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Showing posts with label Brick & Mortar embossing folder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brick & Mortar embossing folder. Show all posts

Tuesday, 24 January 2023

Dainty Delight projects – and a spring craft day in Derbyshire

Dainty Delight Stampin' Up card idea

I am really loving the Dainty Delight bundle and Dainty Flowers Sale-a-Bration Designer Series Paper from Stampin’ Up!®.

I often say that I don’t like flower stamps but it’s not really true; I don’t like most flower stamps. The big, blowsy flowers that are so popular with crafters everywhere do nothing for me at all, but I really love delicate wildflowers that remind me of our British countryside. And seed heads – they are a favourite.

Friday, 7 August 2020

Field of Flowers on a brick wall

Field of Flowers Stampin Up Helen Read Allthingsstampy

The Field of Flowers bundle is new and beautiful and is a great way to use up all of those watercoloured backgrounds that I have a tendency to hoard.

Field of Flowers Stampin Up Helen Read Allthingsstampy

Here I’ve used it with the Brick & Mortar 3D embossing folder, embossing Whisper White cardstock to provide a stark contrast. A few flowers punched out with the Confetti Flowers Border Punch add splashes of random colour.

Field of Flowers Stampin Up Helen Read Allthingsstampy

Field of Flowers Stampin Up Helen Read Allthingsstampy


I’d like to say this was a pre-planned card with sound design principles at its heart but really I just cobbled it together with some leftover pieces. Turned out okay, though, didn’t it?

Field of Flowers Stampin Up Helen Read Allthingsstampy
Creating watercoloured backgrounds is fun, but they don't always turn out how you want. However they turn out, my tip is to save them for another day. They always look different when you’ve had a sleep, and they may just go perfectly with another project, another time.


Tuesday, 30 June 2020

Pride 2020 blog hop: Sponged rainbow cards



Crafting is for everyone, so I am delighted to take part in this Pride 2020 blog hop. This international hop by Stampin’ Up!® demonstrators is designed to show support for crafters (and non-crafters) in the LGBTQ+ community, as well as showing off some beautiful, colourful projects.


We crafters love colour, so what better opportunity to stamp a rainbow? From one sponged piece of cardstock, I made two very different projects. It all began with a piece of Whisper White cardstock which I sponged in rainbow colours. I used, from top, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green, Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point and Gorgeous Grape.

Even though I only really needed the outer edges for this frame, which I die-cut using the Stitched Rectangles Framelits, I tried to keep the sponging nice and even across the whole panel, as I knew I could use the centre for another project.


My next step was to use the Stamparatus to stamp this rainbow greeting from Happiest of Birthdays. I love this set because I really needed a BIG greeting and this one is simple and straight to the point. 

Using sponge daubers, I built up the image line by line, stamping in between each colour to see where I needed to ink next. The Stamparatus means you can hit the mark every single time (although read on for a fine example of this not being true, LOL). 

After a couple of attempts, I settled on stamping on this In Good Taste Designer Series Paper to give the background a little texture... or at least the appearance of texture. I had some excess at the red end, so use this to punch a little heart using the Dog Builder punch. It’s all mounted onto a piece of Whisper White embossed using the Brick & Mortar 3D Embossing Folder.


To use the centre piece, I knew I wanted to do something a little different, so splashed the sponged piece with some water to create this lovely effect. I use this technique a lot as it can represent lots of different things, such as snow or stars on a dark blue background. In this context, I think they look a little like seedheads blowing in the wind.

Now to the stamping and, armed with my trusty Stamparatus, what could possibly go wrong? The cardstock could slip when you’re not looking, that’s what! This is how I ended up with this double grass effect. Not what I intended but I don’t hate it, so I left it on the card. It’s stamped with the new Field of Flowers stamp set, which I just love for creating silhouettes on arty backgrounds. I do love playing around with fun background techniques!

Again, it’s mounted on the Brick & Mortar 3D Embossing Folder (an old favourite but new to my craft room so it’s getting a lot of love) with just a hint of a black border.

I hope you like my Pride 2020 projects – please enjoy your trip around the world as you look at the other projects here:


The small print

This is my personal blog and my sole responsibility as an Independent Stampin' Up!® demonstrator. All images are © Stampin' Up!® All content including photographs, projects and text are © Helen Read, unless otherwise stated. Please feel free to copy my ideas for your personal use and inspiration - if you are a SU demonstrator you may use these ideas for your events but please give credit where it is due. Please do not use my ideas for monetary gain, competitions or publication. The images on this blog - including blog buttons - should not be copied and used elsewhere on the internet or on CDs.