Experimenting With New Tools And Techniques

Did you do some last minute Christmas shopping today?

I absolutely did!

Tomorrow I will be doing some last minute grocery shopping early in the morning.  Between shopping, cleaning and wrapping gifts, I did manage to find time to get some stamping in.

Plus, I am entering this card in the Hand Stamped Sentiments Color Challenge #279.  Check out below how I managed to create a layered look using only these 4 colors.

One of my aunts was just diagnosed with breast cancer and I wanted to send her a card so that she knows that I’m thinking about her.  She’s a crafter as well and I know that she will enjoy this.  (I believe it runs in the family.  I don’t think that I have a single aunt or uncle that is not creative.)  I am so lucky to have my aunts and uncles.  There is not one of them that I couldn’t call if I needed them.  I feel like they all helped raise me because every single one of them babysat on multiple occasions!  Plus, they aren’t all that much older than I am.

While making her card, I could not resist using a couple of the new sets that I’ve purchased recently.  They are just so pretty and the sentiments are perfect for what I’m feeling and hope to convey with this card.

 

I have been doing a lot of experimenting with some of the new stamps that I’ve been ordering.  (All on sale or with freebies or free shipping.  That’s how I justify it in my head.)

I’ve actually used two stamp sets here.  The floral and the hello sentiment (isn’t that a fabulous sentiment?) are from Altenew’s Flower Arrangement set with the coordinating die cuts.  The “You are loved” and the “You Got This” are from Simon Says Stamps Brush Stroke Messages which I believe was from a kit-of-the-month club a couple of months ago.  (You know I love crafting kits.)

I adore both stamp sets.  The Altenew is a challenge because it has no less than 5 stamps layered to make that flower!  The leaves also have multiple layers.  The hello and thank you sentiments are so beautiful.

The Simon Says Stamp set has 6 fantastic sentiments plus 5 stamps for creating interesting backgrounds and a small heart stamp.  I love this set as well.  I see myself using it a lot.  Simon Says Stamps does sentiment sets really well.  I have several of their sentiment sets and they seem to really have a variety of sentiments in each stamp set that really say what your heart is feeling.

Altenew very kindly has an online layering class that you can take for free that includes a series of videos showing you how to use these stamp sets and giving you at least 2 project ideas for many of the sets that they carry.  Even after watching the videos it took many practice attempts to get a passable set of images that I deemed acceptable.

I had to pull out my MISTI because it was just easier to create the layers properly with this fantastic little tool.  I also used the new Mini Blossom Die Cutting Machine from Altenew.  It’s such a pretty little machine and it is perfect for on my craft table.  I was able to quickly cut my 3 images without moving to my cutting station.  I found it quite handy to have within reach and it makes me happy to look at because it is so pretty.

 

Here you can see the tools that I used.  About two years ago, a colleague of mine introduced me to Altenew, the MISTI and the Lawn Fawn Shammy.  She actually bought a giant shammy and cut it into smaller pieces and gave me one for my birthday that year along with a card she created with Altenew stamps.  I purchased a little coconut dish sponge holder to keep it in.  It actually keeps the shammy damp, but not stinky and moldy.  I use that to clean my stamps when I’m using my MISTI.

I treated myself to the MISTI after taking a class at a local craft store about a year ago where we used the MISTI and Altenew stamps to create a card.  I recently purchased the creative corners and the mouse pad for inside it.  I quite like all of the extra little tools.  They have a lot of uses and have increased the functionality of this tool even more.

 

I decided that if I want to be a crafting expert, I have to learn how to use all of the gadgets out there and I need to try out other companies products to do a comparison.

Plus, can you ever really have too much in your stash?  I’m thinking no.  I’ve still got a lot of basement space and if I don’t fill it with craft stuff my husband will fill it with fishing stuff.  I plan to win this battle.

The Color Challenge Made Layering A Challenge!  Here is how I made it work:

One of the reasons I found this card such a challenge to make was because I decided to participate in a color challenge.  That meant that I could only use the colors in the challenge.  Altenew actually makes their own inks that come in groups of 3 or 4 coordinating colors just for layering.  Since I was limiting myself to using the colors in the challenge, I had to do some stamping off to create the gradiation of colors required for the layers.  I won’t do that again!  I’ll make sure that I can use different shades of colors instead of just using second or third generation stamped off color!  That was a challenge!!!

I stuck to my Stampin’ Up! inks in Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight and Lemon Lime Twist since those were the colors in the challenge. The lighter layers have been stamped on scrap paper twice before stamping the image.  The medium layer was stamped once on to scrap paper and then on to the image and the darkest color was stamped directly on to the image.

All in all, I really like this color combination and I really love the images and the sentiments.  The combination of fonts between the two stamp sets makes it more interesting and the fact that the Altenew stamp set has a coordinating die set gives you the chance to add that extra dimension to the card without fussy cutting with scissors.

Check out the clearance rack and retiring products from Stampin’ Up! at mystampingstore.com for some great deals!

Thank you for stopping by!  Happy holidays!

 

**UPDATE**

This card was selected as one of the top 3 Artist’s Picks for the Hand Stamped Sentiments Color Challenge #279!!

Thank you!!