GOLDEN LEAVES

 

Hi friends!

Playing along with this FRESHLY MADE SKETCHES challenge by Michele (ends 8/31)

 

SOME DETAILS

This leaf die set includes a base and an openwork die in each size. So I cut both bases from a speckled mustardy yellow, and also the openwork dies from white and gold cardstock. Then it was just a matter of gluing in some inside pieces as shown - the gold pieces into the white frame, and the white pieces into the gold frame. 

The dark brown square was embossed with a SU Subtle folder. 

SUPPLIES

sentiment stamp - SavvyStamps Happy Fall Sans Script #697B

leaf dies - Paper Trey Ink Leaf Silhouettes set

dies - Spellbinders Push Pin Notes #S3-550

brown square embossing folder - Stampin’ Up! subtle

tree trunk embossing folder -  Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations 

flat back pearls and gold balls

Thanks for stopping in today!

BEACH CHAIR

 

Hi friends!

Playing along with this THE PAPER PLAYERS challenge

(ends 8/28)

and this DRAGONFLY DREAMS Beach or Seaside challenge 

(ends 9/5)

Congratulations to The Paper Players team on so many years of consistent work to bring us a wonderfully interesting and beautiful challenge!!! You are much appreciated!

 

SOME DETAILS

Umbrella and chair were colored in with alcohol markers.

Ocean and sky were colored with various SU inks and blending brushes. My blending brush had a lot of dry finely caked on ink in it which lent itself well to providing a little visual texture to the ocean area. 

I added some reflective silvery white solid sequins to mimic seashells/sand dollars on the beach

SUPPLIES

 chair stamp and die - Paper Trey Ink Love Notes set

umbrella stamp and die - Gemini Road Trip set

sentiment stamp - Paper Trey Ink Button Bits set 

alcohol markers

Gina K Designs sequins

Stampin’ Up! inks

Thanks for stopping in today!

ALPHABET CHALLENGE - I is for INSECTS

Hi friends, and welcome back to my newest ALPHABET CHALLENGE DT card!

The theme this go-around is I is for Insects. You have two whole weeks to play along, and you can enter up to three times any handcrafted items featuring the current theme.

I thought I could really bring these older images to life by coloring the flowers in with white ink on kraft brown card stock. And these ladybugs got a more lifelike feel by applying a shiny glaze medium to the bodies and iridescent glitter glue to the wings. 

PROCESS

 To start: The rough-edge rectangle was die cut from kraft card stock. I stamped the flowers in black Versafine ink and embossed them with clear fine detail powder. It was necessary to mask off the image wording with a Post-it for this look. 

The flower stems were colored in with a green alcohol marker, and the flower blooms (what felt like a million of them!) were filled in with a white gel pen. 

Ladybugs were stamped in black Memento ink and colored in with a red alcohol marker. I applied glossy accents over the red and filled the wings in with glitter glue. Then the dreaded fussy cutting had to be done LOL A few were raised a bit with foam tape. 

The word Happy was die cut four times from textured card stock, and stacked, before adhering to the card as shown. The word Day is from a pre-printed sentiment strip. 

To finish: For the stem accent I covered a piece of heavy card stock in strong double-stick adhesive, and wrapped fine twine around it. I made the bow separately and glued it on, and added the striped ribbon for extra color. 

Flat back rhinestones were applied all around the sentiment.

*TIP OF THE DAY*

This kind of detailed coloring works much better if you heat emboss your main image - it provides a raised edge and channels to help guide the pen tip. 

SUPPLIES

flower stamp - PSX #K-2048

ladybugs stamp - Inkadinkado #8800-M

rough edge rectangular die - Penny Black Antique Frame #51-397

happy die - Momenta #32265 R8

day word strip - preprinted

white gel pen

alcohol markers

Ranger Glossy Accents

Stickles Icicle glitter glue 

flat back crystal gems 

twine and striped ribbon 

Thanks for stopping in today, and I can’t wait to see what you create!

KITE FLYING

 

Hi friends!

Playing along with this FRESHLY MADE SKETCHES challenge (ends 8/24)

 I took a pretty literal approach to Cecile’s new sketch because this kite set came to mind right away - I’m thrilled to get it out for its first of many outings!

SOME DETAILS

I stamped the kite on four colors of card stock and heat embossed them in white.  I cut each kite at the dividing lines as shown and pieced them together. 

While I was die cutting the colored card stock I also cut a few pieces from white heavyweight scrap to give the final kite some height. I cut the cross piece from brown card stock and glued it over the seams. 

Sentiment was heat embossed in white on the same brown card stock and foam tape mounted over the kite. 

Kite string was glued down at intervals to get a floaty feel. 

*TIP*

If you want twine to trail as naturally as possible let it find its own comfort zone - if it’s been wound up for awhile it won’t pay to try to go against the natural bent.  

SUPPLIES

kite stamp and dies - Sizzix #663196 

sentiment stamp - Creative Worship Stamps #SNS-16-001 Be Encouraged

 cloud die - Stampin’ Up! Sunshine & Rainbows

Thanks for stopping in today!

TRI-PANELED WITH BRANCH

Hi friends!

Playing along with this TRY A SKETCH ON TUESDAY challenge

(ends 8/30)

Hope it’s okay that I swapped the panels of color out for panels of different embossed patterns! 

 

SOME DETAILS

Three different folders were used to emboss the three panels to fit the design as shown. The notebook paper was enhanced with a bit of spiral punching along one edge. 

The branch with flowers was blended with distress inks, and highlighted with white gel pen and a few flat back rhinestones. 

Sentiment was die cut from textured pink card stock and mounted on the shadow cut from vellum.

*TIPS*

In order to raise up lettering with vellum, I like to cut two or three of the skinny letters from scrap white card stock, stack them, and apply on the underside of the vellum to give the whole sentiment height without anything showing through.

To color in skinny die cuts like this, I like to use a small blender brush to color it while it is still in the surrounding card stock on the die cutting pad after going through the die cutting machine. 

SUPPLIES

branch die - Memorybox #98470 Blooming Vine

sentiment dies - Spellbinders #S4-1312 Serenade Sentiments

embossing folders - notebook page -Sizzix, flowers - Cuttlebug, leaves - unknown

notebook spiral punch - EK Success

vellum 

flat back rhinestones

Thanks for stopping in today!

ALPHABET CHALLENGE - H is for HORTICULTURE

 

Hi friends, and welcome back to my new Alphabet Challenge DT card!

The theme this go-around is H is for HORTICULTURE. You have two whole weeks to play along, and you can enter up to three times any handcrafted items featuring the current theme!

I had so much fun finding a different way to use this old favorite stamp! I colored it basically the same as the indexing sticker (wood mounted stamps were a thing of beauty 20 years ago!) but wanted to extend the scene out as much as possible and as cleanly as possible for a light airy feel. 

THE PROCESS

To start: I stamped the scene centered in black ink on a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 white panel. I cut this down to the size shown to allow for a large border on the white card base. 

Next: I colored the scene with alcohol markers, and highlighted with a white gel pen. I used the cloud die to cut a stencil from heavy weight scrap card stock, and blended ink over it for three clouds that would run over the edges. I then laid the image panel with clouds centered on the card base and gave it a washi tape “hinge” on the bottom edge. This allowed me to stencil clouds on the base card to match up exactly with the top. To soften things, I swished the mostly-empty brush over all of it, and then trimmed the merest sliver off the top and sides of the image panel to make sure there was no line of demarcation. I did the same light application of ink with a blending brush to simulate the extension of the hill at the bottom edge. 

Finishing off: The image panel is mounted on a rectangle of fun foam. The sentiment is triple-stacked for dimension. 

*TIP OF THE DAY*

If you need a stencil image you don’t have, check your dies stash. You can use heavy weight scrap card stock to cut both positive and negative pieces!

SUPPLIES

scene stamp - Uptown Rubber Stamps Birthday Topiaries #H23036

cloud die - Stampin’ Up! Sunshine and Rainbows

Happy Birthday sentiment die - Memory Box Happy Birthday Chic Script #94872

white gel pen

SU & Distress ink pads

alcohol markers

fun foam

Thanks for stopping in today, and I can’t wait to see what you create!

HAPPY DANCE

Hi friends!

Playing along with this AAA CARDS challenge

 Well.  This one was supposed to be a sophisticated, classy sort of card, but as you can see - things veered off-track. I think it may have been the bright colors, which led to the googly eyes, which required a nose…

THE PROCESS

To start: I swiped a bright white card with three colors of acrylic paints, using a common rounded flat paintbrush. 

After the paint was dry, I heat embossed a starfish using gold powder. 

To finish: A couple googly eyes were glued down, and an enamel nose was applied.

I added a strip of sturdy card stock to the back of the pre-printed strip and glued the sentiment to the card front as shown. 

SUPPLIES

starfish stamp - Rubbernecker

acrylic paints

gold embossing powder

pre-printed sentiment strip

googly eyes

enamel dot

Thanks for stopping in today!

CLOSE-UP ROSE

Hi friends!

Playing along with this COLOR HUES challenge (ends 7/29)

and this FRESHLY MADE SKETCHES challenge (ends 7/20)

I really love the look of a square card but almost never make them. Something about putting a square card in a rectangular envelope hurts my brain (see Monk ‘Secret Santa’ episode. You’ll thank me later 😂)

 

THE PROCESS

To start: I spritzed a piece of 6 x 6 white Neenah card stock with a water mister and ran it through the embossing machine with the rose folder. I pressed it lightly between two acrylic panels to dry as flat as possible while still retaining the deep flower embossing.

I die cut two different size nesting squares at the same time on shiny black card stock to get a narrow frame. 

I also die cut the smaller square from a large heavy weight cardstock (in a color I hate and will never use up otherwise!) to use as the template to color in the center. This was done by using a blender brush and a red ink pad. 

I mounted the frame on heavy weight card stock strips and glued it centered on the red as shown.

*TIP of the Day*

When attaching anything paper-related directly to embossed panels, I’ve found it works best to use strips of heavy weight card stock vs. foam as the dimensional - it will be less likely to conform to the ridges of embossing. It’s a pesky nuisance when the layered elements all follow the contours accidentally.

I used a black Versafine ink and clear detail embossing powder for the sentiment to refer back to the shine of the frame. Very pleasantly visually textured in person. 

To finish: I used the rub-on sheet to transfer a butterfly to white card stock, which I fussy cut and mounted as shown. Solid shiny white sequins highlight the sentiment in a demure fashion 😁

SUPPLIES

sentiment stamp - Anna Griffin

butterfly rub-on - Brea Reese Press %& Design Butterflies

square dies - Spellbinders Nestibilities Classic Squares

embossing folder - Altenew Rose Bellevue3D

red ink pad - Stampin’ Up! Ruby Red

black ink pad - Versafine Onyx Black

solid sequins - Gina K Clear Quartz

clear detail embossing powder

gold metallic, red & glossy black card stock

Thanks for stopping in today!

SEASHELL AT THE SEASHORE

 Hi friends!

Playing along with this JUST US GIRLS challenge 

(ends 7/22)

and this ALLSORTS “At the Seaside” or Anything Goes challenge

(ends 7/30)

Well I just fell in love with the camera angel of that solitary shell in the lower righthand corner of the board!  There could be beach blankets all around it, and dogs barking, and kids laughing and running. Or it could be the only thing in a huge stretch of off-season sand. I hope my card has that same feel about it. 

THE PROCESS

First steps: I started by stamping the shell in gold holographic embossing powder on bright white card stock. The sparkles are subtle and tiny in person, and so they barely show here.  I fussy cut the shell out, and then used Antique Linen and Pumice Stone inks with a mini blending brush to shade it. 

The background was made simply, by tearing strips of blue scrap card stock and gluing them down with the ragged edges showing. One of the lighter colors had a white core which really added to the waves effect. I used a bit of vellum at the shoreline as well. 

*TIP of the Day*

If you start the layering effect with a sheet of copy paper the size you want to end up with, you don’t need to worry about matching up the length at the ends. Just focus on getting the torn edges lined up horizontally as desired, then flip your panel over and trim right along the copy paper sides for a nice clean finish :o)

To finish: I used some of the Pumice Stone ink to blend a shadow into the sand where the shell would rest. The shell was glued flat, and the sentiment was stamped in Pumice Stone and then fussy cut and foam mounted. Three holeless satiny gold sequins applied as shown. 

SUPPLIES

shell stamp - Rubbernecker

sentiment stamp - Stampa Rosa Inc./ Tin Can Mail #C 59-527

gold holeless sequins - Spellbinders Satin Gold

embossing powder - Creations Unlimited Golden Ivory

Distress ink pads

Thanks for stopping in today!