Sponge Sponge Sponge

I was surfing around in blogland the other day when I came upon a woman who does most of her cards either with sponges or a brayer.  I've been on a bit of a brayer kick lately, so I thought I'd pull out my sponges and try that technique as well.

The only thing that I don't like about using the brayer is that unseemly line that you can get sometimes.  You know the one.  And once it's there, there's no going back.  With sponges, however, you are much less likely to have such an issue.

I used Wisteria Wonder and Elegant Eggplant for this one, but then went back in and added a bit of Perfect Plum for warmth.  It's still quite cool, so I'm thinking I might try again today with a little hint of one of the pinks in there somewhere.

Ugh.  You know when you make a beautiful card only to wreck it with your inky fingers?  Yep.  After I made the first version of this card (which, of course, I liked more) I picked it up with my apparently inky finger and left a little black smudge on the top left.  ARGH!!!  Then, I made this one and the image didn't come out very clear so I grabbed my stamp-a-ma-jig to line up the image to stamp again, but it was smaller than the area that the handle covered and it left a shadow impression.  ARGH!  So as a last resort I look my marker and filled in the spots that we're coloured evenly.  Alas, the result is not perfect.  You can see (in person) where I had to colour it.  GGRRR!!!  Whatever.  I'll send it to my 84 year old aunt.  She'll be delighted to received it and won't notice.

Hand Stamped Sentiments #127

 The sun us out again today after a wild storm last night.  Sunny days make me think of butterflies and flowers.  This week's challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments call for you to use the dazzling diamond dust technique. 

I made the panel with the fading ink and knew I wanted a dimensional butterfly on it as well.  What goes better with butterflies than shimmer?

 

I was going to add a birthday sentiment, but thought that the dark pallet would work well for a sympathy card.  I don't really like making cards that say "With Sympathy" because I think it's a little morbid to have those hanging around as "just in case" cards.  The phrase from Herb Expressions fits the bill nicely, but would also be used for someone going through a tough time.  Still a bit of a downer, but not so much as sympathy.

Selective Brayer

Usually I like to have lots of layers on my cards, and quite a bit of distressing too, so this card was something totally different for me.  I don't use my brayer very much, but I saw this idea with the select inking and wanted to give it a try.

I started out by tearing a couple strips of DSP to make the guide and then glued them to my working surface, then I slid my cardstock underneath them.  For the ink, I covered my brayer in Pool Party and covered the whole strip, then followed the the new Gumball Green one the bottom 2/3, and some Island Indigo up top.  The new ink pads are jucier than heck, so I had to give it a few goes before I got the variation that I wanted (I think I'll go back and try this again with a little more Pool Party showing through).  Also, the Island Indigo is very dark so I rolled off most of the ink before applying it.

Leaving my base in the guide I inked up the foliage stamp from Just Believe, and added it to the coloured strip.  I hardly ever use black and I forgot that it takes a while to dry, so I actually ended up smudging the first few tries before I just left it in there (and still managed to smudge - the butterfly on the right is hiding one).  While I was waiting for it to dry I stamped the big butterfly from the new set Papillon Potpourri in Versamark and heat embossed it with black powder.  Then I coloured it in with Melon Mambo and Pumpkin Pie and punched it out with the coordinating punch (LOVE punches).  the black butterflies are from the Embosslits Beautiful Wings and they're just glued to the base but I used a dimensional to give the main butterfly a little lift.  Finally, Curly Cute made an appearance for the sentiment.  I think this would also make a really nice sympathy card.

Hand Stamped Sentiments #124

Hello Saturday!  I have absolutely nothing that needs to get done today, so I stayed up late last night playing in my room.  I meant to try out some more of my new goodies, but I saw this sketch on Hand Stamped Semtiments and had an idea for it.

I've done many quilting cards before, and love the extra dimension the embossing gives.  Lately I've been on a square card kick (but I hate that I can only get one card out of a regular sized piece of cardstock).  Unfortunately, the biggest square card the folders can accommodate is 4.25".  So, I used the textures impressions plates (they've retired now - sorry!) to get my quilting done for this one.

Other than size, the difference between the TI plates and the embossing folders is that the EF offer a much deeper, crisper texture.  I really prefer the EF, but I wanted to make a nice big card, so that wasn't an option.  As you can tell from the picture, the embossing is quite subtle, but it shows much more in person.  Overall I'm still really happy with the card.  The colours are sure to brighten someone's day!

Colour Q 96

I love surfing through the various challenges on the net, and ColourQ is a great one.  There are a LOT of challenges to choose from, as well as a weekly one that you can enter.  This is from a past challenge, but I loved the combo right away.  I think I'll try it out a few more times to see what I can come up with.

I have been neglecting this set for quite some time now and decided I needed to pull it out again.  It's really quite beautiful, so I don't know why it made it to the bottom of the pile.  But, here it is.  I saw a card with this image stamped on First Edition DSP, so I can't claim that was my idea, but it was lacking something.  That something turned out to be this colour scheme!  Bashful Blue is a lovely, gentle hue, but I don't ever really let it function that way.  Poppy Parade is my favourite partner for this shade, but I think that Lucky Limeade might start making an appearance with it as well.

Stamps:  Just Believe

Ink:  Lucky Limeade, Tempting Turquoise

Paper:  Basic Grey, Bashful Blue, Tempting Turquoise, First Edition DSP

Exras: Scallop Edge punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Basic Jewels Pearls

Mojo Monday 183

Is it really Monday again already?  I have no idea where the last week went.  Oh, yes I do.  I've spent it in my craft room.  My husband is out of town right now and it looks like my craft room has barfed everywhere.  Usually I try and keep it somewhat tidy, but for the past few days I've been like an irresponsible teenager when the parents are away.  I'm loving it.

I haven't used my Elements of Style set in a while, and it's my favourite one, so I thought this would be a good time to pull it out again.  I wanted to try a couple of colour schemes out with this layout, and here are the results.

Stamps:  Elements of Style
Paper:  Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, First Edition
Ink:  Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler
Extas:  Scallop Trim Edge, Modern Label Punch, Very Vanilla ribbon

 

I've been looking EVERYWHERE for my Colour Coach (thought I would never use it, but I always do...), and it turns out it was in my work bag.  I pulled it out and wanted to do something with Marina Mist, but a little different than the greens or yellows that I would naturally pair it with.  Cajun Craze showed up on my CC to pair with MM and I am in LOVE.  This is an unexpected pair, but I think it's pretty great.  Thanks Colour Coach.

Stamps:  Just Believe

Paper:  Marina Mist, Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Ink:  Marina Mist, Cajun Craze

Extras:  Very Vanilla ribbon, Scallop Edge trim

This one's a response to a colour challenge that I found online.  I tried out my Tulips frame today (it showed up about an hour ago - yay!) and I think my next binge will be embossing with it.

Stamps:  Silhouette Sentiments, Just Believe
Paper:  Rich Razzelberry, Old Olive, More Mustard, Whisper White, Brights DSP
Ink:  Old Oliver, Versamark
Extras:  Whisper White ribbon, Tulips Textured Impressions frame