Stamp and Spin Tool

 

There's a new tool in town! You know I love to spin, and this addition to the Sizzix Stencil and Stamp tool  is so fun! I'll have a full video next week showing more details but right now, here's what you need to know:

• stamp positioner (think MISTI) and spinner (think Stamp Wheel) in ONE!
• you need the Stencil and Stamp tool for the Stamp and Spin accessory to work.
• similar 'door' design for stamp positioning to MISTI (not flip over like Stamp Wheel)
• if you have a Stamp Wheel already, you don't need this tool to spin
• 8 'clickable' positions vs Stamp Wheel's 16
• tool is larger than an original-sized MISTI - takes up more space, but allows for larger designs

I made this card with 2 stamps (well, 3 if you count the sentiment). 

Happy Birthday Daisies

 

Welcome to this week's LIMES inspiration post!

I chose this card as my inspiration from the gallery of this week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper!

LIST: Colours (coral, white, blue, olive), Techniques (die cutting, stamping, embossing), Elements (flowers, scalloped circle mat, lots of layers, embossed background, ribbon, stamped sentiment on rectangle strip

INCLUDE: flowers, coral, white, stamping, die cutting

MODIFY: masked flowers, freshened the blue and olive to aqua and lime, created 'texture' on my background by doubling up the flower mask with a stencil, flowers are white, colours in the background, sentiment is stamped on rectangle with negative frame

EXCLUDE: scalloped circles, embossing, layers, ribbon

I reversed my inspiration by having white flowers on a coloured background. I reduced layers a lot by masking my flowers and then stenciling the 'texture' in my background. I simplified my sentiment by cutting a framed rectangle out of my panel, and then leaving the frame out when I popped everything up. 

Old Favourites, New Ideas!

 

Recently I completely re-organized my stamps, dies, stencils and embossing folders, both physically and electronically, and while I was doing that, I came across some old items that I've been holding onto but not using. I decided to challenge myself to use a few  of them, in a new way to decide whether it was time for them to go to a new home.

If you want to know more about my reorganization as well as why (and how!) I changed from Evernote to Air Table, join us at the FREE Paper Crafters Get Organized Summit next weekend!

Craft Room Splurges

Today I'm talking about some of the splurges or investments I've made in my craft room. 

Recently, I made a BIG change to the pocket system I was using to store my stamps and dies, and that's the topic of my presentation at the upcoming Paper Crafters Get Organized summit, happening April 19-21. Not only will I show you my old and new system, but I'll be sharing 5 steps for how you can find YOUR perfect storage solution. You can register for a free ticket HERE.

Happy Birthday Poppy

 

Welcome to this week's LIMES inspiration post!

I chose this card as my inspiration from the gallery of this week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper!

LIST: Colours (red, white, black), Techniques (stamping, die cutting), Elements (large circle element over the edge of the card, patterned paper argyle background, stamped sentiment strip)

INCLUDE: red, white, black, stamping, die cutting, 

MODIFY: brought circle element onto the card, stamped tone on tone background, not patterned paper, sentiment placement changed, added some green and yellow

EXCLUDE: maze
SPIN:

I chose this inspiration because it has one of my favourite elements - that maze hanging off the top - you can do that with my square cards, and they still still fit in an A2 envelope. 

I stamped, customized and coloured my stamp, intending to have it hang over the top, but it just didn't feel right, especially with the same stamped pattern on the red background, so I let the card tell me how it wanted to be made! lol!

Daisy Happy Birthday

Welcome to this week's LIMES inspiration post!

I chose this card as my inspiration from the gallery of this week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper!

LIST: Colours (white, black, red, green), Techniques (die cutting, stamping) Elements (lattice die cut, 3D rose, stamped sentiment)

INCLUDE: white, black, die cutting, die cut background

MODIFY: pink instead of red, addded yellow, flat die cut flower instead of 3d, die cut sentiment

EXCLUDE: green,

This pretty inspiration card has a classic, elegant feeling that I changed to more 'cartoon' feeling. I used a coverplate die to create my background, and a matching flower to create the inlaid and outlined flower. I added a big center to the daisy, and topped it with crystal glaze and chunky glitter.

Saying Goodbye is hard...

I bought this (now retired) background stamp in 2021. Until now, I have never used it. I have even 'tried' to de-stash it several times, but it kept convincing me to keep it. And finally inspiration struck!

More ideas for Background stamps

 

Today I'm sharing more ideas for getting more from a couple of background stamps from Technique Junkies. I'm also sharing the results of an experiment that went very, very wrong! (and tips for making it work)! Plus use discount code TJArdyth10 to get 10% off at Technique Junkies. 

Combining Heat Embossing with other techniques

 

Today I'm sharing a video showing how I combined heat embossing with gel printing, Copic colouring and watercolour powders to great 3 very different looks. PLUS I have a discount code to share with you! Shop at Technique Junkies (direct links to the stamps I used are below) and use TJArdyth10 (it's case-sensitive) to get 10% off! (excludes bundles, clearance or already-discounted kits). 

Celebrate

 

Welcome to this week's LIMES inspiration post!

I chose this card as my inspiration from the gallery of this week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper!

LIST: Colours (blue, green, white, peach, silver) Techniques (die cutting, stamping) Elements (Patterned paper,  layered doily with stamped sentiment in the centre, silver ribbon)

INCLUDE: blue, green, white, silver, die cutting, 

MODIFY: bold pink instead of peach, stenciled rings instead of layered die cut doily, flowers instead of pine branches, silver die cut sentiment instead of ribbon

EXCLUDE: ribbon, sequins

SPIN: square card

I think my all-time favourite layout is a square card with a circle on it. Instead of die cutting a doily, I stenciled two rings - one in blues/aquas and one with pinks. The pink ring was cut with circles a little bigger and smaller than the blue ring, giving a subtle mat. 

I changed the season and added some tiny flowers instead of the more wintery pine branches, and I die cut a script sentiment from matte silver cardstock

Geo Happy Birthday

Welcome to this week's LIMES inspiration post!

I chose this card as my inspiration from the gallery of this week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper!

LIST: Colours (teal, yellow, gray, brown), Techniques (die cutting, heat embossing, stamping), Elements (horizontal petal shapes, heat embossed flowers, sentiment strip with dark mat, 2 pearls)

INCLUDE: teal, yellow, gray

MODIFY: petals run vertically, have extra die cut inlays to mix colours, sentiment is circle with dark mat, 3 gems instead of pearls, dark gray background

EXCLUDE: heat embossing, flowers, brown

SPIN: square card

I love when geometric shapes fit together like this to create a pattern. I created strips of coloured paper with 3 colours of ink, and then die cut all my petals. I mixed up my colours a bit more than Giovana did because of the way my petal die cuts nesting shapes all at once.  If you don't have these little nesting dies, you could get a similar look with larger nesting dies in simple shapes.

I finished with a very simple sentiment in a matted circle.

DO NOT DO THIS to your delicate stencils!

 

I wanted to show you how easy it is to get SO MANY looks with one single basic geometric stencil. And I killed it.....

Happy Birthday Branch

 


Welcome to this week's LIMES inspiration post!

I chose this card as my inspiration from the gallery of this week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper!

LIST: Colours (white, lime, navy, pink), Techniques (stamping, colouring), Elements (geometric background, large frame, flowers, bird, two happy birthday tags - one square, one rectangle, ribbon)

INCLUDE: Colours, navy frame, birthday theme

MODIFY: changed stamped,coloured bird/flowers to inlaid die cut branch, added gold, birthday sentiment in right corner, narrower navy frame, inkblended green background with no coloured geometric elements

EXCLUDE: no recessed feature, no ribbon or tag. 

SPIN: 4.25" square card (fits in A2-sized envelope so no extra postage!)

I am loving this colour combination - I can't decide if it's spring (like my inspiration card), fall or winter (more like mine) and I think by choosing one of the colours to emphasize, you can easily change the feel.  

I used my navy ink direct to paper on my card base, to create a flat frame. I blended olive ink onto a smaller panel, letting it fade to white near the top. I splattered water over that for some interest. My branch die set has two layers - an outline and a solid base, and I cut 2 of the base from white cardstock, and 1 of the outline from gold cardstock and one from white (for the leaf inserts).

I stacked it all up and added a stamped sentiment in the corner, and finished with some Sunny Sparkle gems. 

Happy Birthday

Welcome to this week's LIMES inspiration post!

I chose this card as my inspiration from the gallery of this week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper!

LIST: Colours (red, yellow, blue, white, green), Techniques (stencil, die cut, stamping, inkblending) Elements (square pattern multi-colour background, parrot, two pink circles, white sentiment strip with red stamping, stickles)

INCLUDE: yellow, blue, white green, stencil, die cut, ink blending, square pattern multi-colour background, stickles
MODIFY: pink instead of red, white die cut sentiment, one pink circle instead of 2
EXCLUDE: parrot
SPIN:

I was absolutely intrigued by the colourful, grid background in my inspiration card. I love geometrics and I love ink blending, so I grabbed a stencil and 4 inks and created my background. 

I added green to my background since I knew I wouldn't be able to add a green parrot and I cut out a circle from the centre. I added Stardust stickles to all the edges for a bit of sparkle.

I inlaid my pink circle and that solid colour helped to make my die cut birthday sentiment stand out.

Happy Birthday in Pinks

Welcome to this week's LIMES inspiration post!

I chose this card as my inspiration from the gallery of this week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper!

LIST: Colours (pink, white), Techniques (die cutting, stamping), Elements (die cut geometric background over white embossed dots, ribbon, scalloped circle sentiment, baby theme)

INCLUDE: pink, white, die cutting, stamping, pink geometric pattern with white dots, circle sentiment

MODIFY: reversed colours, die cut dots, birthday, not baby, 2 brighter pinks, 

EXCLUDE: ribbon, scallop

SPIN: gold splatter, square card

I love geometric backgrounds (especially this geo circle pattern) because they are so versatile - my inspiration is pretty pink with dainty dots and scallops, perfect for a baby girl. I punched up the colours, made my dots bigger (and die cuts rather than embossed), and added a high-contrast sentiment with gems for a birthday card perfect for my nephew's fiancee's birthday card. 

Super Smooth Gel Blending

I found a faster way to ink blend perfectly smooth panels - only one of these panels was ink blended - the other two were 'gel-blended' - can you tell which is which? 

Happy Birthday with Flowers 3 Ways

Welcome to this week's LIMES inspiration post!

I chose this card as my inspiration from the gallery of this week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper!

LIST: Colours (white, aqua, green), Techniques (die cutting, embossing), Elements (embossed background, aqua frame, layered oval sentiment, 3 ribbon flowers, ribbon with dots and a knot)

INCLUDE: white, aqua, green, 

MODIFY: faux embossed background, die cut flowers, circle sentiment with no scalloped layer

EXCLUDE: ribbon, dots, aqua border

SPIN: faux embossing on focal layer and mat

This inspiration is so pretty and delicate - a little more pretty and delicate than my normal style, but I had fun using one die cut flower in 3 ways - as faux embossing on my double-layered backbround, as my focal flowers and then finally as leaves.