A Fishy Birthday

 

I struggle with masculine cards, so I usually fall back on graphic or geometric designs.  This time I needed a card for a friend who does semi abstract metal sculptures mostly of sea creatures and thought the Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous  Sealife stamp set might be appropriate.  I started with a sheet of Tim Holtz water color paper, blended some Distress inks on the rough side, and spritzed it with lots of water to make the colors run together like water colors.  I then lightly rubbed ink minis over the surface to add texture and depth.  I stamped the kelp in black along the bottom and then heat embossed the two fish in white.  I used a Simon Says Stamp die to cut the sentiment, coated it with Versamark ink and white embossing powder and then heated it to make it shine and give it the appearance of a puffy sticker.  Lastly I attached some Studio Katia clear drops for air bubbles.  After sponging some more ink around the edges to define them, I attached the panel to a white card base.

I plan to enter this in the Male Room Water/Beach, Modsquad Under the Sea, Sweet Stampers Animals or Critters or Birds, Bastel-Traum Water (#btchallenge101) , and bizarrely, Happy Little Stampers June Watercolor challenges.  To show how international the challenge blogs are, as I write this May 31 at 10:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time it is 12:30 p.m. on June 1 Australian Eastern Standard Time where the Happy Little Stampers challenges originate.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

#btchallenge101

 

Birthday Card for a Beachy Friend

 

Growing up on the corner of the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean virtually guaranteed that the beach would be in my DNA which means I love Stampin' Up's Sand and Sea suite.  The Seaside Seashell die set not only coordinates with the stamp set, but with the Seashells embossing folder as well!  You can either line up an embossed panel with the die and cut or you can cut first and line up the die cut in the embossing folder.  I tried it both ways and found the later was easier to line up and seemed to result in a deeper impression.  

Now, I have a dear friend and sister paper crafter who, despite growing up in the Midwest, loves the ocean, so you know I had to use this set to make her birthday card.   I wanted to use the Fab Friday Sketch below, so I cut the embossed die cut apart and colored the pieces with Prismacoler pencils. 

I then arranged them across the front panel which was embossed using the Sea Bed folder to form the element that goes across.  I used a stamp from the Itty Bitty Birthday Greetings to make a sentiment piece and put it more or less in the middle.  The bottom right shell is popped up with foam tape to add dimension.

I also plan to enter this card in the Crafty Catz Challenge which is anything goes with the optional twist of embossing and the Addicted to Stamps and More Birthday Card Challenge.   Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Unconventional Wedding Card

 

My cousin's daughter was recently married in his backyard with only her immediate family in attendance, blowout party to celebrate with extended family and friends to follow at a later, safer date.  This may seem like an unconventional card for a newlywed couple, but you have to know the couple.  The bride wore a black modern take on a 1950's prom dress with black, clunky heeled, ankle booties and a wreath of roses in her hair.  The groom wore black pants and a black shirt with a grey blazer and a rose  boutonniere to match the bride's headpiece.  Somehow an ivory and gold card does not seem appropriate for them.

I used the Mid-Century Frame die by Altenew to cut the frame in black cardstock and realized afterward that I should have backed it with adhesive paper before cutting.  Oops!  I then cut another frame from white cardstock, placed some adhesive paper behind the opening and inlayed the black frame filling it in with the negative space white pieces.  I then used the Kitty Love die by Penny Black to cut the cats in black and from the center of the Majestic holographic paper from Close to My Heart that I planned to use as a mat so I would have a heart to inlay.  I put it all together hoping for a modern Art Deco vibe.  I matted the panel on the Majestic paper and Black card stock before putting everything on a white card base.   Originally I did not fill in the tiny white pieces in the frame because it would be hard to fit them in, and I figured no one would notice since it was backed with white paper. I decided the frame needed something more, so I cut another frame from Majestic paper just so I would have the six tiny dots to fit in the black frame.  I already know what I will do with that extra frame.  The sentiment is from the Just to Say stamp set from Close to My Heart.

I plan to enter this card in the Daring Cardmakers'  challenge to use back and white plus one other color and the Happy Little Stampers April Die Cut Challenge.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

 

It's a Girl Thing

 

February is Turner Syndrome Awareness month.  Turner Syndrome is a genetic disorder affecting girls  where all or part of an X chromosome is missing in all or some of her cells.  This causes short stature (average height is 4'8") and ovarian failure.  There are many other effects which vary in each girl/woman including orthopedic anomalies, chronic ear infections, hearing loss, heart defects, kidney abnormalities, learning disabilities and a higher risk for heart disease, hypothyroidism, celiac disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis.  Some girls are more affected than others.  Estimates are that only 1% of girls conceived with Turner Syndrome survive the pregnancy long enough to be born which makes them little miracles.  I know this because my husband and I have been blessed with a daughter with it.  Let's just say that I have become much more intimately acquainted with our local med school's health system than I ever planned to be!  I am grateful to be three miles from excellent, cutting edge care.  The average age of diagnosis is nine, but within hours of Katherine's birth the doctors told me they had some concerns and wanted to run some tests and bring in a geneticist to see her.  With a diagnosis at birth, her doctors knew what conditions to monitor her for as she grew.  The Turner Syndrome Foundation has adopted the butterfly as it's symbol which, along with cats and baseball, just happens to be one of Katherine's favorite things.

This card is part of the It's a Girl Thing Blog Hop and Challenge to raise awareness of Turner Syndrome and The Paper Players Challenge to use a feline, the purrfect reason to inaugurate my newest cat stamp.  Katherine comes by her love of cats honestly as I have loved them for as long as I can remember.  I started with white cardstock and used Tattered Rose and Speckled Egg Distress inks with the Always and Forever stencil from Echo Park Paper Company to lightly create a hint of a backdrop to ground Mooch by Lavinia, a butterfly from Hampton Art, and a sentiment from Fancy Greetings stamp set by Altenew.  I stamped them in Versafine Onyx Black using a stamp positioning tool, so I could double stamp for deeply black, solid images.  I then ran the ink pad along the edge and attached the card front to a pink card base.  

I am also entering this in the Show Us Your Pussy Cats February challenge.  Thank you for stopping by!  If you check out the It's a Girl Thing Challenge there are links for more information about Turner's Syndrome.  Until next time, Hansi

Snowflake Net Christmas

 

The Color Hues Challenge colors of magenta and blue were the perfect colors to inaugurate my new stencil, Snowflake Net, by A Colorful Life Designs. Such a crazy nontraditional snowflake stencil calls for bright, nontraditional colors, don't you think?  I used Picked Raspberry and Salty Ocean Distress Inks which are more vibrant than the Oxides and a blender brush to build up the color.  As I blended I got various hues of violet as a bonus.  For the sentiment I cut the word "merry" three times in white and once in black using a die from Birch Press Designs, stacked them, and backed it with some velum because the background was so busy.  Then I white heat embossed the word Christmas from the Simon Says Stamp Stained Glass Greetings set on black and attached it with foam tape.  I backed the panel with black cardstock before attaching it to a white card base.  By the way, if you are looking for an intensely black heavy cardstock, I recommend Hero Arts Pitch Black Premium 111 pound cardstock. I finished off my card with some black sparkles.

I also plan to enter this card in the Winter Wonderland "Anything Christmas"  and Inkspirational "Snow" challenges.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Non Traditional Snowflake Card

 

I love snowflakes!  As a design element, that is.  As some of y'all know, I grew up where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream passes close enough to warm the air just enough that we didn't get snow that often, and when we did, it usually didn't stick.  I now live a hundred miles up river where we can count on getting some snow every winter and, being on the fall line, we are on the border of a little and a lot, so I like many Richmonders, rush to Publix when there is the mere possibility of snow flurries.  I prefer snow when I don't have to drive in it and it melts within a day or two.  On the other hand, I love snowflakes as a design element and believe you can never have too many snowflake stamps, stencils, and embossing folders.  This card uses snowflake stamps from three different set, but I am getting ahead of myself.  First, the layout of this card was based on this Freshly Made Sketch:

I started by making a mask and, using blender brushes, created a background with Wilted Violet, Salty Ocean, and Blueprint Sketch Distress Inks which are more vibrant than the Oxides.  I then created some texture in the lower right corner with the Gina K Designs Festive stencil and Milled Lavender ink fading it out as I moved upward and toward the center.  I stamped the snowflakes with Versafine Black Onyx ink using stamps from the Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Mini Swirly Snowflakes, Gina K Designs Sparkle and Shine, and Close to My Heart Snow Flurries sets.  The sentiment from the Stampin' Up Snowflake Wishes set is popped up.  Of course I had to had a few clear sparkles to the centers of the snowflakes.

Thank you for stopping by!   Until next time, Hansi

An Anniversary Card for the Color Hues Challenge

 

I am not usually a fan of color challenges.  They often ask you to combine three or four colors and specify the shade of the color which is just too confining for me.  The new Color Hues Challenge picks two colors, and you are free to use different shades of that color plus neutrals.  This week's challenge was to use Cream and Gold.  I can finally post my entry.  You see, this is an anniversary card for my husband, who sometimes looks at my blog, so I had to wait until I gave it to him to post.  Yes, we did get married on a Friday the thirteenth.  

I do not remember who made the heart with the leaves.  A few years ago a friend came over to do some crafting and bought the die with her.  I cut one to keep in my stash.  The second heart came with my Gemini Jounior and the love sentiment is an old Stampin' Up die.  I heat embossed each die cut with three layers Ranger Princess Gold and set them aside.  For the front panel I used Ranger Vintage Pearl to heat emboss the Rebecca Lace Background stamp from Simon Says Stamp on Colonial White cardstock from Close to My Heart.  To get the gilded edge, I held the paper perpendicular to a Versamark stamp pad and pressed the edge into it and then heat embossed the edge with more Ranger Princess Gold embossing powder.  I wanted the plain heart to have some leaves to compliment the large heart, but of course, I didn't have the die, so I cut a few leaves from the Simon Says Stamp Circle of Leaves die and heat embossed them with three layers of the Vinatage Pearl powder.  I put everything together, popping uo the panel with craft foam.   I embellished the large heart with a few small pearls.  Here is the inside:

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi