Autumn is here! Aspen Tree Dies sponged card

 

Autumn is upon us here in the UK so what better time to bring out the gorgeous Stampin’ Up!® Aspen Tree Dies?

Regular readers will know I am a little obsessed with tree-themed products – a love affair which no doubt began with Stampin’ Up!’s much-loved Lovely As A Tree stamp set. I know that set is much missed by many but there are plenty of other gorgeous tree-themed products available now which more than make up for the loss.

This obsession with trees makes autumn is one of my favourite seasons; we get to see stunning rich colours as the trees change, fascinating fungi growing in the woods and, best of all, it means no more heatwaves!

Winter Solstice Card for Holiday Blog Hop

Christmas may get most of the attention but there are many more December celebrations around the world and it is these which are the theme of our international Holiday Blog Hop, which has been set up to promote #stampingdiversity.

One of the oldest celebrations in the world is Winter Solstice, which has been around since long before Christianity. In fact, many Pagan traditions surrounding the Winter Solstice – cutting mistletoe, gift giving, decorating trees – were absorbed into Christmas celebrations and continue to this day.

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice is on 21st December; the shortest day and the longest night. I always welcome its arrival as it marks the turning point of the year and means the days will once again start to lengthen. 

To celebrate, I made this card using a variety of products and – surprise, surprise – a whole lotta sponging. Actually, I used a brand new Stampin’ Up!® product from the upcoming January-June Mini Catalogue. It’s a set of three Blending Brushes which are just amazing for getting all the look of sponging with a lot less risk of smearing. For ease, I’m going to use the term ‘sponging’, even though I used the brushes.

To get the huge setting sun (or is it a rising moon?), I die-cut a large circle from a piece of scrap paper to leave the aperture template, then laid a separate curved hill on top. I gently sponged inside here using Daffodil Delight.

Next I used the circle of scrap paper to act as a mask on top of the yellow sun, so I could sponge around in Seaside Spray and Night of Navy to represent the sky.

On top of this I stamped the row of trees from Winter Woods. Something was missing, though – you can’t have a huge sun/moon casting light over trees without some shadows. So I hand-cut a long, narrow triangle from another piece of scrap paper and used this as a mask to sponge with some more Seaside Spray. I didn't worry about creating shadows of the foliage as I knew my words would be covering this area.

I inked up part of the Season’s Greetings stamp from Peaceful Boughs with a Night of Navy marker and used this to stamp towards the bottom. 

Next I used the Playful Alphabet Dies to cut out the word ‘solstice’ from some In Color Designer Series Paper in Seaside Spray (oops! This is the old design!) – first backing it with a foam adhesive sheet to give it dimension and make it easy to stick down. Spacing was something of an issue, as you can see, and there was only just enough room on my piece of cardstock. This wouldn’t be an issue in North America, as their card bases are slightly wider.

I finished off with some Seaside Spray Scalloped Linen Ribbon and some cut-out leaves using Beautiful Autumn, one of my favourite sets from the Aug-Dec Mini Catalogue. 

Inside I echoed the DSP and leaves from the front and added a greeting from Peaceful Boughs, which seemed perfect for the occasion.

I hope you like my Winter Solstice card and it has inspired you to create a project for different holidays. Please now visit the rest of the blogs in the hop to see some amazing projects from talented Stampin’ Up!® Demonstrators around the world.

If you would like to order any of the products shown here, please visit my online store and shop using the December host code SX4NGWRH.

 

Create beautiful sponged skies for In The Pines

I do love a sponging technique. And these cards take sponging to the max, with one of my favourites: the Northern Lights technique.

I’ve never been lucky enough to see the Northern Lights (although to be honest that’s no surprise as I’ve never gone out of my way to find them) but I really do enjoy creating the effect on a card.

And all you need are a few ink pads and some sponges.

 

I demoed this card and the In The Pines Bundle at a Stampin’ Up!® party recently (online, via Zoom, of course). It’s a lovely atmospheric effect which uses Blushing Bride, Seaside Spray, Misty Moonlight and Night of Navy ink pads.

The key with sponging, as I keep telling my customers, is to keep going. So many people give up too soon and are dissatisfied with the results. It will look horrible partway through, so plough on until you reach full colour saturation.

 

For this card, I dragged some Blushing Bride ink up from the bottom of the image, not worrying too much about blotches at the bottom as I knew I would be covering them with the trees. Then I blended in some Seaside Spray around them and across the whole of the centre of the card.

Working from the edges, I added some Misty Moonlight in an arc. Then finally, working from the top two corners, I added some depth with Night of Navy.

 

The trees are from the In The Pines stamp set but you may notice they are tall and thin. This is really easy to recreate. I just used the “background” stamps, not the detailed images, and stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black. I stamped the big trees then took the small slim tree and stamped on top to extend the trunk. Very simple and very effective.

To add the stars in the sky, I simply took some Craft Whisper White ink, diluted with water (1:1 ratio) and splattered this over the card using a fine paintbrush. I keep this diluted ink in an old embellishment pot so I can use it over and over again. A very little goes a LONG way!

 

The second card is a fine example of what you can make with those practice sheets, the bits that go “wrong” and a lesson in adaptability.

I had some earlier Northern Lights sheets which I hadn’t loved. In fact, I’d sponged the top, not loved it, turned it round and sponged the other end until I had a full sheet. Neither was quite what I was after so I played around and stamped black trees on top. Another practice sheet was used for more trees, which I die-cut using the Pine Woods Dies and popped up. Finally I felt I was getting somewhere, but REALLY wished I’d masked off a white moon. 

 

No problem! I simply die-cut a circle to represent the moon, and stamped my greeting inside. I did this by inking the one word of the greeting stamp at a time, using a Night of Navy Stampin’ Write Marker and cleaning thoroughly in between. 

 

It’s finished off with a slightly different splattering technique; this time I just used plain water, which soaks up some ink and leaves a more subtle snowy look in the sky. Finally, some Magenta Madness ribbon picks up the pink in the sky. 

Do you have trouble fitting your dies back into the pack? I nearly always do so was inspired to create a printed backing sheet, just like the one which comes with the Playful Alphabet dies. All I did was leave the dies in place and draw round them with a Journalling Pen. Now I not only don’t have to fiddle around to fit all the dies in, but I can see at a glance if one is missing. 

 

 

Sponged trees with the Evergreen Forest 3D Embossing Folder

This Evergreen Forest 3D Embossing Folder delivers SO much more than it seems to at first glance. Yes, it looks great when used on green cardstock, and super-classy when used on crisp white cardstock but stop! Why not have a bit of fun with it?

I saw these beautiful designs by Barry and Jay at Mitosu Crafts and couldn’t resist having a go myself. It’s just a simple case of embossing then sponging on some colour. 

For the blue card, I used Seaside Spray, Misty Moonlight and just a hint of Night of Navy in the corners.

For the purple version, I used Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grape and just a hint of Blackberry Bliss in the corners and at the base. 

Next I took some diluted Whisper White Craft Ink (about 1:1) and, using a small paintbrush, spattered it across the sponged sections. And they’re finished off with some Adhesive-Backed Snowflakes which I absolutely adore.

 

For the base of the cards, I used the Pine Woods Dies, which I LOVE, obviously, and I have two great tips for these dies, in case you decide to add them to your stash (which I highly recommend, obviously). 

The Foam Adhesive Sheets are ideal when die-cutting this tree. It may feel a bit fiddly to press out but that’s because the die may not have gone all the way through to the backing sheet, but if you peel the tree out carefully it will be perfectly fine. And it looks so much more professional without all those fiddly little bits of cut-up Stampin’ Dimensional on the back.

When I was cutting the snowy hill using these dies, I kept getting an unsightly embossed line where the edge of the die had been. Then I had a light-bulb moment and realised I was using them upside-down. Use them as I have done in the pic on the right, and the embossed line will be on the piece you discard (unless you wish to trim it off and have a smaller hill for another project).

So what do you think? Are you going to have a go at sponging this gorgeous embossing folder? Which colours do you prefer?

Trimming the Town international blog hop

It’s another exciting day in the world of Stampin’ Up!® crafting as we have another international blog hop for you so a warm welcome to everyone, particularly those who are here for the first time.  

 

This time we are showcasing the Trimming the Town Suite, which is a fabulous suite in the August-December Mini Catalogue.

It’s a very special suite as the stamp set, Coming Home, as well as the Coming Home Bundle, raises money for adoption and fostering charities. I have this gorgeous set and have used it in this blog post here.  

And the Designer Series Paper, which I haven’t used today but made great use of in these projects, is currently available at 15% off until the end of October, so make sure you don’t miss that!

In fact, I have the whole Suite (that happens more and more lately!) but today I particularly want to concentrate on the beautiful Home Together Dies because I have been using these recently in my events. 

 

All my events are currently held on Zoom, which is the closest we can safely get to a real craft class right now, and I like to offer a variety of events to suit all budgets, which often means creating projects based on dies, which I can cut in advance. For my October Crafty Friday event, where we enjoy playing with techniques, we made two cards:

 

We eased ourselves in gently with this clean and simple white card, which draws the eye into a pair of trees on a hill. 

 

The layer with the circle is also embossed using the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder, which is one of my favourites. I also know that many of the ladies attending had that folder, and those who didn’t could use something equally neutral.

 

When die-cutting and embossing the same piece, make sure you do the die-cutting first. Otherwise, the cutting process will squash your lovely embossing.

I stamped this lovely sentiment from Yuletide Pasture in Misty Moonlight. I love how Misty Moonlight goes so beautifully with one of my favourite colours, Pool Party.

The card is finished off with these gorgeous Adhesive-Backed Snowflakes which I discovered recently. I actually bought them for a November class but couldn’t resist opening them early and have since had to re-order. Honestly, just buy them; they’re so delicate and subtle. 

 

The ladies asked me why we’d started with the simpler card instead of this Northern Lights card which followed. The answer was because the Northern Lights card is sponged and I really didn’t want inky fingers on a such a clean, white project!

I love the Northern Lights technique. It’s one of those which turns out different every time, so it’s not for those among you who like order and predictability in their crafting!

You begin by sponging a couple of stripes, diagonals or smudges on your Whisper White cardstock using a bright colour or two. I’ve used Granny Apple Green and Magenta Madness. Make sure you fully blend them into each other as you don’t want to see any white cardstock through. 

 

 

Next sponge around them using a dark blue ink – I used Misty Moonlight. And again, make sure you blend in well to the bright colours so you don’t get any gaps. You’re aiming for full colour saturation here, so don’t worry if you go over some of the pink/green.

If in doubt, just keep going. If you’re not happy with the results (and everyone reaches this stage in the Northern Lights project), just plough on and add more ink. It will work out in the end, trust me.

To add a wintry feel to the sky, we then splashed it with clear water. This is another favourite technique of mine. You can do it to any sponged or brayered background; just take a fine paintbrush with a little water, hold it over the project from about 10cm away and tap the top to flick water on it. If it looks like nothing has happened, just wait a few seconds to allow the ink to lift and you’ll see magical snowflakes appear in front of your very eyes. If you don’t just repeat the process. But be warned: if your paintbrush is too big or too full, you will get great big splashes instead of delicate dots.

Once you have your Northern Lights background you can do whatever you like with it. We added a snowy hill from the Home Together Dies, along with a little house, a greeting and some baker’s twine from the Flowers for Every Season Ribbon Combo Pack. And, of course, some of those must-have snowflakes, too!

I hope you have been inspired by my Trimming the Town projects. Please head on over to the rest of the blogs in the hop for yet more inspiration. 

 

When card kits give you lemons... stamp with them!

This lemon stamp is really cute... and you’ll find it in the Simply Citrus Card Kit I showcased on Monday. Here I’ve use it to make a 40th birthday card for a (young) friend. The rough colouring effecct is achieved with a sponge dauber; I simply sponged inside the lemons, not worrying too much if I went over the lines.

Yep, once that kit is completed, you can stamp to your heart’s content with the fab little stamp set that’s included. I have used it loads since completing my kit – the sentiments are really pretty and useful, too. 

 

For this 40th birthday card, I’ve combined it with the Playful Alphabet dies, which are quite frankly, a must-have in my opinion. And I don’t say that lightly. 

I masked the line to stamp below using sticky notes. Sometimes the line doesn’t turn out quite as crisp as you'd like – and this is where the Misty Moonlight ribbon comes in!

 

 

Creating beautiful backgrounds to show off your dies

No new products today – just some great examples of how you can create beautiful projects where the die-cuts are the stars of the show.

I had fun creating backgrounds to show off the Friendly Silhouettes Dies. Let me walk you through them.

For these first two projects, I masked a circle using a punched/die-cut sticky note, then brayered the background using Crushed Curry and Poppy Parade ink pads. You could sponge, too – but if you do, make sure you sponge away from the centre of the mask or you could dislodge it.

For the top card, I then lightly splashed with water from a fine paintbrush. Allow to dry, then dab it dry with a tissue. This creates this lovely effect which can look like seed heads blowing on the breeze, fireflies, rain or, on a dark blue background, like snow. It’s such a simple effect and so versatile.

For this card, I brayered as before, but instead of splashing, I used that same very fine paintbrush to paint fine lines following the edge of the circle. With ideas clearly way above my station, I call this the Van Gogh technique.

For the third card, I took the leftover template from the bullrushes in the first card and used this as a mask. I sponged with Pumpkin Pie to create a background image, then removed the mask and brayered around the top edge of the card in Melon Mambo. The beauty of brayering is that you can give it a go in any colours and get some lovely effects.

Want to have a go at fun techniques like this? If you’re in the UK, why not talk to me about joining my remote classes?

Let's go somewhere and do something... within social distancing guidelines

The beauty of Memories & More cards is that you can use them as they are for fast projects, or add to them. I couldn't resist this one when I found it in my stash.

The message just made me laugh as, right now, the only things we can go and do are visit the supermarket for essential shopping, take exercise from our homes or go out to help a vulnerable person. So maybe the message should read “Let's go somewhere and do something... within social distancing guidelines”!

Memories & More cards provide a great starting point for projects. I've sponged and stamped this one, and added other embellishments.