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SENDING COMFORT AND STRENGHT

Today’s card features the Paper Florist Dies from the annual catalog along with the Masterfully Made Designer Series Paper.  I think these t...

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

I have been away too long

I am so sorry I have been away for such a long time.  Things get crazy for all of us during this time of the year don't they.  I will be back later this week with a couple of new cards that I am creating using some of the new suites of products from the new Mini (previously named the Occasions catalog) as well as some using some of the amazing new free products that will be available during Sale-A-Bration.  Watch for those projects as well as a few final Christmas ones.


In the mean time head over to my website at www.craftwithronnie.stampinup.net or click on the shopping basket here at the top of the blog to check out the year end closeouts, clearance items and the holiday catalog retiring list (just in case you really want that item before it is gone for good).  Do that today (December 11, 2019) and receive free shipping (now that is a deal no one wants to miss).  


Happy Crafting!!!

Thursday, November 28, 2019

The Buckle Fold Card


This card was inspired by a fun fold card I saw on You Tube.  My customers had requested a class that focused on masculine cards and I thought this fold would be perfect for a masculine card.  What do you think?



Here’s what the inside looks like…



So now let’s see how this is created. 
I started by cutting all my pieces, here are those dimensions…

·         Night of Navy cardstock base is cut at 4 ¼ x 8 ¾” and scored at 5 ½”
·         Night of Navy cardstock for the image layer is cut at 3 x 8 ½” and scored at 4 ¼”
·         Balmy Blue cardstock layer (for the back of the image layer) is cut at 3 ¼ x 4 ½”
·         Whisper White cardstock (cut 2 each) is cut 2 ¾ x 4” and you will need a scrap about 2 x 2” to die cut out the sailboat)
·         Designer Series Paper (DSP) is cut to 3 x 4”

Start with your largest cardstock piece (4 ¼ x 8 ¾” scored at 5 ½”) fold the shorter side over left to right and reinforce the crease using your bone folder.  Now being careful to only place adhesive on the four sides (none in the middle) adhere your DSP to your card base.  Once this is well adhered use your classic label punch to cut your slot to make your buckle.  You do this by placing the punch in from the right side of the card (be sure to only have the layer with the DSP in there) and pushing it in as far as it will go and aligning it with the right side of the DSP and punch.  Now move it to the left side, aligning it with the DSP on the left side and pushing it in as far as it will go and punch.  Wrap a piece of the Night of Navy/Sahara Sand Baker’s Twine around the card and tie in a knot.

For the image portion of the card.  Stamp the largest of the sailboats from the Come Sail Away stamp set onto your scrap whisper white cardstock using Night of Navy ink and die cut it using the coordinating Smooth Sailing Dies (remember if you want both the stamps and the dies to order them as a bundle and save 10% on each, item # 151066).  Using dimensionals add the sailboat to the far-right side of one of your Whisper White layers.   Add your sentiment (be sure to check that it is not going to go under the buckle when the card is closed) I used the Set Sail in the Direction of your Dreams sentiment also from the Come Sail Away stamp set.  On your second Whisper White layer stamp the smaller sailboat in the far-left corner (this will give you ample space to write your message) using Night of Navy ink. 

Now let’s assemble the card.  Fold your piece of Night of Navy cardstock that measures 3 x 8 ½” and is scored at 4 ¼” from the right to the left (this will seem backwards to you but it is right) reinforce the score with your bone folder.  Add this layer to the Balmy Blue cardstock layer centering it.  Now add the Whisper White layers (the one with the small sailboat on the inside and the one with the die cut larger sailboat and sentiment on the outside.  Now simply adhere this whole piece to the center of the larger card (be sure to align it so that the smaller card can tuck into that slit we created and allow our “buckle” to work. 

My final suggestions here are to use your bone folder and just give the smaller card a little curve up (this helps it to tuck in) and don’t forget to embellish (we often don’t do that with masculine cards) I love how this little silver ships wheel from the Come Sail Away Trinkets looks on this card (I could have just as easily embellished with one of the adorable anchors from that same set and just tied it onto the twine, either would look great).

I hope you enjoy this card and just a reminder this fun fold would be great for a number of cards, it is easy to do and lots of fun and it is pretty impressive when you finish.  Just a reminder you can find all of the products I used for today's card plus many more products for any project you might want to try on my website at www.craftwithronnie.stampinup.net or by clicking the shopping cart at the top of this blog or the picture of the products below.

Happy Crafting!!!

Supplies Used:


Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Best Catch


Today’s card is an update from a previous card I did back earlier this year.  I wanted to teach this technique in my November card workshop (my customers requested masculine themed cards) so I needed to update a few things, because some of the products I previously used had retired and because there were some new products I wanted to incorporate. 
So here is the card…

Unfortunately, no matter how I try I just cannot truly capture the shine on this trout.  But believe me this card is super cute and perfect for any guy in your life.  So, let’s get to making it shall we.

I started with a card base made from Very Vanilla cardstock that measures 5 ½ x 8 ½”, scored at 4 ¼”.  I then added a layer of Night of Navy that measures 4 x 5 ¼” (tip:  since you will be die cutting the layer for under the sentiment out of Night of Navy as well I suggest you cut it out of the center of this layer, no one will ever see it and it is a great way to save on supplies).  Cut the Night of Navy sentiment layer out using the second largest of the long think rectangles from the Rectangle Stitched Dies.

For the top layer of the card I cut Sahara Sand cardstock that measures 3 ¾ x 5”.  I used the Cracked Paint background stamp and Crumb Cake ink to make this layer really pop (tip:  when I am using these large background stamps I take the ink pad to the stamp and then place my cardstock over the stamp and lay a piece of scratch paper on the top and rub, if you are like me your hands are just not large enough to manage a stamp this size).  To further add interest to this layer I used a sponge and added a little more Crumb Cake ink to the edges.  I then opened up my scissors and ran one of the blades down each side to distress it a bit, and the final thing I did was use my bone folder to curl up a couple of the corners (it really adds to that masculine distressed look).  

I then stamped the trout image from the Best Catch stamp set onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock using Memento Ink and cut it out using the coordinating Catch of the Day dies.  While I had those dies out I went ahead and cut the cattails from it out of Pear Pizzaz cardstock (you need a scrap about 2 ½ x 3”).  Once I had these pieces cut I started coloring.  First for the cattails, I just brushed a little of the Dark Soft Suede Stampin’ Blend marker across the actual cattails and then used a sponge to add a little Pear Pizzaz ink to give them some dimension (set this aside and then once you get your trout and your sentiment on the card just tuck it in behind the sentiment and to the side of the trout).  My trout was also colored using the Stampin’ Blend markers, I used the following combos to get his coloring:  Granny Apple Green, Petal Pink and Bermuda Bay.  Once I had finished coloring him I turned him upside down on my Versamark Ink pad and pressed down to cover him with the ink, then I covered him in Clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder and heat set it (it gives him a wet look just like you would see on a real fish).  I adhered him to the card using dimensionals.

I die cut a scrap of Sahara Sand cardstock (about 1 x 3”) using the third of the long thin rectangles from the Rectangle Stitched Dies and stamped my sentiment “Happy Birthday” from the Here’s a Card stamp set using Night of Navy Ink. I adhered it to the Night of Navy rectangle and then wrapped a piece of the Night of Navy/Sahara Sand Baker’s Twine around it.  I then adhered it using dimensionals. 

There you have it, a great masculine card.  This card could be made using any one of a number of sentiments from Birthday to Get Well to Father’s Day and it would be great for the men in your life.  I hope you enjoyed this card and as always you can find the product to make this card and many more projects on my website at www.craftwithronnie.stampinup.net or by clicking the shopping cart at the top of this blog or the pictures of the product used below.

Happy Crafting!!!

Supplies Used:


Saturday, November 23, 2019

TAKE LIFE BY THE REINS


Today we continue our journey into making masculine cards.  This card is a very simple card with minimal fuss which means it would be an easy card to produce in large numbers (I will be making a bunch of these for my churches Congregational Care Team to mail out). 


Let’s get started.  This card is a little different from most of my cards in that I decided to have it open from the bottom to the top (the end results are the same as any standard A2 card) because I just wanted to switch things up.

I cut my card base out of Mossy Meadow card stock.  It measured 4 ¼ x 11” and was scored at 5 ½”.  I then created my layer by cutting Soft Suede cardstock to 4 x 5 ¼” and embossed it using the Pinewood Planks 3D embossing folder (perfect choice with this horse image).  To give it even more depth I used some Soft Suede ink and a sponge and just sponged over the piece adding additional color to the raised planks). 

I stamped the horse image from the Let It Ride stamp set onto a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock that measures 2 x 3 ½” using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  I layered this at an angle onto a piece of Mossy Meadow cardstock that measures 2 x 4”.  I stamped the sentiment “Take Life by the Reins” also from the Let It Ride stamp set using the Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto a small scrap of the Mossy Meadow cardstock and cut it out using the third from the smallest of the Stitched Nesting Labels dies.

To assemble the card, I wrapped a piece of Burlap Ribbon (about 4 ½” long) around the bottom section of the Soft Suede layer and attached it using tear and tape (I find this works well with textiles).  I did miter the ribbon to add some additional interest.  I then attached this layer to the card base (also using tear and tape, it works great where you have texture like the embossing and the ribbon).  I then added my image and finally added the sentiment (I did put this at an angle and I also popped it up on dimensionals).  For the final piece of the front of the card I did also add three of the little Gold Metallic Pearls (we need to remember to add embellishments even on men’s cards). 

For the inside of the card I simply cut a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock to 4 x 5 ¼” and stamped the image of two horses grazing (from that same Let It Ride stamp set) using Soft Suede ink.


There you have it, I hope you enjoyed this card.  As always all the supplies to make this card and many more projects are available on my website at www.craftwithronnie.stampinup.net or by clicking the shopping cart at the top of this blog or the picture of the product below.

Happy Crafting!!!

Supplies Used: