Tag Archives: Expressions In Ink DSP

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Hello Stamping Friends,

I don’t know when I have had as much fun with a stamp set as I had with Stampin’ Up!’s ‘Merriest Moments’!  Usually I search and search for just the right card to teach at club and then I combine different ideas from different cards to come up with what I like.  This time was different; I found so many cards that I loved.  If you are still on the fence about which stamp set to buy to make your Christmas cards, I recommend the Merriest Moments bundle.  It has a stamp set, a set of dies and a hybrid embossing folder.  You could make dozens of Christmas cards without a hint of boredom.

Join me here on Youtube or in the written words as I show off this amazing set with the Poinsettia Petals set coming along for fun!

Thank you, Julianne Richards, for the inspiration to make these easel cards! Stampin With Julie Richards.com

Let’s start with the Poinsettia Petals-

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Recipe

• Stamps:  Poinsettia Petals
• Tools:  Poinsettia Dies, Ornate Layers Dies, Stitched Rectangle dies, Double Oval Punch, sponge daubers
• Ink:  Shaded Spruce
• Base:  Shaded Spruce, 5 1/2 X 8 1/2 scored at 4 1/4.  Cut 1 1/2 inches from the score line to the front bottom edge on both the right and left sides.  Cut 1″ off the middle flap front edge then score 2 1/4″ from the score line to the cut edge.  Glue down the side flaps.
• Side Flaps:  Expressions In Ink DSP, 4 1/8″ X 1 3/8″
• Ornate Layer:  Shaded Spruce, 5 X 3 1/2, Use the 2nd largest Ornate Layer Die to cut.  TIP:  Place a dryer sheet folded in half under the cardstock before die cutting to hold all the little pieces.  Also place a piece of copy paper 2 1/2 X 1 3/4 under the cardstock on top of the dryer sheet to prevent a film on the back of your die cut piece since it will be visible from back.
• Middle Greeting:  Basic White, 2 3/4 X 4, Die cut with the fourth from smallest Stitched Rectangle die; I usually say stamp first then die cut but in this case it is better to see the actual corners for stamping
• Oval Greeting:  Basic White, 1 1/2 X 3,  stamp then punch with the double oval punch
• Stitched Rectangle, three leaves and leaves for tiny flower :  Just Jade, 2 3/4 X 5 1/2; picture below; cut one large and two small leaves and one tiny flower to be the leaves behind the poinsettia.  Sponge the edge with Shaded Spruce and they come alive!
• Poinsettias:  Cherry Cobbler, 4 1/4 X 5 1/2, Die cut four smaller flowers, 4 tiny flowers and 2 circle tops; picture below.  TIP: place double back adhesive tape under the cherry cobbler on the 2 circle tops so you can easily glue them to the gold centers; if you are really careful you can place the tape so it only covers 2/3 or so of the circle and then it is easy to pull off.  Happened by serendipity for me.  The poinsettias are layered with two same size flowers offset and then a tiny one on top with gold solid centers covered with the red center with holes.   TIP:  Roll the edges of the flowers toward the middle with a pencil and sponge the edges with Cherry Cobbler.
• Gold Sprigs and centers:  Gold Foil, (X2) 1 1/2 X 2 1/2, Die cut one solid round center and one sprig. TIP: cut two separate foil pieces; running foil through the cut and emboss machine can show lines from the cutting pad.  Cut one little ball off the sprig for the center of the tiny poinsettia
• Inside Greeting:  Basic White, 2 X 2 3/4 (Or use the stitched rectangle in the Merriest Frames dies)

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The Just Jade rectangle is a duplicate.  If you have a scrap you won’t need the length shown on the right. You need two of the gold foils and don’t forget to back the tiny Cherry Cobbler circles with double back adhesive tape.

The gold foil in the designer series paper and the gold sprigs make this card a wow!  

I agree and last year we used the same tools for this card so the set is a great addition to a crafter’s stash!   Click to see that post:

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Now on to the Merriest Moments Bundle:

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Don’t you just love those large greetings!  Our cards today will use almost everyone of those stamps.  So let’s start with the club card:

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Merriest Moments Center Panel Easel Card

Recipe

• Stamps:  Merriest Moments
• Tools:  Merriest Frames Dies and Hybrid Embossing Folder, Stitched Rectangle dies,
• Ink:  Shaded Spruce, Cherry Cobbler, Evening Evergreen, Versa Mark
• Base:  Shaded Spruce, 5 1/2 X 8 1/2 scored at 4 1/4.  Cut 1 1/2 inches from the score line to the front bottom edge on both the right and left sides.  Cut 1″ off the middle flap front edge then score 2 1/4″ from the score line to the cut edge.  Glue down the side flaps.
• Side Flaps:  Expressions In Ink DSP, 4 1/8″ X 1 3/8″
• Gold Foil Layer:  Gold Foil, 5 5/8 X 4 3/8; place the border die inside the embossing folder and you can cut and emboss the gold layer at the same time.  Of course, in our instance we really just need to cut the layer using the border die from the gold foil but it is so cool to see how it looks embossed!  Just playing….
• Detail Layer on the gold:  Shaded Spruce, 5 1/2 X 4 1/4, Two steps – 1-cut with the detailed die, 2- place in embossing folder and emboss
• Front and Inside Greeting:  Basic White (X2), 2 1/4 X 3; die cut with stitched rectangle in the Merriest Frames Dies
• Bottom Greeting and Easel:  Just Jade, 2 3/4 X 1 1/2, Stamp ‘Joy’ with Versa Mark, apply gold embossing powder, heat
• Stamped Images:  Basic White, 5 1/2 X 4 1/4;  I set up the Stamparatus with all the geenery on one plate and all the flower and berry parts on a separate plate.  Stamp the greenery in Evening Evergreen and the Flowers and Berries in Cherry Cobbler.  With the stamparatus, I could stamp the Evening Evergreen more than once to get a darker color. Stamp one of each of the greeneries from the set, one large and one small flower, one flower middle and one set of berries.

I used a little extra spacing so we could be sure and die cut each stamped image.

Glue the layers, embellish with three of the In Color jewels and you have one more Christmas card ready to send.

Do we get to see all the other cards you made with this set since you were so insistent that this is the one set we need for all our Christmas cards? 

Oh yes, Sal, just remember that many are duplicates of what is on pinterest and all I had to do was add my special touches with different embossing, different DSP and of course – an inside!

Card #1

Inspired by StampWithTami.com using the detail cut out and a separate piece of Night of Navy for the greeting

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There is a separate full card front layer of Night of Navy that is embossed with the Wintry 3D boughs embossing folder.  Don’t be afraid of this mini embossing folder.  You can run it through twice to cover the front.    I stamped the “Glory to the Newborn King” in versa mark, embossed with white, then fussy cut around the words.

Stamps:  For Unto Us, Music From The Heart (retired – but I really wanted music notes)

Card #2

Red Velvet meets Merriest Moments inspired by Margi Stamps:

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The pictures don’t do justice to the simple beauty of this card.  The outside is embossed on a separate layer of Basic White.  Look at all the little snowflakes or stars around the embossed greenery.  Love it!   The greeting is stamped directly on the embossed front.  Red Velvet Paper is on page 41 of the mini.  I suggest stocking up.

I wanted to carry the idea of the frame to the middle so I cut a piece of basic white 3 1/4 X 2 1/2 expecting to trim off the edges but I loved the extra embossing around the frame and left it untrimmed.

The outside greeting is ‘Merriest Moments’ and inside is a greeting from the ‘Snowman Season’ stamp set with the Merry Christmas from ‘For Unto Us’.  Together is the best place to build heartwarming memories!

Card #3

Jenny Hayward at A Stamping Journey inspired this partial die cut:

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I used the center ‘frame only’ idea and ‘Painted Christmas’ Designer Series Paper (DSP) with the detailed Merriest Moments die- cut first, then embossed and cut in half for a side partial die.   There is an additional layer of Basic White added on the inside and a matching piece of DSP cut with the stitched rectangle in the set.  I used the bough stamp in the Merriest Moments stamp set to do 2nd and 3rd generation stamping for the boughs.  The inside greeting and the pinecone are in the ‘Perfectly Plaid’ stamp set.  The boughs Wintry 3D embossing folder is used on the right edge.

Card #4

Another partial die cut layered on the side inspired by Jenny Hayward at A Stamping Journey:

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I used the ‘Snowflake Wishes’ stamp set for the outside greeting and inside snowflakes,  The inside greeting is Merriest Moments and the side DSP is from the ‘Gingerbread and Peppermint’ DSP.  The large snowflake comes from the set of 24 iridescent snowflakes called Wonderful Snowflakes.  (see page 25 of the mini) One of the Stitched Rectangle Dies cut out the greeting perfectly!

Card #5

Inspired by Lori Pinto at Lolly Pop Papers & Ink:

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Similar to our easel card in its layering and yet exceptional in the use of Evening Evergreen for the background and Crumb Cake for a layer and the greeting.  The greeting is a separate stitched rectangle cut and popped up on the detailed embossed layer.

A ‘Snowman Season’ greeting is used for the inside and Merry Christmas from ‘For Unto Us’.  I wanted to bring the outside colors in so I cut Crumb Cake squares diagonally in half and layered them with a little larger diagonal cut square in Evening Evergreen.

Card #6

Here is a different use of the dies by Stamp It Up With Jamie. She cut out the middle and popped up the embossed detail with stampin’ dimensionals (lots) on DSP.  I didn’t have the DSP she used so I came up with this using ‘Painted Christmas’ DSP:

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The greeting comes from the ‘Frosted Gingerbread’ stamp set.  The pine cones are fussy cut from the DSP.

Card #7

Jenny Hayward at A Stamping Journey used vellum so I had to give that a try.

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Isn’t it beautiful?!  The inside greeting is from ‘Perfectly Plaid’ but everything else is ‘Merriest Moments’.  The base is Fresh
Freesia as are the stamped flowers.  The greenery is stamped in Soft Succulent and Evening Evergreen.  I used three of the smallest In Color gems for the inside of the flower.

You know, it is a good thing they don’t limit you to the number of words you can use! 

..or pictures, Sal, I would be in trouble!

So, Stamping Friends, you have 8 Merriest Moments cards for inspiration and 1 Poinsettia Petal card.  Which would you use for your Christmas cards if you were to make just one version??  I would love to hear from you!

SAL,   Sharing A Lot of Merriest Moments

Karen