I need a baby card and have noticed that there is sketch making the rounds that reminded me of the tied circle cards I did a few years back. So, I decided to challenge myself to get three different circle images out of the Two by Two a la carte stamp. Furthermore, I found this Color Throwdown Challenge that seemed to have baby card written all over it:
My Calypso Coral comes out a little brighter:
Most of the coloring was done with markers, though I used the blender pen a little on the elephants. While the shading of the elephants has touches of Pool Party and Crumb Cake, I did use a bit of Basic Gray ink on the tip of my blender. The lion's mane brown was done with Calypso Coral plus Crumb Cake. I did substitute So Saffron for Barely Banana.
The holes were punched out of Crumb Cake with the 1 3/8" circle punch. To make the Calypso Rims I punched 1 1/4" circles into a sheet of Calypso card stock and set aside the circles. Then I lined up the 1 3/8" punch over the circle spaces and punched the "hollow" circle. They are skinny little circles. You will need the 2-way glue pen to adhere them. Here is a little tutorial on getting your circles straight and even.
I thought that the Whisper White from Tasteful Trim would help mimic the idea of waves I thought I might do one better by using the Fancy Fan folder to create waves like I did on the fish card the other day. This time the pattern seemed to say "fancy" more than it did baby. I tried again with the Perfect Polka Dots folder and it made the card come together so much better.
The Crumb Cake layer still seemed a little heavy - so I drew some stitches with the white gel pen.
It isn't your typical baby card colors but I do like them. Kind of boyish but it would work for a baby girl too.
Have a good Tuesday! I hope you get time to stamp.
I haven't used much patterned paper lately and thought it would be a good way to get reacquainted with the Print Poetry selection. I ended up putzing with the embellishment piece for quite awhile. I was going to be quick and use a greeting that had already been stamped and punched for the circle part of the sketch. It didn't leave much room for the embellishment but I finally got it to work.
Colors are Very Vanilla, Midnight Muse, Wild Wasabi (though Print Poetry uses Gumball Green) and a few of the Midnight Muse patterns from Print Poetry.
I used the Boho Blossoms and Bird Builder punch for the flower and leaves.
The greeting is punched out with the 1 3/4 circle punch and layered onto a 2 3/8" scallop of Print Poetry.
If I do that challenge again I have to start earlier!
Have you tried the big Swallowtail stamp yet? You know I've been doing my best to show it's possibilities. Now I've got one more:
The embossed Swallowtail card base is actually left over from an earlier Butterfly Thank You card. I had decided the lacey look just made for too much going on so I stuck it in a cello bag and it's been hanging on the "to do" bulletin board ever since.
This base is just 5 1/4" square Very Vanilla card that has been embossed with the Swallowtail stamp using Versamark ink and clear embossing powder. It has been lightly sponged with Crumb Cake ink.
I stamped Easter Blessings in Crumb Cake on a Very Vanilla panel that has been every slightly sponged, again with Crumb Cake ink. This was attached to a slightly larger panel of Crumb Cake card stock.
I tied a double bow of Very Vanilla Seam Binding aroudn the panel before attached it to the card. Add a few glue dots to help it adhere to the embossed background.
A clear embossed Papillon Potpourri butterfly - sponged before it was punched out- embellished with a string of 3 little pearls finished off this elegant Easter card
Do you still have some Festival of Prints patterned paper left from last fall? It was a great collection of patterns similar to the Print Poetry papers that are available in the current Spring Catalog. Today I'm playing a little catch up with cards that haven't been posted yet, so I apologize for the retired paper.
The images is stamped on watercolor paper and colored with an Aquapainter and inkpads.
Colors include Cherry Cobbler, Island Indigo and Gumball Green.
Don't these two kids remind you of the old Dick and Jane books in first grade? OK, That must really date me... Anyway I think this would make a cute anniversary card - for a couple from my era anyway.
Have you played with watercolor lately? I tend to watercolor a few images, think to myself: "I really like those" and then they sit on my counter for days, weeks, or even months. I like the piece so much and then worry about detracting from the image by overpowering it with the wrong card "setting".
Luckily, this fish, from Stampin' Up!s By the Tide set, didn't sit on my counter as long as they usually do. It found a home reminiscent of the sea on a textured color block background. Color Blocks is the theme for the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge today. I've followed that challenge for awhile but today is the first time I've played along.
I stamped the fish in Jet Black Stazon ink on watercolor paper.
I did a faint water color shadow with Crumb Cake ink. You could use any of the lighter neutrals. Even Wisteria Wonder might be good.
You could apply your color with ink from your pad cover or directly from the markers if you are using watercolor paper. I used Midnight Muse and Always Artichoke markers. Apply your ink just to a portion of the image and then blend it out with a blender pen or Aquapainter.
(I often grab prestamped images on watercolor paper and color them away from my stamp studio. Bringing markers in their case is much more portable than bringing lots of ink pads.)
I pieced together some scraps of Midnight Muse, Wild Wasabi, and Island Indigo card stock, securely butting the edges together in the back with regular tape.
Add texture to your color blocks by running through the Big Shot in an embossing folder. I used Fancy Fan because it looks like waves. (Click here for another example of a similar technique with colorblocking.)
Trim your colorblocked piece to your desired size. I used 5 1/4 x 4" and adhere to your card.
Can you see that I was playing around with a few ideas on this By the Tide card?
The lobster or crayfish from Stampin' Up!'s By the Tide, (I read somewhere that the biggest difference was salt vs freshwater) was stamped on paper from the First Edition DSP collection.
The Primrose Petal layer is Core'dinations paper embossed with Woodgrain
Ribbon in Natural Trim Ribbon (Stampin' Up! Spring Catalog), tied with linen thread.
Embellishment via Collage Curios, also from the Stampin' Up! Spring catalog
Card base and layers are Ivory Naturals and Crumb Cake
Colors are Calypso Coral, Certainly Celery, Night of Navy.
The ribbon is actually the retired Old Olive taffeta. It is now available in Certainly Celery and I think you might prefer the softer look of that ribbon. Taffeta ribbon usually seems a bit lighter than it's named color. But, Old Olive is what I had. It works but now Certainly Celery is on my shopping list!
This was a color combination from last week's SCS challenge. Watering it down seems a bit like cheating but the results were worth it.
The greeting is from Perfectly Penned. It is embossed with white embossing powder.
I couldn't resist putting a little glitter via Dazzling Details on the flower centers.
Another now day in Minnesota but while DH watched the weather last night contemplating closing school (he did) I was playing with embossing folders and water again. I did work a little on videos but lets just say they still need editing. While I was getting my act together in that department checked out the colors for today's SCS color challenge and decided to try them on one of my folders. After a little cropping here's what I came up with:
Colors are Bashful Blue, Primrose Petals and Raspberry Ripple colored with marker onto the Manhatten Flower Folder.
Spritz the folder, insert Very Vanilla card stock and run through the Big Shot.
Trim as desired, stabilize with an extra layer of VV card stock and mount with Dimensionals onto a Very Vanilla card.
'happy mother's day" is from Teeny Tiny Wishes
I dont' have a snow day so I better get going to work...
I wanted to see how this solo stamp greeting went with the Crosses of Hope set. I got the answer to that in a hurry. Don't they look like they were made for each other?
It took a little longer to play with shapes and sizes but one thing led to another and I ended up with a larger card. It's been awhile since I've made one this big. I like the variety and it feels good to stretch out of the 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" box once in a while.
Highlights:
Pool Party and Whisper White. The cross is stamped off once.
Largest and 3rd largest dies from the Window Frames Collection
This is a larger 5 1/2 x 7" card and requires a hand made envelope. The Simply Scored Scoring Tool with its Diagonal Plate takes care of this problem.
The envelope and embossed background are both from the 2011-2012 In Color DSP Stack.
Here's a close up of the images together, with a little Dazzling Details.
I know there were questions on the last Easter Blessings card. I'm off to play with my camera and Youtube to see if that helps answer some of them. Wish me luck!
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