Papercrafting with Polly

Memory Box and Poppystamps Week at The Stamp Act

Hello papercrafting friends!  It's beautiful here in the desert Southwest with spring in full bloom.  I love sitting outside on my patio in the evenings and smelling the sweet honeysuckle and jasmine wafting in on the cool breeze.  My trees have all bloomed and are growing leaves like crazy.  So it's a perfect time to turn to Memory Box and Poppystamps, two sister companies that are known for their gorgeous flower dies and creative stamp sets.  I have worked very hard to create dozens of brand new samples and a whole new display area.  In addition I have a large order of brand new dies arriving any day.  Here's a look at our display (be sure to click on the photo to see more detail).

Today I am going to share with you a cool technique that I taught years ago.  You can use this technique with any die so look through your dies for flowers, corners or frames and give it a try.  I will be using the Memory Box die Honeyblossom Sprig and will share several cards using this die at the end of the blog.  Let me show you the finished card: Again, please click on the card to see the shiny detail on the die cut itself.  First, I die cut the Honeyblossom Sprig from Neena 100 lb Solar White cardstock and colored it with Copic Markers.  When I first taught this technique I used Ranger's Distress Stains which come in a wide variety of beautiful colors.  Once the die cut was colored, I placed the die on my craft sheet and pressed my Versamark ink pad all over the die cut.  Then I immediately covered the die cut with clear embossing powder.  I shook off the excess powder and heated it with my heat tool.  At this point you can quickly dip it into the embossing powder again while it's still hot (the powder will stick to the hot embossing) and heat it again.  Or you can let it cool, cover it with Versamark ink again and cover it with clear embossing powder again.  In any case do it three times to get a nice shiny surface.

Warning: Work on a craft sheet or other non-stick surface because if you work on paper, the die cut will stick to the paper!

And that's it!  A fun technique that gives a beautiful clear, shiny finish to any die cut.  I completed the card with the Memory Box Tessatina Border down the right side of the card and a sweet sentiment from Stampendous.

Let me show you other cards I made with this die and technique.

Memory Box Journey stamp, paper and Honeyblossom Sprig and Crisp Bows dies.  We have both dies in stock.
Memory Box Honeyblossom Sprig die.

Here are some other cards using this technique; it was fall and Christmas when I made these cards! 

I hope you will give this technique a try and please stop in soon and see all the Memory Box and Poppystamps dies and stamps.  I will be featuring cards using different products from these wonderful companies in my next few blogs but you can see them all right now when you stop by the store.

Remember, our huge sale is continuing.  We have lots of interesting products on sale for prices of 50 cents to $4.  Don't miss the bargains.  Plus we have new dies and stamps from Penny Black, Impression Obsession and Lawn Fawn.  I hope to see you soon.

When It Rains

Hello fellow papercrafters.  It's Spring and while we here in the desert Southwest enjoy beautiful, mild, sunny weather, we don't get very many spring rains.  But today I invite you to dream of nice soft rains as I share with you several cards made with Taylored Expressions' new large umbrella die called When it Rains along with their Falling Rain background die and Rain or Shine stamp set.  Here are photos of the dies I used.

For my first card, I cut many umbrellas using only the solid background umbrella.  Next I sponged each one with a different color of Distress Oxide ink and then misted the umbrellas with water to create water spots.  To create the focal umbrella I first cut a white background then the three stitched sections.  I sponged these pieces also.  Here's a tip: I glued the middle (gold) section down first but before I added the pink and green sections I colored the outline of the section with a similar color Copic marker.  Why? Because the white cardstock was peeking through the stitching.  You could also sponge the white background with the same Oxide inks.

Adhere the umbrellas to the background arranging them in a pleasing way.  Add a few handles or pieces of handle to the background.

Once the umbrella is finished, die cut the handle out of black cardstock and cut it into the two pieces as shown.  Attach one piece to the umbrella and reserve the handle part to add after you stamp and gold emboss the sentiment on a die cut stitched rectangle.  Add the umbrella with foam mounting tape.

When It Rains – Taylored Expressions dies When It Rains Umbrella and Stitched Rectangles; TE stamp set Rain or Shine; design inspired by Gayatri Murali

Next up is the Falling Rain background which is so cool.  First sponge a background with Distress Oxide ink (I used Salty Ocean) then die cut it with the Falling Rain die.  I forgot to spritz the background with water but I suggest you should to add more depth to the background.  Heat set the bottom of the background to make sure it is dry before pouncing it with an anti static too (we sell the EK Success too).  Next stamp and heat emboss in white the sentiment.

Die cut the Rolling Clouds (it's a set of three dies and I used two of them on this card).  Lightly sponge the edges with Salty Ocean ink. Adhere these to the top of the background.  Add the umbrella with a silver handle and you're done! Rain or Shine Blue – Taylored Expressions dies When It Rains Umbrella, Build-A-Scene Rolling Clouds and Falling Rain; TE stamp set Rain or Shine; design inspired by Melody Rupple

My next sample is a happy card and it's a lot easier than it looks initially.  First I used the Taylored Expressions Cloud Border to create a cloudy sky.  Then I die cut the Falling Hearts background from two colors of pink, two colors of red and the white "cloudy sky" cardstock.  Make little piles of the pink and red hearts because you're going to inlay them into the white sky.  Cover the back of the sky background with scor tape (double sided tape), turn it over and start inserting the pink and red hearts as desired.

Construct the umbrella from 2 colors of red cardstock and "fill" it with red and pink hearts cut with the TE Little Bits Hearts die.  Die cut the Rolling Clouds being sure to leave enough room to stamp the sentiment in black Versafine ink. Mount everything and add it to a red card base.   

Showered With Love – Taylored Expressions dies When It Rains Umbrella, Build-A-Scene Rolling Clouds, Falling Hearts and Little Bits Hearts; TE stamp set Rain or Shine; design inspired by Melody Rupple

I love the pretty papers on this card. I think it's pretty self explanatory so I won't go into details.
Rain or Shine Floral – Taylored Expressions die When It Rains Umbrella; TE stamp set Rain or Shine; design inspired by Kim Singdahlsen

For my next card I switched to a smaller umbrella (TE's Little Bits Umbrella) which I die cut from three different decorative papers.  For the background I embossed the Falling Rain die on blue cardstock.  To do this simply use a rubber mat and the correct "sandwich" recipe for embossing for your die cut tool.  OH!  Be sure to stamp your sentiment first then emboss!  Once I taped and glue everything together, I "colored" the raindrops above the umbrellas with Nuvo clear drops and let it dry.
Dance in the Rain – Taylored Expressions dies Falling Rain and Little Bits Umbrella; TE stamp set Rain or Shine

I published this Rainbow card a few weeks ago but since it used some of the same stamps and dies I thought I would include it again.  The umbrella is mounted on a background created with the Rainbow die with two stitched clouds tucked under and below it.  The sentiment is stamped on white cardstock die cut with the Rolling Clouds. Rainbow – Taylored Expressions dies Rainbow, When It Rains Umbrella, Stitched Cloud Duo and Build-A-Scene Rolling Clouds; TE stamp set Rain or Shine; TE embossing folder Raindrops; design inspired by Jean Manis

 

Spring Sale ... Spring Sale ... Spring Sale

I am still deep cleaning the store and our sale counter is stuffed with bargains from 50 cents to $4.  There's paper, cards, stamps, dies and tons of fun embellishments.  Lots of goodies that kids will love.  All Christmas, Fall and Halloween stamps and dies are marked down 35%.  I also have kits for making multiple cards with the stamps and dies included for just a few dollars.  If you make cards for friends, your church or school, check these out.  All the paper is precut and some is even stamped already so you need only finish them!  

Please stop in soon because these bargains are too good to pass up!

Poppystamps Garden Bouquet Die

Hello friends.  Today I will share with you several ways to use the Poppystamps die Garden Bouquet, an outline die with lots of open areas perfect for showing a background treatment or inlaying with a contrasting paper.  By the way, lest you be confused, Poppystamps had a previous die named Garden Bouquet (item #1188).  This newer version is item #2016.

My first cards all feature the inlay technique and Lawn Fawn's new paper "Gotta Have Gingham."  The papers in this collection are all very light so be sure to click on the cards to see them close up.

For each of these cards, I cut the Garden Bouquet die three times from white cardstock then glued them together.  This gave the focal image lots of depth when I inserted the butterfly wings or flower petals.  I added crystals to the open flowers and cut one little flower and glued it in the lower right corner.  The focal image is framed with Poppystamps Double Stitched Scalloped Rectangles Frames.

3 Gingham Cards – Poppystamps dies Garden Bouquet and Double Stitched Scalloped Rectangle Frames; Lawn Fawn paper pad Gotta Have Gingham; design inspired by Jennifer Svare

The next two cards feature brighter, more dramatic backgrounds.  I die cut the panel with Memory Box's Wrapped Stitched Rectangle Layers then masked off a rectangular area and sponged on Distress Oxide inks for a very pretty and bright background.  I added the die cut Garden Bouquet next then embellished it with black Nuvo drops.  To finish the card, I stamped "sending" and cut it out with the matching die.  Finally to complete the sentiment, I stamped "happy thoughts" on the rectangle layer.  One panel I mounted on a white card and the other panel I mounted on a deep pink card.
Sending Happy Thoughts 1 and 2 – Poppystamps die Garden Bouquet; Poppystamps clear stamp set with coordinating dies Sending Scribbles; Memory Box die Wrapped Stitched Rectangles; design inspired by Pam Sparks

My final two cards are similar, one mounted on stitched ovals and the second mounted on the Lattice Oval Frame. The flowers are accented with Nuvo drops (Apple Green).

Hi 2 – Poppystamps die Garden Bouquet; Memory Box die Stitched Ovals; Taylored Expressions die Hey, Hi, Hello
Hi 1 – Poppystamps die Garden Bouquet; Taylored Expressions dies Lattice Frame and Hey, Hi, Hello

Our Huge Spring Sale

Lots of customers are grabbing the hot bargains!!  We have marked down dies and stamps with original prices in the double digits to $1 to $5.  All Christmas, Halloween and  Fall dies and stamps are now 35% off and we have hundreds of punches on sale for $1 to $3.  We also have boxes of bargains for $.50 cents to a few dollars. 

Besides all the bargains we have lots of new merchandise in stock so it is worth your time to stop in and check out all the wonderful new and sale merchandise. I hope to see you very soon!