And the final card that I'll be posting today...Inspired by the class I'm taking from OCC called Watercolor for Card Makers. I stamped the center image and colored it in using distress inks. After that was dry, I used some liquid frisket to mask off the center image and create my grass green background. I didn't really have any idea how I wanted this to turn out but knew that I wanted to try using the liquid masking substance and just play a bit with watercoloring without much thought. To finish, I splattered the background with Heidi Swapp Color Shine in gold and silver. I also used a little of the gold Color Shine as "water" while painting the green background. I then rubbed off the mask from the center and added Tsukineko Shimmer Spritz in Sparkle to the center of image. This first picture is the final card and then a close up of the card trying to capture some of the shine and below that!
05/22/2014
Watercolor for Card Makers (part 2)
Here's a quick recap--I'm taking an OCC class called Watercolor for Card Makers. I've been playing along with some of the techniques and inspiration but am just now getting the time to post some evidence of that "play-time". So, here's the next card I made while attempting to watercolor stamp. Really loving how this turned out--soft and pinky-coral! I also added a little Zig Wink of Stella glitter to some areas of the card including the "Congratulations" banner. I used Warm Honey (SSS|EH) and Picked Raspberry (SSS|EH) Distress inks, Avery Elle sentiment (SSS|EH) and Simon Says Stamp banner die (SSS).
Watercolor for Card Makers (part 1)
I've been taking an online card class called Watercolor for Card Makers. And if you haven't heard of Online Card Classes, you should definitely check it out. So much content and LIFETIME access to all the classes you've taken. It's a lot of fun, so inspiring and full of videos.
Anyway, I've been playing with the techniques from the watercolor class and am finally getting a chance to post some of the work I've done.
With the below card, I was trying to create a watercolor background and the distress ink colors were mixing and becoming a little muddled and I thought, "what am I going to do with this background?" And suddently it hit me. I had a new Map of America stamp by Hero Arts that I had been dying to use and even though it's green on some of the water and blue on some of the land, I still think it turned out great.
Father's Day card #1? check!
And here's a close up of some of the watercoloring...
05/01/2013
Simple & Elegant Bridal Shower (+ Wedding) Card
One of my cousins had a bridal shower this past weekend, and unfortunately I was unable to go. So, I sent a card in my absence! ;o)
I was inspired by a recent class I took with Julie Ebersole at Impress Rubber Stamps. Julie used an older rose silhouette-type stamp on textured cardstock, for one of the projects in the class, and it created this beautiful cross-hatch look.
I thought the stamp would look really beautiful as a wedding card but, since the wedding is going to be pretty intimate, not a lot of extended family is invited (including me). But I understand and I think it allowed me to create a kind of cross over card that serves as both a wedding and bridal shower card.
Julie Ebersole is always full of great tips & tricks and during the class, she suggested purchasing what Impress calls a "Pound of paper". It is a pound of 6x6 solid colored cardstock (96 sheets) in different colors and textures. Julie suggested it for die cutting because there are so many colors and the paper is already cut smaller to better fit through the Big Shot, which is what I use. But, because there are so many textures and colors included in this pack, it is also great for card makers and I had a lot of options for creating my card front!
Anyway, I found a light yellow piece of cardstock with the texture I wanted. I cut it to fit the front of my card and started stamping the rose branch image across the top. I then stamped a sentiment, adhered the cardstock to the front of my gray card base, and the card was finished in record time! Isn't that just the perfect wedding sentiment?!
Since I wouldn't be at the shower, and I didn't have a larger gift to wrap, I decided to take a minute to decorate the envelope a little bit. I stamped the ornate rose branch on the front and back of the envelope in soft granite shadow ink. I love how it turned out...
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04/26/2013
Savvy Teal Cake
In line with the two cards I made using the cupcake stamp (stamped three times repeatedly), I chose to create a slightly different card using the same Savvy Cake & sentiment stamps, by coloring the cake and the flower in different colors and adding a striped patterned paper border, or background--Totally can't get enough of diagonal stripes right now. Anyway, here's the card I came up with...
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04/25/2013
04/24/2013
Three Cupcakes, cont.
First of all, it's my dad's birthday--so, "Happy Birthday, Dad!"
Utilizing the same cupcake stamp shared Monday & stamped repeatedly, I tried to alter the card design a bit by changing the color and adding a decorative edge...
And here's the same card, closed so that the bottom edge can be seen...
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04/22/2013
Three Cupcakes
For this card I just stamped the cupcake image 3 times in a row, multiple times on white cardstock, then played around with different ways of coloring the cupcakes. Then I just matched up some cardstock for the base.
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04/19/2013
A Little Birthday Wish...
Loving this striped patterned paper. I cut it at an angle to get the diagonal stripe. I think it makes a great background for a simple little birthday wish...
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