Slimline Card

Share A Milkshake Specialty Cards

January 13, 2023

Bonus cards from the Share A Milkshake Card Class

Share A Milkshake Card Class Bonus Cards

All week I have been sharing cards from my weekly Card Class From ME, featuring the Share A Milkshake Bundle. You can view the card assembly process here.

I also like to create a few “bonus” card ideas that are not part of the class kits in the mail. These additional clever cards are meant to inspire you further with the bundle of the week.

Life Is Sweeter With Wafer Cones

My Life Is Sweeter With You Wafer Cone card is one that I CASED from the January-April 2023 Mini Catalog. It features an old fashioned wafer cone, made with Pale Papaya Cardstock. I added a little like color ink along the edges to give my cone some depth. And did you notice the gold embossed sentiment on my Vellum layer? Just divine.

Slimline Ice Cream Mountain Card

And if you are looking for an over-the-top kind of card, go slimline! This funky style allows you to add ice cream a mile high…or at least it feels that way. I made sure to tip some of my scoops to the side, like a large pile of teetering ice cream should look.

I covered the “slot” on each scoop (meant to hold a spoon or straw) by die cutting additional like color cardstock and adhering them to the large scoops. This time I heat embossed my sentiment in White Embossing Powder, and placed my words carefully on the fountain glass.

Life Is Sweeter With Lots Of Color Choices

My Color Swap Card in greens was a change from a card done in blues. It was featured fully on a post from yesterday. You can view that article here.

Share A Milkshake Card Class Alternate Cards

Alternate cards from the Share A Milkshake Card Class

Not Share A Milkshake Bundle Cards

While my card kits are heavy on ice cream this week, I realize not everyone wants this frosty treat on their cards. But did you know you don’t have to use my featured bundle, Share A Milkshake, to create beautiful cards?

When you get my weekly Card Class From ME, I provide the card kits and you choose what you want to stamp with from your supplies at home. Most of the elements of each kit are already punched, embossed or die cut (minus the items from the featured bundle) and you will get cardstock to work with as well. This is your opportunity to change it up!

Here is a look at some “alternate” ideas of what you could create with this week’s class kits:

Happy Birthday Card with Stack Shuffle Repeat

For my first card, I used the same Stack Shuffle Repeat process with the designer series paper. Want to see more on the original card? Click here. The elements of my alternate card are the same as my waffle cone card, I just used less of the paper provided.

I flipped the placement of the Vellum scallop die cut and Petal Pink circle die cut, stamping on the later. I chose the stamp set, Lovely & Lasting for all the imagery on my alternate card. This stamp set is bundled with the Lasting Label Punch, featured on both cards in Very Vanilla Cardstock.

Pretty In Purple

Once again I kept the card kit intact and only used papers included in it for my alternate purple themed card. Instead of a soda fountain drink, complete with straws, I swapped in a simple daisy.

I used the Medium Daisy Punch for 2 white punched pieces. And I just had to add a little Fresh Freesia Ink with a sponge dauber to the tips of the petals.

The specialty papers on this card add a bit of flair without being too blingy. If you would like more information on the original soda fountain card, click here.

So Blue Without You

There are 2 things that are sweet: thinking of you and ice cream. Why not have both? When you get my weekly Card Class From ME, you receive 2 card kits for each of 3 original designs. It is easy to create duplicates that are exact, but even more fun to switch things up!

I kept my alternate card quite simple for this change-up. You may notice that I chose to stamp on the white Basic Border die cut piece. I also turned the direction of the die cut design. Once again, all my stamping on this alternate card came from the Lovely & Lasting Stamp Set.

Last Call For Your Share A Milkshake Card Class Kits

All good things come to an end, like ice cream and card class kits. Hurry to place your qualifying order to receive the Share A Milkshake Card Class kits before it is too late. Get more information on how to do so here.

I hope you have had a good fill of ice cream with me this week! Come back to see my next featured bundle and another amazing card class. I would love to have your stamping company.

Bright Baubles In Pale Papaya

November 24, 2021

In Color: Pale Papaya Part II

I was hoping that the Bright Baubles Stamp Set would come to the rescue. I struggled with great difficulty to create a card with this color combo: Pale Papaya, Merry Merlot, and So Saffron. On the color swatch book, these colors seem to blend quite nicely.

But, as I pulled out the papers and began to design, I just didn’t feel these colors clicking. Merry Merlot is a deep red-wine color, lending itself to Christmas. I wanted Pale Papaya and So Saffron to be gleaming, glowing bright baubles. In the end, I may have come up with the “ugly sweater” of Christmas cards! Let’s see how I got there…

While I was creating an unusual color-combo Christmas card, I decided to also start with an unusual size card base, the slimline card. To see another slimline card in an unusual Christmas In Color, click here.

To begin, I cut my Basic White Thick Cardstock Base to measure 7 x 8-1/2″ with my Paper Trimmer. If your trimmer doesn’t have an extended arm for measurements, just cut 4″ off the 11″ length of an 8-1/2 x 11″ sheet of cardstock.

Cutting a slimline card base with the Paper Trimmer

After your cardbase is cut to slimline size, score the 7″ width in half, at 3-1/2″. The Paper Trimmer has both a cutting blade (the darker gray color) and a scoring blade (the lighter gray color). Be sure not to confuse the two!

Scoring the slimline card base with the Paper Trimmer

Bright Baubles Stamp Set

The Bright Baubles Stamp Set is an over the top larger than life Christmas ornament set, with 2 different shaped baubles. With a slimline card in mind, I wanted to use both images of the bright baubles. Because I intended to color my baubles in with Stampin’ Blends, I needed a dark Memento Black Ink outline.

Stamparatus to the rescue! Did you know that this amazing tool comes with a foam mat that is needed for photopolymer stamp sets, but removable for cling (red rubber) stamp sets? This is based on the thickness or height of the stamps themselves.

Bright Baubles Stamps on the Stamparatus

After 3-4 ink-ups and stamps using Memento Black Ink, I was able to get the dark outlines I wanted. I love using the Stamparatus when I know I will need to re-stamp an image. This tool makes it effortless to repeat stamp and not worry about lining up my stamp each time, exactly.

Bright Bauble stamped images using the Stamparatus — *** Use extreme caution keeping the 2 included magnets far away from each other. They may shatter if the strong magnetic pull attracts them together. Replacement magnets are sold separately.

Colorful Bright Baubles

Coloring the round bright bauble image with Stampin' Blends

These Bright Baubles are big images, which makes them fun to color. I say this as someone who doesn’t necessarily enjoy coloring. In keeping with my color theme of Pale Papaya, So Saffron and Merry Merlot, I pulled my Stampin’ Blends and got to work. To temper my color palette, I also added a touch of Pool Party and Soft Seafoam.

Coloring the fancy bright bauble image with Stampin' Blends

After I finished coloring in my bright bauble images with my Stampin’ Blends, I used the coordinating die set, Delicate Baubles Dies and my Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine to die cut them. Notice that the white surrounding edge of my die cut bauble is larger on one side? My die shifted during the cutting process, so I simply trimmed it a bit with my Paper Snips.

Die cutting the bright bauble images with the Delicate Baubles Dies

Merry & Bright

In order to make my card more merry & bright, I relied on the sentiment stamp from the Bright Baubles Stamp Set. I love to create background paper by stamping a fully inked word image, followed by a stamped off image. And then I continued the process with Merry Merlot Ink… repeatedly!

Creating a background paper with a sentiment stamp from the Bright Baubles Stamp Set

After filling my paper with merry & bright wishes, I added some soft color with my Blending Brushes. I started with So Saffron Ink at the top. As I moved to the bottom, I switched brushes and color, to Pale Papaya Ink.

Colorful Cardstock

With my Basic White Thick Cardstock base, I don’t have to worry about adding an insert to the inside of my card. This also gives me more freedom to add layers to the card front without the worry of additional bulk. I began with a layer of Merry Merlot Cardstock, then added my Merry & Bright stamped and shaded paper over that.

Remember the dies I used to cut my bauble images? I die cut two more in Merry Merlot Cardstock to place behind each bauble. By placing them slightly offset, this creates a shadow for my baubles. I also added a piece of So Saffron Cardstock and Pale Papaya Cardstock behind each bauble as I assembled my card.

Beautiful Bright Baubles

Just like Christmas ornaments, ribbon and embellishments make them incredibly beautiful. I added a bow to the top of each bright bauble, using Pale Papaya Open Weave Ribbon and some Mini Glue Dots to adhere.

Adding ribbon bows to the bright bauble stamped images

There are certainly lots of embellishments to chose from! After careful consideration, I chose the Artistry Blooms Adhesive Backed Sequins. These sequins come in a variety of colors, and the shiny faceted gleam of Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana and Rich Razzleberry blended perfectly. I used my Take Your Pick Tool for easy application.

Adding Atristry Blooms Adhesive Backed Sequins uisng the Take Your Pick Tool.

Ugly Christmas Card?

This card sat on my desk for almost a week, while I pondered its fate. I just wasn’t confident that I had used the color combo to the best of my ability. I worried that I had created…an “ugly sweater” Christmas card! Then, I decided that even if it wasn’t the most glamorous of cards, maybe someone would love it. Or at least laugh with me, as I determine that if there is a place for ugly Christmas sweaters, why not ugly Christmas cards?

During my 2021-2023 In Color tour, I have created many cards. To see another unusual Christmas card color combo, click here. And if I have inspired you to try your hand at a Bright Bauble Christmas card (ugly or pretty), be sure to pick up the Bright Baubles Bundle so that you save 10% automatically. My online store has everything you will need!

My In Color tour will come to a close with just one more card, so stop back in soon to see how this chapter ends…

Words of Cheer In Fresh Freesia

August 3, 2021

In Color: Fresh Freesia, Part III

Do you love Words of Cheer? I know I do. And when you combine them with a beautiful color like Fresh Freesia, you can’t go wrong.

Fresh Freesia is one of the new 2021-2023 In Colors. And a lovelier soft purple could not have come along! During July, my In Color Club explored Fresh Freesia. For this card, we are pairing it with Soft SeaFoam and Gray Granite.

Words of Cheer in a Slimline Card

For this cheery card, I mimicked the Words of Cheer Stamp Set sample on page 20 of the August-December 2021 Mini Catalog by Stampin’ Up!. If you see the catalog image, you will note that their card is done in blue. My focus was to use purple…more notably, Fresh Freesia.

The standard recipe for a slimline card is 7 x 8 1/2″, with the 7″ side scored in half at 3 1/2″. The great thing about a slimline card is that it fits into a standard size business envelope.

Christmas Cheer Dies

The coordinating Christmas Cheer Dies give us our cheer. I die cut the cheer background using Fresh Freesia Cardstock. Next, I stamped the large floral image from the Words of Cheer Stamp Set in Fresh Freesia Ink over the die cut, to add lined interest.

Before I die cut the individual cheer letters, I sponged Gray Granite Ink over my Gray Granite Cardstock using a Blending Brush. By doing this before I die cut them, I didn’t have to worry about getting each letter inked up individually to deepen its color. I love that the die is one large image, but cuts out each letter separately. I used Multipurpose Liquid Glue to attach the cheer letters to the cheer background die cut. My Silicone Craft Sheet is perfect for this type of sticky situation!

Another die that was fun to use from the Christmas Cheer Dies was the holly sprigs! Just a small scrap of Soft Seafoam Cardstock yielded me 3 individual sprigs with one pass thru the machine. Each sprig has two connecting leaves, which I chose to keep together. But, I could have easily used them individually by snipping them apart.

Specialty Papers

Did you notice the white flowers that were die-cut above? One die creates 3 large flowers and the other makes 3 small flowers. They all come out of the die cutting machine individually and can be layered, small over large. I used the Snowy White Velvet Sheets for my flowers, and Multipurpose Liquid Glue to attach the small flower to the large. The texture is velvety soft!

Another specialty paper that went into the making of my Words of Cheer card is the 2021-2023 In Color Shimmer Vellum. Of course, I used the Fresh Freesia color. The shimmer is soft, without the harsh glare of glitter, and it made the perfect backdrop for my words of cheer.

I used some Tear & Tape Adhesive on the backside of the shimmer vellum, with a piece approximately the size of my cheer diecut. It is easy to tell the front of the shimmer vellum from the back, only one side is shimmery. My die cut word of cheer will help to hide the “see-thru tape” once my card is assembled.

Words of Cheer Background Stamping

From the remaining Fresh Freesia Cardstock leftover from creating my slimline card base, I cut an additional front layer. This measures 3 1/4 x 8 1/4″. You will only have 2 small strips of paper leftover from your 8 1/2 x 11″ sheet of cardstock if you try this method.

Just like the sample card I am copying, there is some background stamping to do. I used the sentiment stamp ‘Sending you Christmas Cheer’ and Fresh Freesia Ink. Starting at the top of the cut layer, I began to stamp a lazy “S” design, winding the words down my cardstock from top to bottom.

When I was done with my sentiment stamping, I added Fresh Freesia Ink to the sides of my front layer using a Blending Brush. I try to start off my cardstock and move in circular motions onto the outer edges. This method deepens the color of the cardstock and helps it stand out as a tone on tone color on my card.

More Than One Way to Silver It Up

The card sample in the catalog appears to use Brushed Metallic Adhesive Backed Dots on each of the holly berries. In fact, a whopping 24 in total! That is a lot of bling, and I like to be a bit more frugal. So I came up with my own work-around.

With a little VersaMark Ink and some Silver Embossing Powder, I created my own silver toned berries. I have a VersaMark Marker, but an ink pad and Blender Pen would work just the same. I split the embossing work into two sections, to make it easier to heat emboss accurate berries with my Heat Tool.

Words of Cheer Card Assembly

First, I adhered my sentiment background stamped layer to the front of my card base. Next, I added the shimmer vellum. Following this, I put some Multipurpose Liquid Glue on the back of my cheer die cut, and placed this on the vellum.

The next step is to add the Soft Seafoam holly sprigs. I started by placing a mini glue dot in the location I wanted each sprig to go. For the flowers, I added a mini glue dot to the back of each and placed them over the holly sprigs. Last, I made a simple bow out of Linen Thread and placed it on my card front.

Simple Slimline Cards

If you love this card and would like to watch my live assembly on FaceBook, click here. Looking for another slimline card idea? Check out my slimline card post on Zany Zebras here. And of course, if you need more Fresh Freesia inspiration, click here.

As always, I hope to inspire you in your creativity. When you purchase the Words of Cheer Bundle (both the stamp set and dies together), you will save 10% automatically. If you need new, refills, or clearance deals on Stampin’ Up! supplies, please visit my online store at any time. I look forward to helping you become a better paper crafter!