Christmas Poinsettia {Scrapy Land Challenge #31}

It's the first Wednesday of December and that means a couple things.  First of all, it's time for a new Scrapy Land Challenge and Christmas is only a few weeks away!  The theme for this challenge is Anything Goes using any brand of die that Scrapy Land sells.  There are over 40 different brands and you can view them here.

Today's card combines a couple different Die-Versions dies (Poinsettia 2 and the Merry Christmas Script die) and the white-on-white technique.  Theoretically, this should be an easy technique to create, but for some reason this particular technique takes me longer to accomplish than I think it should.

I started out by die cutting the Poinsettia 2 die several times, so that I could create layered flowers.  Before forming the flowers, I lightly spritzed them with a homemade shimmer that has a touch of gold in it.  I also added light pink gems for the centers to add a little color to the card.

The Merry Christmas sentiment was die cut from Sticker Paper by Sparkle N Sprinkle and Bridal glitter was applied to the adhesive.  The frame around the sentiment also has Bridal glitter on it.

Two different embossing folders were used for more contrast between the layers.  Spellbinders (Dainty Dots) and Sizzix (Snow Flurries) were my choices for this card.

You have until Dec 13 to visit the Scrapy Land Challenge blog and upload your project.  The winner of the challenge, chosen by the Design Team, will receive a $15 gift certificate to go shopping at the Scrapy Land store.

Rose Watercolor painting

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to go take a Color Burst class with Ken Oliver.  He's a great instructor and we all had lots of laughs.  The class was held at the Scrapbook Village in Glasgow, KY.  You can also have a scrapbooking retreat there at the Butterfly Haven Retreat with some of your closest friends.

This was my first attempt at watercolor painting an actual flower (that wasn't a die cut or a stamped image) with Color Bursts, based on tips Ken shared in his class.  Lots of room for improvement, but I'm pretty happy with it. :-).

The background die is a Die-Versions die (Pebbles Background) that was inked up with VersaMark, covered with Sparkle embossing powder from Sparkle N Sprinkle, and heat set.  The side of the card was die cut using a Sue Wilson Designs die (Gemini Collection:URSA).

To highlight the negative spaces of the die cut more, I added a strip of watercolor paper, using more Blue Color Burst, to the inside.  I also added a small strip of rick rack on the inside to cover the seam.

The sentiment, a Memory Box die (Thanks), was also die cut from watercolor paper.  I added a darker Blue wash to it so it would stand out more and used my favorite technique to add dimension behind it - fun foam.


I love learning new things!  Any suggestions for improvement would be much appreciated.

Pearls and Lace {Scrapy Land #16}

It's time for a new Scrapy Land Challenge.  The theme for this challenge is to use Pearls and/or Lace, plus use any brand of die that Scrapy Land sells on your project.

I thought this would be a perfect theme for a Mother's Day card.  I started out by creating a silhouette using a Dreamweaver's stencil (Cameo) and embossing paste.  While the embossing paste was still wet, I sprinkled Cloud Nine velvet glitter onto the silhouette itself (but not the frame around the silhouette) and then let it dry overnight.  Once the embossing paste was dry, I die cut the image using a Spellbinders die (Classic ovals) and then spritzed it with a shimmer mist I created using the Marion Smith Color Lab Paint kit. The dry embossing paste acts as a resist and the mist doesn't adhere.  As soon as I had spritzed the entire thing,  I used a paper towel to soak up the shimmer mist from the paste. Lace was then adhered to the back of my oval to create a frame.

Memory Box's Elliana background die was used as the backdrop for the framed silhouette.  After die cutting it out, I applied VersaMark to the entire area and then heat set it with Pink Delight embossing powder from Sparkle N Sprinkle.

I created my sentiment on the computer and printed it out onto vellum.  Clear embossing powder was then applied to the printer ink and heat set.

I also created a lace flower and added a length of pearl string form Mon Ami Gabby to the back of the flower.  The larger pearls on the string were colored a soft pink using a Copic marker.

Now it's your turn to create a project following this week's theme.  You'll have until April 26th to upload it to the Scrapy Land Challenge and the winner, who is chosen by the Designers, will receive a $15 gift certificate to go shopping at the Scrapy Land store.