Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Distressing Collage Images


Distress Inks have given me a new appreciate for fine line, detailed images. Too difficult to "colour", I thought that images such as this were perfect for Distress Inks. Blending of the colours on the collage image creates beautiful results. Note that the Peeled Paint ink matches the Hillary cardstock and the Mustard Seed ink matches the Slicker cardstock.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: Hero Arts
Papers: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), green & yellow cardstock (Bazzill)
Inks: Versafine Black, Distress Peeled Paint, Milled Lavender & Mustard Seed
Accessories: Spellbinder Rectangle Die, Cuttlebug Diamond Rough embossing folder, rhinestones (Kaiser), distressing tool

Monday, August 30, 2010

Distress Inks on Glossy Paper


Experimenting is always good. I was curious to see how the inks would work on glossy paper, but found the foam applicator would not glide across this type of paper. I changed my method of application by using a sea sponge and was quite pleased with the results. To soften the background I spritzed it with water. This "blotchy" look cannot be achieved with other dye inks. Lastly I stamped the 4 images with Soot Distress Ink in an effort to keep the black colour consistent. Because I stamped the images last, there was no concern that the black Distress Ink would be smeared when creating the blended and spritzed background.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamps: witch (Penny Black), sentiment & moon (Impression Obsession), border (Sandy Lion)
Paper: glossy cardstock (compliments of Wendy B.)
Inks: Distress Wild Honey, Marigold, Pumice and Soot
Accessories: sea sponge (stash)

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Small Thanks


Despite having metres and metres of ribbon, I didn't have anything to coordinate with this card. I compromised by using a strip of double sided tape and Perfect Pearls. I was pleased with how it compared to the matte finish of the pewter brads and alpha stickers. After brushing on the Pearls, I removed the excess with a tissue.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Papers: purple cardstock (Bazzill), patterned (Basic Grey)
Accessories: Spellbinder Labels die, brads (stash), Pewter Perfect Pearls

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Antiqued


This patterned paper lent itself to an antique image. Consequently, I antiqued/distressed all of the elements of the card. I did keep the Spellbinder die on the die cut and ink only the area surrounding the stamped image, but the border left off white was too stark, so I inked that afterwards. Once again, I also applied the same Tea Dye ink to the area of the card base left uncovered by the patterned paper.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: Stampington & Company
Papers: off white cardstock (stash), patterned (MME?)
Inks: Staz On Timber Brown, Distress Tea Dye, Vintage Photo & Aged Mahogany (red)
Accessories: button & embroidery thread (stash), Spellbinder Label die

Friday, August 27, 2010

Resist with Distress Inks

Another fabulous technique for using Distress Inks is resist. I stamped the ferns in clear ink and then heat embossed the images in clear embossing powder. The remaining images were stamped and then I applied the Distress Inks. The green ink was resisted by the embossing, leaving the floral images white. I couldn't decide white butterfly I liked better, so I made one card with each. The smaller butterfly was stamped and cut out while the larger one was punched out of cardstock. Each were coloured with the Distress Inks.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamps: script (Stampin' Up), fern (Rubber Stampede), postage stamp (Stampin' Up), Post Card (Alpha Stamps), Happy Birthday (Hero Arts), small butterfly (Rubber Stampede)
Paper: Georgia Pacific white cardstock
Inks: Staz On Timber (brown), Distress Wild Honey, Dries Marigold, Shabby Shutters, Tumbled Glass
Accessories: clear ink and embossing powder (stash), butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), black rhinestones (Kaiser)

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Pre-embossed Cards


I decided to experiment with pre-embossed cards from Die Cuts With a View. It's a good idea to practice working with Distress Inks to get the feel for using the blending tool and the inks. Stick pins are a popular embellishment to accentuate bows.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: CTMH
Paper: card (DCWV), white cardstock (Georgia Pacific)
Inks: Distress Shabby Shutters (green), Lavender & Spun Sugar (pink)
Accessories: ribbon (stash), stick pin (Jenni Bowlin), rhinestone (Kaiser), button (Basic Grey), embroidery floss (stash), Spellbinder Label die

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

3 X 3 Fancy


The same flowers I've used on other standard sized cards make a dramatic statement on 3 X 3 cards.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: Papertrey Ink
Inks: Versafine black, Distress Lavender, Colorbox (to edge card)
Papers: lavender cardstock (Bazzill), green cardstock (stash), patterned (Basic Grey)
Accessories: Spellbinders Dahlia dies, Cuttlebug
Victoria embossing folder, Glimmer Mist Spring Violet, button (American Crafts), embroidery thread (Making Memories), leaf punch (Marvy)

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Finished with a Bow


For something different I finished this die cut and embossed flower with a bow, rather than a brad or button. The same ribbon was used along the side of the card.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Papers: cardstocks (Bazzill), patterned (Basic Grey)
Ink: Distress Lavender
Accessories: Spellbinder Dahlia dies, Cuttlebug Victoria embossing folder, brads (stash), ribbon (Fabricland), corner sticker (Peels?), Glimmer Mist Spring Violet

Monday, August 23, 2010

In the Spotlight


By working the distress inks from the edge of the papers inward, I was able to create somewhat of a spotlight effect. First I applied the lighter colours of distress ink, chosen with the car's actual colour in mind, and then I used shades of brown (Tea Dye & Vintage Photo) to "frame" the images. I also inked the faces of the card bases to emphasize the layers.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: car (Class Act), sentiment (computer generated)
Inks: Versafine Black, Distress Broken China (blue), Shabby Shutters (green), Tea Dye & Vintage Photo
Paper: Georgia Pacific white cardstock
Accessories: brads (stash)

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Fabric Brads


This card is all about texture, enhanced by the fabric brads and large ric rac. The stamped image was water coloured with inks and the bottom of this card was inked with Shabby Shutters Distress Ink and a blending tool.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: Magenta
Papers: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), patterned (Daisy D's)
Inks: Distress
Accessories: Spellbinder Labels, brads (Making Memories), ric rac (stash)

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Colouring with Distress Inks


I inked both the top of the card base and the background in the flower image with Broken China Distress Ink to pull the card together with colour. I applied the ink on the background with the blending tool and used a water brush to paint the image. Fortunately, the Doodlebug ribbon matched too!

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: Magenta
Papers: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), orange cardstock (Bazzill), patterned (Daisy D's)
Inks: Distress Broken China, Shabby Shutters (green)
Accessories: ribbon (Doodlebug), Spellbinder Rectangles and Scalloped Rectangles, water brush

Friday, August 20, 2010

Version 2


Here I broke up the card design more dramatically with a thin strip of green cardstock that matched the ribbon and ink used. This helped focus on the lighter ink sentiment on this card.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: Papertrey Ink
Papers: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), green cardstockBazzill), patterned (Chatterbox)
Ink: Colorbox
Accessories: pearls (Kasier), embossing folder (Cuttlebug), border punch (EK Success), ribbon (Fabricland)
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Thursday, August 19, 2010

Flippin' Folders


By putting the top layer of this card in an embossing folder sideways, I was able to leave the bottom portion of the paper not dry embossed. This provided a flat area to stamp my sentiment and punch a fitting border. I adhered the bow in the top, right hand corner to balance the sentiment.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: Stampin' Up
Papers: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), patterned (Chatterbox)
Ink: Staz On Timber
Accessories: EK Success border punch, Kaiser pearls, Fabricland ribbon, Cuttlebug embossing folder

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

A Cut Above


Another online card inspired me to stamp a row of floral images across the top of a wide card and then trim. Something different.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamps: flower (Stampin' Up), border and sentiment (Sandylion)
Paper: Bazzill Kraft
Ink: Memento
Accessories: twine (stash)

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Take A Strip Off of It


I used a strip of patterned paper, rather than using a traditional solid ribbon. I didn't layer the sentiment on a different piece of cardstock as I wanted a lot of light space around it to make it more easily legible. Edges of both of the patterned papers were inked with Distress Ink to better coordinate them.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: Verve
Ink: Distress Tea Dye
Papers: glimmer brown and blue cardstock (Bazzill), patterned papers (green-stash, brown-Cosmo/Bazzill?)
Accessories: brads (stash)

Monday, August 16, 2010

Really Rustic


To stretch out my scrap of patterned paper, I crinkled it, inked it and cut it into 4 pieces to create a pieced background for the paper flower. After slicing, all edges had to be inked.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Papers: burgundy cardstock (Bazzill), patterned paper (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Tim Holtz Distess Tea Dye
Accessories: Spellbinder Dahlia, Cuttlebugembellishents (Making Memories), Glimmer Mist, ribbon (stash)
Victoria, brad (Making Memories), metal embellishments (Making Memories)

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Softening Edges


I found Distress Inks are a great product to use for softening the edges of bold, patterned papers.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Papers: blue cardstock (stash), patterned paper (Daisy D's), mulberry paper (stash)
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Broken China
Accessories: My Little Shoebox Tiny Alpha Stickers, Spellbinder Scalloped Circles, brads (stash), ribbon (stash)

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Doubling Ribbons


There was too much empty space on the side of this flower; to balance the design I used a wider ribbon, layered with a thinner ribbon. The picot edge on the off white ribbon also adds interest.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Papers: off white cardstock (stash), patterned paper (Making Memories)
Ink: Colorbox Queue Chalk
Accessories: pink & off white ribbons (stash), pearl brad (Wilton), Spellbinder Blossom, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Glimmer Mist
Creme de Chocolat

Friday, August 13, 2010

Mixing Flower Layers


For a different twist, I cut flower layers from two different sets of dies for this 3 X 3 card. Only inks such as Staz On will allow you to stamp sentiments on metal embellishments.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: Papertrey Ink
Papers: off white cardstock (stash), patterned paper (Making Memories)
Ink: Colorbox Chalk
Accessories: Spellbinder Blossom & Scalloped Circles, brad (stash), ribbon (Fabricland)

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Don't Button It, Bead It


Without an appropriate brad or button for the middle of this flower, I needed to come up with an alternative. I chose a glue dot of an appropriate size and adhered microbeads. They add both texture and a little sparkle to the card front. This paper flower particularly shows the inked flower layer edges.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Papers: purple cardstock (Bazzill), patterned paper (Basic Grey)
Inks: Tim Holtz Lavender
Accessories: Spellbinder Blossom, Cuttlebug Victoria, leaf punch (Marvy), glue dot (Zots), microbeads (stash), ribbon (stash), paper distressing tool, Glimmer Mist Spring Violet

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Which Glimmer is Best


Though this patterned paper scrap was already distressed, I blended Distress Inks to pull out the "redness" to compliment the paper flower. Edges of the card base were also inked with the Distress Ink. When choosing a Glimmer Mist note the colour of the glimmer in the bottle and choose one to coordinate with your metal embellishments. For instance, if you have a gold/brass embellishment pick a mist that has gold glimmer base, rather than silver.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Papers: off white cardstock (Prism), patterned (Basic Grey)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Tea Dye & Aged Mahogany
Accessories: Spellbinder Dahlia, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, brad (stash), Glimmer mist Creme de Chocolat

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Distressed Argle


Since argyle lends itself to an "older" look, I chose this background stamp to create a coordinating background paper for this flower. The Tim Holtz Distress Ink produced a "blotchier" result, which I appreciated in my attempt to get an antique look.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: Stampin' Up
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Vintage Photo, Antique Linen, Wild Honey & Fired Brick
Accessories: Spellbinder Dahlia, Cuttlebug Victoria, button (American Crafts), embroidery thread (stash), ribbon (Fabricland)

Monday, August 9, 2010

Dying Flowers


Everything matched, but I found myself without a coordinating flower so I pulled out a white paper one and dyed it using some Colorbox ink. Love the My Little Shoebox Mini Alpha stickers for a different style of sentiment. Adhering them on a curve gives the design some movement.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Papers: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), pink cardstockBazzill), patterned (stash)
Ink: Colorbox Queue Chalk
Accessories: paper flower (Bazzill), My Little Shoebox mini alpha stickers, brad (K & Co.), ribbon (stash), Spellbinders Blossom

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Dying to Match


I created another flower with the same technique in mind, using the Dahlia Spellbinder die. Here it is more noticeable how I have offset the petals of the same size. To create a coordinating layering paper, I blended the same Distress Inks that I applied to the flower petals on a piece of white cardstock.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Papers: green cardstock (Bazzill), patterned (stash)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Peeled Paint & Broken China
Accessories: Spellbinders Dahlia, Quickutz Embossing Folder Dots, button & embroidery floss (stash), leaf punch (Marvy), ribbon (stash), ribbon slide (WeR), Glimmermist Garden Fairy

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Very Vintage


I tried to create a vintage look by creating some distressed patterned paper and distressing a paper flower. The patterned paper started as a green patterned paper, similar to the "solids" found in Basic Grey paper packs. I stamped this paper with a script background stamp and wrinkled it before flattening out the paper and distressing it with Tim Holtz' ink. The flower consists of 5 layers of Blossom die cuts (1 sm, 2 med and 2 lg) which were dry embossed with a Cuttlebug folder and then distressed with the same ink. Then they were sprayed with Tattered Leather Glimmer Mist to make the paper somewhat pliable. ach flower layer was folded in the opposite direction, giving the flower some dimension. Layers of only 3 different sizes kept the flower to a reasonable height for a card to be mailed. The assembled flower was finished with Glimmer Mist. Copper was used to compliment the large brad.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: background (Stampin' Up), border (Sandylion)
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink Tea Dye
Papers: brown cardstock (Bazzill), patterned papers (stash)
Accessories: Spellbinders (Blossom), Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (Victoria), Glimmer Mist (Tattered Leather and Copper), Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Tea Dye), brads (stash), branch punch (Martha Stewart), brown ribbon (stash)

Friday, August 6, 2010

Fabulous Flower Heads


This is another very versatile stamp because the flowers in the stamped image are small enough to be covered with dimensional flowers of your choice. Here I've used flowers
made from embossed patterned paper.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: image (Hero Arts), sentiment (Papertrey Ink)
Papers: green cardstock (Bazzill), burgundy cardstock (stash), white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), text (old dictionary), patterned (K & Company)
Ink: green (Colorbox), on text paper (Distress Antique Linen)
Accessories: flowers (Prima), buttons & embroidery thread (stash), Spellbinder Oval, ribbon (stash)

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Blinged Blossom


The idea to use rhinestones on this flower was seen on another person's card. The flower head was stamped and cut out three times in order to create the different layers. Unlike the original card, I chose patterned papers with both green and blue in them to better balance the design incorporating the blue and green flower.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamps: Stampin' Up
Papers: blue cardstock (Bazzill), white cardstock
Inks: Colorbox
Accessories: border punch (Martha Stewart), rhinestones (Kaiser), oval punch (Stampin' Up)
(Georgia Pacific), patterned papers (Basic Grey)

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Glitter Ribbon


Just as I used microbeads on the last card to create a ribbon border, I used glitter on this card. It also complimented the Liquid Shimmers I used to paint the stamped image. Once again, I framed it using the Distress Ink with the rectangular die adhered to the die cut.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: CTMH
Papers: off white cardstock (stash), blue cardstock (Bazzill) patterned (stash)
Ink: Versafine black, Distress Antique Linen
Accessories: Liquid Shimmers, Spellbinder Rectangle & Label Dies, glitter (Martha Stewart)

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

A Ribbon of Beads


Since I didn't have a coordinating ribbon to use as a border, I used green microbeads on double sided tape. The little bit of bling complimented the Liquid Shimmers I used to paint the cupcakes. Once again, I left the Spellbinders die on the die cut image and applied Distress Ink to create an off white frame.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamps: image (CTMH), sentiment (Stampin' Up)
Inks: Staz On Timber Brown, Distress Antique Linen
Papers: off white cardstock (Prism), patterned papers (stash)
Accessories: Spellbinders Rectangle & Label, button (Bazzill), ribbon (stash), Liquid Shimmers, microbeads (stash), Tacky Tape
, circle punch

Monday, August 2, 2010

Custom Die Cuts


Some dies cut one image in several pieces, allowing you to create the pieces in different colours. This Quickutz die is very versatile. I cut out the Spellbinder frame which supports the cake and left the die on the white cardstock when applying the Broken China Distress Ink. This created a white border around the air brushed look. I thought that this worked with the distress ink I used around the edges of the patterned paper.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: Papertrey Ink
Ink: black (Versafine), Distress Broken China
Papers: blue, pink, yellow & black cardstocks (Bazzill), white (Georgia Pacific), patterned (Junkitz)
Accessories: Spellbinders Label die, Quickutz cake die, glitter, paper distressing tool

Sunday, August 1, 2010

It's the Ticket

A hot new trend in design is tickets. Here I have used a new Tim Holtz die to cut one out. It was stamped with a Close to My Heart stamp, although there are stamps appropriate for this use made by a few companies including Impression Obsession, Stampers Anonymous and Papertrey Ink. It's fun to add new and different embellishments to cards.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamps: CTMH
Papers: blue cardstock (Bazzill), white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), patterned paper (Junkitz)
Inks: black (Versafine), colours (Colorbox), Ranger Distress Broken China
Accessories: Tim Holtz ticket die, Spellbinders Label Die, ribbon (stash), Inkssentials Blending Tool