Welcome to the March NC Demos Blog Hop!!!!  As you have seen as you’ve been hopping along, this month our theme is a monochromatic design featuring one of the 2018-2020 In Colors that will be retiring soon.  If you just came from Tracie’s post, I’m sure you’ll agree with me that she had an amazing project to share with us!

Thanks so much for stopping by to see my card!  First, I have to confess to you that I really have a problem.  It’s a good problem, I think!  I cannot stop using the stamps that came with the latest Paper Pumpkin kit.  The stamps are part of the FREE set that subscribers received to celebrate seven years of Paper Pumpkin.  The stamp set is called Spring Splash, and it is really way too much fun.  To make my card, I’ll feature stamps from the set, and I’m sure you’ll agree that the stamp set is great.

Below is the card that I made with the Spring Splash stamp set.  I did use a sentiment from the Grace’s Garden stamp set to finish.  The In Color that I adore and am going to be incredibly sad to see go is the beautiful Grapefruit Grove.  The color is so versatile, warm, and inviting!

I’ve been making cards with this design to send to family and friends.  Given the new (hopefully, not long-lasting) “normal” that we are all living in right now, I hope this card will bring a smile to their faces – and to yours as well!  I am so thankful that we can make beautiful cards and gifts with stamps, ink, paper, and embellishments.  If we share our handmade cards with others, we can spread some hope during this difficult time.

The directions to make the card are shown below.  I’ve added some pictures to help show the process.

• First, grab your Stamparatus and a base for your card.  For my card base, I used a piece of Whisper White card stock, cut to 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ and scored at 4 1/4″ on the 8 1/2″ side.
• Place your card base into the Stamparatus, as shown below.  Essentially, your card base will be in a “landscape” position and centered on the side of the Stamparatus.

• Get a stamp that you will use to stamp multiple times on your card.  I used the boots stamp from the Spring Splash stamp set.  Center the stamp on the card base.  Move the plate of your Stamparatus two notches to the left, as pictured, and bring the plate forward to attach the stamp.  Tip – The stamps that work well for this multiple stamping technique are no more than 2″ wide.

• Move the plate back to the corner position, as pictured.  Ink your stamp with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and stamp the image.  Then, move the plate two hinges to the left (where you started when positioning the stamp), ink your stamp and stamp the image.  Then, move the plate two more hinges to the left, ink your stamp and stamp the image.

• You will end up with three images.  Notice that the left and right images are not completely on the card base.  That is not an issue.  The middle image is centered, and the other images look just fine.
• Follow this pattern of attaching the stamp to the plate with the other images that you will use to create your design.  For my card, the second image is the pattern of the boots.  I LOVE this stamp!!  The ink for the boot pattern is Grapefruit Grove.  Look at the pictures below, and you’ll see that I followed the exact same process as the one to stamp the boot images.

• The foliage image was stamped a little differently.  I wanted to have two tones of the Grapefruit Grove ink – One lighter tone for the stems and a darker tone for the flowers.  Okay – they’re not really flowers – but, you understand what I mean!  To do that, I first followed the same process to get the foliage stamp on the Stamparatus.
• Check out the pictures below.  To get the lighter tone for the stems, I stamped off the ink.  I didn’t want to move the card base in my Stamparatus when I was doing that.  So, I took a scrap piece of card stock and put it over the top of the card base.  I stamped off the foliage stamp once to get a lighter tone of Grapefruit Grove.  At the same time, I used a Grapefruit Grove Stampin’ Write Marker (the brush end) to add more ink to the “flowers”.  I removed the scrap piece of paper and stamped the image onto the card.  I followed this process to stamp each of the three foliage pieces.

• The final touch on the card was the simple sentiment of “hello”.  This is from the Grace’s Garden stamp set.

• I have used this design and other Paper Pumpkin stamp sets to create a few other cards that are pictured below.  The sentiment “Keep calm and be thankful” is just incredibly appropriate for this time in our history.  It was in a previous Paper Pumpkin fall-themed kit.  The “let love grow” stamp was part of the set in the latest Paper Pumpkin kit.

If you have never tried Paper Pumpkin, now is truly the time!  Every month, you will receive a kit delivered directly to you.  The kit is complete with a stamp set, ink, and all the materials you need to make the project.  Directions are included.  Over time, you will build a great stamp set collection and also a wonderful ink spot collection.  The ink colors don’t repeat for at least a year.  In my next post, I’ll give more details of the upcoming April kit and the benefits of being a subscriber.  Please check back.

In the meantime, you really need to continue on this blog hop!  There are several more posts to visit for great inspiration.  Be sure to hop on over to Sue’s post.  I know she has a project that you will love!

Also, below you’ll find a list of all the blog hoppers for this month.  After the names, you will also see pictures of the main items that I used to create my card.  If you click on any picture, you’ll go directly to my on-lie store.

Remember – Keep calm and be thankful!  We will all get through this tough time by working together!  Stay safe!

Happy stamping!
Laurie

 

March Blog Hoppers

Amy Austin-KInler
Jo Anne Hewins
Tina Lesson
Ariel Matera
Tracy Marie Lewis
Libby Foreman
Toni Campana
Frances Wagner
Tracie Evans Langley
Laurie Meier <– YOU ARE HERE
Sue Root
Tamra Davis
Sharon Maranich
Sue Stapp
Nedine Depree

Main products that I used to make my card:

Whisper White 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock [100730] $9.75	1-Month Prepaid Paper Pumpkin Subscription [137858] $21.00	Grace’s Garden Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) [151513] $18.00
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] $6.00	Grapefruit Grove Classic Stampin’ Pad [147142] $7.50	In Color 2018–2020 Stampin’ Write Markers [147159] $15.00
Stamparatus [146276] $49.00

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