Running With Scissors…

Hello, again!  This is a very quick and easy birthday card made with one little cupcake image from Flourishes Sweet Treats set.  I had a baker’s dozen of these cupcakes all stamped and ready to stack on the three tiered plate that comes with the set but I had to reduce it to these three.  It was a nice idea but I’m a little pressed for time today.  My friend deserves more than a quick card for her special day, but I’m hoping she’ll enjoy the cheeriness of this.  There’s plenty of *sparkle* on the cupcakes.  That ought to count for something!  I frosted them with Liquid Applique and then sprinkled them with glitter before I heated to puff up the LA.  The LA holds the glitter very nicely and the glitter seems to firm up the LA, so they’re good companions.  Each cupcake image was punched with the 3/4″ square punch before the LA process.  They were easy to handle with my little tweezer tool that stays pinched closed until I squeeze it.  The sentiment in the corner comes with the set, too.  I really appreciate the beautiful fonts Flourishes uses for their words and sentiments.  The font isn’t always the same but it is always very nice.

I punched the frame in the top two layers of the card per my instructions here.  After I finished this card I realized I used one of the same My Mind’s Eye Kaleidoscope papers I used on her birthday card last year.  You can click on this thumbnail to view last year’s model:

  It’s a rather gigantic picture, taken pre-blog days when I didn’t have to concern myself with file size.  I hope she doesn’t mind the repetition in the paper.  Gee, maybe I could start a tradition.  Check back same time next year for another card made with this paper…  I’ll list the rest of the details of my Flourishes card at the end of this post but first…

Oops…look what I got today…I didn’t mean to…  But, gosh, when I was sorting my ribbons I noticed that the reds were sadly underrepresented.  I went to Joann’s to get a little something more to include in my Portland doorprize gift bag and I should have known I couldn’t get away without looking at the ribbons.

Speaking of Portland, this will be my last post for a few days.  I’m flying out Thursday to spend time with some of my SCS friends and my blog is staying at home.  I’ll have one day at SU! Regionals and the rest is a pretty full and fun schedule, too.  Oh, my!  Four days — no cooking or cleaning or going to work!  I know I’ll come home exhausted, but happy.  I wish you all could be there with me.

One more thing:  Flourishes will be announcing an invitation to “Strut Your Stuff”.  I’m not sure how much I should say before their announcement, but it involves a gift for everyone who participates.  It’s not a contest, but if you have any Flourishes stamps you may want to make a card or two (or more) just to have them ready.  That’s really all I know at this time.  Since I’ll be gone for the next few days you might want to see if some of the other designers have more information for you.  They’re all linked over there to the right, under “Flourishes Designers”.

Well, I have to run now.  I have lots more to do yet to get ready for tomorrow.  Have a wonderful rest of the week and we’ll visit more when I return!

Flourishes card recipe:

Stamps:  Sweet Treats

Paper:  Pixie Pink, Gable Green, Whisper White, My Mind’s Eye Kaleidoscope designer paper

Ink:  Basic Brown, Basic Black, markers in Pixie Pink, Green Galore and Rose Red

Accessories:  Ribbon, brads, 3/4″ square punch, 1 1/4″ square punch, Liquid Applique, glitter, Fiskars scallop scissors, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

Stella’s back and she’s dressed herself in chocolate and tattered sage.  I’m sorry I missed Ruby Tuesday last week, not that you were waiting on pins and needles, but I’m committed to this weekly project and I felt remiss in letting it go.  This week Stella and I got together on Sunday evening so we’d be ready for Tuesday.

This card came together a little more quickly than usual because I worked out this sketch on my computer a while back — just fooling around seeing if my software would allow such a thing.  I don’t have the nifty program that people use for presenting their sketches but it worked for my purposes.  I’m not sure what program is used for those cool sketches.  Can anyone tell me, please?  It looks like fun!  I usually work sketches out in my head or push papers around on my table until something comes together.  Sometimes the scraps I pull out help determine the layout.  I’ve tried drawing sketches but that rarely works for me.  Anyway, I’m not sure how great this is but it certainly was easy, quick and not the least bit messy to lay it out on the computer then set it aside till I was ready to use it.  I’ve got another one worked out, saved and ready to go.  I like the idea of stockpiling sketches so when I select a stamp image or set I can say to myself, “Hey!  I’ve got just the sketch for this!”  Fun!

Can you see the sparkle on the seed pods?  I just got my first Stickles from Jacksonbelle Embellishments.  Lindsey has lots of colors and probably different ones from time to time.  I used Crystal on this card.  It’s a good multi-purpose clear glitter.  I have a bottle of black Stickles waiting its turn, too.  I’ve used old fashioned glitter glue before and it works beautifully but I like the skinny little nozzle on the Stickles bottles.  I shouldn’t ramble on about Stickles, which probably everyone on Earth has used before me, but I was just so excited about how easy it is to apply and how neatly it stays on.  You do have to give it some drying time, though.  I have a feeling I’ll be adding a little sparkle to lots of my cards from now on!

Just to finish up quickly here — I colored the image with SU! markers and stamped Sage Shadow Linen on the one panel that the sentiment rests on.  The ribbon is SU!’s taffeta, truly my new favorite ribbon.  I’d love to have all the colors but I’m not sure where I’d fit them in my newly reconfigured ribbon storage, darn it!  Time for me to go now.  The rest of the details are listed below.  As always, have a wonderful and happy Ruby Tuesday!

Stamps:  Oh, So Lovely, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Linen, Happy Harmony (sentiment, retired)

Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, BasicGrey Stella Ruby designer paper

Ink:  Timber Brown Stazon, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa (for the sponging and Itty Bitty), markers in Pretty in Pink, Sage Shadow, Mellow Moss and Sahara Sand

Accessories:  Ribbon, brads, Crystal Stickles, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

In honor of World Cardmaking Day I thought I’d have another go at Pollen Dust.  Actually, I spent most of the day cleaning house and doing laundry but I fit a little stamping in between all that.

I used no designer papers on this card.  As much as I love my designer papers I thought it would be fun to do it all with stamps for a change.  I started out with Whisper White cardstock and TP’d first with CTMH Vanilla Cream and then SU!’s So Saffron.  Click here for the TP technique.  The Pollen Dust images were stamped over that, followed by the Sanded background in So Saffron.  I used just a narrow border of Print Pattern because I didn’t want to cover up too much of those beautiful Pollen Dust swirls.  The sentiment panel is stamped with Linen in River Rock ink.

The big flower stamped very nicely with SU!’s classic Ruby Red after I thoroughly rubbed the stamp with an eraser.  Rather than tapping the stamp directly into the pad, I used a sponge dauber to apply ink to the stamp.  I do this with rubber stamps sometimes, too.  It completely eliminates the cloth texture that can show up on the stamp and can give the image a softer look, depending upon how much ink you apply.

I hope you had something fun going on to celebrate this day.  Just think how many of us there are who have our love of this craft in common!  I’m so glad that, thanks to the internet, we have many places we can meet and share our work and the things we’ve learned along the way.  Have a great rest of the weekend!

Stamps:  Pollen Dust, Sincere Salutations, Print Pattern, Sanded, Linen

Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Whisper White

Ink:  So Saffron, Vanilla Cream, More Mustard, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Ruby Red, River Rock

Accessories:  Kraft taffeta ribbon, brads

I’ve made a rather quiet card today using one of the smaller images in Flourishes’ Rejoice set which is due to be released this month.  Have you visited the Flourishes Blog yet?  You can view this entire set there if you scroll down just a tiny bit.  In addition to two large main images there are smaller stamps for trim and several words and sentiments in a variety of beautiful fonts.  The entire set has enormous appeal for anyone who loves an elegant, flourished image.  I sometimes wonder about the split in my personality that has me swooning over a stamp set like this while I can turn right around and be equally smitten by something that’s all fun and whimsey.  I guess it’s true that variety is the spice of life.

This sentiment with its scrolled borders is a single stamp, clear and so easy to position.  I love the way Flourishes’ newest Christmas stamps combine so beautifully with several of the patterns in Stampin’ Up!’s Holiday Harmony designer papers or their Baroque Backgrounds papers or many of the other gorgeous papers on the market today.  The white I used is another piece from my Wal-Mart all white paper pack.  The decorative corner punch is one I’ve had for a long time.  It was purchased locally and says Family Treasures on it, but I have no idea if it’s still produced.  The scrumptious May Arts satin ribbon is available here at Flourishes.

A note about using clear stamps:  I’ve been asked about the best way to get quality images from clear stamps.  I like to condition my stamps as described in my post here.  The stamp I used on this card was conditioned in this manner — rubbed with an eraser and then cleaned with ordinary cleaner and my stamp scrubber.  I used SU! classic ink on this card and it stamped flawlessly.  Pigment inks (those that can be embossed) or hybrid inks (such as Color Box Fluid Chalk inks) produce excellent results even without conditioning.

As I mentioned in the post I linked, a cushion under the stamp is essential.  I use a generously sized mat of craft foam that I cut for this purpose.  I place it on my work surface under my paper before stamping.  As with any stamp, whether clear or rubber, an evenly distributed pressure is required for a good image.  The foam mat helps to absorb the pressure more evenly without smooshing the stamp and fattening the lines of the image.  Also, you can look through the clear block on which the stamp is mounted and see the contact of the stamp with the paper.  This view enables you to better judge when the pressure is even.  Armed with a little information and the benefit of a few practice tries clear stamps can be a pleasure to work with.

Well, that’s it for today!  I managed more stamping this week than I expected.  We’ll now see what the weekend brings.  Have a happy Friday!

Stamps:  Rejoice

Paper:  Purely Pomegranate, River Rock, white from Wal-Mart paper pack, SU! Holiday Harmony double sided designer paper

Ink:  Purely Pomegranate

Accessories:  May Arts satin ribbon, decorative corner punch, small corner rounder, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

I almost pranced with joy when I saw the new Flourished Christmas set from Flourishes!  There are two gorgeous main images, several words and sentiments and the fancy Flourishes logo for stamping the backs of your cards — eight stamps total.  I love the proud, graceful and very elegant lines of this prancing reindeer.

I stamped my deer with Versamark on Shimmery White cardstock and embossed with copper EP.  It’s watercolored with Creamy Caramel and the glow is done with Barely Banana.  I used a burgundy embossing powder on the word to match the Bravo Burgundy cardstock and lush velvet ribbon.

The green patterned paper is SU!’s Holiday Harmony.  The other paper with the swirling, flocked vines is a treasure that was hiding in my stamp room, uncovered when I reorganized last week.  It’s a wonderful thing to take stock of your supplies.  I bought this piece a long time ago at my local scrapbook store and it’s a puzzle as to why I haven’t used it before now.  I unearthed some other beautiful embossed papers, too.  In fact, I feel like I just went shopping for all the wonderful things I “found”. 

I’ll be back soon with another Flourishes sample.  The images in their newest Christmas sets are exquisite and very easy to work with.  Have a great day!

Stamps:  Flourished Christmas

Paper:  Bravo Burgundy, Shimmery White, SU! Holiday Harmony DP, Yellow Vine flocked paper by K & Company

Ink:  Versamark, Creamy Caramel, Barely Banana

Accessories:  Copper brads, velvet ribbon, embossing powder, ticket corner punch, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

…due to time constraints.  I’ll stamp again as soon as possible.  I’m so sorry to miss a week with Stella Ruby but I know you understand.  I have a feeling that if I get any stamping done in the next few days I’ll be running very fast with my scissors.  I’ll try, though.  Thank you for being patient with me!