Monday, September 23, 2019

Fall Leaves Thank You Card


Hello and welcome to my blog; today I am going to share with you a thank you card I made using the large leaf stamp from the Gather Together Stamp Set from the 2019 Holiday Catalog, and my Stampin' Blends.  This card take you to the essence of fall with the feel of the cool crisp air and the crinkling of leaves under your feet when you look at it.  This one image is just one of my favorites from the stamp set and I just love using it.  You will see a card later this week where I use it again in a different way.  Here's a look at my card.
You may be asking how I got all those leaves on this piece of cardstock.  Well I just did a little planning and a little simple masking.  I started out by using the matching die for this image and some post it notes and just cut out some very simple masks to use.  I cut out about five or so.  If you have the full sticky backed post it notes it would be much easier, The die no matter how you lay it on the regular post it notes doesn't cut a lot of the sticky on the edge no matter where you place it.  It cuts just enough to hold it in place but I think the full sticky backed post its would work so much better.  Just a little tip there.  I started out by stamping my leaves that I wanted to be on top first.  Each leaf was stamped in the color I was going to color them in.  Then I placed my simple mask on top of that and stamped again.  I would stamp a few and remove the masks and move to another section masking and then stamping.   I repeated this process until I had the entire 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 piece of thick whisper white cardstock covered with leaves.
Now it was time to start coloring.  I pulled out the colors I thought or knew I wanted to use for the coloring.  I used the following Combo Packs of both light and dark Stampin' Blends; Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, and Soft Suede.  I then added a few additional colors where needed.  I added a little Mango Melody and Calypso Coral Dark blends to the mix every little bit to add in a little visual interest and to add in to the blending section.  For some of the shadows on the yellow leaves I used a little Highland Heather Dark; since yellow and violet are complementary colors they create a natural that's perfect for adding a little shading to each other.  If you look at the the yellow leaf on the very top left of the image above you can see the shadow between the brown leaf and the yellow one.
To finish off the card I die cut the Thank You Die about five times from white cardstock.  Four of those were from scrap cardstock that had things stamped on them  that had been missed up.  And the top layer was just plain new Whisper White Cardstock.  I then glued all these together one on top of the other using Multipurpose Liquid Glue.  Once I had that I glued together I laid it on my card to look at it and see what I thought.  It needed something to help it pop just a little more so I cut another Thank You from Basic Black Cardstock and used it as a drop Shadow.  Meaning I off set it just a little to the left when I glued it to the other stacked die cuts.   This added just the right amount of pop to the simple card, and allowed the sentiment to stand off the page a little more.  I then attached the finished die cut sentiment to the card front and trimmed it down to 4 x 5 1/4.  When I am coloring a background or a scene I will often start out with a quarter sheet of cardstock knowing I am going to cut it down.
Once I had the sentiment glued down I added it to a Whisper White mat cut at 4 1/8 x 5 3/8 and attached it to my Crumb Cake Card base (4 1/4 x 11 scored at 5 1/2).  To finish off the card I came back in with a white gel pen and added just a few highlights here and there on the leaves to make them stand out a little bit more.  And that my friends finishes my card.  Thanks for dropping by today for a quick little look at how to color Fall leaves with your Stampin' Blends. 

If you live in the US.  I would love you to choose me as your demonstrator.  If you would like to purchase any of these products you can click on the Shop Now Button or by clicking on any of the images below.  Alternatively, you can also contact me by email to place your order.  Please be sure to use the monthly host code and I’ll send a little something out to you the following month to say Thank You!
September HOST CODE:  SQ2WWJZN
  1. Spend any amount with me this month and receive the Creative Stampers Tutorial Bundle featuring Fancy Fold or Interactive Projects.  Plus get a gift from me in October. 


Please remember that if you use the host code you can not use that order towards my KCRP’s (Kinmon Crafty Reward Points) that would be double dipping and is not allowed.  For more information on KCRP’s click here.  


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Sunday, September 22, 2019

You Make Me Smile's Fall Color Inspiration featuring Harvest Hellos

Hello and welcome to my blog; today I am going to share with you my color inspiration for my You Make me Smile card featuring the Harvest Hellos Bundle.  Color drives most of our decisions and we don't even know it.  It's very important when crafting that you can find color inspiration and this is what I based this entire bi-weekly series on.  I get asked all the time where I come up with color combinations and there's inspiration out there everywhere.  It's just a matter of being observant and stopping and noticing all the beautiful colors around you.  I crated this series to help you find inspiration for your projects by sharing some of the ways I find mine.  Since tomorrow is the first day of Fall I drew inspiration from Fall leaves and harvest pumpkins.  Here's a look at my card.

Harvest Hellos: 

The Harvest Hellos Bundle includes the Harvest Hellos Photopolymer Stamp Set and the Apple Builder Punch.  The Harvest Hellos Stamp Set is an A+!  Use the apples for teacher or student gifts.  Then, like the autumn colors shifting from red to orange, the apple becomes a pumpkin with a spooky face!  The stamp set features 15 photopolymer stamps.  When matched with the Apple Builder Punch you can create beautiful die-cut apples (or pumpkins) for your projects. {* Largest punched image: 2-1/2" (6.4 cm)}  The Harvest Hello Bundle is in the Holiday Catalog on page 49.

Tips & Tricks:  

To start off my card I picked out the supplies that I knew I wanted to use.  I already knew my colors from picking my inspiration so I started out by picking the pumpkin stamp from the Harvest Hellos stamp set.  I stamped three of the pumpkins stems and larger leaves in Memento Tuxedo Black ink because I knew that I wanted to use my Stampin' Blends to color them.  To color I picked Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede, and Old Olive all in light and dark tones.  I started out coloring the pumpkins in light Daffodil Delight and then brought in the darker and slowly built up the colors to Pumpkin Pie as my darkest colors.  I did the same thing with the pumpkin leaves.  Once the pumpkin was colored I punched them out with the Apple Builder Punch.  I also punched out the stem but sadly the punch doesn't cut out this leaf but does do the other leaf design in the set. Since I couldn't punch that leaf out I had to pull out the paper snips and fussy cut it out.  Which was super simple to do.  

Once I had the main focal images cut out either by punching or fussy cutting I put them all together using a little liquid glue.  Next I picked my card base.  I knew the colors I was using but had to decided which one to use for the card base.  I went with my favorite color Crumb Cake.  I cut my Crumb Cake Cardstock to 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 scored at 4 1/4.  I then cut down a piece of the Regals Designer Series Paper  to 3" x 5 1/2".  Out of the four patterns in the this pack of paper I picked the gingham pattern in Cajun Craze.  I layered the designer series paper on a piece of Crushed Curry cardstock cut at 3 1/2 x 5 1/2" and then layered that on a piece of Early Espresso Cardstock that was 3 3/4 x 5 1/2".  I placed all my layered cardstock and designer series paper onto my card base.  Once I had everything stuck down it was time to start arranging the pumpkins.  Before I started layering my pumpkins I stamped the little curly cues that you normally see on pumpkins in Early Espresso ink on the designer series paper.  Once I had that stamped down I added the pumpkins.  The two on the sides I just glued them onto the card.  The center one I placed on Stampin' Dimensionals and placed on the center.  I tied a little double bow on the stem of the center pumpkin.  I stamped the sentiment on a little piece of Whisper White cardstock and made a fish tail banner.  I also popped it up on dimensionals.  This finished off my card.  

Pin Me!  

The photo below shows the key color inspiration along with the Stampin’ Up! Coordinating colors for today’s project idea that you can save or pin to Pinterest.  If you are viewing this post by email, you will need to click the title of the post to access my blog and pin.   You can view my entire project recipes by visiting my Color Inspiration Pinterest board by clicking here!  Make sure that you follow my board to be notified when a new color inspiration is added.
Thanks for dropping by today I hope that you have found a little inspiration from my card today.  If you live in the US.  I would love you to choose me as your demonstrator.  If you would like to purchase any of these products you can click on the Shop Now Button or by clicking on any of the images below.  Alternatively, you can also contact me by email to place your order.  Please be sure to use the monthly host code and I’ll send a little something out to you the following month to say Thank You!  
Happy Stampin' 
Rick 



Host Code and Free Gift:

September HOST CODE:  SQ2WWJZN
  1. Spend any amount with me this month and receive the Creative Stampers Tutorial Bundle featuring Fancy Fold or Interactive Projects.  Plus get a gift from me in October. 

Please remember that if you use the host code you can not use that order towards my KCRP’s (Kinmon Crafty Reward Points) that would be double dipping and is not allowed.  For more information on KCRP’s click here. 

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Paper Snips
[103579]
$10.00

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Rick’s Saturday Simple Stamping Episode 32: A Simple Christmas Card Using the Holiday Catalogs Host Sets

Hello and welcome to my YouTube Channel and Blog: Today I am going to share with you the next Episode of Saturday Simple Stamping.  In this Episode  I am going to share with you a super quick and easy Christmas Card using the two new Host Stamp Sets from the 2019 Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog.  The stamp sets I am using are Holiday Haul and Greatest Part of Christmas.  Both of these again are host sets and must be earned with a qualifying order.  You will find a full list of the supplies I used in today's Simple Stamping Episode below.  Here's a look at my cards.


In each Episode of Saturday Simple Stamping I share with you a super easy card geared towards beginners.  These are easy recreatable cards using stamps ink and paper.  Every once in awhile I may throw in a designer series paper, punch, or other embellishment, but meanly I keep it to the basics just stamps ink and paper.  If you are a brand new crafter or stamper looking at getting into card making this is the series for you.  I have currently 32ish videos or episodes you can find here by searching simple stamping or #simplestamping in the search feature on my site.  

This week I am featuring the two Holiday Catalog Host Stamp Sets Holiday Haul and Greatest Part of Christmas.  Each of these sets can only be earned with Stampin' Rewards.  Those are points earned for purchasing products in my online store read more about Stampin' Rewards.

The Holiday Haul Stamp Set allows you to combine the images to build a scene for any occasion.  I put my images on a slight slant for this card to have a little more visual interest without having to do a log of work.  I chose to use a different color ink for each image.  I wanted them to each have equal value and visual weight on the card.  So by having each in a different color it allowed me to let the images guide the viewer.  You will also notice that you see the same colors repeated at least three times on the card.  This is a visual element that helps to tie everything together and keeps the viewers eyes moving around the card and not leave the visual plane.  Now that I have gotten all technical with you lets just talk like real people shall we.  You can pair with your favorite greeting stamp set for even more versatility I paired it today with the Greatest Thing About Christmas stamp set.  The greatest part of Christmas is spreading cheer to everyone! No matter what sentiment you want to express for the season, you'll find it with the Greatest Part of Christmas Stamp Set. Pair with any image set for unlimited possibilities.

This is the first version of the card I created for today's episode.  I used a ruler and lightly drew off the lines with a pencil so that I would have a guide to keep my images straight and aligned.  I used a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock cut at 4 1/4 x 11 for my card base and added the whisper white to the front of the card.  The Whisper white piece was cut at 4 x 5 1/4 a 1/4" smaller than the card base this allows for a nice equal border around the focal image.  I added the strip of the Wrapped in Plaid Speciality Designer Series Paper to add a little more visual interest with the fun plaid pattern in Shaded Spruce, Whisper White, and Gold foil accents.  
I did the same thing with the card above but I didn't draw off the lines to follow.  I thought that I would be able to stamp the images freehand in a straight line.  And I was wrong!  If you look at the card above again you will notice some of the images go up slightly or down slightly from the visual straight line that I have on the original version.  But, that's okay I mean it's handmade after all and not Hallmark.  One of the fun things about creating a handmade card is the fact that you made it with love and it may have impressions and that's okay.  It doesn't matter that it's not perfect.  Yes, I know there are some of you out there that thinks otherwise but the small things like it being off slightly really doesn't bother me.  For me it's more about how the person feels when they get the card I've made, not if it's perfect or not.  
I also stamped my envelope with the same images in a line going across the flap.  I almost only stamped the reindeer and the slay but decided it needed the other two images to match and to more visually appealing.  I think you should always dress your envelopes with something before you send them.  It helps to give the person receiving the card a little hint of what my be on the inside.  And with our Stampin' Up! products it helps add coordination to it as well, since all our inks, and papers all color coordinates perfectly.  That's one of the things that drew me to Stampin' Up! and becoming a demonstrator myself.  I hated searching for things at the big box stores that I thought my match only to get home to find out they were close but no cigar!  

Video Tutorial: 

Here's the Video tutorial of how I created this card step by step.  If you are viewing this post by email you may not see the video pop up.  Some servers will not show you the embedded videos.  So you will have to click the image below to go to my YouTube Channel and watch.  


Thanks for dropping by today for another episode of Saturday Simple Stamping.  If you are new to stamping or crafting and you are interested in learning more or interested in purchasing some products to help you get started I have the Beginners Experience Creativity Brochure you can download by clicking here.  This publication is smaller than our other catalogs and not so overwhelming.  It's filled with items that are perfect for someone just starting out.  
Happy Stampin' 
Rick 
If you live in the US.  I would love you to choose me as your demonstrator.  If you would like to purchase any of these products you can click on the Shop Now Button or by clicking on any of the images below.  Alternatively, you can also contact me by email to place your order.  Please be sure to use the monthly host code and I’ll send a little something out to you the following month to say Thank You!  


Host Code and Free Gift:

September HOST CODE:  SQ2WWJZN
  1. Spend any amount with me this month and receive the Creative Stampers Tutorial Bundle featuring Fancy Fold or Interactive Projects.  Plus get a gift from me in October. 

Please remember that if you use the host code you can not use that order towards my KCRP’s (Kinmon Crafty Reward Points) that would be double dipping and is not allowed.  For more information on KCRP’s click here. 
Are you on my list to get a NEW 2019 Holiday Catalog?  If you are not a demonstrator or don’t have a demonstrator that you work with in the US I would love to: 

1.       Send you a Copy of the 2019 Holiday Catalog and Idea Book
2.       Add You to My mailing list for 10 + PDF tutorials in my Monthly Newsletter each month
3.       Ordering opportunities and my customer Ordering specials
You can click the link here to sign up or you can message me or email today.  Email rick@rckinsmonstudio.net

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