Snow Day

Well, Vancouver got one of its rare heavy snowfalls and everything I planned to do today is cancelled.  So a good time to get a blog post done before some of the challenges I like end.

First up, for the ABC Christmas Challenge "B is for Buildings" and My Time to Craft "Make It Male" (I figure buildings and dark colours make for quite a masculine card):

I started with the background - used a circle die to cut a round mask for the moon and a hilly slopes die for the snowy ground (both cut out of masking paper). Then splattered masking fluid on the sky for snow. Then sponged with two shades of blue Distress ink, leaving it lighter around the moon. Once the ink was dry, I removed the paper masks and rubbed off the masking fluid. I die cut the buildings and trees out of black cs and added them to the background. Finished off by using white gouache on a fine paint brush to add snow to the roofs.

Shopping our Stash wants "crafty remnants" - things out on our desks leftover from previous projects.  

For some reason, I'd die cut a lot of deer before Christmas and they were all still sitting there unused.  I also had an odd-sized background made with emboss-resist trees and some blue sponging.  So I thought the deer could prance across in front of the trees.  And I added a sentiment in a similar shade of blue as the sponged sky.

 

 





Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Make an Impression sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Chipped Sapphire and Dusty Concord
Paper - white and black cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - masking fluid, masking paper, SSS Winter Village dies, circle die, hilly slope die, Dr Phil Martin's bleed-proof white gouache

Supplies:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - various blue Distress inks, Versamark
Paper - white and brown cs
Size - A2
Accessories - deer die cuts, clear embossing powder

Resisting Snowflakes and a Bleached Bird

52 Christmas Card Throwdown wants a card using the Emboss Resist Technique.  I used a snowflake stencil to create my resist:

I pressed my Versamark pad through the snowflake stencil and then heat embossed the snowflakes with clear ep.  I then sponged various blue Distress inks over the panel and when finished, wiped off the snowflakes with a damp cloth.

I cut it with a tag die thinking I'd enter it in Cardz 4 Guyz "Tag" challenge but just missed the deadline.  Because I wanted to be sure it looked masculine, I added a metal token (attaching it with a brad) and a dark silver die cut sentiment.  The tag is added to an embossed background panel.

I'm also cutting it fine to enter The Paper Players "Birds" challenge but at least I'm in time for this one.  Here's my card:

I created the green Brusho background by sprinkling the Brusho powders on watercolour paper and then spritzing with water. When dry, I stamped the image and heat set it. Then I used bleach and a paint brush to lift the green colour from the bird.

I stamped the sentiment that came with the image across the bottom and a Happy Retirement sentiment up at the top.

I added gold gel pen to all the tiny berries in the image and bordered with a matching gold cs. I found a blue grey cs that matched the colour of the bird (the bleach never seems to take enough colour out to go right back to white) and used it for the card base. The panel is popped up on fun foam.

52 Christmas Card Throwdown

The Paper Players

Supplies for card 1:
Ink - Distress Broken China, Stormy Skies, Faded Jeans; Versamark
Paper - white cs, dark silver cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Paper Roses snowflake stencil, clear embossing powder, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Tim Holtz token, Dee's Distinctively "Merry" die, stitched tag die, dark silver brad

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Carabelle "Dream Wings", SU "Happy Retirement"
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - watercolour paper, gold shimmer cs, pale blue grey cs
Size - A2
Accessories - two shades of green Brushos, gold gel pen, bleach, fun foam

Hollyhocks are a Favourite

The Flower Challenge is asking for us to use our favourite flower.  Well that is almost impossible!  I have so many favourites!  But one of them is the hollyhock.  I grow them along my back fence every summer.

I stamped the hollyhocks stamp with Versamark on mixed media cs and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I then sprayed the panel with a couple of different blue sprays. When dry, I rubbed over the embossed hollyhocks to remove any spray clinging to them.

I die cut the hollyhocks die out of mixed media cs and smooshed them into pink and mauve Oxide inks that I'd tapped on my craft sheet and spritzed with water. I layered them on top of the resist panel and added a few of the white centres that fell out when I die cut them.

I wrapped a strip of vellum with the sentiment around it all and popped the panel up on fun foam.

Challenges: 

The Flower Challenge "Use your Favourite Flower"

AAA Birthday Card Challenge

 

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Impression Obsession hollyhocks, SU sentiment
Ink - Versamark, various pink and mauve Oxide inks
Paper - mixed media and white cs, vellum
Size - 5" square
Accessories - Impression Obsession hollyhocks dies, clear and blue embossing powders, blue sprays, fun foam

Comparisons

A while back I made a card using the Emboss Resist technique and accidentally used clear embossing powder when I'd intended to use white.  I'd always intended to redo the same image and technique but use the white embossing powder for a comparison.  Finally a year later here it is, spurred on by today's SCS Ways to Use It challenge "Let's Resist"! 

First a reminder of the original one (for details and supplies for it, see this post here):

and now the version with white embossing powder:

I stamped both the holly image and the small random dots in white, and embossed with white embossing powder. I like the more distinct image I got this time.

I flooded the whole panel with water and dropped a pale blue over the background, then went in with some mid-blue. I then took a fine pointed paintbrush and added a blue-green to all the holly leaves and red to the berries.

I mounted it on fun foam, framed with a pierced frame die, and a small sentiment.  I left the Stickles off the berries on this one as I liked the way the red paint came out.

What do you think?  Is an Emboss Resist better with clear or with white embossing powder?

Supplies:

Stamps - Great Impressions holly, Penny Black sentiment, SU Itty Bitty Background dots

Ink - ColorBox Frost White, StazOn Forest Green

Paper - white cs, Crafter's Companion watercolour paper

Size - A2

Accessories - white embossing powder, Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, MFT pierced frame die, fun foam

A Winter Birthday

I made this card for my niece who lives in Ontario where they have snowier winters than we have here in Vancouver (and in fact, they have been having snowstorms the last few days). 

A simple heat embossing resist, done in white on watercolour paper, then a blue watercolour wash around the trees, a heat embossed sentiment, and some splatters of white acrylic paint. The watercolour paper warped badly from the wash, so I stuck it down on fun foam to help straighten it out.

For those of you in the snowier parts of the world, stay warm!!

Supplies:

Stamps - SU Lovely as a Tree, SU sentiment

Ink - ColorBox Frost White, Versafine Onyx Black

Paper - watercolour paper, white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - white and clear embossing powders, Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, white acrylic paint, fun foam

Holly Resist

The December CAS Watercolour challenge is up and running.

I'm still in Christmas card mode so went with a favourite holly stamp.  Here's the card:

I stamped both the holly image and the small random dots from the SU Itty Bitty Background set in white, and then in my haste, I grabbed the clear embossing powder.  Having done emboss resist in the past, I've learned that white embossing powder gives a more distinct image, but I quite like the subtlety of this.  I might try exactly the same image and colours and do a comparison.

I flooded the whole panel with water and dropped a pale green over the whole thing, then went back in with pale blue and a mauve-blue just on the background to give variation.  I then took a fine pointed paintbrush and added dark green to all the holly leaves.

I mounted it on fun foam, framed with a pierced frame die, added red Stickles to the berries, and a small sentiment.

I'm also entering this in the Less is More "Emboss Resist" challenge.

Please come over and join us at CAS Watercolour with your creations using a resist technique with watercolour.  You have until December 24th to enter.  Please remember to keep to the Clean and Simple guidelines.  Loll and Bonnie have tightened them up a bit, and one of the new requirements is that the cards must include white "or open" space (no pattern).  I'm looking forward to seeing what you create!

Supplies:

Stamps - Great Impressions holly, Penny Black sentiment

Ink - ColorBox Frost White, Ranger Archival Library Green

Paper - white cs, watercolour paper

Size - A2

Accessories - clear embossing powder, Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, MFT pierced frame die, red Stickles, fun foam

Emboss Resist Sleigh Ride

Before I get on to today's card, I want to share some exciting news.  Two of my favourite stampers, Loll Thompson and Bonnie Klass, are starting a new challenge blog on March 1st.  They are calling it CAS Mix Up Card Challenge.  It's perfect for those of us who make mainly CAS cards but want to dabble in a bit of mixed media.  So head on over and sign up!

This week's SCS Technique Lovers' Challenge is "Revisiting Emboss Resist".  I love emboss resist so made this card:

I stamped the sleigh ride and the sentiment in white and heat embossed it. Using lots of different Distress inks, I sponged the ground and sky. For the snow, I sprinkled chunky white ep randomly over the sky and in a more controlled line along the "ground" the sleigh is on. I heated it from underneath. The bell that is part of the sentiment stamp did not look right so I restamped it on a scrap of watercolour paper, heat embossed it in gold, painted the bell in gold, fussy cut it, and layered it over the original white bell.  Here's a close-up: Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps: Great Impressions "Jingle All the Way", Tim Holtz sleigh

Paper: Penny Black luxury white cs, scrap of watercolour paper

Paper Size: A2

Ink: ColorBox white and gold; Distress Tumbled Glass, Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky, Chipped Sapphire, and Iced Spruce

Accessories: white embossing powder, gold watercolour paint, Frantage Chunky White embossing powder, fun foam sheet