Snowflakes are Kisses - continued in ATC form!

Judi Kauffman shared her "Snowflakes are kisses from Heaven" card with us yesterday.  This morning she surprised us with some ATCs that incorporate the same supplies.  She sent instructions, too.  Thanks again, Judi!

 

Because ATCs are small, I skipped the embossed notary seals I used for yesterday's 5 x 7 card.  Instead of punched stars, I switched to Silver/Gold Glitter Dots that look like tiny snowflakes falling in the distance.  This contrast in size is what makes the larger snowflakes really pop forward to the eye.  I edged the ATCs with silver (Pentouch from Sakura).  The sentiment, "Snowflakes are kisses from heaven" (stamp from Quietfire Design) and the punched Blue Iris Shimmer Sheetz snowflakes topped with glittery snowflake peel-offs remain the same as on the card - though the snowflakes are one layer, not two.  (Glitter dots, snowflakes, Shimmer Sheetz from ElizabethCraft Design)  Tip: Note that on each ATC one of the snowflakes is cut into two pieces - one piece attached at the top toward the left, the other piece attached at the bottom just below and to the left of the whole snowflake, but not directly below the other half!  This kind of cropping tricks your eye into seeing lots of snowflakes falling from the sky.  If you're not into ATCs, this same kind of smaller scale project would work well for tags or tree ornaments. 

(A side note: I know it's fashionable to write just a few words in a blog or on facebook, but after four decades of teaching it feels like cheating if I don't provide complete information and instructions - and it's really important to me to include the "why" of the project as well as the "how"...I hope you find this useful and worth reading!  Judi K)

Judi Kauffman is author of By the Batch: Creative Cards, Postcards, Envelopes & More

Un-used copies are available from Amazon.ca

Snowflakes are Kisses - Artwork from Judi Kauffman

Our friend and frequent guest designer Judi Kauffman sent us a card that mixes stamping with snowflakes in a unique way.  The snowflakes are blue and gold, not the traditional white.  The card base is glossy coated cardstock folded to an ample 5 x 7.  She also sent instructions, just in case you want to make a card just like her sample.  (Thanks, Judi!)

"Snowflakes are kisses from heaven" is a brand new stamp from Quietfire Design.  I chose Ranger Adirondack Brights ink in Sailboat Blue for the stamping and sponging.  This ink looks soft and pale on the coated cardstock base, brighter and more intense on the matte cardstock rectangle where the phrase is stamped.  I embossed 2.5" gold notary seals with a Cuttlebug folder (Ice Crystals) and used the large circles to draw the eye.  (Tip: take your time peeling the embossed notary seals from the backing - they might tear if you aren't vigilent when lifting the edges)  I punched tiny stars (Fiskars punch) and 1" snowflakes (EK Success punch) from Blue Iris and White Iris Shimmer Sheetz (Elizabeth Craft Designs).  The tiny stars are secured with GemTac glue (Beacon Adhesives).  (Tip: A small dot of glue applied with a corsage pin is all that's needed, I used Embellie Gellie to lift each star and place it atop the wet glue.  The snowflakes are layered in pairs on foam dots to create shadows and extra dimension.  The top snowflake in each pair is embellished with a different snowflake peel-off (Glitter Silver/Gold Peel-offs #7055, Elizabeth Craft Designs).  Not one to be a minimalist, I added sparkly fibers from my stash of knitting yarns, and used Glitter Cardstock (Darice) as the border around the stamped rectangle.

I have been looking for a product like Embellie Gellie for years since a friend showed me a stylus with a similar product on the end, but she couldn't remember what it was called!  Thanks to Judi for that insight.  It is in now on order from my supplier!!  I'm so excited - it will be like having another hand!

Click here to see Snowflakes Are Kisses on the site

Thanks again to Judi for sharing her creation!  And for using Quietfire Design rubber stamps!

Suzanne

A Grandmother Pretends

Judi Kauffman is becoming a frequent guest designer at Quietfire Design.  Her latest: A batch of Halloween cards and an ATC. 

Two of Judi's friends have recently become grandmothers, so she was elated to find a stamp that so perfectly fits their new role (the Erma Bombeck quote).  

Judi used black ink for all stamping, both black ink and metallic copper ink to smudge and alter the edges of the pieces.  The bats are punched from Black Iris Shimmer Sheetz (Shimmer Sheetz is from Elizabeth Craft Designs, the punch is from Stampin' Up!), the spider web border is a Martha Stewart around the Page duo, the spider is a Cuttlebug die.  Judi said she's not sure if the ghost and pumpkiin brads are still available or not (she got them several years ago from Stainslaus Imports), but it would be easy to find alternatives.

Thanks for sharing Judi!!
Suzanne

What's Not to Like?

Judi Kauffman and I had a long phone interview prior to her beautifully written article in Scrapbooking.com which appeared a few days ago. During the conversation, I stopped her at one point and said "Say that again", and so a rubber stamp was "born"!

Judi is not a minimalist when it comes to stamping envelopes!  The ones she shared with us will ferry her Halloween cards in style.  She used two of the new Quietfire Design stamps, a black cat from Cherry Pie Art Stamps, candy corn from Rubber Stamps of America, M candy from Toomuchfun Rubberstamps, and a tiny ghost and spider from Rubber Stamp Tapestry.     

{I just *love* that cat!  Except for the eye colour, it could be the one who is planning to pussy-foot all over my keyboard.....}

I think we all want to be on Judi's mailing list! Thanks for sharing Judi!

Meet the Artist - Scrapbooking.com

I'm a little in shock.  I usually like to think of myself as like the Wizard of Oz hiding behind the curtain making things look bigger than they are.... 
Thanks to Judi Kauffman for this amazing Meet the Artist article (when I grow up I want to write like you!) and to Scrapbooking.com for publishing it!

A drawing student once asked me how she would know if something was art. I answered in a typical teacher fashion by saying she’d know it when she saw it. Suzanne Cannon’s rubber stamps are works of art. The first time I saw them I knew: Each letter, each curve, each tiny detail is evidence that a skilled human hand has created the calligraphy. This kind of artistry and mastery takes years of practice combined with a love of words. My instincts were confirmed when I called Suzanne in 2005 to interview her for a profile I'd been hired to write for a trade magazine. We became friends and finally met in person in January 2011.....

Read the whole article here. 

One of my card from the Scrapbooking.com article

Or listen to the YouTube version here!

Thanks for reading!
Suzanne