I am always on the lookout for new techniques and thanks to my friend, Julie, I have one to share with you.  It is called duo-printing chlorophyll.  It doesn’t involve stamps or ink for the focal image – rather it allows you to take something from nature (in this case a maple leaf) and let its chlorophyll do the work for you with a little help from your Big Shot.

This card starts with two pieces of  Watercolor Paper.  I recommend you use it rather than card stock because it will help the chlorophyll sink into the paper and give you a more defined image.  Why two pieces, you ask?  Well, with this technique you get a positive and a negative from each press and both can be used to make cards.

I took a lovely maple leaf from the tree out back (important to try and get a fresh one as you want it to be juicy) and sandwiched it between the two pieces of Watercolor Paper making sure the textured side of the paper was towards the leaf.  I put this between a folded piece of plain copy paper and then ran it through the Big Shot with the usual cutting sandwich – the extra thickness of the cutting plate helps a lot but if your leaf is really thick you may want to just use the regular embossing sandwich.  It takes practice to know which works best, so grab a couple of leaves to work with.

Once I had the imprinted leaf images, I selected the one I wanted to make my card.  I added a length of Burlap ribbon with a smaller piece knotted to the left side.  Then, I  layered the focal panel, using Tombow glue, onto a mat of Wood Textures designer paper to keep the natural feel.  I then popped this up on dimensionals to a second mat, made with the Painted Autumn designer series paper.  I had trimmed it so there was a really narrow border – wanted some of the colors to show through but not dominate.  You can just barely see it peeking out.  The finished focal piece was adhered to a card base of  Old Olive card stock using Tombow glue.

The sentiment is from the Flourishing Phrases stamp set.  It was punched with a 1-1/2″ circle punch and matted with a 1-1/2″ circle punched from a scrap of the Painted Autumn designer series paper, cut in half and adhered to each side with Tombow glue.  It was then glued to the focal panel.  Lastly, three enamel glitter dots were added in the upper right corner.

So the next time you go for a walk in the woods, be sure to pick up some leaves so you can try out this technique.  It really is soft and lovely and a change from the traditional stamped card.   As always, if you have any questions or need help ordering the supplies used in this card, pop me a note and I will be happy to assist you.  Ta for now!

Bright and cheery cards are always welcome when someone is feeling down or sick so be sure to have plenty on hand.  Here’s one created with a new stamp set available September 1st that I think you are going to love.

This card was made using double-stamping.  If you are not familiar with that technique, basically you take two (or three depending on how many layers you want) pieces of card stock, each panel cut a bit smaller than the previous one, and adhere them together with temporary adhesive so they won’t move.  Then you stamp your images so that they fall over all of the panels.  The fern image in the lower left is a good example of this.  Be sure to really press your stamp into the paper to get a good image or you will end up with it cut off where it crosses over the panel.  When done, carefully separate the panels and then mat each one with some designer paper for a unique look.

For this card, I used the sunflower stamp from Painted Harvest stamp set.  It is a two-step stamp and I used Calypso Coral ink for both (no need to stamp off which is really nice).  This looked lovely, but I wanted to incorporate a little yellow, so I inked the detail stamp  in So Saffron and stamped one more time, offsetting the stamp so you could see the yellow peek through.  I then inked the center stamp in Early Espresso and after that inked the little dot stamp again using Early Espresso to give it some added interest.

While the Whisper White panels were still temporarily adhered, I inked the fern image from Butterfly Basics in Pear Pizzazz and stamped it twice, full strength, in the lower left corner.  I then separated the panels and matted eacg with designer paper (from the Painted Autumn suite) using Tombow glue to make them pop.  The top panel was adhered to the bottom one using Dimensionals.  This was then adhered with Tombow glue to a card base of Old Olive cut 5.5″ x 8″, then scored and folded.  Another Whisper White panel was adhered to the inside and stamped with the fern image in both the upper left and lower right corners.

The sentiment on the front is from Butterfly Basics.  I stamped this onto a scrap piece of Whisper White.  I then stamped the tip of the fern image in the upper right and lower left corners, stamping off for a softer color.  Both ends were run through the Scalloped Tag Topper punch for a decorative finish and then Old Olive 1/8″ inch sheer ribbon was run through the holes and along the back, with a bow added to the left.

This card sounds like it takes a lot of work, but it is really easy to do and goes together quickly.  And, the result is just wonderful!  I hope you enjoyed today’s post and will give it a try when the stamp set comes out in a couple of weeks.  Ta for now!

Okay, I have a confession to make.  My name is not really Wynnie.  There, I’ve said it.  But wait, you gasp, why is your shop called Cards by Wynnie if you aren’t her?  Well, Cards by Linda was already taken as was anything else I could come up with.  Just when I was about to give up, this goofy face popped up between my knees and wanted a tummy rub.  Yep, it was our rescue dog, Ms. Wynnie (aka Princess Droolyface Flufferbottom).  Hmm, thought me, I wonder if that name is taken?  Sure enough, after Googling, Etsying and everything else-ing, (and of course a tummy rub for her highness) it appeared not so I went with it.  And that boys and girls is how we got our name. Now you know the truth.  Now on to the real reason for this post- today’s card!

When I saw the Bella & Friends stamp set with an image that is so very like her (seriously, she could have sat for the picture) I had to have it.  This card is for her because she really does make us smile.

The card starts with a base of Old Olive cut to 4-1/4″ x 11″ and scored at 5-1/2″.  The lovely floral print is from the Petal Garden Designer Series Paper Pack, and is cut at 4-1/4″ x 4-1/4″, then adhered to the card base.  A length of Berry Burst Finely Woven Ribbon hides the seam. Bella was stamped onto Whisper White card stock and colored with alcohol markers.  Her tag is a Sweet Sugarplum Enamel Shape.  This was cut with a stitched oval die and adhered to a slightly larger oval cut from a piece of Wood Textures Designer Series Paper Stack.  This was mounted to the card base with Stampin’ Dimensionals.  The sentiment is from the Colorful Seasons stamp set and was stamped in Pear Pizzazz onto a scrap of Whisper White and then cut with a stitched rectangle die.  It was adhered directly to the card base with Tombow glue.  Two more heart enamel shapes complete the front.

And there you have it – Ms. Wynnie approved of the card and so I am sharing it with you.  Don’t be surprised if you see this stamp show up often – whenever I catch our goof doing something, well goofy, it always inspires me.  I hope you enjoyed the card and the story.  And just in case you want to see the real Ms. Wynnie – here she is.  Ta for now!