by Jackie Bultje | Mar 19, 2019 | Flowing Fountain, sale-a-bration, watercolouring |
Hello stampers. I love fountains and birds. The two often go hand in hand because birds are attracted to fountains both for drinking and bathing. I love fountains because of the relaxing sound of the splashing water and the artistry of their designs. In public spaces huge fountains are iconic gathering places. This Flowing Fountain stamp set drew me not only because of the lovely artwork but also because of the beautiful words. It is perfect for sympathy cards and thinking of you cards. You can hone your colouring skills with this set using Blends, watercolour pencils or an aqua painter and ink. These cards are only a beginning of what you can do with this Flowing Fountain stamp set. Let’s take a look:
I stamped the image in Stayzon ink on shimmery white cardstock knowing that I would be colouring with an aqua painter. If you use Memento with water it will run or bleed. When you colour with Blends, then you need to use Memento ink. The shimmery white piece measures 3 5/8″ by 4 7/8″. With these measurements you can get five pieces out of a regular sheet. That is important because this paper is relatively expensive compared to whisper white cardstock but it is very well suited to watercolouring. The mat is pool party. I coloured with gray granite, pool party and granny apple green. Blueberry bushel, so saffron and calypso coral were used on the birds.
I couldn’t resist making another card with Painted Seasons. It is only available until March 31 or while supplies last. The sentiment is from Flowing Fountain however. Don’t you just love the font? I used early espresso and cherry cobbler on very vanilla cardstock. The images were stamped on very vanilla and then run through the Big Shot with the Subtles embossing folder. It is important that you first stamp your images on the smooth very vanilla cardstock and then run it through the embossing folder to get that beautiful texture. Texture is particularly dramatic and important when making a tone on tone card.
This card has the sentiment that I really, really loved in Flowing Fountain. I knew right away that I would use it over and over for making Hospice cards. I did a Facebook live video showing how to make this card this afternoon. Here is the link. Please do let me know if these links don’t work! I inked up the Country Floral embossing folder (on the logo side) with crumb cake ink. You just dab the ink pad directly on the folder. Then lay on your 4″ by 5 1/4″ piece of very vanilla cardstock and run it through the BIg Shot. Afterwards the folder rinses off beautifully just with water in the kitchen sink. I coloured the raised flowers with an aqua painter and ink squeezed into the lid of the ink pad or from an acrylic block dabbed directly into the ink pad. I used Petal Pink, So Saffron, Granny Apple Green and Blushing Bride.
I hope you were inspired by these cards today. Remember, the country floral embossing folder and the Painted Seasons stamp set are only available until March 31 or while supplies last as a free item during saleabration. The folder is available free with a $60 purchase and the Painted Seasons bundle (it also comes with adorable paper) is free with a $120 purchase. If you live in Canada, just click on any of the items at the end of my post and you will be taken directly to my online store. If you do not already have a demonstrator, I truly would appreciate your business. Of course, there is always a spot waiting for you on my team as well. The very best deal ever is the starter kit! If you have a wish list that is around $95, then your best bet is to spend $135 on the starter kit. You pay no tax and no shipping AND you get to choose $225 of any products you like. This is only valid until March 31. After that you can only choose $165 in product. This is still a good deal but not as amazing as the one you can get right now! Want to treat yourself? Click here and let the fun begin.
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by Jackie Bultje | Mar 18, 2019 | Birthday, Brusho, butterfly, Framelits |
Hello stampers. Today we are going to do a little exploring of a very fun but easily overlooked product in our Stampin’Up! catalog: Brusho paint crystals. Brusho is the name brand of these gorgeous intensely coloured paint crystals that are activated with water. It is really quite a fine powder. You poke a hole in the lid with a push pin or thumbtack and then tap the powder out where you want it. You then keep the hole sealed with the push pin or thumbtack when you are not using it. Rather than talk about it, I will show you the cards that I made and then explain what I did on each one.
Here is the first card, it was a complete case (copy and share everything) from the catalog. I love the bold colours here. I stamped some images from Beautiful Promenade in versamark on shimmery white cardstock and white embossed with the heat gun. Then I sprinkled on mostly red and gamboge Brusho paint crystals and a little bit of yellow. I then spritzed lightly with water to activate the crystals. You might see a few blue spots, they can appear magically because of some fine powder left on my hands, on the work surface or even in the air!!
The card base is poppy parade, the edge is from Delicate Lace edgelits and the saying was stamped in Poppy Parade on Powder Pink. It comes from Birthday Cheer in the Occasions catalog on page 17. This card is a bit of an odd shape (I think because I messed up!) It is 1/4 inch shorter than normal- 5 1/4″ by 4 1/4″.
This card uses all the Brusho paint crystals. I cased it from the talented Connie Collins. I took a piece of shimmery white cardstock that was 4 1/4″ by 5 1/2″ and I misted it with water. I sprinkled on an angle starting at the top in this order: red, gamboge, yellow, moss green and prussian blue. I then gently misted again just to get the colours to run and blend a little bit. I let it dry naturally (if you use a heat gun that tends to mute the colours a bit) I then cut out the butterflies with the dies from the Beauty Abounds bundle on page 13 of the Occasions catalog. The sentiment is from Well Said and it was embossed in white on basic black cardstock. The butterfly was adhered using glue dots only on the bodies of the biggest butterflies to allow for the feeling of movement.
This Let it Ride card was cased from the internet. I think the original creator was Lynn Dunn but I was not able to find a corresponding blog post. This card is a work in progress. I made this one with shimmery white cardstock but am going to do it again using watercolour paper. I masked the horse using only a mask made with a sticky note which got rather soggy. The blue bled through on his nose making it look like he is wearing a bridle!! The top of the card around the horse was sprinkled with Prussian Blue brusho crystals and then spritzed with water. I used a aqua painter to spread it around close to the horse. The bottom part was simply coloured with Granny Apple Green blends. The sentiment was embossed in white before I applied the Brusho.
This last card is one of my favourite techniques with Brusho. You put a piece of painters tape across your piece of watercolour paper near the top leaving room for your sentiment. You then drop little dabs of Brusho powder along the bottom of the tape. I alternated between Prussian Blue and Yellow. They mingle nicely to add some green in between. You then hold the card at an angle and spritz down, just a little bit so that you still get colour droplets and not a messy trail running all the way down your card. This piece measures 3 3/4″ by 5″. The words are from the Well Said bundle. This is a high ticket item on page 27 of the Occasions catalog- $103.50 for the bundle. I highly recommend that you put it in a starter kit. You save the shipping and taxes which for this bundle alone would be $23.69. You would still have $121.50 that you could choose products with and then pay only $135 for all that amazing stuff!!!
I have done several other posts on Brusho. If you type Brusho into the search box at the top right of the page you will see them all. Here is one to make it easy for you.
Saleabration is winding down, so be sure to get what you want on your wish list so that you can get some freebies as well. A LOT of our beautiful products are selling out, so don’t be disappointed and get what you want in the Occasions catalog today. If your wish list is long, I am telling you once again that the starter kit is THE way to go. No need to feel badly if you think you are only going to be a “kitnapper”. Stampin’Up! is willing to take that chance and I just want you to get the most value for your money. Diva Day is this Saturday from 10am till 4pm and you get to spend a day with me being pampered with food, fun stamping and free products in a goodie bag, but only if you have joined my team during saleabration.
I hope you have a super day! Be sure to pop a card in the mail today and make someone happy, or keep one in your purse to give to someone while you are out and about in your community. It’s little things like that that make the world a better place.
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by Jackie Bultje | Mar 15, 2019 | sympathy, watercolouring |
Hello stampers. Shimmer white paper is simply lovely and perfect for watercolouring. The shimmer will show through your stamped and watercoloured images for a magical effect. At class yesterday I had someone ask if I had added shimmer on top! I got the idea for doing this with Painted Seasons from Linda Dalke. The distINKtive images in that set are already so pretty that you might hesitate to alter them by watercolouring, but it is so nice to get a totally different look with Painted Seasons. If you already have this bundle be sure to get the coordinating framelits before they sell out. We have been having a good problem. Our products are so popular and demand is exceeding production so some of our beauties are selling out very quickly. The frog framelits and the cupcake framelits are no longer available and the lasting lily framelits are on low inventory.
Let’s take a look at the cards I have made. This first one is cased from Linda Dalke. I changed it up a bit. She did a one layer card all in shimmer white which was stunning. I wanted to “stretch out my investment” and get four cards out of a sheet of shimmer white instead of only two, so I cut it into 5 1/4″ by 4″ and layered on to a berry burst card. This great colour will be retiring in June along with lemon lime twist, fresh fig, tranquil tide and powder pink. I stamped my flowers and leaves and then brushed over them with an aqua painter making sure to leave the edges untouched so they would remain distinct. All inks are not created equally and you will find that some of them “wash” more than others. Highland heather did not wash nearly as well as berry burst.
The thinking of you sentiment comes from Rooted in Nature and it was stamped in night of navy. With the bold flower images I wanted the sentiment in the middle to also pop. I added some share what you love artisan pearls as an accent. Colours used are berry burst, highland heather, mint macaron, balmy blue and night of navy.
Here in this closeup you can see how the colours are gorgeous when watercoloured but that you can still see the distINKive details of the stamps. Night of navy was added to the centres of the flowers to give a totally different look. Thanks again Linda Dalke for the inspiration!! For the next card I wanted to use the textured embossing paste because it had been collecting dust on my shelf for a while. I thought it would pair well with some of the Painted Seasons flowers and leaves cut out with the coordinating framelits. I really love how Stampin’Up! made coordinating products to go with our saleabration offerings this year. Now that we realize how popular they are we will simply have to make more of them next year!!
The flowers for this card were also stamped on shimmer white cardstock and then “gone over” with an aqua painter. You don’t have to be too precise with this, you can just wash over the entire image, just be careful not to go over the beautiful edges so that they remain crisp. A light wash of night of navy was added to the centres of the flowers. The embossing paste dries quite quickly. I first stamped the sentiment and the mint macaron leaves and then I used a decorative mask (stencil) and the embossing paste. Apply it thinly like you are buttering toast but try to leave it a little uneven for a more artisanal look. After that step I put is aside and made the first card in this post. When that card was finished the paste was dry and I could finish this one. I used mini dimensionals under the flowers and placed them strategically between the embossing paste “diamonds”. The leaves were attached using a glue dot on the stem.
I think that this closeup almost captures the beauty of the shimmer. For this card I added a flower stamped in Powder Pink to soften it up even more. Be sure to keep the liner of the lid of your embossing paste and put it back on before screwing the lid on tightly. It dries out very easily! Also wash your decorative masks (I like to call them stencils) and your “spreader” (real term is palette knives) right after use with hot water and a dish brush. If you let it dry it will be quite a difficult task.
Have fun with this great stamp set, the framelits and an aqua painter. If you have never used shimmer white cardstock before I highly encourage you to try it out. It is also great with Brusho. I did a Facebook Live video on it yesterday, I will try and link it here. I have just figured out how to save those videos to my phone so that I can post them on Youtube. That will make life a bit easier I hope.
It’s March 15 today so that means we are at the halfway point of the month and just over two weeks left to take advantage of saleabration!! If you are new to Stampin’Up! that means that you can choose a free item with every $60 purchase or something really special with a $120 purchase. It also means a fabulous deal on the starter kit. You pay only $135 but you get to choose any products you want for a total of $225. No shipping, no tax and your own 20% discount after that. If you choose to do this as a business then you will need to buy or sell a minimum of $400 a quarter (every three months). If you have any questions I would be most happy to answer them. If you live in Canada, I would love to have you join my team, whether it is for your own discount or if you want to build a business, small or large. Starting your dream has never been easier.
Have a super day!!
Product List
Berry Burst Classic Stampin’ Pad
[144083]
$8.50
by Jackie Bultje | Mar 12, 2019 | Birthday, Let it Ride, masculine cards, Uncategorized |
Hello stampers. This stamp set Let it Ride just makes me want to take a deep breath and smile. Those horses in the meadow just remind me of a breath of fresh air. And yes, spring is in the air here in southern Ontario. The sun is shining and it is still cold outside but every day it gets just a little bit warmer. Sometimes in the afternoon you can leave your coat open!
I grew up on a farm so the expression “live as if someone left the gate open” is very meaningful to me. If you have ever seen cows when they notice that the gate has been left open you will know what I am talking about. The excitement and the enthusiasm is rampant and contagious. When one animal notices it and starts running with abandon towards the open gate, the rest follow. There is unexpected adventure on the horizon. I hope that someone leaves a gate open for you this week and that it brings you great joy and adventure.
Let’s take a look at the cards that I made using both Let it Ride and Country Road. I made these cards for classes so they have to be nice to look at but quick and easy to do. Most of them use Blends and that makes for therapeutic card making.
This first card we made at Blends Club using the crumb cake blends. Very simple technique. Just use the dark bullet point to outline the edges and dark lines and then blend in with the brush tip of the light crumb cake. So simple and everyone can do it. No thinking involved and it always looks great. I frayed the edges of the braided linen thread to give it a more rustic look.
The Wood Textures paper is great as a background to our rustic stamp sets. The base for this card is crumb cake and the mat for the image is early espresso.
This card was made for me by my team member Alison Reid and she cased Gaynor Boyce from the UK. What I love about this card is the colouring. Light Granny Apple Green and Light Daffodil Delight was used on the trees and then all the images were outlined in Light Pool Party to give a great shadow effect. The blaze of white on the horse’s nose is also a great touch.
The lovely line images in this stamp set lend themselves very well to colouring with Blends. It is nice to be able to use the colour lifter to get a third tone of colour. Beginners and more advanced “blenders” all did well with the horses.
I love the simplicity of this card. Great for any occasion or just because. The weather vane was stamped in gray granite after it had already been stamped on grid paper. This makes for a lighter version and is called “stamping off”. If your ink pad is really juicy you may have to stamp off twice before getting this light version. The grass/oats was stamped in mossy meadow, once full strength, once stamped off. The wagon wheel was stamped in early espresso. Here is the inside of the card.
I hope you liked this sampling of cards. If you want more inspiration, the sky is the limit. Just type the stamp set and Stampin’Up in the google search bar and you will be amazed at what comes up. Just like this: Let it Ride Stampin’ Up
I just finished a Facebook Live video explaining how the starter kit is like a Costco membership. When you get the starter kit, not only do you get a great deal (spend only $135 but choose $225 in product) you also open the door to great savings. Right away you get 20% off your purchases. This is good during the quarter that you sign up (First quarter is October through December, second quarter is January through March, third quarter is April through June, and fourth quarter is July through September) and for the next quarter after that. So if you sign up any time during saleabration you have until the end of June to get your 20% discount. If you buy or sell $400 every quarter you get to keep your discount. How awesome is that? You DON’T have to teach classes but you CAN share the free catalogs that you get and share what you love with your friends. The easiest way to do that is with Paper Pumpkin or some of the kits that we have in our catalogs. Just invite them to come and help you make up a kit. Then you can give cards to people you know who could use some happy mail. I would love to have you join my team and get the great deal no matter what you plan to do with it. Here is the link if you want to save lots of money and get lots of stamps, ink and paper.
If you live in Canada and want to shop with me, just click on the images below and if you really want to make me happy and your order is less than $200 then please use the host code as well. It is posted in the side bar. Have a super day!
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by Jackie Bultje | Mar 8, 2019 | Beautiful Promenade |
Hello stampers. Happy Friday to you. I had a lot of fun creating four great cards using Beautiful Promenade. There was a reason for this frenzied activity! I needed to have them done on time to entice people to come to my Sweet Suite Saturday class. It will be on March 16 at 1pm and if you purchase the bundle, you get the class for free. I have been asked to do online classes and I really had no idea where to start, but maybe I will start here. If you purchase the bundle online using the current host code then I will send you all the supplies to make the cards at home. I will also do a video showing you how to put them together. The bonus is that right now you can get the coordinating paper, Petal Promenade for free with a $60 purchase. The bundle is $59.25 but if you add one of the beautiful coordinating accessories like the pink rhinestone gems or the metallic thread you will qualify for a free item. Let’s take a look at the cards.
This card really captures a lot of the framelits in the set as well as the gorgeous paper. I used Mossy Meadow and Calypso coral and very vanilla cardstock.
On this soft and beautiful card I used the framelit both for cutting and embossing. I did trim down the cut framelit so you could see the embossed image underneath. I love the bokeh print on this card, it is on the other side of the pretty floral. Our polka dot tulle ribbon is the perfect accent. This is the vanilla polka dot tulle ribbon. It also comes in white. The sentiment is from Beautiful Bouquet.
With a wedding card especially, it is all about the pretty little details. I think this one is a winner!
I just love this paper so much. You can almost smell the flowers!! It is a perfect match for the country floral embossing folder which you can get for free until March 31 with a qualifying $60 purchase. I stamped the images in blackberry bliss and mossy meadow but the ribbon is fresh fig. It works! The tag is two inches wide and the tag topper is a framelit from the Beautiful Layers thinlits dies. The flowers are also cut out with a die. I just trimmed the leaves off and then layered them. Thanks to my friend Shelly Godby for the inspiration for this card.
This card isn’t really a fancy fold card, but the card front does have a piece sliced off the top so that it looks like one of those swinging kitchen doors in a restaurant. The sentiment comes from the stamp set Rose Wonder. I just used the layering circles dies and the stitched shape framelits to make the sentiment part large enough. I added a polka dot tulle bow to finish it off. Let’s take a look at the inside.
The sentiments on this card come from the stamp set Rose Wonder. This card was also inspired by a fellow demonstrator but I can’t remember any more!!
I thought I would finish the post with the gorgeous samples in the annual catalog. I realize I could just have cased these cards for my class, but it was fun to play and make my own. I hope you enjoyed these samples and that you come for the class. Or be among the first to join in on my online classes!!! I am excited about this and hope it is a success. Without you it would not be possible. If you have any questions, please message me.
There are only a few more weeks to take advantage of the great sale-a-bration deals, either for getting free items or getting a great deal on the starter kit. If you already collected some great sale-a-bration items, don’t forget to get the coordinating products to make them even better: framelits, a great word stamp set or a punch.
Here are the third release items that you can get for free with a $60 purchase.
I hope you have a fantastic day. I am off to visit my parents and have lunch with a dear friend that I don’t see nearly often enough. Send some love today!
Product List
Rose Wonder Photopolymer Stamp Set
[140697]
$33.00
