happy fourth of july

Here are the last two cards that I created with the same digital paper kit from last week. I did a version of the same card just changing up the layout a bit. I really liked using the stamp to create my background by just stamping it over and over. Catherine Pooler inspired me to try this technique. I am sure it will be one that I use again.

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digital play

I have been on a kick lately enjoying the ease of printing digital papers at home to the exact size that I need them for my cards or other embellishments. I have been purchasing most of my papers online from different Etsy stores. This collection is from AMBillustrations and I have used it for cards and making flairs. I don't have any intention to go digital with my crafting, but it is nice to have an alternative every now and then.

my love for sequins

If you followed my blog for a bit, you can definitely see that I have a love for these little shiny things. They just make me so happy. I enjoy mixing colors and sizes and making my own custom sequin blends. I have even started to sell them in my Etsy shop.

Shaker cards are one of my favorite ways to use them, but it can be tricky to mail them when you use thicker cupped sequins. One of my tips is to use the flat ones. You still get the sparkle, but without any of the bulk. On this card, I used digital paper printed at 5x5 and die cut my shape in the middle. I also used very thin fun foam to die cut the same shaped and used it to make my shaker holder. The fun foam is a lot cheaper than the foam tape and works just as well. Since my sequins are only slightly cupped, they still move around when you shake the card. I finished with a few sprinkled onto the front of the panel along with a stamped sentiment and two enamel stars.

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you are amazing

I have been wanting to give water coloring with distress inks a try and I just fell in love with this new sentiment set from Kaleidoscope Creations Stamps. I think it is a perfect set to go with so many image stamps, but especially works well with flowers.

I heat embossed my floral stamp onto Ranger Watercolor paper using Versamark ink and a fine detail white embossing powder. I then wet my image with a number 2 round brush and dropped in color from my distress pads and allowed the color to dry naturally. I came back and added more color where I felt the flower needed it. Again, letting it air dry and then stamped my sentiment twice to get into all of the texture of the watercolor paper. I finished with some Pretty Pink Posh clear sequins. I love the end results and will definitely be using this technique again.

I didn't forget...

Even though it may seem like it, I didn't forget about my little blog. Life has been so hectic and so many things have been happening in our family that some things had to be prioritized and sadly, the blog fell last on that list. I am going to try to remedy that by working on getting at least one project post a week, probably on Mondays for now, and then work my way up to twice a week. Thankfully, I have continued card making and even started some scrapping during all of this time.

Today's card is a quick card perfect for a forgetful mind (like mine) or a great masculine card. It is using a new stamp set by Kaleidoscope Creations Stamps. I popped up the candle and tied a string around it to mimic tying a string around your finger to help you remember something. I then finished it off by adding a few tiny enamel stars and a sentiment from the same stamp set.

Hello, Cupcake

I created this card to send to my niece in a care package after she spent some time with us this summer. I die cut the "hello" and used tiny type black letters to spell out the "cupcake". I think they are some very old Making Memories letters that I had stocked up on at Michael's. The cupcake and bear are from Mama Elephant and I used a masking technique to get the bear to appear as if he is sitting on top of the icing. I Copic colored him and added some Wink of Stella clear glitter pen to the icing for some shimmer. The border was cut out of glitter paper using a punch that also embossed. The entire panel was foam taped to the front of a white die cut card base.

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Hero Arts and Distress Ink

I told you I was making a ton of shaker cards lately. This one is using distress inks to create a blended background to resemble a night sky. I stamped and Copic colored the Hero Arts image and added google eyes for a bit of a whimsical touch. The sequins are a homemade mix of Pretty Pink Posh solid colors. I put foam tape on the back of the purple panel and tied it with a bow. The panel was then adhered to a stitched cut card front.

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