Friday, February 21, 2014

Memory Box Dies and Stencils

Hi everyone.  Tomorrow is supposed to be around 60 degrees, so I am already starting to have dreams of Spring. 

For today's card, I am posting one of the cards we will be doing in my Memory Box Floral class on Sunday.  I thought the colors were nice and bright and a nice break from the dreary winter we have had.

To make the card, I created a background using watercolor paper, three colors of Gelatos, and a lot of water to blend.  Once the card was dry, I placed the new Memory Box Diamond stencil on top (88522) and added some texture with chalks.  For the flower, I cut out the new Perky Poppy die (98762) twice...once in black and once in orange.  I pieced the two cut outs together so that my outline would be black and the petals orange.  To add some extra color, I sponged some Rusty Hinge Distress Ink to the base of the petals.  As a finishing touch, I stamped the Just a Note Combo saying (B1852).

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Impression Obsession Challenge- Favorite Technique

Hi everyone.  Today the IO challenge is all about favorite techniques.  Perhaps my favorite technique that involves Impression Obsession images is stamping my own backgrounds with Cover a Card stamps.  In particular, I like to combine more than one background to create my own unique background designs.

For my card, I started with a plain purple notecard and stamped the new Dimensional Chevron Cover a Card (CC176) on top using Lavender Chalk ink. 


I could have left the background "as is," but why stop at one pattern when you could have more?!  I decided to add the Dotted Argyle Cover a Card (CC175) background on top of the first using Imperial Purple Versafine ink.

It might be cheating to add a second favorite technique to the mix, but lately I have been using a lot of Distress Markers on watercolor paper and then blending with a waterbrush.  I continued that trend by stamping Fragile Ink Heart (E9164) onto watercolor paper with Imperial Purple Versafine ink and colored the inside edges with a Seedless Preserves Distress Marker.  I softened the color with a waterbrush, cut out the heart, and popped it up onto the card.  Finally, I stamped the Happy Heart (B8346) saying and added a bit of blended Distress Marker to the paper strip with the saying.

Need more technique inspiration?  Be sure to check out the other blogs:
Laura Fulcher - you are here
Vicki Garrett


 

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Happy Birthday Challenge

Hello my friends!  It is time for another IO challenge, and this time the theme is birthdays.  It is a great challenge idea because I think I make more birthday cards than anything else.

For my card, I wanted to use a couple of the new Zenspiration line of stamps.  I combined a border from a clear set (CL534 Border Lines) with images from a birthday set (CL533 Birthday) and then colored everything with Prismacolor pencils.  I chose colors with the recipient in mind, but you could just as easily use a different combination or even black and white if you wanted it to look more like Zentangle.  To finish the card, I added some pearls and some stickles to the frosting on the cupcake.

Need more birthday inspiration? Check out what the other designers have created:

Laura Fulcher (you are here)

Want to play along? You can find all the information here, and you could even win a $25 IO gift certificate!