Winnie & Walter July Leading Lady: Christmas in July

Hello and welcome! I am back with another Leading Lady project and I'm so excited to share this one with you! Most of the cards I send out are birthday and Christmas cards. Although I definitely send out more Christmas cards because I'm not that good at remembering other people's birthdays... (who else relies on Facebook reminders?!?) Anyways, I'm glad to start working on my Christmas card stash early this year. I really enjoyed creating this card, and I hope it will inspire you, too! 

I started off by creating the night sky background. I used the Essentials: Lana Cutaways to die cut the background panel from watercolor cardstock. Next I sponged and smooshed Stormy Sky, Evergreen Bough, Dusty Concord, Chipped Sapphire distress inks. I also added a touch of Black Soot to the borders for some contrast. To add more interest to the background, I spritzed some water droplets to create the faded look. Then I stenciled white embossing paste over the Scenery: Big Bang Circle Creative Screenings. I also applied a thin coat of embossing paste to bottom portion of the panel to keep my critters grounded, and that completes the falling snow scene. 

I then watercolored these adorable images from Season's Tweetings with Evelin T. Designs with ZIG clean color real brush markers, and die cut them out with their coordinating dies. 

Finally, I gold heat embossed "warm winter wishes" on vellum for the sentiment banner. I decided to add "sending you" from Sentimental: Love stamp set as well because I think it ties back to the postage stamp shaped background. #happymail :)

Giveaway: 

Shay has generously provided me with a $30 gift certificate that I can giveaway. If you enjoyed this card, please comment on both W&W and my blog for a chance to win! I will be posting for the remaining Saturdays of this month, so if you comment on each post you will have 4 chances to win this wonderful prize. That is all from me today. I hope you will join me next Saturday but until then, have a wonderful week!

Challenges Entered:

    

MarkerPop: Christmas in July / Happy Little Stampers: Christmas / Happy Little Stampers: Watercolor

    
Happy Little Stampers: ATG with Dies / Joy Clair: ATG / 7 Kids: ATG I used Mini Misti Stamping Tool


Word Art Wednesday

You Rock, Dad! ft. Winnie & Walter

Good morning and welcome! Are you ready for some rainbow madness? I have been crafting for about 3 years now (I actually started paper crafting when I was around 8 or 9, but it's only been 3 years since I came to the states and discovered the world of photopolymer stamps, die cutting machines, Copic markers, and now, ZIG brush pens.) but I'm really not sure about how I would describe my cardmaking style. One thing I know for sure though, is that I love bright, vibrant colors. And that's what today's card is all about! 

I don't know if my dad, or any dad honestly, will appreciate such a colorful card. But when I saw this mohawk (?) little bird and the shades, I was inspired to create a card with a cool vibe. (if that even makes sense, LOL) 

I thought it would be pretty interesting to have him be the center/focal point of a rainbow spiral background. So after my thick layer of embossing paste has dried, I watercolored the embossing paste with my ZIG brush pens. Yes, you heard it right. I didn't blend colors with my distress inks (although that was my original plan) but watercolored it with ZIG. Now, I don't know if somebody else has already come up with the same idea, but this seems like a pretty innovative use of the ZIG markers to me. I'm so glad I tried it out because this method definitely gives you more control on where to apply the colors (v.s. sponging distress inks). And with traditional watercolor, you probably won't be able to get such vibrant colors. Anyways, I was just really impressed with the results.
All the colors I've used are listed below (from purple to pink. counterclockwise): 82, 80, 84, 30, 32, 33, 40, 47, 41, 53, 50, 52, 70, 23, 20, 22, 24, 222, 21, 25, 27 


I decided to cut my sentiments up and scatter them across the entire card front. "DAD" was handwritten with a black gel pen, "thank you" is from In Bloom: Julie's Roses set, "so birdy much" from the So Tweet set, and "YOU ROCK" from My Precious set. The variation between each font type and size definitely adds some more interest to the card. I think it even creates a mixed media kind of feel. 

After stamping and heat embossing each of the sentiments, I sponged them with distress inks so they match the rainbow spirals. The colors I've used are listed below, from left to right. 
" You Rock" banner: Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Carved Pumpkin
"so birdy much" banner: Wilted Violet, Blueprint Sketch, Peacock Feathers
"DAD" banner: Picked Raspberry, Abandoned Coral


I couldn't finish a card without adding some embellishments and sequins, especially when it's a super fun and colorful one like this. :P I hope this rainbow card has brightened up your day, and thanks so much for stopping by! 

Challenges Entered: 

STAMPlorations Theme: Retro / Winnie & Walter 3rd Birthday Bash: Three Challenge (I used 3 stamp sets: So Tweet, In Bloom: Julie's Roses, My Precious) / Sequin Challenge / Bright Colors Challenge / Mood Board Challenge (Inspired by the bright, cheerful colors) / Cute Critter Challenge / Stencil Challenge / Pattern Making Challenge



SSS Wednesday: ATG

You're My Forever Love ft. STAMPlorations

Hello and welcome! Today's the first day of our Love TAGplorations blog hop over at STAMPlorations! Simply leave a comment along the blogs you visited or join our linky party for a chance to win prizes!

 I love using word dies on my cards and so I decided to make them the focal point of today's card. For the background, I used the Forever word die and die cut it repetitively until it has filled the entire card panel. 

Then I carefully transfer and piece the die cuts together on a sheet of adhesive, so that none of the little pieces will fall apart. (As you can see, I ended up creating a black background for my card, but the process is the same as the one shown here.)

I decorated my tag by applying a thin coat of texture paste over the Zen Hearts stencil. Once it is dry, I applied Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, and Festive Berries distress inks for the ombre look and spritzed some pearlized water for some shimmer and shine. The love die cut I used here is from the Peace Love Joy word die, but it would probably be more convenient to use the newly released Love word die. I've partially embossed my word die cuts with silver embossing powder so they match the ribbon I tied on the tag. I then stamped "you're my" from the Fond Expressions 2 set on a strip of black cardstock to complete my sentiment.

Finally, I embellished the card with some sequins and that finishes off the card! I hope you have enjoyed looking at my creation and are inspired to join our linky party. Thanks for stopping by!

Challenges Entered:

STAMPlorations: Theme & Sketch (used the sketch in the horizontal direction) / STAMPlorations: CUTplorations (Inspired by the pink colors and diagonal lines) / STAMPlorations: ATG


Paru's Card Making Challenges: Love / Cards in Envy: Be My Valentine

Happy Little Stampers: ATG with Dies / SSS Monday: Use Your Favorite Tool (Dies)

Ombre Hearts with Texture Paste ft. STAMPlorations

Challenges Entered:
 
Word Art Wednesday / STAMPlorations: ATG

Texture Paste + Embossing Powder ft. STAMPlorations

EDIT:
  
Cards in Envy: Favorite / Joy Clair: Winner / HLS Mixed Media Favorite
Fall is right around the corner, so I'd like to share a fall-inspired card for today. :) I thought about making a Thanksgiving card so I searched for sentiments that are thanks-related. And this one from STAMPloration's Fond Expressions 2 fits perfectly. The "heartfelt" part inspired me to use the Rows of Hearts stencil along with my Memory Box heart nesting dies. So yup, this card is full of lots of hearts! <3 


The colors and kraft card base is inspired by this month's CASEplorations card. I like how there's a light blue shade among the warm colors, so I decided to add a green heart in my card as well. It's surprising that a green heart doesn't look odd at all! I'm actually quite pleased with this color combination. I also totally love the idea of repetition; so I cased her cascading cups with my cascading heart layout. Did you notice that I incorporated the banner element into my sentiment? Like the case card, I heat set my sentiment in white embossing powder. White always look good on kraft!

First I die cut three hearts from a sheet of masking paper. Then I laid the stencil on top and secured all sides with micropore tape. 

After applying a layer of texture paste, I sprinkled some gold embossing powder while the paste is still wet. I really think the gold tone matches and enhances the warm tone of a kraft card. And it adds some interest to this relatively simple design, too!

When the paste is dry after a 20-30 minute wait, I heat embossed the parts with the powder. I watched Jennifer McGuire's comparison video on embossing paste and texture paste before, so I knew that I'll get some bubbles from heat setting the texture paste. Even though the uneven texture is cool, I personally prefer a smooth, even look. So I'm planning on getting the embossing paste and trying it with heat embossing soon. 

Now it's time to add some color. I wanted to keep this design clean so I'm only sponging on the raised area. You can do this by piecing the masking paper and stencil back on to the card. This will keep the kraft areas covered and only the embossed areas exposed. I sponged several shades of distress inks onto each of the hearts and made sure they blended together to give the ombre look. 

I can rarely finish a card without adding some extra shine with my wink of stella. (I actually tried misting Perfect Pearls but the result isn't as outstanding) I love how the tiny gold sparkles match the tone of the gold embossing powder. I hope my card has warmed your heart and brightened your day a little. Thanks for stopping by, xoxo. 

Challenges Entered: 
 
CASEplorations September / SSS: Powder Power / SSS: ATG / MFT Sketch 300

 
Cards in Envy: Fall theme/color / Joy Clair: Color Inspiration / YNS Color Challenge #48

  

AAA Cards: Masking / Memory Box #16: Stencils / HLS Mixed Media: Distress

 
SSS: STAMPtember & Autumn Colors / Penny Black & More: Add a Sentiment / STAMPlorations ATG

STAMPlorations Spotlight I was inspired by Cornelia's post to create your own stencil.