Tag: Stampin Up

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 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, recycling, Stampin Up

Recycling Greeting Cards

Posted on by Be Encouraged

Anna Griffin Embellishments

As you know, I enjoy sending handmade paper cards with a loving message to the special people in my life, that is a greeting card’s purpose. Just as receiving a card makes me feel someone cares and can lift my mood, sending a card causes me to slow down to remember significant people in my life, which also raises my spirit. This would be a win-win situation if it wasn’t for the paper waste left behind. So to reduce my environmental impact here are some ideas for card material after reading.

Shred and use for:

Packing material – Why buy more plastic when you can use a natural material. This will require saving up the shredded cards unless you are very much loved.

Easter basket fillers – Just a few shredded cards can fill a basket and it’s nice how the card’s color adds a decorative element.

Fire starter – First pack it hard into toilet paper holders or pack then wrap in wax paper to avoid wisps of embers or flames when burning.

Planter or garden mulch – Paper is wood fiber which can be used with other fine mulch on garden beds, though colored paper should not be used around vegetables.

Paper mache pulp – A paper mix to form facial features or ornaments on larger paper projects , here is a link with details and instructions https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/paper-mache-paste-recipes-1245287. .

Use whole for:

Home decorations – Add paper or metallic elements pulled off cards to wreaths or planters around your house. At Christmas try making a swag from previous year’s cards to decorate a doorway or mantle.

Recycled Greeting Cards – Glue a new inside sentiment page in the card you received and send to another friend. A note on the back saying it was recycled would make it even more appreciated.

Paper mache strips – In this case, it’s the building blocks of paper mache not the glue or paste, again check link above for details.

Creating Beads – Create beads for jewelry making with the paper scraps, here is a link with how to information https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/how-to-make-paper-beads-4045300.

Sailing Home Stamp & Die Set

Please share your ideas in the comment section below, we’d like to see them. Thanks

Posted in card making, craft, Stampin Up

No One is Perfect

Posted on by Be Encouraged

Quality Card-stock from Stampin Up

My clean and simple card from yesterday was made with pink construction paper instead of quality cardstock, which I realized when I saw the waffled edge of the card this morning. Sigh, I had some older construction paper and cardstock pulled to donate to the school and mixed the two up.

So if you are new to card making here’s a tip, dental floss will slide between two pieces of paper bonded with adhesive ( a tape runner like snail adhesive for example) very well, usually without harm to either piece. Here you can see the insert removed from the construction paper cleanly. This is also a handy trick if an embellishment needs to be moved on your design.

The dental floss will help pull decorative paper glued to the construction paper, but it will not be a clean break. So I needed to lay the paper to be saved face down and pull the pink construction paper away shredding it as it was removed.

However, the decorative paper which was the face of the card was fine and the cards are now reassembled and ready to cheer someone’s day. Hope you never need this tip but if you do remember no one is perfect.

Posted in card making, charity, craft, Stampin Up

A Clean and Simple Card for Beginners

Posted on by Be Encouraged

If you are new to card-making you may wonder if its worthwhile in this digital age to expend the cost and effort to create a paper greeting card. I believe it is because a physical card can grab your attention and really make your day special, even more so then a nice text message. Even the professional world has not relinquished snail mail totally for maintaining relationships with customers and employees. Its not practical for all communication obviously but a hand made card can lift the spirits and bring a smile to the face of your most tech savy friend.

So, if you are still reading and think it’s worth the effort to craft a smile in an envelope you will need a paper cutter, cardstock, bone folder, glue, and images (either from digital content or stamps and dies). Now if you are new to this hobby please know it is not as violent as you may imagIne, the bone folder is totally mis-named, no bone folding involved ( just a little Halloween humor).

Here are the details for a clean and simple card I put together quickly using Stampin Up papers for the Craft Faire to benefit World Trust (see last week’s blog for more information). If you are just starting this hobby buying coordinating cardstock, ink and stamp bundles will save you money in the long run because the pieces go together in multiple ways similar to how 10 pieces of a capsule wardrobe make a month’s worth of outfits. For your information some of the attached pictures are linked to products for sale.

To start first cut a sheet of 81/2″x 11″ pink cardstock in half lengthwise at the 51/2″ mark to yield two cards once folded and scored with a bonefolder at 4 1/4″ . Use heavier weight cardstock for the base to make a more substantial card and crisp the fold with a bonefolder for a sharp edge.

This next step is optional, you can highlight the lighter pink flowers on the “Happiness Blooms” decorative paper by brushing them with glitter glue (this takes a while but it is a good craft while watching tv ) . I do like the extra glamour but the paper is very pretty left just as is.

Here’s a hint, there are many types of glue for paper projects but when you are beginning to layout a design the liquid glue will allow for adjustments after placement. Be careful though, using too much glue can leave the cardstock wavy inside the card showing the glue line. Here is a liquid Tombow glue from Amazon which I used to put a thin line of glue on all four edges of the card only.

The decorative elements are where coordinating paper and cardstock really makes your life easier. The lighter weight decorative paper “Happiness Blooms” was offered with the cardstock, ribbon, and ink colors of “call me clover” and “calypso coral” . These colors can be mixed and matched to create many different looks.

For this card cut a 3/4″ strip from the short side of the “call me clover” cardstock and then notch it using the banner punch on both ends to create a ribbon alternative. The banner punch is doing double duty here, the punched triangle leftovers could become part of a birthday or welcome banner card.

Then lay the “thank you” messages from the “All That You Are” cling stamp set on a hard surface face down and push a clear stamp block on top. This avoids the message getting distorted by placing it on the block. To ink the stamp I find it helpful to tap three times on the ink pad with average pressure, then you will stamp off on “whisper white” cardstock for the card’s sentiment. I used an oval cutting trace from my Creative Memory scrapbooking days, however If you don’t have an oval or round cutting tool you can use your paper cutter to make a rectangle message instead.

Here’s the final cards, you may notice one has an extra dot embellishment on the sentiment to cover a smidge of ink, I like it and may have to add some to the other two. Below the cards made today is a visual thought board for the next round of cards from Stampin Up’s current catalog. If you enjoyed this tutorial for a clean and simple card that goes together quickly please check back for the next design.