from my ink pad to yours

Playtime with Medallion and Decor

Inspiration for this card came from a couple of challenges. To start with I found this last Monday's Technique Challenge on Splitcoaststampers particularly enticing because it called for making your own background with layers of stamping. I looked to another challenge I recently discovered, The Paper Players for my colors: Bravo Burgundy, Cajun Craze, More Mustard and Very Vanilla.

I don't have craft ink pads for More Mustard and Bravo Burgundy but I do have many craft refills so I squeezed a little of the ink out onto some large square blocks and applied the ink to my stamps with my brayer. This also allows me to mix the inks a little. I'll let  you in on a little secret. I don't have Bravo Burgundy either - yet. So, I mixed some Cherry Cobbler with Early Espresso until I had a color which looked a lot to me like Bravo.

I don't have pictures of each step of the process but here are a few that will give you an idea of how I played with this;

 

I had mixed the colors before applying them with the brayer to my Medallion stamp. I wheeled the Decor wheel through the mixed Bravo ink.

More Mustard ink on an acrylic block.

I took a bit of a detour and decided to try adding a Very Vanilla Doily so I squeezed some Very Vanilla craft ink onto an acrylic block:

I spread it around with my brayer:

and inked the doily stamp:

and stamped

Unfortunately,  I didn't like the result so much after heating the doily ink

So I took this block:

and smeared it randomly over my background and added a little more of the decor wheel. And then I liked it! I added a border from a 1/4 sheet that had some of the Decor wheel on Cajun Craze. Since I didn't want to cover up too much of my background I just added a greeting from Alway Grateful to the lower corner.

That's it.

This kind of stamping and brayering really feel like the ultimate way to play with ink. I also didn't realize how well the Medallion backgroung stamp coordinates with the Decor wheel. I'm going to have to try those to out together again!

Happy stamping.

Autumn Spice

It's back! For a little while anyway. Autumn Spice specialty paper is available on Stampin' Up!'s clearance rack for just $4.79. I thought I had posted this last year but it isn't on my blog yet so here is a set of cards with box that I put together last fall using this beautiful card stock weight designer paper.

The gorgeous Early Espresso satin ribbon is also on the clearance rack for the low, low price of $3.59 and the stamp set, Day of Gratitude is still in the current catalog. You can purchase them all from my Stampin' Up! website, by clicking on "shop" at the top of my page. Here are close-ups of the individual cards. You can see how well this specialty paper works for cards.

I used the box pattern from Andrea Walford's Everyday Elegance Class. If you place a $50 order from me I can email you the directions for Andrea's ensemble. Just make sure you send me your email.

A few more Day of Gratitude/ Autumn Spice cards:

Item numbers:

• Autumn Spice Specialty Paper 120808
• Early Espresso Satin Ribbon 119753
• Day of Gratitude wood: 120835, clear:121148
• Small Open end (6 3/4 x 3 1/2") envelopes 107286

You might also be interested in the Nite Owl DSP (3.99 on the clearance rack) which I used with Day of Gratitude to make this card:

Houndstooth Oak

Do you keep favorites over on the Splitcoaststampers Gallery? Well, I do. And I rarely go back and eliminate any so I have 4123(!) pictures in my favorites. Well a little over a month ago the technique challenge on Splitcoast was to case the oldest card in your favorites. My favorites go back to 2004.  Anyway, I lucked out as my oldest favorite happened to be made by none other than Beate Johns and it used probably the only stamp set from 2004 that is still current, Lovely as a Tree.

Though some of the accessories that Beate used have since retired, it wasn't hard to identify new accessories to use in their place. I used Stampin' Up!'s new stripe and houndstooth embossing folders instead of stencils and background stamps on River Rock and Soft Suede card stock.

Tips:

• For added definition of the texure use a brayer to ink the embossing folders with versamark  ink.
• I substituted paper dots for brads and in retrospect I did it the hard way. I punched them and used the paper piercing tool to place them onto the card. It would have been easier to just make the holes in the card stock and let the Soft Suede show through.
• Sponge daubers are perfect for quick coloring of the oak tree.
• I freehand cut the curve of one edge and used it as a guide to cut the other.
• I did change the placement.

I know that I mark many as favorites thinking I'll go back and copy them but rarely get around to it. I was glad the challenge forced me to go back and case at least one. I should do it more often.

How many do you have in your favorites?