Be My Valentine Materials Swap

For this swap we were to make a card, then send the same materials we used to our swap partner and see how they used the same supplies to make a card.  When I went to my Valentine materials, I found this background stamped & colored in my stash - had been there for I don't know how long!  I decided it was a good time to use it since I could easily stamp another for my swap partner.  

Materials used:

• White card stock
• Black card stock
• Silver metallic poster board
• Stamped image (JustRite Cupid Background stamp, stamped with Versafine Onyx ink & embossed with clear powder)
• Stamp from JustRite's Antique Valentines Tag One
• Stamp from JustRite's For All You Do Vintage Labels Three (sentiment)
• Dies used: JustRite Antique Tags One, Spellbinder's A2 Mat Basics, HOTP Love and 5 Hearts
• Pink fun foam
• Scrap of pink marbled paper (for small heart die cut)
• Small embellishments - 2 die cut hearts, several clear holographic type heart sequins, several colors of leftover diamond painting drills, a few sticky-backed rhinestones
• Versamark Ink for stamping, Worn Lipstick Distress ink for coloring & for stamping.
• Silver & Pink Smooch inks for coloring
• Silver embossing powder
• Heart die cut from stash

Method - I decided to make a shaker card:

CARD FRONT:

1. Background: I can't remember for certain, but I think the stamped background was colored with worn lipstick ink using a foam applicator. Then I highlighted parts of the design with silver & pink smooch inks. 
2. Card Base: I cut a 10" x 6.5" piece of the black card stock to use for my card base - forming a 5" x 6.5" card.  I cut a piece of the silver to be just a bit smaller than this to serve as a mat for my background image.
3. Shaker Element: Using a craft knife, I carefully cut out the heart shaped piece from the center of the background image - then trimmed it close to the printed lines.  This gave me a piece that was the right size width-wise, but not tall enough.  So, I sliced it through the center of the label shape and spaced it to the right size by adding a border strip of layered silver poster board & black card stock (taping all together on the back where it wouldn't show - using scotch tape).
4. As I usually do, I used a die to cut a piece from the center of the silver since it wouldn't show anyway - thus saving the silver to use elsewhere.  I used a slightly larger die to cut a piece from acetate packaging material to serve as my "window".  Then I layered the silver piece (with center removed), the clear acetate piece, and my background image (with heart removed) and glued them all together.  
5. Next, I cut the fun foam to just smaller than the silver & then placed the heart-shaped piece I had cut from the stamped background in the center - making sure to line it up with the stamped background image.  I traced around this & cut out the shape so the fun foam had a hole barely larger than the shape cut from the stamped image.  
6. I glued my fun foam to the card front - making sure to glue it very carefully around the hole to prevent my shaker bits from escaping.  I used my embossing buddy to remove static from the area & then added my shaker bits. 
7. After wiping the acetate window with the embossing buddy to remove static from it, I glued it in place - sandwiching the shaker bits in place (once again being careful to glue well around the shaker window).
8. Greeting: After brushing with my stamp buddy, I stamped a greeting on black card stock with Versamark Ink & embossed with silver embossing powder - then die cut using the matching die and adhered it in place with foam squares.
9. Finishing:  Three clear rhinestones finish it off.

INSIDE:

1. Using the silver cut from the mat used on the card front, I cut a frame using dies from Spellbinder's A2 Mat Basics.  
2. I cut a piece of white card stock a bit larger than the silver frame - then colored it using Worn Lipstick distress ink & a foam pad applicator.  
3. Next I stamped a sentiment using the same ink (from JustRite's For All You Do).
4. I layered the card stock & frame as you see in the picture & adhered to the inside of the card.  
5. After cutting a small heart from the pink paper scrap using the HOTP die, I took a heart die cut from my stash & layered it behind the die cut.  This required a bit of trimming of the one in back.  After all was ready, I adhered both to the lower right corner of the card.

I Will Awaken the Dawn

To find out more about what this illustration means to me, you can check out my other blog - here.  Here, I discuss how I created the illustration.

After coating the pages with clear gesso to protect from bleed-through, I first drew in the basic shapes with my Inktense pencils.  To create the hills, I did as I often do - cut a rough "hilly" shape from a scrap of paper, and then traced along the edge, rotating it to different angles and using different sections of it - sometimes even flipping it over to use the other side. 

Next, I scribbled lightly with my pencils - adding several different colors to create the various shades.  Then, with my water brush, I blended it section by section.  Tip: I found that if I turned it upside down when working with the hills, I could start with the lightest colors & keep blending down to leave the darkest colors at the base of the hills.

The words were mostly hand-lettered with black Pitt pens, though the word "Praise" was a stamp I had (Onyx VersaFine ink).  Lettering still isn't my strong suite, so I used my computer to print out some of the other main words in different fonts until I figured out how I wanted to draw them.  I thickened some of the lines using the rule of thumb "thicken down-ward strokes, leave upward strokes thin".  Here's a closer look at the first page:

I wanted to highlight the texts I was focused on using my clear Wink of Stella pen, but I couldn't find it!  So, I used "Sparkle" paint by Spectrum Noir.  It was my first time using it.  It certainly adds a sparkle sheen!  I finished the pages by scattering stamped music notes all around the pages.  Here's a closer look at the 2nd page:

Deepest Sympathy

Today I have 3 sympathy cards.  (I've been needing too many of these lately!)  This first one started with some old pre-printed cards from HOTP that I used as patterned paper.  The decorative elements are stamped with black ink (Onyx Versa Fine) and clear embossing powder - then colored with distress inks or markers.  Most were matted with black paper.  Here are the stamps/dies used:

• Sentiment on front of card - HOTP stamp from "Heartfelt Greetings" set, Die from their "9 Tiny Tags and Little Labels" die set.
• Focal on card front: JustRite stamp from "With Sympathy" set, die is Spellbinders "Decorative Labels One"

For the inside of the card:

• Stamps are from JustRite "With Sympathy" set - die is matching "Nested Oval Medallion" die.

Card #2:

This next card started with a background created using black card stock and some metallic gelatos - using the "baby wipe" technique (scribble gelatos on & blend with baby wipe).  The background was embossed with Spellbinders 3D "Roman Romance" - then highlighted with silver ink & silver embossing powder.  The sentiment was stamped and embossed with the same ink/embossing powder, using a home-made stamp made from a HOTP design.   This was cut with Spellbinders Petite Scalloped Oval die (parts that were on the outside of the silver edge were inked & embossed to match).  This was matted on a piece of purple suede paper (HOTP).

Inside:

Inside we have another homemade sentiment stamp - created the same way as the one on the front.  This one was matted on a piece of orchid paper & then framed with the leftover piece of purple suede paper.  I added a couple of scripture sentiments from JustRite stamp sets ("With Sympathy" and "Cast All Your Cares").


Card #3:

This last card started with a background that was colored with distress oxide inks.  It was embossed with a Spellbinder's M-Bossability folder ("Venetian") and the embossing was highlighted with darker ink.  After inking the edges and adding a ribbon border (2 different ribbons from my stash), I glued it to the card front.  Sympathy die cut sentiment was from ODBD "with Sympathy" set of stamps & dies" (now Divinity Designs), as was the small stamp used on the tag.  The small "with" was from Rosa "Love Words" die set.   Die for tag was from a Sizzix set (Bonjour Paris).  Mats for die cut words were traced from the die & fussy cut.

On the inside are more stamps from the JustRite and ODBD sets.

Backgrounds for Pre-Mades

My Mom and I realized we were getting low on materials for making quick and easy cards, and decided to make so more pre-made focals.  The first step, was making a bunch of backgrounds for them.  That's what I'll show you today.  They turned out so pretty that I'll be using some for card backgrounds as well as making focals from them.

Set One - Alcohol Ink: The set you see above are made using alcohol inks and mixatives from Ranger applied to glossy white card stock.  I apply these with the rectangular applicator & felt pieces.  For the above (left to right), these are the supplies I used:  1) Gunmetal mixative, 2) Cloudy Blue alcohol Ink & Rose Gold mixative, 3) Silver and Pearl mixatives, 4) Poppy Field alcohol ink and Gunmetal mixative, topped with Silver mixative, 5-7) I forgot to write down the specific alcohol inks for these, but I used several different colors.  The light pink also has Pearl mixative, the medium pink has silver mixative added, while the green has gold mixative added.

Set Two - Polish (below):

This next set was made using regular white or black card stock and "Polish" from Cosmic Shimmer. They all have such a pretty shine to them! Left to right, supplies used are:1) white card stock and Raspberry Sorbet Luster Polish, 2) white card stock and Golden Glow Opal Polish, 3) black card stock and Golden Glow Opal Polish, 4) black card stock and Pink Thistle Opal Polish, 5) white card stock and Pink Thistle Opal Polish, 6) white card stock and Lavender Blue Opal Polish, and 7) black card stock and Lavender Blue Opal Polish.

Set Three - Gelatos (below):

I only made two of these as I wasn't as happy with them.  (However, you'll see that I later made a gorgeous card using the one on the left! It's the second one in this post.)  For that darker piece, I took metallic gelatos, scribbled on the paper, and blended with a baby wipe.  As you can see, they don't show up real well on the black, but DO add a fun variation to the card stock - and a pretty shine when held just right in the light!  The second one was done on white card stock.  Here you can see the colors, but I wished I hadn't done such a pronounced stripe.  I think it would have been better if I had just put color randomly before blending with the baby wipe.  However, I'm sure I'll find something good to use it for!

Set Four - Distress Oxides:

We only made two of these, and I didn't mark the colors we used, but I especially liked how the green-blue one turned out, and already made a card from it (last card in this post).  We applied the color using the round applicators from Ranger - along with foam pads - ink applied in a circular motion.

Set Five - Other Inks with Mixatives: 

Looking back over the backgrounds we had, I realized we didn't have any that were blue, nor a Christmas green color.  So, I went through my ink pads and applied ink from them to glossy white card stock, then added a bit of mixative on top (as done in the first set).  The blue one was made using a Blue Archival ink I had with Silver mixative.  The green was Green StazOn with Silver mixative.  As you can see, the StazOn went on a bit more blotchy than I would have liked, but I'm sure I can make something nice with it.

So there are my backgrounds.  Now to make the focals!