I had some fun on this cloudy Saturday morning creating some woodgrain backgrounds for a few cards. This is so easy to do! All you really need is an ink pad or two and some paper. I started off by scoring some straight lines in my paper to make it look like planks of wood. You probably wouldn't even need to make any score lines, but I think it gives it a nice effect. Then, I just took my ink pad and dragged it down across the paper. You will have to drag your ink pad across your paper a number of times before it starts to really look like wood. For the first card I have pictured, I used two shades of brown- a light and a dark. The second card pictured is just a light brown. One thing in particular I learned while playing with this technique is to always start at the edges, and drag the ink pad all the way across and off the other side of the paper. That way, you don't get odd lines on your paper from where you stopped. It also makes the edges much darker than the middle, which I think is a nice effect. I love the look it gives to the cards, and its simple, easy, and fun! If any of you would like to try out this technique and share, I'd love to see what you come up with! Just put a link to your card down in the comments! Some products I used:
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Operation Write Home's Midweek Throwdown is about scrappy backgrounds.
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge is to make a mother/special girl card. I decided to mash the two challenges together into this one card. I started by cutting strips of paper from my Mariposa Matstack. I didn't measure my strips, I just cut them into similar sizes. Then I arranged the strips on my card so they would cover the whole front. It started to look a little bit like a quilt to me, so I added some dash lines on some of the strips so make it have the look of being sewn. The front window panel I cut with my Cricut. I added some faux stitching around the heart and bottom border as well. The "Mother" sentiment was cut with my Cricut as well. I cut it three times and then adhered them together to give it a little more dimension. I really wish I had some glitter to add to the sentiment. I think that would make it really pop. Some products I used: I have a few fun cards to share with you today! This first one I'm linking up to Mojo Monday's Sketch Challenge. I used their sketch to create the layout. The background is just regular white cardstock. I added some paint splatters by mixing some of my yellow ink with a little water, and then using a paintbrush to flick some of the ink on. Then I used some green carstock from The Shimmer Matstack by DCWV. I stamped a polka dot background onto it with Versa Mark, and embossed it with clear embossing powder. Finally I cut out the speech bubble with my Cricut, and stamped and embossed the sentiment. The little yellow heart is also stamped and embossed. Its a pretty simple look, but I like how it turned out. I think it has kind of a comic book vibe going on. This next card I am linking up to Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge Blog, and it has a totally different look. The challenge was to use distressing in your project. I only own one shade of distress ink- Tea Dye. I used it to stamp the faded text background, and I also did a little more distressing around the edges. I used a paper doily and a scalloped circle cut from my Cricut to cover the bottom corner. Then I inked up the purple flower, which is also cut from the Cricut. The two little flowers I bought somewhere, but I can't remember the brand. I added some fun brads to the center of all the flowers. My sentiment is an epoxy sticker which I stuck to some paper and then cut out. The little pearls I glued on with some Glossy Accents. So there it is! Two very different cards for today's challenges. Enjoy! Some products I used: Another OWH Sketch Challenge! The sketch is for a vertical card but I turned it on its side. I've been doing a whole lot of vertical folds so I wanted to shake things up a bit. I used a kraft cardstock as the base. Then I used black cardstock for the first layer. The patterned papers are from Kaiser Craft's Lush collection. I have their 6x6 paper pad and its just perfect for creating cards. I stamped my sentiment and added some eyelets with my Crop-a-Dile. I like how the shiny gold gives the card another fun focal point. Of course I also added dash lines with my gel pen and some string tied in a bow. This next card isn't linked to any challenges, its just one I made alongside the first one. I kept it very simple. I used the leftover cut-out from another card to create the window layer. I hate wasting any patterned paper so I like to try to use every bit of it. I heat embossed the sentiment with a white embossing powder. The background is just white cardstock, and I stamped some flourishes with some Tea Dye Distress Ink. Some products I used: Today's card challenges stumped me. I read the challenges. At Operation Write Home the challenge is to make a Mother's Day Card. Simon Says Stamp's challenge is to create something with a tag. I decided to combine the two into the same card. I knew what I wanted to do. I had it all figured out. I gathered my supplies and started... and I didn't like what I had. So I changed it, and it still looked horrendous. Since I had other things to accomplish today, I figured I'd leave my card, come back to it, and see if I had any better luck later. Nope. So I left it again, and came back later. Still hated it. Well, third time is the charm, right? I guess, but I'm still not sure if I'm loving it or just ok with it. What do you think? A Few of the Products I used: So we are supposed to get 3-6" of snow throughout today into tomorrow. Not super excited about that, but it is kind of peaceful to sip my tea and work on a few cards while watching the snow fall. And then I remember that we will have to shovel. Let's not go there just yet... I took the opportunity to create a few cards this afternoon after church. I'm linking them up to a few different challenge sites, as well. Here's the first one: This one is linked to Operation Write Home's Sketch Challenge #214. I used some patterned paper from Kaiser Craft's Lush Collection, as well as from my Mariposa Matstack. My flower embellishment is from my Cricut, and I inked the paper a light yellow. The middle is an eyelet I attached with my Crop-A-Dile. I'm sure you have seen my sentiment stamp before- it's one of my favorites. On to the next card! This lucky card gets to be linked to two different sites. The first is Operation Write Home again for their March Challenge. The challenge was simple: make a thank you card. The second challenge site this card is linked to is Less Is More. The challenge is the make a clean and simple card using the colors green and yellow. Of course I thought of making a Green Bay Packer's card, but maybe I'll save that for another day. I cut the window panel with my Cricut, as well as the stars. I stamped the "Thank You" before adding foam adhesive on the back and adhering it to the background to give it some dimension. I also added foam adhesive to the stars. And last but not least... This card is not linked to any challenge. I was just inspired to make a cute card with an airplane on it. I cut out the cloud window with my Cricut, and placed some patterned paper behind it. I stamped and cut out the airplane, and adhered it with foam adhesives. The sentiment is stamped, and I added some grey string to finish. Simple, yet cute! I love anything with an airplane on it.
So there you have it! A few of my Sunday afternoon cards. I hear my husband starting up the snowblower, so I guess it's time to shovel. Oh Joy. The challenge at Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge Blog is all about pearls this week! My card making style isn't exactly flowers and frills, so this was a nice way to stretch my inspiration. Its not that I don't like the more glamorous looks, its just that I usually don't pull them off well.
It helped that I just got some freebies in the mail this week from a previous card challenge. There were some gorgeous flower embellishments and Parisian inspired die cuts included, so I attempted to put them to use on these projects. I like the way these two projects turned out. They are still very simple, but definitely a different flair than my usual cards. The first card, which is the one I entered at Simon Says Stamp, is another tall and skinny, 3.5"x 5.5". I am in LOVE with the more slender cards, I think they just look right. I used a light gray cardstock for the background and also some patterned paper from my Mariposa Matstack. I used a paper doily, and a few of the flower embellishments I received in the mail. The butterfly I stamped and covered with a little Glossy Accents, and then inset the pearls. My second project is mostly from more of the goodies I received. I used a little treat bag as the envelope for the tag, which I cut with my Cricut and then stamped. Then I just added an assortment of embellishments on the bottom. Simple, yet cute. Happy Friday, all! Here's my take on today's Mojo Monday sketch. Go me for actually following the sketch this time, right? I've never attempted a tall and skinny card before so this was fun! My card is 3.5"x5.5", and it fits in the standard size A2 evelope, even with the sentiment a little off the edge. I really just used some scraps on this one. I found all coordinating papers in my scrap bin and sized them to where they needed to be. The circles were cut with my cricut. The sentiment is stamped and I added three tiny heart embellishments at the top left corner of the long rectangle strip. I'll admit the patterns on the papers were never my favorite, but seeing them on this card- I love it! I'm really enjoying my "just for you" sentiment as well. Its so versatile as a card stamp. It would work for a number of different occasions. Happy Monday! The Card Concept website has a challenge theme this week of using florals on your card. How perfect in anticipation for spring! I tried to keep this card CAS (clean and simple), with a light brown cardstock for the base. I stamped the green background with VersaMark ink and my polka dot background stamp. I had some pretty floral paper that I cut the flowers from, and arranged them along the border of the background. The sentiment is stamped and heat embossed.
Check out the challenge page here! http://thecardconcept.blogspot.ca/ This card is in response to Operation Write Home's Midweek Throwdown! The challenge was to make a card using the theme of light. Well, of course I'm counting down the days till spring and warmer weather, so a card about sunshine sounded good to me.
I just kept it simple with a plain craft cardstock background. Then, I drew sun rays on a piece of cardstock, watercolored them, cut them out, and adhered them around the sentiment. Added some dash lines with my white gel pen just to give it a little pop. |
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AuthorSo glad you found me! This blog is my little space where I can share bits about my life and my latest crafting projects (mostly handmade cards). My goal is to share, inspire, and to be a positive presence in the creative community. Find me on Instagram!Archives
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