Monthly Archives: November 2013

Nov25

Simple and Gorgeous Technique

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Simple and Gorgeous Technique

Most stamping techniques aren’t hard, but they can seem intimidating until you try them. This is one of those techniques. Let’s break this down into steps, so you can see just how easy this can be.

shadow block technique card

1. Start with the shadow stamp. (This is a stamp with a solid shape like a square or rectangle or circle on it.) Choose a pigment ink that’s very light. Do a test stamp first to make sure the ink is light enough to stamp over. This particular image was stamped three times, reversing top and bottom each time. If you have a bigger stamp, you won’t need to stamp it multiple times, but this was the effect I was looking for.

2. For the main image, choose a stamp with a solid surface, not an outline.

3. Choose dye inks for the main image stamp. If you have small ink pads, that will make it easier to keep the colors separate, but the normal sized ink pads will work as well. If you turn your stamp upside down, you’ll be able to see where you’ve inked, and where you haven’t more clearly.

4. After you’ve applied your dye ink to your stamp, very lightly stamp in onto a piece of scrap paper, and then stamp it firmly onto your shadow block image.

5. Finish up the image however you want. In this case, I trimmed the image, inked the edge, and mounted it onto a couple pieces of patterned paper, with a piece of ribbon and rhinestones to finish it off.

It really is that easy to do. Try it! You’ll like it!

Don’t forget if you want to get a card in the mail from me, make sure you’re on my email list!

 

Nov24

You Are a Superstar!

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You Are a Superstar!

You really are! Thanks for joining me on this crazy card making frenzy.

superstar card

 

This was a quick and easy card to make. The background is Heidi Swapp color shine mists spray over a stencil that was laid on top of the background paper. Do you see how some droplets cover up the white lines left behind by the stencil? That’s because spray mists are very fluid, and will travel underneath stencils if you spray too heavily. The stars are kraft stickers from Studio Calico, and a punch from Fiskars. A few rub-ons and a label from a label maker, and voila! A card!

Today’s quick tip: If you use spray mist on a regular basis, you need a place to spray it. Re-using a shipping box gives you a place to contain the over-spray, and a safe place to let your project dry. Just make sure the box is big enough to let your project lie flat.

Don’t forget, if you want to get a card from me in the mail, make sure you’re on my email list!

Nov23

Bringing Multiple Inspiration Ideas Together

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Bringing Multiple Inspiration Ideas Together

Today’s card started with one idea, added another, and then finished with a third. It was rather a struggle putting it together, not because the techniques were hard, but because I kept running into mental roadblocks and making mistakes.

Inspiration from multiple sources

The background was done first, inspired by this pin on pinterest:

sea urchins pin

That part was finished fairly quickly. And then I ran into my first mental roadblock. I needed a focal image for the card. For some reason I felt I needed a round floral image, but didn’t have anything that really worked for me. So the background sat there for awhile while I worked on other cards.

And then I re-watched Bev Grey’s True Stamp class, and one of the things she used was technique tiles. I have some of those! So I dug those out, and happily colored one that was the right size to fit on the card. And then decided I’d use a rub-on on the colored tile. That didn’t work. Either because the ink was still slightly damp, or because the ink acted as a sealer, for some reason the rub-on wouldn’t adhere. So I flipped the tile over, and applied the rub-on to the reverse side of the tile, which didn’t have as smooth a surface as the front. Then I applied the color over the rub-on, because frequently rub-ons resist ink. Then I started wiping the excess color off the rub-on, and the rub-on started peeling right off the tile. Sigh. The mistakes just kept piling up.

After peeling off the rub-on, I was left with an interesting ghost image of the rub-on, but that wasn’t what I wanted, so I flipped the tile back over to the front. And then it occurred to me that I could use a partial image on the tile. A brief search through the stamp drawers led to my favorite butterfly stamp. I stamped it with versamark ink, and then applied white embossing powder to it. Which adhered to the ENTIRE front of the tile, because the ink STILL wasn’t dry.

Argh!!

Yes, it was one of those days.

I brushed the embossing powder off, and heat set the ink with my heat gun, and then stamped the butterfly in versamark, again, and added the embossing powder. This time it was mostly okay, so I heat set the embossing powder, and added the tile to the card.

Not one to leave well enough alone, and wanting to actually use some of the rub-ons on the card, I added a sentiment and a few doodles, and finally pronounced it done.

So what do you think? And what do you do when things go wrong? Feel free to vent in the comments!

Nov22

Zentangling a Card

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Zentangling a Card

Have you ever tried Zentangle? It’s a combination of drawing and doodling, and a bit of meditation as well. At least it can be. How about a card using some zentangling as decoration?

zentangled card

This card started with the zentangle border. A bit of handmade paper, a few Stampin’ Up rub-ons, a bit of baker’s twine, and a card is done. I think it looks pretty cool myself, but I may be biased. 😉

If you want to try some Zentangle yourself, check out One Zentangle a Day by Beckah Krahula. (affiliate link) I haven’t taken a class on it yet, but used this book to learn a bit about it. The book is broken down into daily patterns to practice, as well as a bit of discussion about techniques that can help your zentangle drawing even more elaborate and realistic. It’s simple enough that my eight-year-old son can follow along, and detailed enough to keep me occupied.

Don’t forget, if you want to get a card from me, make sure you’re on my email list!

Nov21

Faux Quilting

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Faux Quilting

There are so many hobbies out there that are appealing. Quilting is one of those that requires skill and practice in order to excel. I love the way quilts look. The combination of colors and patterns and texture makes me want to sit down with my sewing machine and start creating my own quilts. However, my own skill set lies with paper.

So let’s make a faux quilt card!

faux quilt card

 

Now, if I were really serious about making this look quilt-like, all those dashes would be actual stitching. But I’m one of those weird people who worry about damaging their sewing machine, and so stick to using a pen to create a stitching look.

This was made with the hexagon stamp set from Stampin’ Up, and the Creative Memories hexagon punch. Stampin’ Up has a punch designed to go with this set, I just already had the CM one, and didn’t feel the need to invest in one almost the same as what I already had.

Which brings me to my point for the day. To get the most out of your stash, repeat yourself. Use a stamp over and over. Use the scraps from one project on a different project. Use up all the paint on a palette on multiple projects, rather than letting it dry out. Just because you’ve used one item on a specific project doesn’t mean it won’t work on an entirely different creation as well.

Make what you have work. Over and over and over again. You’ll be surprised at just how creative you can be when you push yourself.