Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Ruffled Ribbon

My new Whisper White Satin Ribbon from Stampin' Up! is so easy to work with, I wanted to try the Ruffled Ribbon Technique that was featured on Splitcoaststampers last week.

This technique produces an elegant border for your focal image, and is very simple. All you need is ribbon and Sticky Strip! Simply fold the ribbon and press it onto the adhesive on the back of your panel. The Satin Ribbon is very supple, so it is easy to create gentle folds.



The stamp featured here is from Salut a toi (French version of Hello There), which I earned FREE with an order of $50 during Sale-A-Bration. This fabulous annual offer ends tomorrow (3/31). I stamped the flower image with Pretty in Pink on Glossy White card stock, and then punched it out with the Scallop Oval Punch and sponged the edges a bit.

That beautiful, deep blue is Pacific Point. (There is a bit of Baja Breeze mixed in as well.)

In addition to the ribbon embellishment, I added two halfback pearls from the Basic Jewels.

You might notice that the fold on this card looks a bit different--it is a Buckle Fold card. It looks pretty nifty, but is actually one of the easiest folds to master. The only special tool you use for this is a slot-type punch. Here I used the Slot Punch several times to created a longer opening, but the Word Window Punch is your best bet for this task.

I created the marbled background panel using the Ink, Spray, Smash Technique, which is messy but fun. I'll post another card using this technique and include the instructions in that post.

I'm gearing up for my Workshops in April and May, so please let me know if you are interested in earning some FREE product! I'd love to come stamp with you.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Reflection Technique

My, it has been a long time since I've gotten a chance to sit down and blog.

I wanted to share an example of the Reflection Technique, which I'll be using at the March meeting of my Techniques Club next Friday. (We have room at the stamping table, so let me know if you are interested.)

I've tried this technique before, but was always hampered by the need for an acetate sheet. Now that SU! has the clear-mount stamps, I thought I'd give this fun technique a shot with the acrylic blocks. It works!



I love techniques that help us expand the ways we can use tools we already have, and this one is great for that. To make my card, I used just one stamp (the cat from C is for Cat), one acrylic block and aquapainters, in addition to card stock and inks.

Using the aquapainters and different ink colors to create the scene can give a whole new look to a familiar image. I love it!

We're in the last two weeks of Sale-A-Bration, Stampin' Up!'s biggest promotion of the year. If you're interested in earning some free product with an order of $50 or more, let me know. There are some really nice stamp sets available this year. It is also a great time to start your own business as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. SAB ends March 31.