• Flower Garden

    Posted on by Julie Comment

     
    Looking forward to spring flowers? It may be a while here, but I have some pretty sketch flowers to brighten the day. It sure to bring a smile to the recipient and it would be perfect as a birthday, get well or just thinking of you.

    A big congrats to Arlene, the newest Featured Stamper FS988! She has a sweet gallery & I chose THIS card to case. I kept the multicolor background but put it inside the center shape instead of around, I kept the colors & spring theme but used flowers outside the shape instead of a bunny inside.

    I had colored these flowers quite a while ago & today was the day I used them. The multicolor inset is also something I made quite awhile ago & the colors fit in w/ my tall skinny flowers. It was made by spritzing the inside of a grid embossing folder w/ shine sprays which have a nice shimmer to them. The paper was placed inside the spritzed folder. closed then rubbed by hand. I found you can also run it thru the Sizzix if you take away all the shims so that it doesn’t really emboss, just presses the folder to the paper. I die cut a white panel first w/ a rounded rectangle then used a swanky oval to cut out the center. I used the next size smaller oval to cut a bright blue layer to border the inside. The smallest ovals were used for the greeting.  The flowers were fussy cut. Parts of the greeting & flowers are popped up to even them out since they’re on different levels in places.

    Here are the Copics I used for the flowers:

    Thanks     so much for stopping by!


    Supplies:  (click the names below the pictures to take you to the products)

    Stamps: Brass & Bliss: Sketch Flower #1 set
     Paper: Staples 110# white, bright blue
    Ink: Memento tuxedo black
    Accessories:  Brass & Bliss: Rounded Rectangle Stitch, Swanky Oval dies, MISTI, Copic Sketch Markers, Heidi Swapp shine spray, Sizzix Grid embossing folder


    This entry was posted in Birthday Brass & Bliss Cuttlebug/Quickutz/Sizzix Get Well Girly/Feminine/Mother's Day Rubbernecker Stamps Splitcoast Challenges and tagged

  • Big Hug

    Posted on by Julie 1 Comment



    I have a special technique to show today. So there are a few more pictures than usual. Sometimes I like to shorten or lengthen a particular die cut to fit  what I’m doing. I used this technique to adjust the length of the cut made with this Victorian Lattice inset die. It’s a handy trick you may find useful!

    For the Inspiration Challenge IC1049 we are visiting Factory Direct & their Pinterest Boards. THIS picture was my inspiration.

    To make my card, I stamped the flowers on part of a background I made ages ago. It was made w/ dye reinkers on semi gloss card. The ink was spritzed on a teflon sheet then the card was applied face down. Here is a before picture showing what it looked like. I used the lighter piece just to the left of the white lattice. I tested different inks on this before I stamped the flowers. Memento did not work. I knew pigment inks would not work since it’s a coated surface. Ancient Page & Archival inks DO work equally well. I just picked the Ancient Page. To make certain it didn’t smear, I also heat set it. As I said, if you don’t have or can’t find Ancient Page, the Archival works equally well.

    For the partial lattice panel, I used an inset die that normally measures 5 3/8″ long. So I made it shorter. Here is how I did that.  I cut the card stock w/ a rectangle stitch die. It measures approximately 4″ x 5.25″. The die would not fit this size, so I measured the repeat of the pattern which is 7/8″, which means I’ll have to shorten the cut by 7/8″, making the total cut length 4.5″ (it normally cuts 5 3/8″ long). I marked the center of my card then used a centering ruler to make a mark 2.25″ on either side of the center mark. I placed one end of the die on the mark of one end. Placed a small top plate over it & cut it about 2/3 of the way. Where the plate doesn’t extend over the die, it won’t cut. 

    This is what it looks like after the first cut.

    Then I turned the cut around, placed the other end on the mark, & made sure it lined up. You can feel when the die “clicks” into the already cut part & see it is in the correct position. Again, I placed the top plate, just over the part I wanted to cut & ran it thru again.

    This is how it looks when finished. Perfect! You can see the shortened cut on the left & a full cut on the right.

    I placed the background behind it & cut it slightly larger than the white lattice topper. The greeting was stamped on the lower right & the stamped & die cut flowers were popped up and added to the left. I cut a small tag out of more of the background & wrapped it around the right side & added a black pearl on top.

    Thanks so     much for stopping by!

    ( You can go directly to the items by clicking the name under the pictures below.)


    Supplies:

    Stamps: Brass & Bliss:  Fields of Blooms set, Sympathy #2
    Paper:  Staples 110# white, semi gloss white
    Ink: Versaclair nocturne (greeting), Ancient Page coal  (image)
    Accessories:  Brass & Bliss: Fields of Blooms, Stitched Rectangles, Nested Tags, Victorian Lattice Half Panel  dies,   Misti


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    This entry was posted in Birthday Brass & Bliss Get Well Rubbernecker Stamps Splitcoast Challenges Splitcoaststampers Weekly Favorite Sympathy Tutorials and tagged

  • Grad Circle

    Posted on by Julie Comment


    The time for graduations is quickly approaching!To me, graduation cards are some of the easiest to make and easiest to customize to each grad. This is a more masculine version, with the bow tie. But change the colors and papers to match the school colors and you have a personalized card they will surely love.

    A big congrats to Lori, the newest Featured Stamper FS987! She has such a fun gallery with very inspiring cards! I chose THIS card to case. I kept the layout & colors, but I used different dies, papers & didn’t make mine a trifold. I also changed it from a birthday to a grad card.

    I knew I wanted to use the black, white & red for the colors, so I picked the papers out I thought would work. The largest paper was cut w/ a dot dash die & I cut a slightly larger red layer to go behind it. I attached them together w/ temporary tape & used the smallest circle die & cut through both of them. I removed the red layer & used a larger circle to cut around the circle in the printed paper. It was here I decided I wanted more of an impact around the circle, so I used a larger dot mask circle & cut the printed paper around the circle again. I used an even larger dot dash to cut a circle out of darker printed paper & cut the inside out. The 2 circles were layered on top of each other then attached around the red circle. The greeting was stamped on a white circle & attached behind. You could stamp it directly on the card front, but things seem to always go wrong when I do that. I added the red bow tie, the diploma & small mortarboard after the layers were attached to the card.

    Thanks     so much for stopping by!


    Supplies:  (click the names below the pictures to take you to the products)

    Stamps: Brass & Bliss: Congrats Grad set
     Paper: Staples 110# white, dk red, scraps of black & silver, Brass & Bliss: Floral Monochrome paper pad
    Ink: Versaclair nocturne 
    Accessories:  Brass & Bliss: Grad Cap, Class of w/ Numbers, Dot Stitch Rectangles, Dot Stitch Circles, Circles, Lg Stocking w/ Bow dies, MISTI


    This entry was posted in Brass & Bliss CAS Graduation/Teacher Masculine/Father's Day Paper Piecing Rubbernecker Stamps Splitcoast Challenges and tagged