Chalktalk Distress Layered Thanks

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Chalktalk Thanks 001

What do you do when you try out a new technique on a piece of scrap paper?  Do you use the left over piece for a project?  I try to, I figure if I’m going to take the time to figure it out, why not create something small at the very least!  That’s what this project is – my scrap turned into tag.

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Layer several shades of blue distress inks with Vintage Photo, spatter a little water, dry your piece thoroughly and then layer a lightly stamped layer from a background script stamp.  The end result is stunning!  I cut out my scrap with the biggest tag framelit from the set Chalk Talk by Stampin’ Up! Next, you’ll want to use a darker brown to stamp your greeting from the stamp set Thanks by Simon Says Stamp on an angle and voila – you have a perfect tag.

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For a little emphasis, I decided to use some left over tiny strips of white to randomly place back and forth behind my tag.  I added a few pearls and some corner piercing to the main card front.  I like that the colors of the card are masculine – this card is a great clean and simple design that’s easily mass produced – just sponge colors on larger strips of white paper and then cut out your tags!

We have videos on this technique in our VIP Community with a few different projects if you want more step by step tutorials.  Hope to see you there!

I’m wrapping up our week in Tuscany, we’re sad to go, but had a wonderful time here!  I must say after all the rich colors and texture, I’m excited to get into the stamping studio.  See you soon with more great projects.  For now, I’ll leave you with a few of the rich colors of the Tuscan countryside and villages.

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Have a great day – thanks for stopping by!

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

CAS Watercolor Stamped Thanks

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As our three week vacation in the Mediterranean comes to an end, we spend our final day today in Rome…sigh.  I’ll miss the Cioccolato Gelato, Margarita Pizza Neapolitan, Espresso and more historical sights than I can possibly store away in my mind.  What I won’t miss is are the crowds or the street hawkers…lol! To catch a glimpse into some of my favorite sights, be sure to see the end!

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With all this historical overload, today I need a little clean and simple!  Have you tried watercolor stamping yet?  If not, what are you waiting for!?! Today’s project is actually a product of  using what’s left over from my main project.  Always a great thing.

Recently I shared an awesome Watercolor Stamped Birthday Butterfly card for the VIP Community and figured, I already had the ink on my stamp, why not keep going with a scrap?  When I cut tags with my Chalk Talk Framelits by Stampin’ Up, I always cut two or three at a time and keep them in a scrap bin on my desk.  This tag is definitely one of my favs.

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I had inked up my Chevron background stamp with Seedless Preserves Distress Ink, gave a couple spritzes with my mini mister, and then with the left over ink after my main project, threw a tag cut from Stampin Up’s Whisper White card stock on there and what you see is what was left.  Don’t you just love the grunge part of how the tag turned out?  I couldn’t do that if I intentionally tried…lol.  It was a complete product of second generation stamping.

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I popped it up on an angle, added a die cut thanks using my Simon Says Stamp Thanks steel die and there you have it – a card in literally minutes!  Leaving all the white gives it such a great clean and simple look – for more on that check out this article on Clean and Simple Defined.

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Have you tried watercolor stamping yet?  Show your projects on our Facebook page here, or tell me what inks you’ve tried it with in the comments below!  And definitely tell me what you think of all those street hawkers in places like, Athens, Rome or Paris!  I know I’m not alone…lol!  Here are a few of my favorite photos from these past few weeks…

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Ciao for now –

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Of course, if you’d like to see more or follow us along our Travel adventures, be sure to click right here to see and like our Travel Facebook page

Filed Under: 10 Minutes or Less, Cards, Clean and Simple, Watercolor Tagged: , , , , ,

Clean and Simple Birthday Card for LeAnne

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Clean and Simple Flower Birthday Card (2)

I decided to combine my Monday challenges today and when I saw the Merry Monday challenge today was a Birthday Hop – I was SO excited!  Of course, I went to Mojo Monday first thing at 5 AM East Coast Time…and fell in love with the sketch right away – I mean how could you not – the possibilities were endless!  I was already thinking up all sorts of Christmas ideas…then quickly switched gears and made a fun bright CAS birthday card instead!

Surprise Hop Graphic for LeAnnemojo356Clean and Simple Flower Birthday Card (4)

I love LeAnne Pugliese’s cards every time I see them on the Merry Monday Christmas Challenge Blog, so I decided she needed a Birthday card that was fun, sassy, and colorful with no less than my latest little addiction – sequins (thanks Deanne – I have you to blame for these).

I knew I wanted to use the Sassy Salutations birthday greeting and my mind immediately went to the bright pink Gerber Daisy.  My sister-in-law Claudia had these at her wedding and I couldn’t stop taking photos of them, they were so editorial!

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Now I know the middles are mostly yellow, but I left it black so that I didn’t bring another color in.  It’s a fun little card, don’t you think?  My favorite parts – the flower, belly band and of course, I’m a convert – the sequins!  So LeAnne – this card is for you!  I hope you have a FABULOUS birthday!

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Hope you liked that!  If you’re a TCG VIP Member – you’ll see a video of this project in the Project and Resource Video library. Smile

Have a great start to the week!

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Filed Under: Cards, Challenges, Clean and Simple, Flowers, Inspiration, Mojo Monday Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Mojo Monday Garden Flowers

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Mojo Monday Flowers

It’s the middle of summer and all the flowers here are in bloom.  I thought I’d bring you a floral card with non-traditional colors today for Mojo Monday. Smile

Today’s sketch had me immediately reach for all my floral stamps.  Did you happen to see my card last week with the amazing floral garden?  If not, check it out here.  But first see all the creative tips listed below.

Here is today’s Mojo Monday sketch from the Challenge Blog and my interpretation:

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As you can see, I strayed a tiny bit and excluded the scallop border.  I planned on including it, but didn’t want to take away any further from the pretty flower background I created.

Creative Tips –

  • Mask various flower stamps that you have to create your own background.  Alternate open images with tighter ones for a filled out look.
  • Don’t feel you need to stick to traditional flower colors.  Here you see Baked Brown Sugar.

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  • I kept playing with which colors to put in the background, and finally decided on adding a little texture to Vellum as a subtle piece.  To create this cross-hatch pattern, alternate a striped embossing folder to make the x’s.
  • Do you have stamps that are tucked way in the back and forgotten about?  My filigree background stamp seems to be one of those.  I wanted something with a romantic feel, so I embossed the pattern on a piece of Marina Mist card stock in versamark and clear embossing powder.  It compliments the flowers, yet stands on its own.

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  • The greetings from this set are cool.  I love the boldness of chosen words and chose to highlight them.  I didn’t have a baked brown sugar marker, so I inked up the entire image with an ink pad and removed the ink from where I needed with a blender pen.  I then colored those words in with a marker that I did have.

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  • I’m sure you’ve noticed that I rarely use just plain butterflies.  Here you see several stamped with floral images and then punched out.  It gives a little character to the wings and looks pretty cool!
  • For a finishing touch, distress your edge of the greeting, add some pearls and pop up your card front.

Mojo Monday Flowers

This clean and simple project completely works for me.  It’s loaded with various techniques, and works – even with non-traditional garden floral colors!

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1+2=3 Stamp Series #001: part 3

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So what did you think so far?  We’ve had some great feedback from this series!  I hope you’ve enjoyed the simplicity of it.  And if you were on the Creative Tips list, then you saw the bonus 4th project too!  Don’t fret – get on the list by tomorrow (6/21/14) and I’ll send it out to you.  For the bonus project I broke from the rules a bit set forth from the challenge, but figured since it was a bonus it was okay!  Smile

So, just to review, here are the rules for this challenge:

1 Stamp – For this series I thought I’d choose a stamp set that has been available for over 20 years and is still on the market…the ever popular Stampin’ Up! set Lovely as A Tree.  This works with any large tree stamp.  Since there aren’t any greeting stamps in this set, I used one from the retired set Perfect Words.

+ 2 Colors – Two colors were used in all three projects: Sahara Sand and Soft Suede by Stampin Up.  For the cardstock in later projects, I only used Soft Suede along with Whisper White. =

= 3 Projects – while a few are a bit similar, they are vastly different.  Enjoy!

If you remember from yesterday’s post, I messed up my first and second try at this project.  Rather than let that get me down, I turned them into two totally different looks!  And a series was born.  Okay, corny enough for you – Michael is rolling his eyes…lol!  Here is my messed up version of this project – it was intended as a one layer card, but instead I turned it into the beauty you see further below.  Here is my original card – miss-masked (note the lower right corner).

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And here is the final result:

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To make this card – I used the exact one layer card as a base, and added a popped up frame.  Here are a few tricks to make this seem flawless and intended.

  • The cut out frame is just slightly smaller than the original masked off window.  The original window was 3/4”, my cut out frame measures 1/16” larger – that’s the width of the frame (13/16ths) , producing a smaller visible area.  This will help to hide the white area that was masked off originally.

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  • Add some interest to the frame.  Here you see random spritzed dots in Soft Suede using a color spritzer and a marker.  To keep with the outdoor theme, sponge both the interior and exterior of your frame.
  • Add some criss-crossed thread to one side.

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  • Sponge the complete exterior of your one layer card first before adding the frame.  Use the same color of your frame.  This way, should your frame be slightly off, if the white shows, it blends flawlessly with your frame.  Can you see the entire top of my card?  It shows as my frame was slightly smaller.

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  • Finally, pop the entire frame up using foam tape or dimensionals.  Keep your tape and dimensionals closer to the inside of the frame giving it more of a shadowbox look.

To learn how I sponged, masked and created this card, check out the first and second cards in this series here:

Project One                               Project Two

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I hope you enjoyed this series!  Thanks for joining me and be sure to stop by tomorrow for another project with this stamp set… why, just because!!  It’s completely different and used a totally different color combination, but turned out fabulous!  Just thought I’d keep the theme going this week.

Have a creative day and see you around the grove!

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