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Archive for the ‘Impressabilities™’ Category

More Stamping with Foam

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Today’s Tattered Angels Blog Hop Hostess with the Mostess is Heidi Blankenship. Her personal blog, Embellished Dreams is chock full of Tattered Angels artwork, take some time to look around! This post is especially cool, enjoy!

I”m still having with foam!  Remember this Fall Wreath I made with embossed foam?  I had a few extra S4-228 Nested Maple Leaves left over from that project.  When I saw Eli’s Savvy Saturday and Margie’s Cushy project, I remembered my embossed foam leaf was still waiting to play.  Hmm, that would make a nice stamp!  Remember how nicely these embossed with the I2-1009 Flourish when I heated the Impressabilitiesâ„¢ with my iron?

I attached it to a clear block with a bit of adhesive. Then I inked the leaf with Clearsnap Colorbox Chestnut Roan Fluid Chalk Ink.

 Actually I used the same ink, but from 2 different ink pads, and I think it looks pretty cool!

I also added the S4-226 Harvest Border Petite , with a green ribbon under it to add some color.  It’s wrapped around the My Minds Eye Penny Lane Chasse cardstock.  I inked through the Borderabilitiesâ„¢ die template like a stencil, to color the embossed areas.  That piece is mounted on brown cardstock.

Enjoy Fall!
Beth

Tree-mendous!

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

Have you heard?  We’re doing a blog hop with Tattered Angels, makers of Glimmer Mist and much more. Today, Design Team Member Julie Overby  has blogged a project, go check it out! You can also check out the Tattered Angels Blog for even more ideas.

Did you love Margie’s Savvy Saturday, where she cut apart the S4-227 Pumpkins Nestabilities®?  That got me thinking about the S4-220 Nested Pine Trees.  I wanted to give them some dimension. 

I pulled together some supplies: Spellbindersâ„¢ S4-220 Nested Pine Trees, S4-142 Long Classic Rectangles LG #4 and 5; Spellbindersâ„¢ Impressabilitiesâ„¢ I2-1006 Floral and Stone, I2-1009 Flourish, I2-1002 Paisley.  I also included 7gypsies, Gypsy Market Paper; SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES by 3L, 3D Foam Squares; Tattered Angels, Pearl Glimmer Mist; Clearsnap, Colorbox Chestnut Roam and Dark Moss Fluid Chalk Ink; Stampers Anonymous, Mini Ornates Stamps; Core’dinations Color Core Cardstock; tan and brown cardstock; sanding block.

I cut S4-220 Nested Pine Trees #3 with Core’dinations Cardstock, then embossed with one of the Impressabilitiesâ„¢ templates.  I repeated this step 2 more times, with a different tone of green, so that I had 3 large Nested Pine Treea die cuts, each embossed with a different Impressabilitiesâ„¢ template.  I trimmed the lightest green tone for the top section of the tree, then the medium tone for the center, and left the darkest tone full size. I cut a trunk from dark brown cardstock.  I inked the edges of the tree with Dark Moss ink.

I sanded the embossed areas that would show, then spritzed with Pearl Glimmer Mist.  I cut/embossed 2 tones of tan cardstock with S4-142 Long Classic Rectangles LG # 4 and 5, then inked the edges with Chestnut Roan ink.  I stamped a Mini Ornates sentiment with Chestnut Roan onto the smaller rectangle.

To give the tree depth, I lined the lower curved edges with 3D Foam Squares, but used normal flat adhesive at the top of the tree.

I assembled the card as shown below. The “lift” and inked edges give dimension and shadow.

Enjoy the day!

Beth

It’s All In The Equation!

Monday, September 28th, 2009

A very cool Savvy Saturday from Eli on how to put all the techniques covered in the last couple of weeks into one project! So I thought I’d try my hand at making a project with letterpressing, partial impressing, chalking and adding to the equation with flocking!

Today I’d like to share my altered piece - an 8×10″ artist canvas panel that I had for awhile. I used a fall theme and plan to display it in my hallway during the season and through Thanksgiving!

Here’s my list of Spellbindersâ„¢ goodies I gathered for the project: I2-1009 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Flourish, I2-1010 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Pebbles, S4-228 Nested Maple Leaf and S5-019 Labels Eight die #6 & #4 (die #1 being the smallest).

First I cut and letterpressed my frame with the S5-019 Labels Eight die #6. I used the I2-1010 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Pebbles to press with and inked with Clearsnap Colorbox Ink in Warm Red. For more details on this technique, please click HERE for Beth’s helpful tutorial. I also chalked the frame to give it some yellow coloring to match with the leaves in the picture. Then I cut my picture using the S5-019 Labels Eight die #4.

I used the Partial Impressabilitiesâ„¢ technique for my border at the bottom of the canvas using Core’dinations The Chocolate Box collection. For more information and helpful tips on how to do this technique, please see HERE.

Then I cut all the S4-228 Nested Maple Leaf (all three die sizes) with My Mind’s Eye Fall In Love collection. As you can see I have cut and partial impressed two of the leaves. To keep the chalking in the equation, I used the chalk technique that Eli had done on the largest S4-228 Nested Maple Leaf (die #3). I first cut the leaves. Then covered the I2-1009 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Flourish piece with embossing ink and embossed with the S4-228 Nested Maple Leaf. I used the embossing ink because I was too slow (my pigment ink I wanted to use was a little dried out) and the ink kept drying up on me! LOL! So I thought why not embossing ink and it worked like a charm for me.

Embossing sandwich (from the bottom) is:
White Master Mat
Copy Paper (for protection)
I2-1009 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Flourish (inked side up)
S4-228 Nested Maple Leaf with paper embedded (ridge/cut side up)
Tan Embossing Pad
White Master Mat

For the flocking part, I used Sparkle’N Sprinkle Burnt Orange Flock. Moving quickly, I removed the die from the I2-1009 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Flourish and covered the inked area with flock. Then I removed the excess, the result is a subtle flocked image in the leaf. The rest of the leaves were a straight cut and emboss process.

I painted the edges of my canvas panel and the edges of my layout page from My Mind’s Eye Fall In Love collection. Adhered all the pieces as shown. Note that I used foam tape to give dimension to some of the leaves. Lastly, I added my title which was originally white fabric letter stickers but added fall colors with chalk and done!

You can make these canvas panels as personalized gifts for loved ones during the upcoming holiday season. Can you believe it’s almost October? Happy Fall!
MargieH

Savvy Saturday~Putting it Together

Saturday, September 26th, 2009

We’ve had almost a whole month of awesome posts on Impressabilitiesâ„¢ and I thought it would be fun to remind you of a few techniques you might have learned this month, teach you a new one and use it all on a card…with Partial Impressabilitiesâ„¢, Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Letterpress, Chalk over Ink and using one of our most popular Limited Edition die templates…all in one card. Sound like too much?

Naaaaah, we like to put it all together.

So, just to remind you, Beth put together this tutorial on how to use Impressabilitiesâ„¢ as a Letterpress and Margie put one together last Saturday on how to use a Partial Impressabilitiesâ„¢. So I used both those techniques but also want to share with you a technique that Stacey Caron created. It is simply called “Chalk over Ink”. It’s not too challenging but gives a great “wow” effect. Let’s check it all out, step-by-step.

Gather your supplies: Wizardâ„¢, S4-227 Pumpkins Nestabilities®, I2-1001 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Paisley, S4-235 Fancy Tags, The Robin’s Nest Halloween Swirl patterned paper, Cosmo Cricket “Girl Friday” patterned paper, Clearsnap ColorBox cat eye inks in Chianti and Picante, Taylored Expressions sentiment stamp, Creative Impressions ribbons, 3L SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES–Black 3-D Adhesive Squares and Photo Tape, Decorating chalks, Hole punch, Green staples, Stapler

Next you might want to go review the techniques in the links above. You’ll need to cut one of your Impressabilities templates and letterpress some paper using a slow-drying pigment ink. I started by using green ink as in this example but tried orange and used it for the final card.

Then just color away with your decorating chalks. I like to use my bare finger to rub color over the inks and around on the smooth cardstock. You’ll notice the ink seems to grab onto the chalk, intensifying the color. I used several colors–red, orange, green and yellow–on this to get the desired effect.

Before Chalking

Next, cut the letterpressed paper using the largest Pumpkins Nestabilitiesâ„¢ so that the letterpress image shows right where you want it. I do not emboss over letterpress as it tends to flatten the image.

The rest is up to you…After creating the Letterpressed pumpkin, trim a background mat to 5-1/4  by 5-1/4″ and add it to the card base (11×5-1/2″) folded in half. Punch a hole in the stem of the pumpkin, thread the ribbons through it and staple to secure. Stamp a sentiment onto paper and cut/emboss it with S4-235 Fancy Tags. Adhere the pumpkin by placing a double layer of 3-D adhesive squares down the middle. Add 3-D squares to the sentiment tag and add to the card: VOILA a lovely, fall friendship card, using several techniques.

Eli

Welcoming Autumn!

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Yesterday was Autumn Equinox (the equinox divides the day and night equally) which means we are officially into Autumn. So what a great excuse to make a card just for the season!

Using my Spellbinders, I brought out S5-019 Labels Eight die #5 (die #1 being the smallest in the bunch), S4-121 Doodle Parts long thin swirl, I2-1010 Impressabilities™ Pebbles and S4-227 Pumpkins Nestabilities® die #3.

First, I cut out and embossed my S4-227 Pumpkins Nestabilities® die #3 with Core’dinations cardstock. Then I proceed to emboss the pumpkin further by using my I2-1010 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Pebbles with the cardstock still embedded in the die template as demonstrated in Beth’s post.

Just to recap, I’d like to go over the sandwich recipes that you will be using on the pumpkins:

1. Cut Sandwich (from bottom):
White Master Mat
Magnetic Mat (black side up)
S4-227 Pumpkins Nestabilities® die #2 (ridge up/cut side up)
Cardstock
White Master Mat

2. Emboss Sandwich (from bottom):
White Master Mat
S4-227 Pumpkins Nestabilities® die (with cardstock embedded/cut side up)
Tan Embossing Pad
White Master Mat

3. Impressabilities Sandwich (from bottom):
White Master Mat
I2-1010 Impressabilitesâ„¢ Pebbles
S4-227 Pumpkin Nestabilities® die (with cardstock embedded/cut up)
Tan Embossing Pad
White Master Mat

Repeat this process five more times and make sure you sand each piece to show off that design. You will need a total of six embossed/impressed pumpkins to achieve the accent shown on the card pictured below. Fold each pumpkin in half, adhere one side to one side of another pumpkin’s side, connecting them. Make sure you have a flat side to adhere the 3-D pumpkin to the card base. Set aside to adhere to the card as a last step.

I continued to cut and emboss the S5-019 Labels Eight die #5 and two of the Doodle Parts long thin swirl die. Note that I have stenciled the long thin swirl die with Clearsnap Fluid Chalk Ink Chestnut Roan before taking the papers out of the die. Make sure to clean the ink off of your die.

Using the Clearsnap chalk ink, I inked the edges of: Crafty Secret Fall Cotton Scraps, S5-019 Labels Eight die cut and card base (make sure to corner round the card base first). Adhere all the parts as shown with the exception of the pumpkin. I used Flower Soft Autumn to accent the image and let dry. Lastly, the pumpkin was adhered to make a wonderful (and colorful) card!

Happy Autumn, everyone!
MargieH

Fall in Love: Impressabilities™

Monday, September 21st, 2009

I love the fall. The weather starts to cool off. The leaves begin to turn and it is a great time of year to snuggle with loved ones. It’s also a great time (with all the approaching holidays) to get engaged. I thought it would be fun to create a fall-themed engagement card. I loved the technique Margie used on her Savvy Saturday post: Partial Impressabilities. So I wanted to use the same technique on this card:

Supplies: Wizard, I2-1001 Impressabilities Paisley, S4-190 Labels Four (3), S5-014 Small Deckled Mega Rectangles (#4), Core’dinations red and orange cardstocks, Chatterbox Artsy.licious gold embossed paper, Creative Impressions heart brad, Copic Spica Chocolate glitter pen, Scrapbook Ahesives: 3D Foam Squares and Photo Tape, JustRite Brayton letter stamps–90, 50 point and Horizontal Wood Block; Letter stickers, Brown die ink

After you collect your supplies, it’s time to cut apart your Impressabilities template so you can emboss just a portion of it. It is super easy. I just grabbed a pair of hardy scissors and snipped the fine metal pieces connecting the paisleys to the frame.

The sandwich for embossing with Impressabilities is as follows:

  • White Master Mat
  • Impressabilities template
  • paper, misted with a little water
  • Tan Embossing Pad
  • White Master Mat

I built this sandwich upside down so you could see it better. Just remember the paper must be in between the Impressabilities (or other embossing element) and the Embossing Pad. Feed your sandwich through the Wizard to emboss.

Using the Core’dinations cardstock gives me a fabulous design element right within the paper. Just do a little sanding to bring out the core color. When I use Impressabilities, I actually like to sand both sides so I can see which one I want to use. I chose the one on the right.

Trim the piece to a square and save the scrap as you’ll be using it later. Finish up with the Wizard by cutting/embossing Labels Four die template and only cutting Small Deckled Mega Rectangle from the cream/gold paper.

Using brown ink, stamp {FALL} onto the Labels die cut. Add a little shimmer to the ink with a glitter pen. For the inside sentiment, stamp CONGRATULATIONS onto the scrap of red Core’dinations cardstock. Add glitter pen. Write “on your” with the same pen and add letter stickers for “engagement.” You’ll probably need to trim the sentiment block just a bit before adding it to the Deckled rectangle.

Now let’s put it all together. Adhere “Fall” label to cardstock using Foam Adhesive. Add letter stickers onto the bottom, using a heart brad with an “O” sticker on it as shown. Mat onto cream/gold paper and adhere to card base made from Orange Core’dinations cardstock. Add the sentiment to the inside and you have a beautiful fall, engagement card.

I say we can all Fall in Love with that…Eli

Savvy Saturday ~ A Partial Impressability

Saturday, September 19th, 2009

For Savvy Saturday, I thought I would cut apart my Impressability. It’s OK - LOL!! It’s one of the reasons why I purchased two of the same kind. The results are stunning.

Since the weather is getting cooler and the days seem to be getting shorter, my mind is in fall mode. Wandering around the Chicago Scrapbook Expo a few weeks ago, I grabbed Crafty Secret Fall Homespun Cotton Scraps. Perfect for just this occasion! Here are some other items I gathered for today’s project: I2-1009 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Flourish, S7-017 On The Vine Border Grand, S4-228 Nested Maple Leaf die #1 ( the smallest size), S4-132 Classic Rectangles Large die #5 and S4-227 Pumpkins Nestabilities® die #2.

I picked the I2-1009 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Flourish because of the swirl designs, it went well with the fall theme. While cutting the Flourish to use as a border, I discovered that it really wasn’t connected to each other, just an individual flowery swirl. But that was fine, I placed each flourish next to each other to look like a border. Using the Core’dination cardstock, I misted the area where I would emboss.

The embossing sandwich I used was (from the bottom):
White Master Mat
Tan Embossing Pad
Cardstock
I2-1009 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Flourish
White Master Mat

After feeding the sandwich through the Wizard, I left the Impressability pieces embedded in the cardstock. I flipped the cardstock over and proceeded to sand over the embossed area. I do this so that my embossing stands out even more. Then I took out the pieces of the Impressability and set the card base aside. 

S7-017 On The Vine Border Grand, I only cut and emboss a small part as I only needed one of its leaf to add onto the pumpkin…don’t forget to ink the leaf before adding (hint: I inked the edges first and then gently pressed the entire leaf face down onto the ink pad)! I cut and embossed three (3) S4-228 Nested Maple Leaf die #1. With the rest of the die templates, I cut and embossed one of each using My Mind’s Eye pattern papers. Inked the edges of all including the card base and Crafty Secret Cotton Scraps image. Adhere all as shown below…note that the S4-227 Pumpkins Nestabilities® and the orange S4-228 Nested Maple Leaf are raised using foam tape by Scrapbook Adhesive By 3L. Also, if you look closely, you will see I added touches of Flower Soft onto the image where the leaves are…wonderful accent!

Design Team Member Karen Hunsaker also created a card by cutting apart the I2-1001 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Paisley. Going further with the Paisley theme, she also cut and embossed the S4-135 Classic Scalloped Paisley with the Core’dinations Chocolate Box cardstock. Stamped “thanks” from Hero Arts using Clearsnap ink, this card is ready to go!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great Saturday!
MargieH

The Softer Side of Impressabilities

Friday, September 18th, 2009

While today’s post is not a new technique, it may give you some new ideas.  I have this thing for textured paper.  I love it like I love cookies. 

I gathered these supplies and set out to make a quick card:

S4-190 Labels Four #5 & 6; I2-1007 Impressabilities™ Diamonds and Stars; Clearsnap, Colorbox Antique Pewter Pigment Ink and Charcoal Fluid Chalk Ink; My Minds Eye, patterned paper; 7gypsies, patterned paper; Stampers Anonymous, Birds & Baubles stamp set; cardstock, sueded paper.

The key to this is the sueded paper, which  has a soft texture that accepts embossing beautifully.  I embossed the sueded paper with the I2-1007 Impressabilities™ Diamonds and Stars with the same sandwich I used for regular paper, which is

White Master Mat
Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Diamonds and Stars
Sueded paper, soft side down
Embossing Mat
White Master Mat

Feed the sandwich into the Wizardâ„¢. The result is simply gorgeous, along with being easy!!

I trimmed the sides and mounted it on black cardstock, and adhered it onto a piece of 7gypsies patterned paper. I stamped a Stampers Anonymous floral image with Clearsnap Colorbox Antique Pewter ink, then stamped the quote with Charcoal Fluid Chalk ink. I then cut/embossed that using S4-190 Labels Four #5. I used S4-190 Labels Four #6 to cut a black mat for the quote piece.

The finished card looks like this:

Have a great day!

Beth

Back to School “Impressions”

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

For most, we are in full swing of “Back to School” mode - the early mornings, the bag lunches and the routine. Here in an empty (and quiet!) house, I was cleaning my closet and found a box of pictures of my boys in their younger years…they were so cute! What happened? They grew up…a little! LOL!

As the theme is ”back to school” today, I am learning something new. I thought I’d try my hand at Karen Taylor’s technique of using the Impressabilities to make a “Back to School” layout of my oldest when he hit first grade. Then add into the mix, my favorite technique of letterpressing.

First I gathered what I needed from my Spellbinders’ stash: I2-1010 Impressabilitiesâ„¢ Pebbles, S4-230 Labels Six die #5 & #6 (#1 being the smallest size) and a retired tag die template.

I had some foam shapes and letters in my sticker binder for awhile so it was a great excuse to use them! After reading how Eli and Beth heated the Impressabilities™ to emboss, I thought what about heating the foam instead?

Before I started my experiment, I had everything for my Wizard™ all set up so I can make that mad dash to the sandwich of (from bottom):

White Master Mat
Favorite Impressability
Foam Shape or Letters
Tan Embossing Mat
White Master Mat

Using my tweezer, I heated the black foam arrow with its white backing intact (I cut the shape from its sticker sheet) and the surface turned into a shiny coat. Quickly I put the heated foam face down, placed the Tan Embossing Mat and White Master Mat on top. Passed the sandwich through the Wizardâ„¢. Repeat the process for the foam letters that spelled out “Back To School.”

After heating all that foam, I used the letterpress technique that I had posted last month by using Clearsnap Queue ink (notice the frame behind the journaling box?). The journaling was written on S4-230 Labels Six die #5 and the letterpressed frame, I used S4-230 Labels Six die #6. For more details on how to letterpress, please refer HERE.

With Cosmo Cricket “Boyfriend” collection (papers, ribbon and rub-ons) and chalking the edges with Clearsnap Fluid Chalk Ink - Chestnut Roan, I was able to complete a real fun layout for my first grader of long ago! LOL!

More Fun with Foam

Monday, September 14th, 2009

After seeing Design Team Member Karen Taylor’s technique on Savvy Saturday I was a little perplexed, I have not worked with foam very much, just a few room parent projects when my boys were younger.  

I started out making a leaf project with foam. I cut the S4-228 Nested Maple Leaf die template with 3 colors of foam, several die cuts of each size maple leaf.  Then I used my heat tool to warm up the I2-1009 Impressbilitiesâ„¢ Flourish.  I embossed with the foam in the die, attempting to preserve the embossed edge from the die, like this.  Because foam has some give to it and it stretches, the results were less than spectacular.  Also, the flourish pattern wasn’t as noticable as I wanted it to be.  EUREKA!  What if I used the iron? 

I turned the iron onto the highest heat setting without steam.  I built the sandwich upside down (White Master Mat, Tan Embossing Mat, die cut maple leaves).  I placed the Impressabilties™ template on the ironing board and put the hot iron onto the Impressabilities™ for about 15 seconds.  My iron just about covered the entire template, evenly heating it.  I used a pair of kitchen tongs to pick up the very hot Impressabilites™ and placed it onto the die cut foam maple leaves, covered it with the other White Master Mat and fed it into my Wizard™.  I did this so that I could quickly feed the sandwich before I lost the heat.  By the time the sandwich was out of the Wizard™, the Impressabilities™ was cool enough to touch.

I achieved the shiny, evenly embossed area that Eli did by using the iron.  Remember that once heated, the Impressabilities™ template is HOT!  I embossed all the leaves using this technique.

To assemble my little wreath, I cut a circle from chipboard and glued the leaves around it. I added some light green foam S4-198 Flourish Accents and dark brown foam S7-017 On The Vine Border Grand, cut into several pieces.  Just add ribbon to the back and its ready to hang!

 

Supplies used: I2-1009 Impressabilities™ Flourish; S4-228 Nested Maple Leaves; S7-017 On The Vine Border Grand; S4-198 Flourish Accents;  Foam Sheets; Craft Foam Glue, chipboard, Iron.

Beth