Best Dad Ever!

Even though the Father's Day deadline for Operation Write Home is today (meaning, cards must have been sent in already), I figure they always have a use for general "dad" cards. So I decided to make this one.

I wanted to make my main panel look like burned leather. (Decoratively burned, that is!) I began by cutting a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper to 4x5.25". After taping it to my cutting board, I wet the middle area with clean water. I smooshed some Distress inks in Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, & Gathered Twigs onto an acrylic block, then used my wet paintbrush to pick up each color, one at a time. I daubed the color into the wet area, letting the water blend the colors (with some help from my brush, of course). When it looked like I wanted it, I dried it with my heat tool. Then I took Hero Arts' "Tweed Pattern" stencil, and taped it down over the panel. I blended some more Gathered Twigs through the stencil, concentrating it more in the center, and letting it fade out at the edges. After removing the panel from my cutting board, I blended some more Tea Dye around the perimeter. Then I tore around all 4 sides, and inked the torn edges with Walnut Stain Distress ink, to give it that aged, "burned" look. I matted it with a piece of patterned paper from my scrap stash, cut to 4-1/8x5-3/8".

For the greeting, I cut a piece of tan cardstock to a strip, and trimmed all 4 corners at an angle. I distressed the edges, and inked them with more Walnut Stain. After scanning it into my computer, I used one of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Father's Day Sentiments," digitally placing it on the label "canvas," and sized it to fit. Finally, I printed it directly onto my label. I adhered that to my card front, and punched a hole in either end with my Crop a Dile II. I set a black eyelet in each hole, and threaded some jute twine from The Paper Studio through those, tying each end in a knot. I attached a brad through the upper center of my card front, and ran the twine behind it, so it looks like the label/sign is hanging from that. I squirted a little Ranger Multi Medium Matte behind the twine on each side, just to make sure it stays in place. Finally, I matted the whole thing with black paper, and adhered it to a cream A2-size card base.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

a2z Scrapbooking's "Stencil"
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes"
Virginia's View Challenge #14: "Layers & Dimension"
Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Anything Goes"

Hippo Birdie

Send a Smile 4 Kids is having their "Birthday Fun 4 Kids" challenge. I got this stamp set designed by Julie Ebersole recently, and figured it would be perfect for this challenge. I mean, what kid wouldn't want a birthday card with a hippo and a birdie holding balloons? :)

I began by die cutting the background for my scene. I first cut a panel with the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Small Stitched Rectangles" die, from 140 lb. watercolor paper. I then cut the bottom portion off with one of Mama Elephant's "Landscape Trio" dies. I inked the grass part with Mowed Lawn Distress ink, adding some Peeled Paint towards the bottom to deepen the color. I did the sky with Distress inks in Broken China, Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon, and a bit of Chipped Sapphire at the top. Finally, I adhered both panels to a piece of cardstock, to create one panel.

For the hippo & the bird, I stamped them on white cardstock, using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I colored them with colored pencils, blending the colors with Gamsol on a paper stump. I then fussy cut both. I stamped the hippo on the background (mostly so I would still have the tail), and glued the fussy cut piece on top. I then stamped the bird standing on the hippo (this time, to get the legs in the picture), and glued the cut version on top. I stamped the party hat on a scrap of patterned paper, and cut that out. After stamping the hat on the hippo's head, I glued the paper piece on top. Borrowing a page from Nichol Magouirk's playbook, I dotted over the bird's & hippo's eyes with a black gel pen, just to give them more presence.

I die cut 3 balloons from patterned papers in my scrap stash, using dies from Lawn Fawn's "Party Balloons" set. I felt the design was getting a little too heavy on the right side, so I glued them in place towards the upper left, as if a breeze were blowing them back. I drew balloon strings with a white gel pen, so the strings are "tied" to the hippo's tail and the bird's wing.

I stamped a greeting from the "Wish Big" set on the grass portion, using Versamark ink. Then I heat embossed it with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. Finally, I matted that panel with a red-orange cardstock, to echo the reddish-orange in one of the balloons. I was going to mount that directly to a white card base, but felt the white was a bit too stark a contrast. So I adhered my panel to a piece of pale blue cardstock instead, and then mounted that to my A2 card base. As a finishing touch, I coated the balloons with Glossy Accents. Hopefully this card will give a hospitalized child somewhere a good chuckle!

Hello--Faux Flair

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge blog has been having their "Clean and Simple" challenge this past week. I had about 40 minutes the other night, & decided to make one more card for the day, to send to Send a Smile 4 Kids. I had seen a tutorial by May Flaum as part of her Supplies on Hand 2014 class, where she used journaling cards to create a grid design for a scrapbook page. She suggested you could scale it down, and use a similar design for a card. I combined that idea with Carissa Wiley's instruction, in this video, on making faux flair, & came up with this "hello" card.

I chose 4 complementary patterned papers from my scrap stash as the base for my card. After die cutting each one with Lawn Fawn's "Stitched Journaling Card" die, I laid them out on the front of a 4.5x7.25" cream card base. Once I had the arrangement as I wanted, I adhered the papers, trimming off the overhang with my scissors.

For the flair, I stamped the "hello" stamp from Simon Says Stamp's "Sending Happy Thoughts" on white cardstock, using Hero Arts Pool Mid-tone Shadow ink. (This happened to be the same stamp Carissa used in her video.) I stamped over that again with Versamark (a feat easily achieved with my MISTI tool), and heat embossed it with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder. The heat embossing was probably not necessary in the end, but it didn't mess anything up, either, so I didn't redo the stamping. Then I punched that with my EK Success 1" circle punch, and adhered a clear epoxy sticker by The Paper Studio to the front, creating my "faux flair."

Because the flair was a bit small in relation to the card front, I die cut navy & yellow cardstocks, using 2 nesting scalloped circle dies by Lifestyle Crafts. I layered them, and glued the flair on top. Finally, I glued that to my card front, at the intersection of the patterned paper pieces, and this card was done!

I'm also entering this card in Virginia's View Challenge #14: "Layers and Dimension."

It's Your Day

Ellen Hutson is having their "Pin-sights" challenge over in The CLASSroom. They posted the following mood board, and participants are to make a project inspired by it, featuring at least one Essentials by Ellen product.

Even though I currently have all of two products from that line, I decided to go for it. My inspiration came from the color palette, polka dots, and the brush lettering. This card by Laurel Beard also inspired my design.

I began by die cutting a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper with Lawn Fawn's "Stitched Journaling Card" die. I stamped my greeting, from the Essentials by Ellen "Wish Big" stamp set, towards the bottom, using Hero Arts Charcoal Mid-tone Shadow ink. I was able to stamp it twice, using my MISTI, to get a bolder look, similar to the brush lettering in the mood board. Next, I stamped one of the balloons from the same stamp set several times, using Distress inks in Mowed Lawn, Cracked Pistachio, Picked Raspberry, and Worn Lipstick. I then used those same colors to watercolor the balloons. (As a child, I was always fascinated by bunches of transparent balloons, so I was happy I could achieve that look here!)

For the background, I die cut another piece of watercolor paper using the scalloped frame from Mama Elephant's "Femme Frames" set. I stamped one of the dot clusters from the Essentials by Ellen "Bokeh Dots" set numerous times around the perimeter, with Tsukineko Brilliance Cosmic Copper pigment ink. I filled in some empty spots with another of the single dot stamps in that set, then used Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder to heat emboss the dots. I smooshed Mowed Lawn & Cracked Pistachio on my non-stick craft mat, then spritzed the ink generously with water. I laid my watercolor panel face down in the ink puddles, pouncing and smooshing it to get complete coverage. After drying it with my heat tool, I pounced it in the ink a few more times, to get some more defined ink spots. Then I set that aside to air dry.

Once my background panel had dried, I adhered it to a piece of dark grey cardstock, to echo the charcoal color of the greeting. I drew strings coming down from the balloons on my focal panel, using my T-square ruler and a grey fine-tipped marker. Then I used some Ranger Multi Medium Gloss to glue a piece of fun foam to the back of that panel, before gluing it to my background. Finally, I adhered the completed card front to an A2 card base. And that finished this card for Operation Write Home!

I'm also entering my card in Virginia's View Challenge #14: "Layers and Dimensions."

Flowery Thanks

A Blog Named Hero's current challenge is to create a one-layer card. I actually have a board on Pinterest devoted to one-layer & CAS cards, so I went there to get inspiration. I found this card by Jennifer McGuire, and decided to make a card based on that.

I began by die cutting a mask from a Post-It note using one of the Docrafts X-cut "Flower Bloom" nesting dies. I adhered it to my card base, slightly right of center and towards the top. Then I used various stamps from WPlus9's "Spring Blooms" & Paper Smooches' "Botanicals 2" sets to stamp around the mask. I used mostly Hero Arts inks in Bubble Gum, Butter Bar, Green Hills, Soft Pool, and Soft Lilac; as well as Simon Says Stamp's Sunshine ink. For the larger flower centers, I used Colorbox Chestnut Roan chalk ink.

Once I'd finished stamping the flowers & greenery, I adhered the negative portion of the Post-It around the mask. I peeled up the positive mask, and taped down pieces of copy paper around my negative mask to protect the rest of the card. Then I inked over the open area very lightly with Mowed Lawn Distress ink. I just wanted to provide a little more definition to that shape. Finally, after removing the masking, I stamped my greeting, from Hero Arts' "Dauber Bunch" set, in the open area, using Chestnut Roan ink. And that finished this card, that I have sent off to Operation Write Home.

A Pair of AnyHero Cards

Operation Write Home likes to collect what they call "AnyHero Mail." Basically, these are thank yous written to our military heroes serving overseas. I like to include at least a couple with each package I send them. These are my two most recent cards.

My first card is based on OWH's Sketch #220:

I must admit, I have a love/hate relationship with this particular sketch. I love the wonky appearance, with the angled lines, but I hate that there are no clear measurements! It took me a bit of work to make this design come together for this card, but I think I succeeded pretty well.

I die cut the "thanks" using Savvy Stamps' "Thanks Script." Like many things in my stash, I've had this die for a while, and have never used it--until now. Because it is such a delicate die cut, I ran it through my Xyron machine, to apply adhesive to the back side.

For the background, I cut a piece of kraft cardstock to 4.25x5.5". I used the angled die in Avery Elle's "Custom Panels" set to die cut the first angle. Then I glued the 2 kraft pieces, slightly separated, onto a piece of black paper. I cut 2 more black strips, and glued them below for the other 2 lines in the sketch. I used 3 patterned paper scraps to fill in the open spaces. After adhering the "thanks" die cut, I stamped the rest of the greeting, from this Simon Says Stamp set, using Hero Arts Navy Mid-tone Shadow ink.

My second card is a bit more patriotic-looking. Since AnyHero cards don't need to fit in an envelope, I decided to make one with some dimension. OK, maybe a LOT of dimension! :) I cut the background cardstock from a pad by Momenta, and adhered it on a white card base. Then I stamped the "USA" from the Stampers Anonymous "Americana Blueprint" set on one side, using Versamark ink. I heat embossed that with Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder.

For the rosettes, I die cut one each from red, white, & blue cardstock, using the "Medallions" die from Sizzix. This die cuts and scores the paper strip, so all you have to do then is accordion-fold it, glue the ends together, and flatten it into a rosette. It does 2 diameters, so I cut one from the red and the other from the blue & white. For the larger rosettes, I then punched a 1" circle from the corresponding color of cardstock, and a 3/4" circle for the smaller, red one. I applied a generous amount of Ranger Multi Medium in the gloss finish to each circle, and flattened my rosettes, adhering them to those circles. I placed acrylic blocks on them until they dried, to keep the rosettes from popping up again.

I found red, white, & blue buttons in my stash, and threaded them with embroidery floss that was close in color to the Liquid Platinum embossing powder. After my rosettes had dried, I glued a button to the top of each. I adhered a narrow strip of each color of cardstock to the card front, then glued the rosettes in place on top. And that finished this card!

I'm entering my second card in Virginia's View Challenge #14: "Layers & Dimensions."

To the Moon and Back

The April challenge at a2z Scrapbooking is "Stencil." I chose this Hero Arts stamp set, and decided to pair it with Simon Says Stamp's "Falling Stars" stencil, to create a galaxy-themed love card.

To begin, I die cut a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper with the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Large Stitched Rectangles" dies. I stamped the moon & planet, using Memento Dandelion dye ink & Hero Arts Fresh Peach mid-tone shadow ink, respectively. After taping off the edges of the panel outside the faux stitching lines, I taped the stencil over it and spread Liquitex Gloss Super Heavy Gel Medium over that. Once I had an even coating of the gel, I removed the stencil and set my background aside to dry.

For the greeting, I stamped one from the same Hero Arts set in Versafine Onyx Black ink onto another scrap of watercolor paper. I then heat embossed that with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder. Once that cooled, I used one of the Pretty Pink Posh "Stitched Tags" dies to cut the panel. Again, as with the background I taped off around the edges, and then inked the tag with Mustard Seed & Wild Honey Distress inks. Before I removed the masking, I used a paintbrush and some clean water to create water droplets on the inked tag. The water "bleached" the ink, creating a nice, subtle texture. Once that had dried, I removed the masking tape.

By this time my stars had dried, so I used Scattered Straw Distress ink on a sponge dauber to add a glow around the moon. I masked off the moon & planet, and blended more Distress inks in Seedless Preserves, Salty Ocean, Chipped Sapphire, and a bit of Black Soot, to create my night sky. For the spaces just around the planet, I smooshed Seedless Preserves and Chipped Sapphire onto an acrylic block, then picked up the color with a damp brush and painted between the rings and directly around the planet. After removing the masks, I sprayed the panel with water, which both helped to blend the colors further and added a bit of visual texture. Finally, I removed the painter's tape from around the edges of the background panel.

I adhered the background panel to an A2 card base, and glued the tag in place. And that finished this card. I will be sending this on to Operation Write Home.

Birthday Butterflies

The challenge this time at A Blog Named Hero is to create a one-layer card. I find one-layer cards to be hard to create, simply because you have to plan them out carefully. Especially in one like this, with several visual "layers," you really have to keep in mind what you're doing.

Even though this card is my design, the technique for the butterflies was inspired by one of the lessons in Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Dies" class. Dawn Woleslagle, of WPlus9, taught that particular lesson, on masking stamped images. It requires a stamp set that has coordinating dies. I decided to make a feminine card, using Hero Arts' "Antique Flowers & Butterflies" stamp & die set.

Because I wanted the butterflies and greeting to be the front-most elements, I had to mask them first. I die cut 3 large & 2 medium butterflies from Simon Says Stamp's masking paper, using the dies in the set. After determining where to put the greeting, I stuck down my masks. I stamped the greeting, from Hero Arts' "Year Round Sentiments" set, on the card in Hero Arts' Soft Granite mid-tone shadow ink. That particular stamp has both words on one line. Since I wanted it in a more compact space, I cut the stamp apart, and stamped each word separately. I then masked off that area with more masking paper.

I taped a stencil from Prima (name unknown) over the front of my card base. Then I blended Distress inks in Cracked Pistachio, Tattered Rose, Squeezed Lemonade, and Mermaid Lagoon over that. The Mermaid Lagoon ended up being a bit stronger than I liked, but I went with it anyway. When I lifted the stencil, I felt the white of the card base was a bit too stark, so I blended Scattered Straw Distress ink over the whole front, to tone it down a bit.

After peeling up my masks, I used the butterfly stamps to stamp in the open spaces. I had to use my Stamp-a-ma-Jig to get them placed right, because the card wouldn't fit in my MISTI as I had it oriented. After I'd stamped all the butterflies, again in Soft Granite, I colored them with colored pencils in the pink/red range. Finally, I rounded the top and bottom right corners with my 1/4" Corner Chomper.

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

a2z Scrapbooking's April challenge: "Stencil"
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Make Your Own Background"

Happy Father's Day!

I'm still in the middle of creating Father's Day cards for Operation Write Home. For this card, I used OWH's Sketch #79 as the basis of my design:

I enlarged the focal panel somewhat, to accommodate my image, and added a sentiment strip.

I've been on somewhat of a "Stampers Anonymous" kick lately. I've collected several stamps designed by Tim Holtz over the past couple of years, and have not gotten many of them inky. I think they work well for masculine cards, though, so I pulled them out and have been putting them to good use.

For this card, I used the airplane image from the "Travel Blueprint" set. I cut a panel from 140 lb. watercolor paper, and punched one edge of it with the "Binding Edge" edger punch from EK Success. I then stamped my image onto that, using Versafine Onyx Black ink, and heat embossed it with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder. I used Distress inks in Iced Spruce, Old Paper, and Stormy Sky. I applied the ink by rubbing the pads directly onto the paper, then used my mister bottle to spray it generously with water. The water "activated" the inks, causing them to pool & spread. I sped the drying process with my heat tool, being careful not to re-melt the embossing powder.

For the strips, I chose 3 patterned papers from the scraps on my desk. I cut them to size, and glued them to a 4.25x5.5" piece of black paper. I then glued my focal panel on top. I inked a piece of white cardstock with Old Paper, and then created my greeting in Photoshop. I printed the greeting directly onto a strip I'd cut from my inked cardstock, and then stapled that to my card front with my Tiny Attacher tool. I also glued down the other end of the strip. Finally, I adhered the card front to an A2 card base.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:

Virginia's View Challenge #14: "Layers & Dimensions"
Simon Says Stamp's Work It Wednesday: "Stamping"

Kitty Thank You Card

The challenge theme this week at Our Daily Bread Designs has been a sketch challenge. They posted this sketch, with the idea being to make a card based on the design:

I rotated the sketch 90 degrees counterclockwise, but otherwise pretty much adhered to it.

I chose ODBD's "Cat Single" stamp as my focal image. I stamped it onto a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper, using Ranger Archival Watering Can ink. I actually did second generation stamping, by stamping my first impression onto the back of the panel, then restamping onto the front without reinking between stampings. This gave me a lighter image to work with. I used my Inktense pencils & a damp paintbrush to color the image, adding the sky at the end with a wash of light blue watercolor. One benefit of the Inktense pencils is that they are permanent when dry, so if I went over those areas a little with the sky wash, it didn't lift the initial color & create mud. I also reinforced the pupil of the cat with a black marker, adding a catch light with a white gel pen.

As that was drying, I worked on my greeting. I die cut a scalloped circle from a yellow paper with a slight tone-on-tone pattern, using a Lifestyle Crafts die. I then stamped my greeting on that, using Stampabilities' "Thank You Circle Seal" stamp. I matted that with pink cardstock, and fussy cut around the perimeter to have a narrow, scalloped mat.

To create the background, I used ODBD's "Gingham Background" stamp and Hero Arts' Unicorn White pigment ink on a dark teal cardstock. Using my MISTI, I was thankfully able to get a good impression, even though I had to stamp it twice to get proper coverage. Then I set that aside, since the ink does take quite a while to dry completely.

I chose 2 patterned papers from Authentique's "Latest & Greatest" 6x6" paper pad for the middle panels. I cut them to size, and matted them with more pink cardstock. I was a bit nervous, since I wasn't sure I'd have enough of that pink, but thankfully, I had a piece that was JUST big enough for both panels!

Now it was time to assemble the card. I glued the two middle layers together, following the sketch for placement. I then glued them to the background panel, which I'd already matted and adhered to an A2 card base. I glued my focal panel on top of those, and finally glued down my greeting. And this card was done!

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

Virginia's View Challenge #14: "Layers & Dimensions"
Simon Says Stamp's Work It Wednesday: "Stamping"

A Pair of Father's Day Cards

The Father's Day deadline for Operation Write Home is looming large--April 30. So I'm working in that mode. I've heard several card makers say that masculine cards are hard to make. I personally like doing them, and don't seem to have any problem with them. I've had Stampers Anonymous' "Remnants" stamp set for a long time, and have never used it. I decided the balloon image would make a nice masculine card.

I cut a piece of kraft cardstock to 4.25x5.5", then stamped the balloon with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, using my MISTI tool. Then I colored the image with colored pencils. I decided not to use Gamsol to blend the colors this time. I wanted them to remain vibrant on the kraft, & I was afraid the Gamsol would take away that vibrancy.

After inking around the edges with Walnut Stain Distress ink, I scanned the card front into my computer. I opened that in Photoshop, and placed one of the greetings from this set by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps onto the digitized image. Finally, I printed the greeting directly onto the panel. I felt the stamping on the balloon had gotten a bit undefined with the colored pencil on top. So, since my stamp was still on the MISTI cover, I was able to restamp it exactly over the original image, using Versafine Onyx Black ink. (I LOVE my MISTI!) That restored the definition and detail to the balloon. Finally, I adhered my card front to an A2-size card base, and rounded the top right corner. I did touch up the inking on that corner, and this card was done!

Operation Write Home's Sketch #13 inspired the design for my second card:

I'll admit, my interpretation is pretty loosey-goosey. The main thing that drew me to this sketch was the large focal panel. I used the globe from Stampers Anonymous' "Travel Blueprint" stamp set. I stamped it in Versamark, then heat embossed it with Ranger Gold embossing powder. I felt it was a bit lost on the brown cardstock I'd used, so I stamped it again with Versafine Onyx Black. Thanks to MISTI, I was able to get perfect placement. (Did I mention I love my MISTI?) I wasn't sure the Versafine would stay put over the gold embossing, so I sprinkled Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder over the wet ink, and melted that with my heat tool.

For the background, I used Hero Arts' "Tweed Pattern" stencil. I taped it over a cream cardstock panel, and inked through it with Distress inks in Chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean, Evergreen Bough, and Mowed Lawn. I felt it was a little too "clean," though, and didn't exactly go with the focal panel. So I went over it lightly with Frayed Burlap Distress ink. That gave me the more aged & worn look I was after.

I used an alphabet stamp set by The Paper Studio (name unknown) to spell out "DAD." I stamped each letter on the same cardstock as I'd used for the background, using Versafine, clear heat embossed the letters, and then cut them into tiles. After rounding all the corners with my 1/8" Corner Chomper, I blended more Frayed Burlap over each tile. Finally, I adhered the focal panel & letter tiles to the background, and mounted that to an A2 card base.

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

Virginia's View Challenge #14: "Layers & Dimensions"
Operation Write Home/Our Daily Bread Designs April Challenge: "Masculine Cards"

Movin' On--Happy Father's Day!

After working so much on Mother's Day cards for Operation Write Home & Send a Smile 4 Kids, it's time to move along to Father's Day. Both those organizations have at least a month's lead time for special days like this, so they can get the cards sent out in time for the initial recipients to send/give them to their loved ones. So, even though Father's Day is still a couple of months away, it's time to craft those cards!

My first card was inspired by this YouTube video that Sandy Allnock did on OWHTv. She heat embossed a background, then smooshed Distress ink pads onto that. After spritzing it with water, she let it dry, and had a nice, masculine background. The same technique could be used for a feminine card, just by changing the color scheme.

I used the Hero Arts/BasicGrey "Highline Ironwork" background stamp. I inked it up with Versamark, and stamped onto a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media Paper that I'd cut to 4x5.25". After sprinkling on Ranger's Super Fine Detail White embossing powder, I heat embossed it. I then applied Distress inks in Weathered Wood, Peeled Paint, and Chipped Sapphire to the background, spreading the colors directly with the ink pads. I spritzed it generously with water from my mister bottle. Not having Sandy's patience to let it air dry, I sped it along with my heat tool, being careful not to remelt the heat embossing. While I was drying it, I did use a paper towel to soak up a few spots that just looked too dark, before the ink dried.

After I'd dried the background, I used one of Spellbinders' "Classic Ovals SM" dies to cut a window out of one side of the panel. I scanned the panel into my computer, then opened the image in Photoshop. I used that to size and position my greeting, from this Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps set, so it would show through the window. Then I printed the greeting onto a piece of white cardstock that I'd cut to 4.25x5.5". I did end up having to trim that piece slightly, because I got some ink on where it would have shown. So I cut it smaller than the inked background, and adhered it to the back of that panel. Finally, I adhered the entire piece to a white A2-size card base.

a2z Scrapbooking's challenge theme this month is "Stencil." I decided to combine this challenge with A Blog Named Hero's "Embossing" challenge, and create a stenciled/embossed background. My design inspiration came from Operation Write Home's Sketch #227:

I did a rather loose interpretation, mostly using the focal panel position from the sketch.

I used the Hero Arts/BasicGrey "Flag Pattern" stencil, a recent acquisition. I taped it over a 3.75x5" piece of Mixed Media Paper, and smooshed Versamark ink through the stencil. Once I knew I had good coverage, I applied Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder, and melted that with my heat tool. Then I went over the embossing with watercolors in the orange/red range. The embossing resisted the watercolors, giving a really neat effect!

For the focal point, I stamped the gears image from Stampers Anonymous' "Mini Blueprints 3" stamp set onto a piece of blue cardstock, using Versamark. I white heat embossed that, and matted the panel with a burnt orange cardstock, which I felt went well with the background, and complemented the blue. After adhering that in place, I matted the background with more of the blue cardstock. I colored 3 silver mini round brads with Ranger's black alcohol ink, and used those to attach 3 of The Paper Studio's "Vintage Gears" around the focal panel. Finally, I created my greeting in Photoshop, printed it on a piece of bristol paper, cut that into a banner shape, and adhered it with foam tape to the card front. I matted the whole thing with more burnt orange cardstock before adhering it to an A2 card base. I will be sending these cards to Operation Write Home.

I'm entering my first card in A Blog Named Hero's "Embossing" challenge as well.

Two More Mother's Day Cards

I decided to make a couple more Mother's Day cards to send to Send a Smile 4 Kids. The inspiration for my cards came from this card I found through Pinterest. I was especially drawn to the background, with the alternating patterned paper panels.

I began by choosing 4 patterned papers from Recollections' "Paddywack" 6x6" pad. I then chose the cardstock colors for each bird to coordinate with those patterns. I die cut the birds from yellow & blue cardstock, using the "Bird & Leaf" die from Sizzix. I die cut it a second time from hot pink and blue cardstock. I removed the wings from the second set of birds (I promise, they didn't scream!), and glued them to the blue & yellow birds. I inked around the birds with Faded Jeans (blue) & Spiced Marmalade (yellow) Distress inks, to give them a bit more definition. I finished my birds by coloring in the eyes with a black marker.

To create my backgrounds, I cut yellow & pale green cardstock pieces to 4.25x5.5", and adhered my patterned paper pieces to those. I applied foam tape to the back of each bird so I could pop them up. One trend that I've been noticing is to create a "messy nest" by looping thread and adhering that under your focal piece. I've never really been drawn to that, but decided to give it a try for these cards. So I got some cream-colored thread, looped it several times around my fingers, and arranged it carefully into a "messy" nest, sticking it to the foam tape on the back of the birds. Finally I adhered my birds in place on the card fronts. I actually like the messy nest effect, at least on these cards!

For the greeting, I used one from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Mother's Day Sentiments." I printed it onto pink & blue strips cut to 1"x3". I also cut banner ends from the same cardstock for each. After I decided where to place them, I glued my banner ends onto the backgrounds, the popped the greeting pieces on top of those with foam tape. Finally, I adhered my completed card fronts to two A2 card bases.

I'm entering these cards in Virginia's View Challenge #14: "Layers and Dimensions."

Happy Mother's Day! (Times Two)

The deadline for Mother's Day cards to be at Send a Smile 4 Kids is April 15. As in, less than a week from now! So I've been working this week on finishing cards to send to them.

I decided to make a couple of cards, one for a girl to give, and the other that a boy could give. For my first card, I used 2 images from Bugaboo Stamps: "Swing" & "Bugaboo Brats Girl Flower Sitter." I sized and merged the two images in Photoshop. I also used a greeting from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Mother's Day Sentiments" digital stamp set. I positioned that on my "canvas" with the merged images in Photoshop, and finally printed all that onto a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media Paper.

I colored the little girl & swing with Inktense pencils, using a damp paintbrush to blend the colors. I used a tip from Nichol Magouirk when I colored the hair. She said never to go straight to black for coloring black hair, since that is the only color you'll get. Rather, you should start with greys and build your way up to black. This will give you a more natural look, with variations in tones. So that's what I did here. For the background, since it didn't have to be particularly detailed, I just used watercolors to create the impression of grass, trees, & sky.

Once the panel had dried, I adhered it to a piece of pink cardstock that I'd die cut with the scalloped frame from Mama Elephant's "Femme Frames" die set. I matted that with a piece of dark green cardstock, and finally adhered it to an A2 card base.

For my second card, I used Operation Write Home's Sketch #198:

I made a couple of modifications, but basically held to the sketch.

I created this card much like the first. I used Bugaboo's "Sunbonnet Fish 1" digital image. I'm especially pleased with my coloring on the image in this one. Again, I used Inktense pencils and a damp brush. For the scene, I first painted a wash of blue watercolor over the whole background. Then I colored over the lower "water" part with a muted green Inktense pencil, and blended that out with a wet brush. I went over the water again with blue, to give it a more natural look.

I used a different greeting from "Mother's Day Sentiments." This one is actually all on one line in the original file. I just separated the words, moved them to a new "canvas," and lined them up one over the other, flush on the left side. Finally, I printed the greeting onto a piece of parchment-patterned paper from my scrap stash.

After matting the focal panel with navy cardstock, and the pink panel with kraft, I adhered the layers together. I matted the whole thing with more navy, and finished by mounting it to an A2 card base.

I'm entering both cards in the following challenges:

Send a Smile 4 Kids' "For a Mom or Special Female"
Virginia's View Challenge #14: "Layers and Dimensions"
Catch the Bug's "Anything Goes"

I'm also entering my first card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge: "April Showers and/or Spring Flowers."

Two Birthday Cards

This week marks the 6th anniversary for Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge blog. To celebrate, they are having a "Happy Birthday"-themed challenge. I decided to make two more birthday cards for that challenge.

Operation Write Home's Sketch #248 inspired my first card:

I didn't include as many embellishments as in the sketch; nor a separate greeting strip, since my greeting was in the focal circle.

I began by printing the focal image/greeting from Bugaboo Stamps onto a piece of white cardstock. After coloring it with colored pencils, using Gamsol on a paper stump to blend the colors, I die cut it with a Spellbinders "Standard Circles SM" die. I used the same die to cut a piece of patterned paper from Recollections' "Paddywack" 6x6" pad. I cut 2 more patterns from that same pad with the next smaller die in the set. I also die cut 5 balloons, using one of the dies from Lawn Fawn's "Party Balloons" set, from a scrap of yellow patterned paper.

Once I determined my composition, I glued all the circles and balloons down onto a piece of kraft cardstock. I matted that with a light blue cardstock, and adhered it to an A2-size card base. I applied some glitter with my clear Wink of Stella brush pen to the balloons and cupcake icing. Finally, I coated the balloons and the cherry on the cupcake with Glossy Accents.

I used OWH's Sketch #239 for my second card:

I chose another image from Bugaboo Stamps for the focal panel, and used their "Happy Birthday Sign" image (apparently discontinued) for the greeting. After printing both onto pieces of white cardstock, I colored them with colored pencils, using Gamsol to blend the colors on the cupcake. The layers on the cupcake made me think of Oreo cookies, so I colored the top & bottom with cool grey pencils, and the middle with a more sandy cream color.

I chose 2 patterned papers from My Mind's Eye's "Boy Crazy" 6x6" paper pad for the background and the layer behind the double-matted focal panel. After matting the cupcake panel with yellow & red cardstocks, I adhered all my layers, popping the greeting up on foam tape. I also added Glossy Accents to the cherry on top of the cupcake. Finally, I matted the whole thing with a dark blue cardstock, and mounted that to a white A2 card base. I will be sending both of these cards to Send a Smile 4 Kids.

I'm also entering both cards in the following challenges:

Catch the Bug's "Anything Goes"
Virginia's View Challenge #14: "Layers and Dimensions"

Happy Birthday Balloons

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge blog is celebrating their 6th birthday. So the theme for this week's challenge is, appropriately, "Happy Birthday." I decided to create a birthday card inspired by this card that Nichol Magouirk did.

I began by cutting a piece of bristol paper to 4x5.25". I die cut 3 balloons from Lawn Fawn's "Party Balloons" die set from that. Then I taped Hero Arts' "Arrow Pattern" stencil to the remaining background piece, and blended Shaded Lilac Distress ink over the stencil.

For the balloons, I blended Distress inks in Tumbled Glass, Spun Sugar, and Bundled Sage onto them. I placed Simon Says Stamp's "Falling Stars" stencil over the blue balloon, and sponged Peacock Feathers Distress ink over the stencil, in effect creating my own patterned paper. I did the same with the other 2 balloons, using Simon's "Falling Snow" stencil and Mowed Lawn on the heart-shaped balloon, and Hero Arts' "Triangle Pattern" stencil and Picked Raspberry on the round one.

To create the inlay, I glued a scrap of bristol to the back side of my background piece, and glued the balloons in place in the openings left when I die cut them. This gives one flat layer, rather than having each balloon be on top of the background and each other. Finally, I adhered the panel to a piece of teal cardstock, cut to the standard A2 size, and glued that to an A2 card base.

I die cut a banner from more bristol paper using one of Spellbinders' "Ribbon Banners" dies. With the paper still in the die, I sponged it with Spun Sugar. Finally, I curved one of the greetings from Simon Says Stamp's "Birthday Messages" stamp set, so that it followed the curve of the banner, and stamped it in Versafine Onyx Black ink. I adhered the banner to the bottom of the card front. I used foam tape in the middle, and glued the ends flat to the card, just to give a bit of interest. The finishing touch was to glue on some sequins from Doodlebug Design with Ranger Multi Medium Matte. I also added some shimmer to the balloons with my clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen. I will be sending this card to Send a Smile 4 Kids.

I'm also entering this card in a2z Scrapbooking's April 2015 challenge: "Stencil."

Happy Mother's Day!

The deadline for Mother's Day cards to be at Send a Smile 4 Kids is April 15. So this week I decided to concentrate on making those for them. This is my first towards that effort.

I decided to use two stamps from Our Daily Bread Designs: the "Poppy Single" & "Hummingbird." I honestly don't know if hummingbirds are attracted to poppies in the "real" world. But I figure this is a card, not a biology textbook, so if they aren't, a little artistic license is OK! :)

I first stamped the images onto a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media Paper with Colorbox Putty Archival dye ink. I wanted the lines to show enough for me to see where to color, but not overpower the images like black would. This was especially important on the hummingbird, since that has a lot of lines in the image. Once the ink had dried, I colored the images with Inktense pencils, using a damp paintbrush to blend the colors. I wanted a bold, vibrant look, especially on the hummingbird, and these pencils deliver that with no problem! Once that had dried, I applied a watered-down wash of Tumbled Glass Distress ink over the background, to create a soft sky. It is very subtle, but I just didn't want it to be stark white.

After completing all the work on the images and background, I placed a Spellbinders "Grand Ovals" die over the images, where I wanted to die cut. Because the die was smaller than the image area, I had to use a technique called "Outside the Box" die cutting. I marked where the die crossed the images lightly with a pencil, and then cut around the image areas outside those lines. I replaced the die, making sure the cut-out areas were on top of the die, then ran it through my die cutting machine. The die cut all around the images, but didn't cut off the outer portions. I think this gives such a cool effect!

To create the card base, I cut a piece of 110 lb. white cardstock to 7.25x9", and scored it at 4.5". I blended Cracked Pistachio Distress ink (LOVE this color!) over the front, to create a soft, somewhat mottled background. To help break up the space and add more interest, I die cut a piece of dark teal cardstock with Spellbinders' "Grateful Lattice" die. My lattice piece ended up slightly smaller than 4.5x7.25", so I did cut the card down a little. Once I'd die cut the lattice, I ran it through my Xyron Creative Station, to apply adhesive to the back. I then stuck that down (carefully!) on to the card front.

I still felt like there was too much empty space, and my design was not grounded. So I punched a piece of pink cardstock with a Martha Stewart "Garden Gate" border punch. I inked a piece of white cardstock with Pine Needles Distress ink, glued that behind the punched pink piece, and trimmed the green along the top edge. Then I glued that to the card front, and trimmed off the excess. That gave me the grounding I wanted.

For the greeting, I cut a banner shape from the same pink cardstock. I scanned it into my computer and opened that image in Photoshop. I chose one of the greetings from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Mother's Day Sentiments" digital stamp set, and sized and positioned it on the banner image. Then I printed that directly onto my little banner piece.

After gluing the focal panel to the card front, I popped my greeting banner over it with foam tape. I added a little clear Wink of Stella to the hummingbird, for some sparkle. Finally, I added a bit of detail to the bird's eye with black and white gel pens, just to bring it out a bit more, since it had gotten lost in the coloring. And that finished this card!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Our Daily Bread Designs' "Anything Goes with ODBD"
Send a Smile 4 Kids' "For Mom or Special Female"
Virginia's View Challenge #14: "Layers and Dimension"
Simon Says Stamp's "Work It Wednesday"

Nothing Better

The March challenge for Operation Write Home, sponsored by Our Daily Bread Designs, was to feature a sentiment. While that challenge is over, it inspired me to create this card.

I chose OWH's Sketch #165:

For the greeting, I cut a piece of parchment patterned paper from my scrap stash to 1.5x5.5". Next I created a blank "canvas" in Photoshop with those dimensions. I chose one of the greetings from Doodle Pantry's "With Heart" digital stamp set, and sized and placed it on my Photoshop canvas. Once I had it like I wanted, I printed it directly onto my patterned paper piece.

I used one of the patterns from Recollections' "Paddywack" 6x6" paper pad for my background. I also punched 2 dark green cardstock strips with Fiskars' "Scallop Sentiment" border punch. I glued those behind my greeting strip, and then adhered the strip in the center of my background paper. I felt the dark green gave a nice contrast to the other, pale colors.

For the vertical strip, I used a piece of 5/8" wide yellow grosgrain ribbon from Michael's. I decided where to place it, and then punched two holes for the bow. I made my "faux" bow following the instructions in this YouTube video, using ribbon also from Michael's, and tying it around the grosgrain. Finally, I ran some ATG adhesive behind the grosgrain ribbon, and also adhered the ends of it to the back of the patterned paper panel. All that was left then was to adhere the card front to an A2-size card base.

I'm entering my card in Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Pastels" challenge.

A Truck for Father's Day

Our Daily Bread Designs is having an "Anything Goes with ODBD Stamps" challenge this week. Since, at least on Operation Write Home's calendar, Father's Day is right around the corner, I decided to use ODBD's "Truck Single" stamp to make a Father's Day card.

I used Operation Write Home's Sketch #237 for my card design:

I began by stamping the truck onto a piece of white Bristol paper with Memento Tuxedo Black dye ink. I then colored it in with colored pencils, using Gamsol on a paper stump to blend the colors. I matted that with dark brown cardstock.

To continue the masculine tone of the card, I chose my patterned papers mostly in brown & teal tones. I added the yellow paper to echo the yellow color of the truck. I cut them to the sizes indicated in the sketch, inked the edges of each piece with Walnut Stain Distress ink, and adhered the layers together.

I cut a piece of kraft cardstock to 4.25x5.5". After inking the edges with more Walnut Stain, I lightly marked with a pencil where the focal panel would be. I scanned that into my computer, and opened it in Photoshop. For the greeting, I chose one from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Father's Day Sentiments." I sized and positioned that on the kraft image in Photoshop, and then printed the greeting directly onto the cardstock panel. Finally, I adhered my patterned paper layers to the top of the kraft, and glued my focal panel in place. I adhered my completed card front to an A2 card base, and I was done!

I'm also entering my card in Virginia's View Challenge #14: "Layers and Dimensions."

Happy Birdday

The current challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids' challenge blog is "Pastel Colors 4 Kids." I decided to create an interactive birthday card.

I began by die cutting my blue tag using the tag die from Pretty Pink Posh's "Stitched Duo 1." I also cut a "window" in the middle using the "Peek-a-Boo" die, also from Pretty Pink Posh. This was my first time using this die, and I thought it would add a cute element. I die cut another tag from 140 lb. watercolor paper, and one from a patterned paper from Die Cuts with a View. Finally, I die cut my background panel from light green cardstock, using the largest of the "Stitched Rectangles" dies from Simon Says Stamp.

I stamped the "Happy Birdday" greeting from Hero Arts' "Missing You" stamp set on the blue tag. I layered that tag on top of the watercolor paper tag, and marked where the window would be. Then I stamped the wonky bird from the same set within that spot. I erased my pencil lines, and colored him with watercolor pencils and a wet brush. When that was dry, I glued the blue tag on top.

I punched 2 tag reinforcers from white cardstock, using a 1/4" hole punch. I glued those to the tops of the blue and patterned paper tags, and let that dry. While the glue was drying, I used a stencil (source unknown) and Bundled Sage Distress ink to create a pattern on the green cardstock panel. By the time I finished that, the glue on the hole reinforcers had dried, so I punched a hole through each with an 1/8" hole punch. I layered my tags, and threaded several pieces of bakers twine from Queen & Company through the holes, tying them in a knot. Finally, I glued the tags in place on the green panel, with the patterned paper one peeking out from behind the blue tag. I added some Glossy Accents to the bird's eyes, and let that dry.

All that was left to do at that point was adhere the completed card front to a white A2 card base. I will be sending this card to Send a Smile 4 Kids. I hope the interactive element and cute birdie will bring a smile to a hospitalized child's face!

I'm also entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Happy Birthday" challenge.