Card Construction Details:
1. Oh the things we do for our kids. Cut the dark purple (eggplant by Stampin Up) cardstock with the Silhouette electronic digital cutter.
2. Adhered the graphic overlay to an A Muse Studio vanilla card.
3. Stamped various sentiments and hearts from a Paper Smooches set. Love those sentiments!
4. Colored in with Stampin Up markers.
5. Now that wasn't so hard, was it?
MOOD WHEN DONE = full of love for my kid.
Trying out a new idea -- using the same stamp three different ways. In this case, it is Penny Black's All You Need is Love (really??). With Twinkling H2Os on watercolor paper, big silk bow (so not me) and a Bermuda A Muse Studio card:
With Tombow Markers directly on rubber and a WPlus9 sentiment, on Bazzil textured cardstock (and look - - Washi Tape) and a Hero Arts woodgrain background:
And with Prismacolor Pencils and lots of Ranger Glossy Accents and copic colored pearls:
a close up of the hearts:
This was fun.
MOOD WHEN DONE: Pondering whether all you need is love...and how I can get a new lens for my camera without spending money.
Before the card, thanks so much for the interesting and thoughtful comments on my last post.
Some resonated with me immediately. Others are food for thought. The two themes that resonated right off the bat were how similar we all are. Sometimes it is easy to forget the common experiences and reactions we have. The other theme that struck a chord in a big way was the "need to please" comments. Wow, you ladies should charge by the hour!
Not sure what path the restlessness will take, but I see good things ahead!
And now another card made with Bestsy Bluebel from Penny Black --
Card Construction Details:
1. Stamped Betsy with Memories Black Dye ink twice on white cardstock and once on Eclipse Masking Tape. Trimmed the mask, covered the image and added an additional ballon (the one with the lady bug).
2. Colored the image and balloons on the extra image with Prismacolor Pencils. Cut out the 3 balloons on the extra image.
3. Covered image and extra balloons with a Versamark pen and clear embossing powder (3 times to get a smooth finish).
4. Die cut image with a nestability die and sponged Ranger Distress inks (Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade) around the image for a background.
4. Stamped over the image with an Impression Obsession background (Cover a Card Gradation) that I misted with water.
5. Took the die and traced around with a pencil on white cardstock. Hand cut to make the layer. Covered with Ranger Distress Peeled Paint ink for a green background.
6. Lavendar cardstock sponged with Crushed Concord Distress ink and stamped an Impression Obsession Cover a Card birthday sentiment background with the same ink. Misted with water. Lightly.
7. Added balloons and put the whole thing together, adding some twine and a clear heart rhinestone colored with a Copic. Finished by putting it all on an A Muse Studio vanilla card.
MOOD WHEN DONE = Happy. The image is so cute can't help but be smiley.
Title says it all! (For those of you newish to the blog, Project 100 is my plan to send 100 cards to my son, who is away at college.) Since he is in the middle of his 3rd year, I better step up the program!
Card Construction Details: (inspired by a card made by Kristina Werner in the Clean and Simple card class)
1. Die cut 4 layers of Daffodil cardstock by Stampin Up. Used my Silhouette to cut the letters.
2. Adhered the top layer of letters with temporary tape onto scratch paper, stamped with Onyx Versafine using the By Definition background by Stampin Up. Embossed with clear powder.
3. Removed embossed letters from scratch paper and adhered all 4 layers. HINT: when stacking layers, use liquid glue so you can move them around.
4. Used Ranger Distress Inks to color each letter. This soaked through the edges. Went to bed and let the letters dry.
5. Woke up. Everything dry.
6. Added stitching with a white gel pen to letters.
7. A2 A Muse Studio Onyx card, rounded corners and added more stitching. HINT: Place paper on gridded paper and add one "stitch" per grid.
MOOD WHEN DONE = Awake and Colorful
Don't use too many people images, but fell in love with this Betsy Bluebell set from Penny Black. Added a sentiment from Paper Smooches.
Card Construction Details:
1. Stamped image on white cardstock, extending the horizon line with a fine black pen.
2. Colored with Prismacolor Pencils. Covered image with Versamark Pen and embossed with clear powder. Repeated.
3. Die cut.
4. Made mask for the ground and sponged various shades of blue Ranger Distress inks for the sky. Repeated with green inks for the ground and edged the whole thing with Vintage Photo.
3. Stamped sentiment and adhered panel to die cut oval scallop.
4. Sponged a cream A2 card with Shabby Shutters Ranger Distress ink and adhered oval.
MOOD WHEN DONE = Cheery
One of the lessons in the Clean and Simple card class is "tone on tone." Jennifer McGuire demonstrated a card made with multiple layers of a Memory Box die adhered together and then placed on a card. Both the die cut and the card base were the same color.
So, inspired by that lesson I made this card --
Card Construction Detail (omitting all mistakes, false starts, and other headaches):
1. Using the Silhouette digital die cutter, sized this flourish for the card and cut out 4 layers in inexpensive white cardstock from an office supply store.
2. Cut one more image out of A Muse Studio Winter Sky cardstock. Adhered all layers together, which resulted in a pretty thick image.
3. Placed on a Winter Sky card and stamped the sentiment (from Art Gone Wild) in Versamark and embossed with white embossing powder.
4. Colored over the sentiment with a white gel pen to fill in the bumpy gaps (you know what I mean).
5. Adhered cut piece to card. The white interior, white edges of the cut piece and white sentiment look lovely against the pale blue card.
6. Sigh, really love this one.
MOOD WHEN DONE = Happy
First up -- the rose. Love this image -- from WPlus 9 Ever After set.
Reminds me of my first date with Mike, when we saw Beaches with Bette Midler. And that reminds me of her song The Rose. Ok, enough with walking down memory lane --
Card Construction Details:
1. Stamped image on white cardstock with Memories waterproof dye ink.
2. Colored with Prismacolor Pencils (light pink, magenta and a tiny bit of dark blue near the edges for the flowers).
3. Embossed with a Versamark Pen and clear embossing powder.
4. Die cut with a Spellbinder die that I promptly lost/misplaced. It must be somewhere...
5. Sponged with various shades of blue Ranger Distress inks, with Peeled Paint (green) on the bottom and Wild Honey in the middle. Misted some water in the air and ran panel through the air (gives speckled look).
6. The Clean and Simple Class suggested different ways to use stamps and decided to repeatedly stamp a sentiment on the bottom.
7. Risky business. Messed up a bit so covered it with iridiscent cord from May Arts.
8. Added rhinestone with Ranger Glossy Accents below the cord and below the rhinestone. Put acrylic block on top of the rhinestone until the whole thing stuck. Like glue. Looks better to have the bow pressed down and not floating.
MOOD WHEN DONE = Colorful
I'm taking this online course. There is a new lesson every day, which is a bit too often for me, but the lessons are always available so I can catch up (I suspect I'll be behind by day 2!). So far, I like the class (always a toss up on how to spend $25, but I need all the design help I can get.)
The first lesson provided a few sketches and I decided to use one of them to make this 4.25" square card. All stamps by WPlus9 Design.
Card Construction Details:
1. Trimmed white cardstock to make a 4.25" square card and then masked the center.
2. Stamped 3 different butterflies, lifted the mask and colored with Prismacolor Pencils and went over the black lines with a Sakura Micron pen. This created a nice border of butterflies. Edged the inside square with dotted black lines (where are they???? -- you'll see in a minute what happened.)
3. Stamped a sentiment in the inside of the lower left corner. But it was too small and the large butterfly border didn't look right. Unbalanced. OH NO!!
4. Saved the card by trimming a white square, adding a sentiment and purple heart and popping it up on dimensionals. So clever we stampers.
MOOD WHEN DONE = Happy. Not sure about this card. Just not sure, but I had fun making it and someone will like getting it (the definition of stamping)...
Thanks so much for all the lovely comments lately!
Next up -- brads (long neglected), black card base, and lots of colored pencils over a base colored with Ranger Distress Inks.
Card Construction Details:
1. Stamped flowers (from StaceyStamps); colored with Prismacolor Pencils. Cut out.
2. Made background -- 5' x 3.75" white panel, colored with Ranger Distress Inks.
3. Stamped background with this Impression Obsession background called Cover a Card gradation, misted with water. These backgrounds are fabulous. Large square with very interesting choices. I wish I could have all of them!
4. Went over black lines and dots with Micron pen, added white Ranger Glossy Accents. Didn't add accents to petals of second flower just to be different.
5. Stamped flowers onto background and colored stems and leves with pencils. Adhered flowers.
6. Cut out tag (old Provocraft die); colored with Ranger Distress ink and adhered with black brads.
7. Adhered panel with glue to A Muse Onyx card (the white interior softens the whole look).
MOOD WHEN DONE = HAPPY; just got back from a family wedding in Texas and had to get some stamping in before I head back into the office. Wonderful to get away but also wonderful to return.
EDITED TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS:
How did I make the background?
1. Took white cardstock and sponged 3 shades of blue Ranger Distress Inks, with the lighter in the center -- Tumbled Glass, Broken China, and Faded Jeans.
2. Sponged some Wild Honey in the center and along the edge. This turned some of the blue to green.
3. Sponged Brushed Corduroy along the very edges.
4. Took background stamp and misted it with water, being careful not to soak it. The water acts like bleach on Distress inks and lifts off the color. Because water runs, it also left some blotches. I like that look sometimes, especially near flowers or foliage.
Thanks for asking -- your comments warm my heart!
Got a few kind inquiries asking me about how I use pencils. I use Prismacolor, which are a wax based pencil. I used some free credits at Amazon over the holidays to order Faber Castell Polychromo pencils, which are oil based. I'll post a review/comparison once the package gets here and I have time to try them out.
In the meantime, to respond to the questions, here are some photos walking through how to get a nice blend with Prismacolor pencils. Get three shades of a color -- light, medium and dark and color like you are back in kindergarten ... the light color acts as a blender. Sharpen the pencils and keep sharpening as you use them. This is simple, not artist quality, information from one casual cardmaker (me).
1. Color your image with a light color. If you press too hard, you will cover the paper and get a waxy build up. Don't do that!
2. Take the medium shade and color a portion of the edge, going into the image, but not all the way.
3. Take your darkest shade and color right along part of the edge. (By the way, see the purple flowers? I put down too much color and eventually removed some of it by using a prismacolor white eraser.)
4. There are a variety of ways to blend colored pencils. The easiest is to go back with the lightest pencil and, with a bit of pressure, color over the image, concentrating on the edges with the darker pencil. A circular motion will help move the darker pencil from the edge to the middle of the image.
5. I was happy with this result, but decided to blend a bit more with a narrow bullet tip of a colorless Copic.
Then -- as usual -- wasn't sure what to do with the flowers and leaves. Made essentially the same card I usually make:
MOOD WHEN DONE = Determined to mail this card, rather than have it collect dust.
January:
February:
March:
April:
May:
June:
July:
August:
September:
October:
November:
December:
This was a fun exercise -- not a piece of ribbon in sight!
Hope your New Year's Eve is safe and fun. I'm recovering from a virus so I expect mine to be quiet! Thanks so much for spending time with me this year.
