I had some fun playing with Stampin’ Up! Embossing Paste last week. Through playing, I accidentally created a new technique!
The card I shared last week showed off the results of that first accident, while today’s card shows another background made with the same technique using just Coastal Cabana ink.
The Friends & Family Stamp Set from Stampin’ Up! is so cute and allows the ability to customize people for your paper crafts! You can use it to make an entire customized family! This set is retiring at the end of May, so order it before it’s gone!
I coloured my cute boy with Stampin’ Up! Blends Markers. To create the shadow at his feet, you can use the Light Smokey Slate Blends Marker, then use the Color Lifter over the bottom of the shadow and it will fade it out a bit, softening the edge.
I used Coastal Cabana ink to colour the Embossing Paste, by first applying a small amount of ink directly to the brick patterned mask, then applied the paste over the color, which allows the paste to become coloured and provides a nice variation to the final brick look. I love how easy it is and how cool it looks!
You can check out my Facebook Live video of this embossing paste technique by clicking HERE.
The other part of my inspiration is my friend, hairdresser, and fellow Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator who earned the trip to GREECE!! She worked so hard this past year and SHE DID IT! I am amazed and wowed by her success and I have not yet made her a congratulations card.
So, to fill in the blanks, I need to say CONGRATS ON GREECE to SUSANNE! (sunnstampin.com)
It’s also very important that I put a shout out to the video where I found this amazing card design. Samantha Clayton at Mixed Up Craft on YouTube has a wonderful tutorial that I followed for the base and inner workings of this card. I loved her instructions and found her very easy to follow. I will post a link to her video at the bottom of this page so you can follow it as well.
I choose to change the measurements of the card so that it could fit (just) into a regular Stampin’ Up! envelope. My card is 4-1/4″ high instead of the 4-1/2″ high card that Samantha makes in her video.
Because my friend, Su, will be going on a trip to Greece, FOR FREE!, my card is Greece inspired. My husband and I went to Greece 18 years ago on our honeymoon and one of my favourite places was the island of Mykonos. I remember the maze of a town with the stone pathways, the white buildings, the blue doors, and the bright flowers in full bloom. I’m so excited that Su gets to go to that very town. She’ll love it!
One of the things I like about this card design, is that it has it’s own built in stand. I have made many cards similar to this one in the past, but they either had to be attached to a normal card front or they laid flat like a postcard. This stand is a fabulous idea.
The other VERY cool thing about this card is that the tabs on each side pull out to reveal MORE! I used Pacific Point cardstock for the base colour of this card. It’s not exactly “Greece Blue”, but I think it’s the closest one that Stampin’ Up! has. The door is created with images from the At Home With You stamp set and die cut with the coordinating At Home Framelits Dies. I used Embossing Paste and the brick pattern from the Pattern Party Decorative Masks to create the white walls on the card front. I used the same brick mask, but sponged Pacific Point ink through it onto the Whisper White cardstock. Then I sponged more Pacific Point ink over the edges of the cardstock. Those slide out panels also have stamped images which are no longer available. Stampin’ Up! statement of the heart is on the left panel, while the You Did It image is from a stamp set designed just for demonstrators.
The Lovely Lipstick cardstock flowers are cut using the Seasonal Layers Thinlits as is also the Shaded Spruce cardstock branch.
The door is cut from Pacific Point cardstock, but I also used my Night of Navy Stampin’ Blends to add a little depth to the surface of the door image.
If you are interested in knowing more about other specifics on this card, be sure to leave me a comment.
As promised, here is the link to Mixed Up Craft so you can see how this card is made.
I’ve been spending some time online keeping a close eye on the forest fire that is burning just about a 15 minute drive from my home. I video-recorded the belongings in my home for insurance records. I also put aside important documents like birth certificates and passports. People (some of them are my friends) and their livestock have been evacuated.
The wind changed yesterday and our neighbourhood is filled with hazy smoke. In BC, we’ve had more than 1000 forest fires since April 2017 (that’s more than one million hectares of land!) and more than half of them are caused by human carelessness. Often it is cigarettes tossed out the window of a moving vehicle, sometimes is a spark of a hot vehicle on dry grass, sometimes it’s from a poorly attended campfire. If you travel to Canada in the summer (it’s beautiful here in the Okanagan when the air is clear of smoke), be aware of your smoking habits. It’s often the cigarettes out the window that threaten neighbourhoods. That is likely the cause of the fire that could threaten my own home today, if the wind blows unfavourably. So, please be in the habit of butting your cigarettes in your vehicle, don’t smoke in our forests or grasslands AT ALL, and don’t flick your butt, EVER! You may not have the same risks in the area where you live, but good habits could protect you and the people you love, wherever you are.
I also ask that everyone be on watch for people who are not being responsible and say something to them. Report them, if need be. It’s not worth risking our lives, our homes, our pets, our beautiful forests or the creatures who live in them. It breaks my heart to think of all of those who have been affected by fires over the last few years.
My card design today is not intentionally related to this topic, although, I read the sentiment and realize that it is! LOL! I did not plan this at all!
Here is the As You See It Challenge sketch from which my design was inspired:
Here is my fire-safety card, lol! The sentiment is from the Birthday Banners stamp set.
I used a small amount of Embossing Paste from Stampin’ Up! in three separate little containers. Then I added a tiny drop of colour to each of them: Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, and Tempting Turquoise. I mixed each one until the colour was fully blended into the paste before spreading each colour over the diamond- shaped mask from the Patterned Party Decorative Masks. I love how each colour blends ever so slightly into the next.
The sentiment and banner were stamped in Stampin’ Up! Archival Black on Watercolor Paper. I was careful to make sure it was fully dry before adding a Bermuda Bay colour wash over the banner area. I also added some little white decorative dots to the words on the bottom banner using my White Chalk Marker (not sure if I like that as much).
The 3/8″ Mini Chevron Ribbon in Bermuda Bay was added behind the banner along with the Black Mini Sequin Trim and the Gold Metallic Thread. The banner and metallic thread was adhered with Stampin’ Up Dimensionals, while the ribbon and sequin was attached on a strip of Tear and Tape.
I added the Metallics Sequin using the Fine-tip Glue Pen, then assembled my layers:
Card base is Basic Black cardstock, then a delicate layer of Whisper White and a slightly wider layer of Melon Mambo cardstock. The completed top layer of Basic Black with the embossing paste and sentiment were attached to the Melon Mambo cardstock with Stampin’ Up Dimensionals.
I used the same layering to complete the inside of the card, finishing with a layer of Whisper White cardstock for writing a personal message to the recipient.
I’m writing this late this morning and a bit hurried as I have to take my kids to swimming lessons and I haven’t finished video-recording my craft room supplies or my ski equipment. I think I will take my dog to swimming lessons today, just in case (we will have to watch the kids through the windows from outside, of course).
Try this As You See It sketch for yourself and show us what you come up with by uploading it to you As You See It challenge website.
