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       

No Bones About It

Of all the cards I enjoy making for various themes throughout the year, Halloween invariably turns out to be the most fun . . .

 . . . it must be because the usual artistic objectives of kindness, love, beauty, and maybe even a little sweetness are not remotely required for a successful Halloween card.  Instead, we get to dip into a little of the macabre, the bizarre, and even into a smidgeon  of scary.  Sounds like fun to me!

And a happy BOO! to you too! 

Cardstock:   Bazzill Raven, Marigold                

Stamps:        Just For Fun Spider Web Background, Unknown “No Bones

                           About It”, Rubber Stamp Tapestry “Time for Halloween”,

                           Judikins Dancing Skeletons, Raindrops on Roses

                           Watercolor Splashes

Inks:               Versamark, Hero Black, ColorBox Black, Frost White

Emb Powder:  Judikins Opaque White, Detail Black, Black Diamond,

                                Distress Black Soot

Dies:              Quickuts Bats                                    

                        

Just Wanted to Say

I raided the Scrap Stash big-time for this one . . .

 . . . and fell in love with one of Jennifer McGuire’s techniques all over again.  I think she calls it “Layered Embossed Resist” and it makes wonderful backgrounds.  On this card, I used it on the layer just beneath the banner.  Here’s how:

Stamp a text background using either a pigment ink (heat dry but do not emboss) or dye ink.  I used white ink, but a soft brown works well on white or cream cardstock.

Using VersaMark, over-stamp an overall floral pattern and clear emboss.

Sponge on Distress inks with a swirling motion, and then wipe with a paper towel to remove the excess ink from the embossed areas.

Done!   You get texture, glimmer, and a two-tone text background that looks complex but is very quick and easy to do..

Cardstock:               Marcos Jute, scraps from my Scrap Stash

Stamps:                    Simon Says Sketchy Banner Greetings “Just

                                    wanted to say”

Inks:                           Distress Wild Honey, Gathered Twigs, VersaMark,

                                     Gold marker

Emb Powder:          Ranger Clear

Dies:                          Simon Says Sketchy Banners, Cheery Lynn Lace

                                    Corner Deco B

Emb Folder:             Cuttlebug Mesh

Doo Dads:                Viva Paper Pen Walnut Brown

Soar

Another study in feathers, plus some dramatic black, white, and silver . . .

For all you texture lovers out there, this card definitely has it.  There isn’t a smooth surface to be found anywhere – even the embossing is crunchy.  I had happy fingertips while working on this and I know the recipient will too!

Cardstock:               Generic Black, textured White

Stamps:                    Starving Artistamps Square Dotted Background,

                                    “Soar, Persevere, Serenity”, Altered Stitches

                                    Trimmings: Stitch Border, Technique Junkies

                                    Simple Sentiments 1:  “Happy Anniversary”

Inks:                           ColorBox Frost White, Silver

Emb Powder:          B’Muse Detail Silver, Suze Weinberg UTEE Silver

Dies:                          Spellbinders Feathers in the Wind, Curved Matting

                                    Basics B

Stencil:                      Tim Holtz Speckles

Emb Paste:              Dreamweavers Silver

Congratulations, Graduate!

While a graduation card may seem a bit out of season, it was a creatively busy summer and I couldn’t fit it in earlier.  Besides, it never hurts to have cards of all kinds at the ready in your stash . . .

I’m happy to see that the blackboard technique is still alive and well, as I love the look and think it’s a lot of fun to do.  There are several ways to make this happen . . . I like to sponge along the edge with Papertrey’s Fresh Snow dye ink as it stays wet just long enough move it around a little with a crumpled Kleenex.  I’ve tried this using pigment ink but I get a softer, more diffused look with the dye.

Cardstock:   Bazzill Raven, Generic Black, Cardinal, Mustard          

Stamps:        PSX 2593 “Congratulations Graduate”, all other stamps

                          are from the Fiskars School Days Set   

Inks:               ColorBox Frost White, Black, Papertrey Ink Fresh Snow

Emb Powder:   Judikins Opaque White, Detail Black

Dies:              Papertrey Ink Angled Labels, Marianne Creatables Flora 3 

Doo Dads:    Red tassel

Silver, Black and White

Continuing with my yen for all things feathers and stencils . . .

Much as I love the silver-edged feathers, I think they’d have shown up more against the silver-stenciled background had I edged them in white.  Must try that next time . . . also, the three white dots are uneven in size and not perfectly placed.  But you thought I did that artistically-on-purpose, right?  Say yes . . .

Cardstock:               Generic textured Black, White

Stamps:                    Stamp Bug Happy Birthday Border, Starving

                                      Artistamps Altered Stitches: Running Stitch

Inks:                           ColorBox Frost White, Gelly Roll Clear Star pen

Emb Powder:          Suze Weinberg Silver UTEE, Stampendous

                                    Shabby White, Judikins Detail White

Dies:                          Impression Obsession Feather Set, Sweet ‘n

                                    Sassy Grass Border

Stencil:                      Tim Holtz Burlap

Emb Paste:              Dreamweaver Silver

Doo Dads:                Deckled scissors, Inkssentials White Enamel Accents