Just a Note

You may wish to go back and look at the posts for the last few days. Unfortunately, time did not permit me to write the "copy" before the cards were posted. I have updated these entries as of Monday afternoon. Thanks for your understanding.

Natalie

Stamping Sentiments on Solids

I have a greater appreciation of solid images now that I have seen how cool it looks to stamp "words" over them. This explains why you need a variety of stamps of the same type--some very detailed to colour with Distress Inks, some somewhat detailed to colour with Copics/pencil crayons/inks and some solid. BTW, I only inked part of this sentiment stamp so that it could fit on the square. To make sure that I didn't get ink on the part of the rubber that I didn't want inked, I used masking tape and then removed it once the stamp was inked.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: Stampin' Up
Papers: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), blue cardstock (Bazzill), patterned Basic Grey Lime Rickey
Inks: Onyx Black Versafine,

Distressing a Glossy Image

What good is a recipe without all of the ingredients! Thought I would start posting Hallowe'en cards to give you enough time to use the ideas that you like. Love the results of sponging Distress Inks on glossy cardstock. Misting the inked image blends the inks well.

Natalie

Card Recipe:
Stamp: Peddler's Pack
Papers: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), patterned (DCWV Midnight Spell)
Inks: Distress Black Soot, Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold, Wild Honey

Really Rustic

Sorry about falling behind with the text!
In an attempt to be consistent with a rustic theme, I chose elements that I thought were complimentary. I embossed the Cor'dinations cardstock with a Tim Holtz embossing folder and found the results very defined. Sanding the raised parts of the paper let the design show well. The mulberry paper framed the stamped and ink distressed stamped image.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: Hero Arts
Papers: yellow cardstock (Cor'dinations) white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), mulberry (stash)
Inks: black (Versafine), Distress--Aged Mahogany, Bundled Safe & Wild Honey
Accessories: wood grain embossing folder (Tim Holtz), button & embroidery thread (stash)

Creating a Distraction

I wasn't pleased with the heaviness of the Aged Mahogany Distress Ink; it somewhat "blurred out" this part of the stamped image. As a coordinated distraction, I used a flower of the same colour to embellish the card.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: Hero Arts
Papers: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), Slicker (Bazzill)
Inks: Verafine black, Distress--Spun Sugar, Crushed Olive, Mustard Seed & Aged Mahogany
Accessories: brad (American Crafts), flower (Prima), Cuttlebug Textile Texture embossing folder

Pumice & Pewter

In making this card, I discovered a few perfect matches. This pink CTMH cardstock from their Spring Harmony pack is the same colour as Spun Sugar Distress Ink. Distress Pumice Ink will compliment pewter embellishments. Just like the brown Distress Inks, the grey also provides a nice border.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: Hero Arts
Inks: Versafine black, Distress--Spun Sugar, Antique Linen, Bundled Sage and Pumice Stone
Accessories: buttons (American Crafts), yarn (stash), distressing tool

Balancing Backgrounds

Usually I stick to small patterned papers for background on cards, however, a small pattern would compete with the details in the stamped image. The argyle pattern is still small enough to be appreciated on the card face, behind the focal point. Note that the blue CTMH cardstock matches the Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. Glossy accents was used to highlight the circular element in the image and Pearl Glimmer Mist was used to tint the white space in the image; the white embossing is never truly white.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamps: background (Stampin' Up), image (Hero Arts)
Inks: Versafine black, Colorbox Frost White, Distress Tumbled Glass, Wild Honey & Milled Lavender
Papers: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), blue cardstock (CTMH Spring Harmony Package)
Accessories: white embossing powder (stash), distressing tool, ribbon (stash), Glossy Accents