Vintage Card for Deconstructed Sketches Challenge

I was surfing the net today to get some inspiration for my Retreat swaps (which I still haven't started!) and discovered a relatively new site called Deconstructing Jen - it has a Sketch Challenge that looks really neat and not too hard to comply with.

So here is the sketch challenge this week:

And here is my interpretation of it:

My base card is Soft Suede and I have mounted some Attic Boutique Designer Series Paper on Crumb Cake (stitching around the edge in aqua cotton).  This paper is a lovely design and very vintage in its theme but the difficulty is that it is hard to match romantic colours to it. All other cardstock on the card is Very Vanilla. I had lots of new toys to try out including stamps, a new embossing folder and Jumbo Sticky Rounds which are coming out in the Holiday Catalogue tomorrow.

The Textured Embossing Folder is called Lacy Brocade and I am officially in love!  I have used it on about 15 projects and have only owned it for a week! Because textured cardstock is often hard to adhere things to I used the Jumbo Sticky Rounds because they give more coverage than snail and sticky strip.

Stamps in this project include the divine new Papaya Collage which will be released in the Annual Catalogue in Australia tomorrow (yyaaayy!).  French Foliage, an all time favourite of mine along with En Francais and Creative Elements.  And Sincere Salutations which retires as of midnight tonight.

I stamped the smallest leaf from French Foliage and fussy cut them out, then distressed them to sit behind the flowers.  Because the flowers blended into the page a bit I popped a bit of torn Gumball Green cardstock behind the flowers as well which I distressed and damaged first - can't help myself! And because the embossed card ran behind the flowers I made the beige flower from Sahara Sand cardstock to make it pop a little.

So all the stamping has been done using my Soft Suede classic ink pad.  I stamped the fern leaves from Papaya Collage ~ but I stamped it off first so the darkest image you see above is actually a second generation stamped image, followed by third and fourth.  I tore a post-it note down the sides, stuck it in the middle of my tag and then stamped it with En Francais so that the italic words would only be on the edges. 

The Pool Party cardstock behind the tag is stamped using the filigree stamp from Creative Elements around the edges.  I could not resist daubing and distressing the card before mounting them.

The darker brown card behind the blue is Soft Suede and I stamped it using bleach and en Francais as I only wanted a hint of writing to lend in with the designer paper.  The stained the lace with black tea and possibly should have rinsed it out a bit more as it is quite brown.  I made the tag shape myself and added a Soft Suede 1/2" circle then punched out the centre with the Cropodile and threaded it with Pool Party Seam Binding.

Happy crafting,
Shanni x

Small Rose Making Tutorial

I am often asked to show how I make the flowers I use on my paper projects.  So because I was making a card today for a friend who recently lost her Gran and I wanted to include flowers I thought it was a good opportunity to show in a step by step process how I make small roses.

I use the Stampin' Up! Sizzix Originals Die - Blossom Party.

I use all of the flowers on this die to make other 3D flowers.  For small ones though the two little ones are the best. This is the flower I have used for these roses.

I generally cut out 5-7 of the flowers depending on how big you want the flower to be and what kind of paper you are using.  Once cut out I distress the cardstock with a bone folder and make sure that the cardstock is malleable.  Quite often I will daube the card with some ink to add depth of colour or to lend in with a shappy/vintage theme.  (NB I even use the cut outs if I damage them during this distressing process).

So I decide which punch will form my centre and fold those petals up quite closely.  I try to be methodical about the folding process so that there is some uniformity in the way that the petals sit one in front of the other and fold inwards.  I then bend each additional layer accordingly so that they can fit around each other and compliment the configuration.

Using a hot glue gun or Towbow Glue if you don't have a gun I then stick the layers inside each other.  Glue guns are good because you can work through the steps faster.  Always make sure when you glue together that the petal placement is a little rotated and counterbalanced.

In the photo above I have stuck the inner part of the flower to two layers.  See how the petals are not aligned.  I have also curled the central petals into the heart of the flower.  I am using Pool Party which is a fresh light aqua blue but it doesn't photograph very well. 

So this is the flower with five layers. See how all the petals curl upwards?  The next step is to curl, bend and place the petals where I need them to be for the flower shape that I want.  I may need to use extra glue especially in the centre of the flower where I need to build a heart.  Sometimes I twist the centre a little too as flowers usually look like they unfurl.

Work the flower as little or as much as you like to get the exact look that you are after.  Don't give up - practice makes perfect in this instance.

As a finishing touch I sometimes spray the flowers shimmer mist (to look like dew), occasionally I use Crystal Effects to look like drops of moisture and other times I simply touch random petals with Two-Way Glue then glitter with Dazzling Diamonds or Super Nova Glitter.  You are only limited by your imagination.

I'll probably work on this one a little more to "train" it to sit how I want on the card.

Finally if you can't purchase the die I have used consider using other "daisy" style punches or dies.  My recommendation is that you use Stampin' Up! cardstock however as the card is vitrified which means that it is died consistently the same colour all the way from the outside through the core.  This means that you can distress and mold it exactly as you wish and maintain true colour.

Have fun and good luck
Shanni x

Birthday Boy

On of my sons turned 10 this week and it feels a little bit like we have been celebrating for four days! I made him a card combining my new colouring skills and some lovely Stampin' Up! DSP from three seasons ago (Sweet Pea Designer Pack).

It is really hard making cards for boys who fall into that in between gap - 9-14 because they aren't into the usual things that little boys love and they haven't yet gradutated to the stuff that the lads seem to enjoy so I have picked an image from Some Odd Girl which is possibly a little immature but kinda made it more mature by tying it in with the words from the new Stampin' Up! set Animal Talk which will come out with the new cattie in three sleeps!

For the 10 I used the Timelss Junior Alphabet Sizzlet Dies - which are retired now and actually all sold out )-: and ran it through the Big Shot about 4-5 times for each number using Real Red cardstock.  I then glued the numbers one on top of the other to make the number thicker and used Crystal Effects to seal and shine the whole thing.

Cardstock colours used includes Whisper White, Not Quite Navy (yum one of my favourite colours), Old Olive and Real Red.

I coloured the little boy and puppy at my third coloring class. . . I am improving. . . slowly. . . but I never realised how hard it was to work out where "light" is coming from or shining onto in an image and where the shadow needs to go!

See you soon,
Shanni xx

Betsy's Blossoms Card

One of the great things about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is that you can often pre-purchase stamp sets, ink pads and papers before they are released to the public.  I got to buy the Betsy's Blossom stamp set and the 2012-2014 In Colours before they come out in the Annual Catalogue in September and here is a card that I put together today:

The base card is 21cm x 14.8cm and is Whisper White cardstock.  I ran it through the Big Shot using the Finial Press Embossing Folder.  I folded the cardstock in halves first and only embossed one half.  I also cut a Top Note shape using Whisper White.

I discovered that the new ink pads are very juicy and you need to have a gentle hand when inking up your stamps ~ quite a bit different from how I am used to inking them up.  The leaves from the Betsy's Blossoms set are stamped in Gumball Green which I have then fussy cut out.  The little flowers are actually from a stamp that contains three images and I have cut them separately; I love this colour it is called Midnight Muse. 

The birdie is stamped in Raspberry Ripple (sounds good enough to eat!) and I stamped it twice so that I could pop the wings using dimensionals.  A fair bit of cutting out but I didn't want to mask and stamp and also wanted the little edge of white to show around the whole layout despite there being a white background.

The sentiment comes from Petite Pairs.  It is stamped in Gumball Green, which I have then punched using the Word Window Punch.  I thought that "so many smiles" suited the whimsical images from  the Betsy's Blossoms set.

I wanted to pop the card a little and tie in the fresh Gumball Green colour so I mounted the whole card on a piece of Gumball Green cardstock (11cm x 15.3cm). My aim was to frame the "picture".

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Shanni xx

I am going to miss Vintage Vogue. . .

Stampin' Up! are selling out of the items on the retirement list rapidly. . . and I am mourning the loss of one of my "go to" stamp sets, Vintage Vogue.  Here is a card that I made tonight for a friend's birthday.  It is funny how I always reach for this set above all of the others.

It is a 6" x 6" card.  The base is Crumb Cake, mounted with Cherry Cobbler and the DSP in the background is First Edition Specialty Designer Series Paper.  I have then layered on top of that some designer series papers from the Beau Chateau range (the Soft Suede polka dot added some relief from the newsprint and married in with the large frame from the range).  I have distressed the edges of all the cardstock and paper and daubed with Crumb Cake ink.

The large flowers from the Vintage Vogue set are stamped in Cherry Cobbler on Very Vanilla cardstock and I have then cut them out. The centres of the flowers are circles I punched using the Owl Builder Punch and Crumb Cake cardstock, I then painted them with Champagne Shimmer Paint to give them a vintage feel. 

The little flowers are stamped in Crumb Cake and Cherry Cobbler using a rock 'n roll technique to keep the darker colours to the outer edge of the flowers to stop them from being too dominant.  I then cut them out and painted them lightly with the shimmer paint too.  The centres are little pearls.  The leaves are stamped in Soft Suede with the small leaf from French Foliage.  I distressed the leaves a little bit before adhering them to the card.

The ribbon  across the bottom of the card is Crumb Cake Seam Binding and I have tied the knot around the centre with Victorian Lace, Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla Seam Binding. I love that hint of luxury that this ribbon combo creates.

The oval frame is from the Two Frames Embossing Folders set and I have torn around the edges to distress it and then daubed with Crumb Cake.  The sentiment is from a new set Blooming with Kindness and the red filigree from Vintage Vogue.

The butterflies are stamped using the image from Creative Elements in Cherry Cobbler on First Edition Specialty DSP, which I have then fussy cut.  I did this twice, the top one I spritzed with Champagne Shimmer Paint and rubbing alcohol.  The bottom Butterfly is cut using the Sizzlets Beautiful Wings Embosslit die in Beau Chateau DSP, I daubed the edges in Crumb Cake ink.

The sentiment is from Petite Pairs, stamped in Cherry Cobbler on Very Vanilla cardstock and mounted on Crumb Cake - the punch shape is the Modern Label Punch.

I wanted the card to feel aged and luxurious but I didn't want to add a lot of embellishments.  I hoped that the flowers would account for that feel.

The inside of the card is decorated too.  I tore a piece of First Edition Specialty paper and distressed it and daubed it with Crumb Cake ink.  I stamped the vine image from Vintage Vogue in Soft Suede along the edge then mounted it on Very Vanilla cardstock which I again mounted on Cherry Cobbler cardstock then on the base Crumb Cake.  I distressed and daubed all the edges to complete the theme.

Enjoy!

Shanni x



Going, Going, Gone. . .Retirement List Time!

There are heaps of stamp sets and accessories on the current Stampin' Up! Retirement List, so if you are looking for a bargain or trying to stock up on our 12" x 12" smooth and textured cardstock, now is the time to place an order*. 

Click on the link for full details of the retiring stamp sets which include long established "go to" sets like Fifth Avenue Floral, Vintage Vogue, Baroque Motiffs and Loads of Love and many more.  Some sets are reduced by as much as 25% so there are some real bargains to be had.

For details of the Accessories (including all current Classic Stampin' Ink pads, 12" x 12" smooth and textured cardstock, pastels and ribbons) take a look at the retiring accessories list there are some amazing bargains.  Products are reduced by up to 40%!

Items are available only as stock lasts ~ first in, best dressed.

To have your order shipped direct to your address today contact me - Stamping Shanni with your wish list and payment details.

I am excited about the savings to be made but am a little sad to see so many beautiful items leaving our collection.  The good news is that there are some amazing stamp sets, embellishments and new in colours coming on 1 September!

Sharing the love

Shanni xx

*Offer available to Australian Residents only; apologies for any inconvenience caused.