by Susan Itell | Aug 15, 2015 | 3-D Projects, Simple Saturday |
Good weekend morning! It’s back – the (2) day challenge that many of you look forward to and love. Saturday I call it “Simple Saturday” and pop back tomorrow to see “Step it up Sunday” as I take the same card and make some minor changes to show you how “little things” can make a difference!
I can hear each of you right now saying…..THIS CARD IS NOT SIMPLE…well hold on to your thoughts as it really is an easy card and one that fits in a regular envelope, it does not require extra postage and you are sure to get a bunch of rave reviews when you send it!
I did this technique back in the Winter for a Stamp of the Month Club and the people that purchased the kits really enjoyed it. You can use it for so many different occasions and I was in the need of a baby card (something that I do not do many of) and thought – why not – go ahead and make a diorama card!
Here you go my friends and I am sure that many of you are going to at least go get (2) pieces of paper and cut and score it to see it for yourself! I honestly had no idea where I was going with it – I just knew that I wanted a diorama card and an Elephant from the Zoo Babies Stamp Set.
The bases are 5 ½” X 4 ¼” , (1) in Pool Party and the other in very vanilla
Using the Simply Scored, score each piece at ½”, 1”, 4 ½” & 5”
Now hang tight and don’t get stressed and ruffled….the pictures should help you in case…follow these tips….
We are going to start with the Vanilla Piece…lay it flat in front of you with the scores lines facing you. Fold the right side IN towards the center at the 4 ½” score line…bone fold….then fold the left side of the paper towards the center at the 1” score line and bone fold.
Take the other (2) scored pieces and fold them the opposite way and bone fold…you are DONE….set aside.
Let’s move to the Pool Party piece…at the 4 ½” score line, fold that down towards the back of the card. Do the same on the 1” score line….fold down and to the back…score well.
Now take the other (2) scored line and fold the opposite direction….bone fold and you are DONE….
Are you sprouting some gray hairs???? Just hang tight, it really is easy and once you get it, you’ll do it again and again and your friends are going to think that you are better than sliced bread.
Here is an important part…you can see that there is not much “room for error” when you use the square framelit to cut out the square. (trust me, I messed up a bunch and I am here to still tell the story)… If you have the magnetic platform you will be doing the happy dance as it does make it easier.
You are basically DONE but now all you need to do is decide how to decorate this beauty! As you can see I used the adorable Sweet Li'l Things Designer Series Paper…this is a FABULOUS paper and true you can you it for juvenile projects but there are many prints that I love for us “big girl” cards!
The width measurement that I think works best is 3 3/8” - and here are the measurement that I used for this card.
1. Clouds: 3 3/8” X 2 ½”
2. The piece that I stamped the Elephant on: 3 3/8” X 2 ½” (actually the same as above) I drew a faint pencil line about ¾” up before I stamped it and then I just cut around the Elephant (it was super easy – I did not do his trunk or legs and I thought it turned out cute with no stress!
TIP ALERT: I did use the stamp-a-ma-jig…WHY?????I knew that I might need to stamp multiple times to get a good and deep coverage of the Lost Lagoon….and I am glad that I did – I stamped it 3 times to get this nice rich color.
3. Scrap of Vanilla – 3 3/8” X 1 ½” and then I tore it towards me and then lightly sponged the edges.
The clouds and the torn piece are just adhered with green glue, flat! The Elephant piece I DOUBLED UP on Stampin Dimensionals and just stuck him down! (After I stuck him down I held up the Pool Party piece and realized that I had the Elephant too high as you could see the bottom of the paper….no worries , I was NOT going to rip him off and lower it, I simple added a piece of pool party scrap to the bottom!)
The "Congrats" comes form the Cottage Garden Stamp Set….LOVE this font and then I did a whimsical cut around the sentiment and adhered it with glue dots.
I know that this is a bunch to take in but trust me, it is a super cute card! I have no idea what is up with my camera (I need James to help me as it is obvious that I hit a filter that is making the pictures not the best)
Great news is that tomorrow is a new day and that you are going to love, love…LOVE the simple changes I made – well….do you like this????? It really is super cute and you are going to love this whole technique.
I bet that you are thinking where in the world would you write a message??? Pop back tomorrow and you will see…Have a fabulous day and until tomorrow!
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by Susan Itell | Aug 14, 2015 | Masculine, Super Easy, Thank You |
Please do not click me off because this card is sooooooo boring…..
there is a story behind ii!
Last evening after James finished work, I needed to take him to pick up his car that was being worked on. When he hopped out of the car he said that he needed to stop at CVS to pick up a card for his intern that is having his last day today.
I looked at him and said…”James – what am I CHOPPED LIVER…..do you remember what your Mom does???” We both laughed and he said that he didn’t want anything fancy as it was for a young man around 21.
As I drove home I planned this simple card in my head and I knew exactly what to do ~ it was just killin’ me…no ribbon or twine…no punches…no dashes or dots….just a “Plain James” card.
Well…I must admit – it is really not that bad. I think that it is super hard to come up with clean and simple Masculine Cards and I will say that this paper is very fitting for a masculine card. The DSP is Typeset and it is just a very neutral collection.
The card is an good old A-2 size and then the “grid design” is just ¼” smaller = 5 ¼” X 4” . Here is a tip on how I decide what size of the vanilla paper I will need for the sentiment. Because I used the stamp-a-ma-jig, after I stamped it on the clear plastic piece I took my ruler and measured it roughly to determine the size I would need.
Now I know you are going to ask me what the size is…and I will add it to the post in the morning – I am sitting in bed with ice on my ankle and now my knee to as that is hurting from the “hobbling around” I then added ¼” to the size for the black piece.
Yesterday I had a comment on how do I do my envelopes with DSP. I am so glad that I was asked this. Sometimes I think that we take things for granted and heck….if you do not ever ask, you will never know so I am thrilled to do a quick run through.
It is so simple. If I am covering the back flap I cut a piece of DSP or cardstock to 2 ½’ wide by 6” long. The pictures below will help you and then I take the “green glue” and run a small bead of glue all the way around.
TIP ALERT: The best way not to get too much is to never “lift” the tip of the green glue up….just gently squeeze to get a thin bead of glue. IF you do get TOO MUCH – no worries, just set it aside and let it dry or set up a bit….it will just get a bit firmer and then when you put your DSP on it….it will not ooze out!
Simply rub a dub dub….and then flip it over and trim away the excess. ANOTHER TIP: – PLEASE DO NOT STRESS about getting a perfect cut. Trust me, just do the best job that you can and no one will ever know the difference. That is it my friends!
Now to the next funny thing….after James and I went through this whole thing about the card…I ended up making (6) of them for James to keep at work as he truly is wonderful in writing notes to people ~ John walked in the door and saw the cards on the Kitchen table and said…”Now I like these, can I take them to work!”
So the moral of the story is don’t underestimate keeping it simple. I know that it is not one of my usual cards but at the same time, it is true to my style!
This weekend I have a treat for you….when you see tomorrow’s card you are going to say – THAT IS NOT SIMPLE….but I will help you see that it really is simple.
It’s like looking at a recipe, many times if we see a recipe that lists a ton of ingredients we pass on it….and when you see the card tomorrow you will say, that looks hard…but I am here to help you!
Then….I already have the “stepped up version” ready for Sunday and I think that the little changes will make you smile! I was super pleased with it.
Thanks for being simply the best! Please remember that shopping away in your jammies is totally normal!!! (hint-hint) – as my Mom always said, referrals are the best form of advertisement so please share my blog and passion I have with my paper crafting fun!
Woot-Woot – the weekend is here…I hope that you will be able to pop in over the weekend and I hope that “MY GUYS” card today showed you that less is best and it works!
Until tomorrow!
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by Susan Itell | Aug 13, 2015 | PPA Challenges |
Ok – I am sure when you see this card you are going to say…"What the heck is up with that title of today's post"??? Well…if you are anything like me, when I was young I loved to get a fresh coloring book and a new box of crayons and color away!
That is exactly what I did for todays card….it looks like it would have been hard and time consuming but I must say….it was SUPER-DE-DUPER fun and relaxing to color! Do you remember that on yesterdays card I used the Blender pens…well they are my new favorite best friend.
WHY IN THE WORLD HAVE I NOT PLAYED WITH THEM?…SILLY SUSAN!
Today is the Pals Paper Art Challenge and this week it is a color challenge (my favorite) and here is the palette for today…..please play along – I would love to see your work in the gallery.
You know that I adore the Aqua Painters and I still do and always will but I must say, I did not play with the blender pens much at all and after yesterday I thought….lets try it again! Many of you are timid with the Aqua Painters and if that is you….than I would say – purchase the Blender Pens to build your confidence up!
I will go in and respond to your comments yesterday while I enjoy my coffee….I am liking having my "me time" with you….my cyber friends! I adore hearing from you!
There is nothing to it at all…if you can color with a crayon, than you can color with a blender pen. I squeezed the top of the ink pad to get some ink on the inside cover then simply took the blender pen to pick up a bit of ink and colored away!
I am the first to say that I do not understand the whole "shading….looking to how the light goes…..etc" – I just color away! There is nothing to it other than deciding on the colors that you want to use! This was a cinch today as I follow the palette and the extra is crushed curry!
This stamp set is a beauty! The font on the sentiments is very beautiful and the floral images are clean, fresh and oh so easy to color! Today, I used the Black Staz On Ink and you can see in the below picture of the stamp set that I used both floral stamps and just "fit them together"…with the help of my stamp-a-ma-jig!
I hope that you can see that I am still being "true to my clean and simple style" with this card. It looks fussy because of the coloring but the coloring was the FUN part!
The funny thing was that I was just playing around with a scrap of paper and thought…what the heck – try to connect both floral images and it worked so I ended up with an odd size. How did I adapt it? Simple just added 1/4" all the way around and even though it is a bit shorter, it fits and looks great in a regular envelope!
The outer liner is from the Brights DSP Stack and the words are just PERFECT with the sentiment on the front of the card. These stacks are sooooo darn tootin HOT and I am so glad that I am offering them again on my product share.
Speaking of product shares….you can click here for Holiday Catalog 2015 Product Share. I will be sending a confirmation emails of the pre-orders I have received over this coming weekend, remember – it is Stampin' Ups! policy that I cannot bill you or send you the products until the catalog is live, which is September 1st. (I am getting ready as I have been able to pre-order and my swatches are ready to rumble when I can etc…)
Please feel free to email me if you need help with the card today and/or if you have questions about the product share! I do take great pride in my shares to offer you a great "taste without the calories"
Here is another peek of today's card….I love it – I know it is a bit different than I normal do but I think it is pretty! What do you think? Do you like it….do you use blender pens…..let's here!
Have a fabulous day and I am SUPER excited to say – my 2 day weekend fun will be back this weekend…Simple Saturday and Step it up Sunday! I know you all enjoy it and I do to!
I know that you will love this picture….too sweet – there is only one Eddie….he has not been eating much lately but his energy has been good – loving his ball and swimming! Everyday is a gift.
Until tomorrow!
p.s. – oops I forgot to mention this one…..you have heard me say COUNTLESS times that the itty bitty accent punches are a must have…well they are – but did you see that I used an epoxy sticker over top of a razzelberry heart and look at how instant FUN it brought!
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by Susan Itell | Aug 12, 2015 | Thinking of you |
Happy "HUMP" day….now this is my kind of card….clean and simple to the max. Just think of how you can use this for so many occasions….change up the color, you can change up the sentiment and PRESTO – a totally new card that will always bring a smile to your face!
I know that today is the PALS blog hop and I think that this is the 1st time I have missed the hop….I do hope that you pop on the hop trail and see what everyone created – with not having my computer over the weekend, I missed the confirmation but I think that you are going to like this post!
You know that I adore "Single Stamps" and this is a great example (Vivid Vases) of how great they are and you will see in the below picture how I "masked" off the sentiment that is on the stamp set and just used the floral part and then took another sentiment from a totally different stamp set (Sheltering Tree) and added that….
I like using the stamp-a-ma jig just so I can get it "just right" – and I think that this will give you a great idea with how to do this method.
While I have the ink on my stamp, I go ahead and stamp the DSP that I am going to be using. This is such an easy way to add a bit of bling without taking a bunch to time. Paper snips to the rescue and you can step up a card in a jif!
The over all card size is a 4" square card and then the stamped piece is 3 3/4" square. Can you see that the simplicity of this card is classic and the "peeps" of colors are just "spot on" – I used the blender pens to add the color….so fast and easy!
After I snipped out the vases, I used the green glue to adhere them to the stamped image of the vases. These are super easy to cut out – and I think that fun pop of color adds a ton.
Enjoy the pictures of different angles of this card – you can see how clean and simple it is and when you use the blender pens, simply squeeze the ink pads to get a bit of ink on the top of the ink pad and then dip the tip of the blender pen and have fun.
I adore the sentiment that is on the Vivid Vase Stamp but today I want to teach and share with you how easy it is to change things up a bit. The fonts on the sentiments in the Sheltering Tree are so sweet.
You what is left, the beloved envelope….the envelope punch board makes it a cinch to customize your own size. This wonderful tool is a must have and for just $20.00 – how can you go wrong in making so many different sizes of envelopes!
I think just about anyone would love to receive this card. What do you think? Please feel free to leave me a comment with your thoughts and also let me know if you need further help with this whole technique.
I adored your comments yesterday, I scanned through them before I typed this post. "Peep" Will is leaving early in the morning and once he is on the road, I am going to grab a cup of coffee and respond to your comments!
It feels great to be blogging….I have had a wonderful quick visit with Will and Hannah is driving back to Boston with him so they will have a fun sibling ride together! Until tomorrow – I hope that you enjoyed this card, it sure did make me smile!
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