Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #53

Beate's latest sketch challenge inspired this card. I kind of fudged a bit on the rules, but that's usually allowed. The important thing is to jump-start your creativity.

I have to admit that at first this card had a serious case of the "blahs".



I began with the Pixie Pink cs using the Cuttlebug "Perfectly Paisley" embossing folder. But once I got past that decision I was floundering. So I decided upon the polka dotted designer paper from Making Memories' Cheeky Collection (Abby). It was perfect! Really added some pizazz. But it wasn't enough. So I punched holes around it and just over the edges with my mat pack. Then I sewed brown embroidery thread (3 strands) through the holes, as you see. Still needed something. So I punched 2 holes in the bottom area using a 1/8" circle punch and ran a hot pink narrow organdy ribbon through and tied it.

I was going to use a sentiment for the circle in the design, but ended up deciding on a flower from Doodle This. It still wasn't enough though. So I made 3 using a different (striped) designer paper from the same collection as the polka dot paper. This is where I veered away from the challenge design.

I thought it would be fun to do like I did on my last card and heat emboss with Ultra-Thick EP. It looked really nice, but I had to keep messing with it! lol So I cracked the EP and sponged Chocolate Chip ink over it to emphasize the cracks. That looked nice, but...it still needed something. So I looked through my gem collection and found enough clear gems for 2 flowers and enough pale pink gems for one. So I adhered the clear gems to the top and bottom flowers and put the pink ones on the middle flower using Diamond Glaze. Ahhhh, that was what they needed!



Once the gems were good and stuck, I adhered them to the card with Dimensionals. I punched the bottom and top right corners with a corner punch and glued the whole thing to a piece of Chocolate Chip CS.

That's it! Phew! It feels good to have success when you think you might actually end up throwing your work in the trash!

Recipe:

Stamp: Doodle This
CS: Chocolate Chip, Pixie Pink, Making Memories Cheeky Collection (Abby) designer papers
Inks: Basic Black, Chocolate Chip
Other: Cuttlebug "Perfectly Paisley" embossing folder, Corner punch, Mat pack, Brown embroidery thread, 1/8" hole punch, Hot Pink narrow organdy ribbon, Sponge, Clear ultra thick embossing powder, Clear and pink gems, Diamond Glaze, Dimensionals

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!