Concord & 9th Blooms Fill-In

Hello Crafty Friends!
Today I am sharing my first Christmas card of the season. I will start off by saying I don't think this is one for quick mass-producing. It took some time, but I love the results! The colors are non-traditional but I can see using reds on the flowers and leaves for a Poinsettia look. I'm still playing with gray backgrounds and experimenting with how inks stamp on it. Here is a picture of the main supplies I used (excluding tools):

And here is the finished card.

I started with the gray cs cut to 4.25x5.5 (A2) and then stamped the main image using the gray inks for a tone-on-tone effect. The Concord & 9th Blooms Fill-In stamp is a layered one that gives options for where you place the ink. Because I wanted the lighter background to show through, I only inked part of the florals. 
After the panel was stamped and dried I cut it in half. The base is cut to 4.25 x 6.5 so I adhered the cut panel pieces to each end of the base which left a 1-inch gap in the center. I then cut out the center long hex piece and added the beautiful sentiment from Stamp Simply. I made an extra bouquet and used the coordinating die-cut to cut it out and use to embellish the sentiment area. I Adhered everything together and then added white and glossy accents with a white gel pen and Glossy Accents, respectively. Let dry overnight and voila! I will be making many more cards with this versatile main background stamp, the possibilities are endless.

Thank you for stopping by! Michelle

Ornate Background

Hello Crafty Friends!

I've been enjoying playing with gray card stock for card backgrounds, I think it gives such a classy look to the finished cards. For this project I used the UH-mazing Ornate Background stamp by Simon Says Stamp

 

(as of this writing the stamp is out of stock, but I am sure they will get more). 
I was needing to fill my birthday card stash and so made several at one time. I had so much fun using colored pencils as accents along with coordinating embossing powders and Nuvo drops! Take a look:

Nuvo drops shown from left to right are Rhubarb Crumble, Duck Egg Blue, Dandelion Yellow

 I used Nuvo Ballerina Pink EP on this card. You can also see in these close-ups where I did some selective cutting around some of the petals for added dimension and interest. In keeping the colors coordinated, I also added pieces of matching card stock behind the cut areas. You can see them peeking from underneath the petals.

 Ranger Superfine Detail White EP for the yellow card

And I used Nuvo Serenity Blue EP for the blue card.

It was interesting to see how the colored pencils looked on dark gray card stock. For this project I used a set of inexpensive pencils from my local Michael's store, but I just received some Prismacolor pencils and I can't wait to use them!!!

I hope I've given you some inspiration for this beautiful background stamp. Thank you for stopping by! 

Michelle

Vintage Look

Hello All!
I haven't been at the craft table too much lately, however yesterday I did create some lovely cards after being inspired by the talented Nichole Spohr.
For the backgrounds I used Simon Says Stamp Elizabeth on the vintage BOHO cards, and the Star Flower stamp on the pastel colored cards.

• First I treated the panel with anti-static powder, used Versamark clear ink to stamp the background image and various color embossing powders: Nuvo Hot Chocolate, Zing Brown Sugar, Ranger White
• After heat setting the embossing powder I pulled out my Distress Oxide inks to color and blend the panels (these are my first, I am totally late to the Oxide party): Vintage Photo, Black Soot, Brick Red on the darker cards and Cracked Pistachio, Worn Lipstick, Salty Ocean, Abandoned Coral for the lighter cards. 
• While those dried, I embossed on vellum the sentiment from Honey Bee Stamps in Hot Chocolate EP and cut into strips the length of my card and the width of the sentiment. 
• Then I cut the designed panel leaving a strip the same size as my vellum strip. 
• At this point I embellished each card slightly different, if you look closely you will see one card has black Nuvo drops lining the sentiment, one has chocolate glitter paper bordering the sentiment, and one has black embossing powder lining the sentiment edges. I just played with various styles. I darkened all the cut edges with the black ink. I love the way they turned out!
• I added some black Nuvo drops to pull the sentiment and coloring together.

Take a look:

Here is a look at the pastel-colored cards (these look more like Nichol Spohr's)

Thank you for stopping by! Michelle