Brayered Thank You Set

Many Thanks to Michelle Zindorf for her beautiful layout for the cattail card that is part of this set.  Kudos to jadoherty on Splitcoast too!  I made this set for my friend, Annie.  I love brayering because the results are so pretty and it really doesn't take all that long!

This last one was run through the lattice embossing folder after it was brayered and stamped.  I saw this same card on SC and SCS and had to try it!  Lots of different stamp sets used for these three cards:  Just Believe, Inspired By Nature and Watercolor Trio.  Several punches were used too:  Photo Corner, oval, scallop, and the slot punch (cattails).  The cattail card was brayered on to Daffodil Delight, and the photo corners were run through an embossing folder.  Next I'm going to make a brayered gift box to put them in!  If you want to learn more about brayering, I highly recommend Michelle Zindorf's website, tutorials and classes.  Google her and find over 300 tutorials for her beautiful work!  Thanks for looking and I wish you a fun and stampy weekend!

Simple Vintage Christmas

Here's a simple card that's very fun to color!  The dp is from Deck the Halls and the layers are Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake (Scallop Trim Border Punch) and Always Artichoke.  I prefer blender pens to the aqua painter.  The image is also from the Holiday Mini and it's called Bells and Boughs.  I stamped the image with Black Stazon first, then used my classic ink pads and blender pen to color the images.  Cherry Cobbler was used for the flowers, Always Artichoke for the boughs, and Daffodil Delight for the flower centers.  Black Stazon was used for the sentiment image.  To brighten up the flowers I used some white glitter chalk which also softens the edges.  I sponged some Creamy Caramel around the image mat to give it an aged vintage look.  Coloring can sometimes be time consuming so this quick layout is a great way to balance out your time and still have a pretty card that looks like it took hours.  Enjoy!

Always Elegant - Multi-Stamp!

Sometimes I forget how versatile stamps can be and just stamp the image as it is.  So, I really enjoyed using this main image stamp from Always Elegant and stamping it three times to give it a whole new look.  This was also my first shot at paper flowers and using the new cotton lace from Stampin' Up.  This a card front that will traded at Convention:

I had lots of fun making this!  Colors used are Baja Breeze, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla, all from the Elegant Soiree DP.  Soft Suede is the only ink used here, on the main image, flower and edges.  The pearls and ribbon are also new fom Stampin' Up!  There is no sentiment, as I don't usually put sentiments on card exchanges so that people can use them for what fits their needs.  I'm off to ride my bike - have a creative day!

For You - originally

June has grown wings and flown by!  So much happening in my world this month - it's left me little time to create.  I did sneek some time in to purchase some new sizzix dies and wanted to share this creation with you.  As some of you may know, I'm more of a 'case and renovate' girl, but I'm proud to say this one is an original and I'm pleased with the results.  Hope you like it!

I used Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler and Whisper White cardstock, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Craft White and Cherry Cobbler ink.  Elements of Style, Vintage Vogue and Artist Etchings were my stamps of choice.  I used a distressing tool for the edges of the cherry cobbler matt after running in through an embossing folder.  I then crumpled the matt, smoothed it, and adhered it to the base card.  The big note die was used on Crumb Cake CS, stamped along the edge with a Vintage Vogue stamp, then dusted the edges with Craft white topped off lightly with Early Espresso.  I used another sizzix die to cut the WW and then edged it with Crumb Cake and Early Espresso before using versamark, clear embossing powder and Cherry Cobbler ink for the main image from Artist Etchings.  It was then mounted with dimensionals.  I stamped the round image and punched it out with the 1 3/4 punch, then used a stencil I had for the 2 inch circle matt.  I distress the 2 inch circle a bit, too.  The 'for you' image from Elements of Style was embossed on WW, then punched with the small oval punch and mounted with dimensionals.  The brads are miscellaneous one I had that just so happened to match my ink - yay for miscellaneous brads!  Can't wait to get the 'real deal' from the new catalog!  The ribbon is white organza that was wrapped around the corner and adhered to the inside of the card.  I created more dry-embossed panels for the inside of the card that covered the brad backs and the ends of the ribbon.  Voila!  I had a great time and can't wait to give this to someone for any occasion.
Thanks so much for visiting my blog today.  I hope it inspires you to create your own original or a case of this one!

A favorite technique - Emboss Resist

Morning Stampers!

I continue to practice my sponging and brayering techniques, and thought I would like to case something of Michelle Zindorf's and adapt her work to some of the new colors and stamps available at Stampin' Up!.  I am loving the Friends Never Fade stamp and the cherry cobbler color especially.  After surfing Michelle's website, I chose this card:

and updated it with Cherry Cobbler, Delightful Daffodil, Crumb Cake and Early Espresso, while using the new Friends Never Fade and Elements of Style Stamp sets:

The flower image was stamped first by coloring the stamp with markers.  I then colored them again with Versamark and embossed them.  After that, I used only versamark to stamp the flourishes around the edge and then embossed those as well.  I covered a 3" square in the middle, and then sponged Early Espresso along the edges, then wiped the ink of the flourishes.  I removed the 3" mask and lightly sponged the center with Crumb Cake.  I then took a ruler and the Early Espresso marker and defined the 3" square on the left and bottom edges to make the center pop a bit.  I used a little trick for the ribbon:  I tied my ribbon around a book first, then cut the ribbon in the back so I could position my bow/knot exactly where I wanted it, and then used snail adhesive to attach it to the back of the card front.  I used the Modern punch and some misc. brads to accent the red in the flowers.   I left some open space above the flowers so I can add a sentiment when I decide what occasion I will eventually choose for this card!  This was a fun card to make!  I'm looking forward to trying something similar with different stamps and colors.  Enjoy!