Perfect Layers Tool

I've recently discovered a tool that is quickly becoming one of my favorites - the Perfect Layers tools by Perfect Paper Crafting. I use the mini, since I make cards, but there are several sizes available.

Basically, the Perfect Layers Mini lets me create perfectly matted images with no measuring, right down to 1/16", which I often like just to set a focal point off from the background a bit.

I'd had this on my wish list for awhile when I signed up for a Copics class at Simple Pleasures in Colorado Springs.  Before class I picked it up and was commenting to my friend that now I'd have to figure out how to use it.  And the TEACHER overheard and said she'd show me personally! Shelby Thomas is an awesome teacher and a really nice person, and in just a minute or so she made my life much easier. :-)

She's done a tutorial now, and graciously said I could share it here with you:
How to Make Perfect Layers

Mermaid Wishes

I seem to have trouble planning my cards for my monthly stamping group - I end up making MANY more cards than the three I end up with.  And my craft room looks like a bomb exploded while I'm at it.  I think this one will probably make the cut, just because of the sequins on her tail. 

I have an over-abundance of patterned card stock from various sources in my stash, so I'm trying hard to use it up.  This piece reminded me of water droplets, and I had those cute green flower-shaped sequins -- so a mermaid was born!  It would be nice if she had a matching die, but she wasn't really too hard to fussy cut.  The stamp set is one of the Bloom Benefits from page 5 of the current catalog (good until the end of June).  Bloom Benefits are free sets you get with every $50 order. If you'd like to shop on my FSJ website, click HERE. 

Team Meeting

I haven't been here much this week - busy making lots of fun swaps for Convention, and also some for the team meeting I attended today.  Tonight I get to share the ATC's and card fronts we swapped, to make up for being AWOL.
 
  
I'm sorry I don't know who made the gorgeous lady in gold at the top left - hopefully someone will tell me - but I love the rhinestone bling on the hem of her dress, and the color combination.  The lovely purple ATC was stamped by Danielle Bokousky using Honeycomb & Full Bloom (I'm gonna HAVE to get those sets now!!).  "Hello Friend" was created by Rosandra Simmons. The Ink Splat image is embossed, and the colors are amazing.  The invitation to coffee is from Chris Schemmel.  The washi tape embellishment really sets it off, and I love the way the splatters of Silk look like coffee beans!  I experimented with modeling paste and Silver Shimmer Splash on mine (it will show up here eventually).  One thing I really like about the small ATCs is that I can play with new techniques and try things without feeling like I'm going to mess up a whole card!
 We had the option to make either an ATC or a full card front.  Betty made this classy card with another set I've got my eye on.  The way she used those cute little flower shaped sequins for the centers of the daisies really takes a simple card up to a whole new level.

I just LOVE having a TEAM and an active upline!!! Not all of us could be there today, but I learned lots of new tips, and it's worth the drive to be able to participate. Maybe some day I'll have a downline too (or even someone who's just interested in learning more about FSJ) to go along and join the fun. :-)

Party Cats

Party hearty!! Actually, the look on these faces kind of reflects the way I feel about parties now that I'm...ahem...older.  These days partying means sitting in my recliner watching TV with a glass of Pinot Noir on the side table.

I really like this stamp (Feed Me AT-0160).  I got it free with my first Fun Stampers Journey order when I was trying out the products before signing up as a coach.  This cat has cattitude - and it's sometimes hard trying to come up with an appropriate card (and recipient!) to appreciate that.  But I had this background sitting on my desk staring at me, and decided to try a reflection technique.  I've seen other stampers do it, but this was my first try.  I stamped the image on an acetate sheet, then pressed card stock onto the image.  The lines didn't come out quite as clear as original stamped image, so I traced them a bit with a gray fine-tip marker, and...it worked!

The background is one I tried after watching this Gina K video about embossing over watercolor.  Hers was amazing...mine less so! But I enjoy experimenting, and the cats take center stage anyway.  Now I just have to figure out who this card is going to, and for what occasion...

Supplies I used (you can order the FSJ items from my website here if you'd like):

• Stamps:  Feed Me (AT-0160), Tag Elements (AT-0130) and a flower & leaf set from my stash - can't remember the name of it.
• Card Stock:  Whip Cream (CS-0040) and miscellaneous scraps of red and dark green
• Ink: Black Licorice (IP-0041)
• Dies:  Heart-Felt (DI-0033)
• Other:  Journey Clear Embossing Powder (IP-0097), watercolor paper, watercolors, heat gun, white gel pen, fine-tip gray marker

Time to Bloom

"Time to Bloom" is the April stamp of the month at http://fromtheheartstamps.com.  I really like this digital stamp set - especially the elegant image in the above card.  I designed my layouts using the My Memories Suite app, inspired by this week's I {heart} Sketch with a tWist #147. Then I simply printed them out on white card stock before coloring with water-based markers and layering with patterned paper.  Using digital stamps gives me freedom to re-size, flip, and rotate to my heart's desire while creating relatively fast and easy cards.

For this card, I re-sized the butterfly image smaller, and changed the opacity to 20%, then randomly placed them all around to create my own background paper, coloring with Copics to match the colors in the Fun Stampers Journey "Yummy Prints" paper (PP-0007).
Participants who joined the FTHS monthly challenge in March received this stamp set free.  If you'd like to join in, you can purchase the image or spend $10 in the From The Heart Stamps store and receive it as a FREE gift.  There are lots of adorable images in the store.  Then, as long as you enter each month, you continue to receive a new, free stamp set every month.

April Showers

Welcome to our Fun Stampers Journey "April Showers" Blog Hop! I'm so happy you're hoppin' along! If you arrived here from Vicki's blog, you're on the right track. If not, that's ok too! Just continue the hop and you'll come full circle!

So - how do you come up with a card that fits the theme if you have NO stamps that come even close? I decided to see what I could do with my Journey Ovals dies. I started with a large Journey Oval, then used the small piercing oval to form the bottom scallops of the umbrella.

After cutting the oval in half and trimming away the outside of the scallops, I turned the piece over and scored lines to simulate the ribs of the umbrella.

To create the umbrella's handle, I soaked some Journey Twine in white glue, then formed the desired shape on a no-stick mat (or wax paper). Attach the handle to the back side of the umbrella with glue dots and foam squares, and it's ready to use as an embellishment on the card.




After embossing the background clouds with the Above the Clouds embossing folder, I daubed on clear pigment ink and heat embossed with some white embossing powder.
 
And the rainbow was easy - pick an oval, the next smaller piercing die, and the next smaller oval...cut from scraps of different colored papers...overlap the edges and glue...then trim to size. I printed the sentiment on my computer and cut it out by hand.

This was a fun card, and one that really stretched my creative thinking!
Thanks so much for hopping to my blog. Now, please head over to Ruth Cooper's blog to see what she has to share.

And, just in case you get lost along the way, here's the whole list:
1. Janice Whiting
2. Wilma Payne  <-- You are HERE!
3. Ruth Cooper
4. Betsye Rose Cimino Erazo
5. Sharon Venclauskas
6. Sandra Kay Tate
7. Crissy Salima Rivas
8. Rosemary Roca
9. Carol Moffet Norby
10. Susan Berg

SUPPLIES:

• Journey Ovals DI-0042
• Cool Pool Silk IP-0105
• Silver Silk IP-0090
• Above the Clouds EF-0006
• Clear Pigment Ink Pad IP-0102
• Journey Heat Gun TO-0083
• Journey Glue Dots (Small) AD-0083
• Journey Foam Squares (Small) AD-0084
• Bubble Gum Card Stock CS-0099
• Pool Play Card Stock CS-0092
• Grape Fusion Card Stock CS-0012
• Yummy Prints 12x12 Paper Pack PP-0007

Let's Re-cycle!

One of the things I really like about Fun Stampers Journey is the way they pack orders for shipping.  Every item is carefully wrapped in zip plastic bags or bubble wrap, then the box is finally packed with brown paper to ensure nothing shifts.  I haven't been able to bring myself to throw the packing supplies away, and have been looking for a way to use it.  Then today I was reading a discussion about cards that need extra postage to mail.  Extra weight, lumpy surfaces, and being thicker than ¼" all need extra postage affixed.
And a sudden thought...why not use the bubble wrap to cover any lumpy bling-y surfaces like pearls and rhinestones?  It's lightweight and relatively thin.  So, I cut a few sheets into card-sized pieces.  Now, I just have to make a really lumpy card, send it to someone, and see if it comes back!
 

Thank You Tulips

It's been awhile since I've posted anything here.  Life seems to just get in the way of my crafting sometimes. Today I spent 4 hours taking apart and DEEP cleaning the oven after opening it last night to billowing smoke!  It needed to be done, even before I burned the pizza....  Anyway, I decided I deserved some stamping time this afternoon, so made up a few thank you cards for some awesome ladies in my stamping group.
  
I used a cute little FSJ stamp set that's on sale right now for only $5.57 (Tulips, AT-0143), along with a border stamp and a set of word stamps from my stash. I kind of hate to see this set retire, but I feel that way about most of my sets when they "go." My consolation is that they live on in my craft room!

Hello, Lovely!

Good afternoon!  The weather is beautiful today, so I spent some time outside, cleaning the flower beds.  Of course we don't have daisies or bumblebees yet, but I thought this card, using the same sets as this card, might be appropriate.  It doesn't show in the photo, but the bottom daisy is popped up with foam squares, and the inside of the card peeks out from behind the partially cut front cover.


  
Would you like to purchase the supplies to make this card?  You can shop online at:
www.funstampersjourney.com/WILMAPAYNE

Stamps:  SS-0192 Hello Lovely, AT-130 Tag Elements
Inks: IP-0041 Black Licorice
Card Stock:  CS-0019 Lemon Grass, CS-0040 Whip Cream
Other:  AD-0085 Journey Foam Squares, Water-based markers, clear Wink of Stella