"The Open Sea" Trifold Shutter card – Goodbye to a great stamp set!

Hi everyone! Today, August 31^st, is the last day to order from Stampin’ Up!’s Summer Mini Catalog.  There are some great sets there that you are not going to want to miss. My card for today highlights my absolute favorite set from this catalog, The Open Sea. Here it is both open and closed, so you can see all the details. 

I made this card using all the stamps from The Open Sea, and the great designer paper pack Nautical Expedition.  I am really going to miss both of these! I also used Cherry Cobbler textured cardstock, Early Espresso, Not Quite Navy and Very Vanilla cardstocks. The inks I used were Crumb Cake, Early Espresso and Not Quite Navy classic ink. I also sponged a lot using the Early Espresso ink.

Here are the cutting and scoring directions for making a Trifold Shutter card.

1. Start with a 5 ½” x 12" piece of cardstock. Line up the long edge at the 1 ½” mark and cut between 2” and 10”. Repeat on the other long side.

2. Put your card stock into your score board so that the long end is across the top of the board. At 4” and 8” score all the way across. Then at 2” and 10” score from the top edge down 1.5” to the cut line.  Turn the cardstock so that the opposite side is at the tops and then score in 1.5” at 2” and 10”on that side.

3. Fold cardstock away from you at 2”. Then at 4” fold the top and bottom toward you and the middle section away from you. At 8” fold the top and bottom away from you and the middle section toward you. At 10” fold the cardstock toward you.

4. Embellish as desired.

Thanks for reading my blog! Happy stamping!

All items that I used to make this card are available from Stampin’ Up!. The The Open Sea stamp set and Nautical Expedition Designer Series paper both are only available for one more day, so don’t miss out! If you would like to purchase any of the items shown here, please visit my business website at http://www.trina_kuriger.stampinup.net/

Gently Falling Card and a Leaf Sponging Tutorial

Here’s another card that I made for a Splitcoast Stampers’ Virtual Stamp Night challenge. This one is for the challenge to use twine on your card.

                             Stamps: Gently Falling 
                      Paper: Confetti White, Early Espresso, Spice Cake DSP 
                      Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze
                                 and Cherry Cobbler 
                     Accessories: Hemp Twine, Sponge Daubers, Paper Snips, Dimensionals, Glue
                                 dots 
                     Techniques: Sponging, Cutting 

This card uses Stampin’ Up!’s new Gently Falling stamp set. It’s in the new Holiday Mini Catalog and available starting September 1^st. At the end of this post, I have a photo tutorial showing you how to use sponge daubers and Classic Ink to get these beautiful fall leaves. The other details on the card are as follows. The base is Confetti White cardstock; I love how the little flecks of color in the Confetti White cardstock add to the natural look of the card! There is a 1½” x 4¼” strip of Spice Cake Designer Paper across the bottom of the card, and a 24” piece of Hemp Twine is wrapped twice around the card base and tied off with a knot.  I stamped leaf images in Crumb Cake on a 2½” x 3¾” piece of Confetti White cardstock and matted that on a piece of 2-5/8” x 3-7/8” base of Early Espresso cardstock.  I attached that to the card with Dimensionals. Then I made the leaves as described below and used a glue dot to attach them to the card, this allows them to curl up a bit and look more natural. Here are the directions for the leaves

Leaf Sponging Tutorial

First off, I would like to say that this is just one way to sponge these leaves. There are an infinite number of variations and that makes it possible to have each leaf look unique! I am going to show you how I did it, but play around with it and find out what are your favorite color combinations and patterns.

1. I stamped leaves on Very Vanilla cardstock using Early Espresso ink. Then I cut out each leaf using paper snips. When you cut out images to use as embellishments on cards, you should cut along the outside of the image, not right at the stamped line.  See my cut outs below.

2.  I sponged these leaves using Sponge Daubers and Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze and Cherry Cobbler Classic Inks.

3. First I used a dauber to apply Daffodil Delight Ink to the center of all three leaves.

4. Then I added Pumpkin Pie ink outside of the Daffodil Delight ink. It is best if you rub the dauber lightly over your ink pad and then touch it lightly to your leaf. This will help you avoid getting streaky, splotchy areas and give you a more natural look. I sponged the stem of the smallest leaf (I think it’s a birch leaf) with Pumpkin Pie.

5. Next, I added Cajun Craze around the Pumpkin Pie ink.  I sponged the stems of the maple and oak leaves with Cajun Craze.

For the smaller two leaves (oak and birch), I took this color all the way to the edge. I actually picked up the leaf and rubbed the dauber along the edges of the leaves to make the color darker there.

6. I sponged a little Cherry Cobbler ink on the tips of the maple leaf to give it some fiery red color. I also added a little of the Cherry Cobbler ink to the stem and rubbed the dauber along the edges of the leaves to make the color darker there.

7. I attached the finished leaves to my card using one glue dot in the center so that the edges could curl up.

Thanks for reading my blog! I hope you enjoyed my leaf sponging tutorial. I would love to hear what you think, so please leave a comment.

All items that I used to make this card are available from Stampin’ Up!. The Spice Cake Designer Series Paper and Gently Falling stamp set are all sneak peak items and won’t be available until next week (Sept 1^st). If you would like to purchase any of the items shown here, please visit my business website at www.trina_kuriger.stampinup.net 

Hand-Penned Holidays and a Spice Cake Quilt

Hi everyone! Here is the card I have for you today. I made it for one of the Virtual Stamp Night challenges this weekend at Splitcoast Stampers.

Stamps: Hand Penned Holidays 
Paper: Spice Cake DSP, Soft Suede, Pool Party, Very Vanilla 
Ink: Soft Suede 
Accessories: Bigz Lattice Die, Pool Party 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon,  Snow Burst Embossing Folder, Glue stick, Sponge, Mat Pack and Piercing tool, Soft Suede Marker, Signo White Gel Pen, Cutter Kit
Techniques: Embedded Embossing, Faux Stitching, Distressing, Sponging 


I made this quilt using the new Spice Cake Designer Paper and the Embedded Embossing technique. This paper is in SU!’s new holiday mini, and is available to order starting September 1^st, only 6 days away! The card base is Soft Suede, and then there is a 4” x 5¼” mat of Pool Party cardstock and a 3¾” x 5” mat of Very Vanilla cardstock. I distressed the edges of both mats using the Cutter Kit and sponged them both with Soft Suede Classic Ink.  On the Very Vanilla base I added an outline of Faux Stitching using the Mat Pack and Paper Piercer Tool and a Soft Suede marker.  The sentiment – With Love – is stamped in Soft Suede. It is from the new Hand-Penned Holidays set, which is also in the new Holiday Mini Catalog. The ribbon is Pool Party 3/8” Ruffled Ribbon.  Around the quilt I made another row of Faux Stitching using the Signo white gel pen, but it doesn’t really show much. 

And here is how I made the embedded embossing quilt.

1.  I cut a piece of two different designer papers down to 3 ¾” x 3 ¾”. For this card I used one pattern that was mostly Pool Party and another that was mostly Soft Suede. Then I ran them through the Big Shot using the Lattice Bigz Die.

2. I covered a 3 ¾” x 3 ¾” piece of Vary Vanilla cardstock with glue stick. Then I laid down the Pool Party colored Lattice cut out.

3. I used the Soft Suede piece of designer paper for all the other parts of the cut out (the areas between the lattice and the part surrounding it) and placed them on the same glue stick covered cardstock.

4. Then I put the cardstock with the assembled, glued on pieces in the Snow Burst Embossing Folder and ran it through the Big Shot to give it the textured look. You can do this with any of SU!’s highly detailed embossing folders.

5. Attach the finished product to the card with Sticky Strip or Multipurpose Liquid Glue.

Thanks for reading my blog! I hope you enjoyed today’s post. I love comments, so please leave one!

All items that I used to make this card are available from Stampin’ Up. The Spice Cake Designer Series Paper, Snow Burst Embossing Folder and Hand-Penned Holidays stamp set are all sneak peak items and won’t be available until next week (Sept 1^st). If you would like to purchase any of the items shown here, please visit my business website at www.trina_kuriger.stampinup.net

Colored Rhinestones and Fringed Ribbon – Tutorials

I am going to revisit this card I showed you yesterday because I want to explain a couple of the little techniques I used on it.

To see a detailed explanation of how I made the central image, please visit yesterday’s blog post

http://mnfroggie.blogspot.com/2011/08/emerging-colors-sunflower-tutorial.html

This post will cover how I made the fringed ribbon and colored rhinestones.  Rhinestones first (they are easiestJ) and then below that I will cover the ribbon.

Tutorial for Coloring Rhinestones

1.  Stampin’ Up!’s Basic Jewel Rhinestones can be colored easily using Sharpie markers. For this card I used a brown marker. Fine Point (the larger ones) works best.

2. While the rhinestones are still on their original sheet, color all over the outside of them. They take on the color easily, just scribble across the top and sides. It is best if you do this before you add them to the project so that you don’t get Sharpie ink on your cardstock.

3. They will dry very quickly, almost instantly and are ready to transfer to your project.

Tutorial for making Fringed Ribbon

1. I like to do this to the wide striped grosgrain ribbon, when I need to create a ribbon that is narrower. For this card I used the 1 ¼” Cajun Craze Striped Grosgrain. Cut a piece of ribbon to the desired length, and then cut along the stripe to get a straight line. If your line is not perfect, it will not show, as long as it is almost straight.

2. If you want fringe on both sides, cut along the stripe on the other side.

3. Tease out the strands of the ribbon that go down the length of the ribbon, and once you can grasp them, pull them off the length of the ribbon completely.

4. You will be left with a ribbon that has fringe along the side like this. I always do this planning to make the fringe where the white stripe was. If you make fringe where the colored stripe was, you will pull out all the color because the colored strings in the ribbon only run the length of the ribbon and the strands underneath them are white.

5. Repeat step 3 on the other side if you have cut the ribbon on both sides.

Once you have created the fringed ribbon, attach it to the card. If you are tucking the ends under your project, you do not need to do anything more. But if you are tying a knot so that the ends of the ribbon will show, those ends will fray. To make this look right on your project, you either need to singe the ribbon to hold it intact, or fray it intentionally.

To singe it

6. Trim the end of the ribbon straight.

7. Pull out one thread from the end. This will leave a little fringe behind

8. Heat only the very end of the ribbon to melt the little fringe on the end. This takes a few tries to get it right, so I suggest you practice it before you do it on the final project.

An easier option is to just go ahead and fray the ends of the ribbon.

9. To do that simple tease the treads going the length of the ribbon apart.

10. Continue to do that down to the knot and remove all the loose cross threads.

11. Your finished project will look like this.

Thanks for reading my blog. I love comments, so please leave one if you enjoyed this post!

All products used here are available from Stampin’ Up! I you would like to purchase these, or any other Stampin’ Up! products, please visit my business website at http://www.trina_kuriger.stampinup.net/

Emerging Colors Sunflower – A Tutorial

Emerging Colors Sunflower – A Tutorial

Here is the card I’m showing you all today.

I made this for a recent card swap and I love it! I love the way is looks, plus it has all kinds of fun tips and tricks I am going to share with you.

Stamps: Sunflower, Friendly Phrases 

Paper: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze 

Ink: Cajun Craze and Versamark; Also So Saffron, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie and Cajun Craze for sponging 

Accessories: Clear Embossing powder, sponges, Cajun Craze marker, 1-1/4" Wide Cajun Craze Grosgrain, Basic Rhinestones, Brown Sharpie 

Techniques: Emerging Colors, Emboss Resist, Heat Embossing, Sponging, Fringed Ribbon, Coloring Rhinestones 

The technique I used on this card is called Emerging Colors, which is a variation of an Emboss Resist Technique. So first I should define a few techniques here for you.  If you use heat embossing on a card and then apply ink over the image, only the areas where there is no embossing will accept the ink. The areas of embossing will “resist” the ink. I will show you an example of that in a moment in my photo tutorial. But first, I want to explain what Emerging Colors is. Emerging Colors is a technique where you stamp on cardstock, then emboss over it with clear embossing powder.   Then when you use the emboss resist technique, the image you stamped first will show through the clear embossing powder. Clear as mud? Well, read on, I hope my tutorial will help.  Also, if you would like to see some other examples of emboss resist and emerging colors cards, see this previous post.

http://mnfroggie.blogspot.com/2011/06/some-emboss-resist-cards-from-past.html

Emerging Colors Tutorial

1. Stamp your background image on the cardstock in a bold or dark color. This is the image that will “emerge”. For this card I stamped the sentiment from the Friendly Phrases stamp set in Cajun Craze on a 3-7/8” x 5-1/8” card front of Whisper White cardstock.

2. Rub over the cardstock with an Embossing Buddy.

3. Ink your main image with Versamark and stamp it on your cardstock. For this card, I used the Sunflower background stamp.

4. Cover the stamped image with Clear embossing powder, then melt it with your heat gun.

5. Pour and shake off all the excess embossing powder, then melt what remains on the image with your heat gun.

5. Sponge (or brayer) Classic Ink on the cardstock. Notice that the area here that is embossed does not take the ink and so it stays white. Here I used So Saffron ink.

6. I like to use several different colors of ink to give visual texture and depth to the card.  If you are going to sponge on several colors, go ahead and do all of them at this point before moving on to the next step.  I used Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie and Cajun Craze Classic Inks.

7. (Optional step) On this card, I also applied a spatter of color using the Color Spritzer Tool and a Cajun Craze Stampin Write marker. This isn’t necessary for this technique; I just wanted to explain to you what I did.  J

8. There will be a little ink residue on top of the embossing. Wipe this away with a paper towel. Do NOT use a wet towel, it can mess up the ink around your embossed image. But you can huff on the paper towel to moisten it with your breath, this can help to help remove the ink.

9. Embellish and mat as desired. For my card I used a 4” x 5 ¼” Early Espresso mat and a Cajun Craze card base. I also added a ribbon and colored rhinestones. I will post tomorrow to explain how I did both the ribbons and the rhinestones.

Thanks for reading my blog. I love comments, so please leave one if you enjoyed this post!

All products used here are available from Stampin’ Up! I you would like to purchase these, or any other Stampin’ Up! products, please visit my business website at http://www.trina_kuriger.stampinup.net/