Love You to Pieces

I have a super pretty and sparkly card today using products from Gina K Designs and Simon Says Stamp. I used the Gina K Designs Sending Love Stamp Set for this card along with the Simon Says Stamp Love Stamp Set.   

I started with a panel of Canson Bristol Watercolor Paper. Now, this card worked out okay, but if I had it to do over, I should have done all the layers of heat embossing on the sentiment first, but that is hindsight for you.  I did mine opposite of that by stamping the designs in the corners first.  I only stamped the design a single time and a single layer of embossing powder.  For the sentiment, this is 6 layers of heat embossing, one at a time.  I stamped in Versamark and heat set it using Simon Says Antique Gold Embossing Powder which is a nice warm shade of gold.  It is so important to use your powder tool between each layer of heat embossing and it's hard for me to remember to do it each time when I do that many layers.  This is the first time I have done more than 3 layers of embossing and it worked out okay this time but my first two attempts were not as successful. It was tough not burning the embossing that was already melted.  Once I had all of the layers done, I used Gina K's Wild Lilac and Lovely Lavender to do some ink blending, with the lighter color toward the center where my sentiment is. Her inks blend very well and I have been really enjoying using them some. They stamp very solidly!

I followed that up as usual by misting it with Iridescent Gold Shimmer Mist by Tattered Angels and some Tsukineko Sheer Sparkle Shimmer Mist at the very end then let that panel dry while I made a card base and cut a background panel.  I love the combination of both mists. It makes for some really incredible sparkle.

I die cut a stitched rectangle from Gina K Designs Metallic Gold Card Stock using the WPLUS9 Designs Gift Card Layers Dies Set.  This is a metallic gold but not a mirror cardstock.  I also made a top folding horizontal card base from Gina K Designs Heavy Base Weight White Cardstock.  By now my ink blended panel was dry so I die cut it using the largest Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Die and assembled my card with Kokuyo Dot Runner Adhesive.  I wanted to add a really elegant touch to go with the regal purple, so I added some Swarovski Crystals to the flower centers.  I only buy two colors of crystals; Crystal and Aurora Borealis.  I like to use the Aurora Borealis jewels for pinks and purples. I use a jewel picker or reverse engineered tweezers to add these to a card with Ranger Multi Medium Matte. I tried to give you a few different views of the card so you can see the way these sparkle.  I love using these for cards.  I get mine when Hobby Lobby has their Swarovski Crystal for half off.  I buy the smallest size of the flat-backed sequins for the most part but I do have a few of the next size up in Crystal.  I have three small containers that I keep these in sitting on my desk all the time.  I put my sequins away when I'm finished but not my crystals. *Ü*

This is my project for today.  I'll be entering a couple of challenges - Gina K Designs January 2018 Monthly Mix It Up Challenge "Kindness" and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge for this week with a theme of "Something New."  The supplies I've used are linked below for your convenience. Thank you so much for stopping by today!

GKD - Sending Love Stamp Set Shop at: SSS | GKD	GKD Gold Metallic Cardstock Shop at: GKD	GKD Heavy Base Weight White Cardstock Shop at: GKD	GKD Lovely Lavender Ink Shop at: SSS | GKD
GKD Wild Lilac Ink Shop at: SSS | GKD	Marvy Jewel Picker Shop at: SSS	Ranger Multi Medium Matte Shop at: SSS	SSS Antique Gold Embossing Powder Shop at: SSS
SSS Love Stamp Set Shop at: SSS	SSS Stitched Rectangles Dies Shop at: SSS	Teflon Bone Folder Shop at: SSS	Tsukinko Sheer Sparkle Shimmer Spritz Shop at: SSS
Versamark Ink Shop at: PTI | SSS	Wagner Heat Tool Shop at: SSS	WPLUS9 Gift Card Layers Designer Dies Shop at: SSS

Papertrey Ink Make it Monday #308 - 2017 Ala Carte

This week's Make It Monday #308 at Papertrey Ink is my first post of the new year, 2018.  That's the first time I've had to write that number and I hope I remember as well when I have to write a check. *wink*  For this week's challenge, we are supposed to choose one of the previous year's Make it Monday's and create a new project with it. I chose to do Make It Monday #292 -- Color Blocking with Laurie Schmidlin.

I have loved Color Blocking for a long time and it was a technique that I used a lot in my scrapbooking days.  In fact, I created an entire album album once that was almost completely color blocked.  So when Laurie originally made her card, I loved the stamp set she used and eventually added it to my collection of supplies. Brushed Off is a fun set of brushstrokes that you can use to make cards and although I used feminine colors today, I think you could so some masculine colors for some cool looking guy cards; say Green Parakeet or Vintage Jadeite with Hawaiian Shores and maybe some Enchanted Evening or Deep Indigo.  Some copper ink with browns or black with greys could make a very cool card also.  I like that there are so many possibilities.  If one layer cards are your thing, this is a great set for that as well.  I never want to risk messing up a whole card base by making a mistake on my card, so I always work on a 4.25 x 5.5 inch panel of white cardstock.

For the cards I made today, I used Lovely Lady with Hibiscus Burst and Raspberry Fizz for the pink one, and Pale Peony with Berry Sorbet and Pure Poppy for the other.  Using the widest of the brush strokes on each end with the skinnier one in the center, I stamped and then die cut my panel with a Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Die.  For the background panel I used Berry Sorbet and Lovely Lady Card Stock and cut a slightly larger stitched rectangle from MFT Blueprints 15 which is no longer available.

Next I used the Simon Says Stamp Love Stamp Set to stamp the word love in Versamark after treating generously with my powder tool.  I wanted that sentiment to really stand out, so I did the first layer of embossing in Antique Gold Embossing Powder and then 2 additional layers using Ranger Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder. I wasn't sure if I would have trouble with two layers of the glittered embossing powder, but I didn't.  I love how much more dimensional this is.  I also stamped the "Happy Valentine's Day" onto a banner from Tag Sale: Quilted from matching cardstock and heat set it twice in the same Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder. This is not a fine detail powder so I don't think a 3rd layer would have worked and I've found that in most cases, 2 layers is quite sufficient. I only did the third layer this time because the sentiment was so large. I used my Mini MISTI when I stamped these panels for the additional layers. I never know if I am giving too much information or not enough but if you are new to card making, I think you need to know about the tools that are available.

These cards were really fast to make and less technique intense than many I've done.  They fit my clean and elegant style.  I've linked the tools and supplies I've used below for your convenience. Have a great week everyone.  I'm trying to get back in the groove after the holiday, so I'll be back soon.

Kokuyo Long Dot Runner Adhesive Shop at: SSS	PTI Berry Sorbet Cardstock Shop at: PTI	PTI Brushed Off Stamp Set Shop at: PTI	PTI Lovely Lady Cardstock Shop at: PTI
PTI Perfect Match Berry Sorbet Ink Shop at: PTI	PTI Perfect Match Hibiscus Burst Ink Shop at: PTI	PTI Perfect Match Lovely Lady Ink Shop at: PTI	PTI Perfect Match Pale Peony Ink Shop at: PTI
PTI Perfect Match Pure Poppy Ink Shop at: PTI	PTI Perfect Match Raspberry Fizz Ink Shop at: PTI	PTI Stamper's Select White Cardstock Shop at: PTI	PTI Tag Sale: Quilted Shop at: PTI
Ranger Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder Shop at: SSS	SSS Antique Gold Embossing Powder Shop at: SSS	SSS Love Stamp & Die Bundle Shop at: SSS	SSS Love Stamp Set Shop at: SSS
SSS Love Wafer Die Shop at: SSS	SSS Stitched Rectangles Dies Shop at: SSS	Teflon Bone Folder Shop at: SSS	Versamark Ink Shop at: PTI | SSS
Wagner Heat Tool Shop at: SSS

Altenew Class of 2017 Inspiration Challenge Continued

Hello there!  Today I have another card for this month's Altenew Inspiration Challenge which is to choose a previous month from 2017 and use it as our inspiration.  This will be my third card for the challenge which makes me feel a bit better since I really didn't get to participate too much this year.  I guess the timing never worked out with everything else I was doing.

As I've mentioned previously, Beautiful Day, from Altenew, is my absolute favorite Altenew Stamp Set and might even be my all time favorite. It's definitely the set that has seen the most use. I have other sets from Altenew that I love but Beautiful day was my first purchase from them and it was love at first sight. I love to stamp them in some or all of the layers or watercolor them. Today's card involved a bit of both. My inspiration for this card was from the June 2017 Inspiration Challenge pictured here. This card is for a friend using a background stamp she designed so I wanted to combine it with Beautiful Day, whose blooms always make me think of Wild Roses rather than Peonies.

For my card, I started by stamping the background onto Canson Bristol Paper using Papertrey Ink's Cover-Up: Diamonds with Versamark Ink, heat setting with Antique Gold Embossing Powder, and then adding some loose watercolor using Lavender Moon, Sweet Blush and Vintage Jadeite Re-inkers. I also gave that background a generous amount of Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels) and let it dry overnight. It wasn't that it needed to dry overnight; I just never got back to it yesterday.  It was good to leave it for that long to get an accurate idea of what colors I wanted to use for the blooms. It can be hard to tell when the paper is really wet. Because this warps my paper, I flatten it back out my giving it a light mist of water and then running it through my die cut machine face up with an embossing pad and a clean plate on top.  I started by stamping and heat embossing all of my elements in Versamark onto Canson Bristol Paper and heat setting with the same Antique Gold Embossing Powder that I used for my background.  Since I was planning to use lots of water and shimmer mist, this works the best.  

Now hindsight being what it is, I wish I would have stamped that lightest layer with Lilac Grace Ink but I actually forgot about that color until I was completely finished assembling this card. I used Lavender Moon for the lightest layer, then Winter Wisteria for the 2nd Layer and Plum Pudding for those deepest shadow layers. The thing I really love about Lavender Moon is the kind of Mauve color that is not fully pink or purple.  It makes it a great candidate to work with either color.  For the leaves I stamped the full layer in Vintage Jadeite and the detail layer in New Leaf.  For the filler images, I used Vintage Jadeite and Lavender Moon Re-inkers with a water brush.  I have a mister bottle that has just water in it and once good spritz of this makes the paper damp enough to let the color spread out smoothly rather than having a harsh edge or line of color.  It's just my preference for this style of card.

I die cut my background using the WPLUS9 Gift Card Layers Die and adhered that to a top folding card base made from Stamper's Select White Cardstock. I like to use my Teflon bone folder to help smooth this out and make sure it is well adhered. Next I die cut all of the floral elements with the Beautiful Day Coordinating Dies then arranged them on my card base. When I had them arranged how I liked, I used a piece of  Press-N-Seal over the top to pick up and flip over my arrangement.  I put a strip of Kokuyo dot runner on the back of each piece I had access to then laid it back down on my card front.  Once I pressed each element into place, I pulled back the Press N Seal. Then I went back with some Ranger Multi Medium Matte to anything that had movement left in it. That happens a lot when you have lots of layers. I even used a narrow little strip of Foam Tape under a few pieces where I thought there should be a bit of dimension and the sentiment banner as well.  I love how the sentiment from Beautiful Day fits on my Papertrey Ink Number The Stars Banner Die and I use it this way almost every time.  I did not cut my sentiment apart to stamp this way; this is how it was originally designed and it's a perfect fit.

I know you can't really see the shimmer on everything, but it's there.  In fact, that shimmer is what causes the glare that makes it hard to photograph. Even though I ended up using somewhat different colors than in the Inspiration Image, I love how this turned out. Since the person I am giving the card to loves Pink as I do, I know she will enjoy this colorful presentation of blooms.  I added a few green and purple sequins for that finishing touch.

I want to give you a little tip while I am remembering to share this with you.  Sometimes, when your card gets very front heavy with lots of beautiful layers, your card might not want to stand upright. You can help balance the weight by adding a cardstock insert for the inside sentiment.  Even a lighter weight cardstock helps quite a bit.  I don't like to stamp the sentiments directly onto my cardbase in case I make a mistake but I know it uses more cardstock to do it my way and I'm okay with that.

Believe it or not, I still have a few months of Altenew Inspiration Challenges that I hope to get to before the end of the month.

Altenew Beautiful Day Shop at: SSS | ALT	Altenew Beautiful Day Dies Shop at: SSS | ALT	Altenew Beautiful Day Stamp & Die Bundle Shop at: ALT	Canson Bristol Paper Shop at: SSS
Cuttlebug Die Cutting Machine Shop at: SSS	Kokuyo Long Dot Runner Adhesive Shop at: SSS	Press 'N Seal Shop at: SSS	PTI Cover Up: Diamonds Shop at: PTI
PTI Perfect Match Lavender Moon Ink Shop at: PTI	PTI Perfect Match Plum Pudding Ink Shop at: PTI	PTI Perfect Match Winter Wisteria Ink Shop at: PTI	PTI Stamper's Select White Cardstock Shop at: PTI
Ranger Multi Medium Matte Shop at: SSS	Scotch 3M Foam Tape Shop at: SSS	Spellbinders Embossing Mat Shop at: SSS	SSS Antique Gold Embossing Powder Shop at: SSS
Teflon Bone Folder Shop at: SSS	Tsukinko Sheer Sparkle Shimmer Spritz Shop at: SSS	Versamark Ink Shop at: PTI | SSS	Wagner Heat Tool Shop at: SSS