Starry Brayered Sky

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Plant Hope 002 Main

Have you ever had a card that you just wanted to re-do?  I made this card for my father for Christmas last year and I’ve been dying to re-do it for myself, but with a few changes.  I hope you like it’s evolution.

This card was originally my first creative scenery brayered creation after taking amazing classes on the art of brayering.  Since then, I’ve played…taught…played…taught…and played some more.  What I’ve learned is that your card is only as limited as your imagination, and with the help of pinterest and you tube – I’ve learned how to be quite imaginative!  

Plant Hope 002 Front

Creative Tips –

  • I wanted to change up the colors a bit and add a starry sky.  I kept my tree line in the center so that I could get enough sky and lake at the same time.
  • Once I added my tree images and embossed them in Always Artichoke and Chocolate Chip, I used a base of Soft Sky around the bottom of my trees.  I first masked off my lake shore line and added the light Soft Sky color.   My trees have better coverage this time around because I have the new ink pads.  Last year I was still using the canvas covered ones, not the awesome foam pads.  Notice the difference!Plant Hope 002 Trees
  • Then from the top I added Tempting Turquoise, Marina Mist and Midnight Muse.  I kept the Midnight Muse to the top 1 1/2 inches.
  • For that really dark night sky I added Elegant Eggplant.  Adding that over the blue gives just the right Indigo color for a night sky without making it too dark.Plant Hope 002 Side
  • For the lake I brayered Tempting Turquoise, island Indigo and just a hint of Midnight Muse at the very edge.  You can see this is much lighter than my original.
  • I added a little earth with my Chocolate Chip marker so the shore line wasn’t too thin.  This time when I embossed my shoreline I masked the bottom so that my VersaMarker wasn’t too over zealous.  That way I avoided all the white from the first one.
  • Plant Hope 002 Water
  • I added the reflection of the tree line in Midnight Muse so that it would look realistic versus the color as in the first one.
  • I kept my water simple – not over done this time.  I also added a little Midnight Muse for shadows in the movement.  I drew a little at the water line as well, which gave it a more realistic look.  Plant Hope 002 Stars
  • For stars, I used my white gel pen and made them different diameters.  I wanted to create a north star and another not quite as large, so I went over it with a qtip and some white pigment ink.

I love the way the night sky turned out.  This card is a huge improvement over the original.  I still love both, but the night sky adds some mystery and intrigue that the original one didn’t have.  Of course the colors are a bit different too, but both are lovely!  Which one do you love?

Signature Snowflake 001

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Plant Hope 002 Angle

Stamp Sets – Plant Hope (retired), Sweet Essentials (128315) Paper – Whisper White (100730), Chocolate Chip (102128) Ink – New Card – Soft Sky, Tempting Turquoise, Marina Mist, Midnight Muse, Elegant Eggplant, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip Marker; Original Card – Midnight Muse (126860), Marina Mist (126962), Not Quite Navy (126971), Tempting Turquoise (126952), Versamark (102283), Early Espresso Stampin’ Write Marker (119680) Cool Tools –Brayer (102395), Stamp-a-Majig (101049), Heat Tool (129053), The Perfect Finish – Clear Embossing Powder (109130), Gold Embossing Powder (109129), Silver Embossing Powder

Filed Under: Brayer, Cards, Masculine, Techniques Tagged: , , , , , ,

Brayered Winter Twilight Redwood Landscape

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I had the opportunity to take two brayering classes this past weekend by Michelle Zindorf.  If you don’t know who Michelle is, she’s an artist who has been teaching the art of brayering and sponging scenery for the past six years as a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator.  To say she’s an expert is putting it mildly.  Luckily one of the last classes she’s doing on the road was held this past weekend in St. Petersburg, Florida – just a short two hour drive from my house.  

Six and a half hours later, I had completed her beginning and advanced brayering class.  I by no means do I consider myself an expert, but I now have a great foundation to create my own artwork and feel comfortable enough to teach this technique. 

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that if I had a mascot it would be the redwood tree.  So I broke out my retired set Plant Hope for that cute little trio of trees.  Here is the result – it’s not perfect, and I have Michelle’s voice in my head for reminders on her technique, but I love it.

Creative Tips:

  • I used four shades of blue to create my sky and water with my brayer – Tempting Turquoise, Marina Mist, Not Quite Navy and Midnight Muse.
  • Be sure to start and end off your paper with your brayer.  This will help prevent those harsh looking lines.
  • Window sheets or the sheet from the Stamp-a-Majig are a necessity to create the reflection in the water.
  • To give my trees height, I used a Chocolate Chip Stampin’ Write Marker to extend the trunks.
  • Rather than have my trees be black in the twilight, I chose to use the Versamark and Always artichoke ink pads in conjunction with the Chocolate Chip Marker and Versamarker.  I then embossed the images with clear embossing powder.
  • I added some green shrubs along the base of the trees and went over with the versamarker and clear embossing powder to help keep a light snowfall on the ground.
  • To give the illusion of water, I used our White Gel Pen to create water ripples.

  • I didn’t want the card itself to take away from the scenery that I created, so I chose to give a little pop of Whisper White with a 1/16th inch border before matting it on Chocolate chip.  I then gave the Chocolate Chip the same 1/16th inch border.  Any more, and it would have taken away from the image.
  • These little brayered sceneries are works of art.  Take pride in your creation, sign the lower corner!

I wanted my Christmas card to stand out this year, so I decided to send my father this handmade little masterpiece, dad I hope you’re not looking – if so, act surprised when you get it!  I know he’ll treasure it.  It’s completely imperfect – I made several mistakes, but I know he’ll love it just the same, how could he not – his little girl made it for him!

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Signature Snowflake 001

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Stamp Sets – Plant Hope (retired), Sweet Essentials (128315) Paper – Whisper White (100730), Chocolate Chip (102128) Ink – Midnight Muse (126860), Marina Mist (126962), Not Quite Navy (126971), Tempting Turquoise (126952), Versamark (102283), Early Espresso Stampin’ Write Marker (119680) Cool Tools –Brayer (102395), Stamp-a-Majig (101049), Heat Tool (129053), The Perfect Finish – Clear Embossing Powder (109130), Gold Embossing Powder (109129) Untitled-12

Filed Under: Cards, Christmas, Masculine, Techniques, Tools Tagged: , , , , ,

A Little Plant Hope

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I couldn’t resist.  I just had to have this set.  Today is the last day of the 2011-2012 Stampin’ Up! Catalog, and I was so thrilled this retiring set just arrived.  I just had to have two images in this set – this palm tree image and an image of redwood trees.  Since I’m a California Girl, and my personal mascot is the redwood tree it just screamed Ingrid.  Plus – my husband Michael moved me to Florida 8 1/2 years ago and I have to say that my favorite thing about this state are the palm trees!  So it was just natural that I had this set for personal reasons.

I quickly put together what I like to think of as a masculine card that just works for all occasions.  And here is the result.  Just a Clean and Simple (CAS) card.  I hope you love it as much as I do.

The Palm Tree is inked up with our markers to give it a richer look, and it’s easier for two colors on one stamp.  I like the corners rounded for a little something extra to a simple card.

It’s the perfect reflection of me today as I stamp in the Stamping Suite overlooking what else – Palm Trees.

Create Away –

Ingrid

Don’t wait to get this set – if you want it… Today is your last chance!

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Be sure to check out the Retired Lists and Clearance Rack!

Stamp Sets – Plant Hope (120540), Petite Pairs (122497) Paper – Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, So Saffron Designer Series Paper Stack  Ink – Chocolate Chip Ink Pad, Chocolate Chip Marker, Always Artichoke Marker Cool Tools 3/16th corner rounder

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Filed Under: Cards, Clean and Simple, Masculine Tagged: ,