Yukon birthday card

Recipe:

Stamps: Paisley Print, Yukon, CTMH Spunky Greetings

Paper: Black, Bravo Burgundy, glossy white

Ink: Versamark, Basic Black

Accessories: Markers: Baroque Burgundy, Really Rust, Creamy Caramel, Summer Sun, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive; Other: Cuttlebug "Tiny Bubbles" embossing folder, black grosgrain ribbon, silver buckle charm, Dimensionals, Diamond Glaze, silver mini brads, 1/16" hole punch, 1/4" circle punch

I really do have other Cuttlebug embossing folders! I just keep reaching for the Tiny Bubbles one, though, don't I? ;) I like its versatility. The ones Provocraft makes with only words on them are cute and all, but they're so limiting on what you can do with them. The non-word patterned ones are able to be used on any card. Maybe even every card as I demonstrating. hehe

This card is for my young nephew who likes nature. It's a simple design with a few extras that make for some WOW. Of course, I used the Tiny Bubbles folder! Am I getting obnoxious about using that thing yet? :D

I stamped Bravo Burgundy cs with the retired Paisley Print background stamp using Versamark ink. Then I ran part of the front through the Tiny Bubbles folder and Cuttlebugged it. When using the embossing folders with heavy patterns, you need to consider that the cardstock will shrink a bit due to the pulling up of the cardstock into the textured pattern. I generally allow for some extra length and then trim off what I don't need after running it through the Cuttlebug. Some cutters are terrible at hacking at the Cuttlebugged cardstock. Be careful if yours is like that or you'll have a not-so-nice mess on your hands. My Cricut cutter was like that, but my new (& improved, it says) Fiskars 12" cutter smoothly cuts it.

I stamped the CTMH "Happy Birthday" word stamp on the lower front (don't you just love the clear acrylic stamps? So easy to position!). Then I added the black grosgrain ribbon and adhered the silver buckle charm thingy onto the ribbon. I'm hoping it stays put! I used a Dimensional and some Diamond Glaze, so there's hope.

For the deer feature I stamped in Basic Black on glossy white cs and let it dry. Then I did the watercoloring with markers and a water brush. I recommend that if you try this, you have a scratch piece of the same cs you're using and test the markers to see how fast they set by rubbing them on the scratch piece and then wiping over them with the water brush. Then you can figure out how soon you need to hit the ink with the water brush. Some set REALLY fast. Some give you time to blend. For those that set fast, I usually just take the water brush and rub the bristles on the marker tip and then apply it, rather than putting the marker tip directly onto the cs. I used Baroque Burgundy (don't have the marker for Bravo Burgundy yet), Really Rust, Creamy Caramel, Summer Sun, Close to Cocoa, and even some Old Olive to achieve the colors you see. I did lots of blending. Using just Baroque Burgundy would've given it a pinkish appearance. So I just kept adding colors until I got the look I wanted. After it was done drying, I used Really Rust and Close to Cocoa markers and the Inkworx air art gun to give the background a splattered appearance. I let that dry.

Then once that dried I punched 1/16" holes in the corners. I punched the same-sized holes in black cs and then flipped my 1/4" circle punch over and positioned it with the 1/16" inch holes in the center and punched out. That gave me circles with holes in the middles. I used those under the silver mini brads in the corners of the deer scene. They look like rivets. Pretty cool. And they accent the buckle very nicely, I think. I adhered that to black cs and mounted it onto the card with Dimensionals. And then it was done.

It was nice to do a simple design for a change, although I like being stretched by Amy's and SCS's challenges. It's just what I needed to help my floundering creativity along.

Kitty birthday card 1

Recipe:

Stamps: Cool Cat, Year Round Cheer, Canvas

Paper: Only Orange, Pink Passion, various Making Memories Cheeky Abby Collection designer papers, white

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Basic Black, Pink Passion

Accessories: Cuttlebug "Tiny Bubbles" embossing folder, Circle cutter, Sizzlit oval tag die, "Stamp" deco scissors, lg. & sm. square punches, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Black Micron pen, Dimensionals, narrow pink organdy ribbon, sponge

Pocket card

Recipe:

Stamps: Canvas, Love without End, Amazing to Zany, Stampabilities "Love is a Fruit", Print Pattern (although almost not worth mentioning), CTMH Storytime Uppercase and Lowercase

Paper: Black, Bravo Burgundy, True Thyme, Naturals Ivory, Basic Grey "Blitzen" collection designer paper

Ink: True Thyme, Basic Black, Versamark (on circles/flowers scraps)

Accessories: Cuttlebug "Tiny Bubbles" embossing folder, sewing machine, many different circle punches (1/4", 1/8", 1/16", 1"), corner punch, double rectangle punch, lg. flower punch, sm. flower punch, mini brads, Dimensionals, Diamond Glaze

Here's my contribution to this week's Sunday Sketch Challenge.

This time Amy used a pocket card design which thrilled me, as I was wanting an excuse to make one!

This one is actually a little bigger than her standard design sketch because I gave in and framed it in black after doing the main part without it. Just can't hep myseff. So this probably wouldn't fit in an A4 envelope.

The cardstocks used are black for the biggest piece, then Bravo Burgundy, then a piece of designer paper from the Basic Grey Blitzen collection. The cardstocks used on the pocket insert are black and True Thyme. The word saying on the front is stamped on Naturals Ivory (aka Quest Cover Ivory). The circle/flower thingies use black and True Thyme.

*deep breath* Okay, where to begin? lol This card is so convoluted, I'm not sure what to talk about first! I guess I'll go from back to front.

Nothing to speak of on the black. The burgundy was sponged with Basic Black ink. I used a corner punch on the burgundy cs and the designer paper. The designer paper was tacked very lightly with mono to the burgundy cs and was then sewed on using a zigzag stitch, although my sewing machine's settings must be a bit off - technically, the stitch isn't quite right. Nonetheless, it did look pretty cool. I am a major amateur sewer, btw! (Don't you hate that the word "sewer" means such different things, yet we think of the yucky definition when we see it spelled out? lol) Then I ran that sucker part-way through the Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles folder and Cuttlebugged it, leaving the top un-Cuttlebugged. heh Finally, I sponged some Basic Black ink on the Cuttlebugged part to emphasize it more.

The piece I created to resemble the "edge" or "lip" of the pocket was made by punching holes with 2 different hole punches in a random fashion on black cs using a 1/4" punch and a 1/16" punch. I adhered that to a slightly smaller piece of True Thyme cs and mounted that onto the pocket with Dimensionals and a bit of Diamond Glaze for extra strength.

For the word phrase feature, I stamped the Canvas background stamp in True Thyme ink on the Naturals Ivory cs and then stamped the "Love is a Fruit" stamp by Stampabilities in Basic Black ink on top of that. I mounted it on black cs and used a 1/16" hole punch on the corners to allow for some antique copper mini-brads to be affixed. I mounted the whole thing on the front of the card with Dimensionals adhered with Diamond Glaze.

A close-up of the circle features:

For the circle features to the right, I used 4 punches: a larger circle, a larger flower, a smaller flower, and the 1/16" hole punch to put the mini-brads through. Honestly, the tiny hole punch was hard to use on such tiny objects. So I ended up using the tip of my x-acto knife to make the hole. I adhered these with Dimensionals and Diamond Glaze. You might notice a pattern on the True Thyme cs I punched out. That was from a cardstock scrap that had some stamping on it from the Canvas and Print Pattern stamps. I thought the look would be more interesting rather than just punching out of a plain, unstamped piece of cardstock.

Pocket insert:

For the pocket insert, I stamped with the Canvas stamp in True Thyme ink. Then I used the solid flower stamp from Love without End and the tiny word stamps from Amazing to Zany to decorate the surface. The letters for Jesus's name are from CTMH's Storytime Uppercase and Lowercase sets.

I cut a half circle in the True Thyme part of the insert by holding a circle punch upside down and positioning the punch where I wanted the half circle to be. Then I punched a double rectangle in the black and cut out the center with my x-acto knife so I'd have a larger rectangle with which to insert the ribbons. The ribbons are black organdy, blue grosgrain, and olive grosgrain with lines stitched up the middle.

Meow!

Recipe:

Stamps: Cool Cat

Paper: Black, Basic Grey Blitzen designer papers, white

Ink: Basic Black, Old Olive, Ruby Red, Taken with Teal, More Mustard

Accessories: Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles and Script embossing folders, sponges, Dimensionals, black polka dot ribbon, Diamond Glaze, Basic Black marker, black Micron pen

Techniques: Blocking, stamping off, sponging

I decided the biggest background was going to be my latest trademark look ;) of Basic Grey designer paper with the Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles embossing folder The paper is from the Blitzen collection and I just love the colors! The paisley imagery on this sheet is pretty cool, too. The rectangular feature (which is unfortunately smaller than Amy’s design challenge calls for) is of the same paper collection (Blitzen) as the bigger piece, and I stamped the flowers from Cool Cat on that paper in black ink. Then I used the Script embossing folder on it for added interest.

For the round feature I stamped the word stamp from the Cool Cat set, but blocked out the words “you’re the cat’s” and just left “meow”. I used a post-it note to do this. I stamped the whole stamp on the post-it note and cut out the part I was going to use (meow). Then I positioned the post-it note where I wanted the “meow” to be on a white cardstock scrap. Since I was going to punch this out, it wasn’t critical where I positioned it other than that I stamp it near enough to the edge of the cardstock so the punch would reach it. Once I stamped it I punched it out as well as a black circle a bit larger to mount it to. I stamped the perfume bottle freehand, but you could use a stamp positioner if you prefer to be more precise with the location.

To get the look of both the cat and the perfume bottle, I stamped each in their respective ink colors (Old Olive for the cat, Ruby Red for the perfume bottle) and stamped off once (which means stamping on a scrap of paper to remove a bit of the ink and then stamping on your chosen cardstock for a lighter look). Before stamping the second time, I very lightly sponged just a bit of black ink on the stamp and then stamped it. (The look you get from doing this is really neat. Give it a try and see what I mean. Be very light with the black, though.)

After doing this I outlined the images with my Basic Black marker. BUT it was too thick, even on the smaller side of the marker. So I finished off using a black Micron pen which worked MUCH better. I’ll use it from now on. I put a “birthmark” on her cheek, too. And you can see I messed up one ear a bit with that Basic Black marker. That wouldn’t have happened with the Micron pen. I just didn’t have it in me to start over on that feature. Too much work had already been put into it.

You’ll notice I altered the cat’s eyes to have that I Dream of Jeannie look (hey, that perfume bottle kind of looks like Jeannie’s bottle, doesn’t it? Well, maybe only a little – that was totally unintentional, btw. I promise!). Are you hearing the theme song in your head yet? :D

Like lots of stampers these days, I doodley-dooed with a black marker around the cat image. I sponged several colors around the cat which I’m not sure of right now, but will take a stab at (I should write this stuff down when I’m actually doing it!): More Mustard, Taken with Teal, Ruby Red, and Basic Black, I believe were the colors. I sponged black around the edges to emphasize the edges a bit. Oh, and I sponged just a bit of some of the previously mentioned colors on the perfume/word feature, as well.

I mounted the cat on another piece of paper from the Basic Grey Blitzen collection and then mounted that on black cardstock. Of course, I mounted the rectangle and the biggest background on black, too. Good thing I have LOTS of black cardstock, eh?

I adhered the cat and the perfume/word features with lots of Dimensionals and a bit of Diamond Glaze (Crystal Effects) to make sure everything stayed in place.

I mounted the polka dotted ribbon with Diamond Glaze and now see that it’s crooked! Oh well, no one’s perfect, right? And no one NEEDS to be perfect even though some of us still keep trying. *cough cough*

Circle of frogs card

Recipe:

Stamps: Simply Circles, Unfrogettable, Riveting

Paper: Black, Pink Passion, White

Ink: Basic Black, VersaMark

Accessories: Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, blending sticks, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Basic Black marker, Inkworx air art gun, Pinking scissors, Dimensionals, mini Pop Dots, black gingham ribbon, ½” circle punch, 1&1/4” circle punch, circle cutter

Techniques: Prismacolor & Gamsol

I’ve seen circular card themes and always wanted to try it myself. So I decided to use one of the Riveting circle images as my jumping off point. The sitting frog from Unforgettable seemed like a good choice for going around the circle.

(On a side note, normally, the sitting frog has a heart image hovering over its head. I divided the frog stamp up so I wouldn’t have to block the heart image. I attached the heart to the side of the stamp. It will be far more useful to me without the heart. That’s right, folks, my frog has no heart! ;D )

This card measures 5&3/4” width and height. If you want it to fit in a smaller envelope, adjust the size of the background accordingly.

If you look closely at my froggy circle, you’ll see I made some boo-boos. But as much work as it was to get the stamping and coloring done, I’ll live with a few imperfections! I’m working on not trying to be so **** about that sort of thing. ;)

I began by stamping the Riveting circle stamp in Basic Black ink on a big piece of white cardstock. Then, using the Stamp-a-ma-jig, I positioned a frog below and directly above the circle. Then amazingly, I was easily able to position 2 frogs on either side pretty much the same distance apart.

Once I got the frogs stamped I went to work picking colors. At that point I hadn’t decided anything yet, just winged it. I knew I wanted some standard colors, but I chose the more secondary versions of red, yellow, blue and green, and threw in purple and orange for good measure. I used the Prismacolor/Gamsol technique and then added dimension by shading each frog with a color not far from its color on the color wheel. In other words, I shaded the pink frog with a rosy red. I shaded the green frog with an aqua blue. I shaded the blue frog with purple and the purple frog with a dark blue. The yellow frog was shaded with orange.

The frustrating thing with Prismacolors is I can’t erase them if they go outside the lines. I’m not aware if there’s a PC eraser. Anyone know?

After coloring the frogs, I used a circle cutter and cut them out leaving a bit of white space around the edges. Then I mounted it on black and cut the circle size I wanted and then edged it with pinking scissors just for fun. I decided that the background would be pink and chose Pink Passion cs as the closest match. On the Pink Passion cs, I used a couple of the circle stamps from Simply Circles and stamped them in VersaMark ink, and used the Inkworx air art gun and the Basic Black marker for the splotches. Then I mounted the circle feature onto the Pink Passion using Dimensionals and then mounted that on the black. I added a black gingham ribbon as an accent.

To add a little more pizzazz to the overall look, I again stamped the Riveting circle on a scrap of white cardstock and punched out the center with a ½” circle punch. Then I punched the outside of the circle with a 1&1/4” circle punch. I colored in the lines with a black Prisma pencil and adhered it to the center of the circle with mini Pop Dots. Then I stamped the Riveting stamp yet again on Pink Passion cs and punched out the middle and adhered it with mono to the center of the Riveting image below the raised version. That kept the continuity of the Pink Passion background going.

Hope that made sense.

Hoppy Birthday froggy card

Recipe:

Stamps: Unfrogettable, Shapes & Shadows, Hot to Dot wheel, Riveting, Print Pattern

Paper: Black, Sage Shadow, Glossy white, Pretty in Pink

Ink: VersaMark, Basic Black, Sage Shadow, Pretty in Pink, Apricot Appeal

Accessories: Crayon, sponges, Dimensionals, “stamp” deco scissors, zigzag ribbon, mini Pop Dots, circle punch (1&3/4”?)

Techniques: crayon resist

I did the main feature using one of my favorite techniques: crayon resist. I stamped the Unfrogettable critters in Basic Black on Glossy white cs. For added interest, I stamped the twinkle image from Shapes & Shadows. Then I ran a crayon around the edges of the critters and then sponged Sage Shadow, Pretty in Pink, and Apricot Appeal over them. Then I rubbed the crayon off with a rag and mounted the piece to black cs.

I rolled the Hot to Dot wheel twice over the Sage Shadow cs and mounted that to the black. I added the ribbon to the crayon resist feature and mounted that onto the Sage Shadow using Dimensionals.

Then I stamped the “Hoppy Birthday” stamp on Pretty in Pink cs which was already stamped with Print Pattern (a scrap from my collection) and punched it out with a big circle punch. I adhered that to a scrap of black cs and then cut it out using some “stamp” deco scissors. I adhered that to the crayon resist piece with Dimensionals.

I stamped the Riveting image on both Sage Shadow and Pretty in Pink in Basic Black ink. I punched out the middle on both, and then punched the outside of the Sage piece. I mounted the sage piece with mini Pop Dots onto the crayon resist piece. Then I mono-ed the pink center circle piece underneath and in the center of the sage piece.

Prismacolor herbs card

Recipe:

Stamps: Sweet Herbs, Simply Circles

Paper: Black, Pumpkin Pie, White

Ink: Basic Black

Accessories: Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, Blending sticks, Cuttlebug “Tiny Bubbles” embossing folder, orange/yellow gingham ribbon, Dimensionals, Diamond Glaze, Basic Black marker, ruler

Techniques: Prismacolor & Gamsol, Cuttlebug

I made this card while watching My Fair Lady, so I’ll probably always associate the two. :) I keep thinking of the part where Eliza Doolittle is at the horse races and is “how do you do”ing everyone and is speaking cockney with perfect poise. lol What an actress!

I’ve had the retired Sweet Herbs set for many years and had never made a serious attempt to use the set until I got in this Prismacolor/Gamsol groove I’ve been in lately.The main stamp of potted herbs seems perfect for coloring. I can still hear Rex Harrison singing even as I type. Is he a hoot or what!

Okay, on to the card. I stamped the image with Basic Black ink on white cardstock. Then I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. The pots and the plants were pretty straightforward to color. No pink pots for me, just yet. ;) The little plant stakes were my choice, and I chose a sunny yellow to offset the reds and greens. I really ought to do my kitchen in these colors. I go to them so often in so much of what I do. They’re just so relaxing.

Close-up:

I used a ruler to mark a horizon and drew the thin black line with the Basic Black marker to ground the image. Then I colored the “table/counter” with Prismacolors in the yellow range to mirror the plant stakes color.

I stamped the “Hello” stamp from Simply Circles onto Pumpkin Pie cs. As I’ve usually been doing ever since I got my Cuttlebug, *grin* I cuttlebugged the Pumpkin Pie cs using the Tiny Bubbles embossing folder. I mounted that to black cs and added some orange/yellow gingham ribbon. Then I mounted the herb image on black and adhered it to the Pumpkin Pie cs with Dimensionals dabbed with a bit of Diamond Glaze (Crystal Effects) to make a firm bond.

Cosmobella birthday girl card

Recipe:

Stamps: Paisley Print, Cosmobella, purse from Shopabellas, word stamp from I Like Your Style

Paper: Tempting Turquoise, black, Green Galore, white

Ink: VersaMark, Basic Black, Creamy Caramel

Accessories: Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles embossing folder, Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, blending sticks, Inkworx air art gun, Basic Black marker, oval template, aqua-blue grosgrain ribbon, sponge, Dimensionals, mini Pop Dots, copper mini-brads, 2" circle punch, 1/16&q

Techniques: Gamsol Magic, Cuttlebug

I was fortunate enough to do an image swap with a fellow SCSer and finally got around to using one of the images she sent me.

This card was tons easier to do than the last few! I was tired of complicated and decided simple was a good thing. Not that this card wasn't work. The Bella was a bit, but it was fun coloring her.

All I did for the biggest piece of cs (Tempting Turquoise) was stamp it in VersaMark ink with the Paisley Print background stamp. Easy. Then for the Green Galore piece I did the same thing, stamped it in VersaMark with Paisley Print. Then I ran 2/3 of it through the Cuttlebug with the Tiny Bubbles embossing folder. I mounted the Green Galore onto black cs. Then I covered the line between the two areas on the Green Galore with some lovely aqua-blue ribbon that has lime green stitching on both edges. It was actually the inspiration for the colors in this card. I set that aside.

On the Bella, I used Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol to color her. Did you know you can just dip the pencil tip right in the Gamsol and color? I used a blending stick (looks like a gray newspaper stick with pointed ends) here and there, as needed. After coloring her I cut her out (no easy task with those stick arms!), cutting the martini glass from her hand, and touched her up here and there with my Basic Black marker (thus the thicker arms). Her hat is actually a purse from another Bella stamp. I was going to use it as a purse hanging from her arm, but couldn't get the purse strap cut out without ruining it. So I cut off the strap and turned the purse into a hat! lol

The oval under her feet was created using a plastic template I bought when I first started stamping years ago. It was just right, so I laid it where I wanted it and sponged Creamy Caramel over it. I also spritzed the background behind her with my Inkworx air art gun (I love that thing!) using the Basic Black marker.

I adhered her to the background with mini Pop Dots and glued her feet to the background using my mono adhesive so she wouldn't look like she was hovering. ;)

I stamped a word phrase from I Like Your Style on Tempting Turquoise and punched it where I wanted the phrase to be with a 2-in. circle punch. Then I stamped it with the Paisley Print stamp to give it more interest, and adhered it behind the Bella piece.

I mounted the Bella/word phrase piece to the Green Galore with Dimensionals (another product I couldn't live without) and glued the circle down on the GG with mono (a bit tricky).

I punched 3 holes in the Green Galore with a 1/16" hole punch and then punched 3 holes in a scrap of black cs. Then I punched 1/4-in. squares in the black scrap over the 1/16" holes (turning the punch upside down to see where to punch) and applied those to the card with copper mini brads. The mini brads went well with the oval feature under the Bella.

I mounted the whole black/Green Galore piece to the Tempting Turquoise and was done! This card will go to my niece who is turning 20 on April 2nd. Seems like she was just 3!

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!

Masculine antiqued car thank you card

Recipe:

Stamps: Canvas, Classic Pickups, Amazing to Zany

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, vanilla

Ink: Basic Brown, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, "Vintage Photo" Distress Ink by Tim Holtz, Kaleidacolor "Cappuccino Delight" rainbow pad

Accessories: Cuttlebug "Tiny Bubbles" embossing folder, sponges, waterbrush, Inkworx air art gun, Chocolate Chip marker, Close to Cocoa marker, Dimensionals, Diamond Glaze, leather string, cream ribbon, dark antique brass brads, scissors

Techniques: antiquing

I needed to make a card for one of my hubby's work colleagues who generously loaned us his truck to pick up our new riding mower recently. So this is what I came up with.

Like a lot of stampers, I find it very challenging to do masculine cards. This one was doubly challenging as I chose to do it with the TCL108 coffee with cream challenge in mind: browns and creams and nothing else, and no coffee or chocolate themes. That's right, no black for me! Do you KNOW how hard that is? Well, I'll admit I did at one point use a teensy bit of black via a Micron pen to try to emphasize the truck feature a bit as I was having quite a time trying to bring it out. Unfortunately, the micro lines of black weren't a good addition. So I went over them with the Chocolate Chip marker, which did the trick. I should've tried that in the first place. You'll read more about this further down.

As you can see, I've incorporated the Canvas background stamp mixed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder again, this time stamping Canvas in Chocolate Chip on Close to Cocoa and then running it through the Cuttlebug using the Tiny Bubbles EF. And finally, rubbing the "Vintage Photo" Distress Ink pad (by Tim Holtz) over the Cuttlebugged part and sponging (I think! I'm a bit vague on the color I used here) the lightest color from the Kaleidacolor Cappuccino Delight rainbow pad in the holes. The look is pretty cool, I think.

I began the card by rubbing the same ink just mentioned (Vintage Photo) all over the biggest piece of cardstock (the main "card" portion). It looked awesome, like leather. It proved a bit challenging to glue the Cuttlebugged piece to the main card because the ink was so thick from all that rubbing, it affected the "stickability" of the adhesive. So I had to help things along by using Diamond Glaze (aka Crystal Effects) to adhere them. That took care of it.

The horizontal ribbon feature I used is from SU and comes in a cream color (what is that stuff, basting tape?) and I sponged the lightest color from Cappuccino Delight pad onto it and touched it up a bit with the next darker color on that pad (I was glad to find an excuse to use that pad). I stamped the "thanks" stamp from Amazing to Zany on it and used a 1/16" hole punch to make holes for the brads. I thought the brads kind of kept the circle theme of the Cuttlebugged part pretty nicely. I wanted the ribbon's edges to be a bit frayed to add more texture. I do love texture on a card. I also used Diamond Glaze to help the ribbon adhere. There was definitely a lot of trouble with adhering on this card. Diamond Glaze came to the rescue many times!

The truck feature was the hardest part to deal with and I'm not sure it'd be that easy to duplicate. I did so much layering of color to achieve the final look, it would be hard to describe. But I'll do my best, beginning with a close-up:

The cardstock I worked with for the truck was vanilla. I stamped the truck twice: once for the base, and once for the cut-out part. I stamped them both first in the Vintage Photo ink, then danced the stamp in SU's Basic Brown ink and then stamped it on the vanilla and it gave the trucks a lovely mottled look. But once they dried, the images were kind of blah. So on the base piece, I sponged inks from the Cappuccino Delight pad to give the look lots of warmth, and then spritzed it with the Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa markers via my Inkworx air art gun to add a vintage-y look. Then I roughed up the edges with my scissors blade, scraping it across the edges and then sponged some more. I adhered that piece to a piece of Chocolate Chip cs which was well-rubbed with the Vintage Photo ink. I used Dimensionals, but they wouldn't stick. So I put some Diamond Glaze on the Dimensionals and they're good and stuck now.

Once the base was done I worked on the cut-out part. I cut it out and adhered it to the base with Dimensionals, and then I waterbrushed and sponged it with various browns (Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Basic Brown, Cappuccino Delight). Still blah. So I took the aforementioned black Micron pen and tried to very lightly doodle over the truck lines so it would stand out more. It did, but not in a good way. It added a bluish tone. So I doodled over that with the Chocolate Chip marker using both ends of the marker here and there, and that did the trick. Phew!

Once that was finished, I prepared the leather string by tying the ends in knots for more texture and looped and adhered it behind the truck feature. Then I adhered that whole thing to the Cuttlebugged part with Dimensionals and Diamond Glaze.

What a job!