Ornate Garden Suite - The Maine Stamper

Ornate Garden Suite Part III

April 4, 2020

Ornate Style Bundle

In Part III of this series, I am continuing my review of the Ornate Garden Suite, turning my focus to the Ornate Style Bundle. This bundle is made up of the Ornate Style Stamp Set and Ornate Layers Dies.

Previously, in Part I, I covered the embellishments (Ornate Garden Specialty Designer Series Paper, Ornate Garden Ribbon Combo Pack and Gilded Gems) and Ornate Floral 3D Embossing Folder. And in Part II, I covered the Ornate Thanks Bundle (Ornate Thanks Stamp Set and Ornate Border Dies).

All of these fabulous new products are part of Stampin’ Up!’s exclusive early release from the upcoming 2020-2021 annual catalog. To add to the excitement, you can purchase these now, whether individually, as bundles, or as the entire suite.

Ornate Style Bundle item #154119 — The Ornate Style Bundle, item # 154119. When you purchase the stamps and dies together, you automatically save 10%.

Ornate Layers Dies

I adore this very ornate collection of layers, totaling 8 dies. The largest die is 5 1/2 x 4″, which almost covers the entire front of an A4 card base.

As I use these dies, six out of eight have nesting capabilities with like size counterparts. The same six have solid inner surfaces. I find this is perfect for adding focal points to, or stamping directly on.

The remaining two dies in this collection provide stencil style cut-aways. I discovered that the paper used with these dies will continue to have a solid border after the die cutting process is completed.

After working so hard to die cut the Ornate Border Dies from the Ornate Thanks Bundle, I was pleased that die cutting the Ornate Layers Dies from the Ornate Style Bundle was a breeze! With one pass thru the die cutting machine, minimal effort was required on my part to remove excess cut-away paper.

TIP: When running dies thru your die cutting machine, I recommend placing the die at an angle whenever possible. This will prevent wear and damage to both the die and your machine. You will notice less effort is needed for cutting, and less noise is emitted from the process as well.

You’re Amazing Card

For this sweet card in soft pastel colors of Soft Seafoam, Whisper White and Highland Heather, I continue my use of the Ornate Floral 3D Embossing Folder. The focal point is a group of watercolored flowers, from a stamp in the Ornate Styles Stamp Set.

Here are some of the details of the making of this card:

Water Color Process

Adding water to your paper makes it wet and soggy…obviously! It is best to use watercolor paper or Stampin’ Up!’s Shimmery White Cardstock for this application.

However, I would like to disclose that I did not follow this sound advice. I used regular Whisper White Cardstock, and I am pleased with my results. My take-away is that you can and should always experiment. Have fun!

First, I “stamped off” the flower image using Sahara Sand ink. The term “stamp off” means that you ink your stamp, stamp “off” onto a scrap paper, using up some of the ink, then immediately stamp on to your desired paper. This results in a lighter stamped image.

Second, I began to color with the Stampin’ Up! Watercolor Pencils. These high quality, smooth pencils come in Stampin’ Up! colors, perfect to match the proper tone to Stampin’ Up! ink and paper.

I did not carefully apply the pencil color, as can be seen in my photo. In fact, I quickly scribbled the pencil colors over my stamped image. The third step in my process will correct what appears to be a mess. Plus, time saver!

Third and last step, I used the Aqua Painter to blend all the watercolor pencil scribbles into a consistent washed coverage. I started with the lightest colors and worked to darkest, applying water to each image separately. I wiped transferred color from the paintbrush end as needed.

The paper will need to dry well and be flattened before use. This process doesn’t take too long, fortunately.

This image shows watercoloring partially completed. Notice the difference between the scribbles and the blended areas.

Finishing Touches

The use of Ornate Layers Dies creates the perfect frame for my watercolor masterpiece. The Highland Heather Cardstock layered behind the white ornate frame adds a pleasing backdrop.

The sentiment “you’re amazing” comes from the stamp set, Ornate Thanks. I stamped this image in Gorgeous Grape, a darker complimentary purple. I love to put those tiny scraps of paper to good use.

The two side-tabs were created from single die cuts. After adhering the Soft Sea Foam to Whisper White, I cut the assembly in half and added both pieces to my card front.

From The Bottom Of My Heart Card

Have I mentioned that I love the Ornate Floral 3D Embossing Folder yet? In this card, I embossed the entire front of the base. This required me to fold the back of the card around the edge of the closed embossing folder in order to run it thru my embossing machine.

Additionally, here are some more details regarding this card:

Stampin’ Blend Daisy

The focal point of this cheerful card is the single, zesty daisy. I quickly created it by stamping the image in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink onto Whisper White Cardstock. It fits perfectly into a Ornate Layers Die.

From there, I used Stampin’ Blends in Light Cajun Craze, Light Mango Melody and Dark Old Olive for a quick dash of color. These choices compliment the Terracotta Tile card base, Calypso Coral accent layer and Ornate Garden Specialty Designer Series Paper selection.

Finishing Touches

Lots of ornate layers, Terracotta Tile ribbon from the Ornate Garden Ribbon Combo Pack, a sentiment from the Ornate Thanks Stamp Set and Gilded Gems complete this card.

Card Corrections!

Did you notice the errors I made when stamping in, of all colors, black ink? Maybe not, since I covered them up to the best of my crafty ability. Here I disclose the mistakes made and corrective measures taken:

Problem: The daisy image on my card had a smudge of black to the left of the stem near the bottom.
Solution: Gilded Gems to the rescue! The center gem covers my inky smudge. Not just for decorative purpose only.
Problem: More black ink smudging above the word “of” along the top of my sentiment strip.
Solution: Careful placement of the lacey overlay from the Ornate Layers Die above. By lowering this piece slightly over my sentiment strip, the ink smudge is less noticeable.

Conclusion: There are no mistakes in papercrafting, just creativity in process.

Thanks For All You Do Card

This last card in my review of the Ornate Style Bundle is inspired by the daisies in the DSP I used. Therefore, the color palette Whisper White, So Saffron and Crumb Cake are obvious choices.

Following is the assembly process:

Ornate Suite Options

One of my background layers on this card is So Saffron, embossed with the Ornate Floral 3D folder. I love the look of antiquing or grunging with brown inks, and I did so on some of the embossed image with Crumb Cake Ink. While my sponge was out, I added some ink to the Ornate Layer Die piece, cut in Crumb Cake Cardstock as well.

The white daisy border die cut, form the Ornate Border Dies, was a left-over piece from another crafting session. All that was needed was a trim, top and bottom to better fit my card front.

Finishing Touches

Layered in action are three of the dies from the Ornate Layers Dies, using the above mentioned colors. Adding these three pieces to any card in any hue is a no-brainer! I chose this selection as a decorative fill element, drawing the eye across the card front as layers merge into each other.

Again, the sentiments are from the stamp set, Ornate Thanks, and I inked them up with Early Espresso onto thin Whisper White Cardstock scraps. I flagged each end by hand, using my Paper Snips. Gilded Gems over the center of each flower add a touch of golden sparkle.

Ornate Garden Suite Conclusion

The Ornate Garden Suite has a lot to offer! I love that the components work so well together, yet can stand alone. It is budget friendly, whether you bundle and save, or as you pick and choose which individual items are must have’s for your crafting experience.

I spent quite some time getting to know this suite and creating samples with these brand new products. In my three part blog series, I highlighted different items. Now, I will share the best of the best, as I see it!

Best Embellishment

The Ornate Floral 3D Embossing Folder. This item may not be considered an embellishment, but it creates embellishments and was highlighted in Part I with similar items from this suite. This folder created raised flowers in all but one of the cards I featured with this suite. I really like it!

The embossing folder is easy to use. It is smaller in size (not the 6×6) so less stress of lining it up just right in your die cutting machine. There is no orientation or straight lines to try to emboss. And the pattern is small, blending into the background without being overbearing. All sweet things!

Best Stamp Set

The Ornate Thanks Stamp Set. I am always a fan of stamp sets that have great sentiments or sayings. This one in nothing but! This huge offering of things to say has incredible value. I showcased sayings from this stamp set in each of the cards from my three part series.

This is a photopolymer stamp set, which makes it really easy to see thru to line up for precise stamping. And no stickers required for assembly, like the red rubber style. The scripty font is, perhaps, my favorite part of this set. As well, the sayings can be masked to create additional options, per Part II of my review. I only hope we see more of this great font in upcoming stamp sets…

Best Dies

The Ornate Layers Dies. I love layers. If you have been looking at any of my card creations, by now you must realize this. I love layers. If layers are like accessories, my cards are well dressed!

This die set has “layers” in its name. We were meant to be together. I appreciate the ease of die cutting with this set, no fussy-ness involved. And layering is super easy, as well as fancy and fun. In fact, if I had to pick only 1 item form this suite, it would definitely be the Ornate Layers Dies.

Be As Ornate As You Can

I hope you have enjoyed following my three part exploration of the Ornate Garden Suite. If you need any of the supplies that I used to create my Ornate Garden cards, please stop by my online store, https://www.juliemakson.stampinup.net.

I would love to know your thoughts on the products I have featured, so be sure to drop your comments below! May your continued creativity be ornate!

Ornate Garden Suite Part II

April 3, 2020

Ornate Thanks Bundle

My deep dive into the early release Ornate Garden Suite continues as Part II, with the Ornate Thanks Bundle review. My previous blog post, Ornate Garden Suite Part I, covered the various embellishments and Ornate Floral 3D Embossing Folder. Today, I am adding samples with even more stamps from the Ornate Thanks stamp set, in addition to the Ornate Border Dies.

Ornate Border Dies

The dies total 9 in this configuration. They are definitely ornate, as well as floral, so they fit the garden suite theme perfectly.

Two of the dies will cut a floral border, leaving a delicate open pattern to the right and remaining attached to the cardstock to the left. They work well on card fronts to create a peek-thru-to-the-inside effect.

Two of the dies create a lace overlay along the edge of your paper. I used them together on a single piece of cardstock with fabulous results. (See my sentiment example in the So Grateful card below.)

One of the dies cuts a floral border completely out, leaving it free standing. Another die helps to remove one of the floral borders so that it, too, is completely cut out, or free standing.

Also, there are 3 flower dies ranging from small to large in size. These die cut flowers work great in the free-standing floral border. (See my example in the Thank You card below.)

So Grateful Card

Card using products from the Ornate Thanks Bundle

My So Grateful Card is made with Blushing Bride and Whisper White cardstock. I have continued the use of the Ornate Floral 3D Embossing Folder, as can be seen here in Whisper White.

Following are some of my crafty tips:

Flower Border Die

Some of the Ornate Border Dies have tabs at each end to help you line the dies up correctly on your cardstock. If you are die cutting your card base, make sure you orient your die so that it is:

A.) cutting away to the right and leaving the left uncut.

B.) placing top of die to top of card base (in this case, the flowers are top, leaves are bottom).

I also recommend securing your dies with either a post-it note or washi tape to secure it while it travels thru your die cutting machine. There is nothing worse than the die shifting and having to start over.

The Ornate Border Dies are intricate, and require multiple cranks thru the die cutting machine. I also found the use of a shim (in the form of a thin piece of paper) useful. And between multi cranks, I rotated my sandwich base completely around (without taking the sandwich apart).

Regardless, there may be some fine picking at hand for little hangers-on. Be prepared with your die brush and/or piercing tool. And keep those extra leaves that pop out, they are perfect accent pieces!

Sentiment At Hand

For my sentiment on this card, I chose to use both edging borders, one top and one bottom. The dies are long, so my paper matches in length. Even though I don’t need all of it for this card, I can use the remainder elsewhere after trimming to size.

I chose the sentiment, So Grateful, from the Ornate Thanks stamp set. Because my card is entirely pink and white, I felt that black would be overwhelming as an ink choice. Instead, I used Early Espresso, as the rich brown melds nicely with pink but remains bold, to be well seen.

Finishing Touches

Remember those little accent leaves from the die cut above? Here they are, put to good use. After dry fitting the leaves and my sentiment, I remove the sentiment and secure the leaves with Tear and Tape Adhesive. As a final step, the sentiment covers the tape.

Thank You Card

My Thank You card features the Ornate Garden Specialty Designer Series Paper. Complementary colors Early Espresso, Old Olive and Mint Macaron were put into play. I also added So Saffron, Crushed Curry, Very Vanilla and for bright pop of fun, a Poppy Parade cardbase.

This is how it came together…

Free Standing Floral Border Die

I chose to die cut the free standing floral border die in Old Olive. Because the length is closer to 6″, and my card base is 5 1/2″, I needed to trim a bit by hand. This was easily done using my paper snips.

Difficulty Level without cat ‘helping’: 2 out of 5

Difficulty Level with cat ‘helping’: 4 out of 5

Winnie the Naughty Cat — Winnie thinks she is helpful in the craft room, but she really isn’t.

Single Flower Dies

I die cut flowers in 3 colors, Poppy Parade (which looked too Christmasy next to the Old Olive, saved for another day), Very Vanilla and Crushed Curry. The latter two made it onto my finished card, as I liked the way they layered together.

Finishing Touches

The Ornate Floral 3D Embossing Folder peeks in again in the So Saffron Cardstock. The Thank You sentiment comes from the Ornate Thanks stamp set, inked in Early Espresso. Beneath the sentiment flows Old Olive ribbon from the Ornate Garden Ribbon Combo Pack. Lastly, I added Gilded Gems to the flower centers.

So Loved Card

My third and final card today using the Ornate Thanks Bundle is elegance enhanced, showcasing Mint Macaron, Whisper White and Gold.

Here are some details in the making of this beautiful masterpiece:

Double Duty Dies

I used the rose floral border die on this card twice. The first time on the front of the card base, and the second as an additional layer to the card. With my VersaMark Ink Pad, I swiped ink on the outer die cuts of both layers and heat embossed with Gold Embossing Powder.

The front of the card peeks thru to the Whisper White Cardstoc positioned inside. The additional layer is placed over a gold foil design paper from the Ornate Garden Specialty pack.

Finishing Touches

The left-over leaves from the daisy floral border die were so fun to work with in my first card, I wanted to use them again. I die cut a piece of Whisper White just to create the leaves! Left-overs are always saved to be re-worked, so no waste there.

I used my VersaMarker to add VersaMark to the tips of the leaves for gold heat embossing. A good alternative, in lieu of the VersaMarker, would be to place some VersaMark refill liquid on a clear block, then use a blender pen to add VersaMark to the leaf tips. Keep that paintbrush handy to wipe embossing powder off unwanted areas before applying heat.

Ornate Thanks Stamp Set

The stamp sayings, “So Grateful” and “Thank You”, used in the cards featured here, are the large stamps in the set, Ornate Thanks. The stamp “Thanks” is another similar in size.

The remainder of the stamps in this 19 piece photopolymer set are smaller handwritten font (so fabulous!!), in various sayings that pair nicely with the thanks theme. All 3 of the cards shown in the Ornate Garden Suite Part I used the scripty stamps. I adore this font.

For this card, I only wanted “so loved” from the stamp “your kindness is so loved”. Masking part of the stamp before use can change up the way your sentiment reads. I added painters tape to the undesired portion of the stamp image, inked in VersaMark, removed the tape, and stamped. Heat embossing in gold finished the look nicely.

Giving Thanks

There is so much to be thankful for, and just as many reasons to send a card filled with homemade gratitude to someone you know! The Ornate Thanks Stamp Set gives you versatility with what to say, or stamp. The Ornate Border Dies put the fun in fun-ctionality, as you assemble and layer those cards or projects.

Be sure to stop by my online store to add the Ornate Thanks Bundle to your cart today. And for more creative ideas, check back soon as I continue with Part III in this series, with the Ornate Style Bundle. Don’t miss the incredible conclusion!

Ornate Garden Suite Part I

April 2, 2020

The Ornate Garden Suite Collection

Are you ready to get a jump start or sneak peek of the latest and greatest from Stampin’ Up!? The Ornate Garden Suite is an exclusive early release from the upcoming 2020-2021 Annual Catalog. You are able to order the entire suite or items a la cart from April 1-May 31, 2020.

In this three part series, I am exploring the fabulous new items from this incredible suite! In Part I, we take a look at the embellishments. We have ribbons and gems, as well as the embossing folder and designer series paper. Let me show you how I put them all together!

The Ornate Floral 3-D Embossing Folder

The Ornate Floral 3-D Embossing Folder is 4 1/2″ x 6 1/4″ in size. Because it is 3-D, I find it best used with the 3-D Embossing Folder Plate. This special ‘blue plate’ is new in the January-June 2020 Mini Catalog, and shouldn’t be missed!

The black line along the bottom of the folder will help you line up your paper in a straight manner. However, the ornate flowers are sporadically embossed. As such, you don’t need to worry about placing your paper in the perfect position for a great embossed effect.

Sponging Embossing Folders With Ink

Sponge ink on Ornate Floral -D Embossing Folder

You can change the look of your embossed work by sponging ink on the folder before you add paper and crank it thru your machine. Here I experimented with placing ink on both sides of the folder (one side at a time). In both instances, I ran it thru with Whisper White Cardstock.

The top cardstock image is from inking the back side of the embossing folder, where the folder’s image is raised. The Terracotta Tile ink settled into the flowers and leaves. But the image is de-bossed (depressed) instead of embossed (expanded upward). Interesting, but not what I was looking for. Moving on.

The bottom cardstock image is from inking the front side of the embossing folder, where the folder’s image is depressed, with the logo for Stampin’ Up!. This time, the Terracotta Tile ink darkened the flat sections of my cardstock. This left the raised image in the original paper color, white. Now we’re cooking…or crafting.

More Experimenting!

Next, I sponged the embossing folder with Mint Macaron Ink and embossed a piece of Whisper White Cardstock. After, I gently sponge-rolled the raised flowers in Terracotta Tile Ink. This resulted in a multi-color effect. Soft, muted and very lovely. Perfection.

TIP: Use a baby wipe to remove ink from your embossing folder, or rinse with water, then pat dry with a paper towel.

Embossing Card Fronts

Since this embossing folder image isn’t exclusive to direction, you can easily emboss the front of your card base. For this card, I started with a base that measured 4 1/4 x 11″, scored at 5 1/2″ (the tent fold).

It was easy to place the front of my card base in the embossing folder and run it thru my Big Shot without worrying about paper overhang or embossing folder orientation.

After running the card base thru the embossing folder, I sponge rolled the outer edges with Mint Macaron Ink. By the time I was ready to assemble my first card, it had 3 embossed layers! I really like this embossing folder…

Whisper White, Mint Macaron and Terracotta Tile meet the Ornate Floral 3-D Embossing Folder in style.

Ornate Garden Specialty Designer Series Paper

Ornate Garden Specialty DSP — Item #152488. 2 each of 6 double-sided designs in 12×12″ size.

The description for this specialty designer series paper (or DSP) reads “gold foil designs on some sheets”. I think it should read “on most sheets”. 4 out of 6 designs (or 8 out of 12) papers have fancy foiling. This does makes it hard to use the plain pattern paper over the fancy flip-side.

Coordinating Colors

Stampin’ Up! lists the coordinating colors on the back of every package of DSP. This helps us to choose colors that blend perfectly with the designer paper when creating our projects.

Coordinating Colors: Early Espresso, gold, Mint Macaron, Old Olive, Terracotta Tile, Whisper White, plus a brand new In Color: Bumblebee.

Yes, that is correct, we have insight as to what one of the new 2020-2022 In Colors will be: Bumblebee! A nice warm golden yellow. How glorious!!

Add More Color

I decided to dress up my gold foil accent sheet by coloring with some Stampin’ Blends. By doing so, you can create a very unique look. The blends make quick work of coloring, and it is very theraputic (for most).

TIP: Not a fan of coloring? Keep it to a minimum by using smaller pieces of DSP. Don’t color where you know you will be overlapping other layers on your card. This saves both ink and time.

The gold foil accents in the DSP go beautifully with more gold, whether embossed or not, via the Gold Foil Sheets, item # 132622.

Ornate Garden Ribbon Combo Pack and Gilded Gems

The Ribbons

Ornate Garden Ribbon Combo Pack item #152479

You get 2 colors in this combo pack, Old Olive and Terracotta Tile, for a total of 5 yards per spool. This ribbon is soft and flexible, perfect for making bows. The stitched edging gives it the illusion of color variation. When you add in this ribbon’s soft sheen for a gentle finishing touch, your project looks complete.

The Gems

Don’t forget to add some bling! The Gilded Gems are adhesive-backed, opaque gold in color and 90 pieces of wow. You get 30 each of 3 sizes, which Stampin’ UP! lists as 4mm, 5mm and 6mm. The rest of us go by small, medium and large. Either way, they look great on your artwork!

Not sure where to add a sentiment to your card? Use the smallest possible piece of cardstock for your saying and it will blend in more naturally, especially if coordinating colors are involved.

TIP: Dress up your cards and projects with ribbon and bling the easy way, use Stampin’ Up!’s coordinating products. They always match perfectly.

Ornate Thanks

Each of my cards featured here today used the Ornate Floral 3D Embossing Folder, the Ornate Garden Specialty DSP, and the Ornate Garden Ribbons and Gilded Gems. I also used sentiments from the stamp set, Ornate Thanks, in the Ornate Garden Suite, which has incredible font. More on that bundle in Part II of this series to follow.

The Ornate Garden Suite is certainly popular, and with good reason. There are so many gorgeous components to this suite, and they function well with one another. Be sure to stop by my online store https://www.juliemakson.stampinup.net, to order yours soon. And check back for the continuation of this series, where I will explore the stamp and die set bundles, with more samples!