Iris Folding Technique

     Iris fold is a technique that I came upon awhile ago.  I took a class at a local stamp store and became intrigued.  Next I went online and eventually found  Circle of Crafters,   There are many FREE patterns on this site as well as directions on how to create an iris fold .
     I have a friend who loves anything to do with water.  She even named her first son after a TV show character from the show, "Flipper".  (If you remember that show, you are showing your age!!!)  Sooo, I figure a dolphin card!  Here is the first try with the free dolphin pattern downloaded from Circle of Crafters.  Trace it onto paper and cut out by hand.   I liked this crinkle turquoise paper for the cut out layer and then chose 2 different blues for the iris folding.  Next it is layered on a corrugated paper that somewhat reminded me of waves.  

Blue paper dolphin

     Next I used the same crinkle paper to cut out the dolphin, but placed it at a different angle on the paper.  Then I chose a thin (text weight) silver paper for the iris folding.  I do like how this dolphin looks although it does not showcase the iris folding as much as the first one above.

Silver dolphin

     Well, I liked the dolphin in silver, but wanting the iris fold to show up more, I used 3 different silver papers.  If you click on the picture, you will see the different papers.  One paper is a tissue paper (very thin and a little difficult to work with), one is textured and much thicker (also hard to work with), and then a metallic cardstock.  What do you think?

Three silvers dolphin

     So now I want to experiment with a different paper to cut out the dolphin shape, and I chose a water printed paper which I think is from Michael's or JoAnn's.  I came up with another paper in my stash.....a white on white striped text weight paper (it shows up looking silver here, but click on the picture and it should look more white).  Sorry, but I do not remember where this paper is from.  This dolphin may be my favorite!  And this is the one I eventually sent to my friend.

White striped dolphin on water-print paper

     One more try, keeping the same water paper base, but now changing up the iris fold papers.  Most of the iris fold patterns I've seen usually use 3 or 4 different colors/patterns of papers, so here is my dolphin done that way. 

Multi-color dolphin

     Lastly, the center of your iris fold will usually have a small space.  Many times I've seen a small piece of holographic paper placed there.  I love hearts and thought it was neat to place a heart brad there for some of my dolphins.

     Well I also needed to send a baby card to my son's childhood friend and kept going with iris folds.  Looking at the Circle of Crafts site, I found the baby carriage.  She was having a girl, hence the pink carriage.  She thought it was a really unique card. 

Pink iris fold baby carriage

     Did you notice that I used ribbon instead of folded papers for the iris parts?  I really like using the ribbons......it is faster for sure.  Hope you give iris folding a try.

See you again soon!
Cheesy Sandy

Bleach - Its Not Just for Dirty Clothes

I have been playing around with different techniques that I had seen in years past.  This one is with bleach.  The idea is that you use bleach instead of ink to stamp your image.  I have seen some awesome cards done this way, but so far mine haven't been that good. 

First, you need to "create" a stamp pad with the bleach.  Take a container large enough to hold the stamp you will be using.  (I used a plastic container from Stampin Up stamps.)  Line it with paper towels or baby wipes and add some bleach.  You do not want too much bleach.....

Coyote Bleach Trials

Notice in the upper left corner, the image is not very defined.....too much bleach.  The lower left image has better definition.

Here is the simple get well card I made with one of the coyote bleach images:

Get Well "Oww-ch" Card

The next most important element is the paper.  All papers will act differently.  I tried about 10 different ones, and the coated ones (usually more expensive ones) did not work well.  I tried Core-dinations brand hoping that the second color would show thru, but it did not.  Really, the best paper to use from my experience is usually the thinner, cheaper paper.  Below you can see how different papers reacted.  The fun part is that you just never know what you will get!


Different Papers


Next element is the stamp.  You can see above that the more detailed stamps (Lottie Collage by Impression Obsession) can prove difficult to get the full image.  I did have success after a few tries, but it was harder.  I really like the blue one above.  It looks like a "negative" to me.  I haven't had time to make a card with it as yet.  When I do, I'll post it for you to see.

And finally.......some images that I was not at all happy with.  Just wanted to share the boo-boos too!

2 Giraffes-hard to see

2 Lions-blurry

I will be trying these images (both stamps by Beeswax) again when I have time.  I LOVE the images, just not sure that I love how they turned out with bleach!  LOL

Thanks for looking!
Sandy (Cheesy)

BLOG CANDY PRIZE WINNER and Another Penguin card

A huge thank you to all who participated in our Winter Blog Hop.  We all appreciate your time and the sincere comments you left for us. 

I promised a prize to one of the ladies who agreed to be a new follower of my blog.  Soooo, after writing all the names down and having my hubby pick a name from the hat...........drum roll........the winner of the brand new stampette set Hope Love Faith is....................Sandy (poochiegranny!!!!)

Sandy (poochiegranny), will you please email me (ilchezhead@yahoo.com) with your full name and address so that I can mail out your set.  Hope you enjoy creating with it.


The winners of the full Blog Hop are posted on the SNS blog today.  Here they are:
Grand Prize – Stamp Set of her Choice – Karen Ladd
Prize One from Barbara Bruder – 2 tinsel glitter colors of her choice! Margaret Tower (flamingo girl)
Prize Two from  marie Berquist – 3 embossing powders of her choice – Shartl (apedoaak)
Prize Three from Julie Zippel – 3 glitters of your choice – Aileen Freeman

Just because our customers are particularly awesome, and your comments were so sincere and kind, we have decided to have a SURPRISE PRIZE! One new Stampette Set of her choice awarded to Carrie (cardmakingqueen).

I thought that I would share another card I've created with the Playful Penguin set today.  It was really fun to make and I love making step cards.  You might be able to see it in person while visiting one of the stores that carry SNS products, or at the SNS shoppe in Ruskin, FL.

You can get the full directions for making this card here.

Thanks for dropping by today.  Hope to see you here again soon!
Sandy

Magical Winter Moments Blog Hop

Welcome to the Sparkle N Sprinkle Magical Winter Moments blog hop

Did you have arrive here from MARIE BERQUIST'S blog in our winter blog hop?  If you did not get here via Marie, perhaps you might want to go to the Sparkle and Sprinkle Blog to see all the participating sites and get the low down on the snowy trail.   

Yes, its that time again.....to begin planning for your holiday cards.  Can you believe it?  And the designers have been busy creating samples to help get those creative juices flowing.  Here in Wisconsin, it has been a bit chilly so I am starting to think SNOW (oh, and I am also starting to think that its time to head back to Florida...LOL).

My first inspiration came from the new Playful Penguin stamp set 438.

I used the Candy Cane Penguin because I thought that he would be cute for my grandsons' cards.  I took  designer paper with candy canes on it and used one of my new favorite techniques- - -applying embossing powder over the entire surface.  Simply rub the versamark pad directly to the entire surface and emboss with your favorite powder!  Here I used Sparkle embossing powder EP107.  I used two Sparkle and Soft colors for the penguin body.  Die cut a snowflake using the Grand Caliber, painted it silver and added glitter.  Used wonky rectangle die cuts and a candy cane charm colored with glitters.  Full directions can be found on the SNS website here.

The next card inspiration came from the Winter Swirl stamp set 414.

I have been wanting to make a tent topper card (see SNS tips and techniques section) and this reindeer was just asking to be on my card.  I started with the reindeer using Stickum Powder EP300 and Sparkling Sands Sparkle N Soft SS118. Doesn't the deer look soft? Next die cut using the Grand Caliber and a circle die, layer onto the lacey circle die cut from gold cardstock and finally place on olive mulberry paper.  Love mulberry paper!  The base card was stamped using the trees from this set in 2 colors, and then offset stamped using versamark and then embossed with Sparkle EP107.  You can view the full directions for this card here.

Hoping that you got some ideas from these cards.  Its time to slide over to the next talented designer's blog: KIM JAIME has more fun and inspiration for you to see here.

Don't forget to leave a comment below to be eligible for the blog hop prizes!  And thanks so much for stopping by.


Sandy (Cheesy)

P.S.  I will be giving away a special prize from me to you!  All you have to do is sign up during the blog hop to be one of my blog "followers".  Look on the far right side near the bottom where it says followers and sign up.  I will randomly choose one of my new followers to receive one of the new SNS stampette sets.  Good Luck.

SPARKLING WINTRY SENSATIONS BLOG HOP

Welcome to the Sparkle N Sprinkle "Sparkling Wintry Sensations” blog hop---do you like how I changed my header picture for the occasion?  If you arrived here by way of the Sparkle N Sprinkle Blog, then you're in the right place.  All of the rules and info for the hop and how to become eligible for SIX great prizes are back at the SNS blog, so I will not repeat it here.

On to the sparkly stuff!  Here is my design which uses the Winter Swirl stamp set #414:

[caption id="attachment_440" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Winter Swirl Set 414 Diorama Card"][/caption]

When the blog theme was decided, all I could think of was what it looks like outside our windows (up here in Wisconsin) after a snowfall and I knew I wanted to make a diorama card (see the tips and techniques section at SNS for directions to make diorama cards.)  Diorama cards are great because you get all that dimension but it folds up flat, fits into a regular envie and usually doesn't take any extra postage.  The Winter Swirl stamp set has all the stamps needed for this card.   If you have the Grand Caliber die cut machine, you can diecut both pieces of cardstock at the same time--yippee.  Sparkling snow glitter is the perfect tool for snow and winter scenes (or just adding sparkle to any card).  This card does take extra time because of cutting out trees, and the extra layer but it is a wonderful gift for that special someone.  If you have never made a diorama card, I hope you've gotten the inspiration to try one. The directions for this card can be found here.

Oh and by the way, I might be one of "The FIVE" with a secondary prize, so don't forget to leave a comment below to become eligible for the Grand Prize and one of the 5 secondary prizes............then head on over to our Sensational Dawn's blog and continue on your sparkly, wintry way.

Stay cool and glad you came by!

[caption id="attachment_482" align="alignleft" width="120" caption="Winter in July?"][/caption]

Sandy

Zebra Cards

I seem to be way behind with my projects.   Having said that, I just finished sending in cards for Sparkle and Sprinkle and thought I'd share them with you.  I am using the stamp set Zebra #337 and came up with 3 different cards.

  

[caption id="attachment_306" align="aligncenter" width="233" caption="Card 1 - Cork Zebra"][/caption]

This card idea came from a lady on the stamping cruise (sorry, I cannot remember her name).  She had some awesome animal stamps and was trying to stamp them onto cork that she had.  When I got this stamp set from Sparkle and Sprinkle and saw the zebra, I knew I had to make a card using cork.  The card is pretty basic:  emboss the zebra using black detail embossing powder onto an adhesive cork sheet.  Then use the EK Success plaid edge punch #54-40089 for pieces of black cardstock glued all around the edges and a craft cardstock base.  I wanted to add more embellishments, but I think it looks good just as it is.

 

[caption id="attachment_305" align="aligncenter" width="236" caption="Card 2 - Split Negative Zebra"][/caption]

 The second card idea came from watching Gina K videos where she was doing split negative cards.  I took it one step further and did 4 pieces instead of just 2.  The basic idea is to stamp your design onto black paper and emboss with white embossing powder.  Then stamp the design again onto white paper and emboss with black embossing powder.  Cut the 2 images in half and place half of each one with the other.  Kind of like a mirror image.  I used "boa" yarn to edge the image and placed it onto green corregated paper then onto black cardstock to finish.  Its kind of an optical illusion card!

Card 3 - Its A Jungle Out There

The last card came about because I wanted to use up some "things" I had laying around for quite awhile.  I purchased some animal print card packs for $1 at Michael's a while ago and have wanted to use them..........and this was the perfect opportunity.  I cut them up to make a background.  Then I used Sparkle and Sprinkle's Dark Chocolate Flock and tear-ifiic tape to make a border on another piece of cardstock and taped the prints inside.   Used a spellbinders die to cut out the words, distressed it with some ink, punched out a paw print and layered onto more flocked paper.  Then I found a lion that I  had cut out at a store a couple years ago and he was purrr-fect for the card.  What do you think?              

Thanks for stopping by for a look......

Sandy                                                             

 

 

 

 

Grandson Caleb's Birthday Card

This is a card that I cased on the internet and loved the look since my 1 year old grandson's bedroom has a jungle animal theme.  It wasn't too hard to make and I only used 2 stamps (flowers and grass).  The monkey is done with punches.  I think his mom and dad liked it.  Caleb tried to eat it LOL.  Loved making this card.