Tuesday, September 29, 2009

I'm Back

Sorry I haven't been posting for awhile. I was sick with the flu so I wasn't doing too much on the computer. I did make a couple of cards for the Hero Arts Challenges and won 3rd place in the Learning Challenge with this card! It was very exciting to win!






















Supplies - Distress Ink (Spiced Marmalade, Dried Marigold, Dusty Concord, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Broken China, Tea Dye), Versamark, Clear Embossing Powder, Hero Arts Stamps (S5264 Antique Flower Background, CL140 Thinking of You)

For this card I added Distress Inks on white cardstock. I did not apply it to the entire square but had it darker at the edges fading towards the centre with some uninked portion in the middle. I clear embossed the image then added more Distress Inks in the same colour. This way you get a completely coloured background but part of the embossed image has colour and part of it doesn't.

I've been playing around with some new Hero Arts stamps but used the same technique for both cards. It's a technique from Jennifer McGuire here. On white glossy cardstock I embossed the image with white embossing powder. Then I applied Alcohol Inks over the entire surface and the image got stained doing this but then I sanded the image to reveal the white colour. You lose some of the raised effect of the embossing this way but it's still there.
























Supplies - Alcohol Inks (Meadow, Bottle, Lettuce), Versamark, White Embossing Powder, Memento Ink (Bamboo Leaves), Hero Arts Stamp (K5251 Snowflake Tree), Papertrey Ink (Sign Language), EK Success Border Punch(Scallop Diamond, Dotted Scallop)


I love the Antique Flower Background with this technique, gorgeous! I used Prismacolors for the flower and added Stickles over the flower head for subtle sparkle but it doesn't show up on the pic!
Supplies - Alcohol Inks (Sail Boat Blue, Stonewashed, Currant), Distress Ink (Faded Jeans), Versamark, White Embossing Powder, Hero Arts Stamps (S5264 Antique Flower Background, CG108 Special Moments, CL181 Sparkle Clear Messages), EK Success Border Punch (Scallop Diamond), Martha Stewart Border Punch (Lattice Arch)
Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

From Stamping to Digi

I thought I would share this card that has a couple of techniques on it.
The strip on the left is pieces of scrap stamped paper that I arranged in a mosaic pattern on double-sided tape. It's a great way to use up scraps! I attached that to Fiskars Threading Water border punch. The background of the flower piece was coloured with dye inks and layers of UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) were added to achieve the epoxy look. On the last layer of UTEE I inked up the flower stamp with silver pigment ink and while the UTEE was still warm I pushed the stamp into it and it leaves the impression of the flower. Once cooled I cracked the UTEE to give it the look of broken glass. The frame around the flower is painted with crackle paint. The card base was stamped with Versamark and the dots were added with Sakura Souffle pen in orange.

This next card is at the other end of the stamping spectrum, which really means there is no stamping on it, it is all digital. It's my first attempt at a digital card. I've been avoiding this area of crafting for awhile because, well, it just doesn't contain stamping, it involves mostly using the computer and for me stamping and creating cards is all about getting my hands in there, using different techniques and playing around and having fun. Doing it on the computer seems more like work than play. Maybe I'll change my mind about that later on. Who knows?

This week on Hero Arts the theme is about learning, doing something for the first time. So this digi card fits that criteria. I inked up some paper with green distress inks and then put it through the printer with the friend definition then ran it through the printer again with the fern design ontop of that. I inked up more paper with distress ink in pink and orange and printed the butterflies on that and cut them out. I added some sparkle on the large butterfly with orange Stardust pen on the wing edges and on both butterflies I used the clear Stardust pen to highlight the thin lines in the wings. It adds a subtle sparkle but doesn't show in the pic. I added some gems and wire antennae to the butterflies and adhered them with foam dots for dimension. Not too bad for my first digi attempt!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Just Sharing

I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend. It's almost over! I thought I would post a few cards that I made this summer during Jennifer McGuire's Thinking Inking Class that she held over at Two Peas In A Bucket. It was such a fun class! We learned all sorts of techniques with Ranger and Tim Holtz Products. I love playing with the Distress Inks and Alcohol Inks, I find it so relaxing and therapeutic!

This tag was coloured with Distress Inks and left to dry. The Fern stamp was covered with Versamark and then sprayed with water and stamped onto the tag and this is the result. Beautiful!

















 

This next card was stamped with Distress Embossing Powder and hilighted with a white opaque pen. The butterflies were punched out of patterned paper then covered with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE) to give them an epoxy finish.



















The leaves on this card were stamped with Versamark and then Perfect Pearls in Gold, Copper and Red were dusted on to give a multi-colour effect and lots of shimmer!
 
 
This last example is my favourite! This is so much fun! The background is coloured with Distress Inks. Then I mixed some Perfect Pearls in gold with water and did a fast wash of it over the card, neatness not required, it's good to be loose and free with it. With a paintbrush I flicked some of the Pearl water over the card to get splotches. The flourish was embossed by mixing Perfect Pearls in red with clear embossing powder. The more Perfect Pearls you add to the clear embossing powder the less raised the embossing will be. I just love these colours!



















I hope you enjoyed these cards!
Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, September 11, 2009

Third Times a Charm!

I did make another card for the Hero Arts Fall Challenge this week and I also incorporated a design sketch from Caardvarks but I didn't use the palette that has purple, instead it's my take on palette #3 here.

If you aren't familiar with Caardvarks it's a fantastic website that has cardmaking challenges twice a month and the challenges are sponsored by companies who give prizes to the challenge winners. Go check them out!

Todays card is pretty simple. The background was stamped with brown ink on brown cardstock. The burgundy strip of paper is stamped with a flourish stamp in burgundy ink (very hard to see). The ferns were embossed with Malachite embossing powder, it's a green powder with bits of copper flecks, very pretty! I added a bit of Distress ink in scattered straw around the ferns, it adds a nice glow. The orange paper was stamped with the Four Leaf Grid with orange ink and the edge was punched with EK Success border punch. I wanted the sentiment to be subtle so I added the tiny Hi There! in the corner with brown ink. To finish off I added a strip of burgundy paper I had trimmed off the other piece and added a few gems.
Supplies - Hero Arts Stamps (S5141 Four Leaf Grid, S4878 Old Letter Writing, K5232 Dot Flourish Border, S5154 Three Ferns, CL176 Full of Sunshine), Versamark, Vivid Ink (Butterscotch, Brown, Plum), Distress Ink (Scattered Straw), Judikins Embossing Powder (Malachite), EK Success Border Punch (Dotted Scallop)
Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Another Palette Card

I made another card for the Hero Arts challenge with palette #2. The colours are rust, kraft, teal and chocolate. I stamped the background with Versamark and made the dots with a Glaze pen. The three panels were distressed, stamped with the bamboo leaves in rust ink and colored with Stardust pen. I wrapped some brown ribbon around the teal cardstock and mounted the panels on that with foam dots. I let the ribbon hang off the edge and added a rust coloured brad. I finished off with the sentiment. I may attempt one more colour palette.....hmmmm I think I see purple in my future!
Supplies - Hero Arts Stamps (CL275 Asian Frames, CL140 Thinking of You, S5141 Four Leaf Grid), Versamark, Distress Ink (straw), Tsukineko Brilliance (Pearlescent Rust), Sakura Pens (Brown Glaze, Green Stardust), Stazon (Timber Brown)
Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Fall Colours

This week at Hero Arts the challenge is to make a card with the following fall palette colours.
I chose palette #1 for my first card. I just love the golden yellow and orange shades. I used brown for the background and inked the Four Leaf Grid in white Memories ink and then softened it by using my Tim Holtz foam applicator and some Distress Ink in Tea Dye. The leaves were all stamped on alcohol ink backgrounds I had lying around. I used three different leaves from Hero Arts stamps. I just played around with the leaves and layered them until it looked like a wreath. I added some punched branches and flowers cut out from another Hero Arts stamp. The flowers are yellow and coloured with clear Stardust pens. It's very hard to see the colour. I stamped the sentiment and added some ribbon.
Supplies - Hero Arts Stamps (S5141 Four Leaf Grid, CL182 Trees, Birds & Messages, CL Asian Frames, LL734 Leaf Blocks, LL072 Peeking Posies), Memories Ink (white), Distress Ink (Tea Dye), Stazon (Timber Brown), Martha Stewart Punch (Branch Corner), Crystal Stickers (orange), Stardust Pen (clear)
Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Hero Arts Man Week

A couple of cards I made for Hero Arts "Manweek" challenge. I love leaf cards and figured it would be an okay card to give a man.  


















































The dangly leaves are from shrink plastic. I punched out the leaves and coloured them with the Vivid inks and heated it to shrink. While the plastic was still warm I stamped into the plastic to give it texture. I then added more colour with the Stazon inks.



The next card is very similar, just a couple different things. The sentiment is stamped on sandpaper for some texture.

























Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

My First Post

Well this is my first post and I'm still trying to figure things out. I vowed I would not start a blog but here I am doing it anyway! I've dabbled in a number of crafty things over the years. I've done embroidery and cross-stitching. I knit. I hate sewing (it stresses me out). I've made wreaths and flower arrangements. I make jewellery, mostly bracelets and necklaces. But I've always had a love of paper crafts. I love the feel of good quality paper and how one sheet of paper has so many possibilites. You can fold it, paint it, colour it, stamp it, glue it, staple it. And the list goes on.

Rubber stamping and making cards is my favourite activity. I have made a few scrapbook pages but find it very challenging and the end result hasn't been so great. But when the urge strikes I'll attempt to make another one. 

Just so I have a few pics to post here's a few shots of my crafting zone. I share a room with two computer desks, so it's the office/craft room!
Thanks for stopping by!