ThePowerOfACard: February 2021

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Birthday Treat - A Cut-Out Fun Flap Card

My card today is a variation of a fun fold - I'm calling it a Cut-out Fun Flap and I'm in love with this technique! It's actually pretty easy to make, but looks quite impressive! I'm featuring the Ice Cream Corner Suite of products (pages 48 and 49 of the JJ Mini Catalog). At the end of the video, I show two other cards made in this same style.

Gather your supplies:

Cardstock: Pool Party 5-1/2" x 8-1/2", scored at 4-1/4"; Sweet Ice Cream DSP 4" x 5-1/4" plus scraps for the ice cream and cone; Basic White 3-3/4" x 5", 1" x 3-1/2", 1" x 4", and 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" to cut with the largest octagon shaped die; Bermuda Bay 2" x 3" to cut with the second largest octagon shaped die
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana and Cinnamon Cider
Stamp set: Sweet Ice Cream
Punch: Ice Cream Cone Builder
Dies: Hippo & Friends
Adhesive and Tools r

Position your DSP onto your card front and hold in place using low-tack tape. Cut the largest octagon from the front panel on your Stampin' Cut and Emboss Machine. Be very careful when removing the low tack tape as it can easily tear the DSP. Set aside the pool party shape for another project. Now you can adhere the DSP to the card front, making sure you have adhesive close to the edge of the opening.

Stamp your Happy Birthday sentiment with Bermuda Bay ink on the 4" strip. Trim and adhere to the card front with Dimensionals.

Place the white panel on the inside (but don't glue just yet). Carefully close the card so the panel remains in position and stamp the inside sentiment in the center of the opening. Fold the remaining 1" strip nearly in half and place the fold on the edge of the white panel so that the flap is centered in the opening. Glue the flap to the back side, then glue the panel into the inside of the card.

Cut out the ice cream and cone from the DSP and glue them together. Add the Bermuda Bay shape onto the White shape and pop up the ice cream cone in the center with Dimensionals.

Close the card and add glue to the portion of the flap visible in the opening. Place the decorated octagon panel on top - it will fit perfectly into the opening. Open the card and flap, then glue the DSP octagon to cover the flap. Watch my video to see how I create a mask for the ice cream to decorate the envelope.

The two other cards I show use an oval and a circle for the opening, but you could use any die cut shape you want! It's so fun to have have the hidden message under the flap. Experiment with different colors for the shape, or even the reverse side of the flap. I used the Hey Chick and Hey Birthday Chick bundles (so much fun and the feature of my March Card Class!) and the Flowering Cactus Product Medley to illustrate a variety of stamp sets with work with this technique. Give it a try!

Karen

ThePowerOfACard@gmail.com

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https://karensliwinski.stampinup.net

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Product List

Sweet Ice Cream Bundle

[156244]

$31.50

Pool Party 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[122924]

$8.75

Ice Cream Corner Designer Series Paper

[154567]

$11.50

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[159276]

$9.75

Bermuda Bay 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[131197]

$8.75

Hippo & Friends Dies

[153585]

$36.00

Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad

[147096]

$7.50

Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad

[147097]

$7.50

Cinnamon Cider Classic Stampin' Pad

[153114]

$7.50

Bone Folder

[102300]

$7.00

Paper Trimmer

[152392]

$25.00

Multipurpose Liquid Glue

[110755]

$4.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.00

Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine

[149653]

$120.00

Basic White Medium Envelopes

[159236]

$7.50

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

A Touch of Ink with Blending Brushes

Blending brushes are one of my favorite tools. It is easy to add color softly and smoothly and you can use brushes to coordinate with your stamped images by blending in the same ink color. Watch the video to see these fabulous brushes in action. I'm using a beautiful stamp set you can get for free with a $100 purchase during Sale-a-Bration (which concludes at the end of this month). Get yours while you can!

Gather your supplies:

Cardstock: Mossy Meadow 5-1/2" x 8-1/2", scored at 4-1/4" and 4-1/8" x 2-3/4"; Basic White 3-9/16" x 4-7/9" and 4-1/8" x 2-3/4" to cut with the 4th largest Stitched Rectangle Die
Ink: Mossy Meadow and Pear Pizzazz
Stamp set: A Touch of Ink
Dies: Stitched Rectangles
Mossy Meadow Braided Linen Trim
Adhesive and Tools

Stamp your images of the leaves first using Mossy Meadow for the outline, and then Pear Pizzazz stamped off for the inside portion. Add your message and layer this piece onto the Mossy Meadow layer. Tie a knot with the linen trim (which I forgot to do in the video - oops!). Set this aside.

ThePowerOfACard.blogspot.com Karen Sliwinski ©Stampin’ Up!

Now, protect your surface with scrap paper. Pick up some Pear Pizzazz ink with a blending brush and start on your scrap paper, working your way to the corner of your larger white panel. Swirl the color on gently, remembering that you can always add more color but you can't take it away. When you are satisfied with the amount of blending, switch to the opposite corner. Add a little Mossy Meadow to just the corner to add depth. Adhere this panel to your card base and then add the center panel with Dimensionals.

When I'm done, I wipe my brush back and forth on the scrap paper to remove as much ink as I can. When you can see no more coloration on your paper, you can use the brush for other colors. Alternatively, you can rinse your brush with water, or my favorite, put some rubbing alcohol on a paper towel and swirl the brush on that. I find this second method removes any excess ink and doesn't get your brush too wet.

You can make an ombre look simply by blending from dark to light on your panel. It helps if you stamp full strength with your flower image in the same color until about mid way on the panel, then switch to stamped off flowers.

On this card, I used two colors - Balmy Blue at the top and Pear Pizzazz on the bottom. It's a nice way to add sky and ground around your floral images.

When you heat emboss with white, you can blend over the image. On this card, I used Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight and finally, Pacific Point. After you are done blending, wipe off the embossed image with a soft cloth - this will remove any excess ink and brighten the embossed image again. By the way, this uses two more stamp sets that can be chosen for FREE during Sale-a-Bration!

My last example also uses two colors (Granny Apple Green and Pretty Peacock). On the white panel, which is done similarly to my panel in the video, I added post it notes in each corner, leaving just a small portion of white. I blended with my two colors, strong at the corner and fading to nothing. When you remove the post it notes, you're left with a stunning boarder. This one is my favorite - can you tell?