So sorry everyone -- there was a Typepad glitch last evening, and this post "published" well before it was supposed to or was finished. My apologies -- we'll give it a fresh try. Thanks for being patient.
Good Morning Fellow Stampers ~
The end of November - Wow! I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around how quickly time is flying by ~~ the days, weeks, months! So here we are . . . flying straight into Christmas! Yikes! Gotta finish the decorating this weekend, and start getting serious about all the projects I still have to get finished in the next 24 days. Craziness!! 😄😄
It's time for a CASE-Out Thursday project . . . and today we're going to CASE one of the samples featured in Tuesday's post - the feature samples from Stampin' Up! featuring Season Like Christmas. I really do like this stamp set, and hope you will too!!
Count Your Blessings -
Pg. 50 - 51 - Holiday Occasions Catalog 2017
Did you realize that one of the cards in the sample pic Tuesday was a shaker card? I adore shaker cards - and have not made one this season!! Loooooong overdue! Ready for some fun?
Design Colorology
Stamps, and Ink, and Paper . . . Oh, My!
Stamps: Season Like Christmas [#144860 - photopolymer]
Paper: Pool Party (5-" x 10" - cardbase; 4-1/2" x 4-1/2" - front panel frame); Whisper White (4-1/2" x 4-1/2" - front panel; scrap piece for fussy cut tree); Window Sheets (4-3/8" x 4-3/8")
Inks: Pear Pizzazz [Item #131180]; Old Olive [Item #126953]; Pool Party [Item #126982]; Dapper Denim [Item #141394]; Sahara Sand [Item #126976]; Craft Stampin' Ink [Item #145406]
Other: White Stampin' Emboss Powder [Item #109132]; Iridescent Sequin Ass't [Item #144212]; Metallics Sequin Ass't [Item #144214]; Stamping Sponges [Item #141337]; Foam Adhesive Strips [Item #141825]
"CASE-Out" Design Guide
1. Score your Pool Party cardstock base at 5", and fold [Reminder: Fold "inward" on your bump - bump goes to the inside - to get that nice clean professional look]. Use your bone folder gently so as not to "crack" your cardstock.
2. Stamp the tree on a scrap piece of Whisper White cardstock as follows: 1) the tree trunk in Sahara Sand; 2) the first (more solid) tree branch image in Pear Pizzazz; 3) the second "detailed" tree branch overlay in Old Olive; 4) the "tree dots" (falling snow) in Craft Whisper White. Because this is a photopolymer stamp set, it is easy to line up each image over the next. Note how the openings in the main tree exactly line up with the tree trunk showing through behind it.
3. Using your Paper Snips, fussy cut out the tree image, leaving just a little white border around all the branches and trunk, etc. In other words, you don't have to get too "fussy" 😉
4. Stamp the "tree dots" image in several random spots on your Whisper White cardstock square using Craft Whisper White Ink, leaving room for where your trees will be stamped, and where your sentiment will be stamped (see sample above); overlay with White Stampin' Emboss Powder and heat.
5. Next stamp your trees (using the trunk, then solid, then detail image line-up as discussed above), along the bottom to the right-hand side edge. You want to set these at random heights so as to create a look of "depth" to your forest. Start by stamping the tree trunk in Sahara Sand in four different spots, at four different heights. Then, as you can see from my image above, I was very careful to stamp some images with the solid image in Pear Pizzazz (stamped off first) so that they looked lighter, and then others with the darker Old Olive. This will help you create dimension.
I also played with the detail-overlay image using the Craft Whisper White and a little bit of Pear Pizzazz mix technique to create "snow" on my trees, and added a little bit of White Emboss Powder and heated this. That is how I achieved the "snow" look on these trees in the background. The tree on the very left of the background line up is created using the detailed overlay image only in Old Olive; then the Craft Whisper White ink using the same image, offset just slightly to the left, and then White Emboss Powder added. It made for a very cool look to the tree.
6. Stamp your sentiment in Dapper Denim near the top (hopefully you left a somewhat open space to the left of your "falling snow" embossed dots for this).
7. Using a sponge, sponge on Pool Party ink over the white embossed dots, around the sentiment and around the trees (not over them). In other words, we are leaving some white space where there is no Pool Party ink. You can vary your tones of blue by keeping it light in some areas, and adding layers of color for a darker effect in others. Attach the finished piece to the front of your cardbase with SNAIL.
8. On your 4-1/2" x 4-1/2" Pool Party square, stamp the "dotted tree" image in Craft Whisper White ink around the edges. Then using your Stampin' Trimmer, cut out the center of the square at a 1/4" in all the way around, leaving yourself a "frame."
9. Using your Multi-Purpose Glue (or your 2-Way Glue Pen if you still have one), lay a very thin bead of glue right around the inside edge (back side) of your Pool Party "Frame" and attach your Window Sheet square (note that we cut the Window Sheet just a scant bit smaller (4-3/8" x 4-3/8") so that you won't risk extending beyond the edges of your Pool Party "Frame." Attach Foam Adhesive Strips along the edges of your "frame", nice and snug to the inside edge, and be sure the ends are snugged up as well. You will be holding in your sequins and don't want them going anywhere!! LOL
10. Separate sequins from the Iridescent and the Metallics Seqiuns sets that are the lighter colors (i.e., no corals, yellows, blacks, coppers, golds), and place these in the center of your card front.
11. Tip: Use your Emboss Buddy all around the inside of your frame to remove static from the backside of the window sheet, and tamp down the stickiness of the inside edges of the Foam Adhesive Strip. Be generous with the buddy powder as your move around against the foam strips. This will help keep your sequins from sticking the strip and move around nicely inside the window once attached. Now pull the backing off your strips, flip the window over and line it up over the top over the top of the square on the card front and attach (you should have your sequins lying in a pile in the center of the card front when you are doing this). Press down firmly so that everything adheres nicely.
12. Attach your fussy cut tree to the lower left front of your window with SNAIL. Add a few sequins to your fussy cut tree with Fine-Tip Glue (mine got missed before the pic was taken). Add a nice Whisper White square on the inside of the card for your additional sentiments and messages. And you have a shaker card my friends!!!
Well, that was a little more detailed of a lesson today; but what fun!! I love shaker cards, don't you?? This sweet card is so pretty and just makes me think of Christmas tucked away in a log cabin somewhere among the snow covered trees. I hope you'll give this stamp set another look. It is definitely worth a purchase!! You can buy yours in my Online Store today.
Let me know if you have questions about today's design, or need help! I'm here to support your creativity!!
Until Next Time . . .
