Galaxy Background Fairy Card

This was my first time trying out the "Galaxy Background" technique. There are many tutorials on YouTube and on crafting websites that will show you how the technique works. There is no single way to create this type of background. Different materials can be use based on what you have on hand and what you prefer to use.

For this card I started with watercolor paper that I taped to the Ranger Inkssentials Craft Sheet. The tape prevents the paper from curling and the craft sheet is useful for easy cleanup.

I used a few colors of highly pigmented watercolor paint to cover the surface of the paper in patches of color. After drying the paint with a heat gun I covered the paper with black India ink. Then I wiped off enough of the black ink to allow some of the watercolor to show through. After another quick blast with the heat gun made the black ink dry enough to add the next layer. This layer is where most people like to add some glimmer. So I added a wash of Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst in Tibetan Poppy Teal. The final step is to add "stars." For this I dipped a small paint brush in a pot of Tsukineko ink in Moonlight White and flicked it over the paper.

When all of this was dry, I stamped a fairy image in Versamark and embossed it with white embossing powder.

I am posting this card over at the Mod Squad Challenge Blog where the challenge is to use the theme Fantasy.

My Favorite Things Sketch 346

Here is a card I made using Sketch 346 from My Favorite Things. I also used the colors from  MFT color challenge 75. The sentiment is from a MFT set called "Blue Skies Ahead." 

The little heart in the corner was cut using a die from Paper Smooches. The coral paper is a Bazzill color called Arizona. The solid blue paper is Navy from Recollections and Memento Ink in Nautical Blue is a perfect match. 

Coral Watercolor Emboss Resist

This is a card I made for the latest challenge on the website "A Blog Named Hero." The challenge was to use WOW embossing powder. 

I stamped the floral background stamp from Hero Arts on watercolor paper. Then I heat embossed using white embossing powder from WOW. When that was set I spread red, olive, and yellow watercolor paints over different parts of the surface. Then I wiped off the excess paint. What you see here is the result. 

The little brown banner in the upper left hand corner is die cut from a Verve die. The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set called "Remember Your Kindness." I stamped it using Honey Distress Ink. The sentiment panel was punched out using a punch from Stampin' Up. 

Scrappy Love Card

This card is an example of a way to use up smaller bits of paper that are left after completing larger projects. When you are left with a pile of scraps, see if you can cut some 1 1/2 inch squares. For every four squares you cut, you can make on

The layout is based on sketch 154 from Operation Write Home. 

I dry embossed the peach background layer and the blue paper for the heart using a swiss dot embossing folder. Then I used a Spellbinders die to cut out the heart. I used an edge die from Whimsy Stamps to create the scalloped edge for the blue strip at the bottom. 

Challenges: 

Dies R Us Anything Goes
Whimsy Stamps Anything Goes

Distressed Leaves Card

I have some paper from the "Chocolate Lovers" collection in my stash. I love these papers. They are coated in shades of brown but have other colors at their core. They are fun to emboss and sand. For this project I used the color called "Amaretto." 

I used a leaf die from Spellbinders to cut out and emboss the leaves and then sanded to reveal some of the color below. 

The patterned papers are from Amy Tangerine. I'm trying to use the whole pad of patterned paper but its slow going. This card is being entered over at the Dies R Us challenge where the current challenge is Anything Goes. 

B & W and Teal

The challenge this week at Mod Squad is to make a project using black and white plus one other color. It took a little while to find patterned paper that fit with these restrictions but there were some gems hidden in my stash. For this card I found black and white and teal paper from Kaisercraft. The pattern seemed too big to me, so I cut it into three strips to break up the large images. 

The sentiment is from Verve Stamps.  I'm posting this card over at The Cat's Pajamas as well where the challenge is called "How does your garden grow." 

Black and White plus Red

The challenge this week at Mod Squad is to make a project using black and white plus one other color. It took a little while to find patterned paper that fit with these restrictions but there were some gems hidden in my stash. 

This card uses Stampin' Up paper for the background layer. The red and white paper on the banners is from Queen and Co paper. I used Stampin' Up punches for the banners and the layers on the sentiment. The sentiment stamp is from Inkadinkadoo. 

Paper Pieced Flower Pot

This card uses the current sketch from Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge and the "How does your garden grow" theme from the current TCP Challenge. 

I stamped the flowers on white paper and colored them in using Stampin' Up markers. The flower pot was stamped on patterned paper using Momento Grey Flannel ink and then cut out. 

Birthday Balloon Wishes

This card uses another scrap from my never-ending scraps of Kathy Davis birthday paper. I'm trying to finish using this 6" x 6" paper pad, but the scraps seem to multiply overnight. 

The balloons were cut using a die from Whimsy Stamps and the stamp is from Inkadinkadoo. 

The layout is based on sketch 249 from Freshly Made Sketches.

I'm entering this card over at the Whimsy Stamps blog where the current challenge is Anything Goes. 

A Mason Jar of Flowers Card

I made this "thinking of you" card using the latest sketch challenge from Newton's Nook. 


The stamps are from a set from Newton's Nook called Versatile Vases.  I stamped the mason jar in versamark and then embossed using a light blue embossing powder from Lindy's Stamp Gang. Then I colored in a little light blue with watercolor pencil and swiped over it with a water brush. The flowers are a separate stamp from the same set and stamped with Stampin Up Wild Wasabi. The flowers are also colored with watercolor pencils and water brush. To make the jar look more like it had water in it I went over it with a Sakura glaze pen. That worked, but left some uneven surface so I went over it again with Glossy Accents. 

The papers are from several places based on what worked with the colors I used for the flowers. I used a corner punch to round one top corner and one bottom corner on both the stamped panel and the base. Finally, the sentiment needed more attention, so I added a little bling on each side. 

Little Bird Card

The challenge this week over at the Mod Squad is to include something with wings. That was great because it made me remember a bunch of little punched out birds I had ordered on Ebay a while back. I found one that coordinated with the Amy Tangerine paper I'm struggling to use up and a card was born!

The bird looked odd without an eye, so I added a little Rain Dot from Cloud9 for the eye. 

This card uses sketch 353 from Mojo Monday. Its a great way to use up scraps without making a card that looks like you were trying to use up scraps. 

Gecko Card

I just got this new gecko die from Die-Versions. It cuts out beautifully and then requires poking out all the little squiggles and dots, but they come out easily. I used Chartreuse paper from Paper Source for the gecko because it has a good weight to it. 

The patternred paper for this card comes from the Kaisercraft Utopia collection. The paper is two sided, which is great. Depending on which side you use you can make cards that are floral or skip the florals and choose more masculine patterns. 

The blue background layer required something that wouldn't compete with the rest of the design, but solid papers were not looking quite right. I ended up using a canvas texture, white core paper called "Cloudless" from Coredinations and sanding it a bit to add variation in the color. 

This card uses the most recent sketch from the Your Next Stamp Challenge.