Crocus with Stenciling

When I saw a Sandy Allnock's video in April, I was so inspired that I wanted to make a DIY stencil with dies and try stenciling as she demonstrated. I got to make a stencil and sponged the flowers a few months later, and almost 5 months later I'm finally sharing this card. Even though it's not a crocus season, "Better late than never", right? 😉

I die-cut a piece of acetate and made a stencil. I stenciled the flowers with distress ink.
The sentiment was die-cut twice and layered over to add some dimension.

Then I die-cut two one-size-larger frames from lavender card stock, glued the top part, and made a rocker. (picture below)

Finally, I adhered the front panel to the base. When you rock the card, it looks like the crocuses are swaying in a breeze.

Thanks for visiting!


Paper: Bristol Paper (100 lb. - Strathmore), Grapesicle (My Favorite Things), Peekaboo Peach (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Distress Ink (Wilted Violet, Seedless Preserves, Mowed Lawn)
Accessories: Dies (Crocus - Alexandra Renke, Birthday - Simon Says Stamp, Elegant Rectangles STAX - My Favorite Things), Stick It Adhesive Sheet, Acetate Sheet

Twofer Card Challenge #9 - leaves

I've been wanting to share my cards at the Twofer Card Challenge since it started this January and I"m very happy that I finally got to do it this weekend. 😊

The challenge prompt this month is:

I used the same leaves stamp and made a thank you card and a birthday card.

 [Card 1]

I inked the stamp with fall colors using Sponge Dauber and stamped it on each corner of the card using Misti. I die cut the sentiment twice to layer and glued it in the center of the card.


[Card 2] Birthday Card

I heat-embossed the image and the sentiment in white. I stamped the subtle border in Crumb Cake at the bottom (see the stamp set picture below) and sponged the card to give it an ombre look.

It's hard to see in the picture but stamping the ombre watercolor wash border gave the card more interesting texture than just sponging the background.
I trimmed the panel just a little smaller than the card base and adhered it to the card base. 

I hope to play along again whenever I have a chance.
 
Thanks for stopping by!

[Card 1]
Stamp: Seasonal Boarders (Concord & 9th)
Paper: Whisper White, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Distress Ink (Peeled Paint, Fossilized Amber, Ripe Persimmon, Barn Door, Fired Brick - Ranger)
Accessories: Grateful Leaf Dies (Concord & 9th)

[Card 2]
Stamp: Seasonal Boarders, Happy Day (Concord & 9th)
Paper: Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Crumb Cake (Staumpin' Up!), VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Embossing Powder (White - Hero Arts)

CAS Mix Up & CAS Watercolour September Challenge - happy birthday

Time has been short lately so I'm so happy that I got to make another card for the CAS Mix Up Challenge and the CAS Watercolour Challenge.

     

Here's my card:

Using stamps inked with Zig brush markers, regular stamping, and die-cutting

Thanks to Misti, I was able to stamp the tree many times in the same position, changing the marker colors. After the ink coloring is done, I damped paper towel, moist the stamps with it, and stamped the images again to give them a watercolor effect. (I sprayed water on the stamps at first, but I was not able to control the amount of water well, and the images got too blurry after the water stamping. 😢)

The sentiment, "happy", was die-cut and coated with Shimmer Pen and Glossy Accents. The other sentiment, "birthday", was stamped with dark brown ink.

I liked the stamped tree results and the sentiment design, but the card looked unfinished, so I stamped the burlap background on the card base and added some color and texture. 
OK, it looked better, but something was still missing. A "Why is the tree there?" kind of feeling...  So I die-cut tiny birds, colored them with Zig markers, brushed Shimmer Pen over them, and perched them on the swoosh. Now it looks like a scene, and I'm happy with it. (I should have taken pictures of this process!)

Both challenges are open until September 24th.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamp: Sheltering Tree, Thoughtful Banners (Stampin' Up!), Burlap BG (My Favorite Things)
Paper: Bristol Paper (100 lb. - Strathmore), Bermuda Bay, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Zig Real Brush Markers (Yellow, May Green, Emerald Green, Turquoise Green, Cool Gray 1, Green Gray, Mid Brown), Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Sentimental Die (Every Elle), Die-namics Centerpieces Framed Love Birds (My Favorite Things), Nuvo Aqua Shimmer (Glitter Gloss), Glossy Accents (Ranger)

CAS Christmas Card September Challenge - merry christmas

Today's card is a reminder of the CAS Chrstmas Challenge. It's hosted by Nance, and the theme is Wreath. We have a very talented Guest Designer, Birgit, this month.

Here's my card:

The wreath stamp was pretty solid, so I sponged 3 distress ink colors on the stamp to give an ombre look. I added a Nuvo drop in the center and layered it over the red die-cut squares. 
The white front panes was dry embossed. I didn't want the space for the wreath panel and sentiment embossed, so I made a diffuser using a chip board.

The embossing went fine but it was a little bit competing with the wreath panel, so I ran the panel through Big Shot again without the embossing folder to flatten it out. Now the embossing effect was less noticeable.
The sentiment was stamped with Silver pigment ink. Finally I coated the wreath with Glossy Accents and added a Nuvo drop to it.

 
The challenge is open until September 24th, and I hope to see your card in the gallery!

Stamp: Cozy Christmas (Ellen Hutson)
Paper: White Linen (Ellen Huston), Raspberry Ripple (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Distress Ink (Blueprint Sketch, Lucky Clover, Twisted Citron - Ranger), Encore Ultimate Metallic Ink (Tsukineko - Silver)
Accessories: Embossing Folder (Woodland Textured Impressions - Stampin' Up!), Dies (Squares Collection Framelits - Stampin' Up!), Nuvo Crystal Drops (Autumn Red)

CAS Watercolour September Challenge - love & thanks

I'm pretty late to the game, but I finally got a Lindy's Magical Shimmer set. My wonderful friend, Loll, recommended that I get the "Autumn Leaves" set first. She was right! I love all 5 colors in the set and I couldn't help using all of them in this card. 😁

I stamped the tree image on watercolor paper with Versafine Onyx Black. Then I sprinkled a tiny amount of 4 colors of the Magical powders (crimson, orange, olive and teal) over the stamped image and spritzed some water over it. I watercolored the trunk and the land with the 5th color (brown). The sentiment was heat-embossed with Gold embossing powder. I die-cut the front panel and adhered it to the dark brown card base.

Now I totally understand why people are so big on the Magicals' beautiful shimmer and I'm happy to see it in real life.

Loll is hosting this month's CAS Waterclour Challenge and she's challenging us to watercolor trees. I'm sharing my card in the gallery. You have until September 24th to play along.

Thanks for stopping by!


Stamp: Lovely As a Tree (Stampin' Up!), Geometric Greenery (My Favorite Things)
Paper: Watercolor Paper (140 lb. Hot Press - Arches), Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Lindy's Magicals (Autumn Leave: Autumn Maple Crimson, Red Hot Poker Orange, Ponderosa Pines Olive, Tibetan Poppy Teal, Cattail Copper Brown), Versafine (Onyx Black - Tsukineko), VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Die-namics Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things), Embossing Powder (Gold - Hero Arts)