Snowflake Wishes with a WOW background - with Video

 For the last couple of days I have been obsessed with Snowflakes, especially Snowflakes on WOW backgrounds- backgrounds created by adding ink to coloured card stock,  e.g two shades of blue to Real Red card stock, to Pacific Point, and Gorgeous Grape card stock,  using blender brushes.

In creating cards in all those colour combinations, I used a carry over stamp set and coordinating dies, Snowflake Wishes with Snowflake dies.

Here is one of the cards as well as a video tutorial on how I created the background and put the card together.

Stamp:  Snowflake Wishes

Dies:  Snowflake Dies

Papers:  Thick Basic White, Gorgeous Grape, Basic White, Gold Foil

Accessories:  Blender brushes, Foam Adhesive, White acrylic paint

Background

The background is created by applying the following colours of ink on Gorgeous Grape card stock:  Misty Moonlight, Night of Navy, and Basic Black using a blender brush.  See video for technique

Diluted white acrylic paint is splattered on the finished background to give the appearance of snow (stars)

Here are pictures of other cards made using  snowflakes.  

Balmy Blue card stock and silver foil snowflakes

Balmy Blue card stock, Balmy Blue ink and a Decorative Mask

A slim line card.  Snow flakes a various sizes are embossed with gold embossing powder on Real Red card stock.  Gold foil snow flakes are layered before being added onto a gold foil stitched circle die.

A Wintery Moon - Hand Stamped Sentiments #368 - Another Mini Catalogue Sneak Peek

 This card, featuring two new stamp sets, one from the Annual Catalogue, and  the other from the new  Mini catalogue. was made for the sketch challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments. The Elegant Evergreen stamp set from the current Annual Catalogue is available now; the Peaceful Deer starting August 3.

I am fascinated by full moons on wintery skies, so the circle on the card sketch became just that - a full moon. Looking back on the finished card, the moon could have been a bit smaller and probably would do that in a future card.

But back to the beginning.....

To start I embossed the front flap of a Thick Back White  A2 card with a now retired Winter Snow Embossing Folder. 

On  a separate piece of  Basic White card stock, I marked off where the moon would be and die cut a circle to act as a mask.  I die cut a second circle but in Basic White card stock.  Daffodil Delight was lightly added to this die cut circle. and would be added over the masked off area.

With the mask in place, a  blender brush was used to apply 3 shades of blue in the following order:  Pool Party, Balmy Blue, Pacific Point, and Night of Navy. Some Daffodil Delight was added to the sky above where the moon would be.

On the left upper sky, a cluster of snowflakes were embossed with White embossing powder.

Using the tree stamps from the Evergreen Elegance set. a large and a small tree were stamped using Evening Evergreen ink and fussy cut.  A little bunny from the Peaceful Deer set was also stamped, coloured with Smokey Slate 'blends' , and fussy cut.

The sentiment, stamped with Smokey Slate ink,  was punched at both ends using the Lovely Labels Pick a Punch Punch.

Putting the card together.......

After adhering the sponged sky about an inch from the top fold, the moon was added in the penciled off area. On the bottom of the moon, towards the right, the large and small trees were added, with the little bunny on the ground near the base of the smaller tree.

The sentiment was added over the bottom edge of the sponged art piece.

To finish the card, some Elegant Faceted dots were added to the front in random places, and.... some Clear Wink of Stella.

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Evergreen Elegance, Peaceful Deer

Inks:  Elegant Evergreen, Pool Party, Balmy Blue, Pacific Point, Night of Navy, Versa Mark

Papers;  Thick basic white, Basic White 

Accessories:  White embossing powder, blender brushes, Layering Circle die, Lovely Labels Pick a Punch Punch, Winter Snow embossing folder, Elegant faceted gems.

Here is another card I made using the same sketch, only in Monochromatic tones of gray and white.

A Birthday Card for my downline using Flirty Flowers

My downline's birthday was on Friday last week, but because of the holiday weekend and my craft show we were unable to celebrate the event until today.
This is the card I made for her...

The technique used here is referred to as water stamping i.e. stamping with water on a stamp rather than ink.

First I sponged the background with Bermuda Bay, Rich Razzelberry, Pear Pizzazz, and Crushed Curry, applying the sponge quite heavily yet leaving some light spots and overlapping some of the colors.

I used the largest of the solid stamp of  the Flirty Flower set, spritzed it with water and stamped it on to the sponged background in two places.  Holding it in place for a while gives this type of stamping a better effect.

Then, using Black Memento, I stamped the rest of the stamps in a random manner all over the rest of this art piece.

The sentiment, from "Special Celebration" was stamped on Whisper White with Bermuda Bay, matted with Bermuda Bay cardstock  and adhered to the card front with dimensionals.

A 1/8" piece of Bermuda Bay stitched ribbon was wrapped around the card and tied beside the sentiment piece into a ribbon

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Flirty Flowers, Timeless Texture

Inks:  Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Pear Pizzazz, Rich Razzelberry, Black Memento

Papers:  Whisper White, Bermuda Bay

Accessories:  1/8" stitched Bermuda Bay ribbon (retired)

Celebrate - Try Stampin' on Tuesday #312

 It's time for another challenge at Try Stampin' on Tuesday.  This week the sketch is by Vicki with an optional theme of angles.

As you can see by made card the angle is actually going the other way.  I guess I'm angle challenged.

The art piece was created by sponging three different colours on a floral piece of the Sale-a-bration "Inside the Lines DSP" covering the entire surface, after which is was embossed with clear embossing powder.

So, how did I make the angle?

On the bottom right I measured 1" from the end and drew a line from that point to the upper right.  On the top left, I measured 1" from the top left and drew a line from that point to the lower left.

Using a cutter, I cut the background along these lines, creating the angled look.  But because I drew the lines on the back of my art piece, the angle is going in the opposite direction.

The art piece is matted with Basic Black, then added to a Bermuda Bay card base.

Across the middle is a 2" Whisper White sentiment piece, again matted with Bermuda Bay, and Basic Black cardstock.

Supplies Used:

Stamp: Celebration

Inks: Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay, Pear Pizzaz, Versa Mark

Papers: Whisper White, Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Inside the Lines DSP

Accessories: Clear embossing powder, embossing buddy

Now it's your turn to create something using Vicki's sketch.  As usual you have 2 weeks in which to make something.  Once finished, don't forget to download it to either the Try Stampin' on Tuesday blog or the Facebook page.

At the end of two weeks, 3 cards will be selected as the favourites of the week.  Who knows, maybe your card will be one of them.

I look forward to seeing your creations.

Spooky Halloween Night Card 2

Sponging can create the most awesome background effects.  In this second Halloween card, the background is also eerily made using sponging as the means to do so.
In yesterday's card, after creating the background, Halloween images were stamped in black.  Today's card using die cuts that coordinate with the stamp set.

Colours used to sponge the background:  Night of Navy, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie and Rich Razzelberry.  The moon was first stamped on the "clean slate" in Crushed Curry and then masked with a 1 3/4" circle punchie.

The all black die cut images are from "Halloween Scenes Edgelit dies".  After they were adhered in place, a white gel pen was used to make the white lines on images.  It was also used to create stars in the sky.

"Eek"  was stamped in three places randomly.

The base card is Basic Black, layered with Pumpkin Pie and then the sponged layer which was Whisper White.

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Spooky Fun
Inks: Black Memento, Night of Navy, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzellberry
Papers: Basic Black, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie,
Accessories: Halloween Scenes Edgelit dies, white gel pen

Happy Day Wetlands - The Friday Mashup #121

What happened to summer?  I know we had the heat wave in the middle of July, but since then the weather has been a bit on the cool side.  There is somehow a feel of fall in the air and its early August.  The weather forecasters do not see another heat wave in the foreseeable future!  However, it is still nice enough to play and work outdoors.
I hope you have some wonderful plans for this long weekend.  I'm busy getting ready to fly to Vancouver the middle of the week, so after Tuesday there will be no blog posts until I get back on the 21st.

This card is for the challenge with the Friday Mashup here is to create a card using polka dots, using the word "happy" on it.
The card I made was a version of a card I saw on Pinterest.

Technique:

I punched a 1 3/4" circle to make a mask for the moon, and a piece of photocopy paper as a mask for the sky line.

The sky was made using Midnight Muse and finger daubers.  Some Strawberry Slush was applied around the moon.

After removing the masks, the pond and grass area were coloured using finger daubers - Coastal Cabana for the pond and Pear Pizzazz for the grass.  The reflection of the moon on the water was not coloured.

All images were stamped as shown.  The Canada Goose was painted with Summer Starfruit and an aqua painter.

A close up shows the polka dot paper used.

Stamps: Wetlands, Ciao, Baby

Inks: Midnight Muse, Strawberry Slush, Coastal Cabana, Pear Pizzazz, Basic Black, Summer Starfruit

Papers: Basic Black, Old Olive DSP, Whisper White

Accessories: 3/4" Basic Black Chevron ribbon, 1 3/4" circle punch, finger duabers, aqua painter, Small curly label punch, 1" square punch, dimensionals

Dinoroar Birthday - Paper Players Challenge 64

The challenge this week is to make a clean and simple (CAS) card using a plant or animal on the card.

I must admit making a CAS card is very difficult for me, and I'm not sure I succeeded with this challenge.  But I post the card anyway - tell me what you think.

Stamp: Dinoroar, Lovely as a Tree
Inks: Black Stazon, Watercolor crayons, Pacific Point, Marina Mist, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Basic Gray
Papers: Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: 3/4 by 15/16" Oval Punch, dimensionals

Sponges and ink were used to create the background.
This card was inspired by Helen Williams here  I must have seen her card somewhere and the memory stuck in my mind,  Thanks Helen for bringing this to my attention.