Tag: techniques

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Technique Tuesday | Using the Precision Base Plate

Stampin' Up! Butterfly thinlit Precision base plate how to

One of the things in the Autumn / Winter catalogue I was looking forward to more than anything else was the Precision Base Plate. I love cutting intricate dies with my Big Shot; the Butterfly thinlits or those stunning Delicate Ornaments, but getting all those little pieces out is a pain and needing to run things through the machine several time to ensure a good cut is annoying – but no more! Stampin' Up! UK Die cutting video tutorial

The Precision Base Plate is a steel plate deigned to replace one of your Clear Cutting Plates when using intricate dies. It works by providing a super hard surface for your dies to work against, giving a crisper, cleaner cut. I have to say though, I wouldn’t use this plate all the time – it just isn’t required for basic shapes, but the difference it makes on detailed dies makes this a must have accessory for my Big Shot Machine

This card was super easy to make with the Big Shot and precision base plate, the video is only 8 minutes and that’s with all my waffle! The Designer Series Paper on both cards was the inspiration for the colour schemes here, the Bohemian Designer Series Paper pack features some pretty loud patterns but the reverse sides are lovely and delicate with some great tone on tone looks.

Stampin' Up! Butterfly thinlit Precision base plate how to

Precision Base Plate top tips:

  • Use the Precision plate with your Multi-purpose platform fully closed, just as you would for thinlits dies and Clear plates
  • Make sure you are cutting on the correct side – the label should be face down (not showing) and you cut into the Black side of the plate
  • It may take a little more force to get this plate through your Big Shot, but DO NOT force it! check your sandwich and try again
  • This plate replaced a Clear Cutting Plate in your standard die sandwich – Multi-purpose Platform (on tab 2), Precision Base Plate (label side DOWN), card stock, die, Clear Cutting Plate

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Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

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Shaker Card using the To You and Yours Card Kit

Stampin' Up! UK Shaker Card To You and Yours

Yesterday we looked at the To You and Yours Shaker Card Kit (which I LOVE!) but I had HEAPS of bits and pieces left over after making the 18 cards.

So I have made a few bits and pieces with the left overs. I’m only sharing one of the card with you today, but sign up for my newsletter for more inspiration with this kit coming really soon

Stampin' Up! UK Shaker Card To You and Yours

Using the stamp set that goes with the kit as the shaker background I created my own shaker window using the Stampin’ Trimmer (although you could use dies). Those star sequins are left over from the kit, and I STILL have more!

The sentiment is also from the same stamp set, heat embossed in Gold (yum!)

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Please support StampinByHannah, and join my Code Club, by using the Hostess code featured in the top right hand of my blog. For orders of over £150 please do not use this code, as you are entitled to your own Hostess benefits!

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Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

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Technique Tuesday | Watercolour Background

Stampin' Up! UK Watercolour background video tutorial

One of my favourite things to do is play with colour. I love pulling inks out of my Colour Caddy and seeing how they work together, look next to each other and compliment each other to make some fabulous projects! Adding water to out Stampin’ Up!® inks is also pretty high up there on my list of favourite techniques at the moment, either using the inks as watercolour or making a colourful mess – I just love it!

Stampin' Up! UK Watercolour background video tutorial

I created this card completely on video – I am trying to remember to turn on the camera when I am playing with inks and paper, you just never know if the card is going to turn into a masterpiece or a complete mess!

Colour is so important in card making, but Stampin’ Up!® make it so simple; with colour families of matching colours and coordinating products that all work together to help you create wonderful cards, and other items too.

So, before I waffle on forever about how much I LOVE Stampin’ Up!’s® colour palate, shall we watch the video tutorial?

See, creating this brightly coloured background is super simple; just four colour of ink and a heap of water. The colours used here are Daffodil Delight, Delightful Dijon, Pumpkin Pie, and Watermelon Wonder. I did need to add some extra Watermelon Wonder as it began is dry pink, but with some extra ink added we succeeded in creating a lovely orange/coral tone for this card.

The stamping here is from Best Thoughts, one of the lovely Hostess Exclusives for this year – place an order of £150 or more to purchase this set, or host a party. Speaking of which have you heard about my latest Party offering? Book a party between 4th and 10th November 2015 and choose 2 FREE stamp set from my basket of Stamping Goodies! check the ad below for more details!

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To purchase any of the items featured in my projects please use the links above. To join my team of Stampin’ Friends select ‘Join My Team’ or send me a message!

Please support StampinByHannah, and join my Code Club, by using the Hostess code featured in the top right hand of my blog. For orders of over £150 please do not use this code, as you are entitled to your own Hostess benefits!

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Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

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12 Weeks of Christmas | Mass Produced Christmas Card

Stampin' Up! UK Santa's gifts mass produced christmas card video tutorial

Stampin' Up! 12 weeks of Christmas

Welcome to the second Week of 12 Weeks of Christmas! I make all the Christmas cards that I send each year, which means making about 150 cards leading up to the Festive Season. Anyway of making that task easier is fine by me! Last year I made around 50 Christmas cards for my blog which were all received by family and friends, this year I am planning to sell more of these at Christmas fairs and events, and so need a few more cards!

I often use mass production techniques when I’m making multiples of a particular card, for customer Thank you’s or Wedding Stationary, and will do the same this year with my Christmas cards.

Stampin' Up! 12 Weeks of Christmas Santas gifts

This features a super cute Rudolph (that’s a reindeer!) from the Santa’s Gift stamp set. Before you go grabbing for your Autumn / Winter catalogue thinking you’ve missed something, this stamp set is taken from the Christmas section in the Annual Catalogue. I have added some colour to Rudolph using a Blender pen and Stampin’ Write Markers in Real Red and Cherry Cobbler.

Check out the video for the full mass production experience!

These cards are really easy to produce, and would make a great family project for a rainy Saturday afternoon. I’m a big believer in getting children crafting, get them winding the handle on the big shot, or colouring Rudolph’s scarf! They’re have great fun!

The cards are finished by added a dot of Fine Tip Glue to Rudolph’s nose, they would look so cute with some glitter added too!

Stampin' Up! UK Santa's gifts mass produced christmas card video tutorial

Mass Production Top Tips:

  • Cut all your card stock first, this card uses 4 pieces of card stock – a Cherry Cobbler card base (half a piece of A4, scored at 10.5 cm), a Very Vanilla layer (14.2 x 10 cm), a Basic Grey matt (10.5 x 8.5 cm), and a Very Vanilla topper (10 x 8 cm)
  • Do each stage of the process in its entirety – Run all the Very Vanilla layers through the big shot, before stamping all the Rudolphs, colour all the scarfs etc.
  • Find your rhythm – fold and score, fold and score….
  • Do anything that requires drying time last! (like adding Fine Tip Glue to Rudolphs nose!)
  • Have Fun!

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I will be closing this order on the 30th October 2015

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To purchase any of the items featured in my projects please use the links above. To join my team of Stampin’ Friends select ‘Join My Team’ or send me a message!

Please support StampinByHannah, and join my Code Club, by using the Hostess code featured in the top right hand of my blog. For orders of over £150 please do not use this code, as you are entitled to your own Hostess benefits!

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Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

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Technique Tuesday| Acrylic Block Stamping

Stampin' Up! UK Butterfly Basics Watercolour Stamping

Watercolour is BIG news at the moment in card-making. Watercoloured backgrounds and images are really popular. At Stampin’ Up!® we have a great kit featuring the watercolour look (Watercolour Wishes) and have several stamp sets that allow you to look like a watercolour master without any of the mess – which is awesome, but I love playing with ink and water! But I understand that it can be a tricky look to pull off.

Well, today I have  quick and easy watercolour background technique for you that doesn’t even need a paint brush!

Stampin' Up! UK Acrylic Block Stamping Technique Tuesday Video Tutorial

This technique is super simple, but as always I have created a video tutorial for you.

The new Basic Black Archival Ink is great for this technique, it gives a crisp true black image, great for sentiments and silhouette images like the ones on the card above. But also it is awesome for watercolour techniques as it doesn’t bleed or run with water, and so has become my go to black for stamped imaged that I am planning to watercolour. This card would have worked just as well if I had used Memento or Stazon as the black stamping is done after the watercolour panel is dry.

My favourite card stock for this technique is the Shimmery White, as its slightly thicker than our standard Whisper White card stock, and allows you a little more time before the ink dries than Watercolor Paper. Plus, you get that lovely shimmery finish! I can see another packet of this coming home with me really soon!

Stampin' Up! UK Butterfly Basics Watercolour Stamping

Top Tips:

  • Pull out your Stampin’ Pierce matt to stamp on, to ensure a full block of colour
  • Ink up your Acrylic Block and stamp directly onto your card stock without water for a darker, more textured look
  • Add water to your inked Acrylic Block before stamping to create the watercolour effect
  • Allow the water to dry naturally, hit it with your heat gun, or dab off the water with a clean cloth for different effects
  • Stamp over your watercolour panel with a black inked imaged for a cool silhouette effect

The stamp set I have used on this card is Butterfly Basics – definitely one of my favourites this year – lovely for feminine birthdays and other occasions, and it coordinated with two die sets and several other sets of stamps too!

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To purchase any of the items featured in my projects please use the links above. To join my team of Stampin’ Friends select ‘Join My Team’ or send me a message!

Please support StampinByHannah, and join my Code Club, by using the Hostess code featured in the top right hand of my blog. For orders of over £150 please do not use this code, as you are entitled to your own Hostess benefits!

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Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

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Technique Tuesday | Faux In-lay Die Cutting

I have recently fallen head of heals in love with my Big Shot machine again. My Big Shot was one of those big ticket items I bought when I started crafting 5 years ago, and I have to admit it didn’t get the love and attention it deserved. However, since becoming a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator last year, the amount of use my Big Shot gets keeps increasing, and I am the first to admit that its starting to get tired through over use! I am in desperate need of new cutting plates since my current set are now sporting the ‘stained glass’ effect, and I am forever tightening the handle. I might have to buy it some Christmas presents this year!

Stampin' Up! UK Faux InLay Die Cutting Technique Tuesday

I really enjoy the In-lay die cutting technique, but trying to get all those pieces back into the paper can be a bit of a pain. I have recently tried a few different types of Faux In-Lay Die Cutting, using both the big shot AND punches!

There is a Big Shot add on that is a must for this one, the Premium Crease Pad. Designed to help form the creases when using Bigz Dies, the crease pad stops the die from cutting all the way through your card stock, leaving an embossed effect. This works on both detailed dies, like the Hello You Thinlits, and Butterflies Thinlit dies (love those!) as well as framelit dies, like the Flower Fayre dies that coordinated with the Flower Patch stamps

Stampin' Up! UK Faux In Lay Die cutting video tutorial

In-layed punching is super simple, and is really effective with stamped images, or Designer Series Paper. Keep your eyes on a blog for some more of this technique for sure!

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I will be closing this order on the 30th September 2015

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Shop Now button-001Join my team button-001To purchase any of the items featured in my projects please use the links above. To join my team of Stampin’ Friends select ‘Join My Team’ or send me a message!

Please support StampinByHannah, and join my Code Club, by using the Hostess code featured in the top right hand of my blog. For orders of over £150 please do not use this code, as you are entitled to your own Hostess benefits!

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Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

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Festive Fireplace Week | Ink Blending

Stampin' Up! UK festive fireplace black cat christmas card

Stampin Up! Festive Fireplace Week

I don’t usually post a card on a Wednesday, but seeing as I’m posting all week about the same stamp set I thought I would add another card in here! Seeing as it is Wednesday though, please do go and check out this weeks Weekly Deals!

Sale: £5.44

Price: £7.25

Sale: £6.75

Price: £9.00

Sale: £5.44

Price: £7.25

Sale: £10.88

Price: £14.50

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 This card would look extra awesome with a bow of Early Espresso ribbon! and those Gold Basic Metal Buttons are a must, so pretty!

Stampin' Up! UK festive fireplace black cat christmas cardI’ve been getting inky in my craft room again with this one! The Fireplace is stamped in Sahara Sand, straight onto my Whisper White matt. Then, using my handy sticky notes I masked off the area inside the fireplace and added Daffodil Delight, Delightful Dijon and Tangelo Twist with a sponge.

Stampin' Up! UK festive fireplace week ink blending

The fire is stamped using other handy Stampin’ Write markers (Early Espresso,Tangerine Tango and Crushed Curry), colouring directly onto the stamp to get a multi-coloured effect, before die-cutting with those matching framelits (loving those!) and with a black cat added to finish.

Lovely

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Please support StampinByHannah, and join my Code Club, by using the Hostess code featured in the top right hand of my blog. For orders of over £150 please do not use this code, as you are entitled to your own Hostess benefits!

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Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

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Festive Fireplace Week | Catalogue Case

Stampin' Up! UK Festive Fireplace

Stampin Up! Festive Fireplace Week

Welcome to a brand new week at StampinByHannah! I have great plans for this week, all using the Festive Fireplace bundle from Stampin’ Up!®

When the latest catalogue dropped through my door (well, popped into my email!) I fell in love with this stamp set. I think it’s probably the cat image, although I am still working out how to colour it like my Freda.

Stampin' Up! UK Festive Fireplace

This card is a CASE (copy and share everything) from the catalogue, and it just shows why I love this bundle – could I ever be bothered to cut out that fire? or the stockings? nope! but the dies are awesome!

I am also loving watercolour at the moment (more of that coming tomorrow!) and adding water to soften these images really makes this card gorgeous!

The only thing with this card is that it is all on Watercolour Paper, and so some of the dies needed to run through my Big Shot twice just because it is a thicker paper.

What is your favourite bundle in the new catalogue? Haven’t got one yet, get a physical copy HERE or digital copy using the link in the sidebar

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To purchase any of the items featured in my projects please use the links above. To join my team of Stampin’ Friends select ‘Join My Team’ or send me a message!

Please support StampinByHannah, and join my Code Club, by using the Hostess code featured in the top right hand of my blog. For orders of over £150 please do not use this code, as you are entitled to your own Hostess benefits!

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Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

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Alternative Uses for the Watercolour Wishes Card Kit

Stampin' Up! UK Watercolour wishes gift packaging

The Watercolour wishes kit is awesome! I can’t remember if I have mentioned it much before, but this years Stampin’ Up!® kits are amazing. We have instant crafting satisfaction 8 times in the annual catalogue and 3 times in the brand new Autumn/Winter book too! That’s a whole lot of crafting! From cards, to stationary, to home decor there is something for everyone.

Stampin' Up! UK Watercolour Wishes Thanks Card

My favourite kit by far is the Watercolour Wishes card kit, which makes 20 unique cards all featuring the totally on trend Watercolour look but without any of the mess! I have got to mention the stamp set that comes with this kit, it features 12 stamps covering all your most important everyday card making occasions

The great folks at Stampin’ Up!® have made a video to show you what’s in the kit and what the cards look like if you follow the instructions

However, I had to find some alternative uses for this kit. I just don’t need all that many cards (not when I make cards for my blog, and customers, and custom orders!), but I do use cute bits of packaging for gifts and things

Stampin' Up! UK Watercolour wishes gift packaging

Aren’t they cute! I will admit to using the kit to make a different card, but I could not resist making that heart card into a sweet card for my new husband (not that there was an old one!) I also used one of the larger cards in the kit to make a handy folder style gift, just adding some of our lovely Watermelon Wonder Dotted Lace Trim as a closure.

That box is such a handy size. Taking one of the larger cards score at 1″ on all four cards, before creating the box base from a piece of Thick Whisper White card stock.

Measurements:

Lid – 8 1/2 x 5 1/2

scored on all four sides at 1″

Base – 9 7/16th x6 7/16th

scored on all four sides at 1 1/2″

The belly band was created by cutting a 1 1/2″ strip off the long side of a piece of A4 Watermelon Wonder card stock, and helps to hide the score line on the top of the box (it should have been a card remember!)

All three projects were finished using a couple of the embellishments from the kit; Washi Tape, Wooden Elements and Sequins!

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To purchase any of the items featured in my projects please use the links above. To join my team of Stampin’ Friends select ‘Join My Team’ or send me a message!

Please support StampinByHannah, and join my Code Club, by using the Hostess code featured in the top right hand of my blog. For orders of over £150 please do not use this code, as you are entitled to your own Hostess benefits!

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Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

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Technique Tuesday | Ink Blending

Stampin' Up! UK Wonderland Ink Blending

This weeks Technique is one I have used a lot recently, I have a small pile of cards that all feature this same technique, and I love it!

Stampin' Up! UK Wonderland Ink Blending

This technique uses ink, ink and more ink! be prepared for inky fingers with this one!

To create this card you will need; several shades of a similar colour and a Stampin’ Sponge. This card uses Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Blackberry Bliss, along with the Wonderland Stamp set and the brand new Archival Basic Black Ink.Stampin' Up! UK ink blending technique tuesday wonderland

Top Tips:

  • I chop my sponges into between 4 and 6 pieces, and label each one with a piece of card stock to help keep my fingers clean
  • Tap your sponge in your ink pad to load it with ink, starting off your card stock, rub your sponge in circles, working the ink onto the card stock
  • Start with the lightest colour first, and slowly blend in each additional colour.

I’m loving this stamp set, those trees are simply stunning! why not check out my Stampin@Home class this month featuring the same stamp set!

Stampin' Up! Uk at home class Wonderland vellum cardmaking workshop

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To purchase any of the items featured in my projects please use the links above. To join my team of Stampin’ Friends select ‘Join My Team’ or send me a message!

Please support StampinByHannah, and join my Code Club, by using the Hostess code featured in the top right hand of my blog. For orders of over £150 please do not use this code, as you are entitled to your own Hostess benefits!

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Hannah Wilks

Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator