Month: May 2020

Country Road In Crumb Cake

Monday’s Are Hard, Stamping Shouldn’t Be

Country Road Card

Monday’s are hard, but in this cardmaking series, I will show you that stamping shouldn’t be. In fact, it’s quite easy. And with minimal supplies and minimal efforts, you can get fabulous results! To see last week’s Monday Card, click here.

Today’s Monday Card features the stamp set, Country Road. We are using 5 out of the 6 stamps in this set to make our card. This stamp set is soon retiring, so if you want to purchase it, time is of the essence. To view more retiring products, click here.

Country Road Stamp Set, item # 151356
Country Road Stamp Set, item #151356

As with all our Monday Cards, we are using minimal supplies with minimal efforts to get fabulous results. So with one stamp set, Country Road, two ink pads, Early Espresso and Poppy Parade, and two colors of cardstock, Crumb Cake and Poppy Parade, we will get to work!

A Monday Card

The Card Recipe

Crumb Cake CS: 5 1/2 x 8 1/2″, score at 4 1/4″ for card base.

Crumb Cake CS: 2 x 4″, 2 3/4 x 3 1/2″, 2 1/4 x 3″

Scrap of Crumb Cake CS: for wagon wheel and hole punch

Poppy Parade CS: 2 1/2 x 3 1/4″, 3 1/4 x 4″, scrap for star

Stamp and Assemble

This Monday’s Are Hard, Stamping Shouldn’t Be Card starts out with the typical “fold in half” and score with your bonefolder to get a great crisp card base. Let’s not break tradition.

However, my TIP to you is to score once, invert the fold and score again. Your inner crease is now as crisp as the outer one. This makes for a professional looking card base!

Crumb Cake CS and bone folder

Create Your Own Designer Series Paper

With the minimal supplies used in this card, we are not adding designer series paper to it. We are making our own! This great background pattern technique can be used with any stamp sets you own.

I suggest stamping on scrap paper, as you will be stamping off the edge of your cardstock. Starting with the Poppy Parade 3 1/4 x 4″ CS and Poppy Parade Ink, I stamped the grass image from the Country Road Stamp Set 3-4 times across. It is okay to overlap slightly for this tone on tone look.

Poppy Parade stamping

Next, I stamped with the phrase stamp, “nothing’s better than…” from the Country Road Stamp Set. Here I used the Crumb Cake CS 2 x 4″ piece and Early Espresso Ink. I did not overlap this stamp, but created a random pattern. I think it looks like newspaper clippings haphazardly assembled.

Phrase stamp from Country Road

Both pieces of the newly created background stamped cardstock are ready to be layered on the card front. There is room to keep a gap between the Crumb Cake on the bottom and the Poppy Parade on the top.

Adding background cardstock to card front

Card Focal Point

The focal point of this card is the horse weathervane from the Country Road Stamp Set. I stamped it on the Crumb Cake 2 1/4 x 3″ piece using Early Espresso Ink. This stamp is a tight fit for this paper, so I focused on centering the horse.

Horse Stamp and Early Espresso Ink

Immediately after stamping my weathervane, I folded my cardstock in a crumpling manner. Since my ink was still slightly “wet”, this smeared in a good way.

Crumbled Paper Technique

Next, I held some of the creased folds upward and used my Early Espresso Ink Pad to apply splotches of additional ink. This creates a great “weathered” weathervane. It will be uniquely different each time!

Horse Weathervane Stamp from Country Road Stamp Set

This weathervane is now ready to be layered on our card front. I used the Crumb Cake 2 1/2 x 3 1/4″ piece as the bottom layer. Next, I added the Poppy Parade 2 3/4 x 3 1/2″ piece in the middle. Lastly, I adhered the weathered weathervane as the top layer.

Weathervane Layering Cardstock

When I placed this layering piece on my cardfront, I was sure to add it to the left and keep a balance between the top and bottom stamped background images. I needed to have room to add my wagon wheel next.

Adding layers to the Country Road Card

Let’s Get Fussy

For the next portion of stamping, I used scraps, Early Espresso Ink and my Paper Snips. That’s right, time to fussy cut. In my video, I noted that a 1 3/4″ circle punch would make quick work of the wagon wheel from the Country Road Stamp Set. (That would make your Monday even easier.)

Wagon Wheel and Star Stamp from Country Road Stamp Set

After fussy cutting my wheel and star, I adhered them together. The star fits nicely in the center of the wagon wheel. For additional color and interest, I used my office hole punch and a scrap of Crumb Cake CS. The tiny circle is the perfect accompaniment to the star’s center.

Office Hole Punch Embellishment

Do It Yourself Lift Kit

My Monday Cards are uniquely simple, using minimal supplies. I did not mention Dimensionals in the ingredient list. You will not need them. You can make your own. Here’s how:

When adding an element to your card front that already has some layering on it, the top piece may need a lift (somewhere) to help it sit nicely. I simply count how many layers “up” I need to go to make my piece flush. Then I trim some like-color cardstock in the required number of layers.

  • Do it yourself dimensionals

After I adhere my home-made dimensionals to the back of my card element, I use adhesive to add it to the card front. With the extra lift where it is needed, the wagon wheel sits flush and does not wobble. No one wants a wobbly wagon wheel!

Home-made dimensionals

The Insider Job

Your card is beautiful on the outside, now lets make it pretty inside too! I like to mimic some of the outer stamping into a corner of the inside card. This way the card has continuity and there is still lots of room to add your own sentiment or written thoughts.

Here, I used the same technique from the stamping of the grass to add that inside interest. I stamped once in the bottom corner, using Poppy Parade Ink, then immediately stamped again, overlapping the first image.

Grass Stamp from Country Road Stamp Set

Step It Up

Stepped up version of Country Road Card

More is more. If you like to add more, there is always the option to do so. For my stepped up version of the Country Road Stamp Set Card, I chose to add a copper element from Designer Elements to my wagon wheel center. These elements come in gold and silver, additionally.

The Kraft Rope Trim melds seamlessly with our horse and Country Road theme, but sadly is not a current Stampin’ Up! Product. When you add elements to your cards, make them unique with whatever product you happen to have on hand.

Country Road Enjoyment

I hope you enjoyed making this easy card on a hard Monday with me. My video tutorial can be found on my FaceBook page, as well as my YouTube channel. If you need any supplies for this card, please feel free to visit my online store, https://www.juliemakson.stampinup.net, at any time. See you next Monday for another installment of:

Monday’s Are Hard, Stamping Shouldn’t Be!

Sharing Sunshine Digital Stamp Set Part III

Creating With Digital Stamps

My Share Sunshine Digital Stamp Set review is coming to its conclusion. We have covered purchasing the stamp set and donating to the COVID-19 charities in Part I. In Part II, I gave suggestions on printing and storing the digital stamps. And, each post has offered examples of cards I made using the Share Sunshine Digital Stamps, and insights of creation.

Today, I continue my tips on using the Share Sunshine Digital Stamps. I will also add some pros and cons of these kinds of stamps.

My Number One Tip

I have been learning how to best use digital stamps. And, I have discovered that crazily chopping up all the images is not the greatest idea.

In the included index for the Share Sunshine Digital Stamp Set, there are recommendations as to which punches and dies will coordinate with the stamps. If you want to use some of them, you need enough paper surrounding your image to do so. Pre-chopping images may hinder the use of a die or punch.

Therefore, I highly suggest you carefully choose and then cut to suit your intended purpose. (Or, just print out more images. There is always that option, too!)

Digital Stamps, paper trimmer and punch

Other Great Tips:

  • Use your cutting tool to get straight lines. In order for you to to use dies and punches, you will be required to cut your paper.
  • You can also select an image from the file, then copy and paste to print single items. This will give you plenty of room to work with too.

Pros of Digital Stamps

You can print these stamps ahead, store them and use them quickly and easily. There are no limits to the amount of times you can print from your purchased file.

There are no stamping errors here. Gone are smears, shady outlines and crooked images.

I love that these stamps won’t fall off their blocks, or get lost in my crafting piles of creativity. No need to clean them up after using them.

Less inky fingers. I only say less because you may still be inking other stamps to go with these digital images. Still, less inky fingers.

Cons Of Digital Stamps

You aren’t actually stamping. We love to stamp, don’t we?

While the images come in options of black or color, the colors are pre-determined. You don’t get to chose a specific color.

You will need electric, a computer, the internet, a printer and most importantly, printer ink. Makes grabbing a physical stamp and ink pad sound easy, right?

The images are great, but…there are techniques that don’t work. For example, you can’t mask them to use partial images like you could with physical stamps. These won’t work for second generation or shadow images. You can’t heat emboss these images. I bet you can think of even more limitations if you put your mind to it!

Is There A Stamp For That?

There are so many occasions and thoughts, words and phrases that we, as cardmakers, want to express artistically. Digital stamps, like those found in the Share Sunshine Digital Stamp Set, give us the opportunity to voice our feelings.

A digital stamp set is much less expensive than the typical red rubber or photopolymer, manufacturing costs are nil. And a digital stamp set has the ability to pack so much more imagery into the included offering. Space is not limited to a stamp case or two.

Digital stamps may be perfect for beginner crafters with limited supplies. After printing the stamps, they can be simply cut and added to cardstock. Maybe a little designer series paper and some ribbon complete the look, and you have yourself a card! Now, it’s time to share sunshine, by giving that card away…

Have Another Quaran-tini!

Quarantini card made with Share Sunshine Digital Stamp Set

All the images on this happy hour card are part of the Share Sunshine Digital Stamp Set. The “martini” is a perfect example of an image that is not exclusive to social distancing. Long term value, there.

Old Olive was the perfect choice for my cardstock base, and Terracotta Tile embossed with the Eyelet Lace Embossing Folder helped mimic the martini olives. I added Crushed Curry to spice things up, and Old Olive Stitched Edge Ribbon as my embellishment.

A quick coloring job with my Stampin’ Blends make this beverage good enough to get a chuckle out of, without actually imbibing.

There’s No Place Like Home (For Now)

No Place Like Home card made with Share Sunshine Digital Stamp Set

The Gray Granite color in the sentiment was replicated in my card base and Neutrals 6×6″ DSP. I wanted “home” to be represented in colors we associate with love: pink and red. Therefore, Blushing Bride and Poppy Parade moved into my neighborhood.

I created the houses using the retired stamp set, Holiday Home, and the retired dies, Homemade Holiday Framelits. When I culled my stamp stash for housing choices, they were indeed vast. In The City, Pop On By, Cozy Cottage and At Home With You were almost used.

As is my tendency, I like to use small strips of leftover cardstock as embellishment. I also punched 2 small hearts using a retired mini punch, to show additional love here.

Things I Miss:

Things I Miss card made with Digital Stamps

News flash! There is a list of things I miss. It is actually a lot longer than this list, however we only have 5 1/2″ of vertical space to work with on our card front.

I chose the black image from the Share Sunshine Digital Stamp Set, and kept this one on the dark side (much like the humor here) by using a black card base. I am a huge fan of newsprint type DSP, and I picked a piece from the Call Sail Away Collection.

This card is kept simple on purpose. The focus remains on the list of missed things. I want my recipient to know “YOU” are missed.

What A Year This Week Has Been

What A Year This Week Has Been card made with the Share Sunshine Digital Stamp Set

And how! We can all relate to this sentiment. I will use this one for any difficult times. I wanted to keep this card extra fun, so I used bright pops of color, Pretty Peacock as my base, and adding in Granny Apple Green and Gorgeous Grape.

The DSP is from the Brights 6×6″ Collection. My fair lady is from the retired stamp set, Just Kidding. She has wonderful opinions to share at any time. I did some great coloring of this image using my Stampin’ Blends.

I stamped the calendar images from the retired set, Project Life, Day To Day. This stamp set also has images of January-December, and Sunday-Saturday. If I could have incorporated more on my card, I would have. (I do have self-control issues from time to time in that regard.)

Share Sunshine!

Regardless if you purchase the Share Sunshine Digital Stamp Set or not, the important thing is to share sunshine. As cardmakers, this is easy to do. Make a card, mail it, and cheer someone up.

Digital Stamps may be a thing of the future. We could see more and more of them being offered by Stampin’ Up!. Taking the time to learn a little about them now will make it easier for you to decide if they are something you want in your craft arsenal.

As always, my online store, https://juliemakson.stampinup.net, is open for business. Get the supplies you need to create the sunshine you will be sharing. Someone will be very glad that you took the time to show them you care!