Stamping with Mitra!

Another Tulipe Tuesday!

Well, I had so much fun coming up with my very own stencil last week (and I hope you made your own too!) and using it to make super simple and easy cards with it.

This week I will show you how to use that same stencil using the Tulipe Die (or any other SU! stencil you might have) with stencil paste to create a beautiful textured image!

I got the idea from Kimberly (she has a video tutorial that you can check out if you'd like) and thought I would share it with you!

Here's what you need to do this project:

a stencil (or to make your own, see my previous post HERE)

stencil paste - you can get some from your local craft store

popsicle stick/knife (something to spread your stencil paste with)

a surface to decorate (a scrapbook, a picture frame, a vase...)

stencil adhesive/tape

Step 1: adhere your stencil to your material ( I didn't have stencil paste so I used tape - which I DON'T recommend.  As you can see, my image was not as crisp as I would have liked.  Tape was fine for when I made my cards HERE but sometimes I had a few blurs).

*If you want to have your image centered, here are my doodles for centering my image on a 6x6 album.  I kept the 2" from the right and left to be centered but then made it a little higher than the 1 1/4". 

Step 2: follow the instructions on your stencil paste.  I had to knead mine, squeeze it out, and then spread it (I used a knife).

Step 3: remove stencil carefully and straight up (be sure to wash your stencil and knife to remove the paste)

 Step 4: let paste dry

I added some ribbon to add a little something.  I think that next time I would plan my decorating (i.e. ribbon, any extra embellishments) before creating my image

  

ribbon low

or ribbon in the middle!

I hope you have fun playing with this technique! 

Have a fabulous day!

Mitra

A new sketch, a new card, a fun technique!

The sketch that I worked with for these cards is the following:

 Since I didn't have any buttons in the colours that I wanted, I decided to make my own!  It's fun, easy, and means you will always have co-ordinating embellishments!

I learned this technique from Rebel Inker (she has a video tutorial if you are visual). 

You need the following materials:

A circle punch (I used 1" for the bigger ones and 3/4" for the smaller ones.  I have also used 1/2" for mini ones)

Cardstock and designer paper if you want to make a fancier button

Crystal effects

Crop-a-dile/hole punch

Sanding blocks

Step 1: cut several circles out of your cardstock (I did 4)

Step 2: glue them together (I used the Tombow white glue)

Step 3: punch out your top circle out of cardstock or dsp and glue to your stack of 4 circles

Step 4: sand down the sides so that the layers blend together

Step 5: punch out two holes to make it look like a button

Step 6: add crystal effects to add 'shine'

Step 7: Let dry (be careful not to touch them) and then use on your project!

for a little extra <pop> add a second layer of crystal effects once the first layer is dry.

My first card I couldn't seem to add buttons to the top right corner to make it turn out nicely - I still like the card so I thought I would share it with you anyways.  I had more success with my second card (and the awesome Sweet Pea DSP!)

     

I hope you like my square cards!  I might try to make a circle one later this week :)

Happy stamping!

Mitra

Tulipe Tuesday!

I absolutely LOVE this die - it is so pretty and classy!  It also makes it super easy to make a quick card that looks great!  To see a couple samples, see my previous post here!

Today I am going to show you something AWESOME that you can do with your tulipe die.  I hope you like it!  To start off, have you seen the line of Decor Stencils that SU! sells!?!  They are great for so many things!  You can decorate your walls, cards, scrapbook pages...you name it!  Check them out in the Definitely Decorative catalogue here!

In the meantime, if you don't have a stencil yet but you have the Tulipe die, here's what you can do!  It's SO EASY!

Take a window sheet and cut it down to fit your Tulipe die:

Run it through your Big Shot and pop out all the little pieces:

Voilà!!!   You have your very own stencil!  Now to have fun with it :)  (If you would like to see a video on how to use stencils - go to my side bar and click on the <Decor Stencil > link.

So here are two cards that I made for the Stampin' Royalty challenge of only using ONE layer for a card using my brand new stencil, sponges, and the In Colour ink pads:

And here are my variations!  I had fun playing with my new crimper and then of course couldn't resist adding layers! 

I also played with the shimmer paint using my sponge dauber to make a THIRD one layer card for this week's challenge!  The silver on black looks FABULOUS in person :)

 Be sure to check back NEXT TUESDAY for another Tulipe Tuesday technique :)

Thanks for looking!

Mitra

back to bashful blue and rich razzleberry!

aka blue and maroon - I love it! 
If you looked at the earlier posts from the technique class you will see that I had a blast with this colour combination!  I had to play with them and the fabulous Embrace Life set :) *I have added an album just for this stamp set on my sidebar so if you have this set you will have ideas to go with it!*

Here is what I came up with while I was playing around:

plain and simple   

debating between a piece of plain chocolate chip cardstock

and double-stitched chocolate chip ribbon


In the end, I went with the simple chocolate chip ribbon and jazzed it up with a jumbo grommet!

I have to confess to having been slightly intimidated by the jumbo grommets because I had never used them before - but they were SUPER easy to use!  And I think they add a great touch :)

Here's a mini-tutorial on how to use them!
Step 1
Place the grommet where you want it on your cardstock.  With a mat underneath, push it through the paper


This is what the grommet looks like when it is poking through the other side
*you can see that I was playing with making some sort of background using the other stamps in the set but changed my mind :P *

Step 2

Using your bone folder, press the edges inwards

Your grommet is now set! 

If you want to add ribbon into the centre like I did, you don't need to do it the way I did (so I won't show you that way! :P)  I was playing around trying to figure it out and in this case I think the easiest way is best!  All you have to do is tie your ribbon, put a glue dot behind it, attach it into the centre, and there you have it!  (a lot of writing to say <tie, glue, done>).

Texture Plates!!!!

 I got these in my latest order and just had the chance to play with them - they are FABULOUS and SUPER easy to use!

I figured I would show you just how easy it is :)

With your Big Shot you get the multipurpose platfrom that has all the instructions you need!  BUT since I had a request (and I enjoy taking pictures :P) I thought that I would add a visual step by step here for you and to show you what I ended up with :)

 

Step 1 - put the texture plate on top of the platform (the design that I want is FACE UP -  the plates are double-sided)

  

Step 2 - put your cardstock on top of the plate

 

Step 3 - add the silicone rubber to your sandwhich

 

Step 4 - add the last layer - the impressions pad!

 (I just put it slightly off so that you can see all the layers)

Step 5 - Smoosh your sandwhich through your Big Shot and voilà!

 

Step 6 (optional) - If you want to use the paper through your Big Shot with a die (like the Top Note) afterwards you can get one of these ;)

 

I used two of these (along with a few other things :P) to make the cute Top Note purse (this one is a replacement for my niece - she loved the other one to pieces ;P )

 

It was hard to take a picture so that you could see the textured paper - but it's there!  Next time I would also add texture to the part that I cute the circle out of

I made this one a little different by using a rhinestone brad in the centre of the flower - I like it! 

Embossing...

I thought I would give a quick step-by-step to do list for embossing just as a review for some or as a tutorial for others. It took me a few tries before I got the hang of it - but now I absolutely love it and it is a LOT easier!  (so for those of you who are having trouble right now - don't give up! )

Step 1

This is the one that I am the WORST at remembering.  Rub your cardstock with the Embossing Buddy (# 103083) to get rid of the static.  The first few times I kept forgetting to do this so I would always end up with powder on my paper as well as on my image.  Sometimes you might want this because it does give a cool 'snowy' effect, but not if you want a clear, crisp image.  A friend of mine uses Bounce sheets and says they work great - I've never tried them before, but if you don't have the Embossing Buddy yet, try it out and let me know!

Step 2

Stamp your image using VersaMark (clear, sticky ink pad) or Craft ink (very juicy, takes a long time to dry so is good for embossing #102283 and 101731).

Step 3

 

 Pour your embossing powder over your stamped image.  Shake off the excess powder back into the container (using a Powder Pal is really handy - # 102197).  Flick the paper with your finger if you have a lot sticking to the page

You can see on this one the flecks of white on the black cardstock that disappears after I flicked the paper!  (not easy to do if you've forgotten step 1!)

Step 4

Using your heat gun (it's really the easiest thing to use - if you don't have one yet, you can try the stove - just be careful you don't burn yourself.  A hair dryer on low might work but I haven't tried it), hold it over the image, moving it around so you don't stay in one spot tooo long

This picture is the one that I took using the versamark because it is easier to see the change in colour of the powder that tells you when it's done :)

And that's all there is to it!  Once you get the hang of it you'll be hooked!  You can also use different colour craft inks with the clear powder, or if you are someone who likes silver, gold, or black you can buy the powders in those colours too - they look fabulous!

Embossing is great for so many things!  You can use it to create a background (see my post here) or to add texture to an image (see here).

Feel free to email me pictures of your projects!  I would love to add them to this post :)

Super quick and easy card :)

So I promised to post a tutorial for the card that we made at my open house (Kari inspired!) a couple weeks ago.  Sorry it took me so long to get to it! Life got a little busy - but I am still "doing it right"!  hihihi  (sorry for my corny pun...). 

I started off with a piece of pink pirouette cardstock and stamped the saying in chocolate chip ink.   I decided to do this step first in case I made a mistake I could easily fix it - by using the other side! :P

Next I stamped the above image on whisper white cardstock using mellow moss and chocolate chip and the two stamps above from the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set (love it!)

I then used my handy dandy SNAIL (for those of you have tried it - you know how fabulous it is).  It is like the white out that comes in a dispenser and you use it the same way - it just happens to be double-sided adhesive!  How awesome is that!?!  I also love the fact that you can get refills for it (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!)  :D

I used my grid sheet to figure out how long to make my wonderful (and favourite!) double-stitched grosgrain chocolate chip ribbon (you don't have to use it, I just had it on the table already).  Using my glue dots (or you can use your SNAIL) I adhered it to the back of my pink pirouette.  * Make sure you do this BEFORE you glue your pink cardstock to the chocolate chip card*  If you make a mistake, I will show you in a future tutorial how to <fix> it! 

The final step was to glue everything onto my chocolate chip cardstock to make my card!  I hope you found this useful!  If you make a card (like or inspired by this one) feel free to send a picture of it to me and I can post it on my blog with your name on it!

Remember this one?

For those of you who checked my blog back in November - I made a card for my sister's engagement.  It was really fun and easy to make so I decided to provide you with a mini 'tutorial' so that you could learn how to make it at home! 

First I cut out the paper for my three layers – my red for the card, chocolate chip (as this brown is called…yuuuumm) for the background and caramel for the front.

Next, I punched all the corners of the caramel and chocolate chip cardstock for that look that I just love!  Using my basic blank ink, I stamped my bride and groom image.

Using my versamark pen I coloured where I wanted to put clear embossing powder for the cool shiny effect.  I then heat embossed the image (if you check out my earlier post, you will see that I was just playing around and had no idea how to use the pen - I like what I discovered!).

I used my fabulous scallop circle punch to make the brown background for my heart image.  Using my coluzzle (super easy to use, with lots of different sizes to choose from – a great deal for $24!) I made the circle in the caramel on which I then stamped the heart (using my versamark pen) and added red embossing powder to it and heated it. 

The chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon is my favourite!  I absolutely HAD to use it!  I trimmed it and attached it behind the caramel cardstock with glue dots.  I then attached the heart to the scallop circle with a couple dimensionals to give it that “pop up” effect and a glue dot to attach it to the ribbon.

 

And voilà!  Now it's your turn! :)  If you want to email me pictures of your creations I can post them here :)

 

And for those of you curious to know why I am posting this tutorial now...well, aside from deciding it would be neat to give a step by step tutorial on how to make a card, my sister got married yesterday!!!  :D  It was an intimate outdoor wedding (we totally lucked out with the weather!  No rain in Vancouver in February - lucky I know!) and then we had a really nice dinner - all at Stanley Park.  She was beautiful and I am so happy for them - she found a great guy.  I had a great time and I fell in love with her new nephew who is almost three and super adorable (and sat so well at the dinner!).  Gotta love those cuties.  Hope you all had a great weekend too!  I will post the wedding card I made for her soon :)