Thursday, June 18, 2026

Summerween card by Cathy N

 Good morning, Cathy here with a Summerween card for you.


                                                                     Stamps Used:

                                                                   Witch sisters

                                                                       31

* Make the background with orange distress stain and distress oxide inks. 

* Splatter pink distress oxide around the card base.


* Stamp Witch sisters in the center at an angle. 

* Cut out a film strip die cut and color it with brown distress oxide. Glue on card so the Witch sisters are in the middle of the die cut.

* Stamp   31 around the card and add some Halloween ephemera and thread,


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Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Paper Piecing Technique

 

Hello! Welcome back to the BPM blog. For today's project, I did a Paper Piecing technique. This is a very easy technique in which you add color to a stamped image using colored paper. You can do this technique with minimal supplies including your scraps. You just need a bit (or maybe a lot) of patience because it involves some fussy cutting.

The stamps I used on this card are:


  1. I chose the papers that I will use for paper piecing. I will be paper piecing the fairy's dress.
  2. I inked the stamp using a black pigment ink. I only inked the areas I will be using for the paper piecing.
  3. I stamped the inked image on the colored paper doing my best for the right placement.
  4. I heat set the inked impression to dry the ink using a heat gun before cutting.
  5. I fussy cut the image. I try to cut on the line or as close to the line as I can get.
  6. The hardest one to fussy cut is the edge of the skirt. I stamped the skirt four times so I can layer it on top of each other for dimension.
  7. I used a stamping tool to stamp the fairy on white cardstock.
  8. I inked the fairy with a blank pigment ink.  

 

 

  1. I used Staedler color pencils to for the coloring. Although I have other brands of color pencils, I challenged myself to use this coloring set on this project. 
  2. I blended the colors for the skin, using a light brown and light yellow. There is no skin tone color on the set. 
  3. To create some depth, I colored heavily on areas I think have shadows, and lightly on areas that are lighted well. 
  4. I blend the colors, going back and forth to create a smooth transition between the colors.
  5. If I want an area to be really light in color, I color this area with a white color pencil first before adding the color.
  6. Sometimes, the color pencil leaves some powder on the paper. I brush this off before proceeding to the next color to prevent color contamination.
  7. On small areas like the ballet shoes, I started coloring a small area with the dark shade the transitioning to the next lighter shade.
  8. I colored the edges of the skirt with red, the same color of the patterned paper. Although the skirt will be covered with the patterned paper, coloring the edges will allow me to offset the cut up skirt and still maintain the red color of the skirt.
 

  1. I added shading to the cut up patterned paper skirt using a red alcohol marker. I also colored the edges to hide the white core of the paper.
  2. I used a gold gel pen to color the trim of the dress top.
  3. I adhered the cut up papers. 
  4. I spritz the cut up colored paper with shimmer water.
  5. I cut the colored fairy.
  6. I adhered double adhesive tape to the back
  7. I removed the backing paper with a craft knife.
  8. I adhered this to another white cardstock to make the image sturdy since a part of this image will be upright. This step is for stamps without a coordinating die. Adhering the cardstock together before fussy cutting ensures that the cut ups will be identical.
  9. I fussy cut the image leaving a small white border around it.


  1. In fussy cutting, I usually keep the scissors still and move the paper around.
  2. I added shimmer to the wings which I colored with metallic gold and silver color pencils from another color pencil set.
  3. I adhered the patterned paper layers to the main image making sure that the top portion of the dress is lined up. I use tweezers to hold the small cut ups as I applied liquid glue to it. I only applied glue to the top portion of the skirt since I will zhush this later on.
  4. Working on the card, I inked the sentiment stamp with Versamark ink.
  5. I cut sliver off the space between the sentiment to make the words closer. I attached the words together with a piece of tape. 
  6. I stamped the inked sentiment to the cardbase which I prepped with an anti-static powder tool first.
  7. I poured pastel pink embossing powder to the sticky ink.
  8. After I heated my heat gun, I melt the embossing powder by heating the back of the card panel first.
  9. Once I noticed some melting, I move the gun to the front of the card base to finish off.


The steps on creating the card base is detailed on my blog. I decided to omit it here since the focus of this post is on paper piecing. I also don't want to bore you since this has is already a very long post.

I applied glue only on the area that will be adhered to the bottom portion of the fold on the card front.


Once I was happy with the placement and ready to commit, I adhered the fairy to the card front. I added transparent dimensional tape to the edges of the skirt to keep it up.


I added gems to the intricate paper for more sparkle.


This is how the card looks when the slider front is pulled open.

I hope you like today's project. 


Please visit my blog for the slider card mechanism step-by-step tutorial and for a short video showing this card live in action. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.
of Maria Giselle's Creative Cuts 

Blank Page Muse is having a FLASH SALE! 10 HOT red rubber stamps are featured for sale with an amazing 50% discount. What a deal, right? 

If there is nothing on the sale category that interests you, BPM is generously offering a 15% discount to their online store. Just use the code BPMMaria when you check out.

Only 1 code per transaction please. Enjoy!













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Monday, June 15, 2026

Three square by Cathy N

 Good morning, Cathy here with a square card for you today. 


                                                                  Stencil Used:

                                                          Bedazzled diamonds

                                                                  Stamped Used:

                                                        Three men ATC

                                                        Sailor Jacks 1

                                                        Ornate metalwork


* Color the background with tea dye distress ink. Use stencil and the same color distress ink and cover the background.


* Stamp around the edge. Use the same ink for the metalwork and a darker distress ink for the  Sailor Jacks 1.


* Stamp The ATC main image on Kraft cardstock and cut out. Glue to the middle of card.

* Add some handmade vintage cello tape. Also, some ephemera and some twine to the card.


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Thursday, June 11, 2026

Ink Lifted Butterflies-Lori

Hello, crafty friends! It's almost summer and butterflies are starting to show up here in South Carolina. Today, I'm using a fun technique to create this beautiful butterfly card. I love the cool blue and purple colors for a tranquil setting for my butterflies.

Since I'm going to begin to using alcohol inks, I began with Yupo paper. Yupo paper is a synthetic paper made from 100% polypropylene. It's entirely non-absorbent.

Here is the result after using two colors of alcohol inks from my stash. You can put down several colors or one color at a time. Here, I put down the purple, added rubbing alcohol, then used a blower made for this technique until the ink dried. Being made with alcohol, it dries quickly. After the purple, I added the blue. This panel alone could be used on a card, but I wanted to step it up.

I used alcohol lift-in from my stash to remove a butterfly from the alcohol inked panel. You can see the outline here. I used the large butterfly stamp from the Heart Of Natue Butterflies and Bees Stamp Set. 

I stamped off the ink that lifted off the alcohol ink panel onto a piece of paper. I love this stamp! It is so intricate and cheerful! See how the two colors flow seamlessly?

I repeated the process several times. As you can see, each butterfly is unique. To achieve this, I cleaned the stamp, reapplied the Alcohol Lift-Ink, and chose another area to stamp on. I turned the stamp when stamping off, as well as going off the edge of the paper, to give the piece the illusion of movement.

I took a piece of black cardstock, stamped my sentiment, You Light Up My Life! in white pigment ink from my stash, then heat embossed with white embossing powder. I used a sentiment banner from my stash to cut it out, then trimmed one edge.

Panel after die-cutting the panel with a scalloped edge rectangle die and adding the sentiment. I used black and white for the sentiment because it really pops. 

I took an A2 size panel of purple cardstock and embossed it with a dot embossing folder. This adds interest to the background without being too busy or distracting from the butterflies.

Final card. I like how this could be given to someone special for several occasions! The dots and scallops add interest, but the real star of the show is the stamped off butterflies. I kept the negative panel to use on another card.





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Monday, June 8, 2026

Acrylic & Stencils on Art Journal



Hello! Welcome back to the BPM blog. I have an art journal page for today's post. I repurposed an old, unused planner into an art journal. This is a where I can experiment with my craft supplies and just be playful.

I used the following Blank Page Muse Products on this page:

I stamped the collage stamp on a lightweight paper using a brown dye ink. I adhered the rubber stamp to the stamp positioner using a washable glue stick.


I pressed the inked stamp to the paper. The great thing about using a stamp positioner is that I can re-ink and re-stamp the images if I I did not get a good initial stamped impression. 


I cut the stamped postoids separately so I can create a frame on my art journal. 


I positioned the postoids on my page, making sure that there are no alike postoids next to each other.


I adhered the postoids to the journal page.


After I adhered all the postoids, I created a window on this page using a craft knife. I placed a small glass cutting board underneath this page so as not to cut the next page. I cut an x on this page.


From the x cut, I created the window using a pair of scissors and using the postoids as a guide.


My postoid frame came out shorter than the journal page. I trimmed off the excess. On hindsight, I should have started adhering the middle postoids to evenly distribute the postoids on the page length.


I used the craft knife to smoothen out the inner edges of the frame.


Now, I have a window opening. Time to work on the next page.


I die cut a white lightweight cardstock using a postage die. I want to keep the postage edges white so I masked the edges with an artist's tape. To lessen the stickiness of this tape, I adhered it to my skin and pulled it off several times. You can also do this on a piece of cloth like your shirt or pants if you don't want to do it on your skin. 


I adhered the tape on the postage edges using the stitched lines created by the die as a guide.


I positioned the stencil over the white postage die cut. I used a sticky mat which keeps the stencil in place. You can use tape and/or a temporary adhesive spray for this purpose if you don't have a sticky mat.


I colored the openings of the stencil using acrylic markers. 


Acrylic markers are more opaque. The beauty of it is you can color on top of another color without altering the original color. This property of this marker makes blending a bit of a challenge.


I colored the center of the sunflower with a brown acrylic marker.


I used black for highlight since I have limited colors of acrylic markers. It worked though.


I colored the stem with a green acrylic marker. I did not like the first green marker I used. I colored over the green ink that I did not like.


I continued coloring until all the openings of the stencil was colored. 


I actually love how the strokes of the marker added texture to the flower.


Moving on with the project, I traced the window of the first page on the next art journal page.


Using these pencil lines as a guide, I adhered a yellow washi tape to frame the postage die cut and also add a pop of yellow to the page when viewing it from the window.


I hope you like today's project. 


Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.
of Maria Giselle's Creative Cuts 

Blank Page Muse is having a FLASH SALE! 10 HOT red rubber stamps are featured for sale with an amazing 50% discount. What a deal, right? 

But if there is nothing on the sale category that interests you, BPM is generously offering a 15% discount to their online store. Just use the code BPMMaria when you check out.

Only 1 code per transaction please. Enjoy!















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