June Technique Class

June has been so full of dance recitals, music recitals, concerts, opening the pool, a field trip with my granddaughter and the regular, day-to-day work and tasks that I have not kept up with posting or blogging!  We had our first of 3 classes yesterday, so I want to share with you some of the cards we made and will be making this coming week.  If you would like a pdf tutorial, please email me or comment below and I will send one out to you.

Polished Stone Meets Floating Frame Techniques

I created  different colors of polished stone cardstock, then stamped the outline of butterflies from Butterfly Gala stamp set in Memento black ink.  Using the butterfly duet punch, I punch out about 9 large and 5 small butterflies.  I used them to create the floating frame cards.

From the one sheet of butterflies, we were able to create two different cards.  The above cards are a simpler version and use polished stone paper. Another option was to simply punch out butterflies from the retired Butterfly paper that was available in the last Occasions catalog and Sale-a-bration. You can also stamp the butterflies onto whisper white cardstock, color them with Stampin' Blends and then punch them out. Make sure you have a good supply of Stampin' Dimensionals on hand- you will need to put them of the back of every butterfly after you die cut the shape.

Here are some of the steps to create the floating frames.

Some thought it was a tedious card because of the advanced techniques, but very striking when finished! I found that after making 2 of them, I moved faster and enjoyed creating such a beautiful and unique cards!  I'm looking forward to making more floating frame cards using flowers, leaves or even seashells!

May Shoebox Swap

A few of my closest stamping friends got together one evening for a "Shoebox Card Swap".  If you are not familiar as to what a Shoebox Swap is, it's an event where we make each other's card creations, one box at a time.

We established a theme in advance, designed or "cased" (Copy And Share Everything) a card, made a sample of it, cut and provided all the layers and embellishments to make it, put that all into a small box and brought it over to my house.  Then we each passed our box to another, after a brief explanation of how to assemble the card, and proceeded to make one or two cards from each box.  This left us with at least 4 cards - one of each design- because we had 4 girls participating this month. Unfortunately, a couple girls who signed up couldn't attend at the last minute because I had to move the date closer to what was originally scheduled, so that left us with extra kits,  so we were able to make 2 of each design!

This month's theme was "Mystery" or "Anything Goes"... your choice of card theme.

Here are the different cards and their creators:

Expecting/Baby Shower

Sharon Clarke

Cased from Robin Feicht

Thank You

Alissa MacDonald

Best Wishes

Anna Boyle

Bridal Shower/Wedding

LuAnn Woroniecki

We had so much fun sharing and creating each other's card designs!  And now we have a small stash of cards to be used for different occasions that come along this month!

We will be having another Shoebox Swap soon!  I hope you will join us for a fun and productive time of crafting and socializing! Stay tuned for the new date and theme announcement.

Hugs,

Sharon

Mermaids and Marvel Heroes

If you have school age children or grandchildren, or are in the teaching or childcare profession, then you know how popular mermaids and Marvel Super Heroes are right now. Our grandchildren have birthdays 10 days apart.  They LOVE all of the Marvel movies and keep up to date with every single release.  

So I had to create a Marvel birthday card for our grandson who can tell you every detail about each hero or heroine. Our granddaughter loves them as well, but she also is enthralled with those other fantasy beings ... unicorns and mermaids.  So here are their birthday cards from 2019.

 I CASED (copy and share everything) both of these, tweaking some alignments and colors. The mermaid card is from Stampin' Up!'s Magical Mermaid Stamp Set.  I used Berry Bliss and Melon Mambo inks and cardstock. It doesn't show as well as in person, but the Wink of Stella sparkle on her tail makes the focal point even more magical.

The Marvel card used clip art from the internet printed out on my computer.  I die cut the circles using Stampin' Up's circle dies.  They are popped up onto Stampin' Up!'s Stitched Framelits squares using various bright cardstock colors from Stampin' Up. (Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Basic Black, Real Red)  The card is a 5 1/2" square.  The whisper White Thick card stock base measures 51/2" x 81/2" scored at 51/2".  Daffodil Delight mat is 51/4" square.

I hope you are inspired to create your own mystical and magical card.  Never stop dreaming or believing in the seemingly impossible!

 A Magical, One-of-a-Kind Birthday Card for a One-of-a-Kind Granddaughter

My granddaughter's birthday theme this year is unicorn's, so I created this card using Myths and Magic DSP, Rich Razzelberry card stock, washi tape and a few circle dies.  It's a larger card, 5" x 7", to fit a gift certificate for horse back riding lessons inside.  Shh- don't tell her yet! 

I used a horse image from an unknown brand stamp set since I didn't have the beautiful "Let's Ride" set yet.   I transformed in into an unicorn simple by drawing a cone onto his/her head with a black Stampin' Write marker.The sentiment is from Magical Mermaid stamp set.  The horse's mane and tail were colored in rainbow fashion with Stampin' Blends alcohol markers (LOVE these!). The "mane" image is raised up with Stampin' Dimensionals.

I hope you are inspired by these unicorns and rainbows.  Stay tuned for more mystic creatures... mermaids... for her 2nd card.  Because grandma can never give just ONE card!

New Annual Catalog Coming in June

Would you like a copy of Stampin' Up's new annual catalog?  It is not only full of new, fun and beautiful stamp sets, but offers a ton of inspiring samples and ideas.  We are offering new papers, colors, tools and embellishments along with kits for the beginner to avid crafter. Contact me to receive your catalog.  Deliveries will start in late May - early June.

One of my favorite sets and suites is "Bird Ballad".  Shown is a card we made at our regional convention call On Stage in Atlantic City. The lace ribbon is beautiful and easy to work with.  Our Stampin' Blends alcohol markers make shading and highlighting a breeze.

Here is the matching Designer Series Paper, trinkets and lace ribbon.

The suite also contains a box or laser cut cards and envelopes just waiting to be sponged, embellished or backed with colorful paper. The nesting (like the pun?) dies have a stitching look around them and are great for tags or frames.

 Attend one of my monthly workshops to create a few lovely items using this suite.  Contact me to sign up and get more information.

Current Color Coach for Stampin' Up!

Stampin' Up Color Coach 

Stampin' Up Color Coach with Revamped colors

Do you miss the old Color Coach? Need some ideas for matching the papers and inks you have on hand?  Stampin' Up's Color Coach is actually a pdf now. Contact me for a copy or scroll below to see the options.  Happy stamping!


- Sharon