Happy Birthday!

Today is the final day for Live Love Cards' August "Birthday Cards" challenge. I decided to create one more card for this. I will also be sending this to Darlene at LLC, to donate to an organization that throws birthday parties for homeless children. You can read more about that at the Live Love Cards site.

I used Operation Write Home's Sketch #239 for my design. I began by cutting a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper to size for my focal panel. I stamped the elephant from "Birthday Celebration" from Simon Says Stamp in Versafine Onyx Black ink. Then I colored him in with my Inktense pencils, using a damp paintbrush to pick up the color from the pencils and blend it on the image. I also added a bit of shine & dimension to his eye with a Sakura black glaze pen. (I got that tip from Nichol Spohr.)

For the greeting, I die cut the "Happy," also from Simon Says Stamp, from dark blue cardstock. The "birthday" comes from Simon Says Stamp's "Birthday Messages" mini set. The stamp actually says "happy birthday," but I just needed the second word. So I performed a bit of "stamp surgery," and cut the stamp between the words. Then I stamped that onto a piece of light blue cardstock, and cut it into a banner shape.

I double-matted the focal panel with "screaming" green & pink cardstocks, leaving a 1/8" border on each mat. I adhered a piece of patterned paper (from my scrap stash) behind it, and mounted the whole piece to a piece of striped patterned paper from my stash. Then I determined where to place my banner so the "happy" didn't overlap the image, and adhered it in place on the striped panel. I used Ranger Multi Medium Matte to adhere the die cut "happy," so it kind of hugs the "birthday" part of the greeting.

I die cut the balloon from another scrap of watercolor paper, using one of Lawn Fawn's "Party Balloons" dies. I colored it with a blue Inktense pencil, and let that dry. I cut a piece of white crochet thread, and tied it around the bottom of the balloon. I cut a small slit in my panel, where the elephant's trunk wraps down, and used a large needle to pull the end of the thread through that. I popped my balloon up on some foam tape, pulled the thread (fairly) tight, and taped the end to the back of my panel. To keep the thread from coming off the balloon, I applied a dot of Perfect Paper Adhesive Matte. All that was left was to mat my panel with a piece of hot pink cardstock, adhere that to a white A2 card base, and apply a coat of Glossy Accents to the balloon! Hopefully this will bring a homeless child a bit of joy.

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

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"
Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge #52: "Cut It Out!"

Hello

I created my card today for the Essentials by Ellen August Pin-Sights challenge. They posted the following photo, and challenged participants to create a project based on any inspiration they gleaned from it. The colors & flowers appealed to me, so I used the Essentials by Ellen "Bold Blooms" stamp set & its coordinating dies for my card.

I began with a scrap of Canson XL Mixed Media paper that I'd colored with my Winsor & Newton Cotman Alizarin Crimson watercolor. I stamped 1 large & 3 small flowers on that with Versamark ink, and heat embossed them with Ranger Silver embossing powder. I also stamped the 2 larger leaves from "Bold Blooms" and heat embossed them. Then I cut them out with their matching dies. I also die cut a doily from white cardstock, with the largest of Spellbinders' "Delicate Doilies"; and my greeting from My Favorite Things' "Happy Hellos."

I cut a piece of grey cardstock to 4.25x5.5", and played around with the placement of my die cut elements. When I finally had the larger grouping like I wanted, I used a small piece of Press 'n Seal to pick them up as a group. Then I glued them in place on my panel with Perfect Paper Adhesive in the matte finish. I also glued the small rose & 2 leaves in the lower right corner with PPA. I let that dry, and then trimmed off the overhanging parts with my scissors.

For my greeting, I inked the bottom part of the word with Hero Arts Unicorn white pigment ink, and sprinkled on some more silver embossing powder. I let some of the powder granules stick above where I'd inked, to give it a bit softer look. Then I melted the powder with my heat tool. I'd gotten this idea from this tutorial that Carissa Wiley did recently. Finally, I glued that in place with more PPA, using my tweezers to help me place the die cut.

To finish my card, I adhered my panel to a white A2 card base, and rounded the top right & bottom left corners with my 1/2" Corner Chomper. I will send this card, with a cheery message inside, to Darlene at Live Love Cards, to donate to the Meals on Wheels program. Hopefully it will bring a bit of cheer to someone who is home bound!

Hello Butterfly

A Blog Named Hero's challenge this month is "Pop of Color." I may have said it before, but this was a hard challenge for me, mostly because of needing a preponderance of neutrals, with only a small amount of color. For me, I put that right up there with CAS cards. :) But I took on the challenge, and came up with this card. My design comes from Sketch #SC604 from Splitcoaststampers.com.

I stamped the outline butterfly from Hero Arts' "Butterfly & Flower" set onto a scrap of 140 lb. watercolor paper with Hero Arts Soft Granite shadow ink. I used my MISTI to ensure I could stamp the image again in the same spot. After coloring it with my Inktense pencils & a damp paintbrush, I stamped it again with Soft Granite, just to reinforce the lines. I also stamped the body from the same set with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I die cut it with a Spellbinders "Standard Circles LG" die, then inked around the perimeter with Hickory Smoke Distress ink. Finally, I went around just the very edge with Black Soot Distress ink, to provide further definition & visual separation from the background.

I chose 2 patterned papers from the "DIY Shop" 6x6" paper pad from American Crafts. I cut them to size, following the sketch, and also cut a piece of dark grey cardstock to layer in between them for contrast. I then adhered my papers & focal image to a white A2 card base.

For the greeting, I didn't think the "hello" in the "Butterfly & Flower" set had quite enough presence. So I chose one from the "Happy Messages" set from Stampendous. I cut a small strip from a lighter grey cardstock, stamped the greeting in Versafine Onyx Black, then adhered it to the card front. I will write a message inside, & send this card to Darlene at Live Love Cards, to pass on to a Meals on Wheels recipient. You can find out more about what cards she is accepting for donations at the Live Love Cards site.

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

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"
a2z Scrapbooking: "Color It In"

Keep Calm and Party

The August challenge theme at Live Love Cards is "Birthday Cards." I created this card for a friend of ours, whose birthday is next week.

I chose one of the greetings from "Turn 29" by Technique Tuesday (retired & unavailable). I felt this particular image from Penny Black's "Birthday Party" stamp set went perfectly with the greeting, so I also chose to use that. My design is from Operation Write Home's Sketch #51.

I cut a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media Paper to 3.25" square, and stamped my image on that with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I heat embossed it with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder, and used my Inktense pencils & and damp paintbrush to color it. After rounding the corners with my 1/4" Corner Chomper, I inked the edges with Worn Lipstick Distress ink.

For my greeting, I stamped it in Versafine as well, and clear heat embossed it. I die cut that with a Spellbinders "Standard Circles LG" die, and inked around the edge with Worn Lipstick.

I cut a piece of patterned paper from my scrap stash to 2x5.5", and adhered it to a piece of teal cardstock. I adhered my focal panel and greeting over that, and finally mounted the card front to a white A2 card base. Really an easy card to pull together--the longest part was coloring the image!

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

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "It's Hip to Be Square"
Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"
Craft Your Passion: "Anything Goes"

Bring on the Cake!

A friend of mine has a birthday this week, so I decided to make a special card for her. I found this tutorial from Splitcoaststampers.com on making a lever card, and thought that would be perfect!

I cut & scored my card base & inside pieces from a light green cardstock, and adhered the inside to the card base, as per the instructions. Then I cut my patterned paper pieces, from a 12x12" sheet by Me and My Big Ideas. I did have to adjust the widths of the pieces, because I found the measurements given in the tutorial were off by 1/8". But it was no big deal, once I figured out what was going on.

For the focal panel on the "lever" portion, I stamped the cake & candles from Essentials by Ellen's "Wish Big" set. I colored them with my Prismacolor colored pencils, and cut them with the coordinating "Wish Big" dies. I glued the candles to the cake, and then glued that to a label I'd cut with a die from the Sizzix/Tim Holtz "Labels" set. I stamped the greeting, also from "Wish Big," under the cake, inked the edges of the label with Worn Lipstick Distress ink, and adhered the panel in place.

Card opened up. I forgot to photograph the card before I wrote my message, so I blurred that out.

I cut 2 more panels from the same pink cardstock I'd die cut the label from. On one, I stamped the "Wish Big" greeting, and a balloon from the same stamp set. After drawing the balloon string with a fine-tip black pen, I colored the balloon with a red Prismacolor pencil, and added a highlight with a white gel pen. I also colored in the "BIG" letters with the same red pencil. I rounded the corners of both panels with my 1/8" Corner Chomper (apparently discontinued), and inked the edges with Worn Lipstick. I adhered them in place, and my card was finished!

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:

Live Love Cards August Challenge: "Birthday Cards"
Craft Your Passion Challenges #326: "Anything Goes"

Hello

The final challenge for My Favorite Things Camp Create is "Shadow Stamping." Basically. you stamp a solid image in white pigment ink. Then you stamp the same image again over the first stamping, but slightly offset, creating a shadow. I do not have any solid MFT stamps, so I used some of the images from Paper Smooches' "Botanicals 2" set, along with one of MFT's "Happy Hellos" dies (apparently now retired). (I did try creating my own solid stamps by die cutting craft foam with a few MFT dies, but it just did not work out.) For inks, I used Hero Arts Unicorn (white) pigment ink and Hero Arts Green Hills dye ink.

My initial idea was to stamp the foliage starting in the lower left corner, and have it go along the bottom & left edges of the card, "hugging" the die cut greeting. But that looked a bit too unbalanced, so I added a sprig of leaves in the top right corner. By the time I finished "balancing" the design, I had to stamp pretty much the whole panel!

I die cut my greeting from some dark teal green cardstock, and used Perfect Paper Adhesive to glue it in place on my panel. Finally, I adhered my card front to a white A2 card base. Other than all the stamping for the background, a pretty easy card to put together. :)

You Make Life Beautiful

My Favorite Things had a Farewell Bonfire for the last session of their Camp Create 2016. The challenge is to make a one-layer card. This card is my second attempt. I tried to stamp a black watch plaid pattern on the first. Let's just say, it was not a pretty sight in the end. :( I think this version turned out quite well though!

I began by cutting a panel of white cardstock to A2 size. I die cut a mask from some masking paper with one of the "Labels Four" dies from Spellbinders, and adhered it in the middle of my panel. Then I used My Favorite Things' "Plaid Background Builder" stamp set to stamp my background, in Memento Bahama Blue, Pear Tart, & Dandelion dye inks. With the mask still in place, I used a fingertip sponge dauber to apply a bit of Mermaid Lagoon Distress ink around the outside of the mask. I just felt the center area needed that additional definition. Finally, I removed my mask.

After using my powder bag to apply powder to the entire card panel, I tested it by sprinkling embossing powder on it, just to see if it would come off un-inked areas. (I got that trick from Kristina Werner.) It didn't. Because it is so humid here now, I figured that might have something to do with it, so I dried the panel with my heat tool some. This time, the embossing powder didn't stick. I inked up my greeting, from MFT's "Simply Fabulous Sayings," in Versamark, then stamped it in the center. I heat embossed that with Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder.

I don't know if I over-heated the powder, or what, because some if it kind of "sank" into the cardstock. Thankfully, I had used my MISTI to stamp my greeting, and had not yet removed the stamps. So I just placed my panel back into the MISTI, stamped again in Versamark, applied another coat of embossing powder, and melted it. Much better! All I had left to finish my card was to mount it to a white A2 card base. This card will go to Send a Smile 4 Kids.

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

Through the Craft Room Door "Anything Goes"
Craft Your Passion #325 "Anything Goes"
Pile It On #114 "Make Your Own Background"

Be Happy

I have another card for My Favorite Things Camp Create, Session #3. The challenge for this one is "Remarkable Resist." I used a stamp from MFT's "Diamonds & Dots Border" set (apparently retired) for the emboss resist on my background.

I first cut a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media Paper to 4.25x5.5". I used my MISTI to stamp the background pattern with Versamark ink, then heat embossed it with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder. I taped that panel to a cutting board with blue painter's tape, and used my Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolors to paint the background. After I got a layer of color down, I spritzed it generously with water, and tipped it in different directions to help the colors blend. I dried it with my heat tool, then added another layer of color, spritzed it, and hit it with my heat tool again. That got me the depth of color I wanted. Finally, I die cut the panel with the stitched rectangle from "Blueprints 13."

For the greeting, I die cut one of MFT's "Happy Trio" from white & black cardstocks. I also stamped the "Be" from "Simply Fabulous Sayings" onto black cardstock with Versamark and heat embossed it with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. I cut that into a small strip, and set it aside. I used Ranger Multi Medium Matte to coat the back of my black die cut word, and positioned it on my panel with the help of my tweezers. I did the same with the white die cut, offsetting it slightly from the black to give a shadow effect. Then I glued the "Be" strip above.

I felt the greeting needed something to help ground it. So I used the larger arrow die from "Blueprints 13" to partially die cut 2 arrows from gold glitter cardstock. Because I needed the arrows to be even longer than the die, I just cut the pointed end and most of the shaft, leaving the narrower end uncut. I drew lines on the back of the cardstock, to extend the cut lines, and cut along those lines with my scissors. I glued one arrow above & one below the greeting. I really like how that finishes that area off! :)

To finish the card, I matted the panel with black, and adhered that to a white A2 card base. I will send this card to Send a Smile 4 Kids.

I'm also entering this card in Send a Smile 4 Kids "For the Girls" challenge.

Batty Halloween

My Favorite Things Camp Create, Session 3, is flying by! I created this card for the "Divine Dry Embossing" challenge.

I got my inspiration from Karolyn Loncon's card in the Camp Create lesson, and used Operation Write Home's Sketch #79 for my design. I began by dry embossing the center of an A2-size piece of Strathmore Mixed Media Paper with a Lawn Fawn "Small Stitched Rectangle" die. After stamping the little girl from MFT's "Batty About You" (retired) in the center of the embossed section, I used a mask that I cut with the same rectangle die to mask off the center. I also trimmed 3 pieces of blue painter's tape to 3/4" wide and long enough to go across the card front panel. Then I masked off the 3 stripes with the tape. I stamped a bat from a Hampton Art set (name unknown), using Versafine Onyx Black ink on the unmasked portions of my background. When that had dried, I inked the background with Fossilized Amber Distress ink.

I removed my tape masks, and masked off around the top stripe, then inked that with Twisted Citron Distress ink. I did the same with the other 2 stripes, using Dusty Concord & Spiced Marmalade Distress inks. Finally, I removed the last of my masking, including what I'd put over the central portion of my panel.

To finish my card, I colored the little girl with my Inktense pencils and a damp paintbrush. I also used a brown & a purple Inktense pencil to add some "ground" and a shadow under her, so she wouldn't just be floating in mid-air. I stamped a greeting from the same set, and mounted my card front to a white A2 card base. This card will go to Send a Smile 4 Kids.

I'm also entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Let's Go Wild" challenge.

Happy Birthday

Day 2 of My Favorite Things Camp Create is "Awesome Ombre." I was inspired by their video for that day, but decided to do my own take on an ombre greeting. Rather than stamping, I colored my glitter words with alcohol ink. My design came from Operation Write Home's Sketch #165.

I die cut one of the "Happy Duo" from silver glitter paper, and also used MFT's "Little Lowercase Letters" to die cut "birthday" from the same paper. I then used Ranger Adirondack Wild Plum alcohol ink on a cotton swab to color the bottom portion of the "happy." I applied Ranger Blending Solution to the other end of the swab, and daubed at the ink on the glitter paper to lighten the color & soften the edges as it went up the die cut. I also used the Wild Plum ink full strength to dye my "birthday" letters. Then I set those aside while I worked on the rest of my card.

To create an ombre background, I used Distress inks in Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Peacock Feathers, and a bit of Mermaid Lagoon at the very bottom of my white cardstock panel. I applied the inks with a mini ink blending tool, going over it several times to blend the colors, and fading out to almost white at the top.

I cut a strip of vellum to go behind my greeting, just to mute that part of the background a bit. After determining placement, I glued my die cuts with Perfect Paper Adhesive, then applied more PPA to the back of the vellum, hiding it behind my words. Then I adhered that to my background panel. I trimmed 2 narrow strips of pink cardstock, and die cut one long edge with a "Stitched Scalloped Borders" die from Lawn Fawn. I used more PPA to glue those to the top & bottom of my vellum strip. I wrapped a piece of ribbon around the left side of my card front, and adhered the ends to the back. Then I created a "faux" bow, following this tutorial. Finally, I mounted my card front to a white A2 card base.

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

Through the Craft Room Door "Anything Goes"
Live Love Cards August Challenge "Birthday Cards"

Happy Birthday

The third session of My Favorite Things Camp Create is in full swing! The challenge for Day 1 of camp is "Monochromatic Magic." I must admit, I struggled with this one. I love lots of color on my cards! In fact, this is my second attempt, after abandoning my first card. I will send this one to Send a Smile 4 Kids, hopefully to make some girl's birthday even better! :)

I chose one of the sketches for MFT's "Blueprints 13" as the basis for my design. I die cut the tag, stitched panel, and stars with dies from "Blueprints 13," and used Lawn Fawn's "Party Balloons" dies for the balloons. I die cut the background elements from 2 shades of pink cardstock, and used 2 scraps of pink patterned papers from my stash for the balloons & stars. I did trim the width of my tag by about 3/16" on each side, just to make it fit the design better. I also added faux stitching detail to the top of the tag with one of the "Basic Stitch Lines" dies from MFT, & inked the edges of the balloons with Picked Raspberry Distress ink.

For the greeting, I used the smallest die from MFT's "Happy Trio," cutting it from white cardstock that I'd backed with Stick It adhesive. I took one of the stamps from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Birthday Bash" set, masked off the first part of the greeting, and stamped just the "birthday" in Versamark ink on my tag. I then heat embossed that with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. Finally, I adhered my "happy" above that.

To assemble my card, I adhered my tag to the background panel with my ATG adhesive. I glued my balloons in place, and glued on my stars as well. For the balloon strings, I cut pieces of crochet twine, and glued one end of each to the bottom of the balloons, with a dot of Perfect Paper Adhesive (matte finish). I also tied tiny bows with the twine, and glued them on top of the strings. After letting the glue dry, I arranged the strings, and poked a hole through the background on either side. I threaded more twine through the holes, and tied a bow around the strings, adding some PPA to the knot to secure it. I glued on some 4mm and 6mm Sparkling Clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh. To finish, I added Clear Rock Candy Distress Stickles to the stars & the centers of the sequins, matted the whole panel with dark pink, and mounted it to a white A2 card base.

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

Send a Smile 4 Kids "For the Girls"
Through the Craft Room Door "Anything Goes"
Live Love Cards August challenge "Birthday Cards"

CAS Bicycle

The current challenge at A Blog Named Hero is "Pop of Color." I must admit, this is kind of tough for me--I do love colors! But I decided to give it a go with this card.

I began by choosing Operation Write Home's Sketch #259 for my design. I figured, a pop of color deserved a CAS design, and this sketch seemed to fit the bill perfectly! I also used Hero Arts' "Bicycle" stamp, which I've had forever, and never inked up before. I stamped it in Versafine Onyx Black ink onto a piece of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper, and heat embossed it with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder. Then I colored the flowers, basket, & wheel rims with my Zig Clean Color pens. My own bicycle has teal rims, so I colored this image to match!

For the background, since I needed it to be neutral (to stick with the challenge theme), I decided to use the "Swirl Background" embossing folder by Darice. I just couldn't stand to have all that empty space with no decoration whatsoever! :) I drew a light pencil line 1/2" up from the bottom of my A2 size panel of pale grey cardstock, and lined the edge of the folder up with that, then ran it through my Grand Calibur die cutting machine. I used one of the stamps from Mama Elephant's "Basic Borders" to stamp the bottom in Versafine Onyx Black. I added 1/8"-wide black strips above & below that, just to finish it off. Finally, I adhered my focal panel & mounted my card front to a white A2 card base.

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

a2z Scrapbooking's "Color In"
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge: "Fabulous Florals" (hopefully the flowers in the bicycle basket count!)

Have a Sweet Birthday

The theme for the current Lawnscaping challenge is "Pattern Palooza." I decided to create a second card for this challenge.

I stamped the gumball machine from Lawn Fawn's "Sweet Smiles" set onto a scrap of white cardstock. I colored the image with my Prismacolor colored pencils, blending the colors with Gamsol on a paper blending stump. After I'd finished coloring, I die cut it with the coordinating die.

For the greeting, I stamped the "BIRTHDAY" using Lawn Fawn's "Owen's ABC's." I used Hero Arts shadow inks in Pale Tomato, Orange Soda, Lemon Yellow, Lime Green, Pool, Navy, Grape Juice, & Raspberry Jam. When I had stamped all the letters, I used a 1/2" EK Success circle punch to punch them out. For the rest of the greeting, I used 2 stamps from "Sweet Smiles": "Have a ball" & "You're So Sweet." I masked off the "ball" in the first stamp, inked it with Versafine Onyx Black, & stamped it with my MISTI. Then I positioned the other stamp, masked off the "You're so," and inked & stamped it. Finally, I cut that into a banner with a die from a Project Life die set, and inked the edges with Worn Lipstick Distress ink.

I used 2 different patterned papers for my background. The teal stripe was a scrap from Carta Bella's "Soak Up the Sun" 6x6" pad, that I had left over from another card. The pink grid paper was from my scrap stash. I adhered them both to a piece of black paper that I'd cut to 4.25x5.5". I adhered my banner with the first part of my greeting in place, and then used Perfect Paper Adhesive to glue the letters for "BIRTHDAY" below it. I popped up my gumball machine with foam tape, and added just a bit of shading underneath with 2 grey Prismacolor pencils. All that was left was to adhere my card front to a white A2 card base.

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

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"
Send a Smile 4 Kids: "For the Girls"
Live Love Cards August Challenge: "Birthday Cards"

Make a Wish

I've had this Stampendous image stamped on a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper that I'd die cut with the "Stitched Journaling Card" die by Lawn Fawn, for at least a few months now. Uncolored. I came across it the other day, and decided I needed to color it and make it into a card.

I used Sketch #SC556 from Splitcoaststampers.com for my design inspiration. I had stamped the image with Colorbox Putty Archival ink, intending to do some no-line watercoloring. While some lines are still visible, I would say that most of them faded into the coloring. I colored the image with my Inktense pencils, using a damp paintbrush to pick up the color from the lead & blend it on the paper. When I was painting the ice cream itself, I did make sure to stop doing the chocolate color when I got to the one space where the candle flame overlaps the ice cream, so I could color the flame first. When I was done coloring the image, I used my Payne's Grey pencil & paintbrush to add some shadowing under the mice & ice cream cone, just to ground them some.

For the greeting, I used one from the same set, stamping it in Hero Arts Charcoal ink. I wanted something kind of dark so it would show up, but not black. I used 2 different patterned papers from my scrap stash for the background, adding 5 silver mini brads above & below the focal panel. Finally, I threaded a yellow button with embroidery floss that matched the Charcoal ink, and glued the button to my card front with Perfect Paper Adhesive. I also ran a little PPA along the ends of the floss, so they would stay straight. I mounted my card front to a white A2 card base, added clear Wink of Stella to the candle flames & party hats, and coated the flames with a layer of Glossy Accents. Other than the coloring, which did take probably 1-2 hours, the card came together pretty quickly.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Live Love Cards August challenge: "Birthday Cards"
Simon Says Stamp's Monday challenge: "Celebrate"

Floral Hi

This is my third card for the "Artist Call" challenge that Ellen Hutson is conducting. The call is to find guest artists for their Pin-sights challenge series. My background technique was inspired by this card that Catherine Pooler made.

I stamped two of the flowers & leaves from "Bold Blooms," from the Essentials by Ellen line, in Versamark ink onto an A2 size panel of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper. After stamping each image, I heat embossed it with Ranger Silver Pearl embossing powder, then masked it & stamped the next image, until I had an arrangement I liked. I then watercolored them with Distress inks in Barn Door & Fired Brick for the flowers, and Mowed Lawn for the leaves.

For the background, I taped my "Blocks" stencil from Dylusions over my panel. I used foam ink blending tools to apply Spun Sugar & Worn Lipstick Distress inks, going from the upper right towards the lower left. When I got near the flowers, I switched to a fingertip sponge dauber, and applied Barn Door Distress ink to finish the ombre, making sure to avoid the images. Finally, I went over the whole background with Spun Sugar, just to knock the white background down a bit.

I die cut my greeting using one of the "Happy Hellos" dies from My Favorite Things from dark green cardstock, having backed it with Stick It adhesive before cutting. I also die cut with the same die from my background. I adhered my background to a white A2 card base, and adhered my "hi" die cut into the negative space. And that finished this card!

You're Fintastic!

The current Lawnscaping challenge theme is "Patterned Palooza." I both used patterned paper (Echo Park's "Soak Up the Sun" 6x6" pad) and created a pattern on my shaker card.

The inspiration for my card came from this one by Kimberly Crawford. She made a peek-a-boo shaker card, using dies from My Favorite Things. I don't have the fishbowl dies that she used, so I used Lawn Fawn's "Fintastic Friends" stamps & coordinating dies instead.

I began by die cutting 2 panels from seafoam green cardstock, and one from Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper, using the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Small Stitched Rectangle" dies. I stamped my greeting, from "Fintastic Friends," and the fish tank on one of the green panels, using my MISTI and Versafine Onyx Black ink. I left the tank stamp on the door of the MISTI, and stamped it again on my bristol panel, this time with Delicata Silvery Shimmer pigment ink. I sprinkled on Ranger Silver embossing powder. After brushing away the powder from the sand granules in the image, I heat embossed the tank.

Inside of card, with stamped & colored images

I stamped several of the images from "Fintastic Friends" onto bristol and colored them with my Zig Clean Color pens. Then I die cut them with the coordinating dies. After I'd colored the sand & water in the embossed fish tank, I glued my fish, sandcastle, coral, & seaweed in place.

Now it was time to start on the construction of my card. First, I die cut the fish tank from the green panel. (The stamped image on that panel had been just a "placeholder" so I would know where to die cut.) I lined up that panel with my other green one, and die cut the second with the same die, using the opening in my front panel as a guide for where to place the tank die.

Another view of the front of the card

After stenciling the "bubbles" with Peacock Feathers Distress ink & the "Falling Snow" stencil by Simon Says Stamp, I adhered clear acetate to the back of my front panel. I cut an opening in the front of my card base, larger than the fish tank, but smaller than the green panel; & from 2 pieces of striped patterned paper cut to A2 size. I adhered my green panel to one of the striped pieces with ATG tape. I adhered my second green panel to the second striped piece, and used Scor Tape to adhere another piece of acetate on the back. Then, I adhered that panel to the inside of my card, green panel side facing out.

To create my shaker, I applied 2 layers of foam tape to the back side of my front patterned paper/stenciled panel, creating a "well" around the die cut tank opening. I filled it with mostly seed beads, plus some 4mm Sparkling Clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh & 6mm teal sequins from Doodlebug Designs. I took my card base, and lined it up carefully with the front panel, pressing it firmly once I was sure they were accurately aligned. This created the "peek-a-boo" shaker, since there was acetate on both sides of my die cut openings.

I next adhered my stamped & colored bristol paper panel to another piece of patterned paper from the same Echo Park pad. I glued that to the inside of my card, so that the fish tank peeks through the shaker window. As a final touch, I colored over the sand granules in the fish tank with a black pen, adding highlights with a white gel pen. I also created a frame for the opening on the front of my card from white cardstock, inked with Peacock Feathers. And that finished this card! I really like the way it turned out. Even better, I like how I didn't have to redo anything because I messed up! :)

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

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"
Pile It On #113: "Shaker"

Up the Happy Rainbow

I wrote in this post about the artist call that Ellen Hutson is having. This is my second card for that challenge.

I used one of the greetings from the "Up the Happy" stamp set, designed by Julie Ebersole for Essentials by Ellen. I stamped that in Versafine Onyx Black on a white A2-size panel, using my MISTI to get perfect placement.

For the brushstroke stripes, I used one of the stamps from Avery Elle's "Brushed" set. I placed it in my MISTI, and stamped it on a clear plastic quilting template grid sheet. I used that impression to help me determine spacing on my panel. I knew I wanted to use the smallest heart stamp from "All Inside," so I based the spacing of my brushstrokes on that. I stamped the strokes in Distress inks: Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Twisted Citron, Salty Ocean, & Wilted Violet, double-stamping to get a good impression. With each stripe, I moved the panel up & to the right, to create the arc.

When I'd stamped all of my stripes, I used one of the "Stitched Borders 1" dies from Pretty Pink Posh to die cut the top edge of my panel. I stamped the heart image 6 times in the same Distress ink colors that I'd used for the stripes, & die cut those with the coordinating die. I adhered each over its coordinating stripe with foam tape, following the curve that I'd die cut.

To assemble my card, I cut a piece of black cardstock, and adhered it to the top of a landscape-oriented white A2 card base. I then mounted my stamped panel over that. I really like how this card turned out! I'll be sending this to Send a Smile 4 Kids.