Birthday Card for Melissa

I like using orange for Melissa's cards because she's a Vols fiend. And she loves irises, even has an iris tat in memory of her iris-growing granny. So I threw this card together, and promptly screwed up by assembling it wrong. And instead of doing it all over again, I opted to cut the original apart and put it on a slightly larger card base, which led me to create a homemade envelope, too!

I don't remember what the cardstocks are, although the replacement base was a Bazzill--that much I'm certain of. The others came out of stash. The stamp is either All Night Media after they went mass market or PSX, and of course it's gone walkabout (it's around here somewhere!). The ink is VersaFine Onyx Black.

It's colored with Prismacolor pencils, and I think the dies are from the HA "Infinity" rectangles. I think I've said before that I'm no fan of front-of-card sentiments, and only use them seldom.

The really fun part? I even asked her advice on what to do when you've mucked up your assembly. Her answer? Cry. Well, it didn't go that far, but it was a frustrating few days of pouting over the blunder before I decided to go slightly-larger-than A2 for this one, even though it meant the custom-made envelope--which also got stamped and colored, but I don't think I photographed that.

Edited 4/8 after the iris ended its walkabout: it's an old Hero Arts stamp.

I'm entering this in the Less is More #321 "Recipe" challenge.

Another "Color and Assemble" Class with Shirley

So yesterday we had another "color and assemble" class with Shirley at my LSS Stamp Fever. I do these not because I'm actually learning something, but for socialization and maybe some ideas, as well as possible introductions to other stamp companies. We did these in no particular order.

Card Number 1:

This stamp is from Power Poppy, and I used Prismacolor pencils to color it in. The yellow card stocks are from Bazzill. I'm not sure what she uses for her white, but it's probably Neenah Classic Cover.

Card Number 2:

The three images on this one are a single stamp, and I don't remember what company it's from. Funny how that works when it's just not your style! I know the yellow layer is Bazzill, but I'm not at all certain of the sources for the other layers. And again, colored with Prismacolor pencils.

Card Number 3:

Once again, the colored card stocks are Bazzill, and I colored with my Prismacolor pencils. I think the image is a Penny Black. Shirley kindly did the fussy cutting for me. (Melissa, would you believe I actually started to type "fuzzy"? It's All. Your. Fault!)

Then Bette and I had a little get-together to go over the plans for the class we're co-teaching next month. Background stamps. That's all the information you're getting for now.

Another Challenge to Enter!

This one is over at AAA Cards and is "blending."

This is actually on a cream card base, and the image is directly on the card base, so it qualifies as pure "clean and simple" as well as featuring the blending technique. It takes several passes with the die-cutting machine to get the acetate to cut all the way through all the way around, but acetate does make nice reuseable masks. For this I used the Spellbinders' Deckle Edge. The inks used for blending are from the Memento line of Tsukineko products: New Sprout, Pear Tart, Bamboo Leaves, and Cottage Ivy. The Hero Arts "grasses" image was stamped in Tsukineko's Versa Fine "Olympic Green."

Another Plea for Birthday Cards

This time it's for a young person whose next birthday is likely his last--his cancer is terminal. 

I used one of my favorites, the cupcake tower from Peddlers Pack, but it's been so long I'm not sure what ink I used. It looks like it may be Tsukineko's VersaMagic in "Gingerbread." No clue where the cream-colored card stock the image layer and card base are from. No clue where the striped stock is from. The "antiquing" is one of the Distress Inks from Ranger's Tim Holtz line, probably "Tea Dye." And the edges of the image layer were scraped with one of those distressing tools. The inside is pretty much the same, but the "Happy Birthday" image layer is tilted in the other direction. Happy birthday, Jacob.

CAS on Sunday

I'd love to participate in this challenge at the CAS on Sunday blog, but I have the awful feeling it might be too many layers to be strictly "Clean and Simple."

This card was one of a number of similar cards in what's essentially a single design in different colorways. The cupcake tower image is from Peddler's Pack and was stamped with VersaFine Onyx Black ink on what's probably a generic white cardstock, but might even be Neenah Solar White. There are three shades of purple Bazzill card stock, with Hero Arts' "Envelope" background stamp inked with VersaMark on the light vertical strip, and the three light "ribbon" strips stamped with an Inkadinkado background stamp also inked with VersaMark. Nothing was popped, and the card ended up going to a BFF for her birthday.

Does it qualify as CAS with so many layers?

Oddly enough, that's not the first essentially monochrome birthday card I've given to BFF-M!

Card Class Today

Sherry is a new-to-me--and, apparently, new to Stamp Fever--teacher and had a class there today, although some of my classmates knew her from Ultimate Hobbies. Three cards, all Penny Black stamps and dies.

Card Number 1:

Hmmmm. Looks like another funky scan. Anyway, as I said, we used all Penny Black stamps and dies, while the inks were Peeled Paint, Faded Jeans, and Dried Marigold Distress inks. I have no idea what papers were used. I don't have the background stamp nor the border stencil (the green slashes bordering the blue strip), nor the dies, but I do have that floral stamp. I didn't use the sentiment, not even on the inside.

Card Number 2:

This one was all dies and stencils, with no stamping (although there was a sentiment available). I am definitely unhappy with the way the stenciling turned out, as it was supposed to be more subtle than it turned out on mine. The Peeled Paint paid was pretty "juicy." The inks were Dried Marigold and Peeled Paint.

Card Number 3:

This one required the use of two of the butterfly dies--cut in white for coloring with the distress inks, and again in black for the body and antennae. I don't know what ink was used for the background stamp on the olive green card base, but it was smeary, and they didn't warn us of that. And again, the inks were Peeled Paint and Dried Marigold.

All in all, a nice change from the usual, although not the sorts of designs I'm likely to CASE, except possibly some variations of the first one. She's planning another class utilizing Memory Box supplies.

Mostly More or Less Monochromatic Birthday Card

Now that BFF-M has her card, I can post pictures of it. I got the idea for it from a couple of cards on display at the LSS, Stamp Fever. The card stock is all from Bazzill, although two shades are the canvas finish and the third, the lightest, is one of the other finishes. All three shades were stamped with the Impression Obsession Cover-A--Card "Herringbone" using VersaMark ink in a watermark effect. The cupcake tower is from Peddlers Pack. The sentiment is from a foam-mounted set, and I'm not sure who the manufacturer was; I've had it a long time.

The front:

All the way open and laid out flat:

Partial open/closed:

If I remember right, I used Archival "Sepia" ink for the image and sentiment.

Another MISTI Class

So today was another class at the LSS learning some new tricks with the stamping tool MISTI. These are taught by Amanda, and this one was a much smaller group than the first session was. Today's focussed on a (1) simple row of a single image, (B) a focal image with a multi-stage background image, and (iii) a single image in multiple layers.

My dear buddy Melissa was in this class, too, and so I used images borrowed from her selection, and I think they're all Lawn Fawn.

Number One: a single simple image stamped across the bottom of a piece of card stick, which allows you to create a border.

 Number Two: A focal image with background images. The sheep is, of course, the focal image, and the grass and sentiment were stamped as background images. It's pretty hard to see in this photo, but I actually used two shades of green ink for the grass; the sentiment is "Need a Hug?" The graph paper behind the tag is the only way I could get the scanner to scan the whole tag; it kept cutting bits off. The graph paper was convenient; I didn't expect it to show through so well (the paper is actually upside down)!

Number Three: one image stamped to look like rows of that image. I got my greys in the wrong order.

I pretty much already knew these basics--I've done masked stamping before, as well as repeating images in a row much like the first piece we did in this class. This focussed on how to use the MISTI to achieve these ends.

I wish I had a photograph of the envelope I covered with a scene involving a 2-piece trash can set, a comet/shooting star stamp, and a box-framed "This Is Not Junk Mail" phrase stamp; there was a lot of masking in that one!

Card Class Today

Linda C had a class today, in the new classroom. This is the one she postponed a while back due to a health emergency. It was a very small group--only 5 of us--but fun cards and a very easy-going mellow session.

All of the images and their coordinating dies are from Artistic Impressions; the postage-style die is from Memory Box, and I don't remember which company the pull-tab die is from.

Card Number One:

Linda's original had the dark grey portion a bit narrower--this is adhered to the card base inside--and the plaid on the card base front a bit wider, so her elements fit together a bit better.

Card Number Two:

This shows the card front with the bookmark attached.

This shows the bookmark fully opened. There are magnets (1/32 inch thick!) adhered to the front of the bookmark between the plaid layer and the black layer under that bottom duck and another adhered under the sentiment in the lower photo.

Card Number Three:

The card front with the slider in the closed position.

The card front with the slider in the open position.

I was tempted to put masks on some of my turtles.

This was one of the first times the new classroom space has been used, so there are still a few things we need, like cabinets and a clock and various tools such as paper cutter/trimmer, die-cutting/embossing machine, and things like that. But it's a very nice space, and a lot more comfortable than trying to hold a class in the store space.

A Class from a While Back

I've made myself do a bit of tidying in this craft room I call a house, and have come across some more class cards from the past year or so. From Shirley's class back in August of last year, and in no particular order (because I honestly don't remember what order we did them in!):

The images are all by Artistic Impressions, from their Girlfriends series/collection.

Another Class Today

Today it was Linda C, and I have no clue whose stamps she used, and I'm not entirely sure whose dies she used, either, except that the cards with the curved tops used a Lawn Fawn die for the curved cuts. Several companies have the faux-stitching dies.

All of the designs were pretty simply, and except for one card, all we had to do was color and assemble. The one card which required a bit more was the first one, and involved a punch and a bit of fussy cutting.

This is the one which required the punch and the fussy cutting, and we had a choice of three options for that part. And that card stock is actually white; I scanned the card, and the popped-up "Nerd Alert" caused the shadowing effect on the card.

Obviously, this is the one with the curved top. The person sitting across from me brought a cup of ice in with her, and didn't have a lid on it. Fortunately, when she knocked the cup over the spilled ice only hit the envelope and not any of the card elements. She also had to hum along with the radio. And chew her ice. I did not pack up and move to the other end of the table. But I was not disappointed when she left.

Wow! Craptastic scan! Yes, mine are bluebirds, whereas Linda's were yellow. Pretty much all of my birds will be either black (condors and many corvids) or blue (hello! Buffalo Springfield fan here!).

That's it for classes for at least a couple of weeks, methinks. Linda has one in June which will be on a Sunday, and I seem to remember Shirley has another coming up in June. Also, there will be another MISTI class next month.

A week of vacation this week, and I'm already planning a day trip away from home, to get away and see the sites.

Card Class Today

I'm trying to be a little more conscientious about posting, but we all know how that works. Attended another of Shirley's classes at my LSS, Stamp Fever. All three of today's images are by Marcella Hawley of Power Poppy, and she does some awesome floral images. I first "met" her through Flourishes, but that folded and she started her own company, so I have some of her stamps from two sources. All three of today's images are from the "Go Wild" set, and Shirley provided us with the stamped images on two different card stocks—one for the alcohol pens users and one for the colored pencil users. Today's group all used pencils! She also had plenty of samples for our tiny class, and since it's really more coloring and assembling than it is stamping, we could start with whichever one we chose to do first.

I chose this one as the first one:

 And my scanner cut off the right side of this one! Sheesh.

The second one:

This one's tilted a bit. Oh well.

And finally:

Looks like the bottom was cut off of that one. Bad day for my scanner, looks like.

Linda C's class is next Saturday, but sadly, my partner-in-crime Melissa won't be able to make it.

Until next time...

52 Christmas Card Throwdown challenge

While blogsurfing today, I checked in on this blog, and decided I could easily play along.

I don't remember the manufacturer of the "confetti" paper I used for the image layer and the card base, but the olive green accent layer is from one of the Michaels house-brand collections. The green image is by Power Poppy inked with Tsukineko VersaMagic "Hint of Pesto," and the barely visible background stamp is Impression Obsession's Cover-a-Card "Pine," inked with Tsukineko VersaMagic "Cloud White." I also used my MISTI stamp positioner.

I'm posting this to 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.

I'm Still Here

Haven't fallen off the planet or anything. Just lazy.

So today was another of Shirley's card classes, which are really more group crafting sessions than classes, at my LNS, Stamp Fever.

Since most of the instruction revolves around how to assemble the cards (once the coloring's done) rather than learning new techniques, we were free to do the cards in any order we liked. That worked out well, because she had made two samples of each of the three cards, and that spread the "wealth" of samples-to-consult-while-crafting around.

The first one I did was actually the most complex, involving a lot of coloring and then some fussy cutting.

The scan's a bit crooked, I see, and not well cropped. The patterned paper is from Lawn Fawn (and, weirdly, is being discontinued almost immediately after being introduced!). I liked the look of the diagonal plaid more than the other side of the sheet, which was vertically/horizontally oriented. The stamp is from Penny Black. The solid colored card stocks are Bazzill, and the white card stock is from Neenah. It's not a stock I find favorable for colored pencils--at least not the oily/waxy ones like I use. In this case, the pencils are all Prismacolor, although I do have a small selection of Faber-Castell's PolyChromos, too.

The second one I did was a lot simpler, and I just had to decide which lavender/purple/violet shades and which greens to use.

I believe this image is Technique Tuesday. They do have some beautiful botanicals! My greens should have been a bit brighter for these crocuses, but…oh, well. Once again the colored card stocks are Bazzill, Sources for the black stock layered behind the focal image and the striped paper behind the lighter purple are unknown to me, although the striped is probably the Michaels house brand.

The third one was a little bit more complex in terms of assembly. And color choices. The images aren't the kind I'm likely have, or to put in, my stash, so I probably spent more time actually trying to decide on colors than I spent on any of the three cards.

And I see now that my orange creamsicle is upside down! I don't remember whose images these are--Newton's Nook, maybe?--but these have matching dies, so no fussy cutting on this one. That sentiment really needs to go inside.

I'll try to post more often. No promises, though.

Card Class!

No, I haven't posted in a long time, even though I've actually been to several card classes this year. Can't say as I'm ever likely to catch up, either, nor to post steadily (2 more classes this month!). But here are today's from Linda Coley's "Black, White, and a Little Color."

First up was a geometric design. The stamping was done ahead of time by Linda, as was most of the cutting (we only had to trim a bit off the round pieces). I think the red should have been darker, but I used the darkest reds I had on hand, for the bricks and the butterfly. A darker red would have matched the "happy" die cut better. Oh, well. I used a bit of Glossy Accents on some of the bricks and on all of the butterfly.

I can't help but wonder what this one would be like if the round elements were trimmed with the same die as the first layer. I'll have to poke around among my dies and border images to see about CASEing this one. (Technically, CASE means Copy And Stamp Exactly; for most people, it's "I like this layout so I'm going to copy it my own way.")

The second card required a bit more coloring, and Linda's class samples had a closer fit on the plain circle and the scalloped circle. I've done this technique before, but with a smaller circle for my colored highlighted bit.

And the third card was a technique I've used several times, although I've never popped up any of the layers, nor used any ribbon on the earlier ones. We did our own stamping for these, with stamps of our own choice. Some in class used large, simple line designs, while others used some large, slightly more detailed stamps. But no one used a stamp as detailed as my choice. This is one of the few Stampin' Up stamps I own, as there just aren't many of their designs I like. I'm also not especially a fan of sets, since so many of them have only one or two images I want. The ink is Tsukineko's Memento "Tuxedo Black."

Linda has the good sense to refer to this technique as "Triple Layering"; the blogger I first learned it from uses--for reasons of her own, and which may well make perfect sense to her--"Triple Time" for the technique's name.

I wanted to try it in browns, too, so when I got home, I tested some of my brown inks on two different shades of light brown card stock and made my choices. Unfortunately, I forgot to pop up my layers and forgot the ribbon. Duh. Back to the drawing board! The card stock is from one of the collections of lightweight card stocks available at Michaels stores; the ink is Ranger's Archival "Coffee."

It's also a BFF's birthday today, so this morning I dug through my stack of creative-binge cards, then had to decide on a sentiment, which I tend to put inside rather than outside (with a few exceptions). I didn't take any detail photos, but the lightest of the three lavenders/purples are stamped, too, with two different background stamps. The vertical strip was stamped with Hero Arts' Envelope background in a lavender ink slightly darker than the card stock, while the "ribbon" strips were stamped with a floral image (I don't remember whose stamp it is, and I'm too lazy to look; it's generally readily available at JoAnn stores) with Tsukineko's VersaMagicMark, then heat-embossed with clear embossing powder.

Yes, Melissa, it's very similar to yours! I did this design in three different colorways, but yours was the only one with real ribbon. And the only one with a red cherry.

And the innards:

Not a very "clean" stamped image, but that's because the card stock is textured.

And that's it for today. Our celebratory dinner will be at Outback Steakhouse--the birthday girl's choice.

Update!

Well, sort of. I saw another card-crafting challenge I wanted to play along with, so here's another:

I'm entering this one into 52 Christmas Card Throwdown's 52CCT17-15 Triple Time Challenge. I'm not sure what white cardstock I used, nor which red ink (although that was probably Ranger's Cranberry), nor what dark red cardstock. The stamp, however, is a Peddler's Pack background stamp.

Just Posted...

...a bunch of cards to my Flickr stream. See rats6609. I've posted some new images to "My Cards" and created a new set called "Stamping Events," wherein I've finally posted the cards we made at a Stampin' Up! event I attended fairly recently. Still more to upload!

Shopping My Stash

While I was sorting through some stamps recently I decided which ones--the image for the front of the card and the sentiment for the inside of the card--I'd like to use for my holiday cards, so I set those aside while making Hallowe'en cards. And, of course, promptly forgot where I'd put them.

While looking for something else entirely, I found the two stamps.

Then I took a good, hard look at the ready-made cards (and envelopes) I'd purchased some while back when I first got back into stamping (after one of those creative breaks we all seem to take). While the card stock is cut squarely (rectangularly, but all the corners square and equal and cleanly cut), the scoring is off center, and so the cards aren't neat and even. The good thing is, it's a nice layering weight. Unfortunately, however, the cards (and the envelopes, of course), are slightly smaller than the standard A2 size of 4.25x5.5.


So the next step was to decide what the finished card size would be based on the envelope size, which worked out to 4.125x5.25 (that's four and an eighth). After deciding which ink to use on the cream-colored stock, I shopped the stash for similarly colored card stock for the card base and additional layering.

I stamped the image on the cream-colored stock, trimmed closely, then layered onto the colored card stock, trimmed closely again, and layered again onto more of the cream-colored stock.

Then I cut up another piece of the cream-colored stock to layer onto the card base, stamped a background image onto it, and put the card base and the cream layer together. I then held the main image layers against the layered-up card base, and decided I needed another layer between the cream layer and the background-stamp cream layer. So I shopped the stash again for another color of card stock. More close trimming. Then I decided to make the card base match that second colored layer, and then I adhered all the layers together.

The card base is dark, so I trimmed another piece of the cream stock to go on the inside of the card for the stamped sentiment and whatever else I write inside for each recipient. And then I decided that the sentiment stamp alone wasn't enough, so I dug around and chose an image stamp to use inside, too.

Then I decided to make another test card with the same stocks, but in reverse: a different color of ink for the image, matching card stock to layer behind the image layer, then the cream again, then the different colored layer, onto the cream, onto the base.

For those of you keeping score, that's Color A ink on cream layered onto Color A card stock layered onto cream layered onto Color B card stock layered onto background-stamped cream layered onto Color B base. And Color B ink on cream layered onto Color B card stock layered onto cream layered onto Color A card stock layered onto background-stamped cream layered onto Color A base. The ink on the innards matches the ink on the front.

So now I have 40-some cards made in the two colorways, but you won't get to see them until they've been mailed out.

And the saddest part: I still haven't used up all those ready-made cards.

Stitch Class September

Stitch class this month was today, which is also BFF-N's birthday, so first the card for her.

The front. This was an experimental piece. I have a background stamp of cupcakes by the same artist as the main image here (also the same artist responsible for the cupcake-tower stamp I sometimes use), which I stamped with watermark ink, heat-embossed with clear powder, then ran through the dry-embossing "happy birthday" folder. I matted that with a sage green. The center horizontal panel got the folder treatment, but not the watermark/heat-embossing treatment, and was also matted with the same sage green. The cupcake was stamped with two colors of VersaMagic chalk ink on white card stock, cut square-on-point, and then matted with the sage green. The heat-embossing didn't work as nicely as I had hoped; maybe a touch of color in the embossing powder would have helped.

And the innard, where the sentiment square-on-point was also run through the embossing folder, then matted with the same sage green as the card front.

BSF-T (that's Best Stitching Friend) had a finish today:

This is her Mary Wigham, done on a much finer count that my own MIA Mary Wigham, and a most beautiful piece. Congratulations, GF!!!

I worked on Margaret's Monochrome Madness again. Here's MMM at the end of last month's session:

I started by frogging a bit of that green block I finished last month and then re-stitched the off-by-one-thread mistake I'd make on the last row. It's the green block at the top right corner of the (incomplete) center medallion. I also added a bit more (almost finished) to the block to the right of the green block.

 

And started stitching the border:

There's another section of border that will be stitched around the outside of this one.

10:30PM Update: Hannah Beeby is done. And getting a back.

Inky Fingers

It's been a while since I've posted any card crafting. I've already posted about the classes I took in June, but I also had a couple of June birthdays. BFF-M, older sister of BFF-N, was first.

I don't work often in yellows, but I had the flowery card stock and wanted to utilize that, since I have quite a stash of printed card stock and I don't use much of it. One shade of solid yellow for the base, and another, slightly lighter, for the image layer. The stamp is by Peddler's Pack, and I don't remember which brown ink I used. A little bit of accenting on the top layer with one of the Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Inks and the new-to-me postage stamp die by Spellbinders.

And the inside.
Margaret's birthday was later in the month, and I gave her this card while we were at the retreat.

More patterned paper from the stash, the same stamp I used on BFF-M's, some Kraft card stock for the base, the matting layer behind the stamped image, and also for the center strip. That center strip was also stamped with a Peddler's Pack background stamp of cupcakes. I used "Old Paper" Distress Ink for the distressing on all elements, but again don't recall which ink I used for the main image. The center strip was cut with a My Favorite Things Die-Namics "Fishtail Banner" die. This card was an adaptation of a class card from back in April.