stripes

MODIFYING A DIE CUT WORD

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I love, loVE LOVE the Mondo OMG die—it is proving to be even more versatile than I imagined—YAY!!! (fist pump)

Flowers are usually the standby for my mama for her Mother’s Day card; she is an avid gardener (among her many other talents). But this year, I wanted to try something different and unexpected . . .

FYI: there’s a little “enbiggan” button on the video player, lower right corner; if you click on that, you can watch in full screen. Just sayin’ . . .

 

A short cut would have been to use patterned paper, but I didn’t have any in exactly the colors I was wanting, so I DIY’d it. Paper crafters gotta do what paper crafters gotta do, eh?! It turned out pretty slick, if I do say so m’self! (monkey clapping)

SIDEBAR/TIP???: I’ve noticed that Glossy Accents works pretty well for gluing little bitty things onto vellum card stock, meaning it holds well. Also, when I first got the needle nose applicator tip and installed it on the bottle, it clogged up within short order. Annoyed, I quit using that particular bottle for, like, a whole year +. (insert bulging eyeballs)

A few weeks ago, I had a brawny handy man (a.k.a. The Mister) use his brute strength to twist that applicator tip off the bottle (I have tendinitis and didn’t have the strength to grasp and twist it myself). I then plunged the whole tip thing into a bowl of almost-boiling hot water, and put something on top to weight it down and keep it submerged under the hot water for a while. This dissolved a lot of the clogged material, but not all of it. It did soften it, however, so I removed the needle nose from the main plastic housing (using some pliers) and then took a pin and essentially "pushed” the remaining clogged/dried material inside, out the end of the needle nose. This took a little patience and persistence, but eventually I got all of it out and have been able to use it once again without issue—I was surprised at how much had gotten stuck inside there (!). But, I may have to do the whole soaking thing every now and then to really keep it clear/unclogged.

What themes do you do typically gravitate towards for Mother’s Day cards?


SNOW DAYS WITH STRIPES

Why is it I always have too many irons in too many fires? Launching an online holiday class almost simultaneously with a new release is nuts— I’m still trying to catch my breath . . . The above is one of several samples I made for the November release but I got completely overwhelmed . . .

Alrighty, on to the project I’ve posted today! I love using these smaller dies, like the Skinny Stripes, for DIY Stencils—makes me supremely happy!

I tested out a bunch of different tools for getting multiple ink colors stenciled within this tight pattern, with the least amount of fuss/work (y’all have no idea; I was like a woman possessed) and, after many fails, it was actually my Sponge Daubers for the win! YASSSSSS!!! •fist pump•

Glossy Accents over the diamond shapes makes them look like epoxy dots! LOVE THAT!!!

Crystal Clear Plastic for the pop-up platforms are almost invisible. Cool. Video for how to assemble the Pop-Up Mittens Die Set is HERE; just scroll down the page a bit until you see the video player.

Hope you’re having a good week!

How did it get to be Tuesday already????? Note to self: Get a clone.