With Sympathy -- How To Create A Watermark Card Background

Hello crafty friends!  Today I'm sharing a sympathy card featuring Honey Bee Stamps beautiful Zelia's English Garden stamp.  Read all of the details below!

First I selected a blue cardstock and die cut it with the rectangle die in the Lace Heart Layering Frames Honey Cuts.  I added a bit of subtle shading around the edges with a blender brush and Shaded Lilac Distress Ink.

Next I placed the die cut panel into my MISTI and then inked up the Zelia's English Garden stamp with clear embossing ink and stamped it onto the blue cardstock piece.

I let the stamped piece dry for several hours (overnight) so I wouldn't accidentally smear the ink.  I love the watermarked background this created.  It is subtle but the image of the stamp is still clearly visible.  I used glue to adhere it to an A2 card base

I die cut two greenery sprigs from the Lovely Layers: Greenery Honey Cuts.  Two from white cardstock and one from mat silver cardstock.  I used glue to adhere these to the card.

The sentiment is from the Great Greetings: Sympathy die set.  I die cut the shadow layer from 110# cardstock and the top layer from mat silver cardstock.  I used foam tape strips to adhere them to the card.

It's always great to have these type of cards in my stash ready to send, when needed.  This card would also be very easy to mass produce in other colors!

I always appreciate you stopping!  Thank you!!  Have a fabulous day!

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Thinking Of You -- Masking, Ink Blending, & Heat Embossing

Hello crafty friends!  Today I'm sharing my card that features Brass & Bliss Craft Co.'s new Silhouette Wildflowers set.  This card was quick and easy and all you need are inks and just that stamp set!

I really enjoyed this masking process!  I have all of the step-by-step details and photos over on the Brass & Bliss blog.

I die cut a circle from masking tape and positioned it along with two more strips of masking tape on my card front layer.  Then I used ink blending brushes to add the blue and green inks.

I removed the moon mask and carefully added dabs of gray ink for definition in the moon.  Before I removed the other masking tape strips, I added splatters of metallic white watercolor.

After I made sure the ink was completely dry, I treated the piece with my anti-static tool and then stamped the Silhouette Wildflowers image and sentiment from the set with black pigment ink.  Then I sprinkled on black embossing powder and heat set it.

I created a coordinating layer for the main layer by swiping Azure ink along the edges of white cardstock.

And that's it!  I love how this card turned out.  The sentiment is perfect to use for a card to send as a sympathy card or to someone going through a hard time.

Be sure to check out the seven other sentiments in beautiful fonts included in the Silhouette Wildflowers set.  Several occasions are covered for versatility in our card making!  Thanks so very much for stopping by today!

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You're In My Thoughts -- A BetterPress Letterpress Card

Today I'm sharing this beautiful letter pressed card that features Spellbinders' Kaleidoscope Garden BetterPress press plate.

If you need a card that is beautiful and super quick to make, this one is for you!  What made it even faster is the Always and Forever Sentiment Strips press plate I used.  This presses all of the sentiments in one pass and then die cuts them all together with one die!

Using my BetterPress Letter Press System I tapped Coastal BetterPress ink onto the Kaleidoscope Garden press plate.  After adhering Porcelain Cotton card to the clear plate, I ran the base through my Platinum die cutting machine.  P.S.:  The original Platinum is on sale now!!  I love the crisp, clear images you get with the BetterPress!

Next I trimmed the image and glued it to an A2 sized piece of Partly Cloudy cardstock.  I added this to a top folding card base.

I used Porcelain Cotton card and black BetterPress ink for the sentiment from the Always and Forever Sentiment Strips.  I love having one die to die cut all of the sentiments!

I added a layer of Partly Cloudy cardstock to the back of the sentiment and popped it up with foam tape strips.

The Kaleidoscope Garden press plate would work great for a variety of occasions.  Change the ink color and sentiment and color the image with your preferred medium, for totally different looks!

I hope you've found some inspiration here today.  Thank you, always, for stopping by!

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AECP, In The Mood for Color

My card today is inspired by Altenew Academy's class called In The Mood For Color.  This is also another card for my Level 2 classes of Altenew Educator Certification Program (AECP).  This class focuses on using various colors on your cards while considering the "mood" that a color may evoke.  My card uses blue as that is a calming, soothing color.  This color is just right for a sympathy card.

I really like how this card was so quick and easy to make.  Sympathy cards are so good to have on hand as it's not too fun to be making one when you actually need it.  However, that's another reason why I like this card--it is easy to make when you need to make one at the last minute.

The florals in the Extra Special stamp are two layers and very easy to line up and stamp.  I used Altenew inks in Iceberg and Eastern Sky for the flowers and Frayed Leaf and Forest Glades for the leaves.  I stamped the outline and the sentiment onto light gray card stock in a medium toned gray ink.  I feel like using the gray inks helps to keep this card's "mood" calming.  I used a blue pencil to add just a few extra shadows to the flowers.  Lastly, I added some Nuvo Crystal Drops in Gloss White to the flower centers and scattered other drops around the card for a bit more interest.  This panel is adhered to a white top-folding A2 card base.



Thank you very much for stopping by!  This class is so good to help you think about colors and I hope to have inspired you with my card today.

Carol :)

Supplies:
Altenew Extra Special
Altenew Kind Words
Altenew inks:  Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades, Iceberg, Eastern Sky
Nuvo Crystal Drops Gloss White
Simon Says Stamp gray card stock
Hero Arts Charcoal Mid-tone Shadow Ink