Customised Stencils - Totally Techniques August Blog Hop

 

It's August and Winter is almost over here in Australia. Spring is coming and the stamp set I chose for this month's Totally Techniques International Design Team blog hop is very Spring - Mixed Florals, has the floral image i have used as well as another image with Tulips.

The technique this month is 'customised stencils'. This basically means that you use a die to make your own stencil. I wanted to use the Mixed Florals stamp set, but there were none of the dies that really worked for this. I wanted a small flower die to use for my stencil and the perfect one was in the Birthday Celebration die set. This die set has all the numbers, but also has a couple of florals, leaves, banners etc.

I ran a piece of Basic White cardstock through my Stampin' Cut' n 'Emboss machine several time with the flower die, placing it deliberately random on the cardstock.

When I felt it was enough I placed it on top of another piece of Basic White cardstock and blended with Lemon Lolly ink and a Blending Brush.

I stamped the floral image from Mixed Florals twice in Seacret Sea ink on another piece of Basic White cardstock. I then colored with Stampin' Blends - Fresh Fresia, Lemon Lolly, Lemon Lime Twist and Pumpkin Pie. I cut them both out with the matching die and adhered them with Stampin' Dimensionals. I cut one of the images a bit apart to make it a bit more full.

I then adhered some of the little cut out centers from my stencil to the middle of the ink-blended yellow flowers. I added Wink of Stella to the big flowers and Fine-tip Glue Pen glue to the little orange flowers. I works like the Crystal Effects we used to use.

I finished the card off by stamping a sentiment on Seacret Sea using Versamark Ink and heat embossing in white. The white layer is then added to a piece of Seacret Sea and a Lemon Lime Twist card base. 

This technique is great to get more use out of your dies, and who doesn't like it when you can use your products in different ways - better value for money.

Hope you have a play and have some fun with your dies.

Next week the new mini catalogue goes live with lots of Christmas inspiration. There are also new Online Exclusives coming - let me know if you need a copy of the catalogue or want to know more about the Online Exclusive offerings.

If you are in Australia and don't have a demonstrator I would love to have you shop with me and to help you out with any questions you may have.

Happy Stamping xx

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Watercolour stamping - Totally Techniques July blog hop

 

It's July and it is time for another blog hop with the Totally Techniques International Design Team. And this month the technique is watercolour stamping. Watercolour stamping is a simple technique that only requires watercolour paper, stamp, ink and water. A Stampin' Spritzer is perfect for this technique.

The stamp set I chose to use this month is Natural Botanicals. It is an unassuming stamp set that you may have missed. It is a Reversible stamp set, meaning that you can stamp with both sides of the stamp - one side is detailed and the other is solid. This means you get double for the price of your stamp set. As the stamps are not completely symmetrical they won't line up perfectly when you stamp the other side, but that is ok, they are not meant to and it just gives a bit of extra character.

Here i have stamped the solid leaf/sprig with Old Olive ink (stamped off) and spritzed with water before stamping on watercolour paper. I then inked the detailed side with Shaded Spruce and stamped on top. As you can see, they don't line up but that is fine. Especially when using the watercolour stamping technique as it enhances the watercolour look and the colours spread a bit.

For my card i stamped the detailed side of the little flower stamp with Gorgeous Grape on Watercolour paper, then I the solid side up with Bubble Bath ink and spritzed with water before stamping. How much water you add and what type of paper you stamp on, will determine how much of a watercolour look you get. I did not add a lot of water to this, and I stamped on the old Stampin' Up! watercolour paper, which is slightly more textured that the current Fluid100 watercolour paper.

To finish my card, i layered my stamped piece on to a piece of Highland Heather cardstock before adhering to a Gorgeous Grape card base, which I stamped with the flower stamp tone-on-tone in Gorgeous Grape ink to give a bit of depth.

I then added a greeting stamped in Gorgeous Grape on Highland Heather cardstock layered on to Gorgeous Grape cardstock.

The greeting on my card is from a stamp set exclusive to the Month-by-Month Album Retreat 2025, which took place last weekend. However, the retreat is still available, all the classes were recorded, and the Facebook group is open, so if you are interested, check it out here. It is a really great product if you would like to get 12 double page scrapbook layouts done over a few days.

This card came together very easily - you can dress it up with ribbon or embellishments. I gave it a bit of Wink of Stella to give a bit of sparkly, but that is a bit hard to see in the photos.

Hope you give this technique a try, it is fun and can be used with all sorts of stamp sets.

Hop over and check out my fellow design team member's creations 

See you next month and happy stamping

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One Layer Card - Totally Techniques June blog hop

I am back!

It has been a while since I have last joined the blog hop let alone stamped - it has been too long.

It is dance competition season and it is busy. We had comp tonight as well, got home at 10pm, got the girls to bed and started my card at 11pm, now it is almost midnight and I am done - lucky it is one layer cards for this Totally Technique Design Team blog hop. 

Most of us probably started out with one layer cards or at least close to and then we got more experienced and added layer after layer. However, one layer cards can be just as beautiful and super quick.

I stamped 2 simple cards tonight in about half an hour, well actually 3 1/2, but lets not talk about the 1 1/2 card I stuffed up....

The first card used the new Impressions Abloom. It is a great flower set and it is 2 step stamping or not. Today i used it as a one step stamp to keep with the simple theme.

I stamped the detailed flowers in Melon Mambo ink and the leaf in Granny Apple Green. I used a greeting from the Wildflower Celebrations set for a big greeting. These new greeting / title sets are not just for scrapbooking, they are also great for cards, especially when you want a bigger greeting. The greeting and middle of the flowers are stamped with Basic Gray.

For the second card i used the Citrus Blooms set. I used the biggest image and stamped it in Basic Gray and again used a greeting from Wildflower Celebrations.

I then embossed a frame around the card using my Stampin' Up! paper trimmer. Just to give it a bit more character. I also watercoloured the flower centres with a bit of Daffodil Delight ink and an aqua painter. I may give it a bit of Wink of Stella as well.

That is it, 2 super simple cards with no layers, no die cuts or any other fancy bits, just inks, stamps and paper.

Now both the Citrus Blooms and the Wildflower Celebrations stamp sets are part of suites which are currently on a super special suite sale - buy one and get one 1/2 price, that is really good value considering the price of some of these suites - quite a few are on sale.

And we also have our new annual catalogue life and there online exclusives going up all the time.

And if you like scrapbooking, don't forget the virtual scrapbooking retreat is currently available. You make 12 double page layouts over 3 days - all online. This looks to be a great event.

Hop along and check out the creations from the rest of the design team, you are sure to be inspired

Happy Stamping

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March Split Closure Trifold Card -

Welcome to the Totally Techniques blog hop for March 2025!

This month we are doing a fun fold - the split closure trifold card

Trifold cards are card that has 3 panels where one outside panel is a little bit shorter than the other outside panel to ensure a neat closure. This being a split closure means that one of the side panels has been split and goes overand under the other side panel.

I started with a piece of Old Oliver cardstock measuring 5 1/2" x 11". I scored it at the 11" side at 3 and 7. Close the card with the short flap (3") on top. Draw a line where it reaches on the long flap. Cut down on the long flap (on the 5" side) at 2 1/2" to the line you drew, that will be your split closure. 

Then you decorate as desired.

I used the Wildflower Birthday Suite from Stampin' Up!. The Designer Series Paper is beautiful with lovely gold foiling. I matted the paper on Basic White cardstock before adhering to the card fronts.

I stamped some sentiments from the Birthday Celebration stamp set with Memento Ink to 2 pieces of Basic White cardstock and adhered as well.

I then added 2 of the flowers from the punch outs that forms part of the DSP. On the inside i added a piece of Basic White to write a message on.

And that was it, a super easy fun fold where you can do as much or as little decoration as you like.

                                       

The best part is, that the card folds flat for postage.

I hope you give it a go.

Now hop along and check out the creations from the rest of the design team, there is always some great entries.
There is only a month left of the mine catalogue as well as the annual catalogue expires early May, so make sure to get in now, if there is something you would like. As per usual in colours will retire and no longer be available and they will sell out.

There is a new annual catalogue coming in early May and there is some great new in colours, one is the returning Strawberry Slush you may remember from quite some time ago. 'a beautiful pink.

Happy stamping

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Kissing Technique - Totally Techniques

Welcome to the Totally Techniques blog hop for February 2025!

It is already end of February, well actually it is March here in Australia, the year is flying by already.

I am excited to again be part of our blog hop with the Totally Techniques International Design Team. The technique this month is the good old kissing technique. If you have been a stamper for a while chances are that you have tried this technique before. It is a great technique to do both for beginners and more advances stampers.

I really wanted to use the new Elements of Text stamp set from Stampin' Up!, but my order has not yet arrived, so I had to come up with something else. All my text stamps are retired, so had to think a little bit out of the box - not that you have to use a text stamp, but that is how this technique is often done.

I received the Spotlight on Nature stamp set in my last order, and it has a great little texture stamp, which worked perfectly for my bunting/banners from the Birthday Celebration stamp set.

I used Azure Afternoon stamped off for my banner stamp and Blueberry Bushel for the texture stamp.

For the kissing technique you 'kiss' the 2 stamps together. I first inked up the banners with Azure Afternoon, stamped off on a piece of scrap paper and then inked up the texture stamp with Blueberry Bushel and kissed (stamped) this on to the banner stamp. Then I huffed on the banner stamp and stamped it on Basic White cardstock. The huffing re-moistens the ink, so you get better coverage. I did this several times across my cardstock ensuring to clean the stamp in between to not get Blueberry Bushel ink on my Azure Afternoon inkpad.

I then stuck this piece to a piece of Basic Black cardstock and then to a Pretty in Pink card base.

I added the ballon cluster from the Wildflower Celebration Scrapbooking Workshop kit. I fussy cut around this cluster as I thought it had a bit too much white border. I then stamped the Happy and Day stamps from the Birthday Celebration set in Versamark ink onto Basic Black cardstock, added white embossing powder, heat set it and flagged the ends. I adhered the ballons and words with Stampin' Dimensionals.

This is a super simple technique and card, but I thought it turned out quite cute - perfect for a little girls' birthday.

Make sure you hop around the world and check out the other cards, there is a great selection.

And try out the kissing technique for yourself if you haven't already or try it again - it has probably been 10 years since the last time my stamps kissed 😉
 

Make sure to get in touch if you would like to know more and if you live in Australia I would be happy to work with you 😊

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Fun Fringe Technique - Totally Techniques

Happy New Year

We are back with another fun technique with the Totally Techniques' Design Team to start the year.

The technique this moth is a Fun Fringe technique.

This technique is using fringed cardstock or Designer Series Paper in a die cut window.

I made 2 cards for the hop this month. 

One using the Country Flowers bundle and Country Lace and the Season of Green and Gold Designer Series Paper and the other using the Citrus Blooms bundle and the Mediterranean Blooms Designer Series Paper.

These are fun and ease cards to make. 

I cut out the large pot and leaf outline out of a piece of Basic White cardstock, making sure to overlap them. I then cut strips of Country Lace and Season of Green and Gold DSP, which I then fringe cut. I layered the Smoky Slate paper at the bottom of another piece of Basic White cardstock and the green paper at the top. I did fussy cut a bit of the fringe at the bottom green piece to give it a bit of shape and not just be straight across. I then layered the outline white negative die cut piece on top, after having inkblended with Moody Mauve ink, with Dimensionals. 

I added this piece to a piece of Smoke Slate cardstock and then to a Pebbled Path card front.

For the second card a used a sketch from the new mini catalogue. These sketches are great if you are a bit stuck for ideas. This is the first sketch on the sketch page and I modified it a little bit to suit.

I first cut an oval shape out of a piece of Basic White cardstock. I then cut strips of Mediterranean Bloom Designer Series Paper and fringed them. I sponged the white piece with Lemon Lolly ink and added this on top of the fringes which I had adhered to another piece of white. I cut an orange image out of the Designer Series Paper and layered with a title strip. This panel was then adhered to a panel of Pumpkin Pie and then a Garden Green card front.

This panel was then adhered to a panel of Pumpkin Pie and then a Garden Green card front.

I really liked how these cards turned out.

Have a go at this technique, it's a fun one.

Until next time - happy stamping!

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Front Flip Cards - Totally Techniques

It's time for another blog hop with the Totally Techniques' Design Team.

It has been a couple of months, since I last joined the hop. It has been a busy time, and I couldn't quite find my mojo - it happens.

This month we are doing Front Flip Cards. This is a super easy but very effective technique and includes something a lot of crafters find intimidating - partial die cutting.

Partial die cutting can be a bit tricky, but it is just a matter of lining everything up and then put it through the die cutter.

I used the Decorative Trees bundle from Stampin' Up! for my card.

First I stamped the inside front of my card with the 'O Christmas Tree' stamp from the bundle. I stamped in Crumb Cake ink on Crumb Cake card stock.

I lined the open tree die up in the middle of the front of the card, lined the top cutting plate up with the edge to the middle of the tree die and card and then ran it through the Stampin' Cut and Emboss. That cuts half of the tree. I then folded the front of the card in half without folding the tree, that gives the front flip part.

I cut a full open tree in glimmer paper and then a detailed full size tree in Old Olive and layered on top. I adhered this to the partially cut tree on the front. I then stamped the full size open tree and the branches in Old Olive ink on Old Olive card stock and die cut with the open die. I adhered this to the inside of the front of the card.

I then cut one of the small detailed trees in both Old Olive and the glimmer paper. I didn't poke out the bits from the Old Olive tree but left them in and then adhered the glimmer paper tree on top - after poking the left over bits out. I adhered this to the inside of the card so it is hidden by the bigger tree when the card is closed.

Finally I stamped 'May your days be Merry' in Versamark on Old Olive and heat embossed in white. I cut this out and stuck to the little tree with dimensionals.

And that was it. 

That is my Front Flip card today, hope you liked it and give it a try.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Don't forget to check the links below to see what the rest of the design team has created this month, there are some great cards.

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Telescoping - Totally Techniques

It is time to hop again with the Totally Technique design team. 

This month we are doing Telescoping. As the name says, this is about creating the effect of a telescope on your card. This is done by cutting several of the same shape in various sizes and then stacking with dimensionals. This can either be down up or down. I choose to start low with the background and then build the shape up as it got smaller and smaller, so my middle circle has four layers of dimensionals.

I used the Mediterenian Bloom DSP and the Citrus Bloom stamp set. This is the first time I have used this suite, but definitely not the last. I cannot wait to actually stamp the citrus images and colour them. And the paper is really nice.

I layered the DSP on on a layer of Garden Green on a Basic White card base. I used the dimensional foam strips instead of regular dimensionals as my circles are quite narrow. The strip are a bit higher than the standard dimensionals, so the middle circle is quite high. Wouldn't put this card through the post.

I stamped a sentiment from the stamp set in Memento on Basic white and wrapped some linen thread underneath before adhering with dimensionals. I also fussy cut a little flower from the DSP and added to the sentiment. 

This is a really simple card that only took 30 mins from start to finish, but I really like it. Make sure to let me know in the comments what you think.

Don't forget to check the links below to see what the rest of the design team has created this month, there are some great cards.

On 4 September, the holiday mini catalogue goes live and there are some lovely new stamp sets and papers etc on offer. On the same day we also have the new Scrapbooking offering go live. There is a nice little brochure with some great scrapbooking kits for Halloween, autumn and Christmas. Check it out, these kits make it easy for everyone to scrapbook even people that have never tried. The kits come with full instructions and all you need is a trimmer, some adhesive and your photos, I am really excited. Let me know if you would like to know more or come to a class to learn more.

Happy stamping

 

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Spotlighting - Totally Techniques

It is time to hop again with the Totally Technique design team. I missed the last hop, so it has been a while.

This month we are doing Spotlighting. As the name says, this is about spotlighting something on your card. Usually, the spotlight involves colouring part of an image, either stamp or Designer Series Paper, and spotlighting it with a type of frame. 

I choose to use the Lovely and Sweet stamp set. I really like the almond branch image in this set, the flowers are nice and small, and the leaves are big, with a few almonds in there as well. 

I stamped the almond branch image several times on a piece of Basic White cardstock in Pebbled Path ink. I then stamped the image again on a scrap piece of Basic White.

This image I coloured with Stampin' Blends - Berry Burst, Bubble Bath, Crumb Cake and Granny Apple Green. I coloured the white parts with a light Pool Party Stampin' Blend.

I then punched out part of the image with a circle punch. You can also use a circle die for this.

I mounted this circle of a circle of Pebbled Path cardstock which I cut out with one of the stitched circle dies from the Stylish Shapes dies. I then placed this on my stamped Basic White layer where it fit into the pattern.

I layered my white piece on top of a piece of Berry Burst and finished off with a Pebbled Path card base.

I felt it was a bit empty at the top so I cut a narrow strip of Berry Burst cardstock and layered across the top of my Basic White piece. I then stamped a greeting from the stamp set with Pebbled Path on Basic white, trimmed and mounted to a piece of Pebbled Path. I added some Linen Tread behind and mounted it to the strip of Berry Burst.

This was a super quick card to make and a technique I haven't used in years. Always nice to revisit techniques you may have forgotten about.

There are still a few days left to earn bonus coupons to use in August. Remember, for every $90 AUD you spend you get a $9 AUD code to spend in August. This is like an 10% delayed discount, so make sure to get in before they finish if you have a wish list. 

Get in touch if you would like to place an order. If your order is over $50 AUD and you use the hostess code you will get a gift from me.

Thank you for stopping by today, don't forget to hop around and check out the other cards. There are some great examples.

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Ink Smooshing - Totally Techniques

It is time for another blog hop with the Totally Technique design team.

This month we are doing Ink Smooshing. This can be done in a number of different ways, with a mix of ink and water.

I had some photos from a few very wet days last year where we had family visit. I also had an idea of what i wanted to do and it fit very well into this month's technique. However, it is all retired stamps and dies that I used - sometimes we need to use our stash 🙂

I added some Night of Navy ink to a plastic container and spritzed some water with a Stampin' Spritzer. I took an acetate sheet from a Photomolymer Stamp set and dipped it into the ink. I then smooshed the ink onto a piece of retired Shimmer White cardstock. If I was making a card i would have used a sheet of water colour paper, but I wanted a bigger piece, so had to dip into the retired stash for an A4 size Shimmer White.

I really liked this effect. You could also do this with alcohol in the spritzer instead of water and then add to Thick Basic White cardstock.

I added this piece to a piece of Basic Grey 12x12 cardstock and stamped some clouds and water puddles from the retired Playing in the Rain stamp set. I think stamped more clouds and umbrellas from the retired Under my Umbrella stamp set. I stamped these on Shimmer White and coloured with ink and a water painter.

I stamped a couple of characters and puddles on Basic White cardstock and coloured with Stampin' Blends. I cut all these out with the matching dies.

I then cut some leaves from the retired Tropical Thinlits dies in Granny Apple Green and some leaves from the retired Little Letters Thinlits dies.

I matted my photos on white and black and then added it all together.

This is not my usual scrapbooking style, but I really like how it turned out. Now i just need to make the second page to go with it 🙂

Hope you like it and don't forget to use your stash.

Hop along and check the creations from the rest of the design team.

Happy Stamping!

 

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Mirror stamping - Totally Techniques

It is time for another blog hop with the Totally Technique design team.

This month we are doing mirror stamping. This can be done in a number of different ways, and the easiest way is using a stamp positioning tool like the Stamparatus if you are lucky enough to have one of those.

But as the Stamparatus is no longer available for purchase, I will show you another way to do mirror stamping.

All you need is a silicone mat.

Stamp your image on the silicone mat.

Place your cardstock on top - face down the side you want to stamp on. and rub it with a clear block to ensure full transfer.

And voila, you have stamped a mirror image.

This turtle from the Zany Zoo is super cute.

and it was perfect to be able to mirror stamp it to ensure not all turtles were facing the same way

If you want the Zany Zoo stamp set, you better get in quick, it retires at the end of the month along with the matching dies and the Zoo Crew Designer Series Paper. And don't forget to add a silicone mat to your order.

Hop along and check the creations from the rest of the design team.

Happy Stamping!

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Embossing Folders and Ink - Totally Techniques

It is Easter and time for another technique blog hop. This time it is Embossing folders and ink.

For my card i used the new Hybrid Embossing Folder 'Thoughtful Moments' from Stampin' Up!

This folder comes with dies, where the main die fits inside the embossing folder and you can emboss and cut your words at the same time.

I inked up the folder (the side with the Stampin' Up! logo) with a brayer and Pebbled Path ink. I then added in the die then Basic White card stock, close the folder and run it through the Stampin' Cut and Emboss machine.

I used a thick Basic White card base and added a mat of Pebbled Path.

I then cut another Basic White mat and ran it through a retired script embossing folder. I used my brayer and Pebbled Path ink again and ran the brayer across the embossed card stock to add a bit of colour. When you do this, some of the ink will get in between the raised script/image, but that is ok, it just give a more distressed look. Only ink the brayer lightly, and run some of the ink off on scrap paper, if there is too much, otherwise it will look pretty messy.

I added some ribbon, a Pebbled Path punched circle and the Hello from the Thoughtful Moments and that is it. A super simple card today.

Don't forget that the Annual Catalogue will retire in about a month, so if there is anything you want make sure to get it now. A lot of things will be discounted in a few days and they will sell out quickly. 

Get in touch if you would like to place an order. Remember if you order is over $75 I will send you a tutorial bundle - for March there are more than 50 tutorials in the bundle and it is valued at $28.

Don't forget to hop around and check out the other cards. There are some great examples.

Happy Easter

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