OOOPS TO WOW = CARDFRONT

Wanted to relax the other day and 

decided to do a few 3D card-fronts - JUST FOR FUN. 

WIP - I have a nice collection of 3 dimensional embossing folders and am always astonished by their impressed results. At first, I thought I'd do this one with just the white ink on a dark metallic paper.  Happily, that was going beautifully until.. I dropped the ink pad and created a real mess. 

I'm not always thrilled when I try to save a messed up project, but I gave it a go. Took just a Kleenex tissue and started buffing the entire piece. The black paper, of course, starting getting a gentle greyish tint. Feeling a little impressed with the look, I then reinked the embossed design. The white stood out so sharply with the greyed tone on black. 

To add some interest but not to overpower the white, I used soft-tipped eye shadow foam brushes to very lightly apply color to the flowers and leaves. 

I'm thinking of adding a leaf-gold edging and maybe use an off-white, cut to the same size, card-stock for the base card. 

Materials used: Stardream Lapis Metallic cardstock; Altenew's Decorative Florals 3D embossing folder; Hero Arts AF249 Unicorn pigment ink; Versa Color Topez, Bamboo and Old Rose inks; and rubber tipped eye shadow applicators. 

Thank you for stopping in. Wishing you a remarkable week.

May God Bless You and Yours

Winter Cardinal - An Acetate Lesson

Today, I'd like to talk about how to do an easy card layout using two unrelated stamps. A few years ago, I started imprinting my stamps on clear acetate. When dry, I stored that stamp and its image together. (I use StazOn Jet Black and let it dry.)

For this project I have selected two, Penny Black stamps, Winter Gem (40-857) and the Cardinal from Trilling Birds (40-809)

Both of these are large, so I placed my acetate print on the cutting mate. This looks like it will need to be a 6"x6" card.

That is when I usually select my envelope - a 6.5" square - and set the Cardinal to get an idea that everything will fit. 

For this card I selected a 9"x12", 140lb watercolor cardstock then cut down to a 6"x12" and folded to a 6"sq.

What you see above is what the layout will appear. The branch and pinecone were stamped with VersaFine Clair - Pinecone and the cardinal with VersaFine Clair - Morning Mist.

This project is a blend of products - VersaFine Clair stamping ink, OLO alcohol pens, Tombow water color pens and a Sparkling watercolor paint. 

At this writing, I'm waiting for my "Snow" to arrive. 

Hope this little lesson with acetate impressions helps when building those layered images card fronts.

Till next time -

May God Bless You and Yours.

PS - this layout was inspired by stamp artist Micheline Jourdain -

Wispy Enamels

(Left card has a deep purple base cardstock, not pink.)

In an effort to straighten up my "paint-room," I came across one of my very old painting practice journals. Searching through was a series of wispy style freehand designs using a "rake" brush and enamel paints. Such a relaxing way to spend the day. These two cards were really just for practice but our daughter was encouraging me to develop them into cards.  

When playing with this style, I usually just let the brush guide me - no patterns. 

Enamels are a type of glossy acrylic, thicker in texture, creating a textured or slightly sculptured finish depending upon your brush strokes. 

Enamel Paints are from Plaid Enterprises

Rake Brush by Royal Brushes

  

    

Thank you for stopping - please check back again and see what mischief I've gotten into!

Mask that Horse

 

I recently decided to experiment using the July OLO Challenge colors (RG7, OR4.2 and R0.2). It was an exciting experience and created a few ideas for a special birthday card.

We have a friend celebrating his 87th birthday in a few days. For as long as we have known him, he has loved his horses. So, what better than this proud beauty for the focal point of his card.

Wanting to do a "country" theme, Stampscape stamps were the obvious choice for the background. Their versatility and proportional sizes make for a more realistic scenes.

We cut out a mask for the horse. Masking papers with low tack glue are easy to work with.

For this scenic project, first stamp the focal point item (horse) in your cardstock. When dry, position the cutout mask on top. The mask prevents any other stamped design from appearing on the surface you are protecting.

Usually, I suggest you do the detail of the farthest away area first - the mountains. Then the hill (waterslide) next. When doing the cabin, you may want to block off or mask part of the hill so the cabin looks farther away.

When happy with your layout, remove the mask. 

The finish is totally up to you. Use the medium you are most comfortable with. Below is the list of most of the colors used for my finish. 

MATERIALS: 

Deep Red - Wild Horse stamp

Stampscape - 324G - Rocky Waterside left, 188F - Rocky Peaks, 140E - Cabin and 254B - Tall Grass

VersaFine Clair - Morning Mist for all stamped images.

Very smooth off-white cardstock

Horse - OLO - RG7-Red Gray 7, OR4.2 - Pink Granite, R0.2 Pink Lemonade plus many green shades, brownish shades and grays. (I forgot to write the colors down - sorry.)

Well, that is it for today. If you have never used Masking sheets before, they are life savors.

Thank you for stopping in today. Hope you return often and leave a comment, please. 

May the rest of this month be filled with new and wonderful memories. Try something new but don't ever stop creating - 

May God Bless you Always!

Smooth or Textured?

Just for fun, let's do a paper surface comparison using the same stamp and products. For this, I selected an extremely smooth quality paper (X-Press It, 250gsm) and a high cotton count watercolor cardstock (w/c postcard).  Select the stamp, pigment ink and the medium of your choice...

Work side-by-side, start applying the same color or blended colors to the same areas ...

 

Continue ...

I loved the differences Both could be used as is or you could add a touch of color to the background. I elected to add a light application of a light blue to the smoother surface and a light orange to the textured surface. 

Have not decided exactly how to mount these for card fronts but will in the next few days. 

Material list:

• Stamp: Chocolate Baroque - Rose Duo
• Leaves - OLO brush tips -YG8.7 Fern, YG2.3 Muscat Grape
• Ribbon - OLO brush tips - B4.6 Blueberry, B4.3 Vintage Blue
• Rose - OLO brush tips - O2.4 Golden Poppy, Y2.3 Buttercup
• Background - PanPastels - Phthalo Blue Tint,  Orange Tint
• Applicators for Pans - I used make-up brushes 

Hope you will do a few fun comparison projects for yourself. I actually found it to be enjoyable and relaxing.

Have a great week - 

May God Bless