Happy Easter Three Ways from Stampin' Up!

Happy Easter everyone...  This Easter is obviously going to be different for all of us... but I hope that you still get to do something  lovely... make some special memories... and eat some nice things!! I am really looking forward to the Hot Cross buns that a kind neighbour has just left on our doorstep! Yum! I have three Easter cards to share today, and each one features a unique tip that you can add to your paper-crafting repertoire.

If you’d like a card with simple lines and a subtle touch of colour, try the Direct Marker technique featured on the Easter Promise Happy Easter card. Simply use Stampin’ Write Markers to colour directly on the rubber. This gives you perfect control over the depth of colour in your stamped image; it also lets you easily incorporate more than one colour for a clean, sophisticated look.

Go bold with Melon Mambo and Pool Party, as we did with our Welcome Easter Sweet Friend lamb card. Pro tip: Birthday Bonanza Designer Series Paper isn’t just for birthdays! We love how it makes the Melon Mambo Cardstock pop.

The adorable You Brighten My Day chick card features the Distinktive Full of Happiness Stamp Set. The varying rubber densities give your image depth and complexity, making it super fun & easy to stamp with and get extra texture....

Not got Stampin' Write Markers... then click here to contact me for more details on a Marker Share...  

Butterfly Wishes - Branch Extension!

The last of my little Butterfly Wishes trio...  And one where I had to be artistic..

So Direct Marker inking again of the lovely blossoms stamp... and stamping... on the central white panel... and then re-inking and stamping down from the right hand side on the card blank front

But obviously there was a gap! As circled... though I wish that I had thought to take a quick photo...

So I grabbed my Early Espresso ink pad and a Blender pen... picked up some Early Espresso ink (either after a squeeze and pick up from the lid.. or naughtily like me (as I was in a rush!)... direct from the ink pad itself!)...

And just drew a line in... which lines up perfectly with my stamped panel... and which just disappears under the panel/mat...

I laid my stamped white panel roughly in position on the card blank to work out how far I needed to extend that line...

Note that I used the Stampin Blend as I didn't want a perfect straight line... which would have resulted if I had used Stampin Markers or Stampin Blends ...and the Stampin Blends would have gone through my one layer card blank in any case

Butterfly Wishes - Faux Embossing or Shadow Stamping...

Loving it in the Crumb Cake...

With the good old Shadow Stampin or Ghost Stamping or Faux Embossing technique...

Although wishing my white shadow was a bit narrower! Didn't need to move my second stamping ( again using the markers as shown yesterday) down quite so much! But now you  know for when you try...

Butterfly Wishes - in the Pinks Part 1

One of a few variants... created using the lovely Butterfly Wishes... featuring some key techniques along the way...

But firstly.... please don't forget to order your Stampin Trimmer Blades (item code 126995...max 3... quote Hostess code WJRJY277 online at 6pm SHARP tonight... More details for you here...

First up... the simple use of markers (Many Marvellous Markers!) to ink up your stamps rather than ink pads... whether greetings or images...

Lovely Lipstick and Mossy Meadow being used here...

And a Quick Tip: Keep the markers as horizontal as you can to protect your brush end...

More Lovely Floral & Calligraphy Essentials

So I took the clean & simple card I made yesterday when I shared the Blender Pen Ombre Technique with you... and carried on colouring some of the embossed areas with my Marker Pens... in Soft Sea Foam and Lemon Lime Twist... 

But then I realised that I had packed my Balmy Blue ready for Monthly Training... so Coastal Cabana and the Blender Pen came to the rescue... as the blending of the Soft Sea Foam & Balmy Blue does look more Coastal Cabana....

Very pretty...

And then the Calligraphy Essentials "thank you" greeting came out... and the same techniques were used on this card... though I will admit that the Coastal Cabana marker pen direct onto the large embossed flower didn't make me 100% happy... 

So I quickly coloured over the whole flower using my trusty AquaPainter & Coastal Cabana ink pad (which I have to point out is a returning all time favourite colour of 90%+ of my crafty ladies!!)... which was better... though I warn you that there is a Part 3 to this tale... some time over the weekend me thinks...

Note that the small flowers are Balmy Blue (with Lemon Lime Twist centres) on this card... 

So here you go... a light bright marker pen blended & embossed duo set of calligraphy cards!

Which one do you prefer?

Fancy Fold Friday - The Greenhouse Card Tutorial

Otherwise known as the Conservatory card... OR the New Extension card!! And great for a New Home card too...

Well this one proved very popular when I shared it here last weekend... so... by popular request... here is the Tutorial as promised...

Craft Spa Recipe
Thick Whisper White 20 cm x 10 3/8" (7 7/8" x 10 3/8")
Window Sheet 20 cm x 6" (7 7/8" x 6") NOTE - this works best if slightly shy of 6" H
Sahara Sand 14cm x 1 1/2" (5 1/2" x 1 1/2")
Embossing Paste & Soft Suede ink refill
(D) Thick Whisper White 7.4cm x 21 cm (x3) for the windows
(St) Thick Whisper White 6 x 18cm for the 3D'd hanging baskets & plant-pots
where (D) is for die-cutting and (St) is for stamping

Stampin Up Products used
Hearth & Home dies
Hanging Garden stamps
Bookcase Builder stamps
Barn Door stamps

Pattern Party Masks
Embossing Paste & Palette Knives
Wood Textures papers
Window Sheets
A4 Thick Whisper White card
Inks - Memento Black ink; Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Old Olive, Always Artichoke
And Stampin Blends or Many Marvellous Markers for colouring


Craft Spa Tutorial

1.       Mix a few Soft Suede ink drops with the Embossing Paste

2.       Mask & apply the embossing paste to form the bricks

3.       Remove the mask (and quickly clean everything up!)

4.       Leave to dry (I reckoned they were touch dry after 30-40 minutes or so –maybe sooner)

5.       Score large Whisper White panel LANDSCAPE (long side across top) at 1 ½”, 2 ¾”, 4” & 10”

6.       Turn scored card over (so mountain fold to top) and lay down PORTRAIT (short side across top) with the thin/1cm score line to the top

7.       Ink up & stamp the 3 hanging baskets (Memento Black) down from the top score line

TIP: mark along top score line at 7, 10 & 16cm if you want to stamp the baskets equidistant (1 ½”, 3 15/16” & 8 7/8”)… though I have my stamps all lined up on my Stamparatus tool so that it is a quick job for my ladies in class

8.       Optional –for 3D baskets…  Ink up and Memento stamp the 3 hanging baskets again on scrap Thick Whisper White & colour as necessary with Stampin Blends – and fussy cut!! Does look really nice…

9.       OPTIONAL : for 3D pots on the table… Ink up and stamp Cajun Craze pots and Old Olive/Always Artichoke grasses… and fussy cut!

10.   Ink up & stamp Early Espresso Barn Door on a piece of Wood Textures paper

11.   Cut Table as shown below

12.   Die cut 6 Thick Whisper White windows

13.   Make up a door (Quick pictures for you here… but click here for the full door tutorial)
And sorry - I do not know why they have turned on their sides!! But it is the same pic after all...

14.   Make up 2 windows (Again pictures here…but click here for more step by step  - though note that I used a double joining “slat” for this one)

15.   Trim the brick wall piece to 7 cm (2 ¾”)wide (x2)

16.   Grab all your decorative parts… and lets make the card!!

17.   Bone Fold main card -  Bottom Front= Valley, then Peak, then Valley and last one/thin Top Front section = Peak

18.   Pencil mark centre of Bottom Front section 3 cm (1 ¼”) down… and then at 7 and 13cm (2 ¾” & 5 1/8”) across at 3 cm (1 ¼”) down. Cut out notch

19.   Apply Tear & Tape adhesive to back of Top Front/narrow section  & back of Bottom Front ( ie at the top edge to either side of the notch)

20.   Stick in the acetate to top and bottom ( I didn’t but… you may find you need to trim a sliver off the height to get it all to lay flat… depends on your prepping/scoring… )

21. Finish internal decoration... there are also the terracotta pots on the table... but these are missing from this shot as I have made another as a surprise for someone... and they would give the game away...

22.   Stick brick panels to the Bottom Front sides
23.   Stick in windows to left and right hand side

TIPS:-

(a)the tops line up with the top of the card and the bottoms just cover the bricks….. AND
(b) the outside edge of the window moulding (top and bottom) is lined up to the outside edge of the card…so you can see the acetate to the side of the main part of the window… you can trim this if you like…I didn’t bother… keeps the card stronger that way

24.   Stick in door so that it covers the windows very slightly to left & right (well that’s the plan!!)

And the eagle eyed will have noticed a slight addition to the internal decoration in this tutorial... but more on that another day... again a surprise... 

The Greenhouse Card... aka Hearth & Home final outing..?

A quick share from me today as I try to catch up with a few things over our Bank Holiday weekend in the UK...

But this card made us all very happy in class today... so I wanted to share with you straightaway...

Originally intended as a Greenhouse Card... hence the simplicity of the decoration.. but also suitable as a Conservatory Card too... 

Edited to Add... click here for the Tutorial

In the meantime... I used...
Hearth & Home dies
Hanging Garden stamps
Bookcase Builder stamps
Barn Door stamps

Pattern Party Masks
Embossing Paste & Palette Knives
Wood Textures papers
Window Sheets
A4 Thick Whisper White card
And Stampin Blends or Many Marvellous Markers for colouring

Can this really be the final class outing for my lovely Hearth & Home dies... definitely my "saddest to see these go" product on the retiring list! Enough so... I could actually cry!!!!

I just don't think you can beat these for making special  - and fancy - and clever - decorative cards... as well as simple ones too!

And have to admit that I loved using the Embossing Paste again... so you may see more of that in the not too distant future... 

Petal Passion & Palette Double A6 Card

A really simple but WOW Double A6 Fancy Fold... take 2 A6 cards (or A2 if you are in the US) and stick them together in the centre... and this is what you get...

Decorate as you see fit... panels of Petal Passion papers here on a Pool Party or Old Olive mat... with a bit of Stampin Blends action to really make them come to life (or Stampin Markers  whilst the Blends are out of Stock... coming back in May... ) ... using Pool Party, Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive...

Finished off with a stamped Petal Palette greeting and flowers on a Stitched Shapes Oval... and some Stampin Blends or Stampin Markers coloured 1/4" Organza White Ribbon at the sides...

Thanks go to my fabulous upline, Julie Kettlewell... as this is another of our lovely Quarterly Training makes... and a card fold that I will definitely be repeating at a class coming soon...

Small Square Pop Out Swing Card - Springtime Foils Part 2

So... today is the very last day of Sale A Bration 2018... so only a few hours to sign up with extras in your Starter Kit (and more from me)... or to place an order and get Sale A Bration freebies for every £45 ordered... ends 31st March 10.30pm in the UK... Click here to read more...

And now  back to today's cards... with another comparison of Blends versus Markers on the Springtime Foils papers for you as I go along... which is code for 3 card versions being shared today... 

Small Square Pop Out Swing Card Card Tutorial shared here...

So this version has been simply Sponge Brayered with Pool Party ink... on both the front and inside panel... remembering of course to wipe off the ink from all that foil using a tissue!

The Sweet Soiree vellum embellishment has been coloured using darks Night of Navy and Pool Party Stampin Blends on the back (so as to avoid discolouring the silver foil on the front...) with the leaves being coloured with Daffodil Delight dark Blend on the back... and a gold gel pen on the front ( so as to ensure solid colour overall whereas the gold gel pen on its own proved difficult to colour evenly and solidly!) 

Note that I would have coloured in on the front using the Stampin Markers though... with a wipe off...

And the Silver Metallic Edged Ribbon was coloured using the dark Night of Navy Marker... with a wipe and more drying time... Greeting from Perennial Birthday...

Now... quick fast forward to another version...

Front paper Sponge Brayered in Pool Party again... Then the leaves were painstakingly coloured in using  the Night of Navy Stampin Marker... but.. it has to be said... it took a while... and I won't repeat! And nor did most of my ladies!! But I learnt something along the way...

A cotton bud becomes your best friend for removing the excess ink off small foiled elements... as a tissue would have just spread the excess ink all over!! Never would have thought of that before... 

And spot the Sweet Soiree Embellishment Kit leaves used around the Stitched Shapes square panel... a perfect match to the leaves on the paper... coloured in with the Night of Navy Stampin Marker... on the front with a cotton bud wipe!

Flowers from Cake Soiree... which as an aside... remember that you can get the Sweet Cake dies for free (today only) with a £90 order...

Stripes on the inner panel coloured in carefully using the Night of Navy and Pool Party Stampin Markers... I didn't find this too hard to do... but some of my ladies did... guess you need to have a steady hand... but it adds a lovely effect...

Ribbon coloured with the dark Pool Party Stampin Blend... 

And fast forward again... as I had to try colouring those foily leaves on the front panel with a Stampin Blend... so as to complete my Blends versus Markers survey!! Though I never did finish off decorating the card...

Easier than using the Markers (and careful cotton bud cleaning!) in the small leaf area... but the foiled parts became coloured as expected... and as I was trying to leave the outer leaf shape clean silver... it still took a while... and it went a bit "sloppy looking"... and the navy wasn't quite as deep navy...

And the stripes on the inner panel were much harder to colour in.. so I gave up with that idea very quickly and reverted to Stampin Markers (and cleaning)...

All in all... I prefer Stampin Markers for coloring my Springtime Foils papers... albeit with the Blender Pen for the larger areas... and maybe I won't be colouring any more of those small silver foil leaves anytime soon!! And for the ribbon... either works... but I love the extra feature of the silver edge becoming self coloured when you use the darker Stampin Blends...

And if you have got to this point of my ramblings ... I salute you!!!

Want more comparison... and a tip for blending with your Stampin Markers... then read more here... 

Springtime Foils Small Z Fold Card

We liked this card so much... we had to make another one... in a colour way one more associates with me!!

So it was Bermuda Bay Stampin Marker (aka the lovely handled box of Many Marvellous Markers)... and the Blender Pen in hand... and a quick session of blending action...

More details and background on the blending/colouring here... and the card tutorial is here... Such a great little but WOW card... as you get 3 from a sheet of A4 cardstock in its 9.8cm sizing... which for me means 3 cards at a time!! As I trim the width... score down the whole length and then cut... such a time saver...

Don't forget that there is now only one more day to get these gorgeous Springtime Foils foiled papers for free... one pack for every £45 ordered... as Sale A Bration ends 31st March 10.30pm...

So it is your last chance for SAB freebies with your order...  Click here for more details... or here to go straight to the selection of free items in the Online Store

OR for even better value... it is also the last chance to sign up with Stampin Up! and get that extra large Starter Kit including 2 extra free stamp sets... as well as an extra gift direct from me... Click here for more details and/or just click HERE to select your kit and join us...

I would love you to join us for your Stampin Up! journey... best thing I ever did for my crafty life!!! Though I still can't believe it was almost 10 years ago!