Dragonfly Dreams

Hello, if you've been following my blog we've made it as far as card number five of the book box set. This time I revisited a card using Dragonfly Dreams that I'd made at Coffee and Cards with Susan at Craftyduckydoodah.

These are the cards made with Susan. I loved the colours used, however, this time I needed to use a particular colour palette for my project.

Once again my colour palette was based on the Delightful Daisy DSP, using Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive and Whisper White.

Calypso Coral

Old Olive

Daffodil Delight

Whisper White

I used Gorgeous Grunge to stamp the Whisper White base card using Old Olive and Calypso Coral. The stamped lines replaced the washi tape on the original card. Then I added a Stitched Shape square with a border in Calypso Coral.

The dragonfly was stamped and coloured with Watercolour pencils; I used the blender pen so that I didn't end up with any blocks of colour or harsh lines. I then fussy cut the image out. There is a slightly smaller dragonfly die you can use if you really don't like fussy cutting! The dragonfly wings were gently shaped so that it didn't lie flat against the card.I arranged the leaves - not Stampin' Up this time - and added Silver Metallic Thread that had been looped around my fingers first.

Typical me, managed to get a tiny ink mark on the inside of the card so to cover it up I decorated the left hand side for a change. In crafting there are no mistakes. I like to think of them as happy accidents.

I like to add a little image on the inside of the card and also on the envelope for a cohesive look. I don't know about you, but I always open cards with a decorated envelope before plain cards. They are just that little bit extra special.

My sentiment was stamped directly onto the base card. As I don't feel confident at stampin straight I try to use my stamping precision press. I'm really not as bad as I think I am but it really does take the worry away.

The Joy of Sets Design Challenge 5 (Letter J) - Jar of Love meets Tranquil Tulips

Hello, goodness what a palaver this fortnights challenge turned out to be! There are very few Stampin' Up stamp sets that have a "J" in the title. Luckily I have Jar of Love - one of my favourites so I hope it won't be retired next time around.

If you've seen any of my recent posts, you'll know that I took delivery of quite a large (for me) SU order. I've challenged myself to use all the sets I bought as quickly as I can. I also have been very conscious that I hadn't used any of the new In Colours yet. So what better time than for the JoS challenge to use a new stamp set and colour? Here's introducing Tranquil Tulips and Fresh Fig with, of course, Jar of Love. I hope you like my choice.

This is a hostess stamp set you can get by holding an SU party. Contact your local demonstrator to arrange a suitable time and date, invite friends, add cake and you have yourself a fun crafty event.

Fresh Fig

Old Olive

Whisper White

I stamped the jar on Whisper White using Smoky Slate and then added "water" in the form of Pool Party stamped off for a paler shade. A couple of tulip heads, stems and leaves were stamped onto scrap paper and fussy cut before adding to the card with dimensionals to give a raised effect from the jar. I like to think maybe someone was arranging a bunch of flowers before being distracted mid way through. A small gold bow was tied around the 2 stems too for a hint of bling.

Three tulips were stamped directly onto the main card - this is a 2 stage stamp - along with a few leaves. It probably took me longer to decide on the leaf placement than anything else. Oh to be decisive... I did a little watercolouring to ground the jar and added 3 of the White Perfect Accents that I coloured with a Promarker. I haven't added a sentiment yet but I think when I do it will be inside the card. I hope you like it.

Ahoy there...I saw Three Ships

Hello again, thanks for stopping by. Well it was more like little sailing boats! Once again I'd gone to Coffee and Cards, mainly because I wasn't at all smitten with this stamp set when it came out and wanted to see what could be done with it.

Needless to say, I came back fully inspired and will be adding this set to my basket next time I place an order. Funnily, I already have the coordinating dies as I thought of so many ways to use them!

Island Indigo

Pool Party

So Saffron

Soft Suede

Whisper White

I made 2 cards, the first of which is a handy note cards size. For this one, I used watercolour card and created a sea and sky using Pool Party and Island Indigo. Each element of the boat was stamped on scrap card and cut out and stuck down onto the water coloured background with dimensionals. A simple sentiment and 3 rhinestones completed what is a very simple but effective card. As usual, I stamped the envelope and the inside of the card to coordinate, Most of us struggle with cards for men but I think this would be perfect.

For my 2nd card, this one slightly larger, the sea was made using first and second generation stamping with the splodges out of this versatile set. Not quite the replacement for Gorgeous Grunge - I personally don't think anything else will be - but they do work rather well. The waves have been cut from Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper which adds some sparkle and picks up on the Pool Party splodges. 

I stamped 3 boats and fussy cut them out, tucking 2 behind the waves and leaving the central one on top. They were all stuck down with dimensionals to raise them slightly. The splodges are used behind the sun too.

 I thought this card looked rather calming so chose to add a sentiment for someone retiring. Normally I try to keep them fairly generic unless I'm making for a commission. And just to show great minds think alike over a second coffee afterwards, we thought with a little tweaking and a change of colour this could make a great Christmas card. Watch this space.

Mirror Stamping

Hello again, have you seen all the cards about with either mirror images or reflections? They are so on trend at the moment.I had often thought how nice it would be to be able to transpose an image but hadn't really thought about how it could be made possible before. Luckily lots of other people had the same thought and shared their tutorials.

Anyway, inspiration came at totally the wrong time when I was on the bus going to work! I hadn't even got a scrap of paper with me. As soon as I got into work I made a quick sketch much to the amusement of my co-workers. Needless to say from then to actually making it, the card has somewhat evolved

Once again I turned to Moon Baby, so far it's the only stamp set I've used from my latest order! At least I'm getting very good value for money from this set. I chose to use Sweet Sugarplum, Soft Sky and So Saffron thus ensuring my card is suitable for boy or girl. 

So Saffron

Soft Sky

Sweet Sugarplum

Very Vanilla

To get a mirror image, stamp onto a piece of acetate first and then put that facedown onto the cardstock. Make sure the acetate doesn't move whilst pressing down well. If you have a large enough photopolymer stamp then you could stamp directly onto the back of that instead of the acetate.

I covered a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock in my chosen design, stamping some images in reverse and some partially off the page to draw the eye out.. I left a space for placement of the sentiment.

I used ink pads with the blender pens to colour in the images while the sentiment only required the write markers.

To add a 3D effect I stamped the image on a spare piece of card, coloured it and then fussy cut it. Using dimensionals it was attached to the background. The sentiment was also raised up with dimensionals. As usual the inside of the card was stamped and coloured to give a finished look.

Inside

A Jar full of Birthday Blooms for Mother's Day

Hello, I don't know why. but for some reason today I just sat at my craft desk staring at my stamp sets. I mean it isn't as if I didn't have any ideas; problem was, I'm still in Xmas card mode! It isn't as if I didn't have ideas for other cards either, I just didn't want to make them yet. Anyway, a quick look on Pinterest kick started the thought process to combine the oh so versatile Jar of Love bundle with Birthday Blooms.

Daffodil Delight

Garden Green

Whisper White

I thought it would make a nice change to colour these flowers in yellow, not a colour I use too often. Because I was water colouring again I stamped my image onto watercolour paper using Black Archival ink. I rarely fussy cut I have to confess, but this design really needed it and quite honestly, it wasn't too bad.

Some cards naturally evolve, just like this one. I debated at first whether to mat and layer so that I could stamp the jar directly as I don't have DSP in the right colours. However, it suddenly occurred to me that I could make my own just to add a little more interest. And as usual, I chose to stamp both inside the card and on the envelope.

Quick Tip no 3

Hello there, the other week I showed you how to die cut a shape without cutting the whole image. Well I've been asked by a crafty friend to explain how to cut out a convex (downward) shape of a stamp using a die. It really is so simple. I've remembered to photograph each step so hopefully you'll be able to understand how it works. Using this technique also means you'll never have to buy special dies for your Flip Flap cards.

First of all I stamped my image, in this case taken from the Moon Baby stamp set. I then decided which die made the best fit, matching the 2 end points - where I want to cut to. This die was secured in place with some low tack tape to prevent movement whilst cutting.










I then place my image and die onto the bottom cutting cutting plate. Depending on the shape and size you may need to rearrange the card so that the top plate fits through the die cutting machine.

The top plate should be placed so that it is placed ONLY over the area that needs cutting.



Once run through the machine, the die will cut only where the pressure of the top plate is, thus giving the partial cut required. The rest of the image can be fussy cut where needed to get the necessary effect. See, it is easy when you know how.

Quick Tip no 1

Hello again, Just a very quick tip which is why I'm posting twice this weekend. Do you ever want to use a basic die shape - circle, square, oval etc but not have the whole image stamped within that shape? Well, this morning that is exactly the effect I wanted. Could I just get straight on and do it?

The effect I wanted, isn't it cute

Oh no, it took me a while thinking exactly what to do! In the end I had to stamp my image and get the die, in this case a circle, so I could visualise it. This is so easy though in reality, I must have had brain freeze this morning.

Once you've stamped your image and chosen the die that best fits, fussy cut around the part you want to stand out of your shape. in this case the balloon was the obvious part to me. Then, slip the die through with the balloon on top of the die so that it isn't cut. This takes a little adjusting to get it exactly where you want. Once you're happy with the placement, run through your die cutter. See image below,

I think the finished cut looks rather effective. I hope you like it too. Now on to turn this into a card. Keep an eye out, this little elphant might just make an appearance again.