Asian Elegance

Artfully Asian is a set that's been on my wish list for a long time! I finally got it a week or so ago, and promptly made this card. I just hadn't found the time to upload it till now! It's a beautiful set, so fun for colouring - I know I'll be using it often. Here's the step by step:

• Cover a Mellow Moss card with Designer Series Paper from the Brocade Backgrounds pack. This is one of my favourite paper packs from the new catalogue, the designs are gorgeous!
• Stamp the Cherry Blossom image on Very Vanilla twice using Basic Gray ink. Basic Gray is the new black! For cards with a softer focus like this one, Basic Gray is perfect - it's waterproof too, so perfect for colouring.
• Colour the image. I used Watercolour Wonder Crayons (Rich Regals) and a blender pen. I love our blender pens, they give you the control of a marker with whatever colouring medium you use.
• Distress the edges of your cherry blossom image. I used the distressing tool from the Cutter Kit, another new purchase. It's so fast and easy, and much safer than using scissors. Layer onto a piece of Rose Red card, also distressed. Add two Rose Red brads in the top corner.
• Stamp the leaf image on Very Vanilla using Mellow Moss ink. I inked my stamp, then stamped off once onto scrap paper before stamping to get that soft effect. Stamp randomly, making sure to go over the edges for a true random effect.
• Scallop the edge of this layer using the Corner Rounder punch. I used the now retired larger punch we had in last year's catalogue, but the new smaller one will work perfectly.
• Using the 1/16" Handheld punch, punch inside each scallop for ever more detail.
• Layer a Mellow Moss piece scalloped in the same way behind this layer, attaching with snail. Layer another strip at the top and distress both this and the Vanilla layer.
• Tie a piece of Mellow Moss Taffeta around this layer. Add three Rose Red brads at either side then attach to your card base using dimensionals.
• Attach your main image also using dimensionals. I used two dimensionals layered on top of each other in the top corners of the image, just to accommodate the leafy layer which was already popped up.

This was a really simple card to put together, and I just love how the colours look together. I've left the front free of a sentiment and will stamp one on the inside when I use this card - it would be perfect for any number of occasions.

Have a wonderful and relaxing Sunday,
Sarah

Stampin' Supplies:
Artfully Asian stamp set.
Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla and Rose Red card stock. Brocade Backgrounds paper.
Basic Gray and Mellow Moss ink.
Rose Red (Rich Regals) brads.
1/16" Handheld punch.
Corner Rounder punch.
Cutter Kit.
Watercolour Wonder Crayons - Rich Regals.
Blender pen.
Mellow Moss Taffeta ribbon.
Stampin' Dimensionals.
SNAIL adhesive.
All supplies available from Stampin' Up!

Artful Spotlight

Hi all, I've been very slack (on the stamping side of things at least) today and didn't actually finish any projects! My microwave is sparkling clean (long overdue!) and I made a really yummy dinner though, so hubby was happy! No sneak peak today as a result, but I thought I'd share this card with you. I made 20 of these as swaps for a get together of Stampin' Up! demos - and in the end I was too sick to even go! I did get to swap though, and received some wonderful cards.

I used Artfully Asian as the set for this card. The background is stamped using Old Olive ink on Old Olive card, stamping onto scrap paper once for a more tone on tone effect. The scallops are made using the Slit Punch. I used the spotlighting technique to highlight my favourite image from this set.
Spotlighting is really easy and a great way to draw attention to a certain part of your project. All you do is stamp the image twice, colour one in and punch out a circle over the part of the image you want to spotlight. Adhere it to a larger circle, then to your uncoloured image and you've finished your spotlight! Instead of leaving the base image for this one plain, I coloured it white using a Watercolour Wonder crayon and an Aqua painter. It gave it just a little more pop.

The Soft Sky, Old Olive and Basic Gray layers are sponged in the same colours. That's a piece of gorgeous Rose Red Prints paper for the red layer, and I pierced a border around the main image. The wee tab at the top is made using the Word Window punch and is finished off with a Silver brad. I just love the sentiment that comes with this set, it's a lovely thought.

Hope you like this card, I promise to try and get something new created for you tomorrow!


Stampin Supplies:
Stamp Set: Artfully Asian
Ink: Basic Gray, Old Olive, Soft Sky
Card stock: Old Olive, Soft Sky, Basic Gray, Rose Red
Paper: Designer Series Prints in Rose Red
Punches: Word Window, 1 3/8” Circle,1 1/4” Circle, Slit, 1/4” Circle, 1/16” Handheld
Accessories: Watercolour Wonder Crayons, Aqua painter, Crafter’s Tool Kit, Silver Brads, Sponge Daubers, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Stampin’ Dimensionals, SNAIL adhesive.
All supplies available from Stampin' Up!

Post-it Note Cover

I went shopping recently and bought a ton of organisational stuff for my stampin space/office. Among my purchases was this 3" square Post-it sticky notepad that I'm keeping by my laptop for little notes and lists. I just had to make a cover for it and pretty it up a little!

This is really very simple as the instructions show. A couple of cuts, a couple of scores and you're done with the construction - not rocket science at all! Because it's always handy to have the measurements when you want them though, I've made the above template. To save it to your computer click with your right mouse button and choose "save picture as". You'll notice the measurements are in inches, that's because the pad itself was 3" square and I was being lazy!

The really fun part of these covers is in the decoration. Here's how to recreate mine:

• Cut a piece of Designer Paper from the Spring Silhouettes pack to fit the front of your cover. Adhere with SNAIL adhesive.
• Stamp "Delightful" from the It's All Good set in Purely Pomegranate on Whisper White card stock. Punch out using the 1 1/4" Circle punch.
• Cut a 1 3/8" circle using the relevant punch from Soft Sky card stock. Layer behind the Delightful image using SNAIL adhesive.
• Punch a Scalloped Circle from Purely Pomegranate card stock and attach the Delightful image using Stampin' Dimensionals.
• Dot around the Scalloped Circle using a Signo White Gel Pen.
• Stamp the berries image from Oh, So Lovely (level one hostess set - you could substitute the cherry blossom image from Artfully Asian or email me to ask how you can get a Oh, So Lovely set for free!) using Stazon ink on Whisper White cardstock.
• Colour the leaves and berries using the Watercolouring with inkpads technique. I used Purely Pomegranate and Old Olive inkpads with a blender pen.
• Cut out the coloured portions of the image. This seems really fiddly, but I find the Stampin' Up! paper snips make light work of this task.
• Stamp the berries image again on your cover using Stazon ink. Colour just the stems using the fine point of an Old Olive marker.
• Attach the cut out coloured images using small pieces of Stampin' Dimensionals.
• Tie a length of Purely Pomegranate Double Stitched ribbon around the cover. Attach your Scalloped Circle piece using Stampin' Dimensionals and you're done!

It's the 3D elements that make this cover special. Why not make one of these as a gift for someone? It's the little things that brighten our days! Best of all, this size notepad fits perfectly in one of these boxes from a couple of days ago, how cute would it be to package this in a matching box?

I hope you enjoyed this super simple tutorial and that you'll have a go at making one soon!