Hello! I'm still here, just very busily working on getting swaps and such ready for SU! Convention. I'm not procrastinating this year, which is a new thing for me. ~:-) I'm excited to share a few of the things I've made with you, so keep watching! And let me know if you're a demonstrator who will be there as well. I'm so glad we have the chance to learn and have fun and meet people from all over North America!
I got the hubby seal of approval on this one! It's funny how as soon as I finish, I run into our living room and interupt his game (tonight Transformers 2) to show him my newest creation. It's just more fun to share the things you stamp, even if its your sometimes unappreciative husband. ~;-)
This was a fun little card to make. I was talking with a friend the other day about embossing powder... it just stuck in my head and I had to use some! I really wanted to try something new, so I decided to try my hand at making landscapes à la Michelle Zindorf. She creates marvelous art using layers made by stamping and embossing and brayering and sponging and... she uses a lot of steps to come out with some beautiful cards. Check out her blog. She posts nearly every day and includes step by step instructions on how she made that day's card. It will get your brain going!
For this card, I began by stamping the flowers using Basic Black Craft ink and then embossing with clear. I colored the flowers using markers, used my Versamarker to cover them and embossed. The I stamped the wheelbarrow in Basic Black Craft and embossed (note to self - masking the flowers would have been a great idea... saving a little mess on my fingers from wiping away the excess oh-so-carefully). I colored the wheelbarrow, coated it with the Versamarker and embossed. Then I tore a sheet of notebook paper, masked of the bottom half of the panel and brayered on the Bashful Blue. I then masked the top half and brayered the Old Olive, moving the mask down once to create a forground. With that, I was pretty much finished!
This was a lot of fun and stretched me out of my normal cardmaking box a bit. I encourage you to try something new the next time you stamp. Even if you have horrible results, you will have learned something new!
Oh! I almost forgot. With all that went into this card, can you guess what my dearest liked the most? He thought the clip was "a nice touch". Hehe... I guess that just shows that when I finally make some masculine cards, I need to load up on the hardware!
What can I say... I am extremely happy with the bottom half of this card. That sentiment? Not so much. I didn't really plan on using a sentiment, but the white space at the top was a little much. Probably should have made this a square card. Anyway, I stamped the sentiment in Riding Hood Red... it just didn't work. So, after thinking on it overnight, I got up this morning and stamped over it with versamark and embossed it in black (like I did the cupcake). It's definitely better, but still not great. Hmmm... if I added a layer over it would it be better?
Anyhow, this is my submission for CPS 121. Make sure to check out Card Positioning Systems and try your hand at one of the sketches!
My husband was not properly impressed with this card the night I made it.
"But this is truly fabulous!" I said incredulously.
"I've seen a lot of cards," he returned.
Bah! That's okay. I know someone out there in the internet world will see the work that went into this and at least give it a nod of appreciation. ~;-)
This card is a combo of things you won't see very often - this year's In Colors and next year's stamps set. Circle Circus is here (free, thanks to Stampin' Up! and a great Sale-A-Bration) and I am oh-so-happy! I love this new set. Yes it is just patterned circles, but think of all the possibilities!
I made the patterned piece of cardstock here by drawing guidelines in a grid for stamp placement. This large circle needed the lines spaced 1 1/8" apart for this pattern. Then I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to place the stamp just so. And, voila! Cute little card!
Also, this card is based on CPS 120 from the Card Positioning Systems blog. If you haven't visited this blog, be sure to check it out! Each week they have a featured sketch... it's a great way to get your wheels turning. It's also fun to see all the different "takes" on one simple sketch. Have a great week!
Yet more easing into card making happening with this card... more DSP and simple layouts. I saw a card similar to this in the past month while browsing my extensive list of blogs. No clue which blog... there are so many! I remember that I loved how striking the circles were on the straight up cardstock base. I did not sponge the edges of the circles (shocking, I know) but used dimentionals to create the depth I wanted. I did however sponge the edge of the card base very lightly with Pink Pirouette.
So thanks for looking! The upside of chilly raining weather is that we're stuck inside... meaning more stamp time! Have a great day.
Thanks to the urging of a kind friend, I'm back up and at it! I decided I would start off slow... this is a not-so-one-of-kind card. I CASEd the basic idea from a gift bag seen on the front of PaperCrafts July/August edition. I wanted to use some of the fabulous designer paper I always seem to hoard and this seemed like a good simple layout to showcase the paper. It's pretty much a cut and paste card, but I did sponge the edges of every peice of paper. It just adds soooo much depth with so little effort! Enjoy!
I promised it and here it is. The... uhm... brayered plaid technique. :-) My way up-line Faith Clark shared this great technique at the Virginia Beach Regionals in November. I am not so creative that I could make this up myself, but I knew I had to share it!
All righty! When designing your card, remember that the brayer can only make a "short" pattern. It will not ink into eternity like a SU! wheel will. With that in mind, this technique is best for panels and accents.
This is sooo easy... let's get started! Holding your brayer at an angle, ink up the edge. I'm using Riding Hood Red ink.
Next, begin making stripes across your paper (I used Pink Pirouette). Hold the brayer at a large angle for thin stripes and a narrow angle (more flatly) for fatter stripes. Begin rolling just off your paper and roll off the opposite edge. I spaced the stripes evenly for a plaid, but you could do a random pattern if you desire. You will need to reink your brayer after every stripe.
Rotate you paper and add more stripes.
Add additional colors as you like (just Close to Cocoa here... I flipped the roller so I didn't have to wash the brayer between colors). Then... voila! Your fabulous plaid panel!
This is such a fun way to make custom paper! Play around. Try different colors and patterns. Remember that plaids are not normally symmetrical patterns... think of switching the thicknesses or colors of a stripe if something doesn't look "quite right". :-)
As always, I would *love* to see anything you might make using this technique. Don't be afraid to link here! Have a great stamping day! ~:-D
Hello there! Mmm... nearly 3 months without blogging. Wow. I'm a little nervous to start again too. I finally have begun to find my mojo again. I'm excited to stamp!
I decided to start by trying a super cute technique my way-upline, Faith Clark, showed at the Virginia Beach regionals. It is a way of making plaid patterned paper using your brayer.
Isn't it cute? I love it so much because it is completely customizable. You just dream up the color combo (or copy from some source of inspiration... *ahem* the Idea Book & Catalog) and then play with your combo of thick and thin stripes.
Right now I'm working on a tutorial for this super fun idea, but I thought I would give you a little tease at first. ~:-) Just wait 'til you see it in pink and brown...
I've been playing around with my embossing powder a lot here lately. It so much fun at this time of year. It adds that special touch. It can be sparkly or bold or simple or elegant... what ever you need!
You know I love simple, so here's one for you.
Isn't it just great? This is the ultimate of simplicity. I heat embossed the star and the sentiment in silver. I used a heavy needle to "hang" the ornament with ribbon and added the brads for visual weight. The edges are sponged with their own color. That is it. And it is really striking, if I do say so myself.
Someone at a workshop suggested this would also be a great way to make a military card or medal. I have to agree! Just "V" the ribbon and emboss in the color of your choice. Change it to a more patriotic red, white, and blue and there you have it!
Well, I'm off to go pick up the chillun's from preschool. *sigh* My morning off goes so fast! Have a great day! ~:-D
Ha! I made a rhyme!
Working for (with) Stampin' Up! is really a pleasure. They are so good to demonstrators and make it easy for us to be successful. I think that trickles down from our CEO and Co-founder Shelli Gardner. Listening to her talk it is clear that she has a heart for demonstrators.
She recently appeared on a morning show in Salt Lake City, so I thought I'd share the clip. She is sharing great place setting ideas for the holidays.
If you have trouble viewing the video or are interested in the directions, just click through to the show's site here. Hope you enjoy! ~:-D
