Hello, Crafters.
The Annual Catalogue for 2022 – 2023 finally went live yesterday and what a day! It was an amazingly busy day in my personal life as well as my Stampin’ Up! life. Fortunately, none of my busyness was caused by problems so I’m not complaining; just looking forward to a quieter day today starting off at Sharon’s to have my nails done. My only disappointment yesterday was that I couldn’t order the new Magnetic Platform for my Cut & Emboss – they have been delayed by the global shipping problems! Good job I hadn’t put my trusty Big Shot away!!
Yesterday, as time was running out for me to make a card for today, I decided to do some simple two-step stamping using the new Sending Smiles Stamp Set. It’s available as a bundle with a set of dies called Sending Dies but I wanted to see if this was an easy two-step stamp set. It turned out to be one of the easiest of all those I’ve ever used. One of the reasons I say this is because, with the stamps I used – I haven’t tested them all – it’s possible to see through the gaps in the flower petals.
Therefore, positioning the flower on top of the stem is so easy. That is, as long as the stamp isn’t over-inked to such a point that the grooves on the stamp become filled with ink and therefore block your vision. I stamped the branch first using Granny Apple Green and then moved onto the large flower. As usual, I practised a few times on some scrap paper before I moved onto tamping directly onto my Basic White Cardstock.
After a few attempts I was happy with lining everything up except the Crushed Curry centre of the large Gorgeous Grape flower. My conclusion is that the stamp isn’t quite big enough to fill the complete white space whereas the small stamp for the smaller flower fits completely. Once I realised that, I felt a lot more relaxed and stamped it as close to the centre as I could.
Once I had finished stamping the image, I thought about cutting it out with a shaped die, then layer it, etc. I picked up the pack of the new Fabulous Frames Dies and decided to try the “photograph” corner dies. I think they are such a fabulous idea! One tip about using these is to snip a tad off the four corners of your cardstock. If you look closely at the die-cuts, all three corners are slightly rounded and if you don’t round the cardstock slightly you will have (white) tips pointing out!
To finish the front of my card, I added two of the now retired Bumblebee Trinkets – I have seven left to use up now – and a small bow which I made using the lovely, also now retired, Gorgeous Grape Sheer Ribbon. To decorate the inside of my card I stamped the same image but positioned it going off the bottom right-hand corner. The image is larger than I normally put inside my cards but I think it’s in perspective with the photograph corners.
I think this will become a go-to stamp set for simple but striking looking cards! Well, I think that’s it for today. I look forward to being back soon. In the meantime, please take care and stay safe. Happy crafting.
JanB. xx
Basic Card Measurements: A4 (Metric) US
Card base 8¼” x 5¾” (21cm x 14.6cm) US 8½” x 5½”
Scored and folded at 4⅛” (10.5cm) US 4¼”
Middle layer: 2 pieces 3⅞” x 5½” (9.9cm x 14cm) US 4” x 5¼”
Top layer: 2 pieces 3¾” x 5⅜” (9.6cm x 13.7cm) US 3⅞” x 5⅛”
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 MAY 2022 is FNKUEX9J Thank you. xx
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Jan, this layout is simple but very striking! I have to put that die set on my Wish List. Love that photograph corner look!
Many thanks, Shirley. Yes, the corners make a lovely addition! xx