I am a quasi-hobby independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator. I do not book parties but I specialize in one on one instruction plus I still wanted a space to show off my cards and share advice about stamping and papercraft. Enjoy! All stamped images and paper are (c) Stampin' Up.

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Thursday 31 January 2019

January Stamping Project: Lilypad Lake Thank You Card

Water Front is one of the more popular sets introduced in the 2018-2019 Stampin Up! annual catalogue. You'll see it everywhere on Pinterest! It's not hard to understand why - it's a versatile set that gives stampers a versatile set of pieces for nature themed card.

Now it's my turn. This card may look ambitious, but when broken down into steps, it's a great opportunity to try new techniques and use up scraps. The two samples show that a monochromatic background can be as interesting as a daylight one. Practice beforehand on heavyweight paper if you are new to using water and ink. The Aqua Painters are great for learning as you can control the amount of water a little easier. Start with a moist tip and squeeze as necessary. Remember, more water equals lighter colours and more wear on the paper. You can also try a wet on wet technique where you stamp onto damp cardstock. Experiment and see!

Blue version - click for larger


Supply list
Instructions for two cards
  1. Make two Very Vanilla cardstock bases by scoring a 8.5x11" sheet and cutting in half.
  2. On scrap Whisper White paper, stamp two herons and several lilypads with Memento. Die cut using the Big Shot and matching dies. Memento allows you to use wet media like markers or inks without smearing by the way. Just make sure it dries first.
  3. Colour the herons and lilypads with your choice of colours. I used Stampin' Blends on the lilypads.
  4. Cut two 1.5x6" strips of Night of Navy cardstock. Use the wavy water stamp to stamp on the strip. The stamp isn't long enough to cover the whole area, so you will have to stamp twice. Or, you can use a Night of Navy marker to drawer water lines or draw over the stamped image.
  5. Cut 6x1" strips of So Saffron for the sentiment. You may want a thin strip to cover where the background image and Night of Navy strips meet and use additional strips for the sentiment. Play around and see what works for you - a long strip can always be trimmed down.
  6. Cut two 3x6" pieces of extra thick Whisper White, mixed media paper or Bristol paper. Things are going to get a little wet!
  7. Lightly make a mark 1.75" from the top of the area to be painted. This will be the shoreline of the background painting. Stamp mountains across this line in Blueberry Bushel ink. Stamp the same area several times to get a dark colour, or use a piece of scrap paper to mask off the water area. This way you can turn the mountain stamp around and make some interesting shapes.
  8. Take the tree stamp from Waterfront and rotate it horizontally. Stamp the edge of the trees along the shoreline in darker Night of Navy ink. Use a mask!
  9. Stamp the water and clouds lightly with Blueberry Bushels ink. Add a sun if you wish. You can use the stamp off technique - that is, stamp on scrap paper to remove some of the ink before stamping on the good paper.
  10. Use the Aqua Painters to gently drag at the clouds and water. Push and pull the colour to make fluffy clouds and ripples. When you are done painting and the cardstock is dry, clean up the shoreline by using a Night of Navy marker - either a Stampin' Blend or Stampin' Write - to squiggle in little trees and straighten any whoopsies.
  11. Time to assemble! First adhere the background painting and Night of Navy strip to the front of the card. Trim any excess paper off the sides.
  12. Second, affix the sentiment strip. The sentiment in the card below actually covers up a whoopsie...placement is a happy accident sometimes.
  13. Lastly, arrange the heron, lilypads and rushes as you like.

Hopefully the watercolour painting wasn't too taxing. Another way to make this card extra special is to use Shimmery White Paper. This coated paper will add a touch of luxury and sparkle as well as hold water a little better. There's lots of room to experiment with this design. You could try adding the heron on some layered vertical rectangles to make it stand out. Whatever you make - always make it yours :-)

Alternate version - click for larger


Your Friend, Christine


Sunday 6 January 2019

Sunday Sketch - January Stamping Project

Since I always post my projects at the end of the month, I decided to share the sketch for them at the beginning of the month. Check back in a couple of weeks to see how the sketch becomes reality. This idea contains a few elements that were easier to stamp out than sketch out.

Lilypad Lake thank you card


Your Friend, Christine


Tuesday 1 January 2019

Cheers to the New Year!

Even with the best intentions to send cards on time for Christmas, some friends slipped through the cracks. A new year's card is a great way to send well wishes and in this case, a chance to use stamps from my collection. This design is a little different from my normal style - but it proves that very different elements can come together for a pleasing design. I chose two stamps from Gorgeous Grunge to reflect the movement of time. The giant snowflake is a focal point while an embossed panel and strip of vellum give a wintry touch. Sometimes it's all about the layers!

This project uses discontinued items, but you can still take inspiration from the colour scheme or composition.

Supply list for ten cards:

Stampin' Up! does not sell metallic ink - I used a Colorbox pad.


Cheers to the new year!
Click for larger

  1. Score five sheets of 8.5x11" Whisper White cardstock down the middle and cut in half to make ten card bases.
  2. Cut 2-3 sheets of 8.5x11" Pool Party cardstock into ten 3.25x4" panels.
  3. Emboss the Pool Party panels with the xxx embossing folder. You can sponge the edges with Pool Party ink or stamp the embossing folder with ink to leave a gentle touch of ink upon the embossed surface.
  4. Cut 10 x strips of vellum cardstock.
  5. On scrap pieces of Whisper White cardstock, stamp the radiating circle from Cheers to the Year in gold metallic ink. Inside the circle, stamp the sentiment in Fresh Fig. Punch out the circles with the circle punch.
  6. Die cut 10 snowflakes from a 12x12" sheet of silver foil cardstock. To minimize waste, trace around the snowflake on the blank side and cut by hand.
  7. Now, this is where the Stamparatus came in handy! Position a card base on the platform and line up the horizontal line stamp past the edge of the bottom left side. Ink it up with Pool Party and stamp stamp stamp! Do the same for the slanted line stamp, but on the top left hand side and bottom right hand side.
  8. Stamp the horizontal line stamp about midway on the right side of the card base.
  9. Center the embossed panel on the front of the card and stick down.
  10. Most adhesives will show through vellum, so just put a small piece of tear tape where the snowflake will be mounted.
  11. Mount the sentiment to the snowflake and then place the snowflake on the right side of the card. Try experimenting with tilting it until it looks just right.

All the best for 2019 stamping friends!

Your Friend, Christine