Bountiful Thanks

My card today is for The Paper Players #368 - a Tic Tac Toe Challenge and The Fusion Card Challenge, Autumn Leaves. This card came out nothing like what I had intended when I started it.  I've been experimenting with Alcohol Inks and Alcohol Blending Solution on Yupo Paper (I got mine from Amazon) a bit this weekend and the particular one I used here didn't come out how I wanted it to.  It turned kind of reddish orange with my combination of inks (Gold Mixative with Red Pepper) which definitely felt more Fall than Christmas or holiday.  So I rolled with it and die cut the paper with Romantic Leaves from Spellbinders.

Before I move on, I want to talk about what I've learned with the Yupo Paper and the Alcohol Inks.  Initially, when I tried Alcohol inks, I didn't have any Yupo Paper so I used some of my SU! Glossy White Cardstock. I was pretty satisfied with those results but everyone talks about how you're supposed to use it with Yupo Paper.  Honestly, I didn't care too much for the Yupo Paper.  It's somewhat expensive, it's thin like vellum, and I didn't think it moved or worked very well with the alcohol inks. I purchased a single 11 x 14 pad with 12 sheets that I can cut down into 6 panels, but I would not use it again for this technique. I thought maybe I was using the wrong side, but there doesn't seem to be a right or wrong side and I tried both sides.  Also, I think it takes a lot of Alcohol Blending Solution to achieve good results and that is pretty pricey as well. So while I like having this tool in my tool belt, it isn't one I will use very often and when I do use it, I plan to stick with Glossy Cardstock. The best results I got by far were by smooshing the paper into the ink which I did on aluminum foil rather than dropping the ink directly onto the paper and adding blending solution to it.  I have several other backgrounds (including the ones I made with Glossy Cardstock last week) to use in a variety of colors that you'll see on upcoming projects and I used one here.

For this card, I wanted something that would work with the color of my leaves and I happened to have some paper out that would work perfectly.  I found this great 8.5 x 11 paper pad by Momenta at Hobby Lobby.  All of the prints in this pad are watercolor look and many of them have gold or silver paint splatters on them.  Since I have the touches of gold in the leaves, I chose this soft yellow/coral print for my background.  I die cut it with MFT Blueprints 15 Stitched Rectangle Die and gave it some healthy mists Iridescent Gold Shimmer Mist.  I arranged the leaves on that panel then adhered them with Ranger Multi Medium Matte.  To keep everything simple, flat and easily mailable, I cut a strip of vellum with the largest MFT Horizontal Stitched Strips and then stamped the sentiment from the Color Pop Autumn Stamp Set using Versamark and heat setting it with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  I used my powder tool first so that my embossing would stay clean.

To adhere the vellum strip, I put a skinny little line of sticky dot adhesive (Kokuyo) on the stitch line of the background panel and then gently pressed the vellum onto that.  The adhesive is light blue and if you put it directly onto the vellum, it shows through.

I die cut one of the Impression Obsession Butterflies that I use all the time from Gold Foiled Cardstock and put skinny strips of Scotch 3M Foam Tape under the body and a glue dot under the back end to make it seem as if the butterfly was about to be in flight.  I added a few Nuvo Drops in Copper Penny for a bit of contrast and let them dry overnight. 

I hope you enjoyed my card and will take time to stop by The Paper Players Challenge Blog and the Fusion Card Challenge Blog. 

Rustic Neutrals

I have a quick project and post for you today for the challenge over at The Card Concept featuring Rustic Neutrals.

The card I made for today features a fast and easy way to create a card and uses the Thankful For You Stamp and Die set from Papertrey Ink.

This particular set was designed by Betsy Veldman last year and I still love it today.  It is the epitome of "home" to me, especially because of the wheat. Kansas is the largest producer of wheat in the nation, with an estimated 10.8 million tons harvested each year.  It was also home to many for all of my growing up years and many of my adult life years as well.

To my knowledge, there are only two stamps sets at Papertrey Ink that have wheat and I own both of them; Paper Clippings: Thankful For You and Give Thanks, both with Coordinating Dies. They were released about a year ago.  This particular card uses the Paper Clippings: Thankful for you Die.  There is also the Paper Clippings: Thankful For You Details Die which cut each of the small individual pieces so that you can create a scene (not my particular strength) or add layers for dimension.

The nice thing about the Paper Clippings: Thankful For You Die is that you can make it pretty simple if you like.  It takes up most of the space on a A2 card front and you can color it by any means you wish.  For mine, I did a combination of the simplest copic coloring and also using stamps from the set to stamp the leaves. I wanted to go with the rustic fall colors so I chose my color accordingly by choosing Melon Berry, Summer Sunrise, Fine Linen, Dark Chocolate and Ocean Tides. The background panel is Melon Berry Cardstock on a Classic Kraft card base.

I had so many ideas for the inspiration image but only time enough to execute one of them.  However, there are many beautiful cards from the other Design Team Members, so be sure to stop by The Card Concept Challenge Blog and take a look!

Papertrey Ink October 2016 Blog Hop

Welcome to the Papertrey Ink October 2016 Blog Hop!  Nichole always has such a way of finding inspirational images for us and this month is no exception.  It's also a great way to celebrate the arrival of Fall.

Today also happens to be the 20th anniversary of mine and hubby's Catholic Church Wedding.  We have been married for 32+ years, but we didn't have a Catholic Church wedding until 1996.  It was a big deal at the time and I even had a real wedding dress although I skipped the train and the veil.  It was wonderful and lots of our family and a few close friends were there with us.  We even had a small cake and punch reception at our home afterward and one of my Sisters-In-Law had a small wedding cake made complete with a Robbie & Rachel Topper (Cherished Teddies).

I love fall weather.  Give me days filled with sunshine and 70 degrees and I am a very happy girl. I don't need a coat or jacket but a cup of hot tea, hot chocolate or a Mocha Latte tastes really good!  It's my practice session for the coming Winter season.

All of the different colors and textures in our inspiration image are so warm and cozy feeling and that was the main thing I wanted to portray with my design.  I started my card by doing ink blending on a piece of Canson #140 Watercolor Paper in Orange Zest and Pure Poppy.  By using the watercolor paper, it allows me to be able to spritz the paper generously and really blend those two colors out.  I used Tattered Angels Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist and set it aside to dry while I made a top folding card base from Dark Chocolate Cardstock.  That particular shimmer mist is no longer made but I am planning to try this one by Tsukineko once mine is all gone.  I still have a couple of bottles of Iridescent Gold left.

I love the old hymnal in the inspiration image and I tried to incorporate Sheet Music or Music Notes in some way to my background, but then it just competed with the beautiful plaid paper so ultimately I removed it.  I have a sheet music embossing folder, some sheet music patterned paper and even some sheet music background stamps.  I actually tried all three but I love the plaid paper and it just gave cleaner design lines for my project.

I cut the largest Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Die out of my Gold Foiled Plaid Paper.  I love this paper and I used a leftover piece for this card but I only have 3 sheets of this left and I've had it for at least 10 years which means I can't get more.  Sigh.... I had to use it for this card though because it popped right into my head as soon as I saw the Inspiration Image.

Once my watercolor paper was completely dry, I cut it using my Little B Hearts Dies.  The outside die cuts while the inside die just leaves the criss-cross impression all the way around. I have other heart dies but these are the ones I reach for over and over again.  There are six different sizes included in the set including one that is quite a bit larger than this and could be used on a 5 x 7 card.

After treating my die cut heart with my powder tool, I stamped the sentiment from Give Thanks in Versamark and heat set it with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  I also stamped the Acorns from the same set and heat embossed them as well.  To help define the edges of those elements, I went around the heart with Pure Poppy and Dark Chocolate for the Acorns. Additionally I stamped and heat embossed the wheat from the Paper Clippings: So Thankful For You Stamp Set in gold embossing powder on some of the scraps left from the ink blending.  The wheat always makes me think of home which always make me feel warm and cozy!

I was born in Missouri, but I was raised in Kansas and my husband was born in Kansas and grew up there. Winter Wheat accounts for 70 to 80 percent of total production in the U.S., with the largest amounts produced in Kansas (10.8 million tons) and North Dakota (9.8 million tons). To me, the image of wheat is synonymous with Kansas and in Western Kansas in particular, there are miles and miles of interstate highways that run along side the wheat fields. No matter what time of year it is, it's a sight that always evokes a feeling of being home. My husband's family has been farming in Kansas for over 100 years and his brother still farms there, so we feel very connected to the land there.

When assembling my card, I die cut another heart from Fun Foam just one size down to put behind the front one so it would be nice and stable for mailing. When you use foam tape, the paper can get bent up between the pieces so I like to use the fun foam for something this large.  I attached the acorns with a couple of foam squares.

The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for this week is "Autumn", so I'll be entering this card over on their Challenge Blog as well.  Be sure to stop over at both places and check out all the fabulous entries!

Sunday Stamps #137 - Part Two

So while I was playing with the papers and inks from the Sunday Stamps Challenge #137 today, I decided to go ahead, while I had everything out try my other idea for this challenge. I actually like this card as much as the first one I made.  I used all the same color of inks and papers (Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Spring Rain, Rustic White) along with Simon Says Stamp Gold Embossing Powder. I wanted to see the difference between the Antique Gold and Gold since I haven't used the plain gold for a while. The Antique Gold is just a little bit warmer than the Gold embossing powder in the Simon Says Stamp brand.   I think this color combination will be a bit unexpected for this time of year and I like that. I also feel like I could have used Smoky Shadow Cardstock for my base but I already had the Dark Chocolate on my desk so for once I decided to go with the flow.

I have some Thanksgiving cards to send out and I'm really happy with this particular design, especially since hubby and I are from Kansas. I was born in Missouri, but I was raised in Kansas. Winter Wheat accounts for 70 to 80 percent of total production in the U.S., with the largest amounts produced in Kansas (10.8 million tons) and North Dakota (9.8 million tons).  To me, the image of wheat is synonymous with Kansas and in Western Kansas in particular, there are miles and miles of interstate highways that run along side the wheat fields.  No matter what time of year it is, it's a sight that always evokes a feeling of being home.  My husband's family has been farming in Kansas for over 100 years and his brother still farms there, so we feel pretty connected to the land there.  I know his family will enjoy these cards.

Since I already did another post today for this challenge, I am going to keep this one short, but I hope you enjoy this "Take Two" version of my card.

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!