Sympathy Cards

 Sorry I have been absent for so long! I was having a dip in my mojo and then life got in the way. I recently was at a used craft product sale and saw lots of customers who used to come in to Art 'n Soul, the art stamp store where I used to work. I mentioned that I had not posted in my blog for awhile, and they said "yes, we've noticed." They told me that they enjoyed my postings and really liked the techniques. It was such nice feedback that I thought I would start posting again. I actually HAVE been making cards all along, and had some photos, so I will try to post more regularly.

One of the first cards I made after I stopped posting was unfortunately a sympathy card. I find this type of card to be the hardest I ever have to make, so when I make one I usually make several at a time. For sympathy cards I prefer to keep it simple.

I find that a  blended color background with a silhouette stamp added in black ink is a good combination for lots of kinds of cards. In this case, rather than doing all brush blending, I applied Distress ink onto an acrylic block and spritzed with water so that the water and ink do the blending for you.

I prefer to add the ink to the block with ink cubes, which will allow you to add more blocks of color. I did end up adding a few blending touches with small brushes. This is so easy to do, and with brighter colors, you could use this background technique for lots of kinds of cards.

The ones that show a grid pattern were done using Tim Holtz acrylic blocks, which contain an etched grid. I like how the grid adds extra texture and interest.

After cutting these out with a crimped edge die, I matted my selected panel with black cardstock and mounted onto a 110# cardstock base.

Products Used:

Distress ink cubes: Antique Linen,

Scattered Straw, Tea Dye, Shabby Shutters,

Barn Door, Forest Moss

The Greetery GD-M-016 Crimped Frame Die

Impression Obsession C13521 Heartfelt Sympathy

The Greetery Lovely Silhouettes Stamp Set

Neenah Solar White Classic Crest cardstock 80# and 110#

PTI True Black Cardstock

Various Acrylic Blocks

Super Saturday at Magenta: Sandpiper's Reflection

 This post is also at Magenta today. You can see that here.

When I saw the new Magenta stamp with the Sandpiper and his reflection, I thought he looked like he thought his reflection was a friend there in the water.

After die-cutting the panel with the Dainty Dashes Stackers frame from Penny Black, I lightly added some Distress ink using the ink that was already on my brushes. I feel pretty sure looking at the brushes that it was Mowed Lawn and Peacock Feathers. I blended the colors through the stencil TM286.

I stamped the image using Versafine Clair Acorn ink. Since it is a pigment ink I was able to sprinkle gold embossing powder on the reflection part of the image. I colored the bird's belly with colored pencils. I'm pretty sure there are no sandpipers with blue coloring, but I liked how it looked. At the end, I stamped the sentiment and embossed with gold and matted the panel and added it to a base card.

Magenta Products used:

0831.N Yellow Legs Bird and Its Reflection

07.976.G Hello!

TM286 Wavy Lines Stencil

Other Products used:

Penny Black 51-636 Dainty Dashes Stackers

Distress Ink: Mowed Lawn; Peacock Feathers

Versafine Clair ink: Acorn

Ranger Gold embossing powder

Prismacolor Pencils: PC105 Cobalt Turquoise,

Scholar 344 Terra Cotta

So Silk Glamour Green cardstock

Neenah Solar White 80# & 110# cardstock

Graduation 2022

I don't have a graduation card to do every year, but this year the son of a neighbor of ours is graduating from High School. His school's colors are purple and white.

 I stamped this great Confetti Borders stamp from The Ton at the top and bottom of my panel that was die cut with the Greetery Crimped Frame die. I chose the congratulations die from the Avery Elle Sentimental Dies collection, and added the date made from the Greetery Bold Numbers dies. I love these numbers, and they go well with the Crimped Frame.

For dimension, I cut the numbers 4 times and stacked them together. I matted the panel with the same cardstock as the die cuts.

Products used:

The Ton Confetti Borders stamp

Avery Elle D-16-01 Sentimental dies

The Greetery GD-M-016 Crimped Frame die set

The Greetery GD-M-082 Bold Numbers die set

Catherine Pooler Grape Crush ink

So Silk Passion Purple cardstock

Neenah Solar White 80# & 110# cardstock

Super Saturday at Magenta - Distress Ink Blending and Lifting

 I got this adorable new stamp from Magenta of a crow sitting on a wire, and he looks like he is blowing bubbles. I decided for his background to try and blend some Distress Inks and do some ink lifting. You can see my post on the Magenta blog here.

I love how it turned out! I die-cut a panel of white 80# cardstock with Spellbinders Hemstitch Rectangles. Then I blended Distress Inks in Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers and Wilted Violet onto my panel

You can see my blending is not perfect. It's not necessary for it to be perfect to work well for this technique, but it's best to lay down a lot of color.

I placed the stencil "Fantasy" onto the blended panel and pressed a baby wipe onto it. This is a new to me technique for ink lifting and there is a lot less control with it. You just have to like what you get, and I did. The result looked like a suggestion of leaves and rain to me.

I stamped the bird stamp in black and added the sentiment. I then matted the panel onto a slightly larger piece of So Silk Glamour Green and adhered it to a base card.

Here is most of what I used to make this card, details below.

Magenta Products used:

0837.K Bird Silhouette on Wire

07.969.F have a Beautiful day!

TM169 Fantasy Stencil

Other Products used:

Distress Ink: Twisted Citron,

Peacock Feathers, Wilted Violet

Versafine Onyx Black ink

Spellbinders S5-308 Hemstitch Rectangles

80# & 110# Neenah Solar White Cardstock

So Silk Glamour Green Cardstock

Happy Birthday Wildflower Stems

I needed to make a couple of birthday cards and I pulled out a Sizzix by Tim Holtz die set that I have been meaning to use: Wildflower Stems #1. 

 I used one of the 5 dies from this set and cut it out of a panel of white cardstock. I had already cut the panel with the Greetery Crimped Frame die. I mounted it onto a panel on which I had blended Distress Inks in Squeezed Lemonade, Carved Pumpkin, and Saltwater Taffy.

I stamped the front panel with one of my favorite birthday sentiments from Poppy Stamps, and I flicked gold watercolor paint onto the panel at the end.

I took the flower that I had cut out of the first panel and used it on another card for a friend who likes classic black and white. I send her a black and white card every year. I adhered the flower onto a piece of textured black cardstock and embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder.

These cards were just a really simple use of this die, but I loved how they turned out. I plan to do more with this die set in the future.

Products Used:

Sizzix 664163 Wildflower Stems #1 Die Set

The Greetery GD-M-016 Crimped Frame Die

Poppy Stamps CL490 Greeting Basics

Distress Inks: Squeezed Lemonade, 

Carved Pumpkin, Saltwater Taffy

JudiKins Opaque White embossing powder

Sakura Poster Color Gold Paint

Neenah Solar White 80# & 110# cardstock

Paper Accents Black Textured cardstock

Used Papercraft Products Sale in Olympia WA!

Save the Date!! Saturday May 28!! For those of you local to Olympia Washington and the South Puget Sound area:

Save the Date!! Saturday May 28!! 

There will be another big used paper craft sale on Saturday May 28. You have been asking, and it will be here this coming Saturday!

Disclaimer: This photo was taken when I was getting ready for the last sale I participated in. However I am bringing a lot of the same sorts of things. There will be stamps, dies, paper, tools, containers, stamp platforms and more! And I am just one of the many who will be there selling off gently used papercraft products.

Time: 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Place: VFW Post 318, 2902 Martin Way E, Olympia, WA

There will be LOTS of fabulous used craft supplies, including stamps, dies, inks, paper, tools and so much more!

Please bring cash and plan to spend some time shopping. It's been so long since we've seen you guys, and can't wait to see you again! Debbie Gaetz, Dianne Johnson, and Susie Mahoney formerly from Art "n Soul will be there, plus many more. Hope to see you there!

Happy Birthday Zack! Love You a Cha-Million!

Our oldest grandson Zack is 21 years old today! How in the world did that happen? The world rolls by so fast these days. Nevertheless, we are so proud of Zack - he is a senior honors student at his university, and works in the biology lab there where a very cute chameleon has imprinted on him!

I stamped and colored this panel 5 times. This was mostly because I am so out of practice using my Copics. I had forgotten that the best ink to stamp an image that will be colored with alcohol ink markers is Memento. I actually tried a couple of others first, but they ran when I colored over them. Then my Memento Tuxedo pad is apparently old and tiny pieces of the pad were sticking to the stamp and making ink clumps on the image. Do you ever have days like that? I finally found a mini Memento pad that worked fine. These are the Copic colors I used.

I used an embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp, and to prevent embossing the main image, I used an embossing diffuser. I had an old one from Cropstop that has a rectangle opening. 

I checked and it is still available. There are also embossing diffusers available from Tim Holtz by Sizzix. The way you use them is to use the diffuser in place of a cutting plate when you run it through your die cutter. Place the opening of the diffuser over the part of your panel that you do not want embossed. Otherwise the sandwich should be the same as when you are dry embossing normally.

Here is our handsome grandson and his adorable Chameleon buddy. Happy Birthday Zack!

Products used:

Darcie's Heart & Home POL520 One in a Cha-Million

CropStop Embossing Diffuser

SSS SF220 Leaf Bundle Embossing Folder

The Greetery Crimped Frame Dies

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

Copic Markers: RV55 Hollyhock,

RV52 Cotton Candy, R20 Blush,

YG21 Anise, YG23 New Leaf,

YG61 Pale Moss, YG63 Pea Green,

BG11 Moon White, E71 Champagne,

E23 Hazelnut

Neenah Solar White 80# & 110# cardstock

Stardream Fuse Fairway cardstock

Super Saturday at Magenta: Floral Wreath Stencil

I'm over at Magenta with this post, and you can see it here.

 I have been having a lot of fun with stencils lately and I especially love a nice wreath. This Floral Wreath from Magenta is lovely and you can use the center to stamp a lot of different sentiments.

I cut a panel from white 80# cardstock using the Penny Black Zig-Zag stacker die. Then using brushes I blended Distress inks through the stencil

This is everything I used to make this card. It was so quick and easy and I think it turned out beautifully.

Magenta Products used:

TM261 Floral Wreath

07.971.F Sending hugs

Other Products used:

Distress inks: Wilted Violet, Peacock Feathers,

Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn

Small blending brushes

Penny Black 51-714 Zig-Zag Stackers

Versafine Onyx Black ink

So Silk Glamour Green cardstock

Neenah Solar White 80# & 110# cardstock

Glimmer Hot Foil Birthday Cards

 Ok, confession time. I bought a Glimmer hot foil machine a couple of years ago (yes, years) and never used it until now. In my defense, a few things have happened in the last couple of years. Also, I have watched every YouTube video about it, and collected a lot of Glimmer plates and Glimmer foil (different from toner foil) to use with it. I finally told myself that I am not allowed to buy any more Glimmer plates until I actually use this machine. I also found some of the right kind of Hammermill cardstock at Amazon recently, so here are my first two cards.

This first one is for my son-in-law's Dad. His birthday is 6 days before my Son-in Law's, so I usually make their cards close to the same time. The really strange thing about this one is that the foil I used mostly looks gold in person. The color is Aura and it can have a rainbow look to it depending on the light and the angle you are looking at it. This is how it looked when I snapped the photo. Here's another shot that I think shows the gold a little better, but still shows some rainbow hues.

This was done with a Spellbinders Glimmer plate called "Birthday Hugs and wishes." I had a really nice leftover piece after I did this panel, so I decided to do a second card with it.

I recently got this solid round Glimmer plate from Spellbinders. This is why I had to use my Glimmer machine - I broke my promise of not buying any more plates until I used it. But I had to have this solid round one. I can see using it a lot, especially in using a leftover piece of foil like this one. Spellbinders also makes solid oval, solid square and solid rectangle plates. Pinkfresh Studio makes a large solid plate as well.

By the way, I get confused about the order for layering on the Glimmer machine sometimes because I also like to do toner foiling and it's different. If you do it wrong, you can foil your hot foil plates (which doesn't damage them, but is discouraging). If you have the same issue, here is the correct layering order (sandwich) for the Glimmer machine:

    foiling plate, front side up

    Glimmer foil, pretty side down (against the plate)

    cardstock

    2 Glimmer machine plastic plates

There are a LOT of videos on YouTube on how to use this machine. Some of the best ones are by Jennifer McGuire. Sometimes you might need a shim. I didn't need one for these examples.

Once I had the round plate and leftover foil positioned properly with my cardstock, I heated it up and ran it through my BigShot, and this is what I got! I love that even though I didn't use the special Hammermill cardstock on this panel (this was Neenah Solar White 80#, with Distress Ink on it) it still worked perfectly.

And yes, this gold circle on this left panel is the exact same piece of foil that is in the Happy Birthday sentiment on the panel to the right.

This is my Son-in Law's card. 

I'm so pleased that things turned out so well in my first foray using the Glimmer machine. After watching numerous videos I was afraid it would be much harder to get good results. I shouldn't have waited!

Products Used:

Spellbinders Glimmer machine

Spellbinders GLP-144 Birthday Hugs & Wishes hot foil plate

Spellbinders GLP-317 Solid Circle hot foil plate

Spellbinders Glimer Foil GLF-027 Aura

Distress Inks: Wilted Violet, Peacock Feathers,

Twisted Citron

Poppy 1263 Boddington Tree Border (discontinued)

The Greetery Crimped Frame die set

Hammermill Premium Cover Copy Color 100# cardstock

Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock

Stardream Fuse Fairway 105# cardstock

So Silk Glamour Green Cardstock

Memory Box Self Adhesive Fairy Jewels

 

Super Saturday at Magenta: Masking Stencil Distress Blending

 Hi everyone! I'm over at the Magenta blog with this post today and if you like, you can see it here.

I used just the outside or frame part of the Magenta MC48 Duo Texture mask set to blend Distress ink into a very cool design.

I put the stencil onto a panel of 80# cardstock and started blending. I added a circle mask that I punched out of masking paper using a 1 1/4" circle punch. I placed it to the right of the image to represent a rising sun, and continued to blend the ink, trying to keep it relatively light.

I stamped the Magenta Miscanthus image with Versamark ink and embossed in gold. The sentiment was added last in Onyx Black Versafine ink, and the panel was cut using The Greetery Crimped Frame die. Finally the panel was matted with So Silk Beauty Pink cardstock.

Magenta Products used:

MC48 Duo Texture Mask

0647.K Miscanthus

07.969.F have a Beautiful day!

Other Products used:

Distress ink: Picked Raspberry

Versamark ink

Onyx Black Versafine ink

Ranger Gold Embossing powder

The Greetery GD-M-016 Crimped Frame Die

Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock

So Silk Beauty Pink cardstock