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Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Another Butterfly....

Another challenge with a butterfly! Such fun... and a great time to try the Rounded Diamond stamp and die set. I am taking part in the CAS(e) This Sketch Challenge 127.



Here's my card:


Stamping the middle sized rounded diamond with Staz-on black, and sponging Distress inks in green, dropping waterspots to get the inks to move. Purposely sponging outside the rounded shapes, I added the butterfly that was die cut from watercolor paper that was painted with blues and sponged on the edges with black, sequins added also.

The body of the butterfly is made with black thread and attached with foam tape. The greeting is embossed on vellum... "If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies.."

Isn't that true!

Tags...

Tags are new for me... crazy, right? Everything to make cards and I rarely make tags for gifts! Well I decided to try for the Tag You're It Challenge #23...

Here are my tags...

since we give the grandkids gifts on their birthdays and their siblings "un-birthday" gifts, I left room to fill in "un" on the tags!


This weekend we're off to PA for Will's 8th birthday. Emma loves owls so I thought that would make great tags for their gifts! Ahhh... the SU owl punch! Haven't used it in an age....


The cupcake punch worked well on this tag too! I made many of each...

A new trend!

Happy Father's Day

Playing around with the Rounded Diamonds dies and I came up with this Father's Day card for John...

Again I had trouble photographing it ... On Kraft card stock using a pattern paper I cut out the first diamond, and stamped right on the card base the greeting. Then with the larger diamond cut from Kraft, I stamped the "you're the best and gold embossed it.

Using the pattern piece that was cut from the original piece, I cut the smallest diamond to make a frame and attached it to the large diamond! Added a little heart and "Viola!" It's a wrap!

The greeting is stamped in black and then embossed with clear powder, making it look like it has a shadow... It is from a Hero Arts set that I use all the time!

It's true... he is the best! Happy Father's Day, John!

Butterfly: Thanks

When I used the stencil for the butterfly Here, I wondered what the negative space would look like.

Here's my card:

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The color is almost too soft to photograph! After masking with the butterfly and the border edge, I used Distress Inks - blues and yellows, then splattered them around the stencil. I also spotted some water to make the colors move a little more... Stamping "happy" in yellow...

... and happy birthday inside the card, with a smaller stamped butterfly. Very simple but will make an easy birthday card to have on hand.

Here's another card for I made for a challenge... even though I was too late.



It is very similar to the other but reminded me of the blue swallowtails that I sometimes am lucky enough to catch a glimpse of in summer! Love the easy style of this card...

Next I need a Father's Day card for John...




Wednesday, June 10, 2015

CAS(E) This Sketch

Another challenge to try... and a stamp set that I've never used before!



Here's my card for the first time at this challenge ...




What a great stamp set... I had more fun with this one! Clearly Besotted makes it with matching dies, although I didn't use the dies. I stamped the two leaves sections, and then added the layer stamping again where it overlapped. Next I added the strawberries.

The greeting is stamped in Stazon Black until the last "scrumptious" was a mistake that I had to cover and then embossed the word in black, also stamping the smaller strawberry and layering it on the top layer. Good save after all the other work! Ink colors are SU Pure Poppy and Gumball Green.

The larger layer is attached with fun foam which gives dimension hard to see in the picture.

Don't you just love a good strawberry?


Make It Monday: Neutrals

So since I am brave enough to start a watercolor class... I should take on a challenge or two. The butterfly card went to The Card Concept and I think I am ready to try another...

Here's my card for Make It Monday ...


Using a neutral color for the background, I sponged a light tan over a stencil on the masked card base. Then stamped PTIs Fruit Fusion: Berry strawberries with red and green. The greeting is with black, a sentiment from a Clearly Besotted set.

It is amazing how that neutral stenciled background affects the card!

Watercolor Thank you

For my birthday, our son and his family gave me all kinds of beginner art supplies for my new venture into watercoloring. How thoughtful! Of course I had no more idea of what to do with them, or what I should get. The good thing about the class, is that everything is provided.

So I decided that the thank you should be part of the first lesson... real stretch for me as the newest recruit! Here's my card...


It is done "freehand" on the paper and with the paint and brushes they got for me... then I put it on a card base and added my new favorite PTI Super Swoosh!

It works, right :)

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

June: Thanks

Always impressed with the kindness of people! Maybe because it is unexpected that it catches me sometimes...

Here's a thank you card for someone that did just that:


I used the idea from the OCC Mask-erade class with a butterfly stencil. Using the inside of the butterfly on white card stock, I stamped flowers and leaves from many different stamp sets all that were very small in size. The colors are SU oranges and yellows, with Gumball Green for the leaves. 


It looks so amazing in real life... Before removing the stencil I lightly sponged Tangerine Tango with a dauber near the stencil edges to get a sharper contrast. Next with the PTI Super Smooches die thanks, I die cut across the front layer. I drew in the antennae with black liner. 

Just love the look of this card! I made another almost exactly like this for a friend's birthday, just a week after mine... but forgot to take a picture of it. And I just discovered I think I could put this card in a challenge on The Card Concept ... as CAS... 

My watercolor for beginners class started at the Art Center on Monday. I thank Jennifer Rzasa for inspiring me to give it a try from the OCC watercolor class that I loved so much! It is four 2 hour classes with the very basics of the medium. I am definitely the worst in the class, but probably the most enthusiastic! And I really don't care... which surprises me.  I am so enjoying it!

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

OCC Mask-erade: Day 5

Heat embossing... So here's the card I tried... Loved this technique!


With Debby's idea in mind, I used PTI's Superstitions Dies to mask the cats with Distress inks and again that PTI Super Smooch die... this card is for my 9-year-old granddaughter, Emma.

We have been fostering two kittens for the last few weeks from our local Animal Shelter to help get them acclimated to people so they will be more adoptable. Such hard work, right? Love, love, love these kittens! Our granddaughter Emma, came this weekend with a toy she had made just for them. They LOVED it and her! She already has several cats at her house in PA.

They will go back to the shelter tomorrow for their surgeries to neuter and then be available to adopt. Someone is going to be so fortunate to get a wonderful pet... wish it could be me! But with family allergies with grandkids and in-laws it is just too hard... Plus there's Florida for 2 months in the winter...

Blessed is what I am for sure! This class has been amazing... as have all of the ones that I have taken. As Jeb Barlett on West Wing says... "What's next?"

OCC Mask-erade: Day 4

Problem- I do not have freezer paper; Solution- Try embossing! So using Shari Carroll's idea of a masked sentiment-


I decided to try a thank you which is card I always seem to need. Didn't turn out like I wanted! The colors were too light around the sentiment... And I didn't use watercolor paper! Much different result! Instead of trashing it, I added a vellum gold embossed sentiment, some splatters and gold sequins...  salvageable!


Try again... a masculine birthday card on water color paper!


So much better! I used the SU Curly Cute sentiment and Distress inks to color wash and splatter around it. Very simple and love the look. I don't use the splatter very often, usually because I am afraid it will ruin my hard work :)


OCC Mask-erade: Day 3 Roses

After the balloons, I wanted to try watercoloring the roses from PTI Botanical Blocks thinking of Debby's hand drawn tree, I was hoping if I didn't stamp the border, maybe I could color in some petals to look like they were there! First I taped the border of the watercolor paper, then stamped in Distress Antique Linen which is hardly visible as I "painted" the Distress pinks... I layered it on a black layer before the card base.

Here's my card...


Love how it came out and again I used the rubber cement to mask the flowers before watercoloring the blue sky. Will definitely use this technique again...

OCC Mask-erade: Day 3

Today the masking was all about liquid masking, for me- rubber cement. Loved it!
Without going into too many details keeping the integrity of the class, I also used masking the foreground for the pink balloon as you can see. And again the PTI Super Swoosh Die! Love it!

Here is my card ...


Thinking of Jennifer's technique with butterflies, I thought to use SU Up, Up and Away hot air balloons. They too are usually double stamped in some cases. Not this time for me though... Just too hard to line them up correctly as cling stamps, again having trouble not having clear stamps.  I actually made my own baskets and strings too with pen. Love how the rubber cement worked...




Monday, June 1, 2015

OCC Mask-erade: Day 2

It always surprises me when I try a technique that I'm not too enthusiastic about, and then I just love it! That is what happened with "Masking A Scene" from Jennifer. I loved hers - but wasn't sure it was me...



I chose a stencil from my stash that I have never used as the mask. With the negative space, I filled the butterfly on white cardstock with stamps- flowers and leaves. I didn't emboss, just stamped in blues and greens. Love the look and then got ink on the white, ruining it... or so I thought! 

Trying to figure out a solution, I got out my PTI Super Smooches die - cut right in the inky space. Then put the layer on a green card base, separating the pieces on the cut... Love it!  So then I had to try again...



This time with the bird, which I made a bluebird; with the "thanks" die I actually just made a thin space above and below it. Love how it turned out... will use this technique again for sure!

OCC Mask-erade: Day 1

Signing up for an Online Card Class means lots of fun techniques to try! I've been watching the videos, staying in touch with the class planning to do the "homework" this week.

Day One three specific techniques that I want to try with masking paper. The first one by Kristina was so fun! I wanted to use SU Wild About You and Zoofari stamp sets to try it out. What a difference going back to wooden red rubber stamps instead of clear stamps! It was very difficult for me. After many trial and errors, I decided to use SU Unfroggetable and made a card for William's 8th birthday...


Masking the frogs and ordering how I stamped them, this is the design I came up with. William loves interactive cards, and the zipper reveals the answer to the riddle... What goes up and never comes down? ... I thought the frogs jumping up would make you really think for the answer, PTI Movers and Shakers stamps and the zipper die.



You have to pull the zipper to reveal the answer... Your age! I colored the frogs with Copic markers. The inside...


Little frog has a "jiggler" attached that makes him shake when the card opens. Loved the masking with masking paper.

Hoppy 8th birthday for William...