Jar of Love

Hello, Crafters.

Yesterday was my first play with the Jar of Love Stamp set and coordinating dies! I have seen so many ideas from other demos, I wasn't sure that I could come up with something original but I think I might have succeeded!

I haven't seen anyone put the ladybirds from the Hostess Love You Lots Stamp Set in a jar yet but I wouldn't be surprised to find out it has already been done.

I was going to make this as a new home card but I don't have any new home sentiments! I'll have to have a really thorough look through the catalogue to see if we do actually have one!
 
I started with a card base of Real Red Cardstock, a layer of Whisper White and a top layer of the script design in Real Red from the Brights Collection Designer Series Paper (DSP) Stack. I stamped the jar and the ladybirds using Versamark and the heat embossed using Basic Black Embossing Powder.

Unfortunately, we don't sell this anymore but if you ink your stamps in Versamark and then in Basic Black Ink, you can stamp your image, then pour Clear Embossing Powder onto the image/s and heat set!

I coloured the ladybirds using my Real Red Marker Pen.  If I ever get in a mess with ink, it's always red and yesterday was no exception! I smudged the red ink to the left hand side of the ladybirds! 

To disguise this as much as possible, I created some masks using PostIt Notes. I positioned the hollowed-out jar mask in place and stamped the grass from the In The Meadow Stamp Sets, using Pear Pizzazz Ink, along the bottom. Then I used my dauber to colour in the gaps and worked my way up to the height of the ladybirds. Then I used another Dauber to sponge the rest of the jar in Soft Sky. 

Looking at the card now, I should have added some birds in the sky! I die cut the jar and wrapped some Read Red Baker's Twine around the neck of the jar and adhered it at the back with Fast Fuse. Then I took a longer piece, cut it into two equal length pieces and tied a bow at each end. I adhered these at either side of the jar. 

NOTE: the Real Red Baker's Twine will be availble in the Christmas catalogue as a pack of two. The second roll is Real Red Sparkle and Whisper White. Watch out for the Candy Cane Lane Baker's Twine #141983.

I adhered the layers together with Tombow and then I adhered two doilies towards the bottom of the card front. I like to use two doilies so they look more white. I added a little bit of tombow to the back of each and stuck them to the card. Then I used my SNAIL just to add a little bit under each solid "circle" around the edge. That's when I found out I was using three doilies! LOL! At least they look a brilliant white! (I'm using the retired Doilies as I have so many left over!) 

I adhered the jar with Dimensionals. For the sentiment I chose two from Jar of Love and lined them up on one block and stamped them is Real Red Ink on a piece of Whisper White. 

I added a red heart I found in the Real Red wallet. I used the Triple Banner Punch to fish tail the end and adhered it to the card with Tombow.

That's about it for today. I'm off to play in my studio now, so until tomorrow, happy crafting. ☺

JanB.

Elephant & Balloons

Hello, Crafters.

I hope you had a great weekend. 

We were at home over the weekend because hubby was working. 

Yesterday I was working on the fancy fold card I want to make for Wednesday's video.  If you saw my video where I shared the swaps I received at Convention in April, you may remember me showing you a card that opened with a trianguler fold that came down and formed a "floor".

I don't know what this card is called but I'll probably call it something like corner pop-up box/card.I saw someone make one on YouTube but mine never works out quite right!

I've tried five or six now and I need to do some extra cutting to get the kind of result I expect. Eventually, I gave up trying yesterday, feeling very frustrated.  However, I'll carry on today. 

If I do successfully make a video, I'll show the ones that haven't gone very well. Because my mind was turning the fancy fold over and over, I found it difficult to switch off and think about a card for today. 

I decided to go for some fun and chose the elephant from Love You Lots. I'd been thinking about using balloons for my fancy fold card and still had Balloon Celebration Stamp Set on my desk. So decision was made.

I started today's card with a base of Pool Party Cardstock, followed by a layer of Whisper White and topped with a layer of the Pool Party script design from the Subtles Designer Series Paper (DSP) Stack. I adhered them together using Tombow.

I stamped the Elephant onto a piece of Whisper White using our Archival Basic Black and then fussy cut it out leaving a white edge all around.

I stamped one large and one small balloon from the Balloon Celebration Stamp Set onto a piece of Whisper White. I used a sentiment from the Circle of Spring Stamp Set inside the large stamp and a sentiment from the Ready To Pop Stamp Set for inside the small balloon. 

Then I stamped one large and one small balloon onto a piece of Pool Party. I chose the same sentiment for the large balloon and another sentiment from the Ready To Pop Stamp Set for the small balloon. 

For the fifth and final balloon, I stamped the large balloon onto a piece of the Pool Party spotted deisgn from the Subtles DSP Stack. In the centre, I stamped a sentiment and a small decoration from Ready To Pop Stamp Set inside the balloon.

I punched all the balloons out using the Balloon Bouquet Punch.

I arranged the balloons how I thought they looked nice on my card and adhered them with Tombow. As I adhered the lowest four, I slid a short piece of Linen Thread just under the the tip of the balloon. Then I tied and glued very small Linen Thread bows on the ends of the balloons.

I adhered the elephant to the card using Dimensionals and cut a very thin piece of  Dimensional to fit on the trunk. I gathered the four strings together and made sure they were all anchored under the Dimensional. 

Do you think anyone will notice that they're five balloons and four strings?

I think that's about it for today. I hope you have a good day. Until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

Finally, the Frog

Hello, Crafters.

This is the last of the four cards I've made using the images from the forthcoming Love You Lots Hostess  Stamp Set.

The reactions I've had to the first three cards shows how very popular this stamp set is. 

Apparently it's on back order already and we're still just in the pre-order phase, although I can't say I'm surprised at all!

As we're still in the pre-order period, I don't have any Designer Series Paper (DSP) in the five new InColours - Dapper Denim, Emerald Envy, Flirty Flamingo, Peekaboo Peach, and Sweet Sugarplum.

I wanted to be able to use some of the beautiful new Ruffled Ribbon on at least one of these  cards and as this is the last one, I had to find a solution!

My first thought was to go for something lighter than the Emerald Envy that I've used for the frog and I came very close to using Pool Party. 

The only thing that stopped me was that it was quite late by the time I was working on this and although it looked as if the two would go together well, I was concerned it would look totally wrong in daylight.

I've just checked the two together in daylight and I'm sure it would have worked - something else on the To Be Tried List! LOL!

I decided to play safe and used the silver script design from the Neutrals DSP Stack. 

To make my card, I started with a card base of Whisper White Cardstock, with a layer of Emerald Envy and a top layer of the silver script design in the new Neutral's DSP Stack.

I adhered the top two layers together using Tombow.

Then I applied some Fast Fuse to the back of the layer and adhered a strip of the Emerald Envy Ruffled Ribbon.

Using Basic Black Archival Ink I stamped the frog and painted him using an ink pad and a Blender Pen, then I fussy cut him out.

I die cut a piece of Whisper White using one of the Tags & Labels Framelits Dies and another one in Emerald Envy in the next size up of Framelit.

I adhered both tags together, then adhered the frog on top and then adhered this to the card front using Dimensionals, making sure the top ones went above the ribbon  and the lower ones below the ribbon.

I took a small piece of ribbon and tied it in knot on the ribbon strip.

My original plan was to stamp the speech bubble stamp that's in the stamp set and just says YOU three times in the same position where I have put the sentiments LOVE YOU LOTS.

I found that stamping on this particular DSP was not ideal.

My alternative was to stamp the replacement sentiment onto Whisper White Cardstock and punch them out with the soon-to-be retired Word Window Punch.

I put the punched shape back into the punch so I could shorten the image. This worked well and I attached them to the card front using Dimensionals.

I've thoroughly enjoyed using the Love You Lots Stamp Set this week - I wonder which stamp set I can use next week?

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

JanB.

Elephant and Mouse - Love You Lots

Hello, Crafters.

I had a great day yesterday finishing off the engagement card for my friend - to give to her daughter - as well as the Christening 
card for her two grandsons. Sunday's going to be a big family affair for them all.

Unfortunately, by the time I'd finished, I didn't have much time left to make a card to share with you today..........but I managed in my usual style, that's by the skin of my teeth! LOL!

Today's card is number three in a series of fours cards I'm making with the new hostess stamp set called Love You Lots, that'll be available from the new catalogue on 1st June 2016. The drawings for these stamps is absolutely fabulous, so very expressive.

I started my card with a base of Blushing Bride Card Stock, then a layer of Rose Red and a top layer of the pink heart design from the Love Blossoms Designer Series Paper (DSP) Stack.

Using Basic Black Archival Ink, I stamped the image onto a piece of Whisper White Card Stock. I chose Smokey Slate to colour both the elephant and the mouse. For this I used a Blender Pen and squeezed some ink into my ink pad lid.

With assistance from my Stamp-a-ma-jig, I stamped the sentiment centrally below the image.  I used my Blushing Bride Market Pen to do the mouse's left ear and just a tad on the elephant's mouth. I layered the image onto a piece of Rose Red Card Stock and adhered it to my card front using Dimensionals. A very simple card which I'm very happy with. ☺ 

Before I go today, I would just like to say a quick word about the new catalogue. If you're one of my customers, you should have received your copy by now - please let me know if you haven't. If you're not one of my customers, I hope you've received yours, too. One of the main reasons I send out my catalogues a week before launch, is because bundles that are on offer in the current catalogue will not be on offer as a bundle in the new catalogue (assuming the products are being carried forward!). This gives my customers a chance to check their wish list against the new catalogue and see if they should order from the old catalogue before it's too late!

The other reason I send out my catalogues early, is to allow my customers plenty of time to sit and relax with the catalogue so they can put together a wish list and plan ahead. ☺

If live in the UK, the Netherlands, France, Germany or Austria, and don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator but would like a catalogue, please email me your details and I can send you one - janb@janbcards.com.

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

JanB.

Ladybirds

Hello, Crafters.

Yesterday I was working on an engagement card a friend has asked me to make for her daughter.

It's almost finished, I just need to adhere all the pieces together.

My friend also asked me to make a joint christening card for her two grandsons which I'll be making today. 

I'm trying something different for this and if it works out, I'll share it with you next week!

Yesterday I played with the ladybird stamp that's in the same stamp set as the hedgehogs, that's Love You Lots.

Obviously I chose to use a spotted Designer Series Paper (DSP) but I wasn't sure whether to use red or black.

I decided to make the red one first.

To make this card I started with a Real Red Card Stock card base with a layer of Whisper White and a top layer of the Real Red spotty design from the Brights DSP Stack. 

These three were adhered together with Tombow.

I cut a square of Whisper White for the image and the sentiment, then a larger square of Real Red for the first layer, and then a larger layer of Whisper White for the final layer.

With the aid of my Stamp-a-ma-jig, I stamped the image using Basic Black Archival Ink and then I stamped the sentiment.

I coloured the ladybirds in using my Real Red Marker Pen and to give them some grounding, I used a Blender Pen and Sahara Sand Ink.

I adhered the three layer together using Tombow and then adhered them to the card front using Dimensionals.

Then I decided to make a card in black, making two changes from the red card.

The first change was that I used the Square Layering Framelits to cut the layers for the image and the sentiment and the second change was that I used black embossing powder for the ladybirds and sentiment - I still can't believe Stampin' Up! have retired the black embossing powder!

I was very pleased with how these cards turned out and I would have liked to have made a third one if I'd had a bit more time. 

It would have been black spots, no scalloped square for layering the image and sentiment and the ladybirds would be heat embossed.
 
There are another two images in this stamp set and I'll try to make cards with them today and tomorrow!

Until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

Love You Lots

Hello, Crafters.

This morning I uploaded my video showing how I used Marker Pens to correct some stamping on the card I shared yesterday - please see last photograph. (Note: the sentiment on this card is from Thankful Thoughts). The video is called Affectionately Yours Frame. 

I'd painted the flowery stamp that went over the balloon strings using Marker Pens but the image just wasn't good enough. This was partly, I think, because I'd stamped onto Crumb Cake Card Stock.

I tried again but this time using a piercing mat under my card stock and, although it did a better image, it still wasn't good enough so I "touched it up" using marker pens. It worked a treat!

Moving on, I don't normally buy hostess stamp sets but I wasn't able to resist three of the new ones in the forthcoming annual catalogue.

Talk about cuteness overload with this set - Love You Lots! I'm showcasing the first one today with this cute hedgehog card. I'm also showcasing the NEW Sweet & Sassy Framelits. These are the layering Heart shaped dies.

This set comprises of seven sweetheart shaped dies - these have a more pronounced point at the bottom of the die - and there are eight of the more regular shaped  hearts. For today's card I've used sweetheart dies.

To make my card I started with a base of Crumb Cake Card Stock, with a layer of Night of Navy and a top layer of a design from the NEW Affectionately Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper (DSP). All three were adhered together using Tombow.

Using Basic Black Archival Ink, I stamped the image onto a piece of Whisper White and painted the hedgehogs using a Blender Pen and Crumb Cake Ink. I used my Cucumber Crush Marker Pen for the leaf and my Real Red Marker Pen for the flower.

Then I die cut the image using one of the new heart dies. With help from my Stamp-a-ma-jig, I stamped the sentiment in place using Basic Black Archival Ink and then I die cut a larger heart using the Night of Navy and adhered them together, again using Tombow.

I used Dimensionals to adhere the hearts to the right hand side of my landscape card. I found some really thin strips of Night of Navy Card Stock in my folder and used them to decorate the left had side of the card. My last step was to put some (retiring) Crystal Effects on the red flower.

I made a second card using more or less the same products except I used oblongs instead of hearts for the image and the sentiment. The sentiment I used is from the NEW Love & Affection Stamp Set.

I used Basic Grey Archival Ink to stamp the hedgehogs and Night of Navy Ink to stamp the sentiment. Using Real Red Card Stock, I punched out one of the really small hearts from the Confetti Hearts Border Punch to add to the sentiment.

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

JanB.