Baja and Parisian breeze

Have you seen this gorgous card on page 71 of the Stampin' Up idea book and Catalogue?

Here is my version of it. I have used baja breeze textured cardstock and the specialty paper Parisian breeze for the tactile effect. It is layered on a piece of whisper white that is scalloped at the bottom and put on dimensionals. I have used different stampsets and colours but the layout is almost exactly the same. I love using the tafetta ribbons chocolate chip and whisper white (I added that behind the flowers). The best bit is how you can turn the corner of the double sided paper with a brad and display the other side. I really like these papers.

I have used the medallion from the friends 24/7 stampset that just peaks out from underneath. I might have used more of it but didn't want to distract from the patterned paper.

Instead of the pocket silhouette flower I have used two stamps of the bella bloom flower in baja breeze and chocolate chip. They seem to match the papers.

Card Recipe:

Stampset: Bella's bloom, Friends 24/7, Pocket silhouette.

Ink: Chocolate chip, baja breeze.

Cardstock: Baja breeze textured, whisper white.

Specialty Paper: Parisian Breeze

Ribbon: chocolate chip, whisper white tafetta

Tools: mat pack, awl, eyelet border punch, word window punch, Antique black brad.

Enjoy!

Stamping on glass and Heat embossed metal

This weeks theme is stamping on non porous surfaces right. Did you guess?
I gave you a peek of what I have been stamping, now I want to show you some projects in their full photographic glory. Half the fun (and frustration of blogging) is getting a photograph of the project. Sometimes the light is just right and the planets are aligned and you figure out exactly the best setting on your camera to get a really great photo ... but mostly time and light is against you and we get what we get ... Here is the little spice, ribbon, button jar with the faux metal lid stamped with white stazon. I have several of these jars now on my dining table ... they are really, really quick to stamp. Everything in my house is going to have stampin' up images on it now.

The tag is white stazon stamped on gloss white cardstock, punched out with the scallop oval punch and layered onto a wide oval in Riding hood red cardstock. That lovely little ribbon is Riding hood Red tafetta.
So when a friend's birthday was coming up I had no choice: she received a glass and metal canister with fifth avenue floral on the glass ... And, clear embossed stamping on the metal lid. It was fiddly to stamp the flowers in the white stazon on the glass, as I have said if the surface is round you have to roll the stamp around the shape of the jar. The heat embossing on the lid was "easy-peasy"... I have Simply:

Stamped the images in Versamark,

covered with clear emossing powder,

shaken off the excess,

and heated it gently with the heat gun.
Note: before embossing check that the lid is actually metal not faux-plastic-metal (which will melt when you heat it - don't try this at home ... try the tap, touch and scratch test first).

The metal gets quite hot so place it on a bread board, and leave it there till it cools down. If it has a plastic inner lid (which this one did), do the embossing gently so that the heat doesnt go through. Preferably in quick short bursts of heat on the powder, just dont keep the heat gun in one place too long, the heat will transfer through to the plastic inside very quickly.
Here is the lid finished - it really looks like the metal has been etched. Like all embossing it is a real wow feeling when you see it melt and rise and shine on the surface. Hence the number of photos...

What you need to make your stamped glass canister and metal lid:
Stampset: Fifth Avenue floral
1 x glass sugar canister or biscuit jar with metal screw on lid.
Cotton white StazOn ink (for the glass)
VersaMark inkpad (for the lid).
Clear embossing Powder.
Heat tool.

What can you do with Stazon - cotton white ink?

Ask this question and most people will read you the instructions printed on the pack or the specifications from someones sales sheet. I wanted to know the answer too, so I have tried and tested the cotton white stazon ink to see what it can do. And I have had so much fun with it I thought I'd share some photos, because that's what I do.

Here's the package: It says you can stamp on non porous surfaces - that includes: glass, metal, acetate (transparencies), plastic (bags, lids, boxes, containers), buttons, ceramic.

And then, the other night I volunteered (no, was volunteered) to demonstrate some applications of stazon at our Team get together.

First of all - the stazon ink pad comes dry and with it's own re-inker bottle so you put the nozzle on the pad at a 45 degree angle and add some ink, about 1/4 teaspoon to start, then work it into the surface with the nozzle. It is a sticky ink and I found it dries pretty fast so recap the ink pad between stamping and I also found you need to re-ink the pad just a tad if you haven't used it for awhile and you want a good impression.

Here are some of the surfaces we stamped.

1. My favourite is glass. The white stazon takes between 3-5 minutes to dry, so that gives you plenty of time to rub, or wet then rub off if you make a mistake. Glass is slippery so like gloss cardstock the rubber stamp can slide. If your glass jar is round (and they usually are) you need to roll the stamp around the jar to get an even impression.These little jars with jelly beans or chocolates inside would make nice christmas gifts and they can later be used for spices, or to store your buttons, ribbons, beads or brads in them.

2. Metal: Lids, tin containers (I am just not sure how it would go in the dishwasher - can someone else test that theory and let me know?) It is a permanent solvent ink but, my thoughts are that it would possibly scratch off in time. So just keep the scourer and the scrubbing brush for your pans and use a light sponge for cleaning.
I have stamped the top of the spice jar with the Bella's bloom stamp. I am not actually certain this is metal it could be coated plastic ... but it works well and looks great IMO.3. Gloss card stock - It works really well when you sponge, daub, and resist with Classic inks.

(It is a good alternative to the embossing resist technique).

I just stamped my butterfly stamp on the gloss cardstock and waited 3 mins before I sponged over the image with Pacific Point Classic Ink . Then buffed the surface with a clean tissue to reveal the image that has resisted absorbing the ink.

These two tags are inked with ridinghood red and kiwi kiss classic ink.

Elite challenges - sketch and colour challenge for July

It is school holidays when you don't have to rush off to the school gates twice a day. Time to create while child plays with her toys and draws pictures for me and we chat together. A browse over at Elite challenges blog inspired me to try Sketch challenge 23. If you have a copy of the stampin' up catalogue the original card design is on page 31.
A challenge can be just an inspiration - you don't have to follow it too closely, so I added a few more layers (as you do).
And, the colour challenge for July was called Naval Kraft and included using: Not quite navy, kraft, and Vanilla. The cardstock I used was very vanilla and Not quite navy. For the third colour "kraft" I used the Bella bleu Designer series papers which feature printed flowers in kraft and cream. The very basic stamping is using only one stampset - Bella's bloom.Above is the little flower stamp which I have accented with a half pearl, layered on a scallop punched square of DSP paper, layered over a square of the not quite navy cardstock. A colour challenge is exactly what you need when you have too many colours to choose from or find colour choices difficult.The sentiment stamp is from the same Bella's bloom set. This is lovely for a special birthday, or a card for a friend who is going through a transitional stage of their life, and lets face it aren't we all at one time or another. We all need a reminder sometimes that now is our time to bloom.

* Would you like a copy of the current Idea book and catalogue? email me and I will deliver or post one to you. Book a workshop this month and receive a ring bound copy for free.
Enjoy!

Fifth Avenue floral brayer in tangerine tango

It was just not that complicated - especially, if you do it step by step - it is really easy and looks so nice even if you do feel you want to wear sunglasses!1. Start with your clear embossed background (Tres chic background with a touch of dazzling diamonds in the embossing powder).

2. Stamp your Fifth avenue floral in versamark and clear embossing powder over the top, heat and serve...

3. Brayer in tangerine tango and riding hood red.

4. Layer on to Basic black cardstock and punch out a greeting in stazon black ink on tangerine tango cardstock. (Its time to Bloom - from the Bella's bloom stampset). Punch Cut a larger oval with black cardstock.

5. Not enough? Dress it up by adding the black grosgrain ribbon and a clear rhinestone in the first 'o' of bloom.

Bella's bloom and border wheel

Here is the second card I made with my new stampset: Bella's bloom, the Bella border wheel, and I have matched it to the Urban Garden paper pack. The squares of paper look like a row of prints hung on the wall, with a window open, above a patterned floor.... No? I've used my imagination.

Materials used:

Stampset: Bella's Bloom, words are from Pocket silhouettes. Stamping Wheel: Bella's border. Cardstock: Sahara sand, Not quite Navy, Baja Breeze. Ink: Not quite navy.
Paper: Urban Garden Designer Series.
Accessories: Large Square punch, word window punch, Eyelet border punch. Later I will find the third card in this series. I cant seem to make two the same...

Bella's Border blooms in an Urban garden.

We made cards again on Tuesday night ... well, most every body else made 4 or more cards and I cut out for three! I do like to socialise but sticking down and getting everything straight takes focus and concentration ... which I have a lot more of in the cold light of day.

So here is my finished card that I started last night.

It uses almost all new product. The Wheel is Bella's border, the words are from Pocket silhouettes, the brad is from the filigree pack of metal embellishments ( They are just gorgous ).

The Papers are from Urban garden Designer series (double sided patterns ...)

The cardstock is Sahara sand and Not Quite Navy.

Ink is also Not Quite Navy.

I will post some more details and the other card later .