Awesome Brusho and a Blog Hop

Happy Day-after-Valentine's Day! I hope you were feeling the love yesterday. It's time for another Stamping Symphony team blog hop!

This month we are all about the Brusho. All of us are having so much fun playing with this fabulous new medium that we couldn't resist featuring it in one of monthly blog hops.

This is actually one of the projects we'll be making as part of my Brush up on Brusho class next week. It is the perfect, grungy birthday card for a teen or tween boy. I created my background using embossing paste and the Pattern Party decorative masks. Once the white paste was dry, I brushed it with my Versamark pad and then heat embossed in gold. Here is a closer look:

To create the focal image background I used water colour paper and spritzed it lightly with water. Then I sprinkled on Brusho in blue and gamboge, allowing the crystals to activate wherever they contacted the water. Once it was dry I added the guitar image from the Epic Celebrations Sale-a-bration set and some flourishes from the Timeless Textures set and heat embossed them in gold. I used my Big Shot and Layering Circle dies to die cut a partial circle. I love the of shape of that layer.

The sentiment, also from the Epic Celebrations set, is heat embossed in gold and then I added another flourish in Basic Black, stamped off once. I used the Pretty Label punch to punch the sentiment and layered it on a gold foil startburst. The only embellishments on this card are a few gold sequins.

On the inside I added a Whisper White panel on which I stamped the sentiment from Epic Celebrations and more flourishes, all in Basic Black ink.

Now, how would you like to see more Brusho inspiration? Hop on over to Sandy's blog to see what she came up with!

1. Leena (You are here)
2. Sandy
3. Barb
4. Jennifer
5. Steph

Product List

Timeless Textures Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140517] $25.00	Epic Celebrations Clear-Mount Stamp Set [147236] $0.00	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045] $10.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $11.25
Gold Foil Sheets [132622] $5.25	Watercolor Paper [122959] $6.75	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931] $9.25	Brusho Crystal Colour [144101] $40.00
Stampin' Spritzer [126185] $4.00	Versamark Pad [102283] $11.25	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder [109129] $6.75	Heat Tool [129053] $40.00
Embossing Paste [141979] $10.75	Pattern Party Decorative Masks [144103] $8.00	Palette Knives [142808] $6.50	Big Shot [143263] $136.00
Layering Circle Framelits Dies [141705] $46.00	Pretty Label Punch [143715] $23.50	Starburst Punch [143717] $23.50	Metallics Sequin Assortment [144214] $6.75

Wonderful Friend

Happy Friday! I hope you've had a good week. Normally I would be doing my happy yay-it's-the-weekend-dance, but today marks the end of my two weeks' vacation :( Back to the insanity on Monday!

Today I have a card I designed for my upcoming class featuring the Dragonfly Dreams Bundle from the new Occasions Catalogue...

I have to say, this is probably my favourite card I've made with this bundle so far! I began with a piece of sheet-music-patterned paper from theThis Christmas Specialty DSP pack. (It's NOT just for Christmas!) I sponged the entire piece using Soft Sky ink, then added Pool Party and finally a light layer of Island Indigo around the outer edges. I stamped the flourish image from the Timeless Textures stamp set in Early Espresso ink a few times to create an anchor for my dragonfly. I then stamped the spatter image from the Touches of Texture stamp set in Versamark ink and heat embossed it in silver. One thing to note: I intentionally did not use my Embossing Buddy prior to stamping the spatter...I wanted the powder to stick to any areas of the cardfront that were still a bit damp from all of the ink I had laid down.

You can see some of the flecks of embossing that adhered to the sponged background...I love the effect and texture it gives!  I matted my background panel on a piece of Kraft card stock and then mounted it on an Early Espresso card stock base.
My dragonfly is die-cut from Copper Foil sheets using the Detailed Dragonfly Thinlit dies. I then took my Versamark pad directly to the die-cut dragongfly and lightly dabbed on ink. I sprinkled it with silver embossing powder, brushed off any areas that had too much silver and then heat-set it. Such a cool texture! The only embellishment I added to this card was some silver and copper metallic thread behind my dragonfly.
The sentiment is from the Dragonfly Dreams stamp set and is heat embossing in copper on Very Vanilla card stock.

On the inside I added a Very Vanilla card stock panel and stamped the flourish again in Early Espresso (stamped off once) and another sentiment from the Dragonfly Dreams set in Early Espresso (full strength)

Don't you love it when an idea for a project actually turns out better than you imagined it?? Have a great weekend!

Product List

Dragonfly Dreams Photopolymer Stamp Set [142924] $26.00	Touches Of Texture Clear-Mount Stamp Set [143251] $44.00	Timeless Textures Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140517] $27.00	Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119686] $10.00
Kraft 12" X 12" Card Stock [133674] $8.75	This Christmas Designer Series Specialty Paper [141628] $17.00	Copper Foil Sheets [142020] $5.25	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad [131181] $8.50
Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad [126982] $8.50	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad [126986] $8.50	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [126974] $8.50	Versamark Pad [102283] $11.25
Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder [109131] $6.75	Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder [141636] $6.75	Heat Tool [129053] $40.00	Big Shot [143263] $136.00
Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits Dies [142749] $41.00	Silver Metallic Thread [138402] $4.00	Copper Metallic Thread [141696] $4.00	Sponge Daubers [133773] $7.00

Lift Me Up

Well yesterday was certainly a crazy day, what with the launch of the new Occasions catalogue and Sale-a-bration and all...whew!
Today I have a project I designed for my upcoming All About Birthdays Card Buffet. It is a masculine card that uses a new bundle from the Occasions catty...

I know many people struggle to create masculine cards, but I love them! I like getting all grungy and playing with layers and texture. Here I started with a piece of Crumb Cake card stock and then added texture with the Timeless Textures stamp set. I used Crumb Cake ink, both full-strength and stamped off to create depth. The balloon images are from the Lift Me Up stamp set. I stamped them in Night of Navy and Cherry Cobbler ink.

Then I took my Versamark pad directly to the edges of the stamped panel. I sprinkled the inked edges with copper embossing powder and heat set the powder...I love the effect it creates. I also added some stamped spatters in copper as well. The images behind the sentiment are stamped and then die-cut using the coodination Up and Away Framelits...this is such an awesome bundle! The sentiment is also from the Lift Me Up stamp set. I stamped it in Crumb Cake ink on Very Vanilla card stock. I added seme Night of Navy solid baker's twine and some linen thread behind the sentiment.

On the inside I added a Very Vanilla panel on which I stamped the smaller balloon in Night of Navy ink (stamped off twice) and the clouds and sentiment in Crumb Cake.

This bundle is quickly becoming a favourite of mine! I have so many more ideas...I just need more time to create!

Product List

Lift Me Up Clear-Mount Stamp Set [142896] $26.00	Timeless Textures Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140517] $27.00	Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [120953] $10.00	Night Of Navy 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100867] $10.00
Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101650] $11.25	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [126975] $8.50	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad [126970] $8.50	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad [126966] $8.50
Versamark Pad [102283] $11.25	Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder [141636] $6.75	Heat Tool [129053] $40.00	Big Shot [143263] $136.00
Up & Away Thinlits Dies [142748] $40.00	Night Of Navy Solid Baker's Twine [141684] $4.00	Linen Thread [104199] $6.25