321 Stamp: Launching Creativity

Top Note Treat Holder

This easy little treat holder was an idea that grew from one shared by Linda Heller at the great Stampcation event in Sept. By cllicking on her name you'll see the version we made there using the Paisley Prints stamp set. I wanted to simplify just a little for my October Stamp Clubs so everyone would want to go home and make a dozen more for their Thanksgiving tables. (It makes a great place card if you just write or stamp names in place of the greeting on the oval in my photo!)

The base is two pieces of More Mustard Card Stock cut with the Top Note die and the Big Shot die cutting machine. Line the bottom edge of each Top Note up with the 1 inch line on your Fiskars trimmer and score -- you're lining up the rounded bumps on the bottom edge, just ignore the point.

Put your scored Top Notes wrong side together and punch a hole in the top (that's the edge without the score line) -- I moved this hole to the middle of the Top Note so that's where my ribbon would go (I used the Early Espresso 5/8" Satin -- I loved the little bit of richness with the organic feel of the stamping thanks to the French Folliage stamp set.)

Here's how you overlap the flaps that are made when you fold on those lines. Be sure to adhere them so the pretty folded part of the front top note is on the front of your treat holder. In my case the one you see on the right would be the front.

Now take a look at the pretty stamping even as a surprise inside and there are Hershey Nuggets inside as well (bet you were wondering what was in here!) -- wrapped in address labels that have been sponged with Mustard ink and stamped so you never knew they were white computer labels -- they look like Designer Paper! They're just the 1" by 2 & 5/8" common address labels. I put three in the bottom of the treat holder -- use Mini Glue Dots or I found SNAIL held therse. If you're feeling generous, you can attach three more on top of these and still close the treat holder. FYI -- a 1" by 3" strip of Designer Paper adhered around each Nugget also works -- but the stick on labels are super easy, and again, I want these at each place setting at Thanksgiving!)

That greeting on these is from the Grateful Greetings set -- love this set as it covers Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentine's Day. Item # 116511.

Enjoy!

Bedazzle those Pumpkins for Halloween

At Stampin' Up's convention in July they showed a set of white pumpkins that had been dressed up with the Black Flourish Designer Jewels and Spooky Things Decor Elements. I had to make my own set to sit atop an antique Hoosier cabinet I have that had been my grandmother's — but because my living room walls are off white, I went with orange fake pumpkins instead so they'd show up better. I shopped around and was able to find the pumpkins for just $5 each at Walmart. That was a better deal then even using the sales at the hobby stores -- at least where I live.

I needed two packages of the Designer Jewels (item #120987). I love these jewels as they include a clear transfer sheet to make it easier to move the pre-made flourish designs from the cardboard backing to your item or card. I'll show that with photos so read on! I also needed one package of the Spooky Things Decor Elements in black for the words "Trick -or- Treat" (item #120909) -- they also come in a dark gray and as you can see below, I have lots of fun images left over that I can use to decorate windows, serving trays or anything else as the vinyl is removable when the holiday is over. But of course I made my pumpkins with fake ones so I can store and use them every Halloween. 

Here's how I did it:

First I applied by Decor Elements words to each pumpkin by cutting them out. If you need how-tos on applying this great vinyl product, you can watch a video here.

Next is was time to add the jewels and here's a look at the transfer sheet that I mentioned in place over a whole flourish design that I used on the middle pumpkin. The first shot is after I pressed the clear sheet onto the top of the flourish -- just press hard and they stick to it. That white paper you see is the backing sheet as I've peeled it off to expose the sticky part of the jewels. I find that if I cut off excess paper as I peel it stays out of my way.

Here it is pressed onto the pumpkin -- just press the jewel design in place -- peel off the clear transfer sheet, which can be saved to use again -- and you've got one bedazzled pumpkin!

 
Next, here's a photo of a piece of sticky transfer sheet that I cut to use on a partial part of the second sheet of jewels -- that's how I had plenty of smaller flourish designs for the trick and treat pumpkins. (I love that there are also extra lines of jewels in these packages that you can use on other projects.) And remember, the transfer sheet is included in your package.

I did tie various black ribbons and even some of the black waffle paper from the holiday mini onto my pumpkin stems to dress those up as well. Here are close ups of each pumpkin!

This was so much easier to do then I expected. Give it a try. You can find the Decor Elements and Jewels right in my online store at the link in the top right column.

Scallop Trim Border Punch Valentine & Punch Tutorial Video

NOTE: This is the post to check and read to get lots of tips on using the Scallop Trim and Pinking Hearts Border and Corner punches.

I love the new stamps and punches on this card! The I (heart) Hearts set from the Occasions Mini Catalog is so easy to use. I actually have it in our new Clear Mount version and love how easy it is to stamp the black dotted heart first on this card and then add the pretty red heart by looking right through the beautiful Clear Mount acrylic block. Plus see that great DVD sized storage case? I can fit more stamp sets on the shelf! Our cling stamp images are fabulous red rubber with a nice sponge backing and then a vinyl cling image layer that makes the stamp cling to the block. All of the smaller black hearts were stamped with images from the set and then punched out with the Heart to Heart (trio of hearts) punch or the new Small Heart punch (item #117193 in the Occasions). The greeting is the new Well Scripted set from the Occasions mini where you'll also find the hearts. This is the pretty valentine card that guests are making at my home workshops this month.

Now on to the beautiful scallop lace punches! The corner version called Scallop Trim Corner (item #118870) is found in the Occasions mini and the coordinating straight edge is a punch that you can get free right now from the Sale-a-bration booklet with a $50 purchase (item #118402). (It will eventually be for sale in our next big catalog in July -- it says that right in the SAB booklet, but why not get it now for free?!)

There is a little learning curve with any new punch so you'll want to practice with these. But it's worth it as these also are a new slimmer design that folds shut and locks so they take up less storage space. There are some sizes of mats that just line up perfectly to make a nice edge. On this card I started with a black card stock piece that was 3 & 13/16" square. That's just a tick mark past 3 & 3/4". Punch the corners first and then they line up perfectly with the picture guides on the straight edge Scallop Trim Border punch so you can fill in.

Other sizes will give you a complete set of scallops but may require you to punch more than once to fill in between corners. Those sizes include: 4 & 3/4" square; 4 & 1/4" square; 3 & 1/4" square; 2 & 7/8" square; 2 & 3/8" square; and 1 & 15/16" square which lets you punch only the corners to make a pretty mat. You can of course combine a shorter length on the top and bottom of a mat and a longer measurement on the sides and make a perfect;y edged rectangle. Just practice. I find that because there is no v-shaped corner stop you want to make your corners using the punch upside down and using the paper edge guides and then also looking to make sure your corner is in at a nice right angle.

Here's a link to a great blog from fellow SU demonstrator Gretchen Barron who has some wonderful photos of the squares above -- and who calculated these sizes. UPDATE: The fabulous Gretchen has also calculated sizes that work easily in the Pinking Hearts border and corner punches and you can click here to see those. As Gretchen explains, we all might use the punches a little differently in practice, so experiment and see what works best for you. I like using the border punches right side up and the guides pictured on the front when I can -- and then I'll punch from the back as needed when filling in empty space.With the corner version of these punches, I find I need to use them upside down so I can make sure my paper is in the corner at a nice right angle. There is no corner V-stop -- and that's for a reason. You can actually use the corner punch in a row along the edge of your card stock to get a neat triangle lace look. I also love just punching the corners of a mat for a pretty look that reminds me of a quilt block.

SU demonstrator Anne Beale also has shared some great photos and tips on using the Scallop Trim and Pinking Hearts punches and since I believe in sharing and not re-creating a good thing, just click here to see her ideas.

Want to make a mat in a size not listed? Here's a video created by the Stampin' Up home office that demonstrates another way of using these. You start with a larger piece and then design the size as you go.

To see photos of the technique that Bonnie demonstrated in the video, click on the file name I've uploaded at the end of this paragraph for a photo tutorial of how to make the mat where you punch, then measure and cut as you go. Take a look, practice and it's easier than you might think.Download Border & Corner Punch How to

A Textured Card - that you can actually mail!

I can't wait to swap this fun, relatively simple -- but very elegant card at Stampin' Up's annual convention which starts Wednesday. On the Kraft card stock layer I scored a line 2" from the top as a guide so that when I inserted it into my new Finial Press Embossing Folder I could line it up so the embossing stopped at that line. Such a nice way to make it look as if your card is more layer-rich than it really is (and that's what makes it stay within the Post Office guidelines that cards cannot be thicker than 1/4" to go through at the standard machine processing rate.)

The greeting from Full of Life is stamped in Not Quite Navy ink -- the same color as the little Eyelet Border punched accent strip and the card base. The taffeta ribbon is Kraft and there is a little tutorial to show you how to mass produce a simple knot "bow" when you are making a lot of cards and want to save ribbon.

First -- find something to tie your ribbon around -- in my case the clear plastic top on my small bottle of Stampin' Up's Stampin' Mist stamp cleaner is perfect. I only needed a 9" piece of ribbon for my card -- I have plenty of length in the tails while I'm tying because that little loop around the top will become my "bow" -- so I don't have to try to tie those short ends like I would if I was tying it the traditional way by wrapping the ribbon around the card. What you see is one shorter "tail" at this point because I want my bow off center.

Here's what it looks like when slipped off the bottle top -- see that little loop? It will get snipped right in the middle at an angle with my nice sharp Ribbon Scissors from SU (love those -- better than any very pricey sewing scissors I've ever owned!)

So here it is snipped -- and you have two nicely angled ends on your knotted "bow."

Before I adhered my embossed mat layer onto the card base, here's a peek at the back and how you just tape down the ribbon's ends. You're saving not only that 3" gap on the back -- but also the extra ribbon you would have had to have to tie that bow. Make sense? I hope so. It's really fast if you work assembly line fashion -- so I tied all my ribbons around the bottle -- then snipped them all; then attached them all -- you get the idea.

Enjoy and check back all week -- don't forget -- a new video project on Friday!!

Polished Stone - A very pretty technique

The stamp set on this card is now retired from SU (Wonderful You) but any line art image that lets you see your pretty Polished Stone paper through the embossed images would be lovely for this style card. Polished Stone is an oldie but a goodie in terms of paper techniques -- it's a fun way to make your paper look like marble (or at least like a Formica countertop!) It's wonderful to stamp and emboss an image directly on the paper like I did here, but also as a background paper with a focal point layered over it (if you can stand to cover up any of your yummy design.)

You need:
- Glossy white card stock (item # 102599 from SU)
- A few Classic dye ink reinkers (my sample used Baja Breeze, Pacific Point and Basic Gray from SU)
- A metallic ink refill, this is a pigment ink (I used Gold Encore, item #101242 from SU)
- 91% Rubbing alcohol from your medicine cabinet
- cotton balls
- rubber gloves (if you want to keep your hands from getting stained)
- An acrylic sealer (I prefer the Patricia Nimocks line from Plaid as I've noticed no color change and they don't interact with my inks as some sealers can do)

I'm going to send you to a video to watch for the how-to's -- however, she does not show the sealing stage. Critical -- as metallic inks WILL NOT dry on glossy card stock and over time you will smudge away your pretty veins. When my card stock is dry (and thanks to the alcohol it drys very fast) I place it inside a big box turned on its side as a little spray "room" and I spritz lightly with the P. Nimocks sealer (you can use matte or glossy, your choice.) I do this outside as spray sealers have fumes. Sealing is also a must before embossing a design on your background, otherwise the embossing powder would stick to your little veins. Once I've sealed I also use an Embossing Buddy (the little powder bag) and rub that over my card before stamping and then there's no static to catch stray powder.

Stamper extraordinaire Amy Celona has a nice video on her site that shows exactly how I've always done this technique over the years so why reinvent the wheel -- click here to watch that. Squeezing the ink into little puddles that give you those metallic edges is the real secret of how you get a pretty marble look with nice, random veins. And each one always turns out a little differently -- see, here's the same card and the background is just a little different. Enjoy this fun technique.

A Paper Flower & Treat Box

Manipulating paper into fun shapes is one of the best parts of paper crafting. That's why I love this paper posie that decorates this cute little box. They are so much easier to make then you think -- and wouldn't this be cute done up in some red, white and blue paper for the Fourth of July? They remind me of the little things on the top of an award ribbon.

For the flower embellishment, I started with a strip of Designer Series Paper that's 1.5" wide by 12" long. Use the Stampin' Up Scallop Edge Punch along one of the long edges. For the flower tutorial I want to send you to my friend Canadian demonstrator Marlayne Hardy's website as that's where I got the idea. Click here to see her step by step how-to's for turning your punched strip into the flower. Then come back here for some more tips and how to make the box.

A few more tips on the flower:
- Marlayne used a stylus in the groove of her Fiskars cutter to score gently between each scallop. I just used the black scoring blade that you can get for the cutter. Score gently as you don't want to tear your paper.
- You need to be sure that when you connect the two ends of your accordion folded strip with Sticky Strip, you will have an EVEN number of scallops on the circle that it makes. Then it will flatten out.
- I used two pop-up glue dots for each flower -- one on the back that holds it to the box and one on the back of the punched out 1" embellishment center. Pressing the two together really holds your flower's shape and holds it in place on your 3-D item or card. Edited to add: The little punched circle in the middle of my flower is made from a now retired rub-on from the Hidden Garden set -- I rubbed it on Pink Pirouette card stock and then punched it out. Any shape that lends itself to being punched out with the 1" circle punch is perfect. The pattern on the box was made using the Forever Flowers Stampin' Around wheel and a Versamark ink cartridge for a tone-on-tone look.

Now for the box:
- Start with a 5.5" by 8.5" piece of card stock (mine is the retiring-today Riding Hood Red color)
- Score 1" from both long sides.
- Score at 3.5" and 5" from ONE short side.
- Cut in on those last two score lines just until you reach the score line that's 1" from the long sides -- that makes your bottom and side flaps for your box.
- Fold and secure -- I like using the liquid Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive.

Here's a visual for those box directions that should help:
I love that you get two boxes from each piece of 8.5" by 11" card stock -- no waste! These are perfect for holding a small or medium size cello bag of treats, small notecards or anything you can fit inside.

I added a strip of 1.5" wide Designer paper around the top that was also dressed up with the Scallop Edge Punch -- if you don't own one of those great punches, SU just announced that it will be the "special of the week" starting July 1 through July 5 -- on sale for 10.99 instead of 15.95 -- and each Monday in July there will be a new special of the week announced. How fun is that??!! Enjoy.

Flower Pot Card

This little flower pot card has been ALL over the blogosphere lately. My version was a stamp club project for May. I've got some tips to share based on making so many of these -- but for the basic card, I don't like to reinvent the wheel, so click here to see Stephanie Luman's great how to steps for building your pot and then below you'll find my tips that I developed as I made mine.

Supplies and measurements:

• Rust Card Stock for pot: 3½” by 9”; scored at 2” and 5½” -- edge is scalloped with scallop border punch
• White Card Stock for pullout card: 2¼” by 4¼”
• Kiwi Kiss or Riding Hood Red Mat: 2½” by 4½”
• Riding Hood Red Striped Ribbon: 13”

First, to make it easy for a group of people to make these, we cut our flowers out all at once with one roll through the Big Shot. We used three Embosslits: Cherry Blossom in Pink Pirouette card stock; Flower Burst in Summer Sun card stock; and Simple Flower in Riding Hood Red Designer Series Paper (Patterns set -- the one that is solid on one side and then it's sanded with an SU sanding block to reveal the paper's white core on the embossed lines of the flower). RH Red ink is brushed onto the pink and sun flowers with a sponge dauber. The Kiwi Kiss leaves were made by punching two flowers with the Five Petal Flower punch from SU and then cutting those into 2-petal and 3-petal clusters.

 Assembly tips: Put a foam Dimensional on the top two corners of your pull out card -- you'll attach a flower to each one while the card is in the pot -- and most important -- while the whole thing if lying right on the envelope as a placement guide!! That way you know it will fit without any flowers or leaves sticking out too far beyond the boundries of the envelope. Once those first two flowers are on, build from there. I like to use mini glue dots on the leaves and attach them right to the backs of the flowers -- again, maing sure they will fit.

Here's a pretty version of this that fellow demo Sandy Mitchell made using the Parisian Breeze Specialty Designer Series Paper.  

These are so fun to make -- almost addicting. You'll find lots of Big Shot dies that would make great flowers for these and of course there are some beautiful flower stamp sets right now that would be great to stamp and then cut out for your flowers. Thanks for stopping by -- and remember that the great "Buy three packages -- get a 4th free" special is still going on through May 31 on our Designer Papers and Textured Card Stocks. You can shop online by clicking SHOP NOW in the upper right corner.

Stair Step Card How-to

I've seen lots of stair step cards lately on the web -- cards with an accordion base that staggers your focal point elements so it creates a little scene when the card is open. I used the Stampin' Up stamp sets Cheep Talk and Good Friend to create my version. The larger bird is even standing on some "grass" -- made by using Olive Patterns Designer Series Paper with the top edge cut with a bunch of little 1/2 inch cuts so it's paper grass. The ink colors are Olive, Kiwi Kiss, Summer Sun, Pacific Point and Chocolate Chip. A Stamp-a-ma-jig helps you get the big birds beak and legs on just so -- and is great for positioning the baby bird on the branch.

This was one of the projects at my Feb. clubs and this time of year meant more people than usual were out sick -- so here are the how-tos so they can figure out how this was done:

- Base card stock (summer Sun in this case)  is 4¼” by 10½”. Score at 1¼”; 2½”; 4¼”; 6”; 8¼”
- Fold accordion styles so there are mountains and valleys.
- Panel sizes for layers with 1/8” border: front panel – 1” x 4” (on this card that's the Good Morning Sunshine Designer paper); center panel 1½” x 4” (our grass layer for this version is 1 7/8” x 4¼”)
Back panel: 4¼” square or regular size 4¼” x 5½” (mat layers are ¼” smaller each direction)        

Want to make a horizontal card? Start with 5½” by 10½” card stock and score using the same increments. There are various versions of this card out there online. However, I like how the scoring numbers are somewhat even and easy with this combination. Here's another view from the side so you can see how things are attached -- and I used the Tombow liquid glue with the green top to attach the items that had been cut out -- love that glue.

The possibilities with this style card are so fun -- think a Nativity scene at Christmas with eh wise men traveling to see the baby Jesus. Or thing a circus card with a lion jumping though a ring of fire (just steal some flames from a camping stamp set and place those around your ring and you'd have a ring of fire!) It's also nice to use the front panel where the Good Morning Sunshine paper is on this card as a place for a greeting. Use your imagination as you stair step along! Enjoy!!! — Catherine

Circle Treat Holder Video Tutorial

 It's been too long since I posted so I'm back and with a video tutorial that shows how to make this cute circle treat holder that includes a little 3" square note card with a Ghirardelli chocolate square inside. It starts out with a 6 inch circle -- cut with the SU Circle Scissor then embossed with the Texturz embossing plates in the Big Shot. The video will show how to do both. Also -- I do say the measurements for things on the video -- but here they are as well. You'll see how I cut off just a tiny edge of the circle which was not embossed -- then scored 1 3/4" from that. Use that line as your horizontal guide to score 1 1/4" from each side of the circle. You'll see that concept in action when you watch the video. Enjoy!

Spiral Card - a tutorial for the card with a surprise inside

 Some observant blog watcher caught a glimpse of one version of this card in the videos I did recently for the Big Shot SU Texturz Impressions plates. Click here and you can see the video that shows how to get the embossed look that's on the front of this pink card.

The Pirouette Pink designer series paper is from the Patterns pack -- it's the solid one and then after embossing you sand with a sanding block to reveal the paper's white core.

 I first made this card though with the Boho Blooms background stamp on bashful blue card stock -- stamped with clear Versamark ink and then embossed with clear powder. And this is the version my card stamp clubs made at their January meetings! The ribbon wrapped around the blue card is the wide Pink Pirouette grosgrain -- and the blue on the pink card is the Bashful Blue double stitched -- both from SU of course. EDITED TO ADD: Bear with me on the spacing for the rest of this post -- I wanted the words by each photo and they're just space a little farther apart then I'd like.

And here's what's inside -- it's a spiral card "pop-up" featuring butterflies in Bashful Blue and Pacific Point using the set Flight of the Butterfly. The pink flowers are stamped with the One of a Kind stamp set and then punched out with the coordinating Boho Blossoms punch. Those flowers help hold the spiral in place and also are great for covering any stray bits of glue that might make your card stick shut.

Here's how to do it. Start by cutting out or punching out a circle -- in this case mine starts with the 1 and 3/4 inch SU circle punch.

Use small scissors to cut it into a spiral -- with the spiral about 1/8 inch wide and be sure to end with a small circle shape in the middle. So one end has a slim "tail" shape and the other end that I'm holding here is the small circle.

For my card, I'm attaching the small circle center of the spiral first -- and it gets attached to the bottom section of the card's inside -- not too close to the bottom or side edge, otherwise items you attach to it might stick out the sides. I use tiny dots of Tombo Multi Purpose adhesive -- a liquid glue in the SU catalog that has a quick and permanent hold. I apply the glue with a toothpick though so I get REALLY small dots. If glue leaks out it might stay sticky and make your card stick shut. For the first step I just put glue on the back side of that small circle center and attach it where I want it.

 

Now see that pointed tail? Put a couple of tiny dots of glue on the top -- and just close the card so the spiral tail adheres automatically to the top section of the card just where it should be. This way your spiral will collpase properly when the card is closed.

Here's a view when you've attached the spiral -- and I like to right away put a puched flower or something over the pointed end of the spiral so it helps hold it in place and covers any glue that leaks out. ALWAYS apply the glue to the spiral as you attach the cut out butterflies and flowers -- then hold the item in place and that minimizes the chance of glue leakage. On the base of the card, I do attach items with foam Dimensionals or mini glue dots for a bit of a pop.

Here's a look at what I stamped and then cut out with a little white border to decorate my spiral. The pink flowers were punched out with that matching flower punch I mentioned. I also stamped a greeting from the same stamp set inside the card and put one cut out butterfly at the end of the letter trail.

Here's the first card of this type that I made last summer for a swap at the SU convention. It uses the Pretty Petals background stamp and the Pretty Amazing set for the greeting and for what's inside.

It's a pretty hummingbird.

I always trade cards with my friend, Canadian demonstrator Marlayne Hardy -- and little did I know that she had also made a sprial card and was even demonstrating it to everyone on the main stage.

Here's Marlayne's card she gave me and here's a link to her tips on her blog for this style card -- plus lots of samples using other images. Her star version uses two spirals side by side -- just be sure to attach them so they alternate -- meaning the skinny tail end is on the bottom panel for one spiral and on the top panel for the other. This way they sandwich in just fine when the card is closed.

Thanks for hanging in there for this long post. I just love these spiral cards -- have fun creating your own!