Water Front Christmas Cards -Two ways

 I like to maximize the use of my stamps and sometimes this requires thinking outside the box. 

For these two cards I used the stamp with sponging to create a winter ambience

Each piece of Whisper White cardstock is 4 1/2 by 2 3/4" with a matting layer 1/4" larger.  Both are added to A2 card bases layered with Whisper White

Card #1:

The trees were stamped and stamped off across the art piece using  Shaded Spruce ink.  The sky was sponged with Balmy Blue, and Night of Navy with the stars and the area below the trees embossed with white embossing powder.  A bit of gray ink was sponged under the trees after which some Dazzling Diamonds was added.

Sentiment is from Itty Bitty Christmas and in this card I added it below the art  piece,

Card #2

The  Night of Navy card base is layered with Whisper White but the difference in this card is the Diagonal striped Classic Christmas DSP in colours of Cyprus Cedar,  Night of Navy and white.  A strip of Night of Navy next to the DSP.

On the art piece the trees are stamped the same but this time they are stamped against a So Saffron morning sky.  The sentiment is added to bottom of the stamped piece,

In both cards adhesive blue gems are added randomly on the finished faree

Easter Flowers

...in a vase made with a punch.

The Lily flowers are part of the Easter Messages stamp set, as are the palm fronds.  Put them together and place them in a vase and you have a wonderful Easter Bouquet.

The flowers were masked before stamping the 2 palm fronds.  I coloured them using SU markers.

A vase was made by punching one image in Daffodil Delight using the Best Badge punch and altering the punchie to make it look like a vase. See the picture below.  The dotted lines on the punchie on the punch indicate where I trimmed it with the scissors so that it looks like the punchie lying beside it.

To decorate the vase, I used two of the stamps of the Delicate Details stamp set, and cut out a coloured lily and adhered it to the vase center. Dimensionals adhered the vase to the card front.

I love sponging edges of almost everything.  Sponging gives the images such definition and a finished look. I sponged the edges of the vase, the flowers, and the edges of all the papers making up the card.

Three more coloured lilies were cut out and 2 were adhered over the original lilies; the 3rd just peeking its head over the top of the vase.

After adhering the art piece to a piece of Daffodil Delight card stock, a piece of 1/8" stitched Smoky Slate ribbon was slid under the vase between the dimensionals and adhered behind the Daffodil Delight card stock. A bow made of the same ribbon was placed on the right side.

The Whisper White card base was layered with a Smoky Slate layer, upon which a strip of Scenic Scenery DSP was added. Dimensionals adhered the art piece to the card front.

What's a card without bling? Dazzling details was applied to the flowers and the vase as well as Wink of Stella.  In addition I added metal rimmed rhinestones and smaller rhinestones.


Supplies Used:
Stamps: Easter Message, Timeless Texture, Delicate Details
Inks: Black Memento, Basic Gray, SU markers (Daffodil Delight, Tangelo Twist, Old Olive, Always Artichoke)
Papers: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight, Scenic Scenery DSP
Accessories: Best Badge punch, 1/8" stitched Smoky Slate ribbon, Metal rimmed rhinestones, rhinestones, dimensionals, glue dots

Some more swap cards

This swap called for any theme as long as the card would fit into of a legal envelope.  Since I am currently in the Thanksgiving/Halloween mode, the card became a Thanksgiving card.  These are the cards I made.

•  To make a legal sized card, I cut the cardstock at 9 by 8" scored at 4" to make a 9 by 4" horizontal card.
• The basic cardstock is Cajun Craze, layered with a 8 3/4 by 3 3/4" piece of Daffodil Delight.
• On the 8 1/2 by 3 1/2" piece of Whisper White, a strip of painter's tape was applied to 1" from the top and 1" from the bottom.
• The area in between the tape was first sponged with Cajun Craze, Daffodil Delight and Old Olive,  The leaves from the "Vintage Leaves" stamp set were randomly stamped with Memento ink.
• After the stamping was finished, the masking strips were removed, leaving an artistic strip in the middle of the card.
• This piece of Whisper White was then adhered to the Daffodil Delight.
• The sentiment is from "Peaceful Pines" is stamped with Memento on Whisper White, matted with Daffodil Delight and adhered to the front overlapping the sponged image slightly.

Supplies Used: 
 

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Peaceful Petals - The Friday Mashup #145

It's another snowy day so a good day to be indoors and be "crafty".  Today I thought I would do the challenge with The Friday Mashup #145, which is a sketch challenge which includes the technique of sponging.  Now sponging I like to do and I use that technique a lot, so today I hope I am up ot the challenge.

 

I used the stamp set "Peaceful Petals" and coloured the image with ink pads and a blender pen.  I then sponged around the edge of the image panel with Baked Brown Sugar and placed pearls in the center of the flower centers.  The panel was matted with Baked Brown Sugar card stock.  This was attached to two sponged panels using dimensionals.

The panels were sponged using Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, and Baked Brown Sugar inks, and then the leaf image was stamped randomly (using Pear Pizzazz) all over each panel.  Each panel was then matted with Baked Brown Sugar card stock.

The panels were attached to a layer of Whisper White cardstock, the edges of which were also sponged before attaching to a Pear Pizzazz base.

Stamp: Peaceful Petals

Inks: Black Stazon, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Baked Brown Sugar

Papers: Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Baked Brown Sugar

Accessories: 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, dimensionals, pearls.

Autumn Colors - Unscripted Sketches #176

The leaves are changing colors rapidly.  In some parts of the city the trees present as a sea of color.  I tried to mimic this cacaphony of colour in the card I make for the sketch challenge with Unscripted Sketches here.  This month there is also a piggy back challenge i.e. to actually use the card.
My plan is to donate the card to the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children for one of the older children.  I am a member of SendaSmile4Kids, an organization that donates hand made cards to this particular hospital in Ontario.  I was instrumental in bringing this to Ontario.There are similar branches in British Columbia and Alberta, and many in the United States.

 

Technique: 

I turned the sketch on its side for this card.

The base card of Lucky Limeade is matted with Very Vanilla, and then a layer of Orchard Harvest designer paper.  The latter had its corners rounded with the corner rounder punch.

To make the "sea of color" panel, the following colors were sponged randomly on a piece of Whisper White card stock : Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede, Cajun Craze and Lucky Limeade.  The paper was then crumples and when straightened out the wrinkles were sponged with Soft suede ink.  Then it was spritzed lightly with water to blend the colors.  When dry  it was spritzed with gold smooch.

It was matted with Island Indigo card stock, the lower edge of which was punched with a scallop border punch.

Leaves:

First they were die cut using the Autumn Accents die.  The acorn was die cut twice, the second time with Soft Suede card stock.  The leaves were then stamped using the Wonderfall stamp set - the oal leaf in Cajun Craze; the poplar in Daffodil Delight, and the acorn in Soft Suede. They were then sponged with 3 different colors and the edges with Soft suede.  Then they were given the same treatment as the panel - crumpled, sponged, spritzed with water and then with gold smooch.

For the acorn, the top was cut off the soft suede acorn (which had been embossed with the Square lattice embossing folder) and attached to the stamped acorn, which had been sponged with Cajun Craze ink.  The top was then sponged with soft suede ink, and Crystal Effects was applied to the bottom portion.

The leaves were layered and attached to each other with stampin dimensionals.

The panel was made a little larger than in the sketch to accommodate the leaves.

Embellishment:

Island Indigo ruffled ribbon was inserted through 2 holes in a brushed bronze button and tied into a knot at the top.  Two glue dots were used to attach the button to the card.

Stamps: Wonderfall, Tiny Tags
Inks: Daffodil Delight, Cajun Craze, Soft Suede, Lucky Limeade
Papers: Lucky Limeade, Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Island Indigo, Orchard Harvest designer paper
Accessories: Autumn Accents die, Scallop border punch, Jewellry Punch, Brushed Bronze button, 3/8" Island Indigo ruffled ribbon, Square lattice folder, Crystal effects, Gold smooch, Corner rounder punch, dimensionals, glue dots.

Lovely as a Tree Shaker Card - Saturday Sketch Challenge #217 -Stamping 411

When I saw the Saturday sketch challenge with Stamping 411 here a shaker card immediately came to mind.  No, Stampin Up does not have rectangular Shaker frames, but I was able to improvise using 3/4" mounting tape.  I also turned the sketch on its side.

First I worked on the image. Using Island Indigo ink, the outsides of a 4 by 3" piece of Whisper White cardstock were sponged generously.  Then with Baja Breeze ink, I started sponging where the Island Indigo stopped - blending the 2 colours together.  The closer I got to the center, the lighter the sponging became.

The tree was stamped with Early Espresso ink.

Snowflakes were added to the sky using White Acrylic paint and the end of a paint brush.

The completed image piece was mounted on a 4 by 5" piece of Whisper White Cardstock.

Strips of 3/4" mounting tape were applied first on the long sides of the image (covering about 1/4" of the image piece) and then on the short sides - being careful to make sure there were no spaces at the seams.  To create more room for the Mica flakes, a second layer of mounting tape was applied - this time the short ends first.

Mica flakes were added , and a medium window sheet cut to cover the image & the mounting tape was attached.

A frame with matting was attached over the mounting tape and window sheet.

Materials Used:
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Petite Pairs
Inks: Early Espresso, Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo, Baja Breeze
Papers: Whisper White, Lucky Limeade, Letters to Santa designer paper, Holly Berry Bouquet designer paper, Early Espresso
Accessories: Medium window sheet, Mica flakes, Curly label punch 3/8" ruffled Lucky Limeade rubbon, 3/4" circle punch, Crystal effects, rhinestones, Mounting tape (non SU)

This is a side view, showing the hand made buttons in the upper left.  They were made by first punching out images from the Holly Berry Bouquet designer paper using the 3/4" circle punch.  With the same punch, punch 2 in Early Espresso.  All layers were adhered together with Crystal Effects - the latter also applied to the button top.

The Mica Flakes can be seen better here.  A word of caution - don't use too much of these flakes - I think I used a bit too much.