Greeting Card Aug 14

Greeting Card Aug 14
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

This is the neat nique project for this Sat at Cherish The Thought. Embossed with Cuttlebug embossing folder and a template to keep the circle area flat. Wish Sizzix die cut out of sticky paper and cardstock. The sticky paper is glittered then mounted slightly of centred on the cardstock piece to create a shadow effect. This is mounted on the embossed piece, which is mounted on another piece of cardstock and then onto the card blank.

Greeting Card Aug 12 Byhand Challenge

Greeting Card Aug 12 Byhand Challenge
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Yellow is one of the themes for the Byhand Challenge this week and I used a yellow scrapbook paper embossed with the butterflies background from the Cuttlebug Heritage embossing folder set. I sanded the high points to reveal the white core and then flattened it back out by running through the Cuttlebug a second time without the folder. Next I embossed with the gate folder, also from the Heritage set, and rubbed a Tuxedo Black Memento Dewdrop ink pad over the high points. The butterfly wings from a Crafty Secrets set are stamped and embossed with black, then coloured with gel pens. This is layered over a yellow and then white cardstock, attached to the gate background and a yellow gem sticker added to the goddess which is a Quietfire Design stamp. "Follow your dreams" quote is also from Quietfire Design and is stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink on white cardstock and attached to the gate with brads. This is then attached to a 5 X 6.5 white card blank

Is This Collage?

I haven't done very much collage, I just have trouble figuring out what should go together. So here is my attempt which has enough green on it for the Created Byhand Challenge. This is an 8 X 10 artist canvas board that I glopped gesso on and made some texture marks with a plastic spoon. When that was dry I scribbled Reeves water soluble wax pastels on and blended with a wet brush. The next step was colouring on the still wet canvas with Portfolio water soluble oil pastels, rubbed around with my finger then blended with a dry brush. I let that dry, then rubber stamped a couple of large background stamps, one music and the other script.
While this was drying I tried a Cuttlebug paint technique I read about somewhere on the internet. I put blobs and drizzles of paint on a piece of watercolour paper, placed another piece of watercolour paper over this and ran it through the Cuttlebug. I got 2 quite nice papers, but next time I think I'll just use a roller instead of the Cuttlebug, I don't like the risk of getting paint in my machine. When the paper was dry, I used my new Cuttlebug embossing folder from the Heritage set that I just got from Cherish The Thought yesterday. I sponged Walnut Stain Distress ink on the embossed areas to bring out the texture. My quote from Quietfire Design is stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa ink on a digital background I had leftover from the Tea Time ATCs. This was cut with Spellbinders Nestabilities Scalloped Oval and layered over a brown cardstock cut with the largest die from the Scalloped Oval set. The chipboard rectangles are cut with the Sizzix ATC die, dipped in coffee and the edges rolled until I got a nice distress look. They are stamped with some Michael's 79 cent stamps with Rich Cocoa ink and edged with Walnut Stain Distress ink. The white flower thingy is the back part of a button from Ruby Dog's Art House with a circle punched from scraps from the embossed painted paper and a brown half pearl in the centre.

Tea Time Triptych 1

Tea Time Triptych 1
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

The themes for the ATC Vancouver swap at The Grind are telephone, time or tea pots. I focused mostly on tea pot with a digital photo of one of my tea pots and a Quietfire Design quote stamp.

July 24 Greeting Card

July 24 Greeting Card
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Today's Neat Nique card at Cherish The Thought uses White Wash Core-Dinations cardstock and a new Cuttlebug embossing folder. This is lightly sanded to let the base colour show through. The stamp is from Local King rubber and is stamped with StazOn ink on cardstock cut with the Nestabilities scallop oval die cut. Jessie provided this beautiful striped ribbon which provides the perfect finishing touch.

Greeting Card Teapot

Greeting Card Teapot
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

My all time favourite die cut project so far is a journal page I posted on July 1 and it would fit the Byhand Challenge for this week of Looking In, Looking Out or die cuts but I thought I should actually create a new project for the challenge. This card for the Created Byhand challenge uses the Cuttlebug Blooming Bouquet Embossing Plus folder for the main background and I rubber stamped the Quietfire quote with Versafine Vintage Sepia on white cardstock before running it though the Cuttlebug Embossing Plus folder. This is layered over brown cardstock then mounted on an ivory 5 X 6.5 in. card black. The teacup is stamped with Memento Rose Bud on a separate piece of white cardstock and cut with the Nestabillities classic scalloped oval and the edge rubbed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. This is mounted with foam dots and a brown sheer ribbon bow is glued near the top.

ATC Vancouver July Swap at The Grind

ATC Vancouver July Swap at The Grind
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Now to the main reason for going to The Grind on Sunday, the regular monthly ATC swap. The themes for July were animals, architecture and Asian. I did all of mine on the Asian theme. I used stamps from 2 different Asian theme sets, the Chic Circle Embossing Plus Cuttlebug folder, my own flower photo and some silk flowers. Some of the photos were debossed and coloured with gel pens. These are a representation of some of my cards for this month.

July 17 Greeting Card

July 17 Greeting Card
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

The neat nique for this Sat at Cherish The Thought used one of the Crafty Secrets clear bird theme stamp sets, Versafine ink, a Cuttlebug embossing folder and a Dreamweaver stencil. We used the stencil and Memento stamp pad to create the clouds, first time doing that for me and I like the result.

July Greeting Card 2

July Greeting Card 2
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

I made this card using a 5 X 6.5 inch white card blank and Spice Market cardstock. The green layer is embossed and cut with the Cuttlebug Blooming Bouquet Embossing Plus folder and layered over the orange cardstock. The little orange petals are drop out pieces from a Cuttlebug flower die cut. I added some Spiced Marmalade Distress Stickles on some of the dots. The Quietfire Design quote is stamped on white cardstock with Memento Potter's Clay ink and cut with the Spellbinders Label 2.
This is the same Embossing Plus folder I used on this card at the last Sat. neat nique project at Cherish The Thought, but this one uses the whole folder instead of just part of it.

July 10 Greeting Card

July 10 Greeting Card
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Here is yesterday greating card from Cherish The Thought. We used another of the new Cuttlebug Embossing Plus folders, but I didn't buy this one so I'm not sure of the name. This one is quite large and we used only part of it to fit a standard size care. Happy Birthday on the lighter blue cardstock is stenciled with stamp pad ink and a brass sencil. The birds are a Sissix die cut with adhesive paper and glittered. This is mounted on a white card blank and the embossed layer is mounted with glue dots.

Pink Flower Journal Page

Pink Flower Journal Page
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

This is the journal page I designed earlier and can be seen here. I added a vellum ellement like the sample in an earlier post and a silk flower. Now I am looking for the perfect photo to use on the facing page.

Pink Flower ATC

Pink Flower ATC
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

These are more samples of using the Cuttlebug Chic Circle Frame Embossing Plus folder and turning them into ATCs. Two of these samples use the debossed side and gel pens.

Cuttlebug Embossing Plus Chic Circle Sample

Cuttlebug Embossing Plus Chic Circle Sample
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Some samples I worked on after getting the Cuttlebug Chic Circle Frame and making the journal page shown in the post here. The one on the left is Kraft cardstock using the debossed side and a white gel pen to highlight the debossed lines. The one on the right is using the folder on vellum layered on white metallic cardstock and the pink flower cutout inserted in the frame.

July 3 Card Project

July 3 Card Project
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

So the previous journal page used one of the new Cuttlebug Embossing Plus folders that just arrived at Jessie's store and I was lucky to be there before she introduced them at the Sat. Neat Nique and therefore had the journal page to show to rave reviews on Sat. This card made yesterday at Cherish The Thought uses the Cuttlebug Blooming Bouquet Embossing Plus folder on shiny card stock. The edge is coloured with Memories re-inkers on an application tool and blending solution. This is layered on green cardstock and then onto a red card base, with green ribbon and gold cord for trim. The little dots on the design are coloured with gold leafing pen.

Journal Page

This is one of the pages for a journal I am still working on and I am including some old family photos taken with an old box camera I had. Most of these are photos that no one else has, so I am making journals for gifts. I used a new cut and emboss folder that I just got yesterday from Cherish The Thought and made doors to show parts of the photo. I am very happy with the result.
This shows the photo with the doors open. The decoration above the door is part of Tim Holtz style label embossed with Tim Holtz Damask Texture Fades embossing folder. and sponged with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

Recycled Tag

Recycled Tag
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

I used a piece of corrugated pizza box cut with the Sizzex die for the base of this tag and peeled the printed layer off the top. The image is printed on watercolour paper and the word "April" is from a Recollections Flourish Months stamp set. The eyelet boarder is a Fiskars punch rubbed with Vintage Photo Distress ink. The stitching border is a Cuttlebug Embossing folder.The ribbon comes from a grab bag of notions.

More March ATCs

Well I continued to finish up some more apple theme ATCs for this month's swap. This first group "Fractured Apple" I printed a black and white and a colour photo of my apples then cut them out with the Funky Squares Cuttlebug die. I mixed the 2 images together and mounted them on metallic cardstock embossed with Cuttlebug embossing folders.
This set uses apple stickers from Ruby Dog's Art House, some have an embossed felt background and some are on green cardstock. All the stickers are stitched on watercolour paper and layered with red and silver floral mesh with bits of lace, ribbon and buttons.

Embossing Folder Samples

While I was doing the card project at Cherish The Thought on Sat I also perused all the Cuttlebug Folders Jessie had on the wall. I was so impressed with the sample cards that help to really get a look and feel of the texture and if the folder was sold out I could still see what it looked like, and order if I wanted it. I found 2 new ones I wanted in stock, so I came home happy for now. The idea is so great that I made my version with chipboard covers and embossed cardstock with all of the folders I have right now and can easily add more samples as I acquire more folders.

Butterfly Greeting Card

This is the card project I did on Sat. March 6 at Cherish The Thought. The card blank is white, the next layer is black cardstock. The next layer of Coredinations Whitewash Collection in blue, is embossed with Flourished Frame Cuttlebug folder then sanded, I could have sanded a little more and revealed more of a darker blue colour. The top focal piece is white cardstock stamped with butterfly wings from Crafty Secrets Altered Art small set in black ink. The butterfly body is 3 sizes of blue rhinestones. This piece is added with pop dots for some dimension.

Scrap ATCs

Back when I made the Dreams ATCs from the magnetic phone books, I cut the label frames, and the pieces left over from doing this were just lying on my desk. These just looked too good to waste so here are some ATCs I made and called "From Scraps To Hearts". I used silver metallic cardstock embossed with a Cuttlebug folder for 3 of the backgrounds and a patterned scrapbook paper for the fourth card. The word stamps are from Quietfire Design. The embellishments include Fun Foam hearts, charms, ribbon and rhinestones.