Hey everyone!

I am deep into my crafting this morning as I had a swap project to finish, and once I was done that, I was still feelin' crafty.  I took a look at some challenges posted 'round the net and found Tuesday Trigger.  The challenge "Sweets for the Sweet" suits me!  It's soft colours of Pink are some of my favs.


So using the same stamp I merely switched to a different project and ended up with my own CHIPBOARD HEART!   I really like it!

This is the front, see - its the same pretty heart from the Stampin' Up! "Love You Much" stamp set.  It has been created in several stages using the stamp, chalks, vellum, cardstock, white embossing powder and chipboard of course!  It may be hard to tell from this angle, but it is fairly thick chipboard and  I still need to decide what I plan to use it for.......I guess that will be another post for another day!

Today, I will show you how I made it!!  This way, you can always create your own custom chipboard accents - you're not limited anymore to purchasing ones from a retailer!

Stage 1.  Stamp Image onto  Adhesive-backed Vellum and Cardstock, Emboss, Chalk.

I chose to stamp my image onto VELLUM using white CRAFT ink which allowed me to sprinkle White EMBOSSING POWDER on to the 'wet' image, heat to dry.  Now I end up with a beautiful soft design on the pale icy vellum - like a fine lacy curtain!  

However, I also want to layer it over a equally soft cardstock - a whisper of pale pink. 

Meanwhile, I cut out the vellum embossed heart image and set it aside for now.. 

To layer the vellum over a very soft pink colour cardstock -  the white ink against this paper might not "show up" very well......so, after some thought, I chose this next stage. 

In order to make the white vellum heart 'pop', I need to give it a "shadow" from behind - a contrast. 

If my vellum was not the 'adhesive-backed' type, I could simply chalk or ink on the back side of the vellum to make the white image stand out - but since I can't chalk or ink the sticky back side, I need to do the following .....

To do this,  I stamped the same design onto the pink cardstock using a deeper PINK ink, and then using pink CHALK, I 'spotlighted' the flowers and itty bitty circles, and edges, applying the chalk with a soft applicator in circular movements. The chalk darkened a tad over the pink ink- even better!

Peeling away the backing on the vellum heart, I adhered it directly over the stamped/chalked image on the pink cardstock.  Now there is a 'pink shadow'  from behind - which sharpens the white heart design.  See the picture above and below. 

So let's summarize:

1. stamp image with craft ink onto vellum; sprinkle with embossing powder, heat to set,

2. cut out vellum-embossed heart and set aside,

3. stamp image again in a darker co-ordinating ink onto cardstock, spotlight various parts 

of the image with chalk in the same colour,

4. adhere the vellum-embossed heart directly over the stamped/chalked image on the cardstock

Stage 2. Create the  Chipboard Heart

First I adhered the cut-out cardstock/vellum HEART onto a piece of chipboard. 

To CUT the chipboard heart out - I need to use my hobby knife and since the chipboard I am using is thick, I decide to use a wood-working technique.....trace holes around the shape, then cut with the blade following the holes.  See pictures. 

Here I punched holes around the edge of the heart, and then cut from hole to hole with my blade. 

To make it easier to see - I created 4 holes in a larger size, see them?  You would cut from one to the next hole, which you can do in one deep cut, or go over them several times till the chipboard is cut through.  

The accent is cut :)

I sand the edges with my sanding tool.  

This is the back side which I have also sanded lightly around the whole edge. 

I can also decorate this side later if I wish. Or journal. 

Well - that's it!  Not hard, just a bit time consuming, but you can create co-ordinating accents to match your stamping projects.

Hope you give it a try!

Beverly

SUPPLIES  All tools, inks, embossing powder, chalks, vellum, cardstock by STAMPIN' UP!

Contact Me if you have questions or wish to order these supplies. 

I hope I didn't mention this earlier this year but its worth it if I did, because this has to be one of my fav ways to dress up a card - using " rings and ribbons " !!!

It's simplicity is great but the fascination I get is from all the combinations I can make by using this technique!

All you do is punch out a ' ring '  - I use a die-cut that has concentric circles in one die, and choose the size I want. Then you 'embed' the ring half-way behind a layer of paper or tag, etc. This 'anchors' the ring by gluing down the hidden part of the ring, allowing you to loop some ribbon through the exposed portion of the ring. See close-up pictures.

It works great for just one ring & ribbon - and it looks scrumptious when you use a whole lotta rings and ribbons!

Give it a try!      

[Note - if you do not have ring die-cut to do this, try using a length of narrow ribbon to make a loop, or even create a circle and cut away or punch out the middle - I am sure there are even more ways to do this if you think on it!]

CLICK on pictures for larger views.                                                                                                  

I am back! I have been up to a real smorgasborg of stuff - both crafty stuff and some other real-life business. I have been called to be part of a new batch of volunteers for our local hospital, and to qualify - you must past some screening first and one of those is a TB test which is comprised of 4 appointments! So I am in the midst of that.

Also we have been putting together an outfit for my daughter to wear to her uncle's wedding - we have one of the prettiest dresses - paid premium for it because as you know dresses are in demand for proms as well. Then her long, thick hair! I have been learning how to do 'up=do's !!! Gave my poor daughter a headache after an hour of pulling all her long hair tightly through the flat iron - the slower you do it, the tighter the curl. And with a flat iron, you twist it 180 degrees from the moment you attach some hair near the root. I also put on so much hair-spray that my own hair was coated all over my crown, LOL!!! But, we did do a nice job!

Can't wait till she's all dolled up! Life has its moments, doesn't it?

Between all of this craziness, I more or less skipped around and experimented with my craft stash! I played with punches at Caroline's for one thing - and now I have a little stash of various shapes ready for a quick craft. Then I read about dyeing your ribbon with the ink refills we have. It sounded rather interesting - so I had a go!

I used 2 teaspoons of water for every 4 drops of ink. I also found a very small container so that the ribbon - in this case, a twill tape in 'natural' would coil up in it and be submerged. That way I use less ink and water and the saturation would be pretty good. Next time, I think I would wash the ribbon because if it has 'sizing' or any coating - that could prevent the degree to which the ink penetrates through.

Anyways, the idea was to have some fun! I left the ribbon in for at least half'n' hour but when I squeezed the ribbon of the excess water - much of the colour went too.

But I was still happy with my soft new "Baza Breeze" ribbon !!! After, seeing I had so much of the ink bath left - I dribbled it onto a piece of white 12x12 paper. I finished by 'whipping' the brush from the side in all 4 directions to get elongated dots of ink patterns - just to mix it up a bit.

When I have created something with these I will post Part 2.

Thanks for dropping by!