Just a quick note to let you know that while I am still an active Independent Demonstrator with Stampin' Up, I have let my website www.creativeflare.stampinup.net lapse for the time being.  Due to some minor flood damage to my home I've had to pack up my tools, etc. and wait for repairs, which has taken longer than expected.  I am still taking orders, just not blogging or teaching classes right now.

All the best,
Kristine
creativeflarecards@gmail.com

This is so practical!  I'm excited to get mine for Christmas Card season.

Stampin' Up Convention 2013 - Make and Takes!

Hello, Lovely make & take part 1

This July, I went to my very first Stampin' Up Convention!  Talk about an amazing Girlz Weekend Out.  I went by myself and made 5 new best friends.

One of the many fun things about convention, is that we get to test new product through Make & Takes, Mini Classes, and Product Playgrounds.   They give us the stamp sets and consumable materials for all the sessions on the first night (in a very swanky convention bag - this year's model was a custom Stampin' Up back-pack complete with padded laptop carrying pocket - ooh!  Loved it!).  On "Expo Day" tables are set up with tools and volunteer demonstrators guide participants through making the projects.  Participants get to choose when they want to complete those projects... or if they want to be like our crew and go to the mall instead...  we skipped doing the projects at convention.  Hey, there was an amazing mall just across the street from the convention center - we just couldn't resist the allure of retail therapy!

Now that I'm back, here's the first card that I made using the same ink, stamps, and products that were in the make and take package, with a few added twists of my own.

This is a scan of the instruction and idea sheet that came with the make & take.  Included was 4 of the new 5" x 3-1/4" Note Cards and envelopes.  It is interesting to note that even though the cards have the same great finish of the Whisper White card stock sold individually, the card stock of note cards is heavier weight.

Supplies:  (available from www.creativeflare.stampinup.net)
Hello, Lovely stamp set, set of 10  (Wood mounted blocks: item #130240, $32.95.  Cling mount stamps: item #130243, $24.95) Acrylic Blocks C and H recommended.
Note Cards  (item #131527 - $5.95 for 20 cards and envelopes.)
Crisp Cantaloupe Classic Ink Pad  (item #131176 - $5.95)
Old Olive Classic Ink Pad  (item #126953)
Bermuda Bay Classic Ink Pad  (item #131171)
Coastal Cabana Classic Ink Pad  (item #131175)
Old Olive card stock  (item #100702- $6.95 for 24 sheets)
Whisper White card stock  (item #101730 - $8.50 for 40 sheets)
In Color 2013-15 Designer Series Paper Pack  (item #130136 $21.95 for 40 sheets)
Rhinestone jewels  (item #119246 $4.95 for a sheet of 150 self-adhesive jewels)
Stamp-a-ma-jig (item #101049 - $11.95)

Here was my retouch of the card on the lower left hand corner of the instruction sheet.  The original sheet had just the 4 stamp pattern on the plain card front.  I stamped them separately on a 1-3/4" square of Whisper White card stock, mounted it on a 2 x 2" square of Old Olive card stock, and cut a little banner of Crisp Cantaloupe Designer Series Paper that was 1/2" x 3".  The Rhinestone jewels were part of the make and take package, just hard to see in the first picture.

Hints:  Using the Stamp-a-ma-jig was essential to getting these stamps positioned.  Also, because my new ink pads were super juicy, it worked well if I stamped off the ink lightly on a scratch sheet of paper before stamping on my card stock.  When using clear blocks and cling mount stamps with the Stamp-a-ma-jig, I find it helpful to mark the corner of block that fits into the jig, that way I know that I'm holding my stamp the same way each time. I use a "Sharpie" marker to mark the block, and it cleans off easily with the "Staz-On" ink cleaner when I'm done.

Enjoy!

Marvelous Marker Techniques

Certainly we've all had experience with markers starting way back in Kindergarten, and maybe most adults have a few markers stashed in a kitchen drawer for marking boxes or some other dull task. Here's a chance to look at markers the way you did when you were younger - as a bold medium to express yourself artistically!

Water-based markers are a fabulous way to jazz up your stamping and really put some serious color into your paper crafting projects. Here's a few tips that I use just about every time I stamp. Naturally, I use "Stampin' Write" Markers because they are the best, not just demonstrator bias here.

Tip #1.) Markers can be a substitute ink pad. Sometimes if I haven't yet bought that "just right" color of ink in an ink pad, I just grab that "just right" color of marker and color directly onto my stamp, then stamp my image as usual. An even better idea: by coloring with markers directly onto a stamp you can:

a) isolate a portion of the design by coloring only the part you want to stamp

Here, I only want to use one phrase in the middle of this stamp, so I color the phrase "be happy" in "Real Red" and leave the rest clean. Make sure you clean off any stray marks before stamping.

b) have a multicolored image from one stamp

Here, I wanted my butterfly to have a black body with colored wings, so I colored the body with my "Basic Black" marker and the wings in "More Mustard". When you use this marker technique, be sure to give your stamp a big "princess sigh" - sigh real heavily over the stamp to moisten the ink with your breath before stamping it on the paper. It's especially important if you're coloring a larger size image to keep the ink wet.





Tip #2) Oh yes, there's more! Sponging and distressing - does distressing distress you? It's very easy, and very achievable with markers, you don't need a special kind of stamp pad for this technique.
Supplies you'll need are:

1) A non-porous surface such as a clean plastic pastry mat, or my favorite, a silicon craft sheet available through art/craft retailers. If you're using the pastry mat from the kitchen, make sure it's clean. Flour in the markers is not good.

2) A stamping sponge - kitchen sponges don't work well with this because of the chemicals they're treated with; make-up sponges are OK, but tend to absorb more ink than distribute. Sponge Daubers and Stampin' Sponges from Stampin' Up (they're the best, no kidding. I've tried all those others) Each Stampin' Sponge is 1" thick x 3" round and I cut each into eighths - so really it's a package of 24 sponges for 3.50, a good deal if I do say so myself. They distribute ink evenly, rather than absorbing it themselves.

3) Of course, you need water based ink, either in a dye ink pad or markers.

Step 1: On a silicon craft sheet or other non-porous surface scribble with the brush end of your marker next to your card stock to be "distressed".

here, I've scribbled a solid area of ink around the edge of my card stock. I tore the top edge on purpose for some texture.

2.) With a tight circular motion, push the ink into and across the edge of your card stock, only going about 1/2 " to 1" onto the surface. Repeat as necessary to get your desired intensity. It should give you a slight shading at the edge, adding depth to your collage without adding extra paper. Here I used a Sahara Sand marker for an antique linen look on Natural White card stock.

3.) To continue the distressed effect, you can scratch the fine edge of the card stock with your fingernail, bone folder or a distressing tool to give it a slight rumple and again, add more depth without adding extra layers to the card.

4.) Embellish and attach. Here, I've layered my "distressed" image layer over a layer of More Mustard card stock distressed with the same technique using a More Mustard marker. Both layers are tacked to a Basic Black card base. A bit of Real Red grosgrain jazzes up the simple stamping.







Tip #3) Water coloring! It's such a sophisticated look on a card and yet so easy to do with stamping. You'll look like you belong on a PBS art show with very little time and effort.

There are a couple ways to use markers and Aqua Painters or Blender Pens together to achieve beautiful watercolor effects.

Step 1: Stamp an image using Staz-On Jet Black Ink on Whisper White card stock. Even though Stampin' Up's Basic Black Classic Ink is waterproof when dry, the "Staz-On" is more color fast and more intensely black working better with water coloring. It also smells good. Don't breathe too deep, we've got work to do.

Painting option 1: Once your ink is dry (or you can cheat and heat set it with a heat tool) scribble onto the craft sheet with the brush end of your marker crating a little pool of ink. You can pick up the ink with your Aqua Painter, Blender Pen, or wet paint brush and watercolor the image, just as you would using ink from an ink pad. Start with your dark areas and work to lighter areas of your image. This creates bolder color in your painting.

Painting option 2: Just like in the "Paint with Water" books my son loves, you can apply ink with a marker to the darkest areas of your image by making little hatch marks with the fine point end of the marker and then quickly smudge the wet ink with your Aqua Painter and drag the color out into the lighter areas. The ink will naturally fade out as you pull the ink away from the lines. Repeat as necessary to get the color intensity you want. It's a softer effect than painting.

Here, I've used the complementary colors of Ruby Red with Cameo Coral to shade my flower, and Always Artichoke with Mellow Moss to shade the leaves.  After the ink dries, you can go back in with the fine point and add additional hatches of color in your darker areas.

Tip #4) This is a real fun trick: You can make watercolor wash backgrounds easily by coloring directly onto your craft sheet or non-porous surface with the markers and spraying the ink with water.

Step 1: With the brush end of the marker, scribble patches of color close together but not touching until you have covered an area just larger than your card stock.

Step 2: Mist generously with water from a spray bottle (since I originally wrote this piece, Stampin' Up has started selling Stampin' Spritzer bottles, which work like a champ for this technique)





Step 3: Press surface of your Whisper White card stock into the ink until the whole surface is covered. Allow to dry and repeat by adding more water to your ink on the craft sheet and pressing your card stock into it again until the desired color intensity and pattern is reached. You can re-position your card stock to get different shadings each time.

It will flatten out as it dries, and you can also speed up drying by using a heat tool. I prefer markers to full size ink pads because you can control the areas of color and can even draw little designs if you want.



Here, you can see my background sheet, pressed into the ink about 3 times, without using much water. See, it does flatten back out.  While that was drying I punched a 1" circle of  Mellow Moss card stock. After stamping, am using a Bone Folder to slightly curl or "distress" the edge. Simple geometric shapes can add variety and interest to you card front.
For my little circle, I have stamped it and colored the edge one shade darker in Always Artichoke to add depth.


Tip #5)  The obvious use for markers is for coloring directly on your paper, and you can play with both the brush end and fine point end for adding shadows and highlights and layering ink for intense color and smooth transitions. Here I started with my dark colors and went over them with my lighter colors pulling both dark and light together into the remainder of the section. Here you can see my finished watercolor card, and the comparison between watercolor and direct to paper marker technique. Although they look a little washed out in the photo, you can see the difference in intensity.


Here's a final look at the cards, and a little bookmark I made with the same materials as the card, adding a little black hemp twine with a couple beads tied on. An eyelet through the top adds a nice finishing touch. Our 80lb weight card stock is 2x the thickness of most retailer card stock and can stand up on its own as a book mark. Since we sell it in bulk packages, it's also less expensive by the sheet.







Tool care and maintenance tips:
1. Always clean your craft sheet between inking techniques, even if it looks like the ink was all used, there will still be a little to contaminate your next project. I use my Stampin' Mist cleaner sprayed directly onto the sheet and wipe off with a paper towel. Stampin' Mist is very concentrated, whenever I refill my mister I mix mine at a 60% : 40% ratio with water being the 40%. It extends the life of the bottle of Stampin Mist and still gets everything nice and clean.

2. Remember to always store your markers horizontally so that you have even ink distribution between the fine point and brush end.

3. Use a light hand when coloring with the brush end of the Stampin' Write Marker to preserve it's shape.

4. If your markers get contaminated with other colors, scribble on a clean sheet of paper with the contaminated area until the ink comes through the proper color.

5. Keep your "Staz-On" ink pad inverted when stored. This will keep your ink at the working surface of your pad and make inking a stamp easier. Also, you can keep the little plastic protector that comes with the ink pad in place by adhering it to the lid with a Mini-Glue Dot.

6. For water based techniques, always use the water based dye ink.

7. Our "Stampin' Write" Markers work well directly on vellum, no need to get a different set of markers just for vellum.

Take care of your tools and they'll last a long time.

Water color paper tips:
Stampin' Up offers several different types of neutral color paper that is great for water coloring on. Our best is our 100% cotton 140 lb Watercolor Paper, sold in packages of (5) 6" x 9" sheets.  Our Whisper White, Natural White, Natural Ivory, and light colored card stock also are well suited to watercolor technique, each surface is slightly different texture and color; thus will yield a slightly different effect. Very Vanilla, Shimmery White, or Vellum aren't suited to water color techniques, although they stamp fabulously and look beautiful with marker drawn directly on the paper.


This blog is a bit of a blast from the past - It was originally written 4 years ago and posted on my first blog site, happystamperkris.blogspot.com.  A long distance friend of mine had just ordered a set of Stampin' Write Markers, and wanted a tutorial to help her get the most from her purchase.  Some of these colors and stamp sets have been retired since the original publication, but the supply list below has been updated to the 2013-14 catalog.  All products are available from my website: www.creativeflare.stampinup.com

Supply List:
The stamp set used in these cards is the Dreams Du Jour and So Many Sayings stamp sets (retired) - try our fresh Creative Elements (128523w/122647c) and Fabulous Phrases (128577w/120501c) instead.

Water color paper (122959)
8-1/2" x 11" Card stock:
Basic Black (121045)
Whisper White (100730)
Natural White (102316)
Ruby Red (ret) - try Strawberry Slush (131295)
Cameo Coral (ret) try Crisp Canteloupe (131298)
Mellow Moss (ret) try Pear Pizzaz (131201)
Always Artichoke (105119)
More Mustard. (ret) try Crushed Curry (131199)
Stampin' Write Markers:
Regals Collection (131262) and Neutrals Collection (131261); Many Marvelous Markers - the complete color collection (131264)
Ink Pad: Staz-On Jet Black (101046)
Adhesives: SNAIL Adhesive ( and Mini Glue Dots
Ribbon: Real Red Grosgrain (ret) try Real Red 1/8" taffeta ribbon (119251)
Other tools from Stampin Up:
Sponge Daubers (102892) pkg of 12
Stampin' Sponges (101610)
Aqua Painters (103954) set of 2, med and large brush tip
Bone Folder (102300), Stampin' Trimmer (126889), Paper Snips (103579), Stampin' Scrub (126200), Stampin' Spritzer (126185) Stampin' Mist cleaner (102394).

Kansas card

Because Kansas is the sunflower state, when I recently made sets of cards as gifts for my friends and mentors who are moving away this summer it was all about the sunflower, hoping their memories of our time all together in Kansas are bright and beautiful.

This card is a mix of some retiring items (all items in the colors Bravo Burgundy, River Rock, and More Mustard, and the Pursuit of Happiness set)

What's new is the Artisan Label Punch backing the sentiment on this card - that will be available June 1!

Supplies:  (* denotes retiring item)

 *Pursuit of Happiness set (121907w/121970c)

Sunflower (123606w/123608c) 

Early Espresso Classic Ink Pad(126974)

Very Vanilla card stock (101650)

Stampin' Pierce mat (126199)

Corner Rounder punch (119871)

Artisan Label (TBD)

Garden Green card stock (102584)

Modern Label Punch(118449)

Sponge Daubers (102892)

*River Rock Classic Ink Pad (126977)

Pumpkin Pie Classic Ink Pad (126945)

*More Mustard Classic Ink Pad (126964) and Card stock (100946)

Chocolate Chip Classic Ink Pad (126979)

*Bravo Burgundy card stock (105123)

Little Labels Punch Pack (126881)

Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue (110755)

Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

The Sunflower  is stamped in Early Espresso Ink onto a 5" x 3-3/4" piece of Very Vanilla card stock.  Generously ink the stamp and use a Stampin' Pierce mat under your card stock to get the best impression. (I keep one for piercing and one for stamping.)  Set aside to dry.  Stamp Sentiment on a 1" x 2" scrap of Very Vanilla and round the inner edge corners.  Back with an Artisan Label in Garden Green and add a brad and a 1/2 Modern Label as an accent.  When the sunflower is dry, use sponge daubers to apply River Rock ink to the center of the flower, Pumpkin Pie to the base of the petals, and More Mustard ink to the petal edges, getting plenty of overlap of colors.  Edge with Chocolate Chip ink.  Attach a 5-1/4" x 4" piece of More Mustard card stock (edges sponge daubed with More Mustard Ink) to a Bravo Burgundy card base, punch little "feet" using the Little Labels Punch Pack (126881) and adhere them to the back of the Sunflower card face at the corners using a little Tombow Multi glue, and attach to card front.  Add sentiment using Stampin' Dimensionals.

Enjoy!

All of these supplies are available from my Stampin' UP! Website www.creativeflare.stampinup.net
Retiring Items are available while supplies last, or May 31, 2013 whichever comes last.  New 2013-2014 catalog merchandise, like the Artisan Label Punch,  will be available starting May 31, 2013.

Artisan Award Design Team Submission

Hello!

Welcome to my first blog as Creative Flare Cards.   Previously I'd been using the domain name www.happystamperkris.blogspot.com,  and that was working for where I was at the time.  Now that I'm branching out more it's time to consolidate all the web entities under a similar name.  

My website is 

www.creativeflare.stampinup.net; 

facebook is 

www.facebook.com/CreativeFlareCards; 

email is 

creativeflarecards@gmail.com.

I've got a theme, and I'm sticking with it ;)

So here's one of the things been on the work table in May:   My submissions for Stampin' Up's yearly Artisan Award.  It's a competition open to all Stampin' Up demonstrators in the USA and Canada.   All the submissions had to be made exclusively with Stampin' Up products that were for sale during the first part of the year, and they were due May 31.    The requirement was 5 cards, 3 scrapbook pages and 2 decorative items.  After racking my brain for about 2 months, this is the result!  

Card 1 is a standard A2 size card made with the Thoughts and Prayers stamp set.  It features the Boho Blossoms, XL Oval, and Butterfly Punches; Lattice Bigz and Beautiful Butterflies Bigz dies; Pool Party, Island Indigo, Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White, Always Artichoke and Blushing Bride card stock; Pool Party  seam binding ribbon, and Basic Pearls.

I love 3-D cards.  It's a great impact and the same size as a regular A2 card when folded, but literally stands out when open.  Typically it's called a zig-zag or shutter card, and the card base pattern can be found at www.splitcoaststampers.com - but what you do with it is completely up to you.    Stampin' Up did a sneak peek promotion in April featuring some of the new Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper.  The card base is  5-1/4' x 12" strip of Rose Red card stock.  I also had fun with the Basic Rhinestones and the Fabulous Phrases set.

For the epicureans, this was the Studio Sketches stamp set, on More Mustard, Bravo Burgundy, Whisper White and Basic Black.  A little Bakers' Twine in Early Espresso gives it an added texture.

This was the first card I used Crystal Effects on... it gives a little shine to some of the dots on the outer circles, and I coated the little punched flowers with it and let it dry.  It gave them the effect of being an acrylic bubble embellishment.  Cajun Craze, Island Indigo and Confetti Cream were the colors used.

I enjoy shaped cards, this was made with the Framelets Labels collection, cut on one edge to make it fit into a medium (A2) envelope.  The flower was made with the Ornament Punch.  Basic Gray is a smashing background for Calypso Coral, Cherry Cobbler, and Riding Hood Red.  I used the "shaving cream" technique with Whisper White card stock to get the pattern on the flower petals.

Inside of the same, using the Summer Solstice stamp set and the En Francais background stamp.  There's a little Frost White Shimmer Paint sponged on the background, too.  The window was cut with a Hearts Framelet die.

The contest called for 3 scrapbook pages, all are 12 x 12,  and they all feature my boys.  This first one uses the Blossom Builder punch to create a flame border along a 1-1/4" piece of Riding Hood Red card stock.  It was really hard to let go of these!

The arabesque border was created using the Ornament Punch.  I will add that older blog to this one for reference.

This was a spontaneous act of patriotism on the part of my oldest son when he was in Kindergarten.  It was so touching, and the best way to keep it simple seemed to go with a Haiku poem instead of trying to write out the whole story.

I did a shadowbox collage for one 3-D item submission, it was based off products featured for Sale-a-bration this past winter.   I did one for myself, without the frame, backed on foam core to decorate my office, and my husband liked it so much he suggested I make another for Stampin' Up.  The stamps are the Fresh Vintage set and the Pursuit of Happiness set.

This is my last one, it's about 34-35 roses made from Cherry Cobbler card stock and the Blossom punch, hot glued to a 5" floral Styrofoam ball.  The leaves were made with the Ornament punch and Garden Green card stock, sponged in Garden Green ink.  It hangs from a bow of Cherry Cobbler Seam binding ribbon and some Victoria 5/8" trim.  The roses were sponged with some Champagne Shimmer Paint.  This took 8 sheets of 8-1/2" x 11" Cherry Cobbler card stock to complete, plus every scrap I could get a hold of... time to order more....


There it is!  That was my submission for this year's competition, and the results will be released toward the mid-month about who won and will be admitted to the Design Team... There's probably a 1:1,000 chance of winning, but I'll let you know what happens :)


Enjoy!!!
Kristine