Do the Impossible: mix it up!

I was proud to celebrate a good friend’s running achievement with this card. I never thought I’d team the Do The Impossible stamp with Memories & More cards from the Come Sail Away Suite!

The blue background is a Memories & More card which I brayered with Pool Party to make it more match the shorts, while another forms the brown layer, sponged this in Soft Suede to tone down the nautical imagery! I wanted the vintage look but not the nautical feel.

I’ve said this before but it bears repeating: don't be afraid to mix things up! A nautical product on a card to celebrate a runner isn’t an obvious choice, but it's amazing what you can put together with a bit of altering. 

Two explosive colour effects with Pigment Sprinkles

You're either going to love this or hate it. And it’s the same with the Pigment Sprinkles I used to make this vibrant card. You'll either love messing around with the pigments, seeing what different colour combinations you can create and how to get different effects ... or you’ll hate the mess!

I began by heat embossing in white the main cake image from Happy Birthday To You then sprinkled with various colours of pigment. When you spritz the powders with water, the colours just explode.

You can see more powders on the card base itself; to get this less blended effect, I just added less water... one quick spritz and I was done.

I learned the hard way to COVER EVERY SURFACE. Despite wiping my surface down thoroughly, I was getting pink on my hands for DAYS. In fact, the pink smudges on the greeting panel are what you could call “a happy accident”.

Snow Globe Scenes dies green non-shaker card

A bonus Sunday project because time is running out for cards unless you're going to hand deliver them!

I made this project using the beautiful Snow Globe Scenes dies, although I didn't make a shaker card because I was sending this abroad so wanted to keep it as flat as possible.

I sponged the globe shape with Granny Apple Green and Pretty Peacock then splashed it with some water to give it a snowy sky.

I die-cut the snow globe base but it didn’t quite cut through on the first rolling. Instead of die-cutting again and poking all those little pieces out, I left them in and attached them to the card with double-sided tape to keep them all secured. 

Pizza box with shaker dome lid

Let's start the week off with an over-the-top, complicated project, shall we? Actually it's not as complicated as it first appears; it's just that I've overstuffed my dome and didn't have enough pizza boxes to make another one.

In fact, the hardest part of this project was cutting out the dome shape from the lid of the pizza box as you have to get through quite a lot of layers and the inside of the box has a plastic coating to make it food safe. Once that was done, it was just a case of assembling the pieces in the right order.

When die-cutting foil, you need either a really unblemished cutting plat on top, or a piece of scrap paper to protect it. Otherwise you will get imprints from the plate in the delicate foil surface. 

 

Peaceful Place stamped onto Wood Textures DSP

 
What a beautiful stamp set this is. It's called Peaceful Place and I'm delighted that it will carry over into the upcoming catalogue. Something that won't be carrying over is the lovely Wood Textures Designer Series Paper, which I've stamped directly onto for this project, then watercoloured on top. It makes a lovely effect and I'll really miss this paper. That lovely Old Olive Linen Thread has been given its marching orders, too, which is a shame!

Cats and dogs... the ones that got away

This is a project that got away ... I made it for my recent Cats & Dogs workshop but decided not to use it in the end because I just didn't love it. But the more I look at it, the more it's growing on me.

I used the Stamparatus to get the clever mirror effect. You can see how to achieve this look here:

Accented Blooms Mother’s Day card

I made this card for my Mum for Mothering Sunday, which was a week or so ago here in the UK. It uses – as do so many of my projects this month – the Accented Blooms stamp set which I’ve coloured in using ink pads and blender pens.

I’ve fussy-cut the image and overlaid it onto two stitched squares in Granny Apple Green and some Nature's Poem DSP. TWO stitched squares? Yep, you read that right.

There’s a really simple way to create stitched squares using the Stitched Rectangle Framelits and I’m sure you’ve already worked it out for yourself; you simply cut each shape twice to make exactly the size and shape of rectangle/square you need. The corners aren’t as perfect as when you just cut once but nobody's going to notice, I promise you!

By the Bay Week: Simple or stepped up?

By the Bay Week comes to a close with two projects which aren’t a million miles from the Make & Take I showed you earlier in the week, and uses the same technique to mask the birds...



In fact, these were early prototypes for the Make & Take and are an example of how the same design can be extremely simple (the card on the left) or slightly more complicated (on the right). In fact, the card on the right isn’t complicated at all; it’s just more expensive to make as it uses the Rectangle Stitched Framelits to add stitching to most of the elements, and there are some pearls embellishing the card, too.

But #simplestamping projects can be just as satisfying – and are perfect not just for beginners but for crafters in a hurry.

Now seems like a good opportunity to remind you that time is running out to get this beautiful stamp set... which is only available free with a £45 order during Sale-a-Bration, which ends on 31st March. Please don’t leave it too late, as it’s a gorgeous set which you’ll be using for years to come!

By the Bay Week: Eclipse card

This is one of my favourite projects from my By the Bay Week celebration... it’s an eclipse card, although I admit my photo doesn’t show this off to its best advantage.

All that means is that the main image is popped out on dimensionals, with a Night of Navy layer beneath, to give it extra shadow.

The image is coloured with Watercolour Pencils and Blender Pens and it’s embellished with some Wooden Elements, one of which is coloured using a Real Red Stampin’ Write Marker.

I covered the front of the card base using some Wood Textures Designer Series Paper, which I really love and suspect will retire this year, as it has served for two whole catalogue periods now, which is most unusual for Designer Series Paper. In other words... get it now, while you can!

By the Bay Week: Masked and sponged image

I was having so much fun sponging for Monday’s project that I simply couldn’t stop. For this project, inspired by the sample in the Sale-a-Bration brochure, I coloured the image using Watercolour Pencils and blender pens, then masked off the cottage and masked a frame using sticky notes, before sponging with a mix of Pacific Point and Nigh of Navy, leaving a lighter patch to give the impression of the moon.

Leaving the masks in place, I spattered the image using Frost White Shimmer Paint, which is one of my favourite products and, I’m happy to say, currently still available as a carryover item from the Autumn/Winter catalogue.

By the Bay Week: Masked birds, with video tutorial

Hello! A rare Tuesday post but that’s because it’s By The Bay Week here at All Things Stampy, when I celebrate this gorgeous stamp set from Monday to Friday.

Today I have the Make & Take from last Friday’s party to show you... with a lot more seagulls than you’d expect... or perhaps even want, if you’re eating a picnic on the beach.

How did I get the extra birds? Take a look at my video to see ... and watch out for the feline interloper!

By the Bay Week! Sponged seaside cottage

It’s By the Bay week here at All Things Stampy – a time to celebrate this gorgeous but oft-overlooked Sale-a-Bration stamp set with a new project every weekday. Some of you may have been put off by the thought of colouring that highly detailed main image, but here is a technique which makes it simple...

Thanks to this wonderful tutorial from Mitosu Crafts, I created this sponged image. I used slightly different colours, as I prefer the vivid Pacific Point to the dark and moody Night of Navy, and I added a red front door to make it pop.

I was showcasing the fabulous Stitched Rectangle Framelits, which can be used to make many more sizes of rectangle than the ones included in the pack. Here I used a die wider than the pouch to create the stitched effect just along the top and bottom of the image.

Inside the pouch is a pack of Old Olive Baker's Twine for the host – it’s one of her favourite colours.

I also showed this version, made into a card. This one uses the darker Night of Navy ink around the edges and, instead of creating the stars with a chalk marker, I spattered Frost White Shimmer Paint across the image and the whole card for a brighter, shinier effect. I actually prefer this but didn’t demo it as it takes quite a while to dry.

Big thanks to Barry and Jay for their tutorial!

Incredible Like You Week - celebration cards

I’m ending my Incredible Like You Week with two similar cards I made to celebrate some amazing team members.

I’ve combined the stamp set with some greetings from Stamp Your Way to the Yop, a demonstrator-exclusive stamp set which helps us honour our teams.

On the left is a welcome card for Karen, my latest recruit, who couldn’t resist the fantastic Sale-a-Bration offer and the beautiful craft tote...

From my newest team member to my oldest (in the terms of longest serving, that is!)... the second card celebrates an incredible sales milestone by Tracey, who joined me nearly 11 years ago and has worked consistently hard ever since.

The colour combination is well away from my usual palette but I really like it. Flowers, pastel shades and fussy cutting? What on earth is happening to me?

Nine Lives - grey cat with Call Me Clover background

What I love about the new Rectangle Stitched Framelits is the way they stitch the frame as well as the shape they cut. Here I’ve placed some Call Me Clover Designer Series Paper behind the aperture and topped it with a lovely stamped and punched cat from the fabulous (must-have!) Nine Lives stamp set. The bow, stamped in Call Me Clover, finishes it off nicely. 

Flowering Desert Week: Party time!

To mark the end of Flowering Desert Week, I have the projects from last week’s party to show you. All the guests made the card above, adorning their cacti with a wooden flower from the Butterfly Elements Sale-a-Bration pack, and I demonstrated this fab little box below...

The box is made using the Stitched Rectangle Framelits which are hidden away on Page 28 of the Spring/Summer catalogue. I used a tutorial from Chicnscratch.com to make this cute little box from two of the largest rectangles, which gives the box a cute stitched edge.

The ribbon is dyed using Stampin' Write Markers. You just have to make sure you leave it time to dry. For instant drying, use Stampin' Blends, which are alcohol markers so dry much quicker.

I hope you’ve enjoyed Flowering Desert week and are inspired to take another look at this fabulous stamp set.

Video tutorial: three ways to dye your own ribbon

This spring-like card showcases a variety of products from the Spring/Summer catalogue, including the fabulous Stitched Rectangle Framelits - which stitch outside AND inside the cut line. As you can see above, this creates a really lovely frame.

I’ve added my flowers and leaves from the Well Written Framelits set (it’s not just words!) and finished off with a Pool Party ribbon, which brings me to the reason for this project...

The pastel ribbons from the Sale-a-Bration brochure have proved so popular – staggeringly so – that they are now all gone and won’t be available again. But this needn’t be an issue... as you can easily make your own using supplies you are sure to have in your craft stash.

Watch the video below to see how...

Wonderful Romance - Stampin' Blends or Blender Pens?

Stampin’ Blends or Blender Pens - which do you prefer?

The image on the left is coloured with Blender pens in a mixture of greens, including Granny Apple Green, which is why it is more vivid. The one on the right is coloured with Old Olive and Calypso Coral Stampin’ Blends (light and dark), with an outline of light Pool Party.

Both are stamped onto Very Vanilla cardstock and cut out with the fabulous new Stitched Rectangle Framelits.

But the most important thing to remember when colouring is this...

Nine Lives: simple and stepped-up

A simple cat card... and a stepped-up version for the more avid crafter. For the simple version, I left the Big Shot in the craft room and stuck to stamps, ink and paper. However, I did make the cat into a tabby using the clever two-step stamps in the Nine Lives stamp set. I stamped in Gray Granite and added just a tiny touch of Pool Party around the base.

For the stepped-up version, I coloured the cat using Stampin’ Blends and cut out my layers using the fabulous new Rectangle Stitched Framelits. I used Braided Trim instead of Linen Thread, added a background of Wood Textures DSP and finished off with some sequins. Which one do you prefer?