Saturday Sketch + Card Video & PDF Tutorial

I got SO excited when I saw this sketch!  Immediately visions of the giant leaf from Gather Together filled my mind and the color scheme of Shaded Spruce, Pear Pizzazz, and Coastal Cabana was decided upon.

This card just fell right out of my head and onto the stamps, ink, and paper in 30 minutes.  Don't you LOVE stamping sessions like that?  It turned out exactly as I envisioned!  And I love it so much, I made a video and wrote a tutorial for you.  

There are two pretty fun techniques on this card that will make you say WoW, too.  One is creating a tri-colored leaf with sponge daubers and the other is a unique way to jazz up wooden embellishments using embossing powder and Stampin' Blends.

Pin or print the tutorial to try both the techniques!

Watch the video to see how to make this card!

What's Going On Right Now

Shop with me and earn double Joyful Stamper points through June 27!

I'm at the beach this week so while I'm having fun in the sun, YOU can have fun shopping and earning double Joyful Stamper Rewards points!

--->>Read about The Joyful Stamper Rewards Program here<<---

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For every $50 you order in my store from June 22 - 27, 2020 (before shipping & tax), earn TWO points!  

Use June's Reward Code RT9EM96T on orders of $50 - $149 (before shipping & tax).

Skip the code on orders of $150 or more, but you still earn double Joyful Stamper Rewards Points!

Mystery Stamping Hour This Sunday Night!!

Details here.

Hold On To Hope Seriously Simple Card

As much as we love making cards, sometimes it is the message of the card that really counts.  The message may be on the inside, outside, or both, but the important thing is that the recipient of our card HEARS the words.  The words are what we are trying to communicate to someone, because that person needs to be uplifted and encouraged.  Our words can bring life to hurting people (Proverbs 15:4 Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit).  In these cases, I find simple, "quiet" cards to be appropriate.

I love this verse in the Hold On To Hope set.  It's appropriate when expressing sympathy, or when reminding someone that s/he is not alone in the struggle.  Ink dries slowly on vellum, so to get around that I inked my stamp with Versamark then immediately inked it with Pretty Peacock before stamping on the vellum.  I sprinkled Clear Stampin' Emboss powder over the verse, then melted it with my Heat Tool.  Now the ink is dry and won't smear!

The background is stamped directly on the Thick Whisper White card base.  I used Pretty Peacock and Mint Macaron Stampin' Write Markers to color directly on the red rubber flower image, then stamped it on the card base.  This is an easy technique, one that does not need to be done precisely.  Simply use the brush tip end of the marker to do a fast color on the stamp, then put stamp to paper.

The Pretty Peacock and Vellum ovals were made using the Stitched Shapes dies.  I cut an extra one from Whisper White to place underneath the Vellum to better highlight the verse.

If you have the chance to ever speak life-giving words to someone, do so!  The card does not have to be over-the-top, layered with doodads and paper, and made with 5 techniques.  Simple and quiet with a heartfelt message is powerful and effective, friends!

Ways to Connect with The Joyful Stamper:

• Shop my online store using the host code 7YNXHH3W and receive as my gift to you a 6 Pack of Christmas Card Tutorials ($15 value).  If you liked the one above, you'll enjoy these!
• Shop the Clearance Rack for fantastic deals.
• Search my blog in the sidebar box by stamp set, holiday, or technique.  You can also type in "tutorials" to pull up all the printable ones on this blog.
• Join My Joyful Stampers team - instant community of people who love stamping as much as you do!
• Subscribe to Paper Pumpkin, the monthly crafting kit for those who like neat, simple solutions to their crafting needs.  As part of your subscription, you'll receive a monthly newsletter with alternate ideas and an instructional video.
• Attend one of my local, in-person classes - laughter is good medicine!
• Follow me on Facebook for more interaction and spontaneous fun!
• Follow me on Pinterest for daily inspiration.
• Subscribe to my YouTube channel to see stamping demonstrations.

  

Making The Toughest Card Of All

I've been stamping for 20 years and have talked to many cardmakers in that time.  We've shared how much we love making Christmas cards, how excited we are to construct Valentine's Day treat holders for our kids' class parties, whether or not it's worth fancying up the candy we pass out at Halloween (yes, it is, just for the fun factor).  We've discussed the appropriate colors for sympathy cards and how many ways we can creatively present a gift card.  

The ONE project that generates a collective groan among SO many cardmakers, though, is the masculine card.  Because I love delving into the mysteries of the human psyche, let's puzzle this out, shall we?  Is it that we find it easier to work with a more feminine color palette?  Do we love our bows and ribbons and rhinestones and pearls so much that we can't imagine what we would embellish a man card with?  Do we struggle with knowing just what stamped image a man might enjoy receiving on his card?  

(Layout uses Hand Stamped Sentiments Sketch #317)

I love using Stampin' Up!'s High Tide stamp set to make masculine cards.  The lighthouse conveys ruggedness and stability and all the images look great in traditionally darker male colors.  Linen Twine and Braided Linen Trim also make great embellishments with this set and style of card.  Read on for the card recipe!

More sets that would make fantastic cards for men, young and old:

• Capture The Good item #150388
• Sailing Home item #149457 or Bundle with Dies item #151066
• A Good Man item #149270
• Rooted In Nature item #148217 plus Nature's Roots Dies item #146341
• Best Catch item #148598 plus Catch of the Day Dies item #148815
• Country Road item #151356
• Geared Up Garage item #148590 plus Garage Gears Dies item #148521

Card Recipe:

• High Tide stamp set
• Crumb Cake cardstock (5-1/2 x 81/2 base, 4 x 5-1/4)
• Night of Navy cardstock (2-7/8 x 4-1/8)
• Balmy Blue cardstock (3-1/4 x 2, scrap for lighthouse image)
• Sahara Sand cardstock (1-7/8  2-3/4)
• Night of Navy Ink Pad (lighthouse, water)
• Early Espresso Ink Pad (sentiment)
• Crumb Cake Ink Pad (sponging, sand) 
• Sponges
• Basic Pearls
• Braided Linen Trim (frayed)
• Paper Snips (to fussy cut lighthouse)
• Stitched Shapes Dies
• Stitched Rectangle Dies

Shop my online store here to begin making masculine cards with confidence!

If you prefer a hard copy of Stampin' Up!'s annual catalog and don't already 

work with a demonstrator you love, you can request a catalog here by providing your name and address.

Thank you for visiting my little blog on the big Internet today and I so appreciate the opportunity to earn your business!

Pretty Card Elements Using Patterned Papers

If you've read a number of my blog posts, you can tell I love to use DSP - especially scraps - in my projects.  You see, I have trouble choosing colors.  No joke, brown is one of my favorite colors and some wouldn't even call it a color!  But using Stampin' Up!'s Designer Series Paper means a color palette has been chosen for me that already looks beautiful.  So I go with it!  Using all this DSP, though, means scraps are plentiful.  Fortunately, there are loads of ways to use those pretties.  Today I'll show you one of those ways.  At the end of this blog post, I'll link to two other ways I showed of using DSP scraps.  

That stitched circle in the middle of the card front was made using 1/2" wide strips of Bird Ballad DSP.  The strips varied in length since I was using scraps.     

And the smallest circle on the left of the card front with the bird isn't stamped - I die-cut it from a sheet from the Bird Ballad DSP.

Experiment with different shapes - squares, rectangles, hearts, labels - anything could be used!

Check out my posts here and here for some more ideas on using DSP scraps.

Card Recipe:

• Painted Harvest stamp set (sentiment)
• Petal Pink cardstock (5-1/2 x 8-1/2, 4-1/8 x 5-3/8)
• Smoky Slate cardstock (stitched circle sentiment)
• Whisper White cardstock (scraps for stitched DSP circle)
• Bird Ballad DSP (scraps of varied lengths cut to 1/2" wide)
• Basic Gray Ink Pad (to stamp sentiment)
• Soft Suede Ink Pad (to sponge edges of Petal Pink stitched panel)
• Stitched Rectangles Dies
• Stitched Shapes Dies
• Very Vanilla Scalloped Lace Trim
• Metallic Pearls
• Basics Pearls
• Sponge

If you would like a Stampin' Up! Catalog and don't already have a demonstrator, contact me with your name and address and I'll send one out to you. I so appreciate the opportunity to earn your business!

Last few days to earn Bonus Days coupons!  Earn a $5 coupon redeemable in August for every $50 order (before shipping and tax) placed in my online store.  Shop online here.  

Lilypad Lake Serenity

Serenity now!  Anyone else remember that Seinfeld episode?  Seinfeld was truly "must-see TV" for me on Thursday nights in the nineties.

Thinking of You cards are ones I always like to have in my stash as they can be used for pretty much every occasion.  The colors used here (Pool Party, So Saffron, and Blushing Bride) create a serene and calm mood that pairs perfectly with the images in the Lilypad Lake stamp set.  My monthly stamp group should enjoy creating this card tomorrow when we meet.  I will be opening up spots in that monthly stamp group soon, so watch for my announcement!  You'll want to join us for the fun and friendship AND to build your own card stash.

Tips and Tricks:

• Warm up cooler colors by adding a touch of gold (notice the Gold Cord tied vertically on my card).
• Add interest to a cardstock panel by tearing the top portion away, as I did with my sentiment piece.

You Can Make It!

• Cardstock: Pool Party, So Saffron, Blushing Bride, Whisper White
• Lilypad Lake stamp set
• Lakeside dies
• So Saffron ink pad
• Memento Black ink pad
• Gold cord
• Seaside embossing folder
• Stitched Shapes dies

Fun with Retiring Stampin' Up! In Colors

The color combination of Tranquil Tide, Powder Pink, and Berry Burst is so bright and fun, in an understated way.

My monthly Stamp Group meets this Wednesday and this is one of the three cards we'll be creating.  The group always loves making birthday cards and this color trio will be a hit, I know!  

I used the Perennial Birthdays stamp set.  This set has a great variety of birthday greetings for both the outsides and insides of cards and the images are just plain FUN.

There is a bit of fussy cutting with the main image.  I wanted it to stand out.

Tips and Tricks:

• Use markers to color right on your stamp's rubber image, like I did for the flower that is the main image.  Gently "huff" on the stamp to rewet the ink just before pressing the stamp to your paper.
• Immediately after stamping your image, use your blender pen to pull that ink throughout the image to color it.  This creates a soft look that I adore!
• Don't have certain ink colors?  No problem!  Use a Versamark ink pad to stamp on your cardstock to create a subtle background, like I did on the Powder Pink and Tranquil Tide pieces.

You Can Make This!

• Perennial Birthday stamp set
• Versamark Ink Pad
• Berry Burst marker and cardstock
• Tranquil Tide marker and cardstock
• Powder Pink cardstock
• Whisper White cardstock
• Stitched Shapes Dies
• Blender Pen
• rhinestones