Faux Rusted Hammered Metal

Happy Hump Day!  It's all down hill to the weekend from here!  Yippee!

Today I have one of the project for my techniques class next month.  It is a twist on the Faux Rusted Metal technique...

Masculine birthday card featuring the Faux Rusted Metal technique...with a twist!

Did you notice the extra bit of texture on the star?  I added that by running the top layer of card stock through the Big Shot with the Decorative Dots TIEF (which just happens to be on sale this week!!) before applying the ink and embossing powders.  It makes for a hammered-metal effect.  Kinda cool, no?  The rest of this one is pretty straightforward...I used the Dictionary background stamp with Soft Suede ink to stamp the Crumb Cake card base and then sponged it with Crumb Cake ink to grunge it up.  I also added some gold metallic spatters with the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set.

The sentiment is from the And Many More stamp set and is also stamped in Soft Suede ink.  I added some Burlap ribbon, as well as some Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon and a bit of black striped 1-1/4" grosgrain ribbon from my scraps bin.  Of course a bit of bling was required, so I added some gold sequin trim.

On the insde I stamped the sentiment from the Butterfly Basics stamp set in Soft Suede and added a few more gold metallic splatters and sequins.
Thanks for checking in...have a great day!!

Revamped Birthday Card

I mentioned yesterday that I spent Sunday afternoon with a wonderful group of women who were (almost) all new to stamping.  At the hostess' request we made one birthday card and two Christmas cards.  The birthday card I chose is a revamped version of a card I did a while back. 

Birthday card featuring the Bordering Blooms and Tag Talk stamp sets.

To start, I stamped the border image from Bordering Bloooms in Old Olive ink on Whisper White card stock.  Then I embossed the panel using the Perfect Polka Dots TIEF, leaving the stamped portion smooth.  I added some Strawberry Slush thick baker's twine and some little flowers from the Itty Bitty Shapes (retired) punch pack.  The label, from the Tag Talk set, is stamped in Strawberry Slush and punched using the Bracket Label punch.  Of course, a card just isn't a card without some bling, which I added liberally ;)

 

The front panel is matted on a piece of Old Olive card stock and mounted on a Strawberry Slush card base.

On the inside I stamped the border again along the opposite edge and added a few more punched flowers.  The sentiment is from the And Many More stamp set and is stamped in Strawberry Slush ink, punched with the Lg. Oval punch and layered on a Scallop Oval in Old Olive.  A little more bling and...voila...a fun and easy birthday card.  Perfect for a group of new stampers to have success! 

Now here are this week's Weekly Deals...as always, prices are good until Monday at midnight.

1/16" Circle Handheld Punch Price: $8.95   Sale: $6.71	Autumn Traditions Kit - Digital Download Price: $9.95   Sale: $5.97	Blue Ribbon Wood Stamp Set Price: $28.95Sale: $21.71	Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch Price: $15.95  Sale: $11.96
Large Scallop Edgelits Die Price: $7.95   Sale: $5.96	Regals Designer Buttons Price: $7.95   Sale: $5.96	Word Bubbles Framelits Die Price: $24.95  Sale: $18.71

Celebrate in Pink

Can you believe it's the last day of July already???  Where did the month go?  My holidays are passing way too quickly!  August means I have to start on school work again to prepare for classes to start in September.  Let the Back-to-School dreams (nightmares!) begin!  Today I decided to try this week's challenge over at Sunday Stamps.  It is all about the pink!

I am not generally a big fan of girlie pink, but I AM happy with the way this card turned out.  I based my design on an old sketch challenge from CAS(E) this Sketch...

Birthday card featuring the masking technique and sentiment from And Many More (134276)

To create the different circles, I began by punching sticky notes with various sizes of circle punches ranging from 1-1/4" down to 1/2".  Then I stuck one at a time on my card stock and, using sponge daubers, sponged on Blushing Bride and then Strawberry Slush ink.  I didn't cover the entire area with the Strawberry Slush so that I got a cool shadow effect.  Once I finished all of the circles I ran the card stock through the Big Shot using the Decorative Dots TIEF to add some texture.  I matted it on Strawberry Slush card stock and adhered it to a Ver Vanilla card base.

The sentiment, from the And Many More set, is stamped in Strawberry Slush and then trimmed with the Banner punch.  I embellished it with a bit of Strawberry Slush thick Baker's Twine, a glimmer star and a Vintage Faceted button before adhering it to the card with dimensionals.

Inside view with another sentiment from the Any Many More set.

On the inside I sponged a few more circles, stamped the sentiment in Strawberry Slush and added a few more rhinestone.
The ONLY thing that is saving me from utter dispair over the end of my month of total freedom is the fact that August brings the Holiday Catty pre-order for demonstrators!!  I am so in love with just about everything in this new catalogue that I simply cannot wait to get my order in.  I'll be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow placing my order in the hope that it ships out by the weekend.  That means I'll have my goodies by next weekend...woohoo!  So many fun new products to play with!!

Another Monday Man-card

I have to admit that I love making Man-cards.  I know many struggle with them, but I guess being the only female in my household has made it easier for me to design projects for the boys in my life.  Here is a retirement card I did recently using the new Traveller stamp set:

Maculine retirement card featuring the Traveller, Work of Art and Really Good Greetings stamp sets.

I started with a piece of Typeset specialty DSP which I mounted on a Basic Black mat and then adhered to a Lost Lagoon card base.  On some scrap Very Vanilla card stock I stamped one of the brush stroke images from the Work of Art stamp set three times in Lost Lagoon ink.  Then I stamped the globe, suitcase and camera images over top in black ink.  I punched each one with the 1-3/4" circle punch and then matted each one with a 2" black circle. 

The sentiment is stamped in black, cut into a pennant and embellished with some black twine from my stash as well as a silver button.  I adhered it to the card with dimensionals.

Inside view with sentiment from the And Many More stamp set.

On the inside I stamped the brush stroke image in Lost Lagoon and the sentiment from the Any Many More stamp set in black over top.  I thought it was the perfect sentiment for a retirement card!

@Strong&free

Happy day-after-the-4th-of-July/Saturday-after-Canada-Day!  It's time for a new challenge over at The Technique Twist and this time we're all about national pride.  We're using patriotic colours on our projects to show our love for our respective countries.  Since I'm a Canadian my project is all about the red and white and, of course, the maple leaf...

Patriotic card featuring the Magnificent Maple (retired) stamp, Work of Art stamp set and the Alphabet Rotary stamp

Since we don't have a current maple leaf image in the Stampin' Up! catalogue (holding out hope for one in  the Holiday catalogue), I turned to one of my favourite images from last year's Holiday catty...Magnificent Maple.  I heat embossed the leaf image in gold over top of the brush stroke images stamped in Real Red.  To accentuate the gold embossing I matted the front panel on Brushed Gold card stock before mounting it on a Real Red card base.

The sentiment was done using the new Alphabet Rotary stamp...love it...and inked with a Real Red marker.  I added a little gold baker's twine to keep the gold theme going and added a few gold sequins as well.

Inside view with sentiment from the And Many More stamp set

On the inside of the card I stamped another brush stroke image from the Work of Art set, stamping off once to get a lighter shade of red.  I heat embossed in gold the sentiment from the new And Many More set.

I hope you had a chance to celebrate your nation, whether American or Canadian, this week.  We all have so much to be thankful for!