The First Ever Movie Monday!

I'm excited to announce that I'm planning to have a video tutorial as a regular Monday feature here on Playing with Papercrafting.  So today will be:  Ta Da!  The First Ever Movie Monday!

Have you been seeing those cute Scallop Tag Topper cards all over Pinterest? Have you wondered how the heck people got a whole piece of cardstock into a punch that was made for only 2" wide pieces.  Well, that's the subject of today's video.  And here's the card I made for the sample:

• Following the Watercolour Wonder Design Series Paper that you see here, the colour scheme I used is Crisp Cantaloupe, Smoky Slate, Tangerine Tango and Whisper White.  I love the look!  I hardly ever use Tangerine Tango because it's too intense for me, but pairing it with the Crisp Cantaloupe really softens it.
• The Scallop Tag Topper Punch made the closure tabs and the video tutorial tells you how.
• This sentiment from Perfect Pennants is really one of my favourites and I stamped it in Tangerine Tango then die cut the pennant shapes using the Banners Framelits!  The flag is then popped up on dimensionals.

• I used the background stamp, En Francais to create the background for this panel, using a technique that I will be highlighting on the next Movie Monday.  
• The sentiment is also from Perfect Pennants and is stamped to the left so that it will be covered by the front panel of the card.  The flowers are from the Stippled Blossoms stamp set, which I originally used for this panel.  It looked amazing until I added it to the card and closed the front flap.  Then it just looked too busy and I simplified it.

So without further ado, here's the first edition of Movie Monday!!

                   

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

133227	133230	132076	126747	112358	127790
132994	131298	131202	100730	131176	131179
126946	133324	132173	109070	104430

With Sympathy in a Vertical Easel Card

One of my customers lost her brother this past week, and I wanted to create a beautiful sympathy card to let her know that I cared.  I found a vertical easel card created by Jackie Bowman of Kreate With Me 2, and I knew right away that I wanted to try that fancy fold for my sympathy card.  So this sample today is a CASE of her original design.

• I've kept some of her elements, like the En Francais script on the lower panel and the embossed back panel, but I've changed the stamps and colours as well as the embossing folder I used.
• The flourish in Smoky Slate and the flowers in Crisp Cantaloupe and Perfect Plum are from the stamp set, Everything Eleanor. and if you've read my blog much, you'll know that it is a favourite of mine!
• The sentiment is from Thoughts and Prayers and on the inside is another verse from that set.  It is stamped in Perfect Plum as well.

• All the panels were sponged in Soft Suede to age them and give them that vintage look without going to all the trouble of distressing the edges.  It gives you a kind of old but well-preserved look!
• The ribbon is 3/8" Taffeta in Soft Suede and it adds a little more Soft Suede to the design.  It's an unusual colour scheme:  Very Vanilla, Crisp Cantaloupe, Perfect Plum, Soft Suede and Smoky Slate, but it works.  It's another one I got from Pinterest so this is the week of Pinterest palettes for sure!

• Here you can see the Z Fold and how the vertical easel card works.  I cut my card base from Very Vanilla the long way 4 1/4" x 11".  I scored it on the 11" side at 5 1/2" and 8 1/4" and folded up on the first score line and down on the second score line, to form the vertical easel.
• The little Perfect Plum banner, die cut with the Hearts A Flutter Framelit, keeps the card front in place.  The Very Vintage  Designer Button, with it's tiny bow of linen thread, adds weight that helps the banner hug onto the front panel and keep the card from collapsing.

Have you tried one of these upright easel folds?  What other fancy folds have you tried?  Leave me a comment, and it will be kind of like a poll for the favourite fancy fold card!  I'll let you know the results next week, after people have had time to consider and comment!

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

131987	124164	128751	127805	128562	127790
101650	115318	101889	131298	126978	131176
131179	126963	130917	118402	130159	129327
104199	119247

Collage Backgrounds for Valentines

In my technique nights this coming week, we are using the theme of collage backgrounds and Valentines!  So I kind of went a little crazy in my Craft Cave yesterday.  I think it was a result of denying myself the pleasure of vintage stamping for too long.  You wouldn't believe how many stamp sets I had on my desk at once!!   But I had fun.  I'm not going to lie and say the results were stellar at first.  It's been so long that I had to get back into the Vintage Groove again, but I eventually came up with a design that I liked:

•  My first attempt had a solid collage background and because there are collage elements in the main panel as well, there was not enough contrast or a real focal point.  Cutting up the background into two smaller pieces and layering them with Raspberry Ripple really helped.
• There are a good many stamp sets represented here.  On the main panel, I've used Hearts a Flutter, Off the Grid, Background Builders, Papaya Collage and Petite Pairs!  Whew!
• My palette for this card is Raspberry Ripple, Basic Gray, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla.

• For the background, I used En Francais, the Very Vintage Wheel, Clockworks, Gorgeous Grunge and the butterfly from Papaya Collage, although you can't really see it.  Basically, to make a vintage background collage, you just layer stamps in coordinating inks until you get the look you want.
• A doily and a bow in Raspberry Ripple Stitched Satin Ribbon add some little touches that balance and enhance the look.  

There are so many stamp sets involved here that if I gave you the links to both the wood mount AND the clear mount, the list would go on for ages, so this list contains only one of the two.  You can easily navigate the my On-Line Store to find the other if you need it.

• Hearts A Flutter
• Papaya Collage
• Off The Grid
• Clockworks
• Gorgeous Grunge 
• Very Vintage
• En Francais
• Background Builders Wood-Mount
• Petite Pairs - Clear-Mount Stamp
• Crumb Cake 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Raspberry Ripple 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock
• Very Vanilla 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad
• Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad
• Raspberry Ripple Classic Stampin' Pad
• Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad
• Raspberry Ripple 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon
• Tea Lace Paper Doilies
• Envelope Punch Board
• Stamping Sponges

More Backgrounds and Tic Tac Toe

The Paper Players have devised a fun little challenge this week in the form of a tic tac toe.  What do you know about Tic Tac Toe?  Did you know that it was very popular in Ancient Rome, called Terni Lapilli?  Some have even traced the same game back to Ancient Egypt.

The British name for it is Noughts and Crosses, and it was changed to Tic Tac Toe in the US in the 20th century.  It was also the first computer game.

Whatever the name, it's fun for awhile until both opponents figure out the winning schemes and then the game always ends up in a draw!!


But The Paper Players version is always fun.  You just pick 3 elements in a row from the grid, and use them to create your card.  Here's The Paper Players Challenge #165:

Thanks for creating it, Ann Schach.  For my card, I chose the middle vertical column with Thank You, Embossing and Pearls.  I was also continuing to try some great background techniques for my Technique Nights this week:

• This is an emboss resist technique.  I stamped the background stamp, En Francais, in Crumb Cake ink on the panel, then sponged the whole paper with Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red Cajun Craze and Old Olive.
• I used the solid images from Gently Falling stamped in VersaMark ink to add clear embossing powder to and heat embossed the leaf shapes.
• I then sponged over the leaves and the rest of the panel with Soft Suede, to bring out the leaf shapes. The ink won't stick to the clear embossing.

• The label and sentiment are from Harvest of Thanks, stamped in Cajun Craze and die cut using the Apothecary Accents Framelits.
• It's mounted on a combination of Pumpkin Pie Chevron Ribbon and Burlap Ribbon.  
• Finally I added some Pearl Basic Jewels to complete the requirements of the Tic Tac Toe.

You can do a bit more collage stamping before adding the embossed images, but I opted to keep it simpler.  I like how it turned out.  Hope you do, too!

Stamps:  En Francais (w128562, c127790); Gently Falling (w128430; c123804);  Harvest of Thanks (w131736; c131739)

Paper:  Soft Suede (115318), Pumpkin Pie (105117) and Whisper White (100730) cardstock

Ink:  VersaMark (102283); Classic Stampin' Pads in Crushed Curry (131173), Pumpkin Pie (126945), Real Red (126949), Cajun Craze (126965), Old Olive (126953), Crumb Cake (126975) and Soft Suede (126978)

Accessories:  Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder (109130); 1 1/4" Burlap Ribbon (132140); Pumpkin Pie 3/4" Chevron Ribbon (130015); Pearl Basic Jewels (119247)

Tools:  Embossing Buddy (103083); Stamping Sponges (101610); Heat Tool (129053); Apothecary Accents Framelits (127003)