Monday, March 11, 2019

#SimpleStamping with Lasting Lily

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!  Today I'm participating in a Blog Hop with other Stampin' Up! demonstrators from around the world as part of Kylie Bertucci's Demonstrator Training Group.  I hope you are creatively inspired as you hop along with us!

One of the hardest times to find the right words of encouragement and support is when someone has lost a loved one.  My sister’s husband passed away last week, and I found it hard to find the words to express what I wanted to say to her.  Sometimes there are no words that will accomplish what we really desire, to take away or ease the pain and sorrow someone is feeling.  A friend expressed it this way to me: “I wish I could think of something encouraging to say, but everything that comes to mind pales compared to you losing a family member.  It just plain sucks.”

I’m finding that creating a card for someone not only expresses a special message in words, but it also carries a part of me along with that message.  The process is somewhat therapeutic for me as I choose just the right colors, stamp set(s) and layout design.

Creating a card does not have to be hard.  Even someone who doesn’t think they are a “crafty” can stamp a card with a special message for the receiver.   The products and tools that Stampin’ Up! offers make it so easy to coordinate colors and create a special card.

With my sister’s loss fresh in my mind, I chose to use the Lasting Lily stamp set to create a card using just Whisper White cardstock, Blackberry Bliss ink pad, and Whisper White ribbon for the March Simple Stamping challenge.  The Lasting Lily stamp set is a Sale-A-Bration that can be received free with a $100 order during the Sale-A-Bration season.  It is one of the Distinctive design stamp sets that create an impression of depth just from the ink.


I used an 8.5”x11” sheet of  Whisper White Thick cardstock cut in half for my card base, which when folded in half gave me my 4.25”x5.5” card front.  I have never been a fan of stamp sets that required multiple colors or layers of inks to create a design, but using the Stamparatus allowed me to easily line up the stamped flowers, stems and sentiment.  I stamped the lilies and sympathy sentiment in Blackberry Bliss ink and the stems in Old Olive onto a piece of 4”x5.25” standard Whisper White cardstock.  A length of Whisper White ribbon colored with Blackberry Bliss ink was then glued to my stamped image and adhered to my cardstock base to finish my card front.

I love to show how you can use the same stamp set in different ways to get different effects. Using the same stamp set, along with the coordinating Lily Framelits Dies, and the Subtle Embossing Folder, I stepped up the complexity of the card a bit here.  Instead of the Whisper White Thick cardstock, I used Blackberry Bliss as my card base.  I stamped the same images, but die cut them with the coordinating thinlits.  I ran a piece of 4"x5.25" Whisper White cardstock through the Big Shot using the Subtle Embossing Folder, then die cut that with one of the rectangles from the Stitched Rectangle Framelits.  To pick which size rectangle to use, I just laid my die cut lilies and stems on my embossed piece until I found a size that I liked.  I glued my stems to my lilies and adhered them with Dimensionals to my embossed layer, added a piece of 1/8" Whisper White colored with my Blackberry Bliss Stampin' Blend, and adhered by embossed layer to my card base.  I finished my card front by adhering my die cut sentiment with a Dimensional.


Here is a list of supplies and tools used:

Lasting Lily Stamp Set (149717) (Free w/ $100 SAB item)
Whisper White Thick Cardstock (140272)
Whisper White Cardstock (100730)
Blackberry Bliss Ink Pad (147092)
Old Olive Ink Pad (147090)
3/8" Classic Weave Ribbon Whisper White (144159)
Blackberry Bliss Cardstock (133675)
Lily Framelits Dies (150771)
Rectangle Stitched Framelits Dies (148551)
Subtle Embossing Folder (143706)
1/8" Sheer Ribbon Whisper White (144172)
Blackberry Bliss Stampin' Blends Combo (147932)


My recommended everyday tools for stamping used here include:
Stampin' Trimmer (126889)
Big Shot (143263)
Big Shot Platform (142802)
Magnetic Platform (130658)
Bone Folder (102300)
Simply Shammy (147042)
Stamparatus (146276)
Snail Adhesive (104332)
Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (144108)

Thanks for hopping with all of us and stopping by my blog today.  Don't forget to check out all of the other blogs in the hop below!

Saturday, March 9, 2019

Sympathy Card for My Sister

Today is a sad day for my sister and our extended family as we will be gathering together to say goodbye to and share memories of my sister's husband, Dale.

Last night I headed to my supplies to create a card that will convey a message of love, support and encouragement to my sister and her family.  I was inspired by a card created by Su Mohr of AromasandArt.com (you can check out her card here:  https://aromasandart.com/top-ten-winners-february-2019-blog-hop/?fbclid=IwAR3aGlyJqgnVjzmX0hZt97seVJWtdBJIHijfG3odEmDgiTo6xcd1-NWqUHU).  Here is a picture of my finished card, and you'll find a list of products I used at the end of my post.



This is a 5"x7" card, so I started with a 10"x7" piece of Whisper White Thick cardstock and folded it in half.  I trimmed a piece of the standard Whisper White cardstock to 3.75"x 5.75" and ran it through my Big Shot using the Subtle Embossing Folder to give a slight texture to the piece.

Using a piece of Vellum cardstock and Versamark ink, I stamped floral images from the Tea Together stamp set from the 2019 Occasions catalog onto the vellum and followed up by sprinkling white embossing powder over my stamped image.  After tapping off the excess powder, I heated up the image with my heat tool until I got a nice shiny white outline on my flowers.

Turning my vellum to the back side, I used Stampin' Blends color my images.  I used Flirty Flamingo, Rich Razzleberry, Blackberry Bliss and Daffodil Delight blends on the flowers, and Granny Apple Green and Old Olive on the leaves.  I tend to start with my lightest color, add darker shading, and then go back and blend a bit with my lighter color again.

Once I had my embossed images colored, I used the coordinating Tea Time Framelits (which are a Free with $100 Sale-A-Bration item) to cut them out with the Big Shot.  I also cut out a sprig/flourish from Whisper White cardstock using one of the dies from the Butterfly Beauty Thinlits.

I stamped a "With Sympathy" sentiment from the Lasting Lily stamp set (also a Free with $100 Sale-A-Bration item) in Rich Razzleberry ink onto another piece of Whisper White cardstock and punched it out with the Pretty Label Punch from the Annual Catalog and ran my punched sentiment through the Big Shot with the Subtle Embossing Folder.  I also stamped a sentiment from the Kindness & Compassion stamp set in the Annual Catalog on another piece of 3.75"x"5.75" Whisper White cardstock to adhere to the inside of my card.

To finish off my card front, I used Snail Adhesive to fasten my textured piece to the front of my card base and then adhered my flourishes with Mini Glue Dots.  I placed a Mini Dimensional in the center of each of my flowers and attached them on top of the flourish.  Finally, I adhered my sentiment with a Stamping' Dimensional in place and attached my inside sentiment to the inner part of the card.

Some things I learned through this process are:

- I should have scored my Whisper White Thick cardstock first and then folded to get a crisper fold.
- It's best to use the Embossing Buddy to avoid leaving excess powder and to check my Versamark stamped image to make sure I have a good impression before applying embossing powder.

- It's good to use a clothes pin to hold vellum while heating up my embossed image as the paper gets hot, and it's pretty easy to scorch my image if I heat it too long!
- My image shifted a bit when I die cut the rose flower image, so I just used my Paper Snips to trim the excess image.  Fortunately it didn't shift enough to cut into the image!

There's almost always a story and a person behind the cards I create, and each card I create carries a part of me with it.  I love being able to just grab some supplies and craft a card that conveys a message of love, support and encouragement.  I also love being a part of the Stamping' Up! family and encouraging others to celebrate and lift up their loved ones through card making and paper crafting.  If there is any way I can help and support you in your paper crafting journey, please don't hesitate to contact me at kimskeepsakecreations@gmail.com or by visiting my website by clicking on the link at the right of the screen.

Here's a list of the supplies and tools used specifically in creating this card:

Whisper White Thick Cardstock (140272)
Whisper White Cardstock (100730)
Vellum Cardstock (101856)
Rich Razzleberry Ink Pad (147091)
Versamark Ink Pad (102283)
Stampin' Embossing Powder White (109132)
Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Blends combo (147278)
Rich Razzleberry Stampin' Blends Combo (144602)
Blackberry Bliss Stampin' Blends Combo (147932)
Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends Combo (147274)
Old Olive Stampin' Blends Combo (144597)
Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Combo (144603)
Subtle Embossing Folder (143706)
Pretty Label Punch (143715)
Butterfly Beauty Thinlits (148536) (also available in Beauty Abounds bundle 150617)
Tea Together Stamp Set (148779)
Tea Time Framelits (149697) (Free w/ $100 SAB item)
Lasting Lily Stamp Set (149717) (Free w/ $100 SAB item)
Kindness & Compassion Stamp Set (146729)
Embossing Buddy (103083)
Heat Tool (129053)

My recommended everyday tools for stamping used here include:
Stampin' Trimmer (126889)
Big Shot (143263)
Big Shot Platform (142802)
Magnetic Platform (130658)
Big Shot Die Brush (144262)
Paper Snips (103579)
Bone Folder (102300)
Simply Shammy (147042)
Stamparatus (146276)
Snail Adhesive (104332)