Papertrey Ink Make It Monday #300

It cracked me up yesterday morning when I was laying out my work for this week and the newly posted Make It Monday #300 at Papertrey Ink turned out to be something that I have done several times in the past 5 days.  It is a Wreath Building Challenge.  The challenge part for me was finding a way to create yet another type of wreath that was different from what I've already done.  When I was looking through my supplies, I realized that I don't have a wreath die so I will need to remedy that at some point in the not too distant future. Since that was the case, I chose several stamps sets to create a whimsical stamped "wreath" card.

First I die cut a Scene It Doily Tag from Stamper's Select White Cardstock to served as the circle or wreath area.  Then I used bits and pieces from several sets to build the wreath itself.  It's not very traditional, but it turned out pretty okay.  I used the wheat stalks from Paper Clippings: Thankful for You Stamps, the small heart is from Paper Clippings: Done In Love, I used the second layer of the wheat stalks to add the detail to the wheat and then used them in another color as some of the elements in the other parts of the wreath. The leafy branches are from Turning a New Leaf and finally the little three petaled flower and the large and small dots are from this year's anniversary set, Grand Finale.  I noticed later that there were a couple of dots in the Paper Clippings: Done In Love set but I missed them when I was gathering all of the elements.  While I wanted things to be balanced, I didn't want them to be mirror images from side to side of the wreath. I wanted to keep it natural looking and I am happy with what I achieved.  I used Papertrey Inks in Kraft, Pale Peony, Ocean Tides and Berry Sorbet.  The detail layer on the wheat was stamped with Altenew Mocha Ink.  I love that particular collection of inks because they don't have so much yellow in them as most Kraft and Tan inks do.

The little acorns are from Give Thanks and were also stamped in the same Mocha Ink.  The sentiment is from the Papertrey Ink Counting My Blessings Die Collection.

Since I had everything out on my desk, I decided to create another wreath go in a cleaner, simpler direction.  I traced a circle die cut and stamped the smaller of the leaves from Gran's Garden onto my panel in Ripe Avocado Ink. I curved the leaves a bit on my acrylic block to follow the shape of the circle. I stamped the berries in my lightest yellow, Lemon Tart. Since I was planning to do White Berries with a little gold stem, I use a really light ink to stamp the berries from the Enclosed: Bell Mini Stamp Set.  This lets me see where they are supposed to go on the card front and serves as my guide.  I stamped the sentiment from Enclosed: Leaf Mini Stamp Set in Versamark and heat set it with Gold Embossing Powder. 

Once the stamping was finished, I hit it with some Tattered Angels Iridescent Gold Shimmer Mist and let that dry before die cutting the panel with a stitched rectangle die. I really wanted to put this particular card together on Vintage Cream Cardstock, but I've had a terrible time lately finding Cream Envelopes at a reasonable price.  I only have a few left on hand, so I went ahead and put the card together on a top folding card base made from Stamper's Select White Cardstock with a Gold Foil Stitched Rectangle mat. I put the rest of the card together and always do my drops as the very last thing. This was a lesson learned the hard way, (of course).  I tied a little bow with some Gina K. Sheer Satin Fancy Ribbon in White and Gold for the top of the wreath and added all my little white berries in Ivory Seashell Nuvo Drops.  After I let those dry for about an hour, I added a tiny little stem with Golden Sunset Nuvo Glitter Drops for the finishing touch.  I've made several cards using the leaves from Gran's Garden to create a wreath.  These are my favorite leaves from all the florals I have and use. 

Believe it or not, I have one more wreath I want to create based on another of Gina K.'s lessons from the same class.  I hope to have time to get to it this week. Be sure to hop all around to see the wonderful cards everyone has made for this week's Make It Monday Challenge. 

Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge #59

I have been enjoying playing in the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenges since I discovered it earlier this summer.  Heidi and the crew at Simon Says Stamp always have a gift certificate for each of the challenges which run bi-weekly.  I won one of them a few weeks ago.  There's also no limit as to how many times I can enter each challenge as long as I am meeting the other qualifications of a new project and using some of the Simon Says Stamp branded Stamps or Dies. So it's kind of a nice change of pace.  The theme this week is for Christmas/Holiday and heaven knows I've been doing plenty of those, but I have a few more for friends to do.  My family cards have all been done and mailed out, but I still have several friends I want to make one for.  

Today, I needed to make some cards for the men in a friend's life that she wants to give them for Christmas.  For this first group of cards, I used the Simon Says Stamp "Look For the Miracles" Stamp Set.  I know it isn't a Christmas set but, after all, Christmas is all about miracles so I think this sentiment works well for this style.

I started by splattering some gold metallic watercolor and some white pearl watercolor all over a half sheet length of  Night of Navy Cardstock (my last sheet by tapping my brush onto the handle of another one to make the splatter.  I do this in a shallow box lid to contain the mess and set it aside to dry overnight usually.  The size of your brush determines the size of your spatter.  My most commonly used brush is my #8 Silver Black Velvet Brush and my #4 Silver Black Velvet Brush.

I also found some metallic watercolor online that I am enjoying very much and I wanted to share my find with you.  So last year around this time I invested in a set of Finetec Mica Gold Watercolors.  I love them and I have used them several times but no one seems to carry the little refill pans you need once the pans are empty and two of mine are nearly gone.  The refills are made, but I haven't found them at all my usual places. This means that I don't use them as often as I want because it is not something that's going to be easy to replace and I am hoping I don't have to buy the full set again.

The other day, I ran across some Metallic Gold and Metallic Pearl White Watercolors in 8 ounce bottles. The price point was low (around $8.00), especially for the amount of product you get.  You can mix it with a bit of water or use it straight from the bottle. This means I can use all the Gold Spatter I want on my projects, so be forewarned that I am sure it will be in use often around here.... now that I don't have to hoard it anymore. *Ü* The Brand is Sargent Art and I found mine on Amazon.

Back to my card.  I splattered Gold Watercolor Paint on the navy cardstock, let that dry over night, then splattered it again with the White Watercolor Paint and let that dry all morning.  Next I stamped the sentiment from the "Look for the Miracles" Stamp Set in Ranger Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder and heat set it. Next I got several of the Snowflakes from the Papertrey Ink "What the Doodle Snowflake" Stamp set and stamped them randomly around the rest of the background and heat embossed them using the same Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder.  I did cut the panel with the largest Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Die and mounted it to a top folding card base made from Papertrey Ink Classic Kraft cardstock.

I made three cards in this style and then I switched it up by creating the same design on a Bazzill Whirlypop panel with Hero Arts White Embossing Powder and only Metallic White Pearl splatter. To stay with the slightly lighter colored theme, I heat embossed the snowflakes in WOW! Metallic Platinum Sparkle Embossing Powder and mounted that to a top folding card base made from Stamper's Select White Cardstock.  

That is it for today!  Thanks so much for stopping by to check out my blog.  I really appreciate all of the kind and encouraging comments you leave.  I have several other projects finished so I will be back very soon!

Creating a Masked Background

Today's card is for a couple of challenges; the Papertrey Ink Make it Monday for this week and the newest Color Q Challenge #343.

For the Make it Monday #250 technique this week, Laurie Willison masked off a half inch border all the way around her card front and then used ink blending to color the background. If you click the link it will take you to the website to watch the video. By now I have done quite a bit of successful ink blending so I wanted to do the technique with a slightly different twist for my project.

Using a 4.25 x 5.5 inch piece of watercolor card stock, I masked off a portion along the diagonal and then started ink blending the top of the panel using Melon Berry Ink from Papertrey Ink. Once I had that part inked up, I removed the tape and then masked off the opposite part. Using a clean pad for my Mini Ink Blending Tool, I blended Encore Metallic Gold Pigment Ink over that section. When I removed the masking tape I spritzed the entire panel with Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist and then mimicked Laurie's technique of adding some droplets on my background. This gave the ink blending a nice shimmer and also gave it the distressed look from the water droplets.  To take it one step further, I splattered Finetec Mica Watercolor in Tibet Gold with a #4 Round Silver Black Velvet Brush which created the brighter gold spots.  The size of the brush determines the size of your spatter.  Smaller brushes make smaller splatter.

Next I die cut the "Happy" from a scrap of black cardstock.  Laying it on top of my Ranger Craft Mat, I smooshed Versamark Ink over the entire die cut, poured clear embossing powder on it and heat set it.  I used something from my barely used items - Ranger Large Particle Embossing Powder.  My mom had sent me a message this morning asking me if I had used this product and I told her only once and that I had not liked it.  Since it was on my mind and I had been meaning to try it for this technique, I got it down off my shelf and used it today. Normally, I would have to ink up my die cut with Versamark and pour clear embossing powder on it a minimum of three times to get the same look that I got in one shot here.  So I am pretty stoked about it!  It was a lot easier than squeezing glossy accents over the whole word but gave it the same look. Thanks, Mom! Be sure not to touch it until it's completely cooled down which only takes a few extra seconds. Otherwise, it will have your fingerprints on it (the voice of experience here *Ü*).

Using the "Birthday Wishes" sentiment from the Papertrey Ink 2016 Painted Petals Anniversary Set, I stamped it with Onyx Black Versafine, poured Simon Says Stamp Fine Detail Clear Embossing Powder over that and heat set it again. I die cut the ink blended panel with the largest Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle and adhered it to a Kraft Card Base then assembled the rest of the card.

This is another clean and simple card that will be great to mail and is also a great for a masculine look. If you used a color other than orange, you could also go with a black card base but in this case it seemed a little too much like a Halloween look.

I have to say, after so carefully blending my inks it seemed sort of a waste to mess it all up by adding the water drops to distress it but I guess it's okay for a once in a while kind of grungy look and feel.  I couldn't stand it though so I had to make a second card...  I know, I know!

My second card uses Pure Poppy with the Gold Metallic Ink and an A2 Black Card base.  I did use some Tsukineko Shimmer Spritz but I did not use any splatters.  I really love the Red and Gold with the pop of the black and I'm thinking this will make a great choice for my father-in-law's birthday coming up in a few weeks.  He always buys a red pick-up so I'm thinking this is good color choice to send him.

Thank you so much for stopping by to see my card and I hope you'll be back soon to check out my next project.

Krafty Valentines

Today I wanted to try something new to me.  I have three or four different styles of "Kraft" card stock.  You know the one - it's the color of a brown paper bag. Who knew those came in so many different colors?  I struggle to use mine at all and every time I've tried so far, I've been very unhappy with the results.  So I was asking around on a forum that I'm a member of and I was pointed toward Heather Nichols' Blog.  She has rightly been dubbed the "Queen of Kraft" and now I know why.

So after looking around her blog I decided to give it another go.  One thing I noticed is that I seem to really like Kraft with white accents or embossing.  I've even seen a few pastel embossing powders that I like, but I didn't try that today.

I pulled out my trusty Darkroom Door "French Script" Background Stamp. Laying it face up on my table I inked it up with Versamark.  Then I laid a piece of Kraft card stock on top of that and carefully holding it so as not to move or smudge it, I set a large acrylic block on top of that to press down.  There's less risk of me messing it up this way. The acrylic block glides over the surface of the paper without budging it, unlike my finger tips. I suppose it's all what you get used to doing and this is what works for me.  I heat set it using Simon Says Stamp White Embossing Powder and cut it with the largest Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle.

Next I cut a My Favorite Things Leaf Filled Flourish out of Stamper's Select White Card stock. That reminds me...Have y'all ever noticed that Stampers and Scrapbooker's call it Cardstock (1 word) vs. the rest of the world that calls it Card Stock (2 words) and even spell check wants to correct it?  Ha!  Just thought I'd mention that.  For the hearts I have an old Accucut Die that I have always loved. It has one part that goes on the front of the card stock and another than that goes on the back to make the deep impression.  It's a "hinged" die if that makes sense.  I cut those using Papertrey Ink's Berry Sorbet Cardstock.  I love this color.  It has been a replacement for me of my no-longer-available Cameo Coral and it has just the right touch of pink. I absolutely love Papertrey Ink's Cardstocks. They are 110# solid core and soooo smooooth! I only have 3 colors of these so far, but I will replace my SU colors with Papertrey Ink's as my supply is depleted which will be a while.

Using Ranger Multi Medium Matte, I adhered the flourish to the background panel then attached that to my Stamper's Select White Card Base.  I used Foam Squares on the back of the hearts and adhered them with one slightly on top of the other,  I cut the "love" greeting using a die from Little Yellow Bicycle that I got at Hobby Lobby using a scrap of gold foil card stock.  I glued the "l" onto one of the hearts and the other end to the flourish which also adds a bit of dimension to the card as well.

This card will be on it's way tomorrow to my grand girls and I feel it's my first success on Kraft Cardstock.  I'll definitely be trying it again but in the meantime I'll be linking this up over on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog for the "Have A Heart" theme.