Chilly Days!

The weather has turned chilly here in the last few days, but we can't really complain, after all, it is January! 

The Stampendous Design Team members are sharing our "Snow Wonderful" creations this week.  Last week I shared an ATC (Artist Trading Card) I had made for the ATC group I belong to that had a "Tiles" theme.  This week I'm showing you an ATC I created for our December theme of "Glitter".  It features the the beautiful Snowflake Cascade (FMS4042) stencil with a sentiment from the Holiday Expressions (SSC1231) set.

"Chilly Days!"

Stampendous:

FMS4042 Snowflake Cascade Metal Stencil
SSC1231 Holiday Expressions 
MG09 China Blue Micro Glitter
MG01 Crystal Micro Glitter

MPW811 Mixed Media White Paper

Acrylic Handle

MEM01 Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink by Tsukineko®

Plus:
Royal Blue Cardstock
VersaMark Ink
Double sided adhesive sheet
Soft brush
Foam Tape

Instructions:

Step 1:  Cut a 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" piece of royal blue cardstock, adhere a 2 1/4" x  3 1/4" piece of double sided adhesive to the blue paper
Step 2:  Place the snowflake stencil face down on a paper towel or craft mat and pat the back with VersaMark ink

Step 3: Remove the release paper from the blue paper and place the stencil ink side down on the sticky paper, use the release paper to press the stencil firmly to the sticky surface
Step 4:  Sprinkle China Blue micro glitter over the openings of the stencil and rub in with your finger or a piece of release paper, tap off all extra, brush off excess glitter with a soft brush
Step 5:  Turn the glittered piece face down on a paper towel and carefully pull the glittered image off the stencil, keeping the stencil flat on the table
Step 6:  Sprinkle the background with the Crystal micro glitter, rub gently, tap off extra
Step 7:  Stamp the sentiment, mount on a matching blue mat and add to the Snowflakes using foam tape
Step 8:  Adhere a piece of cardstock to the back with your ATC information!

Go to the Stampendous Blog for more samples.

Happy Creating,
Louise

More Create Christmas Ideas!

Well this is our last day of the Stampendous Design Team Create Christmas theme. We hope you've enjoyed seeing the many ideas our team has presented (get it! kind of like a PRESENT!) with this wonderful stamp/die set.

Today I'm showing you a fun winter scene using the tree and cardinal from the Cling Create Christmas set (CRS5080), and the perfect matching saying from the Holiday Expressions set (SSC1231).

"Winter Wishes to You and Yours!"

It looks like a lot of work, but it really is pretty easy!

• Stamp the tree on green patterned paper with VersaFine Olympia Green
• Place the mask (it comes with the stamp set) over the tree and stamp a second tree to the right side
• Use an ink blusher to add some Olympia Green to the two trees, you can use the tree stencil (also in the set) to help with color placement if needed
• Ink the pine branch stamp with green and add boughs to the trees
• Cut out the two trees together (can't use the die on this) (alternative would be to stamp two separate trees, die cut them, and place one slightly behind the other)
• Stamp just the top part of  the tree for a third tree that will go behind the two
• Stamp 3 cardinals on red paper and use the matching die (from Create Christmas Die Cut Set DCS5080) to cut them out
• Use a darker red marker to give them a little shading
• Fold a 7" x 10" piece of red cardstock in half to form an A7 card
• Adhere a piece of decorative background paper to the front
• Stamp the saying, rouge a little green around the edges, and mount on a small red mat
• Figure out the placement of all the pieces
• Adhere the saying first
• Adhere the back tree (the small third tree piece)
• Put foam tape on the back of the two trees and put on the card
• Adhere the cardinals
• Use a palette knife and paint brush to apply Regular Embossing Paste along the bottom of the trees and the ends of the boughs, sprinkle wet paste with Crystal Snow glitter (GX900U) from Stampendous
• Let dry thoroughly

Here are some close ups to help you see the great texture you can create:

Don't miss more great Create Christmas ideas from today's designers:

Stampendous Blog
Louise Healy
Lyn Bernatovich
Kristine Reynolds
Pam Hornschu
Amy Hurley-Purdie

Happy Creating,
Louise

Create Christmas

The Stampdendous Design Team is featuring our new Create Christmas (CRS5080) stamp set and matching dies (DCS5080) this week for you. It makes a fabulous pop-up card, but looks wonderful no matter how you choose to use it. And who doesn't love coloring!

CRS5080 Create Christmas

DCS5080 Create Christmas Die Cut Set 

These fun cards are sure to WOW everyone you send them to this Christmas! Today I have a pop-up card to share with you. This is the first time I've gotten to use the wonderful Stampendous Build A Pop Up Die Set. There are great instructions in the package and some videos over at the Stampendous You Tube channel. The possibilities are endless with these pop ups, and it's easy to keep adding more things to it, but it can be kept simple too. I really got into this, so mine is a little more work than you really need to do but that's what I love about these, add as much or as little as you want or have time for!

DCP1001 Build A Pop Up Die Set

Of course, you don't want to forget your outside too, because that's the first thing they see when they take it out of the envelop. Here's the front of my pop up card:

Christmas Greetings Pop Up Card

Instructions for the front:

• Cut a piece of double-sided cardstock to 4 1/4" x 11", score it at 5 1/2" and fold it in half (I ran a green marker around the edge to give it a more finished look)
• Cut a another piece of that same cardstock (or another coordinating pattern) to 3 3/4" x 5", edge with the marker and adhere it to the front of the card
• Cut a coordinating piece of paper 3 1/4" x 3 1/4", edge with marker, adhere to card front near the top
• Stamp the Christmas Greetings from the Holiday Expressions set (SSC1231) on white cardstock, die cut with the smallest frame from the pop up die set, color the edges lightly (Copic Y00, Y21), cut a coordinating mat from the cardstock used last with the next larger frame, edge with marker and adhere the sentiment to the mat and then to the front of the card
• To create the "wreath",  cut a 3 1/4" x 3 1/4" piece of Mixed Media White paper, think of it as a compass, the top is North, the bottom South, etc,  place the pine bough stamp (see it in the upper right corner of the set above) on an acrylic handle, ink with Memento Tuxedo Black, stamp it with the narrow end of the bough towards the center and the ends facing North, re-ink and stamp with the bough ends facing South, then East, then West, then NE, SE, SW, NW, you get it, we're forming a circle or wreath of boughs
• Color the wreath, I used Copic YG03, YG17, YG67, be sure to color past the ends of the boughs, cut it out with an irregular edge, edge with the darkest green marker
• Die cut two bows from the Create Christmas die set from the red paper (I used the same paper as my mat), edge with the dark green marker, use a mini Glue Dot or a small dot of glue to attach the two bows to each other, then to the wreath, do NOT add the wreath to the card yet

Now for the inside:

• Cut a piece of cardstock 4" x 10 3/4", don't score it, just match up the corners and gently pinch each side to mark the center of each side
• Place the cardstock face up (the side you want for the inside of your card) on a cutting plate on your magnetic platform for the die cut machine (or a regular platform works too!), place the pop up die so the bottom score bars match up to your little pinch marks on the sides, cover with the other cutting plate and feed through the machine
• I used one of the edge cutters to cut a decorative edge on the bottom edge of my inside, plus I cut a "tree skirt" from another decorative paper, the instructions explain how to do this
• Stamp the tree on white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black, stamp some boughs on it too if you want, I like how they added texture to the tree, color with Copics or whatever you choose
• Stamp the ornament garland twice, color, stamp the star, color (Y13, Y35, Y26)
• Die cut the tree, ornaments and star, also, use white cardstock and die cut four strands of popcorn, color all the edges of the die cut pieces if necessary, (on the popcorn I used Y00, and Y21)
• Die cut a "tree stand" out of dark brown cardstock using the die that looks like a squat vase
• Adhere the tree stand to the center bottom pop out by putting some glue on the pop out, not the tree stand
• I assembled everything on the tree before attaching it to the card tabs, the popcorn was put on with glue, the ornaments have small piece of foam tape behind each ornament but the ends of the boughs are glued to the tree, the star is glued near the top, it's important the the star is not too high or it will stick over the top of the card when it is close, test it before attaching it
• To place the tree, I put the tree face down on the side of the card that doesn't have the tabs, so I new the star was not too high, added glue to the top of the tree stand, and to the middle tab of the card, closed the card carefully and pressed it in place, opened it, adjusted a little for straightness (the advantage of liquid glue!) and let it dry
• Ink the edges of your tree skirt, add adhesive, and slip it into place under the tree
• I wanted to put a little something over the tab areas I wasn't using, so I stamped the Dear Santa sentiment from the Holiday Expressions set (SSC1231) , die cut it with a frame from the pop up set, and die cut a matching mat, added a little color (Y00, Y21), edged the mat with Y67, used foam tape to add the matted sentiment to the background
• Ok, here's where I got a little carried away...another wreath like the outside would be too big, so what else could I do...hmmm...a holly wreath of course! The Holiday Expressions set has the perfect little holly stamp, so I stamped it seven times, colored them all, cut them out (no die for this one!), punched a 1/2" circle to match the background paper and use as my form, and glued the little holly sprigs around the circle to form a small wreath, die cut one more bow, cut the tail off about half way and shaped it into a second tail, edged with green, and attached the bow to the holly wreath with a glue dot, used foam tape to add the wreath to the background

Here are a few close ups to help you see the details:

This was a blast, and I can hardly wait to try it again in other color schemes and papers. I've already decided while I was writing this that I'm going to get some little red gems to add to the outside wreath! I hope you've been enjoying our Create Christmas week. Check back each day for more ideas for this fun set.

More creative ideas are waiting for you at these designer's blogs:

Stampendous Blog

Amy Hurley-Purdie

Louise Healy
Pam Hornschu

Happy Creating,

Louise

Snowman Reflections!

This week the Stampendous Design Team has been asked, "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?". Of course we wanna build a snowman!  Of course I've also had that song from Frozen stuck in my head all week! We've been featuring the fun Stampendous Build a Snowman Set in our creations.

All the inspiring ideas from the Stampendous Design Team have been snowballing around in my head forming this fun creation using a combination of a Snowman from the Stampendous Build a Snowman set and Dreamweaver products. Our Dreamweaver Thursday is sure to be a blizzard of great ideas from the team.

Here's my snowman for today:

"Reflections of a Snowman"

I just love how his reflection turned out! It is even cooler (pardon the pun!) in person because you can see the glittery, glossy finish of the "pond". But I'm getting ahead of myself...here's the how to:

• Put the snowman pieces you want on an acrylic handle (not the arms yet), ink with Memento Tuxedo Black and stamp the image on white cardstock off toward the left side
• Ink the stamp again, but this time stamp it onto another acrylic block, then use the acrylic block as your stamp to stamp the reflection underneath the main image, some parts will stamp clearer than others, but that's ok, you don't want the reflection too perfect, this gives you the true reverse image for the reflection
• Make a mask for the main Snowman by inking the stamp again and stamping it on a post-it note or other thin paper, cut it out along the two sides, set aside for later
• Take the snowman pieces off and choose one arm to put on the block, ink it and stamp it on the main image, stamp a second time on the reflection (don't reink first, there should be enough to get a light image), this one is not backwards, but it still works! Repeat for the other arm
• I used a Tuxedo Black Memento Dual Marker to add lines to the scarf and mittens in the main image, and London Fog Memento Dual Marker in the reflection
• Color the main image, I used Copics - BG10,, BG01, BV00, BV02 for the hat, scarf and mittens, YR21, YR16 on the nose, B0000 to highlight the snowman and snow, C7 on the buttons
• Color the reflection to match the main image but only use BG10 and BV00 on the hat, scarf and mittens, YR21 on the nose with just the smallest touch of YR16, B0000 on the snowman
• Place the mask you created over the main image (if your paper isn't sticky, you can put a removable glue dot or two on the back to hold it in place)
• Place the Snowflake Stencil (DWLJ819) over the top half of the image angling it to avoid the mittens, tape in place with removable tape
• Use a palette knife to apply Translucent Embossing Paste (DWDEPT) to the snowflake openings, remove the stencil and place it in water for cleaning later, take more Translucent Paste on the palette knife and spread a thin coat of it over the reflection area to create a "pond", sprinkle all the wet paste with  Crystal Snow ultrafine white glitter (GX900U), tap off extra, let paste dry well
• When the paste has dried, sprinkle Spoonful of Snow Embossing Powder and Elements between the main image and reflection and around the edges of the "pond", heat from below to set
• Stamp a sentiment from the new Holiday Expressions set (SSC1231) on white with Tuxedo Black ink, mount on purple and blue mats
• Fold a 7" x 10" piece of blue cardstock in half to form an A7 card, adhere a 4 3/4" x 6 3/4" purple mat to the front
• Adhere the snowman image, then use foam tape to add the sentiment

I could decide which sentiment to use, so I'm going to have you vote! Here's the other option:

"Reflections of a Snowman II"

Leave me a comment with your vote on which sentiment I should use. Oh, one more thing, can you find my mistake in the reflection? No not the arms, I already mentioned those. I forgot to color the buttons on the main image until after I had the card complete, so there was no way to "fix" the reflection because it has paste over it. It's one of those little things that NO ONE WILL NOTICE!, so don't stress out about little things like that, only you will know!

Time to go build some more snowmen with these great designers:

Stampendous Blog
Lyn Bernatovich
Kristine Reynolds
Amy Hurley-Purdie
Louise Healy
Alison Heikkila
Wendy Price
Pam Hornschu

Laura Drahozal

Happy Creating,
Louise