Big and Small vs Symmetry

Two cards today that are kind of opposites to each other.  One is for a "big and small" challenge, the other for a "symmetry" challenge.

First up for Less is More "Big and Small".



I went with a very big star and some very small stars:

I stamped the star in white pigment ink and heat embossed with Shabby White embossing powder and some sprinkles of gold UTEE for extra texture.

I fussy cut the star, scored and folded it, and popped it up with pieces of fun foam (3 pieces layered in the centre, 2 pieces layered in each point of the star so that I could get the centre higher than the points).

I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment and scattered tiny gold sequins and stars around the outside.


And then for Addicted to CAS Code Word "symmetry".



I used the same image on each side of the sentiment:

 

I used the old SU Baroque Motifs stamp. I stamped it in brown twice, with my sentiment in between, bordered it with brown cs, and popped it up on fun foam.

I'm sending it to my 28 year old nephew as he likes interesting quotes and he was questioning his own feelings of happiness, so thought this would count as an encouraging word for him.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - SU Christmas Star, unknown sentiment
Ink - ColorBox gold and white
Paper - white cs
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - gold embossing powder, tiny gold stars and sequins, Stampendous Shabby White embossing powder, gold UTEE, foam tape

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SU Baroque Motifs, Penny Black sentiment
Ink - SU Baked Brown Sugar
Paper - white, brown, and rustic cs
Size - 6.5x4.25"
Accessories - fun foam

UTEE - Ultra Thick Embossed Cardinal

It's time for the mid-month reminder to enter the CAS Mix Up challenge!  May's challenge is:

I decided to use UTEE for my heat embossing.  If you're not familiar with it, UTEE stands for Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel.  It gives a far thicker and more raised result than regular embossing powder.  It's great for solid images as well as for a lot of mixed media work.

I stamped my cardinal image with Versamark and then heat embossed it with gold UTEE.  It's a good idea to use a heavy weight cs with UTEE.

My choice of an extra element is a die cut sentiment.  I wanted it to match so rubbed Versamark on a scrap of cs, added the gold UTEE, and then when cool, die cut "Joy".  To keep the gold all the same, I created my bordering layer the same way, as described in this video by Gina K.

It's a wonderful heat embossing technique for making sure your border matches your embossed image - you can use it with UTEE or regular embossing powder.  The UTEE bubbles up a bit when you're heating it.  If you keep heating, it smoothes out, but I liked the slightly bubbled texture for my border.

As a finishing touch, and keeping with the heat embossing part of the challenge, I sprinkled some Frantage powder (the one with a mixture of white and gold) around the cardinal and heated it from underneath.

Please come and join us at CAS Mix Up.  You have until May 24th to link up your card.

Supplies:

Stamps - Inkadinkado

Ink - Versamark

Paper - Gina K Pure Luxury Heavy white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - gold UTEE, Stampendous Frantage Shabby White Embossing Enamel, Spellbinders rectangle dies, Spellbinders Joy die