Stamping Christmas Cards with Novice stampers!

 Hey Stampers!

I did something really fun last night! My daughter and her good friend wanted to have a Girls' Night Out with some of their friends and thought making some Christmas cards sounded like fun. Other than my daughter, the rest of the crew were novice stampers and by most of their admissions, "not crafty at all"! I was excited to show them that stamping doesn't take a "crafty gene" and the only skills required are those you master in kindergarten like being a good listener, sharing supplies, gluing paper and having a really fun time with friends!

I knew I had to design a couple of cards that were not for avid stampers but I also didn't want them to stamp one thing and call it good. I was pretty sure that they would get the hang of stamping so why not design cards that feature plenty of stamping and leave all the other bells and whistles in my stamp room. Here are the cards I designed and I'll share below my thinking on each one.

This is the first card we did so they got their hands inky for the first time with the Peaceful Deer stamp set. We started with just the small Basic White card stock piece in front of them and stamped a starry background (retired stamps) and the sentiment. I then told them we are taking stamping to the next level and did a simple shadow stamping with the pine tree.  By then, they were already amazed at what they had created! I sent around some scrap Basic White to stamp the deer, showed them how to use the coordinating punch, introduced the Stampin'Up' Seal tape runner and dimensionals while we put the card together with all the other elements. Adding a little bling here and there with the glimmer paper and rhinestones topped it off. This was a very simple card in principle but by the time they were done, they really were excited about what they had made. 

This is the next card we made:

One of my favorite sets from the current Mini Catalog is the "Christmas Season" stamp set and dies. We didn't use any dies and I didn't even really talk about die cutting.  I wanted to show them how to stamp with two-step stamping, use a background stamp and just do lots and lots of stamping on a simple Very Vanilla card stock background. This card introduced more color and shades of color, i.e. Shaded Spruce and Just Jade as well as Soft Suede and Early Espresso. After they were done stamping, I took them over to my Stampin'Up! Cut & Emboss machine and we embossed our stamped piece with the Tasteful Textile 3D folder. I wanted them to see how we can create texture with an embossing folder and make our paper now seem almost like parchment or fabric. Prior to putting on the sentiment, we spritzed our stamped pieces with a mixture of rubbing alcohol and Frost shimmer paint to give it a bit of a glow. All of these techniques were easy but quite mind-blowing to novice stampers. People have no idea what you can do with paper and ink until you show them and you don't have to display your whole arsenal of tools. My goal was to have fun with no stress and no sense of "I can't do this, it's too overwhelming" for anyone. 

To finish out the night, I pulled out some retired tag kits and let them just play, eat from the plentiful food buffet and talk and chat to their hearts' content. What a fun night! Here's what I know about stamping and newbies:

1. It doesn't have to be complicated, it's better if it's not.

2. While the dies, embossing folders and all the techniques are essential for avid stampers, they can easily overwhelm newbies.

3. If you have to cut something, try to use a punch. They will love how it works and think the coordination with the stamp is amazing. 

4. Fewer projects is better than too many.

5. End the time with some sort of "free for all" where they can create using some random stamps, paper, etc and keep trying out their new found stamping skills. Christmas tags for gifts were the perfect way to end this party. 

6. Repeatedly assure them that what they have made is great just the way it is, including any flaws, stamping halos or crookedness that happened along the way. It's all part of learning and who doesn't want to be encouraged when they are brave enough to try something new!

7. Offer food and drink, music in the background and it always helps to have a friendly dog wandering around accepting love and hugs. 

Here's a few pics from a super fun Girls' Night Out!

After a night like this I always think to myself "I should do this more often"!! And, that's my plan for 2022!

Happy Stampin',

Sarah

Whimsical Christmas Fun Fold Card

Hey Stampin' Friends!

I'm hopping on my blog today to share a fun card we did at a recent card class. As a side note, many of the participants were somewhat new to stamping and they felt pretty accomplished after making this as their first card! It's a fun card that features lots of Designer Series Paper so would be adaptable to any theme, season or occasion. Here's the card:

It's a multi-paneled card with some precise scoring to allow it to all fold up and tuck into an envelope. Here's what it looks like when it's opened and expanded:

It was fun to tackle a different Christmas color palette with this card and the Whimsy and Wonder suite was perfect! The main colors of Misty Moonlight, Mint Macaron, Polished Pink and Blushing Bride provided a very non-traditional but still stunning look. Bits of silver foil accents are sprinkled throughout some of this gorgeous Designer Series Paper to make it glimmer and shine.  There isn't a ton of stamping on my particular card so the DSP steals the show!

Here are the measurements for the card base and scoring directions:

1 piece of base cardstock that is 5-1/2" x 11-3/4" (just cut 1/4" off a 12" piece of card stock)

Score from left to right at:

2"

3"

5"

7-3/4"

You fold the card in an accordion style and then cut any DSP 1/4"  less than each panel in height and width. You can mix and match paper, add more stamping, add more embellishments or die cuts or do whatever you wish! I love this easy fun fold!

We added a simple band to tie it together with some Blushing Bride frayed grosgrain ribbon (part of the suite) and a sparkly miniature start ornament (on the Clearance Rack) to hold the card shut. If you tie it somewhat loosely, you can easily slide the band on and off!

All the supplies for this card are listed below and I hope you'll consider adding some "whimsy" to your Christmas with this fun suite!

Thanks for stopping by! I always read your comments and try to respond so leave any questions or comments as well!

Until next time, Happy Stampin'!

Sarah

 

Delivering Cheer!

 Hey Friends!

I'm back with a card featuring two products I've had sitting on my stampin' desk for awhile now! The first product was the Diorama set of dies. I wasn't sure what to do with them and played around with a couple of ideas that I didn't love. I laid it aside and came back to it last week with something special created.  I want to share the card, then I'll explain how I made it!

The Diorama die set has multiple dies, different shapes and sizes that can be used and then layered with or without dimensionals to create a shadow box type of effect.  It was really fun to play with them. I chose three different ones that gave each layer enough of a viewable edge. Since I'm in Christmas mode, I decided to create a holiday card with these dies and the "Delivering Cheer" stamp set. I love the stamp set "Delivering Cheer" which is reminiscent of a hostess set we had in the past. It features a woman's lower half of her body and her obviously carrying something. The stamps are ingenious in that they are interchangeable so you can customize what you want to do with them. When I cut the smallest die, I layered Mossy Meadow card stock on top of my Real Red card base so it would cut through both layers, creating a window that peeks into the inside of the card.  When you open the card, you see all of the stamped image from the "Delivering Cheer" set. 

These great images are easy to color with our amazing alcohol Blends markers. I hope you notice her super cute knee high leggings. The details in these stamps are amazing! Just for fun, I added a sentiment from the "Christmas to Remember" stamp set and then punched out a deer with some bronze foil paper and added a red rhinestone nose for just a touch of humor (Rudolph, you know!).  Here's a look at the stamp set for more ideas:

In case you're curious, the three greens I used in the above card, from darkest to lightest are Mossy Meadow, Old Olive and Pear Pizzazz.  They have the same color tones, just different hues, so they compliment each other really well.  You can get any or all of the products I used to make this card by clicking on the pictures below which will take you straight to the online store for an easy shopping experience!

Thanks for stopping by! I have more "cheer" to deliver so until next time,

Happy Stampin'!

Sarah

What a Peaceful Cabin looks like when it's not snowing ;)

 Hi Stampers!

I'm back today with a twist on one of the Mini Catalog best sellers, the "Peaceful Cabin" bundle. The stamp set, coordinating Designer Series Paper and other companion elements are all about winter and snow and imaging a warm, cozy cabin to spend some time in. Well, I live in Montana where there are cabins everywhere and honestly, they probably get the most use in the months where it isn't snowing. Some are so far off the grid that winter and snow make them impossible to get to. Thus, summer is the perfect time to head to the cabin. I wanted to show this set could be used for a non-winter or holiday theme. 

The centerpiece of this card is the cabin. There is a die in the bundle that cuts out part of the cabin and ground surrounding it. I layered some Soft Suede card stock behind the Crumb Cake so the cutting pieces would stand out more. I also did another trick, prior to actually die cutting on the Crumb Cake piece. I inked up my die, on the cutting /blade side, with Early Espresso ink - lots of it! As I put the die through the Stampin'Up! Cut & Emboss, some of the ink transferred to the Crumb Cake cardstock, bringing some more shading detail to my cabin. I loved how this turned out. When you look at the die alone, you will think it cuts out a cabin but in reality it cuts out some lines of a cabin. I hope that makes sense! There are some wonderful pine tree dies included in this bundle and it was fun to add some of them around the cabin. My background Designer Series Paper is from the "Harvest Meadow" pack, also featured in the Jul-Dec Mini Catalog, on page 55. I also wanted to add a little pop of color to the top of the card, behind my sentiment, so a grabbed a scrap strip of the Christmas Designer Series Paper from the Annual Catalog, called "Tidings of Christmas". 

I love thinking out of the box a tad and seeing if I can stretch my bundles a little bit further by imagining a different theme, a different season, different colors, etc.  It always makes me feel like I'm getting a little more value from a product and of course, it's so fun to play and try different things. 

I hope you are having some great creative stamping therapy time these pretty fall days.  A cabin is a perfect vibe isn't it?! Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stampin',

Sarah