Serene

This one will likely be the last in my little experiment with Foamiran craft foam.  I've been trying various techniques in order to put together a review of it for RubberStampMadness magazine.  It is a wonderful medium and I expect that it will remain a staple in my craft stash . . .

This sample uses Foamiran flowers that were punched out instead of die cut.  I found that it punches quite well, but the edges can be a little bit frayed.  This can be corrected by putting a piece of typing paper against the back of the Foamiran before punching.  The edges will be perfectly clean and crisp every time.

I love adding bows to various layouts but the ones made of cardstock always get crushed in the mail.  I can't wait to see how these fare!

 

Cardstock:   Bazzill Light Grey, Ash, Staples Grey     

Dies:            Stampin Up, Punch Bunch, and Emagination punches

                     Flowers, Memory Box  Grapevine Wreath, Poppy Grosgrain

                     Bow, Cheery Lynn Pretty Pretty Bows, Simon Says

                     Tilted Banner Sayings, DieVersions Noodles: “Serene”              

Emb Fldr:    Stampin Up Layered Leaves

Doo Dads:    Foamiran, Art Glittering System #84 Shiny Silver        

African Adventures

My friend Sandy is into the art and music of Africa so she gets to benefit from my collection of African themes . . .

To ease the transition from the border strip onto the netting background, I used a grassy border die to add a different pattern.  As Africa practically invented beads, I always like to use them on my African-themed cards.  They're a little hard to see on this one but they are dangling beneath the face.

 

Cardstock:   Bazzill Raven, Neenah Solar White, Generic Black,

                        Orange

Stamps:       Stamp Zia Palm Fronds, Snakeskin, Spikes, MJ Barber

                        African Mask, Haika ”African Adventures”

Inks:             ColorBox Frost White, Black, Distress Rusty Hinge

Emb Powder:   Judikins Detail Black, Opaque White

Dies:            DieNamics Sentiment Strips, Sweet ‘n Sassy Fence

                        & Grass Border set, Unknown punch Sun

Doo Dads:    Black, Orange beads

Fleur

 The fun with Foamiran Craft Foam continues . . .

 

On this one, I wanted to see if the petals on a simple two-layered flower would survive the mail and stay curved.  So I've asked my friend Carol Chiaramonte to give me a report when I send this sample to her.  After heating the die cut flowers for no more than two seconds, they curved upward and acquired some welcome firmness.  I think they'll survive the mailing very well!

I also experimented with using hair spray as a fixative for the chalk-stenciled background.  I've heard mixed reviews about it for years and thought it was time to try it out myself.  So I stenciled two samples with white chalk, then used hairspray on one and workable fixative on the other.  Oddly enough, the hairspray was slightly wetter than the fixative.  Therefore, the stenciled design became a little more translucent and less visible.  The difference was slight but still noticeable.  The real difference was how the cardstock reacted to both treatments.  The hairspray warped the cardstock, but the fixative did not - the sample remained perfectly flat. I think I'll use the hairspray for its intended purpose and stick with the fixative - more expensive, yes, but way less hassle in the long run . . .

 

Cardstock:   Strathmore Natural White, Nicole Licorice         

Colorants:    Pan Pastel Titanium White

Dies:            White Lotus Flower, DieNamics Bright Lights Alpha              

Stencil:        The Crafters Workshop Mini Chevron Tiles

Doo Dads:    Foamiran craft foam, Candi dot Saville Row, Mark

                     Richards metal stickers Silver      

You

I am continuing right along with my "Foamiran" fun.  This is a superb foam craft product that I am having a lot of fun with, mostly because it usually does what I want it to . . . 

 I expect to be writing a Product Review on Foamiran for RubberStampMadness magazine, so I am experimenting with various ways to use it.  I will then mail the results to my dear friend and stamping buddy Carol Chiaramonte so that she can report back to me on how well these foam flowers survived the USPS treatment.

This card features rolled flowers that have great dimension and density and I am thinking that they'll survive the mail in fine shape.  The Foamiran-embellished card I sent to Carol last week arrived in perky condition, so I'm hoping this one will do the same.

 

Cardstock:   Marcos Jute, Champion Snow Day, Strathmore Ultimate

                     White 

Stamps:       Taylored Expressions One & Only You set: “Thinking of”

Inks:             Distress Dusty Concord, Stormy Sky, Mustard Seed,

                     Wild Honey, Ancient Page Leaf Green

Emb Pwdr:  Vippies Transcendence

Colorants:    PanPastel chalk Titanium White

Dies:            Paper Smooches Criss Cross, Tim Holtz Mini Tattered

                     Florals, Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms, Taylored Expressions

                     One and Only You: “You”, Gina Marie Stitched Rounded

                     Squares

Stencil:        Art Anthology Take Flight

Doo Dads:    Foamiran, USArt Quest Crystal Effectz Opal Essence,

                     Pearls

Dream

Am in an experimental mood of late and this card shows two ideas I tried - one with chalk and the other with a thin foam craft material called "Foamiran" . . .

Having never tried using white chalk over black cardstock, I gave it a go and really like the misty results.  I started applying the chalk with the traditional foam tools made by Sofft but switched to the Life-Changing brushes which made the job easier and faster.  For other projects, I do like the Sofft tools for their precision sizes which make shading in small areas a lot easier.

My second experiment involves a thin foam product called "Foamiran" which I used for the die cut flower.  I want to see how it holds up when being mailed.  I used die inks on the petals and when I used my heat gun to speed up the drying, the petals curved upward and the flower became quite lifelike.  The curve also seems permanent.  I can't wait to mail this to my friend Carol who will let me know if the curved petals kept their shape or not.  Fingers crossed!

 

Cardstock:   Strathmore Pastelle White, Nicole Licorice        

Inks:             Ancient Page Lavender, Foxglove, Saffron

Colorants:    PanPastel Titanium White

Dies:            DieNamics Prima Donna Petals, Memory Box Stitched

                     Rectangle Trimmings, Reverse Confetti Wild Words Set:

                     Dream  

Stencil:        Hero Leaf and Flourish

Doo Dads:    Foamiran White, USArtQuest Crystal Effects, Schmincke

                      Dry Gouache Silver      

In My Prayers

 My friend Carol recently sent me a gorgeous card she'd done with Pan Pastel chalks and stencils.  She inspired me and I realized that it had been awhile since I'd used my own chalks, so out they came . . .

 I used a slightly rough textured watercolor paper so that the chalks would be unevenly applied and take on a little texture of their own.  I'm happy with the results and think I'll keep my chalks on the worktable a little bit longer . . .

 

Cardstock:   Bazzill Ivy, Canson #90 Aquarelle watercolor   

Stamps:       Stampendous Encouraging Words

Inks:             ColorBox Cream White

Colorants:    Pan Pastel Bright Yellow Green, Chromium Oxide Green

Emb Pwdr:  Stamp’n Stuff Ivory Pearl

Dies:            Mama Elephant Femme Frames, We-Buys Cute Ovals,

                     Mimgo Leaves, White Lotus Flower           

Stencil:        A Colorful Life Orderly Leaves

Doo Dads:    Queen & Co pearls

African Adventures

For this background, I had another glorious session with some Schmincke dry gouache powder, this time in copper . . .

 . . . as before, I stenciled first with embossing paste and then dusted the wet paste with the powder.  I tapped off the excess and am loving the results.  As I may have previously noted, the Schmincke powder is so fine that if I scattered it in the air, it would probably stay there for a long time before gravity finally prevailed.  Because it is so fine, a very little goes a very long way.  The jar may look to be on the small side, but don't be fooled.  You'll have plenty to play with for a long time to come . . .

 

Cardstock:   The Paper Cut Taurus Variety: Copper, Nicole Licorice          

Stamps:       Creative Dies set Giraffe, Hanko “African Adventures”,

                     Stamp Out Cute  “Republique Francaise” (postoid)

Inks:             Encore Copper, ColorBox Black

Emb Pwdr:  BMuse True Copper, Distress Black Soot

Dies:            Pink Fresh Slim Stitched Rectangles, Creative Dies set

                     Giraffe, Fyore “Stitched Stamp-edged Rectangles”    

Doo Dads:    Schmincke Dry Gouache Copper,  Ranger Texture

                     Paste Transparent Matte

Just For You

It's been a good while since I've done a spotlight card so now was the time to have some fun with it . . .

The text was too narrow to support invisibly with foam dots, so I glued it to a piece of acetate first.  Then I was able to float it over the card with small foam dots I cut even smaller and placed them behind the wider parts of the text.

 

 Cardstock:   Co-ordinations Just Peachy, Strathmore Ultimate White,

                     Nicole Black        

Stamps:       Hero Delicate Blossoms

Inks:             Hero Black, Distress Ripe Persimmon, Abandoned Coral,

                     Bundled Sage

Emb Pwdr:  UTEE Black, Stampendous Shabby White

Dies:            Nellie’s Photo Frames, Penny Black Just for You                                

Adventure

 I went for sheer drama on this one . . .

After stenciling these rather primitive shapes with some translucent paste, I scattered on some chunky metallic dry gouache, let it dry, and tapped off the excess.  The artsy result is not my usual style but I like the dramatic result!  It was fun to step out of the box and try something different . . .

 

Cardstock:   Bazzill Raven, Ranger Silver Sparkle, Strathmore Pastelle

                     Bright White     

Dies:            Tim Holtz Alphanumeric Tiny Upper: “Adventure”,

                     Concord & 9^th Triple-Step Blooming Heart Die Set (label)

Doo Dads:    Schmincke Aluminum, Dreamweaver Translucent Paste