There’s nothing quite so wonderful as receiving an unexpected gift in the mail. When I received this project, I fell out of my chair (not literally – I’m OK). This ruggedly delicate easel card blew me away (not literally – I’m OK) – partly because of who it came from and mostly because of the project itself. Look at what arrived in my mail:
Rather than just share the project, I want to tell you what I like so much about it. I’ve narrowed my “likes” to just three things. It was difficult, but I love a challenge. First, though, let me know tell you how I came to receive this card. Debbie Blake is not a member of my Stampin’ Up! team, and she’s not a customer. Debbie is a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator in Australia. I’ve not met Debbie, but if she’s anything like my Aussie pals Louise Sharp and Leonie Schroder, then I’m sure we’d get along swimmingly.
Here are the three things (yes, just three) I like about Debbie’s gorgeous card:
- Clear Leaves. Let’s start with the most obvious thing to love about this card – the acetate leaves that Debbie cropped with the Fun Fall framelits and colored with Blendabilities. She heated the pieces (I know because I asked) with her heat gun to get them to curl a bit. The front of the card isn’t covered with leaves – when I pulled it out of the hand-made envelope, the card looked a bit plain. Once I pulled it open (it flipped back on the easel hinge), the leaves came out to play – that’s when I realized it was a WOW! project.
- Sentiment Building. You already know I love to build a good backing for a sentiment. This one stands on its own. The card front is stamped with the starburst image from Kinda Eclectic. That is partially covered by a crop of the Deco Labels framelit, followed by a circle. The sentiment is stamped from Oh My Goodies and then snipped out. All of these make a great combination to support this fun sentiment.
- Paper Choice. If you aren’t paying attention when you flip through Stampin’ Up!’s annual catalog, you might miss some of the specialty papers (see page 193). Debbie uses Naturals Ivory cardstock to create the base for this card – it’s sturdy enough to support the easel and has the added bonus of little speckles that add so much “va va voom” to the paper.
Stamp Sets: Oh My Goodies, Kinda Eclectic Papers: Naturals Ivory, Soft Suede, Old Olive Inks: Old Olive Accessories: Fun Fall Framelits, Deco Label Collection Framelits, Circles Collection Framelits, Stampin’ Dimensionals
I was happy to receive this card, and I’m happy to share it with you today! Please let Debbie know how much you like it, too, by leaving a comment below.
Thanks for stopping by today!
Brian
If you would like a quick rundown of all the cool things going on this week, please click here.
Oh Brian, this card is lovely!!! the acetate leaves are indeed a WOW!! How sweet of your Aussie friend to send you this truly beautiful card. The Naturals Ivory card stock is just perfectly fitted for this very Nature inspired card.
I know that sometimes the picture doesn’t do justice to the actual card so I’m sure this must be even more stunning in the real.
Thank you so much for sharing and thank you Debbie Blake for creating this amazingly beautiful work of art.
Wow ! I love it ! Super clever and creative . I don`t even believe it`s Fall in Australia now …. Thank you ,Debbie for sending this to Brian ! Thank you ,Brian for sharing this adorable card !
Very nice. I like the use of the starburst with the punches to create the center. I agree with you Brian…..it is a WOW card.
Wow is right. Gorgeous yet simple yet complex with lots of talent and love
That is a stunning card! Very cook leaves!
Love those leaves!!!
So creative — and gorgeous! TFS!
Wow card indeed…Debbie your creativity is outside the box, well done! Funny how we all try to keep vellum from curling, who knew it had a purpose 🙂
This is absolutely stunning! The sentiment placement and framing is WOW! Debbie’s has inspired me, no doubt. Brian, thanks for sharing this one.
Coloring acetate and cutting it, then heating it? Genius! This card is great! And I love the linen thread accents. Adds such an earthy feel.
I’d like to know what she used for adhesive, please, on that clear acetate. Thanks for sharing this card!
Glue Dots Cindie 🙂
Thanks for sending to Brian, who in turn shared with us. Very simple, but a wow card indeed. Would love to know how she did the standup portion of the card. Have a great week-end of stamping.
Oh my! This is a “knock-your-socks-off” card. There is enough creativity here to fill a 30 gallon basket. Debbie, you are so very talented and Brian you are so very sweet for sharing this card with us. What a fantastic way to start my day! Thank you both.
Wow, thank you , Brian , for sharing this wonderful Artwork ! Debbie, I hope you read this : I want to find your blog ! I want more… I would not have seen the special paper ( I was blended by the leaves) , if you had not mentioned it , Brian ! Thank you both !
Incredibly creative! I love this card!!
What a spectacular card Debbie! I love everything about it. Thanks Brian for sharing your treasure with us.
Oh WOW! Who’d have thought of that? Obviously Debbie did. I love it when someone is so kind to share something clever like that, and it’s what I love about SU Demos. Thanks for sharing Debbie’s card with all of us Brian, and Debbie – are you from Elite stampers? Waving hi from Melbourne Vic.
Debbie – KAPOW! OH MY GOODNESS Debbie, this is beautiful and so clever with the leaves! Definitely a ‘Brain’ card, and I can see why it warrants it’s own blog post! And like Katrina said, we all want our acetate to stop curling and for this technique it works a treat.
Brain – My goodness your adorable….and funny! I started reading your post about Debbie’s stunning card and thought, Debbie’s an Aussie…kept reading…oh and a nice added mention of myself and Leonie….insert huge smile! You’ve made my day (literally! lol)
Lou xo
wowza Deb … i thought that ‘line’ was stitching till i read Brian’s post. What a cool idea! Then I got such a thrill with Brian’s beautiful words for myself and Louise … Brian you dont know how much you lifted my spirits when I read that – I’m not feeling the best with wisdom teeth pain (seriously who has those at my age?) so thanks buddy … or should I say ‘mate’?
Thank you for sharing your gift card, Brian.
Debbie you are so clever and crafty. The leaves are what intrigued me when I saw the picture!
Everyone, thank you for your nice comments..isn’t a shame the whole world can’t have a card crafters personality!
Oh Wow Brian! You are just too gorgeous! You gave me my very own Post!
Can you tell I’m excited? I’m currently travelling around Tasmania, which is the opposite end of Australia from where I live, and I saw that you had Pinned this to Pinterest. So I went searching and what a happy find! Thankyou so much. This has certainly made me smile.
To all the lovely comments, Thankyou so much, it has made my month!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this card, it was a joy to make. 🙂
This is one of the coolest cards ever. I would award it my own personal “Best Ever SU Beauties” prize. Outstanding, Debbie. Thanks for showing us, Brian.
W – O – W !!! This card is amazing. Did it come in a box so the leaves didn’t get crushed? LOL. What a special card. Thank you for “breaking it down” for us. Those ARE the things that make the card special. This makes me want to make an easel card AND try out her technique. Thanks for asking Debbie how she did it – and for sharing it with us!
Debbie – Amazing work and talent! I’m shaking my head in regards to the astounding creativity.
A really lovely card. So much talent and such good ideas.
Fabulous card! I’m thrilled that those of us not born with the creativity gene have those of you that were to CASE from!
Brian, did she color the acetate before she punched it? Did she glue, glue dot, or snail the leaves down? Did she affix the leaves before she heated them? Details, PLEASE!
The Window Sheets were coloured before cutting with the Framelits.
The “leaves” were then heated, very carefully using tweezers to hold them, with the heat gun until they were curled as desired.
Glue Dots were used to glue all of the leaves in place. 🙂
This is a great way to use up odd “bits and pieces” of Window Sheet from other projects. You could even use them unfurled but coloured in a Shaker Card!
Have fun!!! 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing Debbie’s amazing card Brian.
And Debbie your talent is immense, your creations always inspire me and I am so grateful to have become a Facebook friend!
Thankyou everyone for your very kind and generous comments. I’m so happy that my……and Brian’s……sharing has inspired so many of you to create projects of your own like this. It’s a ton of fun!
Brian,
Thanks so much for sharing Debbie’s work! It was awesome. Debbie, I loved the use of curled acetate leaves on this card. I never would have thought outside the box like this. You have really inspired me. Is that linen thread I also see on the card?
Marcy, the thread is the Burlap Ribbon which I’ve pulled apart to get the individual strands. I was out of Linen thread at the time (I know right! How could I let that happen!). Either of the two threads could be used. I love them both.
Thanks. yes, I can’t seem to do without linen thread either. It’s always on my “grocery” list.