Swap Cards for OnStage Local

Well, as you read this, Calgary OnStage Local is all over and we've all seen the new catalogue and ordered our new products and enjoyed meeting and greeting, but we still can't tell you anything until the catty has been posted online for other demos to see, so I'm going to have to be content with showing you my team swap card. There were about a dozen of us from my upline's team (3 of us from my team) there and we planned a team swap. We all picked stamp sets that were current and my set was Awesomely Artistic. I chose it because it would allow me to practise with the background technique that I will be using at my Technique Night Classes this week. (See here.)

Here's more detail:

• Awesomely Artistic is a wonderful set to use if you are going to be doing any collage stamping with a variety of images combined within one area. It also has some textures images as well as regular images as part of the set, so it works with the Baby Wipe Smooshing technique.
• I used a palette of Pear Pizzazz, Bermuda Bay and Sahara Sand, with touches of Island Indigo and Old Olive for darker accents. And for some sparkle I embossed the dragonfly and the frame for the sentiment in Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder and added Clear Wink of Stella.

Pear Pizzazz

Bermuda Bay

Sahara Sand

Island Indigo

Old Olive

• I tried a lot of different combinations for the card base, the background panel and the matte for the collage panel, but in the end, this won out. The Island Indigo and Silver Foil were just too much for the other colours while the neutral provides a nice neutral backdrop and lets the colours shine.
• The embossed background panel was embossed using the Hexagons Dynamic Embossing Folder, which is very three dimensional and leaves a deep impression especially when you spritz your cardstock with water before running it through the Big Shot. Due to the thickness of the embossing folder there is only need for a top cutting plate, not a bottom one.
• I used a Stamp-a-ma-jig to get perfect placement for the word Friend in the frame of the sentiment. I know I should think about getting a stamp placement tool like a MISTI, but I keep waiting for Stampin' Up! to bring out something like it. They are always well aware of what is happening in the industry, and when they do bring out a new tool, it may be late, but it is always really good.  

Well, I'm excited to reveal a few new things to you in the next couple of days, but have patience! Time marches inexorably on! I'll show you my Roomie Gifts on Wednesday!

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today.

Product List

Awesomely Artistic Wood-Mount Stamp Set [138694]	Awesomely Artistic Clear-Mount Stamp Set [139950]	Sahara Sand 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121043]	Pear Pizzazz 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131201]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]
Versamark Pad [102283]	Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad [131180]	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad [131171]	Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad [126976]	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad [126986]
Brights Stampin' Write Markers [131259]	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush [141897]	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder [109131]	Heat Tool [129053]	Stamping Sponges [141337]
Stamp-A-Ma-Jig [101049]	Hexagons Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [143231]	Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits [135707]	Big Shot [143263]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]
Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]

Sunshine Wishes for Technique Night Classes

I should have titled this blog post Casing Kim because I'm afraid I have a thing going on with a new blog I have discovered. I just love the work of Kim Jolley of Stampin Artfully.  I especially like her watercolour backgrounds and since I am doing a backgrounds theme for my Technique Night classes next week, I have been lurking around her blog to come up with some exciting ideas for my class attendees. This card is the result of one of those lurks.

The background is pretty much a copy of Kim's, but I've changed the rest of the card by using a different die and sentiment. The background is a technique developed by Kim called her #foolproofwatercolor technique, which she very generously shares with her readers for free. Pop over to her blog to find out more about it.

• The technique involves wadding up baby wipes and daubing them on your ink pads and then on watercolour paper. I've tried it on plain Whisper White, but I'm happier with the results on Watercolour Paper.
• You then use Stampin' Write Markers to colour only parts of texture stamps and stamp them on your background and add splatters and some Wink of Stella for effect. On this background I used texture stamps from both Timeless Textures and Gorgeous Grunge and an Early Espresso Stampin' Write Marker.
• I used Sunshine Wishes Thinlits for the die cuts you see on the card front. Each of the die cuts has been enhanced with Clear Wink of Stella even though the camera doesn't readily show it. Although you can see a little sparkle, the effect is much more stunning in real life.

This was a particularly fun card to make and I hope my class members have just as much fun with it.

Only a few more days to sign up for Sara's special Paper Pumpkin. I'm really excited not only to see the design, but to find out what the special gift will be!! Don't leave it to the last day. People have been disappointed doing that! Why not sign up today?  If you don't like Paper Pumpkin, it is very easy to discontinue or put it on hold for awhile, so there's nothing to lose. Just $26.95 a month!  Go to
Paper Pumpkin and click on Subscribe, or message me and I can set you up with a prepaid subscription for as many months as you'd like.

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today.

Product List

Timeless Textures Wood-Mount Stamp Set [140514]	Timeless Textures Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140517]	Gorgeous Grunge Wood Stamp Set [130514]	Gorgeous Grunge Clear Stamp Set [130517]	Watercolor Paper [122959]
Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119686]	Flirty Flamingo 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [141416]	Peekaboo Peach 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [141417]	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad [126944]	Peekaboo Peach Classic Stampin' Pad [141398]
Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad [141397]	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad [126983]	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [126974]	Neutrals Stampin' Write Markers [131261]	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush [141897]
Sunshine Wishes Thinlits Dies [141489]	Big Shot [143263]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Fine-Tip Glue Pen [138309]	Glue Dots [103683]

Learning by Playing with the Baby Wipe Splooshing Method

I often experiment a bit with a new technique on the smaller expanse of a 3 1/2" x 5" notecard, which we sell in Whisper White or Crumb Cake along with envelopes in packs of 20. I will take a pack and make customer thank you cards all at once trying out a new background or new stamp set or framelit set. Because I am doing a background technique theme in my next Technique Night class, I thought I'd give Baby Wipe Splooshing a go on this set of thank yous.

I've seen it used a few time with varying levels of artisty, but the first time I saw it, I was absolutely blown away! It was on the Stampin' Artfully blog by Kim Jolley! I don't know if she originated the idea or not, but she is a master of it. My weak attempts are a poor imitation, but practice makes perfect, right?? It is a fun technique, so I know I'll be doing more of it and learning as I go. I already have some ideas about what I would NOT do the next time I try! But that's the power of experimentation. If you don't try, you don't learn. When I was using the Basket Bunch stamp set last week, I noticed that there was a thank you sentiment on it so I thought I'd use the basket and flowers to make a quick little thank you card and try out the baby wipe splooshing.

• To use the technique, you just take a baby wipe, scrunch it up into a ball, and dab it lightly onto a stamp pad and dab it onto your cardstock background. It makes an interesting texture. If you touch it very lightly and intermix three or so colours, you get a kind of marbling effect. If you separate your colours and use a heavier hand, it looks more like clouds or waves or fog or just a background texture.
• Where I ended up NOT liking this sample was where I overlapped the pastel colours I had chosen, so next time I would keep them more separate, or use more monochromatic colours, or just one colour. It ended up looking too muddy.
• The second step in the background process is to use a marker to add bits and pieces of texture stamps to the background. Here I used stamps from Timeless Textures.
• Finally add your images. I think more solid images would have been a much better focal point. The White embossed flowers do show up well though, but I had to do a bit of sponging for that to happen and that muddied up the waters even more.

I had a chance to work on another card last evening, a sympathy card for a friend who lost her sister, and although I cased it from both Kim Jolley and Jackie Bultje, I think it showcases the technique much better:

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today.   

Product List

Basket Bunch Photopolymer Stamp Set [143186]	Timeless Textures Wood-Mount Stamp Set [140514]	Timeless Textures Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140517]	Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes [131527]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]
Blushing Bride 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131198]	Versamark Pad [102283]	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad [131172]	So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad [126957]	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad [126982]
Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [126975]	Neutrals Stampin' Write Markers [131261]	White Stampin' Emboss Powder [109132]	Heat Tool [129053]	Embossing Buddy [103083]
Stamping Sponges [141337]	Classic Label Punch [141491]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]