Through the Garden Gate

No…Your eyes are not deceiving you! The image on this card was not made using a Stampin’ Up! stamp. However, there is a sweet story behind why a non-Stampin’ Up! card is appearing on my blog. Several weeks ago, I had given my son’s elementary band teacher, Sharon, a card for her birthday. She was instrumental in my son’s musical success, and is still one of his biggest supporters. When her husband Richard’s birthday rolled around last week, Sharon told him that she had not had time to purchase a card for him. His response was that he wanted “Ann” to create a card for him, and for his birthday present, he wanted card making lessons. So here is Richard’s birthday card, using the stamp that Sharon provided. As for Richard’s lesson, I have the honor of hosting a private lesson for him tomorrow afternoon. He is a delightful man, a retired biology professor, with a love of English gardens and bagpipes! A lover of bagpipe music myself, Richard has promised me tea and scones, and a medly of ballads on his Highland pipes!

Except for the image, the rest of the card is completely Stampin’ Up!, including the sentiment. Here is the recipe:

  • Prepare a card base from textured Very Vanilla card stock. Because of the size of my stamp, I made my base 5-1/2″ x 5-1/4 “. Score at the top, and round the top two corners using the Corner Rounder.

  • The stamp was inked in Basic Brown and stamped onto Very Vanilla card stock. I then used Blender Pens and the following inks to color the image: Garden Green, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Really Rust, Soft Suede, Mellow Moss, Rose Red, Creamy Caramel, More Mustard, Perfect Plum,White StazOn. Round the corners with the Corner Rounder, and mat onto Rose Red, once again rounding the corners.

  • Zip a piece of Very Vanilla through the Big Shot with the Stampin’ Up! Finial Press Embossing Folder. Round the corners.

  • Select the “Small Rose Red Dotted” paper from the Thoroughly Modern Designer Paper collection, and round the two top corners. Use the Eyelet Border Punch on the bottom border.

  • Ink the “Peace Within” sentiment from the Peace Within stamp set with Basic Brown and stamp onto Very Vanilla. Round opposite corners with the Corner Rounder and mat onto Rose Red. Once again, round the opposite corners.

  • Cut a strip of Rose Red textured card stock 5-1/2″ long by 1″ wide. Add a snippet of Very Vanilla 5/8″ Grosgrain Ribbon.

  • Position and adhere as illustrated in the photo. As a final touch, add three Rose Red Buttons from the Fresh Favorites II Collection. For a more finished looked, use slivers of Very Vanilla card stock as “thread”. (Tip: Mini Glue Dots will hold the buttons firmly in place.)
Richard will receive his card from his wife tomorrow. I hope that it conveys the English Garden look that I was trying to achieve. As for me…I am looking forward to tea, scones, and bagpipes!

A Stampin’ Schach Special Announcement: Do you enjoy stamping challenges? Soon you will be saying “I love to Play @ PPA!” Join the design team as we unveil a new official challenge web site at 5:00 AM CST on July 30th! At that time, a link to this new challenge site as well as the first challenge and inspiration cards will be provided right here on the Stampin’ Schach!

As always, I appreciate your comments and questions. Please feel free to leave a comment or Email Me. (And Krista, since you loved the Dragonfly card from Sunday’s post so much, it’s yours. Just email me your address!) Until next time…


Order Your Stampin’ Up! Supplies Now!
Stamp Sets: Sentiment—Peace Within (114312), Image is non-Stampin’ Up! (Stampendous circa 1994)
Inks: Garden Green (102272), Pretty in Pink (101301), Bashful Blue (105209), Sage Shadow (102532), Mellow Moss (102774), Creamy Caramel (103220), Rose Red (101778), Perfect Plum (101437), Really Rust (102549), Soft Suede (115657), More Mustard (103162), Basic Brown (104315), White StazOn (106960)
Designer Series Paper: Thoroughly Modern (115673)
Card Stock: Very Vanilla Textured (108693—Neutrals Assorted), Very Vanilla (101650), Rose Red Textured (108696—Rich Regals Assorted), Rose Red (102544)
Tools: Corner Rounder (109047), Eyelet Border Punch (113692), Big Shot (113439), Stampin’ Up! Finial Press Embossing Folder (115963)
Embellishments: Fresh Favorites II (107422), Very Vanilla 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon (109055)
Other: Blender Pens (102845), Mini Glue Dots (103683)

Snowmen Trio from Christmas Punch

This little trio of snowmen is from the ‘Tis the Season tag from the Hostess Level 2 Set, Christmas Punch. This little guy just wanted to parade around in his winter finery, despite the fact it is July! Since I am a pushover for snowmen, who was I to tell him, “No!” So I paired him up with the new Holiday Lounge Designer Paper, which is a sampler of non-traditional holiday colors, such as Taken with Teal and Sahara Sand. I happen to be a fan of teal for winter, so it is no wonder that I pulled out this particular pattern. The only regret that I have is that you cannot clearly see the Iridescent Ice embossed snowflakes that I added. But you know how difficult it is to photograph bling! At least you can see an imprint of them! What a better way to enjoy July than with a recipe for snowmen, using this week’s Splitcoast Sketch 238.

  • Prepare a standard card base from Whisper White, and score at the top. Layer with a teal selection from Holiday Lounge Designer Series Paper.

  • Cut a 5-1/4″ by 1-5/8″ strip from a contrasting pattern from Holiday Lounge and mat onto Whisper White followed by Taken with Teal.

  • Ink the “Tis the Season” image from Christmas Punch with Basic Black and stamp onto Whisper White. Repeat two more times. Cut out just the Snowmen with Paper Snips. (Tip: Paper Snips are perfect for snipping into hard to reach places, since they are sharp to the very tip!) Color the carrot noses with a Dusty Durango Stampin‘ Write Marker! Use a Blender Pen and the following inks to color the hats: Rose Red, Basic Gray, and Old Olive.

  • Punch three 1-1/4″ squares from Taken with Teal using the 1-1/4″ Square Punch. Add snippets of the following 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbons to serve as the snowmen’s scarves: Rose Red, White, and Old Olive. (Tip: These scarves are actually made from two pieces of ribbon—one piece is vertical to serve as the ends of the scarves, which is layered underneath the horizontal piece. A Mini-Glue Dot is perfect for holding the vertical piece in place. Trust me, it was too difficult to try and tie them!)

  • Adhere the snowmen to the Taken with Teal squares and pop onto Kraft squares which have been punched with the 1-3/8″ Square Punch. Stampin‘ Dimensionals are perfect for adding dimension for this task. Adhere your double matted snowmen squares to the card base as illustrated.

  • My snowmen cried out for a little bling, so two small and one large Turquoise Square Ice Brads did just the trick. (Tip: For perfect brad placement, use the template from the Mat Pack!) And, of course, a few Iridescent Ice snowflakes were added by simply inking the Mini-Snowflake image from the Holiday Blitz stamp set with VersaMark ink and heat embossing.
I never know from one day to the next what set I will ink up. I really was going to try for Halloween, but then I got sidetracked by the Splitcoast sketch, which did not fit my Halloween sets. To quote Scarlett O’Hara, “Tomorrow is another day.”
As always, I love reading your comments and emails. Please feel free to leave me a comment, or if you have questions about any card, please feel free to email me. Until next time…
Order Your Stampin’ Up! Supplies Now
Stamp Sets: Christmas Punch (Hostess Level 2—115366), Holiday Blitz (114982)
Inks: Basic Black (101179), Rose Red (101778), Basic Gray (109120), Old Olive (102277), Dusty Durango Stampin’ Write Marker (116329—In-Color Set)
Designer Series Paper: Holiday Lounge (115676)
Card Stock: Taken with Teal (101584), Kraft (102125), Whisper White (100730)
Tools: 1-1/4” Square Punch (104400), 1-3/8” Square Punch (103375), Paper Snips (103579), Heat Tool (100005), Mat Pack (105826), Blender Pens (102845)
Embellishments: Rose Red ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon (111366), Whisper White ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon (109025), Old Olive ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon (111368), Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder (101930), Square Ice Brads (109113)

Time for Thyme

The Herb Expressions stamp set and Cottage Wall Designer Series Paper go together like a hand in a glove. Since I do not have an herb garden, I did a little research about the color of thyme, and found that a viable color (among several) was a lovely lilac-purple, just perfect for pairing up with Cottage Wall. Have you got time for a little thyme?

  • Prepare a 5-1/2″ by 5-1/2″ card base from Old Olive. Layer with a selection from Cottage Wall Designer Series Paper.

  • Select a darker contrasting paper from Cottage Wall, cut a wide strip. Use the Eyelet Border Punch. Layer onto the card base. Punch a second eyelet border from the same pattern as the base layer and adhere. The end result will be two eyelet borders layered on each other, with a narrow strip of the darker paper peaking through at the top.

  • Select a third pattern from Cottage Wall and mat onto Old Olive. Adhere to the card base.

  • Ink the “Thyme” image from Herb Expressions with Basic Gray and stamp onto Very Vanilla. Color the image using Blender Pens and the following inks: Lovely Lilac and Old Olive. Mat onto Orchid Opulence, followed by Old Olive. Add a snippet of Old Olive Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, and adhere to the card base as illustrated.

  • For a little bling, add two Clear Rhinestone Brads!

I knew from the moment I laid eyes on Cottage Wall that I was going to use it again and again. Purple is my favorite color, so how could I resist it! This Designer Paper coordinates with Old Olive, Orchid Opulence, and Rich Razzleberry, and is the perfect compliment to the Herb Expressions set!

So what will next time hold? I still have a few new sets that I have not inked up, including some cute Halloween sets. How about Halloween in July? The Cast-a-Spell Designer Series Paper is spookily adorable. I also have the beautiful Medallion stamp, too, which I can hardly wait to use! That’s my problem…Too many stamps and too little time before school starts again and I head back to the classroom!

As always, I love reading your comments and emails. Please feel free to leave me a comment, or if you have questions about any card, please feel free to email me. Until next time…

Order Your Stampin’ Up! Supplies Now
Stamp Set: Herb Expressions (113224)
Ink: Basic Gray (109120), Lovely Lilac (102874), Old Olive (102277)
Designer Series Paper: Cottage Wall (115671)
Card Stock: Old Olive (100702), Very Vanilla (101650), Orchid Opulence (100969)
Tools: Eyelet Border Punch (113692), Blender Pens (102845)
Embellishments: Clear Rhinestone Brads (113114), Old Olive ½” Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (113883)