Happy 2014 Graduation!! A Proud Day for our Family :-)

Hi Stampers!!

This weekend, my husband and I had the privilege of celebrating the milestone of my twin niece’s Home School HS graduation! 

What wonderful, godly young ladies they have both become and we are so blessed to have them in our lives!  We still remember the days when they were young (seems like yesterday) and cannot believe how fast the time has flown by…  We love them so and are thankful that they were able to be taught by so many talented women- what a testimony!  Now they are off to a well known four year university and we are looking forward to seeing how the Lord will work in their lives!

Since they are twins, I decided to create the same basic card and used the Gelli Arts® Gel Printing Plate along with acrylic paints and a Parisian Embossing Folder :-)  The colors they chose were Silver, Black and Purple (I did not have any Purple Acrylic Paint so mixed Burgundy with Black :-))

Again, I had the Splitcoaststampers Mix-Ability MIX26 Stencils Challenge on my mind and will share a third card design with the same folder (different sentiment that could apply to graduation as well).

Again, I hope you will take the time to check out the Splitcoaststampers Mix-AbilityChallenge site to see the fantastic samples of the Design Teams and other entrants. 

The basic steps to the cards:

Use the Big Shot™ with the Sizzix™ Tim Holtz® Textured Fades™ Eiffel Tower Embossing Folder to emboss a piece of Whisper White cardstock and set aside (for use in a few minutes).

Apply a few drops of silver acrylic paint onto the Gelli Arts® Gel Printing Plate and use a Brayer to thinly spread the paint but make sure it is thick enough not to dry too quickly. 

Lay down a piece of Watercolor Paper over the printing plate (this card was created using a scrap piece of the Watercolor Paper), smooth with the brayer or your hand to cover the paper and carefully peel away from the plate.  Reapply the silver paint and continue with a few more prints.

As you can see, each card has different variations of color, so just like my twin nieces, they are not exactly the same :-)

Apply a few drops of Soft Black, Burgundy and Soft White Acrylic Paints and smooth with the brayer to mix the paint.  Lay the embossed piece of Whisper White cardstock over the paint, smooth with your hand or a brayer, lift up and set aside for use again.

Lay the silver side of the Watercolor Paper onto the printing plate, smooth with your hand or brayer and lift up (the raised areas of the embossing piece should show against the silver paint).

Once the initial panels were finished and dry (you can use a Heat Tool to speed up the drying process), re-insert the printed piece back into the same embossing folder that was used as the “stencil” and re-emboss using the Big Shot™.

Apply another thin layer of SilverPaint onto the printing plate and roll the paint from the Brayer onto the original Whisper White embossed panel (the one that was used as the “stencil” and is now covered with paint from the steps above) – this way you can use the original embossing panels as well as the print panels- nothing is wasted!!

After all of the panels are dry, if needed, add a bit of Blackberry Bliss Classic using the AquaPainter™ and dry with the Heat Tool.   Gently rub the Silver and Gold Encore™ Pigment ink pads across the top of the embossing to give the panel even more of a metallic look.  Trim the panel and apply to a layer of Blackberry Bliss cardstock and again onto a layer of Basic Gray cardstock.

Using My Digital Studio (MDS) insert the stamp brush sentiment from Go Graduate Plus, create a mask using a square punch (fill with Whisper White) to cover the words below the main sentiment and print out onto Whisper White cardstock.

Use the Big Shot™ with the Chalk Talk Framelits™ to cut out the sentiment and also cut another piece of Blackberry Bliss cardstock.  Layer the two and mount onto the card front using Stampin’ Dimensionals®.

Add the Basic Gray Satin Ribbon bow to the corner of the sentiment and mount the entire panel onto the Blackberry Bliss card base.

Use the Big Shot™ along with the Typeset Alphabet Bigz™ Die to cut out the numbers from Basic Gray and Blackberry Bliss cardstock. 

Offset layer onto one another and add to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals®.  Add a few Rhinestones to finish off the card (a girl has to have a few diamonds, right?) :-)

Stamp Sets: Go Graduate Plus (MDS version)

Ink: Printer Ink- Black, Encore™ Pigment Ink- Silver, Gold, Acrylic Paints- Silver,  Soft Black, Burgundy, Soft White, Classic Ink- Blackberry Bliss

Paper: Whisper White, Blackberry Bliss, Basic Gray, Watercolor (card #3- Midnight Muse)

Accessories: Big Shot™, Chalk Talk Framelits™, Typeset Alphabet Bigz™, Sizzix™ Tim Holtz® Texture Fades™ Eiffel Tower Embossing Folder, Gelli Arts® Gel Printing Plate, Brayer, Basic Gray Satin Ribbon, Rhinestones

Third card created with same folder- used Midnight Blue Classic Ink and Paint as well as Blackberry Bliss and sentiment from Loving Thoughts, plus a bit of Blackberry Bliss Stitched Satin Ribbon and piece of retired Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware :-) 

Thanks again for visiting- I hope all of you have a fabulous Sunday!

Kitty Dreams- A Quilt for a Color and a Sketch Challenge

Hi Again Stampers! 

I wanted to create a card using the FabFri26 Colors along with the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #20 (again, if you have not visited these sites yet, I encourage you to do so and check out the Design Team samples as well as the other entrants!)

I love cats and decided to use My Digital Studio (MDS) to create another "hybrid" card :-)  

The original version of MDS had a few sets that I had not purchased in the actual rubber sets (actually, they may have been exclusive to MDS) and two of them had cats, so of course, I had to use them :-)   

I had originally printed these images out a few months ago and when I saw the “quilt” sketch pattern for this week's AHSC Sketch, I knew that they would be “purr-fect” for my kitty quilt card…lol!!

To create this card:

In My Digital Studio (MDS), open a blank 8.5 x 11 custom page and insert the cat from Pattern Pets – resize and copy the image, mirror the copied image (so one cat is facing the opposite way) and remember to leave enough room between images to use the punch to cut them out. 

Insert the sentiment from Loving Thoughts (re-size as well) and add the mouse from Cute Cats (again, re-sized).  

Print out the images on Whisper White cardstock and use the 1 ¼” Square Punch (or the new Square Framelits™ to cut out the cats) and cut the banner using the trimmer and the square punch for the banner points.  I had mounted the cat images originally onto Basic Black cardstock (using the 1 3/8” Square Punch) but that step could be avoided.  

Use the 1 ¼” Square Punch to punch out the “quilt” squares from the Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper (DSP).  Arrange onto a piece of scrap paper alternating the squares and adding the cats in the diagonal corners.

Use the Trio of Hearts Punch (retired) to punch out the hearts from a piece of the Chocolate Chip Sweater Weather DSP and adhere to the center of the squares. 

Use the Big Shot™ with the Square Lattice Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder to emboss the entire panel and add the Metallic Brads to the corners of the center square.

Mount the entire panel onto Basic Black cardstock and then again onto Sahara Sand cardstock.

Add the Pool Party ½” Seam Binding Triple Ribbon bow on the diagonal (I have not received my Soft Sky yet and the Pool Party is close enough)  and the sentiment using Stampin’ Dimensionals®.

Mount the entire quilt onto another piece of Basic Black cardstock and adhere to the Whisper White card base.

Stamp Sets:  Loving Thoughts, Patterned Pets, Cute Cats (all MDS)

Ink: Printer Ink- Black

Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Sahara Sand, Sweater Weather DSP

Accessories:  Big Shot™, Square Lattice Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, Metallic Brads, ½” Pool Party or Soft Sky Seam Binding Ribbon

Thanks again for taking the time to visit- I hope you enjoyed this fanciful quilt card and may all of us “Dare to Dream” !! 

Sunflower Madness :-) Monochromatic Fun

Hi Stampers! 

I love this week’s Just Add Ink JAI158 sketch challenge and from the moment I saw the sketch, I wanted to use My Digital Studio (MDS) with the Sunflower background image to create this card.   

I just love how you can re-size the images in MDS (especially the large background stamps) and since I chose to use black, gray and white, this card also qualifies the Splitcoaststampers’ Try A New Technique TLC422 Challenge- Monochromatic Madness. 

Again, if you have not had the time to visit either site, I encourage you to do so- wonderful examples to inspire your creativity!!

To make this “hybrid” card:

Print an image of the Sunflower Stamp Brush Set from My Digital Studio (MDS) onto Whisper White (again, re-sized to fit the card- love it!!) and cut the image out with a Circle Cutter.  Also cut another circle the same size from Basic Black cardstock to layer behind the image.   Cut both circles/images in half and layer the Basic Black behind the sunflower image so that just a bit of the black border shows.

Use the Big Shot™ with the Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder to emboss a piece of Whisper White cardstock.   Add the Designer Paper layers per the sketch, the sunflower image and the 5/8” Basic Black Satin Ribbon bow.  Mount this entire panel onto Basic Black cardstock and again onto a Whisper White card base.

Add the printed sentiment (again using MDS and the 1” Square Punch to create the banner points) along with the colored Pearls to finish off the card.  *** Hint-  use a Black permanent marker to color the Pearls- instant Black Pearls :-))  ***

Quick and easy- I think I am getting hooked on these "hybrid" cards :-)

Stamp Sets:  Sunflower, Loving Thoughts (both MDS)

Ink: Printer Ink- Black

Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Basic Gray Designer Series Paper Stack

Accessories:  Big Shot™, Lacy BrocadeTextured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, Punches- 1” Punch (for banner points), Pearls, 5/8” Basic Black Satin Ribbon (retired)

Thanks again for stopping by- I hope you enjoy this card (I had fun making it!!)