Colouring With Stampin' Blends

We had a play with the Stampin' Blends at our Craft Group this week. It was a very relaxing evening.

Here are the notes that I handed out to my ladies, plus some photos of images that I coloured (some not very well).

About Stampin' Blends

• Stampin’ Blends are alcohol based markers. Always use a water-based ink, such as Memento, to stamp the image without having any bleeding.
• Stampin’ Blends come in a variety of colours, each with a dark and light marker. You can use either one to simply colour your image as you would with any other marker, but the magic happens when you use both shades and blend them together.
• There are currently 21 colours with another 6 coming in the Holiday Catalogue, plus the Ivory and Bronze for skin tones, and the Colour Lifter.
• Each marker has two ends; a fine tip end and a brush end. These can be identified by the thin or thick line at each end.
• The lids can be placed on the other end of the marker whilst you’re using it (so you don’t lose it). When you’ve finished with a Blend Marker, replace the lid straight away. Make sure the cap ‘snaps’ on so that it doesn’t dry out.
• You can use the dark colour first and then blend with the light colour, or you can do it the other way around as well. It probably depends on what image you are using and how you want it to look.
• The colours blend better when they’re wet, so do really large images in sections. You can always go over them again if they’ve dried out but you will end up with a more saturated colour.
• You can use different colours together, e.g. use an orange at the bottom and shade it up to a yellow at the top. Experiment to find the combinations that you like.
• The Stampin’ Blends Colour Lifter can be used to remove small marks when you’ve accidently gone outside of the lines, but it may leave some colour so try not to do that.
• You can use the Blends to colour embellishments so that you can get the perfect colour for your card. You can colour Rhinestones, Clear Faceted Gems, Pearls or even any white ribbon!
• You can draw on Window Sheets with Blends, or colour vellum (on the back or the front of the vellum, depending on the look that you want).
• You can use a Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush on top of the coloured image to give it some overall glitz or just to highlight certain areas.
• Stampin’ Blends should be stored horizontally for the best outcome. 
• There are many different methods for using the Blends. Do a YouTube search for “Stampin’ Blends” and watch some videos. Each person seems to do it differently, so just experiment and see what works for you.

Materials

• Whisper White, Shimmery White, or any light coloured cardstock - cut to size
• Grid Paper to use beneath your cardstock

Equipment

• Paper Trimmer
• Stampin’ Blends in your choice of colours
• Stampin’ Blends Colour Lifter
• Memento Ink Pad (Tuxedo Black)
• Outline stamp suitable for colouring (See suggestions at the end)

Method

• Stamp the image onto the cardstock and make sure it is completely dry before you start colouring.
• Be sure to place some Grid Paper or scrap paper under your cardstock when you are colouring. These markers can really saturate the cardstock and may bleed through.
• When using the dark colour to highlight lines on the stamped images, use the fine point end and simply draw over the lines and then use small circular motions or ‘flicking’ strokes around the inside of the outline. Don't press hard on the brush though, or you will ruin the shape.
• Use the brush end (or the fine tip end on a smaller image) of the lighter shade to fill in the centre and blend the dark into the light. Circular motions are best for this.
• As you colour you will see a streaky sort of effect, as you do with any other kind of marker. These streaks will disappear as the alcohol dries. It’s magic!
• The colours will lighten as they dry (give them a minute or two). You can then add more colour if you want.
• For even more dimension, use the Colour Lifter to create an even lighter highlight on your image.

Examples

I started simply colouring in these images from the Painted Glass Stamp Set. Don't look too closely though because I missed a lot of spots. I think I need better glasses for these, lol.

I coloured some butterfly wings  from the Beautiful Day Stamp Set. I only had half-butterflies available because the stamp was bigger than the one block that I had with me at the time.

I used the dark Pumpkin Pie on the outer edges with the lighter shading on this flower (also from the Beautiful Day Stamp Set) 

 

This was the first one I did and I obviously need more practice with the blending 

I tried the same method again later with much better results.

Definitely better at the blending on this one

I experimented by using a dark Pineapple Punch in the centre of each petal and then blending it with the light all around the rest of the petal. It looks alright.

I got adventurous and used the dark and light Pumpkin Pie AND light Daffodil Delight. I like how this turned out.

I tried the same method with Highland Heather and Light Daffodil Delight but the yellow turned the purple a maroon colour. But it doesn't look too bad, I guess, and some flashes of the purple still show through.

I finished off by just doodling on some smaller images from the In Every Season Stamp Set and trying different colours.

Thanks for reading and happy crafting!

TARDIS Card

My daughter's fiance, Aidan, turned 30 a few days ago. He's a massive Doctor Who fan, so I'd been thinking of making a TARDIS card for a couple of years but never quite got around to it. But seeing as this one was a major birthday I decided to make the effort (and I remembered early enough to work on the design).

The front of the card has a TARDIS picture printed onto white cardstock and then fussy cut.

I simply Googled "TARDIS" and chose one that suited my purpose.I had to adjust the size before printing so it would fit nicely onto a 4" x 6" card base (I used black cardstock). I used my paper trimmer to cut along the lines so that the doors would open to reveal the Doctor with a birthday message specifically for Aidan.

I wanted to incorporate Aidan's favourite Doctor, so I posted an innocent question on Facebook asking people to say who is their favourite, knowing full well that Aidan would probably respond (and he was the first to do so). His choice is Matt Smith, so I did some more Googling to find an appropriate photo of Matt Smith and the correct internal photo of the TARDIS (it changes sometimes). I settled on this one of Matt.

I then used Paint to add a text box so that it looks like the Doctor is holding the birthday banner.

I even downloaded a Doctor Who font for the writing!

This was sized to fit inside the open doors. I had a little wrinkle (literally) with it though. I glued the Doctor onto the doors before attaching the TARDIS to the card base. But the A and Y of birthday got caught under the door a bit so I used a Journaling Pen to join the A and Y to look like just an A and then add another Y at the end. If you didn't know about it, you probably wouldn't notice but, of course, I knew about it, haha.

Once I had the front put together, I worked on the inside. I decided that I wanted it to be "bigger on the inside", just like the TARDIS! So I chose a photo, made it nice and big to print out on plain copy paper.

It started out about an A4 size

Then I used the Turkish Map Fold technique to make it fit. I think the result is just perfect because when you open the card, the inside opens up to be bigger than the card!

I added a label at the bottom so I could write on the card.

The trickiest bit of making this card was using the Turkish Map Fold on a rectangular piece of paper (you usually use a 12" x 12" sheet of paper). Thankfully I found some instructions online and was able to do it without too much effort. These are the instructions I followed: "Turkish Map Fold with a Rectangular Sheet", obviously I had to orient it to suit my card that open from the bottom up.

I have made other Explosion Cards using the Turkish Map Fold, but I will probably never make another one like this and I'm so glad I did it. Aidan was very happy with it.

Until next time, happy crafting!

Impossible Card

Share What You Love Specialty DSP
Painted Glass Stamp Set

Hi folks. Sorry I've been so absent, but life has been a little hectic of late.

Anyway, I have been seeing lots of photos of a card called the Impossible Card, most of them are similar to this one made by the indomitable Dawn Griffith.

Photo used with permission of Dawn Griffith

Mainly these are a single sheet of cardstock with patterned paper added to the panels and a strip of cardstock glued across the front for stability. I loved the look of them but thought they might be rather flimsy, so I decided to make them as a card front and them glue them onto a card base. Also, because I'm somewhat lazy by nature, I decided to use a thicker patterned paper so that I didn't need to cut out strange shapes to glue to the cardstock of the Impossible Card. And this is what I came up with (at the top of the page, and this one).

Broadway Bound Specialty DSP
Perennial Birthday Stamp Set

They are super easy to make, so have a go.

Materials

• Plain A4 cardstock (card base and label)
• 4" x 6" piece of stiff, double-sided patterned paper. If you don't have a stiff DSP, see the alternate instructions at the end.

Equipment

• Paper Trimmer
• Bone Folder
• Adhesive
• A label punch
• Sentiment Stamp to fit on your label
• Ink pad in chosen colour
• Embellishments as desired

Instructions

1. Cut the A4 cardstock 8" x 6", score at 4" on the long side and fold to form the card base.
2. Stamp the desired sentiment onto some of the leftover cardstock and use your chosen label punch to punch it out.
3. Take the patterned paper and cut it 5¾" x 3¾". Fold it half longways and open it out again. On one half, cut at 2⅞" from the fold to the edge. On the opposite side cut twice at 1¼" from each end from the centre fold to the edge, as shown below.
   
4. Be aware that if you have a pattern that needs to go in a certain direction you will have to choose which side gets which cuts.  
5. Twist the piece so that you have the following shape with a piece that sits up in the middle.
   
6. Attach this piece to the card base. The piece can be twisted in either direction so that the gap can be on the left or the right. 
7. Attached the label to the popped-up piece.
8. Embellish as desired.
9. This card will fold flat for posting.

Alternate Instructions

1. If you do not have a stiff patterned paper, you can use plain cardstock and then cut out pieces of patterned paper to adhere as appropriate.
2. Cut patterned paper 3¾" x 2⅞" and then cut out a piece 1⅞" x 1⅝" to get the desired shape. You will need two of these pieces.
   
   Again, if you are using a patterned paper that has an 'up', you may need to cut out a different corner of the patterned paper so that the pattern is correct.
3. Adhere the panels as appropriate on the card front.
4. You can cut out a piece of patterned paper for the popped-up piece, if you want, although the label will cover most of this. The popped-up piece measures 3-3/16" x 1⅞"

Easy peasy, right?

Happy crafting.

Colourful Cards

I hope you all had a lovely Easter. We had two of our four offspring come to visit (plus the one who lives in the same town as us already), so had lots of family including three grandchildren.

A couple of weeks ago I saw some cute cards made by Kirsten Aitchison and thought I'd have a go. These aren't a fancy fold, just a different use of patterned paper. These are what I came up with.

Each card uses a strip of patterned paper with a mat of white cardstock, then a label or two with a stamped image and/or a sentiment. I was very happy with the look of them. Using coloured cardstock for the card base and coordinated patterned paper as the highlight piece makes them nice and bright. Here are a few close-ups.

For some I used Tuxedo Black Memento Ink for the stamping and my Stampin' Blends for colouring, for others I used Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad and Stampin' Write Markers. I used the fabulous Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies for the large labels. This die set has four different sizes each of squares, ovals and circles, each with a stitch pattern around the outer edge. I love the look of them.

Anyway, that's it, short and sweet. Happy Crafting!

Herringbone Technique

Last year I had to put together 40+ card kits for a local gathering of women from around the state (South Australia, that is). I cut the patterned paper to the required size and was left with a bunch of strips around 1/2" wide. I stuck the strips into a bag and later did some searching on YouTube and found a great way to use them. I have since discovered that the technique is called the Herringbone Technique, which makes sense when you look at the finished product.

I made a few cards with my scraps from last year and now I keep all of those scrappy strips whenever I make any cards. I decided to use some recently to make some more cards.

To make them, I cut a piece of scrap cardboard to size. I use the cardboard that comes in a pack of patterned paper, but any cardboard will do - you won't see it once the card is finished. I then cut a piece of Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets to size and place it onto the backing piece. My cards usually measure 6" x 4" so I cut the backing piece 5.75" x 3.75", but you can choose any dimensions. Then you just lay the strips as you like. Most of my strips are around half an inch wide but they can be wider or narrower, it doesn't really matter. I usually start with one long strip diagonally across the middle, then change directions as the whim takes me. I try to coordinate the colours but sometimes it gets away on me. I even use strips of plain cardstock sometimes.

Using coordinating colours looks pretty good...

But a mish-mash of colours can look good, too.

Once the whole backing piece is covered, flip it over and trim the excess patterned paper around the edges. Your scissors will get quite sticky but an alcohol wipe will fix that, You can do this technique using regular liquid glue but I prefer the Sheet Adhesive so I don't have to worry about it drying out as I'm working.

Once you've trimmed the DSP, adhere your masterpiece to your card base, stamp and punch out a label or two and there you have it! I often use the Starburst Punch and the 1.75" Circle Punch although I sometimes use a variety of sizes of the circles. But you don't have to only use circles, experiment!

I used FOUR circles on this one!

Another little tweak is to cut your backing piece slightly smaller (say a quarter of an inch, length and width) and use a piece of contrasting plain cardstock to provide a bit of a border.

Adding a mat of contrasting cardstock can make a difference.

This technique can be a little time-consuming to make but they do look good and you will feel good because you've used some of those little scraps that you just cannot bear to throw away. Plus it's quite good fun and somewhat therapeutic. Enjoy!

Double Front Card

I have a new obsession: Double Front Cards! I just love them. This is the first one that I made...

This is the front of the card

Open the card and here's the second 'front'. This card uses the Heartfelt Blooms stamp set.

Open the second front to get to the inside of the card

I watched a video by Connie Stewart and copied the card from that. I messed up a little because the strip of patterned paper on the second front (I call it the middle) should have been on the very front. Oops! I did it properly on three of the next four card that I made though, haha. I made some baby cards this time, two boy cards and two girl cards. They are all slightly different though because I goofed up on some of them. But to card makers there is no such thing as a mistake, just an opportunity to be creative.

This is the 'perfect' girl one, everything ended up where it was supposed to be. I coloured the bear with Stampin' Blends. 

The middle section

The inside of the card, more Stampin' Blends used for the flower.

This is exactly the same but in blue. The middle and inside are the same as the pink version, but in blue of course.

This is the other pink one that I made; one of my 'opportunities' for creativity.

I forgot to put the DSP on the front...

... so I put it in the middle.

On review I think I might cut an extra piece of patterned paper and put a piece on the front AND in the middle in future!

My other blue one was a little more of an 'opportunity'. When you're making this card, you only put adhesive on half of the piece on the front (otherwise it will stick to the middle and you won't be able to open it properly). Well, I put adhesive all over the back of the bear piece (oops!!). Fortunately I hadn't attached the middle piece so I was able to place the teddy bear in the middle and the sentiment on the front. Different but not too bad, considering.

Sentiment on the front

Teddy in the middle.

Here are the instructions for this card.

Materials

·         Plain coloured cardstock (the outside card) 

·         White or other light cardstock (for the insert and the small pieces on the front and middle)

·         Coordinating coloured cardstock (mat for the pieces on the front and middle)

·         Coordinating patterned paper (accent pieces) - I used Bundle of Love

·         Ribbon and/or other embellishments, as desired

Equipment

·         Paper trimmer 

·         Bone folder 

·         Adhesive

·         Stamps

·         Ink pads 

Instructions

1.       Cut the coloured cardstock for the outside of the card 6⅜" x 5½", score at 2⅛" on  the long side.

2.       Cut a piece of white or light cardstock 8" x 5¼", score at 4" on  the long side.

3.       Cut TWO pieces of the coordinating cardstock 2¾" x 4¼" (for the front and middle of the card)

4.       Cut TWO pieces of the white or light cardstock 2½" x 4" (for the front and middle of the card)

5.       Cut the patterned paper:

        2" x 5⅜" (for the front or middle of the card)

        ½" x 5¼" (for the inside of the card)

6.       Fold and burnish the outside card and the card insert. Adhere the card insert onto the larger side of the outside card, positioning it centrally on the back, i.e. NOT placing the two folds snugly together.

7.       Adhere the larger piece of patterned paper to the front of the outside card. Alternatively you can adhere it to the back of that piece of cardstock, as shown in the photo on page 1.

8.       Adhere the smaller piece of patterned paper to the inside of the card, on the right-hand edge of the insert.

9.       Stamp your images or sentiments onto the small white cards. These can be the same on both, as shown in the photos on page 1, or they can be different, as shown in the examples below.

10.   Adhere the stamped cards to the mats of coordinating cardstock.

11.   Adhere one of the stamped cards onto the front of the middle card.

12.   Adhere the other stamped card onto the front card, lining it up to the same position as the one in the middle. Take care to only apply adhesive to one half of this piece otherwise you will stick the front and middle together.

13.  Embellish as desired.

Ellen Budden

Double Z-Fold Card

My friend and fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator has featured one of my cards in her blog and video this week. Jessie Holton has made her own version of the card so I thought I should give people the dimensions, etc, for the one I made. I have placed a link to Jessie's blog at the end of mine.

This is the card that I made and sent to Jessie. 

I know this card as a Double Z-Fold Card. I believe that it's also known as a Gate Fold Card, or Double Gate Fold Card. It's very easy to make and is a good one for beginner card makers.

Materials 

·         6" x 12" plain cardstock, for the card base

·         6" x 6" co-ordinating patterned paper #1 (I used Fresh Florals and Eastern Palace)

·         6" x 6" co-ordinating patterned paper #2

·         6" x 6" plain coordinating cardstock, to provide a surface inside the card for writing (optional, depending on the colour of the card base)

·         Rhinestones or other Embellishments

Equipment

·         Paper trimmer 

·         Bone folder 

·         PickTool 

·         Adhesive

·         Decorative dies and Big Shot or Decorative Punches

·         Stamps (I used Pretty Kitty and Beautiful You)

·         Ink pads to coordinate with your cardstock and paper

Instructions

1.       Score the base cardstock across the long edge at 2", 4", 8" and 10".

2.       Fold the 4" and 8" scores inwards (a valley fold), run bone folder along edges to get a crisp fold.

3.       Fold the 2" and 10" scores outwards (a mountain fold), use bone folder again.

4.       Cut two pieces 1¾" x 5¾" from each of the two coordinating paper (#1 and #2).

5.       Cut one piece 3¾" x 5¾" from the coordinating plain cardstock for the inside or simply stamp a greeting inside the card, if desired.

6.       Punch or die cut some shapes from paper #2 (i.e. the paper that is not going on the front panel), or labels from plain cardstock.

7.       Adhere all panels onto the card base, paper #1 on the front and paper #2 inside the card.

8.       Add the shapes and rhinestones, if desired, to the front of the card (i.e. the far left panel and the far right panel). 

Examples

Here are a couple of cards that I made back in 2015. The ingredients have since retired but they show how you can use punched or die-cut shapes to decorate the fronts of the cards

So, thanks again, Jessie, for featuring my card. Go Here to check out Jessie's blog and watch the video at the end.

Ellen Budden