There are 3 posts today so be sure to keep reading......I've had this idea in my head for a while and just had to get it out. I wanted to create a mirror behind Sophie with a reflection of her dancing. And yes, I did get a few minutes of sleep last night!

This Sophie was received from NewStampinAddict (Thanks Alison!) over at the PIF images thread.

To make Sophie's reflection, I cut out a stamped image and saved the paper you'd normally throw away as my mask (see photo). Well I guess it really should say STENCIL instead of mask, oh well. I placed that paper onto the spot on my watercolor paper that I wanted the reflection and watercolored inside that area using pink and brown. (I later realized I needed her other antler and cut that out and watercolored it in also). To finish, I used Baha Breeze to watercolor the area around my main reflection. I didn't watercolor that in solid - I placed my strokes at an angle and left them kind of rough to give a more reflective feel.



I hand drew in the floor using my usual technique for floors or sidewalks found here.

Stamps: Hanna Stamps Ballet Sophie
Paper: SU Pink Pirouette DP, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, watercolor paper
Ink: Baja Blue, Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Copics, prismacolor pencils & baby oil, fine black marker, Pink Hedgehog Ribbon, aquapen

Enjoy!
Michelle

Jeff's Bday # 1

Need to make a birthday card for my BIL and couldn't decide exactly what to do. So, I'm gonna make two and make DH decide!

Here's the first one. It was inspired by a card I did for Mojo46 which can be found here.

This main image was received from AJITZI (Thanks Mimi!) over in the PIF images thread.

I'm finding these trees to be very versatile. I think I need a little more practice with them to get just the look I want. Poor me, guess I'll need to make another card. Ha!

Stamps: Snoopy's Chopper, Rubbernecker Kittie Kit Cause a Scene Out Door Master
Paper: Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Black, Whisper White,
Ink: Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Soft Sky, Riding Hood Red, Tangerine Tango
Accessories: Cricut, copics, prismacolor pencils & baby oil, glitter pen, Slot punch

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Mojo55 New Brayering

This was created for sketch challenge Mojo55. I also wanted to try Julie Buhler's new Easy Sunset Technique (an easy way to make brayered skies) which can be found here.

You have soooo got to try this technique. Julie created this to teach beginners and has had great success. I consider myself fairly decent with the brayer but I was able to increase my skill greatly by using this technique.

In this piece I actually used 3 different colors in my sky. Look how smoothly it flows from one to the next - you cannot see the changes! Awesome! Julie's tutorial shows 2 colors. I just did Julie's technique twice:

1. I brayered with Soft Sky & Baja Breeze on the top 2/3 of the card.
2. Then I brayered Baja Breeze and Pacific Point on the bottom 2/3 (the Baja Breeze overlapped itself).

Be sure you use a slick cardstock such as Stampin Up Whisper White, lots of ink (like ink up that brayer and roll it on the cardstock 5 X or so) and roll like crazy to get all this blending!

Stamps: See D's Silhouettes, Stampendous Many Sayings
Paper: Black, Whisper White, Soft Sky
Ink: Soft Sky, Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Versafine Black
Accessories: Paper Piercer, fine black marker, brayer


Enjoy!
Michelle B.

WSC59 Spongebob Inspired

I wasn't a big Spongebob fan until I noticed how fabulously they do their background scenery and their coloring. Now I am a big fan (even if I am so busy soaking up that scenery that I don't remember a word they say!). So, give Spongebob a try!

Spongebob always has large flowers in the ocean behind him. That style is what inspired this piece for challenge WSC59. I stamped the flowers first into the Virsamark pad, then color, and then onto the paper. Add some embossing powder (be sure to use DETAIL embossing powder) and a blast of the heat gun and you'll be ready to ink. I sponged the water as my brayer was upstairs and I was to lazy to go get it!

The scuba kitty is a PIF from Catcrazy (thanks Janice!).

Stamps: CC Designs Summertime Fun, CC Designs Sugarplums Scenery, Autumn Leaves Swirls V I, Riveting
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Regal Rose
Ink: Soft Sky, Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Summer Sun, Tangerine Tango, Pink Pirouette
Accessories: Copics, Prismacolor pencils & baby oil, Virsamark, Circle Punches, Brad from unknown source

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

With a Little Help From My Friends.....

...I was able to complete this birthday card for DS's buddy.

Well let's see.... those little tiny stars were a RAK from Anemone (Thanks Kelly!), the boy and space ship were a PIF from J-Bo (Thanks Jen!), and the embossed paper was a PIF from MindyYoung (Thanks Mindy!). I did do the sponging all by myself!

For the sky, I started by sponging Soft Sky, then I moved to Blue Bayou. Night of Navy was next and I finished off with Basic Black. I sponged with an up and down pouncing motion to get the ink onto the paper and then moved the sponge in a circular motion to blend. I actually did the whole thing twice to get it to blend the way I wanted. As I've said before, you must use a paper with a slightly slick surface to get that ink to move and blend. I use Stampin' Up Whisper White.

The "planet" was embossed white paper that I sponged heavily with River Rock in the center and then moved outward so the color would be more intense in the middle of my planet and softer towards the edges.

Stamps: Lizzie Anne Designs Out of This World
Paper: Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: River Rock, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Night of Navy, Basic Black
Accessories: Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles Embossing Folder, Copics, Stars from unknown source

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Pat's Retirement

A long time co-worker is retiring and going to start his own handyman business so I made him this card. This is my first time to use my new trees from my Kittie Kit and I think they are going to be very happy at my house!

Stamps: Stamping Bella Fixafella, Kittie Kit Cause a Scene Outdoor Master, See D's A Word or Two
Paper: Pacific Point, SU Whisper White, GP 110
Ink: Soft Sky, Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive
Accessories: Copics, Prismacolor pencils & baby oil

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

A Little Change in Billy

So, I liked the background on the Billy card I did yesterday but something just wasn't quite right. I wanted him to look like he was flying and it just wasn't happening for me. So tonight my 10 yo DD takes one look at it and tells me I need to turn it 1/4 turn. Wow, she was absolutely right. So I turned the sentiment and card and took a new pic. I like it much better. DD has informed me that perhaps I should check with her before posting any more pics on my blog! Ha!

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Superhero Billy

I was inspired by a cartoon I saw the other day where the super hero had an amazing background like this. I wanted to create my own amazing super hero background for Billy so I got to work creating a mask and sponging away. Woo hoo, this was a quick card for me at only 1 hour!

Here's a pic of the mask I made. I cut a piece of cardstock to size. I drew a line down the middle both horizontally and vertically. Then I drew a line from corner to corner. I kept turning and dividing the piece until it looked like I wanted. Finally, I cut out every other piece. NOTE: I didn't cut all the way to the center. I wanted the piece to stay together and I knew my main image would cover this in the end.




Stamps: Pink Cat Studio Billy Plate 1
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Bashful Blue
Ink: Baja Blue
Accessories: Copics, Prismacolor Pencils & Baby Oil, circle punches

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Red Headed Cowboy

I had a hard time deciding which of this week's Featured Stamper cards I'd case. I finally decided upon this one.

I was obviously inspired by the image (which I received from InkStazonMe over at the PIF images thread - Thanks Ink!), cowboy theme, and sage and brown colors.

I changed 1) the background and 2) the sketch.

The sketch was from this week's TECC34 (Taylor's Cupcake Challenge).

I'll also be sending this out according to the instructions on the Heart to Heart Blog Candy giveaway from Carolyn King. BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THIS BLOG CANDY CHANCE TO WIN $100's OF DOLLARS IN PRIZES!!!!

Now, I bet you are wondering how I did those mountains. Well, I started off cutting some mountain shapes on a scrap of cardstock to serve as a mask. Be sure to use an uneven number of mountains (such as 3 or 5) as it is much more interesting to the eye.







Next, place the bottom portion of the mask into place and sponge Soft Sky into the sky area.










Place top portion of mask over the sky area you just sponged and sponge Going Gray into the mountain area.













I added a shadow to the left side of the mountain. To do this, I left the mask in place over the sky. I ripped another scrap and place it roughly in the middle of the mountain (you don't want a straight line down the front of the mountain so have it start at the peak and angle one way or the other). Sponge chocolate chip into the left side of the mountains. Finally, I removed all the masks and I "smeared" some chocolate chip up into the the gray area on the right and then sponged my way down into the rest of my landscape.





















Stamps: High Hopes Clarabelle & Riley, Rubbernecker Kittie Kit Cause a Scene Oudoor Master
Paper: Sage Shadow, Whisper White
Ink: Soft Sky, Baja Blue, Going Gray, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Sage Shadow
Accessories: Copic markers, Prismacolor Pencils & baby oil, Virsamark Pen & clear detail embossing poder, twine

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

WT184 City View

My silhouette for challenge WT184 was inspired by what I THOUGHT I saw on a large ad at Kohl's (department store) the other day. I rushed over to get a closer look only to find that their scene was a spotlight (instead of the glare of the sun), speakers (instead of buildings) and teenager's arms (instead of plants). Aw, man! But I still loved what I THOUGHT I saw so here it is!

I masked off the bottom area where I wanted the buildings to end so that there would be no definite line to end the buildings. I just wanted them to fade into the green. All the sky (with buildings masked), green area, and dark colors in the front where sponged in a circular motion on SU Whisper White cardstock - this slick surface is a requirement to get that ink to move around!

Whenever I use silhouettes, I like to use a color other than black for the main image (here I used Night of Navy) and highlight all of one side of the image with a white gel pen and all of the opposite side with a fine black marker (Michelle Zindorf's inspiration coming out!).

My DS had his 6th birthday party today with his buddies at the local mini golf/go cart spot and I'm tired so...... just some simple cuts today for my sketch. It wouldn't be me if I left the scene whole!

Stamps: Seeing Spots, MFT Going Places, Essence of Love
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White
Ink: Whisper White, Soft Sky, Baja Blue, Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive, Night of Navy, Black
Accessories: Copics, White Gel Pen, Fine Black Marker

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

The Clothesline

My only problem with sketch challenge SC194 was which idea to use!

I received this fabulous clothesline image from NurseChrissy (Thanks Chrissy!) over at the PIF Images thread.

All the usual details (cut the center out then inked, colored with Copics & Prismas....making note to self to make blog entry for "the usual deets"). I hand drew the clothesline with my fine black marker (using a shoelace as my guide….hey, it was handy!). I cut out and attached the individual items hanging from the clothesline. The tree trunks are paper pieced in this same way.

Stamps: Pink Cat Studios Beach Plate 1, CC Designs Olivia’s Birdies, See D’s A Word or Two
Paper: Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Soft Sky, Baja Blue, Old Olive, Kiwi Kiss, White
Accessories: Copics, Prismacolor Pencils & Baby Oil, White Gel Pen, fine black marker

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

2 Clunkers

When I first saw the sketch for Mojo53 I said "Wow, she's trying to kill me". Ha ha! This sketch is a tough one for my style. But I'm determined (my dad calls it stubborn) so I forged ahead.

But, this card just isn't doing it for me. I'm not exactly sure what I don't like.....mmmm, maybe all of it! So I decided to try again (see how stubborn I am).

Stamps: My Favorite Things It's a Jungle Out There, See D's A Word or Two, See D's Silhouettes
Paper: Riding Hood Red, GP 110
Ink: Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Versmark Black, SU Black, River Rock
Accessories: White gel pen


Well Version 2 is better. I think I should have used Riding Hood Red cardstock instead and then it would have been good. I think I should have taken a bit more care in my photo as well but I was exhausted by this time. So, the sketch wins this time but I'll be back to play another day....Mwah ha ha!


Stamps: CC Designs Olivia's Birdies
Paper: Pacific Point, GP 110
Ink: Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Soft Sky, Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive, GP 110
Accessories: Copics, Prismacolor pencils & baby oil, SU Old Olive Ribbon, Virsamark pen, embossing powder, heat gun

Michelle B.

Another Scarecrow & Creating Perspective

This weeks OCCC was a sketch challenge – my favorite! Yipee! I was inspired by the example done by Lynda Benden. I saw “wind” in her swirled rhinestones and I ran with it. I received this fabulous High Hopes image from Inkstazonme (Thanks Miss Ink!) over at the PIF Images thread.

I didn’t think I had anything to offer for this weeks Limited Supplies Challenge (show a simple technique) as I figure I learned everything from you guys anyway. But after this piece was complete, I thought maybe someone might be interested to know how I created the perspective in the field (how the angle of the rows of dirt appear to lead you far off into the distance). I already had a tutorial on my blog so I nervously submitted this piece for that challenge as well. Even if you are not heavily into scene stamping like me, you could use this technique to draw a simple sidewalk in front of an image of a store, café, or house (the example on my blog is a sidewalk). Here is my original tutorial.

In this particular example, I used masking and sponging to create the rows in the field. I also set the point I pivoted from under the scarecrow rather than right in the middle of the piece. This draws your eye right to him rather than away from him. (and it covers up the messy point where all the lines come together! Ha!)

Whenever you are creating perspective remember a few simple rules:
1. Objects closer to you are bigger, more brightly colored, and more detailed.
2. Objects further away are smaller, less brightly colored, and have less details.
ETA # 3. Always be watchful of where your main image will go and what is immediately behind it (in other words: make sure you don't have any weird tree branch sticking out of a pretty lady's head or anything!)

One more note on this card, after stamping the wind and leaves they just weren't showing up very well against that brown. So, I got out my trusty white gel pen and drew around the top right of the leaves. Then I grabbed my trusty fine black marker and drew around the bottom left of the leaves and swirls. NOW you can see them!

Stamps: High Hopes Guard Duty Rudy, Lovely as a Tree, PTI Out on a Limb Revised, Autumn Leaves Swirls V I
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Soft Sky, Baja Blue, Summer Sun, Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Ruby Red, More Mustard
Accessories: Copics, Prismacolor Pencils & Baby Oil, White Gel Pen, fine black marker

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

TECC33 Cocoa Beach Beach

This scene reminds me of our vacation to Cocoa Beach. When we were in the ocean, we could see the hotels in the background.

I received this fabulous High Hopes image from LMcAree (Thanks Lori!) over at the PIF Images thread.

I'm thinking now I should have maybe put a sandcastle in that panel on the left. Oh, well, I could just keep adding things to the same card for hours!

I love figuring my way out of a mistake. When I stamped the sentiment, I was too far over to the left. I just grabbed my fine black marker and drew in the 2 exclamation points on the right and it looks good again.

Stamps: High Hopes Beach Girl Patti, MFT Going Places
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Whisper White
Ink: Soft Sky, Baja Blue, Pacific Point, River Rock
Accessories: Copics, Prismacolor Pencils & Baby Oil, White Gel Pen

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

WSC57 Halloween Mice

I started creating this for sketch challenge WSC57 and I kinda got carried away. I had to flip the sketch on its side to make it work. I love the image with the cutout part and I love the Kiwi paper with the Eggplant Guidelines but I’m not sure if I love the 2 things together.

I received this fabulous House Mouse image from Basketbrains (Thanks Stuffy!) over at the PIF Images thread.

I normally basecoat the image with Copics and then shade with my Prismacolor pencils and baby oil using a shade darker than the Copics. With this image I shaded with two different colors. For example, I basecoated the brick wall with my R37 Copic. Next I shaded with the Tuscan Red and Dark Brown Prismacolor pencils. I thought it gave much more depth and realism. On the pumpkin, I shaded with Pumpkin Orange Prismacolor pencil (I think) and I also added Tuscan Red to go even darker. Don't be afraid to experiment!

Stamps: House Mouse Bewitching Pumpkins, PTI Guide Lines
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Elegant Eggplant
Ink: Elegant Eggplant
Accessories: Copics, Prismacolor Pencils & Baby Oil

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

WT183 Fall in the Back Yard

A challenge to use a white gel pen? No problem. I love mine and can't live without it (even keep a backup for emergencies). This shows one of my favorite ways to use the white gel pen - to highlight things that are dark, round and shiny such as the legs of this table. I think that little white highlight adds so much!

Yippee! Today I received all my new In Colors and managed to squeeze every last one onto this card to try them out. Is there a challenge for that?

Here is a picture of my card BEFORE I added the white gel pen (you can click on it to make it bigger). Everything looks so.....flat. A little white highlight makes everything pop right off the page.


Stamps: Flourishes Summer on the Patio, MFT It's a Jungle Out There (grass), Papertrey Ink Out on a Limb Revised
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White
Ink: Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Tangerine Tango, Chocolate Chip, Versamark Black
Accessories: White Gel Pen, Copics, Prismacolor Pencils & Baby Oil,

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Table How To

MissHelenStamps asked me to show how I did the table on this card. So here you go:


First, I cut a long oval with my Cricut that was slighly larger than my card base.





Next I cut a piece of cardstock the approximate size of my table. I placed the oval over the card stock as a mask. I cut along the top edge and I sponged along the bottom edge (heavily near the mask and lighter as I moved down). I like to use an ink slightly darker than my cardstock.




Voila! You have it! Note: Take a little off the bottom if you need to so your table will fit properly on your card.





Enjoy!
Michelle B.

SC193 Scarecrow

A scarecrow in a field of sunflowers is what I choose for sketch challenge SC193.

I received this fabulous scarecrow image from Tamijo (Thanks Tami!) over at the PIF Images thread.

I did my usual trick of cutting out all the pieces first and sticking them onto a Cricut mat before inking. I also colored with Copics and then shaded with Primacolor pencils and baby oil. I was stumped when it came to the plaid shirt. I’m far to lazy to shade every square independently so I ended up shading the entire shirt with Dark Brown. I did the same on the yellow straw hat. I love the aged feel it gave. I’ll be doing this again!

I also love how the 3 pieces of twine give a fence effect.


I didn’t have a sunflower stamp so I had to improvise with my MFT sets and some punches (see pic). For the stems, I used the branch from My Favorite Things It’s a Jungle Out There plus the leaves from My Favorite Things Can Ya Dig It?. I added lots of extra leaves to fill in. For the flowers, I punched out a small flower with the Boho Blossoms punch. I colored the center in a bit to add depth. Finally, I added a ¼” chocolate chip circle to the center to finish.

Stamps: High Hopes Pumpkin Patch Pete, MFT It’s a Jungle Out There (sunflower stems), MFT Can Ya Dig It? (sunflower leaves)
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Bazzill, GP 110
Ink: Old Olive, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou
Accessories: Copics, Prismacolor Pencils & Baby Oil, pop dots, twine from Mike’s, ¼” circle punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, Aquapainter (to get some sky color between all those stems!)

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

BIC22 Flowers in the Window

You knew I'd do another window didn't ya? This was created from the inspiration piece in challenge BIC22. I pulled the colors, the window, the table, the glass jar, and flowers from the inspiration piece.

The jar of flowers image came from Mountainmom (Thanks Imogene!) over at the PIF images thread.

The table was created by cutting out a long thin oval with my Cricut (longer than my paper was wide...I think it was 4 1/2"). I placed the oval over the Close to Cocoa paper and used it as a guide to cut the top edge of the table. I continued to hold that oval in place as I sponged Chocolate Chip ink to create the drop of the table. I sponged heavily to make it dark right at the mask and then I let it fade as I moved to the bottom of the card.

I'm still working on my clouds. I cut a makeup sponge into a somewhat round shape a little less than 1/2". I dabbed the sponge into the Whisper White ink. When I dabbed on my paper, I tilted the sponge so that more of the top hit the paper than the bottom. Then I used the sponge to pull the ink down and to the right (smeared). I highlighted the tops of the clouds with a white gel pen. When I love them, I'll do a tutorial. Ha!

Stamps: Lockhart Cottage Flowers
Paper: Bazzill Leapfrog (similar to Wild Wasabi), Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Soft Sky, GP 110 White
Ink: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: White Gel Pen, Copics, Prismacolor Pencils & Gamsol, Cricut

Enjoy!
Michelle

FS83 The Bird Bath

Featured Challenge FS83 inspired this creation. I choose to case this card by Card Crazy.

If you look at just the center of my card, it is a replica of Card Crazy's card (with the stamps I have available).

Things I changed:
1. I used different but similar themed stamps
2. I changed the sketch
3. I added a larger scene around the main image

This background was an experiment. I was looking to find a way to increase my speed. I usually brayer and sponge the background and then cut out all the images and stick them on the background. Today I stamped directly onto my final piece. As I had just used regular Georgia Pacific Cardstock, I sprayed the piece with clear acrylic sealer and then tried to watercolor with an aquapainter and ink refill. It wasn't quite dark enough for me so I went back around the edges and sponged on more soft sky. I'm not 100% sure I like the look but I will continue on my quest for speed (I currently have about 25 ideas in my sketch book just dying to get out!).

Stamps: CC Designs Sugarplums Oliva's Birdies, CC Designs Sugarplums Scenery , Stampendous Happy Messages,
Paper: The Paper Company Primary Blue (similar to Ballet Blue), Apricot Appeal, Bazzill Black, GP 110
Ink: Soft Sky
Accessories: Copics, Prismacolor Pencils & baby oil, white gel pen


Enjoy!
Michelle B.

SC192 Closet Full o'Dresses

Parts 1 & 2 of Sketch Challenge SC192 said walls and floor to me and I just kinda ran with it from there. I could have continued adding more and more details but I had to make myself stop!

The most important part of this piece in my opinion is the closet doors. I cut them approximately 1/2 " taller than they needed to be. Then I measured on the inside edge to 1/4". I then cut at an angle from the outside corner to that inside edge at the 1/4" mark. This gave me the angle on those doors that really brought them to life. I drew some rectangular panels onto the doors (notice they are straight in the middle but angled at top and bottom) sloppy on purpose (because I can't draw straight and was too lazy to get the ruler!). I highlighted the outside upper corners with my white Prismacolor pencil and the opposite corners with the Dark Brown Prismacolor pencil.

I plan to write "May your birthday bring you closets full of blessings" on the inside. Hmmmm, now what else could I put in a closet....tools, toys, etc.

Stamps: Gina K Retro Boutique
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Black, SU DP, GP 110
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Versafine Black
Accessories: Copics, Prismacolor Pencils


Enjoy!
Michelle B

SEP08MFTA2

Here’s a sample for the September MFT Ambassador Challenge # 2 - No White Paper Showing challenge hosted by none other than me! I choose to create some scenery and put my MFT girl into action.

A few weeks ago, I took my kids hiking and we came upon the most gorgeous dragonfly on a rock. That scene has stuck in my head and now I can share it with you!

The dragonfly was a little large for the scene so I drew a black line to shorten his tail and drew the curved lines to shorten his wings. After I cut the excess off and added some glitter, he was perfect. The evergreens are embossed so I could sponge around them. The rock is hand drawn. The sketch was inspired by All That Scraps Challenge #14.

Be sure to play so you can win!

Stamps: MFT It’s a Jungle Out There, MFT Bundles of Bouquets, MFT Nature Calls
Paper: Night of Navy, Bazzill Mediterranean, The Paper Company
Ink: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Old Olive, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Glitter Pen, Copics, Prismacolor Pencils & Baby Oil, Versamark Pad, Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Gun

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

WSC55 OCCC Big Top Birthday

This big top birthday card was created using sketch challenge WSC55 and the OCCC challenge to create a birthday card. Anybody smell popcorn?

The elephant's stand and the birthday hat are hand drawn. Let me show you how I did the Big Top roof and the crowd. This is lengthy (for me) so I made the pics smaller. You can click on them to enlarge if you need to.










BIG TOP FIRST PIC: For the roof, I noticed that this card was just the right width for my widest Nestie. I stuck the cardstock through the Nestie and cut just the one edge. I found the center and drew pencil lines from the highest point of the curves on the lower edge to roughly the center of the top. I didn't want the center of the top to be a point so I didn't measure this too precisely.



BIG TOP SECOND: I alternated coloring the strips red and leaving them white. I also cut off the excess white triangle that was left on either side. The Big Top is now ready for the card.





CROWD FIRST: I marked a pencil line across the top area where I want the "crowd" to end. I wanted the curve of the circus ring to show across the bottom. I scanned across my craft area and spotted a foam plate (use these every time I paint). The foam plate was the perfect curve so I traced the edge with a black marker. Next I picked a few pastel shades of Copic markers and randomly colored little circles all over the crowd area. Next I embossed all these little circles by coloring over them with a Virsamark embossing pen, covering with embossing powder, and finally heating with the heat gun.



CROWD SECOND: Now that all the audience member are protected from ink (Ha!), I sponged Blue Bayou all over the crowd area. When I was done, I used a papertowel to wipe any remaining ink off the embossed areas.

Give it a try!!!

(You'll notice that this project didn't have the center panel cut out ahead of time like I ususally do. I got carried away and almost forgot that detail. I had to go back and cut out the center panel after I had inked. I hate to cut second because I've already go to much time invested. I got lucky this time and made the cut successfully!)


Stamps: My Favorite Things It's a Jungle Out There, Hanna Stamps Things Hanna Would Say
Paper: Real Red, Whisper White, GP 110
Ink: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Nesties, Copics, Prismacolor Pencils & Baby Oil, Virsamark pen, clear embossing powder, heat gun



Enjoy!
Michelle B.