Fabulous Inspiration: Just Because Cards

Have you heard the phrase, "A little bit goes a long way?" Sometimes I send a card to my Mom or a friend for no specific reason. When my Mom receives it, she is thrilled and I feel like a million bucks because I've put a big smile on her face. That small gesture made her so happy!

Below are some "Just Because" cards from the card swap. Sending one of these cards is sure to put a smile on its recipient!

Check out this faux-filigree window card by Rosie N. Gorgeous, right? Rosie told me she cut the design on her Cameo but you could easily replicate this look with any die cutting machine and a more intricate die.

Lorraine M. made a stunning background of striated colours as a backdrop for her cutting plate die cut.  It love how Lorraine made the focus her die cut - everything else is a complementary addition.

Don't you love this soft muted rose toned card by Tammy L.? The matted blocks showcase her stamped image beautifully.

I was gobsmacked by Connie V.'s water coloured card and I must confess I spent time deconstructing it so I could learn how to make it!!! The finishing touches are what drew my eye...like the tulle and heart clasp on the ball gown - just beautiful...

Ellen's cards are so perfectly coordinated. This quilt block look is classic and elegant...just like Miss Ellen! The hints of grey in the blues, taupes and purples make this card so versatile as the recipient could be a male or female. Gorgeous!

And lastly, I have shown you my Just Because card in an earlier blog post. That Spellbinders die is so well loved and used!

Thanks for dropping by - I hope we have inspired you to create.

Fabulous Find: Ombre Backgrounds

As you know I peruse various blogs like Jennifer McGuire and Pinterest...and I also watch oodles of videos on YouTube by manufacturers and craft reviewers. Why? Because I love to see what new products are coming to Scrap Shotz, check out the latest trends and even more, I love to see how other artists use the product creatively. All that inspiration incites me to create, create, create!!!

One of the recent techniques I have seen is Ombre Colouring or Ombre Stamping. Hero Arts recently released a set of ombre stamp pads - very very cool! It made me wonder how I could achieve a similar result using inks and colours I already had on hand.

I decided to use my Tim Holtz distress inks because I adore how fabulously they blend. As well, I love how distress inks react with water. If I decided to add an extra subtle shimmer with my Ranger Perfect Pearls, it would be easy to do. In the end, I did not add any Ranger Perfect Pearls but a girl likes to have that option! (*wink* *wink*)

Using Tattered Rose, Worn Lipstick and Pickled Raspberry, I applied colour to a piece of white cardstock. I made sure to have visible areas where the blended inks appeared so in essence, I wanted to see 5 gradations of colour on my background. Once the colour was applied, I quickly heat set the inks.

In the interim, I used my Spellbinders Shapeabilities - Floral die to die cut an intricate overlay for the ombre background. Then I adhered the overlay to the ombre background using a nominal amount of liquid adhesive, to not activate the distress inks. A few Prima gems and a quick sentiment the card was finished. I am happy with the results.

Supplies:  Bazzill (white cardstock); Tim Holtz (distress inks); Prima (gems); Close to my Heart (sentiment stamp)

Do you like the ombre trend???

Fabulous Inspiration for Kids' Birthday Cards

Hello hello hello!!! In our recent Scrap Shotz card swap, one of the categories was Kids' Birthday cards.  Don't you absolutely love everyone's card?

For this card, adhere 4-6 die cuts to create dimension with your die cut on the card. Then colour the Taylored Expressions balloon die cut with Tim Holtz distress ink and spritz it with Ranger Perfect Pearls for some glitz. Add a bow made using the WRMK Envelope board.

By Virginia W

Check out the fresh and fabulous take on ombre stamping on Connie's card! And the innovative use of the scalloped dies as puffs of smoke from the rocket launch - fabulous!

By Connie V.

The bouquet of birthday balloons with striped twine are adorable on Lorraine's card. The white background makes the green pop for an eye catching card!

By Lorraine M.

Rosie embossed a basket weave background for her card. The detail yet subtle background complements her dimensional sentiment matted in a bright coloured label shaped die. Absolutely lovely!

By Rosie N.

Who doesn't love an Etch-a-Sketch?? This adorable card by Tammy is a cute take on a kids' favorite toy. Clean, simple and fabulous!

By Tammy L.

And last but not least, here is Ellen's wonderful kids' birthday card. I fell in love with the embossed candles with a touch of ink edging it - doesn't it look like the candle flame.  The colours are so very party-like! So where is the party???

By Ellen Y.

I hope you are as inspired by the cards from the card swap as I was! Leave me a comment as I would love to hear from you!

Fabulous Fundamental: In-laid Die Cuts

Dies, dies, dies...I can't get enough of them...sigh. They are uber versatile and I love how uniform the die cut is. So to further my love of dies, I have spent a "fair" (wink wink) amount of time perusing pinterest and stalking blogs for unique and interesting ways of using dies.

Below is my take on cards I found on pinterest...and as it happens I made several of these for the card swap but in the end, they didn't make the cut!

This card was made using distress inks painted onto water colour paper using a water brush. I actually love the perfectly imperfect look. After I applied the inks, I let it air dry and then spritzed it with some Ranger Perfect Pearls for some shine. You can't see the shimmer in this image...sorry but there is just a little something extra on it.

When the water colours were completely dried, I die cut the "happy" sentiment. For this card, I wanted the "happy" sentiment to be slightly elevated so I cut another 4-5 sentiments and glued them together. Then I inserted the sentiment into the die cut watercolour paper, matching up the colours.

Also I flicked on some Prima charcoal mist. I remembered watching a Ranger video where the artist mentioned black makes colour pop so that is what I did. Unfortunately the black Prima mist smudged and hence did not make the card swap cut. I'm not sure why the mist smudged because I let it air dry overnight but it was a bit disappointing to me as was the leaking nozzle. The "happy" die is from Wplus9. This die gets alot of mileage as I pair it with sentiments such as birthday, anniversary and so on.

Another look that I've seen Jennifer McGuire profile is the non-dimensional inlaid die cut look. Its beautiful, easy to replicate and looks like a million bucks! This "hello" die is also from Wplus9.  (If you are interested in these dies, just pop an email to Sandy.)

Thanks for dropping by - I am going to showcasing the stunning cards from the card swap!

Thinking of a Card Swap????

Have you ever joined a card swap??? If not, please give it some consideration. It is an excellent opportunity to join the very friendly online community of Scrap Shotz. You also receive stunningly beautiful cards, maybe ones that you would not normally make for yourself and best of all, it inspires you to try new products and techniques.

Below is a picture of the "Hello" card swap category we did last fall. (Swappers - I am sorry that I don't remember who made which card but everyone is from the Scrap Shotz community!)

I hope to see you soon!

Scrap Shotz Forum Card Swap: Love is in the Air

If you did not already know, Scrap Shotz has a lovely active forum.  One of the activities we regularly participate in is card swaps. It is an excellent way to build your card stash with a variety of stunning cards. Look below at the cards swapped for Valentines!

By Connie V.

By Tammy L.

By Virginia W.

I hope you will join us on the forum and participate in the many swaps!

Fabulous Find: Tim Holtz Distress Paints and Inks

As you know, I have resisted the lure of Tim Holtz products for a while now...but no more!!! I am in serious love with the distress inks...and now his distress paints. Truly I never knew the sheer fabulousness of his products but now I have uncovered the secrets!

Below is a card I made using Tim's fabulous products and Taylored Expressions Birch Tree Cutting Plate as well as the Taylored Expressions Birch Tree Accessories Die.

First I created the background using Tim Holtz distress inks leaving the outer edges darker - I was hoping for a glowing moon effect :-) Then I heat set the distress inks. It is very important to dry your distress inks before you spritz with a mist or use other liquid product on top of the distress inks as the "water" reacts with the distress inks.

To make the "starry" background, I flicked some Hero Arts white mist (this can be ordered direct through Sandy in the store) and then for some added dimension and shine, I flicked some Tsukineko Irresistible Pico Embellisher too. Let this dry fully.

In the meantime, I applied distress inks in varying degrees of darkness onto the birch tree cutting plate image. Take the time to liberally cover the back of the birch tree die cut with pop dots as it makes the sky pop in the background.

For the deer, I dabbed a bit of Time Holtz distress paint onto my craft mat. There was a stamp on my desk from the Faber Castell gelato kit which I promptly stamped into the paint and applied to the deer. The paint was dried with my heat gun. Then using the Ranger mini tool blender I applied a heavy coat of the brown grouping of distress inks. The magic I saw was that the distress paints resisted the distress inks. I found the resist effect stunning and something I am going to use going forward. Distress inks with a generous coating of Ranger Glossy Accents was applied to the bird house.

Inside I stamped a sentiment from the fabulous Avery Elle stamp set. (Sorry I do not have a picture of the inside of the card.) Check out this very versatile stamp - it can be used for babies, birthdays, graduations and so much more.

Do you love your Tim Holtz distress inks and paints?