No Bones About It

Sorry I missed ya on Monday. I hope you missed me too! I was spending the day with family at the CNE - Canadian National Exhibition. We go every year and have a blast! The next few posts are going to feature the No Bones About It stamp set. If you don't have this one yet, you should! It's so much fun!

I started by crumpling up a piece of Very Vanilla piece of card stock. If you didn't know, Stampin' Up! card stock becomes very pliable when distressed. So much so that you can easily pull apart the layers to create all sorts of awesome effects! So, I crumpled until I could get two pieces from one and then I sponged it in Crumb Cake to get a real distressed and 'old' looking piece.

The Crumb Cake layer on top was created by stamping the images first in the same colour and then slightly offsetting the image and stamping again in White Craft Ink. I then lightly sponge around the images in Crumb Cake again. Don't they look like fossils?!

I added some more interest with Cotton Paper that I cut with Fringe Scissors and some Thick Baker's Twine. The sentiment was punched with the Decorative Label Punch and then I trimmed off the top and bottom to get this unique shape.

On the inside, I stamped a little more, again using stamps from the same set.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Fancy Folds

I recently offered a class on fancy folds and this was one that we made. It was inspired by Connie Stewart's video found here. This card is your standard 5-1/2" x 4-1/4" card, but with a few extra score lines. You will score at: 1/2", 1", 4-1/2", 5", 5-1/2", 6", 6-1/2", 10" & 10-1/2" Take a peak at Connie's video to see how to put it all together.

This card is pretty amazing because it fits in a standard envelope, but pops up like a shadow box. There are so many possibilities! I used the Circle Framelits to cut my "window" and then accented with the Petite Petals Punch, Pansy Punch and the Petite Petals stamp set.

Before assembling the card, I embossed the front with the Lovely Lace TIEF to give the card even more depth. I pulled my colour scheme from the Pretty Petals Designer Paper Stack. The paper stacks offer a great size for cards!

I still wanted a bit of room to write a message, so I stamped a few images on the back panel too and added a punched flower with one of the punches from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Custom Birthday Card

I'm writing today to help you get through "hump day". My day started out fantastically with the delivery of some holiday pre-order products from Stampin' Up! - the box both arrived a day early AND in the morning (usually my orders arrive in the evenings). Sweet!

Anyway, here's a custom card I created for a customer. She wanted fun and girly and I had to incorporate "30" and the colour coral. So basically I had fully creative design control and I loved it!

I used a retired set, but I couldn't resist the martini glass with the candle in it. So fun, right?! I embossed it in silver and then coloured it with Stampin' Write Markers. The patterned DSP is from the Cherry on Top paper stack. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this paper!!

I created lots of interest on the card by punching out an opening with the Note Tag Punch and then popping up my punched out martini image (punched with the Decorative Label Punch) and layering it with some Silver Foil. The sentiment is punched using the 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch and I free-handed the banners for "happy" and "birthday".

The "30th" was cut from Silver Glimmer Paper using the Little Numbers Thinlits. I also added some interest with some White Perfect Accents, new in this year's catalogue.

On the inside, I added a few more stamped martini glasses with lots of room for a personalized message.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Help From Paper Pumpkin

Happy Monday! Hope you had a fabulous weekend. Today I'm sharing a custom card I created for a customer a couple of weeks ago using pieces from June's Paper Pumpkin Kit. Check it out:

I used all the pieces from the kit, but added a bit of my own stamping using images from By the Tide. As the recipient lives in Nova Scotia, I thought this was a fitting set!

The '70' was cut using the Little Numbers Thinlits Dies and boy did I do a little happy dance when Stampin' Up! released those in June! I have so many uses for little numbers and they're the perfect size for cards especially!

Of course I never like to leave the inside of a card completely blank, so I added some additional stamping inside.

I hope you like today's quick and easy project, thanks to Paper Pumpkin!! I encourage you to give it a try... you will save 50% off your first two months (for new subscribers only) if you sign up before September 10th! What do you have to lose?! In your first kit, you'll receive a clear block to be able to complete your projects every month. PLUS, each kit contains ink and a stamp set and everything to complete a project, including instructions! Sign up at Paper Pumpkin and don't forget to choose me (Steph VanDorp) as your Demonstrator. :)

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Lost and Found!!

Happy "hump day"! Don't you just love when you find some money in a purse or jacket that you haven't used in a while?! Well, a couple of weeks ago, I found a box of items that I had prepped to either use on cards, or, I had card fronts ready to assemble. I did a little happy dance when I found this box because everything was done for me, I just had to use it to design a card. :)

In the box, I found a bunch of Whisper White card fronts that had "congratulations" embossed in silver and then a bunch of sheets with flowers that were already heat embossed in a mix of gold and silver embossing powder. After a bit of thinking, this card came together pretty fast. I punched out all the flowers with the Pansy Punch & coordinating stamp set and then popped them up on the card front after wrapping it with some Gold Metallic Thread.

I added another flower and some more thread to the inside and my card was complete. Super simple, but thankful that I found this box of stuff!

Here's a better look at the dimension and shimmer this card has (though, I'm sorry the lighting was a bit dim!).

Hope you enjoyed this bit of inspiration.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Dora Punch Art

Happy Monday! Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Yesterday I got to hang out with some friends and celebrate the birthday of one of my children's friends. She really loves Dora, so naturally, I had to create a custom piece for her!

When I sat down to create this card, I had to turn to Pinterest for inspiration. I was instantly drawn to Christi's card and started my punching. I changed things up slightly from the punches she used as follows: shoes & shoulders: Heart to Heart (retired); hands & socks: Boho Blossom (retired); legs & arms: Word Window; hair: XL Oval; face: Ornament (retired) and eyes & mouth: Owl Builder 

The trick with punch art is that you sponge all the edges to give dimension to the pieces. The colours you choose to do this depend on your paper colours. You always want to go a shade or so darker than the paper.

For added dimension, I popped up Dora's head and didn't glue her fingers down.

This is what the card looked like on the gift. I didn't use an envelope because I wanted the card to be seen!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Surfboard Custom Card

Happy Friday! Today I'm showing you a card I created looooong ago. It was a custom request for a customer. The recipient loved to surf - here's what I came up with:

I decided to create a step card because I wanted lots of layers and interest. I used some swirly die cuts as 'waves', stamped some shells and cut a surfboard freehand. Of course I added some embossing before piecing it all together.

With a step card, there's really not a lot of room to write (hey, some people may even appreciate that!), but I added a piece to the back panel for a few birthday wishes.

Here's a better view of the dimension you get when you create such a fancy fold. The best part though is that it will still fit in a standard envelope! Here's a Pinterest search with pictures of all the different types of cards you can create with this type of fold. Give it a try... it's simpler than it looks!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Lovely as a Tree

Good morning! Sorry I missed ya on Monday. It was a long weekend here in Ontario and now all of a sudden, it's Wednesday! The time has just slipped away from me...

Anyway, today I'm bringing you a manly card. Last week sometime I found a box of random punch-outs, papers, die-cuts, etc. Some of the stuff I wondered why I even kept it, some I gifted to my children (who were over-the-moon excited!) and some I decided to use and challenge myself to create something with it.

I found a bunch of layered pieces (naturals on an embossed piece of Close to Cocoa?!). It originally measured 5"x5", but I cut it down to fit on a card front and punched a hole with my 2-1/2" Circle Punch. Then I sat there for 20 minutes staring at it, wondering what to do. ha.

I choose to use my Lovely as a Tree set. Check it out:

I stamped one tree image in Lost Lagoon right on the base of the same colour. Then I stamped the leaf image randomly on the neutrals paper and used an image from Gorgeous Grunge and some gold ink to add some splatters.

Before mounting the layered piece to my base with Dimensionals, I added a few pieces of Metallic Gold Twine for some added interest.

Of course you can't forget the inside! I added a few more leaves and some more splatter.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph