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It's been too long since I've posted -- but I've been swaped. I'm a writer as well as a stamper and this has been a month packed full of writing deadlines. I do have some project ideas to share as soon as I get some photos taken. In the meantime I had to share this cute card from 3-2-1 Stamp team member Diane Simpers (who got the punch idea from Jackie Topa).
Click here to go to Diane's wonderful blog and get all the details! Enjoy and I'll be back soon.
It's a card -- it's a scrapbook page -- it's inspiration for both. I was inspired by a card I got in a SUDSOL swap with other demonstrators at Leadership. Lisa Kim's card used the same Tasteful Trims scallops and I had just loved her idea for those -- same silhouette image from the great Easter Blossoms set, but I used an oval die cut for that -- and I added a different ribbon treatment. I had known for a few months that when I used this Easter set, I was going to teach how to gather the seam binding for just the right touch (more on that later in the post). So here's my card:
Best of all, I could make it in both this Baja Breeze color scheme and also in a Rose Red version just by using other pieces of paper from the Springtime Vintage Designer Series Paper and a different flower out of the Vinage Flower Adornments (item #121879).
Since I teach card classes and a scrapbook class each month, I knew that this card design could easily turn into a great 6 inch square scrapbook page. And thanks to a card shared by Stampin' Up CEO Shelli Gardner, I knew I had a design idea for the matching page as well. Notice how I designed it so that class could use some of the Vanilla flowers that I had not used in my card classes. And I love the little touch of pearls on the matching page -- and the distressed corner in the lower right with some paper peeking out.
A Soft Suede marker used with the "Sending Springtime Smiles" stamp image, quickly changed it to a more appropriate scrapbook page headline -- I love doing that just by omitting words I don't want.
So here's how to get those gathered ribbons that you see on the tails of the bow and on the pretty ribbon that goes across the scallops. It's so easy -- NO sewing -- but you want to use a soft ribbon -- such as our seam bindings from the Occasions Mini Catalog or the 3/8 inch wide Taffeta ribbons in the main catalog.
All you do is fray each end a little so they have fringe. Then isolate and pull a couple of the vertical strings of the ribbon -- right in the middle of it's width. As you pull and move the gathers down the ribbon you get a beautiful ruffle. Notice that I said to fringe and pull strings from both ends. That's because if you pull from just one end, you risk pulling out your gathering thread at some point. By pulling from both ends, the gathers can meet in the middle easily. The ends are just taped to the back of the card stock mat or the back of the scapbook page so they don't show. I don't like to glue down the ruffled ribbon but a mini glue dot here or there can take care of it sagging if that's an issue. EDITED TO ADD: I decide how much ribbon I using the same ruffle formula I've always used in sewing — measure the width of your card or page, double that, then add a couple of inches so you have enough to fold over to the back. So it was 14 inches of ribbon for the 6 inch wide scapbook page.
Happy spring stamping! It's spring in Florida at least with oak pollen popping out all over (along with brush fires - yuck). Hope all my northern friends get spring blossoms soon!
