Paper Piecing

I'm now into the second week of my holidays in Sedona, Arizona, and having a great time in this beautiful setting. The red rocks and the Grand Canyon are literally breath-taking.  Photos do not do them justice at all!  I set up a couple of blog posts before I left and this one features paper piercing!  

You need a fairly open stamp in order to be successful at paper piercing and I chose a beautiful, classic set called Fabulous Florets for this card.

• The colour palette is Crisp Cantaloupe, Crumb Cake, Whisper White and Basic Black.  I used two Crisp Cantaloupe Designer Series Papers, one from Sweet Sorbet, a Sale-A-Bration collection, and Birthday Basics.
• I stamped the background leaves and stem with StazOn Jet Black ink on whisper white.  I then stamped the two flower images three times each:  once each on Whisper White cardstock and hand cut them out; once each on one of the Crisp Cantaloupe DSPs and once each on the other.
• I then hand cut out separate petals, defined by a stamped black line from each of the DSPs.  I alternated adhered first one DSP design and then the other to the appropriate area on the white cardstock flowers.  This process can be a bit finicky but the results are worth the trouble.

• I used dimensionals to adhere the flowers to the card base to add some 3D variety.
• This technique can be used in various situations.  Think of the vases in the Vivid Vases Stamp Set and how great each vase would look paper pierced.  Or how about the lanterns in Happy Congratulations and the flowers in Happy Watercolour.  The possibilities are endless.

Give this technique a try and see if you don't enjoy the results! 

Before I leave you today, I'll show you a photo or two of our holiday in Arizona:

 This is Sedona, Arizona, where we are staying.  Amazing views everywhere we look!  We're having a great time despite having come down with some kind of respiratory virus.

Here's a shot of the Grand Canyon.  Doesn't even begin to show all it's breath-taking grandeur.

This is myself, my hubby and our friends posing on the rim of the canyon. It was a warm and sunny day, perfect for long walks along the rim.

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

128574	123027	133521	130145
131298	120953	100730	101406
130021	103579	104430

Babies!

What is it about babies?  They are so cute, they can make an ordinarily sensible, reserved person do the strangest things.  If you ever watched my Skype conversations with my daughters and grandsons, without knowing who was on the other end of the conversation, you would think I had totally lost it.  Funny noises, vroom-vrooms, raspberries, high pitched voice, laughter, strange gestures!  Yup, you would probably have me committed!

These are my two grandsons, Parker (above) and Kesten (right).  They are about six months apart in age, both very different from each other but each adorable in his own way.  I'm excited to get a visit from Parker this weekend.  Grandma hugs, here we come!

I'm also excited because my oldest daughter, Erin, will be giving birth in about a month from now to her first baby!  So with babies on my mind, I set out to create a card from some of my new catalogue goodies that I was able to preorder.

Right off the bat, you'll be asking what colours you are looking at.  The turquoise and peach colours are two of the new In Colours for 2013/14, Coastal Cabana and Crisp Cantaloupe.  Tropical looking aren't they!  Wait until you see them all!  I originally paired them with Baked Brown Sugar, but it just wasn't working, so I switched that out for the Crumb Cake panel which was embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots folder.  The stamped image is from Baby Prints, a stamp set which you will see again in the new catalogue.  The sentiment is from a new stamp set called Label Love which coordinates with a new punch - the Artisan Label Punch.

I like how it works with the tiniest of the Pearl Basic Jewels.  The white organza ribbon works well as white on white.  When you go to stamp the footprints (which are so realistic), be sure to stamp off once before stamping on your front panel so the colours are toned down a bit.  Also, I raised the Crisp Cantaloupe panel up with dimensionals, as I did for the label also.

There!  All ready for the new baby!  And those new colours...Yummy!

My Big Shot Club is going ahead starting next Thursday, May 23 and there is room for only 1 more person. It's a terrific way to get a Big Shot in an affordable way.  Email me if you are interested.

Time for an Update on the Retiring Accessories.  They are available until June 3, while supplies last.  These are the latest accessories to sell out:  Posy Party Stampin' Around Builder Wheel; Bees and Blossoms Stampin' Around Builder Wheel; Pretty in Pink 8 1/2 x 11 card stock; Craft and Rubber Scissors;  1/16" Circle Punch; Elegant Bouquet Textured Impressions Embossing Folder; and the Petite Pocket Bigz XL die.

Stamps: Label Love (w130619; c130622)*; Baby Prints (w128148; c125472)

Paper:  Coastal Cabana (131297)*, Crisp Cantaloupe (131298)*, Crumb Cake (120953) and Whisper White (100730) card stock.

Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pads in Coastal Cabana (131175)* and Crisp Cantaloupe (131176)*

Accessories:  Pearl Basic Jewels (119247); 5/8" Organza Ribbon (114319)

Tools:  Artisan Label Punch (130920)*; Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impression Embossing Folder (117335); Big Shot (113439)

* Not available until May 31st, when the new catalogue comes out