Blog Archives
Online Card Class Day 3
Today is Day 4 of the online Card Class Holiday Style. There was one last card technique though from Day 3 that I wanted to try out. I have always maintained that cardmaking is good for exercising one’s brain. The experts say that doing Crossword puzzles can help ward off dementia and I think that doing cards like this must have the same effect. It is a challenge to “fit” all the pieces onto the card in a shape and to do it with pleasing co-ordinating colours. Add to that the challenge of stamping that many little images with no smudging or stamping errors and I think you have a fun and effective brain exercise.
Supplies: Papertrey Ink All Through the House kit, Simon Says Stamp Merry Kissmas stamp set, Spellbinding Tree die (used as stencil), Hero Arts and Simon Says Stamp dye inks, Neenah cardstock, Corner Chomper
Going for the Gold! Day 7
Sandy Allnock has done a class of seven FREE cardmaking videos this week entitled Going for the Gold. You heard me right………….FREE. I have been watching all week but it is only today that I thought about uploading to the Gallery for Fun and Prizes. I have to hurry as the gallery closes today.
You are allowed to upload using either the products or the techniques presented in the videos. Well, I had some of the products and know some of the techniques but today something I hadn’t tried was showcased with a product that I had on hand. This is my version of “working out”…………….none of that sweaty stuff happening here!
So I cased Sandy’s shaker card using a different Memory Box die and a different style frame. I also decided to leave the outside trees white instead of gold. Don’t ask me why………I just did. So there!
The technique that was new to me was using a Gold Wink of Luna Brush like it was a watercolour brush (which I guess it is). For some reason I had only used it full strength to make embellishments or to colour things like the house in this card. The line of trees in the far background was created using the Luna Brush with water. This was a perfect place to try freehand watercolouring of trees. As Sandy showed in her video, all I had to do is paint in a soft line and add some hash marks for trees. It doesn’t look too bad for a first attempt.
The other neat thing that she used was Polar White Flower Soft. Dang if I didn’t have this in my stash too……………It was a long ways down in my stack of storage boxes but I was able to pluck it out of the box without turning the stack into a miniature Pompei.
Supplies: Wink of Luna Gold Brush, Memory Box Winter Cabin Landscape die, Simon Says Stamp Woodgrain Card stock, 3M Foam Tape, Tim Holtz Distress Watercolour Paper, Flower Soft, Mama Elephant Rectangle die and Scor tape
Online Card Class Day 2
This day has been a day from the land down under……………………………and I don’t mean Australia………………..think Dante……………the Inferno………….if you catch my drift.
Anyway, I finally got a chance to try one of the lessons from the Online Card Class day 2. I decided to do a watercolour card using Peerless water colours. Peerless watercolours are pretty neat. They have been around for over 100 years and use the same technique of saturating pieces of cardstock with the translucent colour. They even type the instructions in Old English Text. I cut off tiny squares of the cardstock leaflets and put them on a palette and spritz with water. Voila, little pools of lovely colour!
Here is the card I made using some of the tips in today’s class, provided by Dawn Woleslagle of WPlus9 stamp company.
Online Card Class- Day 2 Background Check
Today in this class, Laura Bassen is proving to me that she is not only the blending Queen, but also the plaid Queen. I have found it is pretty difficult to put together perfectly all the elements needed to make a nice plaid. Laura said she starts with trip into Pinterest for inspiration. I now know this is a good idea. If you start with a colour palette that someone else has already determined goes together to make a nice plaid, there is less chance of the finished background not turning out. It is not foolproof, as there are so many other things that can and probably will go wrong, starting with trying to stamp in a straight line with a thin stamp that dances around like a worm on a fish hook. Then, of course, there is the stamp is not long enough to stamp horizontally in one stamp, followed by the residual ink from the previous colour is lurking undetected on the stamp and ending with the appearance of a mysterious inky fingerprint in the middle of the background, that can all work together to ruin the project.
Anyway, I managed to put together a few backgrounds that might find their way on to a card.
Online Card Classes- Background Check
Today begins the newest class over at Online Card Classes. Background Check is taught by Jennifer McGuire, Kristina Werner, Laura Bassen and some guest artists. I love these classes because you can go in and watch a technique at any time of the day or night, forever, and the videos themselves are very high quality.
Laura Bassen is the Blending Queen for sure. She really knows how to get smooth blending with no harsh lines. Her inks blend like “buddar” as she would say.
Here is the first card I created using Laura’s blending technique.
Supplies: Neenah 80 lb cardstock, Simon Says Stamp Island Blue ink, Hero Arts Lemon Yellow and Tide Pool inks, Simon Says Stamp Ice Cream Dream Stamp Set, copic markers, Recollections clear embossing powder, American Crafts Summer 6 X 6 pad, Recollections card base, fun foam, Scor tape
DebSelby
Maverick Muses 