A RemARKable Autumn Anniversary set

Posted on October 19, 2013 by mauistamper

I think it’s fall, y’all…

And if those leaves were shaped a little differently that would look quite a bit like the plumeria tree in my back yard.

But we are celebrating Autumn, the season of crisp air, apples and pears, and falling leaves. Or on Maui, the return of the snowbirds, the first humpback sighting, and lilikoi season!

I’m hooked on these Thinlets cards – fun, easy AND a guaranteed wow! The “DSP” panel on the front is a piece of Very Vanilla card stock cut with the Thinlets die and trimmed to fit.

Funny how much difference placement can make…this was my first attempt with this idea:

This feels all wrong to me – the front panel is receding, the back panel is approaching, and the whole thing feels out of balance. When I re-made the card (and realized how much better the falling leaves stamp suited the theme) I was much happier. And that’s what counts in my book 🙂

While I was playing with these stamps, I inked a few of the images in Smokey Slate. Not sure why I chose that color, but I loved the muted look. (It made me happy…see above.) I tried them out as gift cards:

The ultimate in simplicity – perhaps too simple for some, but not for me. Perhaps a single word in the corner, perhaps not…I just loved it. I tried them all:

This bucket of apples worked so well with the Smokey Slate! Featuring just one of the apples gave this image a pop! without being overwhelming.

I wouldn’t normally put Tangerine Tango with Smokey Slate, but I had a theme going here! Black would have been too sharp, and would have evoked more of the feeling of Halloween.

My little friend the tree wasn’t so sure she liked being stamped in Slate, but she agreed to be a good sport and play along.

And here’s the Slate family portrait. I could imagine doing this with other neutrals – and with others from this 25th Anniversary Collection.

Follow the tour to Andi Potler to see what she has to share – I’m sure you’ll be delighted!

Two Pineapples

Posted on August 22, 2013 by mauistamper

I inked up my Undefined Pineapple:

Undefined hand carved Pineapple
The Good Life stamps, May 2013 My Paper Pumpkin
Gorgeous Grunge and Yippee Skippee stamp sets
Old Olive, Baked Brown Sugar, Crushed Curry and Whisper White card stock
Old Olive, Crushed Curry and Baked Brown Sugar FFIP
Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Crushed Curry and Baked Brown Sugar Stampin’ Write markers
Natural Trim ribbon
2 1/2 inch circle punch
Big Shot and Thinlets Circle Flip card die
Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die
Honeycomb TIEF
Stamp-a-ma-jig
Sticky Strip
Stampin’ Sponge

Yeah, I kinda pulled out everything in the stamp studio for this one 🙂

The pineapples are inked with markers and masked. I carved just one pineapple, and I carved it in a hurry! It has a folksy, rustic look to it.

Didja break down and get the Thinlets Flip Card die yet? I confess that if I hadn’t seen them in person at convention I might not have been so anxious, but I did and I was so I ordered them on August 1st – the first day I could. The 5 chevron pieces are one of the accent dies that accompany the Circle Flip die.

I stamped this sentiment from Yippee Skippee three times in three colors of ink and cut them up. There’s a strip of Crushed Curry card stock stamped with the diagonal lines from Gorgeous Grunge behind the words to serve as an anchor. Lining that up was definitely a job for the Stamp-a-ma-jig.

If you stretch the entire card out, this is what the first side looks like. You’re seeing the front of the card, the back of the flip, and the inside of the card. The Baked Brown Sugar panel was run through the Honeycomb TIEF before I adhered it to the Old Olive card base. I added a strip of white card stock (more details HERE) to the inside for additional writing space, and I put a Crushed Curry 2 1/2″ circle behind the flip to give it a finished look. I might write an additional note here, or I might add a photo. And yes, this is an extended card. Patty Bennett has made an excellent tutorial – see it HERE.

Turn the card over to see the second side. If you look closely at the Natural Trim ribbon you’ll see that I butted the edges on the diagonal to create a finished edge – I didn’t want a knot or a bow. It also creates a more finished look over the scallop trim from the Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die. I used a full-height piece of Sticky Strip to secure the trim.

This card looks a lot more complicated than it is – you could surely make one yourself.

What could be better? Best of Shelli

Posted on August 17, 2013 by mauistamper

RemARKably, it’s the third Sunday and time for a Best of Blog Tour. The featured set for July is Best of Shelli – you DO know who Shelli is, don’t you?

Best of Shelli 25th Anniversary, Affection Collection and Express Yourself (hostess) stamp sets
Very Vanilla, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral and Baked Brown Sugar card stock
Crisp Cantaloupe and Baked Brown Sugar FFIP
Big Shot and Hearts A-Flutter Framelits
Artisan Punch
Natural Trim Ribbon
Stampin’ Dimensionals

Each of these images really does say “Shelli Gardner” in my mind. I had a good time stretching my usual sense of style to play with the textures available with these varied images, and of course once you start cutting out flags it’s really hard to stop 🙂

I have a soft spot for typewriters – I’ve got my grandfather’s old Royal in its traveling case. He used to take it on the train every day from Redwood City to San Francisco as a VP for Pacific Far East Line. I vividly remember riding with my grandmother late summer afternoons to the train station to wait for Gramps to get home.

Best of Shelli 25th Anniversary and Trust God stamp sets
Whisper White Craft Ink and Pistachio Pudding and Soft Suede FFIP
Whisper White and Pistachio Pudding card stock
Big Shot and Circle Thinlets Flip Card die
1 3/4″ Circle punch
Bitty punch pack
Pearl Jewels
Tea Lace Doily

This has a TOTALLY different feeling, doesn’t it? If you look closely you’ll see I didn’t bother to align these images perfectly – no Stamp-a-ma-jig this time! I was feeling terribly cavalier and did some “eyeball inking” – imagine that!!

This looks straight onto the Flip Circle portion of the card – you can see how everything is lined up. I trimmed a smidge off the Tea Party doily so that it would fit around the curve created by the thinlet.

Here’s my trick for that two-tone effect. I ran a piece of Whisper White card stock through with the thinlet, overlapping just the last scoring bar. It was easy to line up that folded line on my Stampin’ Trimmer and take the flap off so that I could adhere the back panel to the card base.

Here’s what it looks like flattened out from the front – well, it’s the front of the card and the front of the second page, and the back of the Circle Flip – if you can follow my fronts and backs!

Here’s what it looks like if you flip the “flattened out front” card onto the reverse side.

One more angle for you to see! Although it appears that the front panel is NOT Pistachio Pudding, I assure you that it is. This Thinlet is really fun to play with!