Two Love Cards

Tomorrow is the final day for Online Card Classes' "Clean & Simple 4" class. While it will still be available as a self-paced class, the interactive portion ends tomorrow. Even though I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it, I have had a lot of fun learning new techniques, and I'm sorry to see it end, as with all their classes. Here are 2 more of the cards I made inspired by this class.

Shari Carroll had a lesson on Day 2 about creating your own stamps. Basically, you just need a die--preferably with cut or embossing lines in the interior--and some fun foam. You die cut the foam, adhere it to an acrylic block with temporary adhesive, and then use it as a stamp. The best part is, after you get through stamping, you can use your foam stamp as an embellishment on your project. A true "two-fer"!

For my card I used 2 leaf dies from Spellbinders "Foliage" set. I die cut them from 2mm white fun foam. After adhering each one to an acrylic block, I inked them up with Memento dye inks in New Sprout & Bamboo Leaves, using my finger to "pat" the colors on the foam so they would blend smoothly. I stamped the larger grouping twice, and filled in with several impressions of the single leaf. Finally, I glued the stamps down to my panel with Weldbond glue. Not only does this glue adhere just about any surfaces, it is also not tested on animals. In my book, that's just a win-win!

I stamped the greeting from this Hero Arts set onto a piece of white cardstock in Versamark ink. After heat embossing it with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder, I inked the cardstock with Bamboo Leaves. I wiped the excess ink off the embossing, and cut the cardstock into a narrow strip. Then, I adhered it to the card with foam tape, wrapping the ends to the back of the panel and gluing them, just to provide extra stability.

To finish my card, I chose 2 patterned papers from my scrap stash, cut them into strips, and glued them to the left side of an A2 card base. Finally, I adhered my main panel to the card base, and this one was done!

Julie Ebersole's lesson on Day 3 (Inked Backgrounds) was on gesso resist. I used a stamp from Avery Elle's "Rounded Diamonds" set and stamped onto a piece of white cardstock with white gesso. This is actually my third attempt at this card. In the first two, I tried to stamp multiple times around a center point, but never got the lines to match up right. (Nobody ever said that stamping white-on-white is easy!) So I finally decided to scrap that idea and do a more random pattern.

After the gesso dried, I blended Distress inks in Peacock Feathers, Squeezed Lemonade, Picked Raspberry, and Mowed Lawn over the stamped areas. Then I took a paintbrush and clean water and blended the patches of color together. The gesso resisted the ink, even more so where I went over it with water, allowing the stamped pattern to show through.

I drew a couple of guidelines to line up the greeting (from the same Hero Arts set as my first card), and used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to place the stamp perfectly. Then I stamped it in Versafine Onyx Black ink. I die cut 3 butterflies (die source unknown) from white cardstock. I felt they got a little lost on the background, and also wanted to echo the black greeting, so I die cut them again from black cardstock. I adhered the white butterflies over the black, slightly offset, to give a more 3-dimensional look. Finally, I adhered them to the card front. I cut and glued 2 narrow black strips to either side of an A2 card base, and adhered my completed card front on top. I will be sending both these cards to Operation Write Home.

I'm entering these cards in the following challenges:

Hero Arts' "Nature Challenge" (both cards)
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "All Things Bright & Beautiful" (butterfly card only)

Two Thank You Cards

I'm still working on cards as part of Online Card Classes' "Clean & Simple 4" class. Two of the demonstrations involved inking techniques. The first, by Jennifer Rzasa on Day 5, was about inking over a masked background. I created this card based on that lesson.

I began by die cutting star-shaped frames using some of the Lifestyle Crafts "Nesting Star" dies. I applied repositionable adhesive to the back of a piece of lightweight cardstock with my Xyron Creative Station machine, and then taped my dies down and ran that through my Grand Calibur. I peeled the backing off 2 of the stars, and positioned them onto another piece of white cardstock, making sure to burnish the edges down well. Then I inked over my masks with Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, and Spiced Marmalade Distress inks, to create an ombre effect. As a finishing touch, I sprayed some of my homemade Perfect Pearls mist into my hand, and flicked it onto the card. The mist reacted with the Distress ink, bleaching out spots of it. I think this gives it a nice bit of texture.

I stamped my greeting from this Hero Arts set in Versafine Onyx Black ink over the center of the stars, and trimmed down my panel to 4x4.25". I cut 2 narrow strips of black paper and glued them to an A2 card base. Finally, I adhered the focal panel over the strips, allowing some of the black to peek through as a mat.

My second card was inspired by Carissa Wiley's lesson on Day 6, "Fab with Five." She demonstrated how to mix rubbing alcohol, Distress inks, and Perfect Pearls powder to color vellum

I chose Pine Needles and Shaded Lilac Distress inks for my card. I created my pearlized alcohol/ink solution on my non-stick craft mat, and painted the colors onto a piece of vellum. I started with the Pine Needles, and worked down to the Shaded Lilac, ending up with just Perfect Pearls and alcohol. Finally, I cut that piece down into a banner shape.

For the main front panel, I cut a piece of white cardstock, and scored lines towards the bottom. I then machine stitched the banner to the top of the panel. I used Lawn Fawn's "Scripty Thanks" to die cut 5 "thanks" out of white cardstock, and one more out of pale grey. I layered 4 of the white die cuts and glued them together. I glued the remaining white thanks to the grey one, slightly offset to give a shadow look. Finally, I glued the thicker stack to the main panel under the banner, and layered the white-&-grey die cut on top of that. The die cuts under the banner help give it some lift.

After adhering this panel towards the upper left corner of a piece of grey cardstock cut to 4.25x5.5", I added some sequins with Ranger Multi Medium in the matte finish. All I had to do then was adhere the completed card front to an A2 card base, and I now have 2 more cards all ready to send to Operation Write Home!

Just Saying Hello

My mom needed a "hello" card, and I had none already made. So I offered to make her this one.

My inspiration came from this post by Heather Campbell. She not only die cut an opening in the middle of her cardstock to create a frame, she also popped the outer edges up while adhering the inner portion directly to the card. This gives, as she put it, "dimensional interest."

I began by cutting a piece of white cardstock to 4x5.25. I die cut the center portion with a Spellbinders "Labels Twenty" die. Then I ran that through my die cutting machine with an embossing folder by The Paper Studio (name unknown).

I centered the embossed panel onto a piece of pale pink cardstock that I'd cut to 4.25x5.5", and lightly traced the die cut opening. I centered my greeting, from Hero Arts' "Dauber Bunch" stamp set, in that area, picked it up with my Fiskars stamp press, and erased the pencil lines. After stamping the greeting in Versamark, I heat embossed it with Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder. Finally, I applied foam tape to the outer portion of the frame; adhered it over the pink panel, gluing the inner portion of the frame directly to the pink; and adhered that to an A2 card base.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

a2z Scrapbooking's February challenge: Embossing
Simon Says Stamp's Monday "H is for..." (hello)

Happy Happy B'day

On Day 6 of Online Card Classes' "Clean & Simple 4" class, Julie Ebersole demonstrated a tri-fold birthday card. I made this one inspired by her design.

I began by scoring my 5.5x11" cardstock to create a tri-fold card. After die cutting a balloon from red glitter paper with one of the dies from Simon Says Stamp's "Balloons" set, I ran it through my Xyron machine to apply adhesive to the back. I determined where I wanted it on the second panel of the card base, and taped down another, smaller, die from the same set to the front panel. I die cut that balloon from the card base, so the center of the red glittered balloon would show through. This gives the illusion of 2 balloons--one on the front, and one on the next panel.

Second panel of card

I next die cut an opening in the second panel using the balloon die from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Birthday Bash" die set (discontinued). Using Memento Lady Bug ink on the greeting from the coordinating "Birthday Bash" stamp set, I stamped the greeting on the inside of the card, through the die cut opening.

I wanted a third balloon for the second panel, but didn't have a small enough die. So I stamped a circle from the "Birthday Bash" set, using Memento Paris Dusk ink, onto white cardstock. I fussy cut it out, and created the bottom part by inking a piece of white cardstock with Paris Dusk and cutting out a small triangle. I glued the stamped circle onto the second panel, overlapping the die cut balloon opening slightly, and glued the triangle piece to the bottom, to create a balloon. Then I drew in the balloon strings with a fine-tipped black marker.

To add some additional festivity, I stamped the confetti stamp from "Birthday Bash" with Memento Angel Pink ink several times coming down from the top of each panel.

Thanks

I created this card as part of Online Card Classes' "Clean & Simple 4" class. I must admit, when I signed up for this class, I wasn't really sure I'd enjoy it, since CAS cards tend not to be my style. The only reason I registered for this particular class was that it was to focus on techniques. Well, I have ended up enjoying it immensely! Not only have I created some CAS cards, I have increased my repertoire of techniques, that can be applied to non-CAS cards, too!

I took my inspiration for my card from a lesson by Jocelyn Olson, on Day 4, which was about adding texture to your cards. For her example, after painting in 2 opposite corners, she applied a layer of embossing paste through a stencil and let that dry. Then she applied another layer through parts of a different stencil, just in the painted corners.

To start, I cut a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper to 4x5.5", just slightly smaller than an A2 card. I created a wash of Wild Honey Distress ink and water on an acrylic block, wet the upper right & lower left corners of my paper with clean water, and dropped the Wild Honey into that. I followed that with a wash of Rusty Hinge Distress ink, letting the colors blend slightly. When it looked like I wanted it, I let it dry. Since the water cockled the paper slightly, which prevented getting a good contact between the stencil & panel, I had to put it under a book for several hours to flatten out.

For the stenciling, I chose the "Mini Garden Gate" stencil by The Crafters Workshop for the main background, and another one with leaves (name unknown, but I think it's by Heidi Swapp) for the corners. I taped the first stencil down over my panel, and spread Golden Light Molding Paste through it. After letting that air dry, I repeated the process with the leaves in the corners, then set that aside to dry.

I next took a piece of white cardstock and spritzed it with London Blue Dylusions spray ink and Heidi Swapp Tinsel Color Shine. I die cut the greeting from this using one of the "Many Thanks" dies from My Favorite Things. Since the inked paper was kind of thin, I die cut it again from a scrap of watercolor paper and glued the inked one to this. If I do this again, I will probably mist watercolor paper, to have a sturdier surface.

After the molding paste had dried thoroughly, I glued my greeting in place. For the top & bottom of the card front, I cut 2 narrow strips from white cardstock, & spritzed them with the same colors as the greeting, as well as my homemade Perfect Pearls spray. I glued one each at the top and bottom of an A2 card base, then adhered my main panel in place. I added a few sequins from Doodlebug Design, and this card was finished!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes"
Simon Says Stamp's Work It Wednesday "Something New" (new to me technique)

You're a Winner

The theme for Day 1 of Online Card Classes' "Clean & Simple 4" class is heat embossing. Kristina Werner demonstrated a technique called "3-D embossing." Basically, you stamp an image/word/pattern in a dye ink, then stamp again in Versamark, slightly offset, and heat emboss the second stamping. The main requirement for your focal point seems to be that it is a bold image, with not much fine detail. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to try this technique during class, because I don't have many stamps that fit that bill. But I found one in this Simon Says Stamp set that worked perfectly!

I began by die cutting a piece of white cardstock with the stitched rectangle die in Mama Elephant's "Femme Frames" set. After determining where to place my greeting, I mounted it on my Fiskars stamp press (a helpful tool in positioning the stamps for this technique), and stamped it in Hero Arts' Pool mid-tone shadow ink. Then I cleaned the stamp, and stamped it again in Versamark, slightly above & to the left of the first stamping. I sprinkled on some Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder, and melted that with my heat gun.

For the background, I used one of the stamps from the "On Point Borders" by Mama Elephant. I masked off the greeting area & outside the faux stitching lines on the panel, and did the same process as on the greeting, repeating until I'd stamped the entire background. Finally, I removed all the masking tape.

To create the mat, I die cut a panel from more white cardstock with the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Large Stitched Rectangle" dies. I coated the cardstock with the Hero Arts Pool ink. Originally, I masked off the outer edges with painters tape, outside the stitching lines, to have a thin white mat. But the ink ended up bleeding a little under the tape, so I inked the entire panel. Finally, I glued the focal panel to the mat, and adhered that to an A2 card base. I will be sending this card to Operation Write Home.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes"
Simon Says Stamp's Work It Wednesday: "Something New" (new technique)

Can't Wait to Hug You

I've been participating in Online Card Classes' "Clean & Simple 4" class during this past week. The emphasis has been on techniques, and applying ones like die cutting, inking, and heat embossing to CAS cards. Even though the "live" class ends February 6, you can always enroll in it as a self-paced class. I would highly recommend it!

The theme for Day 3 of class was inked backgrounds. I took my inspiration from a lesson by Jennifer McGuire on "layered inking." She used dye inks & Versamark to create her card. The dye inks that this technique works with are mostly Simon Says Stamp, WPlus9, and Hero Arts. Since I don't exactly have a plethora of any of those (OK, just a few Hero Arts inks), I wasn't able to use the Versamark for my card. But she suggested it could also be done with Distress inks (of which I have plenty) and water. So that's what I did.

I cut a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper to 4.25x5.5", and stamped the owls from Hero Arts' "Lil Hoot" set on that, using Ranger Archival Ink in the color Watering Can. I also stamped the image onto a sticky note, and fussy cut that to use as a mask for when I did my inked background.

For the background, I chose Distress inks in Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, Seedless Preserves, Chipped Sapphire, and Black Soot. Starting with the Mustard Seed at the bottom of my watercolor panel, I blended the different colors, working my way up the paper and ending with the Chipped Sapphire & just a touch of Black soot at the very top. My aim was a twilight/sunset sky.

I die cut cloud shapes from a piece of acetate that I'd cut to 4.25x5.5", using 3 dies from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Clouds & Raindrops" set. I then placed that over my background panel to act as a stencil. I wet a sponge dauber with water, and rubbed over the cloud openings. The water reacted with the Distress inks, basically bleaching the color. After removing the stencil, I wanted the clouds just a bit lighter, so I rubbed over them with a wet Q-tip, using a dry paper towel to dab off any excess water/ink. I did the same basic process over the top part of the background, using Simon Says Stamp's "Falling Stars" stencil. The stars came out more like spots, but I still like the added texture.

After I'd finished my background, I removed the mask from the owls, and colored them with Inktense pencils and a damp paintbrush. For the greeting, I stamped 2 parts from the "Lil Hoot" set in Versamark, then heat embossed them with Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder. The embossing for the first part didn't seem to show up especially well against the darker background, so I used a white gel pen to add some highlighting to the letters. For consistency, I did the same with the second part of the greeting.

To finish the card, I added a coat of Glossy Accents to the owls' eyes, and mounted the panel onto a white A2 card base. This card will be going to Operation Write Home, for an overseas hero to write home to his/her child.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Up in the Clouds"
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes"