Doing The Hand-Penned Two-Step

I don’t get ill very often, but when I do it really seems to hit me hard. Right now I’m fighting off a nasty cold and sore throat and it’s given me a really fuzzy brain. Concentrating on anything for more than a few minutes at a time is a real challenge. Even my crafting is taking much longer than normal. Today I’ve made a thank you card using the Hand-Penned Petals Stamp Set and coordinating Penned Flowers Dies, with another example of an edge die you may have overlooked.

HAND-PENNED PETALS

I actually began this project several months ago when I used a Tuxedo Black ink pad to stamp the large floral image onto some Basic White Card. It was obviously not used, so I simply stored it in the Hand-Penned Petals stamp case.

With the outline image all ready for me I had to decide how to colour it in. This stamp set is designed for two-step stamping with outline images and separate solid stamps that can be used to add colour. The solid stamps are ‘artistic’ in that they’re not meant to exactly fit within the lines.

For my colour scheme I chose Mango Melody for the flowers and Just Jade for the leaves. Just Jade is one of the 2020-2022 In Colors that will be retiring shortly and I wanted to give it at least one more outing.

I took the four smaller solid flower stamps and used them to fill in the stamped outline. My Mango Melody ink pad needs re-inking so I ended up with a lighter effect without having to do anything. My Just Jade ink pad however is still quite juicy which would overwhelm the detail of the two leaf stamps. So after inking these stamps I stamped-off onto scrap paper before stamping in the outline image.

I loved the effect of the two-step stamping and decided that would be my coordinating feature for the project. So I cut a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Basic White Card and pulled out a Basic White Medium Envelope. Next, in the top right and bottom left of each I stamped part of the large outline floral image. Finally I coloured in the outlines so they matched the main image.

With that done I used Tuxedo Black ink to stamp the “thank you” sentiment onto a scrap of Basic White Card. Then I cut around the words with my Paper Snips. Next, using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I mounted the sentiment onto a scrap of Just Jade Card. Then I cut around that to create a contrasting mat, and set it aside.

NOT JUST PENNED FLOWERS

Now I was ready to cut out the original floral image using the coordinating die from the Penned Flowers Dies and set it aside. It was only then that I noticed a non-flower die included in the set. This is a long die that cuts a scalloped edge with a faux stitched line.

Inside of thank you card decorated using the Hand-Penned Petals Stamp Set and coordinating Penned Flowers Dies from Stampin' Up! #papercraftwithme

So before moving on I couldn’t resist cutting the long edges of my Basic White layer with the edge die. It was so pretty! Now I knew where to go with the rest of the card design.

Using my Paper Trimmer I cut and scored some Just Jade card. Next I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder to create a card base. Then using liquid glue I added the scalloped-edge layer to the inside.

Thinking again about the front of the card, I cut a 3″ x 5-1/2″ piece of Soft Sea Foam Card. Then as before I used the edge die to cut the long edges. While I liked where this design was going I still felt it needed something more. So next I cut a 2-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ piece of Vellum Cardstock.

Vellum can be a challenge to use on projects as so many adhesives show through. But I have a trick to get around that, and it doesn’t involved buying expensive ‘vellum adhesive’. Before adding the vellum to the Soft Sea Foam layer I first needed to attach the die-cut floral piece and separate sentiment to the Vellum using Stampin’ Dimensionals. Then flipping the assembled layers over I put Tear & Tape Adhesive on the back of the Vellum, but only behind the flowers and sentiment. Then, after removing the backing from the Tear & Tape, I could invisibly attach the Vellum to the Soft Sea Foam layer. Finally using Stampin’ Dimensionals I added the completed layers to the card front and my project was finished.

So, many hours later than normal, I am finally able to complete today`s blog. Hopefully things will be better tomorrow…

For some more projects using the Hand-Penned Petals Stamp Set see these earlier projects:

And if you’re not familiar with my solution for using ordinary adhesive to attach vellum, check out my video explanation…

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Hand-Penned Petals Stamp Set and coordinating Penned Flowers Dies using a single ‘bundle’ item number. This meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. I’ve included a link to the bundle in case you want to explore this option.