Ukraine, Resilient, Strong and Beautiful - a Sunflower Card with Eclipse technique

 I wish I could do more for the people in Ukraine.  I see them fighting the Russian invasion so valiantly and I feel helpless as I watch town after town being destroyed by Russian missiles and bombs.

I decided to make this card using the colours of Ukraine - yellow and blue - along with their national flower, the Sunflower as a symbol of my support.  I wish I could do more....

The base card of Pacific Point is layered with Basic White card stock, and then a layer of  Sweet Symmetry DSP, the bumblebee colour of which goes perfectly with the colour of my Sunflower.

The Sunflower image, from the "Celebrate Sunflowers" stamp set  was coloured with Stampin' Blends and then die cut using the coordinating die. The remaining Basic White cardstock was embossed with the Tasteful Texture 3D Embossing folder, and then matted with Bumblebee card stock.

To create the Eclipse technique, some Stampin' Dimensionals were added to the back of the die cut sunflower after which it was added back into the die cut space. See the picture below.

I also die cut some greenery in Old Olive card stock and added that around the sunflower.

The completed art piece was added to a piece of Pacific Point card stock at an angle to the Pacific Point piece.

Some retired yellow glitter gems were added to the art piece and the center of the flower.

The sentiment seemed appropriate for the fight the people of Ukraine are putting up to push back their aggressors.  It is from the stamp set "Strong & Beautiful"

"You are like a Diamond Resilient, Strong and Beautiful"

On the inside I stamped:

 
"Keep reaching for your dreams, I will keep cheering you on!"

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Celebrate Sunflowers, Strong & Beautiful

Inks:  Black Memento, Stampin blends (Daffodil Delight, Cinnamon Cider, Soft Suede, Old Olive), Pacific Point

Papers:  Pacific Point, Bumblebee, Basic white, Sweet Symmetry DSP

Accessories:  Hippo and Friends Die, Tasteful Texture 3D embossing folder, Sunflower Dies, Retired yellow glitter gems

Enjoy Your Retirement - Freshly Made Sketches # 430 and Fab Friday #187 An Eclipse Technique

This masculine retirement card, using the Eclipse Technique, was made for the sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches #430 and Fab Friday #187

On a 4 4/5 by 5" piece of Very Vanilla card stock, the image of the dock was stamped off  twice to create a faded background on the art piece.

The center of  this art piece was then die cut with  a Stitched Nesting Die.  The art piece, without the die cut was adhered to a Soft Suede card base.  The die cut was reinserted into the die cut space, and adhered with dimensionals.

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On a separate piece of Whisper White, the images of the boat, 2 oars and a little frog were stamped, coloured with Stampin' Blends and then die cut with the Dockside Dies.

The boat was added on the die cut, next to the dock using dimensionals. The oars were added on top of the boat.

A sentiment, from Itty Bitty Greetings, was  punched with the Classic Label Punch and matted with a larger Soft Suede punch.  The little die cut frog is perched on top of the sentiment.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  By the Dock, Itty Bitty Greetings
Inks:  Black Memento, Soft Suede, Stampin Blends (Crumb Cake, Early Espresso. Real Red, Garden Green, Balmy Blue)
Papers:  Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Whisper White
Accessories:  Dockside Dies, Nesting Label Die, Classic Label Punch, Dimensionals

A Colorful Fall Tree SUO Challenges #208

Fall arrived (officially) on Sept. 22, and everywhere there is evidence of this.  Not only are the days getting shorter, they are also cooler (especially at night) and  the leaves on the trees are changing color. What gorgeous shades of reds, oranges, yellows, burgundies intermixed with green!!

This is one of my favourite times of year.

I was out and about doing errands this afternoon when I noticed a tree that looked just like the large tree stamp in "Rooted in Nature" - in full fall colors.  This inspired me to make this card and to submit it to the SUO challenge "Nature/Fall"

Using the Stamparatus, I used the color layering technique to give this tree it's autumn colors.  I learned this technique from Patty Bennett.

In this technique, markers of various colors are randomly applied to the stamp with the imaged stamped after each application.  The stamp is not cleaned between colors of markers. Colors are layered to the tree until you are happy with the way it looks. 

 Colors I used:  Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Real Red, Cajun Craze, Daffodil Delight and Early Espresso.  The sky was washed with Balmy Blue and an aqua painter.

To finish the card front I used the Eclipse technique to add the word "FALL" over the image using the retired Large Letters Framelit dies.  On the right side of the word I added a "Leave Trinket" which I had painted with the new Copper Shimmer paint.

The Whisper White  art piece was layered onto a Cajun Craze layer and then a Balmy Blue card base.

Supplies Used:

Stamp:  Rooted in Nature

Inks:  SU Markers:  Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Real Red, Cajun Craze, Daffodil Delight and Early Espresso, Balmy Blue

Papers:  Whisper White, Cajun Craze, Balmy Blue

Accessories:  Large letter Franelits, Foam tape, Leave Trinklets, Copper Shimmer Paint, Stamparatus

Happy Anniversary Cake Soiree using Eclipse Technique

I'm really happy with the way this anniversary card turned out.

I opted to use a silver and white color scheme for this elegant card with just a hint of color on the flowers on the cake. Using the eclipse technique contributed to the elegance of this card.

The basic card is a top fold Thick Whisper White, layered with Silver Foil and then Whisper White embossed with the Sequins embossing folder.

Before adhering the embossed Whisper White layer to the Silver Foil layer, it was die cut with 2 sizes of oval framelits.  I did the same thing using Silver Foil.  The cake was built on the die cut oval, which was adhered to the silver foil layer.  The silver foil frame was added to the card front using foam adhesive strips (eclipse technique).  The embellishment at the upper right was made by silver embossing and die cutting one of the flowers and two leaves and adhering them with dimensionals.

Here's a side view of the eclipsed oval frame.

Sentiment is from "Best Birds"

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Cake Soiree, Best Birds
Inks:  Versa Mark, Markers (Sea side foam, powder pink)
Papers:  Thick Whisper White, Silver Foil, Whisper White
Accessories:  Silver embossing powder, Sweet Cake Framelits, Layering Oval Framelits, Scattered Sequins embossing folder, Dimensionals

Saying Goodbye to Happy Celebration

What horrible "fowl" weather we are experiencing here in Southern Ontario.  It rained all day yesterday, and this morning the rain started to freeze.  Then it snowed, then rain that froze on top of the snow.  It is expected to be worse tomorrow, and forecasters predict we won't see the sun until Thursday April 19 (5 days from now).

So, I've been busy cleaning drawers, and making more cards.  I much prefer the latter, but sometimes organization takes precedence.

I've been using Water Color Wings stamp set a lot this week, and this card is no exception.

To say farewell to the Happy Celebration stamp set I used 3 retiring colours (Dapper Denim, Peek-a-boo Peach, and Emerald Envy) as well as the Butterfly thinlets to create a bright watercolor  background for this card.  The die cut thinlets give the illusion of the Eclipse effect.

I used the Stamparatus (and hinge stamping) to stamp the background.  After inking the stamp it was spritzed with water before stamping it onto watercolor paper.

Once I stamped all the colours, the paper was spritzed again and then dried  with my heating tool.

Once dry I die cut 3 butterflies and set them aside while I assembled the rest of the card.

The base card of Emerald Envy was matted with Basic Black Card stock, and the die cut watercolor paper was adhered to that.

The die cut butterflies were reinserted into the die cut openings using small dimensionals on the body only.

Some rhinestones and the card was done.  I deliberately omitted the sentiment.

Supplies Used:

Stamp:  Happy Celebration

Inks:  Dapper Denim, Peek-a-boo Peach, Emerald Envy

Papers:  Emerald Envy, Basic Black, Water color paper

Accessories:  Stamparatus, Water spritzer, Heat tool, Butterfly thinlets, small dimensionals, rhinestones.

Congratulations on your new Home

This is another card made using the "Just Add Color" DSP. The first card was a shaker using the Sea Turtle.
Today's card was made using 4 houses coloured from the 12 by 12" Just Add Color" DSP.  After coloring them with Markers and an aqua painter, they were fussy cut and adhered to a Whisper White card front matting.

Then I used the Eclipse Technique spelling the word "HOME"

I first added some grass using two stamps from "Sheltering Tree" and added the houses so they were sitting on the grass.
Large letter dies were used to die cut the letters spelling "HOME"

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Sheltering Tree, Home Life

Inks:  Stampin' Up Markers, Black Memento, Old Olive

Papers:  Just Add Color DSP, Whisper White, Always Artichoke

Accessories:  Large Letter Dies, Foam Tape, Dimensionals

Friends Fur-ever

I love my Stamparatus so much!  It  makes my stamping so much more precise!  Not that it wasn't precise before, but now the worry about a number of things are gone.  Like - is the stamping straight, what if the image doesn't stamp well?

I used the Stamparatus to stamp the image from "We Must Celebrate", a stamp set from the Occasions Catalogue, then coloured the image with watercolor pencils and an aqua painter.  I was most upset to see that the Blendabilities are unorderable until the end of May, so it's back to the basics of colouring- for now anyway.

The image was stamped onto a 4 3/4" by 3" piece of Whisper White cardstock, and as I mentioned, the image was coloured with watercolor pencils and a blender pen.
Before adhering it to a 5 by 3 1/4" piece of Soft Suede cardstock, the rabbit was die cut using 2 sizes of oval framelits (Eclipse technique).  The focal piece was then adhered to the Soft Suede layer, and the "O" added to the aperture with foam tape.  The bunny was adhered to the inside using some tombo glue

The card front is Whisper White card stock, layered with Crumb Cake embossed with the Cable Knit Embossing Folder.  Some Soft Suede DSP cut at an angle was adhered to the lower left of the embossed crumb cake layer, and a 1/4" strip of /Crumb Cake card stock adhered to the edge of this DSP overlapping it slightly with the crumb cake layer.

The focal point was added to the card front using dimensionals.

Supplies Used:
Stamp:  We Must Celebrate
Inks:  Black Memento, Watercolor Pencils
Papers:  Whisper White, Soft Suede, Soft Suede DSP, Crumb Cake
Accessories:  Cable knit Embossing Folder, Blender pen, Dimensionals, Layering Oval Framelits, Stamparatus.

Epic Celebration with the Eclipse Technique

I'm getting ready for my masculine card class, and at the request of a student I am making a card using the Eclipse Technique.

The Epic Celebration stamp set, a SAB stamp, seems perfect for this technique.

On a 3 3/4 by 5" piece of Whisper White card stock, I stamped the large dot stamp from Touches of Texture stamp set using Cherry Cobbler ink.

Then I die cut the word "EPIC" using the large letter framelits.

After adhering this piece to a Cherry Cobbler card base, the letters were reinserted into the negative die cut space using foam tape.  Some Wink of Stella was applied over the letters.  However, it caused the ink to smear somewhat so I would not do that again.

On a separate piece of Whisper White card stock, the images of the guitar, shoes, and headphones were embossed with black embossing powder, coloured with Blendabilites, then fussy cut.  I added these to the card front below the raised "eclipsed" word.  The head phones fit perfectly over the "C".  On top of the "I" I placed a small button.

Supplies Used:
Stamp:  Epic Celebrations, Touches of Texture
Ink:  Cherry Cobbler, Versa Mark, Blendabilities
Papers:  Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White
Accessories:  Large Letters Framelits, Foam Tape, True Gentleman Buttons

Holly Berry Happiness

I used the Eclipse technique on this card.

The Holly and Ivy images were stamped 3 times in different directions using lack Memento ink. A bow was stamped at the end of each cluster. The Stampin' Blend markers were used to colour the images rather than do 2 step stamping. Then Wink of Stella was added to the berries and the ribbons.

The tiny berry image stamp was stamped on the background.

Once finished, I used the Large Letters Framelits and die cut "JOY" across the front.  The letters were readhered to the card front using foam tape strips.

Supplies Used:

Stamp:  Holly Berry Happiness

Inks:  Black Memento, Stampin' Blend Markers (Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler)

Papers:  Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler

Accessories:  Large Letters Framelits, Clear Wink of Stella, Foam adhesive strips

Lovely as a Tree Birthday- The Eclipse Technique

The Eclipse technique is very "hot" right now, and today I made a card using that technique. I looked up a few tutorials and used the following:  Kim Wilson  here and Randi Collins here.

I love the versatility and the "wow" factor of this technique; the fact that it can be done with numbers, letters or images.

One of my all time favourite stamp sets is Lovely as a Tree, and tonight I used it in conjunction with the Happy Birthday framelit, to made a winter birthday card.

I started by using Marina Mist and the Watercolor Wash  background stamp to create a wintery sky.  Because I wanted he background to be more subtle, I stamped off once before stamping on the art piece.  Then I stamped the row of trees using Black Memento ink and added some Dazzling Diamonds at the tree bases.

Here's where the fun part comes in.  Using the "Happy Birthday"  die I die directly onto the stamped image. It's important to save all the bits and pieces of the die cut. Strips of foam dimensional tape are then applied to the back of the die cut sentiment. Before replacing the sentiment back in the space where it came from, I adhered the art piece to some Island Indigo card stock, and this to a Marina Mist card base.

Removing the protective covering on the foam tape, I replaced the sentiment back into the negative space.  The rest of the process is much like completing a puzzle. Adhesive was applied to each piece to fill in the remainder of the sentiment.

I wanted to make this a wintery birthday card, so I added some tombo glue, crumbled up some dried texture paste and Dazzling Diamonds and created a snow-like effect at the base of the trees.

Supplies Used:
Stamp:  Lovely as a Tree, Watercolor Wash
Inks:  Black Memento, Marina Mist
Papers:  Marina Mist, Whisper White, Island Indigo
Accessories:  Happy Birthday Thinlet Die, Dazzling Diamonds, Dry Texture Paste, Clear Faceted Gems