The Open Sea Father's Day Card - a CASE

This card was cased from one I saw on  Patty Bennett in her video in which she describes the watercolour wash salt tchnique. 
After seeing the video, I  made a number of watercolour backgrounds, and one was similar to hers, so I cased Patty's card also using the Open Sea  stamp set and the cool fun fold she used.

This is what the watercoloured strip looked like before stamping

Start with a 4 1/4 by 11" piece of Marina Mist cardstock and score at 5 1/2.  Fold the front cover back on itself.

On the front of the folded portion, adhere a stamped and distressed image of the "log". Sponge the edges with Basic Black ink. Stamp the image of the world map in Stazon ink and with a dauber fill in certain areas with Marina Mist ink.  Punch this out with a 2" circle punch, sponge with Marina Mist, and mat with Marina Mist cardstock.  Attach only half of this to the front half overlapping the other image.

On the inside, I adhered a piece of Whisper White cardstock and the colour washed piece stamped  with the ship was adhered to the bottom of this. My strip wasn't quite long enough to go from end to end, but I like it the way it is.  The sentimentwas stamped above this strip is from "A Dozen Thoughts" a retired stamp set.

Supplied used:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

The Open Sea Triple Stamping - The Friday Mashup #

What a situation we have in southern Alberta!  The flood there is of historic proportions, filling the streets of Calgary and 20 other communities with water.  It is estimated that the flood extends 500 km and over 100,000 people have been displaced.
The Calgary Stampede is scheduled to begin there in 8 days, but the Saddle Dome is also flooded and has water up to row 6 in the arena, so I don't see how this can be accomplished.  Plus the Trans Canada highway has been washed away so no car traffic can go in and out this area.
These flood waters are moving south and east towards Sasketchewan and Manitoba potentially causing flooding there as well.

The challenge with the Friday Mashup here this week is triple stamping using 3 of the following colours:  Crumb Cake, Summer Starfruit, Pacific Point or Daffodil Delight.  I chose Crumb Cake, Summer Starfruit and Pacific Point and used the stamp set "The Open Sea"

Check out this earlier post for directions and dimensions : http://craftymariasstampingworld.blogspot.ca/2012/09/thinking-of-you-triple-layer-stamping.html



Here's a list of the materials I used:
Stamps: The Open Sea, Petite Pairs
Inks: Pacific Point, Crumb Cake, Summer Starfruit
Papers: Pacific Point, Whisper White
Accessories: Pacific Point button, Blue/white Baker's twine

Cards Made Using Bubble Wrap Backgrounds

In this week`s class we are going to have some fun with bubble wrap, creating some fun backgrounds!  I have a lot of bubble wrap lying around for use in my craft shows and this week I thought I would put it to another use.  Even Stampin`Up is using Bubble wrap in their shipping boxes rather than the `snake``

I`m going to show you 3 different cards with 3 very different backgrounds made using bubble wrap.  For all these backgrounds, I used glossy paper cut into 4 1/4 by 5 1/2

To begin, I used the F acrylic block and cut a piece of bubble wrap a little bigger than this block.  This was taped down to the back of the block.

When inking and using, don`t press too hard as you don`t want to pop the bubble wrap.  Yes, I know it makes that fun sound------

Do check the bubble wrap to make sure some of the bubbles have not been pre popped before using it on the back grounds.

Simply ink up the bubble wrap just like any other stamp and press down with even pressure onto the glossy card stock.

Card 1:  Fabulous Florets

For this background, I inked up the Bubble wrap with Primrose Petals ink and stamped onto the glossy card stock and let it dry.  Notice that each little bubble is a little different in shape and texture and makes a different impression.
I decided to make it into an Anniversary Card.

Stamps: Fabulous Florets, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Primrose Petals, Black Stazon, Versa mark
Papers: Primrose Petals, Whisper White, Glossy card stock, Wild Wasabi
Accessories: Wild Wasabi embossing powder, Clear embossing powder, Word Window punch, Modern Word Label punch, 3/8`` white taffeta ribbon, Large rhinestones, medium rhinestone, dimensionals, scallop trim border punch, Bubble wrap

Card 2:  Forever Young
A different way of creating the background was used on this card - referred to as the kissed bubble wrap background.
To do this, apply Primrose Petals ink to the entire piece of glosssy card stock, then spritz lightly with water - so the ink pools ever so slightly. The first piece I tried I spritzed too much and the resultant background, although interesting, did not demonstrate the bubble wrap pattern.  It can be used on another card.
Then apply a clean piece of bubble wrap over the paper, press down and wait a moment before peeling off.  Set aside to dry thoroughly.  I love the pattern this created.

I decided to emboss an image directly over the background - using the tree from Forever Young and black embossing powder.
The base card is Basic Black, layered with Whisper White, and finally the background paper.  I notched out the corners of this layer.
A piece of black dotted scallop ribbon was attached just below the tree, and the sentiment punchie was attached just underneath the ribbon.

Stamps: Forever Young, Friendly Phrases
Inks: Versa Mark, Primrose Petals
Papers: Basic Black, Whisper White, Glossy white
Accessories: Black embossing powder, 1/4`Black scalloped dotted ribbon, Decorative Label punch, corner notching punch, bubble wrap

Card 3:  By the Tide:
This next version is simple as well as it is basically emboss resist.
Using a clean piece of bubble wrap, ink it up with Versa mark ink and press it against a piece of glossy card stock.
Cover the paper with clear embossing power, tap off excess, and heat set.
Using a second piece of bubble wrap, ink with desired color (I used Pacific Point), and press onto embossed background.  Dye based inks work best.
Take a clean cotton ball, gently rub in circles over the card stock.  This will rub off any ink that has adhered to the embossed bubbles and will give your background a softer look.

The bubbles reminded me of an aquarium, so I made a masculine fish card using By the Tide. 
First I die cut the background using the Apothecary accessories framelits. The edges were sponged with Midnight Muse ink.
Then using the sea weed stamp, I stamped that image twice on the die cut.  They stamped lightly, but that was what I wanted - they looked like they were under water.
Next I stamped 2 fish using Midnight Muse ink and cut them out.  They were placed on the die cut background using dimensionals.

The base card is Midnight Muse, layered with a chevron embossed Whisper White layer that had its edges inked.  A piece of stitched Midnight Muse satin ribbon was attached near the top of the card under the die cut, which was attached to the card using dimensionals.

Stamps: By the Tide, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Pacific Point, Midnight Muse
Papers: Midnight Muse, Whisper White, Glossy white card stock
Accessories: Clear embossing powder, Chevron folder, Word Window punch, Modern Word Label Punch, Apothecary accessories framelits, 3/8`` stitched Midnight Muse satin ribbon, dimensionals, bubble wrap.

Hope you enjoyed these quick and easy ways to use bubble wrap to create WOW backgrounds

The Open Sea Thank You - Fab Fri 15

I am having surgery on my knee tomorrow in Toronto, and arranging transportation has been a bit of a night mare.  After exploring various options, I think I chose the one that has the best chance of success without imposing on too many people.  I will take the Greyhound bus to Scarborough Town Center, my ``ex`` will pick me up from there, and drive me to the hospital, which is about 5 minutes further.  When my surgery is finished, he will pick me up, take me to his place in Markham, and my son, who lives in Peterborough, will come and pick me up when he finishes work at 4. I expect to be home by 7 p.m.  Yes, it`s taken many years, but my ex and I are friends now, and I am friends with his wife.

The reason for this introduction is that I wanted to give my ex a Thank You card for all the help he is giving me, but found I didn`t have any masculine ones.  The ones I had were too flowery, or the paper was too feminine.

So, for the Fab Fri sketch challenge here I made a masculine thank you card.

The base of this A2 card is Cajun Craze, layered with a piece of  Chevron embossed Whisper White card stock.  This Whisper White layer was sponged with Basic Gray to its entire surface to mimic wave actions.

After cutting a smaller piece of Whisper White card stock, the image of the world was stamped lightly with Marina Mist ink.  This was done by stamping off before stamping onto the card stock.  The ship was stamped using Marina Mist ink (full strength) underneath the world, but overlapping i the world by the sails.

This Whisper White image piece was matted with Basic Gray card stock.  A piece of Cajun Craze card stock punched using the Dotted Scallop ribbon punch was attached to the bottom of this panel.

The sentiment was stamped using Black Stazon ink onto a banner which overlaps the image panel near the bottom.  A flattened soda pop top with a 1/2" circle of designer paper in it was attached to the right side of the banner.  A bow made with Marina Mist Baker's twine was adhered to the top of this embellishment.

Here is the summary of the supplies used:

Stamps: The Open Sea, Sassy Salutations

Inks: Basic Gray, Marina Mist, Black Stazon

Papers: Cajun Craze, Whisper White, Basic Gray, Print Poetry DSP pack

Accessories: 1/2" circle punch, small soda top pop, Marina Mist/White Baker's Twine, Dotted Scallop ribbon punch, glue dots

Hope you enjoyed this card.  Thanks for stopping by.

Don't forget to follow me by e-mail, blog, Facebook and Pinterest

Comments would be appreciated.

The Open Sea Best Wishes - The Paper Players color challenge #117

Boy, did I struggle with this one!  It took me all day to finally get a card together using the colors of the challenge with The Paper Players (here):  Cajun Craze, Night of Navy, and Bravo Burgundy, plus Very Vanilla. This is the 3rd card and my 4th attempt.  Usually I have no problem, but even my son agreed that my earlier attempts were not up to my usual quality. Not wanting to quit, I finally came up with this card - triple layer stamping.

Stamps: The Open Sea, Petite Pairs
Inks: Cajun Craze, Night of Navy, Bravo burgundy
Papers: Bravo burgundy, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Hemp twine, Cajun Craze button, dimensionals

The Open Sea Birthday Wishes - Stampin' Fun and Friends

The next challenge with Stampin' Fun and Friends is a sketch challenge.  Since the theme is summer I couldn't resist using The Open Sea stamp set.  Wouldn't everyone just love to sail into the sunset while the weather is warm and you are on vacation?  I ended up making a masculine birthday card.

 

As you can see I changed the rectangular focal piece to a circular one.

Technique: 

Card base is Soft Suede with a Crumb Cake layer.  This layer has been embossed with the Chevron folder and the edges sponged with Soft suede ink.

Focal Image: The ship was stamped with Early Espresso ink and then punched out with a 2 1/2" circle punch.  Edges were sponged with Soft Suede.

It was layered with a larger circle cut with the Circles #2 die - in Soft Suede - the edges of which were also sponged with Soft Suede ink.

The 2 layers were adhered together and neutral brads inserted to give it that port hole effect.

Distressed Panel: It was stamped with Early Espresso ink, then sponged with Soft Suede.  The top left corner and bottom were then torn, and the entire piece crumpled up, opened again and sponged some more.  Then it was spritzed with water and allowed to dry.  The water caused the ink to blend.

After dry it was matted with a layer of Early Espresso, the bottom part of which was also torn.

Designer Paper Panel: Rather than using designer paper, I took a piece of Whisper White card stock, and lightly stamped the "earth" stamp randomly all over the paper; then the anchor in the lower right.

Stamps: The Open Sea, Petite Pairs

Inks: Soft Suede, Early Espresso

Papers: Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Whisper White, Crumb Cake

Accessories: Neutral brads, Small oval punch, Chevron folder, Circles #2 die, 2 1/2" circle punch, mat pack & paper piercer

Card wins at Unscripted Sketches

The card I made for the piggyback sketch challenge with Unscripted Sketches , was one of the top 3 picks of the week.
Here is the picture and a link to the original post: http://craftymariasstampingworld.blogspot.ca/2012/05/open-sea-retirement-unscripted-sketches.html

Thanks to the  designers at Unscripted Sketches for all the wonderful comments.

The Open Sea Retirement - Unscripted Sketches #159

I love doing the challenges with Unscripted Sketches, especially when there is an additional Piggyback challenge to the sketch. The additional challenge this week is to add ink, which could be a stamped image, distressing, or anything creative.
Here is my card.  I decided to make it a retirement card because a lot of us feel like sailing off into the sunset when our full time jobs are finally behind us.  Wouldn't it be lovely just to sail the open seas without a care in the world?

I added ink in several ways.  First of all the background which was created by dropping reinkers onto wet watercolor paper and letting the colors run.  Before the ink dried I added a bit of coarse sea salt creating the design in the background that almost looks like fireworks going off.
The second way was stamping the image using Black Stazon ink and embossing with clear embossing powder.  The focal image was then distressed by inking the edges with Early Espresso ink.  Actually all the edges of the various card elements were distressed with Early Espresso ink.

 Here is a close up of the focal image showing the reinker created background.

Stamps: The Open Sea, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Reinkers (Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso, Pacific Point), Black Stazon, Early Espresso
Papers: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Retired SU designer paper, Watercolor paper
Accessories: Clear embossing powder, Hodgepodge hardware (vanilla), 1" circle punch, Word Window Punch, Oval Punch, 1/8" Early Espresso taffeta ribbon, dimensionals

Now here is the sketch:

Father's Day Card One of Top 3 Picks at Try Stampin' on Tuesday

The Open Sea Father's Day card that I created using the sketch with Try Stampin' on Tuesday #62 was one of the top 3 picks of the week.

 

 
Here is the card and the original link on my blog: here

The Open Sea Father's Day - Try Stampin' on Tuesday # 62

I can't believe how quickly the days are whizzing past!  Spring is now well established although there is threat of snow tomorrow (I'll believe it when I see it), Mother's Day will be here soon, and following on the heels of Mother's Day is Father's Day.  So, for today's challenge with Try Stampin' on Tuesday here I am making a Father's Day card.

Stamps: The Open Sea, Teeny Tiny wishes
Inks: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede
Papers: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Mocha Morning Specialty Paper, Soft Suede
Accessories: Circle die #2, Word label punch, Modern word label punch, Scallop border punch, Hemp twine (braided), dimensionals, Square lattice embossing folder