In All Its Glory

A gratitude-filled and most blessed Thanksgiving day for one and all!

This is yet another of those holiday cards I make for a number of people and as such, these need to be a little on the streamlined side.  However, this never seems to happen.  Things start out simply enough and then everything just sort of expands.  This card took more than 24 steps to make and when I look at it, I'm still not sure if I'm done yet.

Sigh . . .

One other note:  the background is a lovely rich dark chocolate brown, not the black that my camera seems to think that it is . . .

Cardstock:               Gina K Charcoal Brown, Lustro-Dull Cream,

                                     Bazzill Marigold

Stamps:                    Stampin’ Buddies Patchwork Pumpkin, Creative

                                      Imaginations Thankful Set “In all its Glory”

Inks:                           ColorBox Black, Cream White

Emb Powder:          B’Muse Devil’s Food Delight, Stampendous

                                    Ivory Pearl

Impr Plate:                Cheery Lynn Cement

Doo Dads:                May Arts Cream, Black jute fiber, Gold glitter

Happy Birthday

 I hope you're not tired of feather images yet, because I'm  sure not . . .

The short list of cards I've made – that I really like – is short indeed, but this one is the second card this year that I feel belongs on this list.  Two whole cards in one year?  Booyah:  I'm on a roll!

There are some textured gold speckles on the feathers that the camera has probably ignored, but I'm happy with the results nonetheless. 

This card is a testimonial to the innumerable Boo Boo Bailouts that exist in the wonderful world of Rubber Stamping.  There were four serious glitches on this card front, but don't bother looking for them:  the recovery work-arounds are that good!  These band-aids have little to do with me and everything to do with the excellent tools and numerous Tips and Tricks I've picked up from so many others over fourteen years of stamping. 

Long may our generous rubber family thrive and survive!

Cardstock:   Generic Dark Brown, Beckett Moonlight             

Stamps:        Stacy Distressed Frame, Creative Catalyst Tweed Border,

                           Club Scrap Wispy Feather, other feathers unknown,

                           Stampin’ Up Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Lawn Fawn Grand

                          Greetings: “Happy Birthday”, Starving Artistamps

                          Trimmings: Ball Chain

Inks:               Distress Pumice Stone, Forest Moss, ColorBox Cream

                          White, Gold

Emb Powder:  Stampendous Ivory Pearl, Ranger Gold

Doo Dads:    Deckled scissors, Gold floss                     

U Rock

My young friend and former neighbor Joshua turns 13 this year and I thought he deserved a rockin' card to add to the celebration . . .

He's a really good kid and I expect he'll make it though the turbulent teens intact.  Still, in today's world . . . fingers are crossed. 

Cardstock:   Generic Textured Red, Bazzill Marigold, PaperCut Matte

                         White

Stamps:        Nema Ink Dancers, Inkadinkado Everyday Expressions:

                          “Happy Birthday”, My Sentiments Exactly U Set: U Rock”,

                          Outlines Bits & Pieces Set Two: Star

Inks:               ColorBox Black, Silver, Pilot marker Silver

Emb Powder:   Judikins Detail Black, B’Muse Silver

                        

Happy Day

It's hard to beat black, white, and silver for making colors pop . . .

Obviously I'm still on my feathers kick!  They are such wonderful iconic images that work well in so many ways.  They're gorgeous when done in a realistic style or as in this sample, a more graphic image.  They can be anything from cute to classic and everything in between. 

Love 'em – be prepared for many more feather adventures . . .

Cardstock:   Bazzill Raven, Neenah Solar White, Mirra Card Silver

Stamps:        Close to My Heart Feathers, Sweet 'n Sassy Rose Collage:

                          "Best Wishes, Celebrate, Happy Day, Hugs to You",

                          Stampin' Up Itty Bitty Background

Inks:               ColorBox Black, Frost White

Emb Powder:   Judikins Detail Black, Opaque White, Suze Weinberg

                          UTEE Black

Colored Pencils:   Intense Chili Red, Vivid Green, Dark Aquamarine,

                          Tangerine               

Doo Dads:    Red eyelets   

Soar, Treasure, Play

And here we are again, having ever more fun with DIY enamel dots . . .

Yes of course I'm addicted to making these things – why do you ask?  Such fun is probably illegal somewhere . . . but take a walk on the wild side:  scroll down to my previous post and get the directions if you missed them.

Cardstock:   American Crafts Earthtone Green, Watercolor paper,

                          Black scraps

Stamps:        Starving Artistamps “Soar”, “Treasure”, “Play”, Hero

                          Shadow Background 1

Inks:               Distress Seedless Preserves, Mowed Lawn, Fired Brick,

                         Salty Ocean, VersaMark, ColorBox Black

Emb Powder:   Suze Weinberg UTEE White, Judikins Detail Black

Dies:              Spellbinders Fleur de Lis, Impression Obsession Sea Birds

Stencil:          The Crafters Workshop Mini Herringbone

Doo Dads:    DIY enamel dots

Happy Birthday

I went a little overboard with this one - lots of happy color for sure . . .

The really fun thing to share is that this card features DIY enamel dots!  They are so very easy to make:

1. Punch out a few circles from leftover card scraps – I’ve used a cheap, standard office ¼“ hole punch and am planning on finding punches slightly smaller/bigger for variety.

2. Place the dot upside down on a foam mat and use your stylus in a circular motion to form a domed dot - same process as in flower-making.

3. Roll a small glue dot and stick on the end of a pointed wood manicure stick. Use to pick up the paper dot.

4. Tap onto a VersaMark pad, tap onto some clear UTEE and heat.  Quickly tap the hot dot back onto the UTEE and heat a second time.  Repeat one more time.  Watch closely as you heat: there may be a tiny dimple in the top which will disappear in  a second or two as you continue heating.  After the last heating, hold dot upright for five seconds so that the UTEE cools evenly.

5.  Remove from the stick.  Fold another small glue dot in half and use to adhere.

By using your scraps from the same project, your DIY enamel dots will always match perfectly.  Or you can use any colors or any cardstock you like. It takes barely more than a moment to do this and best of all, they're virtually FREE!

Cardstock:   Stampers Emporium Marina Teal, Watercolor

                         paper

Stamps:        Stampin” Up Itty Bitty Banners: “Happy Birthday”

Inks:               Distress Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade,

                         Mustard Seed, Peacock Feathers, ColorBox

                         Frost White

Emb Powder:  Stampendous Shabby White, Judikins Opaque White

Dies:              Spellbinders Grand Label 23, Memory Box Fresh Daisies,

                          Stampin’ Up Itty Bitty Banners Die

Emb Folder: Quickutz Woven      

Stencil:          Dylusions Blocks, Small

Doo Dads:    Tsukineko Goosebumps, DIY enamel dots

Happy Birthday!

This one was a struggle . . .

 . . . the background was too shrieky so I hauled out the vellum to tone things down.  Not the effect I was after, but I kept slogging along anyway.  The jute flower embellishment was an idea that popped into my head when I got out of bed this morning.  Have absolutely no idea what jarred that one loose, but I like it, so I'll be doing a few of these again.

My favorite part was experimenting with an idea I heard from a few other stampers out there:  I found that it's possible to get some real color on dark cardstock by painting the area first with a wet brush stroked onto my white pigment ink pad.  I heat dried, and then used colored pencils over the white ink.  As they were water color pencils, I smoothed out the color with my trusty water brush.  I'll be playing with this idea a lot!

Overall, there are elements on this card that work, and others that assuredly do not. Sigh . . . such is life . . .    

Cardstock:   PaperCut Brown Umber, Stampin’ Up Vellum, Generic

                           Orange scrap

Stamps:        Stamp La Jolla Satin Flower Square, Stampendous

                          Montage Birthday

Inks:               ColorBox Frost White, Memories Art Print Brown

Emb Powder:   Judikins Opaque White

Colored Pencil:  Inktense Tangerine

Dies:              ScrapMart Bubble Label

Emb Folder: Cuttlebug Divine Swirl       

Doo Dads:    American Crafts Orange Jute, deckled scissors

Thanks

This card was a thank you note to our friend Donna, whose major joy in life is baking extraordinary goodies for people on her "A" list.  How fortunate we are to find ourselves on that stellar list!  At this writing, we are currently snarfing our way through a batch of incredible lemon cupcakes and loving every bite . . .

One of my new favorite techniques is to smoosh various colors onto an acrylic block, pick up the color with a wet paintbrush, and paint away on my embossed focal point.  When done, I mist what inks are left on the block with water and then stamp the block onto another piece of cardstock.  There's usually enough ink left on the block for yet another stamping, so I heat dry the first layer of color and then re-stamp.  This provides darker splots and blots for added textural interest.  Since the inks are the same ones I used for the focal point, the background matches it perfectly and everybody is happy.  I hope . . .

Cardstock:   Marco’s Jute

Stamps:        Hampton Arts Willowy Sunflower, Stampin’ Up “Thanks”

Inks:               Versamark, VersaCraft Lemon Yellow, ColorBox Chalk

                          Frost White, Distress Gathered Twigs, Mowed Lawn,

                          Peeled Paint, VersaCraft Forest

Emb Powder:   Judikins Opaque White

Dies:              Lil Inker Stitched Mats: Rectangle, ScrapMart Bubble

                            Label                           

Doo Dads:    Flower Soft Gold, Dark Green ribbon