EOS Lip Balm Box

I love receiving gifts but I love giving them more. As Valentine's Day looms on the horizon I was brainstorming little gift ideas. It got me thinking about a few of my favorite things that I always have on me and one of those is my eos lip balm. I never leave the house without one and they are scattered throughout my house. I even have multiples in some room. I hoard them much like my cardstock and why not when there are so many amazing flavors. I thought what if I could make a cute little gift box for a eos. Here's what I came up with. 

Supplies

1- 6"x6" piece of cardstock

1- 4"x4" piece of cardstock

1- 1 7/8"x 5 1/2" piece of cardstock

4- 1 7/8"x 1 7/8" pieces of cardstock

1- 1 7/8"x 1 7/8" piece of pattern paper

4- 1 3/4"x 1 3/4" pieces of pattern paper

Circle Punch

Corner Rounder

Adhesive

EOS Lip Balm

Instructions

Begin by scoring the 6"x6" piece of cardstock at 2" on all sides. This will be the box that holds the EOS. Fold on all the score lines. Once done that you'll grab your paper snips and cut out the corner squares so you have four flaps connected in the center by a square. Take your corner rounder and round the corners on all the flaps. I then took the 4 1 7/8" square and my 1 3/4" squares of pattern paper and rounded what I decided would be the top two corners. When rounding the corners on your pattern paper keep in mind the direction of the paper. For instance stripes, do you want vertical or horizontal stripes. I chose horizontal for my box and I wanted the stripes to appear continuous.
Then adhere your pattern paper to the cardstock layer lining up the rounded corners. Once done that you can adhere them to the flaps.

Next take the 1 7/8"x 5 1/2" stripe of cardstock and score along the long side at 1 7/8", 2 3/8", 4 1/4" and 4 3/4". Fold on the score lines. 

At this point you would take a 1 3/8" circle punch and punch a hole in the center of the first square (if your paper is in the same orientation as in the picture above). I did not have a circle punch but I did have a flower punch that was the perfect size. So I punched a flower out of the square instead.

Then glue the insert together to make a hollow box essentially. Then glue it to the center of the box base, in the middle square of the flaps. At this point I folded down the pieces of paper that separated the petals making a circle in the insert that fit the EOS perfectly.

Now take your 4"x4" square and score at 1" on all sides. This will be the lid for your box. Fold on your score lines. This time you will only cut on one side of you corner squares, miter both sides it will make the lid go together much better. Before you glue the lid together make sure you glue your square of pattern paper to what will be the top of the lid. Once done that glue the lid together and you can slide it onto your box and its done.

Step It Up

If you would like to step it up a bit make a gift tag to go with the box, wrap it in ribbon or stamp and cut out (or punch if you have..) a flower or heart to decorate the top of the box even further. Or add pattern paper to the exterior of the flaps.

Happy Paper Crafting!

*Contact me directly to place an order or search for Blaze Tully under 'Find a Demonstrator' to shop under me on the Stampin' Up Website.*

How To Emboss Cardstock Without a Folder

Do you love the look of embossed paper, but don't have a die cut machine? Well I am here to tell you that you can make your own embossed paper if you have a scoring board.

For this card I took my cardstock layer and laid it on my score board on an angle. I decided to score it every 1/2". When I was done in one direction I turned it the other direction and did the same thing.

 

You can use this technique to make vertical or horizontal lines, or a frame for a layer to fit in.

Play around with technique. I'd love to see what you come up with!

 

Happy Paper Crafting! 

*Contact me directly to place an order or search for Blaze Tully under 'Find a Demonstrator' to shop under me on the Stampin' Up Website.*

Beautiful Friendship Valentine's Day Wreath Card

I fully believe that at Valentine's Day we should celebrate friendship and not just love. I have a friend who is like a sister and I love her like a sister. I thought why not make her a Valentine's Day card to celebrate our friendship!

Supplies

1 - 8 1/2"x11" sheet of pink cardstock

1 - 5 1/4"x4" piece of pink cardstock

1 - 3"x2" piece of white cardstock

Forever Gold Specialty DSP

Beautiful Friendship Stamp Set

Tasteful Textile Embossing Folder

Memento Black Ink Pad

Tailored Tag Punch

Instructions

Take the 8 1/2"x11" sheet of cardstock cut it down to 8 1/2"x5 1/2" and score that at 4 1/4" on the long side. I then took the 5 1/4"x4" piece of pink cardstock and ran it through the Tasteful Textile Embossing Folder. Then I adhered it to the front of the card. When adhering embossed paper its always a good idea to use a little extra adhesive to ensure it stays adhered.

I then took a gold foil wreath from the Forever Gold Specialty DSP and adhered it to the center of the card front.

I used the friendship sentiment from the Beautiful Friendship stamp set and stamped it in Memento Black near the left side of the 3"x2" piece of white cardstock. I then took my Tailored Tag punch and only sliding the paper in part of the way cut a banner edge out of the right side of the cardstock. I applied adhesive to the back and slid the left hand edge slightly under the wreath.

One of the reasons I love this stamp set is because it is a DistINKtive stamp set. These stamps are designed to have natural light spots and dark spots making them look more realistic. When you get a DistINKtive stamp set it takes away the two-step stamp process of manually getting the layers they are built in. I hope to feature the florals of this set in a future post. In the mean time if you are interested in this set you can find it here.

The Forever Gold Specialty DSP has so much to offer! Besides who doesn't love shiny and sparkly stuff. You can get the pack of gold foil sheets here.

 

Happy Paper Crafting!

*Contact me directly to place an order or search for Blaze Tully under 'Find a Demonstrator' to shop under me on the Stampin' Up Website.*

How To Fold Scored Cardstock

Have you ever scored a card base and then wondered whether there was a right or wrong way to fold it? Well I am here to tell you there is!

When scoring paper you will have one side with an indent and one side with a ridge. It'll seem a little backwards but the side with the ridge is supposed to be the inside of the card.

 

If you can remember that you score the outside of the card then you're golden!

 

Happy Paper Crafting!

*Contact me directly to place an order or search for Blaze Tully under 'Find a Demonstrator' to shop under me on the Stampin' Up Website.*

Masculine Fun Fold Valentine's Day Card

If you follow me on Facebook you would have seen the fun fold card instructions I posted for technique Tuesday last week. Today I wanted to show you how you could dress it up! This fun fold is a simple way to add a little extra excitement to your cards. I am also featuring the Forever Greenery Suite out of the Annual catalogue. I decided I wanted to make a masculine Valentine's Day card and this is what I came up with.

Supplies

1 - 8 1/2"x11" sheet of cardstock

1 - 5 1/4"x4" piece of Forever Greenery DSP (designer series paper)

1 - 1 3/8"x3 5/16" piece of white cardstock

Scrap White Cardstock

Garden Green Ink Pad

Memento Black Ink Pad

Forever Fern Stamp Set

Forever Flourishing Dies

Adhesive

Ruler

Pencil

Instructions

Start by scoring the 8 1/2"x11" sheet of cardstock at 5 1/2" on the long side and 4 1/4" on the short side. Take your ruler and pencil, lightly draw a line from one corner to the opposite corner (on the diagonal). Then take your paper snips and cut on the line that you drew and then erase the pencil line. Fold on the score lines and you have made your card base.

Take your pattern paper and line it up on top of your card base to determine which diagonal you need to cut it on. Once you have figured that out stick it in your paper trimmer. Line the corners up in the cutting track and slide the blade through. Then you can adhere the pieces to the front of your card base.

Next take the 1 3/8"x3 5/16" piece of white cardstock and your sentiment and stamp it in Memento Black. I chose the gorgeous 'love & laughter forever after' sentiment from the Forever Fern stamp set. I thought it was a suitable stamp for Valentine's Day.

I then took my Garden Green ink pad and stamped some of the leaves from the Forever Fern stamp set on some scrap white cardstock. I then used the matching dies and ran them through my die cutting machine. I glued them to the back of the sentiment piece and then making sure to only put adhesive on the back of the left side of the sentiment I adhered it to the front of the card. It's very important you only put adhesive on about half of the sentiment because you don't want to glue the card shut.

I fell in love with the Forever Greenery DSP and had such a hard time choosing which one to use. They are just all so beautiful. You can find the paper here.

If you would like to buy the stamps and dies they are currently bundled and will save you 10% when bought as a bundle. Find them here.

And if your like me and just want it all you can purchase the whole suite which includes embellishments, ribbon, foil paper and embossing folders. You can see all that the suite offers here.

Happy Paper Crafting!

*Contact me directly to place an order or search for Blaze Tully under 'Find a Demonstrator' to shop under me on the Stampin' Up Website.*

My Stampin' Up! Journey

I have always loved paper crafting. My mom being a scrapbooker way back in the day I was always around craft supplies watching her and crafting with her. I actually started off scrapbooking when I was about 10 or 12 years old. I was crafting right up until I graduated high school. I had great intentions to make encouragement cards for my friends when I was bible school but I just never found the time. The crafty side of me was reignited when my boyfriend at the time proposed and I had a small budget for my wedding. With the help of my mom we made everything! The invitations, centerpieces, bulletins, wall decor, place cards, etc. Everything was hand made and we spent many hours in my mom's craft room cutting paper, gluing ribbon, and tying bows. 

It was my first Christmas as a married woman where my crafting really took off. My mom offered me all 42 of her Stampin' Up ink pads. In my mind the only answer was yes! With those ink pads came a few Stampin' Up stamp sets and I never looked back. 

In early February 2020 I tracked down a demonstrator because I wanted to grow my stash of Stampin' Up products. I found them to be superior to anything that I was getting at Michaels and I really wanted my stuff to last. Besides who doesn't love getting craft stuff in the mail.

Here I am just under a year later and I took a leap of faith and signed up as a Stampin' Up Demonstrator. It has been a learning curve for me but I am so thrilled that I can share the craft supplies I love with others. My starter kit has officially arrived and I can't wait to hand out catalogues, create with the supplies and get to know new people in the world of paper crafting!

If you love paper crafting and would like to try out Stampin' Up please don't hesitate to contact me for more information.

Happy Paper Crafting!

*Contact me directly to place an order or search for Blaze Tully under 'Find a Demonstrator' to shop under me on the Stampin' Up Website.*

Itty Bitty Greetings Kid's Valentine's Day Card

When I think of Valentine's Day I think about chocolate and roses and being curled up on the couch with my husband. But I also think about the little one's in my life, all my nieces and nephews and how much I love them and that is what Valentine's Day all about. Showing the ones you love just how much you love them. Unfortunately all of my nieces and nephews live far away from me which makes it a little bit hard to show my love but that doesn't mean I can't send it to them.

I created these simple Valentine's Day cards for them and can't wait to send them off to them!

Supplies

1- 8.5"x11" sheet of cardstock (whatever color you want)

1 - 1" strip of white cardstock for the sentiment

Some scrap white cardstock

Zoo Babies Stamp Set (Retired)

Itty Bitty Greetings Stamp Set

Rococo Rose Ink Pad

Sahara Sand Ink Pad

Memento Black Ink Pad

Acrylic Stamp Block or Stamp Platform

Instructions

Take the 8.5"x11" sheet of cardstock and cut it down to 5"x7". Score it at 3.5" on the long side. You could also buy the note card pack out of the Annual Catalogue. I then took the Zoo Babies Stamp Set and stamped the Elephant in Rococo Rose and the Rhino in Sahara Sand. I know that this stamp set is retired and you could easily recreate this card using the current Dino Days Stamp Set or Whale Done Stamp Set in the Annual Catalogue. I then took my paper snips and fussy cut the animals out.

I pulled out my stamp platform and centered my sentiment stamp in the middle of the 1" strip of white cardstock. I stamped it in Memento Black and then used my paper snips to cut the angle at the end. Then I adhered everything to the front of the card.

Step It Up

Something else you could do to add an extra little bit to the card is die cut or punch out some coordinating shapes and put them in the card like confetti. I intend on using my Cricut to die cut a bunch of little hearts for in the cards before I mail them away.

I want to challenge you this year to think outside of the box. Valentine's Day cards don't have to be pink or red. If you know their favorite colors use those when you make a card for them.

You can purchase a pack of note cards and envelopes to save you time with all the cutting. They come in the new Basic White and Very Vanilla. You can find them here.

Almost any animal themed kids stamp set would work for this card. A current stamp set and in my opinion a great option is the Dino Days stamp set. You can get this stamp set here. There is a matching set of dies available for purchase which would save you the time of fussy cutting. You can find the dies here.

Happy Paper Crafting!

*Contact me directly to place an order or search for Blaze Tully under 'Find a Demonstrator' to shop under me on the Stampin' Up Website.*

25 Reasons to Hand out Cards

Cards are a simple but amazing way to communicate so many different things to those around you. They can convey love, gratitude or sorrow not to mention thinking of you or happy birthday. They can also celebrate holidays such as Christmas and Easter, or someone's retirement. That's why I thought I would compile a list of occasions to hand out cards to your friends and family.

1. Christmas
2. Easter
3. Valentine's Day
4. Mother's Day
5. Father's Day
6. Birthday
7. Baptism
8. New Baby
9. Graduation (Highschool, College or University)
10. New Home/Welcome to the Neighborhood
11. Engagement
12. Wedding
13. Anniversary
14. Retirement
15. Baby Shower
16. Bridal/Wedding Shower
17. Congratulations
18. Love
19. Just Because
20. Sympathy
21. Thank You
22. Best Wishes
23. Get Well
24. Friendship
25. Encouragement

I chose not to include this one in the list because it didn't really fit but that is invitations. Many of the reasons above could be used to give a card to some one or make an invitation for the event. Such as a wedding, including a card with a gift or including a gift card in the card is also a wonderful idea. But you could design some beautiful invitations for a wedding also.

I hope this gives you some inspiration to go create.

Happy Paper Crafting!

 

*Contact me directly to place an order or search for Blaze Tully under 'Find a Demonstrator' to shop under me on the Stampin' Up Website.*

How To Organize Cardstock Scraps

I have a confession to make...I hoard paper. I love paper especially floral pattern paper and pink cardstock. With my love of paper comes lots of scraps. I at one point had pizza boxes full of scraps and I was getting overwhelmed by the amount I had. I want to share with you how to organize your scraps so you actually start using them.

Colored Cardstock

When I finally started to organize my scraps of colored cardstock I sorted them by color into ziploc bags. But after a while I realized I still wasn't really using my scraps. I would just take a fresh full sheet of cardstock rather than look for a scrap that suited my needs. That was when I come across the #loveitchopit movement in the cardmaking world. This idea was created by Stampin' Up demonstrator Kylie Bertucci and essentially just encourages scrapbookers and cardmakers to cut the pattern paper and cardstock they love into sizes that they use so it doesn't just sit on the shelf. I adopted the #loveitchopit idea to my cardstock scraps. If the scrap was big enough to get a card base out of that is what I did. I cut a card base out of it and scored it so it was ready to go. If it was not big enough for that but was big enough to get a standard size layer I cut it to my standard size layer. I now keep them in a cute paper box that I made (though it may be getting to small..).

Then I went through was was left over and tried to be as realistic as possible when deciding if I could and would use the scrap. I didn't keep anything smaller that 1" wide with the exception of my white cardstock. I put the white cardstock scraps 1" and smaller in a bag of their own because they are great for stamping sentiments on. I only kept the white pieces because I am more likely to stamp on white then I am to stamp on a colored piece. Some people don't keep anything smaller than about 3"x3" but its really dependent on your crafting style and what you can see yourself using. After I sorted everything they went back into the bags.

If I find a piece of cardstock that I think is too small to keep I grab my favorite punch and see if its big enough to punch a tag or label out of before I throw it away.

Pattern Paper

When it came to my pattern paper I adopted a completely different organization system. Sometimes I do cut remaining paper into a card layer for use later but mostly I leave them as is. 

For each paper pack or collection I have I give each one an 9"x12" kraft envelope and every little bitty scrap goes in the envelope. If it doesn't fit in the envelope I just put it with the rest of the pad or set, and I make sure to check the scrap envelope and larger partial sheets before I take a fresh page.

 

Since adopting these two organizational systems I have seen my scrap pile go down and actually get used. But I cut my layers out of the cardstock right away and I put everything where it belongs rather than throwing it into a pile to be sorted later. I think that is the key. It has allowed me to do more crafting and less cleaning.

Happy Paper Crafting!

*Contact me directly to place an order or search for Blaze Tully under 'Find a Demonstrator' to shop under me on the Stampin' Up Website.*

Current Catalogues

This was a very exciting week for Stampin' Up, two new catalogues went live and today I want to share them with you!

The first is the January-June 2021 Mini Catalogue. I am so excited to start using the products from this catalogue. The papers are so bright and cheery and you have everything from cacti paper, to Valentine's Day and Ice Cream themed paper perfect for summer birthday cards. Let us not forget the wonderful masculine plaid paper well suited for Father's Day. You can download a free digital copy of the catalogue here.

I have always been drawn to floral themed stamp sets so the mini catalogue is speaking to my heart with all the gorgeous flower stamps great for spring. The Fine Art Floral Suite caught my eye, you can see it featured on the cover of the catalogue. I just loved how everything has a hand painted look to it. Find this suite on pages 32 and 33 of the catalogue.

The second catalogue that went live this week was the Sale a-bration catalogue. This is one of my favorite catalogues that we get throughout the year. For every $60 worth of product you order out of the annual or mini catalogue you can pick either a free stamp set or free set of paper. Some stamps sets are only available if you spend $120. But be warned this sale is only on from the 5th of January to the 28th of February. You can download a digital copy of the catalogue here.

There is a lot of great stuff is this catalogue that I can't wait to use!

If you live in Canada and would like a physical copy of any of the catalogues including the Annual one please let me know and I will set you up with them.

Happy Paper Crafting!

*Contact me directly to place an order or search for Blaze Tully under 'Find a Demonstrator' to shop under me on the Stampin' Up Website.*

Itty Bitty Greeting Sympathy Card

I have recently fallen in love with embossing folders and all that they add to my cards. I wanted a card that was simple and elegant that could be used as either a sympathy card or thinking of you. I think this card does it, by changing the colors and pattern paper it could be a great design for even a birthday card.

Supplies

1 - 8.5"x11" sheet of cardstock (white)

1 - 3.5"x2" piece of pattern paper

1 - 2.5"x4" piece of cardstock (navy)

1 - 2.5"x3.5" piece of cardstock (sand)

1 - scrap piece of cardstock for the sentiment

Little Details Embossing Folders

Wrapped in Texture Embossing Folders

Tailored Tag Punch

Itty Bitty Greetings Stamp Set

Memento Black Ink Pad

Instructions

Take the 8.5"x11" sheet of cardstock cut it down to 8.5"x5.5" and score that at 4.25" on the long side. Take the piece of  2.5"x4" piece of cardstock and run it through the Little Details embossing folder. Then take your 2.5"x3.5" piece of cardstock and run it through the Wrapped in Texture embossing folder. I then stamped my sentiment on a scrap piece of white cardstock using the Itty Bitty Greetings Stamp Set and a memento black ink pad. When I had done that I used to Tailored Tag punch to punch it out.

I then laid everything out on the front of my card. Once I was satisfied with the placement I adhered everything down. Make sure that you put a little extra adhesive on the embossed paper to make sure it stays put.

The Itty Bitty Greetings stamp set is an amazing all around sentiment stamp set. It has 32 versatile sentiments that are perfect for any occasion. Here is a picture of the complete set.

You can purchase the Itty Bitty Greetings stamp set here.

Happy Paper Crafting!

*Contact me directly to place an order or search for Blaze Tully under 'Find a Demonstrator' to shop under me on the Stampin' Up Website.*

These Are Some Of My Favorite Things...

I fell in love with Stampin' Up the very first time I used one of their stamp sets. From that day on there was no going back I have collected a decent amount of stamp sets and I am the proud owner of a large set of Stampin' Up inks (in mostly retired colors I might add). I thought I would take some time to just share a few of my favorite Stampin' Up products to date.

My current favorite stamp sets include the Birch Background Stamp, To a Wild Rose 2-step stamp set and the retired Zoo Babies set. You will probably see a large amount of cards made with these stamps.

My favorite ink colors currently are Rococo Rose (which retires at the beginning of June),Soft Suede and the retired Always Artichoke.

I am currently in love with my embossing folders and show them off on a lot of cards. My favorite set of embossing folders is the wrapped in texture set. They are technically a set of Christmas themed embossing folders but I believe they can be used all year round. Unfortunately they too are a retired product.

But don't fret today was the launch of the new January-June 2021 Mini Catalogue. In this catalogue you can find lots of new cheery spring themed stamp sets, embossing folders, dies and paper, and among my favorites are the Simply Succulents bundle. You save 10% when you buy the bundle.

If you would like a copy of any of the catalogues please let me know and I will do my best to set you up with a paper copy.

Happy Paper Crafting!

*Contact me directly to place an order or search for Blaze Tully under 'Find a Demonstrator' to shop under me on the Stampin' Up Website.*

Welcome!

Welcome to The Front Porch Stamper! My name is Blaze. I am a Stampin' Up demonstrator from Manitoba, Canada. I am passionate about all things paper crafting. I have crafted on and off for several years now. My love of art and paper crafting was inherited from my Mother who has always encouraged me to be creative. I hope I can provide you with lots of inspiration and some tips and tricks to aid you in your crafting journey!

If you see anything you like do not hesitate to contact me for more information on the project or how to order the supplies to recreate the project for yourself.

Happy Paper Crafting!