Silver Bells Thank you

Good morning!

Are you in need of thank you cards this season as much as I am - I always like to keep them on hand for a quick thank you!?  I had fun making a couple for my stash using a variety of products for them.  I love stamping for fun, don't you?

Both of my cards today use some stamps from PaperTrey Ink (snowflakes and tags) along with a thank you sentiment from Stampendous.  I also used the same Memory Box jingle bell die with the silver glitter fun foam sticker paper.  I added some of my old felt snowflakes that I've had in my stash FOREVER... glad to use them!

My first card uses some charcoal stripe baker's twine for a quick wrap along with some stone stripe baker's twine for my second one.

Have a great day!

Jessica

Wintery Thank you card

Good morning!

Today I'm sharing the last of my thank you cards that I made using this Stampendous thank you sentiment.  Once again, I used some PaperTrey Ink's tags, stamped with coordinating stamp sets and the Snowflake Medley stamp set.

I used some snowflake plastic die cuts from my stash - I'm not even sure who they are from since I don't have the packaging anymore.  Both cards also have some stone stripe baker's twine along with the fun jingle bell die from Memory box on my second card.

Have a great day!

Jessica

Shades of Red - Winter Thank you's!

Good morning!

I have three more thank you cards to share with you today that I made using a thank you sentiment from Stampendous stamped on PaperTrey Ink stamped tags.  These ones all use the same color scheme: red, green, and linen... so traditional and fun.

My first two cards also uses some maraschino striped baker's twine and more of my felt and plastic snowflakes from my stash.  I also used PTI's Made of Snow Mini stamp set with the coordinating die - those little snowmen are adorable!

It's a bit hard to see, but there is an acrylic die cut snowflake layered under the sentiment tag, cut from some old packaging I saved for just such a reason.  The snowflake die is an older Sizzix/Stampin Up die - not sure if that's still available or not but it's a favorite of mine.  I added some flax stripe baker's twine on this card to help soften the reds.

Have a great day!

Snowflake Thank you

I have some more thank you cards to share with you today that I made using lots of fun products in my stash.   I love the soft colors of these ones today.  It may be hard to see, but I layered an acetate snowflake over the white one.  

I used the same Stampendous thank you on the PaperTrey Ink tags for both of my cards today.  Once again, I wrapped some stone stripe baker's twine on this first card - love how well it matches the papers.

My second card is a bit simpler, but still with the same colors... love them so much! 

Have a wonderful day!

Jessica

Seeing Polka Dots!

Good morning!

I'm popping in today to share some cards that I made for the new The Twinery's challenge.  

This month it's all about Polka Dots!

I pulled out some frame stamps from PaperTrey Ink and a sentiment stamp from Stampendous and whipped up several winter themed thank you cards - perfect for all the Christmas and birthday gifts we've gotten here at my house the past couple of months.

I used a couple of fun twines on my cards - it's hard for me NOT to use them on my projects because they are so handy and 'homespun!'  My go-to twines lately have been my beloved Flax and Gold Shimmer twines... both of them are perfect neutrals for most of my projects.

More information about the Polka Dot challenge can be found right HERE.

I hope you get a chance to play along with us!

Jessica

Fran*tage Friday: Season's Greetings Decor

Hi there!

I'm honored to join PaperCraft Planet for this week's Stampendous Fran*tage Friday!  I was given Saint Nick and Old World Greetings cling rubber stamp sets to design a Christmas project to share with you this week. I began working with the beautiful vintage St. Nick focal image, first stamping it in Memento Cocoa ink on cream card stock and then colored with Copics.  Then, I shaded the entire cream paper with Distress Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap for some added depth.  After the ink dried, I used a texture folder from Sizzix for Stampin Up - my favorite 'faux' fabric one.  (Not sure of the name though, since I'm not a demo, sorry!)  Then, I stitched the cream paper to  some brown and then red card stock.

I'm sorry I don't have step by step photos of the completion of the project, but it would be quite easy to recreate, since the St. Nick focal image is a card front (4 1/4" x 5 1/2") which I adhered to a 5 1/2" square piece of patterned paper.  Then, I stitched the panel to a kraft die cut from the largest Spellbinder Labels 1 Grand nestability.

Card Details
Stamps: Old World Greetings; Saint Nick (Stampendous)
Ink: Cocoa Memento for stamps; Distress Antique Linen & Frayed Burlap for distressing & shading
Cardstock: Neenah cream; Stampin Up solid; Echo Park Season's Greetings 6x6 patterned paper
Other: sewing machine; Spellbinder Poinsettia, leaf and Grand Label 1 dies; Basic Grey buttons; Twine from The Twinery; Stampin Up texture folder; Copic markers

Originally, I was planning on having this be a Christmas card, but after I finished the card front, it seemed too special to just stop there, so I decided to add it to the largest Label One die cut to create a 'frame' or 'plaque' of some sorts... I guess I'm not sure what to call it exactly!  Since the rectangle card front didn't fit quite the way I wanted it to (I don't like empty space very well), I thought the Spellbinder Poinsettia (retired) and foliage dies would be a nice counter balance to the focal image.  After die cutting the flowers, I ran them through the same texture folder and then shaded them with Distress Frayed Burlap ink.

After finishing the front, I had to come up with a way for it to stand up - since I wanted it to be a 'frame' of sorts.  So, I cut a 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" strip of thick white card stock to use as an 'easel'.  I scored it at @ 1" and then covered it with some more Echo Park Christmas paper.  I added it to the back of my project with Mono Multi Liquid glue... I LOVE that stuff!  It's my favorite adhesive for 3D projects like this that I'm not exactly sure how will turn out.  ScorTape is awesome too, but I prefer the liquid mono multi glue since I can 'slide' it around a bit while I'm figuring it all out and then once I leave it alone it's NOT moving at all after it dries.

Now, for the fun part!  Leave a comment on the PaperCraft Planet Blog post HERE for your chance to win a very generous prize package from Stampendous in honor of Fran*tage Friday!  You have until Thursday at midnight, Eastern Time. After that, we’ll pick a winner through Random.org and announce the name on the next Fran*tage Friday.

Good luck!

Thanks to our good friends at Stampendous for sponsoring this event!

Have a great Friday!
Jessica

Fran*tage Friday: Jumbo Tulip

Hi there!

I'm honored to be participating in the PaperCraft Planet's Frantage Friday with Stampendous.  I recently made the decision to step down from the PaperCraft Planet design team as my stamping/designing time is much more limited now that I'm teaching full time again.  Susanna graciously accepted my resignation and is currently looking for a new designer to join her amazingly talented team!  I'd encourage you to check out all the details on how to apply for this awesome opportunity on this link HERE.

I was sent a lovely package of goodies from Stampendous a few weeks ago (before my resignation) to design a tutorial for PCP's Frantage Friday.  To see all the other tutorials and projects that have been created by the other team members, please check them out on this link HERE.  I decided to show how to pull out my embossing powder and inks and show how quick and easy it can be to make minimally colored images POP.

Supplies Used 

(All from Stampendous, unless otherwise noted)

• Jumbo Tulip CRS5012
• Friendship Assortment Sentiments SSC1116
• Jumbo Clear Handle SSH57
• Champagne Crushed Glass Glitter (for orange card)
• Shabby Blue Embossing Enamel (for blue card)
• Card stock - two shades of same color family
• Two Copic markers to match the colored cardstock
• Clear Embossing Powder (I used Ranger's Detail)
• Embossing Ink (I used Ranger Distress Ink)

Begin by stamping the jumbo tulip image in black ink on the lighter colored card stock.  Color with two shades of Copic markers towards the centers and edges of the flower being sure to leave enough of the card stock color showing.  Color the stem green.  Trim around the entire image.

Next, apply embossing ink directly to the stamped image.  Don't worry about getting the whole image inked up perfectly as we will repeat this process at least two times.

Sprinkle clear embossing powder over the image immediately and heat set.  There will be spots of the flower that you may have missed, so don't be concerned.  Each layer of embossing powder will help to smooth the surface completely.  The photo below is what it looks like when it's been heat set one time.  As you can see there is not very much shine on the image quite yet.

Repeat with dabbing more embossing ink over the image, sprinkling with clear embossing powder, and heat setting at least one more time.  The photo below shows the process done three times.

On the photo below you can see the shine even better.  The image is now finished and ready to be added to your card or scrapbook page!

Using my orange card as a guide, I embossed the light card stock panel with a Cuttlebug embossing powder and stitched it to my 5 1/2" card front.  The darker card stock panel was stamped with the flourish image (included in the Large Tulip stamp set from Stampendous) in embossing ink and heat set with the same clear embossing powder I used for my flower.

For an added embellishment, I applied a strip of 1/2" Scor-Tape to the card stock seam and sprinkled Stampendous' shabby blue embossing enamel over the tape and heat set.  I love that you can use Scor-tape for heat embossing and glitter!  (On my orange card, I sprinkled Stampendous' Champagne Crushed Glass Glitter over the 1/4" Scor Tape strip.)

All in all it was a pretty CAS card to make even though it looks quite elaborate and detailed!  Break out your embossing powder, ink and colored card stock and give it a try!  I know you'll like the results as much as I do!

You have the opportunity to win some free stamps from Stampendous and all you have to do is to leave a comment on the PaperCraft Planet blog post HERE by next Friday, November 4, at 1am EST.  Susanna will choose a lucky winner from the comments by random.org and announce the winners on the next Frantage Friday blog post!

Good luck and happy stamping!
Jessica

Fran*tage Friday: Polished Stone

I'm so excited to join the PaperCraft Planet designers in hostessing another Fran*tage Friday where we have teamed up with Stampendous to bring you stamping inspiration and instruction!  Each week, a new designer is  showing new stamping techniques with a chance to win the gorgeous Stampendous stamps we each work with for our projects!

I decided to play with one of my favorite stamping techniques for my cards today: Polished Stone with alcohol inks.  I had so much fun playing with this technique, that I have 3 cards to share with you today.  This first one is my favorite of the bunch.  Keep with me through my marathon post as I'm going to show you step by step photos on how I created the background for the hearts.



Here are the supplies needed to complete this technique:

• Stamps: Cling Dream Text;  Cling Deco Lady;   Cling Breathe
• Black Stazon Ink
• Ranger Alcohol inks: Shell Pink, Willow, Cloudy Blue, and Pearl
• Ranger Alcohol ink Blending Solution
• Glossy Paper
• Inkssentials Blending Tool and Felt Applicators
• Ranger Craft Mat

You can substitute your own products for this technique, but you MUST use glossy paper and a permanent ink such as Stazon to achieve the same look.  You can use any dye based reinker you have on hand along with regular Rubbing Alcohol and a cotton ball, so have fun playing!

Let's get started!

Put one drop of each reinker on the felt as shown above.  

Begin pouncing up and down on the glossy card stock, covering the entire paper.

Optional Step: After the color has been added to the paper, if you'd like more of an artistic 'blur' take some blending solution and drip it directly on the card stock in a few spots as shown below.  

Then, take the blending tool and pounce over the solution to blend it as as desired.

After I had finished, I wanted to have more green to it, so I added some more Willow ink to the blending felt and pounced until I had achieved the shades I wanted for my project.  That's the beauty of this technique - you can continue to play with your colors until you've gotten the 'perfect' look!

When the inks have completely dried (which won't take long), ink up the stamp with black Stazon ink and carefully stamp on the paper.  Remember, that glossy card stock can make your stamp slide a bit, so be very careful when stamping.

After I had completed the large text background, I created the pink and blue backgrounds, using two shades of the primary color following the same basic steps shown above.  After I had completed them all, I die cut each of them with a variety of Spellbinder dies for my cards.

Here's the other two cards I created the rest of the Polished Stone embellishments shown above.

and, the last card using the beautiful "Breathe" sentiment stamp set...



Want to win the three stamps I used on my projects today? Comment HERE (click the link -- comments on the linked blog post count. Comments here are just nice) and let us know what technique you’d like to learn. You have until Thursday at midnight, Eastern Time. After that, we’ll pick a winner through Random.org and announce that lucky duck on the next Fran*tage Friday.

Good luck!
Jessica

Thanks to our good friends at Stampendous for sponsoring this event!

Card 1 Details ( 5.5" Square card)
Stamps: Dream Text, Deco Lady (Stampendous)
Ink: Stazon black
Card stock: Glossy; Basic Grey Two Scoops
Other: Wild Orchid roses, lace, and satin ribbon; Ranger Inkssentials blending tool and felt; Ranger alcohol inks and blending solution; Spellbinder plain & scallop heart dies and plain and scallop rectangle dies

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Card 2 Details (5.5" Square card)
Stamps: Dream Text (Stampendous)
Ink: Stazon black
Card stock: Glossy; Basic Grey Two Scoops
Other: Wild Orchid rose; Spellbinder plain and scallop heart dies; Silk ribbon; Sateen green flowers; sewing machine; Cuttlebug seeing spots embossing folder; Ranger Inkssentials blending tool & felt; Ranger Alcohol inks and blending solution

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Card 3 Details (3" x 6 1/4" Spellbinder long rectangle shaped card)
Stamps: Breathe and Dream Text (Stampendous)
Ink: Black Stazon
Card stock: Glossy; Basic Grey Two Scoops
Other: Sewing machine; Spellbinder plain & scallop heart dies and Long rectangle plain and scallop dies; Honeydew Twine from The Twinery; Buttons; Ranger alcohol inks and blending solution; Ranger inkssentials blending tool and felt applicators

Stampendous Christmas Ornament

Happy Friday!

Stampendous is sponsoring Paper Craft Planet for the entire month of November with a series of inspirational holiday stamping ideas. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, new projects along with the instructions will be shared by the designers that we hope will get your inspired for the holidays!

Today, it's my turn and I created this Christmas ornament - which my daughter Ashley fell in love with and decided that she needed to make one too!  I have to pick up some extra acrylic blocks for her, so she can make her own personalized ornament.  I have a feeling it may be an easy Christmas gift for my little sidekick to make this year.  It's quite simple to make, so if my almost 10 year old daughter can make one, I know crafters of all ages can too!  The photo below shows the basic supplies I used for my project.  Please note, the clear block is a 3x4 new acrylic block that is usually used for unmounted stamps.

Supplies Needed: 

• Acrylic block 
• Stamped image on paper cut to the same size as the acrylic block
• felt or paper cut to the same size as the acrylic block - used to finish the back side of the ornament
• ribbon 
• 1/4" Scor-tape
• Ranger's Matte Accents (not shown but used to adhere the paper to the acrylic block)

Ornament Step by step details

1. Cut card stock and felt to the size of the acrylic block.
2. Stamp image on paper and color.  Embellish with Spica or Sakura glitter and glaze pens, if desired.
3. Adhere the card stock to the acrylic block with Ranger's Matte Accents and a paintbrush.  Apply the adhesive to the paper and press to the block.  Other adhesives can be used, you just want to make sure the adhesive lines will dry clear, without the lines showing.
4. Adhere the felt or card stock to the back of the block
5. Wrap 1/4" Scor-tape around the outside edge of the entire acrylic block.  Adhere the ribbon of choice around the block on the tape, making sure that the two tails of the ribbon end on the top, so a knot can be added to the top for hanging.
6. Embellish the top of the acrylic block with a bow with 1/4" Scor-tape, to hide the knot of the hanging ribbon.
7. Adhere the stamped Christmas list to the block and protect with a layer of Ranger's Matte Accents.
8. Embellish with buttons.

Ornament Details
Stamps: Stampendous Fluffles Christmas Letter
Ink: Memento black
Card stock: PTI white
Other: PTI felt; May Arts ribbons; Copic markers; 1/4" Scor-tape; buttons; twine; Ranger matte accents; Spica glitter pens; Sakura clear glaze pen

and the back of the ornament ...

The designers from PaperCraft Planet will be providing holiday ideas all month long to help you get ready for the holidays. You will always be able to access the projects in the Back to Basics Stampendous Group.

Have a wonderful rest of your day!
Jessica

Warm Wishes

 

edited to add:  Whoohoo!  My card was chosen from all the participants in the sketch challenge along with 5 other amazing projects to be featured in CP's Super Six category!  And, I am the lucky guest designer for Sketch 90, which will debut next week on Card Patterns.  Thanks, CP for the shout out and fun opportunity to play along with your amazing designers!

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As much as I don't care for winter, I LOVE these snowmen from Stampendous and have been having so much fun playing with these images!  lol!  So, bear with me again tonight as I have another all white themed wintry card to share with you ...

Card Details

Stamps: Snowman Flurry by Stampendous

Cardstock: GinaK; PTI white; vellum

Ink: Memento black  and light blue

Other: EK Success circle punches; Spellbinder scallop square dies; copic markers; polar white flower soft; SU ribbon; ruffled ribbon from Hobby Lobby; snowflake embossing folder; dauber; Making Memories button brads

 

and the inside view - more snowflakes and another peek at the snowman...

 

here's a bit of a close-up of the snowman on the inside - I really like how he looks, just stamped partially on the scalloped square die cut..

The sketch for this card came from my friends over at Card Patterns.  Here's the sketch - give it a try if you have some time to do some stamping this weekend!  It's a fun one!

I'm also submitting this card to Simon Says Stamp's all white challenge!  I love the look of the crisp white layers together and plan on making a few more cards with this set so I will have another iEmbellish virtual class card kit to add to my collection!  The sentiments included in this stamp set are winter themed, not just Christmas, so it's a pretty versatile set - at least for ME... since it seems like it's winter for almost half the year around here!  lol!

Have a great rest of your day and I hope you get a chance to play along with these two challenges!

Jessica