Tamara's Paper Trail: April 2025

Tuesday, April 22, 2025

Let Me Show You How .... to play with watercolour paper and inks for different looks - Apr 21, 2025

Happy Tuesday! Here I am ... at 7:53 pm ... counting down the minutes until bedtime lol - yes, I'm THAT old! It's been a good, but exhausting day. This gal is SPENT! So I figured I'd get my Blog Post done to chip away another half hour or so! hee hee

Have you ever played with inks, water and watercolour paper? I have. I must confess. I'm not a fan. I don't like the randomness of the results! I like to KNOW how things are going to turn out and watercolouring does NOT allow for that! It's organic .. and "fluid" ... and isn't easily controlled. Not my jam! lol. Having said that, I gave it a whirl ... again ... and must say it was one of my more successful sessions! I made this card, based on a sample made by Stampin' Up! I certainly didn't end up with a card that looked like theirs but I loved how it turned out. This is it ...

So many people commented on it, when I shared it, that I decided to do a live to show you a few tips and tricks and to see if I could recreate it. (Spoiler Alert ... I couldn't lol - a I said, watercolouring is hard to control and you rarely end up with the same look twice!).

I used a new stamp set, coming up in the May 2025 Online Exclusives, called Impressions Abloom. I can't add it to the supply list, because it isn't "live" yet, so doesn't pull up on the supply options. Pop into the Stampin' Up! online store May 6th to see and/or snag this bundle. It's a GREAT one! Oh - the gems I used are also not yet released ... Strawberry Slush & Pretty in Pink Gems ...

I made a few different samples with varying amount of water, intensity of ink and colours. These are the results ...

I really like how this one turned out - the white really pops agains the Berry Burst paper and inks!

Here is the Facebook Live replay, showing you how I played with the inks and watercolour paper for different looks ...

The key really is just GO FOR IT! Have no fear - it's just paper. Play, experiment and practice, practice, practice! I was quite happy with how they all turned out. If you don't try, you won't know!

That's it for this week. If you would like to join me LIVE for my MCM (Mystery Card Monday) sessions, you can catch me on my FaceBook Page here at 7:00 pm Mountain Time every Monday ... or on my YouTube Channel here at the same time (I stream live to both). Like and Follow my FB Page and/or Subscribe to my YouTube Channel. I'd love to have you - the live community is AMAZING and so much fun!

If you live in Canada and would like to purchase any of the items I used for my cards, just click any of the pictures below and you will be taken to my online store. Thank you! I appreciate your support!

Stay amazing!

Tamara

Product List

Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper

[149612]

$12.25

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$20.00

Berry Burst 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[144243]

$15.75

Old Olive 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[100702]

$15.75

Berry Burst Classic Stampin' Pad

[147143]

$12.25

Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad

[147052]

$12.25

Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad

[147101]

$12.25

Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad

[147090]

$12.25

Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad

[147095]

$12.25

Painted Texture 3 D Embossing Folder

[154317]

$13.75

Baker's Twine Essentials Pack

[155475]

$15.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$6.00

Multipurpose Liquid Glue

[110755]

$8.25

Water Painters

[151298]

$18.00

Take Your Pick

[144107]

$16.50

Paper Snips

[103579]

$16.50

Bone Folder

[102300]

$11.00

Paper Trimmer

[152392]

$39.00

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Twisted Ribbon Technique Card - MCM Layout Apr 14, 2025

Happy Tuesday! ... I think ... I'm reserving judgement. Why? 'cause today is "demo day" ... our upper floor renovations started an hour ago. Lord, I may not make it through 3 months of this! My eye is twitching and I don't know where I packed my hairbrush lol. I know it will be worth it in the end but we will definitely have a few sleepless nights! (we are now camped out in our "bonus room" .. and living out of boxes. Wish me luck!

LUCK, and possibly alcohol, is what I needed last night for my MCM Live event. Oy! It was a painful hour lol. Everyone wanted to learn the "Twisted Ribbon" Technique so I showed you how ... sort of ... Apparently the paper and card stock you use DOES male a difference in how much you like (or hate) the final card! My viewers had me thinking I was going crazy (which may be true but I didn't need help lol), as the last card I made, using the Woven Textiles paper, gave the illusion that I made the card wrong. For the record, I DIDN'T, it IS just an illusion because the light designer paper and the Crumb Cake card stock make it LOOK like it's backwards. Again, DSP and card stock choice matters!

So! Here are the cards I showed you. The lovely purple one, which started the requests of "show us how!", was given to me by my friend Penny. I like hers best! For the record, no, I don't think I will ever try this technique again lol. Check out the cards ...

This one uses our Floral Delight Designer paper and the sentiment is from Grateful Blessing ...

This one uses thicker strips (3/4" rather than 1/2" strips, and I attached them every 3/4" rather than every 5/8" - it definitely gives a more "open" look/feel .... but wasn't the fan favourite. I used Shaded Spruce and and Mixed Media Florals paper with the Saying Hey stamp set.

This was the original card that inspired me to try, using our retired Sale-a-brations paper Bloom Impressions, and the Everyday Greeting sentiment. The dies she used escapes me. Thank you Penny!

The one on the left sparked a lot of conversation .. as the optical illusion makes it look like I assembled it wrong. Look again. The two cards are exactly the same, other than the Crumb cake layer and the light DSP ...

I actually quite like the one on the right.

Want to make your own version(s) of this layout? I'm not sure I sold it as a "must try technique" lol. But if you're brave ... here is the "recipe" of the pieces you need to prep ... but in my video everyone voted that 1/2" x 3" strips looked nicer than 3/4" x 3" strips so you decide!

... and here is the Mystery Card Monday (MCM) Facebook Live replay, showing you how to cut the papers and put all the pieces together. You've been warned, it MAY turn you off this technique forever! lol