Copic for Cardmakers Days 7 and 9

This card was inspired by Jennifer's  gorgeous cut out card, which she has done before, but I haven't got around to.  I am still fascinated by shadowing to white and I am sure practice will make a bit more perfect.  

The background is translucent embossing paste which I had a bit of trouble getting smooth.  Very understated effect which is all the card needs.

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white, red;  X-press It blending card

Stamp - Clearly Besotted (printed worksheet)

Various Copic markers

This card was practice in creating backgrounds.  This is harder for me as it requires some freehand creativity on my part.  There is a reason I love stamping - I can't draw!  Though I am pleased with the effect the warm greys produce.

Her hair probably took the longest to get right.  Kathy Racoosin did a beautiful job with blonde hair but when I tried it on this image it just went orange yellow.  I need a lighter hand.  

Still in love with this perfect blend of red - it works so well. For the border I tried another of Jennifer's tricks, edging with Versamark then dipping in embossing powder.

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white;  X-press it blending card

Stamps - Wiff of Joy Hot Chocolate;  Wplus9 Hand Lettered Hello

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black;  Versamark

Embossing Powder - Ranger Liquid Platinum

Christmas, Copics and Birthdays

Summer is definitely on the way.  After a few mid-week tasters of the summer heat to come, the weekends have been really lovely and great for getting out in the garden.  Unfortunately it is the end of the school holidays, so back to thinking about school lunches and before we know it, it will be Christmas.  Hence the onslaught of Christmas cards.

I took inspiration for the Festive Friday challenge from the wreath here, and a card from the DT (Ardyth I think) for the panelled background.

The wreath is cut from vellum coloured with a few green Copic markers - they were all over my desk as I am in the middle of the Online Card Classes Copic class!  More on that later.  The sentiment is stamped on the inside of the card.

I think using SU Chocolate Chip DSP might qualify me for the latest CAS-ology challenge

What you need
Cardstock - PTI white, vellum
DSP - SU Woodland Walk
Stamps - Wplus9 Silver Bells (sentiment),  Winter Wishes
Ink - SU Real Red
Various Copic markers
Die - MFT wreath
Twine
Gems - Kaisercraft

Yep, here is another one!  I couldn't decide on spots or stripes so went with both.  

Again, the idea of die cut outs but I wanted a border this time.  Note to self, always cut the BIGGER shape first!

What you need
Cardstock - PTI white, red, ripe avocado
Patterned paper - ?? Authentique
Stamps - Wplus9 Silver Bells (and die)
Ink - SU Old Olive, Real Red, Cherry Cobbler; Versamark;  HA Silver
Embossing powder - Zing! Silver
Spellbinders circle dies

Just a quick aside - this was a birthday card I did for one of my daughter's good friends whose birthday celebration was yesterday (and a bit today).  It is a combination of a few different things that Jennifer McGuire has done over the past year and just haven't got around to.  The flowers are stamped in Memento Luxe ink (Jennifer stamped on Kraft card which I hope to get to soon),  and using translucent embossing paste to adhere glitter.

What you need
Cardstock - SU white, Coastal Cabana
Stamps - MFT Tropical Sensatons,  Birthday Sentiments
Ink - Memento Luxe Pear Tart, Rose Bud, Morocco, Love Letter, Dandelion, Angel Pink;  HA Tide Pool;  Versafine Onyx Black
Wendy Vecchi Translucent Embossing paste
Glitter Ritz Ocean Spray
Viva Pearl Pen - Red

Now this is what I have been spending my time on.  I have learnt so much and been challenged to try new colour combinations.  

Some work, some don't - particularly like the purple and green balloon combination.  And it was good to try a few pink and green palettes, they are my favourites together.

Hair was less successful.  I tried Kristina' s technique (middle top), but struggled with the feathering on the fringe.  Really liked the ideas shown for black,  particularly the way Kelly Marie Alvarez tackles the challenge.

For the flower, I followed Sandy Allnock  in colouring the top  2 flowers.  I have always struggled with reds but  it seems to be working now.  I had never had a go at shadowed white flowers but love the was it turned out.

I was trying to get a combination that would work with the new SU Blackberry Bliss in colour - it took a few goes but got there in the end.  Bottom left was my attempt at a pink to white flower, that bright fluoro pink I have trouble with.

Now this was my favourite and I coloured it several times.  I hadn't used the combination for the leaves before but I think it is my new favourite.  I used Jennifer's red trio and Kristina's purply colours.  Then I had another attempt at shaded white then some blues.

Phew,  that's more homework than i probably ever did - and enjoyed!

Watercolouring - Day 8

Tasnim Ahmed's beautiful watercoloured magnolia completely blew me away with its style and simplicity.  She made the technique look so easy and hand painted.

So this is my version, the stamp set, and oldy but a goody - SU Fifth Avenue Floral.  I didn't quite get the contrast Tasnim did or the great colour blending.  But I did enjoy familiarising myself with Distress inks and watch them work with water.  I fiddled around with a few of the stamps, picked the rose for the card but couldn't bear to part with the lily(?), so made it into a bookmark.

What you need

Cardstock - SU Melon Mambo, black;  Reeves watercolour paper

Stamps - SU Fifth Ave Floral;  Clearly Besotted Butterfly Wishes;  PTI Life is Sweet

Ink - Archival Jet Black;  Ranger Distress inks (Seedless Preserves, Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberries, Antique Linen, Ripe Persimmon)

Crochet thread, ribbon

Watercolour for Cardmakers

I know I say this every time one of these great classes comes along, but it bears repeating - the contributors are SO talented.  Watercolouring has never really been my thing, I think it can be a bit messy looking to me but not some of the creations that have been on display.  

This first card is a re-creaton of one of Shari Carroll's cards, same stamp and treatment, except she faded it out around the edges which looked amazing.  I was trying to get the technique right so just kept alternating the colours.  I couldn't get the distress markers to work as well as Shari did, so opted for Inktense pencils.

What you need

Cardstock - PTI black, white;  Reeves watercolour paper

Stamps - HA Looped Flower pattern

Ink - Versamark

Embossing powder - Coloriser clear powder

Inktense pencils

Die - MFT hello

This second one is a combination of a few people's work, from Day 6 I think.  I really enjoyed the detail shown in the Jean Manis video.  The idea of stamping in Archival ink then clear embossing worked really well,  her colouring was exceptional also.  I tried to emulate her background shading but completely messed it up, this requires more practice on my part.  

Jennifer McGuire's card also caught my eye, again the colouring was stunning.  Both ladies used Distress markers and found them much easier to use on Tim Holtz watercolour paper.

What you need

Cardstock - PTI black;  SU light grey;  Tim Holtz watercolour paper

Stamps - Clearly Besotted Thinking of You

Ink - Archival ink (Jet Black)

Embossing powder - Coloriser clear powder

Various Distress markers

I think this is as far as I will get ....

.... with Clean and Simple Card Making for now, but this inspiration is endless.  

This card was inspired by Tasmin's card, under the heading of Creative Colouring, though in my case I really wanted to have a go at a more monochromatic version (and I didn't have her gorgeous stamp, or anything like it).  Kraft is probably my second favourite colour and use it nowhere near as often as I would like to.  So I have coloured selected parts of the flowers with Prismacolour white and Claudine Helmuth semi-gloss paint.  The darker points of other flowers I embossed with clear embossing powder.  

What you need 

Cardstock - PTI Kraft

Stamps - HA Everything Flowers

Ink - PTI Kraft, Versamark

Prismacolour white

Claudine Helmuth Blank Canvas

Embossing Powder - Coloriser (clear)

This card is a combination of Dawn Woleslagle's masked creative colouring and Stephanie Klauck's textured card (though with no texture).  I really love how she did the background with distress inks and masking, and Dawn's flower placement was amazing.

What you need

Cardstock - Wplus9 white

Stamps - Mama Elephant Water Blooms;  Avery Elle Oh Happy Day

Ink - Ranger Distress ink Tumbled Glass;  SU Pear Pizzazz;  HA Pale Tomato, Butter Bar; Versafine Onyx Black

Masking Paper - Eclipse

Clean and Simple 3 - Part 2

Just a couple more cards with techniques featured in this terrific class.  But one really shouldn't assume that these cards don't take long to execute (I should have learned my lesson from earlier today) just because they are labelled "Clean and Simple".  Both fell under the heading of "Background into Foreground".

I picked out 2 colour palettes from my Pinterest folder. 

 I loved the idea behind Shari Carroll's Graffiti card, overlaying diecuts with stamping.  On reflection, I should have used white cardstock, which would have made the sentiments more striking and I don't think HA Wet Cement ink was the best choice for a beige like colour.  

What you need

Cardstock - PTI Soft Stone;  BB Navy, Mid pink

Stamps - Mama Elephant Party Kit;  various HA sentiment sets

Ink - SU Midnight Muse;  HA Wet Cement

Die - MFT

Sequins - Pretty Pink Posh (sand)

Gems - Kaisercraft

The second card is my first go at Laura Bassen's legendary plaid pattern.  She very simply blended her inks, fairly randomly using masking tape.  I decided to use MFT stripes stamps.  Whilst the stamping is not solid, which sort of looks a bit like Laura's. I do prefer the softness of blending.  I did cheat a bit and use SU markers to get a bit more variation in the lines.

What you need
Cardstock - PTI white
Stamps - MFT Plaid Background Builder, Sending Thanks
Ink - SU Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Pear Pizzazz, Gumball Green;  Versafine Onyx Black
Markers - SU Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose

Clean and Simple 3

A very warm day for the beginnning of Autumn.  Not the best weather to make cards, but not good for much else except lazing around.  My daughter has a Percussion workshop this afternoon, fortunately in the comfort of air conditioning, and we get to hear the fruits of their labours later on today.  

Missed this challenge last week so will keep it in my files for later use and this is  the latest sketch.  So to the definition of "simple".  I don't think there have been many cards that have taken as long as these two, particularly the second one.  I thought the sketch really suited the first theme of the class -  Faux Effects - giving the look of layered diecuts without the bulk.  I used Debby Hughes' card as inspiration.  

The video made it look all SOOO easy, and clearly to Debby this comes very naturally.  I am sure there is a more logical way to diecut in a few simple steps, but I didn't discover it.  I do like the effect however and so much better for cards sent overseas.

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white, red, black

Patterned paper - Teresa Collins Stationery Noted

Various MFT dies

Pearls - Kaisercraft

Now, THIS card.  Theme - Optical Illusions.  Masking to give the effect of dimension as so capably demonstrated by Jennifer McGuire.  How hard can it be to do a bit of masking and a bit of stamping.  Very difficult if you are me.   I was going to do an Argyle pattern for the background, masked it all, then it didn't stamp cleanly - TWICE (I hate wasting card stock),  opted for text which seemed to work better.  Anyway, as a masculine birthday card I do like it, but maybe need to make it more user friendly for me.

What you need

Cardstock - SU Very Vanilla,  Early Espresso

Stamps - PTI Text Style 2;  MFT Birthday Sentiments

Ink - PTI Kraft, Fine Linen;  SU Soft Suede

Masking tape

I didn't realise mess could be so much fun ...

This is just way too much fun

The Day 2 challenge had me stumped for a while - different ways to use templates.  Kristina's card was the stand out from this stellar group of examples.  She used Inktense pencils to colour random parts of the stencil with that scribbly font that I love.  

I didn't have a stencil that lent itself to this technique, so I made my own with a couple of layered diecuts.  Orientation of the leaves was a bit of a trial but love how it turned out.  

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white, black;  SU Melon Mambo

Die - PTI Turning a new Leaf

Sequins

Inktense pencils - Apple Green

Day 3 - Dimension with Texture.  I wasn't able to do much with my Christmas acquisitions late last year as I ordered quite late.  So now is my time!  I used the embossing paste the sprinkled the wet paste with Distress glitter a la Debby Hughes. A beautiful subtle gleam, very hard to pick up in the photo. 

 So much fun.

What you need

Cardstock - Bazzill Navy;  SU white

Stamps - Wplus9 Winter Wishes;  The Craft's Meow Stitched Sentiments 2

Ink - SU real red;  Memento Paris Dusk

Die - MFT Fishtail Flag stax

Stencil - SSS Falling Snow

Wendy Vecchi Embossing paste

Distress Glitter - Clear Rock Candy

Bakers Twine

So while we are STILL on the subject of Christmas, this card popped into my head and was very quick and easy to do for the first Festive Friday challenge of 2014.

I love this window diecut and you cannot help but be entranced by the colours.  

What you need

Cardstock - PTI red, white:  SU Handsome Hunter

Stamps - PTI Holiday Sparkle

Ink - Memento Cottage Ivy

Die - Taylored Expressions

Punch - MS Medium Branch

Gems - Kaisercraft

Now that's just way too much orange!

But that, at times, isn't a bad thing.  And on the whole, have very much enjoyed getting out all my various oranges.

This first one uses a set that hasn't seen the light of day for quite a while, and don't know why it popped into my head, but very glad it did

What you need

Cardstock - BB Brown/Orange;  PTI white

Patterned paper - SU Brights Collection

Stamps - HA Everyday Sayings;  SU Pocket Silhouettes

Ink - Brilliance Rust, Memento Rich Cocoa

Die - MFT Fishtail Flag Stax

******

Another Cardablities sketch I missed coupled with the Summer Camp challenge 1 colours.  The idea was to use at least 4 of the 5 colours

I think this is my favourite of the last few posts and I don't think I have used grey and orange before but I really like it.

What you need
Cardstock _ SU Basic Grey;  PTI Orange Zest, white
DSP - SU Neutrals Collection
Stamps - HA Everyday Sayings
Ink - Memento Tangelo
Dies - MFT Fishtail Flag Stax

A few more weekend challenges

It is a happy coincidence that this weeks sponsor of The Play Date Cafe is Avery Elle.  So whilst these stamps are still languishing on my desk, they have been utilised.  

Of the sets I have, nothing really lent itself to the dotty background, so I have coloured vellum with various shades of Copics.  Adhering them was an achievement in itself, so that nothing showed

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white, Orange Zest, Vellum

Stamps - Avery Elle Framed Fonts, To the Point

Ink - Memento Pear Tart, Morocco;  Versafine

Die - PTI Tag Sale

Various Copics and circle punches

Gems - Kaisercraft

******

Now, this one makes me happy!

I love the colours and the design in equal measure.  Initially I thought of patterned paper for the RHS panel but really wanted to stamp it.  So with stamped stems the punched flowers look right.  I don't have Cajun Craze but Brilliance Rust is a good substitute.

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white;  SU Primrose Petals

Stamps - PTI Turning a New Leaf, Inside and Out: Thank you

Ink - SU Gumball Green;  Brilliance Ruse

Punch - EK Success

******

Looking forward to the latest instalment in Online Card Classes.  Whilst my daughter has completely hijacked the Tim Holtz series (that class owes me nothing!), the rest are completely my own.  This time, they have introduced a few pre-class challenges, which is great for me as class starts when we are back at school, but I am able to have a go at these at my leisure.  

This is challenge number 2.  I am still getting my head around the colours in challenge 1.

Given the simplicity of the sketch I felt it really lent itself to the simplicity of the Runway colours.

And love how it turned out.  i love the look of glitter but it is messy.  However this glitter is amazing.  After sprinkling it on the adhesive, a vigorous rub over with a bone folder and IT DOES NOT MOVE.  Heaven

What you need

Cardstock - PTI shimmer pink, white:  SU Adhesive sheets

Stamps - Avery Elle To the Point, Bonjour (sentiment)

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black;  SU Regal Rose

Various SU punches

Glitter - Glitter Ritz Ocean Spray