Dear Reader,
Something exciting is happening around these parts. For the next couple months or so, I will be very busy. For a peek, please check out this:
http://www.facebook.com/paperswingsprod
I will keep you posted.
Shay.
An eclectic, eccentric (often messy) house pieced together from paper, rubber stamps, a smidgen of glitter, grandiose dreams and a whole lot of glue.
January 26, 2012
January 19, 2012
Shimmer: Clean & Simple Card Making Class Days 3 & 5
Dear Reader,
It has been too long since I was creating in my studio (a week). In fact there was a mess of stamps to clean from my last session before I could create in my square foot space among the clutter of supplies. I have found that even though I am a mess, I can use my mess to my advantage at times. I often will use what is about me--leftover paper, stamps, inks and even packaging at times.
Having said that my studio isn't entirely a den of chaos. There is order underlying the seeming disaster. I have categorized and placed my products and tools in certain zones, but my tables always seem to be covered with stamps, papers and the like. I like having my main tools at hand. As my tables dominate the room, I have to keep apologizing for how it looks to family and friends. My mom is especially critical of my studio as her sewing room is an example of organized crafting. I do love the look of an extremely organized art space, I just don't create well within it.
What about you? Does order constrain or free you to create? Do you like a balance of both?
Anyway, back to last night's creating. I wanted to create some more cards for the Clean & Simple Card Making class. This time I made a card using Jennifer McGuire's lessons from Day 3 and Day 5.
For Day 3 I chose to go with a simple die cut shape from Papertrey Ink called Friendly Flower. I cut out numerous flowers from white cardstock to be used as layering under the top flower (I used four under each blue flower). I had an idea of embossing the top dies to give them texture and further interest. The blue paper I used was actually paper I had created using some shimmery blue acrylic paint several years ago and was just sitting in my stash waiting to be used. I thought the shimmer along with brush strokes would add interest to this simple card. The sentiment is a favorite of mine from Hero Arts' Friends are Treasures set. I simply embossed that with white embossing powder and added a few pearls to set it off.
Another view with a pretty good representation of the color:
I think you can see some of the shimmer here and the dimension (you can also see the subtle zig zag impression under the script embossing):
For Day 5 I did a loose interpretation of Jennifer McGuire's watercolor blocking technique as I was inspired by heart ornaments we have hanging off our chandelier that we bought from Victorian Trading Company. They have an ombred background with white glittered silhouettes over it.
Here is the inspiration (picture from Victorian Trading Company):
The card:
I stamped the silhouette (Silhouette Women by Hero Arts) with Versamark ink onto watercolor paper. I thought I would try using a sparkly embossing powder with a touch of white to get a glitter effect, but I am not thrilled with the coverage. I later added some glitter over the women. In the future I would probably just emboss in white and add the glitter by using a glue pad over the embossed image. After embossing, I painted bands of color from lightest to darkest (spun sugar, tattered rose, worn lipstick and fired brick) using Tim Holtz Distress Ink. I smudged the ink directly onto my craft sheet, sprayed a little water and then one spritz of Studio Calico Mister Huey's Calico Shine onto the ink and painted it on. I edged the watercolor paper panel and matted it on a little black and added the pearl corners.
This picture is closer to the colors on the actual card, but still a bit off:
Showing some of the shimmer and glitter:
Happy creating,
Shay.
{best wishes birthday card}
stamp: Friends are Treasures (CG277), Hero Arts
ink: Versamark, Tsukineko
embossing powder: opaque white, Judi Kins
cardstock: white, Georgia Pacific
die: friendly flower, Papertrey Ink
embossing folders/plates: script, cuttlebug by Provo Craft; Halloween letterpress printing plate, Lifestyle Crafts
other: denim pearls, Kaisercraft; acrylic paint; cuttlebug, Provo Craft
{ombre women card}
stamp: silhouette women (CG278), Hero Arts
ink: fired brick, worn lipstick, tattered rose and spun sugar, Tim Holtz Distress Ink by Ranger; Versamark, Tsukineko
embossing powder: polysparkle, Ranger; opaque white, Judi Kins
watercolor paper: cold press, Strathmore
cardstock: white, Georgia Pacific; black from stash
spray: calico shine, Mister Huey's Color Mist by Studio Calico
other: crystal fine glitter, Martha Stewart Crafts; pearls, The Paper Studio
Labels:
cards
,
clean and simple card making
,
Hero Arts
January 18, 2012
Bohemian Flower
Dear Reader,
For a college friend of mine I wanted to make a card with a gypsy or bohemian feel for her birthday. I was also taken with coloring and playing around with Hero Arts' Stencil Flower (CG194). I love this stamp and I keep on buying flowers similar to it so I can do paper piecing + coloring with them like I did for this card.
Thanks for stopping by.
Happy creating,
Shay.
{bohemian birthday card}
stamps: stencil flower (CG194), old letter (CG197), Hero Arts; fillable frames #9, Papertrey Ink
ink: tuxedo black, Momento by Tsukineko; lemon drops, chicken feed and chili powder, Jenni Bowlin for Ranger
patterned paper: purple from Green at Heart, Basic Grey; yellow paper, Glitz Design (I believe)
markers: Copic; soft black, Memory Markers by American Crafts
die: tiny tags, Papertrey Ink
punch: Martha Stewart
leaves: pretty felt feathers, Kitschy Digitals
other: ribbon from stash; embroidery floss, DMC; dimensional foam tape; crop-a-dile corner chomper, We R Memory Keepers; cuttlebug, Provo Craft
Labels:
birthday
,
Hero Arts
,
hybrid
,
Papertrey Ink
January 17, 2012
Big Bright 18th Birthday
Dear Reader,
A while back I took Basic Grey card classes from a local scrapbook store that is now sadly closed. I would rarely finish the cards, but they were a way for me to have a jump start for future cards. One such card I started became a 18th birthday card for a cousin of mine (I have a few). The Basic Grey line is the very bright, punchy Green at Heart released some time back.
I paired the bright colors with the equally happy white. I am a great lover of white either as a cheerful neutral or even as an excellent juxtaposition to bold color like I did with this card. I added the die cut 1 and 8 from Papertrey Ink's By the Numbers Collection which is perfect for celebrating milestone birthdays and I will have a couple more examples of cards made with those dies in the future. The flower stamp is from Hello, Friend and I die cut it with its matching Friendly Flower die. I wanted just a little more interest so I die cut a button using Buttoned Up #1 and then stamped a coordinating button from Button Boutique which I sewed onto the flower using my old friend, embroidery floss. For some more white around the edges of the card I sanded the edges of the paper to reveal the white core. The sentiment from Big Birthday Wishes was designed to work well with the By the Numbers Collection.
Thanks for stopping by!
Happy creating,
Shay.
{bright 18 birthday card}
stamps: big birthday wishes, button boutique and hello, friend, Papertrey Ink
ink: bubble gum, lemon drops and chicken feed, Jenni Bowlin for Ranger; purely pomegranate, Stampin' Up!
cardstock: white, Georgia Pacific
patterned paper: Green at Heart collection, Basic Grey
die: buttoned up #1 and friendly flower, Papertrey Ink
stickers: Green at Heart collection, Basic Grey
other: embroidery floss, DMC; cuttlebug, Provo Craft; crop-a-dile corner chomper, We R Memory Keepers; foam dimensional tape
Labels:
Basic Grey
,
birthday
,
cards
,
Papertrey Ink
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)