Top

Lisa Stein

paper crafter, crochet addict, book reader, golden retriever lover, vegan

CASE Me a Christmas Card with Michelle Lupton

It’s that wonderful time of the year when my friend Michelle has a holiday card series, and I am honored to be joining her this year. The premise is that I pick a card of hers that inspires me to “CASE” it, and make my own version. Click here to see which card of mine inspired her to create something.

This is the card of Michelle’s that inspired me, since she used a stencil with multiple colors. I knew I could translate that to some new stencils I got from Right at Home. The kaleidoscope stencils had to come live with me as I collect kaleidoscopes, and have for over 30 years. Crazy that it’s been that long!

I turned the stencils into a “stained glass window” by using distress oxide inks and ultra thick embossing powder on a piece of heavy weight vellum. For each stencil that I put down, and there are five in the set, I used a combination of red inks on the center areas, and greens on the outer edges.

Once I got to the last stencil, I used a bit of gold ink for a little holiday bling. I could not bring myself to trim any of this stencil away and this card measures in at almost six inches square. For the sentiment I used a favorite stamp from an older, but amazing, set that is also from Right at Home.

Here you can see that because I only did one layer of ultra thick embossing powder, the melting is not perfect, but it really reminded me of a very old stained glass window, and it worked just as I hoped it would.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season, no matter what you celebrate. I look forward to some quiet meals at home, some favorite scents and flavors, and a happy and healthy new year.

Bonus content! If you hold this up to the light, this is what you see. It would be an amazing sun catcher or ornament.

Essentials by Ellen June Release

I am very excited to be a part of highlighting this awesome new release from Essentials by Ellen! It’s available now, and only at ellenhutson.com.

I have been in need of too many sympathy cards lately and have depleted my stash. When I saw this set from Brandi Kincaid I knew it would be perfect to help me make some more, with just the perfect sentiments.

This card is actually pretty simple, but the one thing I wanted to point out was that I colored the flower image with Distress Glazes. Have you used these yet? I got four recently just to play with, and I’m going to need all of them. If you see them on sale, please let me know!

These were so easy to make and I am in love with the end result. Pretty, yet subtle, which I think is perfect for when you want someone to know you’re thinking of them, but don’t want to send one of your typical bright creations.

I stamped the flower in versafine ink and clear embossed the image, and used the coordinating die to cut it out from heavy white cardstock. Using a versamarker pen, I applied ink to the petals, stems, and stamens (I think that’s what the yellow bits are called?), and applied the distress glaze to each area. I did the stamens first, then the petals, and then the leaves and stem, heating the glaze each time. I intentionally left some uncovered parts in each area so that it wasn’t perfect. For one area of a petal that I completely missed, unintentionally, I went back after using my heat gun, reapplied more ink, more glaze, and it worked perfectly.

I let that cool for just a minute or two and then pressed the entire die cut into a versamark pad, and applied clear embossing powder over the top, to create more of a cohesive look. You can see some parts where the glaze reacted to the clear embossing powder and sort of melted together. I think it’s a dreamy look and I hope I can recreate it when I get more colors of glaze.

Once that cooled I adhered it to three more layers of the die cut for the embellishment that you see here. I had some patterned paper that I thought worked well with this and used a Lawn Fawn die cut to get the scalloped card front. Before adhering that to the card base I clear embossed the sentiment with black ink, and splattered some black watercolor and some gold spray from Hero Arts.

The entire new release is wonderful and has some amazing stamps and die cuts. I can’t wait to play with more of them.

Supplies:

Pressing Thoughts
Pressing Thoughts

EH		 Pressing Thoughts Dies
Pressing Thoughts Dies

EH		 Distress Glaze - Fossilized Amber
Distress Glaze – Fossilized Amber

EH | SSS		 Distress Glaze - Peeled Paint
Distress Glaze – Peeled Paint

EH | SSS
Distress Glaze - Speckled Egg
Distress Glaze – Speckled Egg

EH | SSS		 Onyx Black
Onyx Black

EH | SSS		 VersaMark
VersaMark

EH | SSS		 Versamarker
Versamarker

EH | SSS | AZ
Neenah 110 lb
Neenah 110 lb

EH | SSS		 Teflon Bone Folder
Teflon Bone Folder

EH | SSS | AZ		 Powder Tool
Powder Tool

EH | SSS
Be Creative Tape, 1/8″

EH | SSS
Multi Medium
Multi Medium

EH | SSS		 Foam Tape
Foam Tape

EH | SSS | AZ		 Embossing Gun
Embossing Gun

EH | SSS		 Stamp Shammy
Stamp Shammy

EH | SSS
Mini MISTI
Mini MISTI

EH | SSS		 Tweezers
Tweezers

EH | SSS		 Paper Trimmer
Paper Trimmer

EH | SSS

Challenge Me a Christmas Card – Tags

I’m so excited to be helping my dear friend Michelle celebrate her annual “Challenge me a Christmas Card” series. We decided to make tags, and I chose to make something for Chanukah. Or Hanukkah. There are multiple spellings, and if you click on either of those links you can get an explanation of what the holiday is all about.

I started by going through my stash looking for this awesome Concertina tag die from Ellen Hutson. I adore this die, and had never used it, so I was excited to have a reason to use it. (This die is no longer available for sale, but I listed an even better option in the supplies list. That die cuts four tags at once!)

Using a new stamp set from Pretty Pink Posh, and an old piece of patterned velum from my stash, I stamped the menorah image three times onto the vellum using versamark ink. I used a pencil to mark the borders of the tags that would be cut, so I knew where to stamp the images. I wanted one to be centered and the other two to be offset, just for some interest, and also so that they might fit better on their future gifts. I also die cut the tags from some white cardstock so that I could layer the vellum on top of the cardstock.

I used gold tinsel embossing powder on one of the menorahs, and then silver embossing powder on the others. I stamped the flame image in Fossilized Amber distress oxide ink and then embossed that with clear embossing powder. I love the way they turned out.

I smooshed the versamark pad onto some scrap cardstock and used both of the embossing powders to make some embossed cardstock that I could use for the reinforcements. Each tag was topped with the appropriate reinforcement and then I added some twine. I tied each of the tags differently, just for some fun.

I stamped the sentiment from the stamp set onto the back of each tag. Here is what that gorgeous sentiment looks like. I stamped it onto a blank tag just for ease in taking pictures.

No matter what you celebrate this holiday season I hope that you have a wonderful and joyous celebration.

Supplies:

Happy Hanukkah
Happy Hanukkah

EH | SSS		 Shipping Tags
Shipping Tags

EH		 Onyx Black
Onyx Black

EH | SSS		 VersaMark
VersaMark

EH | SSS
Fossilized Amber
Fossilized Amber

EH | SSS		 Hero Arts Clear
Hero Arts Clear

EH | SSS		 Hero Arts Silver
Hero Arts Silver

EH | SSS | HA		 Tinsel - Gold
Tinsel – Gold

EH | SSS
Neenah 110 lb
Neenah 110 lb

EH | SSS		 Twine
Twine

EH | SSS | AZ		 Powder Tool
Powder Tool

EH | SSS		 Glue Pen
Glue Pen

EH | SSS
Embossing Gun
Embossing Gun

EH | SSS		 Scissors
Scissors

SSS | AZ		 Stamp Shammy
Stamp Shammy

EH | SSS		 Mini MISTI
Mini MISTI

EH | SSS
Tweezers
Tweezers

EH | SSS		 Paper Trimmer
Paper Trimmer

EH | SSS

Ranger Oxide Foam Storage Tip

Edited July 21, 2018 to include the latest release of Oxide inks, and future inks. Why waste printing ink? So you’ll have a few blanks until the rest of the Oxide inks come out later this year.

A few months ago I saw this amazing idea from Lizzie Jones for storing blending foam. I was inspired by that to make my own system for Distress Oxide inks. And since I just got the most recent dozen that were released, I updated my system, and thought I’d share the pdf files here for anyone that might want to make use of the same format.

Here’s a peak of the instagram post that I shared earlier today, and since people seem interested, I’ve linked the files below.

A post shared by Lisa Stein (@lstein0) on

oxide foam storage pages 1 and 2

oxide foam storage pages 3 and 4

oxide foam storage pages 5 and 6

You should be able to click on those links above and the pdf will open in a new window. You can either print from there or save to your computer. The first time I did this I printed on heavy Neenah cardstock. This time just copy paper. They’re not being used except to represent a color, so no need for the good stuff. 🙂

They are set up to print on US Letter paper. Just print, and then either cut in half for use in a half sheet size binder, like I use, or slide it in to a full sheet page protector for a letter size binder. But if you do that one, don’t tell me, I have orientation issues. 🙂

Let me know if you have any questions.

Oh! And these are the velcro dots I purchased for this. Seems like a lot, especially since I’m only using the “rough” dots, but maybe someone crafty will come up with a use for the other side!

Challenge Me a Christmas Card: Cross Stitch

Happy Monday to you. If you’re reading this in Australia, Happy Monday. 🙂

I’m so happy to be sharing this card with you today. My dear friend Michelle Lupton invited me to play along with her “Challenge Me a Christmas Card” series this year, and assigned me “cross stitch”. I feel like I should warn you. I don’t cross stitch. I have only embroidered twice. So, my take on this cross stitch theme is me making an X with embroidery floss. That works, right? And I believe this card should be categorized as part of the impressionist genre of art. Ha!

I used the Paper Smooches Cross Stitch die on a piece of silvery grey felt. I then used embroidery floss and a needle to stitch some ornament shapes onto the felt. After I’d completed a few ornaments, I used the same color floss to create some small spots of color along the background, and then filled in the blank space with some warm grey floss. Did this take hours, why, yes it did. What makes you ask? The good news is that I got caught up on some craft videos while I was stitching away.

To create the silver frame I used two Stitched Rectangle dies from Lawn Fawn. I laid them out on my craft mat so that they were properly aligned and taped them together, on the back side. Then I ran that through my die cut machine with this awesome metallic kraft card stock from Tim Holtz. I thought the frame was the perfect way to feature this stitched “embellishment” on my card front. To get that piece of felt onto the card front, I backed it with some scrap paper, for stability, then adhered to the card front directly. The frame has foam adhesive around the outside edge to get it to the proper height over the stitched piece.

For the sentiment I die cut the awesome Concord & 9th Merry die four times. Once from red cardstock and three times from white. I stacked those on top of each other for more dimension. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of stacking sentiment die cuts together. I searched through my stash and found the most wonderful Christmas stamp on this Simon Says Stamp Stained Glass Greetings stamp set. I love the font. I used some Ranger Matte Medium to get that die to stick to the framed silver cardstock, and then some foam adhesive and matte medium on the sentiment strip.

Make sure to go see what Michelle has made. She assured me she also has no cross stitch experience, so that means it’s probably perfect. 🙂

Supplies:

Stained Glass Greetings
Stained Glass GreetingsSSS		 Large Stitched Rectangles
Large Stitched RectanglesEH | SSS		 Merry
MerryC9		 Cross Stitch Die
Cross Stitch DieEH | SSS
VersaMark Pad
VersaMark PadEH | SSS		 Hero Arts White
Hero Arts WhiteEH | SSS | HA		 Tim Holtz Metallic Kraft Paper
Tim Holtz Metallic Kraft PaperSSS | AZ		 Black Card Stock
Black Card StockSSS
Bamboo Felt
Bamboo FeltET		 Be Creative Tape, 1/2
Be Creative Tape, 1/2″EH | SSS		 Multi Medium
Multi MediumEH | SSS		 Foam Tape
Foam TapeEH | SSS | AZ
Embossing Gun
Embossing GunEH | SSS		 Scissors
ScissorsSSS | AZ		 Stamp Shammy
Stamp ShammyEH | SSS		 Mini MISTI
Mini MISTIEH | SSS
Powder Tool
Powder ToolEH | SSS		 Craft Sheet
Craft SheetEH | SSS		 Tweezers
TweezersEH | SSS		 Paper Trimmer
Paper TrimmerEH | SSS

Right at Home: Cardinal Tag

Good morning! I am so excited to be sharing this tag with you today. It features Right at Home products and is part of Tracey McNeely’s 25 Days of Christmas Tags.

Can we just discuss this Cozy Cardinal stamp and die set? It’s just absolutely darling. And I believe I’ve yet to stamp him to look like a cardinal, but I will, one day. He’s just so ridiculously adorable. He comes with a stamp for blush. FOR. BLUSH. For his cheeks. I just love that. And those eyes. Sigh. So dreamy. I really love this little guy.

To start, I die cut five of his body from a piece of thin chipboard. I believe it was the backing of a pad of note paper. I keep stuff like that in a scrap pile and try to use it when I can. I wanted this tag to have some weight to it, and five layers was just right. He’s pretty thick, but I love that. I think it hold up better, visually, to his felt wing and jingle bell. I used my crop-a-dile to punch a hole in his head so I could add a string later. I adhered four of the pieces together with glossy accents.

I then went to work on the top bird. Ha! I mean the top layer of the tag, the one where I would do my stamping. Here’s an in progress picture of how I made sure to do my stamping the easiest way. I placed the die cut back into the sheet I cut it from, which I placed in the MISTI tool. This way if I didn’t stamp perfectly the first time, I wouldn’t have to start over from scratch. Also, you can see where I tested the color of Oxide ink for his tail feathers.

I stamped the tail feathers, head and chest sections using Candied Apple Distress Oxide ink. Can you tell I’m a part time ornithologist? I did his eyes and nose and feet in black ink, and then his blush in Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide. When that was all dry, I adhered the stamped die cut onto the other four die cuts that were already layered together. I then covered the entire die cut in versamark ink and the used clear embossing powder to emboss him. Five times. I wanted him to be perfectly smooth and glossy. Oh! And I used a versamarker to run along the edges of the tag to make the color match the front a bit more, since the embossing makes the chipboard a bit darker.

I cut out two leaves from the die set from green felt and stitched them together with some red embroidery floss. Glossy accents worked perfectly to adhere the wing onto the embossed die cut. I added the hanging string and a jingle bell to finish him off. There he is in all his glory. Isn’t he spectacular?

To make this a usable gift tag, I took one of the sentiments from Peace Love Joy and inked up the words “to” and “from” with a black marker to stamp on the back of the tag. As a last step, I stamped the heart from the Cozy Cardinal stamp set in Candied Apple and clear embossed it for a little dimension.

I really do love this little guy, and I’m not sure I can part with him, but I’ll try.

I hope you’ll be sure to check out all of the tags today. Click on this graphic, Tracey will have them linked on her blog. There are prizes to be won during this amazing event. Click here for all of the rules and regulations.

Supplies:

Cozy Cardinal
Cozy CardinalEH | SSS		 Peace Love Joy
Peace Love JoyEH | SSS		 Cozy Cardinal Dies
Cozy Cardinal DiesEH		 Intense Black
Intense BlackEH | SSS | HA
VersaMark Pad
VersaMark PadEH | SSS		 Versamarker
VersamarkerEH | SSS | AZ		 Candied Apple
Candied AppleEH | SSS		 Worn Lipstick
Worn LipstickEH | SSS
Hero Arts Clear
Hero Arts ClearEH | SSS		 Tuxedo Black Marker
Tuxedo Black MarkerEH | SSS		 Bamboo Felt
Bamboo FeltET		 Bright Red Floss
Bright Red FlossAZ
Jingle Bells
Jingle BellsEH | SSS		 Mini Glossy Accents
Mini Glossy AccentsEH | SSS		 Embossing Gun
Embossing GunEH | SSS		 Stamp Shammy
Stamp ShammyEH | SSS
Mini MISTI
Mini MISTIEH | SSS		 Craft Sheet
Craft SheetEH | SSS		 Tweezers
TweezersEH | SSS