Tag Archives: teeny tiny wishes

Soothing Sahara Sand

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Sometimes you need a card that is soothing.  Your message is simple and subdued, and your colors and images need to fit the same criteria:

Soothing Elements of Style

  • Elements of Style and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
  • Very Vanilla, Soft Suede and Sahara Sand card stock
  • Soft Suede Classic ink pad
  • Oval and Small Oval punches
  • 3/8 inch Vanilla Taffeta ribbon
  • Basic Pearl Jewels
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals

Although this card didn’t start out to be this understated I’m happy with it all the same.  As a matter of fact, if I’d set out to create a card that looked like this I’m not sure I would have been able to accomplish that task.

The ribbon embellishment is a pair of 1 1/2 inch pieces that are loosely hand stitched along one edge and gathered slightly.  The ends are drawn together and I’ve tied a knot to hold each short piece in a rough semicircle.  They’re attached to the back of the oval with a bit of SNAIL and a second Soft Suede oval is adhered over the first, sandwiching the ribbons in place so they’ll be secure.  The completed embellishment is attached to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Sahara Sand is an under-appreciated color in our palette.  I need to remember to choose it more often.

And the spiders just laughed

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Welcome to Day One of the RemARKable Stampers Holiday Madness Blog Tour!  Buckle your seat belts and get ready for a wonderful Sleigh Ride through the Holidays…although as you all know, there’s not a whole lotta sleigh riding’ here in the islands!  I’m thrilled to be a part of this blog hop for the next week, and I hope you’ll have a wonderful time riding along with me.

To get started, we’re going to visit the holiday closest at hand.  Halloween in Hawaii is huge.  When our kids were small, we lived in a neighborhood full of families.  Everyone would set their beach chairs out in the driveway and watch the enormous parade of keiki (children) as they walked, skated, scootered or got strollered through the streets.  The really organized people had their grills going, and there were a few houses with really elaborate and impressive decorations.  I was always too busy getting three small children into costumes and fed something, anything, that wasn’t full of sugar before we headed out – carving the pumpkins was just about my limit.  Fortunately, our yard was full of contented spiders willing to do a little decorating for me.,

You know that frantic, arms-flailing, twisting and turning little dance you do when you accidentally walk through a cobweb?   You’re trying to get all the webby bits out of your hair and at the same time you are just PRAYING that the spider was out at Walmart getting supplies for the Webber grill…that’s what I was thinking about:

Sparkling Big Shot Web

  • Teeny Tiny Wishes and Season of Friendship Stamp sets
  • More Mustard, Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry,  and Very Vanilla card stock
  • Basic Black and Rich Razzleberry Classic ink pads
  • Big Shot and Spider Web Textured Impressions folder
  • Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint; Rich Razzleberry Taffeta Ribbon
  • Stampin’ Sponges; Modern Label Punch and Crop-a-dile
  • Googly Eyes (non-SU)

Actually, my spider was sitting in the tree just watching me do the Tarantella and laughing with his little spidery friend.  This new Textured Impressions folder from the Holiday Mini is so vivid you could use it all by itself for a card and it would work beautifully.  I used it with the raised side down because I liked the distance it created, but it is equally awesome when you use it right side up.  You’ll have to try it yourself to find out, but don’t wait too long because these Textured Impressions folders are very popular and you don’t want to be disappointed just before Halloween!  That would be a mean trick and no treat.

Next Stop on the Holiday Madness Blog Tour

Whoo’s watching?

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Look at these eyes:

An Owl in a Cage

  • Aviary and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
  • So Saffron, Whisper White, Pear Pizazz and Night of Navy card stock
  • Greenhouse Gala Designer Series paper
  • Basic Grey and Night of Navy Classic ink pads; Basic Gray Stampin’ Write marker
  • 1 1/4 and 1 3/8 inch circle, Scallop Trim, Word Window and Modern Label punches
  • Night of Navy 1/4 inch grosgrain (retired) and Rhinestone Jewels

I finally put a bird inside the cage…the owl, to be exact.  There’s something about leaving him inside that makes me sort of sad.   After all, shouldn’t an owl be flying around outside?  I’m imagining that he’s been hurt and someone is lovingly caring for him until he can be released.  He’s really quite happy there – he feels secure.

Stamping with Markers

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Stampin’ Write markers are absolutely fabulous.  I love that they have a fine, journaling tip and a broad paintbrush tip.  I love the quality of the ink that gives such great saturation whether you’re applying ink to a stamp or coloring on paper.  And I really love that they coordinate with every single one of  the Stampin’ Up! exclusive colors!

The beautiful images in the Friends Never Fade stamp set were made for working with markers.  These bold flowers have just enough detail to create the perfect canvas for selectively applying ink with markers without being so detailed that a person could lose her mind in the process.  It might happen if  her mind was already wandering, but that’s a story no one wants to hear!

Friends Never Fade

  • Friends Never Fade and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
  • Vintage Vogue wheel
  • Very Vanilla, So Saffron and Chery Cobbler card stock
  • Old Olive and Tangerine Tango Classic ink pads
  • Chery Cobbler, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango and So Saffron Stampin’ Write markers
  • Kiwi Kiss patterns Designer Series Paper (retired)
  • So Saffron grosgrain ribbon  (Daffodil Delight is now available!)
  • Round tab punch
  • Blender Pen
  • So Saffron brads (Daffodil Delight is now available!)
  • Piercing tool, template and mat; straight edge (ruler)

Here are a couple of tips to make your Marker-to-Stamp technique pop:

  1. Ink the stamp with your primary color, then use a Blender pen to selectively remove ink you want to replace
  2. Begin with light colors, then add progressively dark colors.  This helps to avoid discoloring your markers if a light colored marker comes in contact with darker ink.
  3. Use the side of the brush end of your Stampin’  Write marker to add the ink, and use a gentle hand to avoid crushing the brush tip.
  4. Add a little texture by loading extra ink on a few points – notice the Old Olive leaves
  5. “Huff” on your stamp before applying it to paper to re-moisten all ink

As long as we’re in the helpful hint department, take a good look at those brads.  Nice and straight and evenly spaced, aren’t they?  The secret is the Piercing tool, template and mat.  I couldn’t begin to make a straight line of brads without them.

Have some fun with your markers!

Pick a Happy Petal

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The Fancy Favor box is just the right size for little gifts – a gift card, a piece of jewelry, movie tickets or even cookies.  It’s easy to cut out and put together, and with a few leftover scraps of card stock you can make it into a little jewel:

Pick a Petal Favor

  • Pick a Petal and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
  • Certainly Celery, Whisper White, and Cameo Coral card stock
  • Bermuda Bay, Certainly Celery and Cameo Coral Classic ink pad
  • Horizontal slot and Medium Tag punches
  • Bermuda Bay polka dot ribbon; Linen thread
  • Big Shot and Fancy Favor die

Do you see the little polka dotted tag in there?  I stamped a couple of extra petals for the flower and decided not to use the polka dot ones, so I punched one to make a polka dot tag.  I know.  Simple things make me happy.  That’s not so bad, is it?

When words aren’t enough

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Sometimes you need to send a hug through the mail.  You want to convey love and support and hope, but you know that right now, words aren’t enough.

When words aren't enough

  • Thoughts and Prayers and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
  • Very Vanilla card stock
  • Soft Suede and Baja Breeze Classic ink pads
  • Stampin’ Sponges and 1 3/8″ square punch

I used the square punch to cut a rectangular mask out of a scrap of card stock.  I sponged the Baja Breeze ink evenly through the mask, then removed the mask to stamp the tree from Thoughts and Prayers.  I like the hopeful feeling that I get when I look at this card.  I hope my friend will feel hopeful when she opens it.

Steppin’ up

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I’m working on projects for workshops coming up and I’m struggling.  My personal card-making style tends to be in the “More is More” category, and not so much in the KISS (Keep It Simple, Sweetie) department.  All of my workshops are totally hands on – I don’t demonstrate anything, I just pass out the paper, stamps and ink and let everyone play.  If there are too many steps or the steps are too advanced, new stampers get overwhelmed.

My solution is to make two versions of a card.  There’s one for everyone to make, and another to let them see where they can take the card.  Here’s the starter version:

Cheep Talk Four Square

  • Cheep Talk and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
  • Whisper White, Taken with Teal, Barely Banana and Pink Passion card stock
  • Taken with Teal and Pink Passion Classic ink pads
  • 1 1/4 inch and Scallop Square punches
  • Bitty Buttons, Itty Bitty punch pack and Tombo All-Purpose Adhesive

Do you see the peek at the inside of the card?  Taken with Teal is too dark for correspondence so I include a Whisper White panel inside, and the little heart from Cheep Talk is stamped in the corner just for fun.

Here’s Version 2 (and it’s the same card stock – operator error with the camera is responsible for the color discrepancy):

Cheep Talk Four Square Version 2

Same supplies as above PLUS:

  • Wood Grain stamp
  • Whisper White Craft ink, Heat tool and White Embossing powder
  • Paper Piercing tool, template and mat
  • So Saffron striped grosgrain ribbon and Linen Thread
  • 1/8 inch hole punch (non-SU) and Crystal Effects
  • Corner rounder and Modern Label punch
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals

Perhaps you prefer the first card – a lot of people like a simpler look.  Every now and then I get into a Clean and Simple kind of mood, but I don’t think this first sample even qualifies there — too many layers.  Either way, the cards are bright and whimsical and get the message across:  I’m thinking of you!

A Fond Farewell to Ballet Blue

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Ballet Blue.  All by itself it’s a lovely shade of blue.  I wear that color and I’ve decorated with that color.  But I seldom make cards with Ballet Blue.  Not exactly sure why but there you have it.

Stampin' Up! Medallion Joseph's Coat

  • Medallion, En Francais and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
  • Ballet Blue, Pale Plum, and Whisper White card stock
  • Ballet Blue, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum and Mellow Moss Classic ink pads
  • Oval Punch and Small oval punch, brayer
  • Clear Rhinestone brads, piercing tool and mat
  • Stampin Sponges, Embossing Buddy, Clear Embossing powder and Heat Tool

I’m playing with techniques – can you tell?  This is Joseph’s Coat and if I didn’t know better, I would think it was developed with this Medallion stamp in mind.  The tutorial shows the color applied to the base card stock in stripes using the (now retired) spectrum pad, but I applied color with Stampin’ Sponges.  I like the look better, especially with such a bold stamp.

This technique takes me back to grade school, back in the day when we did art projects in class.  We would color as hard as we could with crayons in the same sort of random pattern, then cover it all with a thick coat of black crayon.  The final step was to etch a design in the black, revealing the pattern of color underneath it.  It must have kept us occupied for a LONG time!  Our crayons never looked the same after one of those projects…especially the black crayon.

Farewell, Ballet Blue.

A Fond Farewell to Lavender Lace

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OK, well maybe only kinda fond.  Lavender Lace is one of those colors that I bought as a new demonstrator because I “needed” to have all the colors.  It’s never been a color that cried out “Me! Me!” in the stamp room.  More often than not, I would use it because I felt guilty that I had neglected it.

As of June 30, I will be 100% Lavender Lace Guilt Free.

That said, I like the way it looks in this card:

Stampin' Up! Lavender Lace Thoughts and Prayers

  • Thoughts and Prayers and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
  • Lavender Lace, Apricot Appeal and Glossy White card stock
  • Elegant Eggplant Classic ink pad
  • Lavender Lace, Apricot Appeal, and Pixie Pink Classic ink refills
  • Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware; Big Shot and Perfect Polka Dots Impressions folder
  • Double Rectangle punch and 5/8 inch Vanilla Satin ribbon

The background behind the fabulous tree from Thoughts and Prayers is the oh-so-easy Striped Wipe technique.  I am such a fan of that tree.   It’s graceful and has just enough asymmetry to give you room to embellish away without disturbing the balance of the card.

Lavender Lace looks great with Pixie Pink, which ought to give you a clue to my feelings about Pixie Pink!  I’ll miss Apricot Appeal though – my upline uses it a lot and I’ve learned to love it.

Speaking of Crystal, I saw her twice last week and got to feed baby Isaac.  He’s a man-child, always hungry.  What is it about baby boys?  It’s hard to get their little tanks all filled up.

Off to fill up my Stampin’ Tank.

One stamp, a thousand cards

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I know I’ve said that if I could take only one stamp set to a desert island I would take Vintage Vogue, but if I could take only one stamp all by it’s lonesome I would take Medallion.

Happy Anniversary Medallion

  • Medallion, French Script and Linen (retired) background stamps; Teeny Tiny Wishes
  • Whisper White, Mellow Moss, Not Quite Navy and Baja Breeze (retired) card stock
  • Baja Breeze, Mellow Moss and Not Quite Navy Classic ink pads; Versamark ink
  • Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint in solution with rubbing alcohol as Shimmer Spray
  • Mellow Moss taffeta ribbon, Circle Ice Rhinestone brads, Photo Corner punch
  • Embossing Buddy, Clear Embossing powder and Heat Tool

I used the photo corner punch to make the points on the little banner, and I embossed the Not Quite Navy circle from the Medallion background stamp to add texture. Oh and ps, I relied on my favorite all time color combo of blues and greens.  You know this is a special card because I dug into my stash of retired Baja Breeze card stock!

My amazing husband and I celebrated 29 years of married on Easter Sunday.  It was a busy day filled with church and family (including skype conversations with the West Coast and Perth, Australia – lots of time zone math) plus dinner and a trip over to the beach to drink a little champagne and watch the sun go down.  I’m so blessed to be married to my best friend, and I wanted a special card to tell him how much he means to me.  My theme was “Classic Masculine Romance” – not quite sure I hit it, but I’m pleased with the card all the same.  He liked it too.