Working in Layers

How Jennifer made the Buck/Deer look 3-D
Jennifer has had a lot of requests to show how she did the buck on this Birthday card, and had been gracious enough to share with us how she made this stunning card.

Here are the directions in her words.
Supplies:
Paper Solid: Cream- Archivers, Blue-Stampin' up
Paper Patterned: Making Memories "Just Chill in"
Ribbon: May Arts Tools: Prisma Colored Pencils, E57 Copic, Cricut-Accent Essentials Cartridge, Fiskars border punch, Brown StazOn and VersaColor Pinecone #171

Instructions:
I cut down the blue paper to A2 size. I cut down the plaid paper to be slightly smaller than the A2 card so when Its mounted to the blue paper you can see just a little of the blue border. I used the Cricut to make the plaque that is mounted behind the deer, using the Accent Essentials Cartridge Acct#48 at 4". I used my Copic to edge the plaque before I glued it down (I did not want to see the white of the paper). I also edged the small border that is on top of the sentiment block with the Copic. I printed the "Happy Birthday Dad" on my computer, the font is called Haettenschweiler. I edged this block in the VersaColor just to add some depth. I glued the border tot he edge of the sentiment block, added pop-dots and mounted it on the card under the deer. Added the woodgrain ribbon tied in a knot to the spine of the card.


Here's how she did the Deer:
He is stamped 6 times on cream paper using brown Stazon. I colored all 6 of them the same using Prisma Colored Pencils. (There are an extra 2 on this sheet-the top corners. I was experimenting with how I wanted to color him.)















Next you need to cut out all 6 deer. I first cut out his nose, then the next layer is the nose, eyes and jawline. And so on and so forth, using up all 6 stamped images.








I used SU Dimensionals to put between the layers so they would "pop" off of each other.

Jean's Junk Drawer #3 Metal ATC's

A long time ago I read about making ATC's cut out of metal. Being adventurous, I rushed right out to our local hardware store and bought a roll of metal sheeting. It is very inexpensive and there is enough to share with every stamper in your neighborhood. I figured there would be a day where I would have "extra time" to experiment with the metal. It's been on my shelf for over a year.

Recently, "Metal" was the theme for one of my monthly ATC swaps- using something metal needs to be somewhere on the ATC . Since I already had the metal on hand, I took it a step further and used it to make the base of the ATC.

Materials needed:

Metal ATC

Alcohol Inks

Blending solution

Transparencies or rubber stamps

Embellishments

Dull scissors (Relieves sharp edges)

Chipboard Pattern of ATC

Metal Edging Tape

Spray adhesive

Using the chipboard pattern and dull scissors, cut the metal to size. This is a thin metal so is fairly easy to cut.

Dab a few colors of alcohol inks along with the blending solution on a piece of felt. Color the complete ATC. (It will dry in a matter of seconds.) I tried to keep the colors light so my transparencies would show up better.

Next spray the transparency with an adhesive to lay over the ATC. Trim any edges. For extra security use a thin metal looking edging tape around the whole piece. All that's left are a few embellishments and it's finished!

Another option is to secure the transparency with eyelets or brads. I used a Crop-A-Dile to punch my eyelets.

Transparencies are just one of the many looks for metal ATC's. Stamping directly on the ATC gives a wonderful effect. Just use an ink like StazOn for the best coverage. The metal can also be painted, cut into any shape or embossed. The possibilities are endless!

Suggestion of the week: If you own a Melting Pot, the edges of your metal can be dipped in UTEE.

Fun in the Craft Room

This weekend I decided it was time to be a little creative, and with the holidays coming up and fall in the air, (yes - even for Phoenix) it was time to do a little seasonal stamping.

First is a card I made using the Cardinals in Birch Trees.


I stamped the image onto white card stock with black Memento ink. I then pulled out my Copic markers and shaded the areas around the trees with blue hues. To blend, i started with my darker blue color and pulled that color out with 2 shades lighter of the lighter blue. I colored in all of the cardinals red, and put a little bit of cream in the trees to give a little bit of depth.

I mounted on rust and dark blue card stocks to pull out some of the colors in the stamped art.



Next, a Poinsettia holiday card.

I pulled out my distress inks, reinkers and misting bottles. I created the background that the stamp is sitting on by using my various misting bottles filled with watered down - various colors of distress inks.

First, used a sheet of tinfoil. I randomly placed a few colors from my ink pads onto the tinfoil. I then sprayed with a little bit of water.

I then dipped my card stock into the ink and smeared it around. To add a little bit more dimension and to mix the colors more. I used my misting bottles and sprayed more colors on top of what I had already dipped into the tinfoil. I let the colors blend and bleed together.

It gives you a really beautiful modeled look.

Once dry, I stamp the Poinsettia image onto the card stock with black Memento Ink.

I blended the petals using the same technique with the markers. I started with my darkest shade of red in the center of the flower then pulled out and blended the color using a red that was 2 shades lighter.

I repeated the same process with the second flower, and placed it under a square glass pebble from Craftfantastic.com.

One fun thing about the Copic markers. I got 2 completely different looks with the markers. And I think that they both turned out pretty good.

Happy Stamping!

Nicole

Sketch Challenge Winner!

Is Krisha,
From Shafter CA. Krisha, email us at nmk28@yahoo.com and give us you full address so we can send you you grab bag of stamps! Thanks for playing. http://krishaskeepsakes.blogspot.com/
Nicole

Jean's Junk Drawer #2 Background Stamps

Because of my Cuttlebug and all the embossed background folders I own, I forget about my background stamps. With Nicole's background stamp requests from our Design Team, I figured it was time to dig out my old stamps to try a new technique. I found it in my Technique Junkies Newsletter. It's called "Burnished Backgrounds". (Oct. /Nov '09)

This technique creates a richly colored background that brings out the detail of the background stamp.











Materials:
Black or Dark Pigment Ink or VersaMark
Black Embossing Powder
Dye Inks in Complementary Colors
Sponges or Daubers
Background Stamps

First, Stamp and emboss the background Image on a light, Ultra Smooth Cardstock.

Next, starting with the lightest color sponge various spots on the background. Continue using the next to lightest color etc. (Yellow, Orange, Red) Once the whole background is colored, go back over each spot again to bring out the richness of the colors. My card above uses the Maple Leaf Background Stamp, Single Maple Leaf and Pumpkin.




Using a smaller background stamp (Swirls), I could create a fun ATC using Blue, Purple and Pink Inks. Other stamps used were the Dreams Take Flight and Faces half sheet.


Suggestion of the Week: Dig around for those old background stamps and some sponges. The results may surprise you. If I did these again, I would wear rubber gloves while swirling my colors.(I'm a messy Stamper!)

Black Cats on the prowl - a sketch challenge card by Jenny Gropp

Here is another beautiful card for you all to see by Jenny Gropp for this weeks sketch challenge. Lovely take Jenny!

Hi All,
We are soooooooo excited to be offering our first EVER sketch challenge. Our design team has agreed to play along. You can view their cards and the sketch in this posting. We WANT YOU to play along! We are attaching a Mr. Linkey box at the top of this post.


We are running a little contest with this sketch challenge. Post your CARD or ART made from the sketch, to your blog, and link to Mr. Linky by Saturday the 24th, and you will be entered to win in our drawing! We are giving away a grab bag of 25 unmounted stamps valued at over 50.00! A winner will be picked randomly on the 24th and announced on our blog. You will have to check back onto this blog to see if you are the winner. Good luck and have fun creating. And enjoy the samples.
Here is the sketch!

Here are some samples from the design team:

Tesa



Rose




Jennifer



Anya



Terra



Jeannie



Donna