PearlEx

Kraft Cardstock Mania 3

Posted on by debbrooner

kraft plus red  This red card uses the negative space left after cutting out the flower shape.  It always looks like this type of design is really hard and took a lot of fussy cutting or gluing, but the fact is it couldn’t be easier.  Cut the flower design out of Kraft cardstock, back with your favorite designer paper (or in this case marbled paper), add other embellishments and the card is done. Adding dimensional adhesive to the flower panel gave some extra interest to the card.

Silhouette: Flower Rectangle #33935; Cuttlebug: With Gratitude

kraft plus purpleDo any of you have a basket full of die cuts or stamped pieces that never quite make it to the front of a card?  Well I do, and this card is the result of determination on my part to use several pieces in my basket.  The paisley square, the background lace, and the sentiment were all lost pieces looking for a home.  I colored the lace with Distress Ink and then layered it over a gold metallic paper so that it pulled the background and the paisley square together. The glittery sentiment matched the green PearlEx paint on the square- yay!  I had had the purple ribbon for a very long time and hadn’t used it because the color never seemed to match anythingI was working on.  It was really a serendipitous thing that it was exactly the right color as well.

One more week of Kraft Mania left.   I would love to see what you have been doing with your Kraft cardstock!

Stampendous: Paisley Texture Cube; Silhouette: Floral Lace Background #3924; Cuttlebug: Friends Forever

 

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25 Christmas Cards Part 6

Posted on by debbrooner

Okay, this is frustrating- I finished the blog for the last 3 cards, hit the “save” button and….nothing appeared on the page. Hopefully things will work out better today and I can finish up this series.

This would be a quick card to make if you had a lot to do.  The card front was run through an embossing folder and lightly swiped with Versmark ink then dusted with green PearlEx.  The deer was embossed and the sentiment was stamped with Versamark  and green PearlEx was brushed on.  I used an edge punch to make the ribbon and added a piece of hendmade paper behind (next time I would probably lay a thin  strip of the handmade paper on top of the ribbon, not under it).  That’s it!  The background could be stamped, as could the deer, if you don’t have any way to use the embossing folders.

Sizzix Triad Leaves, Sizzix Reindeer #2, Martha Stewart Arch Lattice, Hero Arts Holiday Sayings

This is the first card I made. It is a Silhouette card and I didn’t do a whole lot to it.  I did emboss the front, use pearls instead of cutting out berries and green pearls insted of brads.

christmas_card_C001244_20509, Sizzix Triad Leaves

I used American Crafts Pearl paper in white to make the trees.  The paper shifts from white to gold when it is moved.  Love it!  The trees are Silhouette die cuts and the background is handmade paper with a small gold floral print.  I cut another piece of the paper, turned to to the back side and used it as a floor for the trees . It never hurts to look at the backside of handmade paper- often it is usable as well.

Well, that ‘s it. I hope you enjoyed these cards and that some of them were springboards for your own creations.  Write me a comment and send me pics of the cards yiou made.

25 Christmas Cards Part 5

Posted on by debbrooner

 

I had cut out the green background quite a while back, not even thinking about using it as a Christmas embellishment, but I needed something to use as a backdrop for my stocking and it seemed to work.  Again, I used the offset function to cut out  a red mat . Easy peasy. I thought the stocking turned out super cute, and the Silhouette cut through my glitter paper like butter.

irregular_squares_mesh_background_C00378_21585, 4_christmas_icons_C01274_20509, Sizzix Dotted Flower Rings, Hampton Arts A Very Merry

I would NOT recommend this next card if you are doing a whole bunch- unless you plan to start making them in January! The cutting out? Very quick.  The gluing to the card? Not so much!  After I got all of the pieces on the card I decided it needed something more so I ran it through my Cuttlebug using the triad leaves folder. I don’t remember what font I used for the Joy banner but it is great to be able to use any TrueType font with the Silhouette. Because the berries were so small I used Stickles instead of red cardstock.

whimsical_tree_C20091012182328_20508, Sizzix Triad Leaves

I don’t usually do square cards because I don’t like either the extra postage due if the card is mailed in a square enelope, or the half-filled envelope that you get from mailing a square card in a regular rectangular envelope.  However, this card needed the square format to work, so half-filled envelope here it comes. I added a some Stickles Icicle glitter to the doily that I cut out and embossed the Noel with a swiss dots folder.  This was a very fast card to do.

If you don’t have a Silhouette you could use a purchased paper doily and stamp the Noel on a piece of cardstock.

noel_title_C00539_20387, doily_lace_decoration_C00600_20387, Cuttlebug Swiss Dot, A Lost Art background script

I used the same resist technique that I did for one of the Tiny Bundle cards, but the background stamp I used this time was an alphabet  collage. This too was a very quick card.  The silk ribbon I used was some that I had purchased quite a while ago.  It was so pretty I was hesitant to use it, but use it I did, to good effect.

Ali Edwards Good Cheer, Tim Holtz Seasonal REflections, Unknown Alphabet Collage

What can I say? This card is busy ! There’s the embossing (2 different folders), 2 different patterned papers, 3 colors of cardstock, and 3 different die cuts. MOJO Monday would probably be proud of me, but I must admit it gave me a bit of a tic to look at it  after it was finished.  I did like the bird on the branch embossed piece , though. The sentiment was stamped with Versamark ionk and dusted with Spring Green PearlEx.

3_borders_C00678_20509, artisan_label_set_C00178_41853, Sizzix Bird on Branch #2, Cuttlebug Paper Lace #2, Hero arts Holiday Sayings

 

 

 

 

 

Not quite enough room for the last 3 cards, so see you tomorrow.

25 Christmas Cards Part 3

Posted on by debbrooner

Precious Gift Stamped Image

I found this stamp at Michaels recently and really liked the way it dealt with the best gift ever in a slightly different way.  What a Christmas gift we all have been given!

I have always intended to try an easel card but somehow was scared by the prospect of finding enough images that would work together.  Not that big of a deal, I found out.  Love the cheery Christmas colors.  Since it doesnt work very well to put dimensional pieces on the flat part of the card (the “noel” part) I cut out the holly and then filled the berry holes with red Stickles.  Looks like they are above the surface, but they aren’t.  The directions for an easel card can be found at the  Splitcoast Stampers site. Look under “resources”.

holly_C00780_19547,basic_folding_easel_card_C01456_17986, Inkadinkadoo Winter Trails, Recollections Noel, Stampendous Precious Gift

This card is not my favorite, but in order to get to 25 cards it has to be counted!  I sized the scroll label to fit my stamp and added Stickles Icicle glitter to all of the scrolls.  For the background I used Versamark and then brushed red and green PearlEx on the image.  A quick swipe with a Swiffer dusting cloth and the excess powder was gone.  Swiffers are the best for cleaning up glitter as well.

I used the “kissiing technique” for the background of this card.  Check out Jennifer McGuire’s blog to get more info.  I started with white glossy card and Distress Inks by Ranger.  I first inked up a damask background stamp using Peeled Paint ink.  I then used Pine Bough ink on a Tim Holtz Reflections stamp and stamped it onto the damask stamp (notice- nothing stamped on paper yet).  THEN I stamped the damask stamp on the glossy card.  Since the reflections stamps have the words backwards the final result is a stamped image with the words the right direction.  Fancy that.

lace_border_0856, Stampendous Precious Gift, Hero Arts Classic Fabric Design, Tim Holtz Seasonal Reflections

The embossing folder I used for this card is a Sizzix one called Triad Leaves.  You will see it again several more times.  The border is so easy with the Silhouette.  I just cut out the green top layer and then ungrouped the image, got rid of the dots and teardrop shapes, and cut out a white piece that fit perfectly behind the green one.  I have to admit that originally I started with a border that I had punched out with a Martha Stewart punch.  I wanted the border to have white behind it so I glued the green piece to some white paper and pondered the prospect of doing some really fiddly cutting.  Fortunately about that time a voice boomed out, “drop those scissors, dummy, use your Silhouette”. Duh.

6_labels_C01078_20509, scalloped_flower_border_C20090810003018_19210, Stampendous Precious Gift, Sizzix Triad Leaves

Next up: “wise men” and kraft cards.

Krafty Cards

Posted on by debbrooner

I like working with kraft cardstock. It lends itself well to use with colored pencils and can be combined with almost any other kind of paper. The  card above uses so many of my favorite techiques- die cuts, embossing, colored pencils, stamping, fibers, Versamark ink with gold PearlEx powder dusted on,and even a rhinestone.  Whew!

The closeup shows the colored pencil and the french knots done with metallic thread.  Loooove metallic anything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For this card I used the same rubber stamp but a different colorway.  I love the combination of pebble cardstock, handmade paper and kraft cardstock.

 

 

 

 

 

Green glitter paper and pink corrugated cardboard both work well with the kraft cardstock on this card.  I used a white gel pen as well.  More fiber and rhinestones finished the card.

 

 

 

 

 

I bought a sheet of this cork-covered paper ages ago but hadn’t gotten around to using it.  After I colored the hearts and cut them out I was looking for the right backing paper. The cork paper fit the bill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made the flower vase 3D by coloring and cutting out an extra vase then placed it on the panel with a dimensional stickie foam.

The magenta striped hand-made paper and the turquoise embossed card pulled colors from the floral panel.

Simple but effective.

So there you have it!  Grabsome kraft card and some colored  pencils and get going.

Hearts Are Many Colored Things

Posted on by debbrooner

You’d think that since red is my favorite color I would go crazy with it for Valentines day cards.  I guess it is  contrariness on my part-nobody is going to tell me what color to make my hearts!

So here is an overview of Valentine cards I have made over the years.

Red , gold and wire

Copper, purple and black

 

Pink and silver. Fusible web, cupboard lining, silver embossing powder.

Blue, green and purple. Watercolor.

 

Red, green and blue. Guilding.

Assorted browns. Copper leaf.

Pink and black.

Gold and black. Metal tubing.

Pink, brown and copper. Copper mesh.

Blue and yellow

Russet and gray. Russet PearlEx.

Purple and green. Alcohol inks on polymer clay.

Kraft and gray. Cork paper background.

Pink, gray and kraft.

And finally a red one!

Black and red. Die cut letters and texture plates

I missed a few colors…I wonder what an orange hearts would look like?  Oh, the possibilities.

Glitter ATC

Posted on by debbrooner

 

Since I got several questions regarding the glittered ATC I made I thought I would put it on my blog.

Here are the materials you will need:

A lacy piece (I used Graphic 1 from Silhouette) for the card front

A backing sheet of cardstock

A Xyron  with an adhesive cartridge

Assorted glitters

Post It notes

My cards were made with a black front and a black background, but since that would be too hard to see I will use a white background (fig. 1).

Fig. 1

First of all, take the background piece and run it through your Xyron .  You may use another way to apply adhesive to the card, but the point is that you will need to cover the entire card with something that will stay sticky long enough for you to get all the glitter attached.

Lay the card sticky side up and place the lacy piece on it.  You will then have an ATC with a lacy front and sticky in all the white cells (fig. 2).

Fig. 2

Now comes the time for the post- it notes.  Carefully lay the sticky side of the post- it on the black lines of the front and cover every hole but one (fig.3).

Fig. 3

 

 Pour glitter onto the white space and press down gently but thoroughly.  Tip excess glitter off of the card. You now have one cell done (fig. 4).

Fig. 4

Remove the post-it from the next cell and add another color of glitter. If you tamped the glitter on the first cell well there should be no stickiness left so the next color will not stick there. Your second cell is now glittered (fig. 5).

Fig. 5

Continue to remove post-its and add glitter to cells until all have been filled.  You may need to reposition some of the post-its, depending on how you arranged them to begin with. 

As an aside, if you have a Swiffer dusting cloth available you may come out of your studio with a lot less glitter in your hair!  I use these great cloths for both glitter and PearlEx projects when you want the color on the project and not anywhere else.

HTH- leave a comment, please.

Insider Trading

Posted on by debbrooner

 

I just finished going through Peggy Jon Ackley’s book “50 Nifty Collage Cards” and had an epiphany-  decorate the inside (the guts) as well as the outside of the card!  For all you out there who already do this I apologize, but for the rest of us this is a great new way to add more zing.

I went through my older cards and picked ones I thought could use some updating and would benefit from some inside sprucing up. 

 

As you will see, I used rubber stamps, PearlEx, small flowers, punch-outs, and stickers to add some interest.

B&R (Black & Red)

Posted on by debbrooner

I can’t help it, but black and red is my all-time favorite color combo. This is a journal of my color journey from the very beginning of my cardmaking days to the present.  I hope you enjoy it and learn a thing or two.

Made in 1998, this card was one that I assembled into kits (75 of them) and took to Haiti for a class I taught there.  It was crude, but I was new at this card making thing.  It used the newest toy at the time- a  crimper (how far we have come)!

 

In 2001 I acquired some shadow stamps, so I used them on this card.  Seeing some mesh background over-stamp on scratch paper gave me the idea of first stamping a mesh background and then stamping and embossing red flowers on top.

 I learned a bunch about PearlEx in 2003 .  PE brushed on an image inked with Versamark gave a lovely shimmer, and polymer clay and PE were made for each other.  Combining PE and embossing powder greatly extended my color repertoire.  The flowers above used this embossing powder.  Finding out that I could make watercolors out of the stuff really cranked my tractor!  I ended up making little pots of all the colors of PE there were.  I used black PE watercolor to fill in the centrs of the flowers.  

My 2005 “Black and White Series” included this red floral one as well black/green, black/yellow, black/purple and black/green cards.

In De3cember of 2009 I submitted an artricle in Polymer Cafe showcasing my cards that contained  polymer clay embellishments.  I decided not to put this one in the article, but I did love all the textures.

I just finished  this ATC for a Black White and Red challenge.  The card had to be mostly black &  white and the red had to fit in with the theme of the card.  Somehow a sunburned zebra seemed to fit the bill and the caption reminded me of a Far Side cartoon.

The card at the top of the page is my most recent endeavor, made for the MOJO Monday  challenge. I love the papers I used.  The black and white print which has a plastic covering was acquired from Paper Source .  I don’t remember  where I got the black paper with the shiny dots, which is a shame because there in not much of it left.

The winners of the Blog Candy from last week are Kim Machrer and Nicole Ewing.  Congrats, and have fun with them!

Button It Up

Posted on by debbrooner

 

Bollybutton

I signed up for an ATC swap.  The theme is “buttons”. While I have a fairly large collection of buttons, but they are rather uninspiring.  Fortunately I had just come back from a trip to San Francisco.  While I was there I  made a stop at a Paper Source store (when, oh when, are they going to bring a store to Denver???).  The  three papers I used for “Bollybutton” reminded me of India, hence the name. Plain orange buttons never looked so good.

That  card was the only one that I used apparel buttons for embellishment.  Since the directions didn’t say that only clothing buttons were allowed I cruised around my studio looking for other materials that I could drill two holes into.  There were a lot of possibilities.

Copper Mine

I found some polymer clay discs that I had made some time back – they were just shouting out “pick me, pick me”.  Since I had highlighted the discs with copper PearlEx I decided to brush some of it onto the ATC as well.  Did I mention that I love PearlEx?  A copper gel pen and some beads finished off the card.

Birch Grove

Several years ago my hubby and I took a trip back East.  As we were tromping through the forest one day I spied some birch bark on the ground.  I was sure that I would use it somehow, so I brought it home.  I saw it in the drawer and decided to try to punch circles out of it.  To my surprise it punched beautifully with no cracking .

Also sometime in the past I hadpurchased a large background stamp that looked like  a grove of trees- tree trunks, actually.  Once I got it home I wasn’t sure what to do with it, so it became another one of those neglected stamps.  As I was going through my background stamp collection for this ATC I came across the stamp  and realized that it would be perfect for the card.  I used cocoa pigment ink and clear embossing powder for a subtle texture.  I’m not usually a beige/brown kind of  girl, but I really like this card.  It is very simple, but the buttons seemed to demand simplicity.

Gators Love Oranges

I also found some discs that were made of shrink plastic.  They had great computer-generated graphics on them so I got out my trusty hand drill and “voila”, buttons.

I used the polished stone technique on the card itself and the strip of green paper on top reminded me of alligator hide.  I enjoy this card because it has lots of colors and lots of textures.

Blueberry Buckle

The blue button  on this ATC is a computer-generated art piece that I laminated on both sides and then embossed using the CB “Tiny Bubbles” folder.  I also embossed the ATC itself with the “Forest Branches ” folder.

I  found a ball of crochet thread that had the same colors as the button so I punched holes in the ATC and threaded the thread through and around the card using the channels left by the embossing folder as a guide.

Vanda Lemon

The button on this ATC is simply a yellow piece of corrugated cardboard with Stickles flooded into the grooves.  The yellow and orchid paper was another purchase from Paper Source.

I was sorry to have only needed 6 cards because there was still Paper Clay, Friendly plastic,  and other materials out there to be plyed with.  Oh well, some other time.  Maybe some inchie group will have a button challenge-hint, hint!

What is in your studio that you can’t bear to get rid of but can’t seem to use?  Think outside the box and “repurpose”!