Find ideas, instructions and materials used to make a variety of paper-craft projects using Stampin' Up! products. As an independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator in New Zealand I love to share my passion for creating things with paper including cards, boxes, gifts and decorations. I find that making things is a fun and relaxing past-time which relieves stress and gives me a purpose to be active every day. If you have any questions or want to learn more about Stampin' Up! feel free to contact me.
I was watching Sara Douglass' home crafting video last week and a card her daughter made reminded me of one I learned how to make 12 years ago when I was a Girl Guide Leader at the J'08 Christchurch Jamboree.
This style of fun fold is called a squash card because you squash it down to close it! Squash cards are perfect for scrapbooks, journals, photo albums or a special life event like retirement or a big birthday! I used my original card as an autograph book so I could collect contact details to keep in touch with all the wonderful people I met at the jamboree.
It is easy to create the base of this card . . . the hardest part is deciding how to decorate it! So I got out some cardstock, designer series paper, stamps and ink and then a few hours later I had created a couple squash cards.
Here are photos showing the front and back of my two cards.
The smaller one was made with three 6" x 6" (15.2 cm square) pieces of Very Vanilla cardstock using the So Sentimental Bundle and Tropical Oasis designer series papers with coordinating colours.
I show you how to make the larger one in my video using two 8-1/4" x 8-1/4" (21 cm square) pieces of Whisper White cardstock. I decorated it with stamps from one of the 'host only' sets called New Wonders along with papers from the Pressed Petals Specialty Designer Series Paper, Come Sail Away Designer Series Paper and an envelope liner from the Magnolia Lane Memories & More Large Specialty Cards & Envelopes.
You can make your squash card any length you want by adding more squares. The finished size of the top will be half the size of the original square that you start with, i.e. a 4" x 4" starting square will give you a 2" x 2" finished card.
When you decorate the inside of the card you simply use squares which are slightly smaller than the finished card size and you can cut them in half at the diagonal for the triangular areas. For the small card I used 2-3/4" (7 cm) squares and the larger card was decorated with 4" (10 cm) squares.
I had lots of fun decorating these cards and I used a lot of colours. For a full list of the supplies have a look at the description under my YouTube video.
I hope you enjoyed this fun fold card and I'd love to see you make your own Squash Card!
Masking is a great way to give depth to a card, allowing you to create the illusion of images being in the background. With the masking technique I have created a field of tulips on a card by only using a couple of flower stamps.
This technique can be used in so many different ways to create beautiful cards and images. It's a fairly simple technique in which you use a piece of sticky note paper to protect your stamped image from ink placed on top of it.
This is a standard A6 card done as a portrait orientation with the fold at the top. The base of the card is an A4 piece of Garden Green cardstock cut down the middle on the short side (21 cm side) at 10.5 cm and scored at 14.8 cm (11-3/4" x 4-1/8" scored at 5-7/8"). I used Whisper White cardstock for the front and the inside layers cut to 14.3 cm x 10 cm (5-5/8" x 4"). The other products I used are listed at the bottom of my YouTube video which you can see below. In the video I show you how to make the blue card using the Timeless Tulip Bundle (Timeless Tulips Photopolymer Stamp Set and Tulip Builder Punch) along with tips on how to successfully mask the images. The colours I used are Seaside Spray, Garden Green and Tuxedo Black Memento ink. I have stamped off with some of the images to create a lighter shade which looks like lavender.
I hope you like my video and cards and will give the masking technique a try for yourself!
I started off the New Year playing with my free stamp sets from the Sale-A-Bration brochure. There are so many wonderful projects which can be made from the new Occasions and Sale-A-Bration catalogues and in this post I showcase the Power of Hope Bundle which includes a stamp set and the Stone 3D Embossing folder. You can get both these items for free with a qualifying order until 31 March 2020.
I've made simple, casual and avid crafter projects to satisfy everyone with this stamp set. All you need is some cardstock, ink and the Power of Hope bundle to make some lovely cards and decorations for the new year.
Sometimes the simplest projects turn out to be the most elegant. My first card only used three colours of cardstock (Whisper White, Basic Black and Real Red) along with ink and the stamp set.
I stamped all the images from the set using Tuxedo Black Memento ink. I used the Stitched Rectangle dies to cut the three white pieces which I then layered on black cardstock to give some contrast.
I arranged the layered pieces on the red cardstock to decide where to put the sentiments and then used my Stamparatus for perfect placement. I left the inside of the card blank so it can be used for any occasion.
My next design was inspired by the paper lanterns I see at the Auckland Lantern Festival. I stamped the image on Petal Pink cardstock, cut it out with a circle die and then scrunched it up in my hands to give it a worn look. I used Lovely Lipstick cardstock for the top and bottom of the lantern, cut with the Stitched Rectangle dies.
The black centre section was embossed with the Stone 3D Embossing folder and layered on a piece of Lily Impressions designer series paper (also a Sale-A-Bration freebie). I used some Rose Metallic Thread as the handle for the lantern and behind the sentiment, which was heat embossed in black on Petal Pink cardstock.
I stepped things up a bit with my next card by turning it into an interactive card. When you press on the word 'power' in the sentiment on the front of the card the little lanterns light up!
The base of this card is basic black cardstock with whisper white layers. I stamped the front with Black Memento ink and then coloured each image with Stampin' Blends markers (Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, and Call Me Clover). I stamped the lady on a separate piece of thick Whisper White cardstock and coloured her in with Flirty Flamingo, Bermuda Bay, and Basic Black Stampin' Blends and then cut the image out so I could layer her on the front of the card.
I turned the front piece over and put copper tape, mini flat led lights and a battery on it to make the lanterns light up. I then used Foam Adhesive Strips to attach it to the front of the card. I watched several YouTube videos to see how to create the light up feature and this was the first time I had tried that technique. Since the Stampin' Blends bleed through the paper it was easy for me to place the led lights in the correct spots.
For my next project I made a little lantern on which I stamped the images with Memento black ink. I used a rectangle piece of Petal Pink vellum and left the ink to dry for several minutes before I cut strips into the sides. I then used some gold thread to attach the Petal Pink Tassel to the bottom of the lantern.
Putting Petal Pink cardstock at the bottom and top of the lantern helped to hide the joins and hold the gold thread in place. I used some Petal Pink cardstock for the handle as well. I then cut several blossom images with the Seasonal Layers dies on the vellum and cardstock to decorate the lantern and to hide the seams.
I had a little hanging light leftover from a lantern I got last year so I created a hanger for it out of a paper clip, bending it into the shape I needed. I had originally planned to use a battery-powered tea light for the lantern, but that idea had to change after I attached the tassel to the bottom.
I made a video to show the light up features for the card and the lantern because the pictures don't do these projects justice.
I plan to make more detailed videos on how to create these projects in the near future so subscribed to my YouTube channel if you'd like to see them. Don't forget to check back here soon for more Sale-A-Bration and Occasion catalogue projects!
