Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge-Sparkle And Shine

April 25, 2018 curlesuecardsLeave a comment

I’m back, sharing another challenge card, this time for SSS’s Wednesday challenge. This week the challenge is for Sparkle and Shine, featuring Tonic Studios products. Boy, did I luck out with this one! Since I’m currently addicted to Nuvo Shimmer powder, I had made four cards before I looked up the challenge. Here is the card I picked to share.

I took a leaf from Jennifer McGuire’s book, and decided to make Mother’s Day cards for my friends and sisters. This card is intended for a good friend of mine, actually my kid’s first Step Mom. Yes, I’m good friends with my ex-husband’s second ex-wife (such long a story). We are family.

I made this card by first stamping the Camellia from Altenew’s Build a Flower set with Versafine Onyx ink, and heat embossed it with clear powder. Then I masked the image and did the same with the flower again, and some leaf images. Next, I sprinkled the Catherine Wheel Nuvo Shimmer powder over the flower and misted with water. Oh, I used Distress Watercolor cardstock. After I sprayed enough water to activate the powder, I used my heat gun to dry it. I sort of forgot about the heat embossing, and some of the color melted into the embossing. It actually looks cool.

For the leaves, I took some of the Atlantis Burst and mixed it with water to make it watercolor paint, then painted the leaves. The sentiment is from Simon Say’s Stamps CZ Design Simple Sentiments, and I added it with foam tape. The card base and matching envelope is Gina K Design’s Passionate Pink.

I wish you could see the Shimmer in the pictures. It’s gorgeous! I also love the hints of pink and yellow from the Shimmer powder. This stuff is amazing! The first thing I order after I’m done with this house business is the rest of the colors!

Thanks for stopping by!

Nicole

MFT Sketch Challenge 381

April 23, 2018 curlesuecardsLeave a comment

Hello and welcome back. Surprise! I actually made a card for a challenge. I know, it’s been awhile… I’m still struggling creatively, so I thought entering a challenge would give me some inspiration.

Here is the sketch:

And….drum roll…my card:

I went with my favorite Magical Dragons, colored with Copic markers. The sky was made with Nuvo Shimmer Powders (Storm Cloud and a touch of Violet Brocade). I used Starry Circles to cut it out, and added Silver Sparkle cardstock behind it. I layered the dragon over the Circle with foam tape, and added the sentiment, cut with MFT Stitched Fishtail banner. I added a smoke cloud as well, with clear Wink of Stella. Clear, confetti sequins finish the card.

This was a fun, quick card to make. My sister ended up giving it to our niece for her birthday. My niece likes to come over and make cards with me, so she recognized the dragon lol.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week!

Nicole

Making Cards · Techniques

Watercolor and Masking

April 18, 2018April 15, 2018 curlesuecardsLeave a comment

Happy hump day! I have a quick post to share some rambling on watercolor backgrounds and masking. It’s just something I played around with last weekend, still struggling with that card making block.

Here are the panels I made.

I made this panel by lining Tim Holtz Watercolor cardstock with thin strips of masking paper. This is the only panel I have a picture of with the mask on, as it was the most involved.

Once I had all the masked strips in place, I used my favorite color of Faber Castel watercolor pencils to draw lines nest to the left edge of each strip. Then I took a waterbrush and pulled the color out. I used my heat gun to dry the cardstock, then removed the masking paper.

On this panel, I masked a wide strip horizontally across the lower third of the cardstock. Then I used Nuvo Shimmer powder in Catherine Wheel and sprayed it with water. This one ended up really wet, and ran under the masking tape.

For this panel, I used the last piece of the handmade watercolor paper from an older Hero Arts Monthly kit, and Nuvo Shimmer powders in Storm Cloud and Violet Brocade, with a mask over the bottom right corner. This one didn’t run as much as the previous panel.

Let’s take a look at the cards.

I’m kinda bummed about this one. I didn’t really have a good game plan when I started, and as a result, ended up cutting the up more then I wanted too. It’s still a cute card that I plan to send to a co-worker who has been really helpful (I stamped thank you inside the card). The cat and sentiment are from Gerda Streiner’s All Cats. I colored him with Copic markers, and stuck him down with foam tape. I also added Glossy Accents to his eyes. The card base is Gina K Design’s Passionate Pink, with the matching envelope.

I made this card for my sister’s birhtday and I think I will also enter it in this month’s A Blog Named Hero challenge (which means you’ll see another blog post about it 🙂

I put a strip of Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock over the failed masking, and added the flower and butterfly images from the July 2017 My Monthly Hero kit with foam tape. The flowers and butterfly were colored with Copic markers, and cover in clear Wink of Stella. The sentiment is from the Gerda Steiner All Cats set. The card base is the same Gina K Designs Passionate Pink, with matching envelope. I added some Strawberry Coulis Nuvo Drops to finish the card. This card is my favorite, out of the three! Just look at that background, the oranges with hints of pink! SWOON

I originally thought I was going to use the Hero Arts August 2017 kit for this background, but decided to go with Simon Says Stamp’s Seeing Stars instead. I messed up the constellations a bit, trying to double stamp them after I had moved the card panel. But, I think it’s still cute. I heat embossed the stars with Hero Art’s Silver embossing powder, and sentiment in clear, with Versafine Onyx ink. I added Silver Moondust Glitter Nuvo Drops, and stamped the star on the envelope with Delicata Silvery Shimmer ink.

It’s been fun playing with older stamp sets. I really need to get into this groove, as I won’t be buying new stamps until after the house is settled. At least, I shouldn’t, lol. It’s hard not to buy all the cute things! But honestly, I have some many sets I used once or twice. It’s almost like going shopping, flipping through my stamps and dies! Maybe I should start a feature, where I force myself to use older sets once or twice a month… What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

Nicole

Kit Unboxing · Making Cards · New Products

My Monthly Hero April Kit

April 16, 2018April 15, 2018 curlesuecardsLeave a comment

Hello and happy Monday! I finally have the unboxing post I promised you, for the April My Monthly Hero kit. My apologies for the tardiness, I’ve been working tons of overtime lately!

What is in the kit, you ask. All this:

APRIL KIT INCLUDES:

► – 6″ x 8″ Clear Stamp Set

► – 20 Coordinating Frame Cuts Dies

► – 1 Ornate Floral Border Die

► – 3 Reactive Ink Cubes (Fiesta Red, Fiesta Teal, Fiesta Yellow)

► – 3 6″ x 18″ Sheets Unryu Paper (Assorted Colors)

Let’s get to it!

I love that blue tissue paper, and I tried really hard to save it, but no luck. Those ribbons are really pretty too, and I managed to keep my cat from eating these (so far).

Here is a closer look at the two bundles in the kit.

The stamp set is super cute! I couldn’t wait to color that bird at the bottom, along with the donkey. There are some great and unusual sentiments too!

There is the Ornate Floral border die on the right (with smaller dies in it). I haven’t tried it out yet, but I think it’s gorgeous.

The Unryu paper is so vibrant, and had great texture. The reactive inks are also really pretty. I believe the reactive part means they interact with water, but I haven’t played with them yet. I did see an Instagram post that Hero Arts shared, where someone used them as watercolors.

I did create a really quick card with the kit, using a background I had previously made with Distress Oxide inks and watercolor paper.

The background was made with Wilted Violet, Seedless Preserves and Shaded Lilac Distress Oxide inks. I colored the donkey with Copic markers, and added him to the card with foam tape. I stamped Fiesta Time in Versafine Onyx ink and heat embossed it with Wow Holographic Sparkle powder. I added some purple Lucy’s Cards jewels to finish it off (and cover a spot where I smeared black ink). The card base is MFT’s Boysenberry.

That’s my quick post for today. Hope you had a great weekend, and talk to you again soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

Nicole

Making Cards · Techniques

Alcohol Ink & Vellum

April 9, 2018April 8, 2018 curlesuecardsLeave a comment

Hello and welcome back! I’ve been in a bit of a card making slump. I’m so obsessed with redecorating my new house (which is still 2 months away), I haven’t been thinking of much else. I thought the easiest way to get around it was to grab a stack of already made backgrounds, and make some simple cards. Luckily, I have a whole mini binder full!

This weekend I stuck with the alcohol ink and vellum panels I experimented with weeks ago.

Here is the first panel:

Sorry, it was cloudy today. Even sitting right in front of the sliding glass door, the pictures are still a bit dark. I was trying to show the shimmer from the mixative.

I layered the vellum panel on to some Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock, and used the hugs die from the March My Monthly Hero kit, cut from MFT’s Silver Sparkle Cardstock. The word “sending,” is also from the kit, and I stamped it along the bottom of the vellum with Hero Arts Passion Flower ink. The silver gems are from Studio Katia, and the card base is Gina K Design’s Lovely Lavender (as is the matching envelope). I used the MMH dies for a lot of these cards.

You can see the darker spots on the right, from the alcohol ink tool. I wish I had trimmed the panel so that part wasn’t used, but it’s still a striking card.

Up next we have a more colorful panel:

For this one, I trimmed the panel down a bit and layered it even with the top. The thank you is from the March kit, and was cut from a Champagne Pearl Shimmer cardstock and layered on several white die cuts. I added some small hearts, die cut from MFT Gold Sparkle cardstock for accent. The card base and matching envelope are Gina K Design’s Sweet Corn.

I was trying to get a good picture of the shimmer in the alcohol ink, but it doesn’t come across very well.

Next up we have more splotches:

You can sort of see the shimmer in the second pictures. I went in a little bit of a different direction with this one.

For this card, I adhered the vellum panel to some Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock with Sticking Adhesive. Then I ran it through my die cutting machine with Hero Art’s Butterfly Confetti die. I left the pieces together (or tried my best) and taped the back. I die cut “Thinking of You,” from Concord and 9th’s Fabulous Phrases from Silver White Shimmer cardstock, and several layers of white, then glued them together. I added some of my favorite tiny hearts, this time from MFT’s Silver Sparkle Cardstock. The envelope is a Metallic envelope from Simon Say’s Stamps, in Periwinkle.

Last, but not least, we have a really saturated panel:

Since this panel was so intense, I die cut a large heart from it, using Hero Arts Hearts Nesting dies. I cut a larger heart from MFT’s Silver Sparkle cardstock.

I layered the hearts together, and added them to a Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock panel cut with MFT’s Mod Rectangles, using foam tape. “Sending,” was stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with Hero Arts’s Silver embossing powder. I added some Blueberry gems from Lucy’s Cards to finish it off. The card base is Papertrey Ink’s Tropical Teal, with a Blueberry Metallic envelope from MFT.

I had a lot of fun making these. They have a lot of interest even though they are so “simple.” The shimmer from the alcohol ink panels, along with the other elements, amp them up. I can’t wait to use the rest of the acetate panels!

I apologize for the slowing down of post. I’m on strict budget until after our closing. and of course the aforementioned creative block. My weekends are also taken up with different projects leading up to the purchase. I’ll try to keep you guys updated, and to squeeze some time in for crafting. It is my sanity check after all.

Next up I’ll share the April My Monthly Hero kit unboxing. Have you seen the new kit yet? It looks like a ton of fun!

I’m also trying really hard to ignore the new Concord and 9th release. It goes live today, so, we’ll see how well I do lol.

Have a great week, and thanks for stopping by!

Nicole

Rambling

Let’s Get Organized Part 2

April 6, 2018April 6, 2018 curlesuecardsLeave a comment

Welcome back! I’ve owed you this post for quiet a while, but I was waiting for my most recent OrganizeMore ink rack to arrive. Now that it’s here, we can jump in.

** This will only be my craft space for 2 more months. I have a contract on a house, with a craft room!!! I’ll have my very own room, dedicated to my obsession. No more squatting in the “dinning nook.” I’m pretty sure the set up will be similar, and of course the organization will be the same. I will probably add another book case, and I’m going to see if my computer will fit in the room as well. I will be sure to share, once I have it all set. It will be a while, what with moving and painting etc. But I will share.

Changes I made since the last organization post:

Add the drawer inserts for the Kallax
Third Ink Rack installed
Organized my 6×6 paper
Purchased second InterDesign bin for completed card storage
Temporarily using a bookcase my daughter removed from her room

Let’s take a look.

Drawers for the Kallax

I added 2 drawer inserts for my Kallax unit. Since I have the 4×4 and the 2×4 shelves right next to each other, I put the drawers in the middle of the columns, at the bottom row. Sorry about all of the shadows, this area has no windows (the new room has a huge window).

The inserts each have two drawers. They are not big drawers, but it adds a place for hidden away storage, and eliminates having to dig around in the fabric bins. Let me show you what I have inside, along with what I have in the fabric bins.

First up I have my FuseTool, FuseTool accessories (white covered container), glue gun and spare paper trimmer blades (the red covered container). The drawer below has my extra Wink of Stella (I grabbed these on clearance from Michaels), mini spoons, extra Nuvo Drops and reinker bottles, velcro, sequins containers, extra sanding blocks. It looks a bit disorganized, but it’s just a lot.

Next I have tons of Fun Foam, trimmed down to card size, along with scraps. Behind that is a plastic container that holds cutting tools left over from my scrapbooking days. Below that is a ton of embellishments and stickers, also from my scrapbooking days.

On to the big fabric drawers!

This first drawer holds all of my organization items, except for my label maker. It also has some bigger items like the brayer, my extra Xyron Sticker maker, and big sheets of Fun Foam.

This next bin contains all of my shipping supplies.

This bin holds my craft mat, a box for adding ink sprays, and other large random items. I ended up with lots of room in the bins once I pulled out the items for the drawers.

Last up we have my label maker and supplies, laminator and supplies, and spare cutting plates.

Third Ink Rack

You saw the third ink rack in the first picture, but here is a little bit of a closer look.

This rack holds the rest of my Altenew inks, along with my pigment inks. And, space to grow (so tempting)!

6×6 Paper

I think I mentioned in my previous post that I had an idea for storing my 6×6 paper. Originally I had it in the wooden crate that also holds my large stamp sets (below the first ink rack above). I wasn’t very happy storing the pad in the crate, because all the scraps of unused paper kept falling out. I’m not sure why I decided to try stamp pockets, but I am glad I did! They are very similar to the job ticket holders used on my 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock, allowing me to keep my scrap pieces with the rest of the paper.

These pouches are the Large Storage Pouches from Altenew (here). I had my eye on these from MFT, but they are very popular and hard to get your hands on.

I labeled the pouches the same as the job ticket holders, and have them in the same magazine holders, with the larger cardstock.

You can see here how it keeps my scraps all together. I’m very happy with how this turned out. In fact, I need to get more pouches, as I already used up the original packet (they sell them in qty of 10 or 25, I started out with 10 to test it).

InterDesign Bin

The little wire bins I was using to hold my completed cards was already stuffed when I wrote the first organization post. I ordered the same InterDesign freezer bin that I use for my stamps, but it actually ended up being too small (I should have tested it out before I ordered another one…).

Most of the cards fit, and I used one of the wire bins for the spill over.

I moved my empty envelopes into the left over wire bin. Now I have room to grow for both, even if I didn’t get all my cards into one container.

Spare Bookcase

When I made the switch from the old bookcases to the new Kallax unit I lost out on storage for actual books. I was going to give them away, but I have a difficult time parting with books. However, my daughter took the old bookcases for her room and ended up getting rid of a smaller bookcase she had.

It’s seen better days, but it works for now. I moved my Gemini over here, and also pulled my Spellbinder Platinum 6 out of mothballs. My books only took up the first shelf, so I put the extra fabric bins on the second (they are empty, for now).

With the Gemin moved over here, I changed up my Raskog cart a little bit.

This is the cart that is on the left of my desk. I flipped the top basket back over (and bruised my wrist in the process).

I moved my stamp cleaning supplies over here, along with the little dishes I used to keep on the desk top. I also added those white “cups,” hanging off the cart, for little odds and ends. The bag is for small paper trash. The rest of the cart is the same (embossing powders and other cleaning supplies).

Couple of Bonus Items

Swatches of Ink and Mica Sprays

IMG_E0941

I thought it would be helpful to make swatches of my ink and mica sprays. I made the swatches by layering Gina K Designs Onxy cardstock over some Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock. Then I used my tag die cut to cut out shapes that would be half black and half white, so I could see the effect on both colors. The tags are pretty big, so I swatched two ink colors on each tag, masking off the different sides with masking tape.

IMG_E0942

I was sure to label each swatch too. I’m so glad I did this. It is really helpful, and will motivate me to use my ink sprays more.

I know there are a lot of crafters that hang magnetic paper onto walls or cabinet doors so that they can keep their favorite dies in easy reach. At first I wasn’t a big fan of the look, but the idea grew on me. Especially since my method of keeping my favorite stitched rectangle die in with my precut paper was not working. I decided to us a fancy silver frame, with some magnetic paper.

Last, but not least, I swatched my alcohol inks. It’s a rough swatch, but works for now. Jennifer McQuire just released a free swatch download for alcohol inks, which I’m sure I will use eventually.

Whew! Well, that’s it, for now! Organiztion is always evolving, so I imagine I will switch things up a bit. I’ve been thinking about moving my 12×12 cardstock into the black bookcase. Or, I think I might order another Kallak unit. Maybe another 4×4, so that I can move the 2×4 somewhere else in the new house. I have tons of ideas, but I need to wait until we move in and I see what I really have/need. As I mentioned, I’d like to move my computer desk into the craft room, but I don’t want the room to be overcrowded. I’ll be sure to share the final room with you. Oh, and this means I can attempt video tutorials! There is tons of natural light in the room!

Thanks for stopping by!

Nicole

Making Cards · New Products

Hello Bluebird and Alcohol Ink

April 4, 2018April 1, 2018 curlesuecardsLeave a comment

Happy Wednesday! I have a stunning card to share with you, and a new stamp and die company to share.

I have to give Jennifer Frost-Ballas credit, she wrote a couple of Instagram post sharing this Hello Bluebird and I thought they were adorable. I only picked up a couple of dies sets, as I am on a strict budget until we get through this house stuff. But, there are tons of really cute stamps sets I have on a list, for when I’m free to spend again. Check them out!

I have a few cards to share, but they really don’t due the products justice. And, one of them also has Mama Elephant products. But, you will get an idea of how versatile they are!

First up, the stunner! The last time I was playing around with alcohol inks, I ran out of Yupo Paper (really, that happens every time, I keep going until I can’t anymore…). This time I decided to try out some other materials. I used acetate and vellum, and the results were pretty cool.

This first card features the outer frame and Hello from Gallery Frame die, cut from Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock. As I mentioned, the panel is alcohol ink on acetate. This panel is Wild Plum ink and Rose Gold Mixative. I added the frame to the acetate panel with foam tape, to create a shadow below it.

See the shimmer from the Rose Gold Mixative. And the depth you get from the clear spaces. It’s even better in person.

Next up is a card featuring the same hello die, and one of the dies from Tropical Foliage.

This card is really simple, considering how I got here. I originally had filled the whole panel with the images from the die set, all cut from an alcohol ink panel. Then I decided to add some Nuvo drops, to fill the white space. Only, I kept adding drops, and kept adding. Then I realized how ridiculous it looked, and decided that smearing the Nuvo Drops would be really cool. It would look like a funky paint effect. No, not cool at all. I ripped all the die cuts off. Being a bit gun shy about over doing it, I just added the one image and the hello die cut, in Lawn Fawn Black Licorice cardstock. The card base is MFT’s Cool as a Cucumber.

This last card has the inner frame from Gallery Frames.

You can see the actual die in this picture. The one die cuts out both frames at the same time.

For this card I used the dragon and girl from Mama Elephant’s Me and My Dragon, stamped with Hero Arts Intense Black ink, and colored with Copic markers. The mountain and city backgrounds are from Mama Elephant’s Kingdom Trio, with Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide ink blended on both (just the tops of the city). Tumbled Glass Distress ink was used to blend the sky. The sentiment is from Mama Elephant’s Dragon’s Wishes, and was stamped in Altenew Jet Black ink. The card base is MFT’s Grout Gray cardstock.

I encourage you to check out Hello Bluebird. They have some adorable stamps! My favorite is Away in a Manager. I really like the die set I got, Gallery Frames. It’s one of those dies that you can use for some many things. And, the set didn’t just include the frames, it also has the hello die, and three different confetti dies (hearts, stars and flowers). This set is only 13.99!

Thanks for stopping by!

Nicole