Tips Tricks and Techniques Tuesday Beauty of Tomorrow

 Yesterday I introduced the gorgeous Beauty of Tomorrow stamps and said that whilst they have a distinct autumnal feel to them I would also be sharing projects that most certainly weren't autumnal in colour. And today is one of those days!!!

I am also sharing a technique that has been around for yonks . Called popping pastels it uses one of the new products Stampin' Up! brought out in their latest annual catalogue. The product is the fantastic Soft Pastels assortment. This great box of 8 colours open up a whole new range of tequniques for any crafter.

For the popping pastels technique you will also need a versamark ink pad, sponge daubers,  a silicon mat or other non porous surface and a way to scrap the pastels I used the palette end of my Take your Pick tool.

First decide what colours you're going to use then scrap the side of the pastels onto you mat. It comes off as a fine powder.  Keep your colours seperate as you scrap so that they don't mix.

Now ink up your chosen stamp with the versamark and stamp onto your cardstock. Now the fun really begins!! Using your clean  dauber dab into your chosen colour. Then dab, and I don't mean shmush, swish or swirl, the dauber over the area you want to add colour to.

Personally I think having a dauber for each colour is best as there won't be any cross contamination between colours. Try and stay as close to the image as you can. Once you've finished with each colour I suggest you gently blow away any excess powder. My other suggestion is to have a soft brush to hand to brush of excess powder once you've finished . You should expect to have a small amount of colour around your image but it should appear more as a halo of colour.

My first card shows how colour can make a card . The bright bold look is definitely a favourite of mine 😀

The second card shows how you don't have to be limited to just images for this technique.  Text works well too!!!

Well I hope that I've given you other ways to look at the Beauty of Tomorrow  stamps and perhaps introduced you to a new way of adding colour to your projects , or reminded you of a forgotten one 😉

Tips Tricks and Techniques Tuesday Delicate Dahlias

 For today I'm sharing not 1, not 2... but 3 cards!!! Each card is using the same stamps the gorgeous Delicate Dahlias.  

It all started with a colour combination that caught my eye whilst roaming the web. The colour combination was a bright pink called magenta madness teamed with the same gorgeous turquoise as yesterday's inspiration called costal cabana.  To go with this I used a beautiful yellow called so saffron.

 The combination is bright and bold just what I wanted for the gorgeous large dahlia detailed image. So inspired by the colours I kept the card clean and simple.

As I was creating this card another idea was forming in my minds eye. So this card has the same colour combination and the same flower stamp but uses a technique called Joseph's Coat.

First I used blending brushes to add colour to a white cardstock mat in roughly the same place as the previous card. Then I stamped in versamark and heat embossed using clear embossing powder. All  the while trying to follow the layout from the first card.

Next the mess..... uhmmmm fun begins.  The technique requires you to cover the entire piece with a dark ink! The magic is that the embossed areas will resist the ink and alow the colours below to shine through.

I chose to use a dark grey instead of the more common black ink just becuse I could! 😅 A gentle huff over the embossed areas and a soft cloth to gently buff any remaining ink from the embossed flowers then mount onto a card,  add a sentiment and voila card number 2.

My third and final card uses the same tequnique but with a twist. 

As I was buffing the previous card I wondered what would it look like if I stamped in clear onto white card and covered it in black ink 🤔 

Well that is exactly what I did ! My card is using the same stamps, the Joseph's Coat technique but no colour! 

I hope you like my little creative journey that I've  shared with you today. Do you find that one card leads to another and another and another....? Maybe that's the best tip of all be your own inspiration and follow your creativity where ever it goes 😃

Tips,Tricks and Techniques Tuesday Flowers of Friendship

 Today's tip is an oldie but goodie..... Waste not, want not!! This addage fits so well in todays world. We should all be encouraging reduce, reuse, recycle ♻️ And as paper crafters we most certainly can do our bit.  One small way is to not throw away those backgrounds that just didn't work or you didn't get just right for the project you're working on. Combined with a punch , die or stamp you can give them a new life . For today's card I've done just that. I have used the Flowers of Friendship Bundle . This bundle includes the stamps and a punch perfect for those crafters who want coordination with out a die cutting machine!

So for today's card I have used a piece of blended background that I created to use as a colour test piece for another project. As it sat on my desk I kept looking at it thinking I like that but what to do with it 🤔  It wasn't big enough for a background so what to do with it?

Well as I started on another project it hit me I could punch out bits and use them!! As this weeks I'm sharing projects with the Flowers of Friendship it was perfect!!

So I stamped the large and small flowers randomly from the set and punched them out. 

I then stamped the large flower stamp but masked off the flowers themselves  with stcky notes before I inked them.  This way only had the stems and leaves. 

Once I'd finished stamping I decided it needed a bit of texture so I used an embossing folder called Tasteful Textile It's one of my favourites because it is so versatile. 

I love the way this folder add texture without overwhelming the project.

Now it was time to scatter my punch flowers and create a pretty floral pattern. 

I adhered some flat and some popped up on 3d foam to add another layer of interest.

I then adhered the panel to a beautiful bright orange card base to coordinate with my flowers and voila my card was made and my blended piece recycled and not wasted 🙂 

I am really happy that I remembered this tip and created a fun happy card that will certainly put a smile on the recipients face. The sentiment on the card is one that is a favourite of mine  and say's so much.

Well I hope that you are all going to keep this tip in mind next time you go to throw out a background that just didn't quite work 😉 

Tips Tricks and Techniques Tuesday Sand and Sea Suite

 Don't you just love it when things go together?  Well that's  exactly what the dies and embossing folder from the Sand and Sea suite do! For today's project I married them up with the pattern paper and pearlescent paper that are also in the suite. Now that's  what I call coordination... stamps, dies, embossing folder and not 1 but 2 papers!!!

What you don't see in the above photo is the beautiful but oh so different to capture in a photo beauty of the pearlescent paper. So here goes....my attempt to show off this paper...

Now in my opinion this is a very tricky surface to stamp on. It's shiny and slippery a stampers worst nightmare! So I hear you experienced stampers out there shouting Stazon ink and yes that will work but you still have to be careful and stamp straight up and down with no rocking.

 But you know I only have black stazon and sometimes we all know we have a project that black is just to harsh on. So what to do when all you have is ink that will never dry on this type of paper? 

Well I have a tip to help get the look you want with the waterbased ink colour of your choice. All you need is your trusty antistatic bag, versamark ink,  clear embossing powder and heat tool.

First pat the antistatic bag over the pearlescent paper.  Then take your stamp and ink it up with versamark next ink the stamp again in the colour of choice. Now you're going to stamp on to the paper then cover the area with clear embossing powder.  Tap off the excess and carefully heat until all the powder has melted, clear powder seams to melt quickly so be careful not to over heat. Now you have a permanent stamped image/ sentiment 😀 

Now here is my big tip for this little technique try out your ink colours with a clear power overlay because some inks seam to change colour/tone. So the ink that coordinates perfectly when stamped directly may not be so right when you do the clear embossing powder trick! 

Below I have a picture that shows 3 attempts to find the right one. 

Example A was using a beautiful strong pink called melon mambo that ended up just looking neon... not what I wanted for my subtle project!

Example B was a mid tone pink called flirty flamingo that has become a little too orange for my project.

Example C is the one I went with and is using a colour that I wouldn't have picked at all! Called rococo rose it's a dusty deeper pink, that I have to admit is not a go to for me. But once given the clear embossing treatment it lightened and coordinated beautifully!!

My next tip is regarding using the die and embossing folder from the suite. They fit together perfectly but you need to do it in the right order. 

First die cut your paper then place in the embossing folder carefully. Now I have congenital tremors that means that being super careful lining things up can be tricky.  My best friend on these situations is sticky notes!! My tip is to stick the sticky note to the die cut peice then when its in the right place press the stick note down to hold it whilst you close the folder and pass it through you machine. 

I then made my card using a soft neutral colour base and added a layer of pearlescent paper and a layer of patterned paper from the Sand and Sea suite. Before placing my die cut and embossed focal point on top.

I'm glad I took the time to use this beautiful , if tricky,  pearlescent paper for today's project because in my opinion its just gorgeous and give a certain elegance to my card. 

Tips Tricks and Techniques Tuesday Vine Design

 Today's I'm sharing a project that was created once I applied one of my favourite  tips..... Embrace the mistake!

 I wanted to use the cartouche stamp in the Vine Design stamp set. I had the idea in my head to repeatedly stamp the image at intervals to enhance the blended background I'd made.

As you can see in the picture about it is a simple outline but I thought it might look good embossed in gold in a tile fashion 😉 Well stamping in clear versamark ink on a blended background isn't the easiest thing to see so it wasn't until I'd poured the powder on that I saw my mistakes...... I'd gone a bit off track to say the least!!! 🤣

So I heated the embossing powder and then finished stamping but with the decision to see how it goes! 

I then took my versamark ink pad and edged the piece in ink. I then dipped the inked edges in gold embossing powder to create subtle gold highlights to the edge of the piece. 

Finally I stamped the cartouche and sentiment in gold embossing then fussy cut it out and placed it into one of the background spaces 

A sprinkle of adhesive-backed sequins and I was done ✔  

So the moral of the story is don't disgard a piece embrace the mistake and make it your own!!!!

Tips Tricks and Techniques Tuesday Hey chick

 Today I've gone all pop art! Inspired by Andy Warhol and his Marilyn and soup can works I took the idea of bright colours and sets of four of the same image. I thought that this technique would work well with the cool chicks in the Hey Chick and Hey Birthday Chick stamp sets. 

I started by masking the white cardstock into 4 panels using sticky notes.  I then used a blending brush and waterbased inks to apply colour to each quadrant.

 To add some more interest on the panels I spritzed them with water and allowed the panels to dry. As the water dries it leave behind a lovely speckled effect that is very pleasing and give texture without depth.

Next I stamped and die cut 4 of each of the chicks. Then I coloured them. For the large A5 card I coloured all over and for the standard A6 card I just coloured sections. Which way do you prefer?  I can't  decide!!!

Which ever you prefer I hope you'll give this fun technique/ style a go. 😀

Tips, Tricks and Techniques Tuesday Love you always suite

 Today's card was made using a product that has sat in the draw unused for toooo long.... Frost white shimmer paint!! And a brand new tool to my craft stash the blending brushes from Stampin' Up! 

 

Why did I decide to get the Frost white paint out? I saw a great project by a fellow Stampin' Up! Demo  Linda Heller. She shared how she had created her own pearlised cardstock and it was Wow!! So I just had to have a go!!

It's  a very simple technique that opens up so many possibilities.  Gather together the shimmer paint, blending brush, cardstock of choice ( I used a lovely purple called gorgeous grape), something to put a small amount of paint on ( I used an acrylic block)  and some scrap paper to work on.

First put a few drops of the paint onto your non porous flat surface. Now gently dab your brush or other blending tool into the paint. Then gently work the paint over the cardstock.  

The paint gives a beautiful pearlescent finish to the card. Now another tip would be that this can also work with pattern paper 😉.

Once I'd cover the cardstock,  it dried really quickly, and I was happy with the finish I decided to run it through my die cutting machine with an embossing folder. 

The piece of card on the right is the same colour cardstock as the one on the left! And they have both been embossed using the Painted Texture 3D embossing folder from the January to June mini catalogue from Stampin' Up! 

Once I had my background I moved onto creating the focal point. I stamped one of the sentiments from the Always in my Heart stamp set. I then die cut some leaves and flowers from the coordinating die set.

A flourish of ribbon and my cad was complete. I hope you'll have a go at this fun technique it is a great way to make the most of your stash 😊

Tip, Tricks and Techniques Tuesday Wishes and Wonder

 Today is all about making things pop! My card for today uses the Wishes and wonder stamps and their coordinating dies. But for me the star of the show is the background.

Now I love texture and using embossing folders is a great way to achieve it. But sometimes the folder is sooooo gorgeous you just want to bring it to the forefront! And that is where my tip for today comes into play.

I embossed my background cardstock using the fabulous Evergreen Forest 3D embossing folder from Stampin Up. 

This folder as you can see above is both detailed and subtle all at the same time!!

So how can to make it pop? Well I used a simple trick using an ink pad. I gently dragged the ink pad directly over the top of the embossed area! Now this might take a bit of practice as pressure is the key here. You don't want the harsh edges of the pad to show. 

For my card I had chosen a gentle bluey green colour called Pool Party. To highlight it I used a white ink pad. I think any colour would work with this technique but I was going for a wintery look. 

I am really happy with the result as it made the texture really shine.

Tips, Tricks and Techniques Tuesday Gorgeous Posies

 Today I'm sharing a card that has a twist on a technique that is called Triple Stamping. Of course I've used the Gorgeous Posies stamps and a piece of the beautiful white and gold ribbon that comes from the Gorgeous Posies kit,  you get so much that I thought this card just called out for it!

So for today's card I started out with a white mat that measured 13.9cm x 9.5cm, but you can use any size to fit your card. I then had fun creating a pretty stamped background that extended roughly 3/4 of the way up the card in a portrait orientation. I then stamped my sentiment in the open space at the top.

Next I took out my nesting dies. I have chosen to use the Stitched Nested label dies from Stampin Up but any nice layering dies would work. Then I worked out the sizes that worked for me by laying them onto the card working from the top leaving the top edge straight. When happy I die cut them all out at the same time.

Once I'd die cut I cut a mat for the main piece of the card and stuck it together.  Now using the same colour card, a beautiful rich shade of purple called Rich Razzleberry ( fab name!) I matted the die cut layers. Once I'd mounted them on their mats I layer the whole thing together. 

I like the effect that having all the layers start at the same point gives do you?

All materials used can be purchased HERE