Spring Dreams Journal

Every once in a while I like to mix it up! Making something other than a card is super fun, gives you a gift to give (in many cases) and stretches you creatively‘

I had a ton of larger chipboard pieces that hadn’t used in card making because they were honking huge (look a those words! 5” long!) And for my design teams especially I like to do something other than a card! So for this week’s Crazy 4 Challenges, I decided on a journal. Our theme was to make something related to spring (or fall if you live in the southern hemisphere). Of course it’s insanely cold here, UGH! NO spring in sight. When I’m making journals, I usually keep them pretty flat so the larger embellies don’t get messed up during use, especially when I make them for kids. But this one is for a grown up so I went pretty dimensional. I do suppose though that it might be hard to write on the backs of the pages… Ah heck, I never write on the backs anyway!! Hopefully whomever ends up with this won’t either, or maybe write on their lap??!!

I started by placing everything in it’s place which takes a while with this many embellies! Then I took everything off and I added some custom mixed pink embossing paste (Copic/Golden) and applied it through a random heart stencil (SSS). The base of the embellie cluster is a doily (die PTI) then I layered on a sticker with a white flower on it. Then some chevron ribbon (May Arts), seam binding ribbon (Masterstroke), sequins (Simplicity), buttons (PTI) and roses (Really Reasonable Ribbon). The other embellies and paper are all American Crafts.

The binding canvas sticky back ribbon stuff is from Prima and I airbrushed it with a few shades of ink to match my journal. I was super happy with how it turned out! What do you think?? Spring is the best season for creating (right??) so this challenge is fabulous! You want to play right? Visit all of our amazing designers to see how everyone else interpreted this theme! I’ll look for you all there!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Lighthouse Water Colour Cards

Do you ever go back and revisit stamps you hardly ever use? I don’t do that far often enough but while looking for good stamps to use on masculine cards, I pulled out this fabulous stamp.

The stamp is actually even larger than what you see; there is a quote I didn’t stamp that goes in the space where the Thanks is. When I cut the paper for this card, I had a sliver left over. Which leads me to a short cut layout for such a larger stamp…

…spotlighting!  The perfect technique to use when you don’t have time to colour the whole image. It’s a way under used technique both by myself and the community at large, at least from what I’ve been seeing lately. And it’s so fun! People who don’t paper craft are always entranced by it. Much like shaker and magic cards! You can do spotlighting with a strip of paper or a circle or other die cut shape. Then you place the coloured portion over a plain stamped version of the same image. Many people use grey or black for the larger image but really you could use any colour. Sometimes the spotlight image is matted for even more impact.

I hope this inspires you to try this technique!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Dies by Dee and SSS.

Banner Celebrate Card

All week I’ve been creating more cards for my stash. It gives me lots of time to play challenges which is so fun!

This time I used the latest challenge from Crazy 4 Challenges! This week was a sketch challenge. I used to really dislike sketches with diagonal lines on them but that was before I started using banners. Most of the time I use banner dies but this time I had a great chipboard piece from Bo Bunny. It was quite a lot longer but I trimmed it down. Underneath it I tucked a die cut doily (PTI) for a girlie touch. Oh shoot, I just noticed I forgot the sequins I planned to add! Can you just imagine them for me!!?? LOL!

This is fabulous sketch that can be used in so many ways! I had quite a few ideas before my final card came together. The background was water coloured with various professional paints from my big palette which I mounted on a celery card base (SU!). The stamped sentiment (Waltzingmouse)  is embossed with glitter gold embossing powder. I would have stamped it a bit lower but there is an embossed logo from the paper company in the bottom corner. Flourishes were stamped in Raspberry Fizz in with a PTI stamp (PTI).

I hope you will join me in playing this week’s challenge. Feel free to combine our challenge with another for more fun! Be sure to check out all of the creations on our blog and if any really tickle, visit their blog and leave them some love!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Creating a Card Series–Water Coloured Seabirds

Have you ever created a card series? It’s different than making cards assembly line though much of the process is the same.

For this series, I knew I wanted to make several cards using the same water coloured panel. But first you have to decide what other elements will be the same and which will be different. I knew I wanted basically the same layout and water coloured image but different sentiments. Starting with my watercolour paper (Windsor & Newton), I cut it into the size needed for my layout and began stamping and painting my image. I used my old palette of professional paints from various manufacturers.

This little bird image (SU!) seems unassuming at first but comes to life with an ocean scene behind it. I deliberately didn’t tape off the edges for two reasons. Firstly the image was too small to warp too badly and secondly, I wanted the roughness of the uneven edges. In fact, there is another reason, it helps me learn more control with my brush. I didn’t mask off the horizon and beach lines for the same reason.

You might see in some images I got a nice bloom. It first, I wasn’t aiming for them but I wasn’t trying to avoid them since I think they are pretty in the right places. But once I saw how pretty they looked, I deliberately created them. To do this,  you wash in your sky and let it dry until just damp. To tell if you paper is damp, look at it at an angle to your light. The shine of the wetness of fresh paint will be gone but when you touch the paper, it still feels cool to the touch and has not dried completely. At this point, add in some more of the same paint; where the new paint touches the damp paint, it will bloom. Don’t use paint with more pigment than the original wash or it won’t work as well.

When it came time to assemble these,  I matted the image with kraft paper, my favourite for any beachy card then chose the sentiments I would use and my card base colour. I had originally planned to use different card bases but I found this colour (SU!) worked the best. I chose a sympathy die (Dee), a thanks die (SSS), a celebrate stamp (Waltzingmouse), a happy retirement stamp and a brighter days stamp (PTI). I felt like this covered many occasions that suited this image.

Last but not least, the embellishments I would use. Normally in my card making, patterned paper is chosen much earlier in the process. But in this case, since the design didn’t hinge on the paper, I left it until almost last.

For the designs with smaller sentiments, I either put it on a tag or I added some twine to fill the empty space. In the case of the sympathy card, I had die cut the sentiment earlier in the week and wanted to use it but the gold didn’t show up well. That’s when I decided to add the patterned paper. I was using a 12x12 sheet so my cut left me with enough for a second panel so I decided to use it up.

Have you ever created a card series? I’d love to see it if you have, leave me a link below. Would you like to see more card series? Sometimes I make them but only show you the one I like best so if you let me know you’d like to see more, I’d be happy to oblige!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Ice Cream Celebrate Cards

I’ve been making cards for hubby to sell at work. Birthday cards are popular according to people I’ve spoken to online who sell cards but I can’t make them because of my religion. So I’ve been trying to make some that could be used for Birthdays (or other occasions). The images and layouts are easy, the sentiments are trickier.

The ice creams were coloured with Copic markers then covered in Glossy accents to make them look like epoxy embellishments. Do you like the raspberry ripple ice cream? The images, heart die and sentiment are SSS, the papers are by Bo Bunny.

If you have any clever ideas for unbirthday, birthday-ish sentiments, I’d love to know. Please leave me a note in the comments.

Enjoy, Rebecca

Entered In: Retro Sketches 202

Papertrey Challenges

I’ve completed a few more PTI challenges for their 9th Anniversary celebration.

First up, their Paper Crafting Alphabet challenge. You use the first three letters of your first name and the first letters of your last name (optional) then find the corresponding letters in the paper crafting alphabet. Each letter corresponds to an elements to add to your card. I’ve used REB from Rebecca and DNI (the first E in my last name being a double letter) from my last name Ednie. So I had to use rounded corners, embossing resist, add a sentiment on a banner, add a detail using a paper piercer or white pen, use a new product and use dry embossing. The detail is hard to see but the banner is paper pierced and the new product is the sentiment, embossing folder and the large feather stamps.

Next up is the Thank You card challenge to send a thank you card to the warehouse staff at PTI. I used kraft paper and ink from PTI; the papers are Basic Grey and the sentiment is SU!. I figured most people would send fancy over the top cards but maybe a guy works there?

This one is for the Colour Pop Fortune Teller challenge. You have to make one of those fortune teller folded paper thingies we all used to make in grade school. We used to call them bada badas! My colours were spring rain, aqua mist, Hawaiian shores. summer sunrise and simply chartreuse. I decided to make some more cards for the Lasting Hearts Card Drive and I finally got my cards mailed off. Do you know I managed to plan this out so I got 8 cards from only 5 sheets of paper! Pretty good right? This design was fast and easy to make by using my MISTI and cheap because all I used was ink and a limited amount paper. Very key things when making multiples. Everything is PTI except the sentiment which is SSS.

Enjoy, Rebecca

Red Magnolias

I am in love with my new Altenew stamps! In three days I’ve already painted them twice!

The Crazy 4 Challenges this week was to use red and pink in honour of Valentine’s day. The watercolouring isn’t perfect but it does look better than anything I’ve painted before. These stamps are really fun with all the natural shapes and detail. I didn’t love the leaves both their placement and colour. The Gansai Tambi watercolours I used are fairly opaque and the greens even more so.
I ended up hauling out my very old watercolours, like 17-18 years old! Amazingly, when I swatched them, I found there are some very good quality paints in that palette. I remember finding my student grade paints too opaque and buying better quality ones. So I will use those next time.
Please join me at Crazy 4 Challenges this week! Our team is so talented and we would love some more players every week! Comments encourage everyone so leave us some love!
Enjoy, Rebecca
Entered In: Retro Sketches 201

RECIPE: Stamps-Altenew, Patterned papers-MME, sequins-Lucy’s Cards

Love Bug Card

My favourite colour combos are always those with lots of pastel colours. I made this love card just because!

This little car is so cute! I used a sketch challenge for the layout. The car was stamped in black then I used the MISTI to stamp the solid image in aqua mist. Then I stamped again with a partial layer of Hawaiian Shore to get an ombre look. Then I masked off the headlights, bumper and windshield and stamped on the hearts. I forgot to let the solid stamping dry first so the hearts are very soft and faded looking but I still like them!

All products except copic markers and the lace are by PTI.

Enjoy, Rebecca

Entered In: PTI Colour Challenge, Retro Sketches 201

Watercolour Floral Inspiration Challenge

Papertrey Ink is having their 9th Anniversary Celebration. They challenged us to make a card based on a piece of clothing.

I chose a skirt I sewed for myself years ago. I’ve always loved the colours and the big, bright pattern. I didn’t have a lily stamp so I used this larkspur stamp (PTI). I stamped in a pale yellow ink then watercoloured it with shell pink paint (Daniel Smith). I only painted two or three petals at a time to make sure the paint didn’t run together making a big blob. When the first petals were dry, I went back in and painted the rest. After that, I added the brighter pink paint shading in each petal (and green paint-Gansai Tambi). Do you think it looks good? I’m really proud of it.

Sorry about all the wrinkles, this skirt doesn’t fit me right now so it’s been jammed in my closet for a few years. The card colours are  bit closer to the skirt IRL. The patterned papers are Pink Paisley, sentiment by Echo Park, the watercolour paper W&N and the base papers are blush and berry sorbet (PTI). Can’t remmeber who made the music stamp.

Enjoy, Rebecca

Kite Hooray Card

I don’t make shaped cards nearly as often as I should or as often as I used to.

But when I was given a kite challenge by Crazy 4 Challenges, what else could I do?? Of COURSE I had to make a kit shaped card!! The fold is on the side with the yellow paper (all paper MME). So it’s an unusual opening but very cool and unexpected! Adding the paper might seem hard but I just drew on lines from opposing corners, added adhesive and lined up the corners of the paper with the pencil lines. Then I trimmed off what was beyond the edges of the card. Easy Peasy!! Even though the sides are angled, the points where the papers meet are still good old 90 degree angles!

And yes, I remembered to only staple the tail to the front panel!! I almost forgot!! The tail is made from string (dollar store!) and some red grosgrain ribbon. I used a heated ribbon cutter to finish the ends of each piece so they won’t fray. You could also use a flame or even better, a heat gun. The hooray die (PTI) was layered on a doily die cut (Spellbinders) and the sentiment (SSS) was embossed in white on black cardstock (PTI). Last I added some gold sewing thread and gold star sequins (Lucy’s Little Things).

Enjoy, Rebecca

Lovey Cards Pt3

Next up is a fun technique-filled chalkboard card.

The sentiment is embossed with white powder then the flourishes are stamped with white ink. Then I added a few enamel dots; I’d normally add sequins but felt they would have as much impact on the black even if they were opaque. I had planned to make this the reverse of the card above but after making the first one, I wasn’t feeling it. So I simply added patterned paper in behind the die cut opening and added the foam outline inside. It has a fun raised effect! You could also get this look by layering multiple white cardstock pieces.

Enjoy, Rebecca

Entered in: Sugar Sketch 39 SPDSS39, Curtain Call Sachet, The Challenge 59, Fusion Challenge, SSS Wednesday Hearts, Paper Players 280

Lovey Cards Pt2

This one is pretty fun. I wish hubby could give me a card like this…

Isn’t this one cool? This is the perfect die for a shaker card even though it doesn’t look like it at first. I die cut the pink card front first and saved the outline portion (shown here in black). Then I cut the same die from a similar sized piece of black cardstock aiming to make two shaker cards in reverse colours. I used the black outline for this card.

Because of the crazy uneven edges of this die, I used die cut foam for the shaker borders. The best part about this die? The outline gives you a buffer between the foam and the paper edge. I hate when the foam shows from under the paper edge, which seems to happen a lot when I make shaker cards with die cut foam. Even if the foam shows a wee bit, after you add the outline in, it covers any imperfect foam edges! After that, it’s just like a normal shaker card! The chipboard heart is covered in Liquid Pearls and the sentiment was cut from a SSS die.

Enjoy, Rebecca

Entered in: SSS Wednesday Have a Heart, , Fusion Challenge
Curtain Call Sachet, The Challenge 59, Memory Box Pink Cards, The Paper Players 280, Sugar Sketch 39 SPDSS39

It’s All About the LOVE!

I’ve been making a few of Lovey Dovey cards lately. Lots of hearts and pink…

Isn’t this so sweet? The stamp and open heart die is from the latest SSS kit and so is the Crate Paper XOXO paper. The grey paper is from an ancient Echo Park paper pad. I cut the white cardstock the same size as a manilla tag and placed a die cut (PTI) heart where the reinforcer and hole would be. Then I added the ribbon and lace (local fabric store). I’ll be adding a couple more in a few minutes as I plan to add them to the same Inklinz. Sorry in advance for the multiple posts.

Enjoy, Rebecca

Entered In: SSS Wednesday Have a Heart, Fusion Challenge, Curtain Call Sachet, Retro Sketches 200