MEMORY BOX DIE & STENCIL

Memory Box has come out with some amazing stencils and dies that can be easily incorporated together. Here's my card:

And...here's how I did it:
First I cut a piece of white cardstock 4"x5.25". I used the Memory Box "Garden Umbel" stencil (#88512) and colored it with a light color Distress Ink ("Antique Linen"). I only used portions of the stencil. Then, I swiped "Broken China" Distress Ink over the whole surface of the card front to make it look like a sky. The very edges of this piece were distressed with "Salty Ocean" Distress Ink. This was then adhered to a 4.25"x5.5" piece of kraft cardstock, then adhered to my A2 size white card base.

Next, I cut the flower out of white cardstock using the Memory Box "Graceful Silhouette" die and colored it in with Copic markers. This was then adhered to my card front.

To finish the card, I stamped the sentiment in black ink and added a few adhesive-backed gems.

To purchase the Memory Box die and stencil used here, as well as other high quality craft items, please visit www.thefruitofmyhands.com  
for excellent prices and top-notch customer service!

WATERCOLOR CARDS

The Online Card Class "Watercolor for Card Makers" was an excellent class - as are all the other classes offered online here. Be sure and check them out!!

The technique I used on these cards was part of a lesson on "Faux Hand-Painting" where you ink a stamp with a light color of Distress Ink, then "paint" the image with watercolor paints. (I used Distress Inks). I practiced the technique a few times with the same stamped image and felt comfortable enough to use each image on a card. I'm finding that I still need more practice to get used to the amount of ink and water, as well as drying times!! I'm not a very patient person, so I try to speed things up a bit by using a heat gun. Anyhoo....here's the cards I made using this technique in the order that I did them:

CARD #1

This card was my first attempt. I was pleased with the colors used, but I wasn't as pleased with the flower. The petals looked more like a bunch of blobs. Still, I felt it was worthy enough to make into a card! ;-)

CARD #2

This second card is actually my favorite. I used a different stamp for the flower and I liked the results better. This is one where I dried it with a heat gun in between each step. I actually like the "feathery" look of the flower petals!

CARD #3

I chose to make the flower a little more purplish for my third attempt. It turned out okay, but I didn't allow the petals to dry completely before painting the neighboring petal, so my watercolor "bled" onto the other petals (see the top right corner). Still, I thought it was salvageable!!

CARD #4

For attempt #4, I decided to use more purples and blues for the flower. The color combination is really pretty, but I wished I had made the center of the petals a little bit darker.  It's still a pretty "painting"! (My son actually picked this one as his favorite.)

I am absolutely loving using these watercolor techniques and plan on doing a whole lot more practicing.....actually playing!!!

Thanks for taking a look!

WISH BIG

This is another card I made using a technique from Day 1 of the Online Card Class called "Watercoloring for Cardmakers". If you're interested in the class, you can check it out here!

Here's the card:

For this card, I took a 4"x5.25" piece of watercolor paper and "washed it" with clear water to allow the applied watercolors to blend more freely. Then I applied Distress Inks, mixed with water, and allowed them to "bleed" over the paper. The colors I used were Frayed Burlap and Broken China. When the colors were still wet, I layed the Memory Box "Textured Mesh" stencil over the paper and taped the edges down to hold it against the paper. The stencil kept rising in the middle, so I put an object of weight in the middle to hold the stencil flat. Once dry, I lifted the stencil and it created a really cool background affect.

I cut the Memory Box "Starry Wreath" out of a very thin wood veneer (as well as the strip across the bottom) and glued it to the card. The sentiment stamp was inked with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and stamped onto the watercolor background. Three silver stars were added for the final touch!

To purchase the Memory Box die used here, as well as other high quality craft items, please visit www.thefruitofmyhands.com  
for excellent prices and top-notch customer service!

HI THERE!!

Today is the first day of a new Online Card Class titled "Watercolor for Cardmakers". I absolutely love the look of watercolor, but am a little lacking in the creative side of it in relation to cardmaking. Just from the first day, I can tell this class is going to be EXCELLENT!!

Here's the first card I made:

I used Distress Inks stamped on an acrylic block, then spritzed with water to create the striped affect. Each color was stamped with the ink pad onto an acrylic block individually, spritzed with water, then pressed onto the watercolor paper with the colors slightly overlapping. Each color was allowed to dry before applying the next color. (I cheated and used my heat gun!),The colors of Distress Ink I used are:  Pickled Raspberry, Shaded Lilac, Squeezed Lemonade, Mowed Lawn, and Salty Ocean (from bottom to top).

The butterfly and sentiment stamps were inked with black ink and stamped over the watercolor background when it was completely dry.

If you're interested in any of these Online Card Classes, check them out here!

PLAYING WITH POPPIES

I absolutely love poppies and this Memory Box die "Darling Poppies" is absolutely beautiful and so fun to play with. It's a great die to use with scraps of cardstock and/or patterned paper!

Every once in a while, I'll dig through my scrap bin and try to use as many scraps as I can. Recently, I found several scraps of glossy cardstock covered with alcohol inks. I decided to use some of these on cards that incorporated the poppy die. Here's the three I made:

CARD 1:

CARD 2:

CARD 3:

All 3 cards are A2 size (4.25x5.5"). For the blossom portions of the flowers, I colored the outline portion of the die cut with a coordinating, slightly darker color of Copic marker. For Card 2, I also outlined the outline (hope that makes sense!) with an ultra fine point black Sharpie. I'm not too sure what I think about it. What do you think??

I was very pleased with the way the orange poppies looked on the vellum and against the cork background. My general "go to" colors with something red are almost always black & white, which is what I chose for Card #'s 2 and 3. Once I chose my background and lay out for each card, I selected a sentiment that would fit the amount of space I wanted to use on the card. I'm definitely not afraid of open space, and actually prefer that on my cards!

I'm so grateful that you came to take a look!!! Come visit any time!

To purchase the Memory Box die used here, as well as other high quality craft items, please visit www.thefruitofmyhands.com  
for excellent prices and top-notch customer service!

YOU ARE SPECTACULAR

Here I am playing with another Memory Box die again....as well as some other elements that I don't use very often. Here's my card:

The first thing I did to make this 5x7" card was to cut my diecuts. The star wreath was cut out of Birch Wood Veneer and colored with "Faded Jeans" Distress Stain. I love the way this Distress Stain allows me to color the wood, without covering up the woodgrain! Next, I cut some stars out of adhesive-backed cork and a small piece of white cardstock.

I positioned the die cuts (not glued!!) on the Color Mates "Dark Creamy Cocoa" paper (cut in a 4.5x6.5" piece to allow for a 1/4" white border on all sides). I did this to get an idea of how I wanted to proportion the rest of the elements on my card. I also made small pencil marks to mark the center of my wreath to know where to place my stamped sentiment.

I cut a 2"strip of gray corrugated cardstock and tore the long edges. I then wrapped navy twine around this piece and attached it to my "Cocoa" background. This background piece was then attached to my 5x7" white cardstock base. Using my pencil marks for the center of the wreath, I inked my stamps from Technique Tuesday's "Incredible stamp set with Versamark ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder. Then, I glued my starry wreath and the individual stars onto my card base. The single white star was covered with "Faded Jeans" Distress Stickles.

The "spectacular" sentiment (from the same Technique Tuesday stamp set) was also inked with Versamark onto a vellum strip, then heat embossed with white embossing powder. This was then glued to the card with small dots of "Glossy Accents" (my favorite adhesive!)

To purchase the Memory Box stencil used here, as well as other high quality craft items, please visit www.thefruitofmyhands.com  

for excellent prices and top-notch customer service!

Thanks for looking!

THINKING OF YOU

I've been having so much fun playing with brand new and never used items lately. I just received the stencil used on this card, and the sentiment "Thinking of you" die has been sitting around my craft room a while now, having never been used. Here's the card I made:

Here's how I made it:
The stencil used is Memory Box's "Garden Umbrel" (#88512). I stenciled the image on white cardstock using "Peeled Paint" Distress Ink and Hero Arts "Soft Purple" Shadow Ink. Some tips for using this stencil:

• Be very careful when stenciling the green "flower" portion of the image. The corner pieces where the flower base portions meet with the stem are not attached to each other, so they lift up easily, causing smudges. I would suggest taping them down slightly above the "joint areas" and stencil that area and the stem first. Then remove the tape and stencil the rest of the flower base, still being extra careful.
• I flipped the stencil over, after cleaning it, to stencil the leaf portion. I wanted it bending toward the stem, rather than away from it.
• When I stenciled the purple portion of the card, I stenciled once, then shifted the stencil slightly up and to the sides a couple of times to get the fullness that I wanted.

After the stencil was complete, I trimmed the white cardstock and distress the edges with "Milled Lavender" and "Dusty Concord" Distress Inks. Before gluing it to the purple background, I tied some purple twine around the lower portion of the image. Once adhered to the purple background, I adhered it to my white 5x7" cardstock base.

The die cut sentiment was cut out of white cardstock using Simon Says Stamp's "Thinking of You" die (#S122).

For the butterflies, I used the Martha Stewart "Classic Butterfly 3-in-1" punch, and flat back pearls for the centers.

To purchase the Memory Box stencil used here, as well as other high quality craft items, please visit www.thefruitofmyhands.com  
for excellent prices and top-notch customer service!