Author Archives: Heather

Nov11

Leftovers

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Leftovers

Who else has piles of scrap papers you know will work great on a page or card, but haven’t gotten around to using yet?

Good. I’m not the only one. (Right? Right!!?!?)

Let’s use some scraps, shall we?

scraps card

You know how Shimelle Laine uses starting points? Basically what you do is you think of your paper as simple squares and rectangles and circles, and overlap them to create a background. That style of layering papers is a great way to use lots of papers and scraps on both scrapbook pages and cards. (If you want a great class about using up your stash, you need to check out Shimelle’s class from the first True Scrap called Creative Stash Diving. (affiliate link) Excellent inspiration for using up all your stash.)

This card started with a scrap piece of test paper that I had used to practice for the hexagon card earlier. While it wasn’t good enough to use in a starring roll, it was good enough to use with this silhouette stamp. The colors from the stamped image then dictated the colors of the scrap papers chosen as well as the card base. By also using patterns that echoed the style of the stamp (circles & a bit of ornate flourishes) the card feels very unified and cohesive.

Final thought for you today: not all cards need a sentiment. If you have a purpose for making a card, that can dictate a sentiment theme, but if you’re just making a card because you like making cards, give yourself permission to leave off the sentiment. After all you’re probably going to be writing something inside it, aren’t you?

Have you been making any cards? Make sure you’re on my mailing list if you’d like to get one of these.

Do you have any techniques or questions? Ask away!

Nov10

Imperfect, But Finished. Maybe.

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Imperfect, But Finished. Maybe.

There are cards that are imperfect, where anyone can see the imperfections, but are still beautiful. That’s what this one is today.

imperfect paris

 

You can tell the image didn’t transfer completely, and that I attempted to double stamp it to get the rest of the image to transfer. Not too successful, but not horrible. Maybe this isn’t finished. Maybe what this needs is a sentiment that addresses the idea of doing life imperfectly, and with art and adventure. Or maybe I just need to pull my big girl panties up, and pull of the front, and redo the background. That’s why I’m reluctant to do the card over. I LOVE the background.

Well, what do you all think? Should I pull off the stamped image and start that piece over, or should I add a sentiment that makes the imperfectness of this a design feature rather than a flaw?

Comment below, or leave an opinion over on Facebook. I’ll do whatever you decide!

Nov9

The Importance of Test Stamping

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The Importance of Test Stamping

One of the easiest things you can do to make sure you get a good image when you stamp is to test stamp on a piece of scrap paper before committing to your project.

Case in point: Check out these images from a test stamped piece of paper.

test stamping scrap paper

If you notice, the top image is very, very blotchy. That’s because I was trying out using distress stain as an inking medium on a clear stamp. Definitely NOT a good choice for that particular stamp. The bright blue image a little bit below it is a test to see how well Distress Inks would work with the stamp. Still not good enough. Finally, at the bottom, the red is Hero Arts Shadow Dye Ink. That, if I do say so myself, is a gorgeous transfer. So Hero Arts it is!

One more thing. Check out the upside down image in the middle of the paper. Notice how it’s mottled pink and blue? Some ink colors are more difficult to remove than others. Apparently the red colorways in the Hero Arts Shadow Inks like to really cling to a stamp. Wash your stamp and stamp onto scraps until the ink no longer transfers. Otherwise you’ll get some odd colored images.

Final product:

write your story

This is such a simple card. But this is one of my faves so far this month. Wouldn’t this make a really cool insert into a pocket page?

Don’t forget, if you’d like to get a card in the mail, join my email list. I’d love to send you one!

Nov8

Crowdsourcing a Starting Point

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Crowdsourcing a Starting Point

You may not know this already, but No Excuse Scrapbooking has a fan page on Facebook. Last night I asked my wonderful fans which background I should start with for today’s card.

crowdsource background options

I had been inspired by this pin, but when I started pulling things together, I really got stumped with how I wanted the card to go, and which background was more visually appealing.

Luckily, I have YOU. The background on the right was the favorite, so off I went to make it work.

One of the things I loved about the card I pinned on pinterest was the contrast of the black with the gorgeous colors. Keeping that in mind you may see how I got to this:

crowd sourced card

 

One of the people who had an opinion about which background to use hails from Australia and suggested a fall theme, which led to the leaves and the British version of color. Which brings us to the tip for today:

If something isn’t working, get another set of eyes on your project. Ask a friend who scrapbooks what they think. Quiz your family. Talk to someone who’s design sense you trust because their home is gorgeous, or they are always well dressed. That ability to put a beautiful outfit together often translates into other arts.

Don’t forget if you want to get a card from me, sign up for my email list!

Nov7

Embossing Powder Two Ways

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Embossing Powder Two Ways

While I had my heat gun out I decided my next card needed to be a variation on a technique I learned years ago at my local stamp store. (Which is now closed. I miss them so much!)

embossed samples

We did this technique with water color crayons originally I think, but I thought I’d see how it worked with the painted backgrounds I had left over.

What you’ll need to do this:

  • Clear embossing powder
  • black embossing powder
  • A clear embossing ink like versamark or the perfect medium
  • Black dye ink (Tim Holtz’s distress ink in black soot worked great)
  • a foam sponge or applicator
  • a paper towel or tissue
  • a couple pieces of patterned paper or altered paper
  • A stamp with a lot of rubber to cover. I used a background stamp from Judikins that was mostly rubber, with small dragonflies carved into it.
  • A heat tool
  • Another stamp that relates theme wise with your background image
  • Distress inks in three colors
  • A non-stick craft mat

First card background:

Ink up your large background stamp with the clear embossing ink, and stamp it onto a piece of your patterned paper. Cover the stamped image with the clear embossing powder, tap off the excess, and use a heat gun to melt the powder. With a foam applicator or sponge, apply black distress ink to the unembossed parts of the image, and rub off any excess ink with a paper towel.

clear background

Second card background:

Ink up the large background stamp with the clear embossing ink, and stamp your patterned paper. Cover the image with the BLACK embossing powder, tap off the excess, and use your heat tool to melt and set your embossing powder. If you have any spots with incomplete coverage you can color them in with a black marker.

black embossed background

To make the focal image, stamp your distress inks onto your craft mat, and then use the ink beading up on your craft mat to ink the stamp. Give the stamp a little twist to help the colors blend together when you’re inking your stamp. Stamp the image onto white cardstock and trim it closely. (aka Fussy cutting it!) Attach it with foam adhesive, and you’re all done.

This is another example of cards that didn’t quite turn out as I wanted or expected. They are fine, but I expect more from myself. 😉 After all, I want these to be good enough to send to all of you!