Today's Workshop

Leona (Nana) had her workshop today, and she has a few online friends she wanted to share the projects with. If I'd had a digital camcorder, I'd have filmed it for them, but I am still in the process of deciding what type and model to purchase! So, for now, I will post the projects we did, and try to give a little description and some tips to help her guests with their shopping. I demonstrated two cards, and a 6"x6" scrapbook page layout. Leona got this scrapbook as a Hostess Gift, in addition to keeping one of each of the stamped items I created at her workshop!

As you go through this workshop, please remember that you can click on any picture to see it enlarged. The first project was the sweet little 3"x3" card shown below:

Stampin' Supplies: Tart & Tangy stamp set, Sweet Shapes stamp set, Bashful Blue Textured card stock (Soft Subtles Asst.), Whisper White card stock, Old Olive card stock, Summer Picnic Designer Series Paper (DSP), Real Red ink pad (or use Real Red and Old Olive markers to color in cherries and stems separately), Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, SNAIL.

Directions: Cut Bashful Blue Textured card stock to 6" x 3", then score in half to make 3" x 3" foldover card. Holding card folded in half, stamp the word 'sweet' (from Sweet Shapes set) repeatedly on the front of the card at an angle in the background, in Bashful Blue ink. (HINTS: diagonal stamping is better for words, as they don't have to be square with the edges to look nice! Try a bricklaying pattern, as I've used, to get the background images evenly distributed, and remember to stamp off the edges of the card so that it doesn't look "boxed in".

Next, cut a piece of Summer Picnic DSP to 2-3/4" x 1-3/8", and adhere it to the bottom front of the card. Stamp cherries on Whisper White card stock in Real Red, punch out with 1-3/8" Circle Punch, and layer onto Old Olive which has been punched out with the Scallop Circle. Adhere the cherry "medallion" to the front of the card as shown. [Note: envelopes are available in the catalog for 3" square cards, but they can't be sent by mail as they are too small.]

I brought supplies for everyone to make the sweet little cherries card, but they all wanted to see more of my demonstration first, so I moved on to show this pocket card:

Stampin' Supplies: Sweet Shapes stamp set, Wild Wasabi Textured card stock (Wild Wasabi Card Pack)and ink pad, So Saffron card stock and ink pad, Whisper White card stock, Die Cut Blooms (Bashful Blue flower), Bashful Blue ink pad, Bashful Blue marker (optional: for dots on scallop edges), White Gel Pen (optional: for highlights on flower), Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, 1" Circle Punch (optional: to punch out flower on front--you could also trim out the flower with Paper Snips), SNAIL, Stampin' Dimensionals®, Bashful Blue Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Pencil & Vinyl eraser.

Directions: The first thing to do will be to trim about 1-5/8" from the non-scored end of the Wild Wasabi Card Pack sheet (for starting dimensions and score mark measurements, see this post). The scored flap will fold inside, as the card folds over it, creating a sleeve of sorts. You will adhere this across the bottom and the foldover flap, leaving one side open, like a pocket. You want to punch a half circle in the top of the pocket, but you will not be able to punch through two sheets of card stock at the same time. So, you will use the 1-3/8" Circle Punch on only ONE layer of the card stock first, at the top center of the pocket, to create a half circle. Part of the punch will sit partway inside the pocket when you punch this first side. Then, with the pocket lying flat, line up the punch with the half circle you already created, and punch the same size half circle through the other layer of the pocket.

Ink up the Sweet Shapes dotted stamp in Wild Wasabi, and stamp along the right side of the folded pocket. Choose a large Bashful Blue flower from the Die-Cut Blooms package, and use the White Gel Pen to create highlights along the petals. Punch a Scallop Circle from Whisper White card stock, and use the Bashful Blue marker writing tip to place small dots at the center of each scallop. Punch a piece of So Saffron with the 1-3/8" Circle Punch, and layer it onto the scallop circle. Stamp the flower from the Sweet Shapes set in Bashful Blue onto Whisper White card stock, and punch out with 1" Circle Punch. Adhere this circle atop the So Saffron circle. This piece will be called the "flower medallion".

Turn the "flower medallion" over, and place one Stampin' Dimensional® on the back at the top, and one at the bottom. This will keep the medallion raised off the surface of the front of your pocket, with space to string ribbon under it, from left to right. Adhere the "flower medallion" as shown, and run about 16" of Bashful Blue Striped Grosgrain Ribbon under it, tying the ribbon in a square knot to the left of the medallion. (TIP: to keep your ribbon from sliding around, consider placing a Mini Glue Dot® under the knot.) The pocket also looks great with a saying from a white Rub-Ons sheet added to the front left bottom, but I did not place one on this particular sample.

You will now complete the notecard which goes inside the pocket. Cut sheet of Whisper White card stock to 4-1/4" x 10", and fold in half to 4-1/4" x 5". Using the Corner Round, round each of the bottom corners of the card, one at a time. Insert the folded card into the pocket, and center it, then lightly trace the half circle mark with a pencil, and remove the card. Using the Stamp-a-ma-jig, line up the 'hello' image to appear in the center, and stamp in Bashful Blue. Using the Stamp-a-ma-jig again, line up the solid circle to be centered on top of the word 'hello', and stamp in So Saffron ink. [Note: in the sample, the circle was stamped off first onto scratch paper, so that the circle would be lighter than full-strength ink.] After the ink is dry, carefully erase the light pencil marks, and stamp the flower randomly over the front of the card. Then take the asterisk-looking stamp from Sweet Shapes and ink it up in Wild Wasabi ink. Stamp off the full-strength Wild Wasabi onto scratch paper, then stamp randomly on card front. If you choose, pick one flower to highlight with the circle stamp (with the full-strength ink stamped off onto scratch paper first). Another option is to stamp the swirl from the Sweet Shapes set in Bashful Blue across the bottom inside of the card.

That's it--when the card is put into the pocket, it should measure roughly 4-1/4" x 5-1/2", and will fit in a standard size envelope for mailing. However, if your envelope is more than 1/4" thick with the card inside, be prepared to pay extra postage.

The last project I demonstrated was a 2-page 6" x 6" scrapbook page layout. This one was quite easy, and went together quickly.

Stampin' Supplies: Sweet Shapes stamp set, Jumbo So Swirly wheel, Jumbo Dotted Wheel, Pretty in Pink jumbo ink cartridge, Purely Pomegranate card stock and ink pad, Close to Cocoa card stock and ink pad, Berry Bliss Designer Series Paper (DSP), Whisper White card stock, Small Oval punch, SNAIL.

Directions: Cut two sheets of 6" x 6" Purely Pomegranate card stock. If you choose, you can wheel these with the So Swirly Jumbo wheel in Pretty in Pink ink--it makes a pretty background (I forgot to do that on the samples above). Cut 2 strips of 2" x 6" Berry Bliss DSP, and adhere onto edges of 6" x 6" pages as shown. Cut two photo mats, approximately 3-1/2" x 5" and wheel over them with the So Swirly Jumbo wheel in Pretty in Pink ink.

Take a scrap sheet of Whisper White card stock, at least 6" x 2" and wheel over it with the Dotted Jumbo wheel in Pretty in Pink ink. Trim out two sections of the lines to fit on your pages as shown, for journaling space. Take a small scrap of Whisper White and stamp the word 'sweet' in Purely Pomegranate, then punch it out with the Small Oval punch and adhere it at the top left of the left page. Ink up the solid heart from the Sweet Shapes set in Purely Pomegranate ink, and stamp off the full-strength ink onto scratch paper, then stamp the heart on Whisper White card stock. Stamp the heart outline in Close to Cocoa ink (full-strength) over the outside of the solid heart. Punch the heart out with the 1" Circle Punch, and adhere to bottom right of right page.

This layout also looks great with the photo mats tilted at slight angles (as if they would form a house gable angle if set next to each other) instead of aligning them square to the pages, and both journaling rectangles below each respective photo mat.

That's the end of the workshop--I hope I didn't lose you all on this post! Thanks for sticking with me through all these directions, and please contact me if you have any questions or if you noticed a boo-boo somewhere in this stamping novel!