random reflections

Less is More

A quick post to enter a card in the current Less is More challenge: Black & White & Plus One.

Anyone who's followed my blog for awhile knows one of my favorite color combinations is black, white, and red. And it frequently shows up in anniversary cards.

One of the hallmarks of a Less is More card is white space, although it doesn't have to be white---non-patterned, clean space--- which in this case is black. The beautiful die cut and shadow is from Simon Says and the sentiment is from an accompanying stamp set. a simple heart and three white enamel dots and it was done. Easy, but classic, I think.

A Birthday Celebration

It's a dark and cold Monday morning here, but the fall chill we've had for the last three days isn't supposed to last long. We had a lovely weekend, but I have no photos to show for it. I do have a card to share, however, for three different challenges. I made this card for one of our good friends who recently turned 70. He enjoys good food and good wine, and his wife hosted a wonderful party for him at a local restaurant. One of the highlights of the evening was seeing their children who now live and work in NYC and Denver, CO. Matt and their son, Ben, were best friends all through elementary school. They forged different paths come middle school (Scouts vs. sports), but we've maintained a lasting friendship with his parents.

Although I knew I wanted to use Papertrey Ink's "Uncorked" stamp set, the card I had in mind is a far cry from the one I ended up with. Nonetheless, I'm quite happy with the final result. I trimmed off the top of a ready-made tag to hold the wine bottle (embossed in gold) and the wine glasses (die cut from patterned vellum). After embossing the sentiment, I felt the card needed "a little something" so I added a few score lines to the Scarlet Jewel card before adhering the tag and rounded the top corners.

For the inside greeting, I die cut some numbers from Memory Box with gold adhesive paper from PTI, and embossed a sentiment from "Big Birthday Wishes," also by PTI.

I'm entering this card in three challenges:

Time Out's Quotation Challenge, focusing on the "wine in our hands:"

Seize the Birthday: 

And last, but not least, Simon Says Wednesday challenge: Stamp It! in celebration of their annual Stamptember event:

First Day of School

Well, actually, Caleb attended full-day kindergarten last year, but today marked the first day of first grade and his very first school bus ride. For both pre-school and kindergarten he could walk to school. It's a new town as well, and he's attending a magnet school with grades K-8 in the same building. Sarah was a bit concerned about putting him on a bus with 8th graders and wondered if she should drive him the first day, but Caleb decided he wanted to ride the bus. In anticipation of this very big first day, I sent Caleb a card. As soon as I saw the "School Bus Messages" set during the July or August release at Simon Says, I knew I had to have it. (There are still three more very first days to come for my grandchildren!)

I stamped the bus and colored it with Copic markers before cutting it out by hand. Then I stamped, cut, and colored two cute critters---one from Simon Says " Quite the Pear," and one from Simon Says "Wild Cuddly Critters," I cut them to fit into the school bus windows. Another new product from that Simon Says order was the "Diamond Pattern" card cover die. (I already have lots of ideas for using that.) I layered it on a card made from Papertrey's "Bright Buttercup," and then adhered the school bus, adding some Crystal Nuvo to the lights on the school bus. The sentiment is also from the "School Bus Messages" set.

We were anxious to hear about Caleb's first day, and had a great FaceTime conversation with him when he got home. The bus ride was fine (and not as long as anticipated), and he had a great first day just as we wished for him.

 

Watercolor Basics and Beyond: Part 3

Back again with another project from Altenew's "Watercolor and Beyond" class. This has been such an easy class to keep up with. Jennifer's video's are short and to the point, but with enough detail to easily understand the concept she's teaching. I have just two more lessons to complete---the one that failed the first time (I think now I know how to correct my problems), and the last lesson of the class which I watched this morning. I should be able to meet my self-imposed goal of being done by the weekend.

This lesson was about coloring a detailed embossed image with watercolor. It's a technique I've used before but not with such a detailed image. Jennifer used the new Altenew "Needlework Motif" set. I'd seen a lot of beautiful projects using the stamp during Altenew's release week, and ordered it. It was sitting on my desk awaiting this opportunity.

I'm very happy with the results. I took my time and used a very small watercolor brush, following the advice to move around the image letting one area dry before watercoloring the area next to it. It's advice I've read many times before, but haven't always heeded. It's clear it's advice worth following. I stuck to four colors of blue and two colors of green all from my Gansai Tambi watercolors. I do think I'm about to splurge on the Altenew set because of it's compact size and the wide range of bright colors. I embossed the image with rose gold embossing powder which is so lovely. Here's a closer look.

We're off to lunch with our couples book group--discussion of Killers of the Flower Moon at one of the member's home afterwards. Later this evening, we're going to the Food Truck Rodeo at the Public Market with good friends. It's our first of the rodeos this summer. Although summer days are waning, the heat and humidity are not, so it still feels like summer for sure. 

Watercolor Basics and Beyond: Part 2

The next lesson in Altenew's watercolor class was on using watercolors as ink. It's important in this technique to use concentrated amounts of watercolor which you apply directly to the stamp, and then lightly spritz the stamp with water before stamping onto watercolor paper. Following that you can use a small brush to distribute some of the watercolor and enhance some of the details. I don't have a lot of Altenew's layering stamps (it's a technique I'm still learning to master), but using the detail stamp for the layering was recommended. Actually, the "Build a Flower" Magnolia" worked out pretty well for this technique.

I actually had a lot more trouble turning the piece into a card than I did executing the watercolored flower. I added some black and gold splatters after stamping the sentiment (from Altenew's "Floral Frame" stamp set) and let them dry for over three hours. When I went to adhere the watercolor piece to a card I weighted it down and when I picked it up, some of the black splatters had smeared in the upper left-hand corner! I finally found a Spellbinders die that was the right size to incorporate the flower, the sentiment, and eliminate the smeared splatters. What a pain! I added a gold border and used a Memory Box licorice card. Here's a closer look at the gold border and splatters.

 

I'm halfway through the videos for the class, and hope to finish it before the weekend. The next technique we learned was watercoloring an embossed sentiment. Looks easy, probably should be easy, but three attempts have hit the circular file. I'm moving on, although I'll probably come back later and try again.

 

Watercolor Basics and Beyond: Part 1

On a whim, I enrolled in Altenew's "Watercolor Basics and Beyond" class this week. It's designed to showcase Altenew's new set of 36 watercolors which look lovely, but I don't own them (yet). It doesn't matter, as I'm already enjoying the class, and have several sets of watercolors to choose from. In lesson 2, Jennifer Raza introduced watercolor washes. I've done these for a variety of card backgrounds, but she added a twist I would never have thought of on my own: pressing a stencil into the watercolor wash and letting it dry. I can tell you when I set it aside to dry overnight, I did not have high hopes for it. It appeared to be a hot mess. It's weighted down with an acrylic block.

Much to my surprise the next morning, I discovered quite a lovely background which was fun to use in creating this card. 

As I often do, I die cut the watercolored piece with the largest of Simon Says "Stitched Rectangles." The die cut sentiment is from Mama Elephant, and the white embossed sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's "Blue Skies." After they were added to the background, I mounted it all on a True Black  top-folded card.

It's definitely a technique I'll try again, although I didn't seem to have many stencils that I thought would work for this technique. 

Anniversary Cards

Sarah and Adam as well as two sets of friends celebrated anniversaries in the last several months. The cards went out on time, but were never posted. Like the Fence Line post a couple of days ago, these cards are variations using the same stamp.

Both cards use the Simon Says "Center Cut Heart" which has become my "to-to" stamp for anniversary cards. The center heart pops out of the stamp so you can stamp it separately which I did here. First I embossed the outer portion in gold on Papertrey's Weathervane cardstock. Then I gold embossed the center heart on True Black. After watching multiple videos on Yana Smakula's blog using Polychromos pencils on dark cardstock, I decided to give it a try. I trimmed down the outer edge of the stamped piece so a thin black border would appear when I adhered it to the card.

I took a different approach to Sarah and Adam's card, and ended up just using the center heart. 

After coloring it with the Polychromos, I carefully cut it out and layered it on a Reverse Confetti Pierced Round Top die. The sentiment from an old Papertrey Ink set, "Fillable Frames #8" was gold embossed below and the pieces added to a Bazzill textured red card. I think I purchased this at a wonderful scrapbook store near Phoenix, AZ the last time I was there (it's been at least 10 years!) I rounded the top two corners of the card to complement the round top die.

I was hoping the textured cardstock which is subtle but so pretty would show up better with this view, but it didn't happen. This is my favorite of the two (and the reason it went to Sarah and Adam!)

Fence Lines for Inspired By . . . Seascapes

A generous friend gave me a gift certificate to Papertrey Ink for my birthday. I saved it for something special, something I wouldn't ordinarily order. When I saw the Fence Line: Summer stamps and die sets I knew I'd found the perfect way to use the gift certificate. I don't usually buy stamps that are so specific to a season, but I really love these, and I love how the cards turned out.

The first card went to my friend so she could see how I had used her gift certificate.

After I had stamped and die cut the elements from Fence Line, I die cut the outer two pieces to the Shape Shifters: Oval 2 die. The Shape Shifter dies are among my favorites because they are so versatile. Using a stencil brush, I added some Salty Ocean Distress Oxide ink to the top of the oval fro the sky, and some Fossilized Amber for the sand. Since I was writing a note I decided not to add a sentiment to the front of the card.

The second card is a top folded card. I like that you can use these elements in both a horizontal and a vertical format.

When I made this card, I had just finished watching all the videos for Kristina Werner's "Simply Watercolor" class. It was the week Sarah and her family were here. I was able to watch the videos, but had no time to play with the watercoloring techniques she demonstrated. Both the sky and the sand were done with watercolors, and I used Kristina's technique to create a sky filled with white clouds. Right as Sarah left, Tracy came down with what appeared to be a virus (and was diagnosed twice as such), but turned out to be mono. Who knew a 70 year old could get mono? It's the sickest I've ever known him to be. At any rate, he is still slowly recovering, so time in the craft room has been very limited. I'm hoping to get to Kristina's other lessons in the next week or so.

On top of the watercolored "sand" I stamped the sand image from the set to add some texture. Once again I used the Shape Shifter: Oval 2 as the canvas for the card. I did stamp a sentiment on this card which was given to my daughter-in-law for her generous invitation to stay with them in Nantucket in July. I used the MISTI and stamped it two or three times, but in retrospect wish I had used a die cut for the sentiment instead.

Unlike the first card, I didn't bother to "punch out" all the little die cut pieces from the frame. I think it works well either way.

I'm linking up the first card to Inspired By . . . Seascapes.

Masculine Birthday Cards

Recently I posted a card for a sailor who is about to turn 60. His avocation prompted the theme of the card, and it was one of the easier cards I've made for a man recently. Usually I struggle with masculine cards but I have two more to share today. Both are CAS cards, and were also very quick to make. I still have one to make sometime before the 25th for a close friend who is turning 70. I have something in mind, but it's likely to be a bit more involved.

This card uses one of my favorite patterned papers ever--"Black and White All Over" by Papertrey Ink. Sadly, it's no longer available. The paper is exactly the size of an A2 card, and I added a border of True Black, two thin pieces of Pure Poppy, and a die cut from "Penned Elegance" to complete it. It truly was a quick and easy card with one of my favorite color combinations: red, black, and white.

Next up is another card that uses patterned paper from another of Papertrey's sets, "3 Piece Suits." It appears to have been discontinued as well.

I used one of the Simon Says "Stitched Circles" to die cut a piece of the patterned paper, and added it to a piece of Smoky Shadow cardstock that I had scored every 1/2 inch. The same die cut sentiment from "Penned Elegance" fit into the circle perfectly, and I used a piece of fun foam behind the Smoky Shadow before adding it to a white top-folded card.

I love that the stitching in the patterned paper echoes the stitched die cut for the sentiment. I'm entering this one in the Addicted to CAS challenge: Masculine before the challenge closes on Friday.

 

 

A Sunny Card for Two Challenges

I have a bright and sunny card for two challenges today. It was first inspired by the CASology Challenge: Sunbeam,

and then by the code word at AAA Cards: Friendship.

Hopefully the sunbeam won't disqualify the card for lack of white space at CASology. I see this as a CAS card, but there isn't much true white space. It was fun to make, regardless. 

I recently purchased the MFT stencil "Radiating Rays" and was anxious to put it to use. I blended two Distress Oxide Inks--Squeezed Lemonade and Wild Honey--to create the sunbeam. It was, as often is the case, die cut with the Simon Says "Stitched Rectangle" die. Then I die cut a small circle with a Spellbinders die and stamped it twice, once with small rays and then the sentiment.

Both the rays and the sentiment are from Papertrey Ink's "Hello, Sunshine" set, and I chose the sentiment as it fit the Friendship challenge at the AAA Card Challenge. We're getting some much needed rain today, so this is probably the only sunshine we'll see.