Smooshing

Just Us Girls is in 'trend' week - and the trend is smooshing.  There is a reason this is such a hot trend!  It is easy and creates the most amazing array of backgrounds.  My version today is aiming for peaceful....so I used three dye based inks: Sweet Leaf, Pear and Fern on a piece of acetate.  I had masked off a panel on a Ranger water color panel, brushed it very lightly with water before spritzing the acetate and then 'smooshing' it on the wet paper.  After it was dry I stamped the tree image with Fern ink several times. I did second generation stamping also which didn't show up too well, but does give the faint hint of trees in the distance.   The sentiment was stamped using Cocoa ink. I trimmed the panel a bit before adhering to a Kraft card base.

This is an awesome, fun technique!!  Go check out the variety of beautiful cards made with this at the Just Us Girls blog.

 

Butterfly

This week at Addicted to Stamps and More the challenge is Clean and Simple. 

Unfortunately, several sympathy cards have been needed lately, and my stash of them is depleted. I have been wanting to use my new stencil from ARTplorations, and hence today's card.  I sponged distress ink (Tumbled Glass) on a panel of white card stock using the stencil, then die cut the panel with the stitched rectangle die from Simon Says. After stamping the sentiment (Sincere Expressions, Close To My Heart), I used a rectangle of foam to mount this on my card base.  The butterfly was punched using a Martha Stewart punch. I used distress inks and Wink of Stella to color it before adhering to the panel. The butterfly has a lovely shimmer that doesn't show in my photo. I added a tiny pearl to finish.

 

Fun Technique

Please go check out the new sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge - #155!

For my birthday a friend gave me a copy of the Spring edition of Card Maker, and on pages 60-62 Sara Nauman described several techniques for creating backgrounds that sounded like fun. In this one you put water based ink on an acrylic block, spritz and then roll a breyer over it and then apply to smooth paper.  I loved how it looked and that was the inspiration for using this week's sketch at AHSC.

 

Just love the dramatic marble effect!

Products Used
Stamps:  Springtime Wishes and coordinating thin cuts
               Sending Love
Paper:    White Daisy, Lagoon, Sunset
Inks:       Black, Sunset, Versamark
Tools:      CTMH border punch, EK label punch, breyer, small circle punch, embossing powder +
                 heat gun
Embellishment:  Aqua enamel Dots
 

Together with Atlantic Hearts Scketch Challenge #153

Happy Monday with another beautiful sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!  I love a good sketch and I love it when a you can make pretty things easily with one product. 
My card was made entirely with paper and dimensionals from the Charlotte Workshop Your Way (Close To My Heart).  The sentiment and those sweet puffy embellishments are all in the paper package! Easy peasy for those of us who are super busy right now, but can't stay too far away from the craft room.

 

Atlantic Hearts Hello!

Sketch time at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!  Check it out and play along.

 

I wanted to make those shapes into splashes of color....and took a bit of license with the sketch using the swoosh from the For Family Occasions set.  I stamped the swoosh on White Daisy card stock, but felt it was too small, so I used my water brush to enlarge it a bit. I then cut mats from each color. The sentiment, from the same set, was heat embossed with white.  The card base and sentiment panel are Flaxen card stock, and a bow of Flaxen twine. 

 

Also linking this to the Color My Heart Dare!

Thanks for checking in today ♥
Dena

Working on my PhD

Love this challenge title at City Crafter!!  Don't we all have shelves and bins of these unfinished projects....This one was right on my work table, and had been there for three weeks.

CCCB 302  "Working on My PhD"   (project half done)



Making note card sets for some friends and had been going through papers to find some good candidates for the boxes.  This is a box 51/4" x 3 3/4" and holds four cards and envelopes. I had made two other sets, and then just got as far as the box (made from Close To My Heart Flirty paper) on this one....because I had to go in search of the stamp to match the roses. And then a few emergency cards were needed for friends in need, and St. Pat's Day cards had to be finished....well, most you know that story.

Lots of fun Copics coloring and fussy cutting. It's a simple set, but I like it. Great way to use some nice double sided paper.

Now I can go on to some more of these half done things! Thanks for motivation City Crafters :-)

 

 

Heart 2 Heart Retirement

 Rainy, windy weather here...after a rough day as a middle school substitute yesterday= time to indulge in a little paper quilting! 
My inspiration came from quilt square patterns called 'Confetti Blocks' ( Debra Exum at Studio Dragonfly).
I used retired papers from Close To My Heart (Zoe, Hopscotch, Lollydoodle) and some White Daisy that was embossed with a Swiss Dots folder. Love the bright spring-like colors. Inks are Juniper and Sunset. Sentiment from the For Family set.

 

Linked to Heart 2 Heart challenge blog for the Retirement Challenge.