Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Wee Tea cups & Steamy Hearts Valentine



This {Make Your Own Mug} set is too much fun to paper piece. I had a blast making the take out cup magnet & doin' the LPS sketch challenge too. Come play here & win a new release set if you wanna:



Here's the card without the magnet on it.
It has a little message hidden under the cup:



Makin' a sturdy little
Tea cup Embellishment:
(paper pieced)



Step 1) Stamp the first of two cups on your favourite patterned paper (these ones are embossed with black Craft ink & clear ep)...



All of these patterned papers are from a Basic Grey Urban Prairie 6x6 pad (the scale is poifect with this tea cup & I have gotten a LOT of mileage out of that one paper pad.)



Step 2) Stamp your second cup on white cardstock (or whatever colour your background is) mine is actually lovely thick cream announcement cardstock.



Step 3) Roughly trim the patterned cup & Cut off the handle from it



Step 4) Glue the patterned cup over the white cardstock one (with the handle showing)



Step 5) Then just cut it out. The cuts are simple ones, but you get the sweet teeny swirls in the handle (cuteness, heehee.)



Step 6) If you'd like them shiny like ceramic, you can add Crystal Lacquer.

Some of the Card Deets:

Steamy Hearts:

Did ya know that you can emboss Sakura gel pens? Just sprinkle embossing powder on them while they're still wet:



It's handy to work in stages since they do dry eventually. Crazy that all you need to do is add clear embossing powder and then you can get a whole variety of colour & a lot of oomph from all of your metallic gel pens or glitter like this one! (This is a Sakura stardust pen. Any gel pen from Sakura seems to work perfectly for this.)

After I doodled the hearts & embossed 'em, I added a little Copic marker. I'm no pro with Copics, but here's an easy way to use them:



Add a line of colour. (This is Sugared Almond Pink Ciao RV02.)



Then you can go over it with your colourless blender to soften it. :O)

The new Love of my stampin Life:
A white Souffle pen!


After Copic colouring the hearts, I just cut 'em out & added some white dots...with the new love of my stampin' life: Sakura's Souffle pen in White. [I may be the last person to figure this out about White Souffle pens, but I have had some affairs with white pens and was left feeling so empty! Signo & Inkssentials, (sorry, to those enamoured with them) but those fellas are cads in my book! Promises...promises...hehehe. They were always skippin' out on me & the love just faded away....]



This Souffle fellow is my knight in white shining armor! It goes on clear (easily & evenly) Granted, it is a wee bit of a wait for drying (and watching that you don't drag your hand through it) but it's like my Charles Charming: worth the wait! LOL.

It has a nice shine & a solid white colour when it's dry. And it stays put (no smudging off with any ol' thing.) Even Copics can't run off with it.

Copic Shadows on Fabric-y Velvet Paper:

Speakin' of copics... I was happy to discover that you can also use a Copic to add shadows under things on fabric-y schtuff. To make the faux velvet ribbon (that those cuppies are on) I cut two strips of velvet paper:



First time I ever tried it. It's so nifty and fuzzy, lol. I glued the cups onto it (with Tombow) & shaded with my beloved Warm Gray #1:



The Copic marker soaked into this white velvet paper, but it was still a bit blendable (to soften out the shadows.) Who says ya actually need to learn how to colour with your Copics, LOL.

A trick with Nesties that might be something to try?:



...layer a black one behind as a shadow, then the scraps were handy for the inside too:



Hope You found something useful in all my gabbin'...

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day!




For the Magnet making tutorial (and how to attach one easily) please see this post. :O)




P.S.
Edited to Add: How could I forget to add that that stunning true black cardstock is Suede Touch from Paper Temptress!?! (my new favourite black c.s. cause it is really truly black.)



20 comments:

Tammy Hershberger said...

Adorable card, Mel and fabulous techniques, as always! I love the big variety of the Basic Grey paper you used!

Kim Etherington said...

Love the soft springy papers you are using the last couple days. This layout is great. Glad to see you participating in one! I love the hearts coming off the teacups. Teatally tasteful!
Keep up the magic!

Anonymous said...

you are crackin' me up with the white pen talk . . . waaaayyy too funny!!!

Anonymous said...

hi Mel my aunt ann is now a big fan of your blogshe wants me to ask you what onecan do with a bunch of bttons happy valentines 2u2 , love lady

Norine said...

adorable card and I always find something useful in your tips thanks so much
hugs
Norine

Stampin_melissa said...

Thanks for the info about the Souffle pen. I am just so frustrated using my Signo gel pen!! I'm going to look for a souffle pen and give it a whirl!

Angie Tieman said...

How adorable!! Love all those little cups!

Julia said...

Too cute Mel! Love the BG paper paired with this set. Hope you are feeling better : )

Tammy said...

Mel, Adorable card and blog. I love your great ideas and tutorials so much so that the Serendipity Sisters have given you an award! Thanks for your inspiration and great ideas. Visit our blog to get it. As I understand it you are supposed to pass this award on to seven other blogs. Love your work.

Unknown said...

This is cute! By the way, you have a award on my blog:) have a great day!

Anonymous said...

Great card!! I love paper-piecing and you took it to another level. Your steamy hearts are the best! TFS

Jaz said...

I was browsing google images for something cute and I came across your blog.

Seeing your blog posts, they are adorable. I can't wait to try it myself. And I believe my friend who is into scrapbook will love your site.

Keep up the good work. :)

Unknown said...

Oh I absolutely LOVE your wee cups!!!!! squeal!!

Anonymous said...

Always fantastic and beautiful your fan ..jlaura

Tonniece said...

Awesome card Mel. I sure could use one of those cups of coffee right about now. Can you spare one?

liannallama said...

what a sweet card--I love all the frills and paper piecing!

Jessica Diedrich said...

What an awesome card, Mel! LOVE the pretty spring colors and the tea cups! This is awesome!!

Jennifer_GlitterInMyHair said...

Mel, this is AWESOME!! Thanks for all the info on how you made this, I love it!

Risa said...

Your card is adorable Mel! I love the paper piecing and the hearts are awesome!
hugs
Risa:)

Allison Rankin said...

Awesome...thanks for the advice since I want one that will last for at least a little while! Loving this card with the Urban Prairie BTW...great cups!