Flurry of Thanks

It’s been too long since I’ve posted on my blog but between craft shows and holiday preparations and activities, I haven’t made new cards until now!  Today’s project was to create Thank You cards and I was inspired by an incredibly beautiful card I received from Angelica Conrad of My Love For Paper blog!  Take a peek here!  She used Nuvo Shimmer powders but I don’t own that product so instead, I used my Bister and Brusho watercolor crystals which give the same effect.  

The process was pretty much the same as Angelica’s;  I heat-embossed the snowflakes from Tim Holtz’ Mini Weathered Winter in white onto a piece of watercolor card stock then spritzed it with a heavy layer of water.  

I sprinkled on several shades of Bister or Brusho crystals, then spritzed more water to make the color move and blend.  This one is my favorite with shades of purple and aqua!  

When all my panels were completed, I added the multiple-Thank You stamp which I embossed with white ink and clear powder right over the background.  I like how subtle it is!  

Wait.  Maybe this one is my favorite with it’s bright rainbow of colors!  😀  A dear stamping friend sent me a package filled with die-cut snowflakes and other goodies recently and I added one to each card, lifting it with a 3D Foam Square for a little added interest.  

The final touch was to emboss “many thanks” from an old Stampin Up set onto a scrap of black paper with white embossing powder and attach that over the glittery snowflake.  I like the pop of black, don’t you?!  A base card of white completes my card!  These are the first four of a number of Thank You cards I’ll need, so I’ll be back with the next batch soon!  Thanks for visiting!  

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I’m a CopyCat!

I am a shameless copy cat!  I saw a fantastic card the other day on one of my Facebook stamping groups and was inspired to recreate Tania’s card which you’ll find here!  My stencil, stamps and dies are different but Tania gave great instructions in her video and I actually cranked this out in about half an hour!  So!  Here’s what I did!  Starting on a piece of Brutus Monroe’s Not Your Mama’s Ultra Heavy cardstock, I laid down a stencil I made with Winnie & Walter’s The Leaf Effect die, then using a palette knife, I spread a thin layer of Unicorn Horn Glitter Glaze over mainly the center of the stencil.  I used my heat tool to dry the glaze because I was too impatient to wait for it to air dry!  

 

Following Tania’s instructions, I then sprinkled three Brusho colors onto the stenciled panel, spritzed with water and patted off the excess with a paper towel.  She used ultra-thick embossing powder granules for her card, but I don’t have that, so instead I sprinkled on some silver embossing powder and using my heat gun, heated it from below so the powder would stay in place.   I don’t recall where I got my Thank You die (AC Moore, perhaps?) but I cut it from black and then white cardstock, glued them together with Brutus Monroe’s All Purpose Craft Glue and layered them, slightly offset.  

To complete my card, I twisted a little circlet of silver thread and placed it under the sentiment and added a few colorful sequins for the last detail!  A black card base is a perfect frame for all the colors and texture!  I’m pretty happy with my card and appreciate the great inspiration from Tania!  

Today~I Give You Paris!

Faith Hill sings a beautiful song called “Paris” and the chorus begins with “…tonight I can’t give you Paris” but today I CAN give you Paris!  Aren’t the morning shadows of the blinds so striking in this photo??  I used my lovely set by Stampendous called Paris Bonjour which also has coordinating dies and a pretty fleur-de-lis stencil.  I began by sprinkling black and yellow Brusho crystals onto a panel of Bristol Smooth card stock, then spritzed with water, allowing the water to move the ink.  I tipped the card to let the colors run, then blotted off the excess dampness.  Setting that aside to air-dry, I heat-embossed in black the stunning Eiffel Tower onto a scrap of Bristol Smooth, then die-cut it.  I did the same with the little stand of trees but with Versafine Onyx Black permanent ink.

Stampendous has a FABULOUS Paris background stamp and I stamped that onto my dried Brusho panel with Versafine Onyx Black, then laid down the fleur-de-lis stencil and sponged a little Iced Spruce Distress Oxide ink just to add a bit more interest.  I sponged Black Soot Distress Ink around the edges of my panel and then, after die-cutting another Eiffel Tower from black fun foam, I adhered them together. I sponged more Black Soot around the edges of the Tower and mounted it onto my panel.  I used bits of foam tape to attach the little stand of trees which I’d colored lightly with shades of gray Zigs.

I felt the card design was busy enough so I just mounted the panel to a base card of white, then dropped sequins from above, rearranged them a tad and attached them with dots of Glossy Accents glue.

The very last touch was to stamp the sentiment from Stampendous’ Big Words Happy stamp set onto a scrap of paper, sponge around it with black distress ink and trim the ends to mimic a little banner.  I mounted that on a narrow strip of fun foam.  SIGH!!  Although this card is “dark” it makes me happy and I hope it does you too!  🙂

More Brusho Embossed

This is the second card I made today using the Brusho/embossing folder technique described in the post before this one.  I love the beautiful design of this Sizzix Textured Impressions-Floral Tapestry folder! I created the top layer first by sprinkling purple, green and yellow Brusho crystals onto the recessed side of the folder, spritzed with water then laid my card stock over the ink and pressed it closed.  Setting that panel aside to dry, I then used my Cuttlebug to dry emboss the purple layer using the same folder.  

I used Wplus9’s Hello die and cut four of them from Bristol Smooth paper, then glued them together with Glossy Accents.  I painted some Nuvo Drops Wisteria onto the top layer, then sprinkled on Stampin Up’s Dazzling Diamonds glitter.  When it was dry, I touched up the color using a Zig Clean Color Real Brush marker in lavender to deepen it.  

To finish my card, I heat-embossed the word “friend” from Stampendous’ Big Word Thanks set with white embossing powder onto a scrap of green, trimmed it down and mounted it with a piece of foam tape.  I added Nuvo Drops Wisteria on the top layer, and tore the bottom before adhering it to the purple panel.  I can’t wait to make more cards using my Brusho backgrounds!  

Brusho, Stampendous & Embossing Folders!

After watching several youtube videos today on how to use Brusho watercolor crystals with embossing folders, I decided to give it a try!  I began by sprinkling blue and purple crystals onto the recessed side of my Sizzix Textured Impressions-Floral Tapestry folder, then spritzed them with water which made the color bloom and spread into the grooves.  I placed the Canvasette Paper Canvas card stock  onto the wet paint then closed the folder and pressed for a few seconds.  Look how beautifully it came out!  To make my card, I clear-embossed the roses and leaves from Stampendous’ Rose Garden stamp set, then painted them with more crystals which I dampened with water.  I let them air dry, added more paint and dried again.

I trimmed down the embossed panel, adhered it to a layer of white card stock, then onto a card base of blue which I’d run through my Cuttlebug with another Elizabeth Craft Designs Spring Leaves folder for texture.  I mounted the roses and leaves using pieces of foam tape.  I really enjoyed trying out a new technique!

Color Explosion with Brusho Watercolor Powder

How fabulous is this?!  When I first got my Brusho paint powders, I wanted to use as many colors as I could, so on a 9×12 piece of Strathmore watercolor paper, I heat-embossed this gorgeous Dahlia made by Stampendous (no longer available on their website) with clear embossing powder.  I “painted” a wash of water over the images then just sprinkled on the Brusho powders and watched them spread and bloom!  The embossed edges contained some of the color, making the pattern really stand out!  This whole piece reminds me of silk fabric and think it’d make a beautiful scarf, don’t you?  When it was dry, I cut the page down into sections to use on cards.

Because the color and pattern is so vivid, I kept these cards quite simple in construction.  I stamped the sentiment (name/company unknown) onto a scrap of paper, sponged deep yellow around the edges and adhered it to the panel, and attached it all to a white card base.

I love that you can see so many details in this stamp!  Stampendous has many current stamps that would look fantastic with this technique!  For this card,  I stamped out Tim Holtz’ Handwritten Sentiments onto a strip of watercolor paper with Versafine Onyx Black permanent ink and adhered it to the card front.  A couple of pretty jewels accent the sentiment.

For this final card, I cut out one of the blooms into a square, and attached it to an embossed card base of white.  I bought the sentiment stamp at AC Moore; it’s stamped in Versafine Onyx Black permanent ink onto a little square of scrap paper, and mounted over the colorful print.