2020 Stash Party #29 - Gold and White Embossed Sympathy Card

Hello, Crafty Makers!

Whew!  I have completed four of the five sympathy cards that I need for my SIL's order.  I actually made this card first but I have held off on it because I questioned my taste level with this one.  I like the card.  The gold embossing is pretty and the Irises are perfect still I wondered if the gold was a bit much.  In the end, I decided to include it and if she doesn't like it, I will create another card to replace it!

"Jeweled Gold"

Once again, I used my mini clinging vine stencil for the background.  I did not iron off the gold embossing powder for this project, instead, I went with the standard heat embossing.

I wanted you all to see the different colors that are in this embossing powder. The mfg. calls it Jeweled Gold. Unfortunately, the company that made this product is no longer in business and I have not found a comparable gold EP with which to replace it.  The great thing about EP is that one container lasts for years. I have had this EP since 1999.  If you overheat embossing powder, you can literally brush it off your project and reveal a softer color underneath (the concept behind the iron resist technique.) On this project, I intentionally overheated some areas and then brushed away the powder. The depth and texture it adds to the card are amazing.

My daughter gifted me this Iris Stamp and Die Set and it has become one of my favorites.  I have used it to create vellum flowers, I have stamped it on acetate and I have even cropped off the stems and simply used the blooms.  For this iteration, I use three layers of die-cut and one layer of die-cut fun foam to add dimension and increase the visual interest.  I also wanted to create a little distance between the Irises and the white leaves beneath it!

Hugz,

A Place To Start-August 2019 - A Crafty "Piece of Mine" - Bee Happy

Hello, Crafty Folks!

I am having a very difficult time getting back into the swing of crafting.  Maybe my mojo went back to D.C. with the grandkids.😊

This month's challenge at A Place To Start is

"A Crafty Piece of Mine"

Use Paper Piecing on your Project!

We are eager to see your creative use of paper piecing for this challenge.  Paper Piecing die cuts is my new personal challenge. It has been hit and misses on my practice runs but no doubt I will nail it down.  For this current challenge, though, I stuck with a very straight forward, typical application.

BEE HAPPY

The image body is paper pieced.  The face and arm are the only parts of the image that were colored.  I added glitter to her dress and sealed it with a spray gloss.

I have had this cute little stamp set for a minute.  As usual, I had many ideas of how I wanted to use it and, as usual, none of those designs happened.  I am pleased with the outcome.  I stamped and colored grass and flowers for the bottom panel but the look was too cluttered so I left them off.

I must purchase more of the large frame sentiment dies.  I love the many possibilities they present.

Stop by A Place to Start and share your paper piecing masterpieces in our challenge!

Hugz!

613 Avenue Create - May Challenge - Shaker Cards - Friends

Hello, Crafty Peeps!

I had so much fun creating this shaker card.  I ordered a bunch of "critter" stamps and dies so that I could step "waaaay" outside my box and create a few whimsical cards.

  I think I may be hooked.

Join us at 613 Avenue Create.

Anything Goes w/Optional Twist:  Shaker Cards

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers #138 -" N" is for NERD! - Stylin' Hollywood Nerds

Hello, Crafty Peeps!

I couldn't sleep last night, so I decided to visit a few challenge blogs.  
Well, I only made it to one: 
Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers.

I have this funny stamp I wanted to use but wasn't quite sure how.  I didn't want to do the usual nerdy computer guy thing!

I hope the Snarky Sisters agree that my Hollywood Nerds fit the challenge!

Stylin' Hollywood Nerds

The paper pieced tops were both done from one double-sided 6"x6" patterned paper.  I used a Copic marker to add a little green color to the creamed colored polka dot paper (you can see the original color in the decorative circle at the upper right).

~~~~~

I have checked another box in my personal crafting challenge.  I used dies and that Hollywood Stamp is at least 10 years old.  I also reduced my paper scraps and pulled out my swiss dot embossing folder that hasn't been used for a while.  I am on a personal roll!  Now, to clean up my studio!

Thanks, so much for stopping by!

There is still time for you to enter the challenge

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers

Stuff I Used

Stamp -  Inkadinkado "Las Vegas"; Friends

Papers:  Echo Park "This&That" 6x6 Pad (I think it is retired)

Dies: Magnolia Doohickeys "Film Strip"; Flower Layered Die

A Place To Start - Mid Month Makes - Anything Goes w/ Optional Twist

Hello, Crafty Peeps!

Don't stress out over your taxes just file an extension and join us at

A Place To Start!

Our current Challenge is

Anything Goes w/Optional Twist:

Use 3 of these 5 Elements on your project!

Tag

Vellum/Parchment

Die

Flower(s)

Watercolor

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A Very Busy Guy

I chose this image because my son is a systems engineer and this is the view my daughter-in-law has of him most evenings after the kids are in bed.  In all honesty, since she is building her event planning business, they probably have the same view of each other. 

(Watercolor, Vellum, Dies)

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Building My Base Layers

One of the things I am experimenting with this year is using what would be, for me, unexpected paper combinations.  Another challenge is to find creative ways to use some of the ten million dies I own!  The first iteration of this design was my usual rectangular layers.  My base was a cream color and the patterned paper was a cream and brown truly masculine print.  But I really wanted to pull in some of the colors from my water colored background so I decided to use a color that fell in-between the blues and greens.  This grey polka dot was my final design answer!💖

Watercoloring 

I must say I am having a great deal of fun playing around with my Distress Oxide Inks™.  To create the background for the stamped image, I took a piece of white card stock and used  Tea Dye Distress Ink™ to lightly color the entire area.  In random areas, I applied just a tiny bit of  Old Paper Distress Ink.  These inks were applied with my mermaid makeup blending brushes.  To distress the edges, I used regular Vintage Photo Distress Ink™. To color my stencils, I smeared Distress Oxide Inks™ on to my media mat and spritzed them lightly with water.  I used a dry watercolor brush to color in the stencil.  I removed excess water from my brush with a paper towel to achieve graduation in my colors.

Stamping

I was very certain that I did not want to color the image.  So I chose one or two images on the back of the computer and applied spot color.  I first stamped the image using black ink.  I heat set that (not necessary, I'm just a little OCD) and then stamped the image again using VersaMark® embossing ink.  I used clear embossing powder and heat embossed the image.  This process gives the image more definition and allows it to play better against the strong background.  I used a spray acrylic sealant on the finished panel.

To create my vellum strip, I used Distress Oxide Ink™ to color a white strip of vellum.  I combined Broken China and Iced Spruce on the front and Iced Spruce on the back.  It came out beautifully and was almost a perfect match to the stenciled colors.💝

Stuff I Used:
Stamped Image: Loves Store/AE Unbranded DIY Man **

Card Stock Plain: Cards and Pockets "Hot Fudge Matte" 

Printed Paper: Echo Park "Dots and Stripes" (Metropolitan Collection)
Dies: Gina Marie Designs "Wonky Rectangles-Stitched"; Spellbinders "Labels 22"

Stencils:  The Crafter's Workshop Mini "And so on"; Andy Skinner "Code Breaker"
Distress Oxide Inks™: Iced Spruce, Broken China
Distress Inks™: Tea Dye, Old Paper, Vintage Photo
Mermaid Ink Blending Brushes:  DSC Beauty
Twine: Tim Holtz Ideology®: Paper String
** There is an individual name Lara Smith who says that the image on the stamp used in this project was stolen by someone in China.  I purchased the stamp from the store in the link above.  I have no idea who designed the stamp!   Ms. Smith has been posting all over Facebook and on my personal and challenge blogs that I use and promote stolen images.  This is blatantly untrue.  If Ms. Smith has an issue with the company from whom I purchased the stamp she really needs to take that up with them.

I look forward to seeing your project in the Challenge!

HUGZ