GraniteStateStamper - Michelle Ide, Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, Laconia, NH

Acetate Card using Punch Pals

It's hard to believe that there are only 4 more days until Christmas.  We got 11 inches of snow on Friday and are supposed to get 12-18 more today.  So I need to go out and get all of my shopping down before it gets too bad.

Before I go I want to share another of my Christmas cards with you.  Sorry about the glare on the bottom but it was a challenge to get a good photo.

The card base is a 11" x 4-1/4" piece of acetate folded in half.

When working with acetate there are a couple of things that you have to deal with to create a card.  Firstly, you need to score your fold lines really well and then really flatten them using your bone folder.  This will ensure that the card stay closed and not flop open.  The second this you need to remember is that you'll see your adhesive on the back and the inside if you don't get creative.  To fix this I attach my layers in a different way.

When I create a card using acetate I start from the back and work to the front.  I know that this is strange but it helps to keep everything even and centered.

For the back layers I used a 5-3/8" x 4-1/8" of Basic Black card stock and a 5-1/4" x 4" piece of Bashful Blue card stock.  I then took the Basic Black layer and attached it to the very back of the card and then took the Bashful Blue layer and attached it to the inside of the back layer, centered over the Basic Black.  This effectively hides your adhesive.

Next, I took a 3-1/2" x 2-1/2" piece of Basic Black and punched the two short ends using the Spiral Punch.  I then attached it to the inside of the front layer placing it about 1/2" from the top edge and the outside edge of the card.  I used a saying from the Seasons of Cheer Rub Ons and then I stamped the snowflake images from Punch Pals onto the front of the card using White StazOn.

The layers under the White Taffeta Ribbon are two sets of 5/8" x 4-1/8" of Basic Black and 1/2" x 4-1/8" of Bashful Blue card stock with one attached to the inside front of the card and the other layered directly over the inside one onto the front of the card.

The images were stamped with Jet Black StazOn onto a 2-1/2" x 2-1/4" piece of Watercolor paper, colored using an Aquapainter and Classic Ink Refills (Going Gray, Certainly Celery, Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Yo yo Yellow and Apricot Appeal) and then attached to a 2-5/8" x 2-3/8" piece of Bashful Blue card stock.  This was centered over the Basic Black, Spiral Punched piece.

If you have any questions of would like to see addition photos to clear up my directions just let me know by either emailing me or leaving a comment to this post and I'll get some tonight or tomorrow.

Have a wonderful day and keep stamping!

~ Michelle

Hi, my name is Michelle and I'm a hoarder!

I can't help it, my SU! accessories are just too pretty to use.

This is what I did with the new Felt Flurries in the 2008 Holiday Mini Catalog.  I loved the look of them so I ordered a package of the small ones.  When they arrived and I saw just how soft and pretty they really are I knew that I could never create a card that would do them justice so I closed the package and set them next to my stamping space so I could look at them.  Can you imagine?  I'm ashamed to admit that this is not the first time I've done this and I'm sure it won't be the last (the new Designer Buttons are sitting there also).

There they sat for over 2 months!  Until the other day when I was creating the card below and was trying to figure out what I could put in the upper left corner that would really make a simple card into something special.  As I sat there staring into space my niece walked by and wanted to know what I was doing so I explained.  It took her less than a second to point to my precious Felt Flurries!  The horror must have shown on my face because she just rolled her eyes and walked away muttering something that I'm sure was totally untrue.

I sat there for a little while longer trying to rationalize to myself why I shouldn't use them but I came up with nothing.  So . . . . . . 

I didn't appreciate her little smirk later when she saw the finished card but I'm happy to say that the entire package is almost gone and I'm just praying that SU! decides to put them in the new catalog so I can get some more.

The card base is an 11” x 4-1/4” piece of Baja Breeze which I folded in half and then stamped randomly with the Snow Burst stamp set using Baja Breeze Classic Ink.

I then used my Big Shot Die Cutting Machine and the Top Note Bigz Die to cute out the Real Red card stock and Ski Slope DSP.  To create the framing I used my Paper Snips to trim off the perforated edge on the DSP and layered it onto the Real Red.

To create the tag I started with a 3” x 1” piece of Ski Slope DSP which I stamped with Not Quite Navy using the Holidays & Wishes stamp set.  I then used my 1" Circle Punch to round the ends.  I layered this onto a 3-1/2” x 1-1/4” piece of Real Red and then used my 1-1/4" Circle Punch to round the ends leaving an 1/8" border.

To finish the outside I wrapped the layers with a 4-1/2" piece of 5/8” Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon and then attached two of the snowflakes from Little Felt Flurries (held together with an Old Olive Brad) to the ribbon with a Dimensional in the center.

The inside of the card is stamped with images from Snow Burst using Baja Breeze Ink and the a 1-1/4" x 4-1/4" piece of Real Red is layered with a 1" x 4" piece of Ski Slope DSP and are adhered by the center seam.  You can see this in the photo.  

I didn't stamp a saying on the inside but you can using Not Quite Navy Ink.

Thanks for looking and keep stamping!

~ Michelle

Having a Merry & Bright Holiday Season

When I sit down to make my Christmas cards I have a difficult time creating 50+ of one design.  The likes and beliefs of my family and friends are so varied that it's hard to have one card that fits all so I end up creating 6 or 7 different designs with 5-10 cards of each.  Some  are whimsical, some religious, some silly, some elegant and some that don't focus on any one holiday, they're just winter-ish.

By changing the sentiment on the front, this card can really fit into more than one of the catagories.

The card base is a 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" piece of Chocolate Chip that is folded in half.  Then I took two 2" x 5-1/4" pieces of the Ski Slope DSP in two different designs and put them on next.   To hide the seam I used a 10" piece of 5/8" Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon and wrapped it around the card front.  The ends of the ribbon are hidden behind my image layers.

The images are stamped on a 2" x 2-1/2" piece of Watercolor paper using Timber Brown StazOn ink.  Before I watercolored the images I used the snowflake image that is part of the Merry & Bright stamp set, stamped it with VersaMark and then embossed it with Crystal Clear EP.

The images were then colored in using my aquapainter with Baja Breeze, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss and Real Red inks (Stampin' Up! Classic Inks).  When the paper was dry I layered it onto a 2-1/8" x 2-5/8" piece of Chocolate Chip and then onto a 2-3/8" x 2-7/8" piece of Very Vanilla.  I attached these layers to the card with dimensionals.

I want the inside of my cards to match the outside so I make sure to either stamp it or to use some of the DSP to decorate it.

On this card I took a 1-1/4" x 5-1/4" piece of Real Red and layered it with a 1" x 5-1/4" piece of Ski Slope DSP and the adhered them on the bottom of the inside.  Then I took a 2-3/4" x 5-1/4" piece of Very Vanilla and butted it up against the Real Red.

I know that this is an extra step and uses a little more of your DSP but it makes all the difference in your cards.  I receive as many comments about the inside of my cards as I do about the front.

Thanks for looking, have a great day and remember to keep stamping!

~ Michelle

p.s. Shelia, if you'd email me your address I'll get your cards in the mail.  Thanks!