Artistic Etchings with creped filter paper technique

Happy bank holiday everyone - I'm writing this on Sunday in glorious sunshine so let's pretend that this weather continues until Monday, shall we?

I love getting together with my team and last weekend was my quarterly team meeting. It was fantastic to have so many people there, which is largely thanks to a big influx of new demonstrators during Sale-a-Bration.

We always have a mixture of business talk, demonstrations, chatting, Make & Take and, of course, cake. I only charge a nominal fee for these events and guests get to come along free if they want to find out more about signing up, so why not come along to my next one in September?

If you can’t wait that long, bear in mind that it’s always a good time to join Stampin’ Up!® but some times are even better than others. Right now is one of those times as, if you join up to and including 30^th May (yes, that’s 30^th NOT 31^st), you get an extra £25 in your Starter Kit!

In real terms, this means you pay £99 and can CHOOSE £155 of products from either of the two current catalogues.

Please drop me a line if you’d like to find out more.

Meanwhile, here’s the Make & Take we made at our meeting. The one on the left is the card we made, while the one on the right is the “stepped-up” version I showed.

Between us, my downline Alison and I demonstrated techniques using Creped Filter Paper. Alison made a flower and coloured it with reinkers. I showed this technique which is really simple:

1. Stamp on a piece of Whisper White or Very Vanilla cardstock in a relatively pale colour. I used Summer Starfruit.
2. Cover the whole image with Stampin’ Up!’s Anywhere Glue Stick. It’s important that you use glue stick rather than wet glue, to prevent the ink from running.
3. Cut a piece of Creped Filter paper slightly larger than your white cardstock and screw it up in a tight ball.
4. Open it out and spread it over the white cardstock. You want to get it as flat as you can but you will still have wrinkles from where you screwed it up. Trim around the edges, or fold them around and glue on the back.
5. Stamp a co-ordinating image on top. Done! 

On the first card (left), I kept things pretty simple, adding a few embellishments such as a cardstock flag, piece of Crochet Trim, a button and a bit of bling. This would be perfect for a Make & Take at a party as it’s quick and economical.

The card on the right is good to show to people at a party as it steps things up slightly, with an embossed background using the Hexagon Folder (who doesn’t love that folder?). I’ve also used the Artisan Embellishment Kit instead of the button and added an exciting new product; Washi Tape. Now that I’m getting more confident, I really love that stuff!

Finally, I tried something new – splattering the background with some reinker mixed with rubbing alcohol. It didn’t go quite to plan and, as longtime customer Angela T pointed out, “it looks like you’ve spilled something on it”. Point taken.

Stamps: Artistic Etchings

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Summer Starfruit, Whisper White

Ink: Summer Starfruit, Soft Suede

Accessories: Naturals Buttons, Crochet Trim, Basic Rhinestones, Artisan Embellishment Kit, Epic Day Washi Tape, reinker (I used Early Espresso as it was the nearest one I had)