Category: tools & product details

August 24, 2012

Don’t Make These Mistakes!

Mistake #1 – See that warning. “This is not a cutting surface!” Now see the shapes cut into the surface! Well, this is why I don’t recommend stamping late at night!! The really stupid part is I did it twice. So when your cutting with framelits make sure you sandwich it between your cutting plates.

The good news is it’s still usable, just messy looking now.

Mistake #2 – I reinked my Baha Breeze stamp pad with the Marina Mist reinker! I thought I had the Marina Mist stamp pad out, but I didn’t. I’ve never done that before.

Now, occasionally someone at a stamp camp will accidentally tap a stamp that was previously inked with dark ink on a light stamp pad. The best way to clean up the stamp pad is to wipe it with paper towels and then reink the pad. So that’s what I did with my Baja Breeze stamp pad. I soaked up as much of the Marina Mist ink as I could with paper towels and then reinked the pad with Baja Breeze reinker.

It’s always a good idea to buy the reinker with your stamp pad. You never have to worry about having enough ink on your stamp pad and they are great for watercoloring and lots of other techniques.

Enjoy, Julie

August 23, 2012

Cotton Ribbon Flower Birthday Card

The Stampin’ Up! exclusive magazine for demonstrators is a wonderful source of inspiration. This past month it featured an article on stamping on ribbon using the new 7/8” Cotton Ribbon and the Border Banter stamp set, both on page 20 of the new Holiday Catalog. In the catalog you’ll see a candy box tied with the festive green stamped ribbon. Very playful and lovely!

My card uses the same layout and basic features of the stamped card found in the magazine. To create the ribbon flower, the ribbon is first stamped with Primrose Petals ink and ruffled in the middle and hot glued to a cardstock circle. Once the base of the flower was complete, I threaded a white twine bow into the clear Vintage Button and adhered that to the flower with glue dots.

The ‘make a wish’ greeting was also stamped on ribbon; this time using Black StazOn ink. A strip of Crochet Trim was affixed to the back of the ribbon and then the flag end was trimmed out with Craft Scissors. The Craft Scissors are wonderful and cut through ribbon and paper like butter!

A quick word about Craft Scissors and other tools – I used to think I was no good at baking cookies until I invested in long-lasting quality baking tools, like a baking stone and a cooling rack. When I started using the quality tools my experience with baking was transformed. Every batch was successful! Craft Scissors and other high quality Stampin’ Up! tools are invaluable in transforming your crafting experience into fabulous success!

The leaves are Little Leave Sizzlits cut outs. Using the tip of the Bone Folder, I creased the center of the leaves for a more natural look.

And finally, probably my favorite part of this card, the background! This background was featured in video #1 in the recent article 5 new Stampin’ Up! How-To Videos ! Starting with the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, I used a brayer to roll ink on one side of the open folder. Then I sandwiched the cardstock in the folder and gently rubbed the inked folder over the Primrose Petals paper. That’s it. Instead of embossing the card front I just used the folder to ‘stamp’ the paper creating this lovely background! Watch the video if you’re still trying to figure out what I did!

Try the new ‘stamping with an embossing folder’ technique. Order your cotton ribbon today and start stamping!

Enjoy! Julie

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sweet essentials ribbon flower birthday card

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Sweet Essentials w-#126455 c-#126457, Delicate Doilies w-#122590 c-#122592

Ink: Primrose Petals #126858, Black Stazon #101406

Cardstock: Primrose Petals #126841, Summer Starfruit #126839

Extras: Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons #127555, Natural Cotton Ribbon #127844, Crochet Trim 118481, White Baker’s Twine #124262, Little Leaves Sizzlits #114511, Brayer #102395, Craft Scissors 108360, Vintage Wallpaper Folder #120175

August 1, 2012

Video: Watercoloring Greeting Cards

In this video, I’ll demonstrate painting with the aquapainter brushes and the ink pads. (Click here to view video.) I love watercoloring! It’s a sure way of feeling like a true artist and making something extra special for someone you love!

Here’s the watercolored details. For the card recipe visit here. And stay tune for the video on creating the scallop ‘window.’

Today is the first day of the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog . If you don’t have your copy and your in the US, send me an email and I’ll get one to you.

Enjoy, Julie

May 16, 2012

Answering Your Questions

Q: When I open your website I’m asked to sign up even though I already have?

A: I don’t want you to miss out on specials and the extra projects I share in my newsletter, so there’s a sign-in box that pops up so you can add yourself to the mailing list. Once you’ve signed up you don’t have to sign up again, just click the ‘x’ in the right corner of the pop up and have fun exploring the many projects featured here. If you’re getting the box every time you sign in – I’m sorry. You shouldn’t be – but sometimes individual settings on a computer will trigger the box to come up every time. Again, just click the ‘x’ in the box to close it.

Q: I see they are reconfiguring the stamp pads, but are they eliminating the ink refills completely?

A: No. The ink refills that you see on the retiring list are for the craft ink pads that are being discontinued. The ink refills for the classic ink pads will continue to be available.

Q: I noticed the paper snips, the rubber scissors and the cutter are being discontinued. What’s taking their place?

A: The paper snips and the rubber craft scissors were on the retiring list in error. They are being continued! You can order your pair any time. The paper cutter is being discontinued and being replaced by a new paper cutter that will be a little larger with some other great features that will make cutting and scoring your projects that much easier.

Q: The catalog ends May 31st. How can I tell what’s still available from the retiring list?

A: Retiring stamps will be available until May 31st. Retiring accessories are only available while supplies last. When you open this document it will be updated to show what accessories are no longer available. If there’s an ‘x’ in the right hand column that item is no longer available. For more on retiring product visit here.

April 2, 2012

Fifth Avenue Floral Spotlight

Want to learn a fun, new way to be creative? This is a clean and simple Fifth Avenue Floral card using the spotlight technique.

I stamped the background on Whisper White card stock. Then I stamped the Concord Crush flower on Shimmery White card stock and watercolored it using an aquapainter and Melon Mambo ink. Unfortunately it’s hard to photograph the awesome shimmer.

The Concord Crush ink is water based so when I painted with the Melon Mambo it picked up some of the Concord Crush from the outline creating a nice effect. Watercoloring these images makes you feel like a real artist! The Shimmery White card stock is a little heavier and watercolors very nicely.

I punched out a section of the rose which I layered on Concord Crush card stock and adhered it with a dimensional to match up with the flower below. With the spotlight technique, you want to keep your background fairly simple so that the spotlight really pops out.

The completed card measures 4-1/4″ square, so it would fit in a standard envelope but sloppily. Soooo I created a custom 4-1/2″ square Whisper White envelope with my new toy…uh- I mean tool, the Diagonal Scoring Pad.

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral wood-mount , mds ; Teeny Tiny Wishes wood-mount , mds
Paper: Whisper White cs, Concord Crush cs, Shimmery White cs, Melon Mambo cs
Ink: Whisper White craft pad , Concord Crush , Melon Mambo
Extras: 1-1/4″ Circle Punch , 1-3/8″ Circle Punch , Modern Label Punch , Aqua painter , Dimensionals , Scoring Tool , Diagonal Scoring Pad

Enjoy! Julie