Valentine's Day 2016 Series - Card 4

You can't say I didn't give you a heads up. Here he is again. I love this skunk.

I have been a fan of Lawn Fawn for quite some time, and in all that time I have always tried to colour the critters realistically. For this card I stepped away from realism and attempted a more whimsical palette.

To begin, I stamped the flower, then masked it and stamped the skunk on top to create a one layer critter, since he was designed to hold his heart I didn't need to use a mask. I coloured it with copics and used a gem for the centre of the flower. Because of the addition of the flower I wasn't able to use the coordinating die, but fussy cut him out instead.

The hearts were die cut from the same glossy paper I created for my previous card. I mean, why waste an entire sheet of glossy paper when you can just keep cutting and cutting, right?

I duplicated the watercolour background from that card as well. Perhaps it was my eagerness with the water or I didn't scribble as much as I had on the other panel, but the colour was super faint. I used the same colours and scribbled on my acrylic block and then added more colour to the paper. As it happens, I prefer this panel because of the layers that appeared.

The greeting is from two different MFT sets, I couldn't find a sentiment that said exactly what I wanted so I put one together. It took more than a bit of creative masking, but turned out exactly the way I wanted it. Generally I don't shy away from some stamp surgery, but these were so close together I was afraid of cutting the words, and that would have made me very sad indeed.

I'd also like to enter this card into the SSS Challenge "Something New", I had considered creating a baby card, but this little guy is my newest stamp, and the background is also a relatively "new to me" technique, so I thought why not?

Also, don't forget! You can follow me on instagram @trinadezeeuw

Valentine's Day 2016 Series - Card 3

I had used the alcohol ink marbling technique on a snowflake boarder card, and decided I wanted to give it a try in reds for Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, I didn't really have a red, only pink. Needless to say my vision quickly turned to disappointment. However, I thought I'd give it a go anyway and while it wasn't exactly what I had in mind, I found the results satisfactory. 

The background came about by loosely scribbling three shades of distress ink markers to create an ombre effect, then using a flat brush with clean water to blend. I've tried doing this before but had some difficulty making it blend nicely. I found that if I allowed the markers to dry completely before adding the water I ended up with a streakier look that had distinct lines where the marker was applied. In the card, I applied the water as soon as the cap was on the last marker and was incredibly pleased to see the results I was looking for.

The greeting was die cut from the same watercolour paper several times and glued together to add some dimension. I used the mid-tone shade without water to colour the word, then applied glossy accents to make it really pop. 

The "you" was heat embossed with white on the same marble paper the hearts came from then trimmed and applied with foam tape. 

Alcohol ink marbled die cut hearts on watercolour background with dimensional greeting and glossy accents to make it shine.

Winter and Holiday Card Series 2015 - Card 24

This card was the result of my youngest daughter asking me what the shiny paper was for, while holding up my remaining piece of glossy paper and sitting on my craft table. Something she knows is not allowed.

While I was conveniently looking for a new card idea, I showed her the alcohol ink marbling technique.

The resulting paper reminded me the way Christmas lights look through a snow storm or a thick fog. Perhaps that's my poetic art side talking, but nonetheless that's where the paper led me.

Alcohol ink marble technique on glossy paper, die cut with snowflake boarder die. Die cut "Merry Christmas" greeting from sparkly paper set on a shimmering background with micro accent gems.