Herringbone Technique Tutorial

In this post, I promised I'd be back with a tutorial for the Herringbone Technique. Well, here it is... enjoy! I love the ease and simplicity of this technique and can't wait to try it out with my fave current DSP, Beau Chateau :)

Steps: 

1. Choose a Designer Series Paper (DSP) which has patterns that coordinate very well together (some coordinate better than others). Examples from 2011/2012's offerings include Beau Chateau, Frightful Sight, Big Top, and Beyond the Garden. Of course you can use any DSPs you want. For this Hallowe'en-themed card, I used Frightful Sight. You will need 6 different patterned papers (i.e. half a SU! Package, 1 of each sheet).

2. Trim a 12” x 0.5” piece from each of five patterned papers. Cut them in half. You will end up with ten 6” x 0.5” pieces of DSP as shown below. Here I've flipped five of them over to show the other side of the DSP.

3. Trim a 12” x 0.5” piece from one of the patterned papers. Using a glue stick, put glue across the middle diagonal of a 5” x 3.75” piece of card stock and adhere the 12” piece of DSP.

4. Cover half of the card stock with glue. Choose a 6” strip of DSP and adhere to the card stock to form a 'Y', as shown below.

5. Using different patterns of DSP, fill in the 'V'. Alternate which side you put the DSP strips on as shown on the picture below.

6. Once you've filled in the first 'V', fill in the second one. Half your card stock is now covered. Continue covering the card stock with the DSP strips in the same pattern as above. You'll end up with a herringbone-patterned card, as shown below.

Hope this tutorial made sense :) Enjoy making some lovely backgrounds for all your cards and testing out various DSPs. That's the beauty of this technique... it's likely that no two cards you make will be the same!  'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Monogrammed Note Cards

I know I said I'd have a Herringbone Technique Tutorial for you in my next post... but I just have to share this with you ladies first! I have a private stampin' class tomorrow night and one very, VERY excited hostess :) One of my SU! demo friends, Kim Assaly, gives all her hostesses monogrammed note cards and I really like that idea. So I made my first set today. My hostess' name starts with 'M' and I used the lovely Broadsheet Alphabet for these cards.

What I love even more about these note cards is how easy they are! I made them with the Big Shot Movers & Shapers Bigz XL Die. I ran the Marina Mist CS through the die first to make the card base. I then ran a piece of Whisper White CS through the die to punch out the shape. My hostess is getting 3 cards with the Curly Label design and 2 cards with the Scallop Oval design. I used the coordinating punches to punch out stamped 'M's for the cards.

Tips & Tricks:

*Although the Movers & Shapers Die cuts your card to the stand A2 size and suggests you used a piece of card stock that is 12" long, I make it work with the standard 11" long card stock. I trim it to 4-1/4" x 11" and put it right in the space that cuts the card out. If you do this carefully, your card base won't get trimmed at all, just scored in the middle and with a shape punched out.
*Use the coordinating punches (in this case Scallop Oval and Curly Label), which are sized just a smidge smaller, to leave a little border around the stamped image when the card is closed.
*These notes are so elegant on their own I didn't need to do much else to them. I embossed the Whisper White with the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder and added a bit of ribbon and that's it - lovely, elegant note cards :)
*To line up the shape cut out on the Whisper White card stock with the card base properly, cut out the shape with the Big Shot on a 5-1/2" x 4-1/4" piece of card stock. Then trim 1/8" off of each side. This will give you a 5-1/4" x 4" layer with a perfectly positioned cut out.
*Yes, I know. The Marina Mist 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon is retired, but it just looked so lovely on this card so I used it anyways!

These 5 note cards only took me 45 minutes to make!  So next time you need a hostess gift, whether it's a stampin' hostess or a dinner party hostess, why not make her some elegant gift notes? 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

'Spooky' Herringbone Technique

I recently learned the 'herringbone' technique at a demonstrator meeting. And I love it. I started dreaming about all the different DSPs I could use... Beau Chateau, Big Top Birthday, Beyond the Garden... the possibilities for gorgeous backgrounds were endless! Though somewhat time-consuming, it is certainly not a hard technique. It is also worth the work!

Since I loved it so much, I just knew my customers would love it too!  Six lucky ladies are doing this technique at my stamper's group on Sunday (Are you in Ottawa? Find out what a stamper's group is all about by coming to one to try it out! Email me to find out how). It's also perfect for this week's Pals Paper Arts Challenge, Hallowe'en-themed projects! I used the Frightful Sight DSP in the 2011/2012 IB&C as well as the new Scaredy Cat stamp set - love them both!

Tips & Tricks:

*Wondering how I made the 'scaredy cat' stamp two-colored? I used Stampin' Write markers! They contain the same ink as our ink pads! Just remember to moisten your image a bit more by 'huffing' on it before stamping - the markers aren't quite as 'juicy' as our ink pads ;)
*When creating a card with a background as its focus, choose a stamped image that's simple, like the cat, and that doesn't take away from the background. You also don't want it to be too 'busy'.
*The 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon is the perfect accessory when you want to add just a little something to card without taking away from the main focal points.
*Love the Herringbone Technique too? Stay tuned for a tutorial - coming soon! And don't worry - it doesn't have to be a spooky herringbone, it can baby-themed, party-themed, whatever you want! Just make sure your chosen DSP coordinates well together.

Hope you love this technique as much as I did. I promise, I'll have a tutorial for you but 'til then, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

I won!

No cards today - just a brag post from me :)  Weekly I participate in a few design challenges and this week I won the Pals Paper Arts Challenge!!! I'm so excited and because I won I get to use the following badge on my blog :)

I love doing the challenges because they get my creative juices flowing. But winning one is icing on the cake! Here's the card that won:

To all my readers, thanks for following along, I'm glad my blog isn't just hanging out there in cyberland, it's actually inspiring people. Next time I'll be back with a card. 'Til then, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Gently Falling...

It's a gorgeous new stamp set in the Holiday Mini has images of all the different types of leaves that fall of the trees during the autumn months. It's perfect for those Thanksgiving cards, fall scrapbook pages (think versamarked on the side of a page, 'gently falling') and for your Thanksgiving Dinner decor! Whatever you choose to do with this set, you're sure to please.  Which is why I wanted to showcase it for this week's Pals Paper Arts Challenge. It is part of the Spice Cake suite of products in the Holiday Mini which includes one of the most beautiful DSP's I've ever seen! I promise, I'll be showing it used on a project soon ;) 

Today's challenge asked us to use three colors, Calypso Coral, Riding Hood Red, and Basic Gray, in our card. Not a combination I would have thought of but is it ever gorgeous! And perfect for the Rock and Roll Technique. I first rocked the maple leaf in Calypso Coral and then rolled the edges in Riding Hood Red.  Love how these colors blend to give us that subtle touch of fall.  And yes, the stamp set comes with both the solid stamp and line art stamp for each leaf image - the perfect 2-step stampin' set!

Tips & Tricks:

*When you do the Rock and Roll technique, make sure you 'rock' your stamp in the lighter color (Calypso Coral on this card) and 'roll' the edges in the darker ink (Riding Hood Red). That way you won't ruin your ink pads.
*I just love the Satin Basic Grey 5/8" Ribbon. Because of the satiny texture it has a silver sheen to it - so classy :)
*I often make blank cards with no sentiment. Then I can use them for a birthday card, a thank you card or even a sympathy card if needed. A sentiment can be added any time.
*I stamped and cut out the solid image so I could put it up on Stampin' Dimensionals. I love the way it looks like it's popping out of the page!
*I've left the best for last... I got this stamp set, and the whole Spice Cake Suite of products for FREE. Yes, SU! sent it to me absolutely for free with my preorder. No strings attached, no shipping. Free. Curious how? Ask me :)

I can't wait to use this set to design the Fall Scrapbooking Pages. 'Til then, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

p.s.  Want a copy of the Holiday Mini and don't currently have a Demonstrator? Please email me at stampingmonica@gmail.com and I'll send you one :)  (Canada only please)