A Touch of Grace

Well, this is most definitely NOT my usual floral style, but it is fun and adorable for a little boy, don’t you think!  I made two of these cards, one for my great-nephew who just turned seven and one for my nephew who is turning eight on my birthday.  Yup, my brother’s son was born on my birthday.  And guess what my brother named him?  Hmmm .    .    .    . well let’s see .   .   .   . he named him after me?  Well .   .   .  NO, but he did name him after my dad, who just happens to have the same name as ME .   .   .  LOL!!  For all of you who guessed my Dad’s name is Jerry .   .   .   . you are correct!  Now, you may be thinking it must get awfully confusing when we all get together, but it’s not.  Dad is called Jerry, I’m called Jerri Kay, and my nephew is called Jerry Wayne.

I made envelopes for the cards with the Scor It A-2 Envelope It template that I carry in my store, A Touch of Grace - Paper Boutique.  To make the label for the envelope, I stamped it, cut it out, and ran it through the small handheld Xyron.  The sketch I used for the card design is one I got from Splitcoaststampers years ago.  It’s pretty simple and one I use a lot for cards that I send out to nieces and nephews.  The dinosaur, bones, and tree are adhered to the card on Joy! Crafts foam pads.  I wrapped natural jute thread around the horizontal panel four times.  Two of the palm fronds are on foam pads for a little extra dimension.  I sponged around the edges of the panels with ColorBox Chestnut Roan chalk ink.

I kept the inside of the card pretty simple.  I stamped off the dinosaur stamp on a piece of scratch paper and then stamped the dinosaur onto the designer paper randomly.  I also stamped a trail of dinosaur footprints walking across the panel.

These page pebbles are adorable and perfect for a Jurassic card.  With the little air bubbles in them, they look like fossilized amber.

Shopping:

A Touch of Grace-Paper Boutique:  Joy! Crafts foam pads, Scor It A-2 Envelope It, Scor It (on sale for $39.99), Zip Dry Adhesive

Stamp Simply Ribbon Store:  Natural Jute Thread

Recipe:

Stamps:  Basic Gray Dino

Paper:  Basic Gray Archaic; SU Chocolate Chip

Ink:  Color Box Chestnut Roan chalk ink ; Versa Magic Hint of Pesto (dinosaurs) and Wheat (bones)

Accessories:  Genesis Paper Trimmer, Scor It, SU Natural Linen Thread, Page Pebbles, Zip Dry Adhesive, Sewing Machine, Corner Punch, Sponge

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit, I hope to see you back soon.

Hi everyone,

Sorry to have been gone for so long.  We were on vacation for nine days in July, I returned home for a day and then headed over to Orlando and spent a week at CHA; and last week I traveled to my parents’ home and spent a week with them.  I’m back at home and will try to get in another post before I leave for Nashville next Friday to help my son get settled back in at school. Where did the summer go?

I’m excited to be a part of the Stamp Simply 100th Challenge Birthday Celebration.  I have prepared for you a stencil embossing tutorial utilizing a light box below, as well as a paper tole birthday card.  At the bottom of this post you’ll find shopping links to A Touch of Grace - Paper Boutique for the stencils and products I used for the birthday card and the tutorial card.  You’ll also find links to all the other designers that are participating in the celebration.  Be sure to check out all the wonderful projects the ladies are sharing, you won’t be disappointed! 

Inspiration for my birthday card came from a Kubla Crafts photo frame shown below:

A close up of the toled flowers.

The focal image was hand drawn, painted and paper toled. 

In celebration of the 100th Stamp Simply challenge I’ve put together a stencil embossing tutorial for you.

For successful embossing it’s important that you use a paper that is not too thin or too thick.  I have found a paper that I feel is perfect for embossing that is for sale in my store, A Touch of Grace - Paper Boutique.  The stencil I have chosen for this design can be hand embossed or run through a die cutter.  When I run my stencils through a die cutting machine, the Wizard by Spellbinders is my die cutter of choice.  For purposes of this tutorial, the design is hand embossed using a light box, a stylus, and Perga Soft wax (an oil free wax manufactured by Pergamano, especially formulated for hand embossing). 

I recommend before you begin embossing this design that you practice on inexpensive cardstock until you have the hang of it.  Begin by using light pressure to stretch your paper, if you use too much pressure, you may tear or pearce through your paper.  Go back over the area you’ve embossed a second time using more pressure for best results. 

In this design embossing is done on the back side of the paper; pay careful attention to how the stencil is placed on the light box.  If placed in the wrong direction, your embossing will be the reverse of what you want it to be when you turn your paper over.  Use your stylus to trace the outline of the portion of the stencil you are embossing and not the center, this results in a nice raised section.  If you rub the entire area with your stylus, the result will not be as smooth and elegant.

I recommend that you change the blade on your craft knife every time you start a new card if you’re doing a lot of cut work.  Blades are inexpensive; it’s better to toss a questionable blade than to ruin a beautifully embossed piece that you’ve worked several minutes on.  Work in a well lighted room; natural light is the most desirable.  I use an OTT lamp when working at night. 

Embossing tools needed for embossing.

Perga Soft (oil free embossing wax)

Place stencil down on light box as shown in picture. Tape down with removable tape so that stencil doesn’t move while embossing.  Grid paper assures that your stencil is perfectly straight.

Lay your cardstock (embossing paper) down on the stencil as shown and emboss.  I embossed only a portion of the stencil in the center panel of the design.

Remove tape, turn embossed panel over, right side up, the embossing should be on the lower right corner as shown.

Turn stencil over and tape it back down to light box facing the opposite direction that you just embossed.

Place your cardstock (embossing paper) down on the stencil as shown, embossing only a portion of the stencil as you did above in the center panel.

Turn paper over, right side up, the embossed designs should be on the upper left and lower right corners of the center panel.

Tape stencil to light box as shown.  Remember, you’re working on the reverse side. Place paper down over the stencil, right side down, as shown in the picture and emboss the entire stencil. 

Turn the paper over, your design should look as shown in the illustration above.

Turn the stencil over in the opposite direction and tape down to the light box.  Place your paper down over the stencil, right side down, and emboss the entire stencil, as shown in the illustration.

Turn your paper over, right side facing up.  The embossing is complete and should look like the illustration above.

Place the stencil down on the paper, right side facing up.  On the left panel lightly trace (using a mechanical pencil) inside the lines that you will be cutting as shown on the left side of the paper. These lines are guidelines for cutting.

After tracing all areas to be cut, place your embossed design on a cutting mat; using a craft knife with a new cutting blade, cut just outside the traced lines. When finished, your design should look like the picture above.  The cutting will take you approximately 5 to 10 minutes, according to skill level.

Place your stencil over the left and right arches (you’ll need to flip the stencil over to fit the embossed pattern on the right side) and trace around the outside edges with a mechanical pencil.  Using a craft knife cut inside the pencil lines.  If you have any pencil marks left on the paper, gently erase them being careful not to damage the tooth of the paper.  The embossing and cutting is complete.

I traced drawings onto parchment paper using a mechanical pencil. 

The traced drawings were transferred to the embossing paper by using the stylus.  Do not use too much pressure as you don’t want any debossed lines on your paper.

Using Gold Tinta Ink and a mapping pen I drew over the transferred image.

The gold mapping is complete and dry.  Any visible graphite lines can be removed with a soft, putty like, erasure.

Using colored pencils, I colored the images.  Tools needed for this technique are blending stumps, a sanding paddle, and Gamsol or odorless turpentine.

Trace around the outside edges of the stencil on two pieces of pink cardstock and cut out.

Illustration of cut pieces.

Two small pieces of pink paper were cut to cover the cut out portions of the center panel.

A gold Krylon pen was used to outline the black panel.  Hold the tip so that it touches the edge of the cardstock, the tip retracts giving you control of the ink flow.

Draw lines around all four corners of the black and pink cardstock.

Adhere panels together and attach a card holder.

You’ll want to add your embellishments (ribbon, pearls, punched butterflies) and a sentiment before adhering the panels together. 

Supplies for the Birthday card:

Stencil:  Anja Style Stencil Frame (FE6122), embossing paper (Carnation White, Heather), Swarovski crystals, Gold Tinta Ink, mapping pen, Perga Soft wax, sanding paddle, stylus, Zip Dry adhesive, removable tape, grid paper, Fancy Crafts flower punch, glitter, Happy Birthday Gold Sticker, ribbon, craft knife, light box, cutting mat, colored pencils, mechanical pencil, Bow Easy, Spellbinders die, deckle scissors, Scor It, craft knife, MS punch, crystal lacquer, Yes adhesive, Quickie Glue Pen

Supplies for Tutorial card:

Stencil:  Luxe Labels stencil (AS0703) , parchment paper, embossing paper (light pink, black, carnation white), card holder, Gold Tinta Ink, mapping pen, Perga Soft wax, pearls, Krylon 18K Gold Leaf pen, blending stumps, sanding paddle, stylus, Zip Dry adhesive, removable tape, grid paper, Marvy butterfly punch, glitter, Verve sentiment stamp, ribbon, craft knife, light box, cutting mat, colored pencils, mechanical pencil, Scor It, MS punch, Quickie Glue Pen, Bow Easy

I hope you find this tutorial helpful. 

You’ll want to visit these blogs to see what all the girls have come up with for the birthday celebration:

1.      Pat Adam - Christmas Gift Tags with BLOG CANDY

2.      AJ - 1 Card Done 3 Ways

3.      Janine - A Stress Free Summer Menu with BLOG CANDY 

4.      Tammy - Birthday Reminder Book with BLOG CANDY

5.      Jennifer - Birthday Card with BLOG CANDY

6.      Julie - Card Set in Tote with Directions 

7.      Barbara-  Birthday Card with BLOG CANDY

8.      Deb- Tutorial on Dying Silk Ribbon Using Copics and Refills

9.      Jenny- Birthday Card with BLOG CANDY

10.  Joan- Birthday Card and Etched Glass with BLOG CANDY

11.  LeAnne - Birthday Card with Glitter

12.  Barb- Birthday Cake 3-D Gift Item with BLOG CANDY

13.  Darlene - Birthday Card with Special Recipe

14.  Rose Ann- Birthday Card with BLOG CANDY

15.  Leslie - Gift Tin of Soaps with Coordinating Card

16.  Heather - Birthday Card

17.  Sabrina- Birthday Card with BLOG CANDY

18.  Sharon- Monogrammed Birthday Gift Set with BLOG CANDY 

Many Blessings,

Edited to Add:  The stencil can be purchased at A Touch of Grace - Paper Boutique.  Yesterday it was a gorgeous day here in Tampa, we had lots of  sunshine.  I took advantage of the sunlight and photographed some finished designs.  I mentioned in a previous post that we are having renovations made in our home and our bedroom, where I take all my photographs, is upside down.

I made this card for Mom for Mother’s Day.  The images are drawings she recently gave me that she drew some 26/27 years ago.  Mom used to paint on china and designed several pieces that I proudly display in my home.  You can imagine my excitement when she recently told me she had kept all of her drawings, paints, supplies, etc.   On Easter Sunday she and I went through a large box she had stored in the closet of my bedroom (my parents still live in the house I was raised in), we were like two little girls in a candy store!   Mom sent the box home with me so I have a hunch you’re going to be seeing a lot more of these lovely drawings.

Using tracing paper, I rearranged the flowers and leaves on this design to fit within the parameters of the embossing.  I then used graphite paper and transferred the drawings directly to the card stock after I embossed and did the cut out work.  I used a Pergamano mapping pen with a brass nib to draw over the graphite lines in gold ink.  Once dry, I used colored pencils to color the image.  The little butterflies were punched with a Fiskars punch.  Those adorable pink bows were a dream to make, I used May Arts 1/4″ silk that I purchased from the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store.

Editing to add if you would like a full size picture of the card, I would be happy to e-mail it to you, just leave a comment below and I’ll forward it on.

The Kaiser pearls I purchased at Joan’s Gardens are a very light pink, so pretty on this design.  The sentiment is from Verve’s Beautiful You stamp set.

To have the flowers facing each other on the end panels I simply turned the graphite paper over and traced from the reverse side.  I can’t wait to give Mom this card!

Here’s a picture I took of one of Mom’s pieces, isn’t it beautiful!  I treasure each and every piece she has given me.

Thanks for stopping by, I wish you and yours many blessings in the upcoming week!

The thing I like most about the JustRite products is the ability to personalize designs.  People feel special when you take the time to create a little work of art for them.  What a wonderful way to show how much you care for them.  I designed this ensemble as a thank you gift for a wonderful dinner shared with special friends.

I used the Damask Monogram Stamper (my personal favorite) for the center initial on this card.  The finished size is 5″ x 7″.

I designed a simple set of six customized note cards using the Small Letter Set. The note cards measure 4″ x 6″.

This purse is similar to the design I posted last month, I used a different designer paper and different colored cardstock.  I used gold pearls instead of gold brads.

I’m a big fan of Joan’s Gardens, supplies used in this project purchased from Joan are: Black Kaiser pearls, Zip Dry adhesive, Glue Glider Plus, Dimensionals, Nestibilities, Scor It

• Stamps:  JustRite Stampers
• Paper:  DCWV LaCreme; Basic Black, Prism (red and green papers)
• Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
• Accessories:  Sewing Machine, black thread, Cuttlebug embossing folders, gold pearls, Coluzzle, black grosgrain ribbon, gold chain, BossKut Flourish die, glue dots, Therm O Web dimensionals, oval punches (SU and EK Success), corner punch, black Kaiser pearls, Scor It, EK Success border punch, Fiskars decorative corner punch, Mat Pack (SU), tweezers, tool kit (SU), stylus for embossing on purse, Glue Glider Plus, Circle Nestie, Marvy scalloped circle punch

Thank you all so much for stopping by.  I wish you a wonderful weekend with your family!

This post almost didn’t make it ladies.  When I design the purses, luggage and wallets, I start out with a rough sketch of what I want and create pattern pieces similar to that of sewing a garment.  As I continue with the design, I usually make adjustments and alter several of the pattern pieces.  Usually by the time I’ve finished the design, the first template has so many alterations, it’s unusable for a tutorial; hence the need to re-create the pattern pieces.  I sat down Friday night and began work on a new template for this post.

Saturday, I cut pieces to make three more wallets and took these photos as I went along.  I apologize for the quality of these shots.  I don’t have sufficient lighting in my stamping room and I don’t have enough room to create an area for photo shoots using artificial lighting.

By Saturday evening I had completed the wallets and uploaded the pictures on my laptop to begin the process of editing in Photoshop, placing my watermark on them, and resizing them.  Sunday, after church, I moved the pictures into my blog.  Once there, I realized they were too small to see the writing on the template so I deleted them and went back to Photoshop and started the process all over again sizing the pictures large enough to see the writing on the template.  I then moved the pictures back to my blog only to discover that about 25% of the picture had run off into the right margin and couldn’t be seen.  So Sunday evening, I deleted everything once again and went back to Photoshop to resize the photos so that they would be large enough to see the writing, but small enough to fit within the margins.  No matter what size I made the pictures, they would not work.  By 11:00 p.m. Sunday night, tired and frustrated, I concluded it just wasn’t meant to be.

I had a full schedule Monday and wasn’t able to do anything stamping related.  Last night after dinner, I decided to give it one more try and uploaded the photographs onto my main computer instead of my laptop.  Spending an hour and half in Photoshop, I tested each picture one at a time and was able to get the photos a size that is readable and will fit within the parameters of my margins.  Success at last!

In the spirit of sharing, please remember that all content (including text, images, photographs, and designs) is copyright © Jerri Kay Jimenez.  My artwork is shared for your personal inspiration only and may not be copied for publication, contest entry, or personal financial gain.  Thank you.

It’s not necessary to know how to sew to make this wallet, but if you have sewing experience, you will find this project much easier.

There are ten pieces to the wallet template. This picture gives the measurements and shows what the wallet should look like when sewn together.  The front of the wallet consists of three pieces which can be seen three pictures below.  All drawn lines are stitching lines.

This picture shows the measurements for the inside insert and the lining. Drawn lines are stitching lines.

These pieces are for the inside of the wallet, measurements are written on each piece.  Drawn lines are stitching lines.

These are the three pieces for the front of the wallet.

This picture shows the pieces of the inside insert, lining and pieces to be sewn together.

Using your JustRite rectangular stamper, spell out “Genuine Leather” with the small letters (see photo below).  Using a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, center the words on one of the tan leather pieces measuring 4 1/2″ x 3″ using Stampin’ Up! Chocolate Chip Craft ink (die inks will not work on this paper).  Then stamp the name of the individual on the tan paper measuring 4 1/2″ x 2 (see picture above with pattern pieces).  Helpful Hint:  Heat set the craft ink being very careful not to burn the paper.

Helpful hint:  Leave your letters on this storage case for easy storing.  I mist the letters with water when I’m finished, using a toothbrush I gently clean them.  I use a tissue to absorb the “dirty” water and then place the letters back onto the black storage case they came in.

Place the three front pieces on grid paper, adhering the tan piece on the wrong side of the crocodile paper (here’s where sewing experience comes in, right side to wrong side, adhere with right side of the tan leather paper to the wrong side of the crocodile paper).  Your finished measurements will be 3 1/2″ x 9 3/4″.

Stitch around all edges of the pattern pieces as shown above.  For the piece with the name on it, sew across the tops of all three pieces, then stack them together and sew around all edges.  DO NOT sew around the edges first and then across the tops or you will not be able to use the slots to insert gift cards.

Take the lining piece (crocodile paper) and adhere it to the top of the wrong side of the front of the wallet.  This is needed to cover the top of the back of the paper.  The rest will be hidden once the pattern pieces are adhered on.

Fold the crocodile flap over the piece that says “Genuine Leather” and adhere on the back side.  On the back side of the pieces, place double sided tape on three sides (the sides and bottom).

Adhere the brown leather insert to the wrong side of the wallet front, leaving 1/16″ of an inch on the ends.

Now adhere the last two pieces to the brown leather insert, placing the piece with the crocodile flag on the left and placing the personalized piece on the right.  All of the pieces are functional, you can place dollar bills between the wallet front and the tan leather insert, and gift cards in the three slots on the right side.

Fold the wallet together forming the crease line.

Inspiration for the wallet came from one I saw at Steinmart.  I was shopping for my son’s birthday and came across a wallet that I liked.  My son didn’t need a wallet, but I really liked this wallet.  A lightbulb went off in my head.  I opened it up and looked at the inside and thought, gee, I think I can do this, the wallet was just a plain old cowhide leather wallet.  When I got home, I went upstairs and went through my stash of designer papers and found the tan leather paper, then I came across the crocodile paper and decided to use both in the design.  I sat down and started drawing out rectangles and created the template.  It took a couple of hours to make the template and to get it all to fit together. It was a hit with my son and husband.

I know I sure do!  I dread when I have to design a card for the male gender .  .  . LOL.  Well the beginning of the year is definitely male birthday season in my family.  My husband and brother’s birthdays are in January; my son, nephew, and dad’s birthdays are in February.  Well, I totally blew it with my husband and brother in January.  I was so busy getting ready for CHA I gave them BOTH store bought cards.  BIG MISTAKE!!!

My husband was very put out that I didn’t make a card for him and while I was at CHA, I received an e-mail from my brother stating that he couldn’t believe that his sister, who is a card designer, would deem it appropriate to send him a “store bought” card for his birthday.  He then told me how much he looked forward to his birthday card . . . you know . . . really laying the “guilt” trip on me.  And, it worked!

So once I finished up a couple of commitments I set about designing a card that I hoped would make everyone happy.  I made four of the design and now realize I need to make two more.  It was a hit!  My husband and son both loved the card.

I designed a wallet card using designer papers from Hot Off The Press.  I first made the design on regular xerox paper to get the template and then once I had the template, I set about cutting the paper.  At $1.99 per 8 1/2 x 11 sheet this paper doesn’t come cheap, but I think the end result was worth the expense.  When I handed the card to my husband to sign for Daniel, he said, “You got Daniel a wallet for his birthday?  I thought we were getting him gym shoes?”  I told him the wallet was the card, it was paper.  He couldn’t believe it, he turned it over and over in his hands looking at it.  I knew then it was a hit and later that evening, after Daniel’s birthday, I gave my hubby his card.  I’ll be sending one to my brother and one to a friend as a thank you.

The wallet opened from the back side.

The inside of the wallet.

A group shot of all four wallets.

A view of the inside of another wallet that hasn’t been written on.

A visual of the Just Rite stamper and font set that I used for the lettering on the inside of the wallets.

I strongly recommend that everyone who stamps should have at least a few on the JustRite products in their arsenal of stamps, and more if you’re like me and have to have it all . . . LOL!  They really are a must have!  I used the Harmony Rectangular Stamp Set together with the Small Letter Set to spell out the words “Genuine Leather” on the left side of the wallet and the names of the recipients on the right side of the wallet.  I love having the ability to spell out anything I want on the rectangular blocks, in any size or font that’s available at JustRite.  There are so many to choose from, and I have to admit I have several of the font sets.  I love having so many choices with the different font sets that are available for different occasions.  The thing I love most about the JustRite products is that once you begin to collect the various sets and fonts, they all work together, they’re interchangeable, and as more designs become available, you can make additional purchases either as kits or by individual items, to suit your needs that will coordinate with what you already have.  I was tickled pink when Violettes chose several of the JustRite products at CHA to carry in their store, more toys for me to play with.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I appreciate your comments, they keep me inspired.

• Stamps:  JustRite Harmony Rectangular Stamp Set; Just Rite Small Letter Set
• Paper:  Hot Off The Press
• Ink:  Stampin’ Up! Chocolate Chip Craft Ink
• Accessories:  Scor It (available at Joan’s Gardens); sewing machine, doubled sided strong adhesive (red tape); Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

This is just a quick post to show you the photograph I took this morning of the complete Chintz Tea ensemble.  I hesitated  posting the picture as I don’t want to bore everyone with yet another picture of the set. 

The reason I chose to post a design each day was because I thought that if you wanted to make the ensemble, you would have an individual photograph with detail to look at in close detail.  In retrospect, I think I won’t do that again, I know I’m bored with it . . . LOL.  When I post future ensembles, I’ll post all the pictures in one post and just let it be one long post . . . LOL!!! 

The ensemble is so pretty on a table, but it doesn’t show well in a group photograph because the pieces appear so small.

All details are listed on each individual post.

Hi everyone, today is day two for the purse series I’m featuring this week.  This is my favorite purse in the series.  As I did yesterday, I’m including in this post a picture of the stamps used to create the purse so that you can see the size of these stamps as well as the stamp numbers.   This week I’m going to be featuring four purses that I have made and, you guessed it, these purses are going to CHA with me so that all of you who attend can see them in person.

This is my daisy purse.  It consists of six stamps, three of which are shown in this picture.  The two flower clasps were stamped from the Violet Border stamp I featured yesterday on the violet purse.  They were water colored, cut out and left to dry over night.  The following morning I applied Crystal Effects and let that dry for a couple of hours.  I did that three times to build depth without it getting cloudy.  The tip is to apply Crystal Effects in thin layers several times allowing it to dry thoroughly between each layer.  The mesh you see in the middle of the purse is a mesh background stamp, shown below.  The purse stamp itself is the outline of the purse, also shown below.  In this series, I’ve tried to provide backgrounds that enhance the designs and colors of the purses.  The blurred images are almost like a water color itself!  I love the splash of gold on the left side, it brings out the gold in the bottom of the purse.  Looking closely at this image, you can see Kaiser pearls in clusters just above the flowers. Joan’s Garden’s sells these beautiful pearls.

This photograph is a picture of the inside of the purse.  To make the purse I first stamped the purse outline on water color paper and embossed it, I then cut a piece of white mulberry paper for the lining to be placed on the inside of the purse.  I used the stamp that I used on the lower portion of the front of the purse to stamp the daisies on the Mulberry paper.  Mulberry paper is sheer, like a very thin cotton and so beautiful.  I used it on the inside of the purse to give the appearance of a sheer cotton lining like you would see in a formal clutch purse.  I stamped the Mulberry paper with Versamark, embossed it and then water colored it.

To give you pictures with a little more detail I’m including the upper and lower portions of the inside of the purse in two separate pictures.

The colors came out beautifully vivid on the Mulberry paper, I was very pleased with the results.

Here are the stamps minus the sentiment from Stampin’ Up!.  You can substitute any sentiment stamp you want, I used this verse because I felt this is a beautiful gift to give someone who may be ill or feeling down.

When I return from CHA, I will be featuring a tutorial on how to make this purse from start to finish with pictures as well as written instructions.  We’ll start with embossing, I’ll show you how to mask the front of the purse to make it appear as  just one stamp has been used.  We’ll emboss it and then I’ll show you how to make the actual shape of the purse.  We’ll then size and cut the Mulberry paper and I’ll show you how to emboss that as well.  I’ll show you step-by-step how to paint the leaves, the flowers, and background on the front of the purse, as well as the Mulberry paper on the inside of the purse, I’ll provide a list of the Tombow markers that we’ll use.  I’ll also provide a list of all the supplies you’ll need to complete and assemble the purse once you’ve completed the watercoloring.  I’ll show you how to attach the Mulberry paper to the inside of the purse and to emboss the outer edges, and lastly we’ll adhere our floral clasps, as well as our beaded purse strap to complete our design.  Does it sound like fun?  You’ll be amazed at how beautiful your design will be.  Today is day two of the four day series.  When you’re ready to give it a try, you’ll have four different designs to choose from, or you can make up your own design with any stamp of your choosing.  Look at the picture above, do you see the stamp in the lower right corner with the daisies?  That stamp was made specifically to fit within the purse.  Two of the purses I’ll be featuring this week were designed with stamps that were made for the purse.  The fourth purse was designed with a background stamp that I chose and I’ll explain how I did that as well.

If you like this design, you’ll want to check back tomorrow for design three in this series.

• Stamps:  Stampin’ Up!
• Paper:  Canson 140 lbs. cold-pressed water color paper, White Mulberry Paper
• Ink:  Versamark; Versapen
• Accessories:  Tombow markers, heating tool, watercolor brush, blending pen, Ranger gold/gold tinsel EP, Crystal Effects; pearl beads, dimensionals, Pearl Ex Pearl White Powder, Gum Arabic, craft knife, self-healing cutting mat, Dazzling Diamonds,Kaiser Pearls

I just love this purse!  It’s one of my favorites to play with.   What I love most about the purse stamp is how versatile it is.  I can design any purse I want.  This week I’m going to be featuring four purses that I have made and, you guessed it, these purses are going to CHA with me so that all of you who attend can see them in person.

This is my violet purse.  It consists of four stamps, three of which are shown in this picture.  I’m featuring it first because my grandmother’s name was Violet and while I didn’t appreciate such a beautiful name when I was a child, I’m now crazy about it. The two flower clasps were stamped from the stamp used along the bottom of the purse shown in the picture at the bottom of this post, they were water colored, cut out and left to dry over night.  The following morning I applied Crystal Effects and let that dry for a couple of hours.  I did that three times to build depth without it getting cloudy.  The tip is to apply Crystal Effects in thin layers several times allowing it to dry thoroughly between each layer.  The mesh you see in the middle of the purse is a mesh background stamp, shown below.  The purse stamp itself is the outline of the purse, also shown below.  Isn’t the background so lovely in this picture, it’s almost like a water color itself!

This photograph is a picture of the upper portion of the inside of the purse, I wanted to give you a shot with a little more detail.  The butterfly is the fourth stamp used in the design.  I water colored it, cut it out, and adhered it to the inside of the purse.  To make the purse I first stamped the purse outline on water color paper and embossed it, I then cut a piece of white mulberry paper for the lining to be placed on the inside of the purse.  I used the stamp that I used on the lower side of the front of the purse to stamp the violets on the Mulberry paper.  Mulberry paper is sheer, like a very thin cotton and so beautiful.  I used it on the inside of the purse to give the appearance of a sheer cotton lining like you would see in a formal clutch purse.  I stamped the Mulberry paper with Versamark, embossed it and then water colored it.

This photograph is a picture of the upper and lower portions of the inside of the purse.  I apologize for the darkness of it, I didn’t have the benefit of sunlight and my OTT light wasn’t strong enough to function as a flash .  .  . LOL.   Looking at this picture, I now see that I actually used five stamps.  A stamp from Stampin’ Up!’s Elegant Inspirations was used for the verse.  Do you see the gold outline going around the edge of the purse?  I used a Versapen to draw that line and then sprinkled embossing powder on the outer edge and embossed it, being careful not to overheat and burn the embossing previously done on the flowers.

If you like this design, you’ll want to check back tomorrow for the next design in this series.

• Stamps:   Stampin’ Up!
• Paper:  Canson 140 lbs. cold-pressed water color paper, White Mulberry Paper
• Ink:  Versamark; Versapen
• Accessories:  Tombow markers, heating tool, watercolor brush, blending pen, Ranger gold/gold tinsel EP, Crystal Effects; pearl beads, dimensionals, Pearl Ex Pearl White Powder, Gum Arabic, craft knife, self-healing cutting mat

I have a few more pictures to feature in the bridal series and then I’ll move on to Christmas projects I’ve been working on.

Today I’m posting two pictures of the bridal guests.  I absolutely adore these stamps from Rubbernecker!  In fact, I like them so much that after I finished this series I placed an order with Rubbernecker and purchased all of their “lady” stamps.  I stamped and colored two of the images using Prisma colored pencils.  Using a craft knife I cut both images and adhered them together using Dimensionals. I then placed the image on top of the oval using Dimensionals again for added depth.  I made a necklace using micro pearls using Crystal Effects as my adhesive.  I used a Quickie Glue Pen to color in the dress polka dots, shoes, hat, and gloves and then sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds on the glue. 

I did the same on this image, coloring two, adhering with Dimensionals for depth.  I used gold micro beads for the earring and pearl micro beads for the purse handle and the area on the dress where the skirt and bodice adjoin.  I used Dazzling Diamonds on the scarf, gloves, purse, skirt, and shoes. 

I was hoping to get a better close up picture, I’m going to try to get a better one and replace this with one that is clearer.  I love the detail in the handbag.  I placed micro pearls on the purse handle and gold micro beads on the purse’s clasp and along the top.  You can see the pearls on the dress as well. 

• Stamps:  Rubbernecker, SU (sentiment)
• Paper:  Pale Plum, Basic Black, Whisper White, SU DP, Carol’s Rose Cottage DP
• Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
• Accessories:  Dazzling Diamonds, Quickie Glue Pen, Micro Pearls, gold micro beads, Crystal Effects, craft knife, cutting mat, Nestibilities, large Kaiser Pearls, Lavender Moon ribbon, silver cord, organdy ribbon, SU oval punches, Hero Arts bling, Prisma colored pencils

Congratulations Sharon!  I’m so excited for my friend, Sharon Johnson, also known as notimetostamp.  Sharon’s blog reached 1,000,000 hits this week, kudos to you Sharon!  You are so deserving, you have inspired me for years and I’m so very blessed to call you friend. 

Sharon has invited me to participate in a celebration she is having as a thank you to all of her viewers and I am delighted to share in this fun-filled celebration.  We will be offering fantastic ideas to assist you with holiday gift ideas.  There will be many participants, we have been busy designing and creating and are very excited to share our designs with you.  There will be lots of blog candy and several challenges as well! 

The celebration begins Monday, December 1, and will run for ten fun-filled days.  Please stop by and visit us for some fabulous holiday ideas.  I will be providing links so that you can hop all over to some of your favorite blogs and, hopefully, some new designers you haven’t met yet.