It's been a while since I did a swap--and this time it was another sampler swap. Each stamper picks a stamp set and makes five cards or papercraft items using the stamps. You don't have to use every stamp on every time. I picked
French Countryside from the new
2020 Occasions Mini-Catalogue. To be honest, I didn't put much thought into my choice until I started making some sketches. Then, everything I planned went out the window!
Whereas my previous sampler swap had too many sentiments, French Countryside has no sentiments. I'll talk about each design in the order that I made them.
When in doubt, stamp it out. After I felt stuck for the first card, I stamped all over a 12x12" sheet of
Purple Posy
cardstock. France has a huge textile history, so I tried to make it look like antique fabric by repeating the motifs. The die cut is from
Detailed Bands and the sentiment is from
Butterfly Gala stamped in Pretty Peacock.
I actually researched French country style for this swap and the colours tend to be very neutral or distressed. I tried embossing the front panel with the Subtle embossing folder, hated it, and then just sponged on some Crumbcake ink instead.
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With card number two, I went back to basics with a simple cartoon style layout. The benefit is that each stamp is highlighted on its own. It was quick to cut the Very Vanilla panels once I figured out the dimensions. The base is Gray Granite cardstock stamped in Pretty Peacock with the All Wired Up background stamp. A little pink pencil crayon over the images gave them a boost. I did some research on French countryside colours and it turns out that neutral and subtle shades are just what I needed.
Like my papercrafters, I hoard paper. It's so precious! So pretty! I found some leftover current DSP and cut them into front panels. I still didn't know what this card was going to look like, but at least
doing something would help me get over my fear of a blank card. These two stamps looked great together, so again I used Pretty Peacock. Pretty Peacock pretty much goes with everything! The hello is from Free As a Bird and the dies are from the Stitched Nested Labels set. This card let me use up some more leftover cardstock with the punched leaves.
The clock started ticking on getting the swaps done, so the fourth card was super simple. No sentiments. Just the house stamped in Crumbacake ink on Very Vanilla cardstock, followed by a die cut, embossed oval frame from the Heirloom Frames Dies And 3D Embossing Folder set. This was my first time using the set and it was a little tricky. Die cut first, then emboss. Going with tone on tone or a subtle like Purple Posy worked great!
Sometimes planning interferes with action and with this final swap card I used my
Stamparatus and a paper mask to create a scene. However, I needed to put a lot of work in to pull it all off. I used sponging and pencil crayon to give the background some oomph. Then I went over the stamps with a mechanical pencil to help with the contrast. Mix blue and orange and you get brown...hence my use of Terracotta Tile for the label. I'm not happy with the label - it feels big. An ornate die would have looked better, I think. Sometimes one gets a little more arty than crafty :-D
Swapping was a ton of fun. I enjoyed the sets I received in return and I'll share them another day :-)
