Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Sponged Embossing


In cardmaking, new products and techniques abound.  When I first saw a Cricut demonstrated on TV years ago, I admit, I scoffed at the very idea.  I'm not laughing now
Four years ago, I tried to talk myself out of wanting a Cuttlebug.  I eventually gave in.  Now I use both that and a Sizzix Big Shot and can't imagine doing without them.  

I do my share of die-cutting these days, but I was first looking for a good embossed image for sponging.  Recently I played with sponging again.  It takes on a new look on kraft paper.

Here I embossed a piece with the Poppy Fields folder from Darice.


I trimmed this and sponging it with Rich Cocoa dye ink.


With pastel pencils, I added color to the poppies and a few of the tall flowers and leaves...


...smoothing and filling it in with a cotton swab.




I used:

Cardstock:  kraft (Hobby Lobby, Inc.), Watercolor Paper stack (Making Memories)
Embossing folder:  Poppy Field (Darice)
Stamps:  Hot Air Balloon Framelits w/stamps set #660690 (Sizzix)
Dye Ink:  Rich Cocoa Memento Dew Drop (Tsukineko/Imagine Crafts)
Dies:  Puffy Cloud Borders (Lawn Fawn)
Chalk Pastel Pencils:  light blue, sap green, orange (General’s)
Die-cutting/embossing machine (Sizzix)
Brads:  4 copper (Hobby Lobby, Inc.)
Glue dots
Cotton swab

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Masking Tape Frames

It's been a while since we got together.  
October is already more than half over, and I'm still waiting for McIntosh apples to hit the grocery store.  I like to bite into a crisp and juicy one while watching the sunset deepen from our kitchen window.

Last time I showed you some of my cardmaking using masking tape.
There's nothing quite like it for creating one-layer cards.  

Below, I started with a pre-folded watercolor card and created a frame with masking tape.
***I take out some of the stickiness by sticking it to myself a few times!
Inside the frame, I stamped this discontinued flower from Hero Arts, using watercolor pencils.  After stamping, I deepened shadows and added a loose background with watercolor pencils and a brush...not using too much water.



I added a bit of calligraphy for the complete card.  This was a birthday card for my cousin's daughter.


I did pretty much the same thing here with this rose stamp, a new one from Hero Arts, adding a wash of blue and yellow around the flower.

What's your favorite way to mask?