Sympathy with Watercolor Trio

I'm tellin' you, I'm not thrilled that I've had to make two sympathy cards this month. Then I found out on Sunday that the mother of a friend of ours passed away suddenly. I already had one of the Medallion sympathy cards on hand that I created for this month's Stamp-A-Stack, but I had no idea I'd be using it so soon. I'm not superstitious, but I hope this ends the pattern.

My friend Deb lost her mom to cancer about 10 days ago, and since we are now separated by many miles, I wanted to get a card in the mail to her as soon as I heard the news.

I do not own any of the sympathy specific stamp sets SU! has manufactured, so I reached for Watercolor Trio (retired). Using Elegant Eggplant and Old Olive, I stamped a few stems and incorporated a non-SU! sentiment.

I continue to find uses for my Square Lattice Textured Impressions Folder for the Big Shot. It's just so nice to be able to quickly add some dimension to a card with this tool.

I also decided to decorate the interior, so I pulled out one of the leftover frames created by the Big Shot when you cut out a Top Note Bigz Die. This one is in Very Vanilla, and there was just enough margin on each side to stamp the flowers again. Don't throw away those scraps--you never know when they might come in handy!

Take the time to get a card in the mail to someone you know who has lost a loved one. It doesn't matter how recently they experienced the loss; the grief is fresh for a long time, and knowing that someone hasn't forgotten about their pain can be very meaningful.

So Long, Farewell...

All demonstrators have a favorite color combination. I like Elegant Eggplant and Apricot Appeal together, even though you don't see this often in my cards. I just don't think many other people enjoy it as much as I do, so I save it and use it only once in awhile. Well, Apricot Appeal is one of the colors being retired June 30, so I thought I'd better use it while I can.

Fellow demonstrator Andrea Walford highlighted a technique called Craft Resist, which uses Craft Ink to create a background color over an embossed image. I don't have any Craft Ink other than Whisper White, but I was curious to see if the technique would work with Classic Ink. I followed Andrea's instructions by first stamping my image, from Watercolor Trio (it's SO versatile!), in Versamark and then embossing it with Clear Embossing Powder.

I swiped it with my EE pad until I had the amount of color I wanted on the Whisper White card stock. I could've left it a bit more streaky, but I'm pleased with the result. The ink that covered the image wiped off, and would've been stunning on its own with the white serving as a stark contrast to the color. But Andrea removed the Embossing Powder by melting it with an iron so that she could place color with Stampin' Pastels on the image.

I applied the dry heat and, sure enough, it melted! So I used Old Olive and AA chalks and I like the soft look it created. I used Q tips to apply the chalk; I wish there was a better tool, but it got the job done. I matted it on Whisper White and mounted it on Apricot Appeal.

In my stash of EE card stock, there was this 4.25" x 11" piece, folded to overlap and with rounded corners; I'm sure it was left over from another card attempt that didn't work out. I decided it was perfect and stamped the same image I used in the technique in Versamark to create a background pattern.

I have a friend whose birthday is coming up early in June, so I wanted to create a way for her to be able to keep the art after she was finished with the card. When I pulled out the 5/8" Old Olive grosgrain ribbon so that it would help pull that color out of the main image, the idea for a bookmark suddenly popped into my head. I adhered the entire piece using temporary mono adhesive. It can be removed and the sticky stuff rubbed off; then she can use it to mark her spot in her favorite book.

Since this card ended up having a bookish theme, I'd like to know what you're reading this summer. I just finished Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork. Fantastic! What do you suggest?

Bleached Flowers for YouTube!

EDITED TO ADD: Here's the video link: Mother's Day Card Tutorial!

I was asked by fellow Starbucks partner and aspiring videographer, Aldo, if he could make a video of me making a card for Mother's Day. After several scheduling hiccups, we were able to make it happen at the almost-11th-hour this afternoon. I can hardly contain my excitement as I wait for him to finish post-production on it, and as soon as it's available, you'll see it here, and on YouTube, and on Facebook!

Let me post a few pictures of the card I made using the Watercolor Trio that's in the current Summer Mini Catalog and a technique called bleaching. Aldo wanted to post a video demonstrating how to make a card if you had limited resources and limited time. It occurred to me that someone might have stamps laying around, but no ink. What would you do then? Make your own ink pad using bleach!

The most important thing you need when using this technique is dark card stock. This just doesn't have the same effect if you don't. It's so cool to watch the image appear, as if out of thin air. Wait 'til you see it in the video!

I repurposed a Chinese takeout container for my bleach pad by lining it with several layers of paper towel and saturating it with bleach. I didn't dilute it; I just poured it straight onto the towels. I stamped the images and used a simple mat to help it stand out a little more.

The final result makes it appear as though I somehow was able to get Pale Plum ink to show up on Perfect Plum card stock. Love it! Hope anyone in need of a last-minute card who's surfing YouTube, the internet, and Facebook will too.

Introducing Watercolor Trio

The Summer Mini Catalog selling period started Saturday, and here's the first card I made using one of the sets from it, Watercolor Trio. This is a fantastic beginner set, as it has images and sentiments. It's also available in wood mount or clear acrylic cling mount. I chose acrylic cling mount because I can see where I'm going to place the images and sentiments--love that!

I created this card for the women I stamped with over the weekend (hi again, gals!), and it was a big hit! I used Kraft as my base, layered with Very Vanilla, and the images were stamped in Rose Red, More Mustard, and Elegant Eggplant. The sentiment was stamped in Old Olive. All that alliteration had the gals cracking up, but they loved the combination!

I love how fast this comes together, and yet how fancy it seems because of the easel fold. Check my archive (4x4 easel card) for the link to complete directions. It's so much easier than it looks!

The women stamped this as a Mother's Day card, but I already had all of those I needed, so I created a blank version but kept the butterfly from the set as my "peg" to hold the easel in place.

It's so energizing for me to share card making with others. Thanks to Bekah for bringing the group together. If you'd like me to share my love of stamping with YOUR group of friends, leave me a comment and we'll get the ball rolling!