Stampin' Up! ® Independent Demonstrator Ellen Vargo
Hello!
Fair warning: Today's project is a whopper! I made these cards when I went to my semi-annual "Stamp Camp" in March and I just wanted to *play*! There are a ton of products, stamps, inks and textures on these cards but BOY do I love them! Read to the bottom of this post to find out how to win a FREE stamp set!
What makes them super special is that I was able to collaborate with my lovely friend Donna, who loves to work with wool and fibers. She does wool felting and gifted these totally amazing accents to me... and they matched my cards *perfectly* !! Let's get started...
I started by creating a large background panel using Brusho Crystal Colors and Watercolor paper. See
THIS post to learn how Brusho works - you sprinkle the color crystals on your paper and then spritz with water and the color explodes and moves and blends - gorgeous!
After I cut the large panel down to a smaller size to get 3 cards from the panel, I used texture stamps from these stamp sets: Eclectic Expressions (Sale-a-bration) Petal Palette, and Background Bits (Hostess) in coordinating ink colors to add loads of texture and interest to the background.
I love the scripty text stamp from the Background Bits stamp set - it is the perfect element to stamp over the whole background in a light shade so it doesn't create too much distraction, yet gives loads of interest. You can earn this stamp set by hosting a workshop or placing an order of $150 or more through May 31st. After that a new set of hostess sets will be available with the new annual catalog!
After I was satisfied with the background, I decided to experiment with the Embossing Paste and the diamond pattern Masks. I laid the mask (stencil) over the background and used a palette knife to spread embossing paste through the stencil onto the background. The first card picture above shows the results and I love it! I didn't use it on all the cards... just wanted to play around with it.
Now comes the MAGIC! At this point I was trying to decide what to use as my focal image on these cards, and right then my friend Donna brought these gorgeous felted pieces to me as a gift! The angels sang!!! Every single piece she brought me had an absolutely perfect match in one of the cards I made. (I actually made 8 of these cards, I'm just showcasing three of them today.)
Aren't they stunning?! I added a few glitter enamel dots to each piece to really draw attention to it, and added each felted piece to my card front with Tacky Glue (Tombow Liquid Adhesive would work fine, but I wanted to be pretty generous with the glue so it would stay put!).
Then I tapped Versamark ink on all four edges of each piece and added some gold embossing powder to it, and melted the powder with my Heat Tool. This subtle shiny accent really has a nice impact. I mounted each panel on Basic Black card stock, and then created some large card bases with Watercolor Paper for a really thick, sturdy base to support the watercolor background and the felted accents.
A card collection this special really deserved to be boxed up, so I created a lidded box to hold four cards and envelopes. (I needed to use 5x7 envelopes for these cards. You can get those at any office supply store.) See
THIS post to learn how to make a perfect fitting lidded box.
I plan to gift one set of these finished, boxed card sets back to my friend Donna to thank her for such a lovely opportunity to collaborate! I even came up with a custom "logo" to put on the back of each card to mark the occasion! I used the Stampin' Up Grid paper as a background.
Now for the fun part! A GIVEAWAY!! Since the Eclectic Expressions stamp set is no longer available, since Sale-a-Bration is over, I thought it would be fun to give one away. I have an extra set that is longing for a new home! If you live in the United States, leave a comment here or on my
Facebook page to get one chance at winning! If you place an order
HERE by Friday, April 27th you'll get THREE chances in the draw! I'll pick a winner on Saturday, April 28th.
Here's a picture of the stamps in this set - great for textured backgrounds:
I hope you enjoyed today's project! You can buy products easily through my Stampin' Up! shop, or by clicking on the items below. If your order is less than $150, please use this month's Host Code listed on the sidebar by placing it in the coupon section at check out.
To Join my Team, I'd Rather Be Stamping, and get a 20% discount on all your Stampin' Up! purchases, click HERE for more information and FAQ, or HERE to go directly to Stampin' Up to sign up for lots of crafty fun!
If you live in the US and would like to request a catalog, please email your address to me at ellenvargo1@verizon.net. Have a wonderful day and thanks so much for visiting.
~ ellen. x