Double Z Card?

Hello, Crafters.

My computer teething problems are slowly being sorted out - YAY!!




On Sunday, I'm going to our quarterly training and will be doing a presentation on videoing. I'm not an expert by a long chalk but I do know what works for me and how it works. 


A lot of people say you can use your phone but I've never tried it, so the only things I know this method is what I've heard, read or seen.........which is nowhere as reliable as my actual camcorder experience.

I've prepared a presentation with absolutely minimum notes which will keep me talking for however long Natalie wants me to.

Personally, I'd rather be asked questions because that way, I'd know I was telling my audience want they want to know rather than me telling them what I think they want to know!

As far as swaps are concerned, I'm in the same position about this training as I was last time i.e. no swaps done or planned! Last time I did a last minute triangular box which were all completed in time but I didn't have any time to get any chocolates or anything to go inside! Ooops, never mind, it was a great little box!

I have a video to make today and I'm hoping to make 26 of today's cards in miniature!!

I don't know what this style of card is called so I'm calling it a Double Z. I made the Pool Party and Blushing Bride card first but it took too long to be able to replicate it for a video.

It's a really beautiful birthday card which I'm going to save for my Mum's birthday. I can put MUM on the front of the card on the first short flap at the bottom or somewhere on the part that's hidden when the card is closed. There's no rush to make a decision as her birthday isn't for another eight months yet! As long as I don't put it away and forget where I've put it. LOL!!

I decided to make two changes for the video card. First of all, I decided to use flowers and butterflies that are punched out! Don't get me wrong! I absolutely love, love, love the flowers that can be made with the Botanicals Builder Framelits Dies but they are very time consuming.

The second change I decided to make was to use a far less fussy design of Designer Series Paper (DSP). Again, don't get me wrong - the floral design I used on my first card is probably my most favourite DSP ever! I love the colours and the actual design but I don't think it was the correct design to use for this card.

For the second card I used a Hello Honey design from the Wildflower Fields DSP which is one of the products available free as part of Sale-A-Bration 2016 offerings.

I'm not going into all the details of how I made these cards as they'll all be in the video. In case you don't want to wait these are the stamp sets I used:-

Pool Party & Blushing Bride Card No.1

a). Botanical Blooms - flowers along band

b). Party Pants - front sentiment

c). Pictogram Punches - flowers on sentiment

d). Cottage Greetings - sentiment inside

Hello Honey & Blackberry Bliss Card No. 2

a). Party Pants - front sentiment

b). Bloomin' Love - flowers on sentiment

c). Flower Shop - large Flowers

d). Petite Petals - small flowers

e). Cottage Greetings - sentiment inside

f). Papillion Potpourri - butterflies

If you have any questions about how I made these cards before I've release the video, please contact me, I'm always happy to help: janb@janbcards.com.


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


JanB.

PS the big gaps between paragraphs is another issue caused by my new PC - hubby is trying to correct it! J.

Wink of Stella Shadow Effect

Hello, Crafters.

I hope you had a brilliant weekend. This morning I'm off to the hairdressers for a couple of hours! Nowadays I find it a bit of a chore and would rather spend the two hours in my studio - no surprises there then!

Today, I'm sharing two cards with you. I based the design on the three red hearts Valentine card I shared with you on 25th January 2016 - please see last two photographs. I made the one with the three large flowers first and followed it with the one with the butterflies and small flowers.

The two colour card was one of the cards we made in class on Saturday. I concentrated quite heavily on 3D flowers and butterflies for the classes this month as two of my ladies who started with me last month wanted to know about making 3D flowers for scrap booking. They're both newbies for card making and very both keen photographers.

I also wanted to combine the card with something new for my regular ladies. For them, I decided I would show how to get a shadow effect on writing using the Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Pen.

I'll start with the large flower card.Using Blackberry Bliss Ink and Whisper White Cardstock I stamped three large flowers from the Flower Shop Stamp Set and punched them out using the Pansy Paunch. Then I stamped three smaller flowers from Petite Peatls Stamp Set and punched them out using the Petite Petals Punch. The third flowers were from the Pictogram Punches Stamp Set and was punched out using the flower punch from the Itty Bitty Accent Punch Pack. I painted the largest and smallest flowers using Wink of Stella. I curled all the punched flowers and adhered them together using Tombow.

I stamped the sentiment from the Birthday Blooms Stamp Set in Blackberry Ink and then painted over the writing with my Wink of Stella Pen to make the ink "bleed" a bit. 

For the second card I stamped three large butterflies from the Papillion Potpourri  Stamp Set using Pear Pizzazz Ink and punched them out using the Elegant Butterfly Punch. Then I stamped three small butterflies in Blackberry Bliss Ink and
punched them out using the Bitty Butterfly Punch. I folded them and attached one small and one large butterfly together using Tombow and then glued them to the card front.

Then I stamped three flowers from the Petite Petals Stamp Set using Pear Pizzazz Ink. I also stamped three of the really small flowers from the Pictogram Punches Stamp Set using Blackberry Bliss and punched all the flowers out using the punches as before.

This time, when I painted over the sentiment, I made sure I went over the lines of the writing more than I did with the first card so the bleeding was more obvious. Apart from the fact my sentiment isn't perfectly straight, I love the "shadow" effect that Wink of Stella has given.

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

JanB.

Not a good day!

Hello, Crafters.

I hope you had a much better day than I did yesterday! I count my blessings that it's not often I have days like that and when I do, it serves to remind me that I do have a lot to count my blessings for. 

There were a lot of things that went wrong which, on their own, were pretty minor but there was just one after the other. The most frustrating point was when I had a telephone call from my credit card company telling me they had blocked my card because of suspicious transactions!

It's great that credit card companies are on the ball but when these transactions are me trying to pay Stampin' Up! for an order, it adds to the frustration.

The story in a nutshell is that my credit card is due to expire at the end of March and I do have my new one. As I hadn't updated the new details on my SU profile, I tried using the older one - it was still in date! The system didn't like it.

I tried updating my profile - the system still didn't like it! I made a third attempt - the system didn't like that either!

Then I received the phone call! Security had seen my three attempts and also a much larger payment going out about twenty minutes earlier - so they blocked that, too!

My account was unblocked and I was able to pay SU without problems. I investigated the large payment that had been blocked and that was my three year subscription for my website hosting and ancillary support! I had to get in touch with them and pay for my subscription.

Another big frustration yesterday was trying to upload today's video onto YouTube! I succeeded in the end but not before I started pulling my hair out! Being one of life's optimists, I know today is going to be a good day!

This morning, I successfully published my video called Embossed Circle of Spring. It shows how I made the Soft Sky card I posted here last Thursday, 25th February 2016. In the video I changed the colour and used Mint Macaroon.

Because I needed to prepare the painted image ahead of time, I was able to make two Mint Macaroon cards, so I used Rhinestones on one and Pearls on the other - I used Rhinestones on the original card.

I changed the butterfly stamps from the flowery ones to the ones that have a solid line around the outside. I also changed the Petite Petals flower from the small dotty one to the one that has straight lines and has a coordinating stamp in the Flower Shop Stamp Set - I'm not sure I've explained that very well!!

On the original card I used Blushing Bride for the pink flowers but changed to Pink Pirouette and I also changed the sentiment.

On the original card I used Happy Birthday from the You're So Lovely Stamp Set but on the new one I used They Say It's Your Birthday which is from the Suite Sayings Stamp Set.

The little hearts I added to the sentiment (off camera) are leftovers from some hearts I punched in the five new In-Colours that came in June last year - Cucumber Crush, Delightfully Dijon, Mint Macaroon, Tip Top Taupe and Watermelon Wonder. 

Once I'd punched several out in each colour, I covered them in Crystal Effects and left them to dry overnight.

Initially I made them for a video I made - Glazed Hearts - but I decided to make several in each colour so they were ready as and when I wanted them!

I've posted photographs of all three cards today so you can see what subtle changes I made.

I'm going to be working in overdrive today, to make up for yesterday! LOL! Until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB. 

Circle of Spring

Hello, Crafters.

Needless to say I still have a lot to do to get myself ready for the Make It show this weekend.

We're leaving at about 2.30 pm today..............supposedly! LOL!

I've made several Berry Baskets, which is the product I've chosen to demo, and they include a normal-sized basket with handle, a normal-sized basket with a lid, a narrow basket and a double basket.

I'll be sharing them here over the next three days.

To make today's card, I used the delicate Circle of Spring Stamp Set.

I call it "delicate" because the drawings and font are all fine lines, there's nothing heavy about this stamp set at all. 

Unfortunately, I don't think all my photographs really do the card justice as far as the colour is concerned - the first three aren't too bad!

I've used Soft Sky for the card base with a layer of Whisper White and a top layer of Soft Sky.

The first step was to die cut the aperture in the top layer using the Deco Labels Framelits Dies.

I positioned this over my Whisper White Layer a drew a soft pencil line around the aperture as a guide to where I needed to stamp the wreath.

I wiped my Whisper White layer with my Embossing Buddy and then inked the stamp with Versamark.

I stamped the image in the centre of my pencil marks, sprinkled with Silver Embossing Powder and heat set it.

I used my markers in Blushing Bride, Soft Sky, Mint Macaroon and Daffodil Delight to colour the wreath.

I think these colours really go well together - like the stamp set, they're delicate!

I carefully erased the pencil marks and adhered the two layers onto the card base using Tombow.

I stamped the sentiment from the You're So Lovely Stamp Set onto a piece of Whisper White Cardstock using Lost Lagoon Ink.

Then I die cut it using the Extra Large Oval Punch and adhered it to the top layer using Dimensionals.

Using Soft Sky Ink on Whisper White Cardstock I stamped three flowers from the Petite Petals Stamp Set, six flowers from the Pictogram Stamp Set and two butterflies from the Papillon Potpourri Stamp. 

I used the Petite Petals Punch, the flower punch from the Itty Bitty Accent Punch Pack, the Elegant Butterfly Punch and the Bitty Butterfly Punch to punch them all out.

Then I used Tombow to adhee them together where shown and onto the card using Tombow.

My final touch was adding Rhinestones to the flowers and butterfly.

Next time I write to you, it'll be from Farnborough. So until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.

Thank You Cards From Left-overs!

Two green flowers & green leaves

Three yellow flowers

Hello, Crafters.
 
I hope you've enjoyed a great weekend.
 
Yesterday I decided it was time to make another batch of thank you cards because I was down to my last one again! 

Green flower & yellow circle, Blackberry Bliss flower & green leaves

I always use Stampin' Up! Notecards and Envelopes for my thank you cards because I think the size is ideal i.e. 5" x 3.5". Unusually for me, I didn't have any idea of what I wanted to do except to use Designer Series Paper (DSP). I chose Painted Blooms DSP which is a retired design but every design in this pack is superb.  

Pink flower

I decided to cut a piece of DSP that measured 4 7/8" x 3 3/8" for each of twenty cards. Also, for each card, I cut a strip that was approximately half an inch wide and a minimum of 3 3/8" long, maximum 4 7/8" long. The plan was that I'd use one side of the design as the main piece and the design on the reverse side as the strip. 

Everything created today

I adhered the two pieces to the cards, mixing and matching which side I used for the main piece and which side for the strip. All the time I was doing this I was thinking about what I wanted to do next.   

Three pink flowers

Before I go on to tell you what I decided to do next, I need to explain my "filing" system. I keep all my coloured A4 cardstock in clear plastic folders (the kind that are open on the top and one side). All cut pieces and scraps of the same colour go into a punched plastic wallet (the kind with punched holes down one side - which I cut off! - and just one opening at the top) and then into the wallet with the A4 sheets. All the pieces of that colour that have been die cut, punched or stamped, either on self-colour, Whisper White or Very Vanilla go into a Ziplock bag and then into the wallet with the A4 sheets!
 
I decided I would choose the main colour for each design and look through the cardstock folder for that colour and use what I found in the Ziplock bag! I was able to use up a lot of my left-overs but still had to provide extras.

I've put captions under each photograph, listing which embellishments I found pre-made. Everything else was made today. The oval Thank You is from the Rose Wonder Stamp Set and the larger Thank You, You Wonderful Thing You is from the You're So Lovely Stamp Set.

Although I've used quite a few pre-made embellishments, it hasn't made a dent in my stock of them! I think I'll have to do this exercise every now and again to try and use them, otherwise there's no point in keeping them in the first place! What do you do with yours? Do you keep them or just throw them away when your tidying up on the day you made them?

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

JanB.

What a wally!!

Hello, Crafters.

I'm starting the day with a funny story about some thinlits!!

In my post yesterday, I said the HAPPY die I'd used was from the Christmas Greetings Thinlits Dies which was now retired. 

I posted the same short description on my Facebook Page and a friend pointed out that the die was available in the Hello You Thinlits Dies.

I thanked Hannah and amended what I had written in yesterday's post! But I  thought it rather strange that Stampin' Up! retired something but brought it back as a different product - something just wasn't adding up!

I did a bit of investigating and found that I had put the Hello You Thinlits Dies into the wallet for the Christmas Greetings Thinlits Dies and vice versa! Boy, what a wally!!

That'll teach me to pay more attention to what I'm doing when I'm tidying up!

Despite that, I had a very successful day yesterday, not least with the card I made to share with you today.

I started with a card base of Whisper White Cardstock, with a layer of Lost Lagoon and a top layer of Whisper White.

I used half of the top layer as a measurement for a piece of the Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper (DSP) which I used for the bottom half of the top layer.

I adhered all the layers together with Tombow and adhered a piece of Lost Lagoon Ribbon over the join at the front and attached the edges at the back. Then I adhered it to the card base.

Using our Basic Black Archival Ink and the Birthday Blossoms Stamp Set, I stamped the single flower stamp twice onto a die cut Whisper White oval that I'd die cut with the Ovals Collection Framelits Dies.

Then I used a Post It mask that I keep in the stamp box, covered the two flowers and stamped a third time. I moved one of the masks and covered the third flower and stamped the leaf stamp in two different places. I moved the first mask and covered the other flower and stamped again with the leaf stamp.

Using a Blender pen, I painted the leaves in Old Olive, the flowers in Pool Party and the centres of the flowers in Blushing Bride. I stamped the sentiment from the stamp set using Lost Lagoon Ink and my Stamp-a-ma-jig in the top right hand corner.

I added a bow and butterfly to the oval, then, as the finishing touch, went over the flowers, leaves, writing, butterfly and DSP with Clear Wink of Stella.

As well as making this card, I also made a video yesterday and I successfully made a Berry Basket that was slimmer than it was originally designed to be!

That's about it for today, so until tomorrow, happy crafting,

JanB.

Indented Triangular Boxes

Hello, Crafters.

As promised, these are the favour boxes I made as my swap for last weekend's team training.

Earlier this morning I posted the video called Indented Triangular Box which shows how to make them. This really has to be the easiest favour box to make ever.

I would like to thank Constanze Sturm of www.constanzes-stempelwelt.blogspot.com for sharing the instructions on the internet. Constanze made these boxes for a wedding and she used vellum which she had decorated with a design she had heat embossed in white.

Do check out her website because they are really beautiful.

The first photograph shows the box I made on the video. The ones I made as swaps are the newsprint design paper  as shown in photographs 2 - 4. 

The Designer Series Paper (DSP) I used is a retired design called First Edition (I think!) This DSP is quite a bit thinner than our normal paper but still made beautiful boxes.

We are requested to use only current products for our swaps and I normally stick to it. However, with a swap like this, it's the idea that's being swapped and can be made with any paper or cardstock.

Normally, I don't like to make boxes with DSP because I just don't think it's thick enough. But this is the exception to the rule, even with paper as thin as the First Edition DSP.

Photographs 2 - 4 are shown at various angles to show exactly what the finished box looks like.

The only cardstock that's needed is the DSP and pieces of Whisper White and a co-ordinating colour cardstock for the sentiment.

You also need about 10" of a fairly narrow  ribbon. Apart from varying the ribbon, I kept to the same stamp sets and punches - one way or another - for all 5 favour boxes.

The stamp set for the sentiment is from Birthday Blossoms and the little flower that decorates the sentiment is from Bloomin Love.

I cut the circle out using the 1.5" Circle Punch and the scalloped circle was cut out with the 1.75" Scalloped Circle Punch.

On the swap boxes I added a small butterfly in Basic Black Cardstock which I had punched out using the Bitty Butterfly Punch.

On the Blushing Bride box, I stamped one large and one small butterfly onto coloured cardstock. These were punched out with the appropriate punches. I finished them off with pearls along their bodies.

For the box in photograph 6, I used Bermuda Bay cardstock. Using Bermuda Bay Ink and the flowery stamp I use for the sentiment, I stamped randomly over cardstock to give it some dimension. 

I did the sentiment and scalloped circle the same but found the scalloped circle did rather blend in with the box. So I used a larger punch - 2" I think - and punched a Whisper White Circle for the sentiment to sit on.

I did the butterflies again but stamped onto Whisper White Cardstock.

The final box I made was more masculine. I chose a design from the Going Places DSP Stack for the actual box and deliberately chose a light colour. 

I think a lot of cards go dark when they're masculine! I knew I didn't want to use butterflies or flowers and decided not to add any substitute for the butterfly but used a stamp from Gorgeous Grunge instead of the flower on the sentiment.  

Is there something you would have added to finish this box off? Please let me know if you have any thoughts on this!

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

JanB.

Flowering Fields

Hello, Crafters.

Yesterday I started a weekend-long online course organised by an US demonstrator on ways to build a Stampin' Up! business. I've seen the videos about Memory Making classes -  this is a far more apt name for scrapbooking - and will certainly consider introducing a Memory Making Club.

When I was a child I used to make scrapbooks by cutting out pictures of our Royal Family from newspapers and magazines and sticking as many on a page as I could. They were nothing like the beautiful creations that are made today! LOL! 


Natalie, our team leader, has organised another training session for Sunday, so I shall be going to that. I still have to make the swaps, so that's what I'll be doing today as well as catching up with the online course - needless to say I've fallen behind because of the time difference.

Anyway, I did have some lovely time yesterday in my studio creating this birthday/Valentine card. It also shows how you can use up another small scrap. If that's what you're keen to do, decide on the scrap you'd like to use and colour the flowers to co-ordinate with it!

I started my card with a base of Whisper White Cardstock with a layer of Rose Red and topped with Whisper White. All three  were adhered together using Tombow.

I stamped the five flowers from the Flowering Field Stamp Set using Tuxedo Black Memento Ink.(This stamp set is available free during Sale-A-Bration with an order over £45, until 31st March 2016). I used the Pink Pirouette and Mint Macaroon Marker Pens to colour the flowers.

Using Rose Red Ink I stamped the sentiment which is from the new stamp set called Suite Sayings. I cut the strip of Rose Red and Whisper White hearts, from a sheet in the Love Blossoms Designer Series Paper Stack. I adhered this to the card front using Tombow.

On a scrap of Whisper White and using Rose Red Ink, I stamped one large and one small butterfly from the Papillion Potpourri Stamp Set and punched them out - the large butterfly with the Elegant Butterfly Punch and the small butterfly with the Bitty Butterfly punch. I adhered the two together along the bodies. Before I adhered them to the card I stamped the antennae in position where I was going to put the butterfly - the stamp is also from the Papillion Potpourri stamp set.

For my final step I painted all the hearts, the edges of both butterflies and on some petals of the flowers with Wink of Stella. I think you can just about see it in the hearts but no where else - it looks lovely in person!

Until tomorrow, happy crafting.

JanB.