Recycled panels
Posted: August 3, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Eastern Influences 10 Comments
In the process of creating one layer cards with the Eastern Influences set last week I ended up with a failed attempt that I cut up and made into a multi-layered card for my older daughter’s birthday. After sponging and stamping blossoms on the original card I punched out three squares, matted them in black and layered them on more of the blossom panel which became a strip across the new card.
Supplies:
Stamps: Eastern Influences, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Basic Black
Cardstock: Flourishes Classic Ivory, SU Basic Black
Eastern influences
Posted: July 27, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Eastern Influences 6 Comments
I have been inspired by the beautiful layering of sponging and images that Vicky does over at Crafting Clare. I pulled out my Eastern Influences set and used two stamps and two colours for both the cards posted today. I masked first, sponged, then stamped the small branch of blossoms in olive, above and bashful blue below. I then stamped the larger branch of blossoms in black and added the two sentiments.
I have been asked a few questions in the comments section lately that I will try to answer now. Firstly about the brayer I use. I have two speedball brayers but I have been using the soft brayer lately and have had a lot more success than I had with the hard rubber one. One of the key steps is to start rolling it completely off the cardstock and move onto the cardstock gradually. It does take longer this way and use more ink but it makes for an smoother coverage.
Someone also asked me how I tied that teeny little bow on my button on this card. I don’t know-it just worked the first time and I ran with it!!
Supplies:
Stamps: Eastern Influences, All Year Cheer
Inks: Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Basic Black
Cardstock: Flourishes Classic Ivory
An Autumn fix
Posted: July 25, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Trees, With Gratitude 12 Comments
I really like one layer cards particularly the ones with a masked and sponged area on them. They certainly do not all work the first time however which results in card bases with mistakes on them. I can fix them by either covering the mistake with another layer or by cutting the card front up and attaching it onto a new card base. Either way the failed one layer often becomes a two or more layer. I hate to waste a whole card base so that is what I usually do. If the recipients of my cards peeled off the image layer off their cards and turned it over they might just see one of my mistakes!
What I have to show you today are a couple of one layers which became two layers! The errors this time were such that I cut the card base in half, turned it over and started again but still managed to create the clean look of a one layer card. I masked an area and sponged in Saffron, Rose Red and Pumpkin then stamped my image and sentiment in Early Espresso.
Supplies:
Stamps: Trees (Darkroom Door), With Gratitude, Teeny Tiny Wishes (SU)
Inks: Early Espresso, So Saffron, Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie
Cardstock: Flourishes Classic Ivory, Chocolate Chip
Buttons & Bows
Posted: July 23, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Pocket Silhouettes 43 Comments
I opened the Less is More blog this morning to see this week’s theme and found the challenge is to use ribbons and/or buttons. I don’t think I have ever used a button on a card but I have a selection of ribbon types and colours so I started thinking. When I went down to my craft table however, I saw a little blue button sitting there and decided to try and incorporate it into my design. I found a very narrow piece of ivory ribbon which I managed to get threaded and tied through the button’s holes.
So the tiny little button and ribbon set the colour scheme for the card. I cut a square mask into a post-it note and used sponging in Not quite Navy to define the square before stamping the three Pocket Silhouette stamps.
Supplies:
Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes, Short & Sweet
Inks: Basic Black, Old Olive, Not quite Navy
Cardstock: Flourishes Classic Ivory
Also: a button, a bow and a glue dot
Summer Haze
Posted: July 22, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Stamped Landscapes, Trees 10 CommentsWe have had some hot summer days this week; perhaps that is why I ended up stamping with warm yellows and reds again. Each day this week I have dropped all my children off at camp and had the day to myself-a very rare occurrence. Each time I picked them up my son has asked whether I made a card and uploaded it. Finally I have one.
I created the picture panel on white cardstock, masking the sun and sky first before sponging in summer sun, apricot and rose red. I then created the hills with a curved mask and celery and summer sun inks. The trees were stamped in black while the final (lowest) mask was still in place. It is not clear in the photo but both the card base and olive strip are textured cardstock,
I hope you are enjoying some great weather wherever you are. Thanks for dropping in today.
Supplies:
Stamps: Trees (Darkroom Door
Inks: Basic Black, Summer Sun,Apricot Appeal, Rose Red, Certainly Celery
Cardstock: Flourishes Classic White, Textured Summer Sun & Old Olive, Basic Black
Sponged Circles
Posted: July 17, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Itty Bitty Buds 26 Comments
The Less is More challenge for this week is to use circles. I had fun creating this card with plenty of circles sponged across it. I started by randomly stamping and embossing a bunch of little flowers from SU’s Itty Bitty Buds set. As they were embossed in clear they were not easily seen at this stage. To reveal them I sponged green, purple, orange and pink circles over the top. The fun part was watching parts of the flowers appear. The sponging was done through post-it notes masks made with circle punches.
As usual there is oodles of inspiration to be found on the Less is More blog. Check it out.
Thank you to everyone who gave me suggestions for solving my black stamp pad dilemma. I appreciate the time you took sharing the techniques and products which work for you. I might experiment with a few new products. I think the problem may have been that my stamp pad and my stamp were both a little concave as neither were new and both get quite a bit of use.
Supplies:
Stamps: Itty Bitty Buds(SU), Best is Yet
Inks: Versamark, Passion Pink, Lovely Lilac, Only Orange, Old Olive
Cardstock: Flourishes Classic White
Also: Clear e.p.
OLW 62 Make it personal
Posted: July 13, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Itty Bitty Buds 12 Comments
Susan from Simplicity has designed a one layer challenge for this week which requires us to create a card with a personal touch. Her card features a map of the USA with the states coloured in where she and her husband have lived; a very cool idea. As it is my daughter’s birthday today and no, I did not have the card made ahead of time, I decided to make hers my challenge card. Her favourite colour is yellow so I chose to feature yellow on her card. For her I would usually match it with green but for a change I decided to throw some pink into the mix which, when blended, added a bit of orange. I made the birthday greeting using a funky alphabet from Close to my Heart. She also likes funky designs.
I masked the area first and stamped the letters in versamark before embossing in clear. I then stamped the flowers randomly around the panel in yellow and pink. I sponged in yellow and pink then added the rose red flowers and a bit more sponging.
Supplies:
Stamps: Itty Bitty Buds(SU), Alphabet from Close to my Heart
Inks: Versamark, Summer Sun, Pretty in pink, Rose Red
Cardstock: Flourishes Classic White
Aqua and Green together
Posted: July 11, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Upsy Daisy 18 Comments
I needed a card for a bridal shower on the weekend. Looking around for inspiration I decided to take my colour scheme from the gift bag I was using. The gift bag was very geometric in its design but I didn’t follow that I just needed the pretty summery colours: aqua and green.
I cut a mask in a post it note and brayered tempting turquoise and certainly celery. I then removed the mask and stamped the daisies in black. It took countless repetitions with the daisy stamp before I had a solid image. Even when I stopped it did not quite have complete coverage. I was using my SU classic basic black ink pad. It is not that old so I am a bit frustrated that I find it hard to completely ink a larger stamp with it. If anyone has a favourite black inkpad please let me know. It might be time to branch out.
I matted the image panel and then tried a white card base and a turquoise; as you can see the turquoise won the challenge.
My daughters and I went to the bridal shower and enjoyed watching the bride ooh and aah about all her lovely homewares. She is getting married in August and my girls are going to play violin at the wedding. It will be the first of three weddings they are playing at this summer. I guess I should be thinking about wedding cards too.
Supplies:
Stamps: Upsy Daisy , Hugs & Wishes(SU)
Inks: Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery, Basic Black
Cardstock: Flourishes Classic White, Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery
Colour blocking
Posted: July 6, 2011 Filed under: CAS, In Full Bloom 8 Comments
In search of inspiration recently I came upon a bright artistic card from Vicki and decided to try something similar myself. I chose three colours and made sponged strips using post it note masks. I really like Vicki’s black line flowers and considered trying to draw my own but decided instead to use the In Full Bloom set. I then matted in black and used a coloured card base for a change. By adding a few dots to the sentiment I made it look like it belonged in the flower set.
Thanks for the inspiration Vicki.
Supplies:
Stamps: In Full Bloom, Short & Sweet
Inks: Basic Black, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Summer Sun
Cardstock: Whisper White, Certainly Celery
Feeling Blue?
Posted: July 3, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Trees 25 Comments
The challenge at Less is More this week is to use shades of blue. I often do snow scenes with shades of blue so that is what I tried initially. It seems that I am a seasonal stamper. I could not managed a successful snow scene when it was 31°C outside! I decided to stick with the landscape idea but forget the snow. Although it still looks a little snowy it is meant to be a misty blue hillside. I used Night of Navy for the trees, stamping the pale one without re-inking then a mix of blues for the sponging.
Speaking of shades of blue, I am not sure that this photo is exactly representative of my card. I edited the photo on one computer, then went to two other computers to compare. All the monitors in our house show the colours slightly differently. Apparently what we need is a monitor calibrater. Who knew?
Supplies:
Stamps: Trees (Darkroom Door), Simple Sayings 2
Inks: Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Brocade Blue
Cardstock: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Flourishes Classic White
Heather Telford 