Cracked glass thank you card

Recipe:

Stamps: Petal Prints, Paint Prints, Many Thanks, Hero Arts "Thank You Greetings"

Paper: White, black, glossy white

Ink: Blue Breeze Kaleidacolor Rainbow pad, VersaMark, Basic Black; Markers: Brilliant Blue, Taken with Teal, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black

Accessories: Inkworx air art gun, gem, black grosgrain ribbon, clear EP, Ultra Thick EP, Dimensionals, Pop Dots, Cuttlebug Script EF, sponges, heat gun, sandpaper

Techniques: Reversed Faux Linen, Cracked Glass

Oh boy! Another hard to make card. What is it with me lately? lol This one is for Amy's Super Sketch Sunday Challenge #8 which I thought was a beautiful sketch idea - very balanced and pleasing to the eye.

I began with good old white cardstock as the base for the card. I lightly sponged its edges with several colors from the Blue Breeze Kaleidacolor pad. I cut a black piece of cs just a bit smaller and set those aside.

I used a piece of glossy white cs to create the main background. I dusted it with my powdery pillow thingy, the name of which escapes me just now (this is to keep stray embossing powder from adhering via static electricity where you don't want it - it's very pesky stuff). Then I stamped a Petal Prints flower (the larger one) and a Paint Prints flower (the smaller one) randomly using VersaMark ink. I sprinkled clear embossing powder (EP) over the flowers, tamped off the excess, and heat embossed them. Then I sponged different colors from the Blue Breeze pad all over the glossy. I spritzed black marker ink via the Inkworx air art gun. After it dried, I sandpapered the glossy cs both horizontally and vertically to give it a sort of reversed faux linen-ish look (slightly different from Beate's tutorial). Then a little more sponging and it was finished.

For the mini background feature, I ran a piece of glossy white through the Cuttlebug using the Script embossing folder and sponged colors from the Blue Breeze pad over it; next, I sponged over the Script with black ink to emphasize it. I adhered that piece to black cs and then to the main glossy background. Then I added the black grosgrain ribbon. I adhered this whole thing to the main pieces of black and white cs.

The main flower feature consists of two of the same image stamped in black on glossy white and sponged with the Blue Breeze inks. It's popped out with Dimensionals; and it and the gem are attached with Diamond Glaze because I don't want them wandering off anywhere. ;)

Am I the only one that thinks SU's Dimensionals are not as sticky as they used to be? They're positively wimpy!

The word sayings were stamped in black on regular white cs and were spritzed (Taken with Teal, Tempting Turquoise, Brilliant Blue) and sponged (Blue Breeze) accordingly. Then they were covered in VersaMark ink and sprinkled with Ultra Thick clear EP (the big, chunky kind). Then they were heat embossed and allowed to cool. Then I bent them in order to "break" the EP surface to give it a cracked appearance. Then I sponged Blue Breeze darker colors in the cracks to enhance their appearance. This is referred to as the Cracked Glass technique. (I didn't put mine in the freezer like Beate does in her tutorial, but it probably helps in the cracking process.)

Close-up of the cracked look:

I adhered those to black cs and then used some Pop Dots to put them on the card. May I just say that Pop Dots (at least the ones I have from a few years ago) are incredibly sticky? I had positioned the "thank you" piece where you see it, and realized I had put it too high. Too bad! The piece underneath it started to rip when I tried to remove and reposition it only seconds later. Oh well. At least I know it ain't going anywhere!

Turtle watercolored card

Recipe:

Stamps: Simply Circles, Silly Sealife, Paint Prints, For the Love of Chocolate, Magenta mesh stamp

Paper: Always Artichoke, Black, Basic Grey "Blitzen Collection" designer papers, Glossy white

Ink: VersaMark, Basic Black, Baroque Burgundy, More Mustard; Markers: Always Artichoke, Baroque Burgundy, Old Olive, Apricot Appeal

Accessories: Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles embossing folder, large circle punch, small (1&1/4") circle punch, small oval punch, 1/16" hole punch, Dimensionals, sponges, antique copper mini-brads

Techniques: watercoloring, sponging

Well, I'm a bit "early" this time! lol It's ONLY Tuesday. I am really happy with this card. Don't you just love it when your work gives you such pleasure?

Here is this week's Sunday challenge.

I did a little thinking outside the box on this one. Amy had the image feature as a square-ish rectangle and I decided to do a circle. I had been wanting to play with that Silly Sealife turtle for quite some time, so this was my chance to make him shine. Of course, I watercolored him! ;) I'm going crazy for watercoloring! Just love it!

My bigger sentiment didn't quite reach the vertical element to the left as Amy's does, but otherwise, it stuck pretty close to the plan.

To create this card I cut Always Artichoke cs so that it opened from the bottom. I stamped the big and small circles from the Simply Circles set around the edges in VersaMark ink. Then I sponged Basic Black over that to give it a softer look.

I then cut a piece of Basic Grey designer paper from the Blitzen collection and ran it through the Cuttlebug using the Tiny Bubbles embossing folder. I made sure the printed side of the paper would receive the concaved (inward) imprint rather than convex (outward). Then I mounted it on black cs.

I cut the other elements going across and down and matted them with black cs. The one to the left I stamped in Basic Black using a Magenta mesh stamp. Then I sponged it in Basic Black ink. I then used a 1/16" hole punch and made holes for the brads. I then affixed the brads to the piece and mounted it using Dimensionals.

For the turtle element, I stamped on glossy white cs twice. I punched out one of the turtles with a 1&1/4" circle punch. Then I watercolored the other one using Baroque Burgundy, Always Artichoke, Old Olive, and Apricot Appeal markers, cut him out carefully, and mounted him directly over the other turtle with Dimensionals and trimmed off the part outside the circle. I had to cut a tiny piece of a Dimensional to hold up his widdle head. :)

Next, I mounted the turtle(s) on the black circle and cut a 1&1/4" circle out of another piece of black cs. Then I positioned the bigger circle punch over the smaller punched hole right where I wanted it (hold the punch upside down so you can see where you're cutting) and punched that out. Then I mounted it to match with the bottom black circle and made sure the smaller hole was lined up with the white circle/turtle image (hope that wasn't too confusing).

I stamped the "delight" image from the Paint Prints set in Basic Black on glossy white and sponged it with Baroque Burgundy, More Mustard, and Basic Black. I masked a stamp from the For the Love of Chocolate set for the words "in life" and stamped it on Always Artichoke. I punched it out using the smaller oval punch and sponged it with Basic Black. Adhered all that on and was finished!

Lots of work, but worth the effort, I think.