Bird Ballad card with minimal stamping

It has been interesting to see how businesses have (or haven’t) adapted to the current crisis. For face-to-face businesses, it has been extremely difficult and some have obviously had to close temporarily.

But crafting can carry on and is a vital escape for many of us, so I am now holding online classes via Zoom. Crucially, this means my regular ladies can still see and chat to each other as they craft.

This project was from last Friday's Crafty Friday event. We had the odd technical hitch but everyone seemed to enjoy the chance to craft together.

The linen thread is in two pieces. One is taped around the back of the card, while the other is tied in a bow around it. This makes it a LOT easier to get the desired effect!

 

Bird Ballad card with minimal stamping

It was so sad having to cancel all my classes, but creative people soon come up with creative solutions and it wasn't long before Stampin' Up!® demonstrators all over the world were sharing their ideas.

And so I am now running all my events via Zoom. I have had to change the nature of the projects because not everyone has a full room of supplies, but it can be done!

Today I am holding my first Virtual Crafty Friday, making two Bird Ballad projects. This will be the first. I’m afraid, due to very limited crafting time at the moment, you will have to wait to see the second!

When using bulky ribbon, use Stampin’ Dimensionals to pop up your layers so they don't sit unevenly. 
 

Do the Impossible runner card

Do the Impossible is a stamp set that's just made for those with active friends. And my friend Hilary is an incredibly keen runner; in fact, in 2019, she set herself the challenge to run every day – and actually did it! That’s 365 more runs that I went for last year.

I stamped the image using Gray Granite ink and then coloured it using Stampin’ Blends. The papers is from the Bird Ballad Suite – I just liked the cheery colours for a dark January day.

You can use any of our water-based Classic Stampin’ Pads with our Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers. The pads to avoid with alcohol markers are any permanents inks such as Stazon, as the alcohol markers will drag the ink around and cause smudging.  
 

Sneak peek: Painted Poppies with You Always Deliver

Are YOU excited about the new catalogue? We demonstrators can order from it now and a HUGE box of goodies arrived for me last week.

The first stamp set to see ink was Painted Poppies, which you can see here in the background. It's a beautiful set which you'll be seeing a lot as it's sure it be incredibly popular.

I've used it with Beautiful Friendship for the greeting and the little dog from You Always Deliver to create a birthday card for a friend. Look out for more sneak peeks soon because, quite frankly, I’ve had enough of Christmas projects now!

The Designer Series Paper frame is popped up on this card. To get the poppies in the perfect position, you can either use the Stamparatus to stamp directly onto the card base, or do what I did here and stamp it on a separate piece of Whisper White cardstock. That way I could position it after stamping and get it nicely centred.
 

Seaside Notions with deckchair stripes

August to me means beach-themed projects - even though I don't have any seaside plans at the moment.

I've revamped an earlier project to make it more suitable for my class of WI ladies and added lots of zingy colours, inspired by this strip of Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper - I think the stripes are reminiscent of a traditional deckchair.

This Seaside Notions stamp set should definitely be on your wishlist if you love seaside projects as much as I do!

I stamped the seahorse using the Stamparatus but this tip works just as well for traditional stamping, too. I inked up the seahorse using Calypso Coral then used a sponge dauber to add some shading in Soft Suede. It gives the image depth and interest. Just remember to start with the paler colour, so you can add a darker colour on top. 
 

Bird Ballad wine bottle tags

Packaging a bottle to give as a gift couldn't be easier with one of these tags. It's so simple I won't insult you with measurements - just wing it, as I did.

The bird is cut out from the Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper; only the leaves, floral background and greeting are stamped. 

I rattled out half a dozen of these for my husband's classroom helpers, to mark the end of term. Easy to make, easy to transport on a bike, and hopefully much appreciated.

To make a bottle tag, you don't need a tutorial, just a strip of cardstock with a hole punched in it (I used the Pretty Label Punch), and a couple of score lines to help it sit nicely around the neck. Then decorate as you wish. 
 

Mini pen holders/bookmarks

Browsing the internet for ideas, I found these really cute pen holders from The Papered Chef so adapted it for my launch party goodie bags. I wanted to make sure all my launch party guests had a pen to complete their order forms, after all!

I used the Delightful Tag Topper Punch and the gorgeous Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper but I'm afraid I don't have measurements, I just winged it (no pun intended). Without the pen, this can be flattened to use as a bookmark.

Using mini pens meant I could keep these small and stretch my Designer Series Paper further!

Birds of a feather... earn team rewards together

Sometimes I struggle with Designer Series Paper because it’s too pretty to hide. This batch of cards solved that problem - and resolved the issue of needing several cards in a hurry, too.

They were made for those members of my Stampin' Up!® who have gone above and beyond this month; Petal Pink for the ladies, and Pool Party for the gentleman stamper in my team. Yes, men can be demonstrators, too!

Don't be afraid to mix things up. You wouldn’t expect to use a stamp set called Seaside Notions with the Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper... but the greeting and speckled stamp are ideal to finish off these cards. 

Free as a Bird and Birch Background - a match made in heaven

Bird Ballad is one of the stand-out suites in the new catalogue, with loads of lovely products including this Free as a Bird stamp set and Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper. It goes perfectly with the lovely new Birch Background stamp, too; a match made in heaven!

To get a subtle look from the Birch Background stamp, I stamped it in Crumb Cake onto scrap paper once first, before stamping onto my Whisper White cardstock. This process – known as ‘stamping off’ – removes some of the ink to give you a paler look. 

Free as a Bird thank you card in Petal Pink

This is my version of a beautiful card by New Zealand demonstrator Jan Clothier. I decided to use the new Scalloped Note Cards and envelopes, as they have been sitting unopened for a few weeks now. 

The Petal Pink notecard goes really well with this Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper to give you an overall serene and subtle card - yes you have come to the right place!

If you cut out the stamped leaves and then cut them up into groups of one, two or three leaves, you can get more variety for a more natural look. 

Free as a Bird become blue tits

The beauty of the Free As a Bird stamp set is that you can turn those little birdies into any type of bird you like. Well, within reason, I suppose; I don't think chicken, puffin or emu would work too brilliantly, for example.

However, I soon had to accept my colouring capabilities. I've just about managed a set of blue tits here but my chaffinches turned out not to be fit for public consumption so my plans for a row of long-tailed tits – which do actually huddle together like this – have been shelved for now. 

I should mention that I CASEd this project from the talented Brian King.

Stamping onto watercolour paper makes colouring a dream, whether you use blender pens, Aquapainter or paintbrush, as you won’t get the pilling that can happen when the surface of normal cardstock lifts. Here I’ve used Watercolour Pencils and blender pens. 

Bird Ballad Suite catalogue CASE

Long-timers will remember that the Stampin' Up!® Annual Catalogue used to be called the “Idea Book & Catalogue” and, despite the name change, it remains a valuable source of ideas.

If I'm stuck, I often turn to the catalogue for inspiration; most of the time my project turns out completely different, I just need something to start me off.

This time, however, I deliberately set out to CASE the catalogue. CASE means “Copy And Share Everything” and I fancied having a go at the card showcased on page 90. I think my card is a different size - and I know I used a different bird, cut out from the Bird Ballad DSP. Why did I use a different bird? For those who know me, that will be obvious; the one used in the catalogue is from right in the middle of the sheet! There was no way I was cutting right into the middle of a sheet of brand new DSP. Would you?

If you don't have exactly the same products as used in a catalogue project, simply adapt to your own supplies. I didn't have the All Wired Up background stamp used on the catalogue card, so embossed my cardstock using the Subtle 3D embossing folder instead.