Heidi's Crafting Mecca

I am so excited to bring you another wonderful Guest Blogger, Laurel. She is a very talented crafty pal and member of the Gotham City Stampers Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Team. Laurel has been on our team for about a year and a half and is very successful with her edgy meetup group, Crafting With An Edge. Laurel loves to craft with an edge!

As our team prepares to attend our second Stampin' Up! Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, we are all creating our swaps to share. Laurel brings to you a very creative swap using a technique. I hope you love it!
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Stained Glass Card By Laurel Carpenter

This technique demonstrates one of my Convention swaps for the stamping convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, that will take place next week! It is my variation on a technique that Andrea Walford, a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator whose creations I admire greatly, had posted on her blog awhile back. I think this technique really showcases this terrific stamp set!

All of the products on this card are from Stampin’ Up!, except for the acetate and small paintbrushes. I used the following items:

• Eclectic Circles stamp set
• Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set
• In-Colors regular and textured card stock from Stampin’ Up! in Rich Razzleberry, Dusty Durango, and Crushed Curry, and a little bit of Melon Mambo
• Whisper White Card stock
• In-Colors reinkers in Rich Razzleberry, Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry, and Melon Mambo
• SU! 1 ¾, 1 3/8, and 1 ¼ circle punches (can use others as you wish)
• Staz-on Black Ink
• Crystal effects
• Paintbrushes (or Aquapainter, but it may get messy to use it and clean it for this project)
• Stampin’ Dimensionals
• Plastic palette tray
• Snips
• Snail

First, I stamped the Eclectic Circles in the black Staz-on ink on acetate, and let that dry for a minute or so. Then, I mixed each color of reinker separately with Crystal Effects on my palette tray. Using a separate paintbrush for each color, I colored in the non-stamped side of the Eclectic Circles with this mixture to create a stained glass effect. I then let these pieces dry overnight. Tip: I would advise only mixing a little bit for each color. Working quickly was important as the Crystal Effects/reinkers mix starts to get sticky after about 45 minutes.

Next, once the circles were dry, using snips, I cut out each image from the acetate, making sure that there was enough space around each to adhere it to my card. You could also use the next size larger punch if you have enough room on the acetate to punch it out.

On the 3.75” x 5” piece of crushed curry paper, I punched out three circles of varying sizes, and then flipped it over. I snailed each cut-out acetate circle to the back of the punched-out card so it would be framed by the punched cut-out. Then, using a 3.5” x 4.75” piece of Whisper White card stock, and some Stampin’ Dimensionals, I matted the Crushed Curry piece so that the stained glass circles shone through and were slightly elevated. Then, I matted this piece to the Rich Razzleberry Textured cardstock which was sized at 4” x 5.25”, and matted that to a piece of Dusty Durango card front which was sized at 4.25” x 5.5”.

For the sentiment, I used “Thank You” from Teeny Tiny Wishes, stamped in Rich Razzleberry Ink on Whisper White and cut out with the 1 ¼ circle punch, and matted with Melon Mambo using the 1 3/8 circle punch

Last night, I attended a stamping meetup at my dear friend, Laurel's apartment. We were excited to create projects using the Bird on a Branch Stamp Set. This is an accordion card which I will finish eventually. I have an idea to turn it into a mini album instead of a card. This way, I can put pictures from a special event into the little album and give it as a gift. I loved how Laurel designed this using the brand new Stampin' Up! IN COLORS. I love Rich Razzleberry and just can't get enough of it. I am also LOVING the NEW Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Series Paper
and have been using it on just about everything!


This is another card using the same Bird on a Branch Stamp Set! I love the monotone look of this design with the lil' pop of color from the Pink Flamingo Designer Series Paper. Eileen and I decided that the little dotted stamp is SOOO useful. I decided to use it to add some more texture to the textured cardstock!

Thank you, Laurel, for a nice time last night and for your beautiful and classy designs! HUGS!

Summer break has started for me! I am so excited for all that I have in store--fun with Marty and my wonderful friends! Stampin' Up! Convention is only five short weeks away. I am heading to PA to Jan Wakeland's with Corris and Laurel in about two weeks. Who could forget one of my favorite things, Broadway in Bryant Park?

Tomorrow, is thrilling as well! The NEW Stampin' Up! Catalog goes LIVE! Stay tuned to see some amazing samples through the Blog Tour which I am honored to be a part of.

My blog is going to be full of excitement! I have another GUEST BLOGGER who will be featured here in the next few days. I also spent time (last night) crafting in PA at Mom's and teaching the wonderful game piece pendants. I have so many pictures of their gorgeous creations to share with you! Also, stay tuned for SUMMER CHALLENGES! LOTS of creative posts up my sleeve...check back often! Happy SUMMER!