Priscilla's Papercrafts

Thursday, July 6, 2023

Swap Time

I've mentioned before that I am a member of a swap group (where we all create a card, make 12 of the same ones, and send them to one of our team members who then separates them and sends us one of each card). It's a great way to see some samples of stamps that we may not have purchased, or see what someone else does with a set we have, or get ideas for unique fun-fold cards or color combinations we may not have thought of.

Our latest swap was to create with a new set from the 2023-24 Annual Catalog release. So here's my sample, featuring Darling Details and new colors:

I loaded a whole bunch of new "stuff" onto this card! Let's break it down...

1. Darling Details stamps and dies

2. Colors - Boho Blue, Misty Moonlight, Moody Mauve, Bubble Bath, Lemon Lime Twist and Lemon Lolly

3. Dies - the Darling Details dies along with Wanted to Say dies

4. The Exposed Brick embossing folder

5. Embellishments: the Adhesive-Backed Solid Gems

Wow! Can you pack much more into one card?

The flowers were stamped and cut with the dies, along with some little leaves (part of the dies). And check out that frame! Cut with Boho Blue and then embossed, it gave me a window for my flower. But since I mounted it to a Misty Moonlight layer, I had to cut the middle out of the darker layer.

The words from Wanted to Say were cut in Misty Moonlight (the "bubble" word background) and Boho Blue (the actual words). I used some Adhesive Sheets to make is MUCH easier to stick the words on the bubbles.

I"m not usually a fan of creating multiples of the same card, but doing it in pieces made it work. And all I had to do was put the cards together and ship them off.

And yesterday I got my swap cards back; I've got 12 new samples to show you over the next few days. This is a great group of creative people, and I know you'll enjoy seeing their creations. So be sure to c'mon back later this week!

Product List

Darling Details Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[161368]

$24.00

Darling Details Bundle

[161371]

$54.00

Moody Mauve Classic Stampin' Pad

[161649]

$9.00

Bubble Bath Classic Stampin' Pad

[161664]

$9.00

Lemon Lolly Classic Stampin' Pad

[161666]

$9.00

Boho Blue 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[161724]

$10.00

Misty Moonlight 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[153081]

$10.00

Lemon Lime Twist 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[144245]

$10.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock

[159229]

$9.00

Darling Details Dies

[161370]

$36.00

Wanted To Say Dies

[161594]

$39.00

Exposed Brick 3 D Embossing Folder

[161600]

$11.00

Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine

[149653]

$128.00

Adhesive Backed Solid Gems

[161300]

$8.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Adhesive Sheets

[152334]

$11.50

Wednesday, July 5, 2023

Wednesday's "What's on the Desk?"

Remember my What's on the Desk posts? I used to make something with whatever bits and pieces were lying on my desk.

Well, it's back...at least for this week.

I've been collecting LOTS of bits and pieces. They sit in the "pit of despair" on my desk and look rather forlorn. So the other night I dumped them all out and perused the mess, trying to decide what to do with them. Use them or throw them away? I decided to give them a second chance and began to create.

Since I had a lot of pieces and very few of them actually coordinated, I decided to make a bunch of 3" x 3" cards. I often use these when I mail little gifts to customers, thanking them for their order; or I send them to folks who purchase my retired products, thanking them for helping me "de-stash".

So let's see what I came up with:

Eight mini cards, all different. Let's look at each one:

OK, I lied about them all being 3" x 3". I had this label on my desk, so it needed a slightly larger card. This one is 2-1/2" x 4". And all I did was take a piece of Brights DSP (which had been cut on a diagonal for a card I made previously--why do I save these things?) and added it under the label. A few Tinsel Gems finished it off.

This little mini-beauty was easy - I had the rose cut from Distressed Gold DSP, so I added it to Basic Black and heat-embossed the greeting from Darling Details. Simple and effective!

A left-over Valentine project, the panel with the heart and greeting fit perfectly on another 2-1/2" x 4" card of Thick Basic White.

Quite possibly my favorite, this blended background was to be used for a class, but I changed my mind. The greeting (from the retired Friends are like Seashells) was stamped in Pretty Peacock on the peacock and Lemon Lolly blended square, and I had heat embossed the shells prior to adding ink (the emboss-resist technique). And I just happened to have two little left-over shells cut with the Pearlescent paper - so pretty!

I had a few Sweet Citrus discards, and they went together to make this card.

The Harlequin-style background was a saved piece after using most of it for another card. It's strips of shimmer paper adhered to a Window Sheet and cut into strips. Too much work to discard the little left-over, and it made a perfect layer for this little card. The flower (Gold Shimmer paper) was also a discard, so it matched perfectly!

OK, THIS one is my favorite! The circle, little die-cut flowers and the leaves were the bits-and-pieces and they made a lovely mini-card. I had cut the flowers/leaves from paper that I had dragged a stamp pad over; the color variations are really gorgeous!

And then there's this 😂:

My least favorite, and probably destined for the trash...I had that same stamp pad-dragged-over-paper piece on my desk, so I cut it with the lemons from Sweet Citrus. I also had another paper in green (same technique) and cut the leaves. But these lemons almost look like fish...and I'm only including it so you can see that some of my creations aren't very good. I sometimes just have to toss them! 😬

So that's what kept me busy the other day--and now I have a great bunch of mini cards, and a nice clean desk, ready to start collecting another pile of discards.

What do you do with the bits and pieces you have left over? Do you use them? Or throw them? Let's see what the consensus is. Leave a comment below and we'll find out if it's worth using all our discards!

(But after this exercise, my vote is USE THEM!)

Tuesday, July 4, 2023

Celebrate the Day!

Wishing all my friends and family a Happy Independence Day! Enjoy the BBQ's, the fireworks and the fellowship of friends; and be SAFE!

And just to have a little stampin' fun, I made a red-white-and-blue card:

I used the Patchwork Pieces dies to make a wavy "flag", added a star from Beautiful Balloons, and cut the greeting form Wanted to Say dies.

Celebrate the day!

Product List

Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[102482]

$10.00

Night Of Navy 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[100867]

$10.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[159276]

$10.50

Patchwork Pieces Dies

[161592]

$35.00

Beautiful Balloons Dies

[161456]

$34.00

Stylish Shapes Dies

[159183]

$30.00

Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine

[149653]

$128.00

Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels

[146924]

$7.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Monday, July 3, 2023

It's July! You Know What That Means...

Yes, it's July, and for the past few years I have had a Merry Monday each week from the beginning of July until December. So here we go again. It's a great way for me to prepare for the busy holiday season by getting many of my cards done WAY before they are needed. If you haven't tried it, give it a go - it truly relieves some of the stress of the holiday season! And what could be better than listening to your favorite Christmas carols while you create in 95 degree weather?

I don't have any new holiday stamp sets yet (the new holiday mini catalog will be available for demo pre-order in August, and for customers in September) so I pulled out a great, all-occasion set, Cottage Wreaths:

But I did want to show you something new - how about masks?

There are two sets of masks for sale in the 2023-24 Annual Catalog - Artistic Mix and Foursquare. I chose the Artistic Mix set - a group of 5 masks in 5 designs.

Masks are great for creating various backgrounds. You can color them with Spritzers, Sponge Daubers, Sponges, or Blending Brushes. Or you can use them with Embossing Paste to create a textured background.

I chose an easy version for this card. I used a little piece tape to adhere my Basic White card base to my scrap paper, and another piece to hold the mask still while I used Blending Brushes to lightly color over the mask. This left a grid pattern on my paper. Easy peasy!

Then I just stamped and cut the wreath and stamped a greeting in the corner.

An easy start to this year's holiday cards (I must admit, I'm not REALLY ready for the holidays, as we have just very recently transitioned our weather to nice, warm sunny days!). But I'll also admit that I love the way this card came out and will enjoy choosing which of my friends or family members will receive it in December!

What are you making for Merry Monday?

Product List