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Friday, June 30, 2023

Bubble Wrap Embossing


Accidental Embossing

An interesting thing happened when I laid a piece of mini-bubble wrap onto the card front when running it through the die-cutting machine to cut a smaller panel. I was trying to maintain the shape of the white splatters and hoped the bubble wrap would absorb enough of the pressure to keep the splatters intact. That did not happen but it created a fun, new look - Bubble Wrap Embossing! The picture below shows it in better detail.

Embossed with Bubble Wrap
The images on this card are stamped on a panel that was eventually cut to size using the Gina K. Master Layouts die set. The kraft cardstock layer was also cut using the set. After stamping the large floral image from the Altenew Tranquility Rose set and masking it to stamp the leaves, I decided to add the wonderful bee from the Sweet as Honey stamp set from Hero Arts. Then using Copic markers, I colored all of the images. This looked nice but a little flat. I put the mask back on the rose and ink blended with leftover ink on my blue blender brush. It still wasn't quite right. At this point, my go-to is either white or black splatters. The black ink was absorbed too much, so I used Dr. Ph Martin's bleedproof white to add a bit more interest. This looked great! Then I realized that I needed to cut the piece down a wee bit. 


It would have been possible to do it with a paper trimmer but I like the edge that you get with a die. And then the bubble wrap experiment happened. I really like the bubble wrap effect. What wasn't appealing was the smooshed splatters. When things go awry, my next go-to is adding bling. The sparkly stars and sequin pieces saved the mess and added a sort of magical element to the card.

If you give embossing with bubble wrap a try, I'd love to see it! Happy card-making!


THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. BY CLICKING ON THEM AND PURCHASING PRODUCTS THROUGH MY LINKS, I RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR THE REFERRAL. THE ITEM WILL NOT COST YOU ANY MORE BY GOING THROUGH THIS LINK.


Products Used:

Sweet As Honey Stamp Set - Hero Arts Website


Master Layouts Dies - Gina K. Website


Permanent Black Ink - Altenew Website

Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleedproof White - Dick Blick Website
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Thursday, June 29, 2023

Venetian Neighborhood Using Three Different Coloring Techniques


This Hero Arts stamp is an amazingly detailed large stamp that is perfect for many types of coloring techniques. I could have chosen more but stuck with three very different ones to showcase very different looks. And one of them is kind of a failure.


The stamped image is a Venetian neighborhood. I wanted something with an old-world, vintage vibe because Venice has an old-world charm.  And because Venice is known for its canals, the first choice was a water tie-in - watercolor.  This was done on dry paper. If it had been wet on wet, it would look different. Experimenting and playing are part of the process.


Using Prismacolor colored pencils to color this card front took a bit of time. Or it could be that I was coloring while watching tv and I am not as good at multi-tasking as I thought! Coloring can be as time-consuming as you'd like. Many times, I use Gamsol when using colored pencils to blend the color.  This time, I did not use anything to blend. It gives a more cartoony look to the card. That is ok because I wanted to use a very modern-looking Catherine Pooler 'hello" die cut.

Hero Arts Venetian Neighborhood Stamped Image

It is funny how the backdrop to the card can make the card appear to be a different shade. I'm showing both to let you see that photography can trick us into thinking something is not necessarily as it appears in real life. The background of the card is actually a very pale blush-tan color, not pink as it appears above.


The last card was an experiment. I debated showing it because it isn't what I normally want to show on here. But, it is important for me to remember that even 'failures' have merit. The lesson in this card is that tiny lines are difficult to color with pastels if you expect to stay inside the lines. The end result is very messy and sketchy. If that is the look you are after, great! Pastels are messy. They just are. Ultimately, I decided to embrace the mess and accept that this card gives an old-fashioned, found-this-in-an-attic-trunk kind of vibe. To fix the pastels, I used clear gesso. This made the cardstock curl. The front is glued to a side-folding 4.25" x 5.5" card base. The card base helps to tame the curl but, as you can see in the photo below, it still isn't flat.
 


Whatever materials you use to color your creations, enjoy the process and have fun!



THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. BY CLICKING ON THEM AND PURCHASING PRODUCTS THROUGH MY LINKS, I RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR THE REFERRAL. THE ITEM WILL NOT COST YOU ANY MORE BY GOING THROUGH THIS LINK.


Products Used:

Venetian Neighborhood Stamp - Hero Arts Website

Permanent Black Ink - Altenew Website

Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils - Dick Blick Website

Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolor Set of 24 - Dick Blick Website



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Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Mixed Media Hello Card

 


The background on this card is usually something I do on my art journal pages. This type of mixed-media layering reminds me of old-fashioned wallpaper or deep brocade fabric.  It is a pretty quick project. The process starts with stamping, then layering a stencil with glimmer paste. Waiting for that layer to dry takes the longest time. Then yellow ink and metallic glimmer ink were added on top. The Nuvo glimmer paste is discontinued but the other items are still available. 


The picture above shows the detail of all the wonderful layers. To add an additional layer, the black die-cut 'hello' is layered onto a white layer. It is an unusual card but in a good way!



THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. BY CLICKING ON THEM AND PURCHASING PRODUCTS THROUGH MY LINKS, I RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR THE REFERRAL. THE ITEM WILL NOT COST YOU ANY MORE BY GOING THROUGH THIS LINK.



Products Used:
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Tuesday, June 27, 2023

Mixed Media Howdy Card


Many of us purchase mixed media supplies for art journaling but don't use them for much else. It is fun to use them on cards and scrapbook pages, too! This mixed media "Howdy" card is simple to make. And it packs a lot of texture without needing extra postage!


First, I applied Pink Candy Coat onto card stock with a palette knife over the Stacked Circles stencil from Hero Arts. The Candy Coat is a gloppy glaze with glitter and chunks of translucent pieces of something that looks like mylar mixed into the glaze. The picture above shows some of the sparkly bits that dry in place. There is no flaking, even when rubbed. After the piece dried, I blended ink onto the background and onto some of the discarded circle pieces from the Don't Be Square cover die using the Minted ink color from Catherine Pooler. Using a lot of ink in some areas and a light touch in others adds more dimension.  Using some white circles from the cover die as well as the inked ones give a random polka dot effect.

To keep the circle and discards from other projects' themes going, I used two large open circles. These were made because I did not separate the Round of Cheers dies from each other. What would normally have been trash was perfect for this card. Yay! After adhering all of the circles down, I trimmed the card front and placed it on a side folding 4.25" x 5.5" white card base. This makes a nice frame without adding extra bulk. The last step in adding a bit more dimension was to cut teeny tiny pieces of foam tape for the 'howdy' die cut to be popped up. The edges of the die cut that extended beyond the card front were then trimmed to size.

This card is difficult to photograph well. It looks better in person. :) But, maybe it will encourage you to try some of your mixed media supplies on a card?

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. BY CLICKING ON THEM AND PURCHASING PRODUCTS THROUGH MY LINKS, I RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR THE REFERRAL. THE ITEM WILL NOT COST YOU ANY MORE BY GOING THROUGH THIS LINK.



roducts Used:
Products Used:
Catherine Pooler Designs - Party Collection - Premium Dye Ink Pads - Minted
Scrapbook.com
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Monday, June 26, 2023

Stenciled Background with Die Cut Card

 

Hero Art's Sweet As Honey Stamped Images 

The stamp set did all the work on this card. The flowers, bee, and sentiment are part of the Sweet As Honey set. First, I used the alignment tool as a mask for inking the center square. The cardstock die cut from the Chain Link die was used as a stencil with a discontinued Shadow Ink for ink blending. The die-cut was taped to the alignment tool to keep the edges of the square crisp. 


Next, I stamped the images on top with black ink and colored them with Copics and a white colored pencil for highlights. Then I cut the piece down to size with Gina K.'s Master Layouts 1 die set. The set has two large rectangles, the largest was used for the black piece of cardstock. The smaller die makes the image nestled with a thin framed edge.  Lastly, the sparkle comes from a Sakura Gelly Pen and gold sequins.



THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. BY CLICKING ON THEM AND PURCHASING PRODUCTS THROUGH MY LINKS, I RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR THE REFERRAL. THE ITEM WILL NOT COST YOU ANY MORE BY GOING THROUGH THIS LINK.


Products Used:

Sweet As Honey Stamp Set - Hero Arts Website

Alignment Tool - Hero Arts Website

Master Layouts Dies - Gina K. Website

Antique Gold Sequins - Altenew Website

Permanent Black Ink - Altenew Website


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Sunday, June 25, 2023

A Quick Colorful Card

 


Sometimes you need to make a card quickly. This colorful card is straightforward to make and only takes a short time to assemble. To make the crisp center square I used the alignment tool's square mask and ink blended all around it. All the die cuts were made with one set of dies, cutting the 'love' and the heart once and the tulip heart shape, twice. Copic markers and a Sakura Gelly Roll pen add the rest of the color and glimmer.

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. BY CLICKING ON THEM AND PURCHASING PRODUCTS THROUGH MY LINKS, I RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR THE REFERRAL. THE ITEM WILL NOT COST YOU ANY MORE BY GOING THROUGH THIS LINK.


Products Used:

Looking Glass Heart Dies - Hero Arts Website

Alignment Tool - Hero Arts Website


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Friday, June 23, 2023

Decorative Die - Three Cards

 


Hello! Today's post shows how to use one decorative die a bit differently for three beautiful, unique cards. The Decorative Enamels die set has two dies but each card is made with only one of them. This first card uses the large die.
  
Because the rainbow spectrum is always fun, I cut a bunch of die-cut shapes in many different colors. Bright colors look great on both black and white cardstock. Having the die-cuts extend off the black cardstock over the white card base offers more dimension and interest to the card. The layered sentiment is from a set of Pinkfresh Studio dies cut in black and white cardstock.


This elegant card is also made with the large die from the set. By using copper metallic cardstock as the background and repeating it for the top layer, it offers continuity.  There is a layer of vellum on top of the white die-cuts, which are layered onto the copper cardstock. The vellum mutes the brightness of the white cardstock. 
 

One way to make images stand out is to offset the design on top of another piece of cardstock in a contrasting color cut out with the same design die-cut. This is the technique used with the two copper die cuts that are the focal point of the card.



The last card is made with the small die in the set. Each of the cuts is a different color with the middle shape cut out of vellum. 


Adding a bit of bling to each of the shapes makes the card complete. The circles are Silver Glossy Dots from Pink and Main.



My goal of using craft supplies in as many ways as possible makes me happy. This die set allows for lots of variations. Check out this fourth card using the die set here.


THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. BY CLICKING ON THEM AND PURCHASING PRODUCTS THROUGH MY LINKS, I RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR THE REFERRAL. THE ITEM WILL NOT COST YOU ANY MORE BY GOING THROUGH THIS LINK.


Products Used:

Decorative Enamels Die Set - Altenew Website

Fancy Hugs Die - Altenew Website

Brushed Copper Metallic Cardstock - Altenew Website

Altenew - Dies - Decorative Enamels
Scrapbook.com





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