Sympathy

I fell in love with smooshing the very first time I saw it being done over two decades ago.  But I had blah results until I realized I was supposed to use the heat gun to dry each layer before smooshing the next one.  Once I did that, results were good . . .

 

However, I just learned a game-changing variation.  Instead of smooshing the ink pad on your craft sheet, smoosh on a piece of acetate instead.  About 7” x 9” is a good, workable size.  After pressing your ink pad onto the acetate, mist it once or twice and then turn it over and press onto your cardstock. 

The main advantage is that you can see exactly what you’re doing!  This is very useful if you’re using more than one color – you can see where you might want to add more of a certain color.  Also, the acetate is flexible so you can do a partial pressing if you like, such as in corners and on edges.  LOVE the results!

On this top layer, the colors were darker than I wanted for a Sympathy card, so I used double-sided sticky tape to invisibly adhere a sheet of vellum to the layer before die cutting.  That toned things down and I got the softer look I wanted.

HEADS UP: 

At the time of this posting, the NJ State Fair will open in three days.  I submitted nine entries and as always, will be posting them during all of September.  My competition is very stiff this year so it will be interesting to see if any blue ribbons will be coming my way.  Fingers crossed!

Cardstock:   Unknown Textured Brown, Strathmore #140 Watercolor, 

Stampin Up Vellum 

Inks:            Distress Speckled Egg, Distress Oxide Scorched Timber,

Stormy Sky, Wink of Stella Clear

Dies:            Mama Elephant Peek A Frame, DieNamics Single

Stitched Line Rectangle Frame, Memory Box Gerber

Stems, Impression Obsession Banners & Tails,

Dragonfly Set, Tattered Lace Everyday Sentiments:

“Sympathy”           

Thank You

When my wonderful neighbor Trish gifted me with a container full of her delicious pasta salad, I thought it would be fun to enclose a little Thank You in the container when I returned it . . .

One of Elizabeth Crafts’ marvelous tags, a scrap of patterned paper, and a sparkly vellum-covered butterfly will likely do the trick!

Cardstock:   Strathmore #140 Watercolor, Scraps Patterned Paper,

  Vellum, Green cardstock   

Stamps:       Kaiser Marble

Inks:             Distress Brushed Corduroy, Wink of Stella Clear

Dies:             Elizabeth Crafts Tags & More 3 – Leaves, 

  Spellbinders Flutters, Celebration (“Thank you”), 

  Bottone Stitched Ovals 

 Doo Dads:    American Crafts grosgrain ribbon

Old Friends

My friendship with Sandy dates back to when we were in the 7^th grade.  She is a woman of strong faith and gifted me with a collection of thoughts on Christian wisdom she has absorbed over the years.  Lacking basic stationary, she put her message down on a commercial note pad bordered in strips of very happy colors.  So I was inspired to have some fun with color myself . . .

I cut a piece of #60 cardstock to fit onto a Mini Slimline and then covered that with double-sided sticky paper.  I then peeled off the release paper and began laying down strips of colorful scraps I’ve collected over the years.

The butterfly and dragonfly wings were propped up with my favorite trick:  a clear glue dot rolled into a straight piece and then tucked under each wing right next to the body. This will fit easily into an envelope and after mailing, the wings will pop right back up again.

Cardstock:   Strathmore #100 Bristol Smooth, Bazzill Kachina, 

  Vellum, Assorted scraps    

Stamps:       Red Rubber “It Takes a Long Time . . .”, AIP Dotted Snow

Inks:            ColorBox Frost White, Gold

Emb Pwdr:   Hero White, Ranger Gold

Dies:            Studio Calico Nested Rectangles, Paper Smooches Butterfly   Duet, TEMU Dragonfly             

Emb Fldr:   Taylored Expressions Weathered

Hope

My former priest Fr Paul is retired now and was doing well.  However, he recently entered a rehab in order to deal with some dizziness issues.  So I sent him the following card . . .

 

The colorful background is actually a recycled gift tag I made for a friend.  She returned it to me in case I wanted to use it for someone else.  So I made a few changes, starting with die cutting the word “Hope”.  I kept the chad from the letter “O”  because I needed it to cover up the hole I made for the gold cord used to attach the tag to the gift. 

In rubber stamping, there’s a work-around for nearly every situation we encounter.  How I love our hobby’s forgiving nature!

Cardstock:   Neenah Emperor, Hanko Momi Washi Champagne Gold         

Inks:             Vivid Red, Orange, Purple, Plum, Pilot Marker Gold

Emb Pwdr:   Ranger Gold

Dies:             DieNamics Single Stitched Line Rectangle Frame, Memory

  Box Butterflies Darla, Vivienne, Frantic Stamper Slimline

  Frames Set: “Hope”          

So Fun

This version of Jennifer’s pop-up front panel makes the panel look like it’s floating in mid-air . . .

I did use a deckle-edged die to cut out the panel but straight cuts, or decorative scissors, or shredding the edges would look really nice too.  I had a lovely leftover piece from a stenciling session and wanted to center the top panel over it.  Serendipitously, I found that if I used heavyweight cardstock for the folded support cube behind the panel, it would be strong enough to keep the panel suspended right where I wanted it.  For added sturdiness, I have doubled the panel layer.  I absolutely love the floaty look!

FYI:  The bluish strip below the panel is just a shadow from the panel.  It doesn’t look like that IRL . . .

 

Cardstock:   American Crafts Pack Neutrals, Strathmore 

#140 Watercolor   

Stamps:       Impress Cherry Blossom Branch, Purple Daisy 

Sand, Hero “So Fun”

Inks:            Distress Pumice Stone, Peeled Paint

Emb Pwdr:   Vippies Transcendence

Dies:            Spellbinders Small Deckled Mega Rectangles             

Stencil:        Erin Lee Camouflage

Doo Dads:    Pearls Green          

Celebrate

After seeing Jennifer McGuire’s video on an easy way to do pop-up cards, I had to give it a try . . .

Her idea was to pop up the front of a card instead of an inside element of the card.  Thanks to a strip of cardstock folded into a four-sided tube behind the front panel, the card packs flat but opens up to display – the front panel pops forward and the card rests on three points of contact.  Very sturdy and very impressive!

The use of die cuts can add lots of neat dimension, but my Thursday post will show a card made with a simple stamped panel mounted in a slightly different way.  No need for die cutting . . . and it’s just as quick and easy to make as this one.

Cardstock:   Bazzill Blue, Strathmore #100 Bristol Smooth

Inks:            Wink of Stella Clear

Colorants:    Distress Crayon Chipped Sapphire, Mustard Seed

Dies:            DieVersions Cut the Cake, Savvy Cake Plates, 

Impression Obsession Celebrate 

Emb Fldr:     Hero Dots

Doo Dads:    Metallix Ultra Fine Glitter Moondust        

Old Friends

I am still having fun with Shaker cards!  For this one, I wanted to have multiple windows plus a black and white color scheme to really set off the glitter . . .

As the three flowers are separate dies, it was very important to figure out how to position them precisely for die cutting so that the top layer aligned perfectly with the die cut foam layer below.  My solution was to add some typing paper under the top layer when I die cut it.  This gave me an exact template to lay onto the foam.  I then fitted the dies into the paper openings and die cut the foam.  Voila!  Perfect alignment . . .

Of course, using black foam over black cardstock will hide absolutely everything that’s wonky.  Just saying . . . .

Cardstock:   Bazzill Raven, White, Acetate      

Stamps:       Red Rubber “It takes a long time . . .”

Inks:             ColorBox Frost White

Emb Pwdr:   Hero White

Dies:            Tim Holtz Wildflowers, Waffle Flower Lacy Layers 2                  

Doo Dads:    Inkssentials Enamel Accents Black,  Starform Outline Stickers,                                  Black      

Cheers

Here’s another example of Jennifer McGuire’s easy Pop-Up card . . .

It’s my favorite so far . . . that extraordinary sofa makes me wish I had the bucks to get the same delightful thing custom-made for me!

What pops it forward is a simple strip 3¼“ by 3¾”.  It was scored four times parallel to the shorter side at ¾” intervals.  The end are then overlapped and glued.  We now have an open-ended cube.  The cube is glued to the bottom of the front panel and then to the bottom of the card front.  It flattens for mailing but pops forward when the card is propped up for display.  Most fun ever . . .

Cardstock:   Fox River Double Thick Cover #110 Tiara White, 

  Scraps Black 

Stamps:       Paula Best Sofa, Concord & 9th Herringbone     Background, Hero Decorative Lamps Set, Technique Junkies Architecture Set

Inks:            Superior India Ink Black, ColorBox Frost White

Waterclrs:    Zig Clean Color Geranium Red, Yellow, Olive Green,

  Cobalt Blue, Lilac

Emb Pwdr:   WOW White Puff

Dies:             Hero Palm Fancy, Frantic Stamper Ten Fun Felines Set, 

 TK Online Celebration Set: “Cheers”, Arich Rounded

 Corners Stitched Rectangles             

Doo Dads:    Wink of Stella Black

Your New Home

For this Housewarming Shaker card, I had envisioned a pristine white home filled with glittery sprinkles . . .

 

However, the windows were too small to reveal the desired effect.  Lesson learned:  larger openings make for more drama . . .

Cardstock:   Bazzill White, Blue, Brown, Strathmore #100 Bristol                                                      Smooth, Scrap Silver        

Stamps:       Stampin Up “On your new home!”

Inks:            Superior India Ink Black, Distress Pumice Stone

Colorants:    Distress Crayon Flickering Candle, Peeled Paint,

Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo

Dies:            Ocamo Christmas House, Impression Obsession 

Plane with Banner