Hello stampers. Can you believe it is already May 4? That means it is almost Mother’s Day! It really doesn’t feel like it in southern Ontario. It has been such a cold and rainy spring, I still have a mud yard because it has been too wet to grade and add top soil and seed grass. Great card making weather though! I have some Mother’s Day Tea cards for you today. I was inspired by Amy O’Neill’s card which I saw in the Freshly Made Sketches site. I really need to get involved in these sketch challenges so look for that to happen. Maybe you would like to play along too. Amy used the tea framelits from saleabration and the Tea Together set from the Occasions catalog. I had not yet inked up this beauty so it was high time to do so.
The other source of inspiration for these cards was a package of Tea Room designer series paper and rich razzleberry velvet ribbon. I am really happy with how these cards turned out and I think they will be perfect for Mother’s day and for my coffee and a card regulars.
This is the card that I cased from Amy O’Neill. She used pool party for the base but I was literally down to scraps in that colour so I chose mint macaron. I love how the teacup turned out. I coloured the flower with calypso coral blends and granny apple green for the leaves and daffodil delight for the flower centre. Do you see how I placed my watermark right over the glare from the lights? Yes, the picture was taken during the day, but it was such a dreary day that I needed the lights on inside!!
This little diagram gives you an idea of how to make the pocket shaped panel on the front of the card. The original patterned paper piece is 4″ square. Mark the middle with a pencil at 2″ and then one inch up each side. Cut from the three inch mark to the middle 2″ mark on either side. I then adhered it to a piece of cardstock 4 1/8″ wide. I lined up the edge of the patterned paper with the edge of my trimmer guide and then cut. Do that on either side and you’re done!
Here is a closeup of the teacup. You can even see the Wink of Stella that gives such a pretty sparkle over top of the colouring done with Blends. The best thing is that there is no fussy cutting. The framelits do all the work for you.
This card uses the same “recipe” as the card on the right in the first picture. I used two different patterns from the Tea Room Specialty designer series paper. The top one is 3 1/2″ by 3 1/4″ and the bottom piece is 3 1/2″ by 1 1/2″. Put them on a pool party base measuring 3 3/4″ by 5″. The other card has a rich razzleberry base. I made a third card using this same layout, but I forgot to take a picture of it in natural light.
Here you an see my vintage teacup up close. I embossed the tea cup in silver on vellum cardstock and then cut out another teacup out of patterned paper. I adhered them together with Tombow liquid adhesive using a sponge to apply it evenly. The result is that the pattern is softened and almost gives it a porcelain look. That pretty ribbon you see is also part of the Time for Tea suite in the annual catalog. It has a stunning copper stitching along the edge that is not done justice to in the picture. I really love how all the different patterns just look so lovely together, just like an assortment of vintage china.
Time for Tea is retiring are the Spot of Tea framelits but the Tea Together set will be in the new catalog. Here they are so you can see them:
I did not use this stamp set or framelits for my cards but I did use the ribbon and the paper from the suite. For a complete list of products used just scroll down to the end of the post. If you click on any of the items and you live in Canada, you can shop from my online store and have these amazing products shipped right to your door. Stampin’Up! charges 10% shipping as well as provincial sales tax.
Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you were inspired to make some cards and send some happy mail.
Hello stampers! If you know me at all, you may know that I can be quite a forgetful person. I made this squash book many months ago and had every intention of doing a blog post on it, but I searched through this entire blog, and there is no post on this beautiful book. So now there will be one! I have also made a video on how to do it, but sometimes a few pictures can be helpful as well. The video is most helpful in teaching you how to “squash” it together the first time. After you do it a few times it just opens and closes naturally the way it should. I used the wedding pictures from my son and daughter-in-law, but you could make this book for any occasion. It is such a nice little book and very portable. I used the Falling in Love designer series paper and gold satin ribbon as well as the new doilies which are unfortunately sold out.
The cover of the book uses the chipboard that you get for free when you order specialty designer series paper, so be sure to save it for this purpose!
You can lightly sand the edges of the chipboard if you like. If you prefer a cleaner look you can also choose to “wrap” them in designer series paper. I just put a 4″ square piece of paper on and then sponged the edges with soft suede ink to finish it. Here are the other pieces you will need to make the book.
I outlined the score lines with pencil so that you could see it more clearly, you don’t need to do this when you are making the book! You will need three of these pieces.
Use fast fuse or tear and tape to adhere the pages together. You can see by the photo how it is done. Put one square in the middle and then the other two are adhered on the bottom left and top right “unscored square”. You will then fold along all the score lines, do it both ways to “limber” it up and then if you are not a logical person (I am not) watch the video to see how I folded it up into a book shape. Once you have conquered that step you can adhere the covers. Don’t forget to put the ribbon on first!
Here is another close-up of the inside of the book:
A great trick for cropping your pictures is to use a vellum triangle. Just take a four inch square piece of vellum and cut it in half diagonally. Then you can place it over your picture to see how it will work to cut the picture. Some work better than others. Your pictures will either be a four inch square or a triangle just the same size as the vellum one.
You also use this technique and this measurement to cut your patterned paper triangles. I find it pleasing to the eye to keep all your pictures going in the same direction and also to not add too many embellishments to the inside of the book, or to the outside for that matter. They distract from the beauty of the pictures and on the outside they are just things that could get caught on people’s clothes, on the inside of your purse, you name it. An accident waiting to happen!
I think that gives you enough details to be able to make this book on your own. Here is the video that I think will also be very helpful. I would love for you to share your success stories when you get your book made. What event are you wanting to document and share? This would make such a lovely gift for just about anyone. Father’s Day is around the corner, bring a tear to his eye with some special photos just for him in this little book.
Hello stampers. What is one tool you simply couldn’t make cards without? Without a doubt, it would have to be the paper trimmer. Can you imagine cutting all your paper and cardstock with scissors? What a mess. So this tool should be a worthy investment, a workhorse that you can count on. Reliable. Trustworthy. Consistent. Sounds like the requirements for a spouse!! Let me introduce you to the Stampin’Up! Trimmer. In Canada this great tool is $40. I can honestly say that it is the best paper trimmer I have ever had. Let me tell you why.
Every trimmer I had before this one would wear out on me. I am talking the numbers and the grid lines wearing off. This one stays looking brand new! Also, the blades last a lot longer than with any other trimmer. I use mine a lot, I do most of my own prep work for probably 70 cards a week and a blade will last me for months. It has a scoring blade and a cutting blade so that is also very convenient so you can first score your 8 1/2 by 11 cardstock and then cut it in half. One score, two cards.
Here you can see the grey tab on the side, that locks the “blade arm” into position to keep it safe from children or when traveling. I find this to be a very thoughtful and handy feature.
Do you see how long this extension arm is? 14 1/2 inches! Wow, long enough to satisfy any scrapbooker. It also has a “foot” underneath to keep it level and an edge to keep your paper straight all the way! I also love how clear the measurement markings are, you don’t need a magnifying glass. All these little features make your basic prep work so much more satisfying.
This has got to be another great feature that some of you may not even know about. I mean, why would you turn your trimmer upside down? Well, a nice surprise is waiting for you there. Those little square compartments that I have left empty would perfectly fit some Ghiradelli chocolate!! Seriously though, you can see there is room for spare blades, a bone folder, a pokey tool, you could put an adhesive remover square in there. The compartment snaps shut securely so nothing will fall out by accident. There are also five rubber “feet” on the bottom to make sure your trimmer doesn’t slide around on your surface when you are trying to cut your cardstock. Do you have any special uses for your trimmer that I have not mentioned? I would love to see your comments. Here is a video I did extolling the virtues of this great tool. If you have any other tools you want me to review, let me know. I think the next one will be the embossing heat tool. The video is in two parts since I ran out of space on my phone!!
