Inspiration Saturday #43-2016

This yummy picture is our inspiration today.

Robbie captured the feeling perfectly with her card.

When I saw the houses, I immediately thought of our paper that has gingerbread houses all over it.  All supplies are Stampin’ Up.  The card base is Whisper White that was cut 5 ½” x 8 ½” and scored on the long side at 4 ¼”.  I pulled out the Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper and chose the Gingerbread House paper as well as 2 matching patterns.  I cut the Gingerbread House paper  at 2 ¼” x 3 7/16” – this allowed me to have 2 of the Gingerbread Houses on my panel.  I mounted this onto a piece of Real Red card stock that measured 2 ½” x 3 5/8”.  Next I cut the dot paper 1 ¼” x 5 ¼”.  I wanted this paper to pop so I cut a piece of Early Espresso card stock at 1 ½” x 5 ½”.  The dot paper was added to the Early Espresso card stock using Snail.  Then using Snail I added this strip to the left hand edge getting it very close to the edge of the card front.  Next I cut a strip of the Candy Cane paper 1” x 4 ½”.  This was mounted onto a Real Red card stock piece that was cut 1 ¼” x 4 ¾” using Snail.  I added this to the card front using Snail and overlapping the dot paper.  The Gingerbread House layer was attached to the card front using dimensionals.  Now I needed a sentiment.  I chose one from the Candy Cane Christmas stamp set.  This was stamped using Early Espresso ink onto Whisper White card stock that was ¾” x 2 1/8”.  I mounted the sentiment on a piece of Early Espresso card stock that was 1” x 2 ¼”.  Dimensionals were used to add it to the card front.  My card was complete and ready to be mailed.

Get your inspiration and get card making or baking today.- Denise

C.A.S.E A Card Friday #43-2016

This elegant card is our C.A.S.E. today.

The elegance continues in Robbie's card-

This is a clean and simple card so I needed to make sure my card was clean and simple.  All supplies are Stampin’ Up.  I do not have a large bird in my stamps so I thought I would use a butterfly.  Well my butterfly was not big enough so I went looking for another idea.  I ran across my Rose Wonder stamp set and knew I could use it.  I wanted to give this card to someone who loves red so I decided to use Real Red for my card.  I cut my card base at 5 ½” x 8 ½” and scored it on the long side at 4 ¼”.  I then cut another panel from the Real Red that measures 4’ x 5 ¼”.  Since I was going to be embossing this panel, I used my Embossing Buddy to avoid stray flecks. Using this panel I stamped my rose using Versamark ink.  I then sprinkled on some Gold embossing powder and heat it with my heat gun.  Next I used the same procedure for my sentiment.  Now that my sentiment and image were embossed, I was ready to add my ribbon.  I chose some of the 1/8” gold ribbon.  I wrapped a piece around the front and attached it to the back using Tear & Tape.  My panel was complete so I added it to the card base using dimensionals.  To finish off the card I added a gold bow using the same 1/8” gold ribbon.  My card is now ready to mail!

This great card is simple but really packs an impact. - Denise

Technique Thursday #43-2016

The designers could pick their favorite technique from this year's Thursday challenges.

Robbie choose to do word clustering.

I had fun checking out all the techniques from the past year.  Then I had to choose one to use for my card.  All supplies are Stampin’ Up.  After looking at all the techniques on the blog I have to admit my favorite one was the Word Clustering.  I just loved this idea and decided to use it with some fall leaves.  The card base was cut using Very Vanilla card stock and cut to 5 ½” x 8 ½” and scored on the long side at 4 ¼”.  A layer of Soft Suede was cut to 4” x 5 ¼”.  I chose 3 sentiments from Crazy About You, Fresh Fruit,  and Thoughtful Banners.  I attached a post-it note across the middle of the layer at an angle to use to help me get a straight line.  Using Soft Suede ink I stamped the sentiments repeatedly following the post-it note.  After I had the first row completed I moved the post-it note down and used the same procedure to stamp the second row of words.  I repeated this process until the lower half of my card had the sentiments stamped on it.  Copper thread was wrapped around the top of the Soft Suede panel and tied to hold it in place.  The panel was then added to the card front using Snail.  Now I needed to make my leaves.  I recently used a watercolor technique in my class and was wondering if you could achieve the same look using markers.  I began by coloring my stamp using my markers.  For the maple leaf I used Cherry Cobbler, Crushed Curry, Garden Green, and Pumpkin Pie.  I colored the leaf stamp randomly and then stamped it onto Watercolor paper.  Using an Aqua Painter and water, I applied water to the inside of the stamped image spreading the ink around.  You need to make sure you stay inside the lines of the stamp and to blend the different inks to avoid distinctive lines.  Set this aside to air dry.  Repeat this procedure using the oak leaf.  Once the leaves are dry, use the Leaflets framelits that match the leaf to cut each leaf out.  Layer the 2 leaves on top of each other and use some of the Copper thread to tie them together.  Attach the leaves to the card front using dimensionals.  I love the look of this and will be using both of these techniques for future creations!

If you search the search box of the blog for technique 2016 you can pick out your own favorite to try.