Stampin’ Up!

Shadowhunters Fangirl Birthday Card using Stampin’ Up! Products

~ Anna Krol ~ 5 Comments

Sharing something a little different with you today. I’m so happy I finally had some spare time to post this awesome card (if I do say so myself).

My (not so little anymore) girl had her 16th birthday last Sunday. And because she’s a big fan of Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunters book series, I really wanted to create something in that theme for her.

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Obviously, I don’t own any matching stamp sets so I had to improvise. I’ve used pretty few current stamp sets to create my card. First I choose black & gold colour combo – I think it fits the theme perfectly. It’s a gate-fold card, with base in Basic Black. I “brushed” Versamark around the edges, added gold embossing powder and heat set it. I didn’t go for perfection – it was meant to be a bit edgy, rough. Next, I cut two panels to go on the front. Using Versamark again, I stamped flourishes from Everything Eleanor stamp set, and heat embossed it in gold. As before, I didn’t pay attention to detail on purpose – the edgier the better.

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Inside of the card is pretty simple. I’ve found Angelic Rune symbol online, printed it on copy paper and then traced it on a piece of basic black. I hand-cut it and heat embossed it with Iridescent Ice embossing folder first. But I didn’t like how this turned out and decided to add more sparkle to it. I dabbed Versamark on top of my symbol and added  Heat & Stick powder. I melt the powder with Heat Tool, covered it with gold glitter and heat set my piece again. I love how this turned out. Sentiment comes from Rose Wonder stamp set.

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To close my card I created a belly-band. Same as with a card front I added that rough gold edge. I stamped small butterfly from Butterfly Basics, heat embossed it in gold and die-cut it. I also die-cut the more intricate butterfly from gold glimmer paper. I adhered them together, added some gold Metallic Thread underneath and attached it to my belly-band.

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And that’s it. That’s my Shadowhunters birthday card. Do you like it? I have to say that my daughter truly loved it. And the moment she opened the card and saw the Angelic Rune symbol – well, that was priceless to see how her eyes light up. Mission completed!

Thank you for stopping by and have a great day,

You Send Me Soaring

~ Anna Krol ~ Leave a comment

I love the vintage feel to Sky is the Limit stamp set from Stampin’ Up! and I’ve used it recently to create cute Valentine’s Day cards perfect for men in our lives.

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First card I’ve made for a card-swap in our group of demonstrators. As all stampers, we love to swap! Swapping lets you share your creativity, enjoy the creativity of other stampers, and gather and collect ideas.

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The base of my card is Watermelon Wonder cardstock. For the layer, I cut two pieces of Typeset Specialty DSP (each measure 5-7/8″ x 1-3/8″) and a strip of Very Vanilla cardstock that measure 5-7/8″ x 1-1/4″. Before I adhered them on my base I stamped my images on Very Vanilla using Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad, as I was planning to do a little colouring. Our archival ink pads are perfect for watercolouring as they do not bleed. I coloured heart using Watermelon Wonder ink pad and a blender pen and added a little shimmer with clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush. Yeah, I know that most of the guys do not like a bling. But come on: he loves you, so you can sneak a little shimmer here and there, and he won’t say a word 😉 I stamped the sentiment on a piece of vellum and heat embossed in black. Cut it into a banner and attached to the card using a regular stapler.

For the second card base, I chose cardstock in my favourite neutral colour – Crumb Cake.

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For the layer again I reached for Typeset DSP. But this time I stamped directly onto my designer paper. I also added some splotches from Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and sponged the edges to add to the vintage look. This time I stamped sentiment onto a piece of Crumb Cake instead of vellum. I attached everything to the base using snail adhesive. The plan for the heart was to leave it blank this time, but when the card was put together I’ve changed my mind. I colour the heart using a Real Red marker and then filled it with Crystal Effects. I have to say I love how a little of Crystal Effects makes the heart just POP! sky is the limit 4

It’s been ages since last time I’ve made masculine cards, so rather pleased how these turned out. I was wondering which of the finishes get more votes: Wink of Stella or Crystal Effects. So I’ve asked my fellow crafters (showing them just a hearts sneak peek) what they think. And I’m not surprised that Crystal Effects gets more votes. And which finish do you prefer? Let me know in the comments below.

Thank you for stopping by and have a great day,

Ink Smooshing With Bloomin’ Hearts Thinlits Dies

~ Anna Krol ~ Leave a comment

I have to say when I first saw Bloomin’ Hearts Thinlits Dies in new Stampin’ Up! Spring Summer Catalogue I couldn’t wait to put my hands on them and try ink smooshing technique.

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Aren’t these awesome?! And ink smooshing is childishly easy. All you need is a piece of acetate or craft mat, you can use a plastic packaging too (any sleek surface works really).

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Then you choose the colours you want to use on your card and you simply smoosh them onto your surface. Spritz it with water and dip your card into the ink droplets. Let your card dry completely before you add more colour.

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For my cards, I decided for really bright, intense colours. But you can make it as soft as you wish just add less ink and more water. And I have to say here I highly recommend using watercolour paper with this technique.

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I’ve used the same design for all my cards. I die-cut hearts from a piece of Whisper White cardstock using Precision Base Plate. Trust me you need this plate! It’s perfect for more detailed thinlits dies to give you extra fine cuts. I saved the negatives (not tiny bits just “frames”) for another project.

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I then dabbed my die-cuts in Versamark and heat-embossed it with Iridescent Ice embossing powder. I love the gentle bling/shimmer it gives.

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I wanted the sentiment to really stand out so I took a strip of Basic Black c/s and stamped my sentiments in Versamark and heat embossed them in white.

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To finish off my cards I added few white and clear sequins from Metallics Sequin Assortment.

I love how these turned out,  really pleased! I know these are not typical cards you would think off for Valentine’s Day, but I love the unusual.

Thank you for stopping by,

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge Blog Hop #3 – Sweet & Mint

~ Anna Krol ~ 10 Comments

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Thank you for joining us for another Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge!  We’re so excited to be sharing this hop with you. The products used are all available in the current Annual, or seasonal, Stampin’ Up!®  Catalogues*. Simply use the buttons at the bottom of the post to keep hopping!

Today’s sketch was designed by very talented Angelina from Intatwyne Designs. I really like the simplicity of this design.

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My first thought about this sketch was that it’s sweet. So is my today’s card: sweet & mint. I absolutely love 2015 – 2017 In Colors. But Mint Macaron is definitely my favourite one.

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The base of my card is Mint Macaron scored at 4-1/4″ and folded in half in landscape mode. Both panels measure 5-3/4 x 2″. The top panel is a piece of Whisper White. I stamped one of the “swooshes” from Work of Art in Mint Macaron (briefly in the middle of the panel). Then I stamped the sentiment in Memento Black. The bottom panel is a piece of 2015-2017 In Color Envelope Paper.

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I adhered both panels to the base and added a ribbon in the middle ( I tucked the ends under the panels). Don’t you just love this Dotted Lace Trim Ribbon? I’ve used a glue dot to bunch up the ribbon and adhered button on top. I was planning to add bakers twine bow on top, but I didn’t like it. I added Blossom Accent instead.

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To finish my card off I added few star sequins. I didn’t plan that but needed to hide a boo-boo. I end up adding three just for a good measure 😉

Hope you like my sweet and simple card. It’s very versatile design and would work nicely with different sentiments. Plus it’s perfect for mass-producing: only took few minutes to put it together. So it’s a win-win.

Now, be sure to hop along and see more inspiring projects. Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day!

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Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge – Silver Contra Gold

~ Anna Krol ~ 20 Comments

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Thank you for joining us on the first Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge!  We’re a small group of Stampin’ Up!® Demonstrators who fancied a new challenge to share with you all. The products used are all available in the current Annual, or seasonal, Stampin’ Up!®  Catalogues*. Simply use the buttons at the bottom of the post to keep hopping!

If you have arrived here from Mandy’s blog thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoy seeing the inspiration from our little group and continue hopping to see what everyone has made.

So here’s our very first sketch created by talented Sam Johnson:

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The moment I saw the sketch I loved it to bits. But then I thought: OMG I’m gonna over-think it and over-complicate it!  Yep, I am known for that haha Luckily it wasn’t that bad.

I created two samples one in silver and the other one in gold and meant to post one I like the most. But truly, I couldn’t decide which one, so I post both.

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Card nr 1. The card base is Whisper White with Smoky Slate dots sponged over using one of Happy Patterns Decorative Masks. I cut two strips of paper: Basic Grey (1-1/8 x 3-1/2″) and Blushing Bride (5/8 x 3-2/8″) for a little splash of colour. I turned Basic Grey strip into a simple tag with a piece of Silver Cording Trim. For Blushing Bride piece: I run it through my Big Shot with “stars on stripe die” (however it’s called haha) from Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Die. Don’t throw these little stars away, you will use them later.

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Sentiment comes from Whole Lots Of Lovely, gorgeous, hostess exclusive stamp set. I stamped it in Versamark on a piece of Smoky Slate, heat embossed in silver, die cut it using circle die and added silver sequin for a bling. Then I took three little stars, covered them in Crystal Effects and let them dry. Once dry, I attached one tiny rhinestone to each of the stars.

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Card nr 2. I really wanted to go into gold and use embossing paste (I’ve bought it while ago at Lidl). I embossed diagonal stripes on 2/3 of my card front (Crumb Cake) and used embossing paste (same mask as with the first card) on 1/3 of the card. I sprinkled some gold glitter while embossing paste was still wet.

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I cut two strips of patterned paper from Neutrals DSP Stack: 1″ x 3-2/8″ and 1-1/8″ x 3-6/8″. For third narrow stripe I could simply use Glimmer Paper, but I wanted to finally try my Heat and Stick Powder. I cut a strip of Crumb Cake that measure 5/8″ x 3-1/2″, die cut little hearts from it, covered my piece in Versamark and sprinkled Heat & Stick Powder over my piece (making sure it’s well covered). Then I heat it with my heat gun.

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When the powder melted I covered the whole piece with gold glitter and heat it again. The powder melts with glitter creating your own glimmer paper 🙂 I used the same sentiment for both cards, just this time I heat embossed it in gold.

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So? Which card is your favourite? Silver or gold? Let me know in the comments below.

Now, be sure to hop along and see more inspiring projects. Your next stop is lovely Debbie at Larli Crafts. Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day!

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