Card-a-palooza!

I was in a card making mood today! So, let's get right to it...

This first one includes the colors from this week's Scrapmaster's Paradise Color Challenge #4:

The color squares are made by directly dabbing the Stampin' Up! color spots to the paper. This look could also be achieved by using a distressed square stamp. Then, I machine stitched between the lines. I was going for a kind of quilted look.

The star image is stamped with StazOn onto a transparent sheet and then stapled into place.

(There's another SPCC card at the end of the post, too.)

Details: Ink: Stampin' Up!, StazOn; The Paper Company paper; My Mind's Eye stamp; JudiKins transparent sheet; Making Memories colored staples; thread.

The next four (yes, four) cards are what I'm considering "art cards", which I made for the Vintage Plum weekly challenge.

I used a fun technique that I learned over on the 2Peas website in Jennifer McGuire's Thinking Inking series: heating up the paint from a Ranger Paint Dabber. I have been holding on to a copper dabber for a loooong time but just had never gotten around to using it.

Published in Scrapbook News and Review Magazine August 2010

What's so cool is that the Ranger paint will bubble up when heated (and it crackles, too, which adds to the fun factor). I also like the circular effect the dabber left on my little tree, too. The tree is a Quickutz Silhouette die cut. I had so much fun with this technique that I colored a bunch of other die cuts at the same time.

I stamped a world map onto the teal woodgrain paper from the DCWV Green Stack and a script image on the brown mat. I drew a little border all around the mat and distressed the blue piece to give the card a finished feel.

Details: Paper - DCWV, Bazzill, The Paper Company; Stampin' Up! ink; Inkadinkado stamps; Ranger paint dabber; Quickutz Silhouette die cut; Zig Millenium pen; Stampin' Up! brads.

I was going for the look of a clipboard on this next card. It's supposed to look like the clipboard is overflowing with papers but then this calming little image sits on top.

April 2011 issue

I absolutely LOVE this birds on a wire stamp from Tim Holtz. I love that, even though they are a silhouette, you can still pick up the personalities of each little bird. The pretty little tree is an Imaginisce stamp. Both the birds and the tree are heat embossed in black. The background is that Inkadinkado world map stamp again, stamped in VersaMark and clear embossed. Then I sponged Ranger distress inks over the top to make the background pop.

Details: The Paper Company paper; Ink - StazOn, VersaMark, Ranger Distress Inks; Stamps - Tim Holtz, Imaginisce, Inkadinkado; Making Memories clip; Zig Millenium pen; corner rounder; misc. papers, receipts, and ticket stubs.

March 2011 issue

I had fun making this whimsical little card. Something about that adorable little Unity Stamp Company quail screamed "riding a bike" to me. And, of course, since he's a bird, he had to be riding on a tightrope. Yeah - I don't know where these ideas come from, either. The bike, umbrella, base paper, and scrap paper used to stamp the quail and the sentiment are all from the K & Co. Daydreams collection. The little buildings from We R Memory Keepers are stamped on a vintage dictionary page.

Details: K & Co. paper; Stampin' Up! ink; Stamps - Unity Stamp Company, We R Memory Keepers; Zig Millenium pen (corner doodles); vintage dictionary; unknown mini clothes pins and twine.

I saved the best for last, in my humble opinion. I had soooooo much fun making this last card. It's just so grungy and busy and wonderful.

And, wouldn't you know it, the card contains the SPCC Week #4 colors (Summer Sun, Garden Green, & Pink Passion - see above for swatch)!

The butterfly (a Quickutz Silhouette die cut) was also made using the paint dabber heating technique. The GORGEOUS patterned paper is from Basic Grey's Obscure collection. The butterfly's trail is mini circular mirrors. A couple of them are grunged up a bit with a rub on. There's a bit of Magic Mesh on here, too, (remember that stuff?) and some velvet ribbon and sparkly fibers that look like a raggedy crow molted on my card.

The black base is stamped with an Autumn Leaves flourish stamp and heat embossed with a yummy "Black Opal" embossing powder by JudiKins.

Details: Paper - Basic Grey, The Paper Company; Autumn Leaves stamps; Ink - VersaMark, Colorbox; JudiKins embossing powder; Magic Mesh; Darice mirrors; Stampin' Up! ribbon; Adornaments fiber; Quickutz Silhouette die cut; unknown rub ons.

Thanks for sticking with me through this marathon post! Thanks for looking. Let me know what you think!

Heidi