Pinking and greening purple patterned paper

One of the really great things about creating your own patterned paper is that you determine the colour scheme. When it was time to make a card using the Paisleyed Elegant Eggplant on Very Vanilla , I wanted to add more colours to match the sentiment that I had in mind. Just use a marker or, if you only have the ink pad, a paint brush dabbed against the ink pad to pick up some ink, to add the colour you want. For those with Stampin' Up! classic ink pads, a standard recommendation is that you press the closed lid against the ink pad to create a patch of ink into which you can dip your brush. I've added some Certainly Celery and Pretty in Pink into the mix as you can see in the picture to the right.

For the card, I was very, very sneaky as I cut out the matching flower from the area covered by the matted sentiment and glued it to the top right of the card. I think it brings a little more cohesion to the elements of the card. I set the eyelets with a Crop-A-Dile (for a great tutorial, visit Alana Galagher). Embossing is through a Cuttlebug and Perfectly Paisley embossing folder. Note to self: enrol in Cuttlebuglets Anonymous.
Additional Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Certainly Celery
Pretty in Pink
Stamps:
Carte Postale set
Cardstock:
Pretty in Pink
Accessories:
Certainly Celery Grosgrain
Crop-A-Dile
Earth Elements Eyelets
Very Vanilla Grosgrain

Stamping up - bringing backgrounds to the fore

Perhaps the easiest way to create patterned paper is through the use of background stamps. Of course, the size of the resulting paper is small, but it should be big enough for a greeting card and for matting smaller photos (a good excuse for cropping away tummy bulges).

For those of you who have not used background stamps before, a good technique for using these particularly large stamps is "stamping up". I'm not sure if the technique has ever been called this before (in which case I'm trademarking it) but I think that it makes a good name for a rubber stamp company that produces background stamps...
So, what does the technique involve?
1. Ink the background stamp.
2. Lay the stamp, rubber side up, onto a level stable surface.
3. Place paper, right side down, on top of the inked rubber.
4. Cover the paper with some scrap paper if there is any inked rubber showing. This makes cleaning up much easier as a result of step 5.
5. Smooth over the paper (or scrap paper if used) to make the impression. I use the wooden side of another rubber stamp but fingers, brayers or any item with a flat surface should do. Make sure that the paper being stamped does not shift otherwise you will get smudging or ghosting in final product.
6. Carefully lift the stamped image off the rubber without allowing the paper to touch the stamp again to minimise smudging.

To the right is a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock stamped with a Paisley background stamp using Elegant Eggplant ink. So simple and versatile!

The opportunity to step things up is always there...Here's an example using multiple background stamps, masking, sponging and lots of colours.

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Ballet Blue
Close to Cocoa
Chocolate Chip
Not Quite Navy
Old Olive
Rose Red
Rust Red
Sahara Sand
So Saffron

Stamps:
Canvas background
En Français background
Paisley background
Heartfelt Thanks set

Cardstock:
Very Vanilla

I'll be using these two bitty pieces of patterned cardstock and posting the results within the next couple of days.

What May-hem!

Goodness! The first of May had brought an avalanche of things to do in one day...but it's all good. The most exciting thing is the start of the Stampin Up!® palette o' prints promotion in Oz. Stampin Up!® has produced a covetable 6" x 6" pad of double-sided Designer Series paper. 48 sheets and 12 print designs in total, there are 12 sheets each in Almost Amethyst, Certainly Celery, Rose Red and So Saffron. Priced at $12.95 with every $35 purchase of Stampin' Up!® products during the whole of May. There had to be a reason for me declaring Patterned Paper Week...

I'll be posting the last in the mini-series of making your own patterned paper tomorrow. If I receive the sampler pad that I ordered last night, I'll try to post a sample or two using it to round up the week.

Hmmmm...what else? There's also the Under Wraps competition for Aussie subscribers to my newsletter.

Speaking of which, I still have to complete the May newsletter. Eeek! But, please subscribe anyway, so that I have a chance to tempt you with Stampin' Up!® offers. You always have the option to unsubscribe...I promise to include this option with every edition.

I have to write a few e-mails to some lovely people so if you are expecting one from me, please forgive me for the delay. I'll get to it ASAP.

Have a very merry month of May.

Update 5:29pm
May newsletter is complete and should have gone out to all intrepid subscribers. It's not too late to subscribe for the rest of you...

Under wraps

So, here it is...a little wrapped something-or-other. I'm sure that, if you are a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, you'll know what it could be BUT please don't tell!
I'm making this into a little competition for Australian subscribers of my newsletter. I'd offer it to subscribers everywhere except that I can't give you the planned prize since Stampin' Up! Australia won't deliver overseas.

To win one of these in your June order, you have to guess what it is in May! I want the exact item number from the current Idea Book & Catalogue. No prizes for "something-or-other", "that thingy for doing you know what" or "you know the one" (yes I do, but do you? *raise eyebrow*). I'll detail the competition rules in the May newsletter...and that's a wrap.

Rolling your own

The zippiest way to lay down stamped images is through the use of Stampin' Around Wheels. These come in two widths - standard and jumbo. Of course, since jumbo means jet, it is the faster of the two... Anyway, moving right along... For today's patterned paper, I'm using the Basic Outline jumbo wheel. This is a great wheel when combined with the Bud Basics stamp set since you can add lots of colours with minimal effort. No fussing with markers or painstakingly colouring sections of stamps whilst cursing the clumsiness of having an inkpad as a nib.

1. Run the wheel across the page (in any parallel direction) until the page is covered in impressions. An ink cartridge makes it easy to stamp continuous images from one side of the paper to the other. To break up the continuity of the empty vertical patch on the right side of the page (oops!), I inked a few dots from Itty Bitty Backgrounds and stamped a few times. It should not be so obvious in the next picture.

2. À la two step stampin' technique, use the base large flower stamp from Bud Basics to fill in the outlined large flowers. I've stamped twice with each inking of the stamp - if possible, the first impression on a whole flower so that I don't have a dark patch on the second impression. Leave a couple of the flowers white if you want a bit of lightness in the end product.

3. Stamp with the base leaf stamp from Bud Basics next. The reason I do this before the small flowers is that I'm introducing two greens into the colour mix. The large flowers establish the major part of colour scheme and you are adjusting the color balance by the addition of the leaves (a little more yellow by using Gable Green, a little more blue by using Glorious Green).

4. Stamp with the base small flower from Bud Basics over the small flower outlines. I've stamped three times with each inking of the stamp and left none white. I think the paper could be considered a finished product at this point (especially if you coloured all the flowers) but I'll add a little extra colour.


5. To add colour to the areas around the flowers and leaves, use a sponge dauber dabbed on an ink pad. The first tap on to your paper should be the lightest (imagine being a feather landing on the page). Increase the pressure of the taps as you go. Then, after re-inking, start lightly again. This avoids having really obvious round spots in the colour cloud surrounding the flowers and leaves.

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Basic Black ink cartridge
Gable Green
Glorious Green
Lovely Lilac
Orchid Opulence
Tempting Turquoise

Stamps:
Basic Outline wheel
Bud Basics set

Cardstock:
Ooooh! Non SU! white copy paper...

Accessories:
Jumbo wheel handle
Sponge daubers

It's all wheelie...I mean...really easy, right? I'm off to wrap something with it. I'll post the package tomorrow along with unwrapping the May Stampin' Up! offer.

Update 12:29pm
I've found out that there is another patroness also responsible for pointing visitors my way. Many many thanks Vivian Swain!

All made up

Yesterday, one A5 piece of cardstock was freehand stamped into homemade patterned paper and then, overnight, it has been magically transformed in three cards. OK...I'm not that lucky but one of the following cards was trivial to make and the other two stepped up a little.

The Trivial One
Cut the A5 cardstock (landscape) into half. Adhere one of the halves to a card blank. Top off with a framed sentiment.

Additional Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Always Artichoke

Stamps:
Frames with a Flourish set
Warmest Regards set (retired)

Cardstock:
Whisper White



The Stepped Up a Tad Card
Cut a piece off remaining patterned cardstock. Mat that piece on some white copy paper (less bulk). Assemble with a piece of distressed contrasting cardstock and embellish with hardware. Write greeting.

Additional Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Always Artichoke

Stamps:
En Français

Cardstock:
Always Artichoke
Ruby Red

Accessories:
Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware
White Gel Pen

The Stepped Up a Bit More Card
Use last scrap of patterned cardstock. I'm sure you can work out what to do if you are still reading this!
Additional Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Always Artichoke

Stamps:
Frames with a Flourish set
Warmest Regards set (retired)

Cardstock:
Always Artichoke

Accessories:
Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware
White Grosgrain ribbon
For those who can see the dry embossing on the last card - this was done using a Cuttlebug in conjunction with a Fiskars texture plate.

Update 8:05pm
I'm dedicating the Stepped Up a Tad card to Allison to say thank you for linking to my blog. This generous act of hers has generated more traffic than I'm likely to ever see again. I should rename the card "Stepped Up a Lot" as a result. Thank you, Allison!

Patterned paper week

I love patterned paper and I'm choosing this week to feature it! More specifically, I'll be posting various ways of making your own and then using the paper in a project. That's like creativity squared ... or something. This is also a precursor to an upcoming May Stampin' Up! promotion but I'm going to stay quiet until then. Bribes may be considered, however ...

First up is the patterned paper you can create by stamping freehand. Choose your favourite stamp set and go for it on a blank piece of paper.

Tips
1. Make sure that you stamp over the edges of your paper so that the pattern doesn't look cramped (and the edges bald).
2. If you are stamping twice after inking once, be careful when you stamp off the edge on the first impression. You may find that the second impression has a darker patch of ink where the stamp met the edge of the paper on the first press.
3. Consider using contrived chaos. In other words, don't stamp with complete abandon - just look like you did. Stamp in clusters (such as in threes) and be careful with overlapping images as, while sometimes it can look good, other times it looks messy.

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Old Olive
Ruby Red
Whisper White Craft

Stamps:
Bud Basics set

Cardstock:
Kraft

Accessories:
White Gel Pen


I found that the white craft ink didn't give me the shock of white that I wanted so I traced over the outlines with a white gel pen.

I'll post a project using this patterned cardstock tomorrow. But, in the meanwhile, have a squizz at Kari's bold and beautiful cards and Kylie's gorgeous offering - I reckon my patterned cardstock gives a similar feel to the Designer Series Paper that they used so well. Of course, the DSP is much more refined...

Omitting Old Olive

My aunt asked me to make a birthday card for one of her friends who is turning 92(!) next week. Normally, my aunt is quite indifferent as to what elements should be included in the cards that she commissions. This time, however, she requested that the number 92 be prominently placed on the card. So, what better excuse is there for trying out some Stampin' Glitter? In addition to the numeric bling, the card has a couple of white eyelets set using a Crop-A-Dile and the embossing is courtesy of Cuttlebug Birds and Swirls and Birthday folders. A white gel pen was used to highlight the embossed sentiment.

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Sahara Sand
StazOn Black
Wild Wasabi
Stamps:
Oh, So Lovely set
Cardstock:
Blue Bayou
Lovely Lilac
Wild Wasabi
Accessories:
Basic Eyelets
Stampin' Glitter
Watercolor Pencils

I had considered using Old Olive for this card as I like it so much - it goes with all the cardstock that I've been reaching for, such as Rose Red, Chocolate Chip and, even, Kraft. But, in the interest of decorum, I decided to use Wild Wasabi instead ... as my aunt's friend's name is Olive.