"Stepping Up With Textures / Techniques" - May 2018 Stampin' Pretty Pals Blog Hop

 

Good Morning Fellow Stampers ~

It's that time -- and I'm so excited!!  Welcome to the 2nd Wednesday of May - time for the Stampin' Pretty Pals Blog Hop this month!   This month we're “Stepping Up with Textures or Techniques.”  Whew - that's a mouth full!!  What's that you ask?  Well, simply put, that is projects that are “stepped up” by using textures or fun techniques. Who knows, maybe both! Join us in the fun while the we inspire you to "step up" your creations.

 

You may be starting today's blog hop right here with me, or you may be coming from Karen Hallam at Karen's Stamping Habit blog.  Either way, you’ve come to the right place.  You’ll find the the full line-up below to help you move, or “hop”, along from Pal to Pal.  So let's play with a new "technique" - at least to me - today!!  Ready?

 

 

 

 

Today's "special fold" card was actually showcased by our CEO and Co-Founder last Fall at OnStage.  I love this idea, but hadn't really sat down and played with it yet.  Then I saw Rachel Tessman showcase it last month, and I knew it was time to get my butt off the fence and get creating! 

 

I'm calling this the "slot slide" technique - where you create a "slot" in the front of the card and then attach a die cut shape that will "hold the card shut" when closed, and slide through the slot and "voila" be on the inside when you open it.  Pretty cool, huh?!?

 

 

I wanted a very special card for today - and I wanted to showcase one of my very favorite die sets that is retiring (sob!) - the Bold Butterfly Framelits AND the Butterflies Thinlits (yes, you need both to make this happen!)

I also settled on an absolutely favorite (and soon retiring) designer paper for today's project - the Delightful Daisy DSP.

I did sneak in a new "In Color" in today's project though -- can you figure out what it is??  ;-)

 

 

I cut this card from Night of Navy cardstock, and then cut the background cardstock at 4-1/8" x 5-3/8", with the DSP for the inside cut 4" x 5-1/4" (just an 1/8" less than the mat cardstock).  The DSP strip on the front of the card is cut 2" x 4-1/8".

Now the little trick that I learned from Rachel that just made this go so much easier is to make sure the left edge of your designer strip on the front of the card is exactly 5/8" from the left edge (I used a pencil and some little tick marks to make sure this lined up from top to bottom).

What this does for you is ensure that when you punch your Classic Label Punch, it is pretty much centered on the strip and for Type A people like me - that makes life so much better!!  LOL 

I pulled out my Daisy Punch and punched all kinds of daisies from Shimmery White cardstock to match my background paper - and I swiped color on the petals with the lightest Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blend.

Then I folded them in half so I could create a fun little "texture" and layering around the front of the strip and punched "slot."  This leaves you, by the way, plenty of space to the right for a sentiment.

 

 

I wanted something really special for my butterfly for today's project - so I went digging through my "contraband" stash and found a really really shimmery white paper (thinner than our SU! Shimmery White) and cut my butterfly thinlit from this paper; the solid butterfly framelit behind it is cut from Vellum.  The two are adhered together just at the body part with glue dots - and then placed on the card "through the slot" with glue dots as well.  Then I used like 5 different colors of my Stampin' Blends to color Rhinestones and add even more "shimmer and glimmer" to my butterfly wings.  I really wanted an iridescent look and I hope I achieved that!! This is one special card, don't you think? 

 

 

So special, that I decided it would be perfect for a Mother's Day card.

So after much contemplation, I chose the sentiment "celebrate you" from the soon retiring Birthday Blossoms stamp set for the front of the card . . . 

 

 

and then incorporated a similar look for the inside of the card using a sentiment from Bunch of Blossoms (not retiring - yeah!) and snagging the "Happy Mother's Day" from You're Inspiring (carrying forward from the Spring Occasions catalog!)

The interesting aspect of a slot card is that because of the way we decorate and create this project, it actually forces you to realize that you have more "card space" than you usually pay attention to - namely the tap (or side) flap when you open a card.  Because this card is cut from Night of Navy, I put a small Whisper White panel on the tap flap for the handwritten message.

 

 

Now it's time to see how the rest of the Pals are "stepping it up" today.  Then next stop on today's adventure is Jennifer Michalski at Stamping Serenity (she and I seem to be glued at the hip these past couple blog hops -- LOL).  Remember, you can follow through all the stops on today's hop using the line up below.  Mark your calendars for June 13, 2018 when we feature projects for Babies, Birthdays and Brides - where you'll also get to see brand new products from the new 2018-2019 Annual Catalog. Don’t miss it!!

Until Next Time - Puppy Hugs,

 

Blog Hop  Line-up:

 

1. Mary Fish at Stampin' Pretty
2. Peggy Noe at Pretty Paper Cards
3. Lisa Ann Bernard at Queen B Creations
4. Su Mohr at Aromas and Art
5. Linda Suarez at All Night Stamping
6. Debbie Mageed at Secrets to Stamping
7. Stesha Bloodhart at Stampin’ Hoot!
8. Leah O'Brien at Stamp by the Bay
9. Jackie Beers at Blue Line Stamping
10. Beth McCullough at Stamping Mom
11. Pamela Sadler at Stampin’ Pink Rose
12. Mary Hanson at Up North Stampin'
13. Nina King at Ink Paper Sequins
14. Karen Hallam at Karen's Stamping Habit
15. Wendy Klein at Doggone Delightful Stampin'
16. Jennifer Michalski at Stamping Serenity