September 2017 – Artful Musings

Month: September 2017

28
Sep
2017

Fun-n-Crafty | A Painted Harvest

Hello my crafty peeps! I’m happy to be here again this month as part of the Fun & Crafty blog hop. This month’s theme is Fall or Halloween! It seems like only yesterday we were in the middle of summer. This past Friday was the official first day of Fall, but here in Seattle, we don’t seem to have gotten the memo (it’s been sunny and warm for the past hew weeks). I went shopping at Trader Joe’s bright and early Saturday morning and was amazed. It was like the entire place had been hosed down with pumpkin spice … overnight. Pumpkin spice cake, cookies, pasta, fudge, caramel corn, cereal … you name it and TJ’s probably has it … even the dogs were included with pumpkin spice dog biscuits! I love fall, and pumpkin spice, so a few things (the caramel corn was delicious) may have made their way into my basket!

This month I decided to focus on one of my favorite suites in the new Holiday catalog, The Painted Harvest. It includes a wonderful layering stamp set with these dreamy floral and leaf images, some “thankful” sentiments, and best of all a coordinating leaf punch. There is also a beautiful pack of 12 x 12 DSP and some wooden elements. This is a very versatile suite of products with color combinations for fall, the holidays, and spring.

I decided to combine this suite with a cool technique, eclipse. I love this technique with the Stampin’ Up! large letters framelits. I began with an A2 Whisper White card base, a 5.25″ x 4″ Chocolate Chip mat, and a 5″ x 3.75″ thick Whisper White panel for stamping. This set has that “artistic” look (the base stamps don’t stamp solid) and sometimes I think, “Oh, no, it’s going to look terrible!”, but it never does! HINT: I use the Stampin’ Pierce Mat to make sure I get good coverage from photopolymer stamps.

Beginning with the base flower, I stamped three on the panel in Crushed Curry. Next, using the detail layering image, I stamped over the large flower in Cajun Craze ink. I also stamped a flower onto a post-it note and fussy cut it to use as a mask for stamping the leaves, which I stamped in Pear Pizzazz for the base and Old Olive for the detail. I also stamped the flower middle using Chocolate Chip ink. Lastly, I stamped the sentiment, “I am thankful for you” in Chocolate Chip.

Now, it’s time to create the eclipse. Using the Y – O – U letters, I centered them on the panel and secured them in place using post-it note tape. I ran this through my BigShot and then popped them out. HINT: Make sure to keep any letter centers (like in the O) to adhere to the matte panel. To make sure you get it centered, first put the letter in its place, put adhesive on the back of the center piece, and put it down. Then you can lift out the letter. Using the foam adhesive strips, pop up each letter inside its space on the card.

There is a ton of inspiration throughout this hop. Since you started here, I encourage you to grab a favorite beverage, perhaps a pumpkin spice latte, and visit the other talented team members listed below to leave them some blog love! Next up is the amazing Merit. Until next time, remember, creativity and imperfection live together in all we do. “Grace is the face love wears when it meets imperfection.”

~xoxo

Tobe — The Craft Sea
Christine — Artful Musings (you are here)
Merit — MB Squared
Jennifer — NW Stamper
Susan — Stampin by the SF Bay

Supplies Used:
Stamps & Dies: Painted Harvest (144783) & Large Letters Framelits (141712)
Card Stock: Whisper White (100730) & Chocolate Chip (102128)
Ink: Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze, Chocolate Chip, Pear Pizzazz, & Old Olive
Foam Adhesive Strips (141825)

14
Sep
2017

Innovation Station | Washi, Washi, Washi

categories: Innovation Station, Stampin' Up!, Washi

Hello, crafty peeps and welcome to another Innovation Station post, a monthly feature focusing innovative tips and tricks. Each month I share an innovation that I find myself going to again and again.

This month’s innovation is washi tape. I seriously need a 12-step program for my washi tape addiction! Thin, thick, glittery, transparent, opaque … I LOVE washi! There are some wonderful tapes on the market today and some of my favorites are from SU! I especially like the face that SU coordinates their washi in complimentary color families. Today I’m going to share two of my favorite washi techniques: the washi die cut and the washi background. Both are super simple, yet add so much to your card making!

Washi is super thin which when layered over card stock makes it perfect for die cutting and background techniques. When I sat about choosing suites for this month’s cards, I knew what I wanted to use for each technique, but beyond the washi element, I wasn’t sure what the cards were going to look like. I almost scrapped both cards because I wasn’t happy with how either was coming together. Does this ever happen to you? Fortunately, inspiration struck and I am pretty happy with the way both cards turned out.

For the washi background card, I used the Delightful Daisy suite. I love this suite! From the stamps, to the DSP, to that great daisy punch … it’s one of my favorite suites in the annual catalog. I knew I wanted to “knock out” the daisy image (sort of the reverse of what might be expected) and have the washi showing through. In some of the photos you will see a version with two daisies that ended up getting scrapped (it was way too busy) in favor of the final card. I began with a Pool Party A2 card base. Using a corner rounder I rounded the upper left and lower right corners of both the card base and the Whisper White panel (4″ x 5.25″). I cut out a daisy in the upper middle of the panel using the Daisy Punch and added two leaves using the companion two-step stamps.

I cut a 2.75″ x 2.75″ piece of Whisper White and using the new Basics Pack 3 washi tape, added rows until the entire piece was covered. Using my bone folder, I burnished the washi down and using adhered it behind the daisy opening with Fast Fuse. I put one of the new clear Faceted Gems n the center of the daisy. Next, I cut a 4″ x 1.75″ piece of DSP from the Delightful Daisy DSP and a 3.73″ x 1.5″ piece of Whisper White, on which I stamped “Thank You” in Night of Navy ink. I rounded the corners of the white piece and adhered it to the DSP, which then was adhered to the main white panel. Inside I stamped “…for your kindness.” in Night of Navy ink. HINT: I could have applied the washi directly to the card base, but since washi is semi-transparent I didn’t want it to show the card base color so I opted for a Whisper White panel instead.

For the die cut washi card, I wanted to use the new “Happy Birthday” die, the coordinating stamp set, and especially the Foil Frenzy specialty DSP. I am in love with this kraft card stock foil paper! It is so beautiful and screams happy birthday! The process for die cutting washi is very simple. Begin with a piece of card stock large enough to accommodate your die and apply washi. Place this piece washi side up on your cutting matte and put the die face down over it. Add the other plate and run it through your Big Shot. Voila, you have die cut washi!

For this card I began with an A2 card base in Berry Burst. Using the largest solid layering oval, I cut a window out of the front of the card. In this opening I adhered a piece of polka dot foil frenzy card stock. I also cut the happy birthday out of a piece of Basic Black card stock. I glued the washi die cut to this black piece slightly offset to create a shadow. Once that was dry, I popped it up using the new mini dimensionals, cutting them in half to make sure they didn’t show. Using VersaMark ink and white embossing powder I added the sentiment “it’s your day” to the front of the card below the oval. For the finishing touch, I added a few flat backed gems by Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.

Thanks for hanging out with me, and learning (or relearning) a fun innovation! Join me next month for another of my go to innovations, watercolor backgrounds. Until next time, remember, creativity and imperfection live together in all we do. “Grace is the face love wears when it meets imperfection.”

~xoxo

Supplies Used:
Washi: Basics Pack 1 (144221) & Pack 3 (144223)
Happy Birthday Gorgeous Bundle (145301)
Foil Frenzy Specialty DSP (144125)
Daisy Delight Bundle (145361) & Delightful Daisy DSP (144137)
Card Stock: Pool Party, Berry Burst, Whisper White & Basic Black
Ink: Night of Navy, Lemon Lime Twist, Old Olive & VersaMark
Extras: Clear Faceted Gems (144142) & Flat Backed Gems

07
Sep
2017

Stampin’ Up Holiday Catalog

categories: Christmas Inspiration, Holiday Catalog, Stampin' Up!

Hello, crafty peeps! I hope you are pouring over the newly released Stampin’ Up! holiday catalog, picking out all your favorite items. As a demonstrator I had this opportunity last month and, though it felt like a Herculean feat, I decided to order just a few things.

I know I’ll place another order soon for a few more of the things I LOVED — truly there is so much to love in the catalog. In the meantime, thought it might be fun to share my Top 10 favorite items with you as well as a couple of the things I’ve made using some of these new goodies.

Beanie’s Top Ten Holiday Catalog Favorites

Spooky Night DSP (p 53)
Spooky Cat Stamps (p 53)
Cat Punch (p 53)
Merry Little Christmas DSP (p 12)
Merry Little Labels (p 12)
Everyday Label Punch (p 12)
Year of Cheer DSP (p 37)
Year of Cheer Washi Tape (p 37)
Mini Pizza Boxes (p 44)
Mini Tinsel Trim (p 21) & Quilt Top Embossing Folder (p 5)

The first card I want to share is called “Spooky Kitty Surprise” and uses the new Cat Punch, Spooky Night DSP, and the Spooky Cat stamps. Recently Stampin’ Up! has begun coordinating some of their dies and punches with images from designer series papers. I love this. There are a few different punches and thinlet dies in the holiday catalog that have this ability, Spooky Night DSP being one. The cat image on the DSP is sized perfectly to punch out using the new cat punch. For my card I decided to punch out the cat from the words DSP paper.

The card is very straightforward, with one *small* exception … the surprise. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I’ve always loved adding little extras whenever possible. In perfect Halloween fashion, the surprise appears when the lights go out and you see kitty glows in the dark! To achieve this I used Wow! glow in the dark embossing powder and Versa Mark ink. First, I smeared VersaMark ink all over the punched cat and then poured on the embossing powder, which is transparent (allowing the paper to show through) but also applying a glow in the dark look. I’m not the best photographer, but this was what I was able to capture, it doesn’t even come close to doing justice to the effect and I’m sorry for that. Kitty gets a witches hat (fussy cut from the DSP) and a little tag (cut using the Coffee Cups framelits).

Next up, a couple of other items, one card and one treat bag, featuring the Spooky Night Suite – arguably my favorite of the new catalog. I made these at a recent demonstrator event here in the the Pacific NW. I am loving the new black rhinestones as well as the new Everyday Label Punch. The card shows the versatility of the moon and stars die from the Card Front Builder set.

Finally, I would like to share a Christmas card I created using the Quilted Christmas Suite. After designing and making 8 kits and 9 complete cards I can say with 100% certainty I have a love-hate relationship with this suite. I LOVE the images and the coordinating dies are awash with possibilities, one being paper piecing, which is the focus of my card. Hate might be too strong a word, but after making all these kits and cards for a shoebox swap, I know that getting the coolest cards using this set takes work. Fun work, to be sure, but not a quick card. I used the Quilted Christmas DSP for my quilt pieces and once it was all pieced together ran it through the Big Shot with the Quilt Top Textured Impressions embossing folder – it adds that perfect finishing touch to the quilt block, don’t you agree?

Thank you for sharing a bit of your time with me today. Until next time, remember, creativity and imperfection live together in all we do. “Grace is the face love wears when it meets imperfection.”

~xoxo

Supplies Used
Christmas Quilt Bundle (146026) & Quilted Christmas DSP (144617)
Quilt Top Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (144687)
Spooky Cat Bundle (146014) & Spooky Night DSP (144610)
Black Rhinestone Jewels (144639) & Vintage Crochet Trim (144611)
Dazzling Diamonds Gilmmer Paper (135315) & 3″ x 6″ Cellophane Bags (141704)
Dies: Coffee Cups (143745) & Layering Squares (141708)