Vellum Valentine

I just love the new stamp set, Hey, Valentine from the Occasions Catalogue. When I heard that this week's challenge at The Paper Plunge was to use vellum, I knew right away I would be using this set.

This is a simple open top box made with an 8 1/4 by 4 1/4 piece of card stock vellum. It's scored at 2 1/2 horizontally, and 2, 4, 6, and 8 vertically. It's stamped with the adorable fox image, heat embossed in black, and coloured with Blendabilities. 

Here's a photo without the lamp on so you can see how the tea light (battery powered) shines through the image a bit better. 

Don't you love it!?!  Pull out some vellum and make one for your #1 Valentine. Then head over to The Paper Plunge for some more great vellum ideas. 

Go stamp something!

Diane 

Blendabilities Technique

Hi Stampers!

This week's challenge on The Paper Plunge is to use a technique on your project. Here's what I made:

I stamped the congratulations image from the stamp set Bravo in VersaMark ink, then heat embossed it with white embossing powder. Next I coloured over the embossed image with Blendabilities alcohol markers.  It really pops against the black cardstock!  Lastly, I heat embossed the tiny star from Many Merry Stars with gold embossing powder to dress up the background. 

No matter how many times I've done it before, it's still so exciting to watch the dull powder change as if my magic to that melted, glossy finish. What's your favourite technique?  Add your creation to the challenge at The Paper Plunge.

Go stamp something!

Diane

Keeping it Clean

The challenge over on The Paper Plunge this week is clean and simple. Here's my contribution:

This card uses the Wintertime stamp set. It's simply stamped in VersaMark ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder and dazzling diamonds glitter. I added a few rhinestone jewels to finish it off. It doesn't get much simpler than that!

Here's a second version using different stamps:

This card uses the Christmas Bauble stamp set, and the sentiment is from an old retired stamp set. 

Go stamp something simple and share it with us!

Diane

Stamping 101

This class focused on two current paper crafting trends; water colouring and gold. Both cards use the stamp set Happy Watercolor:

We stamped the colour wash image three times in Wisteria Wonder, then stamped the sentiment in Jet Black StazOn. The flowers were punched with the Petite Petals Punch, the tiny gold flowers were punched with the Itty Bitty Punch Pack. A little Rhinestone Jewel is added to the centre of each gold flower and the leaves were made with the Little Leaves Sizzlit and the Big Shot.

For our second card we used a technique called emboss resist. We stamped the floral image with Versa Mark ink and heat embossed it with White Embossing Powder. Then we painted over the image with an Aqua Painter and ink from the lid of our classic ink pads in the 2013-2015 in-colors. We attached a strip of the gold striped design from the washi tape collection; Watercolor Wonder. We stamped thank you, also from Happy Watercolor, directly onto the wash tape with Jet Black StazOn. Once the floral panel was dry, we attached it to the card with two pieces of the gold polka dot design from the same collection. Fast and easy, and it looks better in real life.  Gold is tricky to photograph!

Our third project was a simple little gift box, but since I forgot to take a photo of it, I'll have to save that idea for another post.

 

Go stamp something!

Diane

Stamping 101

Hi Stampers!

So the whole concept behind Stamping 101 is that we use simple techniques to create projects that are cute or beautiful, but that don't require too many products or a lot of time. Last night I think we really met that goal. We made 3 projects and were done in 45 minutes!

Our first project was this Trick or Treat card. This card was simple, and didn't take too long, but we did use a fair amount of product.  We used the retired spider web embossing folder on Basic Grey card stock, then ran the Silver Encore Pad really lightly over the raised web design. A little strip of each design from the  Witches Brew Designer Washi Tape add some colour and interest. Finally, we stamped the Trick or Treat image from Tags 4 You on Very Vanilla, punched it out with the Bracket Label Punch and attached it with a Stampin' Dimensional. 

Next up, a card with no layers, no Big Shot, no punches. This card uses the magic of two-step stamping!  This card was simple and we didn't need a lot of products, but it took a little bit longer to stamp.  We started by stamping the different leaves from Gently Falling; each in a different colour onto Baked Brown Sugar card stock. We used Cajun Craze, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Pear Pizzaz, and Crumb Cake ink.

Next we stamped the coordinating outline images over the coloured images, all using Baked Brown Sugar ink. Then we sponged the edges with a little Soft Suede ink. Finally, we stamped the Sentiment with VersaMark ink, and sprinkled on some Gold Embossing Powder which we melted with the Heat Tool. I took about 20 pictures of this card, but none were able to capture the way it looks in real life. The gold really stands out against the muted autumn colours. 

Then we used up some retired DSP to make this adorable, I mean spooky, Halloween treat holder.  This project only requires a few products, was simple and really fast.  We used the amazing Envelope Punch Board and the measurements for a gift card holder to make these, which means you only need a 5x5 piece of paper!  We added a little ribbon and that same image from Tags 4 You.  Slide in a Halloween candy bar and we're done!  Five minute project. Love that!  These could easily be made for any holiday or occasion.  It even looks cute with just the little bit of ribbon and nothing else.

Sometimes it's good to get back to stamping basics and create projects that remind you of what attracted you to paper crafting in the first place. What is your favorite simple technique?  

Go stamp something!

Diane