Thank You Card Marathon Part III

Well I'm back with another instalment.  I've been busy with lots of new stuff, but for now here is another taste of the thank you cards.


I'm not sure exactly why, but these cards weren't sure I did that particularly well.

I used Core'dinations cardstock to make it interesting without overpowering the paper.

The sentiment was a hassle but it was something i had been meaning to try.  I used the current Whole Lot of Lovely Hostess Set.  I wanted to emboss only the word part of the sentiment in gold, while colouring the rest with markers.

 I'm not sure I could have done it without MISTI since the markers leave a lighter impression and require repeated colouring and stamping in the same spot.  This was something I wasn't even going to attempt with the stamp-a-ma-jig.

We got there in the end and despite leaving it to dry and generously rubbing down with the embossing buddy, I still got gold powder particles over the rest of the sentiment, but not too severely.  I must admit I do sort of like that look!

The way to emboss only the text was to use a versamark pen but I had hoped it would be more juicy.

Lastly, some crochet trim, pearl and a gold doily to finish.  Phew!

Stampin' Up! Products Used:

A Whole Lot Of Lovely Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Snail Permanent Adhesive	Stampin' Dimensionals	Stampin' Trimmer	Embossing Buddy
Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Au & Nz)	Wisteria Wonder A4 Cardstock	Calypso Coral A4 Cardstock	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock
Island Indigo A4 Cardstock	Bone Folder	Soft Sky A4 Cardstock	Metallic Foil Doilies	Pearl Basic Jewels
Many Marvelous Markers	Big Shot

InLinkz.com

Thank You Card Marathon Part I

Well, lovely Readers I think it's high time I brought you those Thank You Cards.

Unlike last time, I decided to do several many different designs to keep from getting bored.  I must have done a good Job because every time NPCH walked passed and took a look he commented "overcommited yourself".

Granted, these cards came shortly before an infusion when I feel worst physically, so it was a bit of a struggle, but I learned a lot and enjoyed it.

These cards were commissioned by one sister to thank people who sent gifts for her new baby girl.  I prefer not to make the cards baby themed in case some are left over.  A more general theme makes them usable for any kind of thank you.

I had a couple of sets each of older DSP.lines:  Tea for Two and Afternoon Picnic



...which are basically the same pattern but in different colourways.

I was going vintage which is perhaps not surprising given I'm quite the Janeite.

I had a few ideas in my head, but when I started I had not yet finalised the number of designs or what they would even look like.  Since I was on a bit of a colouring kick,I stamped a bunch of flower images on both watercolour paper and vellum and put my new Inktense pencils to work

I'm afraid I'll have to break down these blog posts due to the number of designs so here is the first.

These cards have the flowers on vellum, a strip of DSP, dry embossed card from and the sentiment die cut from the gold metallic paper.  Burlap is still big at the moment and a bit of crochet trim and antique brad finished it off.

Tea For Two on Island Indigo:

Afternoon Picnic on Soft Sky

 

 

So am I happy with them?  Mostly.  I'm still not sold on the Indigo, although I did use colours from the DSP collections.  I also hoped to stitch over the fake quilting lines on the DSP but my sewing machine wasn't having any of it.  I managed to stitch on other cards, but the tension simply wasn't right no matter what I did to it.

I think a service is in order!

So I'd love to hear what you think and I'll keep adding more posts.

*PS apologies for the less than ideal photos!  The house photographer  (aka NPCH) was unavailable for this important assignment!

Stampin' Up! Products Used:

Stampin' Trimmer	Snail Permanent Adhesive	Big Shot	Greetings Thinlits Dies	Precision Base Plate
Bone Folder	Mini Glue Dots	Jet Black Stazon Pad	Paper Snips	Tear & Tape Adhesive
Fine-Tip Glue Pen	Vellum A4 Cardstock	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock	Soft Sky A4 Cardstock	Island Indigo A4 Cardstock
1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon	Gold Foil Sheets	Aqua Painters

InLinkz.com

 

Crazy Crafters Blog Hop and Beer Can Die Cutting Tutorial

I'm very excited to be part of the CrAzY Crafters Blog Hop.  If you've been following the Hop in order, you should have arrived here by way of Angela Lorenz at Angs Crafty Cards 

If you've just joined us, you can scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the full order of blogs if you'd like to visit them all.

The theme of this blog hop is our favourite current stamp set.

I was stumped. I simply don't have a current favourite. It's not that I don't like any them but not only am I unable to pick just one, but I was also not getting any flashes of inspiration.

I'm a bit obsessed with textures and mixed media at the moment. My scrapbook pages are full of texture but not so much on my cards.

I came across a technique that uses empty aluminium cans. You can use a Big Shot to cut and even emboss them!

I knew I had to try it and the flood of autumn themed photos of food, crafts and home decor from our northern hemisphere friends combined with dreary rainy weather had made the decision for me.

I have learned that ignoring inspiration because its not what you are "supposed" to be doing always ends badly, so I'm going to have to be that one person who has to be difficult.

I was going to have to base this on my current favourite die, which is Autumn Accents BUT the sentiment from the Sassy Salutations stamp set is one of my very favourite fonts and I recently acquired Gently Falling in the 25% off sale and it's a set I have long been wanting and definitely features in my list of faves so yay I don't ruin the blog hop!

Now...onto the actual card and tutorial!  

I've never done this before do please join me on my adventure.

The first step is to deconstruct an empty can, being careful of jagged edges and any metal shards. You could use gloves but I didn't and I'm not the most co-ordinated person in the world.

Cut a section to size and run it through your Big Shot with an Original or Bigz die. I wouldn't try it with Framelits or Thinlits.  I used Autumn Accents.

Run it repeatedly through the Big Shot several times. More is better because you  want to be absolutely sure it cut through. The leaves will be curled but they'll straighten later.

Pick some embossing folders and proceed as normal. I ran them through twice.  The folders I used were Chevron and Perfect Polka Dots from the main catalogue and Pretty Print from the Holiday Catalogue.

Stay away from folders with dense lines or this happens:

The leaves are nice and flat! Since I didn't have alcohol inks to colour the leaves I substituted with Sharpies and plenty of alcohol.

You can buy isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol in supermarkets and pharmacies but I buy alcohol in 4L bottles from a nail supply store to sterilize my nail tools.

I tried three different designs on the leaves and first sprayed then poured alcohol on them to blend the colours...nothing happened.

I cleaned off the maple leaf and the smallest leave and re-did them in the same way as the oak leaf. 

Applying the alcohol very quickly after colouring the leaf helped. I drenched them in alcohol which was starting to blend the ink a little and left them to dry overnight.

It definitely improved the look and made the yellow less...neon!

Here they are after sitting overnight. I'm still not as satisfied as I would have been had I used alcohol ink so I decided to try brushing on some Glimmer Glam paint by Tattered Angels to add some sparkle and blend it more.

The Glimmer Glam did a great job but the fine shimmer and glitter in the paint did not show up so I dug out some glitter and exercised an uncharacteristic level of restraint as I sprinkled the smallest amount of glitter on the leaves.

Just for fun I painted a leftover acorn with glimmer glam and dumped glitter them more glimmer glam over it.

 

 

Now onto the actual card construction!  This is what I ended up with:

The first step is to cut down your cardstock and DSP to size.  The base of the card is Chocolate Chip Cardstock and the DSP is all from the Sweater Weather Collection from the Holiday Catalogue.

The card base is an A4 sheet scores at 5 7/8"  I had to trim about 1/8"off the shorter side to get it to measure 8 1/4"x 5 7/8"

The yellow mat is 1/4" smaller and the card front 1/4" smaller again.

Ink the edges of your DSP to give it an aged look if you like.

Before adhering anything, cut the DSP papers for the sentiment (brown is about 1 3/4" x 5 1/8" and the banner started off as a rectangle of about 1 1/4"by (approx) 4 1/2"

Again ink the edges and arrange the sentiment boxes and leaves on the card front and lightly mark with a pencil at a few points where they sit.

Using the Gently Falling stamp set leaf outline, stamp with Versamark so some of the leaves will be tucked under your embellishment (don't forget to use your Embossing Buddy!).  I wish I moved the ones on the right out a little but never mind!

Emboss with Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder and repeat for the sentiment using the Sassy Salutations stamp set.

Adhere your brown box and leaves (I used hot glue for the leaves) to the card front and snip the ends of the sentiment to form a pennant (ink any edges!).

Grab a few lengths of linen thread and tie it around a piece of the Burlap Ribbon from the Holiday Catalogue and threading both through a Naturals Designer Button and tying into a bow.

Work out where you want it then adhere the pennant with the sentiment then the bow (also with hot glue)

If you wish to embellish the inside of your card, cut a mat from the Sweater Weather DSP and a sheet of Very Vanilla Cardstock to the same dimensions of the front of the card.  Ink the edges.

Stamp the leaf outlines of Gently Falling in Chocolate Chip then using Real Red, Tangerine Tango, Crushed Curry and Crumb cake, "stamp off" the inside of the leaves on scrap paper before filling in the outlines.

I also used the ink dots from the retired set French Foliage to add to the distressed look.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed my card and are enjoying the blog hop.  Your next destination is Tamie Holt at Tamie Luvs Craft2

The full blog hop list is below:

 Kylie Bertucci at Crafty Kylie
Sue Wdowik at Nigh Nigh Birdie
Michelle Mills at Hello Day Cards
Carolina Evans at Studio Evans
Teena Maher at Stamping with Teena
Angela Lorenz at Ang's Crafty Cards
Alex Trofimov at Pink Crafty Mama <------(me!) 
Tamie Holt at Tamie Luvs Craft2 
Barb Conroy at The Stamping Queen