Mocha Memories

Simple Cards - Simple Post

I would like to announce the winner of the Open House Door Prize...........Marjorie Wallace.  CONGRATULATIONS!  Again thank you so much for coming and taking the time to browse through all of SU!'s new products.  I hope everyone is as excited as I am about the SU! year to come!

On to some stamping - Here is a QUICK post of some more cards that I created using the wide oval acetate punch.  For the first card I grabbed some of my flowers out of my Pretties Kit and colored the centers with my Rose Red marker.  If you check close, I also worked in my new favorite Filigree brad.

I created two different versions of the second card.  I varied the ribbon on the cards and the color of the flower outline, which is MUCH less noticeable on the photograph.  The card on the left has the flower outline stamped in basic gray with the sentiment in basic black so that the sentiment has a bolder look.  Both the sentiment and flower outline are stamped in black on the card on the right.  

Use these as examples of quick and easy no layer cards that you can create with just your punches and some acetate.  I hope you can take some time this week and try some masking and dry embossing of your own!

Be Inspired by Life,

Cherish Card

Stamp Set: Baroque Motifs

Cardstock: Whisper White 

Ink: Rose Red Marker, Rose Red, Mellow Moss 

Accessories: Mellow Moss Taffeta Ribbon, Wide Oval Punch, Acetate, Empressor Stylus, Paper Piercing Pad, Filigree Brad, Pretties Kit, Sponges

Heartfelt Cards

Stamp Set: Heartfelt Thanks

Cardstock: Whisper White 

Ink: Certainly Celery, Basic Black, Basic Gray 

Accessories: Certainly Celery Wide Ribbon, Black Gingham, Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon, Wide Oval Punch, Acetate, Empressor Stylus, Paper Piercing Pad, Black Brads, Sponges

Thinking out of the Punch (with Acetate)

Yesterday, I showed an example of what you can create with some acetate and your punches.  I punched a wide oval out of a piece of acetate and used it as a mask to create a Pink Pirouette oval.  Today we are going to take this piece, use our acetate to emboss and create a simple card.

MASKING - To create the colored oval, I simply taped the acetate to the cardstock using temporary adhesive and sponged color in the opening until I was pleased with the intensity and shading.  (Practice until you get the look that you like.)

DRY EMBOSSING - I was inspired to try my hand at embossing, but did not feel like getting out my light table.  After a little thought I decided that I could get a unique look without a traditional embossing plate. - Before I removed the acetate from the masked oval, I placed the cardstock on my paper piercing pad (available in the Mat Pak or Crafters' Tool Kit) and lightly traced the edge of the acetate with my Empressor stylus. 

Since the acetate is not as thick as traditional embossing plates, I needed to turn the cardstock over and run my stylus around the outside and inside edge of the oval to make the embossing more pronounced.

This piece then became the panel and focal point of my card.  Of course, I had to get out my Big Shot and play with one of my neglected dies.  I chose the Birds & Blooms Sizzlet set to help me create the 3D image that I envisioned.

I used vellum for the bird on this card so that I could still keep most of the oval visible.  To keep the bird from 'getting lost' in the background, I outlined the bird and wing with my Chocolate Chip marker.  I also outlined the small bloom of the flower with the marker to differentiate it from the larger bloom.  Before I put my paper piercing pad away, I used my bone folder to 'draw' some realistic lines on the leaves.

Oh, but it still wasn't 3D enough for me!  HA!HA!  I decided to use a Dimensional on the small bloom, the vellum bird AND the entire front white panel.  Hopefully you can get a better feel of the depth of the card from this side view.  Notice that the Stampin' Dimensional was placed behind the wing of the bird so that the adhesive was hidden on the vellum.

Well, I hope I have convinced you to think 'out of the box' with your punches.  I can't wait to see what you come up with and how you inspire me.

Be Inspired by Life,

  

Cardstock: Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Bella Rose DSP, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Vellum CS 

Ink: Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip Marker 

Accessories: Birds and Blooms Sizzlet Die, Big Shot, Wide Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Wide Oval Punch, Acetate, Empressor Stylus, Paper Piercing Pad, Bone Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Sponges

The Secret is Out

Well, here is the card again from earlier this week.  There was a mystery to go along with it.  I wanted the flower to be Purely Pomegranate and the spaces between the petals black.  I could not stamp the image on black cardstock as Purely Pomegranate is not offered in craft ink AND any color would not be very vibrant on black cardstock.  Kim was very close in her guess (in comment section of post), but I don't want to have to pull out my stamp-a-ma-jig.  I wanted an extremely sharp image and even the slightest wavering would cause the white cardstock to appear in the image.  So how did I do it? 

I used Purely Pomegranate cardstock and embossed the image using Versamark and Crystal Clear embossing powder.  I then sponged Basic Black ink over the image until all of the spaces between the petals and the outer edge were a solid black.  I then buffed the image to remove the excess ink.  I created three of these flowers and cut each along a different petal line so as to give the final card a 3-D feel.  Voila - the flower that I had been dreaming of.

Embossing can be used in so many different ways.  So the next time you think that a certain color combination will not work, think about embossing and be creative.

Be Inspired by Life,

• Stamps: Fabulous Flowers, Floral Background
• Cardstock: Basic Gray, Purely Pomegranate, Basic Black
• Ink: Versamark, Basic Gray, Basic Black
• Accessories: Crystal Clear Embossing Powder, Black Brads, Eastern Elegance Rub-ons

Faux Embossing With Punches

The kids have not been to school for two days.  You think that would mean that I have extra time since I do not have school activities and homework to think about.  NO WAY!!  I now have to keep sanity in my house 24 hours a day without a break.  AAGGHH!!  I am determined to get a little time on the computer this afternoon and here it is....

The Lots of Thoughts set that SU! is offering during SAB is a great sentiment addition to your stamp collection.  With this card, however, I tried to make the sentiment the focal point of the card.  The torn page effect seemed to go perfectly with the 'Note' sentiment and I was off and running.

Faux embossing using punches was also something that I decided to finally try on this card.  Just punch the shape that you would like to appear embossed out of the same color cardstock as the cardstock that you are adhering it to.  As dots seem to still be hot and this Berry Bliss designer paper is filled with dotted images, I decided to use my 3/4" circle punch to create the embossed images at the bottom of the card.  Fun and EASY to do!

Stay warm everyone!

Supplies:

• Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Berry Bliss Designer paper from SU!
• Inks: Chocolate Chip
• Accessories: 3/4" Circle Punch, Pink Gingham Ribbon, Spiral Punch

Lost Track of Time - Blame it on VSN

Well, VSN is only partially to blame.  It was another weekend of too many things scheduled in too little time.  To top it off, I had eight pre-teen girls over last night for an end of the year sleepover.  How did I get talked into this?  I have no idea, but I won't be dumb enough to do that twice.  It will take me all day today to recover.  One good thing came out of it all - my daughter did not want her friends to see a messy house so she helped me clean and organize and throw away!  It was amazing!

What is VSN? - You have never heard of VSN?  Splitcoaststampers hosts a Virtual Stamp Night once a month.  Each hour a new challenge is introduced to get the creative juices flowing.  It starts Friday night and lasts until late on Saturday evening. You can participate in one or all of the challenges or just be a lurker for inspiration.  Virtual Stamp Night in May looked like this.  The gallery for the MAY VSN represents cards that are specific to the challenge (keyword identifies the challenge, i.e. MAY07VSNJ) and each card was completed in under 45 minutes.

I was only able to participate in two challenges during the two days.  The first challenge I participated in was hosted by KThaman and was titled 'Quilled Flowers'.  I basic went with simplicity as the quilling itself took the majority of the 45 minutes.  I cut a rectangle out of regular typing paper and used it as a stencil for the background.  The edges of the background are sponged in Perfect Plum and the center in Pale Plum.  The flower itself was created using Quilling Paper I had setting around.  I think it was the perfect beginning to a night of computer lurking.

MelenaPrincess  hosted a 'Blackeyed Susans' challenge in honor of the Preakness.  We had to create a card using mainly Chocolate Chip and Summer Sun as the colors.   I settled on using the last of my Au Chocolate paper and the Chocolate Chip ribbon from my SU! Flirty collection.  I wound the ribbon into a roll, stitched one of the ends together and flared the other end of the roll open to create the Chocolate Chip rose.  I stamped the swirls from the Ladybuds set onto Very Vanilla using Chocolate Chip and Summer Sun. 

I really had a blast even though I only had time on Friday for a little fun.  I will be counting down the days until VSN in June!

Mother of Pearl - As Promised

Here it is - as promised.  I was asked to create a card using the Faux Mother of Pearl technique for my group meeting.  This is what came out of the assignment. 

There is an incredible tutorial on SCS, but I will add a few helpful hints.  Make sure that you do not apply too much Lumiere to the paper.  You need plenty of white space for the second color to show.  Play around with a few small squares of glossy cardstock to get a feel for how much is too much.  I also like to sponge my color to give the background even more depth.  The brayer will give even coverage and sponging will give an even more marbled look.  Again play with the two types of application and see which one is your preference.  I have used the Measure of a Life Hostess set and Warm Words for the sentiment on this card.  I used Bashful Blue as the base of my card and the last of my True Thyme stitched ribbon and cardstock - so sad to see these go :( - as the accents.  The photo corners are created by cutting the 1 3/8" square punch on the diagonal and then using the 1/4" square punch to create the notch.

Well, off to the joys of motherhood - emptying the dishwasher, doing laundry, vacuuming,.....