321 Stamp: Launching Creativity

Black Magic Technique

This is an old technique that is making a real comeback. Back in the day, SU demonstrator Karen Barber made some beautiful cards with this technique called "Black Magic" and she has some recent ones on her blog as well so give her a visit and scroll around. Black Magic involves stamping your image on a dark card stock (black, deep brown, blue or burgundy) -- you stamp with White pigment ink, let it dry (you can speed the drying with a heat tool, but it is not embossed). Once it's dry, you add color over the white with colored pencils (I used SU's watercolor pencils on mine) plus I even used watercolor crayons on my sample, they work great and they are a perfect match of course for SU card stock colors. FYI -- the little bit of coloring outside the lines that you can see in the photo is not really visible with the naked eye. Adding accents with a white gel pen steps it up a notch.

Here is a beautiful card using this technique made by 3-2-1 Stamp team member Beth Daniels. She got the inspiration to stamp over the script stamp from Donna Centamore (isn't sharing with others so much fun?) I love that about stampers. Be sure to let the layer that is the script background dry very well before you start coloring so you don't smear any ink.

I used the Watercolor Trio set from the Summer mini catalog on my sample -- it even includes the wonderful greetings and three flower stem images -- all perfect for this technique. The card layout was copyed right out of my Stampin' Success magazine that's just for demonstrators.The background is Sahara Sand, with Garden Green embossed with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder from the SU summer mini as the mat.

FYI -- if you've ever been a Stampin' Up demonstrator, but have not been active since March 31 of this year -- watch for an amazing welcome back deal coming July 1. You can re-sign up for a song — and I mean an amazing kit offer that is just $35 — you read that right (they know you already own lots of crafting goodies so they can offer a mini kit with just the business basics)! If you were a 3-2-1 Stamper before I'd love to have you back on our team. And if you were a demo but have no active demonstrator that you work with anymore, get in touch and I can get you all the info.

Just Beachy Meets Faux Leather

As a Stampin' Up demonstrator, I love to teach and share techniques -- ways to alter and play with paper so it looks a little more special. So at our June stamp clubs one of the projects used the Faux Leather technique -- and a stamp set from the Occasions Mini catalog that I love -- Just Beachy. (You only have until June 30 to get this set right now. I love the little "woody" car and the flip flops and all the little fish, which you won't see on this card.)

The card base is a 6 inch square of Kraft card stock, folded to a 3 by 6 card. I'm going to tell you about each accent -- and then the faux leather panel. The Laughter saying comes from another soon to retire stamp set, Sweet Serendipity -- love this one. It's stamped with Chocolate Chip CRAFT ink on a little rectangle cut from one of the papers in the lovely Italian paper set called Taste of Textiles (another retiring item). The little lines on that version of Kraft add just the right little detail. It was embossed with clear embossing powder and a little Mini Library clip finishes it off. The car was stamped and embossed the same way -- this time on more plain Kraft card stock then cut out. The "hub caps" are from the Vintage Brads collection -- and the four metals in those match the four metals in the Mini Library clips -- too cute. That flip flop border was embossed using clear Versamark ink and clear powder for a tone-on-tone look. Love doing that.

So now on to the highlight -- the faux leather! I started with a 2" by 3" rectangle of smooth Chocolate Chip card stock -- I like using a smooth finish card stock.
- Press the card stock against a Versamark ink pad until one side is completely coated with the ink.
- Then cover it with clear embossing powder -- don't heat it yet and try to hold by the edges so you avoid fingerprints or knocking off powder. I don't have photos of each step -- but it's really pretty easy.
- Lay the powder-covered card stock on scrap paper or inside one of our great Powder Pals, designed to catch stray embossing powder or glitter. Take the tip of a bone folder or embossing stylus and trace little wavy lines into the powder, removing some of it in little lines that intersect here and there to mimic the look of croco-embossed leather.You want the lines to be wide enough that they won't disappear when you melt the powder.
- Still holding by the edges, pick up your rectangle and tap off the stray bits of powder that you've scraped off.
- Heat the whole thing with a heat tool until it melts and is glossy -- don't over heat as you don't want your lines to melt away.

There you have it -- faux leather. I think you can see the lines a little better in this close up and in person it's really fun. It would make a great accent for a masculine card or to jazz up a 3-D item such as a photo wallet or gift card holder that would look great made from "paper leather."

Remember the current catalog runs through midnight on June 30 -- with the great new book starting July 1. I'll have my annual New Catalog Open House on Sat., July 18 from 10 am to 2 pm -- so send me an email for more info if you live locally on Florida's Space Coast.

Happy Turkey Day!

Hope you've had a wonderful Thanksgiving if reading this in the U.S. I've been either cooking, eating or visiting with family and friends all day!

I wanted to share a neat update to the cute "punch" turkey seen before in this post. Click to see that and you'll find a guide to punching all the parts. Now here's the update that I saw online somewhere and just had to try myself.

Remember that you start the feathers with a scallop punched shape and before I showed that you cut off five scallops before you start folding. Well -- how about folding the five scallops over instead of cutting them off? Then it still looks like the shape you need to start with, but when you're done folding, there's another row of "fluff" to his feathers! Pretty cool idea!

Here's a look at the steps as you fold and the finished base of the turkeys feathers once you've done all three this way. Check that other post for the how-tos on the rest of this cute turkey. And if you're already tired of turkey for this year -- remember this cute idea for next year!!! Thanks so much for stopping my my blog!

Fold it in half -- then unfold before the next step in the next photo.

Here's the sides folded into that center line you made with your last fold.

Faux Silk Technique & Eastern Blooms

I love the look of handmade papers so why not make a beautiful paper panel that has the look of silk? This faux silk technique as it's commonly called, uses regular white tissue paper -- the kind used when wrapping gifts inside a box or gift bag.

In this card, the beautiful flower branch from the new Stampin' Up set Eastern Blooms (on sale in Aug. and Sept. for 15% off!) was stamped on the tissue paper with Kiwi Kiss ink. Then crinkle up the paper into a ball like you're going to throw it out -- but you're going to unroll it an then glue it, wrinkles and all, to a piece of white card stock. I use SU's glue stick, applied to the white card stock, then drop the wrinkly tissue paper on top of the glue and PAT it into place. Don't rub or you'll smooth out the wrinkles. You want to pat all those nice wrinkles down into the glue so it adheres well and dries to look like beautiful wrinkled silk. The tissue paper was about an inch taller and wider than the white card stock when I started -- glue it on and THEN trim it to the size of the card stock once it's dry. The panel is layered onto a card base of Kiwi Kiss -- maybe my favorite new In Color for the 08-09 catalog year. Love this lighter version of olive.

Edited to add: Here's a close up of the faux silk panel with the lighting better so you can see the wrinkles a little better -- in person there is so much texture and everyone always wonders how you made it. People think it's some expensive specialty paper -- and you'll know it's just tissue paper.

Here's the sheet of images I stamped to embellish the card. The larger bloom is Not Quite Navy ink and it's cut out with a small white border and applied to the card with a Pop-up Glue Dot. Two of the three small flowers are Not Quite Navy and the other is the new SU "In Color" Baha Breeze. The greeting square is in Baha Breeze from the new Ronald McDonald set, with all the images in the RM charity set designed to punch out with our new Square Scallop punch.

But look how I punched it out for this card so I'd have smooth, elegant lines in keeping with my oriental design? I stamped and then using the 1 & 1/4" square punch upside down, I just punched out the section I wanted with a small white scallop border left from the stamped image. It's layered onto a larger Not Quite Navy square and a small White Taffeta ribbon loop finishes it off so it can be applied with SU Dimensionals.

This Trio Flower punch is the secret to the small flowers adhered to the branch with mini glue dots. I used this punch upside down, using just the one flower on the left to the punch out the center of one of the small flower from Eastern Blooms set -- it's the perfect accent that mimics the design elements of the larger flower. Enjoy making Faux Silk paper -- and experiment with different colors of tissue paper and different colors of card stock glued under the tissue.

Lemonade Card With a Twist

Just taking a little break from the manly swap cards -- although men of course drink lemonade, too and you can make this glass hold any beverage you like just by changing the color of the ink sponged onto the vellum card stock. Think about a light green margarita or a mustard colored beer, with Liquid Applique white foam perhaps? Or a root beer float? Or a vase of flowers?

First -- thanks for the inspiration to Kelly Acheson who made this card for a swap on the Bermuda cruise where I first saw it. She was gracious enough to share the dimensions for the "glass" and said it was fine to share my version of the card here (which features the "twist" which is a scratch and sniff version of the lemon embellishing the lip of the glass). You can see more of Kelly's work on her blog here.

For the glass, start with a piece of Vellum Card Stock that measures 3 & 1/2 inches wide by 3 & 1/4 inches tall. With the card stock horizontal, make a tiny mark 3/4 inch in from the bottom corner on each side. (I made my marks big and in pen so you can see them easily -- you'd want to use pencil and erase it with a white, no-mark eraser after the next cutting step).

 

Line up the pencil mark and the pointed top corner with the cutting groove on your SU Fiskars cutter -- you'll be making a diagonal cut and you're not measuring anything -- you're just using the mark and the point as your guide. You'll cut it that way on both sides so you're left with a glass shape that looks like this.

Now you want to score 3/8 inch from both of those diagonal sides of the glass and that's easy to do by lining up the point at the top edge of the glass with the 3/8 inch mark on the Fiskars and then just have that edge straight -- don't  even think about what the rest of the glass is doing  -- by using the edge of the glass, and lining it up with the 3/8 inch mark all the way down, you'll score a line that is 3/8 inch from the edge. Do that on both sides and then fold them in so it looks like this.

You'll need to trim a little nub from the vellum tabs on each side of the glass that stick up above the top -- just a snip with scissors and they're gone and flat with the top of the glass. I used a wedge of an SU Stampin' sponge to sponge yellow dye ink on the INSIDE of the glass, just between the scored marks and NOT all the way to the top edge of the glass (unless your cup runnath over as I like to joke). You don't want to sponge color on the folded under sides because those will then show through darker. I added "sugar" to the top of the glass using a 2-Way glue pen and SU's Dazzling Diamonds glitter -- it could be salt on a margarita glass as well!

Those folded tabs are how you tape the glass to the panel -- just apply adhesive tape such as SU's SNAIL to the whole tab and then apply it to the card, one side first so it's easy to make sure the bottom of the glass is straight. Burnish the adhered tab with a bone folder and you've got a nice strong hold. Then tape the other tab to the panel and you can curve the glass out as desired -- making it flatter if you're going to mail the card and you can let it bow out more like a real curved glass if it won't get smashed in hand delivery.

 

Here's the secret to scratch and sniff lemon on the edge of the glass that I made with the lemon from the Tart and Tangy set. It's sugarless KoolAid or any sugar free drink, jello or creamer -- but it must be sugarless or sugar free as sugar burns when heated. The formula is one part flavored drink powder and 1.5 parts clear embossing powder. Mix them and then stamp the image with a pigment ink (I used Yo Yo Yellow Craft ink). Sprinkle on the powder mix and heat until shiny. Punch out the lemon with a 1 & 1/4" circle punch and sponge some yellow ink on the edges to make it look like a thicker rind. Make a slit from the edge just to the center and then use a Dimensional foam adhesive dot underneath to hold it as it's slid over the edge of the glass.

The word Sparkle is from the SU set Warm Words. This is a fun card and not hard at all once you've made one!

A Good Egg - Paper Piecing

It's time for an Easter card. I love the Stampin' Up set A Good Egg from the Spring/Summer catalog. I think it would go beyond Easter, making cute baby cards -- or just a card to let a friend know they crack you up. This one incorporates a little adjustment to the length of the front, paper piecing (for his shell) -- and a little surprise inside.

The card base is Certainly Celery card stock that 4&1/4" wide by 9&1/2" long. Score and fold at 5&1/2" and you get a front flap that's shorter so the striped Cutie Pie Designer Series paper (DSP) from SU can peek out. The card front background is coordinating Cutie Pie paper.

The chick is stamped in SU Basic Gray Waterproof ink and colored in with blender pen and pastels. His shell is stamped a second time on a polka dotted piece of Cutie Pie DSP -- cut out and attached over the stamped version with Dimensionals to pop it up a little. Layer that on So Saffron CS. Before attaching the focal point to the card, I used a 1/8 inch circle punch to make a little hidden hole to thread the Blue Taffeta ribbon through -- that's where the surprise comes in!

The little hole that shows on the inside front would have been fine and not that noticeable -- but I covered it up by using SU's Three Flowers punch to punch "around" one of the white dots on the Cutie Pie paper -- the result is a little flower with a white center. I attached it with a mini glue dot to hide that hole for the ribbon. The photo's a little blurry but you can see the little flower surprise at the top inside -- I love little unexpected surprises like that on the inside of cards!

The Easter greeting was stamped and then punched out with SU's word window punch -- with the right edge cut flush with the edge of the card so it's all "connected." On the inside I used a greeting that came with the "good egg" set -- but I also use the SU set Curvey Verses a lot with this set as they match very well. This is a card layout that would be versatile for so many focal point images. Happy Easter!

Dahlia Fold Shadowbox Card

I've been seeing lots of pretty cards lately with a focal point made using a tea-bag folding technique known as the Dahlia fold -- so this is my version. Because it takes work to fold that pretty flower, I felt it needed to be displayed in a proper fashion so I placed it inside a Shadowbox card. I will give you links to great how-to's for both.

First, the supplies I used for this February stamp club card, all are Stampin' Up: Card Stock - Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive and Whisper White; Designer Paper: either Rose Red prints or Bali Breeze (for the version with orange in the flower); Coluzzle circle cutting system; 1 & 3/8 inch circle punch; Felt Fusion flowers; rhinestone brad; Jumbo Pewter Eyelet; Pumpkin grosgrain ribbon; Sticky Strip; SU Large Oval Punch; Eastern Elegance rub-ons (the white flower accenting one version of the card with the Bali Breeze Dahlia flower inside); Stamps: A Beautiful Thing Inks: SU Pumpkin, Olive and Rose Red; white dot accents are SU white gel pen.

Here's the link to the Dahlia fold how-to. As far as tips, I punched my circles with the 1 & 3/8 inch punch. I do not tape them closed in any way. I did cut a circle with the Coluzzle that was slightly smaller than the finished flower and then had everyone assemble their flower "petals" on that circle using SNAIL adhesive so it was much easier to attach through the circle in the front of the card. I put the flower in last, attaching it with Dimensionals so it would pop a little more and be easy to position inside the circle opening.

Here is the how-to link to Dawn's great Shadowbox Card directions. These Shadowbox cards are really so easy to make and Sticky Strip holds the sides together great. You could stamp a simple image directly on the back panel for a card the recipient will want to keep and display. Best of all, when folded flat they fit right inside a standard envelope.

Final tip: I used Coluzzle circle #5 for the opening in the card and circle #4 for the circle that's the base of the folded flower. That's the number counting out from the center on the Coluzzle circle sold by Stampin' Up.

Thanks for looking!

A punch and some string: Spirelli

I never believe in recreating the wheel so check out the blog of the amazing Samantha Parisi who lives across the state from me. From the December 11 post and then backward through the month's postings, you'll see amazing how-tos and all it takes is a a scallop punch and to get really fancy the retiring Spring Bouquet punch. Samantha, thanks for always sharing your creativity. I'll have some new project photos up soon -- it's just been very busy. 

Thanksgiving Faux Batik

I love the look of batik! This is my effort at a faux batik look using an embossing technique. This card was my stamp club project this month as well as the card project at my monthly demonstrator team meeting.

The card base is a 5&1/2 by 8&1/2 inch piece of SU Really Rust CS folded in half. That's stamped in Really Rust using the SU Aida Cloth stamp for some texture. There's a piece of the More Mustard Prints designer paper that's been Faux Stitched using All in A Row stamp from SU (thanks Beate for that great idea!)

For the focal point: start with a piece of Vanilla CS and stamp first with the Sanded SU Background stamp (I used Close to Cocoa ink). Once that's dry, stamp the leaf from the Autumn Fest SU set using clear Versamark ink and emboss with clear powder. Let that cool and then use the Brayer to apply Pumpkin Patch Spectrum pad ink over the top -- that's one of Stampin' Up's custom Kaleidecolor rainbow pads. Did you know we even sell those pads uninked so you can make your own color combinations??

Last step on the technique is to buff off the excess ink with a paper towel -- and the embossing of course resists the ink so the lines show through. It's layered onto a piece of Vanilla and then a ribbon charm from our Hodgepodge Hardware holds a 5/8" grosgrain Chocolate bow. Happy Thanksgiving is from the Holdays & Wishes set -- stamp FIRST on Vanilla CS then punch out with the Key Tag punch. It's faux stitched as well to tie into the faux fabric look of the card.

These would be easy to mass produce for holiday giving. Check back tomorrow for my twist on a special closure for those 2-5-7-10 boxes that are making the rounds. See you then and happy stamping.

Cherish Square Steps Motif

Today's card is something I wanted to share as it was the card that I HAD originally planned for my new catalog Open House. But as they say "the best laid plans..." — because then SU retired the Square Steps punch and the organdy ribbon! Oh well there are lots of these Square Step punches out there so read on and I will send you to the link for a photo how-to.

My original inspiration for the diagonal layout of the Flourish stamp from the new Baroque Motifs set came from this card designed by the one and only Debbie Olsen. I love how stamping it twice with River Rock effortlessly created a beautiful stem background.

I added small flowers in Groovy Guava and Purely Pomegranate. The motif is stamped in Pomegranate on Very Vanilla card stock and then cut out. It's layered on a very pretty mat made from the Square Steps punch that we used to sell and that is still available other places or that you may already own. Start with a two-inch square of card stock (in this case Guava) and punch EACH corner, sliding it in to the punch's corner guide completely. You then fold those corners to create a lacy mat -- as shown here in a step by step how-to on another great blog.

I of course tied narrow Vanilla organdy ribbon around the card front -- SU's new Vanilla Taffeta ribbon would be a nice substitute -- or it would be pretty with no ribbon. For my Open House I simply dropped the ribbon and the Square Steps mat and substituted Mustard ink for the Guava. That made it match the new Rhinestone Brads from the Fire collection -- both the square and circle ones in the yellow tones looked great in the middle of the cut out motif. Open house attendees loved this card and the Baroque Motif stamp set! It's a winner.