CAS(E) this Sketch #256 - birthday wishes

I made this card for this week's CAS(E) this Sketch #256.

Chrissy's sketch was a little challenging and I was thinking for a while whether I should go with a graphic design theme or a nature theme. 
When I saw Donna's cascaded rose card, a light bulb went on - Orchids!
I have Altenew's classy orchid stamps but I haven't used them. I thought this was a perfect opportunity to play with them. 

I heat-embossed the flowers and the buds on a piece of parchment, colored them with Zig markers, and die cut them. I drew the stem with Zig markers and Prismacolor pencils. I lightly colored the card base with Oxide Ink using a clarity brush and stamped the sentiment in Versafine.

Here's a close-up of the flowers:

Actually, I made 3 cards for the sketch - One of them was ruined because I accidentally dropped liquid glue on the card base after I finished the card ...😢
The other card I made is this:

I used specialty vellum (it has a sheen to it) instead of parchment, darkened the colors of the flowers, and pasted the front panel on black cardstock. I carefully drew the stem with Prismacolor pencils.
However, I liked the first simpler card better after all. I'm sure you all have experienced this: the amount of time and energy you spend on a card doesn't always correlate with the end result. Sometimes it's frustrating but I guess that's what makes card-making challenging and fun. 😊 

Thanks for visiting me today! 


Stamp: Oriental Orchid (Altenew), That Is All (WPlus9)
Paper: Neenah Cardstock (Solar White - 110 lb), Parchment (Grafix Arts)
Ink: VersaMark (Tsukineko), Zig Clean Color Brush Marker (Yellow, Orange, Light Violet, Pale Green, Light Green - Kuretake), Distress Oxide (Wilted Violet - Ranger), Versafine (Onyx Black - Tsukineko), Colored Pencils (Grass Green, Dark Brown - Prismacolor)
Accessories: Oriental Orchid Die (Altenew), Embossing Powder (Liquid Platinum - Ranger), Die-namics A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things)

CAS(E) this Sketch #255 - thank you

I made a very simple one layer card for this week's CAS(E) this Sketch #255.

Here's Donna's sketch:

I heat-embossed the magnolia and the sentiment in Gold Rich Pale, masked the flower, and then stenciled the wavy lines with Prismacolor pencils. Finally I colored the flower. It was quite some time ago when I last used colored pencils for my cards, so it was fun playing with them!

Thanks for stopping by!


Stamp: Magnolias for Her (Altenew)
Paper: Specialty Paper (Spicy Yogurt - Altenew)
Ink: VersaMark (Tsukineko), Colored Pencils (Canary Yellow, True Green, Light Cerulean Blue, Light Aqua, White, Pink, Process Red - Prismacolor)
Accessories: Stencil (Stylish Borders - Hero Arts), Embossing Powder (Gold Rich Pale - Wow!)

CAS Mix Up January Challenge - amazing friend

I've seen some beautiful shimmering cling wrap background cards in the CAS Mix Up Challenge gallery and I was inspired to make one.
I tried with my Mica Watercolour Pearlescent Paints to make this background.

I used the paints on white watercolor paper at first, but I realized they looked more shimmery and vibrant on darker paper. Thank you for your great examples of using black cardstock, Christine (It's a Card Day's Night)!
This blue against black is my favorite among the backgrounds I made earlier this week.

[Learning/improvement]
When I tried the cling wrap technique the first time this month, I didn't get many clear wrinkles. I knew it was something to do with the drying process - the wrap was lifting from the wet surface while drying. I mentioned the problem to Nancy (scandinancy creates), and she gave me a couple of additional tips that really made a difference for me: Put a large acrylic block on the crinckled wrap for a couple of minutes and tuck the ends of the wrap under the cardstock before drying it overnight. I tried that and Voila! It worked like magic. I got a lot of clear wrap wrinkles in the background. Thank you very much for your useful tips, Nancy!

The stark and energetic background was perfect for the city landscape. I made the card look as simple as possible, holding back my urge to add some kind of embellishment. 😉

I die-cut the city skylines and flipped over the solid one, glued it onto the background, and popped up the other one (with windows) with foam tape in front. I love the blue shimmer and I'm pretty happy with how the card turned out.

I'm entering it in the CAS Mix Up Challenge. I used Cling Wrap, stamping, and die-cutting.

Thanks for visiting me today!

Stamp: Friends (Hero Arts)
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Mica Watercolor Pearlescent Paint (Sapphire Blue - Finetec), Midnight Muse (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:Die-namics Skyline Border, A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things), Foam Tape (3M)

CAS(E) this Sketch #254 - happy birthday

I made a card for the CAS(E) this Sketch #254 this weekend.

Here's Leigh's elegant sketch:

I basically copied the challenge sketch and added a little kitschy twist. 

When I saw the sketch, I thought about one of the die sets I bought when I started card making several years ago. I liked the set but somehow I hadn't used it. So I finally did. It's the light gray frame.

Thanks for checking in!


Stamp: Bamboo Rose (Altenew), Tiny Tipe (Clearly Besotted)
Paper: Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Soft Sky (Stampin' Up!), Translucent Vellum, Grapesicle (My Favorite Things)
Ink: VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Accessories:Embossing Folder (Roses - Sizzix), Spellbinders Nestabilities (Fleur De Lis Squares), Embossing Powder (Silver - Hero Arts, Pool Party - Stampin' Up), Cording Trim (Silver - Stampin' Up!), Thin 3D Foam Squares (Scrapbook Adhesives)

CAS Mix Up & CAS Watercolour January Challenges - happy birthday

My friend's birthday is coming up, so I made a card using a cling wrap background I made last weekend.

I sprinkled Red, Gray, and White Brushos on Arches hot press watercolor paper, spritzed with water, placed cling wrap over the wet Brushos, and scrunched up the wrap. I used Gray Brusho, but when I spritzed the water, it turned into Deep Purple (the little square on the top). You never know what kind of magic water does to Brushos!
I heat-embossed the sentiment and the rim of the mat in Gold and tilted the front panel to create a fun look - it's for a birthday after all.

I like that the die-cut squares look and feel like suede.


I'm sharing the card with CAS Mix Up Challenge and CAS Watercolour Challenge.

   

Thanks for stopping by!


Stamp: Birthday Builder (Altenew)
Paper: Hot Press Watercolour Paper (Arches - 140 lb), Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Brusho (Colourcraft - Ostwald Red, Grey, White), VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Die-namics Stitched Mod Squre STAX, Stitched Rectagle STAX (My Favorite Things), Embossing Powder (Hero Arts - Gold), Jewels (Lucy's Cards - Clear Iridescent Mix)

CAS Mix Up January Challenge - sending hugs

I was very excited when I found out that Nancy (scandinancy creates) hosted the CAS Mix Up Challenge this month and that she chose the Cling Wrap technique! I've been wanting to try it and I feel lucky that I get to watch the selected tutorial videos and see wonderful examples using the technique.

I recently bought gesso and Brushos so I decided to make cling wrap backgrounds using them. I coated watercolor paper with gesso, dried the paper, sprinkled Brushos over it, spritzed water, and covered it with a scrunched up piece of cling wrap.
And here's what I made with the cling wrap background:

I'm not exactly sure if it was because of the gesso coating or the lack of Brushos amount, but the background looked a little milky/murky.
You can also see the fine gesso brush strokes, which make the background look a little distressed. I used the background for an underwater scene today, so both effects worked well. It's so interesting to learn what works and how.

There's a lot of learning and more to explore. It's a great way to start a new year, isn't it? 

Thanks for stopping by today!


Stamp: Sentimental (Avery Elle)
Paper: Watercolor Paper (Canson - 140 lb), Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Brusho (Violet, Cobalt Blue, Sea Green), Midnight Muse (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Reef Border and Frame Dies (Hero Arts), Elle-Ments Dies Sentimental (Avery Elle), Gesso (Liquitex), Foam Tape (3M), Thin 3D Foam Squares (Scrapbook Adhesives)

CAS(E) this Sketch #252 - happy 2018

Happy New Year, everyone! 😊

I made this card for the CAS(E) this sketch (#252) during the holiday weekend.

Here's Chrissy's sketch:

I stamped a bunch of circles in different sizes with metallic champagne ink - celebrating the new year with champagne bubbles.

I love these hinged numbers!

I hope my creations will be a little part of your fun this year.


Stamp: Lots of Dots (Simon Says Stamp), Birthday Builder (Altenew)
Paper: Whisper White, Melon Mambo (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Encore Ultimate Metallic Ink (Tsukineko - Champagne), Melon Mambo (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Hinged Numbers Dies (Ellen Hutson), Die-namics A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX Set 1 (My Favorite Things)