I wanted to play with patterns this week, using different media and multiple layers.
For the background, I stamped the same image twice. I piled on my layers, added a lot of bling … and voila!
Monthly Archives: June 2012
Paper trail
I’m the proud owner of several more design cards for my Making Memories Slice Elite (special thanks to my sweet husband), and I couldn’t wait to try one out.
When I saw the tandem-bike design on the “Grandma’s Attic” design card, I knew what I wanted to create.
The card below has two secrets: The clouds are not really clouds, and the white textured paper is a “recycled” item. I can’t believe I don’t have any cloud stamps or die-cuts, but I do have a set of interchangeable cupcake stamps (which I used for this card). Two of the frosting stamps in the set look like clouds. I stamped them on textured white cardstock from a small packaging box for jewelry (for more on “found” items, go here).
This 5-inch-square card is made from pearl-foil cardstock, which is something I had not seen before. It offers a subtle sheen, which I really like.
Crafts in space
When I was growing up, my dad and I would watch “Star Wars” movies every year. Our favorite was “The Empire Strikes Back.” My husband and his father watched the trilogy so much, the VHS tape broke.
For Father’s Day last year, I made my dad and my father-in-law “Star Wars”-themed cards. I broke out my stash of paper-crafting “Star Wars” products by Creative Imaginations and turned to the Internet for Shyriiwook translations (yes, really). I already had the Star Jedi font (by Boba Fonts) on my computer. You never know when a font like that will come in handy! I created the “talk bubbles” in Microsoft Word; the program has these shapes available. I had a lot of fun, and a few laughs, making these cards.
White textured cardstock, “Star Wars” foiled cardstock, chipboard R2-D2 (outlined in white pen)
On the inside: “The droid says: Happy Father’s Day!”
A little gloss
Show me a piece of coated paper, and I think, “Oooooh, shiny!” And then I begin to imagine what to stamp on it.
Coated papers are like transparencies. They have a slick surface, which can make stamping tricky, but it’s another dimension to add to your paper crafting. All you need is the proper type of ink. As I have mentioned in previous posts (here and here) about stamping on transparencies, for coated papers you’ll need StazOn or Brilliance inks, which are formulated for glossy surfaces.
I find that acrylic stamps don’t work on coated papers as well as rubber stamps because they’re squishy, which creates air pockets between the paper and the stamp. This results in gaps in the stamped image.
When stamping on a slick surface, try not to move the stamp. Stamp firmly so that the stamp does not slide around. It took two attempts to get a mostly complete stamped image for this card.
See my gallery for other cards I’ve made using coated papers.
Form and function
One trend that’s sticking around (har, har) in the crafting world is tape. Washi tape, a paper tape from Japan, is popular and comes in various patterns and colors. It can be easily repositioned and is versatile. Put it on paper, wrap it around an embellishment, use it on gift packaging … there are endless possibilities!
I have tape from Japan, but it’s not washi. It’s a shiny tape with a black-and-white pattern, and I haven’t used it since I bought it about a year and a half ago. It was time to break it out.
Out of the many, many stamps I own, none came to mind when thinking of what to use with this tape. On a recent trip to area crafts stores, I found the dress-form stamp I used for this card. Vintage-style craft products are everywhere. I saw Hero Arts stamps featuring images inspired by vintage advertising. I wonder what I could do with those …
