A little vintage love

Posted on May 10, 2016 by mauistamper

I don’t do a lot of vintage design. I’m drawn to the style but have a hard time adding the necessary bits and layers that define it.

Stamps: Timeless Texture, Birthday Blossoms
Color Palette: Very Vanilla, Lost Lagoon
Accessories: Big Shot and Little Letters Thinlits, Rhinestone Jewels, Aquapainter, Stampin’ Write markers, Pansy punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Wink of Stella

I markered the word “you” from the phrase “celebrate you” and used the Aquapainter to add a little extra color to the flower.

Here’s a hint: when you’re using framelits or Thinlits to create negative space like these letters, put a sheet of thin paper (printer paper works well) between the cutting pad and the thinlit. It will protect your project from embossing any stray cut marks on your cutting pads.

I’m gonna miss this sweet little bird

Posted on May 6, 2016 by mauistamper

I have a bit of a thing for birds. It’s taken me a while to learn the ones that frequent my back yard, but I’ve made good if not perfect progress. I love to hear them when I wake up in the morning.

I watercolored this fellow using my Aquapainter and watercolor paper. He doesn’t look like any bird I’ve seen, he just makes me happy the way he is.

The Greetings Thinlit has sold out but last time I checked the rest of these beautiful supplies were available. You can shop HERE.

Sparkly Congratulations

Posted on April 26, 2016 by mauistamper

I designed this card to be a multi-application “Congratulations” that I can keep in my stash for that last-minute card occasion. The colors are neutral but sparkly, making it celebratory for either gender.

Stamps: Bravo (retiring 5/31/16), Balloon Builders, Be the Star (retiring 5/31/16)
Color Palette: Whisper White, Basic Black, Smoky Slate
Accessories: Balloon Builder punch, Confetti Stars Border punch, Silver Foil paper, Gold Glimmer paper, Stampin’ Dimensionals

You might be noticing a trend. I’ve been working towards making cards that are flat enough to mail without extra postage. I want to SEND them, not admire them! I’ve found that elements raised with Stampin’ Dimensionals fare best when an extra piece of card stock is placed over the front of the card in the envelope.

So make a card – and send it!

Shop HERE.

Thinking of you, Little Koala

Posted on April 23, 2016 by mauistamper

This sweet face is on the list of stamps to retire on May 31st. I’ll be keeping Kind Koala in my permanent collection:

Stamps: Kind Koala (retiring 5/31/16)
Color Palette: Basic Black, Smoky Slate, Blushing Bride, Daffodil Delight
Accessories: Neutrals Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack, Watercolor paper, Aquapainter, White Perfect Accents, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Sharpie, Wink of Stella

For the most satisfying results, you really need to use Watercolor paper with the Aquapainter to color a larger image like the Koala. Watercolor paper allows you to move the color around, to add and even subtract color. I find I can get acceptable results on Whisper White if I’m working with small images, but if you work the color too much the finish of the paper will start to get rough. The Watercolor paper is much more forgiving.

I used a yellow Sharpie to color the White Perfect Accent. It did the job, but the more I look at it the more I think it needs to be a different color. Or perhaps it just needs to be another COLOUR. That may be my problem right there.

Bring this sweet little face into your life right HERE.

Another take on wreaths

Posted on April 20, 2016 by mauistamper

Wreaths are an all-season trend and we have beautiful stamps and framelits to create them. However, you can make an infinitely customizable wreath with your stamps and a simple circle mask:

Stamps: What I Love (SAB 2016), And Many More (retiring 5/31/16)
Color Palette: So Saffron, Pear Pizazz, Lost Lagoon (retiring 5/31/16), Soft Sky
Accessories: Linen Thread, White Bakers Twine, Wink of Stella, Rhinestone Jewels, Circles Framelits (retiring 5/31/16), Itty Bitty Accents punch pack (retiring 5/31/16)

This very simple card could be recreated in any color palette using nearly any flower stamp set. It could even be done with leaves, or shells, or whatever you can imagine.

I cut a circle in the center of a piece of card stock with a Circles Framelit. I taped my card front down with some washi tape and then taped the circle mask over it, positioning the circle in the center of the card front. From there, I played with the images until I found a balance that pleased me. A helpful hint: press firmly at the edge of the mask to get into the edge of the circle.

I made a few different arrangements until I was happy, so you might consider playing with this on some scrap paper until you get the results you want.

The What I Love stamp set is already retired as a 2016 Sale-a-bration selection, but you can see that many of the other products I’ve used are also retiring. If there’s a retiring product you love, I suggest you shop now as these things often sell out before the end of the catalog. Shop the Retiring List HERE. A PDF that you can print is available HERE.

What a RemARKable Spring!

Posted on April 14, 2016 by mauistamper

Aloha and welcome to the Valley Isle, where we don’t celebrate Spring as much as we celebrate whale season, mango season, lychee season and tourist season! I know some of the stops on this RemARKable Spring tour have taken you to places still waiting for the sun, but here on Maui you can throw off your jacket and glide into your rubbah slippahs.

Stamps: Circle of Spring, Hardwood, Butterfly Basics
Color Palette: Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Accessories: Big Shot and Wreath Framelits, Stampin’ Trimmer, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Triple Banner Punch, Blender Pens, Pink Rhinestone Jewels (retired from a kit so old I can’t begin to tell you it’s age!)

The markings on the Stampin’ Trimmer make it very easy to cut away the top panel. I trimmed off 2 1/8″ to create the gate effect.

The wreath is colored quickly and simply with Blender Pens. With this much detail, I like the ability to work with a fine tip but still have control over color saturation. The Blender Pen allows more color variety than a Stampin’ Write marker.

If you know me, I’ll bet you guessed this was coming! This is my favorite combination and it’s hard for me to pass up an opportunity to showcase how well these colors play together.

In addition to Whisper White, Crumb Cake and Wild Wasabi, I’ve used Soft Sky, Island Indigo and Daffodil Delight. I often choose Pool Party in a case like this, but I liked the more subtle shade of Soft Sky this time.

The slats for the fence are made by using the Hardwood background stamp and cutting them with the Stampn’ Trimmer right along the board lines in the image. They end up being about 3/8″ wide, and I take one board and slice it in half for the cross bars. I tuck the end of the slat into the back of the Triple Banner punch to get a perfect peak.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these cards. Time to head over to see what Heather Mathieson has done for this month’s RemARKable Spring Blog Tour.

Anne Matasci – YOU ARE HERE!

Flowering Fields, continued

Posted on April 11, 2016 by mauistamper

My favorite combination appears to be your favorite as well! Thank you for your generous comments about what I’ve come to call the Flowering Fields Tile card. I continue exploring new color combinations with this design.

This version is Soft Sky with Pool Party. One of the things Stampin’ Up! does well is create tonal pairings in their color spectrum. I’ve stayed with Very Vanilla card stock and Sahara Sand ink and paper as my foundation. The Flowering Fields images can be used singly or in repetition, and I don’t copy from card to card, so each one is slightly different from the rest.

If you don’t enjoy coloring, this isn’t the card to make. I like to color, and because the tiles are small (1 3/8″ x 1 1/8″) if one tile doesn’t please me, I throw it out and start another. It’s only paper.

This version is Calypso Coral and Blushing Bride. I miss Crisp Cantaloupe, the retired In Color from last year. It was an ideal pairing with Calypso Coral, but I try to keep my published work current. It’s bad enough that I’m still featuring this retired Sale-a-bration stamp set!

My greens are Pear Pizazz and Old Olive, and the sentiment and Flowering Fields images are stamped in Soft Suede. The Timeless Textures backgrounds are stamped in Sahara Sand using the stamping off technique.

You might not notice it unless you were really studying the card, but I have a slight obsession with trying to get the floral images AND the backgrounds balanced. It involves a lot of muttering and staring and shifting, and I have no one to blame but myself.

It’s time to move on to current stamp sets, but I wanted to share this last group of cards to demonstrate the impact of color. Enjoy the creative process, and thanks again for your kind words.

A Bicycle Built for Two

Posted on March 31, 2016 by mauistamper

Growing up, my parents had a Schwinn Tandem. The Pedal Pushers stamp set from Sale-a-bration brought back very fond memories of that bike:

Stamps: Pedal Pusher, Teeny Tiny WIshes, Gorgeous Grunge
Color Palette: Whisper White, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Botanical Gardens Designer Washi, Big Shot, Arrows TIEF, Stampin’ Write markers, Corner Rounder punch

Coloring this tandem with Stampin’ Write markers goes quickly, and I wouldn’t hesitate to make a stack of these – it wouldn’t take long. The color splashes are a nod to the 60’s and 70’s. It’s a bit of an inside joke, a throwback to the time when this bike would have been in our garage.

Don’t tell my dad you’ve seen this card. I’m saving it for his birthday. #ImBringingBirthdaysBack.

If you like this stamp set, today is the last day to place an order and get one for free. Shop HERE.

Happy Birthday from the Barnyard

Posted on March 28, 2016 by mauistamper

I love these animal friends from the Barnyard Babies set. I’ve tried watercoloring them, but I like the results best when I use Stampin’ Write markers to highlight their features. Pool Party and Island Indigo are one of my favorite color combinations.

We made this card at my #ImBringingBirthdaysBack class earlier this month, and I made a few extra for my personal use when everyone was finished. I think the Silver Glimmer paper balloons are the perfect amount of bling.

The Stampin’ Up! color range includes a number of tonal combinations. I kept the base colors Whisper White and Basic Gray, and experimented with the accent colors. This is Calypso Coral and Blushing Bride (oh, I miss Crisp Cantaloupe! Do you think we’ll have a color refresh this year?)

The diagonal stripe comes from the Stampin’ Up! Designer Series Paper stacks. There’s a lot of bang for the buck in these fat pads of 12 x 12 patterned paper!

Yellow and grey are a very trendy color combination. I paired So Saffron with Crushed Curry for this Buttercup version of my card.

If you look closely, you’ll see that I used both colors of marker in this example. Making a batch of one style of cards leaves lots of room for experimenting!

For this last sample, I used the same Calypso Coral and Blushing Bride combination but used the softer, more subtle Blushing Bride stripe for the DSP background. This one seems more like a baby card to me as a result.

Seriously. Have you ever seen such a contented cow?

What’s your favorite Stampin’ Up! color combination? Which of these do you like the best?

Happy Amazing Birthday

Posted on March 25, 2016 by mauistamper

Last weekend we made #ImBringingBirthdaysBack cards:

Stamps: Amazing Birthday, Beautiful Ride, Gorgeous Grunge
Color Palette: Hello Honey, Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Party Punch Pack, Black Glimmer paper (Holiday 2015), Stampin’ Write markers, Stampin’ Dimensionals

There were 10 cards and everyone could choose which card and how many to make. It was a lovely Saturday afternoon, and I made quite a few cards myself. It worked out so well that I’m planning on doing another one soon. Let me know if you’d like to come.

I lopped off the first HAPPY from this sentiment to make it fit the picture in my head. The retired Black Glimmer paper leaped out of my stash and insisted on being included in this card.

I love how this card feels like a square card – the Whisper White panel is 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ – but measures a standard 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ to make the whole envelope/mailing/postage thing work out. What’s the point of a birthday card that’s too much trouble to mail?

Sale-a-bration is wrapping up. The last day for orders is next week Thursday at 7:50pm HST. Avoid the rush: shop HERE.

And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I hope you’ll seriously consider the April Paper Pumpkin. The kits are beautifully designed and perfect to grab and go when you need a little crafty pick-me-up. You can choose a one month subscription to try it out or save on a three month subscription and get a free SAB pick. Deadline to receive the April kit is April 10th!

The Maui Stamper

papercrafts, my stories, and the occasional insight

Category Archives: cards

A little vintage love

I’m gonna miss this sweet little bird

Sparkly Congratulations

Thinking of you, Little Koala

Another take on wreaths

What a RemARKable Spring!

Flowering Fields, continued

A Bicycle Built for Two

Happy Birthday from the Barnyard

Happy Amazing Birthday

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: