A Triple-stamped Fancy-cut Flower card

Hi All!

So.... I was feeling all in charge the blogging regularly thing again (like a real blogger even!) but I pulled an intercostal muscle or something very mean, and it has decided that it gets to be the boss of life-in-general instead of me. I'm still hoping to keep up the pace of every 4/5 days or so, but if I don't manage that... you'll know why. :-)

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This card is made using a fave,

Hero Arts 'Large Flower' stamp:

 

Here's a close up view:

I stamped the flower image three times:

 

The 1st stamping was to create a white embossed background of the little flowers.

I used Frost White Colorbox ink & white embossing powder on watercolor paper.

The 2nd stamping was to make the leaves. I stamped in white ink on black cardstock, 

then heat-embossed with clear embossing powder, cut the leaves out & adhered them.

The 3rd go was for the flowers. I made a digital paper, pasting little squares of pattern,

 then printed that to stamp the flowers on (in black ink with clear embossing powder).

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(silver leafing your embellishments)

This is a grungeboard frame that I covered in silver leaf (or foil). To adhere the silver foil,
I just painted on the adhesive that comes in the Mona Lisa foil kit, let it dry & stuck the foil on. Easy peasy! (By the by, I use the imitation silver leaf foil. It's more affordable.)

The "happy birthday" is a white SRM sticker stuck onto black cardstock.

Interested in some simple striped paper? The stuff I used to line
 the envelope (and the inside of the card) is here:

(or here on flickr)

This digital work is offered up for free, but mainly for personal use only.

Please be sure to read my terms of use here. Thanks!

Hope you're having a scrumptious week! ox

a Happy Secret: a Tutorial on SCS! :-)

So, there's this happy secret I can finally share with You!


(Butterflies: K & Co. "Hello Friend" sentiment: Hero Arts "Just for You" digi kit.
"happy birthday" sentiment SRM Stickers "Happy" set)

First things first, Thank You! There are no words for how much your kindness means to me. I am always astounded anew by how incredibly supportive You lovely Crafty Kindred spirits are. How lucky for me that you take the time to share your wise thoughts and beautiful way of thinking. A thousand happy thank yous & I'll keep you posted on my journey to healthiness. OXO

And that secret?
It's an ultra special first:


A while back, the queen of tutorials, Beate from Splitcoaststampers

offered me the chance to do a tutorial on SCS. Of course, I jumped at
the opportunity & today is finally the day it goes live!
giggle giggle giggle

The technique is called Distress Watercolour Embossing
and you can find the tutorial here on Splitcoaststampers.

Here's a version of the technique that uses another image style of folder, a tree
pattern in a Spellbinders M-Bossabilities embossing folder called Flora:


(Butterflies: Hero Arts "Flutterbies" digi kit. Sentiment: Hero Arts "Just for You" digi kit)


This background is really quick and easy to do. I tried to get an ombre effect with the shades of green. Distress Ink colours used: old paper mixed with crushed olive & shabby shutters.
All the details are on SCS here, for this card.

If you like the graph paper,
it's a freebie that you can find here:

(I lightened the plum colour in photoshop by selecting the
following: image - adjustments - hue/saturation - lightness +)

To save this file:
In Firefox/Chrome: right click on the image & choose "save link as"
In Explorer: right click on the image & choose "save target as"
(or you can see the whole set here on Flickr)





And here's a version that's my attempt at that modern casual style:


("happy birthday" sentiment from SRM Stickers "Happy" set.)


It uses just a piece of watercoloured embossing &
a Tim Holtz Texture Fades embossing folder called Regal Flourishes.
Distress Ink colours used: tumbled glass; broken china; crushed olive
and all the other details are here on SCS.

If you like the papers, they are digital paper freebies
that you can find...

... here:


To save this file:
In Firefox/Chrome: right click on the image & choose "save link as"
In Explorer: right click on the image & choose "save target as"
(or you can see the whole set here on Flickr)

...and here:


To save this file:
In Firefox/Chrome: right click on the image & choose "save link as"
In Explorer: right click on the image & choose "save target as"
(or you can see the whole set here on Flickr)

This last example is a soft version that uses a more abstract watercolour

style and an embossing folder from Sizzix called Tropical Paisley:


(Baby T-shirts and Sentiment: Hero Arts "Special Delivery" digi kit.)


By the by, it's actually easier to do this type of folder than the rose outline one,
since there is less chance of getting embossing powder where you don't want it.
Distress Ink colours used here watered down to make pastel shades:
broken china; wild honey; crushed olive; spun sugar
And you can find all of the other supplies & details on SCS here.

If you like the papers, they are digital paper freebies
that you can find...

... here:

To save this file:
In Firefox/Chrome: right click on the image & choose "save link as"
In Explorer: right click on the image & choose "save target as"
(or you can see the whole set here on Flickr)

...and here:

(I lightened the plum colour in photoshop by selecting the
following: image - adjustments - hue/saturation - lightness +)

To save this file:
In Firefox/Chrome: right click on the image & choose "save link as"
In Explorer: right click on the image & choose "save target as"
(or you can see the whole set here on Flickr)

Thanks ever ever so much
for being You!

You're Sew Special!

Sew, here's the whole card from yesterday's post:

The fabric is just a cut piece of patterned paper
and I used a little roll of paper to support the curve of it.
(It's hidden underneath):

and here's the inside of the card:

With more patterned paper, faux stitching &
Hero Arts Basic Grey Flower Dot Pattern background
stamped in yellow on yellow cardstock.

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Have you checked out A Blog Named Hero yet?
It's a challenge blog, created by Linda and Mary Dawn.

Today's card is for their window challenge:

(Create a card with a window on it
or through it -- closes Apr 25 at midnight)


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Continuing in the spirit of Earth Day,
this card has a bit of hoarding thrown in...



The window is dressed with a bit of the backing from these
E.K. Success Flora & Fauna vellum border stickers:



I was playing around with adding a quick bit of silver leafing
to the back of the adhesive borders and the hoard'o'saurus
in me couldn't bear to throw the backing in the garbage...



Left: the original vellum border sticker, left as is.
Middle: with silver leaf added to the adhesive back.
Right: the backing with Gesso pained on it & distressed

(Or if you don't want to use the backing itself on a project,
they make fabulous stencils instead).


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The matching envelope was lined
in about 2o seconds:



There's a tutorial for how to
do the speedy envelope lining here:



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I used this Hero Arts Sew Crafty digi set:


I altered the original full colour
image that came with the set...



Then printed, coloured, and cut out the sewing machine.
I added thread and some doodling to complete the image (where
I had cut away the thread bits from the original image):




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I also used this Crate Paper Paper Heart
6x6 patterned paper pack:


and this set of printables...


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If you like the sewing themed background paper,
You can download it for free here:

I hope the view from your window
is a happy one!


P.S. Full Disclosure: I received the E.K. Success border stickers for free,
(but not as payment for promotion just to do whatever with). :-)