Day 3 Onlinecardclasses.com - Stencils Texture and Dimension with Pastes Revisited

I loved the silver and white stars done with the paste and embossing powder- but that felt more like Christmas to me.  So, I decided to add color.  One of the fun things about designing cards is finding additional embellishments to create an appealing layout.  Below are some samples I created with die cuts from my extra's box.  The cards remind me of Sainte-Chapelle in Paris- but I think I will embossing the finalized embellishments in silver as well.

 

 

 

Day 3 Onlinecardclass.com- Stencils Course- Texture and Dimension with Pastes

Well I had fun playing with embossing paste last night but decided to wait until today to add the color factor and embellishments.  First I tried using the embossing paste and adding color- in this case it was translucent paste with silver embossing powder.  I must say its loads of fun to watch the wet paste bubble slightly when your heating the paste.  I coated a second card of wet paste design with silver embossing powder and let it set overnight before heating it.  It might be because the paste layer is thinner but I didn't notice a huge difference in the overall effect.  The course instructor had a larger difference. Its nice to have both options.

The other technique I experimented with was the Embossing Paste Resist.  For this technique I used translucent paste on white card stock and then colored over with distress inks in mowed lawn, peacock feathers, and salty ocean.  The embossing paste gives a nice glossy finish and raised texture to the card front.  I used the Julie Nutting Cling Stamp Set Merci from Prima for the sentiment "Merci Beaucoup." With all the talk of the mainland having white outs from snow I thought this was a nice bright and cheery card.

The next card used silver embossing paste to add raised color effect to the card front.  I looking forward to exploring adding colorants to white paste in the future- but I didn't have those supplies today.  

The clocks were then colored with shades of pink distress ink and frayed burlap and then spritz and flicked with water.  

Online Card Classes- Stencils Day 2 - Template Techniques

I see a lot of fun and diversity being added to stencils by pairing them with your stamps.  For stamping stencils technique choosing a more open stamps allows the stamp designs to peek through.  I chose to practice with by circles stencil and some victorian people stamps by Flonz Stamps and other designers.

 In order to not muddle other open stamp areas, its important to mask off around the space you are wanting to stamp.  I could have stamped monochromatic to the color I was filling in each circle for a water mark effect but I chose to use the black in for greater contrast due to the details of this stamps and the smaller open space on my stencil.

I really love how this card front turned out.  I chose to color the background spaces in Brushed Corduroy to continue the vintage theme.

Normally when I think of stencils and paint- I think of acrylic and use of my gelli plate.  But today I experimented with using watercolors or in this case my twinkling H2Os and the stencil template. Watercolor stencil technique gives a much softer and loose look. I love the shimmer effect the twinkling H2Os give the project.  I think I need a little more practice so I don't have color leakage underneath the stencil.

Using a black sharpie marker, I highlighted the birch trunk markings so it would seem more realistic.

Scribble stencil technique is good when your on a time crunch.  I liked the recommendation not to outline or trace the image but really either approach would create a wonderful look.  In trying this technique I realized mid project most of my stencils have very small open spaces.  Larger open spaces would work better.  I also need to find my pencil sharpener- most of my pencils were dull.
The scribble stencil technique feels very playful and light hearted at least with a vibrant color palate.

 I have one more technique to try from day 2 but it will have to wait until tomorrow afternoon.  Thanks for visiting my blog.  Any feedback is appreciated.

Online Card Classes Stencils Day 1- additional projects- Embossing with stencils

I wanted to take time to explore all the techniques from the class so here's my creations using a stencil for embossing.  I didn't have the heart mosaic stencil that the demonstrator used so I took a stencil that I owned and masked it off to create the heart shape. The masks were recycled from another project but they worked just fine.  Once masked off, I smooched the embossing ink pad onto the stencil in the area of the heart and then removed the mask and used white embossing powder.

I chose to use a more vintage color palate of distress ink in browns- the demonstrated used vibrant orange, pink, and yellow.  The framework of this card is very versatile and could be done with many color variations to match your recipients' favorites. 

The card is embellished with twine and a sentiment stamped tag. The demonstrated used thread, tissue paper, and a sentiment tag. I think both work really well.   I realize after working on this card I need to get a stamp-a-ma-jig so I can align wooden stamps better- I actually did it off center twice so just went with it.  To create the sentiment I wanted, I took a stamp and masked off the words that didn't apply with tape, inked the stamp, pulled the tape off and stamped the sentiment.  

I think I'm going to start investing in more clear mount sentiment stamps to make this process easier. But this worked in a pinch.  So Voila-- here is my card using the stencil for embossing.  

Online Card Classes- Stencils Day 1

The Stencils Class started today at onlinecardclass.com .  I got home late from work but I still wanted to make sure I took some time to watch the lessons and to play.  I chose two of my favorite stencils-  both are from Crafter's Workshop.  Tonight I used the misting technique accompanied by slightly rotating or shifting a stencil while using the masking technique over my mermaid stamp.  The tree design I had planned on creating an ombre effect with just misting sprays in blue tones but because the stencil has such small branches/details the mists leaked underneath and initially I could barely see the stenciled tree design.  To spotlight the stencil design of the tree I then added some red but it still didn't provide the contrast I was looking for.  I then used the sponging technique and used black distress ink around the main parts of the tree.  I think this really off set the tree nicely and still gave me a stormy night effect I was going for.  I still want to repeat some of these techniques with different stencils and also try the other techniques from day one for getting more out of one's stencils.  I'll post again tomorrow. 

January Birthday Projects

Well I'm trying to keep the agreement I made with myself to do something creative and birthdays of friends and family are a great motivator.  The past two weeks I've been discovering Karen Burniston, Designer Pop Up Dies.  I may be late to the Pop Up die scene- but better late than never. I'm looking forward to her new releases coming out now that's she's joined with Elizabeth Craft Designs as well.
Whenever I purchase dies, especially the Sizzix Bigz dies, I like to find ones that I can use on many projects.  My first few dies included Sizzix Easel die, a large pillow pocket die for gift cards; and Karen Burniston's Pop Up Scallop Circle, a Butterfly Pivot die, accordion album & her 3D platform.  I know I will get tons of use from these dies.

Below are my first two creations using the Karen Burniston's dies.  My first Pivot card was for my husband's mother.  We both love purple so I thought I'd do a monochromatic cards in shades of purple using the Butterfly Pivot die.  The print paper is from Perfect Prints 6x6 pad Forever in Time.  The butterfly is embossed with the Cuttlebug Script embossing folder. I had a little bit of an issue apply Stickles- I started with a distress Stickles but didn't have the effect I wanted so I added silver Stickles on top of the previous layer.  The silver was a better choice in my opinion.

Since my paper stitching supplies hadn't arrived yet, I chose to use the white gelli roll pen to add stitch marks on the inner label of the card and embellished with Glitterazzi Pearlies in purple.

I really love my second card.  Momentum from the first card was making me want to do more on this one.  This card reminds of me of the eighties (I'm sure I'm dating myself here- LOL)- conservative not the front and a party inside. The front uses Spellbinders Labels Seventeen and Tim Holtz Labels and embossing folder.  The writing was done with a Marvy Reminisce 1.0 white pen.

On the inside, I used two different animated dies for this project--Karen's 3d platform die and her scalloped circle pop up die.  The stamps used were- Magenta Large Butterfly and Stampin' Up 2005 Sing Bird. I absolutely love coloring these images with distress markers and then accentuating them with Stickles glitter glue.  I used the second label from the Tim Holtz labels set, and Sizzix Bird die.  I really like to try to use all my scraps so I took left over brown pieces and ran them through my Vagabond with Tim Holtz Wood Grain embossing folder.  I then cut and positioned them to make the tree trunk. This card was so much fun.   It makes me feel happy seeing it sit open on the table.  The biggest challenge I had on this card was working with acetate instead of paper for my 3D platform.  I feel I could do it faster the next time around but the crease pad doesn't really do enough on the acetate.  I needed to use my score pal to really get the material to respond the way it needed to on this project.  I will say it was well worth the time- because it makes the butterfly image look like its floating mid-air.

I hope you enjoyed my first creations using Karen Burniston's Pop Up and Pivot dies.  There are so many possibilities with these creative dies. 

Happy Crafting. 

Gelli Arts Plate Play

I've been so excited about all the new CHA 2014 upcoming releases and waiting for orders placed to come in I haven't been posting any creative endeavors.  Last night was fun playing with my new Gelli Arts plate and making mono prints.  I'm still getting accustom to how the paint plays whether it is a shape print, shadow print, ghost print and so forth.  Looking forward to finding interesting things to incorporate as stencils or even making some of my own for future projects.  I find I need to retrain my brain to think in reverse and layers.  Hope to have some more fun this weekend with the Gelli Arts Plate.

January Tag of 2014- 1st post of the year

Its time to start Tags of the Year with Tim Holtz!  Below you can see his inspiration piece.

Since  I didn't have everything Tim used, I'm improvising from a few other craft supplies.  The theme is "Time."
My new Vagabond machine has been de-virginized.  It embosses grunge board and metal foil like butter.  I'm accepting the challenge of tags of 2014 this year.  Here are some of the Tim Holtz supplies I'm using for this project.

I'm very happy with how I've spent the first day of the new year.  January tag of 2014 and song lyrics with similar inspiration-  Time Waits for No One.

Tim Holtz Tags of 2014- January-- "Time Waits for No One"

Well I didn't have all the supplies that Tim Holtz used-but I had enough feel good about posting this one.  Materials Used; ideology-compass coins, mini gears, & ring fasteners; alpha parts - newsprint; chit chat stickers, glitterazzi pearlies, Ranger foil tape sheets, grunge board, Vagabond machine, Distress paint in black and white; distress ink in pumice stone and black soot, linen ribbon, Anna Griffin Aviary Embossing folder, and Sizzix Clocks embossing folder, Ranger manila tag, Ranger Archival black ink, and burlap/type "paper scrap." I feel good about some improvisations I made- I altered my chit chat stickers and turned "want" to "waits"; and also made my own splatter brush using some flower soft wire stems. Yeah for me.  My speckled and inky fingers happily finish typing this post.  Hope this inspires someones creative spirit.