A Moment in Time

A little taste of what's to come...

January 5th. Mark that down on your calendar and check back here to see our brand new release of stamp sets. We will be unveiling two new ones which actually partner together. I have created a little card for you to peek at and see a bit of what's to come.

I absolutely LOVE this new set. I can't get enough of it. It is so versatile for so many projects.

Here I used SU! Carstock in Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette, and chocolate chip. I have also used our new ribbon Icy Pink in taffeta edge satin. I used Kiwi Kiss ink and then lightly "rocked and rolled" into old olive ink from SU! to give a bit of depth to the leaves. The trunk was stamped in Chocolate Chip.

I layered the ovals which were die cut using my Cuttlebug. To create the "lace" look in the Kiwi layer all I did was cut out a scalloped oval and then took my handheld punch and punched an 1/8" circle in every hump of the scallop around the oval. I think it added an elegant touch to the frame.

 

 

 

I sponged a distressing ink in light brown around the edges of all the pieces to make them look a little warmer.

The leaves are a separate stamp from the trunk to give you maximum versatility.

I then added a bit of glitter to the leaves and the darling little bird on the sentiment to add a little shimmer and there you have it! A perfect thank you card for just the right occasion. I will be giving this one to my brother and sister-in-law who will be letting us stay with them over the New Year's celebration in my hometown. My parents throw a party every year at their lake property where we skate on the lake with a bonfire and hot chocolate. Oh how I love family tradition, and with a family as big as mine it sure is party (I have 5 brothers and sisters all with kids and spouses alone.. not including cousins and aunts etc!!). Should be a ton of fun, I hope to get some great pics to share with you! Cheers everyone and Happy New Year! See you on the 5th!

New Ribbon Arrivals!

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a fantastic holiday season as I am. This time of year really makes me realize how blessed I am to have such a wonderful (and extensive!) family.  This month has just FLOWN by, I can't believe we're about to enter 2009!!  Well, my new ribbon finally arrived and I had a chance to photograph it all and put it up on the store site. I know you will just LOVE all of the new colors as I do, I even have a new favorite!!! Without further ado here they are:

Red - To complete the range of colors in the repetoire

Sherry- For a little richer color

Wine- In between a burgundy and a sherry

Rust- Wonderful for all of your fall or masculine projects

Dijon- My new favorite color and must have for 2009!

Kiwi -to add a little punch to your projects

Jade- such a trendy color and looks FABULOUS with chocolate brown    

Tropic- a beautiful color as rich in person as it looks on screen

Light Navy- a color range which was previously missing in our collection

Bluebell- a softer ribbon for any baby projects

Icy Pink- a beautiful neutral ribbon with a hint of color

Raw Silk- the new neutral

We will now also be carrying a 1/4" white grosgrain ribbon to compliment our wider white grograin whe have.

Don't you just love the way that ribbon rainbow looks!!  Check out all of our other ribbon as well and see how they coordinate!  Now, because all of these colors look fabulous online (they look and feel just as fabulous in person) and you may be unsure of which ones you would like to purchase, I have added a few more options to our checkout at the store. I have added the option of sample yards of ribbon! This is exciting because now you don't have to commit to a WHOLE 10 yard roll of ribbon! How many companies offer that!? We are offering

•  1 (one) yard samples at $0.75 each,
• 10 (ten) yard custom mixed samples (any 10 colors/styles of your choice in a mixed bag) for $6,
•  20 yard custom samples for $10, or
• 20 yards of a random sampling of our top chosen colors and styles randomly picked by us! $10

Just add these items to your shopping cart and check out as usual.  After checking out,  if you have chosen a custom selection, send an email to orders@renaissancebydesign.com and specify your custom color and style choices and we will fill your order. If we do not receive your choices we will contact you via email.

What better way to try out all RBD has to offer in ribbon!? Now, as you know we will be releasing new stamp sets on January 5th as well... let's just say that there may or may not be a ribbon promotion going on simultaneously :) *hint hint* stay tuned, later today I will show you a little taste of the new stamp sets to be released on the 5th. I KNOW you'll "grow" to love them as much as I already do! Cheers!

Soot stamping and Sepia

Hello all! I know you are expecting to see new ribbon released but it has been held up by customs due to the Christmas rush! I have been told by next week for sure though, perhaps a Christmas present for me!! I promise as SOON as I get it and get it photographed you will be the first to know! There are some GREAT colors and I can't wait to show them to you!  Also a quick mention, our January Stamp release will be unveiled on the morning of the 5th due to all the festive celebrating! I hope to get some projects posted to give you an idea of what's to come!

Now today, I've used an old technique which I absolutely LOVE but rarely find the right place to use it. I'm talking about soot stamping. If you've never heard of it basically what it is is when you take a bit of glossy cardstock and hold it over a candle flame (the cheaper candles work better because they are sootier) so that the flame "licks" the cardstock. You must move quickly though so as not to catch fire (the edges are particularly prone to this), I would also recommend doing this by a sink or water source in case you have to drop it etc.  Then you take your stamp, I find clear stamps work better than rubber for this, and stamp off the soot left by the flame. The result looks like this. I like the way the accidental scrathches on the paper make it look more antiqued. You now need to take an acrylic spray sealer such as Krylon to ensure that the soot gets protected on the page. Let this dry and then you can cut it to size of your project.

I love to pair this technique with sepia photographs because I think it really compliments the neutral color tones.  Here is a card I made using pictures of my boys taken for our holiday family portraits.

 

 

 

 

 

The inside has a bit of the soot stamping on the left hand panel with the sentiment stamped in Noir Palette ink.

 

 

 

 

This is a great technique which is very versatile. You can also ink the cardstock before sooting by using a brayer or sponge and dye ink. Then when you stamp off you see the color through the soot. A great compliment to black and white or sepia photographs!

 

Supplies:

Glossy cardstock such as SU!
An inexpensive candle
Stamps: Snowflake Season, RBD
Carstock: Kraft, Black
Ink: Noir Palette

Oh my where does the time go!?

I thought I would drop in today, mostly to apologize for my lack of posting!  After 4 years of doing it you would think I would have worked out SOME sort of schedule!! ;) 

Well it's been a busy busy month already, and we're only a third into it!  My birthday was last week on Friday so we had a family weekend away. We also went to the the local zoo and took in their light display, just beautiful! The whole time I couldn't help but think about how much work it would be to take them all DOWN!!! I guess anyone looking at over a million lights thinks about it! At any rate, there was hay to play in, mazes, slides to slide down, campfire pits, carollers and hot cocoa. Oh and of course the fabulous light display!! Really brought me right up to speed with the holiday spirit!

I don't have a post as far as a craft today, I will do one later this week though! If you'd like to see some things and haven't checked out Amber's blog lately you should hop on over. She made some gorgeous cards with the Benevolent Butterflies set.

 

Also some great news.. most of our punches are back in stock this week!

New products for RBD

Hello all, hope you had a great weekend. As you know my husband is half American so we did a bit of Thanksgiving celebrating over the weekend... well it mostly included watching a TON of football! Okay, he watched, I dozed!

It is the first of the month and we have some new products in stock!

One is our super cute milk cartons. We have them in 1/2pint and pint sizes. These can be used for packaging, mailing, or cute projects like birdhouses! Note* these cartons don't actually hold liquid.
They are great for homemade bathsalts or candies!

 

 

 

We also have sliding mint tins in silver and white finishes. These are great to dress up as wedding favors or just a special gift. You can also use them to store small things such as eyelets or brads.

 

We will be receiving 12 new ribbon colors on the 15th so make sure to check back and see those!

If you haven't seen Amber's Blog make sure to go check her out and see the beautiful set she put together using some beautiful techniques with the test tubes.