Easter Quarter Fold Card

Good morning!!  Happy Saturday too!

Today, I am up to share my creation with you for this weeks challenge over at SweetStamps.

This week it's: Technique Spotlight: Quarter Fold Card

I have personally never seen or even heard of this type of card before, but it seemed interesting and even fun to try.  You can find a tutorial HERE

This is what my card looks like completed and folded!!  

The fun comes to life when you open it.  :)

The tutorial suggested 4 squares, but I opted for cutting the patterned paper the length and width of the card, since I knew I was going to be doing a lot of layering. 

This is what the card looks like once it is all opened up.
The sentiment is from the Cute As A Bunny stamp set.

This is what the outer layers of the card looks like.  This was the only way I could capture how cute this card really is!!

Finally here is that cute mocha bunny all colored up and sitting on that fence surrounded by those flowers!!  I really love this set...can you tell!!!  :)  Well I hope you will give this technique a try if you haven't already joined us this week.  The possibilities are endless.

Here are the product I used on my card: 

InLinkz.com

Hugs. 

Anything Goes

Anything goes this week at Sweet Stamps.  I stamped and colored this beautiful Gold Finch with the pretty little flowers.  I used the pretty Polynesian sails frame behind the birds.   I added the pretty corner  Victorian Romance flourish. with the pretty daisy strip flower and rose leaf strip for both the cover and inside. It has been an honor to guest design for Sweet Stamps this month. Please check out the beautiful images and dies on the website. 

Happy Mother's day

This is my second week for guest designing for Sweet Stamps.  For this Mother's day card I used the beautiful Rosy Heart Stamp and I cut it out of vellum. Embossed the outline and the roses and colored them with markers. The pretty doily behind the heart is  Cheery Lynn's French Pastry doily and I cut it out of silver metallic paper.  For the bouquet I used Flourish leaf strip, rose leaf strip and the flowers are medium rose strip.   I used a cuttlebug background and cut the sentiment strip and used the Mother's day saying.   Be sure to check in tomorrow for the Mother's Day Challenge and join in the fun. 

Guest Designing with Sweet Stamps

Hi, I'm Karen Wallace and I am  honored to be the guest designer this month for  Sweet Stamps.  I started this card with  Cheery Lynn French Flair silver stackers, then added the pretty  French Flair Doily Stacker on top.  I cut the green panel out of the silver stacker.  I cut a white panel from the Horizon French Flair and stamped the beautiful Floral Arrangement with memento black ink and colored it with copics.  The flower is made from a dryer sheet and colored with distressed inks, the die I used is the Shasta Daisy Strip die by Cheery Lynn. The Flourish leaf strip was used under the rose leaf strip around the flower.   Thank you so much for this honor and I hope you enjoy this card.  

Pieces of Life

 Hi stamping friends. I'm so excited to be the guest designer for the month of April here at SweetStamps. I'm Barbara Washington and I've been stamping for many years. One Thanksgiving my sister brought over a set of stamps and demonstrated how to heat emboss. I was smitten and the rest is history. Creating with paper and trying new techniques are my passions. I live in Chicago with my two grown daughters, my 7 year old grandson, my 3 year old granddaughter, and four cats.  I enjoy trying many of the blog challenges which are posted each month. This month I look forward to sharing my interpretations of the challenges here at SweetStamps and I hope you will join me. You can learn more about me and see more of my work on my blog, Magic Delights.
This week the challenge at SweetStamps is dies. Here is the card I created.

The base card is white cardstock. The layering panel is a piece of design paper. All of the dies used are Cheery Lynn dies. SweetStamps has a large collection of Cheery Lynn Design Dies for sale. The corners  were die cut from the panel. The center oval was cut and the negative of the die cut was used to frame the lilac bunch (SweetStamps). The lilacs were colored using distress markers. China blue distress ink was stippled around the image to give a little dimension. The dragon flies are also Cheery Lynn Design dies. The card design says spring; hopefully, mother nature gets inspired. I can't wait to see what you design for the dies challenge.

Nature/Center-Step Card

Good morning! I guess its my turn to introduce myself....I'm Sandie Lobbezoo from Michigan. I'm feeling quite honored to be asked to be a Guest Designer this month at SweetStamps! 

A little about me: First, I'm a redeemed sinner, saved by Jesus Christ; I've been happily married 36 years; we have six children (four married, one engaged, one single).We have seven grandchildren, with one more due to appear right after Christmas! My DH is soooooo patient and supportive! 

I've been doing crafting and artwork of one type or another all my life, but card-making has really become a passion. I love to share my creations with the people God has placed in my life...and they seem to enjoy them! I'm hoping YOU will enjoy the items I share with you during November here at SweetStamps!
On my blog you'll find many, many cards I've made the past several months using SweetStamps dies and stamps!

Today the card I'm showing is already on its way to Wisconsin for my "little" brother's birthday...he's now 57 years old!

I have combined two challenges in this card: the monthly technique challenge which is a "Center-Step Card" and the weekly challenge which is "Nature". Since I needed a masculine card the "Nature" theme was perfect. I even addded a few real leaves to make it more out-doorsy!

The lovely tree stamp I used is a SweetStamps stamp "Tree #1"...as is the "old fashioned wish" sentiment (inside).  And the picket fence on the front of the card is a CheeryLynnDesigns die "Garden Gate" which I also purchased at the online SweetStamps store.

Other ingredients:

Circle die - Spellbinders "Anglaise Lace"

Ink - TH Distress "Walnut Stain"

Metallic stud embellishments - Michaels

Thanks for stopping by today!
There is still time to enter both challenges: the "center-step card" challenge goes until Nov.14 @ 11pm and the "Nature" challenge until Nov.11 @ 11pm. Join us for some fun, inspiration and prizes!

SweetCuts or Cheery Lynn Dies Challenge Winner

The winner of SweetStamps.com's Challenge #118 Anything Goes with SweetCuts or Cheery Lynn Dies is...

Margaret

http://sparklingstampers.blogspot.com/2013/05/to-teacher-part-1.html

Congratulations!

Please contact me for your winning prize of a $20 shopping spree at shop.SweetStamps.com.

Thank you to everyone who joined in on the challenge, we hope you had fun and will join us again — we have a NEW technique challenge every month, along with a weekly challenge each Tuesday!

Happy stamping!

Open House Make and Take

Here is one of the wonderful make and takes we did using dies from Cheery Lynn Designs and stamps and ink from Sweet Stamps at the Open House Friday and Saturday.

We started with the blue panel which was die cut with Cheery Lynn Designs largest die from the Scalloped Rectangle Card-Maker's Nesting Dies.  We embossed this panel with the fabulous new Snowflake Flurries XL embossing plate, running white dye ink over the raised areas.  Isn't  it beautiful?  Using the largest die from the Little Stackers French Flair Nesting dies, turning it on point, we cut the opening in the embossed panel as well as a second French Flair from white card stock.  Vellum was added to the back of the opening and the Sweet Stamps 8033 - Crystal Snowflake was stamped with Shades Aquamarine dye ink and heat embossed with Diamonds and Pearls embossing powder.  It really shimmers!  The background panel was created using Sweet Stamps 8022 - Tiny Snowflake Background stamped with Shades Tidal Wave dye ink.  Using a die from the Little Stackers Oval Nesting dies, we cut an oval in the center of the ornament as well as an oval from white card stock.  On the white card stock oval, we stamped 9103 - Snow Thanks with Tidal Wave dye ink, distressing the edges with the ink as well.  This was added to the card with pop dots for some dimension.   Next we added a hanger to the French Flair ornament, then adhered the white card stock French Flair to the back of it.  The last step was to stamp 8028 - Happy Winter in the opening on the ornament.  What a fabulous card with a wonderful little ornament enclosure.

Supplies used:

• Scalloped Rectangle Card-Maker's Nesting Dies
• Snowflake Flurries XL embossing plate
• Little Stackers French Flair Nesting dies
• Little Stackers Oval Nesting dies 
• Shades Aquamarine dye ink
• Shades Tidal Wave dye ink
• White dye ink
• Diamonds and Pearls embossing powder
• 8033 - Crystal Snowflake 
• 8022 - Tiny Snowflake Background 
• 9103 - Snow Thanks
• 8028 - Happy Winter

More Embossing Plate Fun

Ready for more embossing plate fun? The samples shown here are from Cheery Lynn Designs and are available for purchase at shop.sweetstamps.com
The next several examples require a tabletop die cutting/embossing machine and a thin rubber mat.

Enjoy!

#3 Embossed Cardstock

creates raised "hills" and recessed "valleys" in the paper

#4 Sanded Embossed Cardstock

requires Core'dinations color core cardstock and sanding block

#5 Faux Sanded Embossed Cardstock

medium to dark colored cardstock and White Dye Ink Pad

#6 Inked Embossed Cardstock

 use ink pad direct to paper to color the "hills"

#7 Inked Embossing Plate

ink plate to color the "valleys"

#8 Sponged Embossed Cardstock

colors the "hills" and "valleys"

#9 Easy Color Embossed Cardstock

requires Easy Color transfer film

 #10 Colored Hills & Valleys Embossed Cardstock

creates a 2 tone effect

Embossing Plate Fun (without a machine)

There are so many looks you can get with one embossing plate, here are just a couple to get you started:

No machine required for these two techniques!

#1.  Litho Plate Transfer

Rub Shades™ dye ink directly onto plate, place cardstock onto inked plate and use a brayer to evenly transfer ink from the plate to the cardstock.

For the sample to the right, I used Shades™ dye ink in Tank green on the E127 Foliage Embossing Plate by Dies Direct and used a wide rubber brayer to transfer the ink to white CS.

#2.  Reverse Image Stamp 

MagicStamp™ Foam Block required. Make a reverse image stamp of the pattern on the plate by heating up a block of magic stamp foam and pressing it into the plate while warm. Ink the foam like you would a stamp, and when you stamp it on cardstock you’ll get a reverse impression of the pattern on the plate.

The sample pictured here was created by pressing a MagicStamp™ Foam Block onto the E127 Foliage Embossing Plate, inking with Shades™ dye ink in Paprika and stamping onto white CS.

Check back soon for even more embossing plate fun!

Fancy Flare Shaped Card

Here is a card using the new embossing plates from Dies Direct, this one is called Foliage.  I inked the plate with Shades Dye ink Forest, then embossed Stardreams text weight paper.  The card base and the green panel behind the image are die cut using my French Flair dies from Dies Direct, the card is a full 5.5" square.  I stamped the Entwined Roses image with Memento Tuxedo black ink on Cryogen paper.  Copics used:
Roses - R81, R83, R85
Leaves - G21, Y15
Background - G20
The Stardreams paper was an off white which is why I added the background around the roses with G20.  But then the background was too green, so I simply airbrushed YG01 onto the Stardreams foliage embossed panel and everything matched.  I also airbrushed both the roses (Prima) and the gems to match with R85.  The shimmer from the Stardreams paper as well as the Cryogen I stamped on really makes this card beautiful.

Finally, a blog!

Welcome to the official SweetStamps blog (FINALLY)!  I've only been wanting to get this started for a year or two now, but as you may know I've been on a bus with the family traveling from trade show to trade show in a different city each week.

The purpose of this blog will be to share exciting news, samples, specials, products and techniques from SweetStamps.com and many talented ladies who love to stamp and paper craft. I have always believed in educating our customers which is why we're traveling the rubber stamp show circuit to bring our company to a city near you. In 2011, I hope to be able to teach classes at each convention or a nearby store. I'll be counting on you, our valued customers, for some insight to make sure we are giving you what you want in terms of product mix, education and value. Please feel free to email any suggestions or comments to me at info@sweetstamps.com.

When you see a link in a post (like this: www.shop.sweetstamps.com) clicking on it will open a new window and take you to our store site to make ordering easier. You can also link to our store by clicking on the SweetStamps.com logo in the upper left side of this blog.

Last but certainly not least, I'd like to thank Sandy Fredrick and Sandy Hulsart for all their help: at shows, behind the scenes, making samples, packaging, labeling, etc.  I'd be lost without my Sandys, they are truly PRICELESS :)

Happy stamping,
Stacey Richardson
SweetStamps.com