Floating Poinsettia Frame

This month the Group of Seven Cardmakers are trying a technique called Floating Frames.  It's a technique I'd never done before so I watched the two videos we're linking to on Group of Seven.  I ended up following the instructions in the Natasha Foote video as the Jennifer McGuire one called for Press'n'Seal kitchen wrap and I didn't have any. 

I don't buy many stamp and die cut sets but just happened to have bought this one recently.  I stamped the image twice on watercolour paper and coloured it with watercolour paints, then die cut it with the matching die.  I added foam tape to the back and arranged the two die cuts on opposite corners of my focal panel piece of cs.  I trimmed off the parts hanging over the edges.  From those extra parts, I chose bits of them that would fill in the gaps around the edges between the two pieces I'd already stuck down.  I used one of the sentiments from the same stamp set and its matching die and glued that to the centre.

I really like the final effect - the die cuts really do look like they are floating.  But I found it took a long time to make this card so if you're looking for a quick technique, this wouldn't be it.  If I had more stamp / matching die sets, I might try it again, but not if I had to fussy cut images for it!

Head over to Group of Seven and see what the others made in the way of samples, and then give it a try and link your results up with us!

I'm also adding it to the latest NBUS challenge as it's the first time I've used the stamps and dies.

Supplies:
Stamps - Simon Says Stamp Poinsettia Swag set
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, off white cs
Size - 5.5" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, Simon Says Stamp Poinsettia Swag dies, foam tape

Neglected Dragonfly, Smooshed Birthday, and a Blue Heart

Diane and Darlene have started another new challenge - The Neglected Stuff Challenge.  A great way for me to dig out something I haven't used for years.  This month I went with a Tim Holtz dragonfly stamp that I've always really liked.  Why, then, did it sit unused for 10 years!!?  I actually did a search on my blog and the last time I used it was in 2015!

I started by smooshing a piece of mixed media cs with two Distress colours. Using the same colours I stamped a bit of subtle harlequin and mesh stamps to add interest and texture. Then I stamped the dragonfly stamp in black on top. And stamped it again on a scrap so that I could watercolour the wings (using the same two ink colours with Glimmer Spray in the place of water). I fussy cut the wings and popped them up with foam tape on top of the original stamping. I stamped a sentiment, die cut it with a banner die, smooshed it in the inks a bit, and popped it up with foam tape.

And a bit more smooshing on this card, for the AAA Birthday Challenge "Ink Smooshing".

I started by smooshing white cs into two shades of blue Distress ink and when dry, stamped some text on it.  Then cut out sections with two sizes of octagon dies and arranged them on an embossed background.  I die cut a leaf out of a green smooshed leftover background scrap and layered it on the octagon.  I spritzed two shades of Distress Mica spray on my craft mat and smooshed another piece of cs and cut the butterfly out of that.  I stamped the sentiment on bit of blue smooshed leftover scrap.

And a third card for today, so that I can enter it into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge "Hearts" before it closes.  A very quick CAS card compared to my first two cards on this post.

The image is stamped in royal blue ink and heat embossed.  Then trimmed with a stitched square die, and mounted on the card base.  It's such a lovely stamp I didn't want anything to detract from it.

 

Supplies for card:
Stamps - Tim Holtz dragonfly, Savvy Stamps sentiment, unknown little harlequin stamp and mesh stamp
Ink - Distress Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters, Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - mixed media cs, off white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Glimmer Spray, banner die, foam tape

Supplies for card:
Stamps - Inkadinkado text stamp, AMuse sentiment stamp
Ink - Distress Broken China and Tumbled Glass, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Spellbinders octagon dies, Memory Box leaf die, Tim Holtz butterfly die, Altenew embossing folder, Winter Frost and Fresh Balsam Distress Mica spray

Supplies for card:
Stamps - Penny Black
Ink - ColorBox Royal Blue
Paper - white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - clear embossing powder, Lil Inker stitched square die

A Sleigh Ride and a Bird in a Heart

A card for the Twelve Months of Christmas challenge "Couples" (I've got the man and woman, and a couple of horses), Christmas Cards All Year Round "Inspired by Jingle Bells", and Sweet Stampin' "Masculine Makes":

I stamped the snowflake background in light blue and the sleigh in black, trimmed the panel and dabbed on some Snow-tex paste for the snowy ground.  I bordered with black cs and added a sentiment on a stitched die cut sentiment banner.

For the Tic Tac Toe challenge (heart, die cut, love sentiment), Simply Clean and Simple (love and / or hearts), and Triple B (at least one of birds, blossoms, or butterflies, inspired by an all red mood board:

I die cut a red heart and red sentiment.  Then die cut a circular opening in the heart.  The bird is cut from a scrap of smooshed cs and glued into the circular opening.  

   
 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Tim Holtz sleigh, Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Distress Tumbled Glass, Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white and black cs
Size - 6x3.25"
Accessories - Impression Obsession snowflake background stamp, Snow-tex embossing paste, stitched sentiment banner die

Supplies for card 2:
Paper - rustic cs, red cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Memory Box heart die, Poppy Stamps sentiment die, TH bird die, Spellbinders circle die, Lil Inker's stitched rectangle die

Red Acetate Poinsettia and Pink Watercoloured Sweet Peas

The Jingle Belles Christmas Challenge is asking for see-through elements.  I decided to create a layered acetate poinsettia.

I coloured a piece of acetate with a few different red alcohol inks and a bit of gold mixative.  Then die cut three layers of a poinsettia, and stuck them together with dimensionals in the centre.  To hide the dimensionals I added a gold sparkly rhinestone sticker.

I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment in gold on my focal panel, die cut with a hemstitch square.  I wanted to have exactly the same gold as the sentiment showing through the hemstitch openings so I took a scrap of cs, ran ink around its edges, and heat embossed the edges.

Here's a close-up of the poinsettia showing how see-through the layers are:

 

 

As a nice contrast to a red poinsettia, I went with shades of pink in my next card.  It's for The Flower Challenge "Feature the Colour Pink".

 

I love sweet peas and grow them every year in my garden.  The image is stamped and watercoloured, with a little bit of black splatter around the image.  Since it's a large image and not really enough room to add a border layer, I took a black marker and went around the edges of the focal panel.  I left it without a sentiment as I'll either use it as a notecard or add a sentiment on the inside. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Northwoods sentiment
Ink - ColorBox gold
Paper - off white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - acetate, red alcohol inks, gold mixative, gold embossing powder, poinsettia die, dimensionals, Recollections gold sparkly rhinestone sticker, Spellbinders square hemstitch die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Stamps Happen Sweet Peas
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, off white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, black marker

Bits and Pieces 2 - the Tree Edition

Those of you who were kind enough to take a look at my post from a few days ago called Bits and Pieces - the Reindeer Edition, would have noticed there were quite a few die cut trees combined with the reindeer.  Well, I had even more leftover die cut trees hanging about on my desk.  So today those trees are the focus of the cards.  Again, these were put together to use up bits and pieces, rather than with any particular design in mind or to fulfill a challenge.

Thanks for taking a look, and if you desperately want to know what anything is on one of these cards, leave me a comment and I'll look for it in my supplies and get back to you.

I might be back with one more collection of odds and ends!

 

A Masculine CAS Card and a Sympathy Card

A few of the challenges I enjoy are asking for masculine cards:  Sweet Stampin' "Masculine Makes", 52 Christmas Card Countdown "Masculine Christmas", and The Paper Players "Masculine Clean and Simple".

Using a brick wall stencil, I went over it with a rough mixture of black, copper, and white embossing paste. It came out way to dark and too shiny so I then sponged white gesso over it to lighten it and dull it down a bit. I also splattered a bit of the white gesso on it and then trimmed it with a square die. I popped it up on the card base with fun foam.

I stamped the sentiment in grey and trimmed it with a narrow strip die sentiment. I die cut the wreath twice out of scrap cs and once out of off white shimmer cs, glued them together and added it to the brick wall.

For my second card today, I needed to make a sympathy card so used Can You Handle the Pressure's "Something Starting with F".  I went with a floral embossing folder and a flower for my focal image.

I inked up the stamp with Tombow markers, trimmed the panel with a stitched rectangle die, popped it up on fun foam on a background embossed with a floral folder, and added a drop of yellow Liquid Pearls to the centre of the flower.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Distress Pumice Stone and Hickory Smoke, Versafine Smokey Gray
Paper - mixed media cs, chalk cs, off white shimmer cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - MFT brick wall stencil, Dreamweaver black, copper, and white embossing paste, Sizzix wreath die, fun foam, white gesso, narrow strip die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SU Love and Sympathy flower, unknown sentiment
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Craft Concepts embossing folder, Tombow markers, Lil Inkers stitched rectangle, fun foam, liquid pearl

Owl and Forest

Peace on Earth's new mood board has a beautiful image of a Snowy Owl so I was inspired to pull out a very old stamp and create this card.

In my first attempt, I stamped and heat embossed the owl in silver and then tried to stamp the trees around it but it just came out looking messy so I discarded it and started again.  

I stamped and heat embossed the owl in silver on a small piece of white cs and trimmed it with a small rectangle die.  On a larger piece of white cs I stamped the snowy trees by tapping the stamp with two shades of green Distress ink.  I trimmed that panel with a square die and added it to my card base.  I popped the owl up on fun foam.  And stamped and heat embossed a sentiment in silver and trimmed with a stitched banner die.  It's not quite what I'd envisioned making but I feel I captured the owl and the snowy trees from the mood board.

We'd love to see what our mood board inspires you to make.  Head over to Peace on Earth for more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.

Supplies:
Stamps - Inkadinkado owl, Deep Red trees, Penny Black sentiment
Ink - ColorBox silver, Distress Pine Needles and Evergreen Bough
Paper - white cs
Size - 4.5" square
Accessories - silver embossing powder, rectangle and square dies, stitched banner die, fun foam

Bits and Pieces - the Reindeer Edition

The last couple of weeks have been abnormally cold, snowy, and icy here so all my usual time spent volunteering with therapeutic riding has been cancelled because of the dangerous conditions.  So that has meant a lot more time in the craft room!

I had a ton of leftover bits and pieces of card making stuff after Christmas.  So I decided to start trying to use some of them up so I spread them out on my desk and tried to combine backgrounds with die cuts, stamped images, sentiments, etc.  Here's a couple of photos of my desk during the process:

I'd pick a background created when playing with some technique or other, or an unused embossing folder background, then some die cuts or a stamped image, then a stamped sentiment, etc. that could go together for a card.  And I tucked each little grouping of things into one of my cellophane card bags and bit by bit, I've put them together over the last few weeks and made a bunch of cards.  I decided I'd post some of them here, just to have a nice record of them, but I'm not writing up descriptions or including the supplies I used as, in most cases, I don't remember!!

Today will be reindeer day as I seemed to have a lot of unused die cut reindeer so put them together with other unused bits to create these cards: 

 

And three stamped reindeers that hadn't been turned into cards (the two using the old SU Dasher stamp had been in my UFO box for years!):

 

Since I need at least 100 Christmas cards made for my sale in November, it felt great to get this many made.  Now I just hope my customers like reindeer.  And trees - you might have noticed there are die cut trees on four of these.  Well, there will be another "Bits and Pieces" post soon as I also had a lot of die cut trees and I turned them into cards as well!

Thanks for taking a look, and if you desperately want to know what anything is on one of these cards, leave me a comment and I'll look for it in my supplies and get back to you.