A “throwback” card I didn’t blog about, using the retired Timeless Tulips and Tranquil Thoughts stamp sets from Stampin’ Up.
I discovered some untitled, unposted posts in my WordPress tonight, ones I thought posted already. But as I’ve mentioned, I’ve had trouble getting some of my automatic posts to bounce around to the various apps I initially sent them to. So now I have a “throwback” card, I guess, to share with you (that I thought I’d already shared). And evidently there will be more to come.
This was a make-and-take idea from the 2019 Stampin’ Up OnStage before Covid hit, which I took home that weekend and made almost a year later. I used a retired Naturals cardstock that has little colored flecks in it for the base, with Pear Pizzazz ink and cardstock and Fresh Fig for the tulip blooms. I popped up some of the blooms with Dimensionals (foam dots). “Hello” is also from the retired Timeless Tulips stamp set, but the inside sentiment, “I thought of you today,” came from the Tranquil Thoughts stamp set. I took the completed card to the gift shop that sells my cards, and it did indeed sell quickly. Many thanks to Stampin’ Up for the fun idea.
Join me for a team blog hop creating birthday cards using many current Stampin’ Up products!
Hello again to my readers! And happy Valentine’s Day! Did you think I forgot about you? It’s been a little while since I’ve posted…but not quite as long as my blog is saying. I’ve had some trouble staying connected to some automatic sharing helps, so I have some snags to fix…but I’m back for now! Today I’m joining several of my Stampin’ Up team members on a birthday blog hop for Stamp with Amy K/Amy’s Inkin’ Krew (yes, even though it’s the day of love and all that). My schedule has been better recently, as I’m off work for a few more weeks yet (I think), so I figured I had no excuse not to join this time. 😉
Honestly, I’m still in the middle of a massive craft-room reorganization and other house projects (attempting to make good use of my time off), so I’m really thankful right now that I bought Annual and Mini shares from some of my teammates, because I can just peek into the Priority packages I haven’t organized and fish out something that inspires me. 😀 I hope to offer those some day myself….
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to make for the hop until a saw a card that my new downline Jennifer Thornton made (go check out her brand-new Instagram or Facebook business pages and give her a follow if you’d like to see more as she continues to add content!). I usually design my own cards rather than CASE someone or use sketches, unless I’m running short on time or creativity, but her card just spoke to me with both the detail and the simplicity I saw. I chewed on that image for a couple of days, thinking about how I’d change it up, and I was still percolating over it when I saw a card my teammate Merritt posted in our Amy’s Inkin’ Krew group. Right away I knew I wanted to combine elements from both cards to create something new—and I’ve put my own ideas in there too. 🙂
So that you know where I was starting from, here are Jennifer and Merritt’s cards. Aren’t they lovely?
I decided to rotate the vee on Jennifer’s to a portrait-style A2 and add the three sections on Merritt’s underneath the vee (where Jennifer had the embossing). I actually thought about heat embossing the dots background from the new Hand-Drawn Dots stamp in VersaMark, so I might try that sometime—but I found paper from the Fancy Flora DSP pack that coordinated with the gorgeous Balmy Blue sheet in the Textured Shimmer Specialty Paper samples I was working with, and that matched my deadline better. I planned on adding Merritt’s flowers to the top of Jennifer’s vee, and I chose the striped paper for the bottom because Merritt’s paper there had stripes as well (though I wrestled with the latter decision for a bit).
By the way, the papers in that Textured Shimmer Paper pack are just so beautiful. Yes, they actually shimmer, and there’s a faint “other” color in between the textured stripes. It looks like a gold or champagne color in the Balmy Blue sheet.
The die that makes the vee is one of six borders from the Basic Border Dies. I wanted to be precise with where I placed it on the 6×6 sheet I had because I wanted more Balmy Blue than either purple color. I guess that’s how I ended up having a slightly wonky piece once it was cut, which played tricks with my eyes as I tried to decide how large the banner should be. Be careful with how you line up the edges of these dies; it was very easy to think it was straight when it wasn’t because I was working on the 4.25″ side. On the longer 5.5″ side, the edges wouldn’t have been so far away from the paper and thus easier to visually line up. (I did use grid paper underneath my DSP while I was die-cutting but something still wasn’t right.) Use washi tape or Post-it Note tape or a magnetic mat to keep it where you want it on the paper once you decide where you’re cutting. A 6×6 card plan would be much easier to use with these dies.
This card had a lot of decisions with it, some of which I’ve already mentioned. I also had to decide whether to use the same amount of layers as Merritt’s, whether to add a solid border underneath the patterned paper (where the black edge is on Jennifer’s), the size of the three sections, which colors of flowers would look best against the Fancy Flora DSP, and more. Finally, things looked “right,” but it took time and video calls with two crafty buddies to get me there. (Aren’t crafty friends the absolute best for brainstorming? I’m thankful for T & E with this round.) Sometimes it just helps to take pictures and talk things through. I ended up with one less layer than Merritt’s; flowers using Balmy Blue, retired Marina Mist, and In-Colors Starry Sky and Orchid Oasis with leaves of IC Soft Succulent from the Brushstroke Specialty Paper; a solid border under the banner, and striped sections that are 1-1/8″ across. And no vellum after all.
I was initially going to place some vellum atop the Fancy Flora DSP, because the more I looked at that piece of paper, the less I liked it (sorry, honesty warning). I was afraid it would be too bold or contemporary against the beautiful flowers I was planning from the Summer Shadows Dies. But once I had more of the final pieces together and ready to glue, I thought the vellum muted the pattern too much—almost like a white-out, with a sheet of blue on the bottom. Off it went, as I played with which colors to put where on those die-cut flowers and how exactly to arrange them.
I ended up inlaying Marina Mist into the double-stacked side flower of Balmy Blue and Orchid Oasis and then placed Balmy Blue into the Starry Sky/Orchid Oasis petals. I colored the center of the largest flower with my black Ultra Fine Retractable Sharpie and placed a large dot from the Matte Black Dots in the middle. The smallest flower is Starry Sky cardstock backed by Marina Mist and filled with three Classic Matte Dots. Though I should have used them earlier, I used our Adhesive Sheets to provide a base for my die-cut flowers so that I could add the insides of those petals. In the photo below, I’ve cut around the Adhesive Sheet flowers so that I could move them around as I tinkered with the placement of them on the banner. They are on top of the vellum in that photo.
I also had to find the right sentiment and size since my banner was only so big. I decided to go with the “Happy Birthday” sentiment from the Waves of Inspiration stamp set. I almost cut it out with one of the Something Fancy Dies, but I ended up having a scrap of vellum that I’d cut off the sides of the banner somewhere in the middle stage of cardmaking. It fit the sentiment perfectly and even had the dotted perforation from the vee. I stamped the sentiment in Staz-On Jet Black ink because it was on vellum, after all. I glued it with tiny little dots of my Art Glitter Glue behind each letter so that not much would show through.
For the inside of the card, I used a sentiment from the Inspired Thoughts stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and two leftover strips from the Textured Shimmer Paper and Fancy Flora DSP, with an Orchid Oasis single flower. I used a large sequin from the Pastel Adhesive-Backed Sequins pack on top of that flower, but it wasn’t quite large enough to cover the three holes in the center, so I took my ordinary office hole punch and punched a circle out of the Fancy Flora DSP, glued it first, and then added the flat sequin on top. Plus one leaf from the Soft Succulent Brushstroke paper.
I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing this card today. There were times it was challenging, but I love how it turned out. I am going to try it again using two flowered pieces of Fancy Flora DSP, so you may see more like this in the coming weeks. If you have any questions or thoughts, please feel free to leave me a comment! You can find the Stampin’ Up products I used in my online store: https://constantlycreating.stampinup.net.
Thanks for “hopping” with me today. (I feel like a spring bunny every time I say that!) You can see what the rest of my teammates have created by going through the list below or just using the team’s Previous and Next buttons on each post. Click Previous on my post to go to Karen Finkle’s blog or Next to go on to visit Carol Buckalew and see what they made! Happy crafting until I blog again!
I feel like I’ve been here, there, and everywhere (or my bed) for the last six months. Crafting times have been random and unplanned. I’ve been trying to reorganize my stamps (and keep my desk clear) too. This is a card I made one night after vacation and before I hit the deer.
I fussy-cut around the foliage of a retired #stampinup Magnolia Lane Memories and More card before popping it up on Dimensionals and running some retired #petalpink and white baker’s twine behind it and for the bow. I’ve used a retired kraft Magnolia Lane Cards and Envelopes card base and used some retired #envelopepaper on the inside. Retired #su gems on the card front: Frosted Flower Embellishments and Share What You Love Artisan Pearls. Current gems: Elegant Faceted Gems.
Hello there and thanks for stopping by my blog! I’m sorry I’ve been quiet lately; I’ve had too many projects and people to please recently. (You all knows how that goes, right? Maybe I’m not the only one? 😂)
I haven’t had a lot of time in the craft room this month but I did sneak in there a couple of evenings recently to try to finish a batch for my local gift shop/employer. I’ve done a few grad cards and some easy cards. Here’s an easy one you can duplicate if you have or can find the World of Good Memories and More Card Pack and the Flowers for Every Season Cards and Envelopes.
I used a piece of Misty Moonlight cardstock for my A6-sized base first and then picked the large foiled globe card and the smaller 3×4 “Be the Change” card out of the card pack. I adhered the largest card with my preferred glue, and then I measured (yes, I actually measured!) and punched 3/16” holes in the corners for some 3/16” gold brads. Once I had the brads fastened, I popped up the card on foam dimensionals. And that was it! I used a Misty-Moonlight-lined envelope from the Flowers for Every Season Cards and Envelopes and called it done. 😂 I guess simple and easy really is the best. (The next post about a fancy grad card I did this week will be the opposite!) Most of all, I liked the sentiment on this card. I think it could even be used as a grad card, a masculine card, or one of encouragement. Thanks again for visiting, and stay tuned for more when I get time!
Hello and thanks for stopping by my part of this Stamp with Amy K’s Tuesday team blog hop! We’ve made cards “for the ladies” today.
One of my favorite things to do is to encourage my girl friends and other women on my life’s path. I had a Mother’s Day card in mind to create, but I’ve had an excess of other work during the last couple of weeks—so I went with this butterfly one instead. It’s a card I would send to one of my dear friends as a thinking of you or a birthday or a card of encouragement, to brighten their day and make them feel special.
I began the card really just wanting to use up some of my scraps of Flowers for Every Season 6×6 DSP (item #152486, currently on sale for $6.90 on stampinup.com during the Annual’s Last-Chance sale). I found three long and skinny scraps that were around the same size and had a pretty pattern among them that I could use as a center strip.
I decided touse the Misty Moonlight color in two of the strips as the color of my card base, and I glued a mat of Very Vanilla cardstock(item #101650) atop the card base, leaving about an 1/8″ border, to give some separation and definition to the colors in the papers that would be on top. (Forgive me for the guesstimate, but I don’t really measure things; I just work with things until they feel right.)
Once I glued the patterned DSP, I felt the strips also needed some Very Vanilla to break the color clash. Those strips are definitely an 1/8″ each becauseI cut them with my trimmer intentionally. 🙂 I also measured the smaller edge of the DSP strips so that Icould place the floral pieces in exactly thecenter. I use a ruler on my work mat and inch inward by eighths and quarters until I figure out where the middle is. (I do better with seeing physical measurements than with abstract figures.)
To add the butterfly, I first took a piece of recently sold-out Bijou ButterflyDSP and fussy-cut the largest butterfly with my Paper Snips before popping up the butterfly on foam Dimensionals (item #104430) in the top half of the card, leaving room for a sentiment below.
To create that sentiment, I used one of the Stitched with Whimsy Dies (item #155314) and Misty Moonlight ink (item #153118) with a sentiment from the Friends Are Like Seashells stamp set (item #158203).
I first took the die to a scrap of Very Vanilla, which impressed the stitching into the paper. The die does not cut around the stitching; I fussy-cut around it myself with my Paper Snips (item #103579) using the edge of the impression as a guide and then edged it with a Misty Moonlight Stampin’ Write Marker (item #153125 for the In-Color Pack of five).
Then I placed my sentiment stamp on my Stamparatus stamping platform (item #146276), created a few test sentiments forplacement, and finally stamped it where it would fit before decorating the sentiment box with embellishmentsfrom Wonderful Gems, Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems (item #153547), 2020-2022 In Color Enamel Dots (item #152480), and Playing with Patterns Resin Dots (item #152467).
I was able to pull out each of the colors used on the card with those embellishments, so Iwas pleased. (The white space in the corner was just too much for me. If you follow my blog posts, you’ll have heard that I’m not a big fan of white space.) I alsofelt that doing something different with the gems in that way spoke to the “unique” idea of the card.
I plan on decorating the inside of the card with a thinner strip of the floral paper and then selling the card to my local gift shop so one of their buyers canencourage a friend or relative too.
I hope you’veenjoyed my card today. To continue on with the hop, press the Previous and Next buttons or click on the linked names in the list. My team members always come up with inspiring and beautifulprojects! Thanks again for hopping with me. If you like this card, please leave a comment orconsider following my blog for future posts. 🙂
Using up a favorite piece of paper with a favorite technique—and it’s so easy that anybody can do it!
Hi, everybody! I’ve had quite a good run on cardmaking lately. I need to be reorganizing my craft room too but can’t seem to stay away from the desk! I know my schedule will be changing soon with springtime, so I’m thankful the creativity is here while it’s here.
One of the challenges I have in my craft room (just a secondary bedroom) is the amount of stuff—consumables like paper, embellishments, and more—due to the number of years I’ve been crafting (paper crafting for about 30 years now; other types, longer). I do confess: I LOVE paper and embellishments. I love having just the right special little thing to add to a card or scrapbook layout to top it off and make it perfect (or as perfect as the receiver will believe it to be 😉). And don’t even get me started on all the beautiful patterns and color choices I have in paper.
Sadly, as my “collection” grows and I fight losing space within four walls, I find myself striving more earnestly to use up my consumables to gain space. I’m not sure this will really work, considering how little room a few pieces of paper and gems take 😆, but I’m going with that for now in an attempt to feel as if I’m progressing somewhere. But that theory is why I made the card I’m sharing today.
I don’t actually know the name of the company who made today’s beautiful background. Sometimes I get papers from other crafters in destashes or swaps or RAKs (Random Acts of [Craft] Kindness). I had only two pieces of this one and always thought them beautiful but I’d moved them around a few times—in and out of the “make these next” piles of card parts, different storage options, and the like. The day I made this card, they moved from “make this sometime” to “make this NOW.” The design was too pretty to put off any longer. But I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it (the very reason, I suspect, that I kept moving it around in the first place). I first made a card base out of Stampin’s Up’s Misty Moonlight cardstock(item #153081), which matched the roses perfectly, while I continued to think. I use their cardstock for 99% of my card bases; this color is the regular 80-lb weight.
I must have had 3D things still in my subconscious after making the bird/flower card from a UK magazine kit in a previous post, because I was suddenly willing to sacrifice BOTH pieces of this pretty paper. I latched onto an idea of popping up some of the roses from one sheet on foam dots to give them dimension and make them 3D on the actual card. I cut out the two trio bunches for this and used Stampin’ Up’s self-adhesive Dimensionals underneath (item #104430, current). And then I used my Wink of Stella White and Clear glitter pens on top of all the lightest blue roses, because it’s been my go-to thing lately. I recently opened a new Clear one (item #141897, current) and am loving the amount of glitter it puts out. So fast and easy with an “Ooh, pretty!” punch. 🙂 The White one gives a nice whitewashed look (I only used it on the centers), but I didn’t think it was dramatic enough since the roses were already sketched with white too. It just softened the middles a little.
I was arbitrarily chatting while making this card (“Attempted Multitasking” is often my middle name), so I wasn’t feeling like complicating things further by sorting through my stamp sets, finding a sentiment that fit, hoping to ink and stamp the thing properly in between the dimensional roses—I needed more fast and easy. And then my eyes fell on some recent Paper Pumpkin sets I have stacked nearby. (Yes, Connie should make an effort to use these up more quickly—it will save space! 😂) I hadn’t even opened February 2021’s “Bouquet of Hope” kit yet but I thought there was something in there (consumable) that I could use, from what I was remembering from the promo pictures. Sure enough, sentiments in three languages, in die-cut sticker form. Perfect. And the English one even fit. No mess, no fuss, and I could nestle it into place without worrying about accidentally inking up 3D roses.
I decided to cut apart the “of” and “you” words because I didn’t like how close to the edge the “you” was falling, right where a right-handed person would hang onto the card. But what to do to make everything fit? Well, I ended up sticking the “of” to the top of the bottom dimensional roses and thinly chopping up Dimensional pads to fit under the part of the “f” that hung over the flower. That was tricky, yes. But it’s possible.
Then, time for embellishments! Stampin’ Up to the rescue again (and more gems used up!). I have previously hesitated on adding the Matte Black Dots (item #154284, current) to the top layers of my projects because they’re about 1/8” thick and I often “card” in layers, stacking things even higher. But here I could use them on the bottom layer without fear because the top layer would be against the envelope. 😁 I also scribbled some fake black dots onto the topmost rose trio since I didn’t want to chance them poking through the envelope when mailing. I used my black glitter brush from Art-C for that (very similar to Wink of Stella). I also added three champagne-colored gems from the Elegant Faceted Gems pack (item #152464, current) to the bottom layer to pick up the yellow/gold tones of the smaller flowers in the background. And that took care of the outside of the card.
I kept the inside even simpler. I have several ongoing card orders to fill all the time these days, and one is for a lady who likes a simpler style. (That’s hard for me, but she’s helping me learn it!) I did think of her while making both the outside and the inside of the card, wondering whether she would want it, so I deliberately left the inside blank with just a strip of leftover background paper at the edge of miscellaneous white writing space (a substitute would be Basic White cardstock, item #159276, current).
And now I’ve used up all that pretty paper. But it was worth it. 😍
Here are the links for what I’ve used in today’s post:
If you’d like to own any of these Stampin’ Up products yourself, you can go to my online store and shop with me at http://www.stampinup.com?demoid=2202334. The retiring list for the current Annual catalog hits this Wednesday!! Lots of good stuff coming! (But the Mini is still active until May 3. 😉) Contact me if you’d like paper catalogs instead. 🙂 You can also use Host Code WMW62ECS during checkout and receive a free gift! Orders totaling $50 before tax and shipping can choose a free gift from me up to $8 retail value; I’ll ship it separately to your preferred address after the order is placed. You’ll also earn 1 reward point toward a total of 8, which will get you a free $40 order from me. (And once you hit 8 points, the counter starts over!)
If you’d like to join a Stampin’ Up team and become a demonstrator yourself, I’d love to have you! I’m working on achieving some “leveling up” requirements and would be thrilled to have someone new! No pressure about sales amounts from me, ever. I know what it’s like to lead and juggle a busy life around many priorities. If you’re interested, contact me any time or check out my joining link at http://www.stampinup.com/join?demoid=2202334.
Check back on Wednesday for the 2020-2021 Annual retiring list! And thanks for stopping by. 🥰
FREE SHIPPING Today Only at stampinup.com! Check out with me for a free gift!
Heads up, crafters! Stampin’ Up is offering FREE SHIPPING for one day only—March 17—till midnight, on orders of $50 before tax/shipping are figured out! (If you have coupons to add to your order to lower the price, the total you will actually pay still needs to be $50 or above before tax.
With the catalogs coming to a close in a couple of months, this is a great time to stock up on any retiring In-Colors you may need or cardstock, which is heavy to ship. Bundled 10% off prices will generally be going away when the catalogs end too, so there’s not much time left to take advantage of that. Also, the retiring list for the Annual catalog hits next week, and things will start to fly off the online shelf quickly after that. This year’s retiring In-Colors are Purple Posy, Rococo Rose, Pretty Peacock, Seaside Spray, and Terracotta Tile.
To place an order in my online store, go to https://www.stampinup.com/?demoid=2202334, and you can use Host Code WMW62ECS for a free gift from me! You can choose your own gift of up to $8 retail with an order of $50 or more before tax and shipping (see how these numbers work out—free shipping and a free gift? Why not?!). Contact me if you have any questions!
Make an easy birthday card (or any other occasion!) with the Dandy Garden Memories and More Card Pack!
Hello again, and welcome back to my blog! Thanks so much for being here. I’m hopping with my teammates from Amy Koenders’s Inkin’ Krew, and we are showcasing birthday cards this month.
I unexpectedly put most of this card together while gathering some supplies to gift another Stampin’ Up demonstrator friend. As I pulled cards for my friend to use from the Dandy Garden Memories and More Card Pack (item 154302), I realized that the larger grid card (which I consider the back of a “prettier” one) went well with the smaller colored dandelion card I’d also pulled. They just looked so nice beside each other that I had to do something about it. 🙂 Since there are two of each card in the card pack, I sent her one and made mine into a card right away.
I appreciate how the grid has that colored “frame” around it, which makes it look like another layer. It is just one card from the pack. I used the Night of Navy twine from the Well Suited Twine Combo Pack (item 154566) and wrapped it around the focal card, offsetting it, before adding Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals (item 144108) onto the back. Then I centered the dandelion card high inside the grid. I took a piece of dragonfly paper from the Dandy Garden 6×6 Designer Series Paper (item 154297) pack and my Dragonflies Punch (item 154240) and punched a dragonfly that I could hover over a dandelion. I used the Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush (item 141897) over the entire dragonfly before adding cut-down Mini Dimensionals on the tips of the wings that are above the grid. Since I often do things out of order, I then added the cards to a card base from the Assorted Memories and More Cards and Envelopes pack. My pack happens to be the now-retired Whisper White version, but the Basic White pack is available now (item 159234). I do have some of the Basic White items to use later.
Close-up of Wink of Stella on the wings
I decided to use what I’d made thus far for the birthday blog hop, so I searched my shelves for an appropriate sentiment that would fit in the space under the dandelion/dragonfly card. (Yeah, I didn’t plan ahead. But it still works.) I had several sentiments to choose from and went with the Happiest of Birthdays stamp set (item 152539), which is a new set to me. I love the size and fonts of the sentiments in it. I see me getting a lot of uses out of this particular stamp set. I picked the “It’s your day! Enjoy it” sentiment, lined it up on the grid of the card with my Stamparatus (item 146276), checked that the stamp was also straight on the grid of the plate, and inked it up with the In-Color Misty Moonlight ink (item 153118). Stampin’ Up’s In-Colors are only available for two years from the beginning of their release period. Luckily for me (because it’s one of my favorite colors), Misty Moonlight will be here through mid-2022 since it just came out last summer. I secondarily tested my inked stamp for alignment by first bringing the plate down to a sheet of the Small Grid Paper (item 149621), which fits the Stamparatus perfectly. I’ve found I’m happiest with my stamping that way. I cleaned my stamp with our Simply Shammy (item147042).
I haven’t made the inside of the card because I’m not sure where it’s going yet. I’ll likely carry over some of the matching Designer Series Paper to the inside before I pick a sentiment.
To see the other birthday cards my team members made, check out their links below or use the “Previous” and “Next” buttons. This team never fails to impress and inspire!
If you’ve seen something you like, a purchase of $50 before tax and shipping through my online store gets you a free gift and a point to my reward system. And don’t forget that during the rest of the month of February, you’ll also get to choose a free gift from Stampin’ Up if you order in increments of $50 or more! Who doesn’t love free stuff?!
Thanks again for stopping by, and comment if I can help you!
Hello again! I hope the arrival of fall and the cooler weather is treating you well. 🙂 (As for me, I turned on the heat today and have been enjoying my fleece pajamas!)
I just wanted to let my customers know about a quick one-day-only sale going on TOMORROW, Wednesday, 9/23/20, from Stampin’ Up! Certain stamp sets will be on sale at a 15% discount. This stamp-tacular sale only rolls around once a year—you won’t want to miss it! The prices will automatically be updated in the online store to reflect the 15% off discount at 12:00 AM on September 23, and the prices will go back to the full price at 11:50 PM MT that night. So be sure to get your order submitted on Wednesday!
(And if you were thinking about joining with the current Get-and-Go promotion, you can add the stamp sets that are on sale to your Starter Kit too…so you’d get even MORE for your $99 Starter Kit price! Ask me for details.)
Click the link (Stampin-Up-24-Hour-Stamp-Set-Sale-ConstantlyCreating) to see a printable list in PDF form listing the stamps on sale, and drop me an email at ConnieTroyer77@gmail.com if you have any questions. I’ve highlighted the sets on sale that are in English. Hope that helps! 🙂
Hello there! Welcome back to my blog. I made this card last week when I spotted my remaining scrap (less than a 6×6) of this pattern of floral-patterned paper in the Perennial Essence Designer Series Paper pack, #149100 (which is currently on the last-chance list for $8.09! Go get one!). My scrap was just so pretty that I had to use it up. I looked up the colors in the pack (Balmy Blue, Blackberry Bliss, Blueberry Bushel, Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry, Flirty Flamingo, Mossy Meadow, Old Olive, Petal Pink, So Saffron, Whisper White) and picked Petal Pink for my card base. Then I reached for my matching vellum (Perennial Essence Vellum Cardstock, #149101) and picked the Old Olive color. (The vellum pack also has Petal Pink and So Saffron.)
To decide how much of the scrap I wanted to use and where to cut it, I first stamped my sentiment (from the Floral Blossoms stamp set, #151457, which is carrying over) in Old Olive ink, #146090, so that I could narrow down the dimensions and have more exact placement. I knew I wanted to mat the floral image to give it distinction from the Petal Pink card base, since there is so much Petal Pink in this particular scrap of DSP. (Isn’t it pretty? I always love a good watercolor image.)
After cutting the vellum, I then decided to emboss the Old Olive with the Subtle Embossing Folder, #151775, to have a small pattern that would complement rather than draw attention away from the flowers. When I flipped over the vellum to put some adhesive on the back that would be behind the flowers, that’s when things changed. I stopped mid-glue because I suddenly realized how cool the back side looked. The embossing—or, rather, the debossing—made the vellum turn kind of white with the creasing! Well, then I was torn; I liked both. I decided to take pictures of each side to show you and also to be able to make a decision—sometimes I see things differently when I view a photo I’ve taken, even if I’m the same distance from the image and looking at it in real life. I’m curious to see which side you like best. Leave me a comment and let me know which side—or which card—you would have gone with. 🙂
Green debossed “whiter” sideGreen embossed vellum, colored side up
The way my original idea would have looked with the green vellum pointing up
I decided that I definitely liked the whiter side up and set about doing a double layer of matting to really hone in on the vellum (while still not taking away from the flowers). Pleased with my choice, I glued the now-white vellum to the larger unembossed Olive Olive vellum and the floral piece to the other smaller piece of Old Olive vellum, for two different mats. I think double matting just gives an elegant, intentional, thoughtful look to the thing being matted. I do this in my scrapbooking at times too, to help feature certain photos. When I look at the above picture now—the green-embossed side up, without the mats—it just feels so much plainer to me. (Of course, I would have added embellishments to it too.)
Exterior of finished cardInterior of card (so far)
So there you have it, readers! Let me know what you think about this card and what you would have chosen. Clickable links for the products I’ve used are below.
If you don’t already have a demonstrator and would like to receive a free catalog from me, submit your name and address in my contact form and I’ll send one right out to you (remember, the catalog goes live on June 3!). I’m also working on my first product share offering and will post details about that soon in case anyone wants to buy in. (If you’re not familiar with a product share, it’s a sampling of new product from the new catalog—though I’ll probably also have an “old product” version too, in case some want everything. That way you get a little bit of all the fun DSP, embellishments, and ribbon without the gigantic cost of buying it all individually. So stay tuned for details on that!)
Thanks again for stopping by today. Let me know if I can help you!
My host code from now until the the end of June is GCXZKQT9, which you can add to your order before you check out. As a reminder, if you order $250 worth before tax and shipping are added in, don’t add the host code since you’ll be prompted to put in your own rewards—your own little party! And anyone who orders $50 before tax and shipping gets a free gift of up to $8 from me, along with a reward point toward a free $40 order from me to you. When you collect 8 reward points, you’ll just need to tell me what you want and I’ll have it shipped out to you, as my thanks for being my customer. 🙂 Contact me if you have any questions!
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ConstantlyCreating.Me 