Fun Boy Card!

Kudos to Angela Helynck's wonderful layout here:
http://www.stampinconnection.com/photo/1006793-1?context=user

I knew I wanted to incorporate several stamp sets with some brayering to make a 'space/planets' card.

I went hunting and found Angela's card which I adapted to include the robot and brayering.

It's hard to see, but the ring around 'saturn' has peach parfait glitter on it. The moon is two layers - one of Going Grey brayered with Basic Grey, and the other is Brushed Silver. The moon craters were created with the 1/2" circle punch, and an eyelet paper punch set.

The stamps used are:  Background Basics, Best Bot Forever, Starring You, Valentine Defined, Pun Fun

The colors used are:  Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Night of Navy, Daffodil Delight, Tangering Tango,
Poppy Parade, Going Grey, Basic Grey

The stars were embossed with Whisper White craft ink and White embossing powder. I also through in some dazzling diamonds to give the stars a little shimmer. The stars in the bottom left corner have some dazzling diamonds on them, too!

This took some time, but I had a "blast" making it!

Seasons of .... brayering!

Here's some more brayering, once again inspired by Michelle Zindorf.  Michelle posted the "Fall" card, and I ran with it, creating a similar card for each season.  I made 5 of each, 1 for me to keep, and two sets of two cards each to be given away as gifts.  These are blank cards, but they are layered and finished on the inside as well.  Season of Friendship and Style Beautiful are the stamp sets used.

Michelle's tutorial for the Fall card is here:  http://zindorf.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2010/09/02/fall-color-tutorial-360/  You'll see that I don't stray from "The Master."  lol

The important technique here is emboss resist, which is what is done first, with the except of the Winter card.  Michelle describes how to use Versamark and ink stamped together, then heated as your first step, then brayer the sky, then sponge your grass, then stamp the tree, sponge the 'ground' and add white gel pen highlights.

The winter card is done differently.  First, tear through the sticky part of a post it note to make your hilly horizon.  Then brayer your sky, then sponge low grey clouds, then sponge your horizon.  remove the post it note.  Lightly sponge Going Grey at the bottom tip, then a little Basic Grey.  Stamp your tree.  Using Whisper White Craft Ink, stamp your snowflakes, then heat emboss with Iridescent Ice.  Add your white gel highlights, making snow in the branch crevices.  Dust a bit more Going Grey around the tree for your shadow and mount to your mats.

Colors are as follows:

Fall:  Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Wild Wasabi, Marina Mist and Not Quite Navy.

Winter:  Not Quite Navy, Taken with Teal, Going Grey, Basic Grey, Whisper White (craft)

Spring:  Blushing Bride, Rose Red, Certainly Celery, Early Espresso, Bashful Blue and Marina Mist

Summer:  Wild Wasabi, Poppy Parade, Garden Green, Baja Breeze, Pacific Point and Certainly Celery

These are 5 x 5 cards finished.  The mat stamped with Style Beautiful is 4 1/2 square.  The Square image on Whisper White is 3 1/4 square, with mats measuring 3 3/8 square and 3 1/2 square.

These were really fun to make!  I'm off to make a brayered gift box for them............have fun!

Do you know how much I love the Heat Embossing Technique?

It's probably my FAVORITE stamping technique!  I also love the effects of brayering.  I wanted to combine these two techniques in a set of card fronts for swapping at the Stampin' Up! convention.  I went back to some cards I've made in the past, and updated them with new stamps and new colors from the very exciting 2010 - 2011 Stampin' Up Catalog.  Here's what I came up with:

As soon as I saw the Silhouette Sentiments hostess set, I knew I wanted it!  You can get this set FREE when you host a Stampin' Up stamp camp or party.  Leave me a comment if you would like to host a card making class.  I would LOVE to teach you and your friends how to make cards just like this - it's easier than it looks!  The flowers were first stamped with black ink and versamark and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  I then punched a 1 1/4" circle out of a post it note to mask the paper so a sun is created.  I first used daffodil delight and peach parfait with a brayer for the sky.  I sponged cajun craze across the top and down the sides.  The hills were created by tearing the sticky edge of a long post it note in the shape of the hills.  I covered the sky with it, then brayered cajun craze across the bottom.  I finished the bottom by sponging early espresso at the bottom edge.  A white gel pen was used to bright up the centers of some of the flowers.  Yes, white gel pen drys on the top of embossing - go figure.  Markers do not do this, only gel pens.  Cool!  I used my stampamajig (love that thing) to align my sentiment into the sun after removing the post it note mask.  Brads were added and then it was mounted on to Cajun Craze cardstock.  I made six of these in about an hour and a half.  I know, right?  It really goes pretty quick!  Hope you'll try that brayer and heat gun you have stashed in a back drawer and share what you create!  Have a beautiful day!

Brayered Father's Day

Oops!  I forgot to post this one before Father's Day!  Ah well, thought you might like to check it out, and then case this card to a masculine birthday, get well or sympathy card:

I know, forgive me - it's not 100% Stampin' Up products... however there are many sentiments that fit the curly label punch perfectly!  So here's he details:  I used an Early Espresso base card, with a Marina Mist mat.  I used very vanilla, and brayered Crumb Cake and then a little Early Espresso, being careful to not cover all of the Crumb Cake.  I turned the card around, and brayered Bashful Blue with Marina Mist on top.  I used my grass stamp from Inspired By Nature and used Old Olive to stamp it at a slight angle.  I used my ever handy slot punch (love that thing) to make the cattails.  The little birds are optional and could be substituted with the solid small butterfly in the Charming set (which I currently do not have.)  Here's the inside of the card:

The left side is stamped directly on to Marina Mist, using the same techniques as the front of the card, except for brayering the blue inks.  I used Crumb Cake for a computer generated sentiment, compliments of a quote from Bill Cosby.  Hope you can take this Father's Day card and turn it into something you can use for Birthdays, Sympathy, Get Well, or well, anything!

Brayering and Awash With Flowers

I thoroughly enjoyed my Brayering Classes with Michelle Zindorf in Boise, Idaho a few weekends ago.  We were asked to practice brayering.  I kept my practice piece, and then came home and added some images from Awash with Flowers and a butterfly stamp I had laying around.  I tossed in a miscellaneous button, ribbon and simple sentiment.  I really enjoyed putting this together!  The colors are some of my favorites:  Bashful Flue, Old Olive, Pink Pirhouette.  The design paper mat is from Bella Birds.  Hope this rather quick card inspires you to pull out your brayer today!