Painting with Pearl Ex Interference

Continuing my "what's old is new again" theme, I pulled out my pearl ex for the first time in a long, long time.  I have always loved the look of this technique which uses Pearl Ex Interference powders to paint on dark cardstock.
Using 4 parts Pearl Ex Interference powder, 1 part gum arabic and 7 parts water I made a paint.  I mixed up red, blue, green, violet and gold in a plastic paint tray- the kind that has little wells.  I wrote the color next to each well on the tray because it's hard to tell them apart.  The best part of using a paint tray is that when you are done, just leave the tray out overnight to dry up and then you can store it.  Next time, just remix some water into the wells and you are good to go.
Stamp your images on dark cardstock and emboss.  I used black cardstock, black pigment ink and clear embossing powder.  Then use your markers to color the image and then paint over top of the marker ink with the pearl ex paint.  That is the key to this technique- it needs the colored ink from the marker to work.  

Play around and try different combos of marker color with pearl ex color to create different colors.  
I finished this card off with black grosgrain ribbon and pins.
And here's the inside. 

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!  See you again soon.

One Sheet Wonder- Masculine Cards

Tonight I did another One Sheet Wonder project and I wanted to share the results with you.  I started out on a mission to create a pile of masculine cards because I never seem to have the appropriate card when I need one for a male friend or relative's birthday.  These cards aren't super "manly" but I think they will work so maybe my title for this post should be "Masculine-ish Cards".

I made a total of 8 cards from one sheet of hand stamped "designer" paper and here they are (please scroll down for more pictures of the making of these cards and other details):

The last picture above is the inside of one of the cards.  There are so many pictures in this post that I didn't go crazy showing you the insides, but I wanted to show you one.

When I started out tonight, I used my SU color wheel to pick out a color combo and I went with five colors: brilliant blue, always artichoke, rose red, bravo burgundy and elegant eggplant.  I also chose two SU sets: Papa's pocket and Antique Collectibles.   They compliment each other nicely.

Using all five colors and all the stamps from both sets, I started randomly stamping up a sheet of ivory cardstock.  
Here's what it looked like all stamped up.  I made sure that I went right off the edges of the cardstock with the images.
I decided the paper needed some "antiquing" so used a duster brush to stipple on some close to cocoa ink- very lightly.
Now my "designer paper" is done and I gathered up some cardstock to start assembling cards.  I randomly cut up the designer paper and created one card at time and embellished them with ribbon and embellishments from my stash.
Below are each of the eight cards photographed separately.  You can click on them to see them larger.   

If you'd like to see other One Sheet Wonder projects I've done, just click on the One Sheet Wonder line under "Posts by Topic" on the right side bar.  I had fun tonight making this one and I'm happy to have some cards that I can use for men in my stash.  What do you think?  Please leave me a comment and let me know.  Thanks for stopping by!

Eiffel Tower in Copper

While I had the drawer full of copper goodness out, I decided to make another card.  And while I was at it, I drug out some old techniques.  Remember this one?  I'm not even sure what it's called but it's awesome.  
This done by stamping with Staz-on ink on a clear transparency and then when it's dry, run it through the Xyron to add sticky to the back of it.  Then you drop leafing foil flakes on the sticky and rub it in until the whole thing is covered.  I think I got mine years ago from Auntie Amy's booth at a convention, but I don't see it on her site now.  If you do a google search for "leafing foil flakes" you get some places to buy, including this one.
Here's a closer look.  Isn't it just fabulous and rich looking?  Once it's covered in foil it is easily layered and makes a gorgeous card.  
These are copper brads that were in my stash being hoarded.  They make the perfect addition to this card.
And here's the inside.  Pretty simple but it matches.

I hope you enjoyed this one.  I've been playing around a lot lately with "old" techniques and making them new again.  I've also been trying to actually use some of the beautiful papers and embellishments that I've been hoarding for years.  It's very liberating actually!   So stay tuned... there's lots of "what's old is new again" coming!

Have a great day!

Copper Paisley Card

Isn't this gorgeous?  I was looking for something last night when I came across a package of Magenta Copper Paisley Peel Offs that I bought several years ago.  In my quest to start using some of the cool things that I've been hoarding over the years, I decided to use them.
I applied the peel offs (stickers) randomly to a piece of black cardstock to make this copper paisley background.  The card is layered with some copper metallic cardstock that I believe may be from SU, but I'm not positive as it's another item I've been hoarding for years.  

For some reason this card is not photographing to it's full potential (even after several attempts) but you should know that it is really striking in real life.
I embellished the card with some wide grosgrain ribbon in black and some copper metal embellishments that were in my stash- also being hoarded.  (Are you seeing a pattern here?)
And here's the inside with a bit of matching detail courtesy of my circle and scalloped circle punches.

Thanks for stopping by!  Please make sure to come back soon because I have some other copper stuff to share this week.

Basket of Flowers

This is a special card I made for my Sister-in-law who lives very far away.  There's no occasion, I just wanted to say "Hi There".   She loves Longaberger baskets, so I bought this SU stamp set just to make a card for her.  The set is called Basket of Kindness.  It's an old (and I mean OLD) SU set but to me, it's a classic and will never go out of style.
The images are embossed with black embossing powder and the flowers and tag are cut out and mounted with 3D foam dots.  I colored the images with SU markers and a blender pen.  The background papers are all designer papers.  
I like how cheery and colorful this card is.  I hope it will make my Sister-in-law smile when she receives it.
And here's the inside with nice matching details.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Color Throwdown Challenge #43

The Color Throwdown Challenge Blog is hosting challenge #43 which calls for three gorgeous colors- Lavender Lace, Old Olive and Elegant Eggplant.  I just love that color combo!

Here's my card:

This is a simple card that uses background paper made with the Wrinkle Free Distress technique.  I had not planned on leaving the card so "plain" but it just seemed done and I think it would make a nice masculine birthday card.  I always struggle to have enough cards for men since my style is definitely more feminine.
The background paper is made with Stampin Up classic inks on regular white cardstock.  If you click the link above, you will find a tutorial on making this gorgeous paper.  It's super easy!  The stitching is a basic zig zag stitch made by my trusty old sewing machine.  

And here's the inside.  Just simple layers with the added detail of stitching.

Thanks for stopping by!

Guest Star: A card from Nise!

On Friday I was surprised by a card in my mailbox from my self-proclaimed biggest fan and "president of my fan club"!  Nise is so kind and encouraging to me here on my blog and leaves the best and most amusing comments.  What she doesn't know is that I'm quickly becoming HER biggest fan!  Here's the great card she sent:

Notice the hand stitching on the corners of the main image?  So cool.  I never thought of that!  

Nise, thanks for the wonderful card!  It was a nice surprise in my mailbox!   

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  Let us all remember those who have and continue to so bravely serve our country...  including my very own son who is graduating high school in a few short weeks and leaves for Army Basic Training in July.  I'm so proud of him!

A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. ~Joseph Campbell

Wrinkle Free Distress

There is a new tutorial on Splitcoastampers called Wrinkle Free Distress (click here for instructions).  It looked very interesting and I decided to try it- even though I didn't have the same ink they used.  Here's my card:

This card features designer paper from the slab called Everyday Tango by Lisa Cohen- along with some pink stitching courtesy of my sewing machine.  The stamps used are from the SU set Delight in Life.
The main element on the card is a manilla cardstock tag that was colored with the Wrinkle Free Distress technique.  Super easy!  I don't own any Ranger Distress Inks, sadly- so I substituted SU classic ink pads and Fiber Scraps brand EZ Tint Walnut Tintz.

The SU ink worked well but was a little lighter than I liked so I moved on to the Walnut Tintz using lime green and rose.  That gave me a nice deep color that wasn't too much and wasn't too light.
And here's the inside in the picture below.  I stamped the flowers and carefully cut them and then adhered them with three dimensional adhesive foam tape.  A dab of Diamond Stickles in the center of all the flowers made them all really pop.
Thanks for stopping by... have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend!

Money, Money, Money...

If you were giving a teen a cash gift, how cool would this card be???  Actually, I think there are lots of great uses for this card!  A teen birthday, a masculine card or graduation perhaps?  I recently sent it to a Gingerwood friend who was looking for miniature pennies, that I happened to have so I RAK'd them to her in this card.
Believe it or not, I made this background paper!  All you need is some play money (check the dollar store) and some Modge Podge.  Just put a thin layer of MP down on cardstock and lay down the play money.  Put another thin layer of MP over top and let it dry.  It is so detailed and has a nice texture when it's dry.
And here's the inside.  I like cutting a scrap of the handmade background to fit the inside of a card.  It really adds a nice detail element with very little effort.  

Hope you enjoyed this idea!  Have a great day!

Ribbon Inspired: Bright Daisies

I have quite a collection of pieces of ribbon that are just begging to be used to create something beautiful.  Sometimes, I design a card by starting with the ribbon and this is one of those cards:
This gorgeous gingham ribbon is bright yellow and orange.  I matched SU only orange and yo yo yellow cardstock to it.  With such bold colors, it needed bold images.  There are two SU sets used here- Definately Decorative Daisies and Hand Painted Petites.
The happy birthday sentiment is from the SU set called Favorite Greetings.  The ink colors used to make this "floral arrangement" are only orange, yo yo yellow, garden green, sage shadow, close to cocoa and chocolate chip.
And here's the inside.  Pretty plain by my standards, huh?  

I was very excited today when I checked my blog and I was exactly the 12,000th hit on the counter.  I never imagined that I'd get very many readers so to see 12,000 on there just blows me away.  Thank you to those who are reading on a regular basis and thank you to those who have left comments.  I love to read comments and I appreciate them so much!  And a big thank you to Nise, who is the self-appointed the president of my fan club (funny, right?!).  You keep me laughing and you keep me motivated!  Thanks so much!