July Inspiration Station Blog Hop Challenge

This month's inspiration challenge photo

My take on the inspiration photo (This is a 6 x6 box card. In the photo above it is closed up with a belly band).  To follow along and join the hop challenge, click the link below:

Inspiration Station

 

Here is the front of the card with the belly band off

Here's the inside

This card brought back all the memories of when we used to go on vacation-yes used too :( So, I went all out to smash my stash of beachy goodies I haven't used in years!  The card base is cut from a sheet of 12" x12" vanilla cardstock. It is cut to 6" x 12". It is scored vertically at 3", 3 1/4", 8 3/4" and 9".

I used a light brown ink to ink up the quarter inch sections because I wasn't going to put cardstock over these. Altenew Fresh Dye ink in Pink Sand was the perfect beachy color.

Next, from a sheet of 12"x 12" scrapbook paper I cut it in half at 6" horizontally and cut one of those pieces in half at 6" so I had two 6" squares. I then cut each square vertically in half at 3". This was to make sure the pattern of the paper stayed consistent across the face and inside of the card.

Next, in my stash of beachy goodies I had the perfect photo to use as the focal point of the card. I did a dry fit with it first, then attached it with liquid glue. I then attached the decorative scrapbook paper to the inside and outside of the card opening panels.

(Pro tip:  when attaching paper over flaps, tags, etc... apply the glue to the flap, tag, etc... and then lay your pre-cut panels and papers onto the glued area. This way, if you have any trimming of the decorative paper to do, the parts hanging over the edges won't be all gloppy from glue.)

With the big stuff done, it was time to play! 

I cut a piece of brown cardstock scrap to fill in under the photo as sand. I used a cruise ship sticker, sticking it directly to the photo. I then layered over where the photo ended with a strip sticker of waves and beachy "sand." And of course, I added palm trees and other fun beachy element stickers.

Next was to make the belly band. Pro Tip: when making a belly band, I use strips cut from 12"x12" cardstock or scrapbook paper. I lay this strip on my table surface, upside down, and center my card on it. I then hand bend the strip around the card and press the folds softly-I do not use a bone folder to burnish the fold lines on a belly band. You want a belly band to be springy enough to get over whatever goodies you are piling up on the card front, and soft folded edges will give them that bounce. 

 I used some old fun-shaped scissors to cut a wave pattern along both edges of my belly band, which was cut from a really pretty "wavy" like pattern of blues and purples. 

Then I wrapped it around my card again and glued it in the center and attached all the fun embellishments.

The final step was to decorate the front flaps of the card. I had some fun ephemera that looked like vintage postcards, so I had the idea to attach them like old steamer trunk travel stickers.  I edged them each first, then applied liquid glue to the backs of them. I attached them to the flaps on diagonals for visual interest and where they hung over the edge, I trimmed that off.

(Pro Tip: notice how I slipped a scrap piece of paper under the front flap as I attached the postcards. this way I won't get glue onto the inside main part of the card.)

I just love how this came together!  

I hope you have been inspired to hop along with the challenge and try your take on this month's inspiration photo! Remember, if you do, tag me @scrappystampthefunup I would love to see your work! See you next month!

June Inspiration Station Blog Hop Challenge

Inspiration Station Blog

This month's inspiration photo was so fun! I immediately was inspired by the jewel tones of the carnival ride and all the gilded details.  I knew this would be a perfect inspiration to use the Breezy Quest mini delight set from Altenew. This project is made on an A2 size card base, and the artwork is on a panel trimmed just a bit smaller, from 80lb Classic Crest Nenah Solar White cardstock.

I started this project by softly blending Altenew Fresh Dye inks in Tide Blue and Pool to the lower left corner of the panel, and Golden Honeycomb with Peachy Glow to the upper right corner, just to give a slight indication of sky. 

Next, I used Altenew Brushed Gold cardstock for the base and basket of the hot air balloon.  The balloon panels are from my colored cardstock stash. I used the stamp from the Breezy Quest set to emboss the design on the balloon panels using Altenew Antique Gold embossing powder. 

I attached the panel to the card base with liquid glue and added a small trim of the gold cardstock to the top and bottom. The sentiment is also embossed with the same powder using a sentiment from the set.

I hope you enjoy this project and if it inspires you, be sure to tag me on Instagram @scrappystampthefunup, I'd love to see your take on this month's inspiration photo. And follow the link at the top to join the challenge!  The supplies I used can be purchased from Altenew by clicking the link below:

Altenew Shop

See you next month!

Inspiration Station May Blog Hop Challenge!

Above is this month's Inspiration Station Challenge photo and below are my two takes on it.

 

Click here to join the hop challenge!

I was really inspired by the colors in this image. I feel like, when it comes to "Dad" cards, we tend to lean towards greys, blues or neutral colors. I liked that this image has the oranges and the greens and the yellows. I also was intrigued by the plaid on their shirts, so I auditioned some orage plaid papers which was fun because, it's not exactly a paper style I use a lot of. I also auditioned some greens and found a scrap of grass paper!

I created an A2 and a 5 x 7" top folding easel pop-up card base. I couldn't decide on the Paper Dolls I wanted to use for the cards, so that's how I ended up with two cards lol. After choosing the papers, I adhered them to the bases. For the skies on each card, I used Beautiful Bokeh cardstock from Stampin' Up! I absolutely love this pack; it's such a versatile cardstock set.

I adhered the cardstocks to the inside first, then added the sky cardstock, then cut to fit and "shredded" the scrap of grass cardstock.  I adhered that down, so the shredded parts stood up over the fold of the pop up. Then I adhered the front green cardstock over it:

The sentiment is stamped in Misty Moonlight ink using the Layers of Beauty stamp set, also from Stampin' Up! The pop-up stoppers on the inside of the card are cut from the same paper scraps used in the cards and concentric oval dies to cut the shapes. Pro tip, when creating pop-up stoppers for your pop-up cards, use two layers of double-sided adhesive foam tape. The final step was positioning and layering up the people, also using some strategically placed double sided adhesive foam tape for 3D effects:

 I used my craft knife on one set of the people to cut out the man's hand so I could place it over the child on his lap:

I absolutely loved making these projects and it was fun to showcase "Dad" cards that were in fun colors. If you were inspired by my projects and try these techniques for yourself, be sure to tag me on social media @scrappystampthefunup I would love to see how the inspiration photo inspired you! 

For the Stampin' Up! items used on these projects, head over to Stampinup.com to make a list, then email me with your order at: stampthefunup@yahoo.com

See you next month!

 

Garden Party on the Moon - Final exam workshop project for my friend Traci's journey through the Altenew Educator Program :)

Traci's Blog! (click here)

First of all, major props to Traci for coming up with some techniques and ideas I have never seen before! This was a super fun class! I had absolutely none of the supplies used for this class, so I improvised a lot. Let's start with the first card, the large metallic daisies.

I embossed a panel of brushed silver cardstock, placing it upside down in the Daisies embossing folder so that the silver was on the debossed side.

From that point, using various Fresh Dye inks in shades of dark and teal blues, I watered them down and dripped the dyed water into the debossed areas, adding more here and there to gets different shades and tones as it dried into the metallic cardstock. As the dyed water dried, I poured Crystal Clear Crisp Embossing powder into it and hit with my heat gun. Yes, you can use embossing powder with water! This process was repeated over and over until I had achieved a look I liked. 

When I was done I fussy cut the daisies out and set the piece aside. 

For the background I double embossed a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" panel of Jet Black cardstock using the Crossweaves and Organic linen embossing folder. I then used the metallic watercolors to splatter pinks, blues and golds all over the panel. I didn't splatter first because I didn't want the paint splattered areas to tear in the double embossing process. I used a fan brush held about 8" above the panel so the splatters would be super small, like stars. 

When this dried, I attached the panel to an A2 Jet Black cardstock card base. 

To finish this card, I added double sided foam tape to the back of the daisies and attached them to the card. I trimmed the overhanging petals. For the sentiment I used the Scripty Sentiments die set, cutting the base out of brushed silver cardstock and the words out of Brushed Gold cardstock. After attaching them together, I used metallic glitter Nuvo Drops to the entire sentiment.

For more details I cut leaves out of Brushed Silver cardstock using the leaves from the Fresh Flowers die set.

For the second card I started with a panel of 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" Jet Black cardstock. To create a background of "planets" I used the blobby shapes from the Sun-Kissed Blooms stencil and the Daisies stencil. These were embossed on the panel with Crystal Clear Crisp Embossing powder. I also used the Milky Way stencil in the same process to add stars into my planets.

Next, I used the Milky Way Stencil and Antique Gold embossing powder to add the stars across the panel. I attached the panel to another A2 Jet Black cardstock card base-top folding. 

Using the same watered-down ink with the Crystal Clear embossing folder, I used the same blue colors as well as some yellows to add the color to die cuts from the Fresh Flowers die set. However, on these flowers and leaves I also scrubbed some ink straight into the embossed areas of the die-cuts with the Detail Blending Brushes.

The sentiment was created the same way as in the first card and using the same metallic cardstocks, but this time on the silver background I used blue inks with the Crystal Clear embossing powder and the yellow inks over the Brushed Gold cardstock with the Crystal Clear embossing powder.

Instead of raising it up on adhesive foam tape, I cut 4 sentiment backgrounds from the Jet Black cardstock to layer up the sentiment. 

Again, major props to Traci for teaching this old crafty dog new tricks!!  If you try any of these techniques, be sure to tag me @scrappystampthefunup and @Altenewllc on Instagram, we would love to see your work! Also, head over to the Altenew Fan Group page on Facebook for all the classes and workshops and contests and challenges and crafty shenanigans we get up to!!  Have fun crafting!!

Click here to shop the Altenew Store for all the items used in these projects!