Stamparatus - The Maine Stamper

Delightful Dahlia Days

March 11, 2022

Delighted With Dahlias

The Dahlia Days Stamp Set is perfect for you if you love flower stamps. The large dahlia featured in this set evokes summer days. I couldn’t wait to get some ink on it and try it out!

Now, mind you, it is March in Maine as I stamp and write this blog post. Snow and mud abound. There is nothing colorful in the outside world right now. But…I can dream. And stamp.

The Color of Dahlias

The first color that came to my mind for my Dahlia Days flower was orange. So, I knew this called for Pumpkin Pie Ink.

First, I used the largest die from the Layering Circles Dies, cutting one in Basic White Cardstock. Next, I stamped the dahlia image just off the edge of my circle. Then, I used second generation stamping to add another dahlia top and bottom of the first flower.

Using the Stamparatus & Dahlia Days stamps — It is important to keep your Stamparatus magnets as far apart as possible so they do not collide and smash. This is the closest distance I would safely recommend.

Sentiments and Stamparatus

The Dahlia Days Stamp Set has some amazing sentiments. I chose the one that reads “you are beyond incredible”. I love the mix of fonts here!

In order to get a really dark stamped sentiment image, I knew I would need my Stamparatus. By using the Stamparatus, I could stamp my sentiment multiple times and have it line up perfectly each time. This means an extra dark sentiment, which is important as part of it covers my dahlia flower.

Supporting Colors

Because my dahlia was such a bright color, I did not want it to compete with a vivid card base. Instead, I chose Sahara Sand. This also works really well to showcase the white circle, drawing the eye instantly to my focal piece.

I adore the Designer Series Paper Assortments by Stampin’ Up! for instant color matching. The patterns vary just enough, but never boldly compete on a card front. For this Dahlia Days card, I chose the Neutrals Assortment for the Sahara Sand. And to add just a small pop of continuous color, a selection of Pumpkin Pie from the Regals Assortment.

DSP from the Neutrals and Regals Assortments

Supporting Flowers

The Dahlia Days Stamp Set has more than just a dahlia stamp! I wanted to add some additional small flowers and leafy greens to my card. But it took my a few experiments with color to get these supporting flowers in just the right shade.

First, I tried Pale Papaya, and found it too light. Next, I tried Cinnamon Cider, but I felt the color contrast was not enough. Lastly, I tried Bumblebee…and it was a winner!

Fresh Cut Flowers

I love when there are matching dies to a stamp set. When you buy the Detailed Dahlias Dies and Dahlia Days Stamp Set as a bundle, you automatically save 10%. But the best part, really, is die cutting the stamped images.

And that is exactly what I did with my Bumblebee colored flowers and Old Olive stamped leaves. For this card, I chose to stamp and die cut 3 of the leaves and 2 of the flowers using my Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine. As an odd on, I chose the Turtle Builder Punch and some Early Espresso Cardstock to make tiny centers for my Bumblebee flowers.

Turtle Builder Punch for small circles as flower centers.

My Dahlia Days Card

I just love how my Dahlia Days Card turned out. Even though the card base is neutral in color, the orange and yellow flowers really shine. I am excited to continue to explore other color options for the gorgeous dahlia stamp in this set.

Close up of the small flowers in the Dahlia Days card

If you are looking for any of the supplies that I used for this card, shop my online store at any time. I hope I have inspired you to stamp some beautiful dahlias. They will be sure to add a lot of joy, no matter what season you are in!

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…

Slimline Card

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…

Color Your World with Stampin’ Blends

February 25, 2020

Just Add Color

This year, February has an extra day in it (Happy Leap Year 2020!). That means one more day of winter. Days, in my state, that are typically gray and brown and drab. So then, what’s a crafty person to do with this time on their hands? Color your world a pretty place, with Stampin’ Up!’s Stampin’ Blends.

Stampin’ Blends were introduced in 2018. When they first became available, there were 12 different colors, each with a light and dark shade. Ivory, Bronze and the Color Lifter round out the collection. Fast forward to the 2019-2020 Annual Catalog, and you can purchase blends in 36 exclusive Stampin’ Up! colors.

Stampin' Blends Collection — Pink Pirrouhette is a retired color, so the blends in that tone are no longer available.

Using Stampin’ Blends

Everyone can get professional looking results when coloring your world with Stampin’ Blends. These alcohol markers feature dual tips that don’t fray. The brush end is for larger images and the fine tip is for details. With minimal effort, you will glide ink on with ease, creating effortless shading and great coverage. Instant Artist!

Step 1

Stamp your image in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink onto Whisper White Cardstock. To get the darkest image possible, use the Stamparatus to apply multiple layers of black ink without fear of lining up the stamp properly each time. Choose an image that has plenty of coloring opportunity for the most fun.

Band Together Stamp Set and Stamparatus — The Stamparatus is a great tool with tons of features.

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink (water based) must be used when coloring with Stampin’ Blends (alcohol based). Just keep in mind the old adage, “opposites attract”. If you were to use StazOn Ink (alcohol based) in error, the blends color would bleed into the black ink outline and create…mud. Yuck.

Step 2

Next, place your image to be colored on a protective surface or use scrap paper underneath. The blends are designed to saturate the paper with intense color. As a result, the ink will bleed thru the back in some areas.

Start coloring, using both the light and dark shades of a Stampin’ Blend color. It doesn’t matter which tone is chosen first, the outcome is the same. No matter how much color you apply, the alcohol ink will not pill up and ruin your paper. And, you can color right over the inner black ink image lines with no ill effect.

Coloring with Stampin' Blends — This oversized flower image from the stamp set, Band Together, was colored with Stampin’ Blends in So Saffron, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie and Granny Apple Green.

I prefer to begin with the lighter blend and apply generous coverage, then add some shadowing with the dark blend, followed by another application of light to soften the lines. A circular or scribble motion will help blend your color edges together.

Step 3

Use the Color Lifter as desired to change the look of your Stampin’ Blends coloring. This step is optional but will give your design another color dimension.

The Color Lifter appears to be a white marker, due to the cap color. Actually, it’s more like an invisible ink. It can be used to soften colors, as the ink “lifts” some of the shading off the paper. The Color Lifter will clean up edges as well as create highlights on your image.

Additional Tips and Uses of Stampin’ Blends

The artistic results you receive when using the Stampin’ Blends are phenomenal, but they do more than color stamped images. You can also color ribbon, changing white or ivory into your chosen tone. Do the same with embellishments like rhinestones, pearls and buttons.

Whisper White Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon — I colored the Whipser White Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon on the Silicone Craft Sheet. I cleaned the excess ink off the craft sheet with a baby wipe.

Stampin’ Blends have a rectangular barrel, so they won’t roll off the table like traditional markers. You should store the blends horizontally, so ink is readily available at either end of the marker. Stampin’ Up! offers stackable storage units for your blends to make organization easy.

Stampin' Blends Storage Trays — One set of trays will hold 30 Stampin’ Blends.

The Stampin’ Blends end caps let you know at a glance what color ink lies inside. Replace the tight fitting caps immediately after using your blend to prevent the alcohol ink from drying out too quickly. The blends are not refillable, but since they are sold individually, it is easy to replace one if you need to.

Stampin’ Blends make coloring quick, easy and fun with spectacular results. For a quick reference guide to Stampin’ Blends, print or pin a copy of my Do’s and Don’t’s Cheat Sheet.

Take your projects from drab to fab by adding some of these rainbow making tools to your crafty stash today. Visit my online store, https://juliemakson.stampinup.net and start with your favorite colors. Let your collection of Stampin’ Blends grow, and color your world.