Category Archives: Cards

Stencil and Texture Paste Background

Posted in Birthday Cards, Cards by

Stencil and Texture Paste Background

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I rarely use stencils or texture paste, but I decided it would be fun to play with both with my class.

While creating a few samples, I tried different methods of adding color to the white paste (while still wet or after it was dry).  For the above sample (and the first one below), I added some Memento Bamboo Leaves ink to my craft mat, scooped a bit of the paste down on it, and mixed it up.  It was very light and whitish which is not the way this ink normally looks, but it matched this patterned paper perfectly (I thought!).

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When I sponged the Bamboo Leaves ink directly onto the dried paste (like on the middle sample above), the color was much closer to what I expected it to look like (at least in real life).  For this method, I replaced the stencil over the dried panel to mask off the paper where there was no paste and then sponged on the ink.  I also tried a water color wash (with the same ink and water from my craft mat) over the whole surface after it was dried (third sample above).  That was probably my least favorite method of adding the color, but water color is not really my thing – lol!  (My color was very diluted; maybe I would have liked this method better with more intense ink/paint.)

The patterned paper I used is called “Floral Border” by Recollections.  I matted my panels with Papertrey Ink Scarlet Jewel card stock and stamped the greeting with a stamp from the “Banners” set from Joy! Crafts with PTI Ocean Tides ink.

Thanks for checking out my card project!

Alcohol Ink Christmas Cards

Posted in Cards, Christmas, Holiday Cards by

Alcohol Ink Christmas Cards

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These are the last two cards I made with the panels I previously created…

and

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As mentioned in the previous post, I used Ranger Glossy Card Stock along with Ranger alcohol inks (Caramel, Latte, Ginger, Currant, Sunshine Yellow, Sunset Orange, and Gold Mixative) and Alcohol Ink Blending Solution for these cards as well.

I used a leaf stamp to add texture to the cream panel behind the deer die cut and also debossed a few lines with a score board and stylus.  The deer image was (angled and) die cut from the center of the mat panel; the hole is hidden behind the cream panel and allowed me to use the one inked panel for both parts of the card.  Before adhering the deer to the card, I cut a second one from plain (heavy weight) card stock and layered the two to make the die cut thicker.  Layered dies (cut from alcohol inked panels) and a single stamp were used on the second sample.

The deer is the “Merry Christmas Deer” from Gina Marie Designs (retired?).  The Joy stamp is part of the Penny Black “Wonder Collection” stamp set that was a free gift with the Papercraft Essentials Magazine (issue 113) from September 2014.  The background and label dies were unbranded.

Thanks for checking out my card projects!

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Ho Ho Ho with Distress Oxide Inks (and a few other samples)

Posted in Birthday Cards, Cards, Christmas, Get Well/Sympathy, Holiday Cards, Thank You Cards by

Ho Ho Ho with Distress Oxide Inks (and a few other samples)

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After trying alcohol inks the other night in the course I am teaching through the Haddonfield Adult School (as I mentioned in my previous post), we then played with Distress Oxide inks .  I used these inks for the first time while preparing samples for this lesson.  (I had watched several tutorial videos back when the inks were first introduced but hadn’t actually tried them until now.  Not sure what I was waiting for!!)  I love how cool the ink looks when it dries, how it reacts with water, and how easy (and fun!) it is to layer colors.

The background on this one was “smooshed” with Tim Holtz Faded Jeans, Cracked Pistachio, and Vintage Photo Distress Oxide inks.  I didn’t add water to my inked surface on this card because I wanted to see how the layered inks looked after they dried without the oxidized look.

The die cut is called “Ho Ho Ho Square” (#590-ZZ) from Impression Obsessions.

Here are two more samples made with the “smooshing” technique using Cracked Pistachio, Faded Jeans, Wild Honey, and spritzes of water between layers.

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The floral die cut on this one can be found in the “Floral Square” die set (PFSA0118) by Pinkfresh Studio.  (The “thanks” die was unbranded, but I’ve since found and purchased the “Gallery Frame 2” die set from Hello Bluebird which contains this “thanks” die, but bigger.)

and

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The “Fancy Floral 2” die (PFSA0918) is also by Pinkfresh Studio.  (There is also a Fancy Floral 1 which is the same design with thicker lines and could be layered under this one to create an offset mat.  It could also be used on its own.)

Thanks for checking out my card projects!

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Alcohol Ink and Burlap (and several more samples)

Posted in Birthday Cards, Cards by

Alcohol Ink and Burlap (and several more samples)

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I thought it would be fun for my students (and me!) to play with alcohol inks in one of the classes I am teaching, and here is a sample I created.

The ink really goes a long way once you get your foam applicator loaded up, so I just kept going and was able to make several panels at that time.  (That’s why all these cards are similar in color.)  I used Ranger Glossy Card Stock along with Ranger alcohol inks (Caramel, Latte, Ginger, Currant, Sunshine Yellow, Sunset Orange, and Gold Mixative) and Alcohol Ink Blending Solution.

Here is a sample with a masked /stamped background panel and more leaves…

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An oval die was used to create a mask for the sponged background (done with Vintage Photo Distress Ink) along with the Stampin’ Up French Script background stamp and Memento Rich Cocoa ink.

…and a few more samples.  (When I said I kept going, I meant I kept going.  Yeah, it’s a lot of brown – lol!!)

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(I didn’t use any of the gold mixative on this last one, but I wish I had.)

I have two (brown!) holiday samples I will share in a separate post.

The large leaves were cut with the Tim Holtz Bigz Tattered Leaves die from Sizzix.  The smaller dies were made with Recollection punches.   Leaf Vignette Squares are by Frantic Stampers .  Your Day from Penny Black is a “fun” birthday greeting die, and the Making Happy Happen Collection – Happy Phrases by Sizzix has a variety of greetings and shapes.  The stitched frame was unbranded.  Card stock used was Recollections Cream and Kraft and Gina K Dark Chocolate and Tranquil Teal.  The patterned paper was  “Tim Coffey Fall Gold Leaf Scroll” by K&Company, and the burlap was “DCWV Burlap Paper – burlap covered cardstock sheets”

Thanks for checking out my card projects!

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Bokeh Christmas Card (and a few other samples)

Posted in Birthday Cards, Cards, Christmas, Holiday Cards by

Bokeh Christmas Card (and a few other samples)

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Bokeh comes from the Japanese word boke (ボケ), which means “blur” or “haze”, or boke-aji, the “blur quality.”  Bokeh is pronounced BOH-Kə or BOH-kay and is defined as, “the effect of a soft, out-of-focus background that you get when shooting a subject, using a fast lens, at the widest aperture.”  Simply put, bokeh is the pleasing or aesthetic quality of out-of-focus blur in a photograph.  (See more HERE.)

To create this effect on a card, you ink a background and then sponge over that with white pigment ink through a stencil made with varying sized circles .  Here is a video tutorial showing exactly how this is done.

For the card above, I used Memento Blue Danube and Summer Sky inks, Tim Holtz Seedless Preserves Distress ink, and Tsukineko Brilliance Moonlight White Pigment Ink to create my bokeh background.  I layered several of the sentiment die cuts to help it stand out and added a few sequins to finish off my card.

Here are a few more:

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The die used on this card is the Festive Mini Expressions Stacked Merry Christmas (CEDME014) by Creative Expressions. The background was sponged with Mowed Lawn Distress ink.

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The stamp sets I used for the greeting and bow were both unbranded on this one and were heat embossed in black.  It is a good idea to do any heat embossing before the background sponging and bokeh technique are done because the embossing powder will stick to any ink that is not completely dry.   Background inks were Memento Dandelion, Tangelo, and Lilac Posies.

The Mod Squad Challenge for the next two weeks is “Sentiment Says It All” where the challenge is to have the sentiment take center stage.  All of these samples feature a sentiment on the bokeh background!

Thanks for checking out my card projects!

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