Narwhals for Fathers Day?

Yes, if you have a husband that will sing or hum the Narwhal song!  (You can the Narwhal Song on YouTube).  The Lawn Fawn 'Critters in the Arctic' has the cutest Narwhal, which is what I used.

I used the following to make this card:

• Distress Ink - Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Salty Ocean, Chipped Sapphire
• Simon Says Stamp - Wave Stencil, Stitched Rectangles Die
• Lawn Fawn - Critters in  the Arctic, Stitched Hillside Borders
• Copic - C1, C3, C5, C6, YR14
• Memento - Tuxedo Black Ink
• Versamark
• Ranger - Blue Ribbon Dye Ink
• Stampendous - Detailed White Embossing Powder
• 
  

To make the card, I first used the Wave Stencil and Distress Ink, on white card stock.  I started with the darkest color and slowly moved to the lighter colors.  I would occasionally move the stencil around, to get a more realistic looking waves.  I then added the lightest color to the remaining white areas.  I then used one of the Stitched Rectangles dies to cut the 'waves' into a rectangle.  The rectangles was then cut using the Stitched Hillside Borders dies, to get an even more wavy looking background.

The Narwhals were stamped using Memento Tuxedo Black, and then colored with the Copic Markers.  These were then cut by hand.  I then placed them between and over the "Waves".  I used the water droplet stamp that is part of the set to add the water splashes.  The entire image was added to the card base.

The sentiment was stamped with Versamark.  The Detailed White Embossing powder was added and then heat set.

Happy Birthday with Mama Elephant

Here are 2 birthday cards I made using the Mama Elephant Make a Wish stamp set.

Both of these cards are 5.25x4.5 and were made with the following:

• Mama Elephant Make a Wish stamp set
• Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles
• WOW Metallic Brass Embossing Power
• Versamark
• Distress Ink Festive Berries, Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn (used for the lighter colored card)
• Pan Pastels 430.5 Magenta, 250.5 Dairylide Yellow, 640.4 Permanent Green Shade (used on the darker card)

To make the cards:

1. For the darker card, I randomly added the Pan Pastels to the card stock, making sure to overlap the color.  The Pan Pastels were then sealed. 
2. For the lighter card, I used watercolor paper, wet it and then randomly added the distress ink. 
3. Once both were dry, I stamped the sentiment with Versamark, then added the embossing powder, and heat set. Both were then cut with Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles.
4. A larger rectangle was used to cut the backgrounds. 
5. All pieces were then added to the card fronts. 

Tim Holtz Festive Distress Class at the Queens Ink

I took a class at the Queens Ink in Savage Mill where we made the three different cards, two of the Tim Holtz Festive Distress Cards:

'Tis the Season

Seasons Greetings

And one additional card:

With the left overs from the class, I was able to make several more cards.  The Seasons Greetings cards were very similar to what we did in class.

For the 'Tis the Season card, I changed the background. For the background of the card, I used:

• TCW Aspen Trees Stencil
• Background - Black Soot, Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky, and Faded Jeans Distressed Inks
• Deer - Old Paper, Pumice Stonr, Grayed Burlap and Walnut Stain Distressed Inks
• Psst Sheer Shimmer Spritz

Using the stencil, I sponged the various distressed inks.  I then sprayed the finished piece with the Psst Sheer Shimmer Spritz.  I used a variety of Distressed inks on the chip board deer.

Spring and Fall Skeleton Leaves

Both of these cards use the same stamp, Skeleton Leaves, but the techniques are different.  For the Fall card, I used Distressed Inks on white card stock.  For the Spring card, I used Copics on vellum paper.

For the Fall card I used:

• Fired Brick Distressed Ink
• Peeled Paint Distressed Ink
• Rusty Hinge Distressed Ink
• Wild Honey Distressed Ink

For the Spring Card I used:

• Copic Markers: R24, G46, G24, YR18, Y17

For both cards I used:

• Versamark
• Stampendous Detailed White Embossing Powder
• Stampendous Detailed Gold Embossing Powder
• Close to My Heart Artiste Cricut Cartridge
• Close to My Heart Holiday Tags stamp set
• Technique Junkies Skeleton Leaves Stamp
• Ribbon

Fall Card:

To make this card, I randomly sponged the distressed inks on white card stock.  I then stamped the Skeleton Leaves stamp with Versamark, added the white embossing powder and heat set.  I then cut the oval shape for the sentiment from the Artiste Cricut Cartridge, and using the matching stamps, stamped the sentiment in Versamark, added the Gold embossing powder and heat set.  Ribbon and the sentiment were added to the card.  I like this card, since you don't know what the final version will look like.

Spring Card:

To make this card, using Versamark, I stamped the Skeleton Leaves stamp on vellum paper.  I added white embossing powder and heat set.  On the back side of the vellum paper, I then colored the leaves with Copic Markers.  I chose brighter colors of Copics for this, since they will have a bit of a washed out look from the front of the card.  I then used double sided tape to attach the vellum paper to white card stock.  The oval shape for the sentiment was cut from the Artiste Cricut Cartridge, and using the matching stamps, stamped the sentiment with Versamark, added white embossing powder and heat set.  Ribbon and the sentiment were added to complete the card.

2014 Halloween Card 5

Here is the last of the Halloween cards for this year.  This card is 4 x 5.5.

For the card, I used:

• Wild Card Cricut Cartridge
• Artbooking Cricut Cartridge
• Martha Stewart Halloween Stamp set
• Stampendous Enchanted Aubergine Embossing Powder
• Distressed Inks - Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey and Bundled Sage
• Versamark

To make the card, I cut a circle for the moon from orange card stock.  I then cut several bats of varying sizes from the Wild Card cartridge.  The house was cut from the Artbooking cartridge at 3.75 inches. 

I then sponged the Bundled Sage ink on the bottom of the card front.  A combination of Spiced Marmalade and Wild Honey was sponged above the Bundled Sage.  The fence and sentiment were them stamped with Versamark, embossing powder added, and heat embossed.  The moon and bats were added.  The house was attached with pop dots to add dimension to the card.

One Stencil, Different Techniques

I recently purchased several Heidi Swapp stencils.  I tried three different techniques with the stencils to see which looks I liked, and liked doing.

For the first one (Blue on Blue), I created a background using several different colors of Pan Pastels, then using the template I applied Versamark,  I then went over the entire image with the lightest color of Pan Pastels. This created a soft background.

For the second one (pinks and reds) I simply used the stencil and applied several different Distressed Inks with a Mini Blending tool.  This was the easiest, and I liked the result, although it was a bit flat.

The third one (white and blues), using the template, I applied Versamark, and then embossed with white embossing powder.  I then used several colors of Distressed Ink.  While I liked this one the best, it was not as easy to create, and for a background, I don't think I would use this technique.