A blog devoted to the cards I make in my tiny upstairs space. When my sister stays there, she calls it an "artist's garret". I'm not an artist, but am an enthusiastic cardmaker - hence the title "Cardmaker's Garret".
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Saturday, 30 August 2025

Muted Blues and Greys

I've got three cards today, all in muted blues and greys.

For Double D "Butterfly", Triple B "Birds, Bees, or Butterflies", and Stamping Sensations "Birds, Bees, or Butterflies", I messed around with some mixed media:


I stuck random bits of Tim Holtz rice paper on a piece of white cs, added a bit of gesso, went over some sections of a harlequin stencil with molding paste, stamped with music, text, and splat stamps in grey on a few random places.  Then trimmed the panel and edged it with a black marker.  I stamped teh butterflies in grey, fussy cut them, and edged them with the black marker and popped them up on the card.

Still in the grey colour scheme, I did a variation on a card I made a while back.  This time it's for the Christmas Kickstart Challenge "Let's Wreath It Up" and the Cut It Up Challenge "Anything Goes with a Die Cut".

Using a brick wall stencil, I went over it with a rough mixture of black, copper, and white embossing paste. It came out way too 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. Trimmed it with a square die and popped it up on the card base with fun foam.  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.  I added a sentiment (die cut with a narrow banner die) over the centre of the wreath.

The new Sparkles Christmas Challenge is "Include a Tree".  

I went with my old Penny Black stamp of snow blowing off trees.  I laid down a circle mask for the moon and then stippled around it with pale blue ink.  Stamped the trees and sentiment and heat embossed with sparkly embossing powder.  Trimmed the panel and popped it up on fun foam.

 
 
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Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - The Stampin' Place butterflies, various music, text, and splat stamps
Ink - Versafine Morning Mist
Paper - white cs, TH rice paper
Size - A2
Accessories - molding paste, harlequin stencil, gesso, black marker

Supplies for card 2: 
Stamps - unknown 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 3:
Stamps - Penny Black Snow Dust tree, unknown sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne. Memento light blue
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - clear sparkling embossing powder, circle die to create moon mask


12 comments:

  1. Three lovely card in the cool muted colours, the Butterfly card is just perfect for our theme at Stamping Sensations, many thanks for joining in.

    B x

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  2. Gorgeous cards, Susan. I love the wreath card and that stencil background is amazing. Thanks for joining Greta and me at The Christmas Kickstart Challenge, Jo x

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  3. BEAUTIFUL cards Susan! Glad I don't have to choose a favorite! lol Thanks so much for joining in the fun at our Triple B & Double D challenges! Good Luck and we hope you’ll come back often.

    Darlene
    DAR’S CRAFTY CREATIONS
    Triple B Challenge Co-Owner
    Double D Co-Owner

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  4. Three AMAZING cards Susan! Your mixed media beauty is awesome with all the layers and details. Love the soft muted colours from adding gesso!! Your brick wall is so artsy with the mix of colour that make them look like real bricks! Again, gesso to tone things down ... so clever. Your final card is beautiful with the embossed trees. I love the stippling around the moon, it definitely looks like the sky on a cold, winter's night. Great work, my friend! xx

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  5. Love this mixed media piece, Susan! It is begging for a frame but now glass to cover up the texture and feel! Love the white wreath on the brick and the trees with that sparkly snow flying!

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  6. Three lovely cards Susan, love the muted shades of the butterfly card, perfect for our challenge.
    Thanks for sharing with us at Stamping Sensations. Avril

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  7. Three beautiful designs in the muted blues Susan! My fav is that lovely wreath on the brick! Julia xx

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  8. wow three beautiful cards Susan, I think my favourite is the mixed media with all the dimension and muted blues xx

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  9. Three lovely cards! The white wreath on the gray wall is beautiful! Thank you for joining Jo and me at CKC!

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  10. Beautiful cards Susan. I love the one for our challenge. Your mixed media background is absolutely gorgeous and works beautifully with the butterflies. Thanks for playing along with us at Stamping Sensations.
    Pinky

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  11. I love the blues and greys on the first and the rice paper works brilliantly Susan...a technique I have yet to try, and the butterflies are so pretty. Another with a quite neutral palette on the next with the white wreath and the grey brick wall behind which is the perfect background and the last with more blue and the black sparkly embossed trees and I love the blue shadow around the moon. x

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  12. Beautiful cards - love your wreath design and the background you chose.

    Thanks for joining us at the Cut It Up Challenge.

    Helen x
    DT

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