A Tuesday tip -layering punches

A few of my recent posts have featured cards where more than one punch was used to make an element.

For example, on this card you can see that I double-punched a heart:

(Perhaps that is an even better title for this technique - "Double Punching".

After all, you're technically not layering punched shapes on top of one another...)

So ,we will go with that!

Okay... the heart. How do you do it?

First, you punch a small part in the middle of a strip of scrap paper. I say "middle" - not near the edge - because you want to allow some room for the larger punch to fit around it.

For the sample I used the new Confetti Heart Border punch and then a small heart punch from the Itty Bitty Accents punch pack.

It will also work with the Heart Border punch, if you have that!

On the robot card for tomorrow's scheduled punch class, I used circle punches to create his hands.

Again, by punching the smaller one first more towards the middle of your scrap and then surrounding it with a larger circle:

Then, of course, it needed to be cut in half so he has two hands!

For the mouth, a similar method was used, except that instead of punching the smaller circle towards the middle of the scrap, you take a "bite" out of the edge of the paper:

The larger circle surrounds it and then takes a bigger "bite"!

Then you have a smile that you can use on any project!

Be sure to try this technique with any punches that you may have that are similar designs/shapes yet different in size (ovals, squares, labels, butterflies, etc.)

(By the way I CASEd this card after watching a "how to" tutorial video by it's creator Dawn O. I will be sure to post a link to the video when I post the punch class projects!)

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For this card, when I was making alternative projects with the My Paper Pumpkin kit, I used only the Decorative Label punch. But, there is a trick to cutting it so that you can layer it to make it look like you used a larger punch!

First, punch out the piece that you wish to use as the "layer". Then, it's just a matter of drawing a few lines and cutting it!

(Please excuse my shaky lines...)

Once you have your lines drawn, just cut out using your lines as a guide.

Next, you're going to glue it to the back of your main piece, but slightly separate the sections:

Turn it over and voilà! 

You only had one punch, but it looks like you had two!

Have fun trying this with other punches!

August stamp club - Add dimension with cotton!

In stamp club we usually make two or three cards/projects.

This month was no different!

I have already blogged about our other two projects. Today I want to share with you the third:

Though we used a retired hostess set from last year, I love the dimension on this card.

The flower is puffed out! Can you tell?

I hope so! It really is great in person!

My card was done on Calypso Coral card stock. I used the Calypso Coral and Old Olive Blendabilities markers to color in the flower. The "splatter" was added in Old Olive by using a stamp from Gorgeous Grunge.

If you look closely you will see a stamp from the new Bordering Blooms set close to the crease - very subtly done in Veramark ink.

The final touches for this card were some ribbon and lace tape.

I wanted my stamp club members to use some of the new colors that are now available in the Blendabilities markers, so the colors of our cards were all different!

Here is Barbara's card done with the Night of Navy Blendabilities:

And here is Terri proudly showing the card that she created. Terri chose to use the Melon Mambo collection Blendabilities. Her card base is Wisteria Wonder.

Not sure what to call this technique... It involves gluing some cotton behind the image and then dry embossing it with a stylus in order to make it "poof" outward.

Therefore I call it the "cotton ball poofy" stamp technique! (Very creative, huh?)

Here I will try to explain how to do it in this video:

http://youtu.be/0nLcctzQLpI

This is the finished card:

Here are some close-ups of the "poofed out" goose:

For this card I used the Wetlands stamps that along with the Hardwood background stamp.

The ink used was Early Espresso, done on Very Vanilla card stock.

The base card and layering piece are Old Olive.

I colored the goose using blender pens with Sahara Sand and Old Olive ink pads.

The finishing embellishments are the burlap ribbon, linen thread, and a button.

A wonderful masculine card that has already been sent in the mail!

I can't wait to try this technique on other stamp sets!

A jolly, fat Santa comes quickly to mind....

I might have to get a Santa  from the new Holiday catalog that comes out September 1!

As always, if you are interested in ordering any Stampin Up! product, please visit my demonstrator website and click "shop" in the upper right-hand corner:

http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/dandyspandy/

And also, as always, I am available for help if you need it - just leave a comment on this blog or email me!

August stamp club - Clear Block Rainbow

At August Stamp Club we were trying a new technique - new to us, anyway!

We used our Stampin' Write markers to color on a clear block. Then we spritzed the block a few times with water before pressing down on a piece of card stock.

The result was a pretty watercolored rainbow effect!

The card we made (above) is almost an the exact CASE of one done by a demonstrator named Karen Titus. I watched the video she had made and, since time was running out, I copied the colors and the stamped image exactly (World of Dreams stamps; Colors: Tempting Turquoise, Island Indigo, Perfect Plum, Tangerine Tango, Real Red) I did add a few of my own changes though, so it is not identical.

Here is a video that I made showing how to do this simple technique:

Clear block rainbow

Here is that finished card:

Again, the colors used on the clear block were: Tempting Turquoise, Soft Sky, Smoky Slate, Crumb Cake, and Baked Brown Sugar.

I got the color combination from my Pinterest "Color Combos" board. I just looked at the colors and decided which Stampin' Up! colors they resembled the most. These colors reminded me of a bird's nest filled with pretty, blue robin's eggs- an appropriate choice for this card, don't you think?

After I stamped the focal point all of my other decisions were made.

I used the Window Frames framelits to cut it out,

 I layered it on a piece of Basic Black card stock cut out with the Squares Collection framelits. Then, I layered them both on a larger Window Frame cut out of tempting turquoise.

The piercing holes were added using the guides from the Festive Paper Piercing pack.

The card base is Soft Sky with a layer of Baked Brown Sugar card stock, which was run through the Big Shot using the Woodgrain embossing folder.

Final detaiss were added with lace ribbon, a piece of DSP, some Soft Suede card stock, a couple of black Candy Dots, a Very Vintage button, tied with some linen thread.

Just to show you that you can use another size block, here is another one that I made with Block I:

The color combination this time came from the new Color Coach, since I was using a card base of the new InColor Blackberry Bliss. 

The colors are Old Olive, Soft Sky and Blackberry Bliss. The image is from Summer Silohuettes. I embossed the dandelion tops with a mixture of Iridescent Ice and White emboss powders.

Note to self: decide that you want piercing before you finish the card!(Occasions Piercing Pack)

...Guess I will have to cut this apart and layer the front. Oh well! it's not the first time and certainly not the last time that I have made a "boo-boo"!

You may notice some very faint shimmery stars on the background of this card... I was playing with my new star decorative mask and some Smooch Sprintz spray.

This technique definitely deserves to be played with a little more!

I can envision it in fall colors as well as for a Christmas background - or even blues for snowflakes!

Oh! If only there were more hours in a day...

August stamp club - Christmas set available now!

On September 1 the new Holiday catalog will be available!

It's chock-full of new holiday sets, kits, and accessories - Halloween through Christmas. It's FANTASTIC! 

If you're like me, you can't wait that long! For that reason (and that reason only) September 1 can't come soon enough!

Knowing that many of us are similar in our addiction to have new stuff (!) and get started on our Christmas cards, Stampin' Up! made one set available early!

The Beauty of the Season stamp set is now available for purchase!

I'm happy that I got the set!

Not only do I love birds, but I also like the sayings that come with the set, and the single branch image, which I can see being used as a repetitive background image.

We made the card above as part of our August stamp club. I wanted to use this set because I knew everyone would love it!

It also was an example of coloring with blender pens. Lately we've been doing a lot with the new Blendabilities markers, and my friend Terri wanted to see the difference between the coloring methods.

When you have a large image, such as this cardinal on the branch, and you don't feel like coloring it all, you can rely on the spotlighting technique to draw attention to one particular area, and save you some work!

You can see how we did it (again) using the banner framelits.

The image was stamped once on my card base and again and then cut out with the banner. It's placed directly over the same stamped area and adhered with Dimensionals.

We colored the image with blender pens and ink pads (squeezing the pad and lid together and then taking the ink off of the lid).

Here is another card I did - same set, same technique:

On this card I used different framelits, as you can see. I also used an aqua painter and some Soft Sky ink to do a watercolor wash on the background piece.

Try the spotlight technique today with your favorite stamp set!

Better yet, try it with the Nature's Beauty set, available now, and featured in the Holiday catalog beginning September 1!

For that and more, please visit my website! 

http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/dandyspandy/

Click on "shop" in the upper right-hand corner for all you stamping and scrapbooking needs!

January Stamp Club card #2

Whitewash Watercolor Technique

I loved everything about this card when I saw it! It is a CASE'd card - but I don't even know from whom anymore. Sorry!

I loved the colors, I loved the technique, I loved the paper, -  the whole shebang!   I'm happy, too, that both stamp clubs loved it as much as I did!

The card is made primarily of the colors Night of Navy and Gumball Green. (Reminder: If you are a fan of Gumball Green it will only be around until June! It is an "in color" from 2012 - 2013 and will be retired since it has been with us for two years. So, stock up now on ink pad refills, ribbon and card stock!)

The card measures 4 1/4 x 11, and we folded it in half at 5 1/2. We then opened the card up and cut the front flap in half at 2 3/4".

The Designer Series Paper is from a retired paper stack - that was glued on next. The Gumball Green stitched ribbon is wrapped all the way around the card and tacked down with adhesive.

We stamped a greeting from the stamp set Sassy Salutations onto Very Vanilla card stock. That was then layered onto a slightly larger piece of Gumball Green card stock. We also glued a Very Vanilla postcard on the inside of the card.

Doing the flowers was the fun part! We used the flowers and leaves from the Secret Garden stamp set. I have been wanting to try the technique called "whitewashing watercolor", and it works perfectly with this stamp set!

Here's what you do: (Son's video camera broken - so a picture tutorial will have to do!)

* Stamp image in VersaMark ink or white craft pad.  (We used Crumb Cake card stock) Sprinkle with white emboss powder and heat emboss.

* Drip white craft ink refill into pad lid or  other plastic container.

* Use aqua painter to "whitewash" (cover the whole image white). Do not squeeze your aqua painter! Don't worry about the image lines - just cover the whole thing white.

* When dry, apply lines of color with a marker -you do not have to color the whole image! Using your aqua painter, (Do not squeeze it !) blend the color from the lines.  As soon as the wet paintbrush hits the marker line, it spreads out! Instant artist! 

You can always go back and add more color and re-blend for more shading.

Don't worry about blending over the image lines. They are embossed, remember? Those lines are going to resist all of the ink application! 

Oh! PS: The middle of the flower was just colored in with Crushed Curry and Daffodil Delight markers - nothing fancy -no blending.

The beauty of this technique is that putting the whitewash down first does two things:

a) It enables you to add color to even dark card stock!

b) Even after adding more color and blending with more water from aqua painter, the card stock does not "pill"! (Did you ever have that happen when you blended something with a blender pen too much and the paper gets too wet and little balls of paper form?)

** After applying the whitewash it must be dry before adding marker. You can speed up the process by using a heat gun, but be careful not to overheat, causing you to "deflate" your image lines.

Flowers and leaves were cut out using the matching Secret Garden framelits  for the Big Shot. (Thank goodness for the magnetic platform on this one!)

Glue them all on, popping up the center flower. Tie the card shut with ribbon, and you're good to go!

One of the videos I viewed said that you could also use a blender pen for this technique. I tried it but did not have good luck, so I stuck to my aqua painters. You don't need too much water - that is why keep repeating not to squeeze them!

You can find everything you need to make this card on my Stampin' Up! website!

Just go to:  http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/dandyspandy/

And click "shop" at the top.

Any questions?

I'm happy to help you!