Been a while since I've joined the colour challenge and with a wet dreary day providing just the right atmosphere for creating - here's what the brief was; Smoky Slate, Rich Razzleberry, Soft Sky and Night of Navy.. Oops as I type this I realise I used Pool Party not Soft Sky, hope I'll be forgiven.
Wet weather equals messy play, so it was time to colour my embossing paste. I've loved seeing how everyone else has put this to use but confess to only having used it in the raw state, however, it really is very simple, I added 2 drops of Rich Razzleberry ink to about a teaspoon of paste, and had enough for two card fronts with probably enough for another. So a little really does go a long way. I used one of the Pattern Party Decorative Masks and the paste does dry very quickly.
Baby Bear has a three step stamp process, and I started in reverse with the Night of Navy, then Smoky Slate and lastly Pool Party (should have been Soft Sky though). I fussy cut Master T Bear and mounted with dimensionals onto a Smoky Slate circle matted with a Rich Razzleberry scallop circle. The greeting is from Baby Bear as well and stamped with Night of Navy ink. Finished off with a Pool Party baker's twine bow.
What to use as a card holder when you're running out of fresh ideas - your dog! Thanks Leo, didn't even stop his grooming to wonder what I was up to - think he was just pleased not to be out in the rain and hail!!
Another month and and another International Blog Highlight put together by Kylie Bertucci, where global entries are accepted and then voted on with the Top 10 featuring in a Blog Hop.
This theme lead me in the direction of an upcoming birthday card I needed to make, and my favourite go-to card for a 'Wow', the Tri-fold card. Didn't remember how awkward these can be to photograph so apologies, and hope you get the idea. Don't be put off if, it's not as hard as you think but if it isn't your thing, scroll through this post as I have a very quick and simple card with the same theme
This features a few more of my last hurrah's which I've been doing in my May posts. Yes, sad to say The Wilderness Awaits and Wetlands are on the list, along with the 12"x12" Kraft cardstock, and previously mentioned Delightul Dijon cardstock and ink.
My simple method of creating this card: Cut base card of Kraft, 6" x 12", score at 2", 4" 8" and 10". Rotate and line up at the 4 1/2" mark on your trimmer, cut from 1st score line to last score line, rotate 180 degrees and do this again (or 1 1/2" and 4 1/2" if that is easier). Then simply start at the first score and mountain fold, then valley fold. 2nd row, miss 1st score (hidden under the oval), then mountain and valley fold, and last row is same as 1st. From there my Early Espresso mats, are each 1/4" smaller than the measurement in kraft, and then the next layer of Whisper White, another 1/4" increment smaller again. I know it looks busy, but by keeping the layer of white crisp and choosing not to colour the images, I thought it masculine but not fussy. The extra dimension stamped in Delightful Dijon is from Timeless Textures and the Large Numbers were cut in Delightful Dijon and Early Espresso, top layer embossed with the Hexagons Dynamic TIEF and coated with some Crystal Effects (now retired, but the Fine Tip Glue can be used as an alternative). Folds up to fit in a normal envelope:
As promised, if you are feeling a little daunted, here's a quick card I put together featuring the same stamps sets, with a sneak peak of the new Wood Textures DSP stack, using the Layering Squares and Stitched Shapes framelits. Linen thread wrapped and tied off with a knot and the greeting from Wetlands die cut from another last hurrah, Tags and Labels framelits.
Thanks for staying to the end and don't forget to throw a vote my way!! Regards, Sandra
A set that jumped out of the new catalogue at me was inspired by $Million sales achiever, Susan Nygaard. We also saw Liz Collett demonstrate some great ideas using this set at #onstagelive. Of course, once I started, I wanted to use all my samples, and another item showcased here is the Stitched Shapes Framelits which have proven so popular they will not be able to be ordered after tomorrow due until sometime in the future, but they will be in the new catalogue in June.
First up a card to satisfy the Global Design Project sketch challenge #gdp062. I have gone monochrome, using only Soft Suede against Whisper White. The spots on the Fancy Frost Specialty DSP were made using Soft Suede refill dropped into water, then dipping my aqua painter in and flicking lightly. Of course, I couldn't waste the coloured water, so see below for what else I did. The image was stamped then diecut with the oh so versatile Stitched Shape Framelits. The sketch was landscape, but I have gone portrait, and hope it still fits the rules. The greeting from Jar of Love has been layered onto Soft Suede which I also diecut from the same framelits, just a little bit of tweaking along the way...
Next up, a card for a friend who has just purchased her first home after a change in circumstances - I hope it makes her smile. Greeting again from Jar of Love and diecut with the Tags and Labels framelits, Bow from Pretty Pines Thinlits and a few rhinestones to finish.
Something calming about this picture, so again you don't need to to put much behind your card as the picture says it all. Image diecut from Stitched Shape Framelits and layered onto scallop from Layering Squares. Greeting from Jar of Love and just a couple of plain strips of Basic Black cardstock for the background.
Most people think of the vibrant blues and reds (along with terracotta) when thinking of the Mediterranean, so this card was a bit of a play on that. I believe it is called Spotlighting Technique, and my spotlights were again diecut from the Stitched Shape Framelits. My blue is Island Indigo backed with Real red. Greeting - yes, you guessed it - Jar of Love.
The last card to show you was using the leftover water I referred to from the first photo. I watercoloured a piece of Whisper White card, and thought the colour wasn't intense enough, so I just tipped all the water onto it. Of course, that meant waiting for it to dry. So I sped it up with the heatgun, and like how the ink started to separate so it had a soft yellow haze around the edge. I stamped it with my image in Archival Black, then ran it through the Big Shot with Petal Burst TIEF, then I actually shifted it a smidge and ran it through again. I layered that onto Basic Black and now have a fun no occasion card ready to send, or I could pop a greeting on when called for...
Here they are all together. Hope you love this set as much as I do, although sorry that you have to wait until January to order it.
