Not Your Average Background!

Hi all,

I was playing with a card tonight and it just wasn't working for me so I set it aside and started something totally new - sometimes you just have to do that!

I am SOOO ready for warm weather, so wanted to create a bit of my own spring. So Saffron, Blushing Bride, Soft Seafoam and Balmy Blue were speaking to me and the word they were saying was "SPRING!" What to do, what to do, what to do....

Here is what I created:

To mask this project, you could use Post-it notes, but a while back I found Post-it removable labeling tape and it worked perfectly for this project. If you're ever looking to leave a crisp frame around a project or a torn frame, this product also works very well. I ordered it online.

The pattern created is totally random. No two projects will be alike. I can see using this technique with so many color combinations. Start by masking off a small section of cardstock and sponge the section. Move the tape to cover what you just sponged and mask off another section of the cardstock. I had 4 pieces of tape that I kept moving around. If, when you're finished, you find some white spaces, place your tape down and color in the spots. 

I didn't want to cover up the good stuff, so chose the Thank You Thinlit to finish off my card. I stacked the sentiment in each of the colors of the project and topped it with the pop of Balmy Blue. The background piece measures 5" x 3 3/4". The Gray Granite layer is 1/8" bigger and Soft Seafoam is used for the card base.

Hope you give this technique a try. Let me know if you have any questions.

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Happy Spring!

Sunshine Wishes

Welcome to the Pals’ April  Blog Hop. We’re so glad you’re here because we love to put our ”Families First”! Our Design Team created beautiful projects to inspire you. You may be starting the hop here or coming from a previous Pal’s blog. Either way, you’ve come to the right place. You’ll find the full line-up below to help you move, or “hop” along from Pal to Pal.

Here in Wisconsin I am WAY ready for spring. When deciding which products to feature in this post, Sunshine Wishes certainly spoke to me!

My goal with this project was to create a bit of spring sparkle. I have several close family/friends who are undergoing a variety of cancer treatments and will send this card to hopefully, add a smile and a bit of hope to their day. You can easily replace the word "hope" with the word "love" from the Sunshine Wishes Thinlits and have a perfect Mother's Day card.

A beautiful feature of this card is the background that was created with a watercolor wash of Petal Pink, Flirty Flamingo and Calypso Coral, using an Aqua Painter on Watercolor paper.

Cut a Calypso Coral card base at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", Pear Pizazz at 4" x 5 3/8". Adhere the Pear Pizazz layer to the Calypso Coral base.

Using the Sunshine Wishes Thinlits, cut your choice of words with Calypso Coral, a Petal Pink and a Flirty Flamingo butterfly and a Petal Pink and Calypso Coral large flower. Trim the stem off of the Petal Pink large flower, offset the Calypso Coral flower over the top and adhere using a Fine Tip Glue Pen. The two leaves were cut using the Support Ribbon Framelits.

For a bit of sparkle, cover your die cuts with Wink of Stella.

Create the frame using the largest and 3rd largest Rectangle Stitched Framelits. Cut the Watercolor paper 1/8" smaller than the rectangle and used Tombow glue to attach it. A tip that worked well for me was to place the frame face down and adhere the Watercolor paper to the back of the frame. It is easier to center the Watercolor paper this way versus placing the frame on top of the Watercolor paper. Small detail, but I found it made a difference. The Tombow glue doesn't immediately set, allowing time to tuck the flower stem into the frame.

Adhere your butterflies using the Fine Tip Glue Pen. A string of Rhinestone Basic Jewels creates the body.

A glue dot on the bottom right corner will serve as the anchor for your swirl of Copper Metallic Thread. Glue Dots are also used to adhere the leaves.

Use dimensionals generously to secure the layer to the card base.

What do you think? Please leave a comment below; I enjoy hearing from you.

With more snow in the forecast for this Wisconsin April week, I am enjoying this bit of spring and send you sunshine wishes!

More inspiration awaits! Use the Blog Hop Line-up below to visit the rest of this month’s Design Team. My fellow Pals are excited to show you what they’ve created! Don’t forget to show us some love by commenting on our creations. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, May 8, 2019 when our Hoppin’ Pals share their “More Than One Score” projects. Don’t miss the fun!

1. Mary Fish at Stampin' Pretty
2. Sue Becker at RnR Stamping
3. Katy McGloin at Just Fun Stamping
4. Lisa Ann Bernard at Queen B Creations
5. Mary Hanson at Up North Stampin’
6. Rosanne Mulhern at Heartfelt Stamping
7. Beth McCullough at Stamping Mom
8. Tricia Chuba at ButterDish Designs
9. Debbie Mageed at Secrets to Stamping
10. Rae Harper-Burnet at Wild West Paper Arts
11. Pamela Sadler at Stampin Pink Rose
12. Wendy Klein at Doggone Delightful Stampin'
13. Susan Itell at Simple Stampin'
14. Jackie Beers at Blue Line Stamping
15. Su Mohr at Aromas And Art
16. Jeanie Stark at Just Stampin'
17. Leah O’Brien at Stamping By The Bay
18. Lynn Kolcun at Avery’s Owlery
19. Stesha Bloodhart at Stampin' Hoot!
20. Jill Killeen at Killeen House Studio

To learn more about or to purchase products used in this project, click on the photos below.

Product List

Sunshine Wishes Thinlits Dies

[141489]

$27.00

Support Ribbon Framelits Dies

[143749]

$22.00

Rectangle Stitched Framelits Dies

[148551]

$35.00

Calypso Coral 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[122925]

$8.50

Pear Pizzazz 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[131201]

$8.50

Watercolor Paper

[122959]

$5.00

Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad

[147101]

$7.50

Petal Pink Classic Stampin' Pad

[147108]

$7.50

Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad

[147052]

$7.50

Aqua Painters

[103954]

$17.00

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141897]

$8.00

Rhinestone Basic Jewels

[144220]

$5.00

Copper Metallic Thread

[141696]

$3.50

Glue Dots

[103683]

$5.25

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.00

Gingham Baskets

A quick post to share the treats I sent home with my class participants this week. I always like to make a little treat for them to take home with them. These baskets are a breeze to make.

I filled them with Belgian and Italian Easter chocolates I purchased at TJ Maxx. I again used the perfect spring flower - the daisy! My peeps thought these were so cute so at the end of class I did an impromptu tutorial for them.

Cut your card stock in a length that can be divided by 3. These little baskets I used 6" x 6" paper. I scored at 2" and 4" and burnished the score lines. On 2 opposite sides cut the score line up to the intersecting score line. Cut the DSP to 1 7/8" squares and adhered the squares to the 4 outside corners. Take the outside corners of the paper, bring them toward the middle and match the points up. Use an adhesive to hold them in place. Do the same on the other side. For the handle, cut a 3/4" x 6" piece of card stock and a 1/2" x 6" piece of dsp. I used Tombow glue to attach the handle to the inside of the basket. You can rest it on top of the middle square. You can make multiples of these in no time!

I also made a bigger one:

I cut the card stock at 8 1/4" x 8 1/4", scored at 2 3/4" and 5 1/2"  and followed the same procedure.

If you're looking for a cute, fun and QUICK project, this is one for you.

Be sure to sign up in the right side bar to receive my newsletter. I send tips and techniques that can help you in your crafting.

Have a great day!

A Little Note for Audrey

This past weekend I went back to my former church for a celebration of 25 years of music ministry for Audrey, the music liturgist at the parish. For many years I had been a very active member of the music ministry and Audrey became a very good friend. She is someone who lives a grateful life and always counts her blessings. It was wonderful for her and her family to hear from so many about what a blessing she is to them.

As a small token of appreciation, I made a set of 10 note cards and a fun box.

The music staff is from the Swirly Scribbles Framelits. I used a sentiment from Butterfly Gala. The envelope flap was randomly stamped with Sheet Music. I love the Daisy Punch; it creates the perfect spring embellishment.

I messed around with measurements for the box and wound up with 2 pieces of card stock cut at 9 3/4" x 8 1/2, scored at 2" on 2 long sides and 1 short side. I glued those pieces together and made a flap for the top that measure 6 1/2" x 4", scored at 2 1/2" and 4 1/2" and glued the 2" panel to the inside of the box. Leave a comment if you need clarification on any of that.

Along with the box of cards, I included one of my home made cinnamon breads. The package smelled heavenly!

It's especially fun to give a gift when you know it will be appreciated.

To receive weekly tips and techniques, be sure to sign up to receive my newsletter in the bar on the right side of my post.

Enjoy your day!

A Cup of Friendship Tea

I read on Facebook this morning that my friend's daughter will be visiting London during her spring break. The past several months I've been hoping to find someone travelling to the UK who would be willing to purchase some Fortnum and Mason tea for me. I've been fortunate in that I've had a steady supply for the past four years and I don't want to run out!

There's no better way to learn how yummy this tea is than to enjoy a cup, so I went to work.

The Garden Impressions DSP made creating this project a breeze. The sentiment is from Incredible Like You. A couple of layering circle framelits popped up on Swirly Scribbles and I was good to go.

I used the Envelope Punch Board to create the envelope for the tea. I hope my friend enjoys the tea along with a quiet moment to herself!

Hope you find your own moment of peace today. Thanks for stopping!

Mission DSP

If you are NOT someone with a significant stash of Designer Series Paper (DSP), raise your hand.

Wow, I'm amazed there's one of you out there!! Good for you!

Stampin' Up! creates amazingly beautiful DSP and sometimes it's almost too pretty to cut and sometimes I "just have to have it" and always end up with DSP after it has retired. I was on a mission this weekend to use up a huge stack of It's My Party DSP. I send birthday cards to our 150 employees, so my multiple stacks of cards will all be mailed out within a couple months. Here are some of the cards I made.

I can tell you that I let out a HOORAY when I tossed the last scraps of this DSP. My pack of Neutrals DSP is next on my hit list.

There is a morning meeting for the nurses at work this week. I know there will be a variety of breakfast items for them, but I thought I'd pack them a snack for the road. 

I used my envelope punch board to make these boxes and determined the measurements and punch/score lines using the Crafty Owl Box Buster tool. I entered the dimensions of my treat and it gave me the paper size I needed as well as the measurements for the punches. It's a great tool!

I hope I've given you some inspiration to use some of your favorite DSP!

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Happy Stamping!

This Technique is Addicting!!

Welcome to the Pals’ March Blog Hop. We’re so glad you’re here because ”Spring has Sprung” - at least on our blog hop if not outside! Our Design Team created beautiful projects to inspire you. You may be starting the hop here or coming from a previous Pal’s blog. Either way, you’ve come to the right place. You’ll find the full line-up below to help you move, or “hop” along from Pal to Pal.

My sister is again hosting for Easter. This year my nephew, his wife and 'the littles' will be joining us. My greats are ages 8, 5 and 3 and I love them to pieces! My sister always outdoes herself with games and a basket hunt, but this year, we'll need to kick it up a notch in order to keep the kiddos entertained. As I've been perusing Pinterest for ideas, I saw lots of posts for coloring eggs, which is where I got my inspiration for today's projects.

When I thought of coloring eggs, I thought of the shaving cream technique which made me think of Kim Jolley. I am a great admirer of Kim's work. She is a true artist with an amazing attention to detail. She has a shaving cream method that is different from the norm. Kim uses an acrylic block, stamps it directly onto the ink pad, 'frosts' the inked block with shaving cream and applies the medium to the paper.

I started with a combination of Mango Melody, Bermuda Bay and Melon Mambo. I played with Whisper White card stock, Shimmery White card stock and Watercolor Paper.

This sample was done on Shimmery White card stock. The inks I used were Granny Apple Green, Poppy Parade and Highland Heather. I used a different block for each color.

For this piece I opted to use Watercolor Paper. The ink combo was Berry Burst, Fresh Fig and Blackberry Bliss.

Each paper reacted a bit differently. I had to be careful with the WW to not apply too many layers of shaving cream or the paper started to break down. The inky shaving cream glided over the Shimmery White. I found the color really soaked in to the Watercolor paper and I had to be persistent in getting additional applications of color to stick to the already wet paper.

It was a fun experiment and a pretty good sized mess! I used Dollar Tree shaving cream, a kitchen spatula to 'frost' and scrape the cream off of the paper and lots of paper toweling.

Ready to see my final projects?

The goal when using the shaving cream technique is to let your final result shine. The sentiment was cropped using the Lily Framelits.

I wanted this paper to shine a bit more so added random spots of gold embossing powder. A bit of gold metallic thread under the sentiment tied it all together.

(Okay, pun intended😉)

This card base needed 'something', but I didn't want to take away from the beauty of the paper I created. The Doily Builder Thinlits Die came to the rescue and perfectly complements the Dear Doily stamps.

I stamped and cropped two of the floral stems and trimmed one of them to get my double bloom. My shaving cream paper was cropped with the Rectangle Stitched Framelits. I used two of the framelits to create a frame of Blackberry Bliss to hold my shaving cream paper.

This paper ended up with such a soft, pretty look. A bouquet from Wishing You Well is the featured image.

How did I attach my bow? Using a 1/8" punch, I punched through the stamped paper and the Melon Mambo layer and threaded by ribbon through the holes. I put all the layers together and tied my bow.

I am warning you that this technique can be a bit addictive! But I encourage you to give it a play.

I'd love to know which project is your favorite. Please leave a comment below.

More inspiration awaits! Use the Blog Hop Line-up below to visit the rest of this month’s Design Team. My fellow Pals are excited to show you what they’ve created! Don’t forget to show us some love by commenting on our creations. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, April 10, 2019 when our Hoppin’ Pals share their “Families First” projects. Don’t miss the fun!

Pals Blog Hop

1. Mary Fish at Stampin’ Pretty
2. Susan Itell at Simple Stampin
3. Tricia Chuba at ButterDish Designs
4. Jackie Beers at Blue Line Stamping
5. Peggy Noe at Pretty Paper Cards
6. Pamela Sadler at Stampin Pink Rose
7. Karen Hallam at Karen’s Stamping Habit
8. Jennifer Michalski at Stamping Serenity
9. Katy McGloin at Just Fun Stamping
10. Su Mohr at Aromas And Art
11. Debbie Mageed at Secrets to Stamping
12. Lori Pinto at LollyPop Paper and Ink
13. Stesha Bloodhart at Stampin’ Hoot!
14. Linda Suarez at All Night Stamping
15. Terri George at Stamp Me Crafty
16. Beth McCullough at Stamping Mom
17. Lisa Ann Bernard at Queen B Creations
18. Patti MacLeith at Papercrafts by Patti
19. Wendy Klein at Doggone Delightful Stampin’
20. Jill Killeen at Killeen House Studio
21. Mary Hanson at Up North Stampin’
22. Roseanne Mulhern at Heartfelt Stamping
23. Leah O’Brien at Stamping by the Bay
24. Jackie Diediker at Stampin’ Jackie
25. Denise Hoepfner at The Mountain Magpie
26. Jeanie Stark at Just Stampin’
27. Sue Becker at RnR Stamping - You are here!