World Card Making Day Celebration

Posted on October 8, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

My apologies for not posting for the last few days. I have been spending all of my time preparing for my Open House in celebration of World Card Making Day which was held on Saturday, October 7.

I had so much fun and made some new friends.  I can’t wait to schedule my next event. If you couldn’t make it this time, I hope to see you at one of my future events!

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you leave here inspired to get creative. No such thing as “I don’t have a creative bone in my body” … you just need to have the right tools and someone to show you how to use them. I am here to help!

Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

P.S.  A special THANK YOU to Katherine Cameron, Pat Ibarra, Marlene Bashore and Ariellen for sharing their day with me.

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Hearts Come Home Hometown Village

Posted on October 5, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

I did more sponging today to create the background for my project.  It is a messy task to undertake and reminds me a lot of finger painting when I was a kid, just with sponges.  No matter how careful I try to be though, I still get ink up under my fingernails.

Today’s sponging was to create a skyline for the village I was going to create using the Hometown Greetings Edgelits dies that coordinate with (and can be purchased as part of a bundle) the Hearts Come Home stamp set.

I need to remember to walk away and let my sponged paper “rest” for a bit before I continue on with my creative process.  The once distinctive shades of the three ink colors I used faded once dried completely.  I would have liked to have had more contrast and likely would have added more of the darker shade before continuing with the project.  (You learn something new everyday, or so I hear.)

When using the edgelits you will want to make sure that you place the roof tips at the very top of your paper so that you have a “snow bank” at the bottom long enough to allow you to space out your village layers.  The bottom layer is adhered flat to the cardstock, the middle silver foil and the top whisper whiter layers are attached with dimensionals.  The sentiment is heat embossed in Silver embossing powder on the snow bank of the top edgelit cut (you will want to heat emboss this piece before you attach it to the card).

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of this card, all of which can quickly be added to your shopping cart by clicking on the thumbnails below:

If you have any questions regarding any other design elements of this card, do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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Joy to the World from Hearts Come Home

Posted on October 4, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

Have you ever started on a project with one thing in mind and ended up with something completely different?  Well that was me today.  I wanted to make a Joseph’s Coat technique card, but using Christmas colors and a Christmas stamp set.  I cut my card stock and selected my ink colors, dipped my sponges and went to work coloring.

The longer the sponged piece of cardstock sat on my desk, the more vibrant it became and I really hated the idea that I was going to be covering up so much of the colors soon.  Nevertheless, I then stamped various images in Versamark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  I decided to try Soft Suede as the color to brayer over the entire piece but it just wasn’t dark enough and I really wasn’t liking the way I had stamped the images.  So that first attempt went into the trash can.

I then started over with the sponging.  Of course, it didn’t look as good as the first one did, but then again the longer I let it sit, the richer the colors became.  So instead of a Joseph’s Coat card, here is what I came up with:

Another oops I made was that I attempted to heat emboss the sentiment directly onto the sponged cardstock; however, you really could not see it.  So, I did it a second time on whisper white.  Wow – this project was a labor of love, but I think it turned out pretty cool.  What do you think?

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of this card, all of which can quickly be added to your shopping cart by clicking on the thumbnails below:

If you have any questions regarding any of the design aspects of this card, do not hesitate to ask.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps (and sponges!) to ink to paper.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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A Deer on a Snowflake

Posted on October 3, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

I really love the Merry Patterns stamp set that is a limited edition host set through the end of October.  It’s hard to pick a favorite image from this set, but the deer is right up there.  I mean, come on, a deer wearing a sweater is just too darn cute!  I wanted to draw attention to that sweater on today’s card, so I stamped the deer in two different colors and then fussy cut the sweater and glued it on the deer which I also fussy cut.

I had to do some serious fussy cutting on the deer – I didn’t like the white border that was on the one on my project yesterday.  Not an easy task around the antlers so in the areas where I just could not get down in there with my snips I took out my Soft Suede Stampin’ Write Marker and covered up the white spots.  This resulted in some darker areas on the deer which I kind of like – after all, they are not uniformly the same color all over, right!

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of this card, all of which can quickly be added to your shopping cart by clicking on the thumbnails below:

If you have any questions regarding any of the design elements of this project, do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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Oh Deer and a Brick Wall

Posted on October 2, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

It’s October already – wow!  There are a couple of extra special promotions that start this month, but before I spill those beans I want to share with you my latest project.

I don’t know if you are like me, but when I get a new catalog I virtually drool over all the “new” items (which Stampin’ Up! conveniently marks as “New!”).  Often times there are so many new products that my wish list is HUGE.

With the release of the Annual Catalog on June 1, Stampin’ Up! introduced a new product – Embossing Paste.  I really wanted this stuff along with the stencil/masks but there were other stuff I wanted a little bit more.  Then it was so popular when first released it sold out and went into backorder status.  Of course, once it was available again I got some for myself.  Today I got brave enough to use it on a project!

I elected to cover my entire piece of cardstock with the brick mask (some people have only done a partial embossing of a section) but my need for consistency would drive me nuts if I tried to do that.  (To keep the mask from moving, I taped it in place by using some washi tape on the back in all four corners of the cardstock.)

The trees are cut using framelits and were covered with multipurpose liquid glue and then sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds glitter.

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of this card, all of which can quickly be added to your shopping cart by clicking on the thumbnails below:

Drats – I see I left an item off my supplies list.  I have already purged what I did earlier so I am adding that one item as a solo:

If you have any questions regarding any of the design elements of this card, do not hesitate to ask!

OCTOBER SPECIALS FROM STAMPIN’ UP!:

Celebrate World Card Making Day!

October 1 – 10, 2017:  Save 15% off select stamp sets (many coordinate with the designer series paper sale which also begins today!) and note card/envelope sets.  Also, when you buy Fast Fuse Adhesive, you will get two refills for FREE!  Visit my new “Sales & Promotions” page HERE for more information.

 

Designer Series Paper Sale – Buy 3, Get 1 FREE!

October 1 – 31, 2017:  Purchase 3 packages of select Designer Series Paper and get one FREE during October! This sale includes Designer Series Paper from both the annual and holiday catalogs.  And it even includes select Specialty and Designer Series Paper Stacks!  See which designer series papers are on sale by visiting my new “Sales & Promotions” page HERE.  Purchase all the same or mix and match!

 

Merry Patterns Host Promotion

September 1 – October 31, 2017:  Earn this limited offer stamp set before it is gone for good.  Visit my new “Sales & Promotions” page HERE for more information

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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Wine Bottle Gift Bag – Take 2

Posted on September 30, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

I was determined to master the wine bottle gift bag today so this was the first project on my agenda.  Applying the things I learned from my first attempt yesterday, today’s project process was much easier and turned out much better than the first one.

I love how it turned out actually.  What do you think?

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of this project, all of which can quickly be added to your shopping cart by clicking on the thumbnails below:

I also used my Real Red and Garden Green Stampin’ Write Markers to color the stamp.  These markers are not sold separately.  However, you can substitute the duo of Old Olive and Real Red that is available in the Holiday Catalog:

For more information on how to make this project see yesterday’s post.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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Wine Bottle Gift Bag … Well sort of …

Posted on September 30, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

I was asked to make a gift bag for wine bottles as one of Personalized Christmas Gifts.  Should be easy, right?  I looked for videos or samples and all those that I found were extremely over the top (they looked like gazebos – no seriously!) and then I finally found one on YouTube by Scrimpingmommy (“Reinforced Mini Bottle Bag Stampin’ Up! products”) but it was for a mini wine bottle.  I’m not a wine drinker so I didn’t have any wine bottles handy to measure.  I sent out feelers to some of my wine drinking friends to get the standard measurements for a wine bottle and I got this:

Here is what I created.  Fair warning that it is not at all perfect (let’s just say I learned what NOT to do the next time I try to make one of these) and I could have spent a little more time decorating it but I am just glad to have finished it!

This “bag” starts out with a square bottom made from cardstock.  Since the information I was provided indicates that a standard wine bottle is 3.00″ in diameter, I wanted my bag bottom to be 3.25″ in diameter.  Each side of the box is 1.00″ so to allow me to score 1.00″ on all four sides, I cut a piece of thick Whisper White card stock to 5.25″ square and then scored at 1.00″ on all four sides.  To create the box itself, you will cut up on the score lines on the right and left opposite each other as show in the photo below:

Put a strong adhesive (I used Tear Tape) on the outer side of each tab on both sides.  The tabs will tuck in and attach to the long panel to create the box.

Since the diameter of the box is 3.25″, a 12″ x 12″ piece of paper will not be long enough to wrap around the entire box.  You will need to piece together  an additional 2.00″ of matching paper to a 12″ x 12″ piece.

To reinforce the top of the bag for handles, cut a 2.00″ strip of paper and extend to the same length as the larger piece.  Score at 1.00″ and attach as a cuff around the top (that is the blue that you see on my bag which is the reverse side of the designer series paper that I used).  (My mistake is I forgot to do this before I wrapped the box – not easy to try to do afterwards!)

Put a strong adhesive at the top and bottom edges on all four sides of the box.  On the paper that you are going to wrap around the box, you will need to put a strong adhesive on the inside end of paper that will wrap over on top at the end.

To assemble the pieces together, start approximately in the center of the paper and adhere the box as close to the edge of the paper as possible.  As you get to the corner, give the paper a pinch to bend it but do not crease it all the way up.  Once you get to the last piece that will cross over and close off the bag, put your hand inside the bag and carefully press.  If you used an adhesive with a backing, i.e. Tear Tape, it would be a good idea to remove a little at a time to allow you to control the seam.

I will definitely try this project again, hopefully with better results!

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of this project, all of which can quickly be added to your shopping cart by clicking on the thumbnails below:

If you have any questions regarding any design elements of this project, do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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Year of Cheer with Snowflake Sentiments

Posted on September 29, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

Today’s project was inspired by a YouTube video by Tami White.  She has a Facebook Live video where she demonstrated a wine bottle tag and coordinating card and treat box.  She used the Year of Cheer Specialty Designer Series Paper and the Add a Little Glitz stamp set.  Well I don’t have that particular stamp set (shocker!) (I really only wanted the one stamp that says “May Your Season Sparkle”) so I used a sentiment from the Snowflake Sentiments stamp set on my project.

While this card looks luxurious, it was very quick and easy to put together.  Next one I make I will likely make the strip of card stock for the sentiment a little narrower so that more of the foil snowflake shows.    The Year of Cheer Specialty DSP is by far my favorite in the Holiday Catalog.  I have used it in so many projects that I am just about out of it – time to order more!

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of my card, all of which can quickly be added to your shopping cart by clicking on the thumbnails below:

If you have any questions regarding any of the design elements of this card, do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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Paper Pumpkin September 2017 Kit

Posted on September 28, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

Today’s post will be short and sweet.  I have had my September Paper Pumpkin kit on my desk for about a week now and it has been calling out to me to open it up and put it together.  I could not ignore it any longer.  I assembled all of my leaf bunches, but only completed one of the notecards and one of the pillow boxes.

Did you notice that white and gold leaf?  Well, that is the remnants of the foil paper after you carefully and cleanly remove the gold leaf foil stickers.  I fussy cut around the negative image and now I have an awesome leaf for a future project.  (One person’s trash is another’s art!)

Paper Pumpkin kits are absolutely perfect for scratching that crafting itch without breaking the bank.  For only $19.95 / month (U.S.) tax and shipping included, you will get a box in your mailbox filled with everything you need to make your project.  This particular kit included enough supplies to make 8 of the 3×3 notecards (with envelopes) and 8 of the pillow boxes.  WOW!

I am trying to decide if I want to save the rest for guests to assemble when they attend my Open House to celebrate World Card Making Day on Saturday, October 7.  Have you sent in your RSVP yet?

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you leave (no pun intended) here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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Hearts Come Home to Painted Harvest

Posted on September 27, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

I thought perhaps you guys may have seen enough Halloween treat bags this week so I am switching back to Christmas themed projects.  Today’s project’s focal point uses a non-conventional Christmas color – black.  The designer series paper I used on this project is from the Merry Music Specialty designer series paper pack which is a collection of patterns in black on white background or vice versa (sheet music, snow flakes, etc.).  I used gold and silver to bring it more into the conventional arena.

As you will see I have once again used the sunflower stamp from the Painted Harvest stamp set to create a wreath.  This time, though, I embossed the wreath alternating layers of gold, copper and gold embossing power.  It didn’t turn out quite as I had imagined it would – I had hoped for more of the copper layer to show – but I kind of like it.  What do you think?

How did I do that?  I stamped the less detailed stamp in Versamark and sprinkled with gold embossing powder and heated until set.  Once cooled I stamped with the detailed stamp in Versamark and sprinkled with copper embossing powder and heated until set.  Once cooled I stamped with the less detailed stamp in Versamark and sprinkled with gold embossing powder.  This time I heated the image from underneath the paper, rather than from the top as you normally would.  (NOTE:  I would suggest using the Embossing Buddy before you stamp each time.  I only used it the first time and I ended up with some embossing powder where I didn’t want it to be.  Just rub it around the image the second and third time.)

One other tip that is not obvious in the photographs.  Do you have Dazzling Diamonds Glitter and not sure how to get it to stick to your projects?  Did you know that you can sprinkle it over wet ink and it will stick to it?  Well that is what I did on the “Joy to the World” sentiment on the front of the card.  (Of course, now I will have glitter on my face the rest of the day!)

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of this card, all of which can quickly be added to your shopping cart by clicking on the thumbnails below:

If you have any questions regarding any other design elements of this card, do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper – and put a little glitter in your day.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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