CC102, Day 4, part 3

Faded Layers again. Obviously this needs work, but i think it has potential.

CC102 Day 4, part 2

This is the Faded Layers Technique, which I think is my favorite, but which is going to take work.

CC102, Day 4 - alcohol inks

Four techniques -- patinaed metal, tarnished tinsel, Ombre (the blue one) and Monoprint (the one with the flowers).

I didn't have any tinsel ribbon to tarnish, so I used white and silver American Crafts glitter tape instead.  It worked OK.

Ugh, I didn't realize how scabby my craft sheet is until I saw it in the harsh light of a camera flash.  It still works, though.

Creative Chemistry 102, Day 3

Distress Glitter -- Peacock Feathers and Rock Candy

Creative Chemistry 102, More of day 1

Working with Distress Paints -- Altered Objects, Eroded Metallic Technique, Resist Stamping

Creative Chemistry 102

My first two tags from the new Creative Chemistry 102 class -- the marbleizing technique and the Industrial technique.

Entering a Challenge

I am entering this card in the Addicted to CAS challenge #18 - Glitter:

I got this American Crafts glitter tape from PeachyCheap.com and I just love it -- it's SO GLITTERY!  So when I saw the ATCAS challenge was "glitter" I just had to play along.  Like a small child or a magpie, I love glitter and shine.

I used the sketch from CASE This Sketch # 38 because I really liked it, although I missed the deadline for submission. I thought it was a good way to showcase those glitter tapes, too.

I got out my grid mat and lined everything up nice and straight, which I don't usually do, but given the strict verticality of the sketch I thought it was important.    The sentiment is a piece of DCWV glitter paper, because the thinnest sentiment I had wouldn't fit on the AC glitter tape, which is only a quarter of an inch long after all.  Still pretty glittery, though, no?

Thanks for looking!

Card Camp Last Weekend

This card is a CASE of one from guest artist Heather Nichols  in week 3.  Hers is more muted, but i had this neon washi tape, so I though, go all the way!  I also have the Epiphany Crafts circle epoxy punch she used, and I was glad for a chance to use that.

I really like how it turned out.  The epoxy circles are from a couple of American Crafts 6 x 6 paer pads, I don't think they have names, not as far as i can tell anyway.

I believe the washi tape is Recollections.

Second Card

More work with the kraft cardstock and the K & Co. Abrianna line of papers and embellishments.

This is using the second card sketch we were given this week.  I don't really do ribbons or twine on my cards -- I don't own a single spool of baker's twine.  So I replaced the twine that was supposed to go vertically with a strip of contrasting patterned paper.

I liked Kristina's single-layer banner on her card, but I don't have any stamps like that, so I used another strip of paper.  the sentiment is a little crooked, but meh, I'll live with it.

Card Camp Week 3

This is the third and last week of Summer Card Camp 2. The techniques day this week was about embossing diecuts.  Jennifer McGuire made some really great cards. Here's mine:

The diecut is from Spellbinders.  You can't really see in the picture, but I embossed the larger, inner layer with holographic glitter.  It is a purple paper from the Abrianna line that I have been using lately.

The top layer is embossed with gold.  You know, I went to LSU for college and graduate school, and those are our colors, purple and gold. LOL, geaux Tigers!

The edges of the card are sponged with Broken China Distress Ink.  Like Jennifer, I am finding the purple, blue and brown color scheme difficult.

Card Camp Week 3, Day 1

We got new sketches to work from and a new color scheme for the week -- dark and light purple, light blue, and brown.

I have a complete set of paper and embellishments from K & Co., called Abrianna, that I've been wanting to work with. I noticed the whole line has a lot of purples and blues, so I knew it would be good for this color scheme. I liked the third sketch we were given, so I used that. Here is my card:

I altered the sketch somewhat to fit the embellishment I had, which was that layered diecut.  Which I was delighted to see exactly matched one of the papers in the stack.  Before Card Camp, I took Online Card Classes' "Pattern Play" class as a self-paced course, and one of the things I've been enjoying from that is mixing patterned paper with kraft cardstock, which I did here.  It comes across very earthy and bohemian, I like it.

I added the anniversary sentiment because it is one of my longer one-line sentiments, and because this card seemed especially festive.  Once I was mostly done, I noticed the two tiny flowers on the sheet of diecuts I got the big embie from, so I added them too.  Why not?

I really like how this one came out.  What do you think?

SCC2 Week 2, Day 4

The task for this day was a challenge -- use your holiday-themed stamps on a non-holiday card.  A good challenge, makes you look at your materials in a new way.  This is what I came up with:

This is the Poinsettia background stamp from Stampendous, and I colored it in the weekly color scheme: light green, olive green, turquoise, cream and brown.  I colored it with Copics.  The panel is mounted in colored paper from the DCWV "Weathered Aspect" 6x6 pad.

It did seem to need a little something.  You can't really tell in the picture, but i blinged up the center of the flowers with my Sakura Stardust glitter pen, and that gives it a little shine.  This one doesn't seem to need a sentiment to me, it's just a note card.  If needed in the future, I can always put a sentiment banner on it later.

Weekend card

This is a card using Shari Carroll's watercolor technique with Gelatos, in one of the alternate color schemes from Friday.  I matched the colors as closely as i could from the Gelatos I had.

I can't say i love it.  But once I start a card, I feel obligated to finish it, unless it really is turning into a  total disaster.  I often find that when I look back at cards later, I like them better than I remember.

I do love that Picasso quote!   It seemed to need something more.  I see that sequins are very "on trend" right now, so I added a butterfly sequin.  Butterflies are a common image of the soul.  I don't usually follow trends, but I had these sequins, so I used it.

Variation on the Last Card

I really liked how well the flowers and the sentiment went together on that last card.  But I thought the Neon inks needed more pride of place. So I did a variant layout on a black card:

I swiped the Hero Arts Neon inks DTP, then stamped the flowers in Versafine Onyx Black and fussy-cut them out.  I white heat-embossed the sentiment on the inside of the card behind a cutaway.  

It occurs to me now, I should have stamped and embossed the flowers in white, to match the sentiment. Oh well.  Still came out pretty good.  If I feel up to it I might try it again -- but not tonight. :)

I will also enter this one in the Casology Neon Challenge.

Another card

For the Card Camp, we were given a color challenge t use, so that's why this card and the last card have the same palette.

I really like how this turned out. Simple and cheerful.  I think that sentiment goes really well with those flower stamps.  I think I might enter this into the Casology "Neon" challenge, which I found through a classmate's blog.

The inks are Hero Arts Neon inks. The raised diecut is an embossed resist flower from Studio G/Ditto, painted with turquoise craft paint.

More cards

I've joined the Summer Card Camp 2 class over at Online Card Classes.  It runs for three whole weeks. I had today off from work, so I made a card.

For such a simple-looking card, this took me half the day to make.  Some projects are just doomed from the start.  But at least it's done. :) Now i can upload it to the class gallery!

CAS 2, Day 8, Salted Watercolor

This did not turn out great, but I did it:

The technique was to use Distress Ink on watercolor paper, and then further distress it by sprinkling it with salt, which wicks away some of the color to make patterns.  It worked, but the grains of my salt left large dark spots in the center of each wicked spot. Not attractive.  I covered some of them up with pearls -- which I don't usually use, but I thought they tied in with the watery color scheme and set off the white sentiment.  I  got carried away with the pearls, but they are stuck down there now, they aren't coming up -- I tried.  It looked better when I added a final one to get an odd number. It looks kind of like a constellation to me. And like pearls under the sea. Whatever. It's very late. It will do for now.

CAS 2, Day 8, More Inking Techniques

Yes, I am jumping around. I am very behind, and doing what catches my eye.

In Day 9 Jennifer McGuire showed us how to make a rainbow ink pad from cut-n-dry felt and reinkers. Which certainly looks fun, but I don't have enough reinkers to do that. I do have a few rainbow ink pads, though, so I made some cards with them, like this:

I stamped this card with my ColorBox Petal Point pinwheel ink pad, like this, although the primary colors. The stamp is from Inkadinkado and is supposed to be a doily, although in this color scheme it looks more like a mandala to me.  I stamped it and heat-embossed it with clear powder. The card is from Doodlebug Design, and has a scallop at the bottom, so I inked and added a strip of paper under it in the same colors. I treated the colored strip with some Judikins Microglaze, so it wouldn't smudge up the inside front cover of the card. There is a rainbow-colored rhinestone in the middle of the mandala.

No sentiment; when it comes time to use this card I will stamp an appropriate sentiment inside.

Becuse of the scallop on the front it won't stand up straight, so i had to photograph it lying down.

CAS 2, Day 9, Texture

The techniques for this day of the Clean and Simple class demonstrates adding texture to CAS cards.  The first technique, demonstrated by Julie Ebersole, adds texture with glitter.

Here is my version:

Which is basically a CASE of Julie's card, but glitter is tricky so I thought I'd better stick pretty close to the sample.

Green and gold is a color combination I have always liked. But I wanted to take my color farther down the card than Julie did, so I thought, why not use green paper then?  And I remembered that I had a set of Hero Hues Foliage cards and paper that I hadn't yet used.  So I used that.

The glitter is Martha Stewart Peridot, which is a combo of green and gold.  The sentiment is Inkadinkado, stamped in the same gold Delicata ink Julie used.  It is a good gold ink, I like it.

CAS 2, Day 4, Blackboard Technique

This involves white heat-embossing on black cardstock.  The stamp is Hero Arts.  I used my Sakura Souffle pens to add some pops of color to the flowers -- and bling in one place where the pen didn't work right and just pilled up the paper. I had to cover that up.

Now my husband is sighing and complaining, so I have to finish up and go watch the Superbowl with him.  Men are such babies.  But I made 3 cards in one afternoon, I think that's pretty good.

CAS 2, Day 3, Gradient Stamping

I don't know why, but I am really struggling with this class.  I am finding it hard to carve out the time to work, and more often than not, my cards are going wrong. And I'm trying to be careful, too!  It's discouraging.

I had a heck of a time with Jennifer McGuire's gradient inking technique.  My Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink pad will never be the same, I fear. Jennifer's cards looked absolutely perfect. But then, I'm not Jennifer McGuire, am I?

I had the best success with the Hero Arts Neon inks, which are dye inks.  Here is one of many iterations and abortive attempts. It's OK. I've had enough of this technique for now.

The handwriting is my own.  I don't have a stamp of that sentiment, but it was what I wanted to say. People are always complimenting me on my handwriting, so I thought I'd try it.

CAS 2, Day 1, Card 2

The lesson in this first day of class was about the craftsmanship of CAS cards, so I tried extra hard on this one. Got out my cutting mat with gridlines to stamp against, to try and keep it straight, which I don't usually do.  This card uses reverse masking -- the mask was made with a Martha Stewart paper punch. The inks are Brilliance metallic pigment inks by Tsukineko.  The cardstock and pearls are by Recollections.

Clean And Simple Cardmaking 2

My first card for the Clean and Simple Cardmaking 2 class at Online Card Classes.