Hello stampers and happy Monday! Have you ever used words as a collage? It is such a cool thing to do and I have to admit I don’t do it often enough. Take a look at this great swap card that I got from Mary Louise Hamill and you will agree. She used words as a collage on this So Many Stars card
The Card
The words on this card are from Itty BItty Christmas and the stars are from the So Many Stars bundle as is the word JOY. Let’s take a closer look.
Collage Stamping With Words
I just love how Mary Louise used the star dies in this card. The words are stamped on a white panel that gets adhered behind the card front. The words are stamped in basic grey and offset to make the collage stamping more interesting. You could trace the star lightly in pencil so that you can have just the words you want showing through the “window”. A stitched star opening is cut in the card front and then a smaller sparkle glimmer star is layered behind it before adhering the white panel on the inside of the card front. Simple but stunning!
I’m so happy that I could share this card with you today! Swap cards are great for busy times when you don’t have time to create from scratch yourself. It’s also a great way to shine the spotlight on someone else’s talent. Hopefully I will remember to use this great collage stamping with words technique for other cards too. It would be great for birthday cards, graduation and Valentine’s Day.
Free Shipping on Wednesday
I just found out that Stampin’Up! is offering free shipping on Wednesday only for orders of $65 or more. That is the same day that I am flying to Holland! How awesome is that? Be sure to use the host code and order online so that your order goes straight to your house. My orders have been arriving in ten days or less, so you should get your order before Christmas is you order with the free shipping on Wednesday. Happy shopping! You can click on the images below in the product list or you can click here to shop online with me. This is the current host code: 6KVMESQ6
A Personal Note
My suitcases are almost all packed and my excitement is building. I had a wonderful weekend with the kids and grandkids and we got a great picture of me and the kids with Leo sneaking in. It was simply not possible to get one with everyone so this is it for now!
Here are the three grandchildren, Leo, 2 1/2, Ana, 1 1/2 and Clementine 1 month. My heart is full, I am so, so blessed. It was the perfect weekend to have before I leave for my other blessings in Holland. Modern technology is wonderful, I will be able to Facetime or Skype with them while I’m away. That is what I love about my Facebook live videos too. It is a great way to stay connected with all of YOU!! There will be official Facebook live on Tuesday as I will be on my way to my parents place for a last visit with them before I leave. I do hope to do a short video from there is Pap is up to it.
Thanks so much for joining me today. I will do the draw for the free stamp set Holiday Haul tomorrow at noon. Anyone who has commented and shared on my blog post or Instagram will be entered.
P.S. If you are looking for a very special gift for yourself, sign up for my retreat in February. Idyllic surroundings, no cooking, lots of stamping and relaxing in nature or shopping in lovely boutiques and bakeries. Did I mention snuggling by the wood stove? Read more about it here.
Hello stampers! I had so very much presenting Parisian Blossoms at #OnStage2019 this past weekend in Toronto. Today I will share with you the cards that I made for this presentation. In the following days I will be sharing more detail and the final project will be a complete pdf of all the projects to help you create these beauties.
Beginner Card
I remember how much fun I had when I first inked up a stamp and put it on paper. It was magic! Beginner stampers love to stamp, so this collage stamping card is perfect. Collage stamping is also very forgiving if you stamp imperfectly as it hides little lines and smudges. It also allows you to stamp multiple times in different colours.
Casual Crafter Card
If you like a bit more of a fancy card but don’t want to do a lot of work, this is your card. Using our pretty designer series paper makes it so easy to make a beautiful card in very little time.
Avid Card
If you are an avid card maker, you love to pull out all the stops and make an over the top card with lots of layers and detail. This card is for you. It is an easel fold card.
Here is the inside of the card:
Love is in the Air
This suite of products is so very romantic, so of course this card is going in the mail to Gerard. I will tell him that I look forward to seeing the Eiffel tower with him and strolling the Champs Elysée.
Do You Want It?
If you have fallen in love with this suite of products and can’t wait until January to get it, I have a solution for you. Get the starter kit. You can add it to your starter kit in December. Did you know that on your first order after getting your starter kit you can already get free saleabration items in December? That’s just another bonus for getting the starter kit which is already an amazing deal. Message me if you need more details.
I need to go and make a cake for my Pap’s 93rd birthday tomorrow. Even though he has shingles, I am still going to visit him and celebrate this amazing birthday. Most likely there will not be a blog post tomorrow. Wednesday I hope to blog again and by Friday I should have the pdf available. Thanks for your patience and for all the amazing feedback I received from you. Have a super day.
Edited: the pdf is now available! Click on the buy it now button and follow the prompts and I will send it to you!
Hello stampers. Oh the detail in Painted Seasons!! This gorgeous set is a DistINKtive stamp set which means that the images are naturally shaded and variegated with no extra effort. This one is even better because it is red rubber so it gives the best image possible. This is what Stampin’Up! says about their DistINKtive stamps.
“Add monochromatic dimension and artistic flair to your stamping with Stampin’ Up!’s Distinktive stamps. Distinktive stamps create different opacities in a single stamped image for realistic depth and intensity.
All Distinktive stamps fit neatly on Classic Stampin’ Pads (see p. 182–187). For best results, apply ink to stamp using only the middle of the ink pad. Inking stamp along edges of an ink pad may cause ink lines to appear in the final stamped image.”
Since it is so beautifully detailed, Painted Seasons lends itself extremely well to collage stamping. What is collage stamping you might ask? It is when you stamp various images repeatedly together in a random fashion to make a background pattern. I did mine monochromatically, which means I used only one colour, night of navy. I was initially inspired by Chris Stone.
These cards are all made using night of navy ink, whisper white and night of navy cardstock. The sayings come from the lovely set Kindness and Compassion. The first card was stamped using only the fern image on a piece of whisper white measuring 3 1/4″ by 4 1/2″. The centre card has the images stamped across the middle of a 4″ by 5 1/4″ piece of white cardstock. The last card is all the images in the set randomly stamped on the card front which was layered on a night of navy card base. For my last card I cut a strip off another panel that I had stamped and used it as a focal point.
This card shows how well the collage stamping works with the new Country Floral embossing folder. I also used the More Than Words stamp set that is part of the Saleabration Coordination special release of products. This stamp set coordinates with all of the saleabration stamp sets.
The coordinating framelits that go with our saleabration stamp sets are also available now. How much fun is that??
Yesterday I did a Facebook Live video showing the Painted Seasons bundle in action. If you would like to see it go to my business Facebook page here.
Today you can purchase the Sale-a-bration Coordination products to get more use from your sale-a-bration stamps. There is also a third release of freebie choices for you. You can now get the Painted Seasons paper as a level one item (free with a $60 purchase) as well as some great items from the catalog.
I have made more cards using the Painted Seasons bundle but I am going to save them for a second blog post as I have run out of time! I hope you have a fantastic day and if you need anything, just click on the product images below and you will be connected to my store. Sadly I can only sell to Canadians. As always, the very best deal in the catalog is the starter kit and I would love to have YOU join my team. Click here to do just that!
I am planning a fantastic DIVA DAY for all new recruits on March 23.I can’t wait to spoil you!! If you join me from a distance, no worries, you can join in with a Facebook live video as well as a one on one welcome call and a fun package in the mail so that you feel the love too.
Hello stampers. Have you ever noticed the host sets in the back of the catalog? Do you know why Stampin’Up! even offers them? Perhaps you have even tried to add one to your order only to experience frustration. You see, you cannot buy these host sets, you can only earn them as a host. When you host a qualifying workshop with orders totalling $200, then you get 10% of the total orders in free merchandise. Your best value is in the host sets as they are offered at a much lower price than their actual value. Host sets are there to entice you to host a workshop. I am in love with several of the host sets this year, especially the vintage ones. Very Vintage is one of them and Pressed Flowers is another. Take a look at what I have made with them.
You will notice that both of these cards have the same layout. The one on the left uses Fresh Fig and copper embossing for the filigree and for the winged creature (we’re not sure if it’s a fly or a wasp, but it has been decided that it is not a butterfly!) The one on the right uses Blueberry Bushel and has the insects fussy cut. Both have the addition of a few wee pearls which is just perfect for vintage cards. I also sponged the edges of the whisper white panels which measure 3 5/8″ by 4 7/8″. This will enable you to get five card fronts from one sheet of 8 1/2 by 11 card stock which makes my Dutch heart happy. I say Dutch even though I am 100% Canadian. My parents immigrated from the Netherlands on their honeymoon, so most of my relatives are still there and every time I visit I do feel like my heart is coming home.
Here is a closeup of the fresh fig vintage card. By the way, the ruffled ribbon is to die for, so scrumptious and soft, it really does pop your card over the top and it doesn’t fray so you can just cut it to size and not have to tuck it under the sides.The band with the filigree stamping is approximately 5/8″ by 3 5/8″ and is also sponged lightly.
In September I will once again be offering a Vintage Club which will be totally dedicated to making vintage cards. I must admit it is one of my favourite styles. Totally different from clean and simple which is also wonderful and very popular right now. The next cards use the floral bouquet from the Very Vintage set.
Once again a similar layout for the two cards, the one on the right is in Blueberry Bushel with the addition of a sponged pearlized doily (sponge on the plain side, the ink adheres better). There is also corduroy ribbon. The one on the right is actually Grey Granite even though it looks more like a soft suede. There is a punch that coordinates with the “You’re a blessing” square. It is found in the very beautiful gift tin set called Darling Label Punch Box. The ribbon is also exquisite, so soft and easy to use.
I am going to use the card on the left as my swap card on the Alaskan Cruise in a few weeks. I have to say it is one of the perks I enjoy the most with my job as a Stampin’Up! demonstrator. They spoil us so much on these trips with pillow gifts every night, a hospitality suite with yummy treats and spin to win prizes every day as well as beautiful display boards to inspire us. When I first joined Stampin’Up! I had no idea that I would ever do so well that I would be going on these amazing trips every year. I was just thrilled to get a discount on my products, to share what I love with my friends and family and to be able to go to Stampin’Up! events. Now it has become who I am and I couldn’t imagine my life without it. Here is a close-up of my cruise swap card, it really is my favourite one of them all and it was inspired by one of my Facebook followers who cased my gray granite card and used blueberry bushel as well as a doily. Thanks so much Molly Sanders.
When I first joined 12 years ago I missed a big incentive to join by only one month. In August there was an offer that you could get an entire family of ink pads for free as a signing bonus. No one told me about it, but in September I decided I wanted to be a demonstrator and there was no extra incentive at all. Imagine my delight to see that they are doing that same offer again. You will have no excuse, because I am telling you about it! If you join and get the starter kit in July, you get to choose one family of ink pads. That’s ten gorgeous, new style ink pads for free! Let me know if you want to join my team, the only requirement is that you have to live in Canada. The starter kit is already a great deal at $135. You get to choose $165 of any products of your choice and you pay no shipping or tax.
Ok, back to the cards. I also made some vintage cards using the host set Pressed Flowers. One used old olive, gorgeous grape and whisper white and I softened the other one up a bit and used very vanilla, soft sea foam and whisper white. I inked up the retired organza ribbon with a sponge and ink pad (I will share the video of how to do that) Which one do you like best?
One note of caution. Be sure to let the ribbon dry for a few hours before finishing up your card. I had inky fingers and smudged the bottom of the soft seafoam layer, a bit of a bummer but someone will still get this pretty card and most likely won’t even notice the minor flaw. If they do, they will just smile and realize that the creator is also human! The sentiments on both of these cards come from the stamp set Detailed With Love. I stamped the background with only three images from the Pressed Flowers: the burlap strip repeatedly with soft sea foam first, then the leaves in old olive and then the little flower in gorgeous grape. The little dots were borrowed from the set Timeless Textures. After I stamped the background I stamped the flowers in versamark and intended to emboss in copper, but instead it was early espresso. I would have preferred the copper, but no time for a do-over. The doily on the right was sponged with gorgeous grape on the plain side, the ink will not stay on the pearlized finish.
The last card is not really vintage but I do love the look of it. I cased a swap card that my team member Amy Dumoulin-Jeromel received and I do not know who made it, but it was lovely. The flowers are embossed with white on black card stock and then coloured with Blends. I used rich razzleberry, old olive and dark pink pirouette.
I made this particular card in a bit of a rush during class so I forgot to use the embossing buddy and you will see tiny specks of white on the background. The embossing buddy really does make a difference, especially on dark card stock. It gets rid of static and of hand oils so that the embossing powder only sticks to the versamark from the stamped image. It is a handy tool to have in your arsenal.
Well, I hope these cards have inspired you to host a workshop or join a club so that you can get these great host sets. If you live far away from me, I plan to offer a long distance stamp club as well as a monthly draw for people who order online from me using the host code. The current host code is alway on the side panel of the blog. Here is the video of how I made one of these vintage cards:
I also did a little video showing how I inked up the ribbon. This is a fantastic way to get coordinating ribbon for ALL of our colours.
Finally, here is the video I did on the Delft Blue vintage card that will be my swap card for the Alaskan Cruise incentive trip in July. Feel free to case, but don’t use it for your swap card if you are going on this trip.
The content in this blog is the sole responsibility of Jackie Bultje as an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. The use of and content of classes, services or products offered is not endorsed by Stampin' Up!
