Large Yellow Ribbon Sketch Card Challenge

Just a quick little post today, for the Paper Play Sketches Card Challenge. Visit their blog to see their other entries and the original sketch!

The patterned paper was out of my scrap box, and the stamp is from my collection of older Stampin' Up! stamps. I stamped it with Certainly Celery, then used my Spectrum Noir markers to color in the little flowers.

The stitched rectangle is a Gina Marie.

This ribbon is 1.5" wide--the widest I've ever used on a card! But I think it turned out cute!

Spring 2-Step

Today I felt like continuing with the bright cheery colors, and had so enjoyed the yellow ribbon on the Sunburst Card, that I wanted to use it again as well.  These 2-Step flower stamps are from Stampin’ Up! and have been in my stash for a long time, but have never been used—until now!

I prefer Stampin' Up Inks for my color stamping, but most of my collection of stamp pads are older and retired. For my base colors, I used Summer Sun (closest to Daffodil Delight in the current collection), Pretty in Pink (Pink Pirouette) and Pale Plum (Wisteria Wonder). The secondary stamp, the darker inks are Hello Honey, Regal Rose (Melon Mambo) and Lovely Lilac (Perfect Plum). The lighter green stems are Certainly Celery (Pear Pizzazz) and the leaves are Wild Wasabi.

 I cut a base on Heavy White Recollections cardstock at 6.25" by 4.75", and cut a piece of scrap to 1.75" by 4.75" (I could've left it wider, but this was the extra off the original cut, so 4.75 will be just fine.) I lined these up in my MISTI with the scrap as a mask at the bottom of the white base.

For the background colors, I used my MISTI, and inked each stamp a couple of times to get a nice bright impression. I had separated the flowers from the stems, so I could ink those individually, and the MISTI made this process easier as well.

For the second step of the stamps, I used my Stamp Position-er. Now that I know how useful this tool is, I will definitely be upgrading to the Stampin' Up! Stamp-A-Ma-Jig!  You just place the plastic sheet over your project, line up the stamp-block in the corner of the positioner and make an impression.

Then you use the clear plastic sheet to line up exactly where you want the stamp, place the positioner, and remove the plastic sheet. Then when you line up your stamp again with the positioner, it stamps right where you already decided you want the stamp!

Now on this set of stamps, its not quite as important, because they're of an abstract nature. But I'm so OCD that I got frustrated trying to do this without the Positioner. TIP: I did find that I might accidentally move the base when removing the plastic sheet, so I used a bit of Washi tape to hold my base piece in place.  I free-hand stamped the little leaves.

 It was back to the MISTI for the sentiments to make sure everything was straight and well inked. Heat embossed the outside sentiment with clear embossing powder, but did not emboss the interior message.

I felt the card needed more color, so I used Ballet Blue (Sky Blue) to distress the edges of my base. And of course added my beloved yellow silk ribbon. I have also found that sequins cover a myriad of sins! So, one to cover an ink blotch and 2 more to make it look intentional! :-)

Did a second-impression Butterfly (meaning I stamped once on a scrap paper, then into my card) with Ballet Blue in the upper corner to add interest to the inside!

And I still didn't feel it was quite done, so I put a little bit of Wink of Stella in the center of the pink flower.

I am really loving these spring colors! This is my favorite season of the year!!

Spring Sunburst

When a friend put out a request for Cheer-cards for a family member, I knew I wanted to make a bright, cheerful card. Searching through my scraps, I found a bunch of yellows, and springy prints, and decided to try my hand at a Starburst-style card!

An hour or so of watching YouTube later, I was ready to begin! :-)

Each scrap was cut into approximately a 4.5" by 1.5" strip. Some were thinner, some longer and a few shorter, based on what I had (and what I didn't bother to cut down.) Each of these strips was then cut on the diagonal from corner to corner. For the strips with a lot of white in the background, I lightly distressed the edges with a coordinating bright color.

I cut a base out of Recollections basic white card stock to 6.25" x 4.75" and covered the whole thing with Zig 2-Way Glue. Using my grid mat, I found the horizontal middle and laid my first strip along this line, just eye-balling the vertical center. I wasn't too worried about the vertical line, since the center would be cut out later anyway.

Randomly choosing colors, each strip is placed with the point in the middle, and completely butted-up against the piece next to it.

This is where the long-term tackiness of the 2-Way Glue comes in handy. If the lines started to seem somewhat off centered, I would adjust by pushing the strip slightly farther in, making sure I had a larger strip, or possibly pulling it out from center slightly. The finished result of this process was rather odd looking.

Turn the whole thing over and it makes a little more sense!

I found it easiest to use my ruler and rotary knife to cut the edges off straight. Now the center was definitely less than perfect, but not a problem!

I didn't want my circle exactly in the middle, as I wanted to leave space at the bottom for ribbon and a bow. Using my Circle Framelit die, I centered it horizontally, but just barely over the circle at the bottom.

The sentiment was stamped with Versafine Black ink, and the stamp is actually from a set of Fairies. This was heat embossed with Recollections Clear Embossing Powder. I prefer the clear whenever possible, as it doesn't leave any little black specks in my image.

I do no have a magnetic base plate, so I use washi tape to hold my dies in place! This is a Sizzix framelit. I chose these framelits so that the circle cut in the starburst was just slightly larger than this scalloped one. I did decide the white circle needed to be distressed around the edges with Summer Sun from Stampin' Up!

I am absolutely in LOVE with this light yellow silk-y ribbon from Hobby Lobby! It's so pretty and ties so well!

Using a white base is very popular right now, but I still wanted to make this card even more bright and Springy! So I cut a base of Bazzill "Glow" at 6.5" by 5".

Ok, here's where it gets a little complicated. First, do NOT stick your sentiment down yet.

One of my cheats is using 3M dimensional tape rather than pop-dots. I use my rotary knife to cut a strip of tape as wide as the starburst base. Then I slice this into thirds, making 3 narrow strips of the same length.

I tend to do a little over-kill with the dimensional tape, because I hate the idea of it getting completely warped in the mail. When placing the tape around the circle opening, make sure to stay a bit away from that inside edge, so the tape won't be seen.

NOW...Place adhesive on the back of the sentiment piece and SET it on the yellow card base--do NOT press it down. Just get it as close to the right placement as possible. Lay the starburst piece centered on the yellow base. A piercing tool works great for the fine-tune adjusting of the sentiment piece. Only once you're SURE the sentiment is where you want it, do you press it in place. :-)

I am completely thankful for my MISTI for helping me get my inside sentiments straight, the first time, every time! Phew! I did not emboss the interior message.

I am very pleased with the outcome! Thanks for looking!!