Best Dad Ever!

Even though the Father's Day deadline for Operation Write Home is today (meaning, cards must have been sent in already), I figure they always have a use for general "dad" cards. So I decided to make this one.

I wanted to make my main panel look like burned leather. (Decoratively burned, that is!) I began by cutting a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper to 4x5.25". After taping it to my cutting board, I wet the middle area with clean water. I smooshed some Distress inks in Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, & Gathered Twigs onto an acrylic block, then used my wet paintbrush to pick up each color, one at a time. I daubed the color into the wet area, letting the water blend the colors (with some help from my brush, of course). When it looked like I wanted it, I dried it with my heat tool. Then I took Hero Arts' "Tweed Pattern" stencil, and taped it down over the panel. I blended some more Gathered Twigs through the stencil, concentrating it more in the center, and letting it fade out at the edges. After removing the panel from my cutting board, I blended some more Tea Dye around the perimeter. Then I tore around all 4 sides, and inked the torn edges with Walnut Stain Distress ink, to give it that aged, "burned" look. I matted it with a piece of patterned paper from my scrap stash, cut to 4-1/8x5-3/8".

For the greeting, I cut a piece of tan cardstock to a strip, and trimmed all 4 corners at an angle. I distressed the edges, and inked them with more Walnut Stain. After scanning it into my computer, I used one of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Father's Day Sentiments," digitally placing it on the label "canvas," and sized it to fit. Finally, I printed it directly onto my label. I adhered that to my card front, and punched a hole in either end with my Crop a Dile II. I set a black eyelet in each hole, and threaded some jute twine from The Paper Studio through those, tying each end in a knot. I attached a brad through the upper center of my card front, and ran the twine behind it, so it looks like the label/sign is hanging from that. I squirted a little Ranger Multi Medium Matte behind the twine on each side, just to make sure it stays in place. Finally, I matted the whole thing with black paper, and adhered it to a cream A2-size card base.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

a2z Scrapbooking's "Stencil"
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes"
Virginia's View Challenge #14: "Layers & Dimension"
Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Anything Goes"

Hippo Birdie

Send a Smile 4 Kids is having their "Birthday Fun 4 Kids" challenge. I got this stamp set designed by Julie Ebersole recently, and figured it would be perfect for this challenge. I mean, what kid wouldn't want a birthday card with a hippo and a birdie holding balloons? :)

I began by die cutting the background for my scene. I first cut a panel with the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Small Stitched Rectangles" die, from 140 lb. watercolor paper. I then cut the bottom portion off with one of Mama Elephant's "Landscape Trio" dies. I inked the grass part with Mowed Lawn Distress ink, adding some Peeled Paint towards the bottom to deepen the color. I did the sky with Distress inks in Broken China, Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon, and a bit of Chipped Sapphire at the top. Finally, I adhered both panels to a piece of cardstock, to create one panel.

For the hippo & the bird, I stamped them on white cardstock, using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I colored them with colored pencils, blending the colors with Gamsol on a paper stump. I then fussy cut both. I stamped the hippo on the background (mostly so I would still have the tail), and glued the fussy cut piece on top. I then stamped the bird standing on the hippo (this time, to get the legs in the picture), and glued the cut version on top. I stamped the party hat on a scrap of patterned paper, and cut that out. After stamping the hat on the hippo's head, I glued the paper piece on top. Borrowing a page from Nichol Magouirk's playbook, I dotted over the bird's & hippo's eyes with a black gel pen, just to give them more presence.

I die cut 3 balloons from patterned papers in my scrap stash, using dies from Lawn Fawn's "Party Balloons" set. I felt the design was getting a little too heavy on the right side, so I glued them in place towards the upper left, as if a breeze were blowing them back. I drew balloon strings with a white gel pen, so the strings are "tied" to the hippo's tail and the bird's wing.

I stamped a greeting from the "Wish Big" set on the grass portion, using Versamark ink. Then I heat embossed it with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. Finally, I matted that panel with a red-orange cardstock, to echo the reddish-orange in one of the balloons. I was going to mount that directly to a white card base, but felt the white was a bit too stark a contrast. So I adhered my panel to a piece of pale blue cardstock instead, and then mounted that to my A2 card base. As a finishing touch, I coated the balloons with Glossy Accents. Hopefully this card will give a hospitalized child somewhere a good chuckle!

Hello--Faux Flair

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge blog has been having their "Clean and Simple" challenge this past week. I had about 40 minutes the other night, & decided to make one more card for the day, to send to Send a Smile 4 Kids. I had seen a tutorial by May Flaum as part of her Supplies on Hand 2014 class, where she used journaling cards to create a grid design for a scrapbook page. She suggested you could scale it down, and use a similar design for a card. I combined that idea with Carissa Wiley's instruction, in this video, on making faux flair, & came up with this "hello" card.

I chose 4 complementary patterned papers from my scrap stash as the base for my card. After die cutting each one with Lawn Fawn's "Stitched Journaling Card" die, I laid them out on the front of a 4.5x7.25" cream card base. Once I had the arrangement as I wanted, I adhered the papers, trimming off the overhang with my scissors.

For the flair, I stamped the "hello" stamp from Simon Says Stamp's "Sending Happy Thoughts" on white cardstock, using Hero Arts Pool Mid-tone Shadow ink. (This happened to be the same stamp Carissa used in her video.) I stamped over that again with Versamark (a feat easily achieved with my MISTI tool), and heat embossed it with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder. The heat embossing was probably not necessary in the end, but it didn't mess anything up, either, so I didn't redo the stamping. Then I punched that with my EK Success 1" circle punch, and adhered a clear epoxy sticker by The Paper Studio to the front, creating my "faux flair."

Because the flair was a bit small in relation to the card front, I die cut navy & yellow cardstocks, using 2 nesting scalloped circle dies by Lifestyle Crafts. I layered them, and glued the flair on top. Finally, I glued that to my card front, at the intersection of the patterned paper pieces, and this card was done!

I'm also entering this card in Virginia's View Challenge #14: "Layers and Dimension."

It's Your Day

Ellen Hutson is having their "Pin-sights" challenge over in The CLASSroom. They posted the following mood board, and participants are to make a project inspired by it, featuring at least one Essentials by Ellen product.

Even though I currently have all of two products from that line, I decided to go for it. My inspiration came from the color palette, polka dots, and the brush lettering. This card by Laurel Beard also inspired my design.

I began by die cutting a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper with Lawn Fawn's "Stitched Journaling Card" die. I stamped my greeting, from the Essentials by Ellen "Wish Big" stamp set, towards the bottom, using Hero Arts Charcoal Mid-tone Shadow ink. I was able to stamp it twice, using my MISTI, to get a bolder look, similar to the brush lettering in the mood board. Next, I stamped one of the balloons from the same stamp set several times, using Distress inks in Mowed Lawn, Cracked Pistachio, Picked Raspberry, and Worn Lipstick. I then used those same colors to watercolor the balloons. (As a child, I was always fascinated by bunches of transparent balloons, so I was happy I could achieve that look here!)

For the background, I die cut another piece of watercolor paper using the scalloped frame from Mama Elephant's "Femme Frames" set. I stamped one of the dot clusters from the Essentials by Ellen "Bokeh Dots" set numerous times around the perimeter, with Tsukineko Brilliance Cosmic Copper pigment ink. I filled in some empty spots with another of the single dot stamps in that set, then used Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder to heat emboss the dots. I smooshed Mowed Lawn & Cracked Pistachio on my non-stick craft mat, then spritzed the ink generously with water. I laid my watercolor panel face down in the ink puddles, pouncing and smooshing it to get complete coverage. After drying it with my heat tool, I pounced it in the ink a few more times, to get some more defined ink spots. Then I set that aside to air dry.

Once my background panel had dried, I adhered it to a piece of dark grey cardstock, to echo the charcoal color of the greeting. I drew strings coming down from the balloons on my focal panel, using my T-square ruler and a grey fine-tipped marker. Then I used some Ranger Multi Medium Gloss to glue a piece of fun foam to the back of that panel, before gluing it to my background. Finally, I adhered the completed card front to an A2 card base. And that finished this card for Operation Write Home!

I'm also entering my card in Virginia's View Challenge #14: "Layers and Dimensions."

Flowery Thanks

A Blog Named Hero's current challenge is to create a one-layer card. I actually have a board on Pinterest devoted to one-layer & CAS cards, so I went there to get inspiration. I found this card by Jennifer McGuire, and decided to make a card based on that.

I began by die cutting a mask from a Post-It note using one of the Docrafts X-cut "Flower Bloom" nesting dies. I adhered it to my card base, slightly right of center and towards the top. Then I used various stamps from WPlus9's "Spring Blooms" & Paper Smooches' "Botanicals 2" sets to stamp around the mask. I used mostly Hero Arts inks in Bubble Gum, Butter Bar, Green Hills, Soft Pool, and Soft Lilac; as well as Simon Says Stamp's Sunshine ink. For the larger flower centers, I used Colorbox Chestnut Roan chalk ink.

Once I'd finished stamping the flowers & greenery, I adhered the negative portion of the Post-It around the mask. I peeled up the positive mask, and taped down pieces of copy paper around my negative mask to protect the rest of the card. Then I inked over the open area very lightly with Mowed Lawn Distress ink. I just wanted to provide a little more definition to that shape. Finally, after removing the masking, I stamped my greeting, from Hero Arts' "Dauber Bunch" set, in the open area, using Chestnut Roan ink. And that finished this card, that I have sent off to Operation Write Home.

A Pair of AnyHero Cards

Operation Write Home likes to collect what they call "AnyHero Mail." Basically, these are thank yous written to our military heroes serving overseas. I like to include at least a couple with each package I send them. These are my two most recent cards.

My first card is based on OWH's Sketch #220:

I must admit, I have a love/hate relationship with this particular sketch. I love the wonky appearance, with the angled lines, but I hate that there are no clear measurements! It took me a bit of work to make this design come together for this card, but I think I succeeded pretty well.

I die cut the "thanks" using Savvy Stamps' "Thanks Script." Like many things in my stash, I've had this die for a while, and have never used it--until now. Because it is such a delicate die cut, I ran it through my Xyron machine, to apply adhesive to the back side.

For the background, I cut a piece of kraft cardstock to 4.25x5.5". I used the angled die in Avery Elle's "Custom Panels" set to die cut the first angle. Then I glued the 2 kraft pieces, slightly separated, onto a piece of black paper. I cut 2 more black strips, and glued them below for the other 2 lines in the sketch. I used 3 patterned paper scraps to fill in the open spaces. After adhering the "thanks" die cut, I stamped the rest of the greeting, from this Simon Says Stamp set, using Hero Arts Navy Mid-tone Shadow ink.

My second card is a bit more patriotic-looking. Since AnyHero cards don't need to fit in an envelope, I decided to make one with some dimension. OK, maybe a LOT of dimension! :) I cut the background cardstock from a pad by Momenta, and adhered it on a white card base. Then I stamped the "USA" from the Stampers Anonymous "Americana Blueprint" set on one side, using Versamark ink. I heat embossed that with Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder.

For the rosettes, I die cut one each from red, white, & blue cardstock, using the "Medallions" die from Sizzix. This die cuts and scores the paper strip, so all you have to do then is accordion-fold it, glue the ends together, and flatten it into a rosette. It does 2 diameters, so I cut one from the red and the other from the blue & white. For the larger rosettes, I then punched a 1" circle from the corresponding color of cardstock, and a 3/4" circle for the smaller, red one. I applied a generous amount of Ranger Multi Medium in the gloss finish to each circle, and flattened my rosettes, adhering them to those circles. I placed acrylic blocks on them until they dried, to keep the rosettes from popping up again.

I found red, white, & blue buttons in my stash, and threaded them with embroidery floss that was close in color to the Liquid Platinum embossing powder. After my rosettes had dried, I glued a button to the top of each. I adhered a narrow strip of each color of cardstock to the card front, then glued the rosettes in place on top. And that finished this card!

I'm entering my second card in Virginia's View Challenge #14: "Layers & Dimensions."

To the Moon and Back

The April challenge at a2z Scrapbooking is "Stencil." I chose this Hero Arts stamp set, and decided to pair it with Simon Says Stamp's "Falling Stars" stencil, to create a galaxy-themed love card.

To begin, I die cut a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper with the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Large Stitched Rectangles" dies. I stamped the moon & planet, using Memento Dandelion dye ink & Hero Arts Fresh Peach mid-tone shadow ink, respectively. After taping off the edges of the panel outside the faux stitching lines, I taped the stencil over it and spread Liquitex Gloss Super Heavy Gel Medium over that. Once I had an even coating of the gel, I removed the stencil and set my background aside to dry.

For the greeting, I stamped one from the same Hero Arts set in Versafine Onyx Black ink onto another scrap of watercolor paper. I then heat embossed that with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder. Once that cooled, I used one of the Pretty Pink Posh "Stitched Tags" dies to cut the panel. Again, as with the background I taped off around the edges, and then inked the tag with Mustard Seed & Wild Honey Distress inks. Before I removed the masking, I used a paintbrush and some clean water to create water droplets on the inked tag. The water "bleached" the ink, creating a nice, subtle texture. Once that had dried, I removed the masking tape.

By this time my stars had dried, so I used Scattered Straw Distress ink on a sponge dauber to add a glow around the moon. I masked off the moon & planet, and blended more Distress inks in Seedless Preserves, Salty Ocean, Chipped Sapphire, and a bit of Black Soot, to create my night sky. For the spaces just around the planet, I smooshed Seedless Preserves and Chipped Sapphire onto an acrylic block, then picked up the color with a damp brush and painted between the rings and directly around the planet. After removing the masks, I sprayed the panel with water, which both helped to blend the colors further and added a bit of visual texture. Finally, I removed the painter's tape from around the edges of the background panel.

I adhered the background panel to an A2 card base, and glued the tag in place. And that finished this card. I will be sending this on to Operation Write Home.