Multi Media Valentine

This card started with the mess on my desk. I wanted to play with some new product from Faber-Castell and Ranger … and I wanted to make Valentine’s Day cards.

Here’s how it happened.

I started by playing with some Faber-Castell Gelatos (read more here, here and here). I rubbed some color on my craft sheet then spritzed with water to create a paint, which I spread on watercolor paper. I knew I wanted some texture, so I stamped it with Old Letter from Hero Arts:

Next step was to die cut the hearts (using an old Sizzix die):

I REALLY wanted to try the new Cracked Pistachio Distress Stain Spray from Ranger, so I masked a stripe along the edge of a piece of Ranger Watercolor cardstock. (I tore a long strip of low-tack painter’s tape to create the mask.)

You’ll notice there’s some background stamping goin’ on there, too. After I sprayed the card, it felt bland, so I used Wendy Vecchi’s Archival Watering Can and a Stampendous! stamp to add some interest.

Note that the stamp is a rectangle, but I didn’t want hard lines, so I inked just random portions.

Next, I needed a sentiment. I tried various inks and paints (including the new Cracked Pistachio Distress Paint) but finally went with the Watering Can grey for the contrast.

I edged the hearts with gold metallic marker and added some Doodlebug Designs sequins to finish the look. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone, and here’s hoping that 2015 is a year of health and happiness.

Since I had a day off, I created a few New Year cards. Enjoy.

I love this card for several reasons: first, it was so fast and easy to make! And second, I found a small stash of previously dry embossed card stock pieces that I had put away!
The silver embossed background was made using a Cuttlebug swirl folder. I simply cut it to size to fit the card front, edged it with a gold metallic marker, and glued it on the card. The greeting (Hero Arts Celebrate Everyday set) was embossed in gold, trimmed, and edged with the gold metallic pen. Silver sequin stars (Sulyn) and gold glitter stars (die cut using the set from Lawn Fawn’s Stitched Journaling die) were added using Ranger’s Glossy Accents. That’s it!

This was inspired by a New Year’s Eve ad I saw in a magazine a while ago. Also, super easy — I used a variety of circle stamps (all from Hero Arts in various sets) and embossed some in gold, some in silver (including Judikins Aegean Silver, which has a lot of sparkle). The sentiment was trimmed and layered over a scrap of gold paper, cut to the same proportions.

This was also fun. Using Sizzix’s Banner Triplets by Stephanie Bernard and some gold, silver and off-white scraps, I die cut my way to the New Year. When I glued the cut out pieces to the layering banner, some glue seeped out. At first i despaired, but then I added some ultra fine glitter and, hey, it’s not so bad. Same sentiment, but I added a little stamped and embossed bit for extra flavor. The silver Dew Drops (Robins Nest) and sequin stars (Sulyn) added the finishing touches.

Thanks for stopping by! And here’s to a great year!

Fabulous Finds Friday — Hearts on Parade

Yowzas, I love this new die from Simon Says! It’s Heart Parade and playing with it makes me want to march with a band! What a Fabulous Find!

Here’s the first card I made:

Easy peasy. I first cut out the whole thing, which gave me the frame (the outline of the hearts) and the “inner” hearts (which I saved for other projects.) Using some scraps, I cut it a few more times to get different patterns for the inside, then re-inserted the cut pieces in the heart outline. (Don’t throw out those partial frames, though! You’ll see how I used them.)

The sentiment is from Inkadinkado’s Occasions clear set (a set I use VERY often). The base paper is from WorldWin. I glued the small pieces down with Elmer’s fine line glue pen.

**Tip: After cutting the die, save the unused pieces in the same envelope as the die. Then when you want to mix it up a bit, you already have some cut pieces.**

My next card was bolder:

I love the blue pearlized paper (WorldWin)! I cut the pearlized paper using Spellbinders’ A2 Curved Matting Basics A S5-171. I stamped the white base card using Hero Arts’ envelope Pattern S5507 inked with Imagine Craft’s Platinum Planet Brilliance. The sequins, from Doodlebug Designs, were attached using Glue Dots’ micro dots — perfectly mini sized for these sequins! And no messy liquid!

I stamped a scrap piece of white with the same envelope pattern, then added the sentiment (Hero Arts) in VersaFine black. I wanted more bling, so added a piece of silver glitter tape (Close To My Heart).

This next one didn’t turn out as I expected, but it worked.

I tried to cut the die on a thicker piece of cardstock and it didn’t cut all the way through. I started to painstakingly cut out the pieces with my Xacto knife, when I smacked myself on the head and said, “Just leave the pieces in there, doofus.” (I often call myself names.) The large heart popped out easily, so I switched it out with a patterned piece, but left the others in plae. I rounded the corners, stamped a sentiment (Hero Arts) and stick a fork in me, I’m done.

One last trick before I go…. When you keep cutting out the heart to get different insides, you get several outlines, too.

Naturally, I save them, stashing them with the die. I trim what I need and use these smaller pieces for tags:

Whew! This is a loooong post! But as you can see, I’m crazy about this die.

Thanks for indulging me.

Fabulous Finds Friday — Avery Elle

My Fabulous Find today is this fun balloon animal stamp from Avery Elle. Something about it just tickles me!

This was a fun, fast card to make. The stamp was inked in Avery Elle’s Raspberry fast drying pigment ink. The clouds were cut from Simple Stories’ Snap! Color Vibe 6×6 pad sing a Die-namics die from My Favorite Things. The sequins are from Doodlebug Design and the happy birthday is Hero Arts.

Up, up and away!

The Last of the Valentines!

Ah, sigh… it’s finally Valentine’s Day. I had so much fun making and sending Valentines to my girlfriends. My friends are heart-felt treasures and life would not be the same without them. When I looked at the big stack I had to send, I thought, “What a lucky girl am I.”

Enjoy the last ones ….

Most of these were fast and simple:

I adore this feather set from Close to my Heart! I could make a dozen of these cards, leave off the greeting, and have a stack ready for any occasion! The feathers were stamped on white card stock using various shades of mostly Hero Arts Shadow Inks and a blue Distress pad.

This, too, was fast and easy using the CTMH Oodles of Doodles set, Hero Arts inks and Hero Art hearts (embossed using American Crafts’ Zing powders). The pretty sequins are from Lawn Fawn.

A clean and simple card using a die from Hero Arts:

And just to prove that crafting is not a perfect art, here’s one from my Imperfect Crafter side.
It’s actually cuter in person than it appears here. I needed ONE more Valentine, so I grabbed some leftovers on my desk. I’m showing this card because I always tell my workshop students that there are “no mistakes in crafting; only design elements.” So warts and all, here she is:

I was anxious to play with this tissue paper from Hazel & Ruby. And being the Impatient Crafter, as well as the Imperfect Crafter, I tore off a piece and glued it to my card base. I had a die cut heart that did not cut all the way through so I disguised the bad part with the Prima flowers. If you look VERY closely, you will see, peeking out from the upper left hand ventricle, part of the heart where it didn’t cut all the way through. But do we through anything away? Nope! We just carry on!

Thanks for bearing with me, and I hope everyone has a sweet Valentine somewhere. Have a fabulous Friday!