Merry Christmas Cardinals

The August challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown is to make a fractured card. Usually (at least from what I can tell), the strips on this card design are solid cardstock with patterned paper in the background. I wanted to do things a little differently, so I pulled out some old-ish cardinal washi tape that I got a few years ago at Paper Source. Because it's translucent & I wanted it to stand out a bit, I adhered lengths of the washi to a couple of scraps of white cardstock & trimmed the cardstock to the same width as the tape.

 

 

 

At first I was thinking of using solid cardstock for my background, & maybe having each section be a different color. I also considered using an embossing folder to add texture. Because the washi tape is about 9/16" wide, I needed a larger card to implement my idea. So I went with a 5x7" card. This ruled out a lot of my smaller (~A2 size) embossing folders. And the multi-color approach just seemed a bit too fussy. So I decided to stamp a subtle background with the "Holly's Snowflakes" set from Mama Elephant (discontinued). (I just couldn't leave the background too plain! 😆)The grey branches against the white background in the washi design inspired me to stamp with white pigment ink onto a light grey cardstock, for kind of a reverse effect. The white ink kept the stamping subtle while still adding a little interest.

 

For the focal image, I chose the single cardinal from Hero Arts' "Holiday Cardinal" stamp set. I stamped it on a scrap of Strathmore smooth bristol paper with Versafine Clair Nocturne ink & heat embossed with clear powder. Originally, I die cut that with a Waffle Flower "Additional Squares" die & painted the bird with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers. However, I couldn't come up with anything for the bird to stand on, & I didn't want him just "floating" on a white background. So I thought of having him stand on a greeting strip. But short of cutting around just his feet with a craft knife & slipping a strip into that slit, I couldn't figure out how to accomplish that. So I ended up die cutting him with the coordinating die so I could easily tuck the strip underneath his feet.

 

I stamped the greeting, also from "Holiday Cardinal," onto a scrap of white cardstock, & cut it into a banner. I glued that onto another layer of cardstock, to make it a little sturdier, then cut around it.

 

I die cut another square for my diamond from a scrap of blue parchment paper. I adhered that to my card front, centered side-to-side but a little up from the horizontal center of the card. I adhered my washi tape strips around the diamond, cutting the ends around the edges as I went. Finally, I glued down my greeting strip & glued the bird "standing" on top of that. Even with the journey this card became, I am in love with the final result! I'm sure the recipient will love it as well.

 

I'm also entering my card in the following challenges:

 

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Stamp It"

613 Avenue Create's August Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the optional twist)

Critter Crazy Challenge #114: "Anything Goes with a Featured Critter"

Allsorts Challenge #857: "All Creatures Great & Small"

The Paper Funday Challenge #91: "Anything Goes" (not playing the optional twist) 

Around the World

 

The optional topping for Seize the Birthday's Challenge #331 is to make a square card with a non-white base. I needed a card for my brother's 50th birthday, & found the perfect graphic that works with a square format. He is a pilot & also loves to travel, so it seemed serendipitous when I found the image of a plane going around a globe. Jules Verne's novel, "Around the World in 80 Days," inspired the first part of the greeting.

 

 

 

I had to google how many days my brother has actually been alive. What did we ever do before online search engines???

 

I opened the main image, from Magnific.com, in Photoshop. The globe in the image didn't work with my vision, so I found another one at PNGFind.com of a globe where the landmasses were outlined instead of silhouetted. I selected the globe in the main image & deleted it, then moved the outline globe & positioned it where the original globe had been. I created a circle path to type the greeting on, & then entered the text. The bottom part of the greeting was a bit difficult, as I had forgotten how to reverse the text so it curved up like I wanted, but I eventually figured it out. I also reduced the opacity of the globe itself, so I wouldn't have black outlines when I colored. Since wax-based colored pencils kind of - but don't totally - obscure outlines on an image, I just didn't want to fight with that. Finally I printed my panel onto a piece of Strathmore Colored Pencil paper.

 

I colored the globe with my Prismacolor colored pencils. In traditional globe-coloring fashion, I colored the landmasses green & the water blue. But I decided to do Antartica & the North Pole area with a very pale blue. I mean, ice isn't green, is it? 😉 

 

I created my card base from a pale grey cardstock. I trimmed my main panel 1/4" shorter & narrower than my card base. I adhered that to a piece of teal cardstock & cut the mat so it was 1/16" larger on all sides. I did the same with a green mat, then adhered that to my card base. And that finished my card. The hardest parts were formatting the lower text to curve properly & keeping track of what was land & what was water when I was coloring. Not that the latter was hard, per se, but I did have to stay focused. I absolutely LOVE how this card turned out, & am happy to report that my brother loved it, too!

 

I'm also entering my card in Little Red Wagon's "One Thing" challenge. (I used one composite image.) 

Floral Happy Birthday

This is my second - & (sadly) final - guest design post for the Double Trouble Challenge blog. Before I go on, I really want to thank them for inviting me to do this. It's been a blast! They celebrate their 8th anniversary on May 25th with a raffle challenge. You can create a project (or more than one!) in any of the following four categories:

• Anniversary or Wedding (yellow ticket)
• Father's Day or Masculine (blue ticket)
• Birthday (pink ticket)
• Graduation (green ticket)

So pick your ticket color & go to town!

 

Obviously, I went with the Birthday/pink ticket option for my card. May 25th is also National Brown Bag It Day, so Thing 3's optional twist for this challenge is to use Kraft or Kraft-like elements on your project. I have not done pencil coloring on kraft cardstock for a hot minute, so I decided to do that for my card. And of course, I used the sketch from Double Trouble's sister challenge, Try a Sketch on Tuesday's Challenge #696 for my design. ***Keep in mind, if you want to enter TSOT's challenge, that does not start until May 26th. So while Thing 2 gives you a preview of the sketch, do not post or publish your project before Tuesday, so you don't risk backlinking. 

When I saw the sketch, I immediately thought of four (discontinued) digital images from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps (now Creative Worship) in my collection: "Magnolia Block," "Lily Block," "Daffodil Block," & "Tulip Block." I thought they would go perfectly with the grid design in the sketch. So I began my creative process in Photoshop by creating a file with a 4 x 5-1/4" blank canvas. I brought the images in one at a time so each was on its own layer to make positioning them on the canvas easier. I had to adjust the proportions slightly on a couple of them, because they were ever-so-slightly rectangular rather than perfect squares, but thankfully it worked out in the end. Finally, I printed my design onto a panel of kraft cardstock.

 

I colored the tulip first. I had a picture in my mind of a pink tulip with streaks of darker pink coming up from the bottom of the petals. Because I was coloring on a darker cardstock, I did a base layer of a very pale pink over each petal first, adding a pale green for the stem. This allowed the darker colors on subsequent layers to show up better & more true on the kraft cardstock. I have seen this done using a white pencil, but thankfully the pink & green pencils I had were light enough to accomplish the same task. I made sure to maintain a light pressure - enough to get color on the cardstock but not enough to fill in the tooth of the paper too quickly. Once I had established my base layer on a petal, I went on with darker pinks. (I used a darker green to shade the stem.) I basically worked one petal at a time so I wouldn't get "lost," as the pencil colors pretty much obscured the printed image lines. I was tickled pink (pun intended) when I finished, as it looks exactly like I had envisioned it!

 

I went on & colored the lily, magnolia, & daffodil in the same manner. When I finished the daffodil, I felt it looked rather "mushy" (for lack of a better word). I had used a dull pinkish-purple (Prismacolor Clay Rose) for the shading, which has usually worked for me, since it's basically the complement of yellow. I guess because this was on kraft rather than white, though, I didn't get the contrast I wanted with that color. So I tested out some other colors for shading the yellow (I made swatches on the back of my cardstock), & landed on Dark Umber. Brown had never occurred to me before, but dang if it didn't work better than the purple! 😃 After I had colored all the flowers, I chose 2 light blue pencils for the background in each square. I basically colored a wide soft-edged "outline" around each flower with the darker pencil, & then blended that out with the lighter blue. Finally, to re-establish the outline of each square, I went over them with a 70% Warm Grey Prismacolor pencil, using a ruler to guide the pencil.

 

To mat my panel, I chose a pale blue cardstock that I felt went well with the blue background color in each square. Before I added it to my white A2-size card base, I stamped my greeting (from Dare 2B Artzy's "Simply Birthday" set) in the middle of the panel. I tried it first with Versafine Clair Morning Mist pigment ink, but for some reason the cardstock just didn't like that ink. So I cleaned the stamp, repositioned it on my cardstock (still away from the edges), & tried stamping with Weathered Wood Distress Oxide ink. That was too light, so I went over it with Black Soot Distress Oxide ink. Thank heavens for the MISTI stamp positioning tool! Finally, I trimmed the greeting strip out with my craft knife & a metal ruler, & glued that to my kraft panel. (My main panel covered the "hole" from where I had cut the greeting strip, so no one but you & I will ever know.) I adhered my blue mat & kraft panel to my card base, & that wrapped up this project! I am sooooo happy with how this came out, & probably shouldn't wait as long to color on kraft again.

 

I'm also entering this card in Try Stamping On Tuesday's Challenge #696. 

Masculine Happy Birthday

 

I am so excited to be the Crazy Cousin guest designer for the Double Trouble Challenges this month! Challenge #216 runs from May 11-24. "It's a Wheelie Cool Day" for this challenge, where you need to use 3 layers (card base does not count), 2 shapes, & 1 image. While you're certainly free to do more than that, those are the minimum requirements to play. And of course, there is always the optional sketch challenge starting tomorrow at Try a Sketch on Tuesday. (Please keep in mind, the TSOT challenge doesn't start until May 12, so if you want to enter there, you cannot post, publish, or enter your project online before then!)

I created this card for a friend's birthday. Thing 3's optional twist for Double Trouble is to use something with at least one wheel, cam, and/or gear. While I have images like trucks, a scooter, & even gear dies, I decided to think a little "outside the box" & used Doodle Pantry's "Watermill" digital image (discontinued), which features a millwheel. I thought this would make a good masculine card.

 

After sizing the image in Photoshop, I printed it onto a piece of Canson XL watercolor paper with my laser printer. I then painted the scene with my watercolors. That was a bit of a challenge to get it to look right, but I think I prevailed. For the finer details, like the fence, millwheel framing, & the supports under the projecting part of the building, I used a few of my Prismacolor colored pencils. These were really tiny elements, & it was just easier to get in with a sharp pencil than a paintbrush.

 

Once the painting was done & dry, I die cut it with a "Nesting Oval Infinity" die from Hero Arts. Since I wanted a narrower mat than I would have gotten by cutting with the next larger die, I had to get a bit creative. As an extra personal challenge to save on cardstock, I first cut out all but a 3/8" border from a navy A2 panel. I traced the outer edge of the oval die onto the piece I'd cut out. Since I knew I wanted to do the same for the greeting, before I cut the large mat out, I went ahead & traced around the smaller die in the middle of the larger oval outline. To make accessing the smaller oval easier for cutting, I cut a rectangle around that outline with my craft knife & a metal ruler. Finally, I used scissors to cut out each oval. The parts I gutted from the two larger mats are covered, so no one would know they're "hollow." Even better, I got 3 mats out of one A2-size panel - score!

 

I stamped the greeting in Scorched Timber Distress Oxide ink onto a scrap of light blue cardstock & die cut it with a Waffle Flower "Nesting Ovals" die. Then I glued that & the image oval to their mats. I embossed a panel of kraft cardstock with Honey Bee's "Wood Planks 3D" embossing folder, trimmed it to 3-3/4 x 5", and adhered my image & greeting ovals to that. I cut off the overhanging bit of the greeting oval, then adhered my panel to the navy mat/border that I'd adhered to a white A2 card base. I cut 3 banners from patterned paper scraps in my stash, & glued just the top portion of each to the card front, so the ends are free.

 

I really love how this card came out! Filling all the challenge requirements was, well, a challenge, but it was so worth it in the end. I'll see y'all again in a couple of weeks for my next guest design post, if not sooner! 

 

 

 

 I'm also playing along in Try a Sketch on Tuesday's Challenge #695. 

He is Risen

I created this card for my mom to send to a priest at her church. Of course she wanted a religious-themed Easter card. I didn't have much in the way of religious Easter image or greeting stamps, so I purchased Trinity Stamps' "Simply Sentimental: Easter" stamp set & coordinating dies. While it's not a completely religious set, it does have words & phrases that are not necessarily cutesy in font style or context. I got the greeting for this card from that set.

 

My inspiration came from this card I saw on Pinterest. While it's not an Easter card, I liked the cross on a label-style background with an element in the middle of the cross. So I ran with that.

 

I die cut the strips for the cross from dark brown cardstock with one of the "Barn Wood Planks" dies from Honey Bee Stamps. Because I needed them to be narrower & shorter than the original die cut, I first glued the die cuts to another scrap of cardstock, then cut them with scissors to the sizes I needed. Because these dies cut deeply-debossed details into the cardstock, I had learned that if you want to trim them down at all, you have to adhere them to a solid backing piece first so they don't fall apart.

 

I used a Spellbinders "Labels Four" die (discontinued) for the panel to put the cross on. I die cut that from white cardstock, & inked the edges with blue ink to help it stand out a little. I glued the cross pieces in place, making sure they were centered & parallel to the sides and the top & bottom as needed.

 

For the single dogwood flower, I opened the "Dogwood Branch" digi image from Fred, She Said in Photoshop. I used the eraser tool combined with the marquee tool to erase the rest of the image, then sized the flower & printed it onto a scrap of Strathmore vellum bristol paper. I added shading & details with my Prismacolor colored pencils, then fussy cut the flower. I glued it where the cross pieces overlap.

I die cut the elements for the greeting banner from the "Banners & Tails" set (discontinued) from Impression Obsession. After inking them lightly with the same blue ink I'd used on the label, I stamped the greeting with Ground Espresso Distress Oxide ink onto the banner.

 

I had created my background during Juliana Michaels' "Stretch Your Stamps" online class several weeks ago. It's been sitting on my desk since then. I decided it would be perfect for this card, since it has kind of a masculine (or at least gender-neutral) look and wouldn't overwhelm the focal panel. I trimmed it down to 4x5-1/4", inked the edges, and adhered it to a white A2-size card base. I adhered my focal panel to that, & then added my greeting banner over the cross. I used a few pieces of scrap heavyweight cardstock behind the main part of the banner to pop it up, which also helped offset the slight thickness of the cross underneath it. I really love how this card came out!

 

I'm entering this card in Little Red Wagon's Challenge #853: "Easter Projects."

Have a Joyful Christmas

This week's challenge theme at Christmas Card Throwdown is "Slimline Card." I don't normally do slimline cards, but I decided to have a go at it for this challenge.

 

 

 

I went with a portrait slimline card, so I cut a piece of 110 lb. white cardstock to 8-1/2x7", then scored at 3-1/2" along the shorter side & folded that in half to create my card base. I cut a piece of Strathmore smooth bristol paper to 3-1/4x8-1/4", so I would have a narrow border on all sides of my panel once I put it on my card.

 

I stamped 5 of the images from Hero Arts' "Christmas Crystals" set (discontinued) onto my bristol panel, making sure to get them perfectly vertical. While this card is not exactly what I'd call clean & simple, I do consider it minimalist, so having my images lined up just right was important for me. I heat embossed the crystals with Wow White Pearl embossing powder. Because 2 of the crystals overlapped 2 others, I first heat embossed the larger ones, let that cool, then placed the panel back into my MISTI. I positioned the other crystals, stamped them with clear embossing ink, & heat embossed them. I think it actually worked quite well in the end! 😊

 

After I had heat embossed all my crystals, I used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens to color them. I used just one color per crystal to keep things simple. I outlined a section with my pen, then used a wet paintbrush to spread the color towards the middle of that section. I did that one section at a time so the ink would still move freely. (I have found that if you let the ink sit long enough - even on bristol paper - it will set & won't move as easily.) For the crystals that overlapped, I made sure to use colors that wouldn't create mud. I applied the lighter color first (yellow & pink), & then painted in the darker color. I love how it looks like one crystal is shining through the other where they overlap - just as I had planned!

 

When I finished adding color to all the crystals, I had to figure out a greeting. After much playing around and hemming & hawing, I decided to use the "Joyful and Merry" stamp set & coordinating die set by Kristina Werner for Concord & 9th.

 

First, I die cut the Joyful from a scrap of bristol paper. I taped the word back into the negative space for support, & used my yellow & green brush pens to create a gradient of color over the word. Once the ink had dried, I removed the word from the negative & ran it through my Xyron machine to apply adhesive to the back. (Even after the ink dries, liquid glue can reactivate it, so I definitely wanted to stick to dry adhesive for this card!) For the supporting greeting strips, I heat embossed the words onto another bristol scrap, die cut them with a "Sentiment Strips" die from Pretty Pink Posh, and colored each strip with my purple brush pen.

 

I lightly tacked down the Joyful die cut to my panel, just to hold it in place while I worked. I positioned the upper greeting strip, & marked the edge of the "f" on the strip where it crossed. I cut that contour with my scissors, & adhered the strip with double-sided tape, tucking the cut end under the "f." There was a little hanging off the left side of the panel, so I just cut that off with my scissors. I repeated the process with the other greeting strip, curving the left end along the descender of the "y."

 

For the hangers on the crystals, I poked a small hole at the top of each one. I threaded a length of fine silver thread through each hole, wrapped it around the top of the panel, & taped both ends on the back.

I decided to double-mat my panel with silver foil & Midnight Navy cardstocks, both from Recollections. I first adhered my panel to the silver, and used one of my Perfect Paper Layers rulers (discontinued) with a craft knife to cut around the panel. This allowed me to get a perfect 1/16" mat. I cut my navy panel to 3-1/2x8-1/2" and adhered it directly to my card base. I added the matted panel, & that finished this card.

 

I had considered adding Glossy Accents or clear embossing powder over the crystals for extra shine. But I was afraid it might ruin the shading & highlights I had worked so hard to get by making the ink on each crystal a solid muddle of color. So I decided to quite while I was still ahead. 😉

 

I'm also entering my card in the following challenges: 

• Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge: "Emboss It"
• The Paper Funday Challenge #86: "Anything Goes" (I am playing the optional "Die Cuts and/or Punches" twist)
• Creative Knockouts Challenge #568: "Embossing Delight"

Happy Birthday

 

The current challenge at Seize the Birthday is, as always, "Anything Goes" (as long as it's a birthday card). But the optional topping this time is using green as the main color. I must admit, it was a bit of a struggle for me for some unknown reason. But I pulled out some of my green Distress inks & went to town! I think I came up with a pretty cool birthday card, if I do say so myself (& I believe I just did say so! 😁). 

 

For the postage stamps, I pulled out an older set, "First Class" from the Essentials by Ellen line (discontinued). Even though I have had this set since before Ellen Hutson closed their online store (maybe a few years ago), I have never used it. I came across it (again!) in my bin of unused products & decided I finally had to do something with it. So I pulled out several of the stamps & heat embossed them with Ranger Silver Super Fine Detail embossing powder onto a large scrap of Canson XL watercolor paper.

 

I used painter's tape to mask off the outer part of each stamp, & ink blended the inside portions. Like I said, I used some of my green Distress inks for most of the stamps - in keeping with the challenge topping - but also pulled in Shaded Lilac & Salvaged Patina for accent colors. On the 2 stamps with flowers, after I had ink blended, I used a wet paintbrush to "paint" over the blossoms with clean water, then picked up the water & ink with a dry cloth. This bleached the color slightly for a subtle two-tone effect. (I learned this technique in Juliana Michaels' recent "Stretch Your Stamps" class.) Finally I cut my postage stamps out with scissors, leaving a 1/16" border around each.

 

I used the largest of the "Scallop Rectangles" die set from Pink & Main for the mat. I cut it from mint green cardstock & ink blended from the bottom to about 2/3 of the way up with Cracked Pistachio Distress ink to give a subtle ombre look.

 

Then I positioned my stamp images onto the panel. This was actually probably the most time-consuming part - just trying to make everything fit AND look like a balanced composition. I finally got an arrangement I liked. There was a large-ish gap under the top floral postage stamp, though, so I decided to cut some small banners from patterned paper scraps to come out from under that stamp to fill the space. Once I had those tacked down to the back of that stamp, I glued all my postage stamps to the mat panel with liquid glue. In hindsight, I wish I had glued the purple stamp sideways, just to echo the top left stamp, but I didn't think of that until after the glue had dried, so it is what it is. I don't hate it, but I just think it would have looked even better.

 

After the glue had dried on all of my stamps, I added my scalloped panel to a green cardstock mat that I'd adhered to a white landscape A2 card base. I'm sending this card to Kristina Werner for the March Mail Call video next month, where the theme is ink blending.

 

I'm also entering my card in the following challenges:

 

• 613 Avenue Create: "Anything Goes" (not playing the optional twist)
• The Paper Funday Challenge #85: "Anything Goes" (not playing the optional twist)
• Inkspirational Challenge #363: "Visual Prompt" (used multiple shades of green, botanical touches, & repeating shapes)