Thinking of You

I recently found out that the sister of a woman I know passed away. I decided to make her and her other sister a sympathy card. I saw this post by Jennifer McGuire on floating die cuts, and thought it would be a neat technique to try for my CAS card.

I began by cutting an A2 card base from heavyweight black cardstock. I marked the top & bottom line for where I wanted my die cutting to be. I chose the "Fancy Fritillary" die from Our Daily Bread Designs, using only the inner portion. I taped it in place on my card base, and positioned my cutting plates to die cut only the middle part, as Jennifer had demonstrated. I repeated this to cut another butterfly. When I'd finished the die cutting, I used my craft knife and a metal ruler to cut along the lines I'd drawn between & to either side of the butterflies.

To reinforce the die cut area, I cut a piece of acetate to 4.25" by a little taller than the opening. I ran some ATG adhesive on the inside of my card above & below the die cut area, added a bit of Ranger Multi Medium Matte to the backs of the butterflies so they would not flop around, and placed my acetate. To hide the seams, I cut 2 more pieces of black cardstock, and adhered them to the nside of the card above & below the opening.

For the greeting, I stamped one from Hero Arts' "Prayers" set on a piece of blue cardstock, using Versafine Onyx Black ink. I trimmed that into a banner, and adhered it to my card front. I used the same blue cardstock to create an inner card, which I adhered to the inside of my card base. This both helps the butterflies pop and gives me a place inside to write my message. I added some clear acrylic gems to the front with some PPA matte glue, and that finished this card. I'd say the die cutting was the hardest part, but even so, the card came together pretty quickly. Hopefully this will bring the recipients a bit of comfort.

I'm entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Animal Magic" challenge.

Make Today Beautiful

My Favorite Things is having a "Camp Create" event. It began on June 13, and runs through the 23rd. Each day of the first 5 days, they issued a different challenge. The theme for Day 1 was "Glitzy Glitter." I admit, I'm not all that much into glitter. Not because of the mess, but just because it's not really my thing. I have glitter that has been in my stash for years I think now, and rarely sees the light of day! Recently, though, I saw Jennifer McGuire demonstrate a technique with glitter, and it made me want to try that. (Unfortunately, I can't find the exact video or blog post where she did this!)

I began by covering a 4.25x5.5" piece of white cardstock with a sheet of Scor-Tape. I used several dies from the "Wild Garden" set from Essentials by Ellen, and die cut the images into the adhesive side of the panel. Because the Scor-Tape is kind of thick, my dies mostly did not cut quite all the way through. Even so, I was very careful when I removed my dies, to leave the die cuts in their negative spaces. My initial plan involved making that whole panel my card front. The more I thought it through, though, I realized I'd be hard-pressed to stamp a greeting onto adhesive! So my plan changed somewhat.

After I'd finished my die cutting, I carefully peeled the liner paper from the adhesive, just for the center area of one of the large flowers. I covered the area with fine gold glitter, and burnished it into the adhesive. Once I'd finished that, I peeled off the liner from the next part I wanted to glitter, and sprinkled glitter on, then burnished it in. I repeated this process for each flower & leaf. I used a Swiffer Sweeper cloth to clean up the glittery mess as I went. It doesn't get every speck of glitter, but it still does a pretty good job!

When I had all my images glittered, I removed them from the negative piece. I cut a piece of light blue cardstock to 4.25x5.5", and placed the negative die cut piece over it. I used that to help me place my images on the blue background, so they were in the same position I'd had them on the adhesive-covered panel. Once they were glued in place, I removed the negative piece.

For my greeting, I used two stamps from My Favorite Things' "Simply Fabulous Sayings." This set has some nice, bold, scripty words, with supporting greetings in a sans-serif font. I placed the "Beautiful" stamp on my panel, using my MISTI to make sure it was straight. I also went ahead & placed the "Make today" stamp above the other. I did a "test stamping" on my plastic grid sheet with black ink, just to make sure the greeting was straight & placed well. I decided the "Make today" was not close enough to the "Beautiful." But both stamps were straight, so I was loathe to move either one. So, I cleaned my stamps, and masked off the "Make today" with painter's tape. I inked up the "Beautiful" with Versamark, and stamped it onto my panel. I heat embossed that with Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder. I removed that stamp from the lid of my MISTI; replaced my cardstock panel, scootching it up about 1/16" of an inch; and then stamped the first part of my greeting. I heat embossed that as well.

I felt the top of the card was a bit bare. I trimmed off 1/4" to lessen the amount of blank space, but it still felt empty. So I took a sparkle stamp from Lawn Fawn's "Peace Joy Love" set, and stamped it in a few spots in Versamark ink. I heat embossed those in Liquid Platinum. I felt that helped the balance the composition a bit.

To finish my card, I cut two 1/8" wide strips of blue glitter paper. I adhered one along the fold of a white A2 card base, then adhered my panel below, butted against the strip. Finally, I glued the remaining strip in place. I will send this card to Send a Smile 4 Kids. Hopefully all that glittery goodness will brighten a hospitalized child's day!

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

Send a Smile 4 Kids: "Punches and/or Die Cuts 4 Kids"
Die Cut Divas: "Anything Goes"
Pile It On: "Old, New, & Blue" (old glitter, new technique, blue background)
Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"
Virginia's View Challenge: "Make It Colorful"

Peace Joy & Love

The theme for Merry Monday Christmas Challenge this week is an inspiration photo. I liked the idea of the greenery spilling out of the tea cups, but didn't have anything die- or stamp-wise that would work for the cups. So I made a mason jar from vellum, following this tutorial, and filled it with greenery & pine cones from the "Poinsettia & Pine" die set by Essentials by Ellen. I also used 3/4" & 5/8" circle punches to punch several "baubles" to help fill the jar.

After creating my mason jar, I die cut several pieces of greenery & berries from 140 lb. watercolor paper. I left the die cuts in the negative pieces, to help hold them in place while I colored them. I watercolored the greens with Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive, & Peeled Paint Distress inks; the berries with Barn Door & Brushed Corduroy; and the pine cones with Brushed Corduroy & Vintage Photo. Once I got the color depth that I wanted, I set those aside to dry. I painted my circle punches, also from watercolor paper, with Mermaid Lagoon, Peacock Feathers, Barn Door, & Seedless Preserves Distress inks.

I created my background with patterned papers from graphic45's "Christmas Carol" & Echo Park's "Home for the Holidays" 6x6" pads. I lightly traced the outline of my mason jar onto the panel with a pencil, and used that as a guide for where to place my elements. Once I had everything glued down, I erased my pencil lines. I ran my jar through my Xyron Creative Station to apply adhesive to the back, adhered it in place, and glued a couple more berry sprigs at the bottom. I pierced holes on either side of the jar top, and threaded gold cording through. Finally, I tied more cording in a bow around the lengths across the jar.

I die cut a label from some tan cardstock, using one of My Favorite Things' "Blueprints 13" dies. I stamped my greeting, from Hero Arts' "Joy to the World," in Versafine Vintage Sepia ink, and added a heart from the same set with Hero Arts Red Royal ink to either side. I then adhered that to my jar. I added some detail with a white gel pen, and adhered my card front to a 4.5x7.25" card base. I finished my card by adding Star Dust Stickles to the berries and drew dashed lines around the label with a red glitter gel pen.

I'm also entering my card in the following challenges;

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"
A Blog Named Hero: "Vellum"

Sending Hugs and Prayers

a2z Scrapbooking's challenge this month is "To Die For": use a Hero Arts die somewhere on your project. I admittedly do not have many Hero Arts dies, but I used two on this card.

I decided to CASE this card, that I found on Pinterest. I really liked the circular element, and the bird on the edge (though I substituted a butterfly). I stamped one of the images from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Serene Silhouettes" onto a piece of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper, in Versafine Onyx Black ink. Then I clear heat embossed it, and die cut it with a Spellbinders "Standard Circles SM" die. I inked the panel with Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, and Chipped Sapphire Distress inks to create a bit of an ombre look. I also cut a mat for the circle with a "Standard Circles LG" die from black cardstock. I adhered the focal image to the mat, and set that aside.

For my basic design, I used Sketch #219 from Operation Write Home. I cut a piece of brown gingham paper from My Mind's Eye's "Unforgettable" 6x6" pad, and another panel of butterfly paper from the Authentique "Latest & Greatest" 6x6" pad. For the background, I inked a piece of white cardstock with the same inks I'd used on the circle. After the ink had dried, I adhered my patterned papers to that, with a black strip in between.

I stamped one of the butterflies from Hero Arts' "Butterflies #3" set (discontinued) onto a piece of bristol, again using Versafine & clear heat embossing. I colored it with 2 Zig Clean Color pens, and die cut it with the coordinating die.

I used one of the greetings from the "Prayers" stamp set by Hero Arts & Simon Says Stamp. I stamped the large "prayers" word onto some white cardstock with Versafine, and clear heat embossed it. Then I cut it out with the coordinating die. I stamped the first part of the greeting on the black strip with Versamark, and heat embossed it with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder.

To finish the card, I adhered my focal panel to the card front, and glued the butterfly in place. I glued the "prayers" down, and mounted the completed card front to a white A2 card base. I will be sending this for the Lasting Hearts card drive, for parents who have lost a child to miscarriage.

I'm also entering this card in Die Cut Divas: "Anything Goes" challenge.

You're Fintastic!

I decided to do one more card for the Lawnscaping "Off Kilter" challenge. I wanted to do some spotlight coloring, but do it a little differently than I've seen. I used the "Blueprints 15" dies from My Favorite Things for my background, having the fish in color on 2 of the panels, and in greyscale on the middle section.

I began by stamping most of the fish from Lawn Fawn's "Fintastic Friends" on a piece of 4.25x5.5" white cardstock, with Hero Arts Charcoal ink. I then die cut the piece into 3 panels, using 2 of the dies from "Blueprints 15." Those particular dies cut kind of wonky rectangles, which was what I wanted for the "off kilter" part of my design. Then I colored my fish with my Prismacolor colored pencils, keeping the fish in the middle section in shades of grey. When I had finished coloring the background panels, I adhered them to another piece of white cardstock, being careful to line up the fish. It really wasn't hard, since the pieces fit together well. Finally, I went over the fishes' eyes with a black gel pen, just to make them pop.

For the focal image, I used all Memento dye inks. I stamped the bowl with Tuxedo Black, the fish with Cantaloupe, & the sandcastle with Rich Cocoa. I colored them with my colored pencils, adding black gel pen to the fish's eye & a bit of orange marker to his mouth, just to add some further definition. I also used Hero Arts Soft Pool ink to stamp the bubbles. I die cut the bowl with the coordinating "Fintastic Friends" die, and set it aside.

I stamped the greeting onto a piece of black cardstock in Versamark, and white heat embossed it. I trimmed it into a strip, and adhered it towards the bottom of my background panel. I inked the edges of the background with Hickory Smoke Distress ink, just to provide a bit of a border, and finally popped the fish bowl above the greeting with foam tape. I will send this card to Send a Smile 4 Kids.

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

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"
Send a Smile 4 Kids: "Anything Goes 4 Kids"
Die Cut Divas: "Anything Goes"

You're the Coolest!

The current Lawnscaping challenge theme is "Off Kilter." Something in your project needs to be what you might call kittywampus. My card process actually turned out to be a bit off-kilter!

My original idea was to stamp my focal panel to create an all-over background. Then cut it into diagonal strips, and have the images--or portions thereof--on only every other strip in bright colors. The images/portions on the remaining strips would be in shades of grey. Basically spotlight coloring with strips. All was going well as I stamped--until I decided to add the hearts as filler images. As I was melting the **purple** embossing powder, I realized my original plan would have to change, since some of the purple hearts would be on the grey panels. So, I am saving my initial idea for another card!

I first die cut a panel of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper with the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Small Stitched Rectangle" dies. I stamped the 2 popsicles from "Best Pun Ever" (also Lawn Fawn) all over the panel in Versafine Onyx Black ink, and heat embossed them with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder. I added faces (from "Best Pun Ever") to some of them, and clear heat embossed those. Finally, I stamped the solid heart from "Best Pun Ever" randomly over the background, and heat embossed them with Zing Purple embossing powder.

I colored my popsicles with my Zig Clean Color pens. I applied the colors directly on the lower left side of each image, and spread the color out with my Pentel Aquash brush, to create highlights. When I had finished coloring the images, I had to think about how to make my card "off kilter" now. I finally decided to cut a strip out of the panel, using one of the "Stitched Borders 2" dies by Pretty Pink Posh, so I would have the stitching detail along the diagonal edges.

For the greeting, I used some of the word stamps from "Best Pun Ever," lining them up on my MISTI. I had cut a piece of black cardstock to 4.25x5.5", and lightly marked with a pencil where the greeting would go between my main panels. After fiddling with the word stamps, I finally got them positioned right, and stamped them in Versamark ink. I heat embossed them with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. Finally, I popped my colored panels up on the black cardstock with foam tape, and adhered my completed card front to a white A2 card base.

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

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"
Die Cut Divas: "Anything Goes"
Send a Smile 4 Kids: "Anything Goes 4 Kids"

New Adventure

One of my mom's assistants is leaving her position at the end of this school year. Since she's not really retiring, Mama asked me to make a "non-retirement" card for her.

Since I have never made any retirement (or "non-retirement") cards, I did a search on Pinterest to get some ideas. I found this card, which I decided to CASE after Mama approved the design.

I began by stamping the "Chicory" image by Our Daily Bread Designs onto a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper, using second-generation stamping with Hero Arts Soft Granite ink. Because the stem was too short for my design, I used one of the stamps from Simon Says Stamp's "Artful Flowers" set to lengthen it. Then I did some no-line coloring with my Inktense pencils, using a damp paintbrush to pick up and apply the color.

I had seen Nichol Magouirk do a floral card on one of her YouTube videos. She had added a "glow" around the image with watered-down Evergreen Bough Distress ink. I liked the look, so I decided to try it on this card. Well, it didn't work out for me quite as well as for Nichol! Basically, the edges were just too harsh, and I couldn't seem to blend the color out softly to white. So I ended up coloring the whole background with Evergreen Bough & a wet brush.

Once I'd finished the painting, I scanned the panel into my computer. I used that image to place my text in Photoshop, then printed the text directly onto my panel. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the right margin of the greeting mimics the curve of the stem. Talk about a happy accident!

After rounding the corners of my focal panel with my 1/4" Corner Chomper, I matted it with black, trimmed to 1/16" on all sides, and rounded those corners. I cut a piece of patterned paper from My Mind's Eye's Cut & Paste "Adorbs" 6x6" pad to 4-1/8x5-3/8", and matted that with black after rounding the corners of both. At that point, I decided I wanted my ribbon to go just around the patterned paper panel, so I CAREFULLY peeled it from the black mat, and wrapped a piece of sheer white ribbon around the panel, adhering the ends to the back. I adhered my focal panel over the ribbon, and "re-matted" the patterned paper. I created a bow, following this tutorial, from the same ribbon, and tied that on. Finally, I adhered my completed card from to a white A2 card base, and rounded the corners of the base.

I'm entering this card in Our Daily Bread Designs' "April Showers Bring May ODBD Flowers" challenge.