Card Crazy!

I seem to have turned into quite the card maker! My scrapbooks are feeling neglected I think. ;-) At any rate, here is a new card and a background technique you can try.

For the background, I cut a piece of sticky-back canvas to fit on my card front. I then tapped an acrylic paint dabber (Butterscotch) over the stamp and stamped it onto the canvas. (Don't let the paint dry on your stamp!!) You could use a very light or dark paint color for greater contrast but I wanted the effect to be a bit more muted so I chose the Butterscotch paint.

After the paint is dry, you get to have fun with Distress Stains! I misted the canvas first so they would blend better. Then I just swiped on stripes of Tumbled Glass, Iced Spruce, and Shabby Shutters. I spritzed it a bit more with water to help the colors blend further.

After letting it dry thoroughly, I peeled the canvas off its backing and placed it on the card - adding stitching for decorative effect. This is a fun and easy technique to do. Of course you can vary the stains and paint colors used to get all sorts of different looks. Have fun!

Most of the supplies I used here can be found at Inspiration Emporium. Use my code JUICE if you go shopping there and save 10% off your order. =)

Perfect Pearls

Perfect Pearls are one of those products that you can do so much with and they add such elegance to a project. You can use them with reinkers to make your own glimmer mist, mix a pinch with a few drops of water to make your own glimmery watercolor paint, and one of my favorite techniques that I was recently reminded of is to brush it directly onto a freshly stamped image (VersaMark ink works well). I incorporated a bunch of other techniques in this card too so let's take a look:

The background I cut out of watercolor paper. I laid down a mask first and then lightly misted the top half with blue and the bottom half with green. Next I used a Tim Holtz technique called Brushless Watercolor. All you have to do is ink your stamp with various colors of Distress Ink, mist the stamp with water to allow the colors to wick and blend, and then stamp onto the watercolor paper. Lift the stamp immediately and dry with a heat tool. Easy!

The stamped sentiment looks hard but is really easy too. All I had to do was stamp with VersaMark ink and then brush the various colors of Perfect Pearls onto the ink with a soft brush. When you have covered all the ink, brush away the excess powder. You can get some really beautiful effects this way. Check out the Papertrey Ink blog right now, they are highlighting it for their Make It Monday challenge. It's also not too late to join in the April challenge at the Inspiration Journal. Just make something cool using masks or stencils and link it up on the blog. You can have a chance to win $50 to spend at the Inspiration Emporium!

Most of the supplies I used here can be found at Inspiration Emporium. Use my code JUICE if you go shopping there and save 10% off your order. =)

Card Sketch…

Well as you know from my previous post, Scrapping Everyday Miracles now has two options for the monthly challenge - a card or a layout. I just completed a card based on the layout and I want to share it with you! Here is the sketch from PageMaps:

I kept pretty close to the sketch because I like it so much. I created a card for friends that just had a little baby boy. It will go into the mail tomorrow!

I used all sorts of goodies from my stash, which is one of my goals this year - use up some of the stuff I already have. Don't forget the scrap twist - washi tape! I have a strip of brown polka dot tape at the top of the card. Let's see what you can do! There is still time to enter the challenge. You have until the end of the month and you'll be eligible for a great prize.

Sketch challenge at Scrapping Everyday Miracles

Oh, we have a great sketch challenge for you at Scrapping Everyday Miracles! Feast your eyes on this versatile sketch (I love PageMaps!)

In my quest to someday actually complete the baby albums of my sons, I chose some baby pics of Jon to use. (What a cutie!! And I don't think that is just a mother's bias ha ha)

 

This was a good stash buster of a layout. I used some Sassafrass paper and stamp set and raided my paper scrap folders. The misted background texture was created by sticking down some letter masks (Tim Holtz Ransom mask) and then spritzing with mist. I used Distress Paint on the plastic title letters (that stuff is GREAT on plastic!) Of course the scrap twist for the challenge is to use washi tape so I included the red polka dotted tape for a nice pop of color. Be sure to go check out the challenge at SEM. Link up your take on it and you'll be eligible for the prize. ALSO, there is a option make a card for the challenge too! The sketch for the card is there too.

Most of the supplies I used can be found at Inspiration Emporium. Use my code JUICE at checkout and save 10% off your order. Have fun creating!

Blog Hop Winners!!!

March Challenge and Blog Hop Winners!!!! 

at this link, ha ha ha! Hello, the winners have been chosen for the Scrapping Everyday Miracles blog hop that we had last weekend. Be sure to go check and see if you won! The winner for my blog candy is Cheri!! Cheri, I need your contact info and I can send you your fabulous prize!

April Challenge at Inspiration Journal

Hello everyone! I have another challenge project to share with you. The new challenge at the Inspiration Journal is to create a project using stencils or masks. I created a steampunk birthday card and incorporated all sorts of fun techniques in addition to masking into it. Let the fun begin!

 

First I used the faux batik technique to create the balloon and blue base layer (see the link for a Tim tutorial on how to do it). After stamping and embossing the balloons, I blended different shades of blue Distress ink onto the background and also stamped some mechanical diagrams over the embossed images. I flicked some water droplets onto the background which reacts with the Distress ink and makes a cool spotty pattern. 

Next I made my custom mask to create the ray bursts. Tim Holtz has these really handy sheets of masking material that you can use to make custom masks. First I sketched the lines I wanted on a piece of scratch paper, then just laid the mask sheet over the sketch and drew in my "cut lines" with a Sharpie and ruler. Then, taking a nice sharp Xacto knife, I cut out my mask. You can use these sheets in a die cutting machine to make masks too. Anyway, here is what it looked like:

I placed the mask on the background and blended Stormy Sky over the non-masked areas to make the ray pattern darker. For a final layer and a little bling I spritzed it with Perfect Pearls Mist - Blue Smoke before I removed the mask. Cool! (should have taken a photo of it before assembling the card, oops) I hope that now you are inspired to experiment with masks and stencils. Link up your project to the April challenge post by the end of the month and you'll be eligible to win a $50 Inspiration Emporium shopping spree!

Most of the supplies I used can be found at Inspiration Emporium. Use my code JUICE at checkout and save 10% off your order. Have fun creating!

Scrapping Everyday Miracles Challenge #27!

Well time just keeps on flying and by golly it's now April! (no foolin'!) That means it's time for a new challenge over at Scrapping Everyday Miracles. This month the task is to scrap about your pets or other inspiring critters. Show us how God can use animals to bless us and others. The twist is to use an animal related quote or verse on your project. I scrapped about Sonny, a cutie pie Schnauzer that belongs to my in-laws. That little dog is like a child to them and brings them so much joy. (He is definitely a pampered pooch!) I loved this dog quote too, it's just perfect to go with Sonny's picture. I framed this layout and gave it to my mother-in-law and she absolutely loves it.

Head on over to SEM to get all the details about the challenge and to see the other layouts by the design team. You're sure to be inspired!