Textures on One-Layer card - Embossing Paste

I'm back with another card with some textures - this time with translucent embossing paste.  But don't you just love more colors on your cards?  Before I put on the embossing paste I sponged distress inks over the butterflies:

I've used Worn Lipstick, Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold, Salty Ocean and Shaded Lilac on the butterflies.  I've used the new Mini Ink Blending Tools to put color on the butterflies and this mini tool works so much easier than its big sister when it comes to small areas like the purple and pink butterflies.  Love this new toy, oops I meant tool. :)

These colorful butterflies totally remind me of spring, what do you think?

My card is linking to:
Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes
Polkadoodles Challenge - Spring is in the Air
Creative Fingers - Anything Goes

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Textures on One-Layer card - Embossing Powder

I have always admired the color embossing powders on others' projects.  It's just that I do not often do embossing other than using black on my sentiment so I didn't think I would buy a lot of colorful embossing powders.

I could not resist the temptation anymore and bought a few.  See what I've done with it:

The vibrant colors make this card so fun and cheerful.  I really like that the colors pop on the black background.  In case your eyes are excellent, you may see that the texture of the blue dots are different from those in pink and yellow.  That's because they are different brands of embossing powder - the blue from Zing and the others from Ranger.  I didn't know that Ranger had these bright colors so I wanted to give them a try.  They are both good, just different.  The finish that Zing powder gives is more glossy.

My card is linking up to:
A Creative Need - Blue, Yellow, Pink
Challenges and Candies - Embossing
Craftitude - Anything Goes
Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
Get Inky - Circles

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Tracing Images

I am trying another technique from CAS 3 - Tracing Images.  The part about tracing images is not too bad, but I don't have copic markers to color the images so I need to figure out a way to blend the colors better:

I've tried this technique with a couple of images but I think this one is the best - it has the larger flowers that can be used as focal points.  The placement of these two flowers also give me a place to put the sentiment.  No doubt that I love flowers and this is really another major reason!

Most of my background stamps are really just background stamps - stripes, polka dots, swirls, or repeated patterns of some sort.  I normally use them as background stamps and one of my all time favorite techniques is to create a tone-on-tone background.  I use this on my cards, my layouts, albums, you name it.  The subtle pattern provides interests to my project but just enough so that it does not compete with the focus.  This is my first time using my background stamp this way and I like it a lot!  Next time when I purchase background stamps I'll see if I could use it this way.

I'm linking my card to the following:
Artistic Inspiration - Anything Goes
Aurora Wings - Anything Goes
Cards in Envy - Anything Goes
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
Kaboodle Doodles - Dreaming of Spring
My Craft Spot - Anything Goes
The Paper Nest Doll - Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

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Die Cut Inlay

I like the look of Die Cut Inlay so I made another card with it:

I've used a couple of heart dies from Lawn Fawn and the "Love" die from Amy Tangerine.  The big heart was used twice but on different patterned paper.  It was a lot of fun to play which heart overlaps which.  Picking out different patterned paper for the mix and match is another fun party.

I like this technique and see myself play with it often!

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Graffiti Stamping

When I had the Celebrate Big stamp set on my craft desk, I thought I could try Graffiti Stamping shown by Shari Carroll.

At first I didn't know if I'd like it so I didn't pour my heart on the colors.  I went conservatively.  This is what I came up with:

My first try on Graffiti Stamping did not look like graffiti..... I still like this card.  The balloons are cute behind the big bold sentiments!

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Stamp Layering

Another technique I learned from Laura Bassen at CAS 3 is stamp layering.  I love the cards that she showed us!

I'm trying to mimic the effect with the supplies that I have.  I love the fun of playing with colors and the images showing through the other images!

I do not have a lot of colors or circle stamps but really wanted to try it out.  I found out a bunch of clear circle stamps and used the back side of it to ink up and stamp the circles!  If I didn't tell you, could you tell that some circles are not perfectly round?  Shhh........let's keep it a secret between us! :)

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Masked Background

I am recovery from my surgery last week.  I'm fine but my right eye is asking for a lot of rest.  She usually prevails over my left eye.  When one eye heavily shuts off the other eye has to yield to that force.  LOL.

Having said that I still try to craft little by little.  I'm going to share a couple of cards in separate posts.

This one focuses on masked background and I love the results!

I learned it from Laura Bassen at CAS 3.  Her card was well thought and planned, unlike mine which is a result of impromptu mixing of colors and widths of color bands.  I still like it a lot and will certainly do it more often.  Even though it is a one-layer card it brings a lot of impact!

Note to myself: I have to be more generous with the masking tape when using distress inks.  Distress inks blend so well that the residue on the tape will mix with the color I'm trying to put on the card.  I noticed it when I was applying Wild Honey but it turned to be very dark due to the Shaded Lilac left on the tape.  Eventually I re-used the tapes only for similar colors.  Please tell me you can't tell which orange band was contaminated with purple!

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12 Tags of 2014 - March

I finally got the time to play along with the 12 Tags of 2014 - March.  The stamping technique was not the part that got me excited, but I finally played with the Distress Marker Spritzer!

For those of you that have the Airbrush system or spray gun for Copic markers may not understand that how big a deal it is for me.  I am a marker newbie so I am just taking baby steps to learn more about coloring.  Hopefully one day I will be a coloring pro!

Onto the March tags.  I learned this technique at Creative Chemistry 102 and because I am a stamper, I like the simplicity of the technique (no extra tools needed!) and the cool results that it brings.  It is similar to generation stamping, but the smudging effects brought by distress inks are so special that cannot be achieved otherwise.

When they are side by side, it is easier to see that the first generation stamping on the left has strong intensity while the second generation stamping on the right has the same hues but more hazy.  That totally makes it more vintage-looking!

I have yet decided how I want to embellish them so I'm leaving them like this now.  The other thing is, of course, I have to look for my Christmas embellishments.  LOL.

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Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Just want to share a card using a technique called die-cut inlay.  You see the two clover leaves?  They are not overlapping with each other but they lay flat on the same surface.  Pretty cool, right? 

I have had the clover leaf die from Memory Box for the longest time but this is my first time using it.  Love the effect!

This post was meant to go live much earlier but nevertheless I hope the greeting isn't too late. 

Enjoy St. Patrick's Day and the rest of the week!

My card is linking up to:
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Cuttin and Stampin Challenge - "Lucky"
Paper Nest Doll - Anything Goes
Come and Get it Challenge - St. Patrick's Day
Glitter n Sparkle Challenge - St. Patrick's Day
Incy Wincy Designs - Monochromatic
Use Your Stuff - Monochromatic Green
Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Monochrome
Addicted to CAS - luck

Thanks for stopping by!

Mother's Day

Sorry for the extended absence here.  I have been having major difficulty in making a sympathy card for a co-worker and am still working on it.

I am tired of the shades of gray, brown and dark colors and need some color therapy.  I used the Avery Elle set to prepare this Mother's Day card:

I have always loved making my own background by random stamping.  It's just so fun!  The original sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch challenge looks like this:

I got my much needed color therapy.  Back to working on the Sympathy card.

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CRAFT challenge - Mother's Day/Feminine
Just Inspirational - flowers
Papertake - Anything Goes
Lexi's Creation - Mother's Day

Spring

I know that winter keeps coming back in various parts of the country but how about having a card with Spring colors and flowers?  Will that bring a smile?

My card is based on the sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge:

I had a lot of fun making this card.  Needless to say, this sketch is very enabling.  There are so many things we could do with the sketch.  The other thing I enjoyed a lot was to use markers as the inking medium and directly applied to the stamps, gave it a spritz  with water and stamped on regular paper.  I can't remember the last time I did this technique but I should do it more often.  It brings so many colors to one image!

Many of you love Copic markers and I am jealous of the coloring skills you possess.  I wish I knew how to identify the light source and color with shades.  Even though I am not a coloring pro, I'll pretend to be one with this technique. LOL.  This technique is fun and I'm happy with it!

My card is entering the following challenges:
Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge - see sketch above
Tuesday Throwdown - Anything Goes
Addicted to Stamps and More! - CAS
Crafting by Design - Spring
Cute Card Thursday - Springtime
Jo's Scrap Shack - Florals
CAS on Sundays - use markers
Hiding in My Craft Room - Spring Colors

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