Stamp Set Goodbyes and Tutorial for a Super Easy T-shirt Card

Stampin' Up! will be retiring lots of stamp sets at the end of this month, and so I have been busy in my craft room saying goodbye to a lot of my retiring stamp sets. I love these sets! I know I can still use them after they retire, but as a demo, so many of the things that I make need to be done with current stamps. So for now, I am just going to use these babies as much as I can!

The stamps I am going to miss the most are the “Extreme” silhouette stamps. I own them all except for the surfer. (We don’t have a lot of surfers in Minnesota.) These were my absolute favorites for making cards for teens and young twenty somethings. Also I used them a lot for my brother who is a lot older, but still plays like he is twenty something.  So when I saw this fabulous T-shirt card on Splitcoast Stampers by darhm, I had to try to recreate it. I loved the way her card looked, but I know it can be easier if the card fits a standard envelope. So I adjusted the sizing to

4¼ x 5½” so that it would fit into a standard A2 size envelope.  See the end of this blog post for a tutorial on how to make this card.

I also thought I would show you a card I made a while back using the Extreme Guitar stamp. I love how this turned out. I used Extreme Elements and Fabulous Phrases to create the background, which I then cut up and reassembled to give a mosaic effect. I also knotted and then frayed some Basic Black ¼” grosgrain ribbon to complete the chaotic look.

Now on to a different theme, weddings! Here is ona card that I made using a couple of retiring stamps. This monochromatic card is simple to make but I think it is stunning. I stamped the Bella Toile Background stamp along the bottom half of a 4x5¼” Very Vanilla card front in Rich Razzleberry. Then I added a piece of Rich Razzleberry 3/8” taffeta ribbon.  I stamped and hand cut the butterfly from the Great Friend set, attached it with glue dots and added a few of the largest size of Basic Pearls. The sentiment is from Sincere Salutations (not retiring).

Tutorial for a super easy T-shirt card

This card is just made from one piece of cardstock cut to 3¼” x 8½”, scored at 4¼” and two 1¾” squares, plus a little bit of matching designer paper. (Two strips 3/8 x 1 ¾”.) It is so easy to put together.

1. Stamp the image on the front of the card. You should do this before assembly so that the card is flat. (After you attach the sleeves, it will keep the card from being completely flat and keep you from getting a good image.) Use an embossing buddy first to prevent stray embossing powder from sticking where you don’t want it. Make sure that you stamp the image far enough down so that there is still room for the collar.

2. For this card I stamped in Versamark and embossed using Wild Wasabi embossing powder. You can use a small brush to wipe away any embossing powder that sticks where you don’t want it. Heat with your heat gun (I use a clothes pin to hold it so I don't burn myself.) Then fold and crease at the score line.

3. Cut out a partial oval from the designer paper using the 1¾” x 7/8” Oval Punch. This should be slightly less than ½ of a complete oval, about 3/8” high.

4. Punch out a ½ oval from a strip of black cardstock, and throw that out. Then line up the oval punch along the line where you just punched, so that the thin strip of cardstock is all that shows.  Punch this out to use as the collar.

5. Attach this along the designer paper partial oval along the edge to form the collar. I used the Tombow multi liquid glue to glue down this little piece.  Trim off any overhang if necessary. Put this on the front of the card above the image along the fold line.

6. Attach one of the 3/8 x 1¾” strips of designer paper to one of the edges of the square. Repeat with the other square.

7. Attach these squares to the back side of the front layer of cardstock, so that the designer paper shows forward and is positioned to look like the edge of the sleeves. You may want to assemble this on grid paper or on an envelope so that you do not make the sleeves stick out any wider than 5½“ total width, so that this will still fit in a standard A2 envelope.

8. If you want to line the card, you should use a 3 x 4” piece of cardstock. I didn’t put a liner in mine because I thought it would be a really fun card to write on with a gel pen.

Thanks for reading my blog and tutorial! If you would like to purchase any of the stamp sets shown here, get them before they retire on June 30th! You can purchase them on my business website at www.trina_kuriger.stampinup.net

Happy Stamping!