Decorated Heart

On one of my Yahoo groups, we had the opportunity to join a "Decorated Heart" swap. I joined and, of course, then had a hard time coming up with something more than a card or book cover. I happened to be perusing Tim Holtz's blog and saw an example of a heart collage using a canvas, grungeboard, and pages from a book.

I had all of the materials and, like Tim, used Distress Inks to color the paper. After searching through my "stash" of embellishments, I was able to come up with this design. I hope Trish likes this.

Book Study

In one of my on-line groups we are trying techniques from the book Paper Transformed by Julia Andrus. My friend Carol Sweeney has been our leader/cheerleader for this project, and she posts her samples with comments on her blog. Check out her blog for more information:

http://carol-creative-expressions.blogspot.com

I have been keeping up with the techniques and have finally posted my results. The first technique was Luminous Paste.

These are samples of what it looks like.

These are samples of what it looks like if you don't follow directions, in this case, use matte instead of glossy medium!

And this is the serendipity part - the paper towels used for clean up coated with glossy medium!

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Technique #2: Faux Leather

This was a simple but beautiful technique - glossy medium on dark paper, let dried, then run through the Cuttle Bug using the mesh folder!!!!

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#3 - Cosmos Paper

Because the directions called for a heavier CS, I used some "naked" die cuts. After inking with pigment ink, a couple of layers of ultra thick embossing powder were applied followed by some copper Perfect Pearls. It really looks like metal.
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#4 - Pearly Mottled Paper

I have to admit that I had trouble with this one and found out that others did too. It all depended on the paper and the application of the water. The top sample was my first attempt - too much water!! The next one didn't have enough, but I got better with #3. I tried glossy paper for the fourth - the water removed the dye ink. The last sample was made on a piece of file folder, and it turned out the best of all.

OSA Challenge #53

Here's the card I made for Challenge #53. The Windy Day stamp (Hero Arts) is one of my favorite. I also used a Cuttle Bug folder from the new Oriental set for the background.

Using Blank Notecards

Here's a quick card I made for a swap which had to have ribbon on it. I spied some pretty blank note cards at Michaels last week - eight cards and envelopes for $1!!! The central image ("M") is covered up with a die-cut (Spellbinders) scalloped circle, and I used a circle Valentine stamp for the central image. The bottom edge is punched using a Martha Stewart border punch, and I had just the right color narrow ribbon to thread through the holes. Voila!!!

Ribbon Card for Anna

OSA Layout Challenge 52

Last year OSA (Oriental Stamp Art) ran a weekly layout challenge. I participated for awhile but eventually got busy and didn't continue. The cards that were created were stunning! I vowed to get back into the weekly challenges, and this is what I made. It took me a few days to figure out what to do about the half circle on the top and finally had an idea----half of a parasol, the kind used for tropical drinks! Here's the result.

Diamond Top Fold Card

Last year I purchased a ScorPal and later joined a group which shares ideas and templates for creating all kinds of cards, small boxes, etc., using this handy tool. The challenge this week was to create a diamond top card. I was excited to try this out AND I needed to make some cards for an on-going swap through OSA, an Oriental interest group. This month the colors are purple, blue, gray (and I added some pink to the mix); and the theme is mountains. I used Spellbinders square to cut out the image. Here's the finished project:

This is one site where you can find directions, or you could Google "diamond top fold card":

http://www.card-making-magic.com/diamondtopcards.html

First Swap of 2010!

After my "trials and tribulations" with the new computer, I'm back to blogging and swapping. One of my groups has a color challenge every month, and January's really was a challenge: Use the colors navy, black and dark green. Luckily cream/white are also allowed!!! I created the background using Distress Inks: Pine Needle, Soot, and Denim. I had a lovely piece of handmade paper from my friend Bonnie which really made a difference.