Handpenned Petals and Tags

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I created this scrapbook page using the Tailor made tags dies and penned flower dies. It also uses the retired papers called “In Good Taste”. If you wanted to make this page, you could use any neutral papers.

When I taught this in class, the ladies didn’t like tying all the bows! 10 of them. I told them practice makes perfect. 🙂

I like to teach new techniques with my layouts and this time, I was teaching distressing with water. The first distressing technique using water was to curl the edges of the paper. We painted the edges of the photo mat paper with a layer of water and then curled the edges up with our thumbs. The water softens the paper so it curls easily and stays that way when it dries.

The second distressing technique using water was to stamp with water. We started with white card and sponged crumb cake ink on top and then inked up our stamp (bold “flower” shape image) using water on a clear block as our ink pad. When the water stamped image touches the card it removes the sponged colour and turns it back to white. We then stamped a bold flower outline on top with Early espresso ink.

I would love some feedback on these techniques. What do you think? Do you like them? Have you tried them before?

Hello Ladybug, it’s a good day!

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I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about the ladybug punch and wondering if I could create a punch art ladybug to match the one with the smiley face in the stamp set. I was excited to give it a go the next morning. And it worked! (Some of my night time ideas are not realistic!) 😬

I punched the ladybug body from black card and cut it in half. I punched a second body out of Sweet Sorbet card. I cut it in half also and cut off it’s head, I punched out more antenna to add a second one for the head and the rest to make feet.

The sunflower is made with the ladybug wings. Punch out six wings. Sponge with So Saffron ink. Make a square with four wings overlapping the edges. Cut the remaining two wings in half and adhere the single half wing in the centre of each double wing. Adhere a die cut scallop circle on top to finish.

The DSP is the new in colour Tahitian Tide. I love this shade of blue. I think it makes a nice happy card when it is matched with the So Saffron card. I hope you like it.

Rubber Band Stamping Technique

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Here is an oldie but a goodie technique that I revisited this week. Stamping with clear blocks and rubber band stamping. By putting rubber bands on a clear block you can ink them up and stamp stripy lines onto your projects.

This first card, I inked up a D block with Mint Macaron and So Saffron inks and stamped the block directly onto my white card. Then I inked up my block with the rubber bands on using Pool Party ink and just stamped in the “blue” portion to create wave like lines.

I added a die cut tree from the Paradise Palms bundle.

Inside the card I used So Saffron to stamp the shore line and then I made a mask to cover it while I stamped over the image with an inked block (I size). I used Pool Party ink. Finally I stamped the trees.

Here is another card I did with the same rubber band technique. Colours used are Pumpkin Pie and Cajun Craze

Using Markers on stamps to create multi coloured images.

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I was asked by someone the other day whether it was worth buying the Stampin’ Write markers. Yes I replied and this is why…

You can use them to create multi coloured images by colouring directly with your marker onto the rubber stamp like I did with this Flowing Flower card. I used Petal Pink, Real Red and Old Olive markers. I also used an Old Olive marker to trace around the inside of my die to give my diecut a thin border.

I used the same technique inside my card for the words, this time I used a black marker and Old Olive.

You can do this marker to stamp technique with the photopolmer stamps as well but the ink doesn’t always come out evenly using photopolmer. If you use a stamparatus you will be able to have more than one go to build up a depth of colour. Remember to huff on your stamp before pressing onto the card as the moisture from your breath will be enough to reactivate the ink if it has dried on the stamp.

Flower Fairy Punch Art

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These simple Flower Fairies were made using the ladybug punch and Tailored Tag punch.

I used a marker pen to draw in their nose and mouths. I trimmed the points off a mini dimensional and placed it on the end of a pen. Then I used that to “stamp” some rosy cheeks on the fairy girl’s faces. I stamped off on scrap paper first so that the final result was quite subtle.

Below is a guide to how I put the punched pieces together to create the fairies on my card.

I didn’t give my fairies ears but it is easy to do, if you look at the example below.

Ladybug Tunnel Card

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I used Hello Ladybug bundle to create this fun card. The DSP on the front is from the Pattern Party hostess set and it is sponged with Granny Apple Green ink to make a softer background. The black and white was just too stark. The small curvy label from the Ornate Frames dies was perfect for the “It’s a good day” greeting.

Inside the card is a fun fold called a tunnel fold. It is really easy to do. I stamped in the centre of my A5 size card first, then scored and folded it. My DSP measured 14.9 x 10 cm. I scored in half at 5 cm and then again 1 cm in from each edge. I used a circle die to cut a circle from the centre of the DSP and folded it along the score lines. The centre line is a mountain fold the two outside 1 cm score lines are valley folds.

To attach, add adhesive to the outside 1 cm folded tabs only and adhere flat to inside of card, making sure that the centre fold of base card and centre fold of DSP line up perfectly.

I then added a strip of 14.9 x 6.5 cm piece of white card either side of DSP to secure the attached edges and make it look neater.

Memories and More Albums

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I teach Memories and More scrapbooking classes. Each week the focus is on a different technique. We make title cards, filler cards and journal cards to go in our albums.

The Happy Day filler card above was made by creating stripes with the Stampin Blends, then using a colour lifter in the opposite direction to create a gingham pattern.

The Happy Day words are from the Birthday Chick dies. I separated the words out so I could remove birth and just keep day.

Daisy Half Circle Pop Up Card

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I used the Daisy Lane stamp set and Bloom where you are planted DSP. (Plus a bit of In Good Taste DSP for inside the card).

I taught this card in a class last week and gave the ladies the option of what sentiment they wanted on the front, using A wish for everything stamp set. Some chose to do a Mother’s day card and some chose to do an Easter card.

We added a small white flower die cut from the Cherry Blossoms dies and for those who chose the Easter card, they added a small chicken die cut from the Birthday Chick dies.

The special thing about this card is that it has a surprise pop up with a floating daisy inside.

I followed a tutorial from Julie Davidson to create the pop up piece inside. It is basically a circle cut out of a piece of white card and folded in the centre of the circle. There is a piece of window sheet inside the half circle which the daisy adheres to.

Simple thank you card

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This card was made using a leaf stamp from the Sweet Strawberry stamp set and a Stamparatus.

I started with a strip of white card, 14.9 x 4.5 cm. I put this in the Stamparatus and started stamping with the plate on the 5th position along from the corner. I did it this way and worked my way inwards as I wanted to start with the lightest green ink first and go darker with edge image I stamped.

My first colour was Soft Seafoam. Then I moved the plate one hinge closer to the corner and stamped again with Pear Pizzazz. I didn’t need to clean the stamp in between inking as I was going from a lighter colour to a darker colour each time. The next colours were Old Olive, followed by Garden Green and finally Shaded Spruce.

When I finished the row of leaves, I filled them in with another stamp from the same set. I used the corresponding ink colours to fill in each leaf with second generation stamping. (This is by stamping first on your scrap paper and second on the image). It gives a lighter shade by doing it this way and allows the veins of the leaves to still show clearly. I didn’t use the stamparatus for this as it is easy to line up with the photopolmer stamp.

I mounted the strip of white card onto a 6 cm wide strip of Garden Green. Then I adhered that to a folded A5 Pear Pizzazz card. I stamped Thank you in Shaded Spruce ink.