Stenciling with UTEE

Hi everyone.  Back with a reminder card for CAS Stencil May Challenge - Stenciling over a Coloured Background, hosted by the wonderful Sue!

I started by lightly smooshing a piece of mixed media card with olive and just a little of two shades of blue ink.  You need to have your background panel completely dry before proceeding with this technique.  Also a good idea (even if it's dry) to add anti-static powder before placeing stencil over top.

Placed leaves stencil over top, pounced with Versamark, sprinkled with UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) and heat set.  I quickly sprinkled another coat of UTEE while the first coat was still hot and melted.  It stuck to most of it, so I heat set that part and then warmed up the part that it didn't stick to and sprinkled quickly with more UTEE.  I love the thick, shiny coating it gives the leaves.

Once everything had cooled, I sponged over top with more of the two shades of blue ink ... mostly around the leaves to make them stand out.  The UTEE resists the ink, but it will sit on top, so you need to wipe it with a paper towel to reveal a clear image.  I'm so happy with how this turned out.  This is Jer's birthday card ... he's all about the artsy!! :)

To finish, I splattered diluted acrylic gold paint over my main panel and also my card front.  The main panel was then popped up with foam to add dimension.  The sentiment was stamped to match the background, first with olive ink; then the darker shade of blue, followed by olive again.  I love how easy it is to match the colours for the sentiment.

Here's a close-up ...

I hope you'll check out the challenge blog to see the beautiful cards from the Designers and our wonderful Guest Designer, Michele.

Then come join us ... there's still one week left to play along.

I'm entering the above card at the Take It Make It challenge at Craft Stamper Magazine.

Stamps:  Many Everyday Messages (Hero Arts)
Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb. 400 Series); White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Crushed Olive, Broken China, Salty Ocean (Tim Holtz); Versamark; Delicata Gold (Tsukineko)
Accessories & Tools:  Sponges, Leaves Stencil (Simon Says Stamp), UTEE (Ultra-Thick Embossing Enamel), heat tool, paint brush for splattering, Lumiere Gold Acrylic Paint

Challenges:
CAS Stencil May Challenge - Stencil over Coloured Background
Craft Stamper Take It Make It May Challenge

Eat, Sleep, Craft, Repeat Retreat 2019

Hi everyone.  It's the time of year for the annual craft retreat.  We met Wednesday at Crescent Beach, B.C. and are having lots of fun learning new techniques and playing with different products.

Above are some of the small note cards I gave to each of the girls.  I'm so thrilled to be together with my pals Susan, Christine, and Trina (Vancouver), my dear friends Nancy (Oregon) and Darnell, aka Dolly (California), and are excited to have four first time atteendees joining us, Bonnie (North Carolina), Jeani (Washington State), Colleen (Oregon), and Lin (Washington State).

What a crazy bunch of girls! :)  We are having lots of fun and there is rarely a quiet moment as these girls LOVE to talk! :)

I'll be sharing some of our makes over the next few days.  Stay tuned! :)

Stamps: Variety of stamps
Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); White card base (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:  Black ink (Memento); Distress Inks (Tim Holtz)
Accessories & Tools:  clear embossing powder, water brush

Be Jolly

Hi everyone.  Today is my reminder card for CAS Christmas May Challenge - Stocking, hosted by the talented Trina.

I went for a super CAS design this time.  I used an adorable "be jolly" die, stacked three layers thick with white card stock and topped with a bright green layer.

I die-cut a Christmas stocking from red and white felt as well as white card stock.  Glued the felt onto the card stock pieces for stability.  The red stocking part was dry embossed with a waffle design that, to me, looks like it's been knitted.  Added two small die-cut holly and a red rhinstone to finish the stock.  I then glued the stocking over top of the "j" from the die-cut.  Mountd my image onto a white card.  Easy, peasy.  This would look so cute with using different matching papers, so I might make more of these. :)

Close-up ...

Please check out the challenge blog to see the adorable stocking cards from our Designers, and from our wonderful Guest Designer, Helen.

There's still over a week left to play along.  Join us!

Paper: White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.); Gumball green card stock (SU!)
Accessories & Tools: be jolly die (CUTplorations), Stocking die (Sizzix), red felt, white felt, scrap of patterned paper for the holly, red rhinstone

Challenges:
CAS Christmas May Challenge - Stocking

Sweetest Birthday

Hi everyone.  It's time for the reminder that there's only about a week left to play along with us at the CAS Watercolour May Challenge - For a Child, hosted by the mega talented Karen!  We are also thrilled to have Bobby as our Guest Designer this month.

Doesn't everyone love ice cream bars??!!  This is my first time inking up this fun stamp set from Avery Alle.  I have a sweet tooth (that's an understatement!).  When I was young, I loved to buy Creamsicles.  They were vanilla ice cream bars coated with orange.  Delicious!!  These stamps reminded me of them, so I coloured them in bright, ice cream colours using my Zigs, after stamping the images in black and clear embossing.  Crystal Glaze was added to the bright part of the orange and pink ice cream bars.

The background is a paper towel transfer background using the same colours, cut with a stitched, partial circle die.  The bars are popped up for some added dimesion.  I stamped the sentiment in black and embossed with clear so it would match the bar images.

Here's a close-up ...

Check out the fun gallery of cards on the challenge blog.  And then come join us.  Still lots of time to play along!

Stamps:  Sweetest (Avery Elle)
Paper:  Mixed Media paper (Strathmore 140 lb. 400 Series); White card base (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:  Black (Memento); Zigs
Accessories & Tools:  Clear embossing powder (Ranger), heat tool, water brush, crystal glaze (Nuvo)

Challenges:
CAS Watercolour May Challenge - For a Child