The Crafty Thinker: Stephanie Fischer - Independent Stampin' Up Demonstrator

Wednesday, 26 July 2017

Cardfront Builder with Embossing Paste

Continuing my quest to attack everything that doesn't breath with Embossing Paste! I started out by making stencils with the dies in the Cardfront Builder set (which matches the Carols of Christmas stamp set - available as a bundle to save 10%). These products will be available from 1st August as an early release from the Holiday Catalogue (due later this year).

Cardfront Builder, Embossing Paste, Christmas Card, #thecraftythinker, Stampin' Up Australia Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW

My first Christmas card for the year! It features stencils I made with the Cardfront Builder dies
and Embossing paste

I then placed the moon and stars stencil onto a piece of Smoky Slate cardstock and used a small amount of Embossing Paste straight from the pot.

When that embossing was dry, I positioned the two tree stencils and used Embossing Paste that I had coloured with a drop of Tranquil Tide ink. Once that layer was dry, I went back to using the paste direct from the pot to add snow to the trees and foreground. While it was still wet, I sprinkled it with some Dazzling Diamonds which sparkles nicely - although I didn't manage to capture it with my photography.

I have mislaid my stamp set (!!!) so I cut out the deer and watercoloured her. I stamped the greeting with Tranquil Tide ink and then added a layer of Wink of Stella to the word "sparkle", although it doesn't show in my photographs.

The trees have quite a bit of depth to them!

Thank you for your visit.
'Til next time!
Stephanie

Product List - click on a product image below to visit my online store (Australian Residents only)

Monday, 24 July 2017

Mediterranean Pattern Party

One of our good friends, my husband's golf buddy, is having a birthday this week and is also preparing for a major European holiday. So I decided to include a Mediterranean element in his birthday card!

Oh So Eclectic, Watercolouring, Mediterranean Moments, Embossing Paste, Masculine card, #thecraftythinker, Stampin' Up Australia Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW

Mediterranean themed masculine birthday card

I added a drop of Smoky Slate ink to some embossing paste and made the background with some Basic Gray cardstock and one of the Pattern Party masks.

The image from Mediterranean Moments was stamped with Basic Black ink and watercoloured before I cut it out with one of the Stitched Shapes framelits and layered it onto Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla panels.

The greeting is from Butterfly Basics . The foliage was left over from another card and found its home here! I stamped the image from Oh So Eclectic in Basic Gray ink onto Smoky Slate cardstock and cut them out with the matching die in the Eclectic Layers Thinlits (buy as a bundle to save 10%).

I made a mask with window sheet and die from Eclectic Layers to use on
the flower with Embossing Paste coloured with Smoky Slate ink

The flower in the corner inside the card was also left over from another card!

Thank you for visiting.
'Til next time!
Stephanie

Product List - Click on a product image below to visit my online store (Australian Residents only)

Sunday, 23 July 2017

Detailed Floral Stencilled White on Black

The other day I made this card with embossing paste and a stencil I made with Window Sheet and the Detailed Floral Thinlit. I made a black and white panel at the same time which I've used in today's card.

Embossing Paste, making a stencil, Faux metal medallion, Oh So Eclectic, Sympathy Card, Detailed Floral, #thecraftythinker, Stampin' Up Australia Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW

A touch of Powder Pink brightens up an otherwise monochromatic card

I added the Basic Gray stripes to the Powder Pink layer by temporarily adhering little strips of cardstock to the panel as a mask and sponging with Basic Gray ink. I added a small piece of Basic Gray cardstock under the pink and grey panel to put a full stop under that section.

The card base is made with Whisper White Thick A4 cardstock.
A card suitable for any occasion from birthday to sympathy

I stamped the flowers and foliage from the Oh So Eclectic stamp set with Basic Gray ink onto a mix of Basic Gray and Smoky Slate cardstock pieces and cut them out with the matching Eclectic Layers Thinlits (buy as a bundle to save 10%).

I had already created a mask for the flowers for this card and used it again with embossing paste coloured with a drop of Smoky Slate ink. When the embossing paste was dry, I added some shading by watercolouring with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

The faux metal medallion made with silver heat embossing impressed with a
black-inked stamp

To create the faux metallic medallion, I added four layers of silver heat embossing to a small piece of cardstock. Before I heated the fifth (and final) layer, I inked up the stamp with Basic Black ink. While the silver embossing was still warm and soft, I stamped the greeting. Once it was cool, I cut out with one of the Stitched Shapes framelits and added it to the card front with Stampin' Dimensionals.

I had some flowers and foliage left over, which I used on the card that I'll share on tomorrow's post.

Thank you for visiting.
'Til next time!
Stephanie

Product List - To visit my online store, click on a product image below (Australian Residents only)

Friday, 21 July 2017

Ink it! Stamp it! Blog Hop #3: Technique - Retiform

Welcome to the Ink It! Stamp It! Design Team Blog Hop - we hop every month so be sure to pop back and visit us again! Today our theme is Technique and I have chosen the Retiform technique to make a feminine and a masculine card.

You are currently at my page - Stephanie Fischer, The Crafty Thinker. At the end of my post there is a full line of team members, please click on the name after mine in the list to continue the hop.

Retiform Technique, #inkitstampit, Beautiful You, Butterfly Basics, #thecraftythinker, Stampin Up Australia Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW

Feminine version of a Retiform card featuring Beautiful You , Flourishing Phrases, Daisy Delight and Butterfly Basics

Retiform is one of those techniques that I love but seem to rarely use - in fact I think my last retiform card predated my blogging! It's so easy and effective though that it seemed a good time to drag it out of the archives!

Method: It's basically just masking and sponging!

You may want to plan ahead of time the pattern you want to create with your sponging.
Hold a piece of clean paper (I just use printer paper) in the position required.
Lightly sponge your chosen colour from the masking paper onto the cardstock. (ie place your inky sponge down onto the masking paper and gently slide the sponge onto the project)
Remove the masking paper and place it back onto the project, lining it up on the crisp edge of ink you've just created.
Repeat step 3
Move the masking paper to the next position you want to create a line and hold in place.
Repeat step 3
Repeat step 4

When you have finished creating your pattern of lines, it's time to add some stamped images.

Tips:
- This technique works really well with images that are larger than the space available so that they look cropped.
- I'm a big fan of the monochrome so I like to use only one ink pad but this is not necessary.

Choose the area where you plan to stamp.
Protect all the adjacent areas of your project by carefully placing masking paper along relevant lines that you've created.
Stamp your chosen image.
Repeat steps 1 to 3

Masculine Card, Retiform Technique, #inkitstampit, Country Livin', Guy Greetings, #thecraftythinker, Stampin Up Australia Demonstrator, Stephanie Fischer, Sydney NSW

Using Soft Suede ink produces a lovely sepia effect in this Retiform card

For this masculine version, I basically repeated the same steps except that I started off by using a circular mask. In order to sponge inside the circle and also to stamp inside the circle, I used the paper from which I had cut the circle to mask the rest of my project.

I used the same colour ink (Soft Suede) to watercolour the central image. Whilst I combined several stamp sets, the overall theme is transport. The grass in the central image is from the High Tide stamp set.

I hope you've enjoyed this this technique and these cards and I welcome your comments.

Thank you so much for joining us today. We hope you'll join us again next month for our 3D projects! I'm Stephanie Fischer and to keep hopping around see the list below to see who is up next with another great technique.

Thanks for visiting
'Til next time
Stephanie

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