Techniques

Tutorial for brayered background using the Manhattan die….

I have had so many requests asking for directions to Melissa’s card that I posted a couple days ago so I decided to do a tutorial with pictures so it would be easier to understand. So, here you go…..

This is the original card I posted….created by my upline Melissa Ellis

and here are the directions…..

This is what you will need……a brayer, a classic ink pad, the Manhattan embossing folder, a Big Shot machine with the cutting pads and all purpose platform, and whisper white cardstock.

Step 1: open the folder so that the flat side is on your right (you can see the arrow and sizzix symbol through the other side)

Step 2: Ink up your brayer in the classic pad color of your choice and roll over the  plastic embossing folder making sure to cover the whole right side….

Step 3: Place your quarter sheet of whisper white cardstock into the center of the folder and close.

Step 4: Run this through your Big Shot machine like you usually would….as you can tell, my cutting pads are well used…..it is kind of hard to see through them anymore! LOL!

This is what it looks like when you pull it out…..

Step 5: Open the folder and remove your paper

The flower will stay white but everything else will turn the color that you brayered onto the folder.

Here is another one I tried using Pacific Point ink.  The darker color really makes the flower pop.

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Another quilt card idea

 I absolutely love the quilt card technique that I am showing this month in my classes and when I saw one that my friend Tiffany Bauer had posted on the Stampin’ Up website, I just had to make it right away. I changed it a little bit from hers but the general idea is the same. I used the Parisian Breeze dsp which is my FAVORITE one out of all the DSP’s right now. I just love the colors. I am so going to miss this baja breeze color when it goes out in June. You just punch out 12 squares from the dsp using the 1 1/4 inch punch, glue them all side by side onto a 5 x 3 3/4 inch piece of whisper white cardstock and flip it over and run it through the big shot on the top note die. Super easy. The flower is from the Fifth Avenue Floral set and I stamped that in baja breeze on white, cut it out and outlined it in dazzling diamonds glitter. LOVE IT!!! The back baja breeze piece is textured with one of our textured dies also. Why don’t you try out this technique yourselves. It is so easy but makes a gorgeous card.

Paper saving template for matchbox die!

DCBD challenge #118

Hey everyone,

It is Wednesday and time for another Diva’s Coffee Break Design challenge. Our challenge this week was to make something using the Big Shot. I have a million ideas for that so it was hard to narrow it down to just one.

I have been playing around with the quilt card technique ever since my upline Melissa Ellis showed it to me the other day . I just love how cool this looks.

For this one, I textured the bashful blue piece with the little dot background and then punched out 12 squares with the 1 1/4 inch punch. Then mount those onto a 5 x 3 3/4 sheet of white cardstock. Flip it over and run it through the big shot with the top note die underneath and there you have it. Wrap the finished piece in our yummy organza ribbon and you are all set. The B (for baby) is from the Lovely Letter alphabet. This would make a perfect baby announcement card. All of my club members will get to make this card in class this month.  Don’t forget to check out all the other diva’s designs at http://www.divacoffeebreakdesigns.blogspot.com/

DCBD challenge #116

This week’s card challenge was a color one. We had to use green galore, tempting turquoise, basic gray, and white to come up with our card. I used one of my old favorites….Bloomin’ Beautiful to do mine.

Here is what I came up with ….

I used the basic gray as my back piece. THen I ran the green galore though the big shot to create the textured background. I stamped the flowers in black stazon and watercolored them in the green galore and turquoise. I hope you like it. Don’t forget to go check out the other diva’s designs at www.divacoffeebreakdesigns.blogspot.com 

We have added many new divas this week so you will get lots more ideas. Also, why don’t you give the design challenge a try and see what you can come up with.

Polished stone technique

Here is another card from my shoebox swap the other day. This one was done by my friend Colleen. I hadn’t done the polished stone technique in quite a while so it was fun to try it again. For those of you who don’t know what that is, you need a piece of glossy white cardstock, cottonballs, alcohol and ink refills. You take the cotton ball and get it wet on one side with the alcohol and then drop about 2-3 drops of each refill color onto it. For this one, we used baja breeze, pacific point and the silver. Then just dab it all over the glossy cardstock…do not rub it on…just dab it. The ink will start to run and spread and it looks really cool (like marble). If you are using any of the metallic inks like gold or silver, just spray a little hairspray or acrylic sealer on it when you finish to set the ink.  There is also a step by step tutorial on splitcoast here but I did mine slightly different. I actually put the metallic ink on the cottonball instead of on the paper.

Rustic Rooster

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this Rustic Rooster set. It is a level 2 hostess set so you can get it in your hands just by having a $300 or more party.

This one was made by my good friend Mary Anne Grimmer. This one is also from the swap I hosted. She also used the new Raspberry Tart paper.     Didn’t she do a fabulous job?

This one was made by my downline Sandy Alexander. She is so talented. I love how she masked the rooster and layered the French words behind him. If you would like to get this set for yourself, just drop me an email and we can schedule a class for you and your friends.

DCBD challenge #12

It is Wednesday and that means it is time for the Diva Coffee Break Design Challenge….here was the challenge we were given….

and here is what I did…..

I ended up not using  the baja breeze. I kept trying to work it in there but it was clashing with the bashful blue. These are not my normal color choices so it was hard to envision what to do with them. I am more of a shabby chic kind of girl so I like the pink and brown combos best.  For this card I used the set Flores Suaves from the Spanish catalog….isn’t it a GORGEOUS set?? I love it. I used the polished stone technique on this one with bashful blue, lovely lilac and pink passion refills. I also added a little dot of silver in there but it is hard to see in the picture.  Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think (only if you like it..LOL!) Don’t forget to check out the other divas listed under the coffee cups in my sidebar. Thanks for stopping by!

More Love you Much!

I just can’t get enough of this set! I LOVE it!!! This is one I tried the crystal effects on, but it took so long to dry I decided not to do it for a class but I love the look. I copied the vase part from someone but now I can’t remember where I saw it. I loved the crystal effects and the bow though. The whole thing is stamped in riding hood red and then I colored in the vase with chocolate chip…a little too dark… I think I would use close to cocoa next time. Then I colored the whole vase in with crystal effects and actually laid the bow on there while it was still tacky so it was like glue. ***For my local customers: I am doing a stamp camp with this bundle at the end of the month and if you pre-purchase it from me before Jan. 5th, you get $15 off the stamp camp fee (normally $25)

More Christmas cards!

I thought I was done posting Christmas cards but then I got a bunch more in the mail today so I thought I would share just a few of them.

This one is gorgeous up close and personal. One of my talented downline, Renee Caffee, sent this one to me. It is on glossy white cardstock and the trees were masked and then blue was brayered across the top and then she took a white gel pen to make the snow. I just love it!

This one was made by one of my other talented downlines, Jessica Vanda. I love how she punched out her kid’s photo with the curly label punch. How cute is that!

This one was sent to me by one of my customers, Elba Mitoraj. She did an awesome job on this one. The red glitter is so pretty. I wish the photos were as good as the real thing….maybe I will get a new camera from Santa Claus this year so my photos will look even better soon!