Die-Version's It's a Boy Baby Giraffe Card

Happy Monday everyone! It's my turn to post a card on Die-Version's blog and mine, and I am sharing a baby card I made with the brand new “Giraffe” die from Die-Versions. I think this baby giraffe is too cute and I die cut him out of blue polka-dotted designer paper and attached him in the center of a round card. I added “It’s a Boy” cut with the “It’s a Boy/Girl” die. I die cut Die-Version’s Baby Confetti out of blue, pink and yellow scraps and glued them on all around the circular edge.

**Remember you can get a 15% discount on any of Die-Version’s great dies by simply using my discount code karen15 when you check out at the Die Versions website unless the dies are already on sale.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Another Moon or Luna Card

The theme of most of the cards I made for a gift for my daughter for Christmas was Luna or moon. I saw this moon stamp from Altenew and knew I just had to buy it. It is a layered stamp and looks very realistic. I created a night sky with light blue, dark blue and black Distress Inks. I stamped the moon and the Apache Blessing stamp from DRS. I mixed white ink and water and used Tim Holtz's spatter brush to make the starry galaxy look.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Tonic Studios I Heart You Shake, Twist and Pop Card

Want to know how to make a card that shakes, twist and pops? Sounds like a rock and roll song, right? I am sharing a tutorial on this love twist and pop shaker card on the Blog Tonic USA today. I have tried many ways to make the twist and pop apparatus and will show you the easiest way I have found so far, plus some tips on how to make a fun heart shaker. 

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Creativation (CHA) 2017 Highlights

I had a blast at Creativation in Phoenix this last weekend! I have lots of pictures to share so I tried my hand at my first collages in PicMonkey. Many of my favorite moments happened in the Tonic Studios/Nuvo booth. The top highlight there had to be meeting Tim Holtz and getting my picture taken with him and Mario. He was autographing and giving away his awesome Tonic Mini-Snips detail scissors and the booth was mobbed when he was there. There was even a video on Facebook with us all which I will keep forever:) Here is a link if you want to take a peak. We are all very excited about the new Tim Holtz Tonic Stamp Platform which will be released in April. I saw Tim demo it and it is going to be a huge seller. I also met Paula Pascual who did a fantastic job demoing in the booth, and Jodie Johnson from the Tonic UK and Create and Craft who was so sweet and gave me a kiss on my cheek. Gary Torres who is the head of Tonic in the USA was so kind to all of us and was super super busy the whole time. There really was a buzz and excitement at the Tonic/Nuvo booth all the time and I was proud to be a part of it. 

Other highlights at this year's CHA for me included seeing Gina K's new line of foils, foil-mates, ribbons, etc. at the Therm O Web booth- I want it all! I am very intrigued by a new animated stamp line at the Uchi's Design booth and can't wait to try them. I don't have any pictures, but I was thrilled to meet Karen Burniston whose pop up dies I love and Suzanne Cannon of Quietfire Design who has just released some great new dies, stamps and stencils I can't wait to try. I also spent time with Marisa Job and Bekka Feeken of Spellbinders both of whom were so sweet and are very talented designers. Of course Marisa is also on our Tonic USA design team and it was great getting to know her. The top picture above shows my roomie Sheri Holt, Marisa and I. Sheri is on the Tonic USA DT too and we had so much fun together. I owe her a debt of gratitude for all the introductions and help she has given me. 

I was so blessed to sit next to Michelle Rose Jorgensen of Rose Mille on the plane ride from Minneapolis to Phoenix. I loved visiting with Michelle and her husband in their booth which featured vintage style Dresden trims, real glass glitter and lots of other fun papers and products. I am going to be playing and designing with her products and will be sharing here soon.

Tonic Studios Luna Embellishment Mousse Card

I am sharing a quick post today as I try to get caught up after my awesome trip to Creativation (CHA). First of all I need to say a huge thank you to my friend Gail Jaeger for allowing me to post her awesome cards while I was gone. And once I am unpacked and get my pictures organized, I will share my favorite CHA moments with you here on my blog.

This card is one I made for my daughter (whose last name is Luna) as part of a Christmas present. The cool background was created with black Nuvo Embellishment Mousse applied direct to paper with a piece of paper towel, and the stars are white Nuvo Crystal Drops. Then I simply die cut Tonic Studio's Luna moon and cat-tails and attached them to the night time sky background.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Day Six Guest Artist Gail Jaeger

Recently my very talented dear friend, Gail Jaeger, designed a series of six floral cards with Tonic Studios dies. While I am away at CHA Creativation, I am going to feature her cards and the descriptions she has shared. Gail is a real artist and what is most amazing about these cards is that they all feature works of art that Gail painted! After completing a painting, Gail takes a picture and then uses the photo of the painting as part of her card art. I am thrilled to feature Gail's art and cards on my blog while I am gone.

Here is what Gail shared about her art featured on this card: 

Abiqua’s Drinking Gourd is my pride and joy.  It was invited to the Museum of Wisconsin Art in New Berlin for their opening exhibit.  This piece is a mixed media piece.  The background was painted in dark shades of red and purples and set outside to dry.  It began to sprinkle, rushing outdoors to rescue my piece, I discovered that the rain drops left an interesting background. The next step was to “look and see” what was in the painting.  I saw hostas.  I then proceeded to draw and paint each leaf with colored pencil.  The leaves at the center of the painting were painted with detail and bright colors.  The background leaves are darker and less detail.

And how the card was made:

Sent With Love.  Select a shimmer gold card stock that is 8 ½ X 5 ½. The green shimmer insert is 5 ¼ X 4. On the right side of the green paper cut a heart shape using the Traditional Heart Layering Basics Die Set 1459e.  Secure the heart design paper behind the green paper and secure to the gold base.   

Using the heart die set, cut 2 gold paper (same as base paper) hearts, 2 blue shimmer paper hears and a heart design paper heart.  Refer to the photo for sizes. 

Using the gold base paper cut out the Miniature Moments Sent With Love Die 1254e.  Cut off the “love”.  Secure it along side the heart on the card face.  Refer to  photo. 

Let’s decorate the inside of the card.  First, cut a shimmer green paper heart.  Cut a Rococo Die and Stamp Set-Floral heart from the heart design paper.  Cut another sent with love die and keep the word “love”.  Secure the floral heart and “love” to the green heart and pop up onto the card.

Place a shimmer white piece of paper 4 X 5 and secure it to the inside of the card.  Please refer to the photo.  With color changes, this will make a wonderful Valentines Day Card.

Day Five Guest Artist Gail Jaeger

Recently my very talented dear friend, Gail Jaeger, designed a series of six floral cards with Tonic Studios dies. While I am away at CHA Creativation, I am going to feature her cards and the descriptions she has shared. Gail is a real artist and what is most amazing about these cards is that they all feature works of art that Gail painted! After completing a painting, Gail takes a picture and then uses the photo of the painting as part of her card art. I am thrilled to feature Gail's art and cards on my blog while I am gone.

Here is what Gail shared about the painting featured on this card:

This is a study of orange poppies. The background is left untouched so to focus on the flowers.  The poppies come from my garden as do all of my florals pieces.This is a pure watercolor so the paint is layered to give the flowers a glow. The use of water also is an important component.  With watercolors, one always begins with light color and builds depth using darker color.

And a description of how the card was made and the supplies used:

Birthday Wishes.  Using the silver glimmer paper cut a piece ½ X 4 ¼.  Using the Daisy Burst 1142e Double Detail Die Set cut one burst (cut in it in half) and a 3 flowers piece. 

Using green glimmer card stock, cut 2 pieces (2 X 5 ½) secure them to A and C on the first/horizontal labor.  Cut a Miniature Moments Birthday Wishes 1243e Die and set aside.  Cut a 1457e Mixed Edge Rectangle Layering Basics Die Set 3 X 3 ¼. Round the corners. Cut a piece ¾ X 4 ½.  Cut A Miniature Moments Birthday Wishes 1243e Die and set aside. 

Cut the floral design with the Mixed Edge Rectangle Layering Basics Die Set (2 ¾ X 3 ½).  Round the corners.  Secure the floral design to the green glimmer. 

Select a rust glitter paper and cut 2 pieces 2 ½ X 4 and secure them.  Cut another Daisy Burst, a Birthday Wishes and 3 flower die. 

Let’s put the finishing touches on the card.  Using the silver glimmer and rust glitter Daisy Burst (cut in half.)  Secure the rust over the silver leaving an edge that creates dimension.  

To create the glimmer green band that holds the card closed, cut a strip of green

2 X 11 ¾, Fold your card and slip on the band (leaving enough space to the slide the band on and off easily).  Secure it.  Take a piece of the glitter rust and cut a Miniature Moments Celebrate 1244e.  and Mixed Edge Rectangle Layering Die Set 2 ½ X 3 ¼ round the edges.  Using another floral photo (2 ¾ X 3) attach it to the rust glitter and secure it onto the band.  

There are a variety of Nuvo drops you can use to give your card that extra sparkle.  I used Nuvo Jewel Drops.  This will be a card that is bound to please. 

Day 4 Guest Artist Gail Jaeger

Recently my very talented dear friend, Gail Jaeger, designed a series of six floral cards with Tonic Studios dies. While I am away at CHA Creativation, I am going to feature her cards and the descriptions she has shared. Gail is a real artist and what is most amazing about these cards is that they all feature works of art that Gail painted! After completing a painting, Gail takes a picture and then uses the photo of the painting as part of her card art. I am thrilled to feature Gail's art and cards on my blog while I am gone.

Here is what Gail shared about the painting featured on this card: 

Third Rock from the Sun Is my first abstract painting and is much more difficult than I thought.  To begin, I glued circles onto the canvas, followed by rice paper and gauze. Three circles of varying sizes are the focal point. Yellow, red and purple and their blending are the three colors I used.  Light colors border dark colors to create tension and white netting spray brings the whole piece together.

And here is a description of how she made the card and the supplies used:

Many Thanks.  This card has added dimension that’s an attention getter. So let’s start crafting.  Begin with a dark purple card base 4 ¼ X 11.  Take a second piece of dark purple paper the cut it into 3 pieces, 2 (2 ¾ X 4 ¼) and the third 2 ¾ X 5 ½ emboss them using the folder 1441e Layered Leaves. Secure to the card base score at 2 ¾ and 5 ½.  At the 5-½ score line, fold the card in on itself.  Refer to photo. You did this step because the embossing folder could not accomplish this in one step and the ¼ inch difference allows you to fold the card. 

Cut a piece of deep yellow paper 3 ½ X 10 ¼ and score at 5 and 7 ¾, round the edges. Fold the score line 5 score line; fold the card in on itself.  Refer to photo. Secure to the dark purple card base leaving an even border on all sides. 

Take a magenta piece of paper, cut it into 3 pieces 2(3 X 4 ½,) and 2 X 3. Emboss the 3 pieces with the Layered Leaves embossing folder.  Attach to the yellow paper leaving an even border. Select the Mixed Edge Oval Layering Basic Die Set 1456e cut out ovals that will fit on to the three magenta pieces on the card face.  As you can see, multiple layering is taking effect.  Using the Essentials 1431e Autumnal Oak Die Set cut out the leaves as shown on the card and secure in place.  

Using the Miniature Moments Many Thanks 1252e, die cut and secure to the front of the card. 

Anything Goes 4 Kids at Send a Smile 4 Kids

It’s Saturday and time for another fun challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids! This time our challenge is: Anything Goes 4 Kids. Create and link any card appropriate for a child and you could win one of our great prizes.

We have two very generous sponsors for this challenge: Dollar Graphics Depot is giving their winner a $15 gift certificate! And the winner from Kitchen Sink Stamps receives a $25 gift certificate! TEAM S.A.S will also be choosing their favorite cards for our top three and the winners will receive a blog badge and an opportunity to be a guest design team member on a future challenge.

My card was made with a super cute colored digital stamp from Dollar Graphic Depot called Puppy Peekers. I die cut the front of the card with a stitched rectangle die from My Creative Time. I added some Nuvo crystal drops for dimension and color. Here is a peak at the inside where I used another colored digi from Dollar Graphics Depot: 

I know it is early for Easter cards but I am so over all the snow and bitter cold we have had this winter. And it is not too early to be thinking about spring and Easter cards for the kids we serve at Send a Smile 4 Kids.

Day Three Guest Artist Gail Jaeger

Recently my very talented dear friend, Gail Jaeger, designed a series of six floral cards with Tonic Studios dies. While I am away at CHA Creativation, I am going to feature her cards and the descriptions she has shared. Gail is a real artist and what is most amazing about these cards is that they all feature works of art that Gail painted! After completing a painting, Gail takes a picture and then uses the photo of the painting as part of her card art. I am thrilled to feature Gail's art and cards on my blog while I am gone.

Here is what Gail shared about the painting featured in this card: 

The original photo was taken of sunflowers in my garden.  The outline of the sunflowers were masked with Fine Line masking fluid. The flowers and leaves are painted using watercolors.  The background is also watercolor. Notice how the darker colors of the background are highlighted by the light color of the flowers.  It makes the flowers pop.  After the piece is dry, erase all the masking fluid.  The erased areas are white giving the piece more dimension.

And a brief description of how the card was made and supplies used:

Sweet.  Begin with a 6 X 8 1/2 base of lavender glitter paper. Select a piece of complimentary yellow glitter paper 2 ½ X 6.  The Rococo Petites Branwen Briar Die 179e was cut out of yellow glitter paper. Secure the yellow paper to the card face. 

Select a piece of purple glitter paper that is 2 shades lighter and cut the butterfly and Sweet 1204e Miniature Moments Awesome, Cool, Sweet Die.  Secure them to the card face. Using the same shade of purple glitter paper cut a rectangle 2 ½ X 3 ½ and round the corners.  Cut the sunflowers 2 ¼ X 3, pop it up on the purple and secure it to the card front. Secure the word Sweet along the side.   

Day 2 Guest Artist Gail Jaeger

Recently my very talented dear friend, Gail Jaeger, designed a series of six floral cards with Tonic Studios dies. While I am away at CHA Creativation, I am going to feature her cards and the descriptions she has shared. Gail is a real artist and what is most amazing about these cards is that they all feature works of art that Gail painted! After completing a painting, Gail takes a picture and then uses the photo of the painting as part of her card art. I am thrilled to feature Gail's art and cards on my blog while I am gone.

Here is what Gail shared about the painting featured in this card: 

This is one of my early pieces. It is a study of a purple iris.  So to focus on the iris, the background was left untouched.  I drew the iris on the canvas and painted with watercolor what I saw.  I high lighted some of the petals with a black Speedball calligraphy ink and pen.

And a brief description of how she made the card and the supplies used: 

Thinking Of You.  Begin with a 5 ½ X 8 ½ base of shimmering silver card stock.  Apply Nuvo Silver Gem Glimmer Paste though the Essentials Bevelled Diamond 1476e Stencil. Put aside to dry. Using the Miniature Moments Thinking Of You Die 1255, you can create a dimensional greeting using the shimmering silver paper from the base and an intense purple mirror paper.  Secure them together leaving a thin edge to create dimension.

Now that our card is dry, using the Layering Basics Die Sets Sunray Venus 1450e Die cut out the center of the card face.  Now for the fun of layering that will give your card the feel of simple elegance.  Cut a piece of the purple mirror paper 4 ¼ X 5 ½ and secure it to the inside of the card face.  It will fill the cut out area of the card face.  Secure it in place.

Cut a piece of dark silver shimmering paper 2 ¾ X 3 3/4 round the edges.  Cut the iris photo 3 ½ X 2 ½ and round the edges.  Secure this to the dark silver shimmering paper and pop up on to the purple mirror paper. For your finishing touch, secure Thinking Of You.  

Z Fold Pop Up Valentine with Tonic Studios Dies

I am proud to share that this card along with a tutorial on how to make it is posting on the Tonic Studios USA blog today. I am on my way to Creativation (CHA) in Phoenix today and this card has been chosen to be shown in the Tonic Studios booth there. I hope you check out the blog post and tutorial and I will file a report on the new and exciting things I find at CHA when I get back.

Day 1 Guest Artist Gail Jaeger

Recently my very talented dear friend, Gail Jaeger, designed a series of six floral cards with Tonic Studios dies. While I am away at CHA Creativation, I am going to feature her cards and the descriptions she has shared. Gail is a real artist and what is most amazing about these cards is that they all feature works of art that Gail painted! After completing a painting, Gail takes a picture and then uses the photo of the painting as part of her card art. I am thrilled to feature Gail's art and cards on my blog while I am gone.

Here is what Gail shared about the painting that inspired this card: 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY CARD…The yellow roses are from my Mom’s funeral and the card makes me smile with memories of my parent’s anniversaries.  This is a mixed media piece.  The background consists of textured, white rice paper that was attached to the canvas with Yes glue.  The entire canvas was washed with a light yellow watercolor.  The design was drawn onto the canvas with the leaves and blossoms painted with darker yellows and outlined with black permanent ink.  You aren’t able to see but the background has variable width vertical lines drawn to ground the flowers.  To finish the design, some of the leaves and flowers are Zentangled. 

And here is a brief description of how Gail made the card and the supplies used: 

Happy Anniversary.  Begin with a 5 ½ X 8 ½ base with black card stock. The top insert is a peppy black & white polka dot 4 X 5 ¼.  The Scalloped Circle Layering Basic Die Set 1455 is used to create the black and yellow floral print circles. Miniature Moments Happy Anniversary 1248e Die and Layering Butterflies 530e Die complete the card.  

Spring Rose with Metallic Tissue Background

Are you ready for some pretty Spring inspiration? I am sooo tired of all the snow and bitter cold! It's my turn to post a card on Die-Version's blog and mine, and I am sharing a card I made with the beautiful new Rose and Leaves die. This lovely die is just one of many fantastic new dies just released by Die-Versions. I die cut the rose and leaves out of dark pink, light pink and green cardstock. I wanted to keep all the pieces together to be able to easily paper piece them so I put a piece of Glad  Press and Seal under the cardstock when I cut the three colors. The Press and Seal kept all the pieces together right where they belonged as the rose was assembled. I die cut the rose shape out of  the front of a piece of tissue paper I had colored with Brusho Coloured Crystals and embossed with gold embossing powder. Here is a link to the Metallic Tissue tutorial I did on my blog. This background is flatter than the others I did because I ran it through my Tangerine die cutting machine to die cut the rose shape. Then I inlaid the rose outline, inside petals and green leaves.  

CAS Stenciled Card

Quick post again today as I am packing and preparing for my big trip to CHA Creativation next week. Can't wait! I will do a full report here on my blog what I found at CHA that was new and exciting. I made this card for my daughter after she shared the beautiful saying with me. I printed it on a piece of cardstock and stamped the awesome lady from Dina Wakley for Ranger. I sponged on peach ink through a floral stencil and then layered the finished piece on a black card base.

Altenew Floral Twist Circle Window Card

Yesterday I posted a square twist circle window card with a link to the video tutorial from Karen Burniston of Elizabeth Crafts. Today I am sharing another one I made featuring a beautiful set of stamps and inks from Altenew. I added some Nuvo Crystal Drops to the front of the card. Here are pictures of the twist circle pop up moving as the card is opened: 

I am entering this card in the Be Square challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, and the anything goes challenges at Scrapy Land and Craft Stamper Magazine.

It's Your Birthday, You Can Wine If You Want to!

Today I am sharing an interactive birthday card I made after watching this video from Karen Burneston for Elizabeth Crafts. On the front of this square card, I have used Simon Says Stamps Wine Aerobics stamps, the birthday wine sentiment stamp from Repeat Impressions and the stitched wine glass and circle dies from My Creative Time. Cute enough, but wait until you open the card:

I have the Twist Circle Pop Up die from Elizabeth Crafts and used it (following the instructions in the video linked above) to create this Pop It Up Twist Circle Window Card. I stamped the inside sentiment with a stamp from the Simon Says Stamp set. The inside circle fits into the circle opening on the front and then twists and pops up when the card is opened.

I am entering this card in the Be Square challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, and the anything goes challenges at Scrapy Land and Craft Stamper Magazine.

Love Card with Tonic Studios Dies and Double Embossed Background

Quick post today as I am still fighting a really bad cold and trying to get healthy and ready for my trip next week to Phoenix for CHA. Can't wait- 70s and sunny is the forecast! 

I created this card using the technique I learned about here and posted many cards with last year. I embossed with a Tonic large embossing folder called Rosalyn and used Nuvo's Crimson Gloss and Gold Enchantment Glitter embossing powders. The dies I used are Tonic Studios First Dance from their Silhouette Scenes and Sent with Love Miniature Moments. (I cut off the "sent with" part.)

Tonic Studios Mandala Love Bug Valentine

Today I am sharing a sneak peak at my love bug card that posted to Blog Tonic USA last night. Do you know what "mandala" means? And what a ladybird is? How about a great new way to add a touch of color to your cards? For the answer to all those questions and more, please visit the USA Tonic blog here.

Sun Paper Luna Card

Last fall I made a series of cards featuring the moon (or luna) as a Christmas gift for my daughter. Now that she has opened her present, I can blog them here. This one was made with Tedco Sun Art Paper. I described the process in this blog post. I created the background with Tonic Studio's Luna die, many punched stars and the sun art paper. After it was dry, I attached it to a white square card base. I raised a few of the punched stars with pop dots and glued on the beautiful sentiment cut with a die cut from Tonic Studios.

Big Hugs Snowman Surprise

I am loving how this card turned out and will be sharing it with the classes I teach in my home soon. Why you ask? Just wait until you see the inside. The snowflake belly band was created with a Martha Stewart punch and the "Big Hugs" was made with a brand new die by Neat and Tangled and orange dotted dp. Slide off the belly band and this is what pops up:

I was totally inspired by a tutorial here by MayMay to try a pop up snowman using the popular twist and pop mechanism that has been shown so much lately on Pinterest and blogs. I recently purchased a new mitten die from Impression Obsession and it was smaller than the one MayMay used, so I cut down the sides of the pop up apparatus to accommodate them. The buttons were created with a die from Tonic Studios and "love" is a new die from Impression Obsession. I punched the eyes, hand cut the carrot nose and used a pennant die from My Creative Time on the scarf. Here is a close up of the pop up mechanism: 

I used the directions from Jen Evers video here to make the pop up mechanism but cut down the side panels to accomodate the size of the mittens. 

I am entering this card in the New Something challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. The mitten and love dies are brand new and the pop up snowman idea is also new to me.

Valentines/Love Cards 4 Kids Challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids

It’s Saturday and time for another fun challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids! This time our challenge is: Valentines/Love Cards 4 Kids. Create and link any love or Valentine's card appropriate for a child and you could win one of our great prizes.

We have two very generous sponsors for this challenge: Bugaboo is giving their winner 4 digis of their choice! And the winner from Stampendous receives a $20 gift certificate! TEAM S.A.S will also be choosing their favorite cards for our top three and the winners will receive a blog badge and an opportunity to be a guest design team member on a future challenge.

I am featuring a super cute digital from Bugaboo called Heart Cats that I fussy cut out of a patterned light brown paper. The background was created with Magenta Nuance watercolor powders and gold embossing powder on tissue paper using a technique I am calling Metallic Tissue Paper. If you would like to know how to do it, I posted a tutorial here on my blog.

I added a "love" sentiment die cut with an Impression Obsession die and layered it all on a purple card base.

I am entering this card in the New Something challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and the Start Afresh challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. The love die and the digital stamp from Bugaboo are brand new to me.

Metallic Tissue Paper Butterfly Love with Tutorial

I have been having so much fun with a new technique I learned how to do recently and promised a tutorial so you could easily try it if you want. I made this one with some brand new dies from Tonic Studios called Layering Butterflies and my favorite sentiment from the Miniature Moments line also at Tonic Studios. I die cut two butterflies and applied the fun new Strawberry Coulis Jewel Drops to the top vellum layer. Here is a close-up look at the butterfly and the awesome golden texture created with tissue paper, Brusho Coloured Crystals and embossing powder: 

How is this background created? It is not hard, but does take some patience especially to let the tissue paper dry which takes a minimum of two hours and often more. Here are the steps: 

Choose several colors of watercolor powders, sprinkle them on white tissue paper on a craft sheet or something that can handle water soaking, and spritz with water. I tried several brands of water color powders and found the brighter colors such as the Brusho Coloured Crystals worked best for the color to show after applying gold embossing powders. Move the tissue paper on the craft mat somewhere it can dry thoroughly. 

After the tissue paper dried thoroughly it will look like this. For this card, I chose Rose Red, Violet and Crimson Red Brusho Crystal Colours. Wrinkle the tissue paper up several times and apply to a piece of cardstock covered with two sided tape (I chose Sookang). You could also try spray adhesive if that is what you have. You want the wrinkles to be pronounced. Trim the tissue paper to fit the cardstock.

The next step is to apply Versamark on top of all the wrinkles. On my first attempt, I rubbed it all over thinking the color would show through but I ended up with golden wrinkled card front. Pretty but not what I was going for. Rub the Versamark lightly on top of the wrinkles in the tissue paper. Then apply embossing powder- again with a very light touch trying to aim for wrinkles. For this card I used Nuvo's Gold Enchantment Glitter Embossing Powder so it is very sparkly IRL. I have also tried regular detail gold embossing powder and silver and will share cards with them soon.

Heat set the embossing powder and the textured golden metallic tissue paper background is done. I find when I have a glorious background like this, if I add some lovely dies on top, the finished product is a card I can send with love and pride. 

I am entering this card in the New Something challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and the Start Afresh challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. The layering butterflies are fresh out of their packaging and this is the first I have used them. The technique is also new to me and this is the second card I have posted with it.

Metallic Tissue Paper Good Wishes Card

I am having a blast with a new technique I learned about on the Bister, Brusho and Color Burst Facebook group I belong to. Linda L. DesGroseilliers had posted a picture of a similar background, but does not have a blog to link to. She shared how to take tissue paper and get this look back in September, but I didn't have time to play with it until now. It is not hard- except waiting for the water and Brusho pieces to dry- that takes at least two hours- sometimes more. I will do a tutorial on it, but basically I sprinkled on several colors of Brusho Crystal Colors on a piece of white tissue paper, then wet it with water. I had to do this on a craft sheet or something like that as it cannot be moved off it while it is drying. When completely dry, I crumbled it up several times as we want many wrinkles and attached it to an A2 piece of cardstock covered with Sookang two sided tape. I lightly applied Versamark trying to hit only the wrinkles and then heat embossed with gold embossing powder. I learned from my first few attempts not to put the Versamark all over and also to apply the embossing powder lightly as well so the beautiful Brusho color comes through. Other water color powders can be used as well, but I liked the brighter ones like Brusho over the lighter ones like Magenta or Lindy's Magicals. Here is a closeup of the beautiful gold and color and another angle of the lovely texture on the card:

The "good wishes" die is by Impression Obsession. I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Dies R Us and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. I am also entering in the Start Afresh challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday. The technique is brand new to me and the "sending good wishes" die came right out the it's packaging never used before.

My Favorite Cards 2016 Part Three

I have gone back through all the cards I blogged in 2016 and picked three per month to share with you. If you want to see details on any of the cards, simply click the date below the card to go directly to the blog post. Thanks for all your kind comments and encouragement in 2016, and I hope to see you all back here in 2017. Happy New Year!

September 11, 2016

September 14, 2016

September 26. 2016 Two Views

October 11, 2016

October 26, 2016

October 31, 2016 Two Views

November 14, 2016

November 28, 2016

November 29, 2016

December 4, 2016

December 14, 2016

December 18, 2016