You Kick Ash and Stenciling Tips

I needed a thank you card, but not just any ole thank you card, so of course I made a punny one.

Hard to capture all the shine in the light, but I used vellum and alcohol markers for the ground. Vellum and acrylic paint for the volcano and lava. Modeling paste and glitter paste for the stenciled background. The stencil is from Simon Says Stamp, Mod Stripe. The dinosaur is a layered stamp set from Stampin' Up called No Bones About It. I had to cut out the dinosaur and kind of regret leaving so much white, but I was really afraid of messing it up on the tiny parts in-between the scales and legs... the white trim also helps the eye since the background pattern is so bold, so I'm ok with it. The sentiment and volcano die are from My Favorite Things- I Lava You. 

I used a gray paper to mat it because I love gray and any color looks great with it. Used some foam tape to stick it on a side folding card-base and popped it in the mail.

Note on stencils: I love them and they are awesome, but sometimes they can be tricky. It is an elaborate process, and a time sensitive one at that. When I stencil, I tend to tape down a few different stencils on my desk at once. I try to use the same or similar color schemes so I don't have a million pastes drying up before I can even use them. Since I like to mix the colors and create ombre/fades a lot, I don't really have a lot of 'pure' paste leftover that I can stick back in the jar. If you use one color alone, of course you can do that. I personally like to stick 2 globs of different colors on opposite sides of my non-stick mat. I use the first color on stencil after stencil and slowly incorporate the next color until I use up all my paint. 

I also use a bit of white modelling paste at times- a big jar is cheap from Blick Art Store and can be used with acrylic paint or glitter pastes. For acrylic paint, it does the important job of thickening it up- that way the paint isn't seeping under the stencil all over the place. It will lighten the color a lot, so keep in mind that a little goes a long way. The glitter paste also gets 'dulled', so again, just use a tiny bit to achieve the ombre effect. I'm also cheap and this helps extend the life of an expensive jar :) Pro-tip, keep a few different spatula tools and that way if you need to grab a tiny bit more paste to finish the stencil, you won't contaminate your container. 

Oh, and most importantly: clean your stencil and tools asap so they don't dry and harden! I keep a small container of hot, soapy water on the desk and when I'm done with a stencil, I peel it up and drop it in. If you are doing one stencil, you can probably run to wash it off right away, but since I tend to do 3 or 4 in one sitting, this has really worked well for me. Then, I bring the bin to the sink and wash them all off thoroughly. The container I use cost 88 cents at target and fits a 6x6 stencil without a problem- it is actually what I keep all my craft supplies in since they are see-through and stack nicely. I also have a bunch more of those containers in my apartment since they hold a set of shoes perfectly, but you guys probably don't care about my closet organization lol.

Last tip- if the stencil isn't perfect in a spot or two, just stick your sentiment or a sequin over it :D

When I see professional looking cards online I like to imagine that they have a ton of mistakes that are just covered up well. Of course I'm happy for them and quite sure they are perfect underneath too, but it does make me feel better about the projects I made :)

Challenges:

MFT card challenges (volcano = shape/layout)

The Male Room Challenge (no papers)

Simon Says Stamp blog Mon Challenge (past times- prehistoric!)

Mod Squad Challenge (name the stamp)

Fusion Card Challenge (green/blue colors!)

#BeMine

Sorry for the late post, I was away for V-Day and forgot-  Here is my #bemine Valentine  :)

This card features an arrow from one of Tim Holtz' Idea-ology sets. It is pretty large, though there are some smaller arrows in the set too. The large ones have some heft, so I recommend using some thick cardstock or a sturdy cardbase.

I also used some nice white textured paper I had in my stash. It is really bright white, so while the picture might not be great, the contrast is striking. The heart was made by cutting 3 strips of 100# paper (light pink, dark pink, red) and adhering them to a piece of computer paper. This way, the heart is all the same width. I used computer paper to not add extra bulk since I would be die cutting out the heart and I didn't want to damage my BigKick. Oh, and because computer paper is cheap and nobody would be seeing the back anyway :)

The wooden #BEMINE embellishment was heat embossed with Pink Pearl embossing powder from Ranger. I used some Ranger multi medium matte glue since it dries clear- luckily nothing seeped out, but better to be safe than sorry! Adhered my valentine to a card base and it was ready to be handed out on valentines day! 

I think that this CAS (clean and simple) style card is effective and allow the embellishments to shine... literally. Thanks for checking it out.

Challenges:
Brown Sugar Challenge
Craft Rocket Challenges

Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year! 

I made this card about a week ago using Mama Elephant's Lion Dance stamp set, which is a really fun set. A dragon counts as a critter right? The sentiment is one that I used for a New Year's card towards the end of December too- very useful! 

I flicked some gold watercolor paint onto red cardstock and adhered it to some gold mirrored cardstock. With all the reflective gold going on, I didn't think this card needed more embellishments- I also didn't want to detract from the cute characters that I colored with copic markers. I chose a faint green for my accent color. At first, I was afraid it would like like a traffic light haha, but they helped it all come together. I fussy cut the characters out and popped them up using foam tape for added dimension. I imagined making another new years resolution where I treat myself to the dies for fun sets like this, but we'll see how much my heat bills are this month lol!

Thanks for taking a look!

Challenges:

Avenue 613- use a critter

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends

Felt Background

Today I used a background die on a unique material: FELT!

I have a love/hate relationship with felt. I love how it looks and feels and I think it elevates a card to another level. I hate felt at times b/c it can take a lot of effort and be frustrating lol.. it can pull and lose its shape, or start to fray and look sloppy.

I used a shim when cutting the felt, so the pieces would have come out pretty cleanly if I wanted them to... I kept them in there though so the spacing was perfect. I then applied some glue on the back of the small pieces and put my card down on top. 

My first problem was that the felt was cut through for the most part, but it was actually hard to tell where some of the cuts were.. even holding it under a light. I placed the glue on the little pieces, but some ended up on the cut lines, or even on the negative piece that I had hoped to preserve.. I was in it to win it by now though, so I carried on and put the card on top.. I waited about 10 seconds so the little pieces didn't immediately fall off, but didn't want to wait too long or the background would dry on the spots I messed up on. I carefully pulled off the surrounding piece of felt (that was all one big piece). That piece though, which I had wanted to use for another card, was in shambles by the end of the process. It was just too stretched out to use. The other problem was that it took a few minutes to carefully make my way one by one through all the pieces and by then, my accidental glue spots were drying.. All in all, it wasn't too bad really and I was able to work it out by using a pair of scissors to cut some of the frays. I told myself to not obsess over it and after coming back from the gym, I actually thought it looked pretty good. 

The nice thing is you can use sequins or your sentiment to cover up any accidents. I actually thought about not using a sentiment so it didn't cover up all the hard work, but I think Vellum was a good choice and I love using it. I used a few embossing powders: WOW and 2 of Ranger's Tinsel series. I carefully did a little ombre work on the LOVE stamp (mostly b/c I'm cheap and I didn't want to contaminate/waste any powder lol. Then I took a few seconds to bask in the beauty of the finished card lol.

I actually use felt a good amount on my cards, but this is the first time I used a background die with it. I think that larger pieces are easier to manage. I also tried to use a sticky sheet on the back, but even with a shim, it wouldn't cut properly. Maybe it was the adhesive I used, so I might give it another shot. 

 Let me know if you give felt a try and thanks for visiting!

I used Simon Says Stamps' Stained Glass stamp/die set and the Scalloped Cover Plate from Neat and Tangled.

Challenges:
The Male Room Challenge
Mod Squad Challenge
My Time to Craft Challenge
Crafts Dreamy

Westminster in Watercolor

I decided to do a watercolor card, but since this is London's Westminster Abbey, I guess I should say *watercolour*

This Sketchy Landmark set from Altenew is awesome and I hope they create more landmarks soon. I used a stamp tool since the watercolor paper has a lot of texture- that way, I could stamp it multiple times in the same spot. I used black embossing powder. 

Kuretake Gansai Tambi makes a Pearl set, so I painted them over the heat embossed image. I used a few layers so the shine would pick up in different areas. People always say a picture doesn't do it justice, and that is also the case here.

After letting it dry, I wasn't totally satisfied with the clarity of the yellow, so I added a border of yellow heart paper. I finished the card using some frosted heart embellishments. Enjoy!

Challenge:
Pile it on challenge
Penny Black at all sorts