Hooray!

Hello!

Last week, my dear friend’s youngest girl turned five.  She LOVES pandas.  Her stuffy, Panda (appropriately named), has to be washed often because it is loved so much.

So, of course, I made a card with a panda.

SUPPLIES Stamps Pandamonium (ME); It’s Your Day (Hero Arts) Dies Flat Bottom Clouds (SSS); Uplifting (51-004) Inks Black Onyx Versafine (Tsukineko); Black Dye Ink (HA); Copic Markers; Tumbled Glass, Shaded Lilac Distress Inks (Ranger) Other Clear EP (Ranger) Green Twine (May Arts); Glossy Accents (Ranger)

The photo is not the greatest.  I took it in the morning before the sun came out.  It had to go immediately in the mail.

Anyway, I kept it simple since it was in the wee hours of the night when I made the card.  I used a image from Mama Elephant’s Pandamonium to create this card.  I stamped the imaged with black ink and heat embossed with clear EP.  The image was then fussy cut.

The card panel was distressed with Tumbled Glass and Shaded Lilac Distress Ink.  I then used the smaller of the dies from Simon Says Stamps Flat Bottom Clouds to partially die cut 3 clouds on the panel.

Using white card stock I die cut 3 additional clouds of the same size and die cut the smaller of the balloons from Uplifiting (51-004).  I colored the little balloon with Copic markers and then added Glossy Accents.

I added the card panel to the base and then adhered my trimmed white clouds over the negative space of the card panel using dimensional foam.  I then added my litle panda and the balloon.  I used green twine to connect the balloon and panda.  Finally, I added a sentiment from the Hero Arts clear set, It’s Your Day.

Hope you are having a great day!

Thinking of You

Hi there!

I thought I’d create another card to celebrate the collaboration between Penny Black products and May Arts Ribbon.  This time, I thought I’d create a more elegant looking card.

SUPPLIES Stamps (All Penny Black) Blooming Tags (30-228); Dahlias (30-159) Black May Arts Ribbon 3/8″ Satin with Knotted Edge (466-38-10) Dies (All Penny Black) Hello Frame (51-040); Triple Banner (51-027) Inks Prismacolor Pencils; London Fog Memento Ink (Tsukineko); Black Dye Ink (HA); Pumice Stone Distress Ink (Ranger) Stencil Chevron Stencil (Prima) Other Translucent Embossing Paste (Wendy Vecchi/Dreamweavers); Bisque Perfect Pearls (Ranger)

I first created the card panel.  Again, I wanted to try my hand on using translucent embossing paste as a subtle background.  This time, I used a chevron stencil by Prima.  It didn’t come out as cleanly as my previous card.  I think I hesitated pulling the stencil off all at once and, therefore, there is a little smudging of the paste.  Thankfully, it occurred on the edges which I trimmed off.  Once dried, I trimmed the panel to a smaller size and rounded the corners.

I then created my centepiece.  On a separate piece of cardstock, I stamped the hydrangea tag from Blooming Tags (30-228) with gray ink.  I then used the frame from the Hello Frame set (51-040) cutting the flower and background from the stamped tag.  I colored the image with Primsacolor Pencils and used a small amount of Bisque Perfect Pearls in the centers of each flower.  I also distressed the edges of the frame with Pumice Stone Distress Ink.

To finish the card, I added black cardstock against my card panel.  This was adhered to a card base.  I then added my flower frame to the center.  The sentiment is from Dahlias (30-159) which I added to one of the new banner dies from the Triple Banner set (51-027).  The banner was trimmed as I thought the original length was too long for my center image.  I created a small bow with the Knotted Edge Ribbon and adhered it to the top center of the card.

Hope you’ve been enjoying and finding inspiration from the rest of the Penny Black DT.

Until next time.

Hello

Hi there!

All week Penny Black is collaborating with May Arts.  The DT will be showcasing projects using their beautiful ribbons.  I will be starting this collaboration with a card using their jute twine in Parrot Green.

SUPPLIES Stamp (all Penny Black) Dahlia Dance (4380K) Dies (All Penny Black) Feather & Frames (51-039); Hello Frame (51-040); Nature’s Song (51-014) May Arts Ribbon Parrot Green Jute Twine (SM-46) Inks Martha Stewart Arcylic Paint (Pink Dahlia; Japanese Maple; Ballet Slipper); Fired Brick; Barn Door Distress Paint (Ranger); Prismacolor Pencils; Black Soot & Wcattered Straw Distress Ink (Ranger); Pure Sunshine Dylusions Ink Spray (Ranger); Prismacolor Pencils; Black Dye Ink (HA); Stencil Dots (Heidi Swapp) Other Translucent Embossing Paste (Wendy Vecchi); Gesso (Golden); Dimensional Foam (3M)

I took the opportunity with this project to include several techinques that I’ve wanting to use.  I’m not very comfortable (or really have’t attempted much) adding several layers to a card.   I also wanted to play with embossing paste again.  I haven’t touched it since the summer and I wanted to create a subtle background using this technique.  And, since I’ve been into paints lately – arcrylic and Distress Paints – I wanted to add that touch as well.

I first worked on the components of my layers.  The flowers, Dahlia Dance (4380K), were stamped in black ink and colored with Prismacolor pencils.  I selected 2 of the flowers from the image and fussy cut.  The frame from Feather & Frames (51-039) was die cut several time to create thickness and dimension.   The top layer wash colored with Scattered Straw Distress Ink and sprayed with yellow die ink to add a little more vibrance.  I die cut Nature’s Song (51-014) from a card stock that I had painted with various hues of reds and picks.  And finally, the “hello” from Hello Frame (51-040) was cut several times.  The top layer was distressed with Black Soot Distress Ink.  I put all these components aside and worked on the rest of the card.

I wanted to keep the background of my card very simple.  I love all the the subtle backgrounds that you can create with a stencil and embossing paste.  I decided to use a simple background of dots and used translucent embossing paste over it.  I carefully taped my card panel as well as the stencil down before I started spreading the paste.  I just love the result!

Once the card panel was completed, I wrapped the Parrot Green jute twine several times around the length of the panel.  I adhered it to the back with regular scotch tape.   I mounted the panel on the card base with dimensional foam.  The components were then added to the card.  Once all the components were arranged, I added a small bow of jute twine to complete it.

Stay around for the rest of the week and visit the Penny Black blog for more inspiration.

ETA (2014-Mar-21) I am participating in the latest Moxic Fab World Challenge:  Styling With Stencils Challenge.

Enjoy.