Spotlight on "Swap Shares" #1

Hi Stampers.  Today I'm going to begin my new series "Spotlight on Swap Cards" with a group of very talented stampers I had the pleasure of attending Convention with in July.  Not only are these gals talented but they were funny, spontaneous and oh so sharing................ great attributes for a group you just want to have fun with!

In this group photo Joni Metras from Charlton, Massachusetts is on my left while Adel Klassen and Diane Ison from British Columbia Canada are on my right.  For obvious reasons, we called our little group the "Can/Am Girls". We had so much fun this year we're hoping to join up for Stampin' Ups! 25th Anniversary celebration next summer.  It's sure to be a blast.  When we parted after convention it was with this thought........same time, same place, same group and more fun! 

 

And now for their great swaps.  I've thrown in some product and technique details but if you want more information just click on their links below I know they'll be thrilled to help you out with any questions or kudos.  I hope you enjoy these little works of art as much as I have! 

 

Spotlight on Diane Ison:

What new mom wouldn't want to receive this sweet little baby card? It was created by Diane Ison a very talented stamper from Richmond B.C.  Diane's featured stamp set is called Baby Prints. There are 7 great stamps in this set and she's used two of them to complete this great card. 

 

The image of the baby's feet was stamped in classic white ink and embossed.  The card base and the circle with the baby's feet were made with Baja Breeze cardstock and the Scalloped Circle is in Certainly Celery.  What a great colour combination. 

 

The sentiment Cherish the Moments is also in the Baby Prints set.  The cute ribbon detail is achieved with two small strips of 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon in Baja Breeze and Old Olive and the base ribbon is a strip of Whisper White 1/4" Grosgrain Striped Ribbon.  The Whisper White background  layer was embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder. 

Spotlight on Joni Metras:

How can you tell this card was created by a gal who loves the seashore with a passion?  When I look at this card I can feel the sand between my toes, the breeze on my face, and hear the roar of the waves.  Fantastic! 

 

Joni has featured the appropriately named Stampin' Up! stamp set "By The Seashore".  She used Naturals Ivory cardstock for her base and layered it with Baja Breeze and Crumb Cake that have been torn into strips.  Her seashell images are stamped with Early Espresso Ink on Crumb Cake, Natural Ivory and Baja Breeze cardstocks.  She's embellished the sand dollar image with a basic pearl.   The beautifully scripted sentiment "Imagine the Possibilities"  is from the Word Play stamp set and stamped in Baja Breeze ink. 

 

Don't you love the glitter along the water strip?  That was achieved with by laying down a strip of multipurpose liquid glue (pg. 177) and covering it with Glass Stampin Glitter.  This beautiful Glitter, which comes in Champagne and Silver is a chunky glitter that slightly tarnishes over time giving an aged vintage look to your projects.   

 

The final detail on Joni's card that I love is how she tied it with Linen Thread and then added some Baja Breeze Seam binding.  Can't get enough of that ribbon. 

Spotlight on Adel Klassen:

I travelled with Adel Klassen from Chilliwack BC to Convention this summer.  We were both first-timers and we had a couple of great pre-convention "swap assembling" sessions before we left on our big adventure.  This is one of many swaps Adele made.  She put so much work into this card and I was simply thrilled when she gave me one.  Thanks Adele!

 

Adele's beautiful wedding card features the "Love and Laughter" stamp set featured on page 38 of the IB&C.  This beautiful set has eight wonderful stamps that can be used for weddings, anniversarys and engagements.  The side-step card features five of the stamps from the set.  Adele did a beautiful job of embossing the dress in Pewter Embossing Powder and the cake and Congratulations sentiment in Black Embossing Powder.  Now that's a lot of embossing for one card. 

 

The side-step card base is made with Basic Grey cardstock and the contrasting Tempting Turquoise and Whisper White details really add some pizzazz to it.  The three Basic Pearls on the waist band of the wedding dress were coloured with a tempting turquoise marker and the heart on the top of the wedding cake was coloured with Perfect Primrose. 

 

Other accessories used to make this card included the Modern Label Punch, the Scalloped Oval and Large Oval Punches and the Labels Collection Framelits.  I can't remember how many of these cards Adele made but the number "50" comes to mind........... it might have been even more, and she told me her grandma, whom she adores fussy cut every single cake image by hand.  Now that's love!



Just in case you've never made a side-step card and would like to try, here is an easy video to help you out.  Side Step Card Video showing how to assemble the card base:



 

Wedding Card CASe

This weekend my husband and I attended Kim and Ross' wedding, and from the time I received their invitation, I knew I wanted to make a very special card for this couple. 
While at convention I saw several wedding card samples, but one in particular really stood out for me.  I decided I wanted to CASe or recreate this  beautiful card. 

Note:
Although I spoke briefly with the very gifted and talented stamper who made the original card, I didn't get her name in order to credit her.  So, if anyone recognizes this card and/or
attended Convention and knows who created it, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due.

One of the reasons this wedding card stood out for me is the use of the Framed Tulips Embossing Folder to make a square card face.  What a great and unusual technique! 

Here's my version:

For the card base I cut a 6 x 12 inch piece of Textured White Card stock.  I added a layer of Basic Black cut to 5 3/4 by 5 3/4.  I then cut a 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 layer of Shimmer White card stock for the next layer which I embossed with the Tulip Frame Embossing Folder. 

To emboss the square on this piece I placed the 5 1/2 x 5 1/2" piece of card stock inside the embossing folder so the edges were straight and even on the top and two sides and then I ran it through the Big Shot Machine.  I was careful to only roll 2 3/4 inches into the card, then I rolled the plate backwards until I could remove it from the machine. I then carefully placed the Embossing Folder on the non-embossed side of the card and repeated this half-way roll process.  The result is a perfect square tulip frame on this square layer. 

Note: Because the Embossing Folder has to be rolled through the Big Shot sideways, this causes a lot of pressure and stress on the EF seam, so I would recommend not doing this process for swap or multiple cards.

Tulip Framed Embossing Folder

The rest of the card was pretty straight forward.  I cut the beautiful heart shapes with the new Heart Framelits die cuts.

Heart Framelit Die Cuts

I embossed the layers with the Vintage Wallpaper and the Fancy Fold Embossing Folders and then stacked the heart shapes in layers using dimensionals between each heart layer.  Before adhering the finished heart to the card front I added some Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon and tied a bow using a Clear Fire and Ice brad. 

Fancy Fan Fold Embossing Folder.  The original card used small individual flowers cut with BoHo Blossoms Punch.

Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder

The two small birds are cut out using the Bird Builder Punch.  The wing on each bird is mounted with dimensionals and a small basic rhinestone was added for the eyes. 
Here's a view of the finished inside of the card:

I repeated the layering on the inside of the card with the large and medium hearts and stamped the sentiment "happy I do day" from the Word Play stamp set in black stazon ink and then embossed it with clear embossing powder and heat set.  A medium sized basic rhinestone was added to the ring. 

I double layered the shimmer white and basic black card stock to give more balance to the page.  And, although you can't see it in this picture, I typed out a message to the bride and groom and printed it out on Whisper White cardstock, then cut it out in a heart shape and adhered it to the center of the left side of the card. 

Hope you enjoyed and here are some shots from Kim and Ross's Wedding which I think you'll enjoy. Kim is very creative and did most of the displays herself.