January Mini Stamp Camp - Day 4

Here it is - the last day of our virtual Mini Stamp Camp. It sure has been fun trying new techniques, creative ways to feature paper and embossing folders, inks, etc!

If you haven't checked out each daily tutorial by our Camp Counselors, here's the list and links to their blogs:

Monday/January 24th  ~ Jeanette @ Creativeplay 

Tuesday/January 25th ~ Kelly @ Sandcastlestamper

Wednesday/January 26th ~ Barb  @ Inkingintoretirement

Thursday/January 27th ~ Darlene (me!) @ Accordingtobijou

Here's my card for today's tutorial featuring Cosmic Shimmer Metallic Gilding Polish from Creative Expressions (so fun!)

I used 2 colors of Gilding Polish: Enchanted Gold and Ocean Teal.

This is a 5"x7" card when flat. It stands on it's own using the folds and the right side tucked under something that is popped up on the right side of the inside panel (the bow here)

Here's a view of the card from the top: 

I haven't put any sentiment on the inside yet. Once I know who will receive it, I can finish the inside appropriately.

Ready to get started?? I hope so!  Just take your time and have fun.

Cut 2 pieces of card stock to 5"x7".  I used White 110# for the back panel and "Taken With Teal" by Stampin Up for the front panel. The stenciled panels for the front came from another piece of white 110# white card stock.

Next I polished the entire 2 white pieces of card stock with the Enchanted Gold. They dry pretty quickly but you may want to give it a couple of minutes before the next step.

Ready to stencil?? YAY!

I used a 6"X6" stencil called "Splash" by Taylored Expressions.

Here's where you have 2 options:
1. Trim one panel slightly larger than the stencil you want to use. Then trim the 3 strips for the front after stenciling.
                   - OR -
2. Trim your strips now. Sizes:
two strips 1.5" wide and 5.5" long and one strip 2.25" wide and 5.5" long.

I did not trim my gilded 5x7" panel before using the 6X6 stencil. Duh! This meant that I had to reposition the stencil to completely cover the 7" card stock. Not a big deal if you can line up a repeating pattern. However, this pattern does not repeat. So there's my learning point!  

All turned out well, because when I was trimming the strips I just cut it such that the scraps were the edges where the pattern didn't line up.

Here's my panel taped to my craft pad, stencil taped on top and the layer of Teal Gilding Polish applied. 

NOTE: I found it better to apply a thick layer of polish by daubing with the sponge applicator. Brushing it on did not work. 

I was afraid to try Pixie Spray to the stencil to adhere it to the panel since it was gilded first. Let me know if you do it that way and how it worked for you.

When done with your stencil, drop it into some soapy water and let it hang out for a while. Then light brushing with your hand will remove the Gilding Polish.

Here's where I trimmed off the 3
strips and could discard these where the stencil didn't line up.

I didn't bother to clean the stencil when repositioning it. I just masked off the edge of the 5X7 panel, placed the stencil over the tape on that side, taped the stencil down again and continued daubing the polish.

Here's a photo of the stencil repositioned (uncleaned) and ready for me to finish stenciling the 5x7 panel. Notice the little spots of color along the left side. Those were trimmed off and discarded as shown in the photo above.

In hindsight, it's probably much easier to do option 2 above. Trim the 3 front panels (slightly longer than needed so you can tape them down) and stencil all 3 at once.  That's what I'll do next time!

This part needs some drying time before you can finish trimming and adhering it to your front panel. 

Time to create the fun fold!  Take the front panel and using a ruler or a scoring board score as follows:
1/2"
2 1/4"
4 3/4" 
6 1/2"
Ignore the purple card stock in the photo. This is my template that I use so that I can make this fold without having to look up how to do it!

Now to fold:
Burnish the left and right 1/4" scores so that they stick up.

Next, burnish the 2 remaining scores so that you end up with this shape:

Now apply Score Tape or similar double sided strong tape to the LEFT 1/4" fold. This is going to adhere your card front to the card back, so put the tape on the underside of the 1/4" flap. (You want the bumped out portion to be the front of your card)

Here's a side view of the Score Tape on the underside of the narrow left fold.

When your stenciled sections are dry and not gummy, trim to fit the three sections you've folded on the front panel.

Use glue or Score Tape to adhere the strips to your front panel. 

Remove the backing from the Score Tape on the left side of the front panel and attach it to the back panel.

Voila!! Now all you need to do is decide what you'll pop up on the right back panel.  This will hold the front panel in the open position when the card is standing upright.  

This time I used a bow on a foam dot. The 1/4" score on the right side tucks under the edge of the bow, holding the front panel in position so the card can stand up.

In the past I've used a die cut shape or a die cut phrase popped up. Just remember to only put the foam dots/squares on the center and right side of your shape. You'll want the left side clear so the front panel can tuck under the embellishment.

Now you decorate any or all of the front panels as you wish. I've left this one very simple, letting the stencil design be the main focus.

Here's a card that I made a while back with each panel decorated.  The options are almost unlimited! 

Take your time and have fun with the Gilding Polish, your stencils, the fun fold...

Since this may be a little more involved, I vote that you give yourself an extra day if needed. The whole point is to relax and play.  Not Stress out!!!

Thanks for hanging in with this tutorial. I can't wait to see what all of you create!  

Visiting here? Give yourself a treat and stop by the blogs of the other Campers to admire their handiwork from this week's camp:

Jeanette @ Creativeplay 

Kelly @ Sandcastlestamper

Barb  @ Inkingintoretirement

January Mini Stamp Camp - Day 3

Here we are on the third day of our virtual Mini Stamp Camp!  The very talented Barb is our Camp Counselor today and she provided a great tutorial called "Faux Tile Backsplash".  Here's her blog where you can see her card and the complete tutorial: Barbs Inkin' in Retirement.  

Here's my finished card.

Barb's instructions were to cut 1/4 inch strips of card stock, from 2 different papers. Then cut a panel and place Score Tape on all 4 edges. 

Remove the backing from the Score Tape on ONLY the top edge. Then adhere one color of the strips across the entire top.

Then begin weaving the other strips, tucking them snug against the row above.  When the entire length of the panel is woven, remove the backing from the Score Tape on the remaining 3 edges and adhere the woven panel.

The doorbell rang, startling me and I had to run downstairs to get the door. Eventually when I came back to everything my panel had glued itself in some sections...leaving me with a loose weave toward the bottom. You can see the little white squares peaking through the weave.  Oh well, these things happen!

Then came the fun part.  Barb had us ink up the woven panel with VersaMark and give it a coating of clear embossing powder.  

Let it cool and repeat, which is when it really developed a deep gloss. Hopefully you can tell in this picture.

I used two papers from an old collection by Heartfelt Creations called "Posey Patch". It's beautiful paper and the sentiment is also cut from that collection, and clear embossed. 

The butterfly is from a paper collection by SEI called "Field Notes". I cut it out and clear embossed it as well.

This was really, really fun and I am pleased with how my card turned out. Even though I have some little "oops" I still like it!

Tomorrow is my turn as Camp Counselor and I sure hope that Barb, Kelly and Jeanette have fun with my tutorial.

Camp Counselors, their blogs, and the day each of us are assigned as counselor:

Monday/January 24th  ~ Jeanette @ Creativeplay 

Tuesday/January 25th ~ Kelly @ Sandcastlestamper

Wednesday/January 26th ~ Barb  @ Inkingintoretirement

Thursday/January 27th ~ Darlene (me!) @ Accordingtobijou

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit the blogs of my Camp Cohorts!

January Mini Stamp Camp Day 2

 Here it is, our second day of the virtual Mini Stamp Camp!  Today's Camp Counselor is the sweet and sunny Kelly!  With her usual creative flair she came up with a very fun idea that she titled "Let's Get Ripped!"

You can pop over to Kelly's blog and see her lovely cards and her tutorial using this link: Sandcastle Stamper.

Here's my spin on her technique:

Kelly instructed us to cover a front panel with white tissue paper and mount it on the card front.

Then stamp images (solid/bold images work best) onto another piece of tissue paper.

...And let 'er rip!  haha  Actually, it's more like gently tear the tissue paper around each image. Layer them on top of the tissue panel and finish as you wish.

I stamped the little green stars and "Thinking of You" sentiment directly onto the tissue paper panel. Then glued the flowers and butterflies to the panel.

Here's a side view to show that there is some slight dimension to the front, since the flowers and butterflies are not glued flat.

Barb is up tomorrow.  Knowing Barb she has something amazing planned!

Camp Counselors, their blogs, and the day each of us are assigned as counselor:

Monday/January 24th  ~ Jeanette @ Creativeplay 

Tuesday/January 25th ~ Kelly @ Sandcastlestamper

Wednesday/January 26th ~ Barb  @ Inkingintoretirement

Thursday/January 27th ~ Darlene (me!) @ Accordingtobijou

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit the blogs of my Camp Cohorts!

January Mini Stamp Camp - Day 1

Three friends and I have held a couple of "Mini Stamp Camps" - virtually of course!  We're holding another camp this week and it would make us happy if some of you decided to attend a camp session or two!

 The idea is that each "Camp Counselor" will feature a technique and post a tutorial on their blog on our assigned day.  Then the other counselors will make a card using the featured technique.

Today's counselor is the lovely Jeanette and here's her challenge:

1.  Embossing folders must be the primary feature on your card. No stamped image on the front.

2.  Sentiments are optional, but allowed.

Check out Jeanette's beautiful cards and tutorial here:

Cre8tive Play

Here's my take on her challenge:

A small piece of white satin ribbon sort of reminds me of Easter and that's also why I chose the green and yellow colors.

The card base is Stampin Up's Early Esspresso card stock.

A Sizzix/Stampin Up Embossing Folder created the green background panel and the Word Cross Embossing Folder is by Darcie.

I had a bit of trial & error to get the words in green. First I tried applying ink directly to one side of the folder.  I don't own a brayer any more so that was a big failure!  

Here's what the other side of the cross looks like:  

Oops!  Wrong side of the folder was inked. Plus the ink is everywhere since I didn't have a brayer...

So, I flipped it over and applied ink directly using "Lucky Clover" by Gina K Designs. Rubbing the ink cube, not daubing successfully colored the raised words on the front.

Jeanette, I really like how you inspired me to go "old school" with a fun technique that I haven't done in far too long. In fact, I think I'll pull out an old folder that has a rose on it and try this again.

I also want to try your specific technique with the metallic rub on pigment. That looks so nice!

Kelly is up for Day 2 of our camp. No doubt she has something creative planned for us.

Camp Counselors, their blogs, and the day each of us are assigned as counselor:

Monday/January 24th  ~ Jeanette @ Creativeplay 

Tuesday/January 25th ~ Kelly @ Sandcastlestamper

Wednesday/January 26th ~ Barb  @ Inkingintoretirement

Thursday/January 27th ~ Darlene (me!) @ Accordingtobijou

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit the blogs of my Camp Cohorts!

January's Double Duty

A dear friend of mine started a "Double Duty" challenge last year. This year I was invited to join the challenge!  Our founder Barb's challenge is that we use one stamp set from a specific company each month to create two cards, (Double Duty). 

At least one thing should be the same on both cards. We can use different images and sentiments from the same set or we can use the same image two different ways. As an added challenge, one item must be used on both cards, Double Duty yet again.

Posting day is the 22nd of each month, another double! 

Here's my take on this month's Double Duty.

Same card stock on each card, same ink and image on each card. Same embossing folder used on each card.

Different sentiment and ribbon for each card.

The stamps are from an old Stampin' Up set called "Kind and Caring Thoughts".

February's Double Duty will feature stamps by Hero Arts. How fun! I already know which set I'm using. 

Be sure to hop on over to the blogs of my team mates:

Barb

Jeanette

Carol

Thanks for inviting me to join in 2022.  Looking forward to playing along!

Dueling Darlings Celebrate National Strawberry Ice Cream Day!

The Dueling Darlings are kicking off the 2022 Dueling Season with a fun challenge.  January 15th is National Strawberry Ice Cream Day.  Who knew??!! Certainly not me!  However, our hostess for this month is Jeanette and she knew!

My kit from Jeanette is taking the world wide tour before showing up in my mailbox...so I improvised.  

Since I don't have any ice cream stamps, I used the edge of a cloud die to trace around, then drew a semi-circle above it for the scoop of ice cream.  Then I sponged on 2 pinks, intentionally leaving darker splotches to resemble strawberry pieces. The sparkle comes from a Spectrum Noir shimmer pen.

My ruler and a sharpie worked well to hand draw the cone.  I scored it with my bone folder and sponged on a bit of light brown ink.

The strawberry paper on the background panel is from the "Pretty Party" pad by Crate Paper.

The cherry and Happy Birthday are stamps in the "Hey Cupcake" set by A Muse Studio.  I tried using the frosting stamp, thinking it would look like soft serve ice cream...but I wasn't pleased with my end result, hahaha.

Well, Jeanette, I hope you're happy with my take on your duel for this month.  You picked a really cute theme.  I'm sure that whenever my kit shows up, I'll be inspired  to make another card!

Hot Mess = Success! January

 Today is the 12th and it's time for the Hot Mess = Success challenge.  This challenge is the brain child of our friend Kelly on Splitcoast Stampers.  The whole idea is to get messy. The messiness can take any form, just as long as it meets our personal definition of messy.  And, from this, will emerge a card.

Here's my final result:

Everything here started as plain white card stock.

This is my first run using Creative Expression's Cosmic Shimmer Metallic Gilding Polish.  

The background features Mediterranean Blue and Lush Pink.

A Mandala stencil by Gina K Designs was then used with Gold Treasure Gilding Polish.

White card stock was sponged with Mediterranean Blue and Lush Pink for the shadow die cut on the "Hello" sentiment.  The hello was die cut with stock sponged with the Gold Treasure Gilding Polish.  Both of these dies are also by Gina K Designs.

Here's a picture of the card base showing the gold, blue and pink polishes sponged around the edges.  It occurs to me that this would be a great frame for a stamped image in the white center!

This is what the cut panel looks like before the Mandala was stenciled on.

Here's the Mandala stencil, taped onto the panel and with the gold polish. The polish dries very quickly and I found that daubing a thicker layer worked best with the stenciling step.

I didn't use Pixie Spray to adhere the stencil to the panel. I used Scrapbook.com's Mint Tape to hold the panel to my work surface and the stencil.  If you haven't tried this tape, you really should.  It's great!

The Gilding Polish is water soluble so when I removed it from the panel I dropped it into some soapy water and came back to it later. A quick swipe with a rag and rinse with clean water and the stencil was like new!

During the process, I had the required mess on my hands, work mat, etc. But it cleans up so easily, so it didn't make me stressed.  In fact, I polished a nail and really liked how it looked.

There are a lot of videos on You Tube with tutorials for using Metallic Gilding Polish.  It's a very fun and versatile product.

I hope you try some out.  

Now I'm off to these blogs to admire the Hot Mess Successes created by my friends:

Kelly

Jeanette

Barb

Terry

Carol

Stop by their blogs and see what they've created!