Stampin’ Up! Lovely as a Tree and Timeless Textures. A Close Non-Example

Well, good Sunday morning to you!  It’s Saturday evening and I’m sitting in my hotel room in San Diego – waiting for dinner to arrive.  I made a pretty classic Mary-mistake today.  I got into town early enough to decide I’d do a little tourist-y thing.  First I took a picture out my window….

…then decided to NOT rent a stand-up paddle board, due to the unseasonably cool (like blustery and freakin’ cold!) weather here.

Yep.  The weather.  That’s why I didn’t rent a stand-up paddle board!

That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it! 🙂

So, I did the next best thing to a stand-up paddle board – I went and toured the Midway museum.  And it was very very cool!  The best part was listening to some of the docents speak – almost all of them are veterans – some who served on the ship when she was in service.  One gentleman was a carrier pilot – his stories of taking off and landing on the ship were great!  I could have sat through his talk again.  Really quite interesting if you’re ever in San Diego and have a little time.  Think 3 – 4 hours to do it up right! 🙂

But.  The Mary-mistake.  By the time I got done with the tour, gassed up the rental, waited for the hotel shuttle to come get me and bring me back….I was starving.  I’d not eaten since breakfast.  Bad.  Plan.  I lose the ability to even decide what I want to eat.  So I spent a solid 30 minutes decisioning between room service, delivery Italian or delivery Chinese.  Which is what I really wanted.  I finally made up my noggin and called the Chinese place.

Closed on Saturday.

Who does that!?

So now I’m awaiting the arrival of my pasta.  And looking longingly at the bed….!

Now.  Let’s talk cards, shall we?  I had a card all ready to share with you – but the more I looked at it, the less I liked it.  So I almost didn’t share anything – cause I made enough cards to see me thru until I’m home and able to get to my stash. And this was one of them.  So…

I decided to use this as a teachable moment.  Here goes.

I started with Lovely as a Tree.  So far so good.  Then I pulled out some Timeless Textures (coming 5 Jan in the 2016 Occasions Catalog).  Still okay.

Then I changed up the design.  First point of failure.  Followed by a couple more that mean I’ll probably never send this card to anyone.  Take a look-see:

 

 

This is a card that started out sort of like the card I shared the other day – see it here.  But – it just didn’t work like I wanted to.

I’m going to do this post a little differently than I normally do.

What I like:

1. Lovely as a Tree, stamped in Mossy Meadow.  I first made a mask by cutting out an oval with my Ovals Collection Framelits.  Just like the other card, I stamped the tree a couple of times without re-inking.  Then I sponged around the edges with more Mossy Meadow.  Pretty – but see #3 below.
2. The Tuxedo Black Memento Ink pine tree in the foreground.  I stamped this tree after removing the mask.  I like how it lays across the frame and the inner picture.
3. I like the Linen Thread and Gold Metallic Thread wrapped around the edge of the frame.  And I think the Gold Basic Metal Button with it’s double bow works, too.
4. I like the little Into the Woods Elements glued to the side of the frame.
5. I like the Vellum card stock banner, with “Hello” heat embossed in Black Stampin’ Emboss Powder.  The sentiment is from Watercolor Wishes, and is one of my favorites.  I just fussy cut the banner end.
6. I like the Timeless Textures stamp around the edges – to some extent.  I’ll tell you where that stops in the next section.
7. The card front is popped over the tree images panel (which is SNAILd to the Always Artichoke mat) with Stampin’ Dimensionals. I like the depth that it gave the card front.
8. I really like my Envelope Liner!  I used a piece of Very Vanilla Envelope Paper, and stamped my beautiful Lovely as a Tree pine all over it in Mossy Meadow.  I usually stamped two or three times before I re-inked.  Then I cut it out with my Envelope Liner Framelits and stuck it in a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope.  The front of the envelope also got a couple of trees stamped on it.

What I wish I’d done differently.

1.  I wish I’d planned my design better.  Or at all!  I decided after I’d stamped the trees – including the black one in the forefront – to cut out the oval.  Which would still have been okay – except that I should have used the next smaller oval in the collection.  That way there would have been extra coloring that would have extended under the edges of my frame.  How to fix: stamp your background trees on a piece of Very Vanilla card stock – use your Envelope Paper mask – but!  When you make your mask – use the next biggest oval.  This was the fourth-from-the-center oval.  Use the fifth.  Then, when you cut your oval out of the top piece of card stock – use the 4th oval framelit.  Then lay that piece over the pine tree stamped panel, and stamp the pine tree in Tuxedo Black.  I’d use my Stamp-a-Ma-Jig, because you may end up needing to stamp the tree on the background and then stamping it again on the front panel.  Just a little more time consuming, but still easy.
2. I don’t like how the Crumb Cake that I used on the Timeless Textures melds with the Mossy Meadow of the trees.  Part of the issue is the Timeless Texture image I did.  It’s a great textured image – but when I stamped the edges, I didn’t get it all the way to the edge.  So I “fixed” that by sponging more Crumb Cake – and that ended up making it too dark and kind of “muddy”.  How to fix: Here’s where the ever-handy Stamp-a-Ma-Jig would likely have saved the day.  Use it to ensure that your image gets all the way to the edge of the panel and that your images don’t overlap.  Second fix:  stamp the image off once before stamping the panel.  I believe that would have softened the yellow in the crumb cake.  With all that changed, sponging the edges in more Crumb Cake wouldn’t have been necessary!
3. I think Mossy Meadow wasn’t a great color choice.  How to fix: I probably should have used Always Artichoke for the trees.  That’s what I used for the mats, and I think it might have more yellow in it and be a happier pairing with the Crumb Cake (which is also the card base I used).

And – I actually think that might fix it up and make it a pretty card.  I do love the layout and design – just needed to do it more….right!  And tweak a few things.

Hope that you’re not all hitting “unsubscribe” now!  We all have cards we’re not happy with, don’t we?

Don’t we? 😉

Hopefully you’ll take my mistakes and correct them and make a pretty Lovely as a Tree card – with the Timeless Textures stamp set that will come out with the Occasions catalog in January!

I’ll be back in your inbox tomorrow, all bright and early.  And from Atlanta!! Whoo-hoo! 🙂

TTFN

Mary

P.S.  My dinner arrived – thanks for asking – so now I’m in a pasta coma.  Off to bed! 🙂

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15 Dec – 31 Dec Hostess Code: 9HJWPKPH. Use this hostess code when you order and receive a free gift from me! But, if your order is over $150, please don’t use this code (you’ll miss out on your own Stampin’ Rewards/Hostess $$ if you use it) but you’ll still get the free gift. The free gift for Dec is your choice of any item valued up to $8.00 in the brand new 2015-16 Annual Catalog or the 2015 Holiday Catalog.

STAMPS-N-LINGERS 2016 OCCASIONS CATALOG SHARES

1. New Designer Series Paper Share – $17.00 plus $5 for Priority Mail shipping.

In all, you’ll receive 80 6” x 6” sheets of designer papers!

It’s My Party DSP – 24 sheets – two of each design

Birthday Bouquet DSP – 6 sheets – one of each design

Love Blossoms DSP – 12 Sheets – one of each design

Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper – 1 sheet

Botanical Gardens DSP – 6 sheets – one of each design

NO PICTURE YET 🙁

Shine on Specialty DSP – 6 sheets – one of each design

Have a Cuppa DSP – 12 sheets – one of each design

Going Places DSP – 12 sheets – one of each design

Red Foil Sheets – 1 sheet

2. New Ribbon and Embellishment Share – $15 plus $3.50 for 1st Class Mail shipping for a full Ribbon & Embellishment share.

In all you’ll receive 16 yards of new ribbon and 46 new embellishments!

Basic Black/Melon Mambo Baker’s Twine – 5 yds

Basic Black/Mint Macaron – 5 yds

Pool Party 3/8” Glitter Ribbon – 2 yds

Watermelon Wonder 1″ Stitched Satin Ribbon – 2 yds

Bermuda Bay 1/8″ Stitched Ribbon – 2 yds

It’s My Party Enamel Dots – 12 (2 each of 3 colors in 2 sizes)

Honeycomb Embellishments – 1 each of 3 colors

Bow Paper Clip Embellishments – 4 pieces

Botanical Gardens Jewels – 4 pieces

Iced Rhinestone Embellishments – 8 (4 of each of 2 sizes)

Have a Cuppa Embellishments – 3 pieces (1 of each design)

Polka Dot Cones Cellophane Bags – 2 bags

3. Want it all? $35 – and you’ll get shares of all of the new Designer Series Papers, ribbons and embellishments. Plus I’ll ship it for free!

And if you’d like double shares of either the designer paper or ribbon, that works, too. I’ll cut the paper sheets into 6×12 so that you’ll be able to get 3 full A2 size card fronts from each sheet (except for the Love Blossoms, DSP Stack, Have a Cuppa DSP Stack and Going Places DSP Stack, you’ll get double sheets of those since they’re already precut at 6″x6″!).

• See pictures of the Papers, Ribbons and Embellishments on my 2016 Occasions Catalog Shares page!
• Deadline to sign up for the shares is 3 Jan 16 at 5pm MST
• I’ll submit the order on 5 Jan 16 when the Catalog goes Live
• You’ll receive a PayPal Invoice one week prior (so, around 29 Dec), unless you sign up after that date, at which time you’ll get an invoice right away. I’ll need payment before I submit the share, please! 🙂
• Anyone is welcome to join in my share (please note, I can only ship to addresses within the US).
• To get signed up for your piece of the fun, head over to the 2016 Occasions Catalog Shares page!

YEAR END SALE GOING ON NOW!

Stampin’ Up! has placed more products on clearance and the discounts are up to 60 percent, so you’ll will want to take advantage of these amazing deals!

During the Year-End Sale, you can find ALL discounted products in one location in the online store: under the Year-End Sale category. So don’t fret if you don’t see the category “Clearance Rack” on the online store right now–it has been integrated into the Year-End Sale. See the savings now!

• Promotion Dates: December 10, 2015-January 4, 2016.
• No minimum purchase required.
• No refunds or exchanges on Year-End Sale items.
• Items offered during the Year-End Sale are while supplies last.
• You can add non-Year-End-Sale items to any online order!
• Year-End Sale orders are eligible for Stampin’ Rewards with qualifying orders.
• Following the Year-End Sale, some remaining items may stay in the Clearance Rack. Other items may be removed from the Clearance Rack to be added at another undetermined time.
• Place your orders online thru my online store!
• Deadline for ordering is January 4, 2016; 11:50 PM (MT)

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Crumb Cake Card Stock: 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ (card base; scored and folded at 5 1/2″)

Very Vanilla Card Stock: 4 1/8″ x 5 3/8″ (card front and inner liner)

Always Artichoke Card stock: 4″ x 5 1/4″ (mats for card front and inner liner)

Vellum Card Stock: 1″ x 2 1/2″ (sentiment banner)

If you need any stamping supplies, I’d be very happy to be your Demonstrator. Just click on the Order Stampin’ Up! Online Now button on the right side of the screen to go directly to my online store or drop me an email if you have any questions. Happy Stamping!

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Shop the Clearance Rack here. Earn FREE Stampin’ Up! Products – Join my Punkin Head Peppermint Rewards – My online customer thank you program!

BACKORDER LIST AS OF 17 Dec 15

24 December

139672: Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (178 backordered; 9,576 expected)

28 December

103083: Embossing Buddy (22 backordered; 1,080 expected)

6 January

138296: Washi Label Punch (16 backordered; 2,016 expected)

8 January

126995: Stampin’ Trimmer Cutting Blades (719 backordered; 6,688 expected)

RETIRED LIST (These products are officially retired and will no longer be available once our current inventory is depleted.)

140969: Witching Décor Project Kit (sold out)

139673: Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (sold out; Will be returning in the 2016 Annual Catalog – Whoo-hoo!)

139670: Sleigh Ride Edgelits Dies (sold out)
140861: Jingle All the Way Bundle (wood-mount; sold out)
140862: Jingle All the Way Bundle (clear-mount; sold out)