Blog Candy Winners!

We reached 100 comments today so as promised, here are the three winners of the new Origami Crane Papers. I will need your help with addresses as some of
you do not have Blogger profiles to help identify you.
Please email me at Mike@strongstamps.com with your information.
Thank you
Congratulations to J Y White, Gayle Taylor and Monica Lake.

Fan Folded Origami Crane Card

 

Here's a card inspired by the current card making challenge at EnjoyMichaelStrongstamps Yahoo Group. The challenge was to make a
card with accordion or fan folds. Enjoy!
Fan Folded Origami Crane Card

Materials:
MSRS (small origami crane)
Versamark inpad or similar
Embossing powder to coordinate with your paper selection
Cardstock in two complimentary colors
Decorative paper (Washi, wrapping paper, scrapbooking paper etc.)
Scor-It tool (or ruler & bone folder)
Paper cutter
Bone folder
Scissors
Glue or glue stick
Foam mounting tape (or pop dots)

Steps:
Make a score line at ¾” in from the folded side of a 5 ½” x 4 ¼” card. Fold back the top corner of the open side of the card until it is aligned with the ¾” score line and crease with a bone folder. Fold back the corner to the edge of the original fold and crease with a bone folder as shown. Open all the folds and flatten them down to close the card. Lay a 5 ½” x 2 ¾” piece of decorative paper on the front of the card aligning the left side with the ¾” score line. Fold the corner down over the decorative paper as shown (this will form a triangle on the upper right side of the decorative paper). Remove the decorative paper and cut the triangle away. Glue the decorative triangle to the inside top corner of the card. Glue the remaining piece along the ¾” score line. Lay the double folded corner of the card back over the decorative paper and glue down just the center section of the double folded corner. Insert a 2” x 2” piece of coordinating cardstock under the point of the double fold and glue in place. Glue down the point of the fold on top of the coordinating cardstock as shown. Stamp and emboss the small crane and cut it out. Attach the crane to the card with foam mounting tape as shown.

Fan folded Origami Crane card steps

 

 

 

Fan foldeded Origami Crane card steps

 

 

 

Fan folded Origami Crane card steps

 

 

 

 

Crane Paper ideas

Take a look at what Tricia at Club Scrap has done with my new Origami Crane paper collection. http://www.clubscrapcommunity.com/component/myblog/tags/36/
So cool!

Tall Crane Card

 

Next month I'll be teaching a class called Make It Legal. The idea is that all the cards are sized to fit a standard legal size envelope. Here's one of the cards from the class. On this one I get to play with my favorite new product, Pearl Pens from Viva Decor. They are super easy to use and I love the way they look on cards. You can also use them to decorate fabric. Check out the selection in my catalog. Have fun!

Materials:
MSRS Origami Crane set
MSRS Texture set
Brown cardstock
Turquoise cardstock
Turquoise or Teal inkpad (dye ink or solvent ink)
Versamark inkpad (or similar)
Brown embossing powder
Turquoise pearl pen
Brown pearl pen
Heat tool
Paper cutter
Scissors
Regular tape
Double sided tape
Foam pop dots (or similar)

Steps:
Fold an 8 ½” x 11” sheet of brown cardstock in half lengthwise to yield a folded card measuring 11” x 4 ¼”. Reserve the leftover piece.
Using a paper cutter, trim the folded card to make a 9 ¼” x 4 ¼” card.
Cut the turquoise cardstock in half to yield two 8 ½” 5 ½” pieces. Reserve the leftover piece.
Ink the texture stamps with the turquoise inkpad and stamp randomly across the bottom of one of the 8 ½” x 5 ½” pieces of turquoise cardstock as shown. Stamp twice with each inking to get different intensities. Stamp again using the same technique in the upper left corner of the piece. Darken the bottom of the piece by rubbing ink into the cardstock directly from the pad.
Use your paper cutter to cut three strips from the right side of the textured cardstock. Each strip should measure ½” x 8 1.2”.
Cut three more strips from the top of the textured piece. These three strips should measure 3” x ½” each.
Turn all the strips over and arrange in a triple cross pattern as shown. Tape the center to hold it all together as shown.
From the reserved brown cardstock, cut a 1 ½” square and mount it on the turquoise strips as shown.
Stamp a small crane using Versamark ink onto an area of the leftover textured cardstock. Sprinkle with brown embossing powder and shake off the extra. Heat to emboss.
Cut the crane out and mount it in the center of the brown frame with pop dots as shown.
Trim the leftover 8 ½” x 5 ½” piece of turquoise cardstock to make a liner for the inside of the card.
Decorate the strips with Turquoise and Brown pearls using the Viva Pearl Pens as shown.
Enjoy!

Tall crane card materials

 

Tall crane card steps

 

 

Tall crane card steps

 

 

 

 

Tall crane card steps

 

 

 

23 Triangles

 

Here are some cards from my Triple Threat class last week. We used my Cloisonne Triangle set of stamps. Although the there was a lot of cutting to do, the triangles are easy to cut out. Here's how to make the card you see at bottom center. Stamp and emboss one large triangle and one small triangle with copper embossing powder on a piece of black cardstock. Stamp one large triangle onto a piece of light olive green cardstock. Cut each triangle out leaving a small edge of black showing around each one. Glue the black triangle onto a piece of white cardstock. Position the light green triangle above the black triangle as shown and glue in place. Glue the small triangle to another area of the white cardstock. Cut out the large diamond comprised of the two triangles. Leave a little border of white around the diamond. Cut out the small triangle leaving a border of white. Glue the diamond shape to the front of a folded black card. Use some dimensional foam tape to attach the small triangle to the diamond as shown. I finished my card with small pearls of copper using a Viva-Decor Copper Pearl Pen. These pens in ten different colors will be available to purchase from my online catalog soon. Enjoy!

Blog Candy June 2010

 

Here's an array of cardstock based on my Origami Crane stamps. The heavy weight textured and embossed sheets were produced by the Club Scrap design team and me. I just got a shipment last week and I want to share some of it with you. To have a chance to win this collection just make a comment on this blog entry. After I receive 100 comments, I will choose three names at random and send them the goodies. Good luck!

Simple Stained Glass look

 

Here's a super simple way to get a stained glass look for your stamped images. You will need glossy white cardstock, permanent black ink, alcohol ink in two colors, alcohol blending solution and an ink applicator. I got all the ink products at Michael's Craft Store. For my card, I stamped the Cloisonne Fan three times using black ink. I squeezed a small amount of two colors of alcohol ink onto the applicator pad adding an equal amount of the blending solution between the two colors. I dabbed the colors onto the fans, cut them out and attached them to a glossy black card. It took me about five minutes to get a pretty spectacular look. Experiment and have fun!

stained glass look steps

 

 

 

Chocolate Challenge Winners!

 

Here are the winners of the Chocolate card challenge. Congratulations to Leo, Hetty & Monique!

Leo - United Kingdom

The moment I saw Leo's card I was amazed! Her attention to detail makes this the most delicious looking box of no-calorie chocolates ever made. Leo used nine different mini stamps to create this luscious assortment. Which one should I try first? Well done Leo!

Hetty - Netherlands

Our indispensable Hetty has come in under the wire with another delicious entry! Her beautifully designed chocolate dipped ice cream bar contains a sweet message that perfectly captures the spirit of the challenge. Well done Hetty!

Monique - Belgium

Here's a lovely first time entry from Monique. Scattered on the table are an array of Belgium chocolates just waiting to be eaten along a cup of sweet cocoa, yum! Monique's nostalgic card is cute and cozy. Well done Monique!