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.
Stampin' Up! has created a Covid-19 Giveback PDF with some great sentiments and images relevant to the world's current situation. You can purchase this PDF file online for $12 USD and then you can print and use the them as many times as you'd like. All the money raised from the sale of this downloadable file goes to two charities which are helping with the current pandemic: The World Health Organization’s COVID-Solidarity Response Fund and United Way Worldwide’s COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund.
Some of the Covid-19 Giveback Sentiments
I printed some of the images from the PDF and cut them out using dies, punches and my paper snips. Originally I planned on using the Double Wonder technique to make a few simple cards which I would just place the sentiments on top of . . . but I got a bit carried away and made 44 cards!
I hope you like what I've made and I apologise for the bad photography -- the sunshine wouldn't cooperate with me!
You can see close ups of these cards in my YouTube video.
In my video I also show you all the sentiments and images you will get when you purchase the Covid-19 Giveback PDF. I rarely throw anything out so I have a large stash of bits and pieces from old projects which I used to make cheerful cards to #ShareSunshinewith strangers. I am going to drop them in to mailboxes on my walk down the hill here in Tuakau.
A few of the backgrounds are from very old 'attempts' at cards using embossing folders and inks.
Some of the embellishments and embossing folders are no longer available but they worked well with the images I printed.
The 'Quaran-tini' cards are for my family in the USA!
Stampin' Up! punches are well made and heavy compared to other companies but that is only one of the many features of these fabulous products. There is so much to say about these punches that I have made three short videos to explain everything and I have included them throughout this blog post.
My Stampin' Up! Punches Stacked
All the punches have a locking mechanism which allows them to be locked in the closed position for easy transportation and storage. You simply slide the dark grey lock towards the punch hole to unlock, which allows it to open up for use. To lock the punch, just hold it closed and slide the grey plastic towards the front of the punch. This keeps it flat so you can store the punch stacked on a shelf or in a drawer.
The shapes and sizes of some punches -- the two on the far left are unlocked and the rest are locked and stacked.
The image on the top of each punch shows the actual size of the item that will be created when you use the punch. The front, angled edge of the punch has a small picture of the image as well, so you can easily find the punch when they are stacked.
When I first get a new punch I use it on some cardstock so I can test how it works. I am then left with a template which is very useful when designing my projects.
Punch templates are handy when designing a project as you can use them to choose the correct size for your sentiments.
I can place the template over my cardstock to see how the image will fit my project. I can also use the templates to determine which size label punch will fit the sentiments I want to use.
Some cards and papercraft projects with the punches I used to make them.
The templates are also very useful when using a punch that has more than one image. Place the stamps on top of the cutout sections of the template (the negative space) to arrange them so they will perfectly fit in the punch after you have stamped the cardstock.
I show you how to do this with the Hot Air Balloon punch in this video.
Stampin' Up! punches are strong and durable but sometimes they do get dull with a lot of use. You can sharpen them easily by punching some aluminium as shown in my next video.
You can use the image you have leftover after sharpening to make some interesting projects. Here I have made some flowers with the daisy and leaf punches. I just attached the metal images to some green wire and gently shaped the flowers with a bone folder and my fingers.
Some little metal flowers and leaves made from aluminium cans, wire and buttons.
I hope you've learnt some things about using punches from this post and my videos. Punches are great tools for enhancing your cards and to complement your projects!
My next Mailbag Make focuses on the lovely Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper. This paper is very beautiful with it's many subtle colours and detailed images of birds, feathers and flowers. I discovered three projects online which are perfect to showcase this paper.
My first card is made from a design by Julie Davison which allows the sentiment to take centre stage, surrounded by the beautiful floral side of the DSP with a colourful bird cut from the paper.
Bird Ballad Card using Stitched Nested Labels Dies
My next card I cased from a Dutch demonstrator named Elly Rijnvis and it is the first time I have tried a double easel card.
Front of Double Easel Card
I've made a lot of easel style cards in the past but this is the first time I've tried a double easel one. I really love the way it shows off both sides of the designer series paper!
Double Easel Card
To add a little more dimension to this Mailbag Make I have included a little birdhouse I learned how to make from a video by Silke Trapani, a demonstrator in Germany. Of course it was a perfect match for the designer series paper with a fussy cut bird and some flowers to decorate the front of the birdhouse.
Mini Birdhouse with chocolate eggs inside
Have a look at my sneak peak video of this Bird Ballad Mailbag Make for more details and to find out how to order yours.
I hope you like this Mailbag Make and I'd love to see your completed creations!
I joined a challenge with some other Stampin' Up! demonstrators to make One Sheet Wonder (OSW) cards. If you haven't heard of OSW, it is a technique to make a lot of cards from one piece of designer series paper (DSP).
You can find lots of templates online for use with 12" x 12" or 6" x 6" pieces of paper or you could make your own template by cutting up your paper in to lots of different sizes and shapes.
OSW 12" x 12" Cutting Template
Then you just need to use the paper to make as many different cards as you can from the one sheet!
OSW 12" x 12" Card Designs
I chose a sheet of Magnolia Lane DSP for my challenge and found a cutting template online along with a placement design. So I cut my paper into lots of little pieces which were meant to create 14 cards, however I used some of the pieces on the same card (combining #7 with #8 and #9 with #10) so I only ended up with 12 cards.
One Sheet Wonder Cards using Magnolia Lane Designer Series Paper
I used cardstock and inks which matched the Magnolia Lane DSP -- Early Espresso, Mossy Meadow and Petal Pink.
Card designs 1, 2 and 5
I used the Good Morning Magnolia cling stamp set and Magnolia Memory dies along with Stitched Rectangle dies on some of the cards.
Card designs 4, 6 and 11
I coloured some Whisper White Crinkle Ribbon with Stampin' Blends to match the colours I used on a few of the cards.
Card designs 3,12 and 14
I added some embellishments to bling up the cards along with a little Wink of Stella on the die cut flowers.
Card designs 9/10, 7/8 and 13
I also used several different dies and embossing folders to make these cards which I explained in my video.
I got so involved in making the cards that I forgot about following the design template which is why I ended up making 12 cards instead of 14! I hope you like my designs and decide to have a go at making One Sheet Wonder cards for yourself.
I find it interesting where I get inspiration for my projects sometimes. It is usually the normal places like YouTube and Pinterest, but this week I found inspiration in a different place. I organised my sewing room and came across a 'magic' needle case and then found an unused kit with instructions for making one.
That led me to thinking I could make something similar with cardstock. So after a day of fiddling around with paper, ink, ribbon and designer series paper I came up with several versions.
Front of gift card holders
I know there is something called a 'Never Ending' card and I have made one in the past, but this card version is smaller and a lot quicker to make. You can open it from the left or right side over and over again which is why I decided to call it an 'Endless' card.
Back of gift card holders
My first attempt at re-creating the magic card holder was using the Itty Bitty Birthdays stamp set and Birthday Bonanza Designer Series Paper.
Inside of card when opened from the left
You could also called it a 'Left & Right Hand Opening' card because you can open it from either side.
Inside of card when opened from the right
The original needle case uses ribbon to attach each side. I made one small card with ribbon however it loosened up once I put the tea bags inside the card.
So I decided making it with cardstock or designer series paper (DSP) in place of the ribbon was the best option.
The size of the cardstock you need to make this card depends on the size of the contents (e.g., gift card or tea bags).
I used images from the Tea Together stamp set for the card I made in my video. The outside was created with two pieces of Night of Navy cardstock cut to 3-1/4" x 3-1/2" (9 x 8 cm) which I embossed with roses in white.
I decorated it by stamping the teapot and teacup in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink before colouring the images with Stampin' Blends (the colours I used are listed in my video description on YouTube).
The inside was made with two pieces of 3" x 3-1/4" (7.5 x 8 cm) Whisper White cardstock. Again I used the Memento Tuxedo Black Ink to stamp the sentiments and flowers which I coloured with Stampin' Blends.
I used four strips of 1/2" x 4-1/2" (1 x 12 cm) DSP instead of ribbon to create the mechanism which allows the card to be opened from either side as shown in my video. This also allows you to see the beauty of both sides of the DSP.
It's amazing what items can trigger creativity and inspiration. I can hardly wait to discover something else in my home to recreate as a card!
When I was a Brownie Leader, about 15 years ago, I used to print the Brownie promise, song and Girl Guiding rules onto a piece of paper and then with a bit of folding and one little cut I turned it into a mini booklet for the girls. I decided to revisit this idea and create mini booklets with Stampin' Up! products.
I started with an A4 sheet of Whisper White cardstock and scored it in the middle at 10.5 cm (4-1/8") and turned the page 90° to scored it again at 7.425 cm (2-7/8"), 14.85 cm (5-7/8") and 22.275 cm (8-3/4"). I folded it down the middle both ways and then folded each narrow end in towards the middle. I cut the centre scoreline (10.5 cm line) down to the outer fold lines. I then folded the paper on the 10.5 cm middle fold and holding each end, pushed the sides in to create a little booklet.
Sample of cutting and folding using a piece of printer paper
I used a piece of printer paper as a sample to create my design placement. If you are going to stamp on each section you need to do it while the cardstock is flat, before you put the booklet together. Other embellishments can be added when the booklet is folded up.
For my first booklet I used the Beautiful You Cling-Mount Stamps, the Under My Umbrella Photopolymer Stamps and the Umbrella Builder Punch.
Pages 1 and 2 of Umbrella booklet
The designer series paper I used was only available during Sale-A-Bration and the designs matched the Umbrella Builder Punch. I fussy cut the stamped flower images after colouring them with Stampin' Blends.
Pages 3 and 4 of Umbrella booklet
I used a bit of Balmy Blue cardstock and coloured in the stamped images with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink before colouring them in with Stampin' Blends using colours from the umbrella designer series paper.
Pages 5 and 6 of Umbrella booklet
On page five I sponged a bit of Daffodil Delight ink in a circle to create a little sun peeking out of the Balmy Blue cardstock which was die cut using the Stitched So Sweetly Dies.
In my video I show you how to make a mini booklet using Painted Poppies Cling Stamps, Peaceful Moments Cling Stamps, Painted Labels Dies, and Poppy Moments Dies.
Pages 1 and 2 of Poppy booklet
I stamped the images using Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and decorated them with Poppy Parade and Old Olive colours.
Pages 3 and 4 of Poppy booklet
For the die cut flower I used Rich Razzleberry ink, stamping several times to get subtle colour changes in order to match the designer series paper peeking out of the floral die cut from the Poppy Moments Dies.
Pages 5 and 6 of Poppy booklet
I used one of the Peaceful Poppies Elements along with some die cut images from the Painted Labels Dies to decorate the final two pages. To get the black ribbon I coloured a length of Whisper White 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon with the brush end of a Basic Black Dark Stampin' Blends pen.
In my video I show you lots of tips for partial image stamping as well as how to colour embellishments with a Dark Basic Black Stampin' Blend pen.
I hope you liked my little project and make your own little booklet to share with someone special!
I decided to make several cards to leave in my neighbours' letterboxes to bring a bit of cheer to them during New Zealand's countrywide lockdown. I copied an embossing technique I saw online from a fellow demonstrator in the USA, Connie Tumm.
It's a quick and easy card to make as long as you have six different embossing folders. If you don't have that many folders, or none at all, you can create the card without embossing the coloured cardstock or maybe just emboss a few pieces.
I used cardstock from the five 2018-2020 In Colors plus Gorgeous Grape to make a my 6-colour rainbow cards. I know there are 7 colours in a rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet) but I didn't have enough room on my cards and I think it looks just as good without a second blue colour.
For the base of the cards I used Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes which are 5" x 3-1/2" (12.7 x 8.9 cm) and I cut a Basic Black cardstock mat to 4-1/2" x 3" (11.5 x 7.5 cm). I also used 4" x 2-3/4" (10 x 7 cm) coloured cardstock -- Lovely Lipstick, Grapefruit Grove, Pineapple Punch, Call Me Clover, Blueberry Bushel, and Gorgeous Grape.
After embossing each coloured cardstock with a different 3-D Embossing folder (Brick & Mortar, Tin Tile,Hammered Metal, Country Floral, Scripty, Button Button) I cut each piece into 5/8" (1.5 cm) strips which gave me enough to make 6 cards.
I decorated the front of each card with a different sentiment in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink using the Stitched So Sweetly diesexcept for two cards which I fussy cut. Some of the cards were embellished with epoxy shapes or jewels to add a bit of sparkle to them. I even stamped the back of each envelope using my Stamparatus for accurate placement.
Back of envelope stamped with 'Stamping Your Way to the Top' stamp set
Instead of signing the cards and sealing the envelopes, I made up a poem to put inside so that the recipient could share the card with someone else.
This little card was made for you
to brighten up your day.
If it made you smile then its job is done
and you should send it on its way.
Please give it to someone you know
to pass along the cheer.
Since all of us need to know
there is always someone there!
Have a look at my video for more details on how to make your own rainbow cards and for lots of tips on using embossing folders.
Brightening someone's day by giving them a handmade card is very satisfying, even if you don't see the recipient's face when they open the envelope.
