Hello, Crafters.
What part of making this card do you think took me the longest? The part you can’t see! The masks! I’ve seen a lot of cards using the Forever Fern Stamp Set where the branches of leaves – there are six of them in all – have been stamped in differing ways, but looking at the finished cards, I can’t believe the stamping was random! I haven’t seen one card that I thought looked a mess, so how were they created?
I don’t know the answer but I was confident if I started with a piece of cardstock I’d finish up being very unhappy with it and throwing it away! To make sure I avoided this waste, I took two sheets of used computer paper and cut eight pieces the same size as my top layer. I knew the design I wanted and I didn’t want to finish up with a messy card so I set myself up with eight test layers!
I stamped the design I was aiming for but as I had suspected, it looked awful! It was clear it wasn’t going to work by stamping randomly. The leaves were visible through the plums and the plums were visible through the leaves. Next time I see a card like this I’ll pay close attention to see how it was done.
My solution was to use masks made with PostIt Notes. If you have the Forever Fern Stamp Set, I stamped the three stamps shown at the bottom of the cover twice each over the sticky part of the PostIt Notes. As it worked out I only needed to do two each of the plums, but on the positive side, I have two masks prepared for each of the first two images if needed for a future project.
I started my card by stamping the plums stamp so the stem was almost pointing towards the top left-hand corner of the Whisper White Cardstock (CS) layer using Rich Razzleberry Ink. Once I had inked up my stamp I “wiped” the ink off the stem by rubbing it along the edge of my PostIt Note Pad. I was being lazy and I should have masked off the part of the stamp I didn’t want!
I stamped the second stem of plums coming down the left-hand side – stamping off the stem again – and then I stamped the third set of plums coming down a little bit on the top right-hand side. To prepare to stamp the leaves in Shaded Spruce, I covered the first two images of plums using the masks and stamped the first image of the leaves coming out of the top left-hand corner.
I left both masks in place while I stamped the second image of the leaves coming in sideways and ending in approximately the same place as the plums! At this stage, my card looked a real mess but as soon as I removed the lower mask, it looked beautiful! I put the mask onto the third image of plums and stamped the leaves coming down from the top as far down as the first image of plums.
I removed both masks and I was pleased with what I saw! Cutting the masks was worth the effort even though I only needed to have cut two sets of plums. Using Shaded Spruce Ink I stamped my go-to birthday sentiment – BIRTHDAYS ARE THE BEST DAYS – which is from the Beautiful Friendship Stamp Set in the bottom right-hand corner.
I wasn’t happy with such a large expanse of plain white card so I embossed the whole layer using the Brick & Mortar 3D Embossing Folder. After adhering the layer to a middle layer of Blackberry Bliss CS I then adhered the layers onto a Shaded Spruce CS card base. I’ve kept the plums masks as I’ll be able to use them again!
That’s about it from me today. I look forward to being back with you tomorrow and in the meantime please take care and stay safe. Happy crafting.
JanB. xx
Cardstock Layer Sizes: A4
Card base 8¼” x 5¾” scored and folded at 4 1/8”
Middle layer: 2 pieces 3 7/8” x 5½”
Top layer: 2 pieces 3¾” x 5 3/8”
Cardstock Layer Sizes: Letter-size
Card base 8½” x 5½” scored and folded at 4¼”
Middle layer: 2 pieces 4” x 5¼”
Top layer: 2 pieces 3 7/8” x 5 1/8”
Products used for this project: please click on any of the links to be taken to my 24/7 online Stampin’ Up! shop. The Hostess Code for JUNE 2020 is EF7U2PC2. Thank you. xx
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Sorry Jan, a beginner question. Do u stamp first and then emboss? Love this set and am saving up for the bundle. Xx m
Hi, Mal. Stamp first while you have a nice flat piece of cardstock, and then emboss. I hope you give this technique a go. xx
Great Jan. Thank you for info!
Blessings. Christine
Many thanks, Christine. xx
Stunning card Jan!
Many thanks, Linda. xx
Hi Jan from the USA! I follow your blog every day. You worked so hard on this Forever Greenery suite card and commented about masking. I follow 2 USA demonstrators Lee Ann Greff and Jackie Bolhuis. Both have used this set a lot and have videos. Their style is slightly different from yours …not as precise but I think you will enjoy their presentations. I appreciate your blog and look forward to reading it each day.
Linda from Delaware.
Many thanks for your support, Linda. It really is very much appreciated. I watch several US demonstrators and but not the two you mentioned. xx
Absolutely STUNNING Card! Thanks for all the info about how you created it too!
Many thanks, Judy. xx
Love this card. It is not as messy as the ones I’ve tried with this set. Thanks for the instructions and hints.
Many thanks, Ceresa. xx
I’d love to see the “masks your speaking of, if it isn’t too much trouble. I’m very visual.
Thank you so much. You created a fantastic card.
Hi, Bobbi. Once I’ve made masks for any stamp set, I put them in the stamp case behind the paper insert so I can see them when I open the box – it saves me from having to make new ones each time. I will photograph the masks and share them on my blog on tomorrow – Wednesday, 3rd February 2021. xx
Beautiful Card, Love this set and can’t wait to play with it ! Thanks for the extra instruction !
Many thanks, Barbara. Enjoy! xx