Tag Archives: techniques

Stampin Up Circle Thinlit & Owl Punch Card

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I was so excited when Stampin Up came out with these Thinlit flip-it style cards.  Each thinlit comes with various accessory dies.  I was super excited when I figured out that the scallop that comes with the circle thinlit bundle is exactly the same as the largest scallop punch (which I did not yet own)

Using the circle thinlit bundle, I made this card using the owl punch.  It is a bit of a learning curve to figure out how to cut the second layer, but once I figured it out I was quite happy with the result.

Once I make a few more of these cards, I will be posting a tutorial using these thinlits.  Be sure to stay tuned for that!

TIPS & TRICKS (PART 1)

  • I have found that if you use a 12×12 sheet of paper you will have considerably less paper waste / scraps left over.
  • For the base, if you do NOT have a magnetic platform for your Big Shot, cut a piece of paper 1/8″ longer than needed
  • For the second layer – I cut the crumb cake at 5 1/2 x 5, then trimmed any excess of the top & bottom
  • You can use your 2 1/2″ circle punch for the middle circle – it will leave about a 16th of an inch space as you can see below
  • The scallop die is exactly the same as the 2 3/8″ scallop punch in the annual catalog
Stampin Up Circle Thinlit & Owl Punch

Stampin Up Circle Thinlit & Owl Punch

Here is what I used to make this card:

STAMPS:

  • Wood grain background stamp
  • Itty Bitty Banners

INKS:

  • Chocolate chip
  • Baked brown sugar (markers – on sentiment banner)
  • Old olive (markers – on sentiment banner)

PAPER:

  • Chocolate chip
  • Crumb cake
  • Very Vanilla
  • Old olive (for leaves)
  • WIld wasabi DSP (for owl vest)
  • black (for eyes)

TOOLS:

  • Owl punch
  • 2 1/2 ” circle punch
  • Little leaves framelits

Stampin Up Pun Fun & Sizzix Flip-it dies tips

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I recently made this card for one of my stores that I sell to – it is such a fun card to make!!!

Using Stampin Up’s “Pun Fun” (now retired), I colored the rocket with water color pencils, fussy cut it then popped it up on the base. Using the stamp itself for revference, I hand drew all the little details in fine pointed black pen. Sentiment is from Paper Smooches.

The sizzix Flip-It die was sued to make the base & layers – I trimmed a second color (daffodil delight) down to fit.

**QUICK TIP ON HOW TO CORRECTLY USE THE SIZZIX FLIP-IT DIE**

Have you found that the die was cutting all the way through your card stock – or that the flip-it die cards were falling apart at the scored lines?! I did. It was heartbreaking to go through all the work to make the card just to have it fall apart. So I did some research:

 

  • Use ONE cutting plate and your CREASE pad!!!  Youtube video’s and other websites will tell you to use two standard cutting plates, but that second plate is what makes the difference.
    • Put your crease pad on the bottom, your Sizzix Flip-It die in the middle, then your card stock and your cutting plate on top.  That should fix any cutting through, or tearing of your scored folds.

 

Stampin Up Pun Fun with Sizzix Flip-It die

Stampin Up Pun Fun with Sizzix Flip-It die

Stampin Up Cake Pops

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Hi Stampers!

Here is what I have been up to lately:  CAKE POPS!!

Cake Pops with Stampin Up for Father's Day gift treat

Cake Pops Stampin Up style for Father’s Day gift / treat

These were actually for my partner, who was returning from a week long business trip – I wanted to make something special for him, and I knew he had a sweet tooth.

It occurred to me while I was making them that this would also be a GREAT Father’s day gift as well.  It could be a fun thing for Mom’s to do with kids to make the cake pops, then Mom could get in there with her Stampin Up gear and make the labels.

These are a great manly / masculine gift period – I found the trick is to make sure you use ‘manly’ colors – like the brown sprinkles and neutral colored tags etc.

I pretty much used half of my craft room for this – but you could really use ONE stamp set and they would still look great!

Here is the list of Stampin Up tools I used:

STAMPS:

  • Postage Due
  • Chalk Talk
  • ** I’m missing a few – I will have to check the exact name – stay tuned **

INKS:

  • Crumb Cake
  • Night of Navy
  • Real Red

PUNCHES:

  • Postage stamp
  • Petite curly label
  • 1/2″  circle
  • Chalk talk framelits
  • XL oval
  • Small & large tag punch (retired)

 

The cello bags came from the dollar store along with the curly ribbon. The candy melts & lolly sticks we got at Michaels.  I made the cake pop stand out of a styrofoam block (also from Michaels) and I wrapped it in kraft paper (meant for sending parcels) and put a ribbon around it to cover up the tape a little bit 😉

 

**HELPFUL HINTS & TRICKS FOR THIS CAKE POP PROJECT**

  1. The recipe on the Duncan Hines website states to use half the icing tub – I actually only used a QUARTER of the tub.  Using half would probably make your cake pops a little too moist and they may fall off the stick while you are trying to coat them.  Try adding a tablespoon at a time until the mix is moist enough to make a into ball.
  2. To melt the (Wilton) candy / chocolate: use the DEFROST button on your microwave if you do not have a double boiler.

Both of these tips are crucial to the success of your cake pops!  I tried to make cake pops before and it was a disaster.

 

I am happy to share any info you would like that I may have missed here – simply leave me a comment!

Until next time stampers!

 

 

 

Stampin Up: May Flowers Workshop for Mother’s Day

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I am pleased to say that this weekend marks another successful workshop!  I had the pleasure of running a private workshop with Leyla – it was a great experience for us both. As she is new to paper crafting, card making and Stampin Up in general, I really loved having the opportunity to work one on one with her to show her all the tips & tricks that I have learned along the way.

When I was planning the workshop, I tried to put a lot of thought in to which techniques would be good to work with for beginners while still making fun & appealing projects.

The theme of the workshop was “May Flowers” so I wanted to make a card similar to one that my upline had made with the Fancy Flower punch.  I found this video tutorial from Dawn on how to make a different style of a paper flower and LOVED the look of this technique.
I added an extra step to Dawn’s tutorial and sponged the edges of each flower layer with crumb cake ink;  it is a bit time consuming to ink / sponge the edges, but it REALLY makes a difference and give the flower so much more dimension.  You could also use the coordinating ink to match your card stock, or use a contrasting ink to give it an extra punch of color.

Stamp Right Up Mother's Day Paper Flower Card

Mother’s Day Paper Flowers Card

Here’s what we used to make this lovely card:

  • Crumb Cake card stock (4.25 x 5.5)
  • Very Vanilla card stock (4 x 5.25)
  • Pretty in Pink ink (background stamped image)
  • Crumb cake ink (sponged on edges of flower petals & along edge of very vanilla mat layer)
  • Fancy Flower punch
  • Itty Bitty Banners
  • En Francais background stamp
  • Pink Pirouette card stock (flowers)
  • Champagne glimmer paint (on flowers)
  • Pearls
  • Twitterpated buttons

 

As always, your comments & feedback are welcome and appreciated!

 

Until next time stampers!

 

Mini Workshop Materpieces

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Look what my girls made in the Mini Workshop I hosted on Monday!  We had a great time – I mean really, how much more perfect can girls night out be when it includes great company & crafting?!

Each workshop I host as a demonstrator, I always create a tutorial / handout for the participants to take home with them after the workshop so that they can recreate the cards again at home.  As a little bonus for all you stampers out there, I have included a link to download the PDF tutorials on how to make each card from that workshop!  Some of the other cards I have featured in other posts also have a PDF tutorial – if you are interested in one, please comment below or message me & I can email you a PDf copy.

Bleached Swallowtail

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE TUTORIAL PAGE ON HOW TO MAKE THIS CARD:
 StampRightUp – Bleached Swallowtail Instruction Hand Out

Bleached Swallowtail on Pacific Point with En Francais background stamp

Bleached Swallowtail on Pacific Point with En Francais background stamp

What you’ll need to make this card at home:

  1. Pacific Point ink & card stock, as well as basic black card stock
  2. Swallowtail stamp
  3. Black embossing powder

Stampin Up Pinwheel Sizzlits

 CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE TUTORIAL INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO MAKE THIS STAMPIN UP PINWHEEL CARD: 

StampRightUp – Pinwheel Sizzlit Instruction Hand Out

Stampin Up Pinwheel sizzlits

Stampin Up Pinwheel sizzlits with Subtles DSP & stripes embossing folder

This card is super cute, but the pinwheel sizzlits can be a serious problem to put together… that is if you don’t know the trick to assembling them!  Check out this video on the easy way to assemble these little guys with ease and no frustration:  http://youtu.be/9PCjFyN7-qs

The other WAY COOL technique I taught the group was the “fork bow”.  Who knew you could use a fork to produce consistent, easy to make bows!!  I found this YouTube tutorial on how to make easy ribbon bows:  http://youtu.be/RBza9q1rKRo

Papillion Potpourri Window card

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE TUTORIAL INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO MAKE THIS CARD:

StampRightUp – Papillion Potpourri Window Card Instruction Hand Out

Papillion Potpourri window card

Papillion Potpourri window card in pool party with Everyday Enchantment DSP and champagne shimmer mist

The picture of this card doesn’t do this card justice! We used the champagne shimmer paint to add a beautiful hint of shimmer to the front of the card.

Critter Coloring: Kittehs

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So I have been on a crazy coloring binge since I have discovered the blending technique using colored pencils & baby oil from my post here. 

I fell in love with the critter stamps from Penny Black – the hedgehog, kitties, mice and critters are just about the cutest things EVER and are versatile enough to use for any age & occasion card!
I have found that Simon Says Stamp is the best place to get them online (other than Ebay) – great prices and even BETTER shipping!  Being Canadian I really appreciate when sellers can offer reasonable rates. 

Ok – enough of the hype, here is my latest creation. 

 

ImageI used only colored pencils & baby oil to color it.  I love that it looks like a cross between watercolor pencils & Copic (or alcohol markers).  Best of both worlds I think!  My boyfriend (yep, he’s *that* awesome) came up with the idea to fussy cut the balloons them pop them up with pop dots. 

The inside has a white matte to cover the ribbon, and I used the “Celebrate” sling mount from the Outlined Occasions set from Stampin Up’s 2011 Sale-A-Bration.

 

Stamp sets used:  It’s Your Day by Penny Black Inc

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Some brilliant and VERY useful tips on how to get a perfect stamped image from your stamps & Stampin Up ink pads every time!

periwinky's avatarperiwinky's cloud

Last month, I excitedly gifted myself four sets of the foam Stampin Up ink pads. I fell in love with the pads’ smooth deep finish at a stamp camp last fall and when Kim Morris offered a 15% rebate on her blog, I pounced. (Kim provides amazing customer service – even though she lives halfway across the country, she spent so much time helping a total nube – me! – figure out how to use all these ink pads! If you don’t have a demonstrator, I highly recommend her.)

So… the last few weeks have been frustrating for me because my solid images would come out with even coverage but very smudgey lines OR crisp lines with incomplete images. As I mentioned in a previous post, this awesome fellow stamper who just happened to be in line behind me, gave me an impromptu tutorial yesterday and by jove, I…

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