A new to me technique~

A month or so ago over on SCS I saw a card with a technique I had not thought of: emboss with color, then outline the image or letters in a gelly roll or glitter pen to make the letter stand out. It was a superb card, but I forgot to bookmark it to let you know who did it- sorry to the person I SPICE'd completely for some quick baby cards! The pink card above I used Papertrey's Hibiscus Burst ink, paper and twill ribbon just because it matched the Pink Star Gelly Roll pen I have!

Be advised, this technique is not as easy as you might think, my pen went in some directions my brain did not send it! See the upper left corner of the embossed image? It's a complaint I have about the Provo Craft embossing folders; they have 'lines' in the plastic that then shows when you emboss- grrr!

Then I went on to do a card using a new Sizzix folder~ this time I did not ink the folder, just did it plain. I then outlined with a plain glitter Gelly Roll pen. If you make the picture larger, you will see how I highlighted the edges of the heart. Well, um, actually I had to since my pen slipped and walked right across that heart...and I didn't want to throw it away... dang those crooked fingers!

My background is from one of my first attempts at using the preprinted Guidelines II background papers. I used SU's Pink Pirouette ink and paper, along with their
Bashful blue, and Papertrey's Spring Moss. Added some bling brads (SU), and Papertrey's Spring Moss twill, and a tiny piece of a double printed pink and blue ribbon- then a wheensy diaper pin just to finish it off.

Sweet!

That's it! The calendar is closed!

Honest to goodness, I need to stop real life for a month! I'm just going to close the calendar for the month of July, and see if I can get ahead in baby card making!

I was able to play with Papertrey's new set, Vintage Picnic, only once since it came. I tried to replicate the plaid on the tin basket, but I can now think of different ways to get his effect, so I want to play some more!! I colored with prisma markers to match the Ripe Avocado and Pure Poppy bitty Box papers. The tulips are cut out and raised up. I did cut the sentiment in half-gasp- so it would be easier to stamp under the basket. Both the image piece and the very outside of the kraft card base are edged in Chamomile and Chai inks.

Because the papers have a nice sheen to them, I got too much glare when I photographed, then the colors got a bit washed out when I tried to correct for the glare. In real life, this is a gorgeous card! Would make a great Chirstmas card with some poinsettias, Papertrey Design Team!

June Blog Hop

Sometimes I just make some blah cards, lol lol lol!! Here's one!! I had a great idea- a summer day in Maine is not a sunny sandy beachy thing--- it's all green, with flip flops.

But, lol, it didn't come together in a card very well... I don't have Papertrey's flip flops, so I bought some bright orange ones, and they look awful with the green! Then I got it all crooked, lol lol.

I think I'll just go to bed now- and maybe try again after I sleep tomorrow. I'll let you all know if I come up with a better 'Sweet HOT day ' card!

Who in heck would I send this to, anyway?!?

Where to begin?

Oh me, oh my, what a past 10 days I have had! My handicapped nephew was home from school for a week, and my 78 year old mom was his primary caregiver. Except, on Tuesday she had to bow out because she didn't feel so well. Haydn is 24 hour care, and is a bit of work! I was the one who was most free for the week...So we got through the week, and I went to work Saturday night- then at midnight my brother brought my mother is with shortness of breath. Within 24 hours she had had a cardiac echo, a cardiac catheterization, and a double stent placement. Meanwhile, back on the Birthing Unit, one of the night nurses called in- she has mononucleosis, and will be out for 4-6 weeks...and she's full time! Ouch! Honestly, I am carrying around a sheet of paper telling me where I have to be, when, and what I have to do! And, like many of you, we are at 19 straight days of rain...but who's counting???


I did get 2 cards made last night- at 1 am when I was supposed to go to work but they called to tell me I could stay home for the time being! Ok, now that you woke me up, I am going upstairs to make cards!

This is a sympathy card using a piece of alcohol inked background that happens to match Papertrey's new color, Scarlet Jewel. I smooshed the edges of the Scarlet Jewel with Versamark's Champagne to make it into shimmer paper- it looks great! I stamped the sentiment from With Sympathy(Papertrey) in Archival Ink Jet Black (it works the best on alcohol inks) then edged the piece with a gold Pilot pen. The card base is Papertrey's Lavender Moon.

When I put ink on chromkote paper, it gets hard to photograph without glare...sorry!


Here's a closeup of the 'shimmer' I got. I did another piece of Jewel by just pushing the ink pad gently onto the paper, and got a much less pronounced shimmer- coming soon to a card near you, lol!!

Be sure and click onto the photo and blow it up- then you can really see the shimmer better, I think-

SPICE it or CASE it!

Just a thought today~

I show my cards for inspiration- you should CASE them, or SPICE (So Perfect I Copied Exactly) them to your hearts content! That is the point!

So Sandy, make them up and you know what with them!!

Sweet Bay Tulips

This card front came out of my 'what am I going to do with it?' bin. It was a card I made many moons ago, as I started stamping. It was done at a SU catalog class, and I don't think I ever bought the set. Colors are Vintage Violet and Certainly Celery, with a bit of Vintage Violet ribbon. So! Now I like to make cards with a bit more bling, so to speak! So I ...

Cut the card front down and layered it a third time on SU's Lavender Lace. Added some of the Oh Boy Pebbles from Beverly at Precious Scraps on the side. Added some Distress Ink Antique Linen and Walnut -also from Beverly- around the edges, then layered that onto a piece of beautiful striped paper from the Memory Box Sweet Bay set that Bev sent. Next onto dark brown, then lastly onto a Certainly Celery card base.

Lastly, a highlight or two of Stickles clear on the edges of the tulips. This went from an average card class card into something that has a bit of a 'wow' factor in real life!

Baby Strawberry

Well! What a Papertrey Release it was! I don't know about you, but I think the cards generated during the releases are just spectacular! Did you see the baby card made by Nichole with the new Fruitful set? Go see it here, but be sure and scroll all the way down to the baby card, and read all of the narrative! Ha!

Not ever having made a baby card with only fruit before, and remembering there are strawberries in Green Thumb, and seeing Nichole's card as a bit of a challenge... yoo hoo! Shout out to Nichole! Here 'tis my version, lol lol lol!

I used Hibiscus Burst and New Leaf as my colors. Not having any of the Bitty Box papers (yet!) I used a punched edge instead- Fiskars Apron punch. I wondered if I should have a little more color contrast, so I did the tops of the baby strawberries in different greens, but that is hard to see in the photo. My bitty strawberry is popped up as Nichole did, and my ribbon fold is sort of the same, but you can see I used a Nestability square set instead of a circle, and just one ribbon and button.

Not sure how the nurses will like this one- is it baby enough? It's fun to see which ones get used up first...and which ones hang around for a while. It is certianly true that the non-traditional colors do not get used first! This one is certainly pink, we'll see if they like it!