Twist and Pop and 3-D Pop Up Cards

Happy Sunday!

MAN las week flew by!!  Having Monday off for "Family Day" here in Canada threw me RIGHT off!  That and taking a few evenings "off" working.  I am working REALLY hard at getting a better work/life balance this year.  It's NOT easy for me!  I think anyone who runs their own business will agree that the mind is ALWAYS working on things you "could" or "should" be doing.  I'm trying, though .. and I am getting better at it.  Wednesday night was dinner and a pedicure with my BFF and Thursday night was just chilling in front of the TV with Craig.  It's not often we are in the same room together at the same time, let alone BOTH sitting and watching TV!  I spent all day Friday prepping for my team "Stampin' Social " that was Saturday morning.  I LOVE having a house full of friends, food, laughing and stamping!  Thirteen of us crammed into my basement to make some, what I call, "over the top" cards.  The first one was a "Twist and Pop" card.  Yes, there are a LOT of layers and it took forEVER to cut them all ... but it was a labour of love and well worth the effort!  Check this out ...

SO fun to make and SUCH a "WOW!" for the recipient!   It really isn't THAT hard, once you "get it".  I have made about 8 of them now and it DOES get faster and easier mentally (although I must admit I did it wrong in my demonstration to my team yesterday!  I blame the back pills and not enough coffee *lol*).  This card really does need to be SEEN being made .. and then you need to try it.  Don't be scared - give it a go!

Here is my video.  Pop over to YouTube and subscribe to my channel so you can see past and future videos.  My channel is "Tamara's Paper Trail".

Let's check out the OTHER "over the top" project we made Saturday ...

This is a 3-D Pop Up card/box that my friend Diane Hutchinson over at "Crafts by the Bow" taught me how to make.  It's not hard by any means ... just lots of pieces and steps.  Here is the video I made on this one, again, find it over on my YouTube channel ...

That's it for today.  I need to go walk my little Doodle Bug and stretch my back!

I hope you found some inspiration today.  Have a stampy Sunday!


Tam

Bike Ride Love

Happy Wednesday!

I had hoped to post yesterday alas, that little thing called "life" just keeps getting in the way!  I'm still trying to catch up from weekend away whilst trying to get ready for my next get away in just over a week.  I tell ya, I'm just not cut out for all this jet setting!

My mind whirling with thoughts at 5:00 am I decided to get up and take an hour of peace and quite (and coffee!) just for me!  Blogging really is "me" time, and is a luxury as I get to share what I love.

This is a card I shared on the Stampin' Up! demo site and my business facebook page (Tamara's Paper Trail) some time ago.  I absolutely LOVE this card.  It makes me smile :)

I just adore the pop of Lemon Lime Twist against the stark black!  I got the inspiration from a card made by Linda Callahan.  Check hers out at www.stampinseasons.blogspot.ca ...

I just LOVE how she simply hilighted the back of the bike.  Brilliant!  Always a sucker for a black and white card I started mine off there - clean and simple.  It needed a pop of color and Lemon Lime Twist was my go-to!

I have to admit - when the new catalogue first came out I wasn't at all convinced I would buy the Bike Ride Bundle ...

At $54.75 Canadian (plus s/h/gst) it IS an investment bundle, for sure ... and all those PIECES!  I usually find these types of bundles TOTALLY overwhelming and usually don't know where to start ... so I don't!  I buy them and then they sit ... and sit ... and sit.  I was determined to USE this one (BEFORE it retired!) and I just grabbed the bike frame, my black ink and some scrap white card stock.  I inked that bad-boy and when I stamped the image that beautiful black bike frame just made me happy! ... and I was off.  I stamped and stamped and stamped.  Black frame with red accent.  Black frame with blue accent.  Grey frame with yellow accent ... and on and on and on.

I stumbled across Linda's card and was inspired.  I knew immediately I wanted to use my brick wall embossing folder and things just went from there.

Don't be afraid to get the "complicated" sets.  Get the ones you love and just ink them up and stamp.  If you need inspiration just type the stamp set name plus Stampin' Up! then search through the hundreds of images and go from there!

Here is the card again ...

Here are the fine details ...

Whisper White Base - 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" run through the Big Shot with the Brick Wall embossing folder
Vertical Basic Black Mat - 2 1/4" x 4 3/4"
Whisper White top layer (using Bike Ride Bundle) - 2" x 4 1/2"
Basic Black Flag Mat - 1 1/4" x 3"
Whisper White top sentiment layer (from Up and Away Stamp set) - 1" x 2 3/4"
Bike frame and basket stamped with Black Archival Ink
Basket and bike rim stamped with Lemon Lime Twist
Seat and Pedal colored with Lemon Lime Twist marker
Flag popped up on Dimensionals
Mini Sequins attached with fine tip glue pen
Doily colored with Lemon Lime Twist using our sponge brayer

The Life Me Up set is $28 (CDN + s/h/gst)

Well ... I guess that's my "me" time over.  Time to wake the girls and get this day started!

Whatever you get up to today, I hope you have a stampy day!


Tam

I'm so far behind I think I'm first!

Happy Tuesday!

Ya ... it's been more insane than usual around here lately!  I STARTED this post on Sunday ... and here it is Tuesday night!  Sheesh!  Truth be told I'm only finishing it now because it's only 8:04 pm and I'm trying to stay upright until at least 9:00.  If I stop moving I'm PRETTY sure I'll fall asleep.  Not even kidding.  This week I've tried to watch a 20 minute show at bedtime and three nights in a row I've passed out within the first 2 minutes!  hee hee.  The FALLING asleep is easy.  The STAYING asleep is not!  SOOOO much going on in my head - classes, birthdays, Easter, new catalogue, retiring products, pre-orders, planning .. and COUNCIL WORK!  Tomorrow is THE big day for me with council worl.  I will be spending the entire day working on my part of the seminar we are putting on in Toronto THIS weekend.  Ya.  Gotta get it done tomorrow as Thursday I'm booked ALL day and I leave for Toronto on Friday.  So that's my crazy right now!  What was my crazy last week?

Well ... we had Easter at Mom's, as we always do.  It was a feast of feasts.  SO good!  Mom and Alicia had made this cute little edible bunny bread with dip in the tummy,  So cute!

We also had Rebecca's 16th birthday celebration on Thursday.  Sweet 16.  *sniff.  Not a baby any more!

Mama and Papa brought balloons that had money inside.  SO fun to pop them all and watch the money rain down!

We spent our traditional Mom/Daughter day at the mall.  It's a tradition we've had since she was about 7.  Long may it last!

I made her a Twist and Pop card.  It was actually QUITE quick and easy to come together ...

I held a Coffee and Cards class yesterday at Second Cup.  These are the cards we made.  SO quick and easy!

I had a class on Friday (and again Saturday).  These were the little notecards that went inside a "clutch" style package.

I CASED this project form Chris Slogar and a tutorial she posted on Splitcoast Stampers.  You can check that out HERE

We also made a "Triangle Corner Pop-Up 3-D Card". 

I CASED that one from fellow demo Jan Brown.  You can find HER tutorial at Jan B Cards or on youtube.  Here's here video.

I was struggling to come up with a third project for the class ... until I realized I DID have this new bird stamp set "Free as a Bird" so I CASEd the Make and Take from Vancouver On Stage.  A changed it a little, to use up some of the retiring Powder Pink Card stock.  I LOVE this bundle and I know I'll use it a LOT this year!

I finally got around to mailing the box of 180 notecards to our friend Mr. Dan in GA, USA.  This was the card I put inside with a little note ...

If you follow me on Facebook you will have seen this little tip a posted.  My friend Claudine had mentioned that if you use a self healing cutting mat in place of the bottom cutting pad your TOP cutting plate won't warp.  I decided to give it a try.  IT WORKED!

I ran this top plate through the Big Shot at LEAST 40 times and it is just as straight as when I took it out of the package!  Oh sure, the mat isn't very good at fine detailed dies but for outline dies like these there are just fine!  We can't get the cutting plates through Stampin' Up! anymore so using these self healing mats will definitely help extend the life of the two new plates I have!

Here is a video showing you want I mean ...

You can probably tell I'm exhausted ... my rambling isn't as long or detailed as usual so I'll leave it at that for today.  I wanted to get this post finished, as I'm trying REALLY hard to be consistent in posting but also trying to get a good life/family/work balance.  I WAS doing really well .. until the last few weeks.  It's all good - just a slight blip until next week, once these Council Seminars are over.

I hope you're all well and having a stampy night!

Tam

Lined Alphabet Dies and Video

Happy Saturday!

MAN am I beat!  I've had a great, albeit EXHAUSTING few days!

I don't normally have my monthly Technique Class one night and then my Team Meetings the next morning.  I did that once and it darn near killed me!  What happens is I have my class Friday night, people leave around 9:30 pm and then I have to clean up the three card stations from the night and set up the projects for the 9:30 AM meeting on Saturday morning.  I'm usually up until 12:00 -1:00 am getting it all set up.  I did it once and vowed I would never do it again.  Ya. Never say never.  Due to a scheduling conflict this month I HAD to have my class and meeting back to back.  I'm thrilled to say I pretty much nailed BOTH sessions in that I was prepped on THURSDAY NIGHT for BOTH events!  Moreover, I even had to redecorate the basement to make room for 13 of my crafty team members, taking apart our couch and stashing the good stools in the storage room (with great difficulty, I might add!).  I was actually done setting up for the Saturday session around 10:30 last night ... but then I figured I was on such a roll I should design and complete 10 complex cards.  Sigh.  I AM my own worst enemy sometimes!  Whilst I wasn't feeling exhausted last NIGHT, I am now sitting on the couch, at 6:23 pm Saturday evening counting down the minutes until it is socially acceptable to go to bed.  Actually, no, wait ... that's a lie.  Who am I kidding??  I'm an adult.  I can go to bed at 6:32 pm if I want to ... I'm not going to bed simply because I know either my back or my bladder will rebel against me at some point between 6:23 PM and 6:23 am ... and when one of them wakes me from my glorious slumber I will be well and truly screwed for sleep for the rest of the night.

So here I am ... blogging ... watching the clock tick on ....

Right!  Enough oversharing about my bladder and clock watching!  *lol* . Let's take a look at the project that got me INTO this exhausted mess, shall we?

Yay! Dont'cha love it??  The colours just make me HAPPY!

Blueberry Bushel, Granny Apple Green Lemon Lime Twist and Daffodil Delight.  So fresh and pretty!

Now ... I have spent WELL over an hour trying to upload a "live" Facebook Video to Youtube so I could then share it here, all professional-like.  Ya.  Without inserting some very colourful words, let's just say I have stepped away from that challenge and given up on the dream.

Do you WANT to see my live video showing you how to make this beauty?  Well I didn't record the whole making of the card but I DID video the making of the "YAY" portion, which is really what you want to see!  SO!  To see it you need to click here.  That will take you to my "closed" facebook group "Tamara's Paper Trail VIPs".  If you don't get access to the video just request to join the group and I will add you.  That's the best I can do, given my limited brain power and tolerance for Facebook programming mental gymnastics!

Trust me - you want to see this video.  I thought it would be nice to record one "live" using those really expensive Lined Alphabet dies and stamp set.  Are they REALLY as easy to use as Stampin' Up! leads us to believe?  Is it possible to use them successfully on the first try or is there a 19-time trial and error requirement before a stamper can use it with confidence?  Check out the video and find out!

** After I made the video I continued to crack off piecesto make a total of 10 "yay" cards.  I got the knack quite quickly.  What worked for me was to cut ALL the coloured pieces at 3" x 3" and then, after I taped them all together (using Fast Fuse) I trimmed them so the final square is/was 3" x3".  It worked really well.

To finish the card off, once I had the "yay" made, I ran a piece of 5" x 3 3/4" piece of Whisper White through the Swirls & Curls embossing folder (make sure you spray it with a mist of water before doing so to avoid the paper cracking!) .

I cut a piece of Mini Ruffled Lemon Lime Twist ribbon 16" long and looped it behind the "yay" piece.  To do THAT I ran some Fast Fuse along the back of the "yay".  I then folded the ribbon at 5.5" and at 11" across the sticky piece.  I then used two pieces of Tear and Tape to secure the ribbon in place.  I used dimensionals to pop the "yay" up for added interest.

The sentiment is from "Amazing Congratulations", stamped in Blueberry Bushel on a 1/2" piece of whisper White.  I just used scrap pieces and free hand snipped the angled edges.  The sentiment is popped up on dimensionals.

I added three silver stars from a pack of metallic enamel shapes I found that had fallen behind my ribbon holder.  I have no idea when these things were on offer but they are now retired *lol* . Who knows how long they were back there!

The final touch was the envelope (and inside).  I used one of the four images in the Birthday Background stamp set.  This is a quiet little set that I'm pretty sure has flown under the radar of most of us ... but it's a must have, in my opinion, for cute little details like this. 

So there you have it.  My exhausted ramblings on a Saturday evening.  I'm now 13 minutes closer to my bed *lol*.

Whatever you got up to today, I hope you had a stampy time.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!


Tam

Magical Day Fun

Happy Monday!

Hope you had a fun weekend :) . Mine was relaxing as I finally got a long-overdue pedicure with my BFF!  A few chores, some grocery shopping and meal prep and a bit of crafting and BAM - weekend over.  I have a busy week ahead (3 classes and an all-day conference/class I'm teaching) so I'll be scheduling videos for you to watch.  Today, however, I'll share two adorable projects I made this weekend just to whet your appetite for a bundle you might not realize you need *lol*.  Check these out ...

Aren't they adorable???  That plump, sassy unicorn makes me giggle and the look on the wizard's face is priceless!  I dare you - Google "Magical Day Stampin' Up" and click on images.  So cute!

Yes, the bundle in question is called Magical Day.  It is $60.25 CDN (pre s/h/gst) and comes with the set and the framelits ...

 Of course you can buy them separately but you pay more that way.  Buy them together and you save 10%.  (Clear set $29, framelits $38).

There are other items in this "suite" that are a must-have, as they coordinate perfectly and make cards and scrap pages a breeze!  They are the Myths & Magic Designer Series Paper ($17), the Myths & Magic Washi Tape ($8.00) and the Myths & Magic Glimmer Paper ($20.50)

Zoom in on that designer paper.  It is SO fun!  The images are ADORABLE and the card stock is thick and glittery.  It hurts to cut into it but you must!  It's to awesome to hoard - it must be shared!

Right - so those are the products you need.  Back to the cards ...

Both cards were inspired by others (when I Googled the set for inspiration!) . The unicorn card was inspired by Katrina Duffell over at InkPaperGirl.  The wizard was inspired by Suzanne at SunnStampin.com.  As always, I start off copying an idea I found but it ends up morphing into something more personal.  Let's look the unicorn card first.

Standard card base in Whisper White
I stamped the sentiment in Berry Burst and then punched it out with the Starburst punch ($22.50).   I only recently bought that punch - I somehow missed that it was new in the 2017 catalogue!  You need this punch ... and the other new one, the 2/1/4 circle punch, which is what I used for the Lemon Lime Twist circle behind it.

I punched out the unicorn with the framelits and colored the mane with my Blends ... but to do it again I would just use my markers, as the stripes are so small you can't get much of a shading effect using the Blends.  Save the time and trouble and just use markers.

I ran a strip of scrap through the Big Shot using the Oh My Stars embossing folder.  The silver glittery-starry strip on top of it is the washi tape, as is the Dazzling Diamonds strip behind it.

I popped the circles up on dimensionals and used my fine tip glue pen to glue down the unicorn.    I added three sticky backed sequins for a little pop of color and fun to finish it off.

The wizard card took me considerably longer to pull together.  I think mainly because I was tired ... and I was just playing... enjoying the process.  As I said, I started with Suzanne's card for inspiration then started to play. 

The top whisper white piece is actually quite small - 4 1/2" x 3 1/4"
Dapper Denim layer 4 3/4" x 3 1/2"
Pool Party layer is 5" x 3 3/4"

I started by stamping the sentiment on scrap paper.  To ink the image I stamped it in Pool Party and then took a finger dauber and added Dapper Denim to the stamp along the bottom to give it an ombre look.  I stamped it and cut out the word Magical" using the banner framelit that comes in the bundle.  ** . Note - at this point the "I hope your day is" isn't stamped (other than on the scrap ... that we won't be using)

Then I made the Wizard. I stamped him I Memento ink so I could use my Blends.  I cut him out using the framelits.  I used the Pool Party Blends for his clothes and the Ivory Blend for his hands and face.

Once he was done (I didn't tape him down yet) I stamped the stars (in Pool Party and Dapper Denim).  I then popped him up on dimensionals.

For the "Hope your day is" I used my Stamp-a-ma-gig and Dapper Denim ink to position it just so.

I added a bit of washi tape to go under the "Magical" and then popped the "Magical" up on dimensionals. 

I used my clear Wink of Stella to his beard and moustache and a few thinestones to the stars.

It was time consuming but I just love how he turned out.  SO cute!

I wanted to make more and more cards using this quite of products alas, I was tired and my back had had enough so I'll have to carry on another day.  I DO hope these products make it into the annual catalogue in June.  I want to play a LOT more with it but I have so many OTHER great new toys to play with I know it will have to wait a while.

So that's it for today - off to grab a shower and "officially" start my day (been up since 4:00 but that doesn't count! lol)

I hope you have a stampy day - pop in again this week to check out some videos of other new toys you need to see!  TTYS


Tam

Pedal Pusher CASE with a Beautiful Ride Twist

Happy Sunday!

Daylight Saving time has me floundering today.  I actually managed to sleep last night … and Craig told me I wasn't allowed to get up until the crack of 8:30 am … and I obliged!  I even relaxed and just stayed there until about 8:50 am - unHEARD of for me!  Naturally when I got up it felt like the day was already over *lol*.  By the time I had my coffee it was 10:00 … some breakfast 10:45 … walked the dog and got back at noon!  Heck - practically BED time … what was the point in actually DOING anything, right? lol.

Putzed around, took the girls to the gaming store to buy them a computer game they wanted.  Rebecca nailed the honours list again this term and Alicia has been getting excellent marks for weeks (her report card doesn't come out for 2 weeks yet) - so figured they were entitled to a treat / early Easter gift.   That killed another hour or so.  Just finished dinner, kids are gaming and shortly we'll settle down for a family movie … so thought I'd do a little "work" and post a project I made the other day.  (I did make Craig laugh when I said I was going to do some work and then promptly assumed the horizontal position on the couch with my laptop.   I did say "there aren't TOO many jobs you can do lying on your back! … of course SOME pay better than others" !!!!!  Yes, I can hear my mother's voice "TAMARA!  Inappropriate!" lol  Sorry Ma hee hee)

So!  Check out this little cutie that we made in class this week …

Ta-Da!  What I SUPER love about it is the glimmer …

Wink of Stella.  I'm almost done my second bottle.  Yup - I put that s*** on everything! lol

First let's give credit where credit is due.  I loved this layout that was featured in the Pedal Pusher video I posted a few weeks ago.  I used that as my starting off point and didn't alter it much.  I also found this card from fellow demo Barb Mullikin over at www.barbstamps.com

So cute.  Pop over to Barb's blog if you want to see how she (and I) created the striped piece.  In a nutshell we started with a 3 3/4" x 5" piece of Soft Sky card stock then used the "masking" technique with our fun Dots and Striped Decorative Masks ($3.75 for the two of them - can't beat that deal with a stick!)

When you use these masked you can use SO many different tools to get a great design.  You can place the mask over your card stock and a) brayer colour on to it b) sponge colour on to it c) finger dauber colour onto it d) directly apply the stamp pad to colour it e) use markers to colour it or f) - the one we used - spritz it!  I have avoided using my spritzer for the better part of 10 years.  I am now scraping the bottom of the technique barrel and figured I'd give it a go.  Yup - it was messy but yup - it was fun and gave a great look!  I used our spritzers (2-pack for $3.75 … again … deal … stick …)

I filled the spritzer with rubbing alcohol (dollar store) then added about 8 drops of Bermuda Bay reiker then shook it up really well.  The next part was kind of scary …. make sure your work surface is well protected … hold the spritzer HIGH - like eye level high - then FULLY and COMPLETELY pus down the spritzer.  He who hesitates and does a whimsy little spritz will get a drizzle leaving drips and globs of ink on your card stock.  If you're going for that look fine.  If not, go HARD and be fearless! lol.

For my card before I masked and spritzed I made sure the angle of the mask was the same as the angle I had cut my whisper white layer.

OK - speaking of THAT part of the card …

I started with a 3 3/4" x 5" piece of Whisper White.  I then took a pencil and ruler and I marked 2" on one side and 3 1/2" on the other.  I drew a line to connect the dots hen cut on that line.  Clear as mud?  Ya, sorry - one day I'll take pictures as I go!

The rest of the card is pretty straight forward.  I used Memento Ink for the images and sentiment.  The images are from the Pedal Pusher free SAB set and the sentiment is from "Beatiful Ride" in the 2016 Occasions Catalogue.  I love this sentiment with this glitzy bike.  Perfect!

I coloured the frame of the bike with my Pool Party marker and did accents with my Bermuda Bay marker.  I went over everything with my wink of Stella Clear pen.  I added a half doily and 16" of the Bakers Twine $8.25 for the two-pack (deal … stick …) … 

… attached the pieces onto a 5 1/4" x 4" Basic Black mat … then that to a Whisper White standard base and wa-low!  A FAB card for a fab friend.  Any questions?

I'd like to give a shout out to my new pal over in Ohio, Stephanie B - thanks for following Stephanie :)

Guess I should go start that movie soon.  Hope you had a stampy weekend - pop in again soon!

Tam