Autumn leaves with Distress Stains

Oh my goodness it has been such a long time since I posted to my blog! I am sorry that I have neglected it for so long and I will try to do better.

I was asked by a friend to make the invitations for her 85th birthday party with fall colors. I made 3 different cards for her to choose from and she chose this one. The card base is actually cream not white as it looks here. To make this leaf I colored the stamp with Distress markers, spritzed with water, stamped onto watercolor paper and then cut out the leaf with scissors.

When she told me she needed 100 I knew that this would be a mammoth undertaking as the stamp would have to be cleaned before each stamping and cutting out 100 leaves with scissors left me thinking that there had to be an easier way! Later she upped the number of cards she needed to 175 so then I knew for sure I had to find a better way!

This tutorial is what I came up with using Distress Stains and a maple leaf die from Spellbinders.

This is the new card.

'Watercolor' flowers with Copic markers

While practicing the watercolor flowers I learned in class I began to wonder if I could achieve the same look with markers on cardstock. I don't particularly like the look of watercolor paper with white cardstock and I don't have an off white cardstock. This is the result of my experiment and I rather like the look!

This is a tutorial on how I did it.  Click on the picture to make it 

larger or you can download a PDF file to print HERE

 

 I would love to see what you do if you do try it so send me a link to your blog if you do! It really is easy and you will have a unique image for your cards each time. I had lettered the sentiment but you can just as easily use a stamp.

Antique Rose and Tutorial

For this card I used Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page set Vintage Floral.  As you can see I punched a corner inside the border. I had seen this on another blog but couldn't figure out how to do it to save my soul! While surfing yesterday I found directions on a Dutch blog but the translation wasn't very clear. After finally figuring it out I thought I would write a tutorial on how to do it. You can download the tutorial HERE in PDF format. It will work with all the regular size Punch Around the Page sets the have a defined corner. I haven't tried it with the deep punches though.

The punched panel is raised with dimensional tape and a frame made with scalloped circle and plain circle Nesties is also raised.The rest is die cut with Marinanne Designs Creatables.

Thinking Of You

This is another card I made that will be going to Operation Write Home. I actually made two like this, the other one has magenta flowers and I used a different Thinking Of You stamp. The image is another free one that I found online. This one was colored with Copic markers. I am gradually getting the hang of these markers but I must admit that  my  preference  for coloring is pencils.

HOW TO PRINT IMAGES FOUND ONLINE.

The images you find will vary from big to small but you want to print it at the size you want it.....no problem. Don't print it from the web page. Save it to a folder on your computer.Open a Word document and then in the top toolbar go to Insert/Picture/From File. Navigate to the file where your images are saved, click on the image you want to highlight it and then click on Insert. The image will come up in the size it was saved. Click on the image and a box will appear around the image. Use your cursor to click and hold one of the corners and drag to the size you want the image to be. That's it! Simple and no loss of quality. You can add more images to the page at the size you want.You can also move the margins to fit them in. If possible set your printer to preview the page before printing and adjust the position of the images if needed.

I will be arriving home in the early evening tomorrow and will post when I get it together!

Embossing/Cutting Tutorial

I have had a few people ask how I do the embossing and what tools are need so rather than keep replying to emails with the same info I thought I would do a short tutorial here.

The first thing you need are the tools. These are the few tools you will need:

1. Double sided removable tape to hold your stencil securely to the paper.

2. A mechanical pencil with the finest lead you can find. A pencil with .05 lead can be found in the art dept. If you can find one with .03 lead even better!

3. A ball stylus. If you can find one with a double ball with a small ball on one end and a medium ball on the other so much the better.

4. I prefer a knife with a swivel blade as the blade is smaller and also finer but some people use a regular craft knife. A swivel blade knife can be found where the craft knives are.

5. Magic Rub eraser. Magic Rub is a brand name but it erases the pencil marks without scuffing up the paper.

6. You can use any kind of paper or card stock that is light enough to
see through. The heavier the cardstock the more pressure needed. Light weight papers need a gentler touch or they will tear.Waxed paper rubbed over the paper where you are going to emboss will help the stylus to glide over the paper more easily.


7. You will need stencils. Most of the stencils I use are from Marianne Designs, a Dutch company.
There are a few places online that carry them. Some in England and some in the US. I am in the US but I order stencils from England HERE as they work out to be cheaper for the same thing even with the rate of exchange and the shipping. They also arrive faster most of the time!

You can also find some at A Touch of Grace - Paper Boutique but the
best selection is at Kamya Craft Supplies

8. You will also need a light source. after taping the stencil to the
paper you could then tape your paper to a window. Another
way is to put a lamp under a glass topped table....or you can buy
a light box. There are many light boxes on the market but the one I recommend is the one on the right. There is a small one that you can find in craft stores for around $10 but the light is a small incandescent light bulb that gives off uneven light and also gets very hot. The light box pictures has a retail price of $47.99. At Sam's Club it is $44.13 but at Madison Art Shop you can get it for $29.99


METHOD

Using the repositional double sided tape, tape the stencil to your paper. Make sure that the tape is not where you want to trace your cut-outs. With a mechanical pencil trace around the spaces you will be cutting out later. (The pencil marks will be on the right side of the paper).

Turn the paper over on the light box so that the stencil is underneath the paper. With the stylus trace the embossing spaces. Use light pressure at first to break down the fibers in the paper and then gradually use more pressure. I usually go over each space about a dozen times to get a good impression but it will depend on the thickness of your paper.

Remove the stencil and tape from your paper and with a knife cut on the lines you traced earlier. It does take practice so be patient! Start by pushing the point of the blade into the paper and then slowly and steadily follow the lines like you are tracing with a pencil. Turn your paper if you need to!

Use the Magic Rub eraser to remove any pencil marks. It is a good idea to erase around all the cut outs to make sure all the pencil marks are removed.

I have been asked if the stencils can be used in a Cuttlebug or other embossing machine. They can...but there are some buts. My Cuttlebug bends the stencils. It might just be my machine so you can try it at your own risk I guess. The other but is that when you use an embossing machine you will get all the outlines of the stencil...the edges, which you might not want. Also you will be embossing the spaces you want to cut out and if you don't cut perfectly you will have a bend around your cutting.

I hope this answers some of the questions you may have but please feel free to email me if you have other questions and I will be glad to answer them if I can.