Monkeys on Film!

First, I want to apologize for my lack of posts this month. H1N1 hit our house. Everyone is OK now, but creating anything (even dinner) and posting on my blog was the last thing on my mind! Now to the fun stuff!

As a former professional photographer, I love this filmstrip technique! I know, no one shoots film anymore, so I guess this is an "old timey" technique. Guess I'm old timey, too! What you'll need:

• Bermuda Bay cardstock, cut 4.25x11, scored at 5.5 inches, and a piece for photo corners


• Basic Black cardstock - cut 2x4.5 inches, and a piece for the photo corners


• Whisper White cardstock - 3 pieces cut 1.25 inches square


• Black Stayz On ink


• Bermuda Bay Classic ink


• Close to Cocoa Classic ink


• Blender pen


• Spiral punch


• Photo Corners punch


• Stampin' Dimensionals


• SNAIL adhesive


• I used the Monkey from the Sock Monkey stamp set for this card.

Using Stayz On ink, stamp the monkey head on each of the Whisper White squares. To help create the illusion of motion, I skewed the image a little differently each time I stamped. Color the monkey using a blender pen and Bermuda Bay, Close to Cocoa inks.

Punch both long sides of the Black cardstock using the Spiral Punch. Line up your punches so that they are directly across from each other. Adhere the stamped images to the punched black strip. I adhered this to the card at an angle, again for the effect of motion.

Using the Photo Corner punch, create large black corners, and adhere smaller Bermuda Bay corners on top. I attached these to the card using Stampin' Dimensionals.

This is a really easy card to create, and lots of fun! I can see this made with a tremendous variety of colors and images. Have fun!

Stamping with Bleach

I was delighted to discover that Dusty Durango (one of Stampin' Up!'s current In-Colors) bleaches to Crushed Curry (another In-Color)! What a find!

This card is extremely easy to create. Here's what you need:

• Chlorine Bleach


• A bowl and a paper towel


• I used the stamp set Fifth Avenue Floral


• Dusty Durango (8.5 x 5.5 for base, 3.75 x 5) and Crushed Curry cardstock (4 x 5.25)


• Crushed Curry polka-dot ribbon

I experimented with a few different stamps before settling on one from Fifth Avenue Floral. The outline stamps seem to work well with this technique. Find a bowl that is wide enough at the bottom to lay your stamp in. Fold and place a paper towel in the bowl. Pour just enough bleach in to saturate the paper towel, but not so much that it forms a puddle. Lay your stamp in the bleach, and stamp as normal on the cardstock. It's so much fun to watch the image bleach your paper!

Note that not all cardstock bleaches, or looks good when it does. I tried this same image on Rich Razzleberry, and it bleached a light pink - almost white. Gorgeous! Soft Suede bleaches a golden color, and almost glows.

Allow your stamped image to dry, then adhere Crushed Curry ribbon. I cut a piece just long enough to wrap around the edges, then use a smaller piece to tie the knot. That way, you can place your knot wherever you want it.

Next, adhere the stamped image to a piece of Crushed Curry cardstock, and adhere that to the Dusty Durango card base. Easy as pie! It is a bit smelly, so make sure you have plenty of ventilation when you use this bleaching technique!