Brayered Stampscapes Landscape

This is a rather non-traditional Thanksgiving card.  I love my Stampscapes stamps and wanted to do another landscape using them.  I found myself watching a video about the "Zindorf Technique" for backgrounds, and I just had to try it!  This card was the result.  

Now in her example, the background turned out really smoothly blended rather than blotchy like mine.  I realized after the fact that it was because of the texture on the plastic table I was working on - next time I'll try it on a smoother surface.  But I liked this look, too.

I brayered the background with dye ink in layers as she shows - and then pounced the color at the bottom - once again the way she did it.  Then I added the tree & deer using my Stampscapes stamps and dye ink once again.  I stamped the tree three times - once with green - then again with blue (because I thought it was my black ink!!!) and finally with black ink.  It would have been nicer if I had used my Tim Holtz Stamping Platform - especially since it was a rubber stamp so I couldn't see through it for placement.  It wasn't perfectly aligned for the 2nd & 3rd stampings, but I kind of liked the 3-D effect I got.

After my picture was dry, I decided to frame it for the front of my card.  I used Spellbinders dies (various Labels Four sets) to cut the frame out of dark green and a slightly smaller one of cream to give me the double-frame effect you see.  I pierced the long edges of the frame to add just a bit more interest - then popped the whole panel up on foam tape.

The inside of the card simply made use of the die cut I had made when I cut the frame for the front - with another piece of cream cut for the center ready for my message to the recipient.

Wisdom

Here's a picture that started out as a Bible Journaling page!  

I was making a page about a passage in the first part of James and wanted a visual reminder for myself about the difference between living in faith and living in doubt.  The passage describes the one who doubts as like being tossed around by the waves of the sea.  I decided to use my Stampscapes stamps to create a picture about it.  

I tried several combinations until I was happy with the composition.  This was the final picture I made before actually trying the idea on my Bible page.  It was just made on copy paper because I had intended it as a throwaway, but I liked it enough I put it in the frame you see here. 

For the picture, I mostly used my Scroll & Brush markers on the Stampscapes stamps. The blue frame was created using a Spellbinders Card Creator die.

Anniversary Card from Scraps

Today's card started as a bit of a challenge to myself.  My SIL had come over and we'd been working on making cards from an old HOTP Paper Flair Kit.  Part of the process for her card involved cutting a heart shape out of the front of her gate-fold card and then replacing it with printed acetate.  It was a lovely card when she was finished.  After she left, I was looking at the bits left over from that card kit.  There were a few small tags & labels, and those red heart cut-outs from her card.  I decided to see what I could do with them to make a card of my own. 

I started with those leftover red heart pieces.  Since the heart was already cut in half, I decided to make a gate fold card.  I really liked the look of the red against white, but it was a bit plain.  So I embossed the front flaps of the gate fold card.  I glued the red heart pieces on that and then outlined them with a sparkling black and silver border sticker (Dazzles - HOTP).  I added labels top and bottom.  The bottom one already had the sentiment, but the top one was stamped with a JustRite stamp.

The card still looked a bit plain, however, so my Mom suggested I add a smaller overlapping heart in the center.  I thought of my lovely Paper Artist heart die (HOTP).  I cut it from black paper and backed it with silver glimmer paper (DCWV). It was just the right touch and really pulled everything together.

Then it was time for the inside.

A simple piece of white matted on red covered the original fold line and set the inside off nicely.  The leftover tags & a bit of ribbon added the right finishing touch.

Frozen Napkins????

Today's card used the napkin/freezer paper technique.  

For those of you not familiar with this, you will need a napkin, a piece of plastic coated freezer paper, and a piece of parchment paper.

1. Cut a piece of plastic coated freezer paper the size of the napkin/napkin piece you want to work with.  Cut napkin if desired, then separate so you ONLY have the top layer.  Cut a piece of parchment paper a bit bigger than the rest.
2. Lay out your freezer paper plastic side up on a table that has been covered with a towel & heat-proof craft mat.  Lay napkin (face side up) on top of freezer paper & smooth out wrinkles.  Cover all with parchment paper & press with dry iron set to medium heat.

Use the resulting "napkin paper" as you wish!

CARD FRONT:

1. Fussy cut the design from the "napkin paper" for the focal.  
2. Prepare a piece of brown card stock by running it through a wood-grain embossing folder & then inking it.  I added it to my card front to form a "table" for my focal to sit on.  
3. Lay the focal in place and lightly trace around it with an Inktense pencil - then remove the focal & use a water brush to create a bit of a shadow.  (I tried to get more shadow on one side, but need to work with these more to be able to really achieve the look I want!)
4. I replaced my focal & glued it in place.
5. I stamped a sentiment on the focal.  NOTE: the napkin absorbed the ink from the stamped sentiment, causing it to "bleed" a bit.  Next time I would try covering the napkin with clear gesso if I wanted to stamp on it!

The inside is more of the same - just a bit less of it!  I cut the pumpkin off at the bottom & found I needed to and some darker ink near the bottom to keep it from looking too weird - just added it with a foam applicator.