Sunday Stamps # 137

Woodland Warmth color tones are the inspiration for the Sunday Stamps Bi-Weekly Challenge this time around. There is something so warm and comforting about the rustic tones in the inspiration image and this always makes me think of cool autumn nights and Mocha Latte (Cafe Mocha), a perfect combination in my humble opinion.  It's especially good if you ask for Extra Whip. I don't hang out at Starbucks too often but if I am there (which seems to be about once a year) I will splurge for a Mocha Latte and a Venti or Trenta at that. Now you know why I don't hang out at Starbucks very often. *Ü* Can you imagine the calories in one of those every single day or even once a week?

For today's card, I started with a card base made from Dark Chocolate Cardstock. For the wood grain background, I misted a panel of Rustic White Cardstock just once with plain water and ran it through my Cuttlebug with a SU! Wood Grain Embossing Folder.  Once it was embossed, I went over it with Kraft Ink and then sprayed it with some Iridescent Gold Shimmer Spritz and set it aside to dry.  I cut the little Stitched Heart Die from Spring Rain Cardstock and sat and did the Spirelli while I was waiting for the other papers to dry. I used DMC Gold Embroidery Thread for this which comes on a spool rather than in a bundle. Since the holes are already pierced in the paper for you, the needle doesn't need to be sharp. I have one with a really big eye that I use and it's a lot easier on fingers than an actualy needle.  I think they must be needles for Crewel Embroidery.  One of my grandmothers used to do that.

Once I had the Spirelli done, I die cut and stamped all my elements and assembled the card.  The sentiment is from the Give Thanks Stamp Set by Papertrey Ink and was stamped on a Kraft Cardstock oval from the My Favorite Things Stitched Oval Stax and heat embossed in Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  I really would have liked to try stamping the sentiment on a die cut heart, but I didn't have one that was large enough to accommodate both the Spirelli and the Greeting so I'll do that without the Spirelli another time.

I used a layer of fun foam behind the oval and at the top portion of the heart but otherwise this is a very clean and simple card.  As I often do, I put a plain white stitched rectangle panel on the inside of the card for a place to write a message.

Thank you so much for stopping by today and if you'd like to leave a kind or encouraging comment, I really treasure each and every one of them.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Simply Less is More

Today I'm participating over at the "Less is More" Challenge Blog and the Recipe Ingredient we're supposed to use is adding thread to our project. They have some examples from the design team there but as soon as I read what the challenge is for this week I knew I wanted to do a bit of Spirelli. Spirelli is a type of string art where string is stitched through holes rather than normal string art which is thread, wire or string that is wrapped around nails or pins. Spirelli is definitely the way to go for any kind of paper crafting. Papertrey Ink has a tutorial by Amy Sheffer on their YouTube Channel here.

I'll also be playing at Addicted the CAS with their challenge of "Stitched".

I started with one of the marbled backgrounds I created a few weeks ago using shaving foam and reinkers.  While I was playing with different colors of reinkers, this is one combination that I really liked and uses New Leaf and Berry Sorbet from Papertrey Ink.  I still have several of these backgrounds to use in a variety of colors.  I'm not 100% certain that my card will qualify as clean and simple but since everything is adhered directly to the card base and not popped up on foam, I think it will be okay.

The little doily medallions I used are from My Favorite Things and are perfect for this technique. All the "stitching" is done using Gold Thread but you can also use Gold Floss.  The leaves are from a Memory Box die that is currently MIA.  I know it's somewhere on my desk.  I used Berry Sorbet Cardstock for the card base and flowers along with a mat of gold cardstock.  The Hello greeting is a Simon Says Stamp Exclusive. This was a quick and easy card and I enjoyed taking time to do the Spirelli instead of a coloring technique this time. 

Thank you so much for spending a few minutes with me today. Be sure to watch the video tutorial at the link provided if you are interested in trying this technique.

Make It Monday #255

Amy Sheffer's String Art Card

When I watched Papertrey Ink's 's Make it Monday #255 video this week, I fell in love with this card by Amy Sheffer who taught the technique. Somehow I had to find a way to make the technique my own. While looking for a certain color of sequins earlier, I passed up two spools of Silver and two spools of Gold DMC Metallic Thread... BINGO! I always love pink and gold and I knew this was what I was going to do for my challenge entry this week.

To start this card, I cut a Noted: A2 card base from Stamper's Select White Cardstock.  I masked off the scalloped edge then laid it in a shallow box and spattered Finetec Mica Gold Watercolor in Inca Gold on the front.  This card uses a #8 Silver Black Velvet Brush.  I set that aside to let it dry and went on to the String Art portion of the card.

I have 8 small medallion dies that I could swear came from Papertrey Ink, but I cannot find them on their website. I didn't realize at the time I received them that I would start a blog some months later and it would be important to know who made them.  I didn't used to keep track of that kind of thing.  If anyone recognizes these dies, please let me know what they are!  You have to use something that has holes in it or else make the holes for this technique that is also called Spirelli. It's really easy to do as Amy demonstrated for us and you can watch the video at Nichole Heady's Blog or at the Papertrey Ink YouTube Channel.  I had worked on something Spirelli years ago for a scrapbooking border set and used Iridescent Metallic Thread for that so I'm going to have to find that spool and put it with my others!

Once I had the medallions die cut, I used a Kabuki Brush to apply ink in Lovely Lady and Hibiscus Burst before doing the string art. I wanted some variation in the color of the blooms just as they would be in real life.  For the Spirelli art, my holes were big enough that a knot in the thread wouldn't have stopped it so I used a tiny piece of micro pore tape on the back side to hold the thread in place firmly so I could do the string art portion.  At the end of each flower, I tied it in a knot and taped it down with another tiny piece of micro pore tape. This held really well for me.

Using another Kabuki Brush (I have 5 - 1 each for the color families of Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue and Violet), I ink blended in Hawaiian Shores Ink ever so softly in the center of the front panel to give just a hint of a sky behind the flowers and then stamped the sentiment which is from Papertrey Ink's Friendly Flowers Stamp Set.  These Kabuki brushes give you a softness that is hard to achieve with an ink blending tool.

After that I cut 2 of the leafy stems from the Painted Petals Dies and another from a different set that I have.  Since I had gold spatter and gold metallic thread on my card, I wanted to cut the stems from gold cardstock as well to tie all of the elements together.  I adhered the flowers to the stems with a bit of Ranger Multi Medium Matte in one spot and then adhered the flower to the card front using Ranger Multi Medium Matte and Thin 3D Foam Squares.  A few sequins in Moonshine and Aquamarine finished this card.

This was such an easy card to create that I decided to make another one. This is a great one to send to my girlfriends to let them know I'm thinking of them and missing them since I don't live near any of them anymore.

For the flowers on the second card, I used Papertrey Ink's Tropical Teal and Amethyst Allure Inks with Simon Says Stamp Island Blue Ink for the flowers and a Hawaiian Shores Card Base.  The background panel was cut from Stamper's Select White with the Sunshine Layers Die Set for WPLUS9 Design Studios. I used Finetec Mica Gold Watercolor in Tibet Gold for the spatter and Hawaiian Shores for the soft area of "sky" behind the flowers.  Some Moonshine and Peacock Sequins finish it up.  The sentiment is one I often use from Altenew's Beautiful Day Stamp Set.

I've mentioned this before, but it probably bears repeating that I use Gold Metallic Poster Board from Hobby Lobby.  It's much less expensive and I can use all I want without worrying about the cost. I buy it when it's on sale 2/$1.00 and cut it into manageable pieces when I get it home.

Thanks for stopping by to share a quick card today.  I hope you'll stop over at the Papertrey Ink Blog and watch the video.