GHOSTLY TREES

There seems to be many ways of doing a technique referred to as "ghosting". In fact, I have done a few of the other ways myself.

Recently, however, I ran into a suggestion to do "ghosting" using a stencil! 

I had just received my order for the new Basic Pattern Decorative Masks, only $6.00 for four 6" x 6" masks! I felt this was the perfect opportunity to put one of these masks, a.k.a., stencils, to work. I chose the one that looks like a forest of trees. By the way, this set of masks can be found on page 35 of the Creativity Is Calling catalog, which goes live on September 4.

The first one I tried was in my mind not quite a success. I'd used Gray Granite cardstock and ink, thinking that would be a good combination for the look of a forest. Using White Craft Ink against the fairly light color of cardstock inhibited me unduly when trying to line up the mask again to use the Gray Granite ink. And then, once I'd finished I felt the white couldn't be seen well enough.

Let me back up a bit. 

In order to do the Ghosting in this fashion, cut your cardstock to the size you want to work with. I cut mine to 3 3/4" x 5", a size that allows for a mat and then the card base.

Lay the cardstock onto your work surface. Position the stencil over the cardstock. With some sort of removable tape -- I used Post It Tape -- adhere the mask in place while you do the first step. 

The photo below shows my mask taped in place, as well as the Sponge Brayer.

You can use any of your favorite tools to add the ink, such as Stampin'  Sponges or Sponge Daubers. I, however, decided to dig out my unopened box of Sponge Brayers (page 181 of the Annual Catalog) and give them a try. I had had this box tucked away ever since they'd been introduced years ago.

Once you have the mask taped in place, use one of the Sponge Brayers to begin brayering White Craft (Pigment) Ink across the stencil. When inking up the brayer, run it across the ink pad several times, always in one direction, to ink it up well. Once you have the layer of white ink laid down, carefully peel the mask up and away. Immediately clean off the sponge brayer and the mask with warm water before continuing. Because Craft Ink stays wet fairly long, use the Heat Tool to make sure the ink is completely dry before moving on to the next step. 

Once the first layer is dry, reposition the mask. Only this time, move it just to the right or left or up or down from the first bit of brayering you did. Just a little "off" from the first layer of ink. This will give the ghosting effect.

I chose the same ink color as cardstock color I was working on. Using a second sponge brayer, repeat the process, only this time with the matching ink. Carefully remove the mask. Since this is water-based ink, it will dry quickly. Wash off your brayer and the mask.

As I mentioned, my first try was not a success. At least, I thought it was at first. 

So I tried it again, carefully choosing a color on which I thought white would show up better. This time, I went with Old Olive. This is a nice color to use for a forest in the middle of the growing season. However, these trees don't have any leaves, so, to me, it looks a bit weird.

Shown below are my two attempts. I must admit that working on the green, it was easier to see the white ink for repositioning.

Well, so there you have it. My two attempts. Now what? I decided to embrace it all and turn them into simple cards.

Although they don't look very red in the photos, I'd stamped two cardinals in the trees of each of the "forests". 

This first photo shows my first attempt with the Gray Granite cardstock and ink. Once the white ink had dried further, it showed up a bit better than I'd originally thought it would.

Then we have the Old Olive attempt. While easier to work with, the final look isn't quite as satisfying as I'd mentioned previously the question of why bare naked trees are set against a green background?

And, then close-ups of what the trees look like after their ghostly treatment:

The two cards side by side. The serene feeling of the background 

prompted me to add this particular sentiment.

Now that you know how to do another version of "ghosting", do you think you'll give it a try?

Ghostly

(Ghastly??)

Smiles.

BY THE SEASHORE

Since it is summer, I wanted to have something to do with the beach for my girls to create at my August Stamp-In Workshop. In the new Annual Catalog is a wonderful set, Seaside Notions, found on page 139. It features many cool images including a sand dollar, a seahorse, three different seashells, a piece of coral and some sand. It also includes four great sentiments.

The images, all with a hand drawn look, are so appealing and screamed for -- yes, you guessed it! -- fussy cutting. I had had many beautiful days on the deck this summer. Since I would fall asleep on the deck without something to occupy my time, I always always have a project to do.

I dug through my stash of retired Designer Series Papers for anything that might be conducive to producing a seashell or sand dollar. I stretched my imagination beyond reality in most of my choices. Hey, artist's prerogative, right? 

I'm not sure of how many of the larger seashells and sand dollars I stamped on DSP. But I do know that the number of the smallest shells I stamped were over 100. Crazy, eh?

Anyway, fussy cutting all these hundreds of seaside notions was my deck project for quite some time. 

After I finished cutting them all out, I sorted them and put them on three large cookie sheets for my girls to do their selecting. They needed lots of choices, didn't they??

This is my sample card I came up with for the workshop. It was so much fun to create. The girls had just as much fun putting their own unique creations together too.

By popping up some elements of the card, I introduced some nice dimension. And I had kept the card colors very neutral so no matter what combination they chose for their focal point, it was bound to match. Besides, the neutral cardstock called to mind the sandiness of the beach.

A cool, quick technique assured that the oval upon which everything was poised was subtle, but effective.

When I made this card, I was sure (without checking) that the Seaside embossing folder was still current, especially since it was so perfect for this card. Unfortunately, it has been retired. So, hopefully you'd gotten one in your hands when it was available and you can use it for your card!

Keep on reading for a tutorial on how to create a card similar to this one.

SUPPLIES:

Crumb Cake cardstock

Whisper White cardstock

Basic Black cardstock

Various Designer Series Papers

Black ink

Crumb Cake ink

Seaside Notions stamp set (page 139, Annual Catalog)

Big Shot

Oval dies

Clear Block E

Water spritzer

Seaside embossing folder

3/16" Braided Linen Trim (page 174, Annual Catalog)

5/8" Flax Ribbon (page 174, Annual Catalog)

Stampin' Sponge

Stampin' Dimensionals

Fussy cut components

Glue Dots

INSTRUCTIONS:

You might as well do this step first, since it will need time to dry.

Die cut an oval that measures 2 5/8" x 3 1/2" from Whisper White cardstock. With Crumb Cake ink, cover the large E block with ink. Spritz it pretty well with water. Turn the block ink side down onto the white oval. Lift the block straight up from the oval. If there is excess ink anywhere, lightly pick it up with a paper towel. You can use the Heat Tool to dry this piece, if desired. To try to make it as flat as possible, heat it on both the front and the back.

Stamp and fussy cut your beachy components. You will need a large shell, a sand dollar, a medium shell and two of the tiny shells. (You can actually use as many as you'd like; this is just what I liked for my combination.)

Cut a 4" piece of the white Flax Ribbon, trimming both ends at an angle. Using a Stamping Sponge, sponge Crumb Cake ink over it, covering it well.

Take a piece of the Braided Linen Trim, about 2" or so, and tie it in a knot. Set it aside for the moment.

Array your shells to your liking on top of the sponged Flax Ribbon. When you are happy with the placements, adhere the sand dollar flat, followed by the two larger shells, popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals. Glue the small shells directly on top of the larger shells.

With a Glue Dot on the knotted portion of the Linen Trim, sneak it under the largest seashell so the two ends extend at a pleasing angle.

Adhere this strip to the by now dry oval, placing it as you wish.

Fold a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of Crumb Cake cardstock in half, creasing it well with a bone folder.

Adhere a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of black cardstock to the card base.

Run a 3 3/4" x 5" piece of Crumb Cake cardstock through the Big Shot inside the Seaside embossing folder. Adhere this to the card base over the black cardstock.

Stamp the sand in Crumb Cake ink onto both ends of a strip of Crumb Cake cardstock that measures 1" x 5". Adhere this to the card base raised a bit from center.

Adhere the seashell piece flat over the sandy strip.

Happy summer!

Seaside

Smiles.

CHRISTMAS CROWD

Being a huge fan of Stampin' Blends, cute stuff, CROWDS of cute stuff, Christmas, happy, snowmen and other Christmas characters, on and on and on, it was a given that I would be immediately drawn to one of the new stamp sets that will be available for order by the public on September 4. 

Christmas Crowd, found on page 10 of the Creativity is Calling catalog, fits the bill perfectly. I could hardly wait to get it in my greedy little hands. The day it arrived, I trotted down to my Creation Station to do some coloring.

I stamped the image twice in Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Whisper White cardstock because I wanted to color in two copies right away. 

For my first card, below, I did no blending whatsoever, although I did add dots and stripes here and there. It took awhile to color it to my satisfaction. But, once I was done, I'd thought that if I did the coloring at my leisure, I would be able to put together quick and easy cards. To do so, I simply cut the image to size (3 1/2" x 4 3/4"), mounted it on an old piece of striped DSP, and finally onto a Whisper White card base. Quick and easy once the coloring is done.

You'll notice the little guy on the far right? I wasn't sure what type of animal he was, so I made him into a squirrel by using my two shades of Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends. Stay tuned for more on this character.

A little close-up of the coloring I did:

Actually, after I finished that card, life got in the way of me coloring the second image. 

But, finally the other day, I worked on it. As I was coloring, I decided to hold off on finishing it completely. You see, I had colored in my first penguin using the dark Smoky Slate, and I thought he should be a true black. Also, remember the guy on the far right? I had finally decided to make him into a skunk (although skunks aren't too Christmas-y, are they?) Unfortunately, I had ordered the two Basic Black Stampin' Blends, so I needed to wait until my new Blends arrived to finish these two cuties.

My blacks finally arrived, so I was able to finish the coloring. As you can see, I did quite a lot of blending in this image. I even added some subtle pink cheeks to a few of the characters.

I wanted to do something a little bit different with this colored image than I'd done with the first one.

First, I held a die in place, fully intending to cut it into an oval shape. I don't have the Layering Ovals dies set. If I did, I might have gone that route anyway. As it was, the largest oval I had was from a retired set and it cut off part of the ornament the penguin was holding, as well as a bit of my skunk. Not really happy about losing part of my precious image, I spent a bit of time staring at it.

Finally! Eureka!! FUSSY CUT!

So that's exactly what I did. I have bad arthritis in my hands, so fussy cutting such a FUSSY image stamped on Whisper White cardstock was sort of tough on my hands. Notice that I cut even into the smallest spots if the space allowed it: between the reindeer's legs, his and Santa's leg, between the heads of Santa and the deer, etc. As you can imagine, this was time consuming. But, when I was finished, I felt, oh, so satisfied.

Another thing I'd done differently on this one compared to the first image was that the only red and green shades I used on the second one were the two Poppy Parades and the two Granny Apple Greens. I love their liveliness. 

That said, I decided to use Granny Apple Green as my backdrop for the card I was going to put together. I didn't want a flat surface, but I also didn't want it too busy so as to detract from the busyness of the image itself. So, I opted to run it through the Big Shot inside the Subtles 3D embossing folder (page 199 of the Annual Catalog). Cut at 3 5/8" x 4 7/8", I adhered the embossed piece to a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of black cardstock. Even though it is difficult to see in the photograph, it also is mounted on a Whisper White card base.

A close-up of the coloring of the second image:

Holding the fussy cut piece flat against the embossed green was not at all appealing. To alleviate that sensitive situation, I cut a piece of Whisper White cardstock to measure 1" x 4 7/8" and mounted that flush to the bottom of the green piece. Oh, before I mounted it, I grabbed a really old stamp and added "Celebrate" to the strip in black ink.

Once the sentiment was in place, I popped up with lots of Dimensionals my happy image so it overlaps the white, giving it the look of them standing on snow.

Although I already loved it at this point, I thought the green "sky" needed a little extra oomph. I remembered another precious item I'd preordered from the Holiday catalog, the product Stampin' Up! calls Snowflake Sequins on page 43. A wondrous mix of stars, snowflakes, dots and sequins in white, iridescent and silver, I fell in love with the tiny snowflakes, the real reason I ordered these. So, to finish off the green background, I glued five of the adorable snowflakes in place.

If it wasn't so very time consuming -- and hard on my hands -- I would make a whole bunch of these cards. Do you like the way it turned out?

As I was writing this post, I noticed something about this image. Something that would make it even cuter, if that's possible, and add even more dimension. However, this means much more work for me. But, I can't resist. I will just take it slowly and make a card using my "new" idea. Stay tuned in the next couple of weeks to see my result!

How are you doing on your Holiday card making? 

Crowded

Smiles.

ALMOST QUILT SEASON

I was a little chilly this morning. Even put on a long-sleeved shirt. August 20. Oh well. It's lots better than hot and humid.

Anyway, when trying to decide what to make for this blog post earlier today, thinking of being chilly, I decided it would be a perfect day to make a faux quilted card. I know. I know. It's not nearly cold enough to drag out the quilts . . . but there's no denying it . . . it's on its way.

Unfortunately, it turned out that everything I used to create this card, with a few exceptions, is retired. But, as you all know, "retired" means very little to me. If I love something enough to purchase it, I probably love it too much to get rid of it. If I have it, I SHOULD use it occasionally, right?

The current product I used include the Subtle 3D embossing folder (page 199), one of the Stitched Rectangles dies (page 196) for the sentiment, Very Vanilla cardstock, Stampin' Dimensionals, Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, Multipurpose Liquid Glue (my beloved "Green Blue") and the Light Pretty Peacock Stampin' Blend. Everything else is a permanent resident of my stash.

I was thrilled when my chosen sentiment fit perfectly inside one of the Stitched Rectangles dies. The stitching around the edges seem to coordinate so well with the "quilted" aspect of the card.

To make the paper quilt squares, I used my old trusty 3/4" Square Punch. I wish that was still around; punches make multiple small pieces so easy!

The center of the quilt is in the form of a really old brown corduroy brad. Perfect! I'm glad I still had them "in stock"! 

The quilt is backed up with the same solid cardstock that the larger layering piece is mounted on. To differentiate between the two layers, however, I popped the quilted piece up with Stampin' Dimensionals, and I embossed the larger piece with the Subtle 3D embossing folder.

How about you? Are you ready for quilt season? 

Quilted

Smiles.

MAGNOLIA BIRTHDAY

In the new Annual Catalog, there is a wondrously beautiful set -- actually part of a gorgeous suite -- called Good Morning Magnolia, found on page 38. This is one of the pricier sets in the catalog at $36.00 As previously mentioned, it is an exquisite set with beautiful images and versatile sentiments. Investing in the coordinating dies also gives you a plethora of possibilities, not only two dimensional, but also three dimensional projects. 

While this bundle may be in my future, I have discovered a set that is not quite as showy, but is reasonably priced, has two magnolias and boasts a trio of nice sentiments. This $14.00 stamp set cannot be found in the Annual Catalog. It is only available in a 15-page booklet that is entitled Experience Creativity. This little gem is meant for beginner stampers because it boasts suggestions and advice for anyone who is just starting to experience stamping. But I, as a very experienced stamper, found lots to intrigue and tempt me.

I could not pass up a bargain such as this, so ordered this pretty set as soon as I was able. I created the card shown in this post for my girls to create last Monday at my August Stamp-In Workshop. 

The card features not only the $14.00 Magnolia Blooms Stamp Set, but also coloring with Stampin' Blends (page 179), using one of the new Stitched Nested Labels (page 196, Annual Catalog), as well as some of the beautiful Designer Series Paper, Bird Ballad, found on page 166 of the Annual Catalog. As an added attraction (for me, at least) the girls got to do a bit of fussy cutting.

Keep reading to learn how to make a card like this.

SUPPLIES:

Whisper White cardstock

Black cardstock

Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper (page 166)

Magnolia Blooms Stamp Set (page 8, Experience Creativity booklet)

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

Stampin' Blends

Big Shot

Stitched Nested Labels Dies (page 196)

Assorted sequins

Paper Snips

Stampin' Dimensionals

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fold a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of Whisper White cardstock in half, creasing it well with a bone folder.

Add to this card base a piece of black cardstock that measures 4" x 5 1/4", then a piece of the flowered Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper measuring 3 3/4" x 5". Set this aside while you work on the next steps.

Using the Stitched Nested Labels die that measures 2 3/8" x 4 1/4" from point to point, cut a label from Whisper White cardstock. Onto this piece, on the left side towards the bottom, stamp the large magnolia in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. On scraps of Whisper White cardstock, stamp the small magnolia and the separate leaf.

Use Stampin' Blends to color in the flowers and the leaves. Fussy cut the flower and leaf on the scrap paper. (They are easy to cut out.) Adhere the separate leaf next to the leaf on the large magnolia at the bottom left. Add the small magnolia to the right of the large magnolia so it extends beyond the lower border of the label. 

In the black ink, add the sentiment from the set to the right of the flower.

Add an uneven number of sequins to the label.

Use a few Stampin' Dimensionals to attach the label to the card, raised a bit above center point.

If you would like  copy of Experience Creativity, please let me know, and I'll send one to you!

Magnolia

Smiles.

MORE SCRAPS TO USE

When using Designer Series Paper for projects, how often do you find yourself left with little strips here and there left over after trimming the DSP to the size you plan on using? Lots of times, right?

Respectable hoarder that I am, I save every single scrap of DSP I have ever had. 

The other day, I noticed just how overloaded my strip scrap stash (very alliterative, eh?) was becoming. I decided to do something about it. I sifted through the varying strips and gathered five that I thought worked well together. The five I used for my card happened to come from the same paper pack, so, of course, they were going to work well together! Duh. 

Following is the card I ended up creating using 

my leftover strips of DSP from previous projects:

Since the strips were of varying widths, I used them as such. I cut a piece of scrap cardstock that measured 5" wide and 4" high, but I was perfectly aware that I wouldn't be using the entire height. No matter what it turned out to be. I wanted to live on the edge!

After carefully adhering the strips butted together onto the scrap base, the portion that was used up by the strips only measured 2 3/4". I simply chopped off the unused portion of 1 1/4" (4" - 2 3/4" = 1 1/4"). I glued this piece to a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of black cardstock, then onto my card base that was a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of Whisper White cardstock folded in half.

I was left with about 1 1/8" of the black still showing at the bottom. So, I set to filling up that black space somewhat with a sentiment and layered ribbon. 

I added three coordinating sequins to the strip portion to finish it off. This is a nice flat card, perfect for mailing. And the sentiment can be used for so many occasions!

Even though choosing my scrap strips to use for this particular card was very simple -- basically a true no brainer! -- because they all coordinated with each other in the first place, I did put together another scrap strip strip for a fall-themed card. None of these strips were meant to be used together, but the common denominator in this one is the color and look of the papers, which worked well when I wanted to depict the feel of the coming autumn season. 

I am saving the autumn-flavored sample for my September Stamp-In Workshop for my girls to create a scrap strip card of their own. I will be handing them my stash of strips, and it will be up to them to coordinate five or so strips of their own choosing. I can't wait to see what they come up with!

So, my advice still stands: DON'T THROW ANYTHING AWAY! Especially the yummy Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper. Put those leftover strips to use in a funky unique card!

Scrappy

Smiles.

DANDELION THANK YOU

The Dandelion Wishes stamp set on page 77 of the Annual Catalog is a picture of gentle loveliness. I used it once before in this post, Dandelion Sympathy. The girls enjoyed using it for that card at a Stamp-In a few months ago, so I decided to feature it again, only this time using the other main image.

A close-up of the image portion:

I love the the technique I used for the backdrop on which I stamped the image in black. Keep reading to discover how I did it, and to make a card of your own.

SUPPLIES:

Pacific Point cardstock

Black cardstock

Whisper White cardstock

Dandelion Wishes (page 77, Annual Catalog)

Retired sentiment (anything will work; I just liked the way this word went all the way across.)

Black ink

Stampin' Write Markers in blues and greens

Rounded Corners Clear Block that measures 2 7/8" square

Water spritzer

Sequins

DIRECTIONS:

Fold a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of Pacific Point cardstock in half, creasing it well with a bone folder.

To this card base, add a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of black cardstock.

With the sides of the brush ends of blue and green Stampin' Write Markers, scribble in one direction across the acrylic block with rounded corners. Cover the block fairly well with the color. Spritz the block lightly with water and stamp it immediately directly onto a 3 3/4" x 5" piece of Whisper White cardstock, leaving equal margins at the top and sides. Let the block sit there for a few counts. Then, carefully lift the block straight up off the paper. You can either let it dry naturally or use the Heat Tool to hurry along the drying. 

Once it is completely dry, stamp in black the trio of dandelion seed heads.

Add a few sequins to the background.

In black ink, stamp your chosen sentiment across the bottom portion of the card.

Remembering to keep your adhesive very close to the edge of the white piece, adhere it to the black cardstock.

Dandelion

Smiles.

SMACKIN' ACETATE

In today's post I am going to be talking to you about a papercrafting technique that has been around for a long time. It is referred to as Smackin' Acetate. I think it also goes by other names, but that's the one we'll use today.

The Smackin' Acetate technique -- in this case anyway -- involves adding color to an acetate sheet, spritzing it with water, then placing a piece of cardstock over the inky mess.

For my card, I used a half sheet of Transparency (do they even make that anymore? Isn't everything PowerPoint now?) Anyway, I had a few sheets of it, so that's what I grabbed. Otherwise, Stampin' Up!'s Window Sheets (page 169 in the Annual Catalog) work great too. Another great option is the clear plastic stuff that sometimes covers crafting products. 

All you need is a chunk that is a little larger than the piece of cardstock you want to use. In this case, my cardstock measures 3 3/4" x 5". So a piece of acetate measuring a mere 4" x 5 1/4" would work adequately. The good thing is that, once you're finished with your project, it can easily be wiped clean for future use. Just store it somewhere you can find it next time you want to do the Smackin' Acetate technique!

To do the technique, use Stampin' Write Markers. I used Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral and Melon Mambo. You don't need to use six colors, but that's what I did. 

The photo below shows how I did mine. Scribbling with the side of the brush end of the markers, I made random marks all across the acetate. Just think of yourself as a kid again, a kindergartener having lots of fun being free and enjoying it all without any thinking!

The next step involves spritzing the colored acetate with water. The less water you add to the color, the more pen strokes you will get in your final piece. I spritzed mine pretty good so I did not get such obvious marker strokes.

As soon as your acetate is spritzed with water as you wish it to be, lay your piece of Whisper White cardstock straight down onto the wet color. 

Pick the piece straight up off the acetate. Shown below is what mine looked like after being pressed against the spritzed acetate. I used my Heat Tool to dry it so I could continue to work with it rather than wait for it to dry naturally.

I used Memento Tuxedo Black Ink to stamp the single bird from the Free As a Bird set (page 92). Then, this was a cool discovery I made! I used Stampin' Blends to color in my bird. I purposely used the Memento ink with the intention of doing this. But I wasn't sure how the Blends would work against a colored-with-ink background. 

It worked beautifully! The Stampin' Blends I used for my card were Light Soft Suede, Light Mango Melody, Dark Petal Pink, Dark Old Olive, Light Poppy Parade and Light Cherry Cobbler.

I stamped the bird and the leafy branch directly onto the Smackin' Acetate background, then colored them in with the Blends. On a piece of Whisper White scrap I stamped the two flower images and colored them with the Blends. I then fussy cut them, glued the bud flat and popped the large flower next to it with a Stampin' Dimensional.

I added the birthday sentiment from the Seaside Notions set (page 139), cut it out with an oval from the Stitched Shapes dies and popped it a bit to the right of center with a few Stampin' Dimensionals. I chose a pink satin ribbon -- long retired, but it looked good with the background colors -- and tied it in a knot, attaching it with a Glue Dot.

Although it looks fairly dark, I chose to mat it with a piece of Cherry Cobbler, picking up on the flower colors, then added it to a Whisper White card base.

There! Now you know how to do one of the versions of Smackin' Acetate. It's one of those cool techniques where you never know what you're going to end up with, no two ever exactly alike. I love the arbitrariness of techniques like this! Give it a try!

Smackin'

Smiles.

FUN FOLD FLOWERS

As we established in last Saturday's post -- and in many before that one -- I am a saver. Of anything with possibilities. You know, just in case. 

One of the things that I've saved for years are printouts of cool projects, as well as torn out magazine pages with good-sounding projects.

Going through some of them the other day, I came across the idea for a fun fold card. The creator had stamped, colored and fussy cut large flowers and leaves for her card. She also put the flowers and leaves on all of the three layers.

Here's another example of my saving instincts: Awhile back I had invested in some lovely Specialty Designer Series Paper from Stampin' Up!. It is heavyweight paper that is ideal for creating boxes and other containers. I was drawn to the paper because . . . YOU CAN COLOR THE ELEGANT IMAGES -- and then . . . FUSSY CUT THEM! Woo hoo, right up my proverbial alley.

The designs on the creamy white paper are done in a foil and are simply lovely. Anyway, as I was saying, As soon as I'd acquired a pack of this paper, I went to work with my Stampin' Blends to color in the flowers and leaves. 

It takes a surprising amount of time to color in an entire 12X12 sheet of paper. Then fussy cutting all those elements is another huge job in itself. After I'd completed this extensive labor intensive project, guess what I did with all the pieces. Yup. You're right. NOTHING! Argh.

When I sighted the fancy fold card featuring larger flowers, aha! (Oprah, could this have been my life's Aha Moment??) I immediately thought of those pretty flowers and leaves languishing in stashland.

I grabbed those little honeys and went to work on my card:

The following photo shows the card almost completely extended open. 

The paper to make the card measures 4 1/4" x 11". I featured Very Vanilla in my card. Using the Simply Scored tool, the score lines are at 1 1/4", 2 1/2", 5 1/4" and 7 1/2". Fold them in the mountain/valley formation, with the first fold a mountain type and going on from there.

Then, the way I did mine, adhere your flowers as desired on the first two mountain folds. Follow with leaves wherever they appeal to you.

I left the last flat surface blank to either stamp a sentiment or to use as a little area on which to write thoughts to the recipient. To echo the gold metallic in the paper, I cut two strips using a long-retired die from Stampin' Up! and added it to the edge of the card.

A photo of the card standing against a sheet of the uncolored/uncut piece 

of the DSP I used. Isn't it lovely??

Once again, lying in front of the DSP, I show how the card looks when it is lying flat.

Any thoughts on this type of card? 

Fancy

Folded

Smiles.