Moroccan Nights Thank You Card

For June's monthly demonstrator's card swap, we were challenged to make a card using a new product from the 2016-2017 Annual Catalog. I made a thank you card featuring the new Moroccan Nights stamp set. The medallion image is gorgeous (and coordinates perfectly with the Moroccan Designer Series Paper (DSP))!

The inspiration for this card came from Simply Made by Wendy. I thought her design was simple and stunning! I kept the layout and measurements the same for my first attempt makering her card using Stampin' Up! products.

However, I felt that there was too much white space above and below the medallions. There was no place for the eye to rest. I also noticed that Wendy's medallion image was larger than the one in the Moroccan Nights stamp set.

For my second attempt, I reduced the width of the Whisper White cardstock. Decreasing the white space above and below the medallion image helped bring my focus into the center of the card. I'm much happier with the second attempt. I also used a thinlit for the sentiment instead of a stamp for a bit of whimsy.

The medallion image is a great way to show off your favorite colors! Here I used So Saffron, Pool Party, and Peekaboo Peach. As the weather gets warmer, I like more vibrant, cheery colors, but I bet this card would be great in deeper, jewel tone colors like Elegant Eggplant and Emerald Envy!

Check out what fantastic cards my group made. Which one is your favorite?



The new stamp sets and products used in this swap are Sitting Here, Painter's Palette, Jar of Love, Pop of Paradise, Moroccan Nights, Banners for You, Floral Affection Texturized Impressions Embossing Folder (TIEF), Flourish Thinlit Dies, and Bunch of Banners Framelits.

Thanks for stopping by!
Beth

Moroccan Nights Thank You Card Project Supply List
Stamps	Moroccan Nights
Paper	Whisper White Pool Party
Ink	Pool Party ink pad Peekaboo Peach ink pad Island Indigo ink pad So Saffron ink pad
Embellishments
Tools	Stampin’ Trimmer Bone Folder Clear Acrylic Blocks A, C, and E Grid Paper Stampin’ Mist Cleaner Stampin’ Scrub Stampin’ Pierce Mat Paper Snips Hello You Thinlits Big Shot Machine Fine-Tipped Glue Pen SNAIL Adhesive
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May the Fourth Be with You!

Happy May 4th! I saw this amazing and fantastic card on the card swap board at On Stage 2016. I love Star Wars! I have been trying my best not to share it with you until today in honor of May the Fourth!

How stinking adorable is this card!?!? I love it! I think you could recreate this card with the extra-large oval punch and the word window punch. However, if you don't have the word window punch, you could try the corner rounder punch on a 1/4" strip of cardstock.

I apologize that I don't know who made this card. The cards were attached to the display boards and I could not reach high enough to take it down. If this is your card, please let me know. I want to give you credit for this terrific card!

I'm sure all Star Wars fans would love a birthday card like this! I know I would! May the Fourth Be with You!

Thanks for stopping by!
Beth

April's Monthly Meeting

Thursday was our monthly demonstrator's meeting with my amazing upline Colleen Magness. This month's card swap theme was sympathy, get well, and thinking of you. These types of cards can be hard to design. It is hard to know what to say and how much to say even for the closest of family and friends.

Here are the swaps our group made.

 

 

What sympathy, get well, and thinking of you cards have you made?  What stamp sets and colors appeal most to you for these occasions? I would love to see what you create!

Thanks for stopping by!

Beth

2016 On Stage Swap Cards

I have been working on making card front swaps for the 2016 On Stage event this week. On Stage is an amazing three day Stampin' Up! convention for Stampin' Up! demonstrators. I am so excited to attend this year's convention! As a demonstrator, we get to see new products, try new techniques, tour the Stampin' Up! home office campus, meet tons of demonstrators from around the country and world, and, best of all, see the new annual catalog! Heaven!! I can't show you anything until Stampin' Up! gives us the okay to share. But as soon as we are given the okay, I can share (P.S. This is one reason right now is an exciting time of year to become a demonstrator!).

In the meantime, here are the card fronts I made to swap with other demonstrators. I made one card with 5 color schemes. I used the Flower Shop and the Number of Years stamp sets to create this card.

First, I cut the 4" by 5-1/2" card base in Wild Wasabi cardstock. If you are going to recreate this as a complete card, cut each card base 8-1/2" by 5-1/2" and fold in half like a book.

Next, I cut the 4" x 5-1/4" Whisper White mat. I placed the HAPPY sentiment and the BIRTHDAY sentiment (from Number of Years) on a clear block one above the other as shown in the photo above. I stamped HAPPY BIRTHDAY in Archival Basic Gray toward the center right side.

Then I embossed the stamped mat with Elegant Dots TIEF. I glued the mat to the base and set them aside to dry. You can use SNAIL Adhesive or Multipurpose Liquid Glue.

I chose the flower stamp (from Flower Shop) that reminds me of a dogwood flower. I thought this was a cheery, spring-like flower. The dogwood is also the flower of Virginia. On a piece of vellum, I stamped the flower using Versamark ink. I covered each flower image with white embossing powder and heat embossed them. Once the flowers were completely cooled, I punched each one out with the Pansy Punch.

I then sponged the BACK of each flower with ink. I pounced the sponge on some flowers and swiped the sponge on other flowers. Pouncing, created a darker, more saturated, and more vibrant look. Swiping created a lighter, more subtle look. I liked both ways. Experiment with both to get the look you want.

Set the flowers aside to dry for about an hour or so. If the ink is still wet, the flowers will not stick to the card front.

Sponging the color on the back of the flowers allowed both the sponged ink and the white embossing to show through, making an almost stained glass effect. You can try this technique with other colors of embossing powder. I bet silver or gold would be beautiful too!

Once the flowers are thoroughly dried, adhere them to the bottom left corner of the Whisper White mat. I used glue dots and multipurpose liquid glue. I tried both to see which adhesive held better. They both worked mostly the same. Because vellum is translucent, whatever adhesive you choose will show. I glued only the center portion of each flower. That way, the white embossed area hid the glue.

Lastly, I punched out just the leaves portion of the Bird Builder Punch in Wild Wasabi cardstock and glued them on using a two-way glue pen. The two-way glue pen is less messy on these more intricately cut leaves.

Here are the color schemes that I made for each of the 5 different card fronts.

Thanks for stopping by!
Beth

2016 On Stage Convention Swap Card Project Supply List
Stamps	Flower Shop Number of Years
Paper	Whisper White Cardstock Wild Wasabi Cardstock Vellum
Ink	Rose Red Ink Pad Wisteria Wonder Ink Pad Blackberry Bliss Ink Pad Crushed Curry Ink Pad Night of Navy Ink Pad Melon Mambo Ink Pad Daffodil Delight Ink Pad Tempting Turquoise Ink Pad Blushing Bride Ink Pad Island Indigo Ink Pad Versamark Ink Pad Archival Basic Gray Ink Pad
Embellishments	White Embossing Powder
Tools	Stampin’ Trimmer Bone Folder Clear Acrylic Blocks C, D Grid Paper Stampin’ Mist Cleaner Stampin’ Scrub Glue Dots SNAIL Adhesive Multipurpose Liquid Glue Two-way Glue Pen Pansy Punch Bird Builder Punch Elegant Dots TIEF Heat Tool Embossing Buddy
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