love to combine techniques to create something a little different.

You can see a vastly different style to these cards, still using the same stamp set here.

But that is another post. Here are a couple of cards in similar style using 3 - 5 stamps from the Nature Walk stamp set.

This card just grew and grew! Then I misted the entire card with some White Frost Shimmer Mist. I liked the effect, but the entire card became muted so I decided to stamp up some more images and layer them to create a more 3-D effect.

The images were stamped using Bravo Burgundy and Always Artichoke, and it's quite amazing the variety of tones you can get when blending the outlines with a Blender Pen.  Some of the images have been sponged with Soft Suede to "age" them a little.

I used a spritzer tool to achieve the spotted effect on the background, and you can see in this detail how the blender pen can create shadows on the birdcage, simply by lightly passing the pen over the stamped coloured lines. The roughness on the background card is achieved by scraping with a blade - it all adds to the "old" feeling.

The next card uses the same colour range and a similar layout, and I've added the debossed side of the beautiful "Framed Tulips" embossing folder from Stampin' Up!

 I sponged the edge of the embossed paper, using Bravo Burgundy and Always Artichoke to highlight the pattern. As green and red are complimentary colours you'll always find a bit of neutral colour creeping in when they are used together. I like the earthy tones created with the neutrals.

The bird was cut and raised on dimensionals, and the Vintage Brad and Linen Thread accent helps to cover over a little bit of less than perfect stamping!

Again I've lightly passed a blender pen over specific areas of the bird cage to create shadows and depth.

I have quite a few ideas to follow through with this style of card. If you would like further information or would like to order any of the products in these projects, you are welcome to contact me via my Demonstrator Business Web Site

Until next time

Stay Crafty