Penny Black Garden Friends birthday card

Hi blogging friends  

Long time no blog!   My loved one had another scheduled operation, was home for less than 24 hours and then became very sick with viral gastro so they were admitted to hospital and stayed for quite a while.  Thankfully, they were released yesterday and it is sooooo nice to be home:  there is nothing like your own food, bed and 'stuff'!  I guess it makes you appreciate those things even more when you are away!!  Anyway, it was nice to have a little bit of crafty time today..........

My daughter's 9th birthday isn't until July but the way the time is flying by and my general extra-busyness of running to and from medical appointments, I thought I had better make it whilst I had the opportunity.

I have seen a few cards around blogland that have the main image framed, and in particular, by a white frame so that is what inspired this card.  

I used 3 different Penny Black stamps to create my scene:  the bunny/bird are from the Garden Friends clear set, the butterfly is from the Critter Party clear set and the sentiment is from the Tiny Wishes clear set.  I did actually stamp the butterfly twice:  once on the cardstock base and again on a piece of scrap cardstock which I cut out and popped on top of the base image to give it a little dimension.  I drew in the dotted lines with a Zig Millenium .005 black pigment ink pen. 

All the images were coloured with Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils plus Odourless Mineral Spirits using paper stumps.  I added Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the flowers and the butterfly's wings.

I lightly chalked around the image with blue chalk for the sky and green chalk for the grass.

I made my own pink glitter cardstock for the sparkly heart next to the sentiment by using the same colour pink cardstock layer and rubbing a small section of it with a Versamark pad then poured on some Polysparkle clear embossing powder then heat-set it.  Then all I had to do was punch 2 hearts (I have a double layer of hearts just to add a bit of extra-dimension) using a Martha Stewart Looped Hearts edge punch (they are the leftover punchies after using the punch).  To see my tutorial on making your own glitter cardstock, click HERE (just scroll down a little on the post).

Here is a wee close-up:

The white lacey frame was made using a Marianne Craftables die (I cut the inside square with a craft knife) and the large white square scallop frame was made using a Go Kreate Scallop Square die.

I ran the pink cardstock through my Big Shot using the Crafts Too Sweet Flowers embossing folder but by the time I cut it to just the size I wanted and corner-punched it, you could barely see the embossing!  Oh well......it adds a teeny-tiny bit of texture I guess.......

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges - 

Penny Black and more at Allsorts - June Challenge - open theme of using your favourite things (mine is my favourite brand of stamps - Penny Black - diecutting, pencils and dry embossing).

Papertake Weekly Challenge - Anything goes - with optional extra of making card for Father's Day or for a boy/man (obviously I didn't do that option).

Well, I think I might go and have a nap.  I didn't get much sleep in hospital with all the noise and now that I am home and relaxing, I feel totally exhausted.  It is cold and foggy today (so much for the predicted sunny afternoon) and we have the open fire going so I won't feel a bit guilty curling up on the couch with our cat!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black clear stamp sets - Garden Friends 30-021, Tiny Wishes 30-026, Critter Party 30-013

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black, Versamark Versamagic

Accessories:  Big Shot, Go Kreate Scallop Square die, Marianne Craftables die CR1203, Polysparkle embossing powder, heat-gun, Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils, OMS, paper stumps, Zig Millenium .005 black pigment pen, Perfect Layers Tools, Kaisercolour chalks, Kindyglitz Crystalina, cardstock - KW Doggett 'Knight' white, rose pink

Punches:  Stampin' Up! corner, Martha Stewart Looped Hearts edge

Taylored Expressions: You're my hero - nephew's birthday card

Hi blogging friends,

One of my grown-up nephews is a Musician and this is the one-layer card I made for his birthday: 

I broke out one of my more recent purchases from Taylored Expressions called "You're my hero" which is an awesome set - lots of different rock images for guys and gals, sentiments and grungey elements:  very cooool!  This set is rubber mounted with that foam stuff so you will need something to mount it on for stamping eg: acrylic block, and a stamp positioner comes in very handy!  I have no connection to the company other than loving their stamps and dies - fantastic quality and great value for money IMHO.

I inked up the grungey background image with Faded Jeans Distress ink, misted it with water using my Mini Mister then stamped it on my white cardstock base and stamped it again in a different spot (without re-inking) so I had another image but looking more faded.   I then inked up the same image with Wild Honey Distress ink, misted it with water then stamped that over the blue image and then again without re-inking.  Because Distress inks react with water, I ended up with a bit of a mix of the two colours in various spots which I really like.

I rounded the corners on the top and bottom RH corners with a Stampin' Up corner punch then stamped the bottom LH corner and top RH corner the same way I did the grungey background.

I used my Ranger Ink Blending Tool and foam pad with Wild Honey ink and went around the edges of the card then did the same with Faded Jeans ink.

Once I had done that, I used a heat-gun to dry off the card then used my Stamp Positioner to stamp the guitar, guitar neck/fret board and the sentiment using Versafine Onyx Black ink.  I used a black Bic Mark-it texta to colour in the tuners so they would stand out better from the background.

I wanted to add some glittery black stars so punched out some stars from black cardstock, added Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue but after it dried, they didn't look as nice as what I hoped as the glittery bits looked all uneven - and then - LIGHTBULB moment - I grabbed a piece of scrap black cardstock and inked it with Versamark Watermark ink, poured on some Polysparkle clear embossing powder and heat-set it.  Voila!   Nice and sparkly but the glitter was set in the embossing powder so a) it wasn't going to come off and go all over the card, and b) it was nice and even - which I hope you can see from the close-up photo below - hey, it looks just like the night sky!!

Then all I had to do was punch out the stars - easy, peasy!  Great way of making some glittery cardstock - and quick - and when you think about it, you have a way of making glittery cardstock in any colour to match your project if you were needing just a small amount for punching or making an embellishment.  If you don't have Polysparkle clear embossing powder, just pour some of the embossing powder into a little container and mix in some glitter and use that.

Here is a close-up of the glittery stars on the card itself:

Lastly, I added two tiny matching raw sienna brads next to the sentiment to balance the card.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Crazy 4 Challenges:  C4C118 -  New year….new ‘toys’…..new techniques. Do or use something NEW on your card/project. My 'new' technique is the glitter cardstock I made for punching my stars PLUS I am using this newly purchased stamp set for the first time.

Splitcoaststampers - Ways to use it WT336 - Versamark - from a while ago.  Note SCS Challenges have no time limit - you can play anytime.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Taylored Expressions 'You're my hero'

Ink:  Versafine Onyx black, Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Faded Jeans and Wild Honey, Versamark Watermark

Accessories:   Brads - raw sienna, Polysparkle embossing powder, heat-gun, Ranger Mini Mister, Ranger Inkssentials Blending tool and foam pads (one for each colour), stamp positioner, acrylic block, Black Bic-Mark it, cardstock:  KW Doggett "Knight" white, black

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner, Carl CP-1 (small) star, Carl CP-2 (large) star