Today's post has alot of stuff - first off, the Fall Winter 2008 Retirement List was just announced today, and I found out this morning that Stampin' Up! is giving 10% OFF all stamps sets on this list plus FREE SHIPPING with any purchase over $70 through December 23rd!!!! Just to clarify something, if your merchandise total is over $70, regardless of your selections (retirement items or not), you will still receive the free shipping promotion. How awesome is that?! If you'd like to shop from the comfort of your computer (hey, why fight the crowds and traffic?), and save alittle cash for the things on YOUR wishlist, you can click the "Shop Now" button located in the upper right corner of my Business Website to take advantage of these fantastic savings!
OK, let's get on with some more fun stuff.... So, how do you like my card today? I'll admit that I have a hard time using ribbon sometimes on a masculine card ~and my boys' preference is no ribbon, just metal :) but I like how this card turned out.... now, for the details....
I was visiting Splitcoaststampers this morning and ran across today's color challenge to use Taken with Teal, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red and Whisper White. I sat in my craft room looking at my stuff for about 5 minutes. Card ideas were forming in my head, but this one idea kept coming back, so I went with it! I have some simple techniques about this card to share with you... This card is my 2nd one made with my new Happiness is a Journey stamp set (the first one is a couple posts below - in fact, take a quick look at that card - see how the train is actually white?). The stamp is sort-of like a reverse from the typical images... instead of the main image being inked up, the background is inked instead to create the main image.... clear as mud? :)
Well, I wanted the train to be colored in Taken with Teal, so I inked up the stamp with Versamark and Baja Breeze inks. I stamped on white and heat embossed the image with clear embossing powder. This created a Baja Breeze glazed surface so that I could use a sponge dauber and sponge in Taken with Teal ink to color in my train. I used a napkin to wipe away any ink on the glazed surface.... Voila! My train is Taken with Teal.... (tee hee!). I matted this main image with Riding Hood Red and Taken with Teal blocks and set it aside.
When I first started stamping and scrapbooking many years ago, mulberry paper was the *in* thing. In fact, I still have alot of it in various colors, but I wanted to see if I could recreate the look of it using ink. This technique, or a similar one, may already be out there, but I've not seen it yet, so I'll post how I did my Faux Mulberry technique. In the picture below and depending on your monitor, you may be able to see some lines that I lightly drew in pencil to approximate the placement of my train block. I followed the edge of this line and used a sponge dauber and Craft White ink to fan outward toward the edges of my Riding Hood Red cardbase. In other words, ink up the dauber and start on the inside edge of the pencil line and swoosh/flick outward (do you like my descriptive words here? ~giggle). The thick and creamy characteristics of the craft ink allows you to move the ink around without absorbing instantly into the cardstock, so you get this cool effect. Seriously, you should try this on a scrap piece of colored cardstock and check it out! Off the top of my head, this would be fun to do around candles, stars, fireworks, or campfire stamps, don't you think?
After going all around the pencil lines, I wrapped my grosgrain around the card front and placed my main block on top. I pencilled in a small dot about 1/2 inch to the left of the train's smoke stack - see it?
Then I took my 1/4 inch circle (hole) punch and punched it out at the dot. I took my snips and cut across to the hole, then slid one end of the grosgrain ribbon through - you don't really need to cut across, just thread it through the hole if it's big enough... Then I glued down the block to the cardbase, pulling on the left tail of ribbon to keep it tight.
The cut line is hidden when I tied my knot.... then I trimmed the ends of ribbon.
Lastly, I stamped the sentiment in Taken with Teal ink and punched out/layered in Riding Hood Red with oval punches.
While typing this post, I realized that I need to play with my camera settings to get better (and truer) color. The first image of the entire card at the top of the post was taken in natural light and show the real colors, and the rest of the pictures were at my craft table under the desk lamp. Anyhow, I appreciate you stopping in today. I hope you enjoyed these simple techniques and get to try them out if you've never done them before... till next time!
Stamps: Happiness is a Journey, sentiment from Fresh Cuts
Paper: Whisper White, Taken with Teal, Riding Hood Red
Inks: Versamark, Baja Breeze, Taken with Teal, Craft White
Accessories: Clear embossing powder, heatgun, sponge daubers, white grograin ribbon, SU punches - 1/4 inch circle, small and large ovals
3 comments:
This is a WOW card for sure. Gotta try this one.
The more I see that train, the more I think I gotta have it. Like so many people say, masculine cards are the hardest, but you couldn't go wrong with that train. Love your card.
I love the shadow/ highlight technique that you added behind the main image. It really makes the card pop, thanks for sharing!
SCS Bloggers #4
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