Memory Box Valentine's Card ft. Heart Bouquet 3-D Embossing Folder

Good Morning!  Vicki here with you today!  It's my turn up on the Memory Box Blog, "Outside The Box" today.  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday yesterday!  Christmas Eve and the weekend before are our big days to celebrate, so I spent a quiet day at home yesterday with my husband and our doggies.

In the new Memory Box Valentine's Release, there is a gorgeous Embossing Folder called Heart Bouquet.  This is a 3-D Embossing Folder and it is so beautiful that I confess I had a hard time putting anything over it to create a card.  There are so many ways to use embossing folders, but I wanted something that would enhance it, rather than cover it up.

To start, I misted the back of a 4.25 x 5-inch Panel of Sweet Blush Cardstock with plain water on the back side.  I use a bottle that sprays a very fine mist.  This allows the paper to stretch and give a little bit and gives the crispest impression.

Next, I die cut the outline of the Scribble Rose Trio from Gold Foiled Cardstock and the solid images from Pale Peony Cardstock.  I attached the outline to the back piece with Ranger Multi Medium Matte.  I have a ScraPerfect fine line tip for this purpose.

I die cut the Love Airy Script from Gold Foil as well and laid it across my heart while adding the roses to the lower-left area.  This card was super simple to make!  I can't wait to have time to play with this folder more and I have a specific technique in mind to try with it.  I'm traveling for the first few weeks of January so it will be a few weeks before I know if my technique worked or not.  How's that for a little teaser?  I hope you won't mind waiting too much and will look forward to my next post!  Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I really appreciate it when you take the time to spend with me here.

Enhancing Embossed Cardstock

Hello there!  Thanks so much for popping in today.  I'm joining in with The Paper Players Challenge this week which has a theme of "Spring".  I'm also going to add this card to a challenge over at Papertrey Ink in Laurie's Fabulous Favorites where we are to use one of our favorite accessories.  One of my favorites in addition to Papertrey Ink's Cardstock is Nuvo Drops.  Seriously, Papertrey Ink Cardstock is #110 and smooth making it perfect for card bases or card panels.  I pretty much use Papertrey's Stamper's Select White Cardstock for all of my card bases.

I know that I am beyond ready to have some sunshine and warmer temperatures for sure. I think this is pretty well reflected in my color choices at the moment which seems to be pastels for the most part.  This is the coldest Texas Winter I remember for many years although we are in North Texas so it will be somewhat cooler than an hour south of us in Dallas.  When we were at a doctor's office on Friday evening, there was a Redbud Tree with tiny little buds on it which is the first sign of spring I have seen.  Later, we also saw a Bradford Pear that had small blooms, so Spring is trying to get here.

I have a few cards to share with you that I made using a bottle of Nuvo Drops to enhance the embossed image on my cardstock.  This is a technique I developed in the last few days and I am so happy with it that I have made a few more cards in addition to the originals I posted on Instagram and Facebook.  I feel like at this point I am perfecting my technique and improving each time as well as getting faster each time I make one of these now.  That is a good thing since having RA makes this pretty hard on my right hand.

I'll share a few tips and trick along the way in case you want to try this yourself. Tip #1:  Make sure that your Nuvo Drops or Liquid Pearls are warm in the bottle so they are pliable which also makes it easier to control where you are putting them and helps make the bottle easier to squeeze.  If the bottle feels cold, you'll need to warm them up.  I usually warm mine up in my hands by sitting and rolling the bottle back and forth in the palms of my hands until I feel like they are more pliable.  In the summer, this isn't an issue but in the winter, my studio gets chillier and they aren't as workable.  You could put the tightly capped bottle in warm water if the rolling in your hands doesn't work.  I haven't had to try that yet.

I have several types of embossing folders in my supplies, but this one kind of always stumps me with what to make with it.  I love the design and it is so pretty that I hate to cover it up.  Therefore, I played around with some embellishments to see what I could come up with.  I used Pale Gold Nuvo Drops for this which have a pearly shimmer to them.  While it came out nicely, I wanted to try something with a bit more contrast.  The image on the left is from my original attempt.  I tried a few more attempts that same day and came up with these two additional cards.

For the second card, I inked up the flat area of the embossing folder with some Simon Says Stamp Lemon Chiffon Ink.  It wasn't very noticeable at first, so I inked it up again which gave me the deep golden tone.  My best friend loves this very Tuscan Yellow color and so I made it into a card for her.  I also used a finger dauber to add some Nuvo Embellishment Mousse to the flowers.  It's actually very pretty in person and I framed it with some Avocado Green Shimmer Cardstock which is another of her favorites.  As I told her boyfriend the other night when we met up for dinner, Sometimes I give her a card because the colors make me think of her and other times I give her a card because I want it to remind her of me.  She loved this and in fact, framed it when she got home.  It just reminds me of the 1970's and all the harvest gold appliances, wood paneling and avocado green carpet that everyone had.  YUCK!  The softer yellow one turned out very pretty and I sent that off to a friend already.

But then I wanted to try some other colors and see how things turned out.  I really like the contrast of the Ivory Seashell Nuvo Drops vs. the soft gold.  But it just so happens that my most recent order from Simon Says Stamp arrived on Friday and I had a Bottle of the brand new Nuvo Dream Drops which are iridescent.  All of the Dream Drops are Iridescent and I got all of the colors available so far;  Gold Luxe, Indigo Eclipse, Love Potion, Fairy Wings, Dragon Scales and Cloud 9.  Translate those names to Soft Gold, Pale Purplish Blue, Pink, Lavender, and Pale Green.  Cloud 9 Dream Drops are White with Iridescent Shimmer.  You'll be able to see the difference in my pictures further along in this post.

I also got the idea that I wanted to add a bit of color to the two main leaves with another finger dauber.  I am anxious to try other colors as well, but there are already three more cards for this post so I'll save that for another time.

Tip #2:  If you mist your cardstock panel with a bit of water, it will take the impression better and your cardstock will not crack.  This particular Embossing Folder is a 3Dimensional Folder so it was somewhat of a challenge to figure out the proper sandwich for my Cuttlebug.  My particular sandwich is C Plate, Magnetic Plate, Metal Shim, B Plate, Tan Embossing Mat, Embossing Folder with cardstock inside, and B Plate.  These folders are really much thicker.  I encourage you to get your folders and try embellishing them with whatever you have such a Nuvo Drops, Liquid Pearls or Stickles.  So far, I like the Ivory Seashell best although I think the gold might look nice on certain colors.  I also think this wouldn't work on darker cardstock.

Since I'm using the very tip of the bottle to "paint" my design, it's important to keep the tip clean and not get a lot of excess product on there.  That's why practice is important.  My first attempt was not bad, but my additional attempts are better.  I have four other cardstock colors embossed and ready to do.  I'll wait until another day for those.  I give my Sisters-In-Law a set of cards every year at Christmas, and I think this will be one of the ones I stash for them.  I also think these would make great Mother's Day Cards.

This card was embossed on Gina K Designs Sea Glass Cardstock.  once I run it through the embossing sandwich, I mist it up again with Iridescent Gold Shimmer Mist and Clear Sparkle Shimmer Mist.  Each of those is very pretty by themselves but I've found the combination is even prettier.  The flowers are sponged with Sea Glass Ink and the leaves with Vintage Jadeite from Papertrey Ink.

Here's a slightly angled view which I hope allows you to see that extra dimension from the side.  I die cut each panel before embossing it with a stitched rectangle die that is slightly smaller than an A2 size panel and then matted it on a gold cardstock panel that is a full A2 size which makes for a 1/16th-inch frame around the embellished panel.

This card is made with Lemon Tart Cardstock and Ink from Papertrey Ink with the same Ivory Seashell Nuvo Drops.  The leaves were again done in Vintage Jadeite.

Here's another slightly angled view for you.  The Sentiment is from the Friendly Flowers Stamp Set.  I used the same narrow mat around each of these card panels.

This last card was done with the Cloud 9 Nuvo Dream Drops and while it is very pretty, it is more subtle and not as striking as the ones done using Ivory Seashell Nuvo Drops.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and my attempt at trying to stretch my supplies in ways that are a bit unexpected.  These cards were all made with supplies I already had on hand.

Show and Share with Yes Virginia - February 2019

Hello there!  I am here today with a blog post and project for the monthly Show & Share event held by Virginia Lu of the Yes, Virginia Blog.  As I was sitting down yesterday to stamp one of my all-time favorite stamp sets, I remembered what it is that I love so much about card making.  I'll go into that a little more as we get into today's post but one of the nice things about this is that we can use any brand or combination of brands that we have.  I have multiple brands of products, so I love this.  I'll also be entering this card in the Papertrey Ink Win-It Wednesday Challenge.

Way back on June 25th of last year, I was accepted into the Altenew Educator Certification Program.  I completed that program in January and I am a fully Certified Altenew Educator now.  I learned so much during my class time; many new techniques and many techniques that I knew of, but hadn't ever tried.  It was a lot of fun.  But as I sat working on this card yesterday, I realized what it is that's been missing lately.

Sometimes, I need or want to put a bunch of cards together for one of my Sisters-In-Law or all of them as is the case at Christmas.  But what I most enjoy is putting together one card that has multiple techniques making it a one of a kind work of art from my heart to someone else's. I also really miss that I haven't had time lately to focus as much on that and, not much time to write blog posts.  Between moving, classes and getting situated with all of my new doctors, I just haven't had as much time to focus on that.  I've missed it and I want to get back to that by participating in Challenges at all of my favorite companies and get back to my blog.  Today's post is the start of that.

We're pretty much settled into our new house except for the garage which continues to remain full of boxes that need to be unpacked and more things donated that we are not using.  This house is quite a bit smaller with a lot less closet space, so even though we donated or auctioned off lots of stuff before the move, we still need to do more.  There are a few kitchen things that I haven't found yet, but probably most everything else can be donated.

I made a card for my daughter and son-in-law last week and have already mailed it, but today is their wedding anniversary and I know it didn't have time to arrive yet because I didn't get it to the mailbox until Friday.  I could have driven it there faster!  Since we were supposed to go to their house this morning to stay with the grands while they went to Anniversary Brunch, I got up early and assembled a card with the things I had already die cut and stamped to pull a quick card together so that I could hand it to them on their way out the door.  The weather is pretty crummy in North Texas today, so they canceled.  That means I had time to photograph my card to share with all of you.

This card is the one that I already mailed.  You might have seen it on my Instagram Account, found here. This was a large square card about 6.5 x 6.5 and I featured the Altenew Mega Alphabet dies after covering some cardstock with the Gilded Ombre Washi Tape to die cut my letters from.  Then I created a bloom and leaves using the leftovers of the covered cardstock with Altenew Garden Picks and Rose Flurries 3D Dies.  The little embossed heart is a die I've had for many years.  The gilded washi tapes from Altenew are just stunning!

Anyhow, let's get on with today's project!  Since I was going to have things out to make a spring card, I decided to die cut enough elements to stamp extra florals.  This is probably my all-time favorite Spring floral, Tulip Time from Papertrey Ink.  This design is from Betsy Veldman and is always worth the effort it takes to stamp all of the layers.  I made 4 sets in all; two in different pinks, one in corals and one in purples.  My daughter really loves Coral, so I decided to create a new card from that set of blooms.

For the tulip bloom colors, I chose the Altenew Red Cosmos Ink Cube family stamping the first layer in Frosty Pink, the 2nd layer in Coral Berry and the 3rd layer in Ruby Red.  I love Altenew Inks and the Ruby Red is a true representation of the color a Ruby should be.  I worked for a jewelry store when we lived in Topeka and Rubies should be deep brilliant red, not pink.  That said, Rubies of that quality can cost far more than diamonds so the lesser quality is typically what you see in the retail market.  Rubies can also have inclusions like diamonds, so the quality of the stone itself also makes them more expensive in some cases.

For the foliage, I used my favorite combination of greens from Papertrey Ink, Vintage Jadeite and New Leaf.  If I would have needed more than two colors I would have chosen one of the Altenew green collections.

My top folding card base is made from Cougar Digital White Super Smooth 110# cardstock.  I love this cardstock so much, even more than Neenah Solar White 110#.  It is smoother and less expensive than the Neenah as well.  I normally use Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White for my cardbase, but this time I decided to use all the same product.  Most of the time I stamp my images on the Cougar Digital White and then make my card base from the Papertrey Ink 110# white.  It is so smooth that the ink just evens out beautifully!  After the ink on the tulips had dried, I hit them with a layer of Iridescent Gold Shimmer Mist and some Clear Sparkle Shimmer Mist.  This tends to make the paper curl a bit which is what gives the images that slightly rounded appearance.

I cut a 4.25 x 5.5-inch piece of Berry Sorbet Cardstock from one of my Stitched Rectangle Dies and then ran it through my machine with an embossing folder.  I'm sorry I don't know the name and there's not one on it.  It was actually too wide to fit through my Cuttlebug, so my husband cut one side off of it for me.  That was about 3 years ago and I didn't have my Gemini back then.  Once I had that done, going direct to paper (DTP), I gently ran a Delicata Golden Glitz ink pad all along the surface of the cardstock to put some gold sheen on the raised areas.  This is my background panel.  I was going to use some Nuvo Embellishment Mousse, but mine was completely dried out so I couldn't use it until I have time to revive it with some water.  I also hit it with some of my favorite Iridescent Gold Shimmer Mist and set it aside to dry while I worked on the foreground panel.  I die cut the Shape Shifters Oval #2 from Papertrey Ink.  I really love this die and the edge is one I haven't seen elsewhere.  I cut a piece of fun foam for the back of the background panel to give it a bit of dimension and glued that down with Gina K Designs Connect Glue.  I love adhering fun foam with this because tape runner just doesn't work very well on foam.  I attached that to the card base.  Next, I used the same Delicata Ink to go all around the edge of the oval die cut and adhered it to the background panel with some foam tape.

Using connect glue, I adhered the stems of the tulips together how I wanted to arrange them.  This allows me to keep my arrangement intact but I can tuck some narrow pieces of foam tape behind the blooms for dimension.  I just use kind of a skinny strip vertically down the center of the blooms so that they keep that rounded appearance.

The banner is from the Papertrey Ink Paper Clippings: Happy Birthday Dies and it stays on my desk pretty much all of the time.  I used the Papertrey Ink - Inspired: Love Die for the word.  By putting Foam Tape on the center 2/3rds of the banner, it gives the appearance of being slightly rounded instead of flat.  All in all, this card is loaded with texture, dimension, sparkle, and shine.  I considered adding a few jewels or sequins, but I felt they detracted rather than enhanced the card so I left them off.

This is my project for today.  We've had a lot of really grey days this winter in Texas and I was ready to work with some bright Springtime colors. I hope you'll be able to join in with the challenge at Virginia's Blog or the Papertrey Challenge or both!  Thanks for stopping by today!  I appreciate that you took time out of your day to check out my post.  I will soon return to linking products for you as well, but I've got some significant updating to do before that can happen.

Neutrals With Texture

Double D Challenges has a new theme up this week for the bi-weekly challenge. This time around the theme is Tan/Neutrals such as Cream, Kraft, Off White, Tan and Beige with Texture.  I don't always have time to participate at Double D but I liked the "Textural " challenge because I forget, (often) to add texture to my cards for a bit more visual interest.

Sadly, it has been a week where I needed to send some "paper hugs" to a couple of friends and I used this challenge to create the second card this morning.  

For my card, I started with a Card Base made from Papertrey Ink Classic Kraft Cardstock.  Next I die cut a panel of Papertrey Ink Rustic White Cardstock and used an Anna Griffin "Foundry" Embossing Folder to add texture to the background. Rustic White Cardstock is an "Eggshell" colored cardstock with some specks of tan color in it. I misted this all over with Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist from Tattered Angels. Once it dries, it is easy to adhere it to the card base.

While I was waiting for the Rustic White panel to dry, I die cut all of the flowers from Spellbinders Urban Blooms Dies using Vintage Cream Cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I also cut two of the vines from Spellbinders Romantic Vines Dies.  Using a Mini Round Ink Blending Tool, I just touched the tips of the petals and leaves with Vintage Photo Distress Oxide Ink, then misted them with Glimmer Mist and set them aside to dry for a few minutes while I fished out a cream colored button for the flower center.

I cut a label from the Stampin' Up Labels Collection.  I've had this set of dies for several years and I don't know if it's still available.  I stamped the sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp Friendship Blooms Stamp Set and heat embossed it with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  I did a bit of distressing on the outside edges with Vintage Photo Distress Oxide Inks and gave it a mist of Glimmer Mist as well. I would have to say that Shimmer/Glimmer Mist is my very favorite accessory.  Because this is a card for a somewhat somber event, I wanted to keep the look soft and understated. The Sparkle Shimmer Mist that I use often is much more attention grabbing. I assembled the flower with glue dots and put the button in the center then fluffed up the petals a bit.  I mounted the label using Thin 3D Foam Squares and everything else using Ranger Multi Medium Matte.  Because the button is fairly thick, I am planning to mail this card in a padded mailer with a bit of extra postage.

Thank you so much for stopping in to see my project today.  There will be lots more projects at the Double D Challenge so be sure to stop and take a look.

The Card Concept #74 - Freshly Elegant

The Card Concept Challenge #74 is this beautiful inspiration photo.  I love the touches of gold with the pretty pink objects throughout the room which determined my color scheme and the Eiffel Tower bookends made me want to do something with a slightly Parisian feel to it.

I started by dry embossing a panel of Sweet Blush Cardstock with a Tim Holtz Eiffel Tower Embossing Folder. I went over all the raised area with some Tonic Nuvo Embellishment Mousse in the color Indian Gold.  The Embellishment Mousse is really easy to apply with your finger (or your gloved finger) and much easier to control how much you are putting on paper.  I love it and it was very easy to use to give that panel a distressed look without the whole panel becoming gold. Once I had that done, I die cut it with the largest Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Die.  For the Sentiment and the Mat, I used Papertrey Ink's Gold Luxe Cardstock. The Gold Luxe Cardstock is really nice, photographs well and was the perfect match for this project where I would be die cutting my sentiment. Papertrey also has a Silver Luxe Cardstock. It was important to me for it all to look the same. I adhered it all to a top folding card base made from Stamper's Select White Cardstock.  The mat I used is from a new die collection that I got just this week and is the WPLUS9 Gift Card Layers Die.  I've been thinking about getting this die for a while and now that I have it, I wonder what took me so long!  It's a pretty basic one that I will use all the time. The largest die in this set is in perfect proportion to be a mat to the largest Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Die. It is the exact size of an A2 Card Front.

The sentiment on this card is from a few different dies. I used Avery Elle's Simply Said Love Die, Concord & 9th's Beautiful You Die and the Simon Says Stamp Mini Hearts Die.

Be sure to stop over at The Card Concept Challenge Blog to see all of the inspiration from the Design Team and we hope you'll join us for this challenge. You have two weeks to join in the fun!

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Metallic Lustre vs. Embellishment Mousse

Last week, I did a post (here) featuring some cards I had made using a product that I got for another purpose; changing the color of something metal.  But the packaging said the product worked on paper and since it looked and worked similarly to Tonic Nuvo Embellishment Mousse, I wanted to get some of the mousse and do a product comparison for you.  I made a card out of the test piece so I am entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and entering a second card at the AAA Card Challenge. 

The two products look very similar and have the same consistency.  The biggest difference I found was that the Embellishment Mousse is Water Based and you can add a bit of water to thin it out if you like.  I haven't done this yet. The Metallic Lustre is a wax based product and is quite a bit heavier, making it harder to control where you are putting it.  I really like the Embellishment Mouse (seen here in the color Indian Gold) and found it much easier to apply to the raised surface.  It is lighter and and looks a lot less heavy handed. Since this product was specifically made for paper, I'm sure I will go forward using the Mousse.  I had much better control over where I was putting the product and over how much product I was putting down.

While I like the card I have today, I should let you know that I tried some other embossing folders but found the results not very satisfactory at all. To get the nice even distribution of the embellishment mousse, the design needs to be close together and continuous.  

The method of application was the same as last time; a rubber glove.  I buy them by the box at Sally Beauty Supply for occasions that might get messy. You can use a soft cloth or probably even a bit of paper towel to apply this.  I haven't tried it with an Ink Blending tool as of yet because the rubber glove is working for me so far.

For today's featured card, I started with a panel of Simon Says Stamp Mint Cardstock. I dry embossed it using an Anna Griffin Embossing Folder. Using just my index finger, I rubbed the Tonic Nuvo Embellishment Mousse all over the raised areas of my card.  I felt that I had much more control with the Embellishment Mousse than I did with the previous product.  Tonic Embellishment Mouse comes in 24 different colors so there's something for everyone.

You can also use the embellishment mouse to "paint" with by adding a bit of product and a mist of water to an acrylic block, mixing it up and then dabbing your paint brush in that.  I don't have any examples to show you as I was just experimenting on some scraps, but you can do it.  I like the feel of the mousse and the price point is identical. I used a coupon for the Metallic Lustre at Hobby Lobby. Since I got the Metallic Lustre for something not related to paper crafting else, I'm glad I tried it out on the paper, but I like the product meant specifically for paper better.  At this point I don't really see me purchasing other colors in this product, but you never know.  I know what to expect from it now so it will be interesting to find all the ways it can be used.  

To finish up my card, I misted the panel with some Tsukineko Sheer Sparkle Shimmer Spritz and let it dry.  Next I used a Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Die in the largest size to die cut the embossed panel, adhered it to a top folding card base made from Stamper's Select White using Kokuyo Dot Adhesive.  The design of the embossing folder had the 4 little dots in it so I adhered 1 little crystal on each of the dots.  I use Ranger Multi Medium Matte to adhere them. The Butterfly die cut is from Concord & 9th Floral and Flutter Dies.  The sentiment is one of many that I had ready to go ahead of time. This is a very clean and simple design that packs a lot of bang for the buck.

Addicted to CAS and AAA Card Challenges

This morning I have a card made for the AAA Card Challenge #90 - Embossing and Addicted to CAS Challenge #111 - Code Word Pink so I thought I would combine the two to make my card today. I made a card this morning using the same technique (called Distressed Elegance) I featured here on my blog since all of that is still sitting on my desk. I love the combination of Pink and Gold, no matter which color of pink it is. Since this was simple and both of the challenges focus on Clean and Simple Cards, I just rolled with it.

I still have several panels of 4.25 x 5.5 inch cardstock sitting on my desk.  I primarily use color for background panels so it seems I always have lots of these. I have a folder next to my desk that I keep anything smaller than a half sheet in so I can check there first if I need or want a certain color.  This particular shade of pink happens to be Papertrey Ink's Lovely Lady Cardstock. This is definitely a cool pink color, but it's quite vibrant.

I used dry embossing for my background and heat embossing for my sentiment. The Embossing Folder is Anna Griffin's Pirouette.  I've had mine for a while but I checked and you can still get one on Amazon. You could also check Hallmark Scrapbooks and Crafts or Scrapbook.com. I die cut the panel using Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Dies in the largest size. The sentiment banner is from Tag Sale: Quilted and the sentiment is a stamp from Botanical Blocks, both by Papertrey Ink. The butterfly is from Concord & 9th's Floral & Flutter Die and is my second favorite butterfly die. 

This was a super fast card in a perfectly CAS Style.  I hope you enjoyed it and that you'll come back soon.  I promise to move on to a new style of card today!  

Simon Says "Monochrome"

It's been a while since I worked on a card specifically for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  Believe it or not, I can't always come up with a card for every challenge and some just don't fit my style. I'm learning that if it isn't my style, I need to just move on to the next project because I probably won't be happy with the end results. My style tends to lean toward Classic and Elegant and my love of using gold lends itself well to my projects.

This week's challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is Monochromatic and I chose "Yellow/Gold" for my color.  I started with a piece of Fabriano Water Color Paper in the 140# weight. This paper is more cream than white and has a heavy texture to it but since I was planning to do ink blending over the top, it didn't matter.  I ran that through my die cutting machine using the Taylored Expressions Leafy Vine Embossing Folder and then ink blending it with Papertrey Ink's Lemon Tart.  This is Papertrey's softest yellow ink. Because the design is so close together on this paper, the ink just stays on the surface of the panel.  Once I had that done, I misted the panel with Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist which blends the color so softly and gives a light golden shimmer to the paper.  I set that aside to dry and worked on my other elements.

Using a 4.25 x 5.5 inch piece of Papertrey Ink 44# Vellum, I did ink blending on that using Summer Sunrise Ink and a Mini Ink Blending Tool.  While it was still damp from the ink, I sprinkled Gold Perfect Pearls on it and blended it out as if it was ink all over.  I used my heat tool to make sure the vellum was dry before I stamped two of the outline images from Altenew's Beautiful Day Stamp Set in Versamark and heat set them using Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder which is my favorite gold to use. For the leaves, I first inked up another piece of vellum using the Summer Sunrise and then went over the top with New Leaf which is a yellow-green (olive) color tone.  I wanted the yellow undertone so I could stay monochromatic.  After that, I stamped the leaf outlines from Beautiful Day on that piece of vellum and then die cut all of the flowers and leaves with the Beautiful Day Coordinating Dies.

I also cut a frame from the Spellbinders Label 42 & Label 42 Decorative Elements from a gold cardstock scrap.  I buy big 24 x 36 inch sheets of Metallic Gold Poster Board at my Hobby Lobby when it's on sale 2/$1.00 and cut it down to manageable sizes when I get it home.  Because I am paying so little for it I don't feel the need to skimp and you'll notice I use it on a large percentage of my cards.

I used the "Scripted" Stamps and Coordinating Dies from Papertrey Ink for my sentiment and the banner is part of the Tag Sale - Quilted Die.  To finish, I assembled everything on the panel and attached that to an A2 Top Folding Card Base made from Rustic White Cardstock.  I used Thin 3D Foam Squares for the Banner and hid the Ranger Multi Medium Matte adhesive behind the vellum layers so it wouldn't show.  

I'll also be entering this project into a couple of other Challenges, Addicted to Clean and Simple and Word Art Wednesday.  I really appreciate it when you stop by to see my project and your comments are such a kindness.  I read and treasure every one.  

Simon Says "We Can See Clearly"

Over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog this week the theme is "We Can See Clearly" and the idea is to use a transparent or semi-transparent "medium" on your project.  For me, most of the time, it will be vellum.  I love the effect of getting a softer shade of the same color family that using vellum provides.

For this card, I used a piece of Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select Vellum with the Anna Griffin Acanthus Embossing Folder.  This is a thick vellum that will hold up to embossing although some care is required.  If you use a thinner vellum, it essentially "breaks" the vellum into pieces making it unusable.  The effect of embossing this vellum is that it gives a raised outline in a soft white to add texture to your card or project.

I especially liked it on this card because my Mondo Magnolia Die leaves a narrow white outline to match.  This magnolia is part of the Essentials By Ellen Collection and was designed by Julie Ebersole for Ellen Hutson, LLC and is a favorite of mine.  One of the things I like best about it is the size. Once you have that image colored how you want, it is very quick to pull a card together. No fuss, no muss as it does the talking for you (mostly).

I also used my Totally Fabulous Die, from Ellen Hutson, LLC. Mine was a gift with purchase from Black Friday, but it is available for purchase now. The die comes with a pop up "Totally" but I cut my words apart so I could use just the "Fabulous" by itself.

For the Mondo Magnolia image, I stamped the image using Versamark and heat set it with Ranger Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder. I watercolored it using Worn Lipstick Distress Marker in a few layers to get the depth and interest in the petals. I finished it off with a coat of Wink Of Stella Clear Shimmer Pen.

I have lots of projects up to do this week so I will be back very soon with another.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Inkspirational Challenge #104

Today I am sharing a card that I made for the challenge over at Inkspirational; #104 Pink and Grey.  This happens to be a combination that I love and always makes me think of Art Deco Architecture & Decor.  That is probably because the first time I actually saw any Art Deco Decor in person was at The Rock House on the Laura Ingalls Wilder Estate. I drafted a blog post about that once before, but it got to be soooo long that I deleted it.

For this card, I started with a piece of Smoky Slate Card Stock from Stampin' Up! since it was the only grey I have.  It wasn't nearly dark enough as I was going for a Pewter color.  To fix this, I used a Mini Ink Blending Tool with my Smoky Slate Ink and applied it to the panel until I had achieved the color depth I wanted. Once that was done, I misted the pewter, rose and pink cardstocks with Pearl Glimmer Mist.  When they were dry, I dry embossed two of them using a Cuttlebug Embossing Folder from Anna Griffin called Elaborate Quatrefoil. Really, I need to use my embossing folders more often as another quick way to add lots of texture. I cut all 3 panels with the largest of the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles Dies but I realigned the Pink and Pewter panels within the same die to make narrower panels.  You can keep the pieces that you cut off as it will all have the stitch lines and you can probably use it later.  Next I started assembling my card onto a Smoky Slate Top Folding A2 Card Base.

I had previously stamped the Tulips using SU's Pink Pirouette, and Papertrey Ink's Lavender Moon and Autumn Rose from the Papertrey Ink Tulip Time Stamp Set.  For the Stems I used Mint Julep and Vintage Jadeite from Papertrey Ink.  This is a layering stamp set and was the first thing I attempted to stamp in my MISTI.  I don't have my technique perfected yet, but I didn't have to throw a single one of the stamped tulips away and I have made several cards.  This is definitely progress. It was also nice to have the matching cardstock in the Autumn Rose.  I'm truly looking forward to not throwing away so much stamped cardstock because I didn't get everything aligned correctly.  While I think the quality of Papertrey Ink's Perfect Match Cardstock is impeccable, it's also nice that they have it available in 12, 24 or 50 sheet packs so you can buy bigger or smaller based on what you use. That's always a win for me.

To finish up this card, I cut the little embossed greeting from some silver mirror cardstock and tied the stems of the tulips with the silver and black ribbon. Most of the supplies are linked except for the sentiment die and the ribbon.

Thank you so much for stopping by today to check out my creation.  We are supposed to hit a high today of 87 degrees so I think I'm going to go sit on my porch swing!

The Challenge #62 & Color Q #331

Today I wanted to combine a couple of Challenges into one card so I could play over on two different challenges.  The first is at Always Playing With Paper and is Challenge #62 - Masculine.  

The second is the challenge over at Color Q #331 which has the colors Going Grey, Brilliant Blue, Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo and White.  I thought these colors would work great for a guy and I was right. The white is represented on my card via the twinkling paper (Sheer Shimmer Spritz) and glittery stars. Instead of Going Gray, I used some gray/silver shimmer paper to cut the Tim Holtz Globe. I ran it through with the embossing mat the second time to get a good impression.  I backed the globe with the Bermuda Bay Card Stock and after adhering the two layers together, ran it through my die cut machine with the die and an embossing pad which really made the dimension pop out.  I have two different embossing mats.  One is grey and one is tan silicone.  The silicone mat is a little thicker so if I want a particularly well embossed image, I use that one.

The Sentiment is from the Celebrate Stamp and Die set by Tim Holtz.  It's pretty much the most masculine birthday greeting I have so I stamped and heat embossed it with Simon Says Stamp Fine Detail Silver Embossing Powder then used the coordinating die to cut it out.  To give the globe it's kind of rounded appearance, I put about five foam squares in a circle in the center area of the globe and then I adhered that to the A2 card made from Simon Says Stamp Blue Violet Cardstock (a.k.a. Brilliant Blue) using Ranger Multi Medium Matte all the way around the edge and stacked some acrylic blocks on it while it dried. The foam squares will pop back out and it gives the globe that kind of rounded appearance.  I used some shimmer mist on the card front and added some sparkling stars using the Simon Says Stamp Holiday Shapes Die and Mini Stars Die.  This has turned out to be a favorite masculine card and I would totally use this design again. It's important to note here that the globe is large and takes up the entire width of the 4.25 inch card.

I really enjoy reading your comments if you'd like to leave one and thanks so much for stopping by today.  I'll be back soon with my next project.