NEW CATEGORY! A while back I bought a couple of stencils to use on cards and just got around to trying one out. This is one of the mini stencils from The Crafters Store called Birds of a Feather.

I gathered a bunch of wide printed paper strips from the table scraps bin and selected Distress Inks to coordinate with each one. Then, using washi tape, I blocked off a portion of the stencil (hanging birdhouses) that I did not want to transfer to the paper. I used foam daubers to pick up ink from the pad and sponged it through the stencil onto the patterned paper.

When these were done I selected more table scraps for each one and then chose a card base. Each one then got a sentiment from the pre-stamped bin plus some paper flowers with either pearl or rhinestone centers. In some cases, where the contrast was not high between  a couple of papers, I used a colored or black fine line marker to draw in some faux stitching.

I made 7 of these cards with three being vertical and four on the horizontal.

Many more techniques to try using the stencil (including using the birdhouses portion of them). So, expect to see this again.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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It was time for a new manicure so I played with my stencil set again. This time I started with a base of a sheer purple (2 coats) and an over layer of a color shifting lighter purple in one coat. The end result looks more pink than purple but has wonderful depth.

I wanted to do the 'stamping' with the stencils again and chose an image with multiple flowers in the design. It also has a couple of leaves and some dots. I had to use it twice for each of the thumbs. I decided that I would do it in white since the base polish was so light.

I've noticed that, although they are the same brand of polish and MADE for nail art, the white is much more apt to smear with the application of topcoat. This is true no matter how long I let it dry. Kind of annoying as I had a couple of nails that it smeared so badly I had to take the polish off to the nail and start completely over with all the layers.

In the end, I like the result. It is much more low-key than the last few manicures I have been sporting but totally appropriate for a breezy summer look.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Monday, 30 July 2012 2:24 PM PDT

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Challenge: Make a wedding card with paper embroidery.

I have only stitched up this pattern one time since I designed it years ago. So I decided to have another go at it. I started with a pink shimmer cardstock and pricked ut the pattern. I used irridescent white thread to stitch the cake icing, an irridescent lavender for the plate and silver for the ring cake topper. I then spritzed the card lightly with a purple shimmer spray. This also darkened portions of the plate.

This pattern has slits for ribbon to thread through to form the tier separator pillars. It also has a series of 5-spoke thread wheels so that one can needle-weave ribbon around them which creates roses. I created these ribbon roses in dark purple for the bottom layer, lavender for the middle layer and white for the top layer.

I placed silver text stickers between the cake layers and mounted it on a bordered cardstock over two lavender layers.

I love how this came out and will add it to my stash for just the right couple.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Tuesday, 31 July 2012 5:08 PM PDT

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I bet this is NOT what you expect... I wanted to see if I could do marbling with alcohol inks!

I put an inch of water in a shallow dish then I got out three colors of alcohol ink and dropped three drops of each color on top of the water. Then I swirled a bit with a toothpick and dropped a piece of white cardstock on the surface of the water. It has to be pulled and dried immediately with a heat gun to keep the paper from buckling too much.

I started with a yellow-green, a blue and a red. After drying I cut it down, mounted it over a patterned paper and card base. I stamped two cupcakes at the top and a greeting on the lower half. I stamped a sentiment border across a striped strip and mounted that to support the cupcakes. I colored in the cupcake flowers to match the marbled paper.

For the second one I used a blue, a turquoise and a green. I did not swirl this one much so the color blocks are larger. I cut this one down and mounted on patterned paper and cut a text-print with a flag bottom to mount over it. Before mounting, I stamped a tag-shaped greeting , punched a hole and tied it around the banner with scrappers floss. I stamped a greeting at the bottom of the marbled paper and then mounted three butterflies punched from a paint sample strip. Each of these got a purple rhinestone center.

So, 'yes' you can do marbling with alcohol inks. And now you know!When I do this again I will use watercolor paper to help with some of the buckling. I wonder if it will take the color differently... That is an experiment for another day.

Ddd 

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Tuesday, 31 July 2012 5:10 PM PDT

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The first set was done by masking a piece of kraft cardstock with circle openings and stamping the background stamp with white pigment ink. I heat set the ink and then used colored pencils to color over the white inked portions. I also traced the outlines of the open areas in colors appropriate for each area of the design. I Used a Prismacolor blender pencil to smooth out the coloring. I used a plain and scalloped spellbinders die to make decorative frames from patterned paper, trimmed out the panel and backed it with another patterned paper and a colored card base. The sentiment was stamped on kraft paper, trimmed, and backed with patterned paper. The first one is done in pastels.

This one in the same style was colored with metallic colored pencils.

I next used the other reverse stamp with white Staz-On ink on transparency. I did two of these as well. I cut a scalloped oval in patterned paper and mounted the transparency to the back. On a folded card base I mounted a contrasting color and then placed the aperture panel on it with foam tape. I placed a silver sentiment sticker in the middle of the transparency and added three paper flowers with silver nail head centers along the bottom of the opening.

The first is a birthday card.

And the next is a generic 'hello' card.

Back to the first stamp. I stamped this on text print designer paper with light-toned chalk ink. The first was trimmed out and placed on a Cuttlebug embossed white background along with two designer paper strips. I tied a sheer ribbon at the bottom and added a green card base and silver sentiment sticker.

 Then I used a single strip behind the next one and tied the ribbon vertically. Both the designer paper and the stamped panel were backed with brown to match the card base.

The next one got a horizontal treatment to show more of the embossed background. I backed it with two designer paper strips and let the stamped panel, with rounded corners, runn off the left edge. The ribbon goes over the top this time and I used a gold sentiment sticker. I picked up one of the colors in the designer paper by using a dark blue card base.

Now, get out your sunglasses because it's going to get BRIGHT in here.

This time I stamped on white cardstock with Versamark ink and embossed in black. Then I colored in the image with blended watercolor markers. I trimmed the panel and cut an orange backing with a nestabilities die. This is cut on the two ends separately and the sides trimmed to meet. Then I stamped and embossed in black a border element at the top and bottom. The feature panel is mounted to the orange backer and both are adhered to a striped designer paper over a yellow card base. I stamped the sentiment on yellow and trimmed it out before mounting on foam tape.

And, that's it... class dismissed.

Ddd 

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Thursday, 9 August 2012 10:04 AM PDT

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For day 10 we made use of border stamps. For the first card I used a zig-zag border and inked it up with a series of chalk inks and stamped myself a little rainbow. I did this directly on a colored card front and added one border at the top as well. I stamped a sentiment on a bright yellow square and diecut it with a scalloped nestability. I popped it up on foam tape and then added a dashed black line around it.

Another lesson was on stamping a border with an open image and doing a loose watercolor wash over it. I stamped a short border three times to stretch across a white card. I used marker inks for the 'paint' in the watercolor. When it was dry I trimmed it down and used a scalloped border punch on each edge. I used a larger scallop border punch on some yellow dotted paper and layered them. I placed them on a black and white designer paper and trimmed the whole thing. Then I bordered it with black and mounted on a white card base.

I did this a couple of times again with a leaf border stamp. In both cases I bordered the piece and placed on a printed paper background. I also tied scrappers floss around both. On the first one I also stamped a sentiment on an open area of the background paper.

Then I did one with a solid background paper and no sentiment.

Finally, I stamped a border of Japanese lanterns. I twisted two satin cords and attached then along the top of the lanterns. I used Krylon gold paint pen to border the top and bottom and added it to a background of origami paper. I added a faux cookie fortune and a white paper flower with a rhinestone center before placing on a yellow folded card base.

The next idea for us to try was using several borders together and embossing them with white on patterned papers. These are die cut into shapes for card embellishments. For this first one I cut two embossed pieces into ornaments. I used a Krylon gold paint pen to border both of them as well as the background paper. I cut caps out of gold paper and attached them. Then I created loops from scrappers floss and attached them. The upper ornament is glued directly to the background and the lower one is popped up on foam tape. I added sticker sentiments to both ornaments and sticker waste as hangers. This is mounted to a green card base.

Then I turned the rest of the embossed border peices into butterflies and butterfly halves. This one is different from the rest of them in that I used only a partial covering of designer papers over a white card base. I gave both of the butterfly halves black bodies of card scrap, drew in antenna and feet and added black rhinestones for heads. I stamped the sentiment directly on the card base.

I have two butterfly diecuts and I used both for this card. On top of the black bodies I added pearl strips. Love this background paper.

I used striped paper for these butterflies and really like how they came out! For these bodies I wrapped scrappers floss around twice and tied at the head for antenna.

These butterflies, also striped, are treated in the same way as the last. I also forgot to say that all the butterflies are glued to the background at the body and the wings are popped up on foam dots.

More bodies tied with string. The upper butterfly is actually two layers. All of these butterfly parts are banded with gold Krylon paint marker as is the border of the background paper.

Love the background paper on this one, love the dotted butterflies, love the gold paint borders.

For this one I used two half butterflies and gave them pearl bodies.They looked too random hanging out there so I drew in branches for them to sit on. Those were too stark so I stamped blossoms on them. This one got a green card base to go with the butterflies.

I picked the sentiment when I started the series and saw no reason to skip to something else.

Ready for day 11? I am!

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Thursday, 9 August 2012 9:54 AM PDT

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First, I created two color blocked cards using the same images. I used the Xyron to apply adhesive to the whole 1/4 card panel. Then I attached 4 strips of colored cardstock. Over these I stamped the images with Versamark and embossed in white. The panel was then trimmed and mounted to a white card front. The last step was applying various Stickles to the cupcake icings (which you cannot see at all in the photos).

The next technique is to make the image look like it was hand drawn. I used watercolor paper and stamped the poppy five times with a very light chalk ink. Then I traced over the lines with a distress marker. I also drew in the stems with distress marker. When this was all dry I used distress inks (markers and ink pads) as watercolor paint and colored the image. This is about 5 layers of color. After trimming the panel I bordered it with green and placed on a colored card base. I stamped the sentiment on coral card and trimmed, bordered and mounted on foam tape. I tied emboidery floss through buttons and trimmed and frayed the ends. These are attached to the flower centers with glue dots.

The next card is stamped on kraft cardstock with Versamark ink and embossed in white. I colored all the images with watercolor markers and buffed the ink off the white embossing. I drew stems with green marker and bordered them with white gel pen. The panel was trimmed, bordered with white and mounted to an orange card base. I stamped a sentiment on a white strip,trimmed, bordered and mounted to the card front. (This one was a featured student card selected by the instructors from the gallery)

I'm not too fond of the next one. It is stamped on kraft cardstock and colored with colored pencils. The panel was trimmed and bordered in black. I mounted to orange cardstock and added a stamped sentiment strip. I glued on tiny side borders and added tiny buttons to the flower centers (my favorite part).

More simple is this spotlight card. I stamped the image multiple times on white cardstock. I also stamped the parts of the image on printed cardstock and trimmed them out. These are mounted on foam tape. I stamped a sentiment on colored cardstock and tied it to the panel. I bordered the panel with printed cardstock and added to a folded card base.

For the next card I stamped all the images on pieces of dot textured cardstock with Versamark and embossed in gold. I also used the same technique to add the pine bough to the background. Each of the bells, clappers and bows were trimmed out and mounted using glue dots while trapping the ends of scrappers floss under the ends. After trimming the panel I added to a purple card base.

For this card I stamped the cups and mugs on various patterned papers using Versamark ink and embossed in white. All were trimmed out and I used a craft knife to cut a slit at the rim. I stacked them together and mounted to a patterned paper. This panel was trimmed out and layered on a brown card. The sentiment was emossed in white on patterned paper, trimmed, bordered and mounted on foam tape. I added three white paper flowers and placed brown rhinestones in their centers.

The last card was so much fun to make. I first stamped every image on masking paper and trimmed them out to create masks. Then, on watercolor paper, I started stamping with the foreground elements. The bicycle was stamped then masked, next was the left house which was masked and the tree stamped. I stamped the second house and moved the mask to it before stamping the picket fence. The fence was masked and I stamped the tree andright cloud. Then the kite was stamped, masked and the left cloud was added. The third house was added last. I drew in the two pieces of wire fences. All of the masks were then removed and I set to painting. This was done by using the ink of distress markers colored on an acrylic block for the base coats and drawing with the distress markers for details. When it was all dry I trimmed it only slightly so it makes a larger card. I bordered it in black and placed on a pastel card base. The sentiment was stamped on printed cardstock, trimmed and adhered to the road.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this card!

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Thursday, 9 August 2012 9:39 AM PDT

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Our first lesson was using a smallish label as a supporting element for a larger sentiment. I used the label in a pretty straitforward way by stamping on white cardstock with black ink. I used distress ink to tone it darker in the center. I trimmed this panel down and rounded the corners. then I used a black Spica glitter pen to darken the thickest lines and give them some shine. I layered the panel over the green stripes and added a gold and a dot strip to each side while mounting to the card base. I bordered a long sentiment strip with gold and added it to the card front by gluing at the ends and popping the middle on foam tape. I added three dragonflies punched from a paint strip and made dots of Liquid Pearl at the ends of the sentiment strip.

The next suggestion was to make the label seem larger by stamping the top and bottom separately. I did this on white cardstock and tinted the edges with distress ink. Then I cut it out with a nestabilities die by cutting the top and the bottom separately. I attached this panel to the green dotted cardstock and used corner scissors to trim it. This was placed on a white card base and those corners were rounded. On coral cardstock I stamped a sentiment with versamark and embossed it in white. I cut a gold frame using two nestabilities dies and mounted it on the coral piece. These were popped up on foam tape. I added gold nail head stickers to the scrolls on the stamped label.

I switched to the other label for these next two. I stamped a floral spray with versamark on a tan cardstock and embossed in clear just to give a tone on tone background. I trimmed and bordered this panel and mounted to a white card base. I stamped the label on white cardstock with black ink, trimmed and tinted the edges with distress ink. I stamped the sentiment on the label with chalk ink and mounted to the card front with foam tape. Three pearls added to each side of the spray are the finishing touch.

For this card I used the label to create a background by stamping repeatedly on white cardstock with red chalk ink. Then I colored with a red marker on an acrylic block and used that ink to watercolor the labels. When it was dry I stamped the script image with light brown chalk ink, trimmed the panel, bordered it with black and mounted it to a white card base. The layers were then all tinted with distress ink. I stamped the label on white cardstock with black ink and watercolored it as well. Then I stamped the sentiment in black and trimmed the label. I backed it in black and popped it up on foam tape. I used a Cuttlebug die to cut black scroll elements and glued them in place. Three black rhinestones are set in the scroll ends and two pink rhinestones grace the top and bottom of the label.

I think I am definitely learning in this class.

Ddd 

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Thursday, 9 August 2012 9:26 AM PDT

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Our first demonstration was stamping on burnished glitter. Well, I don't use glitter since I started making cards for Operation Write Home becuase the glitter gets on the soldiers' clothing and makes them visible to night scopes. BAD THING! In order to keep from contaminating OWH cards I just don't use glitter at all. So I had to think of a way to make the concept work for me. I had some white cardstock that I had sprayed with a shimmer mist a long time ago. I used a piece of that and stamped a floral on it with Archival ink, masking so I could get three blooms and extras of the leaves. I used watercolor markers - three of each color group - to color up the image and blend the colors. I was liking it pretty well at this point but the coloring took away some of the shine. I decided to spritz over the top with Perfect Pearl mist. This caused the colors to start running together and I FELL IN LOVE! I used a heat gun to dry the image so the running would't go too far. I cut a strip of printed vellum for the text and wrapped it to the back to adhere it. I also tucked a couple of mini glue dots under the text and they don't show. Then I mounted with a very fine black border and an orange card base.

Next I used a different floral image and stamped all over a white card with Archival Ink. I colored in only one of the images with watercolor markers, using three of each color group. I spritzed over the top with a mist spray and, after drying, used old paper distress ink to tone the panel while leaving a white area around the feature bloom. I mounted on colored cardstock and added a bordered pre-stamped sentiment. Three small purple rhinestones under the sentiment help balance the design.

Another floral image was chosen and stamped repeatedly in a corner treatment using pale chalk ink. I used distress inks like watercolors to paint the blooms. It was a little sparse so I stamped some fillers from another set and painted them as well. For the sentiment panel I punched two 1/8 inch holes on each end and removed the cardstock between them to make slots. This I used to thread sheer ribbon. I used foam tape to pop up the sentiment and then pulled the ribbon ends to the back to attach before adding to a colored card base.

I repeated the technique in a monochrome look by stamping with a darker chalk ink and painting only with brown tones. I did not paint the fillers on this one either. The sentiment is tied on with scrappers floss through single holes instead of ribbon and slots.

One of the techniques suggested was paper piecing in a 3D manner. I pulled out my little sleeping mouse and stamped once on a patterned paper base and then on 4 other patterned papers for the parts of the picture. The elements were cut out, leaving parts underneath so you can see 'into' the image. I mounted the back of the flower flat to the background, then added the mouse with his head popped up on foam tape but the body not popped. The flower front is on foam at the open edge and stuck to the background at the base. The whole stem is glued directly on the backbround. I added a shadow underneath with a marker. Three strips were selected to band the top and bottom and scrappers floss was tied around one of the top strips. Then I mounted it to colored cardstock. On this first one I stamped the sentiment directly on the background.

The next one is the same concept with different papers for all of it. I also used a pre-stamped sentiment and trimmed it, rounded the corners and added dashed lines. Then I stuck it on, aligned with a paper seam. (How different that diamond plaid looks when it is on it's side!)

The final card is the most simple one. We used a more graphic floral stamp in black to create a silhouette. I used three stamps from two different sets and then grabbed a leaf from a third set as a filler. I spritzed the whole thing with black mist and stamped a sentiment with Momento black ink. The only color is the card base.

Another successful day of stretching my stamps!

Ddd 

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Thursday, 9 August 2012 9:09 AM PDT

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Day 6 was a 'bonus day' and featured ideas for using the stamps that come with cutting dies. I have none of these. I do have cutting dies in a few shapes but none have stamps that go with them. So for two of them I used other stamps to create a background and then used one of my butterfly dies for the technique. 

What this involves is using the die to cut only a portion on the front only of a card base, along the fold. Then the stamped item is cut out with the same die and glued to the inside of the card so it shows through the aperture. Cool!

For the first one I used a butterfly background stamp and colored it with a combination of Copics and Bic MarkIt pens. I decorated the card front with three strips of printed paper and cut down the width of the card so it is 4.25 inches from the outside edge of the wing. This allows it to use a standard envelope. I bordered and attached a pre-stamped sentiment.

For the next one I used a butterfly stamp (that does not match the die) and colored it with a combination of Copics and Bic MarkIt pens in yellows. I also decorated this card front with three strips of printed paper and cut down the width of the card so it is 4.25 inches from the outside edge of the wing. I bordered and attached a pre-stamped sentiment. The print on the center strip was white and there was none anywhere else on the card. So I used yellow marker to tint it all.

This one is done with the same style except I used one of my own carved stamps and did all the cutting with a craft knife instead of a die. For this I also decorated the front with three strips of paper and then I free-hand cut some leaves and stems from decorator paper. I reinforced the edges with some green marker and then added the bordered pre-stamped sentiment. I like the rose but wished I had done something else on the front of the card (like more roses that would overlap the inside one).

Finally, I thought my hand-carved hummingbird would look good with this technique. I trimmed this one out with three wooden diecuts and dropped red-orange rhinestones in the centers of them. One black rhinestone stands in for the eye on the hummingbird. The pre-stamped and bordered sentiment is popped up on foam tape so it is the same depth as the wooden flowers. (It is difficult to photograph this one because the images don't line up well when the card is propped slightly open so it will stand up)

This isn't a technique I will use often (if ever again) since my lack of matching dies and stamps makes it more cumbersome than the finished product warrants.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Thursday, 9 August 2012 9:19 AM PDT

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The stamp style for day 4 of the class was 'graphic'. I have several in this style so it was easier to come up with ideas for following the lessons. The first one is very simple. The flower was stamped with yellow chalk ink to create a background on white cardstock. On separate white cardstock I stamped three of the flowers in pink and 5 green leaves. These were all trimmed with a thin white border. I mounted the leaves and then the flowers with a combination of ATG tape and foam tape for dimension. Then I pierced holes in the centers of the flowers and added button brads. The panel was then trimmed to size and added to a colored card base and a sentiment was bordered and popped up on foam.

I used a graphic wheel set to stamp over 4 colors of cardstock with different colors of chalk ink. Then I cut all the pieces into 1 inch squares and reassembled them on cardstock with Xyron adhesive. I trimmed to even edges and tied some scrappers floss on. Then I cut and applied a sentiment strip. This first one on a green background got a border around the sentiment and multiple strands of floss.

This one on a burgundy background got only a single strand of floss but I added a button.

The next technique is double embossing. I started with patterned paper and stamped four impressions with a quilt block image using Versamark ink. This was embossed with colored powder. Then I used Versamark ink again with a graphic pattern block and embossed with metallic powder. These four blocks were then cut out and mounted with a little interior space on a coordinating color cardstock. I added matching metallic sticker trim and framed with a coordinating color border. A sentiment was cut from a designer paper and bordered before mounting with foam tape. The panel was then added to a square card base.

This first one is done with green and silver on a very light greenish designer paper.

The next uses red and gold on a brown patterned paper.

Then I went on to stamping on transparencies with white Staz-on ink. I first used a set of three clear stamps of graphic patterned hearts. I stamped repeatedly over a full sheet of transparency so I would have multiple pieces to play with. For the first one I layered with designer paper and pierced holes in the heart centers. The holes were used to mount heart brads to hold the two pieces of material together. I used a gold foil rubon on the right side of the card and applied a fold greeting sticker on the lower left. This is mounted on a barely pink card base.

The second of these got a chocolate toned music print background. I added a strip of tissue tape and two silver borders along with a silver sticker greeting. The two pieces of material are held together this time with four copper corner brads and I placed it on a tan card base.

BRACE YOURSELF --- I Finished off the day with Christmas Cards!

I had a great graphic stamp of an ornament and used it on transparency with white Staz-on ink. I cut my transparency in to 5 pieces of varying sizes and got out some green Christmas papers and some metallic red stickers that I just picked up on sale. For all of these cards I used mini glue dots behind the ornaments to adhere the transparency to the backing paper.

The first uses a full panel of the transparency, silver peel-off border stickers and the red foil greeting. I added a red 'nail head' sticker to dot the 'i'.

The next smaller piece of transparency makes a nice breaking point to mount the large text. I used two 'nail heads' to reinforce adhesion on the two sides.

An even shorter piece fit perfectly above the border print on this designer paper. I used the foil word sticker on the edges of the border and added a 'nail head' for the red nose.

The next two scraps were formatted so the cards had to be horizontal. I used the bigger piece as a border and tacked the edges down with gold sticker trim. red foil text in script fit this format perfectly.

This one uses up the scraps of the transparency, the nail heads, and the stickers. Not my favorite layout of the bunch, but acceptable.

WOW, 12 cards for this lesson and 5 cards added to the Christmas stash!

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Thursday, 9 August 2012 8:55 AM PDT

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For the first card I arranged the entire alphabet on a Fiskars stamp press and removed one letter. I stamped on designer paper using archival ink and trimmed the panel. This was mounted with a thin black border and offset on a colored card base. I stamped the sentiment on another patterned paper and trimmed close before bordering with black. I added gold trim on two sides and popped the sentiment up on foam tape.

I used the same letter arrangement for the next card but with a different paper. Then I hand-drew little banners around each of the letters and colored them with watercolor markers. This panel was trimmed and mounted with a black border. I stamped the sentiment on another patterned paper and trimmed it like a tab. This is mounted under the edge of the main panel over an orange card base.

Next I put the U back on the block and replaced the L with a little heart. I inked the whole thing with victorial velvet distress ink and then colored the I, U and heart with black marker before stamping on patterned paper. I used a shadow stamp and distress ink to feature the message letters. After rounding the corners I distressed the edges and mounted to a colored catd base. The card base also got the corners rounded.

I next placed only the letters for this message on the block, inked with Versamark and embossed with clear powder. Then I used blue, pink and gold to mist it and wiped the color off the embossing. This allows the original white cardstock to show through the message. I trimmed this down to a wide band and backed with a thin burgundy border. This is mounted on printed cardstock and again bordered with burgundy. I mounted folded snippets of sheer burgundy ribbon with glue dots and attached sheer pink flowers over them with foam dots.

For the last card I switched sets and placed numbers on my Fiskars stamp press. I used watercolor paper to create a background with the distress ink wrinkle-free technique. I stamped the numbers four times to get full coverage and then cut back to the appropriate size panel. I laid down a strip of striped paper and three stripes of polka dot paper. I punched three hearts from patterned paper and glued them down. I used a Sharpie to draw in candle wicks and white gel pen to give the edges of the elements a pop.

So after doing all the projects for the class I had lots of extra parts and pieces I has stamped out while I had the letters on the stamping block. I folded some coordinating base cardstock and made 5 more for my OWH stash.

Straightforward use of the last piece of the rainbow stamp pad backgrounds created on day 1 of class. I banded both parts in black on this one.

Similar treatment with designer paper and the banding is in dark green.

Took away the banding for this one but added solid lines around the elements.

On this one I pierced all around the elements and connected the holes with a fine line faux stitching.

And finally, I rounded the corners of everything and added faux stitching (without the pierced holes)

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Thursday, 9 August 2012 8:35 AM PDT

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Operation Write Home

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 2:00 PM PDT

Updated: Tuesday, 7 August 2012 2:09 PM PDT

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For the first I used the one collage stamp I have that I LOVE - the hydrangea on script. First, the watercolor paper is painted with bright colors. Then the image is stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with clear detail powder. Finally, a black ink pad is used to color over the whole thing and then the ink is wiped off the embossing. This allows the colors to shine through from behind. My original colors got a bit muddied so are not as vibrant as I would like. I cut an aperture in the front of a card and mounted the stamped collage behind it. Then I covered the inside with a full panel to hide the 'uglies'. The sentiment is stamped directly on the card front and I glued on three purple paper flowers as accents.

Next up is a color-blocked card. I stamped on white cardstock with Versamark ink and embossed with clear detail powder. Then I masked off in quarters and applied chalk inks direct-to-paper. I trimmed close to the colored panel and backed it with black card. This is mounted over a white card base using foam tape. I added two gold peel-off leaf stickers to the center and colored inside them with black Copic marker.

Finally, I realized that three of my collage stamps contained butterflies and I had another non-collage stamp with one as well. (That should tell me something about how I am attracted to collage stamps, huh?) I stamped each of these on white cardstock and punched them out with a square punch. On the one that was not quite in keeping with the style of the others I over-stamped it with a script stamp and strengthened the lines in the image with Sharpie marker. The edges of each block were tinted with distress ink and then the butterflies were colored with colored pencils. I used foam tape to mount them in a grid on black cardstock. I treated a pre-stamped sentiment in a similar manner and then adhered all the elements to a green folded card base.

OK, I did my homework for the day. But I can't see this increasing my use of collage stamps.

NOTE: When I was working on cataloging my newer stamps I opened the 'Christmas' drawer and realized that I have a Christmas collage stamp. Now THAT would have been handy to remember earlier!

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Tuesday, 31 July 2012 5:24 PM PDT

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Our first lesson was using Cut 'n Dry felt pad and reinkers to make a custom rainbow stamp pad. I've had the material for years and have not used it yet, so 'yay for me'. I used Adriondack reinkers to create an ink pad that is color bands on a diagonal.

This first card uses the dot background on the ink pad. I used the background to feature a foil illustration and tied everything together with rounded corners. The bow is fabric and I added a sticky rhinestone to the center.

Then I made a whole bunch of these backgrounds with the distressed plaid stamp. On this card I stamped the Hero Arts / OWH house and hearts directly on the background. I used a water brush to blend the background colors in these areas. Then I drew stems for the hearts and stamped grass. The greeting is from my pre-stamped file and I rounded two corners and placed stamped and cut out clouds on top.

I used another of the rainbow backgrounds for the next lesson which was using a background stamp to 'kiss off' some of the ink on a solid stamp. I used the same plaid to kiss the flower stamp, added a sentiment and mounted with a scrappers floss winding accent. Here is a full view:

And on the close-up you can see the kissed plaid better. Also note that I added green Stickles to the flower centers.

I also used the rainbow plaid for the background on this next card. The lesson for this one was using the background stamp on a shaped element. I used mine on the die-cut tree creating what I call a 'scotch pine'. LOL! I popped it up on foam tape aligned with the plaid in the background and then added a winding of scrappers floss and sticky rhinestones. I also added a star brad to the tree top. (A very 'country' Christmas)

Next lesson was using a background stamp on patterned paper. I inked the plaid in three shades blue chalk ink and stamped on dotted green paper. I stamped the fence from the Hero Arts / OWH set and cut out the image from the scrapbooking page-a-day calendar. The paper for the text has a subtle white/blue dot pattern and I gave it a twist of scrappers floss. The grass is a stamp of several impressions.

The next lesson was stamping on TWO patterned papers with different ink colors, cutting the papers into shapes and reassembling them. I had two papers that were the same print but one had a cream background and one blue. I stamped both with the dots background and cut 3/4 inch squares. These were reassembled over a xyron background. There was enough for the card front plus so I used the plus to die-cut the hearts. These were then popped up on foam tape. I stamped the tag and tied it to the heart with scrappers floss.

And, finally, I used a smaller background stamp with swirls and butterflies. I inked with one color of chalk ink and stamped and then repeated with 5 other ink colors. I used Distress Markers to color in the butterflies. I placed a strip of dark green to tone down some of the purple that was too bright at the bottom. Then I die-cut two butterflies in colors to match the background and layered them so the top one has its wings raised. The greeting is from the pre-stamped bin.

And so ends Day 1 of the class. If the rest of the class is this informative, I will be VERY happy.

I made extras of the backgrounds while I had the materials out and put together a few more cards. This one is from the 'kissing' technique. I used the dotted background stamp on the solid flower. By adding some cut out leaves and some liquid pearl flower centers I had a great feature panel for a card. I added it to a blue background from the scrapbooking page-a-day calendar and popped up a sentiment on foam tape.

This one with the dots background just got a printed tag cut down for it, a twist of twine and a button. I mounted on colored cardstock base.

Anotherdotted background got a printed tag, an addage ticket, a deckle die-cut panel all backed with black plus two die-cut arrows and a bit of twine for the tag. This one got a denim blue cardstock base.

For this one I used a different background - one I had inked up but set aside from class as I wasn't really pleased with it. Then I found this printed tag and it suddenly had more appeal. I backed both with a thin black border and tied some sheer moss-green ribbon on the diagonals. As a final touch I added some red 'nail head' sticker dots.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Tuesday, 31 July 2012 5:32 PM PDT

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I made a card for the Operation Write Home sketch challenge #128. As soon as I saw the sketch I knew what I wanted to do. Here is the sketch:

Ignoring the measurements they provided I stamped up three of the Hero Arts / Operation Write Home houses and five of the clouds from the same set. I cut off a bit of each of the houses to show more of the background papers and used a white gel pen to trim out the roofline, windows and door. Then I added white woodgrain to the door and yellow copic marker to the windows.

I let the clouds run off the edges of the card and trimmed them off. I added hand-drawn birds to the sky and cut down a pre-stamped sentiment to glue at the bottom edge.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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ANOTHER HEART? Will they never end? If they do, I can always stamp more, huh?

I fell in love with this background paper - actually, BOTH of the background papers. I naturally gravitate to the dotted ones but that diagonal plaid is unusual for me. It is pretty busy so the dotted paper tones it down a bit. I pulled colors from the plaid for other elements of the card: brown for the scallops and the sentiment, green for the dotted paper, blue for the heart and the rhinestones.

I wrapped some scrappers floss three times around the decorative paper and knotted it on the right. The heart is popped up on foam tape over the top of the floss.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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From the kits I selected one with some table scraps, a 'ColorMe' tag that I had already colored with chalk ink, and a duck from an old calendar. I selected a sentiment from the pre-stamped bin in the same color as the bird and applied it on the upper edge like a tab.

This will make a nice card for a guy, I think.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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From the scrapbooking page-a-day calendar I culled this printed lacy heart and stamped a framed sentiment into it. I created a background from table scraps and a couple of die-cut swirls.

The heart is popped up on foam tape.

This was created with another one of the 'kits' I assembled a while back.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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We were having a barbeque at the house and I needed to have a new manicure. I REALLY wanted to have little ants on my nails but did not have a stencil for them in my kit. So I settled for dragonflies, of which there were two. But that is A-OK cause I do like me some dragonflies.

I used a metallic magenta for the base color and stamped with the black nail art polish. This time I sealed the tips with an extra coat of topcoat in hopes of making the manicure last a little longer.

As you can see I used the two dragonflies on apternate fingers and also twisted them this way and that for a little more interest.

Here is a close view of two nails.

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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