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

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 😊

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!

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.

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

 

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.

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!

 

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!

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

Baby Wipe Technique - Totally Techniques

 

It is time for another bloghop with the Totally Techniques design team. This month we are doing the Baby Wipe Technique.

This is not just one technique, there are quite a few different ways to use baby wipes in your card making.

I decided to use the Jungle Pals stamp set and dies, which you can earn with Sale-a-Bration. But you have to be quick, Sale-a-Bration ends at the end of the month.

Today I did the literal wipe 😊 I added some water and a drop of ink to a clear block. Used a folded up baby wipe to pick up the ink and wipe it across the card stock. First i did the top half with Balmy Blue. Then I did the bottom half with Old Olive.

I also used Sweet Sorbet and Pumpkin Pie for the flowers. I added an extra drop to the wipe and wiped it around the middle for a darker colour in the middle of the flower.

With the baby wipe technique the most common is probably to add drops of ink to a baby wipe and use that as your ink pad. However the stamps in the Jungle Pals stamp set are all line art stamps for the different animals, so they don't really work with this technique, but I am sure you will se an example if you hop along with my fellow design team members.

I cut the tree from Pecan Pie card stock, the greenery from Parakeet Party and Shaded Spruce. I stamped 3 animals and coloured them with my Stampin' Blends. I adhered the tiger, tree and greenery flat and added the last animals and flowers with dimensionals. I curled some of the greenery to add a bit of extra dimension.

Hope you like the card and my take on the baby wipe technique, have a go, it is fun and you can get some great results.

Make sure to get in touch if you want to place an order and earn some Sale-a-Bration rewards, you can pick a reward for every $90 you spend.

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

Block Building Cards - Totally Techniques

 

Last blog hop of the year for the Totally Techniques' Design Team, and it is a great one to end the year with - Block Building Cards.

My card is a New Year's card featuring the Light the Sky stamp set and the new Sale-a-Bration DSP - Flight and Airy, which will be available for free with a $90 order from 4 January.

My base card, following this tutorial, is Night of Navy card stock. The next layer is the Boho Blue sheet of the Flight and Airy DSP.

The top layer is a piece of Basic White card stock which has been ink blended to create a night sky. The colour in the photo is not really showing, but it is Boho Blue, Night of Navy, Starry Sky, and Gorgeous Grape,

On top of this I have stamped some of the fireworks images from the stamp set with Versamark ink and added silver and gold embossing powder before heat setting.  

For the Building Blocks I cut out the number 2024 from Silver Foil cardstock. The letters are the retired alphabet set, Alphabet a la Mode. There is a new set of alphabet dies coming in the new mini catalogue starting 4 January 2024, but I haven't got them yet. 

I finished off by stamping the sentiment on the front and heat embossing with Silver embossing powder. I really liked how this card turned out, how about you?

The last chance list is out, and the current mini catalogue ends on 3 January 2024, so make sure to place your order now, if there is anything you would like. Some of it is 60% off!!!

And don't forget we have online exclusive products, these are available while supplies last, so if there is something you really want - don't delay getting it.

If you are in Australia and would like to join my team, you are more than welcome and were currently have a great special.

 Are you interested in a DSP and/or Ribbon share? Let me know and I will explain it all. New mini catalogue coming 4 January 2024.

Hope you hop along and check out the rest of the creations 😄

Wishing you a Happy New Year

Pinwheel Card - Fancy Fold

 

It's already November and time for another hop with the Fancy Folds Design Team. This time we are doing a Pinwheel card. There are a few versions of pinwheel cards around, and some are bigger box cards. This fold is not so much a card fold as a design element fold as in the pinwheel is attached to the front of the card. This tutorial from Karen Titus is easy to follow.

We are halfway through November, and I am yet to start my Christmas cards, so I thought this card was a good opportunity to get started.

I don't have any of the current Christmas Designer Series Papers from Stampin' Up! They are on their way, but not here yet, so I went through my stash to see what I could find.

I found a more or less unused packet of Celebrate Everything DSP from last year's holiday mini. It was a host packet with 48 sheets with a pattern for every celebration, Christmas, New Years, Halloween etc.

The paper I chose has a directional pattern on one side, so is a bit tricky to use for a card like this as no one wants trees that are lying down. However, as you cut the four corner squares off, I decided to use these, so cut them in half diagonally and glued them on to give me upright trees on the front of the card.

I stamped the rhino image from the Festive and Fun stamp set and coloured it in with my Blends. I used both light and dark of Granny Apple Green, Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Bubble Bath, and Smoky Slate.

I matted my stamped image on Real Red card stock before adding it on the inside of the pinwheel.

I added my pinwheel on a mat of Read Red and then on a bigger mat of Basic White before matting on a Real Red card base.

I stamped the little bird in the bottom corner of my bigger white mat and also added a greeting.

Inside I added a Basic White mat and stamped and coloured the giraffe image. This was the image I originally wanted to use of the front but it was too big for the pinwheel. 

A fun and quick little card and my Christmas cards are now underway.

Let me know if you give this fold a try.

The current host code is 7R9BZAVQ, make sure to use it to get a little something from me.

Not long until the last change list for the September-December mini-catalogue goes live and then things will sell out quick. Make sure to order now to before it disappears. Let me know if you would like a copy, there are some beautiful Christmas sets in this catalogue.

And don't forget we have online exclusive products, these are available while supplies last, so if there is something you really want - don't delay getting it.

If you are in Australia and would like to join my team, you are more than welcome and were currently have a great special.

 Are you interested in a DSP and/or Ribbon share? Let me know and I will explain it all.

Hope you hop along and check out the rest of the creations 😄

Mary Ann is next and then

Astrid

Happy stamping