Index Card A Day – #44 & #45

28 Saturday Jul 2012

Posted by Sara in ICAD2

Tags

Ali Edwards, Creative Imaginations, ICAD, ICAD2, Koh-i-noor, Ranger, Technique Tuesday, Twinkling H2O's

Two more index cards for you today and they’re very different from each other!

#44 – one day at a time

I made this one while I was away with very limited supplies. I used a second generation type of inking to get the lighter swirl and text images. Then I used regular inking to stamp the sentiment and butterflies. I coloured them with my Koh-i-noor pencils and smudged with my fingers to blend and give them the halo. Simple, basic….

#45 – celebrating…

This card is special – it was our wedding anniversary and so I made a card to celebrate that – even though I was on vacation away from D!

I used my Twinkling H2O’s, of course, to make the shimmery stripes and paint the wood veneer people, then stamped the sentiment in Jet Black Archival Ink.

The fun part of this is that the sentiment is actually pieces of three different stamps all jumbled together. I simply cut them apart and stamped the bits as I wanted. Have I mentioned before how much I love Ali Edwards and Technique Tuesday?

Oh, right, only a few thousand times! 🙂

I’m pretty sure I’ve also mentioned my love for Twinkling H2O’s…..

See you all next week for more ICAD’s and a vacation recap in pictures!

Index Card A Day – #40

12 Thursday Jul 2012

Posted by Sara in ICAD2

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Distress Ink, Dylusions, ICAD, ICAD2, Ranger, Technique Tuesday, Tim Holtz

Only 3 weeks left to this fun venture! Can’t believe I’m this far along already! The problem is that my mojo went on vacation – argh! Vacation is next week, not this one!

Super simple here – I simply sprayed the card with Dylusions Ink Spray and stamped the pen nibs along the side. Then I left it for a couple of weeks! 🙂

I laid a couple of stencils over the top and rubbed in Distress Ink which I highlighted with white gel pen. I stamped a bunch of words from a Technique Tuesday set, then used Pumice Stone Distress Ink to stamp the script background. I was so fed up with it at that point that I dated the back and said enough!

Blerg. Oh well, they can’t all be masterpieces, right?

Index Card A Day – #15

16 Saturday Jun 2012

Posted by Sara in ICAD2

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Ali Edwards, ICAD, ICAD2, Kiddies, Stampin' Up, Technique Tuesday, The Crafter's Workshop

Two cards again today – you are lucky people!

I used one of the prompts today, sort of! There was one that said to use coloured pencils on black gesso or paint. I’ve been meaning to break out my new colourful embossing powders form Stampin’ Up and use them on a dark background, and I’ve been meaning to try out a technique with stencils that Ali Edwards uses sometimes. This was day!

I painted my index card with black watercolour paints – it would have been acrylic but I don’t own black acrylic! Then I paid down my 12×12 Punchinella stencil and pressed my Versamark pad over it. Once I removed the stencil, I sprinkled three different coloured embossing powders over it, and finished off the few open spots with silver. I love how it turned out, though in the future, I would use a lot less and be more careful of the silver since it went everywhere! The card has a lot more shine than I anticipated!

My only problem now was how to add my sentiment… More embossing, I guess! And then, since I was on an embossing roll, I embossed my wood veneer bird, I didn’t want it to feel left out, after all!

See all that shine? In certain lights all you can see is silver!

M decided to use the same technique as she watched the whole process with very big eyes! She chose the stars from Punchinella and wanted all silver, I guess she likes shimmer as much as her Mama does! I held the stencil while she stamped the Versamark, then she sprinkled on the silver powder. After that there was a litle fight about who would heat up the powder.

I won. 🙂 But she watched very closely.

So this is the front:

And then she saw a brown napkin we had used yesterday to blot the water out of her paints and she wanted to add that too. Once it was on and dry, she didn’t want to add anything else over that either! So here’s the back:

I love it, though it did take me an hour or more to convince her to let me photograph it. She decided that she didn’t like people looking at her things, hahaha! As you can tell, she caved eventually – I think hearing from Nana that she loves to look at M’s cards on the computer did it!

See you tomorrow!

Index Card a Day – #13

14 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by Sara in ICAD2

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Ali Edwards, Distress Marker, Ranger, Technique Tuesday, The Crafter's Workshop, Tim Holtz

I taught a class on Distress Markers last night so when I got home and started to make my card, it only seemed natural to pull out the Distress Markers!

First, I scribbled a few reds and pinks on my craft mat and misted with water to make little puddles of colour. Then I dragged my card through the ink. I did a couple of layers like that but it was still pretty light due to the colours I was using so I misted the whole thing with Interference Red Perfect Pearls Mist..

I stamped some leaves in VersaMark and heat embossed in white. I then quickly and messily coloured in the leaves with two colours of green. I stamped the sentiment in Archival, knowing I would be misting again, and stamped a few hearts, then added some tissue tape.

It still needed something so I used my VersaMarker to colour the hearts and then dusted them with Plum Perfect Pearls and added a few details with my Stardust pen and Uniball White Signo Gel Pen. Finally, I misted the whole thing with Biscotti Perfect Pearls Mist and added Coarse Texture Gel over a script stencil.

It’s OK, not my fave but it’s another card under my belt! I do like how the stencil work turned out – I was impressed to get the detail with a coarse gel, and I like how the white pen highlighted the words. The Stardust pen adds a good sparkle too, though you can’t see that in the pics.

I’ll be back tomorrow with another card – and one from M too!

Index Card a Day – #11 (part 2) & #12

13 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by Sara in ICAD2

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Ali Edwards, Claudine Hellmuth Studio, Dylusions Ink Spray, Lego minifigure, Ranger, Stamper's Anonymous, Technique Tuesday, Tim Holtz

Because I was the hostess for Day 11 of Index Card A Day at Daisy Yellow, I made my card for that day early. So then I wanted to make another one…..and I did!

This one was all about playing with my paints. I blobbed on red, teal, and green, then used my palette knife to smear them around and scratch them up – you know, making texture! Once it dried I added a handwritten quote from Winnie the Pooh, who I guess would really be A.A. Milne! 🙂

M and G got new Lego minifigures and M cut up the paper that comes with them so I took one of the pieces to add. I wish I had seen the Lego Red Riding Hood in the cut up pile – she would have been perfect here!

Finally, I added some Pearl Metallic Paint to the edges and around the collage piece. Of course, my favourite part is the fun texture in the paint!

Yesterday was super busy and I didn’t get a chance to make a card until late at night but M got started early, wanting to make one with a Lego figure herself. She did her favourite trick of painted around the edges of the card, all the way to the middle, then she used Matte Glue n’ Seal to adhere the Lego man – one on front, one on back (I forgot to get a pic of the back – sorry!)

When I finally got a chance to do mine, I started with a layer of Distress Ink which I then flicked with water to get light splotches – love that trick! I layered a piece of paper towel, then covered the whole thing with Gloss Multimedium, making the ink waterproof. I tried a stencil technique with metallic paint but it was a bust so most of that came off but still left a shimmer behind. I also heat set everything at that point, since the card was pretty waterlogged, and overheat the paper towel so it would bubble a little.

Over all of that I stamped my Mixed Media stamps, a clock, and some Ali Edwards sentiments. A misted wood veneer camera to finish it off and I was done… or not! I had bright pink overspray on my craft sheet (criminal for that to go to waste!) so I wiped it up on the edges of the card – definitely done now!

I’m hoping to get my 12 on Twelve post up today but it will either be late, or tomorrow!

Remember, Distress Marker class at The Paperie tonight – it’s not to late to sign up and come for the fun!

Index Card A Day – #5

06 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by Sara in ICAD2, Uncategorized

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Ali Edwards, Claudine Hellmuth Studio, Crayola, Ranger, Studio Calico, Technique Tuesday

The card for June 5 was a doozy. It just wouldn’t work for me – thank goodness for children!

How about if I explain that a little? 🙂

This card started with the most amazing wash of blue and teal and green watercolour paints. It was gorgeous. Sigh.

Then I used a stencil and Distress Ink. Yuck. I’ve now ruined my beautiful background and have nothing. Frown.

And then M let out a roar, “G is ruining my paints!”

That G… He rubbed his paintbrush into all the pots until we had a lot of brown mud and a very unhappy painting girl. So I took a napkin and wiped out each pot, cleaning them all out and explaining to the 3-year-old that it wasn’t nice to ruin his sister’s things (I’m 99% positive it went in one ear and straight out the other).

BUT…. I had this napkin full of cool colours. Hmmmmm.

I peeled apart the layers, tore off a section, and used Matte Multimedium to ~~adhere~~ smoosh it onto my card. Tore the edges, leaving them ragged, and let it dry. Pretty cool.

And then I noticed the stencil showing through the napkin – even cooler! A good mist of Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls, a great Ali Edwards Stamp, and a wood veneer heart. Awesome!

See that blue? That’s in M’s Crayola set – so beautiful!

Remember this moment
Cherish this story
Celebrate this life

My kids saved my butt today!

And now, here’s the very special card:

M’s ICAD

M made it herself! And she stopped painting before it made brown sludge (that’s normally her end point!) She had cut the top off the card before painting so she picked several Washi tapes to stick it back on – that was the only thing I helped with, lining them up over the seam properly.

Don’t you love it? Wait till you see tomorrow’s! 😉

Index Card A Day – #3

04 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by Sara in ICAD2

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Ali Edwards, American Crafts, Amy Tangerine, Dylusions, Dylusions Ink Spray, ICAD, ICAD2, Ranger, Technique Tuesday

I decided to try a new product in my stash for this one – Microglaze. It’s almost like a firm type of Vaseline, or a less firm wax. Somewhere in between those…

Anyway, I spread a very thin layer over a Dylusions stencil, then firmly rolled paper towel over to pick up any excess (I didn’t want it to smear when
I added additional layers).

Next, I misted some Dylusions Ink Spray on my non-stick craft sheet and dragged my card through, then carefully wiped the excess from the Microglaze – awesome resist!

I then stamped a bunch of sentiments from Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday, pulling out all the ones with the word “life” in them. A fuchsia sharpie, some doodling, and an Amy Tangerine Fabric sticker finished it off!

Life

Final thoughts – I had no idea where I was going with this but I really like how it turned out. Love how the Microglaze worked and there’s no greasy or waxy residue left over. And the small pops of pink make me happy! 🙂

Tuesday Techniques – Dry Embossing with Wafer Thin Dies

29 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by Sara in Tuesday Techniques

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

Cuttlebug, Distress Ink, Dry Embossing, Ranger, Spellbinders, Technique Tuesday, The Crafter's Workshop

It’s our final dry embossing day! I thought I’d show you how to use your wafer thin dies to emboss, rather than cut – use them for double duty and really get your money’s worth!

You will need:

Supplies

A die cutting/embossing machine, wafer thin dies (eg: Spellbinders, Hero Arts, Papertrey Ink, etc.), and a tag.

First, line up the die on your paper, cutting edge facing up. Next, I find it easiest to adhere the die to the paper. I normally use washi tape as it is low tack and there’s no problem removing it once the die has been run through your machine. I temporarily adhere it so it doesn’t move and I can be sure it will emboss right where I want it to!

Next, make your sandwich – for the Cuttlebug I use the A plate, B plate, then a piece of cardstock as a shim (and you can then get a die cut piece at the same time as you’re embossing!):

Then put your paper with the die facedown so the cutting edges go into the cardstock shim.

Over that goes a rubber mat and another B plate. If you want a really deep impression, you may want to use another thin shim for more pressure. Just be sure not to make the sandwich too thick or it won’t go through your machine.

After you roll it through, you get this:

Nicely embossed! I happened to use an open die here to get a frame, but you can use solid dies as well, and you can deboss if you prefer, just flip your paper over!

I like the subtlety of this embossing, and how it picks up ink really well to make it stand out more while still not being super dimensional. Excellent for cards you’re going to mail because they won’t be too bulky.

In the same vein, you can also use stencils and chipboard to emboss. I won’t cover those since they are very similar to what I did here today but if you want to see those in action check here and here. I used the stencil technique on the smaller red heart for my finished tag:

As always, leave me a link in the comments if you try this technique out – I’d love to see how you use dies for embossing!

12 on Fourteen & a mini…

14 Monday May 2012

Posted by Sara in 12 on Twelve, Mini Album, ScrapBook, Week in the Life 2012

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Ali Edwards, Clever Handmade, Kiddies, Mini Album, Ranger, Sassafras, Simple Stories, Sticky Back Canvas, Technique Tuesday, Unity Stamp Co.

(note: This is a long one, with lots of pics – you might want a coffee, or wine, or…. whatever, to get you through!)

So…. You all know how much I love the 12 on Twelve photo taking adventure each month, right? I love that little collage of one ordinary day in pictures – no journaling, just snapshots of our life.

And this month I forgot all about it. Sucks. I was bummed. And then that little person in my head went, “knock, knock, knock. Hey dummy! You can take 12 pictures any old day!” Ummm, yeah. Duh!

So today is the day! Anyone want to join in? There’s still lots of time! And my camera battery is dead so I’m crossing my fingers and hoping against hope that absolutely nothing happens for half an hour! 🙂

I’ll have today’s twelve ready for Wednesday.

The other thing that occurred to me was that I haven’t shared any retreat projects with you yet – sorry!

My Week in the Life album is almost done, just a couple of papers left to toss in there and then I’ll photograph and share it. Still love that project and I’m so happy I stuck with the album and finished it (almost!).

The thing is, when that album was done, I had a handful of pics not in there. Either they were cute, but didn’t really tell a story, or I had better ones to tell the story of the day, so they got cut. But, as I said, there were some cute pics – what to do, what to do?

I made G a mini album with the extras and some more of the fabulous Clever Handmade Embroidery Board!

Love Cards that I Love!

11 Friday May 2012

Posted by Sara in Cards, ScrapBook, Techniques

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Ali Edwards, Distress Ink, Hero Arts, Ranger, stamping, Technique Tuesday, The Paperie

And I love them because they are made with the brand spanking new Spring Seasonal Distress Ink Colours – Peacock Feathers, Squeezed Lemonade, and Shaded Lilac. Seriously though, don’t they sound awesome, even before you know what the colours are? Yup. They do!

I wanted to give the inks a test run, see how the colours dried and blended, so I made two super simple cards using the Hero Arts Lotus Background (one of my faves!) and an Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday set – Love Always Wins.

For the first one, I simply added ink randomly to the stamp, misted with water to allow the inks to blend, and stamped onto watercolour paper. Once it was dry, I added the sentiment and some twine:

For the second, I wanted to see more of the true colour so I swiped each ink pad over the stamp to make three lines of colour. I lightly misted with water to get some slight blending and again stamped onto watercolour paper. Another awesome sentiment from Ali Edwards and some twine and I called it done: