Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Penny Black Hedgehog Gift Birthday Card

For this card, I stamped the main image on watercolor paper in Versafine Onyx Black ink using Penny Black's cute little hedgehogs from the Wonderful clear stamp set. The sentiment was stamped with the same ink on striped paper (sorry I don't remember which stamp set it's from). I hand cut the banner and its shadow. Tip: draw a small dot with pencil in the middle of the strip where you want the banner tail, then cut to it from each side. I popped it up with dimensional tape.

The main image was painted, watercolor style, with Tim Holtz Distress Markers. I mounted it on gold card stock, which I first ran through my Fiskars crimper to give it a corrugated look. I dyed the ribbon (Hug Snug seam binding) with Distress Stain in colors matching the gift in the image. I also used them in combination with Viva Decor Inka Gold to color the yellow/orange/red Petaloo CMC flowers. The large flower has some Christmas Red Stickles around the center. For the centers, I applied Adirondack Alcohol Ink to half pearls with a Q-tip so they would match the flower colors.

The white/gold flowers were cut using Sizzix Flowering Quince dies. The gold paint (near centers) is Silks Acrylic Glaze, which I picked up at Michaels. I love the translucent look it gives (although the effect is wasted in this case since there is nothing printed under the paint). I added a little yellow Flower Soft to the centers as pollen.


Below you can see more of the details in the flowers as well as some of the shimmer from the Viva Decor Inka Gold paint. The leaves were also die cut from one of my Sizzix flower sets. I tend to cut a bunch at one time so I have them for other projects. I painted them with Twinkling H2O watercolors. To finish the card, I made a couple loops with jute to tuck under the large flower.


Thursday, November 7, 2013

Riveted Metal Look Birthday Card

I made this card for my friend (and Tichu partner), Martin, in Germany. Unfortunately, he has not yet received it and it's been about 6 weeks. I hope it (and the gift) is just held up in Customs.

The metal panels and birthday typewriter ideas were inspired by Tim Holtz's September 2012 Tag. For the metal panels, I used aluminum metal tape (from the hardware store) on a piece of card stock then embossed it with the Tim Holtz Texture Fades Riveted folder. I swiped acrylic black paint over the piece then wiped it with a paper towel so it would stick mostly in the depressions. The typewriter (seen further below) was done as in the September tag, using the typewriter from the Sizzix Movers & Shapers Vintage Telephone & Typewriter Set.

The card was cut with the Sizzix Pro die: Card, Tri-Shutter. Below is a photo of the front when it is closed. Other dies used on the card include the Impression Obsession die Buttons (the buttons were cut from cork and edged with Distress Ink) and Sizzix Originals Locks die (38-1109). I used Viva Decor Inka Gold in copper to color the lock, distressing it slightly with sandpaper and Walnut Stain Distress Ink. A couple small copper brads create the look of hardware. I bought the key at my local craft store (not sure what brand). The gears and metal sentiment are from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology collection. I dyed a piece of Hug Snug seam binding ribbon using Tim Holtz Antique Bronze Distress Stain then tied it around the metalized card stock with a simple knot.


The calendar stamp is from the Tim Holtz collection at Stampers Anonymous, the CMS035 Calendar II set. I just used some Habanero VersaFine ink to stamp the dot on the 5, highlighting his birth date. The edges of the specialty paper were sanded to show the white core; the other papers were edged with Distress Ink using a foam blending tool. I really like how the card stands up when opened.


Below is my favorite part of the card. I purposly chose this particular section of the patterned paper, showing the card, because we're both board gamers. I love the little typewriter. I used a small alphabet set from the dollar bin at the local craft store to "type" the happy birthday.



Friday, November 1, 2013

Penny Black Cupcake Mice Birthday Card

My mom's favorite color is purple so when her birthday rolled around, I sent her this birthday card with lots of purples (as well as blues). The image is from Penny Black's clear stamp set Critter Party. I stamped it using Versa Fine ink in Onyx Black on watercolor paper and colored it with Distress Ink reinkers. Although it doesn't show in the photographs, the candle, scarves, and cupcake have some added sparkle with Spica Glitter pens and a touch of Wink of Stella clear brush tip marker. The image and decorative border were cut with Spellbinders dies.

The tag was made a while ago, probably with the Sizzix scalloped tag die. I embossed it with "a moment in time" and a little flourish then colored it with Distress Inks using a blender tool. I also added some to the edges of the tag. I used the same Distress Inks to dye the ribbon (really, seam binding from Hug Snug) to match. The envelope was cut from vellum with an original Sizzix manila envelope die (the die is no longer available from Sizzix but you can find it on eBay, item number 38-1104). The heart was cut from chipboard using the Sizzix Primitive Hearts die (my original die only has 2 hearts instead of 4 with the new version); I colored it with Viva Decor Inka Gold paint in violet. The small heart was punched using Martha Stewart's Heartbeat deep edge boarder punch. I love this punch because it punches 4 sizes of hearts plus makes a beautiful border.


The flowers are from Petaloo (the leaves were cut with my trusty Sizzlits Branches with Leaves die). You can see how I colored the flowers in an earlier post. Below is a close up that better shows the dimension on the card. The happy birthday sentiment is from the same Penny Black stamp set as the image (mentioned above). I stamped it on white cardstock then cut it out by hand in a banner shape. After sticking it down to dark blue cardstock, I cut around it leaving about an eighth of an inch border. I popped it up with dimensional tape.

A little baker's twine, a strip of paper, and some washi tape finish off the bottom of the card.