Swapping With my Upline

 The last time we swap- ped, we decided to do a card candy and two cards.  This is the first time that I've actually made card candy! Can't believe it took me this long to make some.  I need to start doing this for some hostess gifts.  (Leave me a comment if you would like this to be your next hostess gift.)  I really wanted a lot of layers for my card candy so that it would be easy to just plop onto a piece of folded cardstock to make a super quick card.  I also had a color theme of Island Indigo, Coastal Cabana, Baked Brown Sugar, Pistachio Pudding and Whisper White.  So, what do you think?

 And this card was inspired by Try Stampin' On Tuesday's Challenge #158.  I loved the layout and needed an excuse to get my new IKAT photopolymer stamp set out.  Isn't this fun???? I used Always Artichoke for the cardstock layers and for the darker zigs on the middle layer.  The other colors are Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, and Pumpkin Pie, finished off with a taste of Very Vanilla.  The mini postage punch from Stampin' Up! looked like it was totally supposed to be coordinated with this stamp set, so I had to use it.  The postage square and small circles were finished off with the vintage button brads. 

And to finish off the swap, I threw in this card, which I also made into a project for a workshop.  There are so many fun layers on this card and my workshop guests were surprised that this card was actually quite simple to make.  We popped up the chevrons with Dimensionals that were cut in half so that you can't see them.  I really like how the Washi Tape finished off the card.  And yes, I do love it when I don't have to come up with the color combo.  The Designer Series Paper did that nicely for me.  I didn't buy the Starburst Sayings at first because I couldn't quite get a grasp on how to use them.  However, after cruising Pinterest, looking at possibilities, the set has really grown on me!  I love it that this easy set is so versatile and makes a mean masculine card.  Those masculine cards seem to be what a lot of my customers struggle with.
Well, thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.  It's been a fun day and we've seen gorgeous sunshine, too!
Many blessings,
Julie

Starburst Flower Tutorial

Today's Try a New Technique Challenge on Splitcoaststampers was to make a Starburst. The original starburst tutorial was written by ShadowMill on SCS. Here's a tutorial so that you can play along. It's really quite simple!
Supplies needed:
4 1/2" x 4 1/2" vellum (x2 for a double layer starburst)
Designer Paper or colored cardstock
Small and Large Tag Punches
Scissors
Two-Way Glue Pen

Sorry for the blur on this photo. It's really hard to hold the punch, focus your image and hold the camera steady while you snap the picture! Make sure to notice that you first punch with the small tag punch and then punch with the large tag punch over the image. It's much easier to center over your small tag and punch evenly. You'll need 8 of these for one layer, 16 for a two layer starburst. Now don't throw away the small tags that you have leftover. They can be used for your Christmas gifts! Just stamp on them in VersaMark and then emboss with white embossing powder. You'll see how great it looks on the last photo, where I used my Starburst on a Christmas card.

Using your Two-Way Glue Pen, apply glue to the back side of your first tag outline. Line up the next three with the angled sides touching. The Two-Way Glue Pen is perfect for a project like this. The pen makes it very easy to draw small lines of adhesive and also works great for applying glitter to small or lined areas.

Glue your second layer of tag outlines over the first, keeping them lined up in between the first layer of tags. Try to keep everything even. You might want to lay your second layer of tags over the first before gluing, so that you can center the tags.

After gluing on all of the tag outlines, cut along the outsides of the tags, following the star pattern. If you would like to make a double-layered starburst, repeat from the beginning, so that you have two starbursts.

I colored the center of the flower with a marker on the BACK side of the flower. After putting the two layers together with a pop-up glue dot, I mounted the flower on this gorgeous Ski Slope Designer paper. And since we crafters are so good at using our scraps, I used one of the tag centers for my greeting.

Supplies used:

Small and Large Tag Punches, Vellum, Riding Hood Red and Very Vanilla Cardstock, Gold Brads, Pop-Up Glue Dots, Old Olive Stampin' Write Marker, Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, Best Yet Hostess Stamp Set, Ski Slope & Bella Rose Designer Paper, Gold Elastic Cord.

So if you play along, post your card somewhere and leave a comment here with the link to your starburst card. I'd love to see them!