Monday’s Are Hard, Stamping Shouldn’t Be
Monday’s are hard, but in this card making 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 Monday’s card, click here.
Beautiful Moments Stamp Set
Today’s Monday Card features the stamp set, Beautiful Moments. This is a fantastic stamp set if you enjoy coloring, with its large open images. If you are not a fan of coloring, I am going to show you a way to make colorful clothing without actually coloring.
Our fabulous Monday Card uses minimal supplies: one stamp set, Beautiful Moments, two ink pads, Early Espresso and Balmy Blue, and two colors of cardstock, Balmy Blue and Crumb Cake. Please follow along!
A Monday Card
The Card Recipe
Balmy Blue CS: 5-1/2 x 8-1/2″, score at 4-1/4″ for card base.
Balmy Blue CS: 4 x 5-1/4″, 3-1/4 x 3-1/4″, scrap @ 2-1/2 x 2-1/2″
Crumb Cake CS: 3-1/2 x 3-1/2″, 3 x 3″, 1 x 4″, 3/4 x 2-1/2″
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 bone folder 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!
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! I use this great background pattern effect with any stamp sets I own.
I suggest stamping on scrap paper, as this technique has you stamping off the edge of your cardstock. Starting at the bottom, stamp the line stamp from the Beautiful Moments Stamp Set in Balmy Blue Ink on the 4 x 5-1/4″ Balmy Blue CS.
Next, continue to fill in the wavy lines up each side of the paper and along the top. I varied the position of the stamp to get a random pattern. Also, I criss-crossed some of the lines, like choppy waves. I focused on the outer edges, knowing the middle would eventually be covered in layers.
Simple Stamping
This Easy Monday Card couldn’t get any easier! I used Early Espresso Ink to stamp the grassy plants from the Beautiful Moments Stamp Set onto the 1 x 4″ piece of Crumb Cake CS. I varied the height of each stamping, filling my paper as I went across it.
Moving on to my sentiment, I chose the stamp “collect beautiful moments” from the Beautiful Moments Stamp Set. The remaining sentiments in this set would have worked just as well.
I inked the stamp in Early Espresso and applied it to the 3/4 x 2-1/2″ Crumb Cake CS. Purposefully, I made sure to stamp the sentiment as far left as I could. This enabled me to tear off a small section on the right, leaving a jagged edge.
Beach Combers
The two young ladies with their sand buckets make an adorable pair. I stamped this image from the Beautiful Moments Stamp Set twice in Early Espresso Ink, once on the 3 x 3 Crumb Cake CS, and once on the Balmy Blue scrap.
I kept the image on the Crumb Cake CS closer to the top, to allow room for the sentiment piece. The Balmy Blue scrap has an entirely different purpose.
To make colorful dresses for my girls, I brought in my Paper Snips and cutting skills. First, I cut the pair apart, so I could tackle each dress one at a time. Next, I fussy cut each dress, leaving the dark outline visible.
Lastly, I placed the beautiful blue dresses on my beachy friends. This is a great way to add color without coloring. But, you could also add pattern paper here and play paper dolls all day long. Just remember that you need to be able to see the stamped image on the pattern paper to cut it out.
Easy Monday Card Layering
The stamping on the outside of the card is complete. Now it is assembly time. The beach combers have two additional square layers to complete their matting.
The rest of the card also goes together just as easy. First, I layered the 4 x 5=1/4″ Balmy Blue CS onto the card base. I added my beach combers layer combo toward the top, centered in the middle. I placed the sentiment under the girls feet, toward the left of the square, with the jagged edge flowing to the right. The grassy fronds were placed closer to the bottom of the card.
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.
For this card, I stamped the girl on the left into the bottom corner, making sure my stamp flowed well off the paper where needed. I also stamped a grassy frond next to her. This was done using Early Espresso Ink.
To make her fancy, I stamped the dress on a Crumb Cake scrap and fussy cut it. I adhered it with my favorite adhesive, Tombow Liquid Glue. Now, this image is the opposite of what is shown on the front of the card, yet similar in nature.
Change It Up!
This is when I usually show a card made with this same layout that incorporates some ribbon or bling, something to step it up beyond simple. Today, I am sharing a card without additional embellishment, instead changing the colors and content.
It is my hope to inspire you to use the card recipes I include in my Monday Card Series, using whatever colors and stamps you have on hand. My Christmas In July card does just that! It is made with the same recipe as the Beautiful Moments Beach Card.
This nature lover’s card is not over-the-top red and green and jolly. I kept the tones quite neutral, with Pear Pizzazz and Crumb Cake. I sponged the Crumb CS with like colored ink to deepen the tone. The trees were punched from DSP using the Pine Tree Punch (item #149521), then added to the card front with dimensionals for lift.
Here is the side by side comparison so you can see how alike these two cards really are!
What will you create with this recipe? The possibilities are endless when you are crafty…or have a great recipe to work with!
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!