Sparkle & Shine - Two More Cards

Today is almost the last day for Online Card Classes' "Sparkle & Shine" class. :( I must admit, I was hesitant when I first heard about this class to sign up. How much can one possibly do with glitter & foil? Well, after having learned my lesson when I didn't sign up for the "live" version of their "Heat Wave" class (which I later regretted), I went ahead & registered. And Jennifer, Kristina, & their guest artist instructors did not disappoint! I have learned quite a few new techniques, and some tips that improved my experience with foiling. If you ever want to have a great class experience, which is not too costly, head on over there!

For my first card, I used the "Hi" die from Winnie & Walter, along with a supporting greeting from Hero Arts' "You're a Rainbow" stamp set (discontinued). To create my background, I "inked" up the "Capture Prism" stamp (discontinued), also from Hero Arts, with leafing glue, and stamped on my cardstock panel. I foiled that with Heidi Swapp Gunmetal foil. The results were a bit "sketchier" that I'd really expected, but I kind of like the look. (You can see what I did with the remainder of that foil piece on my next card below.)

I die cut the "hi" from black cardstock, and from blue shimmer cardstock. I also heat embossed the supporting greeting with Ranger Silver embossing powder on a strip of vellum. I wrapped one end of the strip around the right side of the "i," adhering it to the back with a little ATG tape, and adhered the other end under the left side of the "h."

After determining placement, I used Perfect Paper Adhesive to glue my blue "hi" to the foiled panel, and then glued the black one on top, slightly offset. I cut another piece of the blue shimmer cardstock into an "L" shape for my mat "layer." Finally, I adhered that to a white A2 card base, and mounted my foiled panel on top.

I created my background for my thank you card by foiling a sheet of homemade toner paper with the leftover foil from my "hi" card. I had heard about this technique before this class, but had never been sure about all the black toner showing through the "openings" in the foil. But when I saw Gina K demonstrate this in class, I decided to try it. And I must admit, I kind of like it! After foiling my toner paper, I trimmed it down to slightly smaller than 4x5.25".

I stamped the "Bee Balm" & "Hummingbird" images, both from Our Daily Bread Designs, onto a scrap of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper, with Hero Arts Charcoal ink. I fussy-cut the flower (just in case I messed up the cutting, I wouldn't have to redo all the coloring), and colored both images with my Tombow Markers, blending the colors mainly with the markers themselves. I did use a water brush just a little on the pale grey parts of the bird's body. After I'd finished coloring, I used the coordinating die to cut out the hummingbird. Then I used Perfect Paper Adhesive to glue both the flower & bird to my background.

For the greeting, I applied Stick It adhesive to both sides of a piece of black craft foam. After running it through my die cut machine (without dies) to stick the adhesive firmly, I peeled off the release paper on one side and adhered my green cardstock to that. Then I ran it through my die cut machine again, with the Simon Says Stamp "Thanks" die. I popped the die cut out from the surrounding cardstock, and adhered it to my background, over the flower stem. Finally, I matted the foiled panel with purple cardstock, adhered it to a white A2 card base, and added some more sparkle with 2 coats of clear Wink of Stella on the hummingbird.

I'm entering my cards in the following challenges:

a2zScrapbooking's May Challenge: "Sentiment Focus" (1st card only)

Second card only:
Our Daily Bread Designs: "Just Say Thanks"
Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday: "April Showers Bring May Flowers"
Pile It on #130: "Animal"
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: "A Bit of Sparkle"