Die Cutting Backgrounds.

I rather enjoyed today's idea by a new to person Yana Smakula. Very different style which I loved. Here's my card:

 

I don't have any stamps that would work just as she suggested and sadly everything's closed right now. I made do with what I have and pieced this together with some Hero Arts stamps. The smile is Simon Says stamp and the heart die are Lawn Fawn. 

I defiantly need to get some new stamps. 

It's good to be crafting and reaching out again. I'm not sure if blogging is the best way to go it seems most people have moved to Instagram. I may go that route. 

So it's been a few years...

It's been ages. 6 years ago I decided to go back to school thinking it wouldn't disrupt my life to much. I was wrong. It left zero time for crafting but the good news is I've only got 1 semester left of school and only 1 class! (They start later this month.) I finally have time to craft again. I'm super rusty but thankfully the great people over at online card classes started a

That should help sand the rust off. I'll give an full update on my whereabouts later I wanted to get this card up before I poop out, like I did yesterday. Day 1 just didn't motivate me much. Today was different I had fun kicking idea's around.

Here's what I came up with.




Clearly I need work on the lighting in my space. :D Stamps are a combo of Hero Arts (the big flowers) and Mama Elephant. The die is from Simon Says Stamp and the ink is Hero Arts shadow Ink.

I plan on being back soon, tomorrow even. See you then

I'm back with Background day 2

Wow, a few months has passed again. It's been a busy few months 2 funerals and a wedding and girls camp. I really want to get back into card making so I signed up for the background check online card class. It's been a good class I wasn't to sure if it would be worth the money. (Being unemployed I don't have lots of money to squander.) I have to say I am quite happy I joined the class.

Since I've been busy with so many things (we catered one of those funerals and the next night I served at the wedding) I haven't been able to participate as much as I would have liked. I am going to post my cards out of order. 

Day 2 had some good ideas Jennifer McGuire was inking up patterned paper after she clear embossed it. This sounded like a fun idea so I gave it a whirl. Here are some of the backgrounds I created:

I used a Hero Arts background stamp. I learned use a heavier paper. As you can see the paper was a bit warped from the ink. 

Once I learned I needed heaver paper I pulled out some 6x6 paper packs. This is a rainbow paper from Studio Calico. I clear embossed a (I think) Hero Arts stamp then inked the paper with navy shadow ink. I am very happy with the results. My favorite though has to be this bad boy:

Wood paper (no idea from where) with a Hero Arts negative stamp (I can look up the name if you need me to) I used Hero Arts Cup of Joe shadow ink to fill in the stamp area. I absolutely love it! The thank you is a Heidi Swapp die the hearts are colored with royal red shadow ink and cut out from a Lawn fawn die. I made it a square card I just couldn't find the right card to make it look nice. 

Be back soon with more samples. 

Happy Tuesday.

Day 4 Mask-erade... Freezer Paper

I have to admit I was dragging my feet with this technique (masking with freezer paper). Having had success with other masking techniques why would I even want to give this one a try? Since this was a class I paid for and the instructors were kind enough to take the time to show me how to do it, I needed to suck it up give it a try. My in laws had the freezer paper, I wasn't about to go buy some and I managed to find my iron. (It's been a few years since I turned it on.) Last night I created this:

The stars are dies from Lawn Fawn and the ink is the new mermaid lagoon distress ink. I don't remember where I got the birthday script die from. The yellow ink is also distress ink. I'l have to hunt that down if you are interested. The black dots are from a Simon Says Stamp set, Congratulations.

I must say I had a great time with it. The card is based off of Laura Bassen card. She took a piece of acetate and " ink smooched" it. I tried it and this is what happened:

I made a huge mess. Ink went every where and it never quite smooched right on the paper. I have re-watched her video and realized I was smooching wrong. I put the ink on my craft sheet and used the acetate to pull it off, ware as she put the ink directly on the acetate.  Now that I know the correct way to smooch I'll be doing it again. 

This week has been a fun week of trying things new and sanding the rust off my creative gears. I hope all goes well with you all this weekend. Be Back Soon.

Happy Days, 

Katie

Day 5 Mask-erade 2nd Card

Sadly if I want to link up the card to the group I have to make a 2nd post for it.

My second card was a blast to do. I used Technique Tuesday stamps and embossed with black embossing powder on hot pressed Archival water color paper and when to town with the Zig brush pens. I taped the paper down and put a heavy coat of water on the paper before I started coloring. I couldn't bring myself to put anything else on the scene so I put the sentiment on the inside of the card. I taped the scene onto Hero Arts black card stock.

I loved this card, it's one of the those I'll end up keeping. My mom said if should have made it bigger so we could hang it on the wall. She is a little bias but I like what she had to say. :D

Katie

Day 5 Mask-erade

I know I skipped day four. Day four is using freezer paper and after the success of rubber cement why would I want to use anything else? I managed to find and borrow some freezer paper and actually found my iron, I'll give it a try tomorrow.  For now here's the last day, masking with embossing. I had so much fun with this technique I made 2 cards.

My first card: 

Using Lawn Fawn stamps I colored them with Copics (still my favorite reg marker) then clear heat embossed it and went to down with the clouds. I'm very happy with the results. I will definitely be doing this again. 

In other news I spent hours today fishing out my light tent and lights, cleaned out the rest of the craft room and finished unpacking. Yes, we moved in over a year ago but it's been a busy year. One of the lights wasn't working quite right so the photo isn't the best. Hopefully the hubby can work his magic on it tomorrow. 

Happy Days,

Katie

Day 3 Mask-erade

Day Three, Liquid Masking.

As we learned in class, there's what feels like a million liquid mask options. I went with good old fashioned rubber cement. This was the second time I used it, the first time.. not a pleasant experience but this time it turned out really nice:

The stamps are from Hero Arts, and the banner is a die from Lawn Fawn.

I've drawn inspiration on all of the teachers so no real original ideas here. My brain hasn't gotten back in to crafting mode. The old line is true, you don't use it you lose it. I am loving water coloring and adore the Zig Clean Color Brushes. There's been a mad dash for them. I am so grateful to have gotten them before the rush, they are awesome but sadly are sold out just about everywhere.

I will say I am so grateful to Kristina Warner and her tip about hot pressed water color paper. I've been buying water color paper for years but it always had to heavy a texture for my liking which caused me to shy away from using it. Hot pressed paper doesn't have the valleys and peaks, I rather enjoy using it. We learn some thing new every day.

Happy Monday!

Katie