It’s Hip To Be Square!

I love a square card! It’s kind of unexpected, kind of different. Yes, it requires a little more postage if you’re mailing it. But it’s hip to be square!

I played around with a technique that I saw Jennifer McGuire do today. She calls it spotlighting, but it’s different than the spotlighting I’ve done before. I’ll call it the “Stamping Over Technique.” You’ll need a Stamparatus, or other stamp positioning tool, for this technique.

I found the large floral image in Forever Blossoms to work well here. But- it wasn’t quite large enough to make a regular A2-sized card. That’s when I decided to make it a 5″x 5″ square card.

The Stamping Technique

I started with a 4-1/4 x 4-1/4″ piece of Whisper White Cardstock. With my Stamparatus, I stamped it on the left side with Memento ink. Then leaving the stamp in the Stamparatus, I cut four 1/4″ wide strips of gradiant aquas and glued them across the front. Once they were glued down I put my card front back into the Stamparatus and inked up the stamp again. Since I hadn’t moved the stamp, it was positioned perfectly to stamp the floral image over the top of the strips! Cool, don’t you think?

Heat Emboss the Sentiment

This is pretty necessary to make it stand out from the black floral image. I chose white instead of black to have it pop a little more.

Square cards need special envelopes. I made this one with my old Envelope Punch Board. If you don’t have the one that Stampin’ Up! used to sell, I’ve seen similar products for sale through other companies. I also dug through some saved, retired DSP squares and found this cute little one from A Little Foxy. The Coastal Cabana stripe screamed, “Pick me! Pick me!”

My card base is a 10″x 5″ piece of Coastal Cabana, scored and folded at 5″ then embossed with the Subtle Embossing Folder. A skinny layer of Pretty Peacock divides the aqua from the white. A few scattered gem stones or sequins give it a touch of sparkle.

And there you have it! What do you think? It was fun trying a new technique. Hopefully I explained it well enough that you can go try it for yourself.  All of the products that I used are listed below, and they are linked to my online store. I would be delighted to have you as a customer!

I hope you have a great weekend. We are fluctuating between 78 – 103 degrees day by day. Fortunately this weekend will be a little cooler. We have plans to gather (at a distance) with a small group of friends from our church for a picnic in the park. It will be fun to do a little socializing. I certainly am craving in-person connections!

Have a good one, and remember… every single day do something that makes your heart sing*,

Online Ordering Info

I would love to have you as a customer! To order any of the products you see on today’s post, click on any of the pictures below in the Product List. I appreciate all of your orders. To thank you I will send you a card with every order, and I have some free gifts to send you as well!  With a $50 purchase I will send you a package of assorted 4″x 6″(card front size) recently retired DSP with matching ribbons. For $75 I will include a pack of our new Butterfly Gems! These prices reflect retail value and are before adding tax & shipping. For orders up to $150, please use my June Host Code T6ZTXEAZ. With orders over $150, you become your own “host” and can enjoy the benefits of Stampin’ Rewards!

Product List

Forever Blossoms Cling Stamp Set (English) [151457] $23.00	Coastal Cabana 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock [131297] $8.75	Pretty Peacock 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock [150880] $8.75
Bermuda Bay 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock [131197] $8.75	Pool Party 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock [122924] $8.75	Whisper White 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock [100730] $9.75
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] $6.00	Versamark Pad [102283] $9.50	White Stampin’ Emboss Powder [109132] $6.00
Heat Tool (Us And Canada) [129053] $30.00	Subtle Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [143706] $10.00	Stamparatus [146276] $49.00

*Quote from Marcia Wieder