Welcome Home

The 27 March Saturday challenge for Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps blog is "A New Home". Having recently moved, I pondered my own experiences for moving into a new home. While I pondered, I went through my growing collection of KKS stamps. Seeing Angie and thinking about my newly acquired Elizabeth Craft Designs coffee bean embossing folder, an idea began to brew. That first cup of coffee on the day after moving in with boxes waiting to be unpacked tastes so wonderful.

Supplies:

Chameleon pens: http://www.chameleonpens.com/

Zig Wink of Stella Clear: http://goo.gl/A9gTnN
Colorbox black pigment ink: https://goo.gl/4k5QTQ

Memento tuxedo black: http://goo.gl/eCQDmc

Tombow adhesive: http://goo.gl/XMLQG6

Ranger Multi-media Matte: http://goo.gl/Twfcs3

Ranger Glossy Accents: http://goo.gl/R63MXJ

Recollections mounting foam dots: Michaels
Recollections 65lb white cardstock: Michaels
Tim Holtz Distress ink mini set #3: http://goo.gl/zyA5wr
Tim Holtz mini ink blending tool: http://goo.gl/q3pDhM

Tim Holtz micro-serrated scissors: http://goo.gl/nbEO1Q

Angie from Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps: http://goo.gl/hVGPk0
Crafter's Companion EZMount: http://goo.gl/l7Isqg
Tim Holz snips: http://goo.gl/fyC3FL
Wet wipes: Costco
Coffee Bean embossing folder from Elizabeth Craft Designs: https://goo.gl/jBxCsQ
Sizzix Big Shot die cutter: http://goo.gl/a6dqtw
Recollections ribbon: Michaels
Stampin' Up cardstock (not sure on the name): gift from a friend who was reducing her stash
Heavy vellum: I bought mine at Scrapadoodle in Bellingham, WA. Jennifer McQuire's online souce: http://goo.gl/zYBIeA

Recollections 5.5x5.5" card base: Michaels
Fiskars finger-tip craft knife: http://goo.gl/CHst5C
Fiskars 12-inch Paper Trimmer: http://goo.gl/1C80jr
Cutting mat: dollar store

Steps

1. Preparing the stamp

I got my package with Angie early in the week. Angie is a KKS "old" stock that's unmounted deeply etched grey rubber. She comes with slippers and two sentiments.

The older KKS stamps come not only unmounted, most are untrimmed, too, so it is a little bit of work to prep before even starting to stamp. With very sharp scissors (Tim Holtz snips are great!), it's easy to trim the rubber. I like to trim before adhering to the cling cushion because then I can get more use out of a sheet of it.

EZMount is insanely sticky on one side and cling on the other. The sticky side goes to the back of the stamp and then the stamp can be used with any acrylic block.

Trimming away excess does get the scissors sticky, even titanium ones, but cleaning it off of the titanium is easy with a wet wipe.

At Costco, the big boxes of wet wipes marketed as "baby wipes" are more expensive than the exact same thing marketed for non-babies even with almost the exact same ingredients. I figure the lanolin isn't really needed by my various workshop uses, so went with the cheaper. Other types of wet wipes work, too, but I recommend against Clorax wipes 'cause the bleach smell will bowl you over and knock you out.

After the stamp is mounted on the EZMount, remove the paper from the cling side and it's exactly like any other cling.

I don't have a large acrylic block, but when someone in a video, likely Jennifer McGuire 'cause I watch a lot of hers, used a BigShot cut pad as a quickie, a large block went down a few notches on my wishlist. On the advice of Stacey from Scrapbooking Made Simple, I have cut plates (the clear ones that came with my BigShot) and "do not cut" plates (a pair of purples cut plates I bought). The "do not cut" plate is great as stand in for a large acrylic block

 2. Embossed background

I got the ECD Coffee Bean embossing folder at Stampadoodle in Bellingham, WA, last Saturday since we had gone down to pick up packages and a few other things. I had seen it online before, but I'm not sure what wild notion at that moment compelled me to pick it up right then.

To emboss, I chose a cream coloured cardstock out of the Stampin' Up ones a friend had sent me when she was downsizing her hoard. It's cream coloured with small flecks looking a little like it's hand-made (but it's cardstock, not handmade paper). I ran it through the BigShot with the embossing folder.

Have I mentioned how much I love the BigShot? Lovely impression of coffee beans.

But beans are more brown and roasted. How ever will we do this? Oh of course...

I think I have watch a few dozen videos on using the blending tool with Distress Ink but it really is amazing.

I used Walnut Stain and Vintage Photo. Storing a blender in the base of each of the inks and putting the minis in the tins is genius design. Tim hit it out of the ballpark. BTW, any shots with my hands are 1-handed because I have to click a mouse button to take the shot.

I used the paper trimmer to cut the background into a square. I later mounted this square on another square of the same paper that hadn't been embossed and all. After trimming the coffee beans, I used the blender to go over the edge of the panel to give it a finished look. 

3. Stamping

On to the stamping and colouring already! Sheesh.

When doing large images, I have gravitated to the 'take the pad to the stamp' technique.

I stamped the image first using Memento tuxedo black since I had heard that Memento was "safe for Copik." I have Chameleon pens which are, like Copiks, alcohol based so I thought that would work, too. But.. as this shadowy black ink bled into it eye can attest, no Memento is not the right ink.

I got more practice on my face blends using the wrong outline ink, but that wasn't what I was aiming for. So, I put it aside for another day and watched more videos at lunch while at work. And a comment in a video made it all clear. And, if I would have read the booklet that came with the pens a bit more closely...

Oh. Ah. Yeah. Memento and Stazon are both right out. Good thing I have ColorBox pigment inks (that I love using).

I went to work on the colouring and blending. I used Fawn first on the skin and then a bit of Bisque over to make it not quite as 'tan'. For the hair, I started with Blue Violet and then went to Black. Look how un-shadowed the eyes are with the pigment ink outline. 

The main part of the robe is Aqua Marine overlaid with Sky blue and then trimmed with Deep Violet.

I finished up with Deep Violet eyes, like Elizabeth Taylor, and grey on the coffee cup.

Then, I fussy cut her out. Someday I want a Silhouette so I can scan and have the cutting done for me. But, for now, it's the scissors for me.

The one small area of interior in her hair flip I cut with my finger-tip craft knife on a cutting mat I got at the dollar store. I want a better cutting mat someday, but this one works fine and at 1/4 the cost.

With the image completely cut out, I was ready to move on to the rest. Before I left her completely, I added Glossy Accents to her cup to give it a porcelain effect and Clear Wink of Stella to her hair clips to give them a little sparkle.

4. Assembling

I did a dry fit of Angie on the coffee background and found a perfect ribbon to go with her. Before I started colouring her, I actually had a different ribbon in mind, one that gave me her robe's main colour. But, after putting the purple trim on, she took a detour to a different path. 

For the layout, I had the KKS March layout in mind:

So now... a sentiment? I have nothing home related or coffee related that were fitting what I wanted to say with this card. So.. come up with one myself? I set it all aside and pondered another day. While going about doing the things I do at my day job (testing computer equipment) an idea was percolating in my little grey cells. And then I came up with a haiku.

Boxes for unpacking

Still in stacks around the house

Coffee is welcome

The day after you move in to a new place is a bit overwhelming. Boxes that need to be unpacked are everywhere. It's really good to take a moment, have a bit of coffee, and relax before you spend the rest of the day unpacking and putting things away.

I decided to put the poem on vellum because white seemed a bit stark. I also decided to use the Chameleon Dark Violet to tie into the robe nd ribbon. My first attempt to write it was a bit.. long.

I wrote it again and it felt about right. Now to put it all together. First I put dimensional mounting foams on the back of the image where it would sit on the coffee beans. I think of this as the pox stage. Side note on the mounting foam dot thingies. I got these as cheapies from Micheals when I wasn't sure how headlong I wanted to fall into card making. They're not terrible, but they're not great either. When I've used them up, I will move on to some other dimensional thingie.

I had planned to use foam tape on the coffee bean panel but for some reason my hand reached for the tape runner. I'm not sure if it would have looked better slightly raised or, as it is melded to the base. I attached the sentiment panel with the tape runner, too. Because of the lettering on it and the thickness of it, the adhesive isn't noticeable. 

And I was done. I'm not 100% satisfied with the lettering, but I do like the unique touch of using the haiku. I did use a lot of different techniques I've been picking up and I am sure I will pick up even more as I go along.