Inlaid blossoms Klassy case

Today, I have another inlaid embossing pocket card to show you - albeit a bit later than planned. I made this folder one back in July for Cara's BFFs birthday & was really happy with how it turned out. You might recognise too that the fun inlaid embossing panel made up of mostly 'Blossom Party' flowers was based on this card by the gorgeous Sarah Klass.(waving Sair)

 I really love the look that the embossing gives. Soooo effective. Apologies for the colour in the pic though. It was another late night/bad light creation & looks so much brigher IRL. In case you're wondering
- The words were inked & stamped separately using 'Curly Cute' & my trusty stamp-a-ma-jig. The 'th' is from 'birthday'.
- The '10' is made of 3 die cut numbers stuck together with 2 way glue.
- I embossed another little panel for the inside. Here the pic to prove it.

Anyway, I think that covers it. Hope I've given you some more ideas to try. I still have lots more to show, so hopefully I'll be back soon. Please leave a comment to say hi or ask me about anything you're not sure of.
Inky wishes, Di

PS: Girls in the know - I finally found my hiding SAMJ imaging sheet - phew & yay!!!
PPS: only 4 more days until our new Idea Book starts. Double yay!!
PPS: Hi Rachel (grin)

Supplies
Stamps: Curly Cute
Card: rose red, marina mist, certainly celery, pretty in pink, bashful blue card
Ink: rose red ink pad
Accessories: rhinestone brads
Tools: Big Shot, square lattice embossing folder, Blossom Party die, Timeless Type Junior Alphabet dies, itty bitty punch pack

Whimsical Memories

Life has just gotten in the way of blog posts again, but I really wanted to get in a quick post or two before the end of the month. Today's project is a boxed set of cards I created 2 years ago (yes, I'm that behind...or not!) using the beautiful Garden Whimsy set & Bella Rose DSP. It never made it to my blog as I'd submitted it for publication, then never got around to posting it when it wasn't accepted. My customers often mention it though & it's always been a favourite of mine, so I thought I'd post it as a farewell tribute, since Garden Whimsy retires this month (& I think is sold out too). Anyway, here's the whole set...

(click on the pic to view larger image)

The cards all include different Garden Whimsy images, but mostly the same sized card & DSP pieces & kiwi satin or riding hood red ribbon. Most of the sentiments are from 'On Your Birthday (which is still available).
Here's are all the individual projects, which may help you see the layers better.

For the 3 butterfly cards, I stamped a second image & cut out only the wings & secured them with glue dots near the body & dimensionals on the wing edges for a fun look.

The snail shells are cut out & raised on dimensionals too.

The tulip head & leaves are duplicated & raised too.

Finally, I made this box to hold all the cards.

Hope you enjoyed seeing this project, even though it's an oldie. I'm thinking I'll have to try making a new set using a new set using similar layouts - another thing to add to my list. Hope you have a happy weekend. Back soon I hope.

Inky wishes, Di

Supplies:

Stamps: Garden Whimsy, Think Happy Thoughts (retired), On Your Birthday

Cards/Paper: riding hood red, chocolate chip, kiwi kiss (retired), whisper white, Bella Rose DSP

Ink: riding hood red ink pad, kiwi kiss ink pads (retired)

Accessories: riding hood red taffeta ribbon (retired), kiwi kiss satin ribbon (retired), gold brads

Tools: boho blossoms punch, mat pack & piercing tool.

Torn frame birthday for JAI79

I'm back....& as surprised as you at this very unexpected blog post. One of today's must-do tasks was to make a birthday card for my wonderful father-in-law. So, while having a morning cuppa, I saw Kim's fab torn frame card for the new challenge at Just Add Ink - just add tearing/distressing. Regular visitors will know that tearing & distressing are very rarely used words here at colour me happy, but I thought it could work well for my FIL's card & finally give me a chance to try a JAI challenge too.

So, armed with this great torn frame tutorial by the very sweet Sharnee Torrents (who wonderfully demonstrated the technique at Convention), I went to work & this was the surprisingly quick result...

First I made the torn frame with some night of navy & old olive card (I would have stamped it first but I really didn't think it was going to work for me, LOL). Then I stamped the navy panel with the 'Sanded' background, 'Sense of Time' clock & cog images & 'Grunge Rock'  diamonds & no.1, Finally, I distressed the edge of the navy & ivory panels with the bone folder (very therapeutic I must say). I thought the panel needed a little something extra at the bottom, so I added some striped ribbon & attached a squashed jumbo eyelet.

Back to the frame for a mo. The birthday sentiment (Engraved Greetings) is stamped on night of navy ink on naturals ivory card, which has given it a more distressed look than normal, then spritzed with the spritzing tool & old olive marker. You can see the torn frame better here...

I'm really happy (not to mention very surprised ) with how the card turned out, as well as the fact I can get it in the mail today. Hope you like it too. Please leave a comment if you need any more info, or just to say hi.

Hope you have a happy weekend.

Inky wishes, Di

Supplies: All Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Sense of Time, Engraved Greetings, Sanded Background (all on retirement list), Grunge Rock

Card: Old olive, night of navy, naturals ivory

Ink: night of navy ink pad, old olive marker

Accessories: night of navy 1 1/4 inch striped grosgrain, jumbo eyelet

Tools: bone folder, crop-a-dile (to squash eyelet!), spritzing tool

Inlaid embossing...what took me so long?

I think the inlaid embossing technique is probably the most popular new technique of recent times & I finally got to see why at the end of June, when I made this card for the same lovely friend as yesterday's card.

I can't believe it took me so long to try it....although our renovations have a lot to answer for, lol. It's a really simple technique, but I think it gives fabulous results, thanks to the magic ingredient  - the square lattice embossing folder for the Big Shot.

A couple of details - Once I embossed the panel, I added a couple of raised smaller butterflies, punched flowers & some of my fave basic pearls to finish. The birthday tag was punched with the medium jewellery tag (I made this longer). Here's a closer pic.

In the rare chance there's someone else out there still who hasn't tried inlaid embossing, here's how you do it.

1. Cut, die cut or punch out shapes in cardstock or patterned paper.
2. Glue shapes to piece of card. You can overlap layers, but don't go overboard. At this point, you may be thinking "I don't know about this" but keep going!
3. Place decorated card into the square lattice embossing folder (or other tightly patterned folder) & run through Big Shot.
4. Take out card from folder & look amazed, as you see the seemingly magical transformation of your card into a single layer. Easy!

I was really happy with how this turned out & encouraged to do some more. I've seen some phenomenal cards using this technique & next time I'll show you one I made that was inspired by some of my favourites. Leave a comment if you have any questions, tips or just want to say hi. Until next time...
Inky wishes, Di

Supplies
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Card: Marina mist, baja breeze, soft suede, very vanilla, certainly celery card.
Ink: chocolate chip (I think....or maybe soft suede)
Accessories: marina mist 1/8 inch taffeta ribbon, basic pearls
Tools: medium jewellery tag punch, itty bitty punch pack - flower, Big Shot, little leaves die, beautiful wings embosslit

Birdie gift card folder

Hi there. Today's project is a pocket gift card holder I was asked to make to hold a birthday Stampin' Up! gift voucher for a lovely friend & customer (smiling & waving at you J).

To make it, I inked up the bird (from the Punch Potpourri hostess set) in peach parfait ink, lightly sponged around the edges with poppy parade ink & stamped on white card, then punched out with the 2 step bird punch.  I then rested him on 2 punched old olive branches, backed with a circle & scallop circle.

The base is old olive card trimmed with some dsp from the in-colour hostess pack & peach parfait scallop. Here's the inside - clean & simple, trimmed with the same dsp print design, this time in peach parfait.

As I was writing this post, I realised that many of the goodies I've used will be retiring at the end of this month - the hostess stamp set & dsp, plus the 'for you' sentiment (a favourite of mine) from the Great Friend set.

Did you know I can make Stampin' Up! gift cards for any occasion. Contact me for more info. You can also find a Christmas pocket gift card folder here, & more oldies here & here.
Next time....I'm not sure, maybe another gift card holder...or some inlaid embossing...or both. If you have any questions, just leave a comment....or leave a comment anyway. I love to hear from visitors.
Inky wishes, Di

PS:  Just a quick update on the retirement list - as of today, all jumbo eyelets & the metallic brads are sold out, so check out the list if you haven't already. You can find the retirement list here.

Supplies:
Stamps: Punch Potpourri (hostess), Great Friend
Card/paper: old olive, peach parfait, bashful blue, whisper white card, pear pizzazz & peach parfait in colour DSP
Ink: old olive
Accessories: pear pizzazz poly twill ribbon
Tools: 2 step bird punch, 2 3/8 inch scallop circle punch, Big Shot & circles #2 die (2 inch circle)

Time to Say Goodbye

It's time again for Stampin' Up! to make some room for lots of the new products coming in our new Idea Book.

You can see & download the huge list of what's not going to carry over HERE. There's everything from stamps, wheels, designer paper, ribbons, punches, Big Shot dies & lots more.

I'm still taking in some of the detail, but from first impressions, there are lots of things (sob) that have jumped out at me, that you won't want to miss. I'll be back through the month with more.

Stamps
So Swirly jumbo wheel - This is my all time favourite & most used wheel, seen most recently on my triangle box. Perfect for just about any occasion.
Simply Said - this was the first SU set I ever bought & is still a fabulous & flexible floral set.
Sanded - an essential for male projects & any time you need an aged look.

Accessories
Lots of ribbons will be retiring in certain colours. Some of the ones I'll really miss are rich razzleberry (in most varieties), old olive 3/8 inch taffeta ribbon, marina mist (satin & taffeta) & very vanilla (3/8 in taffeta).
Jumbo eyelets - another fave for male cards & mini-album binding.

So, download the list, check it out & contact me if you have any questions or would like to place an order.
Inky wishes, Di

PS: If you're on facebook & haven't noticed the link to my Stampin' Up! facebook page on the left column, then check out & 'like' the page to keep up to date with what I'm up to.