This blog shares my crafting projects, product reviews and other ramblings crafting related. I have 2 sons who keep me busy when I'm not crafting and a partner who is happy with me crafting but not yet convinced that the spare room should be a craft room! I hope you enjoy reading my experiences as much I enjoy sharing them. Happy Crafting!
Showing posts with label Simon says stamp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Simon says stamp. Show all posts
A simple tree outline card to add to my CAS cards. This card was inspired by the CAS christmas card challenge which you can link to here.
For the process video on how I made this card see the link below or click here.
SSS Clean Line Christmas stamp set has three tree outlines so I decided to line all three up next to each other on the front of a white notecard.
First I used ranger archival ink in sap green to stamp all three images, then removed the two tree images on the left and right to leave the centre tree image. I then use momento cottage ivy ink to re-stamp the centre tree image with a darker green to give it contrast and interest. Of course I'm using a stamping platform here to make it easy for me to re-stamp exactly on top of the image I'd already stamped.
Next step is the sentiment. I chose a sentiment stamp with "season's greetings" inside a rectangular box and decided to heat emboss that using black embossing powder.
I decided I wanted to mount the card front onto a red card base but I wasn't fond of the high contrast between the white notecard and the bright red card base. To combat this I decided to grab a blending brush and my Stampin' Up Cobbler Red ink pad and quickly add what I'm going to call a 'red fog border!' I liked how this softened the feel of the whole card; I just hope it doesn't break the CAS Christmas card challenge rules (sorry blog moderators if it does, but hope you enjoyed visiting my blog anyway).
This is a very simple CAS christmas card. I used the Altenew stamp set "Engineers Rule" so it is a more masculine christmas card perfect for engineers or handymen. The motivation for this card was to enter the CAS Christmas card challenge which you can find here.
If you prefer to watch a video on how I made this card there is a link below or just here.
The first step was to mask the triangle for the tree. On a standard note card I used a ruler to mark the centre of the card then used purple masking tape to form a triangle. I taped the notecard to my 'We R Memory Keepers Precision Press' (just a stamping platform!) then arranged the small engineering images from the Engineers Rule stamp set inside that triangle.
Using Gina K Designs Amalgam Ink in Jet Black, I stamped the images onto the notecard a few times to make sure I got a good impression.
I then removed the masking tape. I used a ruler and a black ink pen to draw a dashed line to outline the tree.
The tree needed a stand or trunk and I found a 'Merry Christmas' sentiment from Simon Says Stamp's Clean Line Christmas stamp set that lined up perfectly with the base of my 'tree' to give a metaphorical stump. I decided to stamp that sentiment using Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler ink and my precision press stamping platform.
I then trimmed down the edges - mainly to trim off the tear in the card (caused by my impatience when removing washi tape in an earlier step). Then I used double-sided tape to adhere the notecard to a navy blue card base.
In hindsight, I think it would have looked better had I heat embossed the sentiment and spotlighted some of the images making up the tree. However, it was a very quick card to make and I'm sure one of the engineers in my life will appreciate it.
Today this post is about how I made a card perfect for a new mum or a mum who could do with a loving hug. Click here or see below for a link to my card process video:
Inspiration for this card came from stuff I found in my crafty stash including my 'good job mama' stamp set and a background I stamped and colored using my STA watercolor brushmarkers. I was coloring the background piece to test my brushmarkers as part of my review of those markers so I wasn't really being careful in places, hence why a lot of the coloring is outside of the lines!
Because of this 'poor' coloring I needed to hide the imperfections somehow whilst making a good looking card. To do this I decided to overlay vellum on the top of my front notecard.
To start off I cut my watercolor piece to the largest square I could using a square diecut.
I then cut some specialty paper (Typewriter Luxury Designer Paper from Cristina Re d-i-y stationery) to 10.2cm x 20.4cm to make a square card base that is 10.2cm x 10.2cm square.
Time to cut the vellum. I cut it 0.5cm longer than the watercolor piece on one side to allow me to fold it over and behind the watercolor background to help with securing the vellum.
I then decided to heat emboss in black a love heart as well as the sentiment "good job mama, you are doing a great job" on the vellum. If I had red embossing powder I would have used that for the heart but I didn't so never mind. These sentiments/images are from the stamp set called "Good job mama" from Simon Says Stamp.
Time to put this card together... so I used double-sided tape to adhere the vellum to the watercolor background. I make sure to score, fold over, and tape down the excess to get a good hold. I leave the right hand side flapping about so that you get a little pop of color every now and then as you hold, open and close the card. The vellum does a great job of obscuring the imperfections in my coloring without taking away the beauty of it.
Next, I decide I wanted a bit of dimension to the card so I use foam tape to prop up the card front and adhere it to the front of the card base.
This card was another inspired by the stars and moons background I made earlier. Click here to go to the blog post on how I made that background or watch the following video:
I wanted to make a shaker card so I grabbed my Sizzix big shot and cut a rectangular window out of a white card front.
Before I get too far ahead of myself (and if you prefer) - here's a link to the process video for this shaker card:
So I cut the window at an angle to give it a bit of interest.
I found this sentiment strip from a moon stamp set I bought off Aliexpress that said "You're out of this world" that I wanted to use. I decided to stamp and heat emboss that sentiment above the shaker window using black embossing powder.
'Moon' Stamp Set
Sentiment Stamp Positioning and Angled Window
Heat Embossed Sentiment
Using an old presentation report cover, I cut out a clear plastic widow big enough to cover the window and stuck it down using double-sided tape.
I grabbed my stars and moons background to check the look before placing foam tape all around the shaker window.
Foam Tape
The foam tape lifts the card front higher above the background so that the shaker elements have somewhere to move around in. I made sure the foam tape was placed as close as possible to the window to prevent the loss of my shaker elements.
I then removed the backing paper on all of the foam tape and filled the window with a sprinkling of glass beads (which I was using as my shaker element). You can use anything as your shaker element, I just decided to use these beads as I found them in my stash and I had no other plans for them.
Filling Window with Beads
Now I grab my stars and moons background, stick it down on top of the foam tape placing it over those beads to enclose them in the window. I then use scrap cardstock to cover up the remaining exposed sticky foam tape and to make sure the back of the card front is all level.
Placing Background Over Window
Covering the Exposed Foam Tape with Cardstock
Shaker Window!!!
Time to make my 'Happy Birthday' Sentiment strip. I grap a strip of black cardstock and a 'Happy Birthday' sentiment stamp from Simon Says Stamp Greetings Mix 1 stamp set.
Simon Says Stamp Greetings Mix 1 Stamp Set
I place the card strip into my We R Memory Keepers Precision Press Stamping Platform and proceed to stamp the sentiment onto the strip using clear embossing ink. Then I heat emboss it using silver embossing powder and a heat tool.
Placing Card Strip and Stamp into Stamping Platform
Clear Embossing Ink
Stamped and Silver Heat Embossed Sentiment
After deciding I want this sentiment strip to sit across the bottom right hand corner of the card. I bring in my stamped and die cut space themed images which I've already colored using alcohol markers and arrange them on top of the card front.
Arranging Sentiment Strip and Space Images
Then I adhere everything down using double-sided tape and trim off any excess using scissors.
The last step is to adhere the entire card front to a black piece of cardstock using double-sided tape to finish the card. This card doesn't have a standard opening card base so it is intended that your card message is written on the back - I would use a white or silver gel pen in this case because I have used black cardstock as my final backing.
Many thanks for visiting my blog, if you'd like to see another card where I use the same background click here to see my starry window space themed card or click below for the process video:
I found a chemistry themed stamp set in my stash, on closer inspection they were all centred around love so with valentines coming up I thought I'd make a Valentine's Day card. Now, I'm pretty sure I bought this "chemistry love" stamp set off AliExpress and it shows, the images are quite small and the text is tiny so you need to be careful when you stamp with them to make sure you get a clear image.
Now for those who don't know me, I'm not a big Valentines Day celebrator. Well I say happy Valentines to my partner and maybe we'll have a nicer than normal dinner that night but otherwise we are pretty boring! However, the chemistry of this stamp set just tempted out and connected with the geek in me.
I wanted to use my Simon Say Stamp All the Thanks stamp set and I found a sentiment saying "I appreciate you so much" which is perfect for my partner as it's not something I would say too often to him but should probably do so as he does a lot for me. I also had some leftover diecut letters from the coordinating die cut that came with my Concord and 9th Simple Serif Alphabet Stamp Set so decided to make up 'happy valentine's' using those letters as well as the hearts that set comes with.
If you're wondering, I store my stamp (and die) sets in black envelopes with the full stamp set stamped on the front using white pigment ink.
Firstly though, I put a pink notecard into my stamping platform, then arranged lots of the images in the chemistry love stamp set all over the card. Then picked them up onto the platform's door and used Stampin' Up's Cherry Cobbler ink to stamp a background of the images onto the pink card.
I then arranged the letters to say happy valentine's so I could position the sentiment 'I appreciate you so much' between the two words. Used clear embossing ink to stamp the sentiment then heat embossed it with black embossing powder.
Using dots of PVA glue I adheres the die cut letters and hearts to the card as shown.
The pink notecard got a little warped from the glue (and because it's not the highest quality card) so to iron it out, I left it sandwich in my stamping platform with a heavy weight on top overnight.
Came back the next day to make a brown card base, then adhered the main notecard to the front of the brown card base using double-sided tape.
I'm slightly obsessed with the Engineers Rule stamp set by Altenew I recently purchased so here is another card inspired by that stamp set.
This time I was going for the look of a blueprint image well-known to be used in the drawings world and thought it would be similar if I used light colored inks on a blue cardstock and here's how I went.
I took a A6 piece of navy cardstock and placed in my We R Memory Keepers stamping platform. I them arranged the varioius engineering tools and equipment from the Engineers Rule stamp set around the outside of the card before closign the door on the stamping platform to grab the stamps.
Using Hyacinth Versa Colour ink I stamped these images a few times using my stamping platform. I decided to use the lilac Hyacinth colour over a white pigment ink because it gives a more subtle look which appeals to me.
To make sure the ink was dry I gave it a quick drying with my heat tool before rubbing my anti-static powder bag tool all over the notecard in preparation for heat embossing.
I decided the sentiment "Wishing you a Merry and Bright Christmas" would look good on this card. As a bonus it meant I could utilise stamps from both My Favourite Things' Hand Lettered stamp set and Simon Says Stamp's Holiday Greetings Set 1. I stamped these using clear embossing ink and then heat embossing it all using white embossing powder.
To finish off I adhered this note card to the front of a silver card base using double-sided tape.
Overall I really am fond of the outcome of this card. I love the look of it, the idea of it and the masculinity of it - it's hard to make cards for guys sometimes! If I were to make this card again I would probably place the words closer to another so the sentiment is more centred in te middle of the card but that is the perfectionist in me coming out.
Hope you enjoyed the card and can draw some inspirations from it for your own creations.
This is the first card of many that I intend to make using Altenew's Engineers Rule stamp set. I also used My Favourite Things' Hand Lettered Holiday stamp set too.
Firstly I took some black note card and stuck it to my We R Memory Keepers stamping platform using low tack masking tape.
Then I arranged the various tools and images in the Engineers Rule stamp set around the edge of the black note card. I used Versa Color in Hyacinth to stamp a surrounding border of engineering tools and images.
Using clear embossing ink I stamped Happy Christmas from MFT Lettered Holiday stamp set. Then I hear set it using white embossing powder from ranger.
To complete the sentiment I stamped "wishing you a" above Happy from Simon Says Stamp's Holiday Greetings Set 1. Then I used letters from an alphabet set to stamp "engineer's" above Christmas. I used Stampin Up whisper white ink for both.
Finally, I adhered the notecard to the front of a silver cardbase using double-sided tape.
I quite liked the watermark look of the border and I love how masculine this card turned out. Please note this card was largely an experiment, I would have liked to line up each part of the sentiments much straighter to give a cleaner and more engineered look. However, it hopefully gives a good idea of what I was trying to achieve and gives you inspiration to create something similar.
Once again I wanted to use Simon Says Stamp's Clean Line Christmas stamp set and it's geometric trees that I was recently gifted to use. I thought it would be perfect to create a clean and simple Christmas card. I also wanted to use the 'peaceful' stamp from Simon says stamp's Holiday Greetings Mix 1 so that formed the basis of this design.
(I'll post a link to a process video here in the near future)
Simon Says Stamp Holiday Greetings Mix 1
Simon Says Stamp Clean Line Christmas
First of all I decided to stamp each of the 3 geometric trees in a shade of blue, green and red. For the blue I used Altenew crisp dye ink in Desert Night, the green is Ranger Archival Ink in Library Green and the red I used was Stampin Up Cherry Cobbler.
Ink Pads Used on this Card
I placed a A6 sized piece of 300gsm (~100lb) cardstock and each tree stamp into my we r memory Keepers stamping platform and lined them up using a ruler. I stamped the furthest from the edge of my stamping platform first, removed it from the door then stamped the tree in the middle, removed that stamp and stamped the final tree. Thus was to make it easier for me to stamp the separate colours cleanly while keeping them all lined up where I wanted them on the card front.
I decided I wanted to have the sentiment "wishing you a peaceful Christmas" so I lined up the smaller 'wishing you a' above the "peaceful" stamp with 'christmas' below. I stamped this using ranger archival ink in jet black but I wanted the "peaceful" part of the sentiment to stand out so decided to restamp it using clear embossing ink then heat embossed it with black embossing powder. When I did this I made sure the stamped images where completely dry before applying my anti static powder tool then heat embossing.
Heat Embossing Tools Used
That was all I wanted to do on this card to keep it simple but felt it needed something more. I decided to give the card a bit of dimension by using foam tape to adhere the card front to a 180gsm textured white card base.
All The Products Used on This Card
And it's done. It turned out really simple and clean. Just how I wanted it to be. Hope you enjoyed this card design.
I wanted to try out my alcohol markers properly so I stamped this bold flower background and used my touchfive alcohol marker - which I bought off AliExpress- to try out some colour blending.
Flowery Background Outline
To stamp this background I used Gina K Designs Jet black ink as it is alcohol marker friendly and coloured it all in.
Alcohol Marker Colored Background
Then I used clear embossing ink onto vellum to stamp "Wishing you the happiest Christmas filled with love, cheer & joy" from Simon Says Stamp's Holiday Greetings Mix 1" clear stamp set. Then I sprinkled gold embossing powder over the top and heat set it. I folded the top edge of the vellum over the top of the coloured background.
Vellum Overlay
To keep it in place I used double-sided tape to stick vellum on top edge to the notecard. Then I adhered leftover red strips with clear embossed stamping to the top and bottom edges. I founda navy blue card and stuck the notecard to the front of that.
I found a seashells stamp set in my stash as I was rummaging through. I haven't used it much and remember buying it off trademe second hand as part of a bulk bunch of stamp sets so thought I'd make a couple of cards from it. Also came across the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - the challenge asks for cards in celebration of thanksgiving so I thought, why not create a 'Thanks' card.
You can find a link to the challenge by clicking here
And here is my card process video for this creation:
Firstly, I used Ranger Archival jet black ink to stamp seashell outlines onto 300 gsm white cardstock.
Seashells Stamp Set
Once the ink dried, (you could use a heat tool here to heat set to speed up drying time), I watercolor the shells using distress inks (tumbled glass and crushed olive). By water coloring, I mean I smooshed the pads onto plastic or non-stick paper, added a bit of water using a brush and applied 'paint' to the seashells then fussy cut them out as I didn't seem to have to the coordinating die cut.
Coloured stamped images and distress inks used
For the sentiment, I used Simon Says Stamp! Thanks 3x4 clear stamp set (SSS101347). This also came in the bulk pack of stamps off trademe. I stamped it onto black paper (shaped like a banner) using a Tsukineko embossing stamp pad then white heat embossed the sentiment using Ranger white embossing powder.
Simon Says Stamp Thanks Stamp Set SSS101347
Note that I use a 'normal' heat gun I found in the garage - it's a Bosch PHG 500-2, it does the trick and melts the embossing powder well enough. I am very careful not to burn the paper by being careful how close the heat gun is to the paper. I probably should by a craft one before the other half finds out I've stashed it with my crafty stuff...!
Heat Embossing Tools
I found a "thanks" die-cut in my stash, which I'm not sure if it is a coordinating die-cut but it does seem to match nicely with it!. I used this die cut to cut thanks out of white cardstock twice and coloured one with my purple marker to act as a shadow.
"thanks" die cut and die cuts
For the background, I blended using distress inks from bottom to top: scattered straw, tumbled glass and shaded lilac onto water colour paper notecard. I drew some clouds on a white piece of paper and cut it out so I had a faux cloud/waves stencil. I then used my sponge dauber with white pigment ink (Stampin' Up kraft in Whisper White) to blend outlines of waves on top of the background.
Tools used to make blended background
To assemble the card, I glued the white thanks on top of purple thanks with a slight offset so the purple thanks looks like a shadow, then glued this to the top of the background. Using double-sided tape, I stuck down the black banner with heat embossed sentiment below the die-cut "thanks." Then I stuck down three of the coloured seashells where the 'sand' meets the 'sea' on the background.
After that, I stuck the notecard to the front of a silver card base, cut down any excess and the card is finished.
Seashells on the Beach - Thanks Card
Check back into this blog post in a few days and I'll have a you tube video at the top of this blog post showing how I made another 'seashells on the beach' card with similar materials and vellum for the sentiment.
Hope you found this post useful - feel free to ask questions or leave a comment I'd love to hear what you think as I grow and learn more about this new cardmaking hobby of mine.
Living in the southern hemisphere means a warm summer's day on Christmas. When I came across Simon Says Stamp's Warm Christmas Wishes for sale 2nd hand on Trademe, I had to get it and make some summery Christmas cards. Combined with a couple of other summer themed stamp sets, this will be the first of many Christmas cards I make with a summer flair to them.
(I will link to a YouTube process video for this card here in the near future, I'm just having a few teething issues with editing the footage but I'll get there and put it up as soon as it's ready!)
I wanted to use the large landscape image from Simon Says Stamp's Surf's Up stamp set so I decided to make a square card and cut out a piece of 300 GSM white cardstock 15cm x 15cm. A few friends have been asking how I store my stamp (and die) sets so I'll post another blog post in the near future on how I do that using black envelopes as you can see in the following photos.
Simon Says Stamp - Surf's Up Stamp Set
Simon Says Stamp - Warm Christmas Wishes Stamp Set
Simon Say Stamp - Warm Christmas Wishes - Coordinating Die Set
I stamped that large circular landscape image onto my square card using clear embossing ink and heat embossed it with silver embossing powder. I also stamped the image onto plain white scrap paper using black ink and fussy cut it out - this will be used as a mask as when I use my daubers to ink blend the background.
Using Altenew mini ink pads and sponge daubers, I carefully masked the landscape image and ink blended an ocean scene with an island in the middle using the following colours: Caramel Toffee, , Desert Night, Dusk, Ocean Waves and Sea Glass.
Altenew Inks and Sponge Daubers Used of Ink Blended Background
Onto white 300 GSM cardstock I stamped many of the smaller images from both Surf's up and Warm summer wishes' stamp sets using Gina K jet black amalgam ink. As I intended to color them using alcohol markers.
Using Touchfive alcohol markers I colored the images then either fussy cut around them or they were die cut using a coordinating die if the image was from the Warm Summer Wishes stamp set.
Warm Christmas Wishes & Surf's Up Images - Stamped and Colored
Next I arranged the images onto the card front to see where it would be best to place a sentiment. I decided to use the 'Warm Christmas Wishes' sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp's Warm Christmas Wishes Stamp Set. Once I was happy with the arrangement, I stuck the images down into place using double sided tape and stamped the sentiment using clear smbossing ink onto black card stock. I then heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder, cut the card into a banner and stuck it to the card using double-sided tape.
I cut down the card front a little and mounted it to a 15.5cm x 16.5cm black card base. This is the first square card I've made so it a bit of an odd sized card, which is why I also had to make an envelope that is 16.5cm x 16.5cm. I used some scrapbooking paper with silver/black baubles to make a christmas themed envelope for this card.
Warm Christmas Wishes Christmas Card with Silver Baubles Envelope
