Rudolph Day for April 2018

Good afternoon and I'm skating in at the last moment with a card for April's Rudolph Day. Just by the skin of my teeth, but what the hey, here I am! Been busy, what can I say?

- Navy Blue Card stock

- Penny Black Snowflake die (cut one from glitter paper, one from white card stock, rotated slightly when layering)

- S/B fancy square die for the square background on the snowflake.

- VOS for the blue check dp behind the s/b die.

- embossed with a Snowflake EF... dabbed Tsukineko Delicata White glimmer, then silver glimmer over the embossed snowflakes

- Joanna Sheen Brittania word dies (some of my very first word dies, thanks to Mrs. A, who told me about them) 2 layers, heat embossed with Brutus Monroe Sterling EP.

Very simple card, but I like the sparkle. There's still a few hours before April's Rudolph Day closes, so maybe you can sneak in behind me!

Ya'll have a nice afternoon; I'll be doing some catch up commenting, and maybe plant a few plants we bought over the weekend. I got them home and thought "now WHY did I go buy this stuff?"

Thanks for joining me and come on back when you can! Hugs & Blessings.

Christmas Card Club - Challenge #9

Hello & Welcome. Once again it's time for a Christmas Card Club post, and the theme of our challenge for this week was selected by Rita . Rita wanted to see wreaths. Got lots of wreath dies and stamps too, so I decided to focus on some dies to make my 2 cards this week.

First though, I'd like to welcome a new follower, Ishani, of Quillish. I do hope you'll take time to go over, say hello to Ishani, and enjoy some of her fabulous cards. I found Ishani via Maxine of Kiwime's Kreations. I love finding new friends at an old friend's blog! You might want to say hi to Maxine as well, if you don't already know her!!

Card #1 - a Penny Black wreath die - 3 layers. I forgot to use my nice metal shim that is so good for intricate dies. Had 3 layers that were cut from a piece of white insert cardboard(snippet!). The dies cut pretty well, but I still had to do some fussy scissor cutting on each die cut, because of my forgetting. The ribbon cut very well, however. Colored each layer with copics, glued together. Used a generous inking of versamark, then Ranger Queen's Gold. On the red ribbon, also colored, used some new Gina K Red Hot. I've been looking for a nice red embossing powder, and I think this one made me happy.

 

Cuttlebug embossing folder, heat embossed the edges with the Queen's Gold. The sentiment was cut from the same insert cardboard, 2 layers - copic colored, embossed with Red Hot.

 

Card #2

 

 

 

 

Multiple wreath dies, some 'twig' shaped dies from Gina Marie were cut from colored snippets, also previously made backgrounds. Two other leafy wreath dies were cut from different green snippets. Then a holly leaf die was cut from white c/s and colored with copics. This die had the bow, jingle bell and extra leaves. Added the layers together. Colored the bow and jingle bell (2 layers) then added some Nuvo Crystal Glaze. The card front was a previously created background made with various sprays, then embossed with a poinsettia EF. The sentiment was from a Concord & 9th set, 2 layers, embossed with the Red Hot. 

 

Hope you enjoyed my efforts. Do please visit my team mates, whose blog links are on the right side bar. Should you be interested in joining our group, let me know. It's a great way to build your December stash.

 

Ya'll have a great Sunday, and come again when you have time. It's getting porch weather so pretty soon we could swing, have some ice tea, and watch the world go by! Hugs & Blessings, and thanks for visiting.

 





CAS Watercolor for April

Hi, and welcome to another watercolor attempt by yours truly. Linking in at the last minute, sorry to say, to the April CAS Watercolor, and this month's theme is Birds. Thought of several ways I could try to watercolor something, using a die with a wash of color; but finally decide to use a stamp gifted by a very sweet friend (thank you!) and try the Zigs again.

 

 

 

 

Stamplorations clear stamp

 

Versamark inking using the Misti - inked twice, to get a good image

 

- embossed with Brutus Monroe Gilded Gold

 

- Watercolored with Zig markers.

 

- gold mat was just white c/s that was inked with Versamark, embossed with the Gilded Gold.

 

- dry embossed an edging frame with a S/Binder rectangle.

 

To get the darker shading in places where I wanted it, I used an under layer of Lilac, then various red Zig markers. At first I thought I'd ruined the image with the purple as it showed very magenta, nothing like a Cardinal color. A few layers of red covered it, and did what I'd hoped to accomplish. As I look at the photo, I wonder if perhaps a light blue background would have been a better choice?

 

The eye was embossed solidly, which looked odd, so used a drop of Nuvo to make it look like an 'eye'.

 

Off to link up with the April CAS Watercolor Challenge, scrambling at the last minute.

Thanks for joining me today. The rain seems to have stopped, the sun is trying to come out, so Blessings and Hugs.

 





April's Twofer Challenge - Pets

Hiya! Hope you had a nice Monday to start your week off; we had rain most of the day. I've been in the process of trying to finish up a few cards, and trying to think of something that would fit April's 2fer Challenge with Pets. Here's what I finally came up with...nothing like linking in at the last minute!

Here's the solo pic of the 2 cards, and then below will be individual pictures.

Well, here we are. Now for the individual cards, and a little explanation of how I did #1.

 

Doggy image from an old set of clear stamps by DmD (pets). Used a stencil to create some clouds on a white c/s. Memory Box tree cut from white, colored with copics. A snippet of spotted green DP cut the stitched grass hill that covers the tree trunk. Impression Obsession dies cut the different layers of grass from 2 different snippets of green dp. Tucked the dogs in behind the grass but over the spotted dp hill. The branch in the dog's mouth was hanging down in the way of placing the dogs, so tucked in his mouth. I used this video to do the reverse imaging using my misti. Took about 4 tries before I got a result that I could use. The woof stamp was from the set, embossed with Ranger Seafoam white on a vellum snippet. Frantic Stamper Howdy image die cut from another green snippet and a white snippet. Gluing this down over the vellum circle helped hold it down, plus added some drops around behind the Woof. Added google eyes with the jewel picker, (got from Amazon...I'm liking it better than that pick stick that's been around for a while)

 

Had created this scene as the first card, then tried to think of a way to reuse the dog in another way.
Some flowers & insects from another small stamp set added to the scene after masking the dog. Colored the insects using a BG000 copic, then spread some Liquid Pearl opal over that for shimmer. Which of course, covered up the outlines a bit, so used a Copic multiliner to redraw. This panel was cut out with a small pierced rectangle die, mounted over a MB postage die cut from some floral green that was a small piece in the snippets box. Placed on a black card base. Tried to white emboss over the black card base using the Seafoam White...did not look all that great. Restamped the sentiment on a white snippet using the Misti and black ink; die cut with a Darice rectangle. Smudged some DI Shabby Shutters around the edges to tone down the white. Sprinkled a few sequins round.

I'll be linking this to the April Twofer Card Challenge.  Additionally linking in with Pixie's Snippet Playground, Challenge 324,  just cause there's quite a few snippets on these cards, and I'm missing my little friend Parsnip, whom I don't visit often enough these days. So why don't you just c'mon along and add your cards too? You still have time to participate in both challenges, and there's some great inspiration and lovely people who have already entered.

Thanks for joining me, and God Bless.

PS...I've been getting comments from someone who signs as Anonymous. I don't know if this is a real person who is asking these questions, but since I'm afraid it might be a spammer, I've not been publishing these comments. So if it should be you, and if it's a legitimate comment, try to leave a message with your name or some way I can contact you, ....please! And thank you.

More Rubber Band Cards

Happy Saturday afternoon, and it's been lovely in our area. Temperatures show that it's in high 70-s, but truly it doesn't feel all that warm. Nice, though!

Made some more cards using the fun rubber band technique shown in this video by my talented pal Loll. Took photos this time to show what tools I used, and first up shows the brayer & the size of rubber bands used for this card.

 

 

 

Look closely where the brayer fits into the white handle, and you will see that one of these bands broke. There were 2 bands wrapped on the roller. One broke as it was being rolled. Had a large bag of rubber bands, and they must dry out awfully rapidly, as so many broke as I tried to wrap them. I'd like to buy a smaller bag, but this was the only size I could find at the time. Anyway, it still worked to create the look. The final design definitely depends on the width of the rubber bands used.

 

 

Decided to try the bands over an acrylic block as shown in the video. Used 2 narrow rubber bands on the block. Use an embossing buddy over the surface of the card to keep the ep just where you want it. After inking the block edge of the rubber bands with versamark, just stamped around all the surface of a white c/s, embossed this with a silver EP. Then used DOX in Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers, and Mermaid Lagoon (I think) to sponge the surface. Buffed off the sponging with a soft cloth. Then die cut with some dies that were bought from Ali Express. Here's the 2 cards created from this piece.

 

On the filigree leaf, wrapped another rubber band across the block and dabbled around the black mat  of the filigree leaf. Used Ranger Blue Pearl, Green Pearl, just to see what these pearl embossing powders looked like on a dark background. They don't usually show up very well on white (I tried embossing the sentiment this way, and ended up covering it with the black fishtail). The card fronts were dry embossed with a square die to add a subtle frame around the black mats . Due cut the happy die from black c/s, inked with versamark, sprinkled the blue pearl EP & heat embossed.  Right black mat edges were dragged over the versamark, then sprinkled some of the green pearl EP over it to add a little more interest.

 

The April CAS Mixup Challenge is still open until April 24, so why not have a little fun with this technique, and link your cards there?

 

Thanks for visiting & enjoy your weekend. Hugs & Blessings.

 

 



 





Christmas Card Club Challenge #8 - Christmas Greenery

Every 2nd Sunday,  our group of ladies in a Christmas Card Club share our cards - designed to a specific theme one of us has chosen. This week it was my pleasure to select the challenge theme of Poinsettias or any other type of Christmas Greenery. I had just used the poinsettia theme for our last Challenge of Christmas Flowers, so decided to go with Christmas Greenery. This stamp had a basket of holly, so decided that would be my card focus for this challenge.

- image colored with copics, WoS. I liked the way it turned out, but since there was a piece of water color paper that had been cut to size, messed up on one side, I decided to use the opposite (clean) side, to stamp the image again, and try to watercolor it using Zig markers. Used Hero Arts Concrete Flannel, the misti, and several stampings to get a good outline on the w/c paper. (140#). Heat set the outline before starting to w/color and it didn't bleed.

 

 

Tried to replicate the same colors as card #1 and I have to confess, I _still_ think #1 looks better. I see in the photo, which I had  not caught IRL, that I need to do some darker shading on the berries to sort of 'separate' them. I can do that with pencils - I hope. I keep trying to master this w/color stuff...

 

Used the same supplies on both cards. (the red card front c/s came from a Christmas pack. Took out 2 sheets without realizing I had 2 sheets in hand, cut to make the 4.25x5.5 size card shape I usually use. Voila, there was 2 sheets together so I made one card base with the solid red, and the other with the red & gold dots.)

 

-MBox sentiment die - 3 layers, used Brutus Gilded Gold to emboss it. The circle mats were also gold embossed but I think I used a different gold power for that.

 

Hope you can visit our card group to see some gorgeous cards made on this theme...their blog links are in the right side bar. Enjoy. Thanks for visiting and come again when you have time.

Hugs & have a great day.

 

 



CAS Mixup Card Challenge for April 2018

Happy Friday - gosh just realized the date is the 13th! Oh well, I'm not superstitious - very much, anyway! There's a neat challenge going on over at the CAS Mixup for April...using rubber bands. Finally had a chance to have a play, but this past week was rather busy for us, so just got a card made with one of my efforts.

First, though, I'd like to welcome a new follower, Louise of Cards4ubyLouise and Other Treasures.
I happened to spot Louise on a visit to my blog pal, Brenda of Inkspired to Stamp, as Brenda had shared a lovely card using the Black Ice technique. Louise's comment indicated she was going to try the technique, so of course I paid her a visit, enjoyed her cards, and there you go. It's interesting how  visiting various blogs can often lead you to a new friend. So if you've the time, I urge you to visit both these blogs to enjoy some really pretty cards using this 'new-to-me' Black Ice technique.

Now on to the CAS Mixup Challenge for April 2018:

 

 

Edit: A nifty video by Loll shows off this neat & easy technique.

 



My effort at this technique.

 

 

- 2 medium size rubber bands wrapped round a brayer roller.

 

- inked with versamark, WOW white pearl embossing powder for the resist.

 

- DOX smooshing with Twisted Citron, Broken China. Looked at this for a bit, thought it was too greeny, so went back and did a couple more layers with Blueprint Sketch, drying in between the smooshing. DIe cut with a stitched rectangle die

 

- MB Koi die cut from a previous background made with Dylusions sprays

 

- mirror gold overlayer cut and adhered.

 

- Sentiment stamped and then added some Nuvo Grey mist for water bubbles. Hope I left enough white space to consider this a CAS!

 

I'll be back later - hopefully before the challenge closes - with another card made using thinner rubber bands wrapped over a small ink block.

 

CAS Mixup Card Challenge for April 2018

 

Ya'll have a good afternoon, and come back when you can! Hugs & Blessings.

 



Happy Easter Chicks

Good morning, and a big Happy Easter to you all! Just wanted to pop in to wish the Blessings of this day to all of you, and share a card, that will be for the Mr. As usual, his the last made, since I don't have to consider the time aspect of mailing.

- background was sponged DOX in colors that were on the focal image. Stamped and embossed the stamped egg that is also on the front of the card. Used Detail white, then did the sponging. Used a water brush to go over the inner design, which lifted some of the DOX color.

Penny Black transparent set for the Easter Chicks. Aren't they just so cute?

- DP snippet from some earlier Easter cards, colored the image, diecut with a S/B die.

- IO wooden image of the egg, colored with copics, then applied Glossy Accents, fussy cut.

- Stamp Doc image for the sentiment.

 

 

The last of the Easter cards, which were mailed late. This was a cling Penny Black image, colored with copics.

 

I must apologize that I am woefully behind in returning visits, but don't give up on me. I'll get round though it may take me a few days. I'm appreciating all the wonderful folks who stop & take time to leave encouragement and kind words.

 

Just have a wonderful Blessed day. We will be with the family who are here locally, and plan to go out for dinner.  Big hugs. Thanks for stopping in.