Thinlits Dies, and a New Technique

YES!  I'm still here....  I promise!  See?  Still here!

March 11th was my last post?  I've been quite recalcitrant about keeping up here on the blog, but I've been busy creating!

Here I've got a new technique using the Hello You Thinlits dies.

 First, choose some colors - I used the same for each card:  Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Tangelo Twist, and Daffodil Delight.  Color each on the E block (I'm pretty sure it was my E block), not leaving space between.  Then spritz with water.  The one above, I didn't spritz very heavily, and got lots of dots.
Place it on your 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Whisper White, and hold it there for a moment.  Remove, and allow to dry.

 Then.... cut another piece of Whisper White card stock and leave it plain.  Cut the "Happy" from both the dried stamped colorful piece, and the white piece.  I use the Dryer Sheet Technique to put the pieces back together.  Don't lose any of the pieces!  I just left them on the dryer sheets until I was ready to reassemble. 

 Here's another example where I colored the blocks darker and sprayed the water heavier as well.

This is one of the finished pieces, using the Painted Petals stamp set.  LOVE it!!!

Here are the products I used:
Hello You Thinlits Dies by Stampin' Up!
Painted Petals Photopolymer Stamp Set by Stampin' Up!

February 2015 Christmas Cards

I used only 2 colors for this set of cards:  Soft Sky, and Coastal Cabana.

I used Coastal Cabana to stamp the large Letterpress snowflake on the front of the flip, the Merry Christmas on the inside, and the sentiment on the inside panel.

 The snowflake Thinlits die was one I purchased so long ago, it seems... and just broke it out.
Soft Sky is the color for the background paper, the snowflake DSP, the little snowflakes I stamped on the front, and the snowflakes stamped on some of the other panels.

 I used a snowflake die to emboss the bottom of the card, and inked it with Coastal Cabana as well.

Here you can see a close-up of the layered punches I like to use.

We've had lots of snow lately, and days of school closings, so it put me in the mood to work with the snowflake die at last.

Christmas in July - July 30, 2014

This card features a card form I've used many times - the Stampin up Card Framelits.  LOVE LOVE LOVE them!

You can make them 'short' cut at 4 1/4", or 'tall' cut at 5 7/16"... and decorate so many ways...  limitless!

 The only new piece I cut for this card was the Merry from the framelits.  I had the gingerbread men from the earlier stair-step card (made way too many!), and the Merry Christmas from a scrap I stamped and hadn't used yet.

Here you can see the card opened up to view the inside details.

Anniversary Card

Our 12th Anniversary was just a few days ago.

I used a card front I'd created a few months ago... and added the Apothecary Art piece after coloring it with watercolor pens and ink in the same colors of the base card; Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, and Melon Mambo.

After coloring it, I die cut the piece and inked the edges so they'd stand out against the white background.  The right panel was just enough for some statistics.... years, days, vacations, etc.

As Promised - A Little Later... More Thinlits Card Ideas and Examples

A few weeks ago I posted the circle thinlits cards I made for stamp club.  I took these cards along as samples for other options to make with the circle thinlits.

The base cut on these cards is only a bit different.  Instead of cutting the paper 5 7/16", turn it, and cut at 4 1/4" as in any regular card.  Lay the end over so it doesn't cut, but run the die through your machine (Cuttlebug, Big Shot etc.) only half way!  Score the remaining long piece of cardstock to fold in and make the extension flap you see in the 2nd picture.

Here's a simpler card using my favorite set - Stippled Blossoms.  I kept the outside simple, and when you open the card, there are more details.

Co-worker Birthday

I made this card for our PE teacher's birthday.  She does so much for all of us, and the school - I wanted to make this card for all of us to sign. 

 Favorite color?  Green!  Again, I used the Thinlits die with the additional flap for writing - and the Gingham Garden DSP.  (I've been stocking up just in case they discontinue it with the summer's new catalog release.)

Here you can see the inside of the card.  AFTER I took the picture, I added an additional birthday stamp to the inside circle. 

March 2014 Stamp Club

At our February card club, my upline Kathy asked if I would run Club in March!  I was thrilled!

I love the color Bermuda Bay so much, one card just had to feature that color.

 I do love options, so each end of the table had these two card options - landscape, or portrait.  Same elements, just a different look.

 Colors?  Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo.  Stamp Sets?  Six-sided Sampler (and Hexagon punch)  Petite Petals (and small flower punch) and Hello, Lovely for the sentiment which we hand-cut.  A little embossing, some dimensionals and rhinestones - and a cute, springy card!

The 2nd card, Kathy asked if I would feature the thinlits card die.  At first, when I saw them demonstrated, I wasn't so thrilled.  There just wasn't enough room to do any message writing!  After looking at them for awhile, and debating about the price (There are 10 additional dies in each package.), I jumped in.

 You Tube is a wonderful resource for videos, and I found one that showed how to cut the die so you have an extra panel to fold in that leaves more than enough room to write in!

Now, as you've seen, I use them all the time.  In a few posts, I'll show another design using this die with a square card!  SUPER cute!

For this card, I used:  Pear Pizzazz and Whisper White card stock.  Gingham Garden DSP, and Washi Tape.
Stamp Sets: (4)  Flower Shop (and Pansy punch), Petite Petals (small flower punch) Bring on the Cake, and Delighful Dozen, and the 2 1/2" circle punch.

One of the best comments I received:  "This looked hard, but was easy once you got started on it."

Nephew's Birthday Card

I'm still in love with this Thinlits card base!  REALLY LOVE IT!

January is lots of birthdays in our house - my sister's, my nephew's, some friends.... lots of birthdays!

The yellow card I made for my sister, and this Island Indigo card I made for her son are exactly the same card base, but so very different!

I even used the same DSP stack - Gingham Garden for both cards.  It wasn't a matter of being lazy, or not imaginative, just that the colors worked so well.

Here's the inside view of his card.  I really enjoy having that inside panel for messages.

 

 

Sister's Birthday Card

I spent a lot of time thinking about my sister's birthday card... so much time, that I actually finished it on her birthday, and got it out in the mail to her 2 days later (because of the weekend).

This is one of those cards that I added a detail, then another, and another.  Then more details on top of those.  I'm thrilled with how this card turned out.  I believe it's one of my best.

The card base is a Circle Framelits card cut with an additional flap.  I used Gingham Garden DSP and Washi tape.  I cut a scalloped circle to cover the yellow front flip area, a strip of punched ribbon made into a 3D medallion and used the Artisan punch to cut out the Happy Birthday on top of the medallion.

The flowers come from the Secret Garden stamp set, stamped, die cut, and folded to give dimension.  I added a bit of Washi tape down the right side of the first inner panel.

The Happy Birthday is framed at the top and bottom with more of the Gingham Garden DSP.  The main colors on this card:  Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Melon Mambo, Island Indigo, and Tempting Turquoise.

Click HERE to see a video I took of this card opening with the 3D medallion.

Support Staff Thank-You Cards

Each year we have an event at work where we thank all of our support staff - Teacher Assistants, Student Helpers,  etc.  Without them, our job would be even harder!

This is part of my contribution to the group we were assigned to.  Turns out this year, I work with all 5 ladies, two of which I work quite closely.

Each of these cards uses the "new" Thinlits Flip card die;  labels, and circle.  I did make one big change.  I thought the cards were way too small until I found THIS video which shows how to extend the cards to give you room to write on the inside flap!  {Sorry about the ads at the beginning of the video - they are so annoying!}

Card 1

 Here's a view of the unfolded flap with coordinating paper decorations... and lots of room for my team to write messages.  YAY!

Card 1 inside view

Card 2

Card 2 inside view

Card 3

Card 3 inside view

Card 4

Card 4 inside view

Card 5

Card 5 inside view

The entire set of 5 cards came from one paper stack:  Gingham Garden with the main colors of:  Night of Navy, Melon Mambo, Island Indigo, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, and Whisper White.

I also got out the chalks, and used complimentary colors to chalk the flower embossing on the front and inside views.

Please enjoy!
Have a wonderful day.