Pretty in Ombre

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   #ProtipTuesday   Did you know that you can use your acrylic blocks for more than just mounting stamps? Did you know that you can also stamp with them? You can! And for today's Protip Tuesday, I'll show you how!

I used the long, thin clear block "I" for this technique, but you can use any block and any colors of ink. I used Petal Pink, Blushing Bride, and Flirty Flamingo Inks for a pink ombre effect. Protip: Work from lightest to darkest inks so that you don't muddy your ink pads. I applied the lightest color ink pad (Petal Pink) right onto the clear block. I applied the next lightest color ink pad (Blushing Bride) to the middle of the block, overlapping the first color slightly. Then, I applied the darkest color ink pad (Flirty Flamingo) to the end of the block, overlapping the middle color slightly. Here's how the block looks with the inks applied.

Next, I spritzed some water onto the block so the colors started to run into each other and I stamped the block directly onto a 3-3/4" by 5" piece of Watercolor Paper. I spritzed the Watercolor Paper with water and let the colors run into each other some more. When I liked what I saw, I set the ink with my Heat Tool...because I'm too impatient to wait for ink to dry naturally!

Once the ink was dry, I put the Watercolor Paper into my Stamparatus and stamped the large flower from the "Good Morning Magnolia" stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. I used the Stamparatus because I knew the nubbly Watercolor Paper wouldn't "take" the ink completely the first time. I was able to just ink up the spots on the stamp that hadn't given me a good image the first (and second) time until I got a nice, bold image. I stamped the sentiment from the same set in the corner of the Watercolor Panel in Tuxedo Black, too.

I adhered the Watercolor panel to a 4" by 5-1/4" Basic Black Card Stock mat and then onto a Blushing Bride Card Stock card base. And that's it! 

I'll share another Protip using the acrylic blocks next week--they're quite versatile!!

tams# 36424

Product List

Good Morning Magnolia Cling Stamp Set [149298] $36.00	Petal Pink Classic Stampin' Pad [147108] $7.50	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad [147100] $7.50	Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad [147052] $7.50
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] $6.00	Blushing Bride 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [131198] $8.75	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [121045] $8.75	Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper [149612] $9.00
Clear Block I [118488] $12.00	Stampin' Spritzer [126185] $3.00	Stamparatus [146276] $49.00	Heat Tool (Us And Canada) [129053] $30.00

Simply Sweet Birthday

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   #ManicMonday   #simplestamping   Every month, Stampin' Up challenges demonstrators to design cards for the beginning stamper. Those of us who have been stamping for a while are what we call "avid stampers" and that means we pull out all the stops and use all.the.stampin.things.  It's hard for us to step back and create a simply stamped card. It's honestly a challenge. 

Today, in honor of Manic Monday, I'm challenging myself to create a birthday card with the August parameters of just stamps, ink, and paper. I think a two-step stamp set like "Vibrant Vases" works well for this challenge. And I chose a fun color combination!

I started by stamping the scalloped shelf from the "Vibrant Vases" stamp set in Gray Granite Ink onto a 3-3/4" by 5" Whisper White Card Stock panel. Next, I lined up the vase outline stamps on the shelf on the card stock and picked them up with a long acrylic block. I inked them with Gray Granite and stamped all three at once on the shelf. I did the same think with the fill-in design stamps: I lined them up in the outlines of the vases and then picked them up with the long acrylic block. I inked these in So Saffron and stamped all three at once. I stamped the sentiment at the bottom of the panel in Gray Granite Ink, too.

Next, I added the flower stems in Gray Granite Ink. I wiped off the ink from the ends of the stems so they wouldn't stamp into the So Saffron. I then added the So Saffron filler flowers. Are these stamped perfectly? Nope. And that's fine and dandy. I like the off-set stamped images.

I adhered the stamped panel to a 4" by 5-1/4" Gray Granite Card Stock mat and then onto a So Saffron Card Stock card base.

Simple and elegant--a perfect card to make in a hurry on  Manic Monday, or any time you need a quick card.

tams# 36423

Product List

Vibrant Vases Photopolymer Stamp Set [148656] $17.00	Gray Granite Classic Stampin' Pad [147118] $7.50	So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad [147109] $7.50	So Saffron 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [105118] $8.75
Gray Granite 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146983] $8.75	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [100730] $9.75	Stampin' Pierce Mat [126199] $5.00

She Believed She Could

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   #ProtipTuesday   I've got three four five Protips for you today! I'm so excited to share them with you! I love to find stamping "hacks" and try them out. I'm all for creating great cards quickly and easily. I used the cute "This Little Piggy" stamp set for today's card--and I used one of the stamps that I've never inked. 

Before I started I had to do a little "rubber surgery." What's that? Well, it's when you decide that you want to have the sentiment and image (or two images) separated into individual stamps and you "surgically" separate them. The stamp started off like this.

But I wanted to be able to stamp the pig and sentiment to individually. You can mask the sentiment by putting some washi tape over it, inking up the stamp, pulling off the washi, and then stamping. That's PROTIP #1. I don't always get a clean image that way, so I resort to "surgery." I got out a pair of (retired) rubber scissors and cut off that sentiment, like this, which is PROTIP #2.

I could have trimmed the pieces a little better, but that's too much like work.

I stamped the pig in Memento Tuxedo Black onto Whisper White Card Stock. I colored the pig with Light and Dark Petal Pink Stampin' Blends and then cut out the image with a square Stitched Shape Die. I adhered this to a Basic Black Card Stock scalloped square that I cut with one of the Layering Squares Dies.

I embossed a 3-3/4" by 5" Petal Pink Card Stock panel with the Swirls & Curls Embossing Folder and then adhered it to a 3-7/8" by 5-1/8" Basic Black Card Stock mat. (PROTIP #3: I cut the scalloped square from the center of this piece first.)  I adhered the stamped pig image to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals, wrapped a length of Whisper White Flax Ribbon around these pieces, and then adhered everything to a Whisper White Card Stock card base, cut lengthwise.

Next, I stamped the sentiment in Tuxedo Black twice onto Whisper White scrap. I punched out the sentiment with the Classic Label Punch. I used my Paper Snips to cut this into individual phrases--it's much easier to do this by using the Classic Label Punch to get your longer lines straight--PROTIP #4! I adhered the sentiment pieces to the card with Mini Stampin' Dimensionals.

I wanted some extra bling--as usual--but I didn't have any black bling. So I colored three Basic Rhinestones with a Black Sharpie--PROTIP #5! I love these black Rhinestones!

Let's recap. PROTIP #1: Use washi tape to mask a sentiment from a stamp before inking. PROTIP #2: "Surgically" remove a sentiment from a stamp, making two separate stamps. PROTIP #3: Punch or die cut shapes from the center of your card stock mat (no one's going to know!). PROTIP #4: Use the Classic Label Punch to cut individual words or phrases from your sentiments. PROTIP #5: Color plain Basic Rhinestones with a Sharpie to change their color!

You're welcome!

tams# 36260

Product List

This Little Piggy Clear-Mount Stamp Set [143922] $20.00	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] $6.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [140272] $8.25	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [121045] $8.75
Petal Pink 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146985] $8.75	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [100730] $9.75	Petal Pink Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack [147272] $9.00	Stitched Shapes Dies [152323] $30.00
Layering Squares Dies [141708] $35.00	Swirls & Curls Embossing Folder [147923] $7.50	Classic Label Punch [141491] $18.00	Whisper White 5/8" (1.6 Cm) Flax Ribbon [148764] $7.00
Rhinestone Basic Jewels [144220] $5.00	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $4.00	Mini Stampin' Dimensionals [144108] $4.00

Talk About a Manic Monday

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   #simplestamping   #ManicMonday   Wow! I've had a hectic couple of days. Last week I missed creating projects for Thursday and Friday because I was getting my twins ready to go back to college. And by getting them ready, I mean yelling at them gently explaining to them that as they are 20 years old and nearly fully formed adults, they should be able to get themselves ready. Am I right?

Apparently, I'm not right. My son decided to do ALL his laundry from the summer in one load. The washing went OK I guess, but when he stuffed (and I mean stuffed) ALL his wet clothes (not sure they were actually clean) into the dryer, it couldn't tumble. So, um, it burned out the heating element and nothing got dry. We parents discovered this after we got home from work. And, um yeah, his twin sister hadn't done her laundry either. So we spent their 20th birthday at the local laundromat.

After we got home around 9:30 PM, they started packing. Started. We had to leave the house at 5:15 AM on Friday for the 7:20 AM flight. I had to pack my overnight case, too. (I'm a "pro" at that since I travel so much, but....) I ended up going to bed around midnight. I'm pretty sure they were both up all night.

So, we flew to Little Rock, drove to Searcy, and got them into their dorms in the afternoon (after two trips to and from the storage locker). After dinner and a couple of trips to Walmart--barely surviving the surface of the sun heat and humidity that is Arkansas in August--I got to my hotel room and had a lovely sleep until noon the next day.

The trip home was uneventful--if you call just making your flight because you stayed too long with your kids before for you left and a 3 hour delay for your connecting flight and crawling into bed at 3:30 AM uneventful. Ugh. I'm exhausted. I slept until noon today, too.

I spent a little bit of time in the stamping studio today and pulled off a Manic Monday card for you. It's one that I pretty much copied from the "Experience Creativity" new stampers' catalog. It's pretty darned cute--and you can make it in a jiffy on a Manic Monday when you're exhausted. Take a look!

I started with a 3-3/4" by 5" Whisper White Card Stock panel and stamped the sentiment from the "Celebrate with Cake" stamp set in Granny Apple Green Ink. I stamped the adorable little bird in Granny Apple Green Ink, too. I cleaned my stamp and stamped the bird again in Flirty Flamingo Ink and again--without reinking. I added a Granny Apple Green birthday hat to the birdie on the right. 

I adhered this to a 4" by 5-1/4" Granny Apple Green Card Stock mat and then adhered everything to a Thick Whisper White Card Stock Card base.

So, super quick and easy to make on a Manic Monday--or after a manic weekend getting rid of sending your kids back to college.

Come on back tomorrow for another really cute card and two--yes, two!--Protips.

Heading to unpack now (yes, I know it's 10 PM). G'night.

tams# 36233

Product List

Celebrate With Cake Photopolymer Stamp Set [149501] $16.00	Celebrate With Cake Cards Bundle [152861] $46.50	Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad [147052] $7.50	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad [147095] $7.50
Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [140272] $8.25	Granny Apple Green 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146990] $8.75	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [100730] $9.75	Stampin' Pierce Mat [126199] $5.00