Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Two Father's Day Cards

I've been busy this week making Father's Day cards for Send a Smile 4 Kids. They generally prefer to have these by May 15, but the particular woman I send to hand delivers hers, so she can take them later. These are 2 of the ones I've made.


For my first card, I used one of the sketches that My Favorite Things has for their "Blueprints 13" die set. I first die cut the background panel from Strathmore Mixed Media paper. I stamped the "Highline Ironwork" background stamp by Hero Arts/Basicgrey using Versamark, then heat embossed that with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. I used a technique I saw on OWHtv, by Sandy Allnock. Basically, I took Distress inks in Forest Moss, Frayed Burlap, Stormy Sky, and Weathered Wood, and smooshed them directly onto my background panel. Then I sprayed it liberally with plain water. I discovered that you do NOT want to sop up the water with a paper towel too soon, because it will take most of the color with it. (Unless you want a more pastel look, of course.) So I did have to reapply the ink and spray it again. This time, I set it aside to air dry, while I worked on the other elements.

I die cut the 2 banners from patterned paper scraps that were on my desk. I adhered the ruler one on top of the blue, making sure that the "Evers Hardware Inc" text would be visible. I did have to cut off the left edge to get it to fit on the card front, but thankfully that did not affect the text too much. I then die cut the blue pinked circle & the white circle from cardstock. I scanned the white circle into my computer, and used Photoshop to add a text layer to that image, then printed the "#1 Dad" directly onto the circle.

By this time, my background was dry. I adhered my banner piece, but felt the greeting circle needed a little something else to make it pop. So I die cut another white circle with a Spellbinders "Standard Circles LG" die, and glued the 3 circles together, then adhered them to the card front. I die cut a white star, and glued that in the upper right corner. Finally, I mounted the panel onto a white A2 card base.


For my second card, I turned to Operation Write Home's Sketch #203:


I stamped the bears--from Hero Arts' "Lil Hoot" set--onto a scrap of 140 lb. watercolor paper, using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink. I did stamp off once on scrap paper first, so I would only get a grey outline. I colored both bears with a Neutral Grey Inktense pencil, using a damp brush to blend the color. I then went back with a black marker, to put the eyes and mouths in. I felt the baby bear's features were a little too "heavy" then, though, so I ended up stamping and coloring him again. I fussy cut him out, went around the edges with a grey marker, and glued him in place. I did take a fine-point black pen and go over his features, making sure not to be so heavy-handed this time! Finally, I used a Spellbinders "Standard Circles" die to trace around the bears, and cut that out.

I cut a piece of green cardstock as per the sketch, and cut 3 banners from patterned paper scraps, then glued them in place. I cut a piece of blue cardstock, and printed one of the greetings from this set by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps onto it. I matted it with navy cardstock, and also die cut a circle from navy to mat the focal panel. Finally, I glued the greeting to the focal panel, and popped all that up with foam tape. I double-matted the background, added some Glossy Accents to the bears' eyes & noses, and this card was done!

I'm entering both cards in a2z Scrapbooking's May "Anything Goes" challenge. I'm also entering the "bears" card in May's watercoloring challenge at Live Love Cards.

10 comments:

  1. Wow both are wonderful masculine design!! And the second is extra sweet!! Thanks for playing with us at a2z Scrapbooking!!

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  2. Beautiful cards. Thanks for joining us at a2z

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  3. I so love the bear card! I don't think it gets any cuter than that!

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    1. Thank you, Stephanie! It is a cute image, isn't it? :)

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  4. Andrea, I love the coloring of your bears - the shading is perfect. I just love that stamp set so much.

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  5. Nice cards. I think you get the prize for making so many cards to give to groups. That is super nice of you to do that.

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