Wednesday, March 19, 2014

combining inspirations

I love water colouring stamped images with Distress Inks. This card was inspired by  Joni's choice of colours and image for her submission to the Runway Inspired Challenge and the Tracing Images on the Clean & Simple 3 online card class.


Sorry the colour isn't quite true as it is a grey and dreary day here so I tried to "enhance" it on my iPhone . Instead of tracing a stamped image I stamped with metallic ink. This has numerous possibilities. More to follow :)

Masking

On day 4 of the Clean and Simple 3 card class the homework was to create a card using a masking 3D illusion technique. I gave it whirl- not bad for a first try! Once again I had to alter my card because I got pink ink in the bottom corner of the card. My fix was to use some Distress Ink and the ink blending tool to lightly colour the edges.

Supplies:
2" heart cut from the Cricut Home Decor cartridge
re-positional adhesive to secure heart on card front
Inks: 
Stampin' Up- Crisp Cantaloupe, Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals, Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding
Distress Inks- spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry
Ranger Black Archival Ink
Stamps: unknown


Card 2
I managed to keep the card face clean this time :) I seem to have a fascination with purple lately. This is a fun card to make.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Another learning lesson


Another learning lesson in card making today. The second bit of homework from the Clean & Simple 3 card class was to try a graffiti card which involves a bit of layered die cutting and stamping. I do not have many dies, only a few snowflakes, but I do have a Cricut Expression and umpteen cartridges. So I tackled this assignment with those tools.
My Cricut mat was too sticky which made taking the card off the mat very challenging. The card got creased and some of the smaller pieces ripped so I had to glue them back together.
I would not give this card to someone but I love the technique I now I know what precautions I will need to take with the next one. I also think that I must purchase some dies- Thank you Clean & Simple card class for giving me a reason to go shopping :)
This card looks a bit bare and not grounded, I think I need to alter this perhaps a frame around the graffiti may work or maybe some shapes or banner stamps like some other students have used.

update:
I think it looks better with more stamping. There are a couple flaws such as a blue mark beside the blue hearts, a pink mark at the bottom of the card, and the big one- I mis-stamped lipstick lips so I had to stamp it again and I did not line it up perfectly. Oh well this is just a practice card for learning a technique.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Oops- Follow the Directions



Today I was able to play in my craft room trying out some of the new techniques from day 5 of Clean and Simple 3 card class.
One of my crafting mentors Jennifer Mc Guire demonstrated a new technique called "ironing off embossing". I gave it try but I altered it a bit because I did not want to waste too much embossing powder. Bad move. There are reason why certain steps cannot be altered. As you can see here in this photo, there are lines on either side of the water coloured banner, this is where the embossing powder was applied and then ironed off after the water colour portion was completed. Had I embossed the entire card front except for the banner section there would be no lines.
 
It stands to reason that a line would be present because VersaMark is a watermark ink. Silly me! but this is how we learn and how new techniques are discovered. Back to creative area to try my homework assignment again. :)

update:

Here is the fix but it does not WOW me. I had to put it on a purple card rather than a white one because the previously embossed areas were very grey and it was more noticeable on a white. So purple it is.


Sunday, March 9, 2014

Believe in Rainbows


This is my version of Donna Mikasa's Celebrate card seen here; a fun watercolour technique that she used for Virginia's View Watercolour Challenge here . (Sorry I could not get the banner to download)


 
In making my version  I was left with puddles of distress ink on my craft sheet. Following the directions of the challenge "to just add water" I created this birthday card. However, I must admit that because I am on rations of watercolour paper, I attached the front panel to regular cardstock instead of wasting of what could be another card front. This move may disqualify me from the challenge, but oh well I still had fun making both cards.


  
Supplies:
Inks: Distress ink- Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Picked Raspberry, Broken China, Mowed Lawn
Stamps: Believe- unknown, Happy Birthday- Hero Arts Fancy Basics
Embossing Powder: Stampin Up Wild Wasabi
Markers: Distress Marker- Pumice Stone
Gems: personal stash


From Lack of Colour to Full Colour


The inspiration for these two cards comes from incorporating the  CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #129 and the awesome card of Jenny who also participated in the challenge.
My idea was to have part of the image water coloured in various shades of grey, white and black and then the image changes to full colour as the sun comes out and the clouds lift. The division line between colour and non-colour was achieved by free hand painting a line with masking fluid. I painted one section then rolled the masking fluid off the water colour paper to complete the other section.   This great product was introduced to me when I explored Heather Telford's website ( a great site if you want to play with water colours and stamping).
I did not have a stamp to convey the message that I wanted so I ran the coloured image through my printer. It took a lot of fussing to get it the correct spot but I am happy with the results, except the bend on the bottom of the small card from jamming in the printer!
For the second card I settled on a "believe" sentiment because I could just not find the right words. I wish I could create my own stamp sentiments.


Supplies:
Inks: Distress Inks in Black Soot, Pumice Stone, Weathered Wood, Broken China, Tumbled Glass, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Peeled Paint.
Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink
Stamp: Daisy Thanks from Stampendous
Cardstock: 110 lb white for card base, scraps of grey and blue from personal stock for matte

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Pink and Bling

I found another card challenge blog that appealed to me but after reading the rules I found I could not compete because I don't have any Mama Elephant stamps. Oh well, I can still use their photo as inspiration for designing my own card.
 
                                      
 
I created this card for a colleague who was moving out West to start a new life. I am quite happy with the way it turned out :)
Technique: scribble multiple colours of distress marker on a stamp, mist with water and stamp on watercolour paper. Using a blending tool and Distress Ink in worn lipstick, soften the edges. Pearls and sequins were added for the bling portion of the challenge.