SOFT SEEDLINGS WITH DISTRESSED GOLD - A STAMP HAPPY HOLIDAYS POST

Hi Stampers!

Where I live the fall foliage is gorgeous this year! My favorite leaves are the maples as they seem to be the most colorful! As much as I like those bright yellow, reds, and orange maple leaves adorning the trees, I also enjoy walking in the woods where the fallen leaves take on a softer mor subtle tone.  These leaves inspired me to create another card resembling the look of those fallen leaves on the forest floor. For the card I used the SOFT SEEDLINGS stamp set. I paired my finished focal panel with Merry Merlot and Distressed Gold Specialty Paper. Let’s take a look at the card:

SOFT SEEDLINGS STAMP SET

DISTRESSED GOLD SPECIALTY PAPER  

The Distressed Gold Specialty Paper can be found in the Stampin’ Up!®️ 2022-2023 Annual Catalog, or in the online store HERE.

SUPPLIES FOR THE CARD

* Soft Seedling stamp set

* Card base - Merry Merlot cardstock 8 1/2” x 5 1/2” scored and folded at 4 1/4” and a piece cut at 3 5/8” x 4 7/8” to mat focal panel

* Very Vanilla cardstock cut at 3 1/2” x 4 3/4” for focal panel and a piece that is 3 3/4” x 5” for inside the card, and a small scrap for greeting

* Distressed Gold Specialty Paper cut at 5 1/4” x 4” Die cut mat for greeting from center of this piece of paper

* Inks - Merry Merlot, So Saffron,  Pumpkin Pie, Crumb Cake

* Blending Brush

* Gold 1/4” Shimmer Ribbon - about 10”

* Adhesive and dimensionals 

* Deckled Rectangles Dies - 2 smallest ones

ASSEMBLE THE CARD

* Cut the layers for the card, except for the greeting. Use the 2nd smallest Deckled Rectangles Dies to die cut the mat for the greeting from the center of the Distressed Gold piece

* Using the lightest color ink (So Saffron) randomly stamp images on the 3 1/2” x 4 3/4” Very Vanilla cardstock. Continue with the Pumpkin Pie, and the Merry Merlot

* Ink a blending brush with Crumb Cake and with a very light touch apply the ink to the cardstock over the stamped images. Make it a little bitvdarkervtowrdcrgedges. 

* Go over the  scrap piece of Very Vanilla cardstock with the blending brush and Crumb Cake ink

* Stamp the greeting in Merry Merlot, and adhere greeting to mat

*Attach ribbon to back of panel

* Adhere Very Vanilla cardstock to inside for personal message

* Adhere Gold Distressed paper to card base

* Adhere leaf image focal panel to Merry Merlot mat, adhere this to card front

* Use dimensionals to adhere greeting

There you have it, a simple fall themed card to send as a thank you or as a Thanksgiving note.

That is all for today! I hope you enjoyed the card and taking a look at the Distressed Gold Specialty Paper.

Until next time…

Stamp Happy,

Kim

All stamps and stamped images ©️1990-2022 Stampin’ Up!®️

GLIMMER PAPER TECHNIQUES FOR PRETTY FALL CARDS - A STAMP HAPPY HOLIDAYS POST

 Hi Stampers!

Welcome to my STAMP HAPPY HOLIDAYS series. Today’s card is great for fall birthdays, a thank you card, or a Thanksgiving card. It features lots of glimmer and shimmer courtesy of Metallic & Shimmer Specialty Paper and white glimmer paper (Red & White Glimmer Paper). I stepped up each of these specialty papers just a little with a couple of super simply techniques. Let’s look at the card

METALLIC & SHIMMER 6” x 6” SPECIALTY PAPER

(Cajun Craze & Pumpkin Pie)

This specialty paper is found in the Stampin’ Up! July - December 2022 Mini Catalog. The package contains 12 - 6” x 6” sheets, 4 each of three colors - Cajun Craze & Pumpkin Pie, Evening Evergreen & Gold, and Black & Silver.

RED & WHITE 6” x 6” GLIMMER PAPER

The Red & White 6” x 6” Glimmer Paper  is also found in the current Mini Catalog. The package contains 8 - 6” x 6” sheets; 4 of each color.

OTHER GLIMMER PAPERS AVAILABLE

* ANNUAL CATALOG

   * 2022-20224 In Color 6” x 6” Glimmer Paper; colors- Sweet Sorbet, Parakeet Party, Tahitian Tide, 

      Orchid Oasis, Starry Sky

* MINI CATALOG

   * Glimmer 12” x 12” Specialty Paper; colors - Evening Evergreen, Very Vanilla, & Gold

I stepped up the Metallic & Shimmer paper by running it through an embossing folder. So, easy, and it adds so much to the card! As for the white glimmer paper, I love the white, but I wanted the glimmer paper to coordinate with the other colors in the card? I used a blending brush and Cajun  Craze ink to create color coordinated glimmer paper. 

SUPPLIES FOR THE CARD

* Metallic & Shimmer Specialty Paper cut at 5” x 3 3/4”

* White Shimmer Paper 1 1/2” x 6”

* Card base - Cajun Craze cardstock 4 1/4” x 11” scored and folded at 5 1/2”

* Pumpkin Pie cardstock: 5 1/4” x 4” for mat, 3/4” x 5” for inside card, and a scrap for greeting - or stamp and die cut greeting from center of mat layer

* Soft Seedlings stamp set for sentiment

* Cajun Craze ink

* Blending Brush

* Tailored Tags Dies -either design; smallest and next to the smallest - or size that fits greeting

* Leaf Fall 3-D Embossing Folder

* Linen Thread - 6-8”

* Adhesive and dimensionals

 

Use a blending brush to add Cajun Craze ink to the white glimmer paper. (Top) You can repeat to add layers of ink on the paper for deeper color. You can also place the strip face down on the ink pad and press gently to transfer ink onto the glimmer paper. (Bottom)

Add a bit of pizzazz to the Metallic & Shimmer paper by embossing it with the Leaf Fall 3-D embossing folder.  Position the paper in the folder so there are few or no leaves toward the lower right corner of the paper.

Use the Leaf Fall embossing folder to add some flair to the inside panel. Place the cardstock in the embossing folder as illustrated below. This puts the design diagonally fromthe left side toward the bottom of the right side. This leaves plenty of room to write a message.

This is how the papers look after embossing.

Stamp the greeting on the scrap of Pumpkin Pie cardstock. Use the smallest die to cut out the greeting, and the other die to cut out a tag from the glimmer paper.

This is the die cut tags.

Use the Linen Thread to tie the tags together.

Use the blending brush and a bit of Cajun Craze ink to brush a bit of color along the edge of the cardstock for the inside panel.

Assemble the card. Use dimensionals to attach the greeting tags.The white glimmer paper on to the card on the left was inked once with a blending brush. The white glimmer paper on the card on the right was inked by placing the strip of glimmer paper on the ink pad and lightly rubbing to push ink into the paper.

I really like the look of the embossed leaves on the Metallic & Shimmer paper, and I think it is great that the white shimmer paper takes inks so well! 

That’s all for today. Thank you for checking in for this episode of Stamp Happy Holidays! Until next time…

Stamp Happy!

Kim

All stamps and stamped images ©️1990 - 2022 Stampin’ Up!®️

BLENDING BRUSH BACKGROUNDS & SOFT SEEDLINGS - A STAMP HAPPY HOLIDAY POST

 Hi Stampers!

Today’ cards feature a background created by layering color on cardstock using blending brushes, then stamping the image over the background. I used the Soft Seedlings stamp set to make the cards. I chose the “so grateful” greeting for the cards making them appropriate for Thanksgiving greetings or thank you cards. The cards would be great for an autumn birthday too - simply change the greeting. Let’s take a look:

SOFT SEEDLINGS STAMP SET

SUPPLIES FOR THE CARDS

* Card base - Merry Merlot - 8 1/2” x 5 1/2” scored and folded at 4 1/4”

* Layer - Brushed Metallic Cardstock - Bronze cut at 5 3/8” x 4 1/8”

* Cardstock for background layer and for inside card - 2 Very Vanilla cut at 3 3/5” x 5”

* Inks - Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Merry Merlot, and Soft Suede

* Blending Brushes for the 4 ink colors

* Beautiful Shapes Dies - Circle that fits around greeting and larger, embossed circle

* Adhesive and dimensionals

* I used different embellishments for the sample cards - Rustic Metallic Dots and the Champagne Rhinestones - 3 per card

MAKING THE CARDS

* Use a blending brush and the Crushed Curry ink to apply a bit of color to one piece of the Very Vanilla cardstock. The color should be light. You can add more later if you like.

* Now, use a blending brush and the Pumpkin Pie ink to add more color to the cardstock. There is no need to cover all the cardstock with the Pumpkin Pie ink.

* Finally add a bit of Merry Merlot the cardstock. Note the weird lines on my sample, believe it or not, that was all due to a tiny piece e of lint! I decided to just go with it and see what happened.

* Once the initial layers of color are blended it is time to decide if more color needs to be added to the panel.

When blending colors with blending brushes I find it works better for me to use a piece of cardstock large enough to accommodate all the pieces for the card that will require the blending brush background. This means there is no issues trying to replicate the blending. These cards are an exception. For this card design I knew about where I wanted my greeting and that I would be matting the greeting. I did not add additional length to the cardstock. I simple stamped my greeting with Soft Suede ink, then die cut the greeting. This hole will be covered up by the matted greeting.

* I die cut the mats for the greeting from the Brushed Metallic cardstock. I die cut two mats from one piece as I had die cut a rectangle for another project from the other piece of Brushed Metallic card stock. This is is a great way to get more from your specialty papers, cardstock, DSP, etc.

SIDE NOTE - During these final weeks of Sale-A-Bration (from now through 31 August) you can get the Metallic Cardstock free with a $50 Stampin’ Up! ®️ product purchase! You must use the item number listed in the Sale-A-Bration flyer. See it HERE

* Once you are satisfied with the amount of color on the panel stamp the leaf pattern on the prepared cardstock. I stamped the entire image in the center, then stamped partial images to fill in blank areas. Make sure to have scrap paper under your panel to keep ink off your work surface.

* Use a blending brush and Soft Suede ink along the edges of the card panel and the greeting piece. This softens the edges a bit.

* Stamp that Inside panel.

Assemble the card. This card layout work well for portrait and landscape orientations. I used dimensionals to put the greetings on the cards. Add any embellishments you like. As you can see from my samples I added less ink to one background than to the other.

That’s all for today. Until next time…

Stamp happy!

Kim