CAS 3: Day 5 - I have a BIG stamping crush....

Hello Everyone,
So, yesterday I took a break from stamping. I am on my March Break (Spring Break) and I must admit, much as I love my job and my students, this break was necessary. I am so thrilled that this online card class coincided with the break because it meant that I could stamp my little brains out! I will admit that yesterday, I hit a saturation point... I just couldn't make another card.

I am back with a vengeance today! We have three great new techniques. I tried the ironed off embossing that Jennifer showed us, but I am not ready ot reveal that one just yet. Next, I moved on to the masked plaid technique that Laura Bassen demo'd. Can I just say that I have a huge stamping crush on Laura Bassen and her designs! I love this technique - it is way easier than I thought it would be. I love the way my card turned out too. I used my Distress Inks: Ripe Persimmon, Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed, Peacock Feather, and Spiced Marmalade. What fun. The Sentiment is stamped in Versafine Black Onyx and just looks so crisp juxtaposed with those bold scrumptious colours. The sentiment is from Hero Arts Fancy Basics (love this set).

Thanks for stopping by. I love to hear your feedback.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

*Hero Arts Clear Stamps FANCY BASICS 2013 CL652	*Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD RIPE PERSIMMON Ranger FALL	*Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD MUSTARD SEED Yellow Ranger	*Tim Holtz Distress Ink PAD SPICED MARMALADE Orange Ranger
*Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD PICKED RASPBERRY Ranger SUMMER	*Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD PEACOCK FEATHERS Ranger SPRING	*VersaFine ONYX BLACK Ink Pad Pigment	*3M Scotch ROLL GREEN MASKING TAPE Post-It Adhesive 2650-G

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CAS 3: Day 3 the Sequel

Hello Everyone,
Here is my second bit of homework. This card is inspired by the card that Laura Bassen created. I loved her card (let's be honest, I love all her cards). I was excited to try this style as it is not one that is in  my comfort zone. The technique is layering stamps. Essentially you stamp a background stamp and then layer other stamps on top. I used Hero Arts "Number Pattern" and stamped it in Soft Granite - I think this ink is actually a little too dark for this technique, but it was the lightest I had. Nest, I stamped the sentiment which is from the Hero Arts Set "Fancy Basics" - I think this bold Happy Birthday really works; I used Ranger Jet Black Archival ink for this. Lastly, I stamped the balloons in Hero Arts Neon inks (blue, pink,  and orange). I double stamped these to make sure to get a nice saturated colour that would pop off the background. I hand drew the balloon strings.

Anyway, overall I am pleased with the result and am glad I stepped outside my style comfort zone. Thanks for stopping by - I love to hear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CAS 3: Day 3

Hello Everyone,
Back with my homework for CAS 3! Today we were tackling techniques that use over-stamping and masking to create "optical illusions". My first card was inspired by the masked frame technique demonstrated by Jennifer McGuire. Essentially, you create a frame with masking paper and stamp to create a frame - you can use background stamps or any stamps that could be used to create a border. I chose to use Hero Arts "Looped Circles" and coloured it in with Distress Markers: Tumbled glass and Picke Raspberry. Before removing the mask, I sponged around the outside edge of my frame with Picked raspberry - I love how that turned out. It created a lovely purple with the Tumbled Glass. The sentiment I put in the center of the frame is from The Alley Way Stamps "Speak Easy". I love this sentiment set. I added some dash marks around the middle oval to finish it off (channeling my inner Kristina W!). I created the frame with a nestabilities die and a nesties oval.

I am pleased with the way the card turned out, but I found this whole process quite tedious. I created the frame with Eclipse Masking sheets and they were hard to use - the backing paper was really hard to remove and it was very difficult to put evenly on the card front - that whole process took me the better part of 45 min. So, I will reserve judgment until I try it again. Thanks for stopping by - I love hearing your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Last one for Day 1&2 CAS 3 . . . I think!

Hello Everyone,
Loved the cards that were posted yesterday as an extension of Day ones techniques. I decided to try the shadow stamping done by Suzanne Dahlberg. I used several different stamps to create this card - Neat and Tangled's On the Strip, Paper Smooches' Reflections, Bold Blooms, and Gently Seasoned; finally Uniko Studio's All Occasion Sentiments #3. I stamped the entire layout in white (Memory Box Frost white) and the stamped over with Hero Arts inks. The card base is Neenah Desert Storm. I am not sure what I think - it is a very subdued look which is not usually my style. I am going to reserve judgement, post it anyway, and see if it grows on me. Thanks for stopping by - I always love to hear your feedback.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CAS 3 Even More for Day 1

Hello Everyone,
Me Again! I really wanted to make something with the faux metal technique that Kristina highlighted. It has been awhile since I used this technique. I decided to use this die made by Kristina. I cut out the background heart and layered it with five coats of SU pewter EP. I carefully lined up the thank you layer and embossed it with my Vagabond. I love the way it turned out. I used the sentiment from Paper Smooches "Many Thanks" - it actually reads "Thank you from the bottom of my heart" and is a vertical sentiment, but with a little stamp surgery it worked out just fine. I also embossed the edges of the cardbase with pewter EP, just to tie everything together. Anyway, thanks for stopping by. It is time to head back off to the craft emporium (aka basement) to create more from today's inspirations! Thanks for stopping by - I love the feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

More for CAS 3

Hello Everyone,
The brain has been percolating overtime with ideas for the first day of class at CAS 3! The first techniques that we are learning about are: inlaid die-cuts, faux letterpress and faux metal. So with this card I was inspired by the fantastic Shari Carroll. I loved her ballon card. I took her general idea nad created a rainbow heart. I used a die by Krisitna Werner. Then I die cut the thanks sentiment from Paper Smooches out of it. I cut another thanks in white. I then die cut the heart out the the panale for the front of my card and backed it with printer paper. I stuck the heart into the panel and then pieced in the thanks. Finally I stamped the heart with little flowers from Paper Smooches Reflections and from a Hero Arts "Friends" Stamp set - first in versamark, then in white. I found that the flowers were not really showing up well, so I clear embossed them and that seemed to do the trick. I really love the way it turned out.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Clean and Simple Cards 3: Inlaid Die-Cuts

Hello Everyone,
Today is the first class in Online Card Classes Clean and Simple 3. This class focuses on one layer cards. Today's homework is to use one of the faux techniques - I chose inlaid die-cuts. I actually made another card yesterday with this technique, so I remade the card with different colours for the flowers (yesterday I used orange and pink as my colour combo).

Today I used the same pink (RV09) and an aqua (BG13). I like this colour combo as much as yesterday's. I die cut all the flowers out of the pink panel (SU Melon Mambo) and backed it with a piece of typing paper that was cut to the same size. I die cut the flowers three more times and inlaid the white outline. I took the petal centers and coloured them with the copics - I used my version of Kristina Werner's blended feathering technique (see yesterday's post for a link to her video tutorial). I stamped the sentiments from Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler with versamark and then heat embossed with white EP. I really went nuts with my embossing buddy in order to make sure that my white EP did not stick where it was not supposed to - that was an issue with yesterday's card. I think I need to get better quality white EP too - any recommendations? Anyway, I love the way the whole thing turned out. This card reminds me a little of a Hawaiian shirt!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by, I really love the feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

*Copic 36 CIAO COLOR SET B Markers	*Neenah Classic Crest **110 LB** SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 25 Sheets	*Paper Smooches SENTIMENT SAMPLER Clear Stamps Kim Hughes	*VERSAMARK Watermark Emboss Stamp Ink Pad CUBE Emboss VC251
*Memory Box TILTH FLORAL Craft DIE 98320

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Feather blended inlaid die cuts

Hello Everyone,
Happy Sunday. Awhile ago I saw this video on Kristina Werner's Blog - it shows how to blend with copics using non-traditional colour combos. I loved this idea and have tried it a couple of times. I more recently saw this video on Jennifer McGuire's blog about inlaid die-cuts - I love the idea of puzzle piecing die cuts together. So... today I decided to combine the two ideas.

Incase you haven't noticed, I have been on a bit of a hot pink and orange kick. I think it is my craving for spring jumping into action! Anyway, I have been eyeing my Memory Box Daisy die (actually called Tilth Flower) and have been letting ideas percolate. It is one of my faves and I want to use it more. So I die cut three of thses flowers and left them intact. I feather-blended (sort of - I didn't want the colours to totally blend to keep a bit of contrast) the orange and the pink (I used a YR and an RV copic for this). Next I die cut three more flowers from white cardstock and then die cut three from my focal panel (pink cardstock),  Next I cut a piece of copy paper the same siz as my pink card stock, covered it completely in tape, then adhered it behind the pink panel. I carefully inlaid the white border of the flowers, and then inlaid the center of the petals. I trimmed it all down, white embossed the sentiment - taken from Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler. I love the bright, cheery look of this card. It was a little time-consuming to make, but now that I have the lay out and the steps down, I don't think it would take too long to reproduce. I am keen to try other colour combos.

Anyway, I hope all is well in your neck of the woods. We are enjoying a beautiful day here in Perth (Ontario) - it is only -5c and sun, sun, sunny!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Virginia's View:Distress Ink Bleed

Hello Everyone,
Post #2 for the day! I am going to link this card up for the challenge at Virginia's View. I saw this really cool technique on Jennifer McGuire's Blog called Distress Ink Bleed. You can see the video tutorial here. I used Hero Arts Looped Circles for the background - i inked it up with the following distress inks: Ripe Persimmon, Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, and Peacock Feathers. I stamped it on watercolour paper and then lightly spritzed with water so that the colours bled a bit. I did the same with the "Fabulous" sentiment; after I dried it, I stamped over it in black. I really love the effect. The sentiment is from Uniko Studios - I love their stamps. They are made from very high quality photopolymer and are really deeply etched , so they give a very crisp image. Thanks Virginia for the water-colouring inspiration! Thanks Jennifer for this (and all your other) fabulous tutorial!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

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Muse # 57 and Virginia's View

Hello Everyone,
Sorry for the absence. My crafting time was sidelined by work commitments (report cards/parent-teacher interviews...) and then I got a real humdinger of a head cold! It is with great relief that March Break has arrived and I finally got into the craft room.

Today I am participating in two challenges - Muse and Virginia's View. I loved the Muse card this week; it is by Vicki Dutcher and can be viewed here. I was inspired by the layout of the card, the flutterby and the chevrons. During the week, while this card was percolating in my head, I came across Virginia Lu's new challenge: Virgina's View. The theme there this month is watercolouring. I always have difficulty with water-colouring because I am a fan of strong bold colours and find the washed out look a little too washed out - when I try it, mine always seems messy, rather than soft and pretty. So.... I took out my distress inks and used a water colour technique with those. You simply smoosh (technical term) the stamp pad on a craft sheet, spritz liberally with water and then smoosh your watercolour paper into the mix. Voila! Water colouring for dummies! Instead of plain old water, I added some Perfect Pearls to the mix which creates a lovely pearlized shimmer - not sure you can see it in the photo.

I used a different colour scheme. I chose picked raspberry and spiced marmalade distress ink. I love this colour combo. I die cut the circle from the watercoloured piece and the butterfly too. I wanted the butterfly to pop off the circle, so I die cut it four times from white cardstock and layered those underneath. In behind the circle I layered two offset daisy die cuts.

I stamped my chevron stripes with the distress inks. Typically, Distress inks are not used for stamping, but I like the soft mottled look I got - I think it juxtaposes nicely with the watercolour. The sentiment is stamped with Her Arts Soft Granite ink and is from the Annabelle Stamps set "Standing Tall". I am really pleased with the way the whole card turned out. Thanks so much for stopping by - I would love to hear what you think!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

*Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD PICKED RASPBERRY Ranger SUMMER	*Tim Holtz Distress Ink PAD SPICED MARMALADE Orange Ranger	*Memory Box TILTH FLORAL Craft DIE 98320	*Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad SOFT GRANITE Mid-Tone 2012 AF226
*Memory Box PIPPI BUTTERFLY Craft DIE 98508

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