Petal Promenade Card and Box Video

Hello, Crafters.

Today I posted my video which shows how I made the Petal 

Promenade cards and box I shared him last week. 

When I made the first box, I had the tabs on the lid, which was wrong, 

and I found closing the box an effort because the tabs kept 

catching on the envelopes inside! 

It was a fabulous surprise when I realised the box I made in the

 video had the tabs on the actual box where they should be.

 I now know how to make sure the tabs are on the box rather

 than the lid - an important lesson learned! 

The box and cards I shared last week were made with Sahara 

Sand and Fresh Fig Cardstock, and for the video I used Smokey

 Slate and Blushing Bride. 

Normally our 12" x 12" Designer Series Paper (DSP) gives us

 two sheets of each design and Petal Promenade is no exception! 

As I used six 3" x 3" squares on each set, I could only

 make two sets of cards plus box!

 On the first box and cards, I used the long strip of flowers

that ran the length of the DSP, to decorate the inside of 

the cards; altogether I used one and a half strips! 

 To find something similar I could use for the second batch, I looked 

at one of the oblong designs on the DSP, and it worked brilliantly! 

In fact, I preferred these flower borders as they were a lot slimmer 

and better suited to the size of the cards. I think that's about it

 from me today. I hope you decide to give this project a 

try - it makes a super little gift for someone!

Until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.    

Petal Promenade EPB Box

Hello, Crafters. 

Yesterday was a very successful day, and I achieved

 a lot. My first task was to finish prepping for tomorrow's video, 

which is No. 410 - Christmas Catalogue Pre-order Sneak Peek. 

 After recording the video, I left it to download onto You Tube

 while I "filed" my new products in their appropriate 

places along side my other current products.This is 

quite time-consuming, and includes updating my two reference

 files, clearing room for more stamp sets as well as 

labelling and re-labelling!

It's well worth the effort because I work so much better 

when I'm organised. Once everything was in it's place, I was 

ready to decorate the inside of the cards I shared with you 

yesterday, as well as making a box to hold them.

 

While I had been working during the day, I'd been planning

 how I was going to make the box. I'd decided to make an 

Envelope Punch Board (EPB) Box, so my first job was to 

decide what height, width, and depth I needed my box 

to be to hold five cards and five envelopes. 

Once I'd established that, I went to the The Crafty Owl Box Buster 

website where Joanne James has posted her EPB Box

 Buster. All I needed to do was enter my three measurements

 in inches or centimetres, one click of the button, 

and I had all the info I needed! 

I knew the size of my cardstock, where I needed to make 

my first score line and where I needed to put my second score 

line. I used Sahara Sand Cardstock (CS), and made my box. 

 When I make a box of cards to sell, I like to put a copy of 

the front of my card on the outside of the box, in order that potential

 customers know what's inside without taking the product out of the cello bag.

Part of the reason for choosing to make the box with the EPB is

 because I could decorate the front and the back with the outside

 and the inside of the card. The challenge was, how was I 

going to deal with one of these on the front which was where

 the box opening was - I used a small magnet under

 the flap for the closure mechanism!

I worked out what I needed to do, and went ahead, but once I'd

 finished that part of the box, I realised there was an easier,

 "cleaner" way of doing it. If I'd been working on this project for

 a video, I'd be able to make a "prototype" and then go back and

 make the real deal with the hiccups ironed out! LOL!

Although I'm pleased with my finished box, there is room for

 improvement! I'm not pointing out what I could do to improve 

on because it's just a bit of fine tuning, and it probably won't

 be noticed by anybody anyway! 

I hope you enjoy this project, as much as I've enjoyed working on it.

 I hope you have a super relaxing weekend, and until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

Petal Promenade 4" x 4" Cards

Hello, Crafters.

Today's cards are half of my project, because I now 

need to make a box to hold them; I'll make later today, 

and share with you tomorrow. The top layer is from

 a sheet of Petal Promenade Designer Series 

Paper (DSP) - please see the last photograph. 

The first thing I did was to cut the long strip off along 

the bottom, and then the three oblongs.  Still using my

 trimmer, I cut off all six squares right on the very edge

 - these are what I've used for my project. 

As my cut squares were 3" x 3", I cut the Fresh Fig 

Cardstock (CS) at 3 1/8" x 3 1/8". As I have some 4" x 4" 

white envelopes in my stash, I cut five card bases in

Sahara Sand CS that measured 3.75" x 7.5", 

scored and folded at 3.75". 

Next I used Fresh Fig Ink and stamped the sentiment, 

which is from Bunch of Blossoms, in the centre of each

 DSP square. After I'd adhered each of them to a layer of

 Fresh Fig CS, I adhered them to the front of the card bases. 

I experimented with several ideas of how I could finish

 the top layer of my cards, and decided to use the copper

 coloured Leaves Trinkets. I tried three different ribbons

 and Baker's Twine for the bow, and eventually decided 

on some very soft Very Vanilla Baker's Twine. 

At this stage I was very happy with the result but ran out 

of time, and haven't decorated the insides - which I'll do 

later! My plan is to cut five squares in Fresh Fig CS the 

same size as the Fresh Fig CS on the front of the card, 

and then add a layer of Sahara Sand CS  that is 

the same size as the DSP. 

At the moment, I haven't decided how I'll decorate the 

inside layers - as the saying goes, the jury's still out!

 I hope you like this project, which I think will make

 a lovely thank you gift, or maybe a teacher's gift. 

That's about it from me today. Until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

 

Bunch of Blossoms with Graceful Glass Background Video

Hello, Crafters.

Today's video is my 400th crafting tutorial! It feels really 

strange because I don't feel that I have made anywhere near

as many as that! Today's card is another example of using 

a non-picture design from the Graceful Glass 6" x 6" Designer

 Vellum as a background.

 I think probably most of us find the picture designs relatively easy

 to use, but the non-picture designs not quite so!  If you saw my 

previous video where I used this vellum as a background, you'll

 remember I used a die-cut THANK YOU but it didn't work quite 

so well with the busier pattern. 

 Video 398 HOW TO.......Heat emboss die-cts.

 As there is a large area of white area on today's card, 

 it doesn't matter how busy the pattern on the vellum is; they'd

 all work!  As I was finishing my card off while videoing, I 

forgot to decorate the inside of the card. I finished it after I'd

 finished the video, and you can see in the 

photograph above that I stamped a single petal.

I made another similar card before I started videoing, where,

 instead of making the coloured cardstock and vellum layer the

 bottom of the card, I made both pieces a bit smaller and added

 them to a Whisper White card base.............just to see what 

it would look like.  Please see the next photograph.

 I decided I preferred the original design and 

stayed with it for the video! I made this card using Poppy

 Parade Cardstock and Ink.

 I thought of another option which was to put a layer of Poppy

 Parade between the vellum and the Whisper White card base. 

Then I thought about using a Poppy Parade base for the card,

 and then to cut the vellum 1/8" shorter on allsides.

 By this time I decided to give up in case I thought of even more options! LOL!

 I hope you have a very blessed Sunday, and until tomorrow, happy crafting. 

JanB.

Bunch of Blossoms

Hello, Crafters.

I had an excellent day yesterday working on ideas for the videos

 I need to get made before our trip to Alaska. I have five projects

 for the five videos I need while I'm away, and one for

 tomorrow's video, too. 

I have also designed my 3D project for swaps, which is one of the

 videos, and prepared the cardstock and die-cuts I need for 10

 out of a total of 26 I need to make.

 After I've made these videos, and the 3D swaps, all I'm left to

 do is to design and make the card front swaps, and also three 

videos for the last thirteen days before we go. If you say it really

 quickly it doesn't sound like much at all! LOL! 

Today's card is going to be a video but the finished card

 won't look  like this! It'll be similar, but not the same! I had an idea

 in my head, but wjhileI was working on it, I didn't think 

about the sizing of my cardstock. This resulted in the

 card front being too big for what I wanted to do with it. 

 Although this isn't the card for the video, I'm still pleased with

 how it turned out! The colour scheme for the card is Berry Burst,

 Granny Apple Green, and Sahara Sand, a great colour combo!

I love Stampin' Up! two- and three-step stamping stamps sets,

 and Bunch of Blossoms is excellent, one of the best! I cut out two

 Post It Note masks to use for the flower head as it's

 made up of three petals.

 I found that three complete petals were way too big for one 

flowerhead. Masking solved the problem brilliantly! Unusually 

for me, all the stamps I used for this card are from one stamp

 set - Bunch of Blossoms Stamp Set!

The only part of today's card that I'm not 100% happy with are the 

leaves. When I make the video, I won't use the outline stamp,

 I'll keep it to two-step stamping. The flower I've used to decorate

 inside the card was on my first card that I had to reject because I

managed to get some ink on it! Grrr!!

That's about it from me today. I hope you have a really super

 weekend, and until tomorrow, hapy crafting.

JanB.

Swap-inspired Teabag Holder

Hello, Crafters.

I hope you were successful in placing your order for updated products in the Clearance Rack yesterday! 

Earlier today I uploaded my Teabag Holder video that was inspired by a swap I received in Amsterdam recently. 

It was made by Jacqueline Florance, and I was requested by one of my YouTube subscribers if I'd show how it was made.

I made mine a bit bigger than the swap so it could be used to hold a gift card or money instead.

I decided to use this idea as part of the Happy Mail I'll be sending out to all my April Online customers, and I also used it as the 3D project for classes last weekend. 

The stamp set for the classes was Beautiful You, so we decorated the Teabag Holder with one of the images, coloured using Watercolour Pencils.

I have a very busy day ahead of me today..........I'm concentrating on making the 260 tags my daughter wants for her wedding on Saturday. I've completed all the cutting and punching, and have stamped the first 50! No, no pressure!!

Once I've finished the stamping, they all need ribbons threaded through the top! 

You're probably wondering what these tags for! I'll try to keep photographs of them being made, and then what they're used for so I can share them here after the wedding!

I also have an appointment to have my nails done this afternoon, so no time to waste! I hope you have a great day, and until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

More Bunch of Blossoms

Hello, Crafters.

As always, the weekend flew by far too quickly! 

Yesterday we visited our friend Liz and I really pleased to say she continues to make good progress.

To create today's card I used the Bunch of Blossoms Stamp Set. I think I've only used it once or twice before but it has so many possibilities! It's a great stamp set.

I started with a card base of Whisper White Cardstock, with a layer of Dapper Denim, and a top layer of Whisper White. I adhered the top layer onto the Dapper Denim and then attached it to the base card, somewhat crookedly!

Using Old Olive Ink, I stamped the sprig of leaves stamp from the Jar of Love Stamp Set twice, towards the top of the sheet. Then I used the straight stem stamp and stamped three times because I'd origially planned to adhere just three petals that I was going to use as individual flowers. 

I stamped three petals, and then decided I needed another two so stamped them, too.
Using the Blossom Builder Punch, I punched out the petals.

To colour the petals, I started with Dapper Denim Ink on Whisper White for the outline stamp. Then, using Marina Mist Ink stamped off once, I used the all-over base stamp.
The third step was Marina Mist Ink first generation stamp. 

When I was a child I was always told "blue and green should never be seen". I could never understand why! BTW the comeback to that was "blue and green are fit for the Queen"! 

Then I decided to use the small leaf to go with my flowers and I stamped five of them. I started with the outline stamp using Always Artichoke Ink.  Then, using Old Olive Ink, stamped off once, I stamped the all-over base stamp. The third stamp was first generation Old Olive Ink. 

Using the same punch as before, I punched out the leaves. I arranged the flowers and leaves on the sprigs of leaves until I was happy with the layout. I used Dimensionals to adhere them all in place. 

Using Smokey Slate Ink, I stamped the smallest jar from the Jar of Love stamp set and cut it out - I do have the dies but I didn't want want any white edging left on the jar. 

Using Old Olive Ink, I stamped the sentiment, which is from Circle of Spring Stamp Set, in the centre of the jar. I adhered this in place using Dimensionals. 

I decided I wasn't happy with the layout of the flowers and leaves so stamped one extra petal and two extra leaves. I adhered the leaf and the petal on the left with Dimensionals but the bottom petal in the centre, I used a Glue Dot. 

The final step was to add a bow I made using the Dapper Denim Ruched Ribbon which I adhered using a Glue Dot. Then I was happy with my card! LOL!

I hope you have a great day and until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

Thank You Cards

Hello, Crafters.

What a wonderfully successful day I had yesterday. Not only did I make all the Thank You cards for my July customers - and a few extra - I also made an extra 10! After the Team Training I went to at the end of June, I came home with two of my swaps because there were two no-shows. My swap was the one sheet wonder wallet that was designed to hold our Notecards & Envelopes. The two left overs are now ready to be sold at our next craft show, each with five Thank You Cards & Envelopes inside. Then I decorated a Kraft Tag a Bag for some goodies for a member of my Super Stars team of demos, who recently qualified. I also made her a Congratulations card, and then I made today's card!

Yesterday I played some more with the Bunch of Blossoms Stamp Set. My initial idea was to use the Stylised Happy Birthday Stamp as the focal point of the card but it just didn't work out. I changed to the birthday sentiment that's in the Rose Wonder Stamp Set and that has worked out brilliantly. I had to work on the flower first as it's three-step stamping and I needed to decide what colours to use. I started working on a scrap sheet of paper and used
Marina Mist for the outline, Pool Party for the base stamp and Soft Sky for the middle layer. The centre was going in the right direction but the outline was way out so I changed to Bermuda Bay for the outline, the base Bermuda Bay stamped off once, and the middle was Pool Party stamped twice. I stamped the large petals on a strip of Whisper White that was about 1.25" wide and I left a gap of at least 1" between each petal to allow room for punching the flowers out. I stamped the smaller petals horizontally on a strip that was about 1" wide. It wasn't necessary to leave a gap between each petal. I stamped and punched five large and five small petals. I stamped one centre piece using the same stamping pattern. I couldn't work out which way the image should line up in the punch so punched somewhere sort of close and fussy cut the remainder. I should have just fussy cut it in the first place and be done with it! Or punched it first and then stamped. I also stamped two leaves. I did the outline in Always Artichoke, the bottom layer in Always Artichoke stamped off once and Wild Wasabi stamped off once for the centre. I cut the leaves out.

To make today's card, I started with a Whisper White Cardstock base, with a layer of Bermuda Bay and a top layer of Whisper White. I used the leafy design from the Timeless Textures Stamp Set, inked it in Bewrmuda Bay, stamped it off four times and then stamped the image, stamping off four times, each time, several times down the left hand side of the top layer and along the bottom to the right hand side. I assembled the petals together after I had curled them upwards using a pencil. I used Tombow to attache them to a 0.75" circle I'd punched out from Bermuda Bay Cardstock. I painted all the petals with Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Pen and adhered six very small pearls in the centre of the flower. I stamped the sentiment in Bermuda Bay onto a piece of Whisper White Cardstock. I die cut it using the straight cut die no 2 from the Layering Oval dies, and layered it on a piece of Bermuda Bay I die cut using the no 2 scallop die from the same set. I attached the two together using Tombow, and then attached to the card front. I adhered all layers of the card together using Tombow.

That's about it for today. Until tomorrow, happy crafting,

JanB.