Gemtastic Crafters: September 2013

Stamp of the Month Blog Tour - Magnificent Maple

Welcome to your next stop on the RemARKables Blog Tour. If you're taking the tour in order, you've arrived via Pam Staples' blog, http://www.sunnygirlscraps.com.

I never thought I'd have so much fun and come up with so many ideas for a stamp "set" that only contains ONE stamp. I had so much fun creating and playing with this one MAGNIFICENT MAPLE leaf that I just couldn't stop...I hope you enjoy my offerings for this month's BLOG HOP.

Here's a picture of all three projects together - I'll be sharing them individually and telling you more about how I came up with the ideas for each.

The first (and simplest) project was a cute little Mini Muslin Bag that was a Make and Take at the Stampin' Up! convention this year. The Mini Muslin Bag is from the Holiday catalog and it's stamped with one simple Magnificent Maple leaf in Pumpkin Pie Ink. The sentiment is one word from the "Thankful" stamp. I used an Early Espresso Stampin' Write Marker - using the brush end of the marker to color the stamp. The bag is finished off with a Crushed Curry Chevron Ribbon.

My absolute favorite project is the little wooden tray that turned into a truly fun fall decoration. I started with a 6" x 6" wooden tray from Oriental Trading Company. It's the only product that isn't from Stampin' Up!

Since it was an unfinished wooden tray, I first used Stampin' Sponges with Early Espresso and Cajun Craze ink to completely cover the wood. Once the wood was "painted", I cut a piece of "Sweater Weather" DSP to 5-1/2" x 5-1/2" to set on the inside of the tray. Once the paper was stuck to the tray with snail adhesive I sponged a Tea Lace Paper doily with Crushed Curry Ink. I cut the doily in half and attached them on each side of the DSP inside the tray.

I then stamped "Thankful" stamp with Versamark Ink on the name banner from the "Thankful Tablescape Simply Created Kit." I sprinkled white embossing powder over the stamped words, heated the embossing powder, then added a little bit of white chalk marker and smeared it with a damp paper towel to provide a chalkboard effect.The name banner was lifted up a bit using Stampin' Dimensionals.

I was not done yet - so the next embellishment was the Naturals Designer buttons that were adhered to the doilies with mini glue dots. To give the buttons a bit more texture, I added Linen Thread bows laced through the holes in the large buttons. I also added some heat embossed, hand cut acorns stamped using the "Truly Grateful" stamp set.

Layer upon layer, I kept adding more. The "U" which I am so thankful for was cut using the Bigz Alphabet Typeset letter die and the Big Shot machine. It was cut out of red glitter paper and I used Stampin' dimensionals to provide a little bit of a 3D look.

I tied bows using the 5/8" Crochet Trim and attached them directly to the wood using a hot glue gun. The finishing touch is our highlighted Stamp Set of the Month - "Magnificent Maple." I stamped several leaves using Versamark Ink, sprinkled Heat and Stick Powder over it, heated it with the heat embossing gun and then glittered each leaf using a variety of colors: orange, black and gold from the Holiday Catalog as well as Dazzling Diamonds from the annual catalog.

Once the glitter set, I cut out each leaf by hand, layered them on top of each other and then hot glued them onto the wooden frame of the tray. The end result was a great wall decoration that's hanging in my studio as I write this...

My final project using these Magnificent Maple leaves is one I created using the left over leaves that were already full of glitter. The card base is Chocolate Chip Card Stock with a layer of Very Vanilla and a layer of Pool Party Card Stock.

First I used Pool Party Ink to create the monochromatic look with the Magnificent Maple leaves. I wanted this to appear as a watermark so I used the "Stamping Off" technique to soften the color on the Card Stock.

Using Delicate Details Lace Tape, I created a border down the right side of the front of the card. I then added the glittered leaves layered on top of each other. I also added a border of lace tape and one leaf to the inside of the card to give it a more finished look.

The sentiment comes from "The Best of Greetings" 25th anniversary stamp set. "You're in My Thoughts" is stamped in Chocolate Chip ink on a large oval punched out of Very Vanilla Card Stock. This was attached to a piece of "Sweater Weather DSP using Stampin' Dimensionals. The label was created using the Designer Label punch. The front of the card was completed using Chocolate Chip Candy Dots from the neutral collection.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you enjoy the rest of the blog tour. Everyone of these wonderful ladies has worked hard to create something very special either using our Magnificent Maple Stamp or the Halloween Bash Stamp Set.