Category: craft

Posted in birthday cards, Birthdays, card making, craft, decorative paper, masculine cards, Stampin Up

I Quit Stampin Up’s Demonstrator Program

Posted on by Be Encouraged
Tropical Oasis Designer Paper

The news is I am no longer a Stampin Up demonstrator, while I enjoyed the early catalog, lots of discounts and the new card ideas 💡 I just filled up my card making stash too quickly. The discounts and freebies were incredible and I went from having a few stamps left over from the 1990’s to being prepared for any occasion and theme. I’m even stocked up for envelopes, two sided tape, and dimensionals.

I was only a demonstrator for personal use but since in the past I’ve shared ideas on-line I wanted to introduce you to some Stampin Up Demonstrators:

Lisa provides only on-line support ( https://lisasstampstudio.com/ ) but her you-tube videos are so classy, unique, and easy to follow.

If you’re in the San Jose area and prefer in person classes, Brenda provides excellent support with pretty card ideas at http://www.keenankreations.com/ .

Diane has a wonderful e-mail / on-line presence and offers paper and ribbon shares at https://www.ddstamps.com/. .

it’s not an easy choice but now that I am stocked up for the year I don’t have to decide who to buy from, I just have to clear the cabinet.

Laying out some favorite papers for inspiration

To this end, I recently pulled out some pretty patterned 6x 6 papers and laid them out like cards, matching colors and planning embellishments. Then I realized while it’s fun for me to embellish a card with a beautiful stamped image the piece usually covers up a lot of the card front. So I decided to highlight some favorite decorative paper with a simple card Idea, adding a 3.25 x 5.5 strip to a 4.25 x 5.5 card (any designer paper with matching cardstock). A sentiment with ribbon or coordinating strip of cardstock and the card is worthy of any birthday or good deed occasion.

Cards which highlight my favorite papers

I organized my papers while working on this project so as an added bonus my paper shelf looks great. Now I have some cards ready to bless others as much as I was blessed in creating them.

Posted in Anna Griffin, birthday cards, Birthdays, card making, craft, decorative paper, Stampin Up

A Way Through Creative Block

Posted on by Be Encouraged

My Canadian Cousin had a birthday last week and while she is a serious professional there is something about her aura that suggests she’d like a sweet garden card. So, from Grace’s Garden Stamp Set I laid out a garden scene and pulled out the watercolor pencils for her card. Then we received some bad news at the house and I just couldn’t make anything work.

My creative energy was blocked and I needed a design that relied on decorative paper more then artistry. So I used a pretty and high quality metallic plaid paper in my stash from Anna Griffin, with a strip of gold and a sentiment square of the plaid pattern turned 45 degrees. I’m hoping this super quick card looks like a gift wrapped in plaid.

I would use this format again for a gift card holder ( sorry Cuz nothing this time) especially if multiples were needed for teacher or seasonal gifts. The gold paper strip could be embossed to make it more like ribbon but otherwise the simple elegance of plaid does all the work.

Blessings

Posted in birthday cards, Birthdays, card making, craft, Embossing Folders, masculine cards, Stampin Up

Masculine Cards

Posted on by Be Encouraged

The best thing about card making is thinking about friends and family while I create. This card is for my nephew, such an upstanding, serious, and respectable man. So why do I remember him as the cutest little trouble making scamp ? It’s a masculine birthday card created with Stampin Up’s Brightly Gleaming Decorative Foiled Paper and a strip of copper embossed with Stylish Scroll Embossing Folder.

The inspiration for the card above is a fall themed card embossed with Tin Tile 3D Embossing Folders from last year. It’s one of my all time favorite cards and surprisingly the embossing folder is still available. I made the card at Keenan’s kreations Stamp Class, such fun.

When it comes to manly cards I think metallic accents really hit the mark.

Blessings,

Posted in birthday cards, card making, craft, Stampin Up

Birthday Card for Megan

Posted on by Be Encouraged

I’m excited to have a special birthday card to share today. With the Covid -19 SIP isolation in May my friend couldn’t be there for her daughter’s birthday. So along with the other treats planned she asked friends and family to send cards. I was so happy to have such a fun reason to make a card and hopefully Megan will enjoy receiving a card from California.

Since purple is Megan’s favorite color and she loves chocolate cake, I stamped the cake image from the “Happy Birthday to You” stamp set in Highland Heather ink and choose the coordinating cardstock for the card’s base.

I used a color wheel ( from Michaels ) to find coordinating markers for the Highland Heather ink. In this case the color wheel triad showed a minty green which sounded delicious on a chocolate cake and a soft orange. FYI a triad color schemes consists of three colors equally spaced on the color wheel.

The image was cut on a mechanical press using coordinating dies, the cake outline around the cake image and the platter on a scrap of highland heather. I’ve had questions on this stage before so if anyone want a video clip of the process let me know.

For a soft feminine card rounded corners were added after stamping the Happy Birthday Sentiment, also from the “Happy Birthday to You” stamp set. I used my old corner rounder from my Creative Memory scrapbooking days.

Finally, I used three adhesives in assembly, a snail tape runner for the big pieces of cardstock, liquid glue to the thin area where the cake stand met the platter, and dimensionals to add depth by raising the cake image from the card.

At the very end I added a sheet of decorative paper with purses and shoes to liven up this card for a lovely young woman. Thanks for the card making fun and Happy Birthday Miss Megan.

Posted in Anna Griffin, card making, craft, Stampin Up

Cards to Encourage

Posted on by Be Encouraged

This is my first post since the Corona Virus outbreak and subsequent isolation, life felt so sad and serious for a while. However now there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I’d like to share a few things.

First, thank you to the doctors, nurses, clinicians, and first responders who put their lives at risk during this crisis to help others. May God bless you extravagantly for your heroic actions. I’d also like to thank those who stayed home to flatten the curve and save lives. Some have made fun of this hardship but isolation is a form of punishment in institutions and is known to have a detrimental psychological effect. So please let’s be kind and gentle with one another.

I salute you all with a “just for you” card created with Anna Griffin’s painted garden decoupage kit https://annagriffin.com/product/painted-garden-decoupage-card-kit/. This card came together quickly by pairing a card base with flowers, ribbons and tags. I sent out quite a few of these to friends and family lately because playing with the raised flowers is wonderful stress relief and they turn out beautifully.

Sending Cards to family and friends who I can’t be near shows them I’m thinking of them and they are appreciated. A card kit like the one above is a great way to make a lot of cards fast. Another way to create a bunch of stylish cards quickly is to use Stampin Up decorative papers and coordinating cardstock.

Last night just before falling asleep I saw a great fun fold card on Sharon Armstrong’s site Txstampin.com https://txstampin.com/2019/02/fun-fold-card-youll-feel-proud-make.html . I woke up this morning with my version of it already planned out, thanks Sharon. It doesn’t have her inner card within the card layout but it’s a clean look and makes great use of the gorgeous Bird Ballad Paper from Stampin Up (which is discounted right now on the Stampin Up site: https://www.stampinup.com/ecweb/product/149592/bird-ballad-designer-series-paper ).

These papers coordinate beautifully with the calypso coral, balmy blue and my favorite … blushing bride cardstock with the sentiment stamped in soft suede ink (see picture above). I had these five cards ready after just a few hours of play and relaxation, love these easy designs.

Thank you for stopping by my site. If you don’t already have a Stampin Up Demonstrator I’d love to share the instructions for this “Miss You” friendship card and if needed help you order any of these products from Stampin Up. Hope you are safe and sheltered through these crazy days. Blessings,

Tricia

P.S. Here’s my product list for this card from Stampin Up:

Bird ballad designer series paper

Calypso Coral, Balmy Blue, and Blushing Bride Cardstock

Whisper White Cardstock

Soft Suede ink

“Miss you” sentiment from All Adorned Stampin Up stamp set

Paper trimmer and bone folder