Branch Out Card and Flattening Brad Prongs Tip!

Hi Stampin' Friends,

I am loving this Stampin' Up! stamp set named Branch Out. Some of my favorite images are of trees. I don't know why, but I love trees. What a wonderful God I serve! He has created so many beautiful trees for me to see, well not just for me, but I appreciate His handiwork. I missed the challenge deadline on this one for Late Night Stampers Yahoo group, but I will share it anyway.

I used the Close to Cocoa pad and swiped from the bottom of the tree trunk upwards on the branches with the ink pad. I wanted an uneven application of ink on the stamp. The streaks add another illusion of dimension to the tree. I added Kiwi Kiss from the top of the lid with a blender pen on the grass under the tree. After huffing on the stamp, I stamped the image on Whisper White cardstock. I sponged Pacific Point and Kiwi Kiss around the edges. Used the Corner Rounder on the corners of the image.

I stamped the birdhouse in Ruby Red below the stamped tree and also on a scrap piece of Whisper White. I stamped the bird using the rock and roll method with Pacific Point and Baja Breeze. To do the rock and roll method, you load the stamp with the lightest color and then roll the edge on which you want the darker ink to show on the pad. I cut out the bird and the birdhouse. The birdhouse is on a Stampin' Dimensional over the already stamped one. The birdhouse is also popped up. I used Linen thread for the hanger for the birdhouse. A tip I read somewhere I want to share is to move the paper and not the scissors when you are cutting items out. This makes a much nicer cut. It is awkward at first to learn how to do this, but it is worth the effort. You will obtain and neater more professional looking cut.

Next I took Chocolate Chip and Ruby Red cardstock and die cut the Top Note Sizzix Bigz Die out of both layers of cardstock. I ran those stacked together through the Big Shot with the Distressed texture plate. This assured me of a match on the texture with both pieces of cardstock since I was cutting out a section of the Ruby Red to use on the finished card. The Big Shot is one of my favorite tools. I love how easy it is to get out of the cabinet and put on the counter. I don't have a dedicated stamping room and use to have to get the old red Sizzix die cut machine out of my cabinet and it was heavy. I didn't use it much because of that. The Big Shot is balanced and not as heavy. It is easy to use. The multipurpose platform has instructions for the sandwiches on the tabs for the memory challenged like me! I cut the middle out of the Ruby Red Top Note die cut and pasted it down on top of the Chocolate Chip top note die cut. I glued the two remaining sections on the back of the Chocolate Chip one. Don't want to waste any of it and I thought it gave it more definition. I punched two holes on the side and used Linen Thread through those.

Stamped Friend to Friend from Pocket Silhouettes in Old Olive and matted that with Old Olive cardstock. I used gold brads on this.

GREAT BRAD TIP!

I had some ladies over to stamp on Friday night and one of them shared a tip with me about brads. I love this! She said after putting the brads in and bending the prongs down, put an acrylic block on top of the brad prongs and press down. This is done on the back of the brad, on top of the brad prongs, not on the front side of the brad. You won't believe how flat this makes the brad. I didn't have an acrylic block, but had the wood block of the stamps. I pressed down on that and it leaves the flattest prongs I have seen. A lot of you probably know this, but this was the greatest tip I have seen in a long time and I wanted to share it with you! Happy Stampin!