July CAS Mix up Challenge

Good evening. We had a nice little rainstorm this afternoon. Has cooled down the temps beautifully. After spending the afternoon as we usually do on Sunday - with my 2 brothers, then  we ate out as a family. Came home, got showered & into my summer jammies;  sat out on the porch swing, reading and watching the heat lightning for a little while. Very pleasant, almost too cool for bare arms, so as twilight fell, I came inside.

I've been working on this card off and on for a while, hoping to get it finished before the July CAS Mix Up Challenge ends. I hope it fits the requirements.

Played with Distress and Oxide inks, smooshing onto a craft mat, spritzing, sometimes with water, sometimes with a pearlized spray. Smooshed pieces of 140# watercolor pieces into the inks. Think it was Twisted Citrus, Bundled Sage, Mustard Seed and Peacock blue. Don't remember which was DI and which was DOX. Let layers dry, then added more of the same colors, but at each layer, used a different combination of the same inks. Sometimes after finishing the smooshing, sprayed a gold spray lightly over the piece to dry. When doing the next layer, I'd try to let some of the gold show through. IRL you can see the gold glimmer, not so much in the photo.

Die cut with a Penny Black fern shape, which dictated the smooshing colors I selected. The negative piece will be used for something else later.

A white snippet from which an oval die shape had been cut, was used for the topper. Placed the die behind the oval, tucking some of the fronds to the outside. Thought that looked cool, but the plain white looked 'plain'! Used the 3D Sizzix branches EF to emboss the front. Had thought to ink up the folder, but remembered for the CAS the background needed to be white. (Not real certain if the embossing will disqualify this as CAS!) Needed to have a background behind the die cut, so used another white snippet.  Memento New Sprout inked the EF before running this through the Big Shot. Added a couple sequins & used a tear drop pad of New Sprout to emphasize the oval edge. (Adhered the pieces, but later wished I'd used some fun foam behind the topper to create more dimension). The sentiment was inked with some green pigment ink, but then while it was still wet, decided to heat emboss with Ranger Queen's Gold. I was glad I had, as I think this showed up better than the green ink would have.

Hope all of you had a pleasant and relaxing weekend. Blessings and Hugs, and come back when you have time! Thanks for visiting this evening.

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.

 



CAS Mix up Valentine

Good morning, and I expect you are so tired of seeing Valentine cards. Sorry, but that is what I had to get made this week! If I were on top of things, I'd make these all year long, and share one or two along instead of a bunch at once. Oh well...I'm so glad you came by for a little visit. Just a few more, and I'll get on to some other subject.

Over at February CAS Mix Up the challenge is to use Felt, Cork or Canvas, plus stamping. I've never worked with either Cork, Canvas or Felt, but after seeing some really pretty entries, hunted up a 6x6 pack of DCWV cork and went to work:

 

 

Heart die cut the cork very easily, then cut the same heart with a smaller die using a very lightweight balsa wood that has been here for ages. Again, this is quite thin material, used for making model airplanes I think. (DH bought this wood for us to try die cutting, worked very well, but probably wouldn't be so great with an intricate die).  The 3rd heart was cut from corrugated paper - a cover from a Starbucks latte. Not sure what these things are called, but it's the little holder put around the cup to avoid burning your palm with a hot cup. Used the blank side, cut a heart. Colored with several layers of copic reds, then using my finger, rubbed some gold Novu mousse over it. Not bad for recycling.  Lastly, added a trim with thin copic wire. Folks, this was another experimental play session.

 

Needed a way to add the sentiment, but didn't want to stack any more on the heart layers. Found an arrow die. Cut 2 layers from a business card(more recycle!), used a gold pen to color each layer. [Remember to color the white edges that can be seen when stacking dies]. Heat embossed the sentiment  in gold onto a snippet of cream textured c/stock, punched holes in this with a tiny hand punch. Twisted some more of the copper wire to hang it from the arrow. (the wire inspiration came from this card)

 

Embossed a heart EF, stacked all of it on a white card base, Voila. So I'm off to link up with February's CAS Mix up. Why not join in?

Hope you'll take time to check out the Cards by Friends page...there's a gorgeous new card added.

Thanks for joining me today. Hugs and have a grand weekend. Come again when you can.

CAS Mixup Brusho and Clingwrap

HiYa...We have welcome sunshine after several dreary days. Think the cold front moving across the USA is on its way towards us, as the air is much cooler today. I hope all of you dealing with health issues are beginning to feel improvement. So many folks are down with respiratory infections, colds, the winter blues. Sending hugs to those folks.

After some playing with the brusho/starch/cling wrap techniques, I'm back with another card made from that play. Will add it to the CAS Mixup Challenge for January.

 

 

Blue background created with Dylusions After Midnight spray over a glossy krome kote cardstock; sprinkled some blue shades of brusho crystals, may have added a dash of the black pot, then spray starch. Let it bloom just a bit, then crumple a piece of cling wrap and just scrunch it all around. (remember that old song, You Do the Hokey Pokey and you shake it all about? Well, maybe nobody ever sings that anymore, but that's what I think about as I'm scrunching that cling wrap LOL).

MB die cut white glitter paper (American Crafts 6x6 pack - it does not have the heavy plastic backing some glitter papers do, so it's very easy to cut). Cut a plain c/s of the same die to give the glitter paper a little heft. Used a Hero Arts Infinity circle die to get a shape to fit the blue background - round part of the snow globe. I have quite a few different circle dies, and would you believe not a single one fits exactly? I made one of the Infinity dies fit with a little trim here and there, and carefully glueing it to the globe. Could have cut another die from the blue and done an inlay, though some of the bits would have been tedious. I'm not in the mood for tedious just now.

Fun Foam behind the finished snow globe for dimension. Then popped it onto a rectangle embossed with our favorite CB dots EF. Cut thin strips from the remaining brusho piece to create a frame after seeing how it looked just plopped over the snowflake mat. Stamped sentiment in Memento Paris Dusk, then restamped with versamark and clear EP to get some shine. Hand cut the sentiment piece and this is the card that was delivered to our neighbor with the new knee this morning. Since it was a little bulky - thought this would be a good use of a dimensional card, and will save the earlier card to mail.

Added a pretty card to the Cards by Friends page. Now off to link up with the CAS Mix Up Challenge. Hope you'll come along and see some gorgeous cards done with this technique.

Blessings and Hugs. Thanks for the visit.

CAS Mixup Challenge with Brusho and Cling Wrap Technique

Good afternoon, welcome and all that stuff! We're getting rain at our house, but the temperature is a bit warmer. (gosh, the older I get, the more I talk about the weather! Or how I feel...I used to laugh to myself at old people who did that. Now I ARE one!) LOL


First off, big shout out to a lovely new follower:

Christine of It's a Card Days Night

Do go over to see Christine's wonderful work and say Hello. You won't be sorry! She's also a guest Designer this month at CAS Mixup with a gorgeous card.

Next:

There is a fun challenge going on over at CAS Mixup for January. Since I enjoy some of the techniques that are 'it' for this challenge, I wanted to try to join in. Here's the card:

Some blog pals are using a 'new to me' glossy cardstock, which I think is called pancetta or Carolina Cardstock for some clingwrap/brusho techniques. I don't have that, but thought I'd try Kromekote glossy cardstock (Marcos Paper) and Yupo, with the technique to see what would result. Both seemed to work ok, but the Yupo took much longer drying time. Even after 24 hrs, it was still wet in spots, which I daubed with a towel; still looked sort of wet, so then I used a Tim Holtz heat gun - very cautiously keeping it a good distance from the yupo which is a plastic type of paper and will melt I'm told. Tried that a couple of times over a few hours, and it did get dry.

What created this background was: glossy cardstock, sprinkled blue shades of Brusho over it, then spritzed with spray starch (cheap stuff from the Dollar Store). I'd not tried spray starch before, only water or other sprays. The starch makes it smell very nice I must say. Then use a piece of cling wrap, bigger than the piece, and as you lay the cling over the wet piece, scrunch it up a lot. Leave it to dry. I left this one overnight. When you remove the cling film, what a beautiful design you see.

Also tried spraying Dylusions After Midnight to wet the surface first, then sprinkled brusho blues, then starch, and this resulted in a much deeper blue (pretty too!). However, the cling wrap does dilute the depth of the color though, at least it did for me.

Then die cut with a stitched square. Tried to stamp with a Penny Black clear stamp.First tried a navy blue Staz-on (one of the newer pads with the square design, not the old-style rectangle shape pad). Used Misti so could repeat stamp but that didn't help. Not certain if it's the stamp, stamping with that ink on the slick surface, or Just Plain Ole Operator Error! Cleaned the stamp well (and now of course it's stained). Repeated the process with the Staz-on black - no better results.  Cleaned again - then tried Versafine Onyx Black. Stamped 2 times, (thank you Misti) and got this result. My friend Nancy S. (no blog) suggested I try Ranger Archival Black with this stamp - so I did (but this effort is not that try!) I'm pleased to say the test stamping with Ranger did work better. Just sayin'. Still not sure this stamp is not part of the problem though.

Anyway, mounted the focal point with fun foam for dimension over an embossed floral pattern, then onto a white card base. The sentiment was stamped with the same versafine black, and heat embossed with clear EP, corners rounded. That's that. A neighbor has just had her 2nd knee replacement, so this is for her. Hope ya'll like it and will pop over to CAS Mix Up Card Challenge to join in with the fun - I'm off to link up this card.

Please take a moment to see the Cards by Friends page, as a new Christmas card was added with this post. 

I hope that the explanation of my experiments is not too confusing for any of you who might wish to try this technique for the first time. It is a lot of fun. (a good tip: wear gloves, I didn't).


Blessings and Hugs.

An Inlaid Rose for CAS Mixup Challenge

Good afternoon on a lovely & quiet warm Saturday. Doing bed linens after running some errands this morning so just took a minute's break to do a little post. I've been wanting to join in with the current CAS Mix Up Challenge and finished up a couple of cards that might work for this month's challenge.

Here's the 2nd card - both used the same Gina Marie flower die, and were made from Brusho backgrounds.

 

These roses have been floating around on the desk for some time, and so has the embossed background. Hunted up the Gina Marie rose die and die cut the background (and reminder to self: best to die cut first, then emboss! I was lucky enough on the first card that the Mbossibility folder (So Trendy) lined up perfectly, so I could re-emboss after the die cutting sort of flattened out. On the 2nd card, I diecut the opening for the inlay, then embossed). 

 

Card #1, with fun foam behind the rose inlay

The same design, just having the rose facing opposite direction. The reason I did a second card? When making this one, I had the bright idea to add a cut foam shape behind the rose (fussy cut the shape). The dimension is great, but thought it may look more like it was just adhered to the top of the card front, rather than inlay. But the rose was glued to the foam, then both pieces were inlaid into the opening. Looks quite nice IRL.... This is a really pretty die, and I like the look of the brusho pieces that were extremely easy to put back in the shapes.

A new Easter card was added to the Cards by Friends page, and I'll be back later with another CAS watercolor challenge card.

Ya'll have a great afternoon, and I'm off to the CAS Mix up Card Challenge..rules are in the badge at the beginning of the post. You still have time to play along!

Hugs and Prayers.

CAS Mixup Challenge with Smooshed Flowers

Hello again and back with the card for the March CAS Mix up challenge.

But first let me say a warm welcome to some new followers:

Lynn in IN. of Ruby-Dooby-Doo Crafts

Chantal of Chantal Hobby Blog

Sherry G. of Loose Stitches and Unraveled Threads

 

Ladies thanks so much for becoming new followers, and I hope you will find time to visit whenever you can.  I encourage my old friends to check out the work of my new friends, and enjoy some fine inspiration with these talented bloggers. I know they'll be happy to get to know you as well. 

 

Rules are easy, and shown in the badge. Remember, the card must have white (and don't forget to stamp something, as I've done on occasion!) I hope there is enough white to be eligible...

- smooshed with Brushos and Color Burst in Orange, yellows and some tangerine (Color Burst). I just sprinkled the products onto a craft mat, spritzed water, some gold spray, and smooshed away until I got results that I liked. Did several of these, and die cut one to use for the flowers. The green stems are a snippet left from this card.

Lil Inker Diamond Lace Coverup Die used to emboss the background, and of course Debossed the pretty side, but it looks nice either way.

- Paper Smooches Dainty Flowers. Replaced the stems, leaf insets, and the flower petals with snippets of other smooshed pieces. No difficult inlay, just glue!

- Penny Black clear Garden Friends set for the sentiment, using DI Spiced Marmalade and Abandoned Coral, with the Misti. Not sure if this stamp just doesn't give a sharp emboss-- if it was the water color paper OR if it was using the DI inks. It's a bit fuzzy, but we're gonna go with it! Fishtailed the ends, added some Nuvo crystal drops...and that's it. Happy Spring!

There's a couple of new cards added to the Cards by Friend page, so if you've time, please to enjoy these with us.

Don't you want to try some smooshing of your own? There's still time over at the March CAS Mixup Challenge. 

Thanks for joining me this evening, and don't forget Blog Candy #2 is still available, but you must be a follower, and have the thumbnail picture on your blog.  Big Hugs.

CAS Mix up Challenge February 2017

Good evening, and hope you've had a great Saturday. Back again with another card to try to join in with the February 2017 CAS Mix Up Challenge.

 

But first, please help me say a big hello to a new follower, Asha M.  I can't determine if Asha has a blog, but Asha if you do have a blog, please provide me with the link. I like to introduce my new friends to my old friends, and I want to be sure to pop over to enjoy your work too. Thanks for joining as a new follower. Love to make new friends!

 

Here's the card and my optional choice item was the Tim Holtz Sizzix 660222 Thinlets Scribbles & Splat die set - the heart.

Many of you have commented about being unfamiliar with the Silks Glaze products, so included a picture of what this product looks like. The sets are available in Hobby Lobby and other box store, and individual pots are available in Stamp/Scrapbook/Art stores and this is a Luminart product. Can be used as watercolor if thinned to that consistency, but also as a thicker acrylic paint. Some of mine have 'hardened' since being in the stash for a while, but just spritzed some water in the pot, and let it soften...much as would happen with the Twinkling H20's.

-Mixed Media weight c/s 98#. Splashed some of the red color over the c/s, let it begin to dry just a bit, then dabbed a piece of bubble wrap into the still wet color. Finished drying with a heat tool, as I wanted to get the card into the challenge. (more about the woes of this card below!) Flattened the card overnight, but in the photo, it looks like it may need even more pressing time.

- black c/s was crinkled in an old Fiskars crinkle tool. Tried this with a lightweight chipboard, nothing was happening. Decided to try with a lighter weight c/s, and it crinkled nicely. (also separated a box that my ATG tape came in, as that weight was too heavy to crinkle. Once I separated into 2 layers, it crinkled great, but after spraying Dylusions Black Marble over the 2 pieces, then a bit of Tattered Angels gold, it wasn't great background for the heart. (Message: stop when it looks good, don't keep adding more!!!) S'ok -- , can be used on another project.

- Red Mirror c/s to cut the Twiggy heart, using the nice heavy metal shim, and it cut smoothly with a couple of fwd/backward passes.

- Old wooden block stamp inked with Versafine Onyx and stamped. Tiny red punched heart from the snippet left from the twiggy heart.

Backstory: You'll remember an earlier card done for the challenge but as I went to link, realized I had forgotten to stamp on it. Decided to remake the card so basically the same background was done. This first try had some great texture from the bubble wrap, and then smooshed the wet bubble wrap over the white areas, got some lovely spatters. Went to stamp the text...big time SMEARS! Said a couple of discouraging words too. That's when the 2nd w/color background was made, and as sentiment was stamped again, I was being _VERRRRY_ careful. There is a  slight smudge under the 'N' - not so visible to the eye, but figured the camera would catch  it....hence the tiny punched heart.
I was beginning to think it was not meant I should enter this challenge. LOL!

Do check the Cards by Friends tab if you have time, as some lovely new Valentine cards are being shared here. Thanks for joining me tonight, and wishing you a wonderful Sunday. Big hugs.

Pearly Flowers CAS Mixup Challenge

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

 

Welcome on a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon. It's rather warm here, but low humidity, so it's pleasant outside. It's been quiet here at our house, as Father has done what he pleased (which is napping - with no interruption from annoying phone calls).

 

Here's a card, which I hope will work for the June CAS Mix Up Challenge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This card also has snippets - 2 efforts...tried sprinkling water droplets on the first one, and it looked terrible! So repeated the efforts, left off the water sprinkles.

 

- PB Efflorescence flowers stamped with WOW embossing ink, heat embossed Stampendous Pearl white. (I'm finding this WOW embosser is giving me better results than the Versamark pads. Not sure if perhaps the Versamark pads need a good reinking).

 

- Sponged the piece with DI Iced Lemonade, Twisted Citron and Victorian Rose; the V. Rose was not dark enough, so came back over that with Picked Raspberry, liked that better.  Some **Nuvo Mother of Pearl Mousse** was rubbed very lightly over this and added some lovely glimmer.

 

- fussy cut flowers from the water spattered piece, and popped this atop the flowers in this piece (a snippet from the inside of the die cut Pretty Pink Posh Scallop Frames - the smaller die. Hope this will work as the CAS Mix Up Die Cut requirement!)

 

- Coutour Creations Marriot Collection Only One EF (used the debossed side, accidently, but like it). I wanted something very simple so as to keep focus on the sponging.

 

- Wood stamp from 2010 Rubber Soul for the sentiment...stamped in Wow embossing powder on a black snippet, heat embossed with SnS White Detail EP.  Stamped this sentiment 3 times thinking I'd gotten it crooked, until I looked at the red rubber...and realized - it's made this way! It's showing 'straight' on the wooden block.  Hand trimmed the banner.

 

Now off to link at June CAS Mix Up, the Snippets Playground (week 234) and Sparkle n Sprinkle's June Anything Goes challenge (but you must use loose glitter, embossing powder, and/or flocking).

 

**The Nuvo Mousse I have was ordered from SnS, but I didn't find it stocked when I checked the Nuvo supplies at SnS, so I've linked to Oozak, which shows the product.

 

Thanks for joining me this afternoon, and hope your day has been relaxing and pleasant. Also hope you'll check out some of these challenges, and perhaps join in yourself. Many thanks for the wonderful response to the Summer Blog Dress. 

 

Now I have some lovely visits from sweet commenters that I need to get started, so BIG HUGS!

 

 







CAS Mix Up - with DI Lifting Technique

Hello and Welcome! This afternoon's card has a technique done by Jennifer McGuire called Distress Ink Lifting. Finally had a chance to try this, and while my technique is not as polished as Jennifer's, I was pleased with the final result. There's a new CAS Mix Up Challenge for June, so I'm hoping this will work for that challenge.

Here goes:

- Inked an old wooden block hydrangea with versamark, heat embossed with Ranger Liquid Platinum on white cardstock. Direct to paper with DI Blueprint Sketch....lots of ink...many times going over the piece. When it would dry, it looked way too light to me, for any lifting to be apparent. Then used DI Wilted Violet a couple of times, still not dark enough, so back over with Seedless Preserves. This finally looked dark enough to try to lift some ink.

- aqua brush touched to petals, leaves, lifting, blotting, until some of the color was removed.

- Pretty Pink Posh Scallop Frames die cut the frame, which was embossed with the liquid platinum. This die was not long enough so extended the cut by moving the die before reaching the 'end' of it, reversing the die to get the length required, and finished the cut. Then embossed. Frame adhered over the inked cardstock.

- white card front EF is a Darice dots.  Tiny tag is an Mini Square Tags Die Set by Impression Obsession, stamped with Hero Arts Wet Cement using an old wooden block stamp that just fits the dies in this IO set.

- Pretty Pink Posh 4mm clear droplets added and called it finished. Hope you like this. I think I shall try this technique again, with some of the other DI darker colors. I really liked the liquid platinum embossing with the dark blue-purple.

Thanks for joining me this afternoon. Hope you'll join in at June's CAS Mix Up Challenge. Hugs

Teal Butterflies Embossed with a Stencil



 

Hi, and in case you didn't already know this, I spend a lot of time watching Youtube (could this be why I accomplish so little during the day? Nah, probably not!)

 

 

Caught this video from Ellen Hutson using a plastic stencil. I'd seen this done before, and had tried it, but never felt like I got a good embossing. Loved the Hero Arts stencil used in this video, but don't have it (_yet_!). Hunted through my stencils, and thought to try this MBox stencil. Mrs. A's  Butterfly Challenge #53 was for teal & texture, and this was started with that challenge in mind. Doing my usual ploy of missing the deadline, decided this would also work for the May CAS Mix Up Challenge.

 



 

 

 

 

MBox Butterfly Vine Stencil was taped over white card stock, run through the Big Shot as instructed in the video. However, I had to go to Tab 1, and add a lightweight shim (cut from a tv dinner box). My B/S is a newer one, and the sandwich used in the video was too 'tight' to go through on Tab 2. Worked good on Tab 1, with the shim, and got a very nice embossing.

 

Used Memento Teal and DI Concord Grape to sponge over the still taped stencil.

 

MBox butterfly (solid die cut from a snippet from a heavier weight paper that came from a set of sheets..it was part of the packing that helps keep the sheet package in a shaped form. It was white on one side, so hmmm...to the craft room instead of the recycle box. It cut very nicely, and there's 2 layers). The matching overlay die was used to cut the top butterfly, and this was sponged the ink remaining on the sponge from the Concord Grape. Added a couple rhinestones for a little glitz.

 

Sentiment is from a PBlack clear set, chosen primarily because it fit the space where I wanted to put it. Inked with the Memento Teal, heat embossed with Ranger Clear EP.

 

The stitched edges were made from a Lawn Fawn stitched rectangle. (Jennifer McGuire recent video showing how to do this. Cut the rectangle shape. Replace the rectangle die so that it is only going to cut on a 2nd edge..and then you have the skinnier rectangle with the stitching all around it. Would post the link, but can't find it just now!). If anyone is interested, I'll try to hunt it up. I learn a lot from Jennifer!!!

 

Hope this will fit the bill of fare for CAS Mix Up. So thanks for skipping by and come back when you can. Blessings & Hugs.

 

 

 

 

Embossed Leaves and Vellum

Good afternoon and welcome - there is an new challenge going on over at CAS Mix up for May.

Thought I'd try to play along. A very old set of wooden Hero Arts leaves has been waiting patiently on the messy desk for months to be inked. A set of 4, bought long years ago. Had seen a video, where leaves were inked with versamark, stamped on vellum, then embossed with white powder -- very pretty effect. This leaf set was put out on the desk with all intentions of trying this technique.Have no idea who did it, what youtube it was, but....finally Got Rountoit.

Stamped on  vellum, embossed with SnS White Detail Powder, (very pleased with the results too). While thinking _just what to do_ with the embossed leaves, stamped again onto a white piece of card stock. Grabbed Lemonade, Twisted Citrus, Mowed Lawn, Tumbled Glass Distress Inks & sponged all over this card stock. Looked pretty good...Hmmm..wonder what some Perfect Pearls Gold powder might look like on this? Put 'er down, burnished well with dry baby wipe - it looked good! However, there were places where the PP didn't want to be burnished away as cleanly as I would have wished, but still liked the overall effect.

Then I visited Stamping with Klass and saw the card Bonnie had designed for CAS Mix up; great minds and all that! (I did email Bonnie about the path of my own efforts). However, aside from enjoying her lovely card, Bonnie added a link to a video, Layered Embossing using an Altenew floral set. The technique for doing each step was: ink,emboss an image or two, then move on to the next ink, emboss; this method yielded a much better placement of the stamps than the way I did it. After embossing, you can see where to place the next image, rather than trying to find the versamark inking & not overlap! What really inspired me though, was the manner in which Svitlana die cut the finished piece.

Used the MBox Open Studio Postage Stamp Square die to cut this shape. Then used a S/B square to cut out one of the vellum leaves, added a faux mat (from a snippet of another dry embossing - you can't see the texture in the photo, but it's lines). Placed this in the point as a spotlight effect.

- HLS Bold Birthday Sentiments inked with versamark, heat embossed with Ranger Liquid Platinum. This is a rather warm-toned silvery effect, and thought it looked better with the vellum than a heavier gold or silver would have. 

Thanks to Bonnie and Svitlana for the wonderful inspiration in finishing this card!

Now, I'm off to link up with the CAS Mix Up May Challenge. Why not come along and have some fun and fabulous inspiration?

Thanks for coming by and big hugs!

Watercolor Flowers & Stenciling

Good afternoon. In case you didn't already know this, there is a fun challenge going on over at CAS Mix Up. This month's theme is Stamping + Stenciling and your choice of some other options.

Additional options are listed on the right side bar over at CAS Mix Up.

Here's my entry:

 

Yet another effort with the water coloring. 

 

Rubbernecker Layered Poppy Set 860 (bought in Florida on our last visit). Gansai Watercolors to create a background, then  stamped the outline using Memento Nautical Teal. Used Zig brush markers over the solid stamp included with the set, spritzed with water, inked the image.

 

- Used TH Flourish Stencil to add some dimension using Gold Viva Décor paste.

 

- the sentiment (which came from 2 different clear sets, and I don't remember which!) was placed on a stamp, inked with Nautical Teal. The focal piece is mounted on white fun foam, and adhered to a white card base which had been embossed with an old Darice EF.

 

Our family has a lot of summer birthdays, so this will take care of a June one!

 

I do hope you'll have time to join in with the CAS Mix Up Card Challenge for April. There's some AWESOME inspiration posted.

A lovely sunny warm day here in my area. Hope it's nice where you may be this afternoon too. Thanks for coming by to visit. Hugs & Blessings.