Moose You So Much

I noticed, the last time I sent cards to Operation Write Home, I had a dearth of "missing you," "birthday," and "thank you" cards. So I decided to make a greater effort to create more of those cards to send in. When I made this card, since I already had my Hero Arts "Missing You" stamp set out, I decided to create another card. This time, rather than color the image in, I decided to do some paper piecing. I've done that on the sheep from this set, but never on the moose. Turned out to be a little more challenging that I originally thought!

I began by choosing Sketch #119 from OWH. It is a simple design, which I felt would work well with the somewhat more complex paper-pieced moose.

I stamped the moose and greeting onto a piece of white cardstock, in Versafine Onyx Black ink, then die cut it with one of Spellbinders' "Standard Circles LG" dies. I also stamped the moose onto 3 different patterned paper scraps: one for the antlers, one for the nose, and a check pattern for the body & ears. I then cut out each section. The nose was pretty easy & straightforward to cut. Since the body included the ears, that was more difficult. One of the ears I had to cut out by itself. The antlers were also rather fiddly, since I had to cut around where the ears went and in and out of the top parts. Finally, I had all my cutting done, and glued each piece on the image I'd stamped on the white cardstock. I did leave the eyes white, and just colored in the hooves with a black pen.

To create the card front, I cut 2 pieces from patterned paper scraps on my desk to 1.75x4". I also punched a strip from a third piece with the Martha Stewart "Arch Lattice" border punch. I glued that behind the yellow paper, with the punched area just peeking out above the paper. Then I adhered my patterned papers in place on a kraft cardstock panel. After inking around my focal circle with Gathered Twigs Distress ink, I glued it on top of the patterned paper panels.

I applied adhesive with my ATG gun to the back of the kraft panel and went to glue it to an A2 card base. That's when I noticed the panel was about 1/4" shorter than said card base! Apparently I'd lined it up in my paper trimmer wrong. So I cut 2 strips from dark brown cardstock, and glued them to the top & bottom of the front of my card base. I adhered the front panel over those, and this card was done. I did add a little Glossy Accents to the moose's eyes, just for a bit of shine. I will be sending this card to Operation Write Home.

I'm entering my card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes" challenge.

You Make My Days Brighter

Each month, Operation Write Home has a challenge, sponsored by Our Daily Bread Designs. This month's theme is "Sentiments." I decided to feature a greeting in this digital stamp set from Doodle Pantry. I felt the casual font style of the greeting went well with the playful angles in the dies I chose to use.

I used a sketch from My Favorite Things, that corresponds to their "Blueprints 15" die set. I die cut my pieces, using left-over patterned paper scraps I had on my scrap desk. (I'm really trying to keep scraps out of my bulging & overflowing scrap files, by using them in cards first!) I also used a scrap piece of dark brown cardstock to die cut the circle and background, and glue behind the blue strip. I inked around the edges of the striped banner piece with Walnut Stain Distress ink, to help it stand out from the chevron panel. After I finished my die cutting, I adhered all the pieces, except for the greeting panel, onto the background piece.

For the greeting, I first created a blank canvas in Photoshop, the size of the yellow die cut panel. After drawing lines to mark the angles of the right and bottom edges in the die cut, I placed my greeting on the canvas. I did distort the greeting just a bit, lengthening the right side only, so it would better follow the wonky angle on that side. I made sure not to overdo it though! Finally, I printed it directly onto my die cut piece, and adhered that to the card front. I did ink around the edges of the card front with more Walnut Stain, just where the patterned papers are, to make it stand out a little more when I placed it on the card base. All that was left to do then was to mount the front to a cream A2-size card base! I will be sending this card on to Operation Write Home.

I'm also entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes" challenge.

Nuts About You

a2z Scrapbooking's current challenge is "Color It In." I love this cute little squirrel in Hero Arts' "Missing You" stamp set, and the accompanying greeting. So I created this card for their challenge.

For my card design, I chose Operation Write Home's Sketch #184:

I began by die cutting and embossing a circle from white cardstock with one of Spellbinders' "Standard Circles SM" dies. Then I positioned the squirrel on an acrylic block. I positioned the greeting at the same time, curving it to match the curve of the circle. Then I stamped those using Versafine Onyx Black ink. While the ink dried, I worked on the rest of the card.

I chose the patterned paper pieces from scraps on my desk, left over from other cards. I cut & adhered all the pieces, according to the sketch, to a piece of kraft cardstock that I'd cut to 4.25x5.5". By the time I finished that, the ink on my focal piece had dried, so I proceeded with coloring.

I was a little concerned about coloring the squirrel, because I had decided to use colored pencils and Gamsol. Since the Versafine is an oil-based ink, I wasn't sure if the Gamsol (odorless mineral spirits) would react with it. So I first applied the colored pencil, trying to blend the colors with just the pencils, so that I wouldn't need the Gamsol. But I couldn't get the blending I wanted, so I wet a paper stump with Gamsol, and carefully started blending the colored pencil. As it turned out, I need not have worried, because it didn't seem to react with the Versafine at all.

Once I'd finished coloring the squirrel, I decided the white cardstock was a little TOO white for the rest of the card. So I blended Antique Linen Distress ink from the edges in towards the center. I did my best to avoid inking over the squirrel. I did accidentally get a little red ink on the edge of the circle. So I went around the edges with Gathered Twigs Distress ink, to darken them more and hide my little oops! Finally, I adhered the circle directly to the card front, mounted that onto a white A2 card base, and applied a coat of Glossy Accents to the squirrel's eyes.

I'm also entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes" challenge.

More Than Just a Little

The current challenge theme at Simon Says Stamp's Monday challenge blog is "One Stamp, Many Ways." I decided to use one of the stamps from Simon Says Stamp's "Summer Garden" set 3 ways.

I began by choosing Operation Write Home's Sketch #250 as the basis of my design:

I decided to create a one-layer background by using masking. To begin, I die cut a circle from some Simon Says Stamp masking paper, using one of Spellbinders' "Standard Circles LG" dies. I used the negative portion to mask off most of a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper I'd cut to 4x5.25". Inside the unmasked circle area, I stamped the flower image several times using Ranger Archival Watering Can ink. I then removed the mask, prepped the paper for embossing with my anti-static pouch, and stamped over the flowers around the edge of the circle with Versamark ink. I sprinkled on Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder, brushed off any powder from the grey flowers, and heat set the rest of the flower portions. My vision was to have the white heat embossed flowers be a continuation of the grey ones inside the circle. I proceeded to stamp the flower several more times over the background, using Versamark, and white heat embossed those images.

For the background, I first applied masking fluid over the circle area, so it would remain white. When that dried, I applied Distress inks in Dusty Concord, Shaded Lilac, Salty Ocean, & Faded Jeans onto my non-stick craft mat. I spritzed them with water, and smooshed the watercolor panel face-down into the ink. After getting an initial coverage of the different colors, I dried it a bit with my heat tool--being careful not to heat the masking fluid too much--and pounced it back into the ink puddles to add color and visual texture. I repeated this process a few more times, until I got the look I wanted. After drying it for the last time, I removed the masking fluid.

I cut a strip of navy cardstock to the size indicated in the sketch, and stamped a greeting from Mama Elephant's "In My Heart" set on that in Versamark. I heat embossed that with the same embossing powder. For the yellow flower, I stamped the image once more onto another scrap of watercolor paper, using Watering Can ink. I colored it with watercolor pencils, using a damp brush to blend the colors. When that dried, I die cut it with the coordinating die. I adhered the greeting strip in place, and glued the flower down to one side of the greeting. Finally, I matted the finished watercolor piece with another piece of navy cardstock, and mounted that to an A2 card base.

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

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes"
Simon Says Stamp's Work It Wednesday "Stamping"

Mom, You're the Best!

The deadline for Mother's Day cards to be at Operation Write Home is March 31. I did make a few of those for them, but also put in a couple of general "mom" cards, including this one, since these have a longer shelf life.

I began by choosing the "Stitched Filmstrip" die from Pretty Pink Posh and Hero Arts' "Antique Butterflies & Flowers" stamp & die set. I thought the smaller butterflies were the perfect size to put in the openings in the die cut. After stamping 2 of the butterflies on white cardstock, using Memento Tuxedo Black dye ink, I colored them in with colored pencils. Because the images are so tiny, I just colored them solidly, with no blending. When I'd finished with that, I die cut them with the coordinating dies, and also die cut the filmstrip from both light and darker blue cardstock.

I glued the light blue filmstrip die cut to a piece of light green cardstock, and cut the excess green, so it just served as a backer piece. Then I trimmed my two larger butterflies so they would fit in the spaces, and glued them and the smaller butterfly in place. I glued the darker blue filmstrip piece to the back, offset slightly to give a shadow effect. This is a tip I picked up from Nichol Magouirk, just to add some visual interest without bulk.

For the background, I cut a piece of patterned paper from Prima's “Botanical Collection” 6x6” pad to 4-1/8x5-3/8". I matted that with another piece of the light blue cardstock I'd used for the filmstrip die cut, which I'd cut to a standard A2 size. For the greeting, I decided on one from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Mother's Day Sentiments," and printed that on a tag I'd die cut with one of Pretty Pink Posh's "Stitched Tags" dies. I die cut another, darker green tag with the same die, and layered that one behind the greeting tag. Again, this gives depth without bulk. I glued the completed filmstrip and greeting in place, and finally adhered the card front to a white A2 card base.

I'm entering this card in a2z Scrapbooking's March Challenge: "Color It In."

Two Happy Cards

On Day 4 of Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Dies" class, Kristina Werner had a lesson on "Word & Mini Dies Combined." I had 2 cards inspired by that lesson in this post. Today I did another two, more like her example.

I began by cutting a piece of pink cardstock to 4x5.25", and blended Worn Lipstick Distress ink from the bottom edge up to about the center, letting it fade out to the pink base. Then I used Fired Brick to darken about the lower third of the cardstock. Finally, I brought in Aged Mahogany, which is a burgundy color, to darken the very edge. This produced an ombre effect, without too much effort. I did finally discovered the secret to ink blending--use a light hand. I have always tended to push down on the ink blending tool, trying to get good ink coverage. But today I finally figured out if you just hold the tool lightly, and just keep going over the area, it will blend better and still get as dark or bold as you want. Go figure!

Once I'd finished inking the cardstock, I dried it with my heat tool. I then taped Simon Says Stamp's "Big Hello" die onto the panel, and ran it through my die cutting machine. As instructed, I made sure to keep the positive & negative pieces from that die cutting. Next, I die cut 3 different sizes of hearts from the background, using dies from a Project Life set, My Favorite Things' "Blueprints 15," and WPlus9's "Seasonal Sentiments." I made sure to keep all the hearts I cut out.

To create my first card, I created a white A2 card base. I taped the negative die cut piece to the front with Post-It tape, and used that as a "map" for placing my positive die cuts. Then I glued my "hello" & heart die cuts in place using liquid glue. Once I had everything glued down, I carefully removed the negative piece.

For my second card, all I had to do was apply LOTS of foam tape pieces to the back of the negative die cut piece, and adhere it to another white A2 card base. I also popped up the inner pieces of the letters with foam tape. (NOT easy with the tiny pieces in the "e" and "o"!) And that finished both cards.

Happy Mother's Day!

On Day 6 of Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Dies" class, Debby Hughes had a lesson on doing an "Inlaid Background." She used a border die to create a background pattern with the inlaid die cutting technique. I didn't have a suitable border die, so I used Spellbinders' "Labels Eighteen" dies instead.

I decided to do an ombre design, so I pulled out 5 shades of green cardstock. I die cut my smallest label from the lightest color first. Then I took my second lightest color, and laid the smallest and next largest die on that, lining them up to cut a frame. I repeated this until I had 5 die cut pieces.

For the background, I found a piece of a parchment-type cardstock in my stash, & die cut that with the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Small Stitched Rectangles" dies. Then I die cut the largest label die in the center of that panel. I die cut another piece from scrap green cardstock using the Lawn Fawn die, and ran that through my Xyron Creative Station, to apply an even layer of adhesive on one side. Then I stuck that to the back side of the parchment panel, and adhered my green die cut frames in place. Finally I double-matted that panel with kraft & yellow cardstocks.

For the flower, I used the Simon Says Stamp "Summer Garden" stamps and coordinating dies. I stamped the flower and leaves on a scrap of 140 lb. watercolor paper, using Ranger Archival Watering Can ink, and colored them with watercolor pencils and a damp brush. After I die cut them, I glued the leaves directly to the panel, and popped the flower up on foam adhesive.

I die cut a piece of cream cardstock using one of the "Stitched Tags" dies by Pretty Pink Posh, and printed one of the "Mother's Day Sentiments" by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps on it. I adhered that with foam tape as well. Finally, I adhered the completed front panel to an A2-size card base.