This month's edition of the Tour de Freaks is a lot of fun because we
are featuring
techniques (new or old), along with some
sneak peeks from the upcoming Jan-June Mini Catalog and Sale-A-Bration! If you landed here from Tami's blog,
Swimming In Stamps, welcome! Just follow the links on each blog to go to the next stop on the tour.
I dusted off an old technique that I haven't done in
eons, called the Baby Wipe Technique. If you aren't familiar with it, you take a fresh baby wipe and fold it up, then place drops of Classic Stampin' Ink Refills of your color choice on the wipe. You can use it as a temporary stamp pad
(it gives a lovely mottled look, depending on drop placement), or you can use it to wipe across cardstock to create a background like I did here. I think it works best on Shimmery White cardstock, because you have a little time to blend it.
Pool Party, Coastal Cabana, Pear Pizzaz, and Old Olive were used for this background, and the soon to be released
Peaceful Poppies Suite is the sneak peek! There are TWO stamp/die bundles in the suite that are made to coordinate with each other, and they are AWESOME!
The poppies were also "baby wiped" using Poppy Parade
(of course) as well as Mango Melody before being cut with the Poppy Moments Dies. And did you notice the teeny flower sequins? Those are part of the suite, too, and come in colors to coordinate with the DSP.
When I was finished with this card, I hated to throw away the wipe, because I knew I could get a bit more use from it. So I wiped
another background and thought about which new sneak peek to choose. I hadn't played with
Forever Blossoms yet, so I grabbed it and started working. There is even
another technique on this card called Marker to Stamp. This can only be done with the water-based ink in Stampin' Write Markers, NOT the Stampin' Blends! After using the Old Olive & Flirty Flamingo markers to color directly on the stamp, I huffed on it to re-moisten the ink, and then stamped on Whisper White cardstock.
Now this is where the Stampin' Blends come into play! Since the image was stamped with water-based ink, I could use the alcohol-based Stampin' Blends to fill it in. I had the Heirloom Frames piece in my box of useful bits, so after die cutting the bloom I laid it out to see how it looked.
Ugh... the background looked too strong to me, so I toned it down with a bit of Vellum Cardstock, embossed with the Parisian Flourish 3D embossing folder that is part of the
Parisian Blossoms Suite (another AWESOME product suite coming soon to a craft room near you)! While I had it out, I did the envelope flap, too.
That leeettle stitched label is part of yet another stamp/die bundle called
So Sentimental, which just happens to be part of my next card!
SQUEEEE, stitched scallop rectangles.... be still my heart! The greeting is part of that bundle, too, but the cake image is in the new Sale-A-Bration set called
Happy Birthday To You. This was a last-minute thrown together card. I had almost tossed the Poppy Parade/Mango Melody wipe in the waste bin when I thought, "Hey, I can make a background with this one, too!" So I grabbed the Basic Pattern Decorative Masks, and went to town with the polka dot one.
(I don't know why, but it makes me think of Minnie Mouse, LOL.)
A quick stamp of the cake with Memento ink, some coloring with Stampin' Blends, a few passes through the die cut machine with the stitched scallops and it was ready to assemble! You just never know where or when inspiration will strike. *smile*
Up next is Bree, aka Craft-somnia Momma. I can't wait to see what she used for her technique!
