BIRTHDAY ZEBRAS

Remember my recent Valentine I created with the Smackin' Bubble Wrap (my name for it) technique? I had been planning on doing a card using the Smackin' Acetate technique, but came across bubble wrap first? Remember? HERE is a reminder of the card I'm talking about.

I had also noted that I planned on using this technique again. So, I warned you . . .

Here is my new sample using the ever versatile Smackin' Bubble Wrap technique:

 

I think I kind of dreamed of using each of the splotches created by the technique with the little cuties from the Zany Zebras stamp set on page 104 in the Annual Catalog. Because I woke up the other day with this idea in my brain.

These little guys lent their heads perfectly to my wishes. 

Aren't they cooperative?

For my card, I used bubble wrap with fairly large bubbles. I didn't want just a few bubbles to fill up the 4" x 5 1/4" piece of white cardstock, which is the size I'd initially seized. I dug around for a more suitable bubble size and came up with one that was perfect for my desires.

In the previous card I mentioned, I had inked up the standard sized bubble wrap with the ink pad, then spritzed it with water for the more watercolored ephemeral look. 

This time, however, I wanted the circles to have a good amount of color. So, after inking up the bubbles well with Seaside Spray directly from the ink pad, I "stamped" it as evenly as I could onto the cardstock, pressing firmly on each of the bubbles to transfer the ink.

Shown in the photo below is the result:

I then alternated between the three zebra heads, turning the stamp a bit here and there so they seemed to be looking in varying directions without actually turning them upside down.

In order to make sure I didn't get any stamping where I didn't want it, I took a piece of orange scrap cardstock and, with a 1 1/4" circle punch, I punched a hole through which I could work. You can see the orange sheet I used in the following photo, as well as what all the little zebras look like after they'd been stamped.

While I wanted to just hug and admire this little zebra herd, I knew that wasn't practical. After all, I was making a card here.

So I decided to make it a happy Happy Birthday card. I dug out my oldie but goodie stamp set of sentiments called Sassy Salutations. I hope you still have that set -- it is just nearly perfect. And I find myself reaching for it -- not often enough -- when I need an especially quirky font. With all these zebras running rampant over my card, I thought it was a good choice.

After stamping the words, I die cut it with one of the Stitched So Sweetly dies (page 179 in the Annual Catalog). If you  haven't already, do be sure to check out that wonderful die set! It's a keeper!

I added a few flagged pieces under the die cut sentiment. 

The final touch was a trio of the Matte Black Dots, new in the Mini Catalog, found on page 11. I know already I will have to order another set of these dots. Love that they are MATTE! Very classy.

Just a closeup of the cuties in action:

I finished the card by adding it to a Seaside Spray card base. I am so glad I proceeded with my idea of actually making it into a card, rather than just having it hang around as some cute zebras . . .

So, tell me: are you planning on trying the terrific "new" technique of Smackin' Bubble Wrap? It's so much fun!

Smackin'

Smiles.

CATS OR DOGS?

Have you ever taken a look at the cute Deigner Series Paper, Playful Pets, on page 149 of the Annual Catalog? It's a must-have if you love cats and/or dogs. 

Even though I am definitely a cat AND a dog lover, there was another reason I personally was especially drawn to this DSP. FUSSY CUTTING! A wonderful treasure trove for fussy cutting aficianados. That would be me!

I cut up almost entire sheets of the four that sported large animals. During blissful summer deck type weather, I had such a wonderful time doing this. 

But, then, what do I do with all these animals???

I ended up using the following card sample for projects for my girls. I first asked them if they preferred cats or dogs. And, if they preferred dogs, large or small? It was fun to see how this played out.

Since our Harley -- a big black lab mix -- crossed the rainbow bridge five years ago (I still miss the big lug!), I am left with only one pet, my cat, Fred. Fred, I am sorry to say, I think won't be with us much longer. At 14 years old, he seems to be ailing some.

Anyway, with my Fred (and my other long lost kitty, Pretzel) on my mind, I chose a cat for my sample card. To me, it looks like the Stampin' Up! version of Grumpy Cat.

Do you love that gorgeous texture on the flag behind Grumpy? That comes from the Wrapped in Texture Embossing Folder. Hope you have it!

If the girls chose the cat for their card, the background DSP is what is shown on my card, all cat type toys, dishes, etc.

The dog people got a coordinating doggie DSP for their background. Also, the cat was on Flirty Flamingo cardstock, while the dog cards boasted Real Red.

I used the Dark Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Blend to color the pearls to match:

Doesn't he look like the epitome of love?

An even closer look at this poor face: 

Read on for the tutorial on how to recreate the card.

SUPPLIES:

Flirty Flamingo cardstock OR

Real Red cardstock

Playful Pets Designer Series Paper (page 149, Annual Catalog)

Itty Bitty Greetings (page 44, Annual Catalog)

Black ink

Stampin' Blends in either Dark Flirty Flamingo or Dark Real Red

Die Cutting/Embossing machine

Banners dies

Wrapped in Texture Embossing Folder

Small Pearls colored with Stampin' Blends

White Woven Trim

Stampin' Dimensionals

Fussy Cut Animals

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fold a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of either Flirty Flamingo or Real Red cardstock in half, creasing it well with a bone folder to form your card base.

Depending on whether you are working with a cat or a dog, choose the complementary DSP as your backdrop. Cut it to 4" x 5 1/4". Stretch a length of chosen ribbon or trim just above the center point, and fasten the ends to the back of this piece. Adhere the piece to the card base.

From either Real Red or Flirty Flamingo cardstock, die cut a flagged piece. Repeat with a smaller die to fit inside the first flagged piee, but this time from white cardstock. Run this white piece through your die cutting/embossing machine inside the Wrapped In Texture Embossing Folder.

Adhere the two flagged pieces together and add to the card front.

With a few Stampin' Dimensionals, add your chosen pet to the far right side of the flagged piece.

On a scrap of Whisper White cardstock, stamp in black your favorite sentiment from the Itty Bitty Greetings. With a small flag die, die cut these words.

With either a Dark Real Red or Dark Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Blend, color two of the smaller Basic Pearls. Add this to the sentiment piece.

Attach the sentiment with Stampin' Dimensionals alongside your furry friend.

Furry

Smiles.

UP A TREE

Still not good quality photos. But I am going to keep working on it. 

Which is a shame because this card was ever so much fun to make, and it deserves to be shown off in a more flattering way. Once again, I apologize.

The Woodland Wonder stamp set on page 53 of the new Mini Catalog, begs -- absolutely BEGS -- to be played with. Good thing because it took me an entire afternoon to put this card together. All the cute woodland creatures are on hand to send celebratory wishes to the recipient.

If you look at the card sample on page 53 of the Mini Catalog, you will see an adorable card that the Stampin' Up! artists put together. At first, I was going to reproduce that card -- something I NEVER do. But, then I decided to listen to my very own drummer and go the route I ended up taking.

Tall and slender cards are all in vogue these days. So, I thought I'd extend (ha!) my capabilities and try my hand at one. This card measures 9 1/4" x 4 1/4". It is just a smidge too big to fit inside a standard business size envelope. So, if I were to make a card like this again, I would most likely shrink it down a quarter inch each way. Then it will slide inside a business envelope nicely.

The tree itself is composed of three separate stamps that fit nicely together when stamping. Also, the set is photopolymer, so you can see through them nicely for lining up.

Besides the animals/birds already on the tree, I added the bunny at the bottom, the balloon to the owl's hand, the sign and its pole, the music being sung by the birdie, the three butterflies and the fluffy clouds.

I actually colored the entire card, with the exception of the white background, of course, with my precious Stampin' Blends.

Once I finished the coloring, I added the sentiment at the bottom, popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals. With that little pop of dimension, I realized the piece needed a little more popping up. So, I restamped the birdie in the leafy part of the tree, the balloon and the sign once again. After coloring them (again), I fussy cut them and popped them up over their counterparts with small pieces of Stampin' Dimensionals.

In case any of you are interested in which Stampin Blends I used, here is the (long) list: Light and Dark Pumpkin Pie, Light and Dark Granny Apple Green, Light and Dark Balmy Blue, Light Poppy Parade, Light and Dark Smoky Slate, Light and Dark Cinnamon Cider, Light Cajun Craze, Light Flirty Flamingo, Light Soft Suede, Light and Dark Gray Granite, Light and Dark Crumb Cake, Light Petal Pink, and Light and Dark Mango Melody. Whew.

The cute sentiment, stamped in Balmy Blue (as were the clouds) comes from the Zany Zebras stamp set on page 104 of the Annual Catalog and cut out with one of the dies from the Tasteful Labels, found on page 179 of the Annual Catalog.

The card base is of Balmy Blue cardstock. 

I actually spent a lot of time editing the photos twice. After the second edit, I thought I had improved them drastically. Unfortunately, I guess I was wrong. So disappointing. The fronts of the card should be the same whiteness as the background of the blog. 

Do any of you have this cute Woodland Wonders set? If so, what have you done with it? Did you do a fold-out card as in the Stampin' Up! catalog sample? The animals are truly adorable, don't you agree?

Woodland

Smiles.

POLKA DOT VALENTINE

 I recently decided that it would be fun to go back to some ancient stamping techniques. 

With that in mind, my first project was going to use Smackin' Acetate. Over the years, I have seen variations on this technique, so the one I was going to embark upon may be different from the technique you may be familiar with.

If you've ever seen my Creation Station (lucky for you if you haven't!), you will know that it is a crazy mixed up disorganized totally impossible mess. Yes, that bad. I never seem to have the "time" to clean up. Only the time to create. Why waste time putting things away when you are just going to need them again? 

Maybe -- maybe -- some day I'll treat you to some photos of my Creation Station. It is embarrassing. I'd like to say it works for me. But that would not be the case. It's just the way I am. They say that a cluttered desk (Creation Station??) is the sign of a genius. Well, if that is true, I should be the president of Mensa. Lke the meme goes, I don't have a mess, I have ideas lying everywhere. Yup. Me.

Anyway, back to the Smackin' Acetate project. As I was searching for a piece of acetate -- they are all over the place, but do you think I could find even one small piece? -- I came across a piece of bubble wrap.

LIGHTBULB!

If I could do Smackin' Acetate, why not SMACKIN' BUBBLE WRAP?!?

I took this nifty art supply, bubble wrap, and scribbled an assortment of Stampin' Write Markers in reds and pink, namely Melon Mambo, Real Red, and Poppy Parade, over the area I would need to work with. I then spritzed it with water and laid a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of white cardstock on top of it, trying to keep the dots of the bubble wrap as straight as I could. 

It wasn't perfect. But nor is Smackin' Acetate. It's sort of one of those techniques where you get what you get. I actually loved the way it looked.

I used the Heat Tool to dry it so I could continue to work on it.

Wanting to stick with a Valentine-y look, I chose Merry Merlot ink to stamp the cool wreath from the Arrange a Wreath stamp set (page 127 in the Annual Catalog) upon the pretty polka dot background.

Next step, to make it look like a Valentine, I stamped several of the little hearts from the set in Melon Mambo onto white cardstock. Because I am a product hoarder, I had a tiny Stampin' Up! heart punch from long ago that fit perfectly with the stamped hearts.

After punching out the hearts, I put little pieces (or the Mini Stampin' Dimensionals) of Stampin' Dimensionals on the backs and affixed them to the wreath.

The sentiment, Happy Heart Day, also came in the Arrange a Wreath set, so I stamped that in Melon Mambo, and used a die from the Tasteful Labels Dies (page 179, in the Annual Catalog) to die cut the sentiment. By the way, I only recently purchased that die set, and I know I am going to be using it tons! It is another of those incredibly versatile sets.

Adding a little Melon Mambo ribbon to the back of the label, I adhered the sentiment to the bottom of the card with a couple Stampin' Dimensionals.

So, what do you think of my Smackin' Bubble Wrap technique? Do you think it will go down in stamping technique history? 

It makes me smile to look at it, so I know I will be using it again. Heaven knows, I need an excuse to smile. 

Dotty

Smiles.

BERRY BLESSINGS

In my last post, I whined about my photo shooting setup dying and the poor quality of photos I ended up getting with my quick old school setup. Remember?

Well, I immediately did some research into the top ten photo setups on the market, and decided on one that was within my price range. I ordered it immediately. This was on Tuesday. Incredibly, it arrived on THURSDAY! Woo hoo! 

Yesterday I set it up for the first time and did some experimental shooting. It is drastically different from what I'd been using the past three years. So, I am not completely satisfied with the results quite yet. But the photos shown below will suffice. I guess. I need to do some more work with it.

OK. Now that's all cleared up. It's onward soldiers!

Have you had a chance to check out the new Stampin' Up! Mini Catalog and the brochure for Sale-a-Bration? No, you say?

Well, as a demo, I am able to earn Sale-a-Bration goodies ahead of time. I love strawberries. So I was drawn to the combo freebie of the Berry Blessings stamp set and the coordinating Berry Delightful Designer Series Paper, both on page 14 of the brochure.

The DSP is especially delightful. So fresh and juicy! Almost makes a person think of summer. Or, at least, weather that is a whole lot more pleasant than what we're having now, mid-January.

This card was so much fun to put together. 

With the gorgeous DSP, it almost made itself, truth be told.

A little close-up of the sentiment portion:

The berries were stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, 

then colored with my beloved Stampin' Blends:

I will share with you a quick tutorial on how to create a card like this. But, FIRST, you have to get your hands on this stamp set and DSP! (Contact me!)

SUPPLIES:

White cardstock

Poppy Parade cardstock

Berry Delightful Designer Series Paper (page 14, Sale-a-Bration Brochure)

Four Seasons Floral (pages 4 and 5, Make Beautiful Things brochure)

Berry Blessings (page 14, Sale-a-Bration Brochure)

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

Stampin' Blends in Light and Dark Poppy Parade and Light and Dark Shaded Spruce (or coloring medium of choice)

Sparkly Gem (I'd happened to find these on the Clearance Rack)

Sstitched So Sweetly Dies (page 179, Annual Catalog)

Die cutting machine

Stampin' Dimensionals

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fold a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of Poppy Parade cardstock in half, creasing it well with a bone folder.

Cut a piece measuring 4" x 5 1/4" from the Berry Delightful Designer Series Paper and mount it to the card base.

Stamp four of the strawberries from the Berry Blessing stamp set onto a strip of white cardstock that measures 1 3/4" x 5". Color the berries as you wish.

On a scrap of white cardstock, stamp the sentiment in black ink. The sentiment is from the Four Seasons Floral stamp set. Cut it out with a die from the Stitched So Sweetly die set.

Add the sentiment piece to a rectangle measuring 1 1/2" x 2 1/2", cut from Poppy Parade cardstock.

Adhere this to the card towards the bottom right with a few Stampin' Dimensionals.

Add a glittery embellishment in the upper right corner of the sentiment.

Berry

Smiles.