Thursday, November 19, 2020

Stampin Friends 2020 November Blog Hop

 Stampin Friends 2020 Happy Holiday/Winter November Blog Hop


Welcome, Crafters!  

Can it be November already?  This is our last hop of 2020!  This was my first go at blog hopping, and I have learned so much.  Thanks, Stampin Friends, for all your help along the way.

This month's theme is Happy Holiday/Winter, and we are sharing some really special cards and 3-D projects with you.  If you are following the blogs, you  have come from Sue Vine's blog.  At the bottom I have included a list of the bloggers.  After mine, you will find a link to Kim's blog. Check out her wonderful creations!

I grew up in a little town in northwest Montana (Eureka) called the "Christmas Tree Capital of the World."  My dad was a Christmas tree "farmer."  He worked throughout the year planting new trees, pruning the young trees, and preparing the older trees for harvest.  He always wore a red and black plaid coat in the woods, and whenever I see buffalo plaid I think of him. I created this card and project with him in mind.

Here they are (card and covered junior legal pad notebook):

I have been making (and sending!) Christmas cards for more than 25 years and have an extensive collect of holiday stamps.  It's hard for me to part with any.  Every year I tell myself, "No new stamps this year.  Use the ones you have."  I DO use a lot of them, but... Stampin' Up! keeps producing new stamp sets that are irresitible! I have used five sets (see below for a list) for my card and project.  

What I Used: 

Base:  Shaded Spruce card stock 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" scored and folded at 4-1/4"

Mat:  Designer Series Paper (In Good Taste) 4" x 5-1/4"

To get the buffalo check, I used a piece of Basic Black card stock (5-1/2" x 4-1/4") and one of the dies in the Best Plaid Builder die set.  I adhered it to a Real Red (5-1/2" x 4-1/4") piece.  I trimmed it with a Stitched Rectangle die.

Focal Piece:  Shaded Spruce card stock, Whisper White card stock, and Stitched Nested Labels dies, Stampin' Write Markers

Greeting:  Rustic Retreat stamp set, Stitched Shapes dies



I was going for a soft country look, so immediately I thought of the Snow Front stamp set.  I wanted the chimney to stand out on the log cabin brown, so I decided to try a technique that I hadn't used in a very long time--using markers to get multiple colors on the stamp.


Color each part with a marker, give the block a little huff of breath to remoisten the inks, and stamp.  I love the soft watercolor effect.  (This is a good technique to keep in mind for stampers with only a few sets of ink pads.)  Once the whole scene was stamped, I used the Stitched Nested Labels dies to create the shape and adhered it to a Shaded Spruce piece.  To give the scene a little pop, I mounted it on the card using Stampin Dimensionals. (One of my all time FAVORITE products!)

Can you tell that I love the stitched look on my cards???

I used the brand new (adorable!!) Curvy Christmas stamp set on the inside:


I don't like naked envelopes!  For this envelope, I used the stamping off technique.  Stamp once with full strength ink and stamp a second time without reinking.  (Another technique for stampers with a limited number of ink pads.)


I used the same color scheme and focal point on this covered notepad.



The inside has a pocket on the left and a junior legal pad on the right. 
I have seen and tried many variations of this notepad cover, but I especially like Jessica Taylor's (Ink It Up With Jessica) version and have adapted it a bit here for this project.

What I Used:
Base:  8" x 11" Real Red card stock; score at 5-1/16", 5-5/16", and 10-3/8"
Base Pocket:  3-1/2" x 8" Real Red card stock
     Use a 1-1/2" circle punch to punch out a finger notch before taping
Front:
Designer Series Paper (In Good Taste) Panel:  4-1/4" x 7-1/4"
White Mat 
Real Red Panel
Black Panel
Shaded Spruce Scalloped Rectangle (Stitched So Sweetly, a retired set)
Various scraps for branches, pinecones, and tree
White for oval snow scene
In the Woods dies for the Christmas tree, pine cones, and branches
Inside:
White Panel
Shaded Spruce Panel
Strip For Top of Note Pad
Curvy Christmas Stamps

What I Did:
1.  Folded and burnished all score lines and made sure the base of the cover fit around the notepad.
2.  Folded over the 7/8' flap and added a strip of Tear & Tape adhesive along the edge. 
3.  Attached the UNNOTCHED edge of the pocket to the flap. 
4.  Added Tear & Tape adhesive along the top and bottom edges of the pocket piece.

5.  Folded the pocket piece and adhered it to the cover.
6.  Added Tear and Tape strips to the back of the notepad and adhered the note pad to the cover.

  I hope you will continue through my Stampin Friends' blogs to see what they have created this month.  At the end of each blog, there is a place to comment on the posts.  Please do so!  Stay well, be safe, wear a mask, keep the hope of a vaccine by spring in your prayers, and KEEP STAMPING!  Thanks for stopping by!




I have used these Stampin' Up! products:  
Click on the product name to connect with my online "store."  Thanks for shopping with me!



Wednesday, October 14, 2020

 Stampin Friends 2020 Blog - OctoberThanks/Thankful




My Stampin Friends (ladies from around the world) and I welcome crafters to join us on the third Thursday of each month to see cards and 3-D projects that we have created to follow the monthly theme.  Our theme this month is Thanks/Thankful.  If you are following the blogs, you  have come from Sue Vine's blog.  At the bottom I have included a list of the bloggers.  After mine, you will find a link to Steph Jandrow's blog. 

The timing of the blog hop  has caught me by surprise.  I didn't realize that this week is the third week of the month!  My internal calendar is still thinking this is the second week of the month!  Anyway,here goes.....

Thanksgiving in the US is November 26, and I have created a Thanksgiving card to send to some loved ones in Seattle and some little treat boxes to place on my Thanksgiving table. 

The Card:

 I dry embossed a 4 x 5 1/4 inch piece of very vanilla card stock (Falling Leaves, a retired embossing folder) and then ran it through my die cutting machine to create the Happy cutout.  I used that same die to cut a cinnamon cider Happy cutout which I adhered on the back of the first one to create a shading effect.  I sponged the falling leaves with various fall colors, attached the circle and leaves.  Thanksgiving is a die cut in the Word Wishes set.  I used the Lovely Labels Pick A Punch on the Thanksgiving banner. 


The Treat Box:

Front

The stamps and dies I used are from a bundle of products called Little Treats.  The die set includes one die to make the box (use a sheet of patterned paper or card stock measuring 5 1/2 inches x 7 1/2 inches), some tags, a scalloped and stitched circle dies (used on the card) and some to cut special occasion embellishments.  The stamp set is equally versatile.

After I die cut the shape, I stamped it with a floral stamp from the set. (Tone on tone) The box requires no adhesive, but I prefer to put a glue dot on each corner of the side flaps.  


Side View


I put two Hershey Nuggets in the box and closed it off with some Cinnamon Cider Ribbon and Linen Thread.

We love to have our readers to comment, so scroll to the bottom to find the comments section! 

Here are the participating bloggers:
  1. Jo Blackman - https://www.joblackman.com/2020/10/sf-2020-blog-hop-thanksthankful.html
  2. Teri Pocock - https://www.stampinmagic.com/2020/10/stampin-friends-blog-hop-thanks-thankful.html
  3. Kim Quade (US) - https://kimplayswithpaper.com/home/stampin-friends-fall-card/
  4. Tiziana Milano (US) - https://stampinwtiziana.blogspot.com/2020/10/stampin-friends-october-blog-hop.html
  5. Sue Vine (Australia) - https://misspinkscraftspot.blogspot.com/2020/10/stampin-friends-october-2020-blog-hop.html
  6. Jean Beaulieu - https://danantmom.blogspot.com/2020/10/stampin-friends-2020-blog.html
  7. Steph Jandrow (US) - https://stampinandscrappinwithsteph.weebly.com/home/stampin-friends-october-thankful-blog-hop-2020?fbclid=IwAR12Q8R7hZ7c-VdF4vxJWg-a-JeZvqIyHt9pi7SL2w6XGWBFt60Df2mMl7k
  8. Anne Marie Hile (US) - http://www.stampinanne.com/2020/10/october-2020-stampin-friends-blog-hop.html
  9. Lisa Ann Bernard (US) - https://www.queenbcreations.net/2020/10/sf-blog-hop-thanks.html
  10. Heidi Collins (US) - https://on-y-go-stamping.weebly.com/home/giving-thanks

I hope you'll continue on now to Steph's blog for more crafting inspiration.  Thanks for stopping by--and happy crafting!

Click on the links below to shop on my online "store."

Product List 

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

 Stampin Friends 2020 September Blog Hop


Welcome, Crafters!  

This month's theme is Fall/Outdoor Activities/Halloween. If you are following along with the Hop, you have arrived from Teri's Blog. Be sure to read through my post, comment below, and then continue on  to Heidi's Blog. If you get lost along the way, you can find a full list of all the participants at the end of each of their Blog Posts.


Here are the card and project I made for this Hop:

Fishing and Whale Watching

Birthday Card

Lately I have been experimenting with some background techniques, and this watercolor technique gave me the look I was after for my "ocean" scene.

This is what I did:

Gathered materials:  plastic plate to protect my work surface, plastic sandwich bag, Spritzer, ink refills, paper towel 


Dropped four colors of ink from the refills onto the plastic bag.

Sprayed water from the Spritzer.  Waited for the ink to run.  Put a piece of shimmer paper on top, followed by a paper towel.  Pressed over the paper towel with my refill bottle.  Waited a bit for the ink to absorb.
Checked the result.

Too much white, so repeated the process until I was satisfied with the color.


This is messy, but fun!  You'll never get the same result twice




Set the paper aside to dry.  (Shimmer paper doesn't warp with liquids as much as regular card stock, but when it was almost completely dry, I put it under a couple of heavy books to ensure that it would be flat.)

Made a frame for the focal image by die cutting with the stitched rectangles.




Stamped and heat embossed a jellyfish.  Stamped plants and fish.  Attached the frame with Dimensionals.  Stamped a whale and punched it out with the whale punch.


Stamped and attached the greeting.
Stamped the inside and envelope.  (The die cut fish and message are from a retired set.)



Goldfish Cracker Pouch--A Quick and Easy Way to "Dress Up" a Treat Bag

I CASE-ed (Copy And Share Everything) a pouch created by the Kitchen Table Stamper. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3_R7Bsam8Y






The Whale Done Suite of products includes the fun patterned paper, color coordinated sequins, and whale  punch that I used.  One of the patterned paper sheets has whales which match the punch.  So easy to do!

This is how I made the pouch:
Cut the card stock to 5 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches. Scored along the long side at 3" and 8".
Rotated the card stock 90 degrees and score at 1/2".

Here is my template.





Overlap the side panels and secure with tear and tape adhesive.  Fold the 1/2' bottom flap up and secure it on top of the panel seam.  Hide the seams  with a 5 x 5 Inch piece of patterned paper.  Create a pull tag to attach to the Goldfish Cracker Bag. Thanks so much for reading my blog today.  Until next time...happy stamping!

Here is the list of my fellow bloggers.  Please click on Heidi's link to see what wonderful projects she's created for us.

  1. Jo Blackman (UK) -
  2. Teri Pocock - https://www.stampinmagic.com/2020/09/stampin-friends-blog-hop.html
  3. Jean Bolen Beaulieu - You are here!
  4. Heidi Collins - https://on-y-go-stamping.weebly.com/home/a-gift-box-of-handmade-cards
  5. Kim Quade - US - https://wp.me/paItXV-149
  6. Kim Lamos https://www.pinkzebrapapercreations.com/2020/09/stampin-friends-falloutdoorhalloween.html
  7. Tiziana Milano - https://stampinwtiziana.blogspot.com/2020/09/stampin-friends-september-blog-hop.html
  8. Maureen Rauchfuss (US) - https://crazystampinglady.blogspot.com/2020/09/sf-2020-september-falloutdoorhalloween.html
  9. Barbara Welch (US) - https://creativestampinspot.blogspot.com/2020/09/sf-2020-september-stampin-friends-blog-hop.html
  10. Melissa Thomas- https://seatoseastampin.weebly.com/blog/stampin-friends-2020-fall-blog-hop
  11. Steph Jandrow - https://stampinandscrappinwithsteph.weebly.com/home/stampin-friends-2020-fall-blog-hop
  12. Katja Ettig -https://www.kleine-stempelmiez.de/2020/09/17/stampin-friends-blog-hop-fall-outdoor-halloween/
  13. Lisa Ann Bernard - https://www.queenbcreations.net/2020/09/gather-together-buckle-fold-card.html


Product List