Exploding Hexagon Baby Card {Scrapy Land #39}

Exploding hexagon box card open

Can you believe it's already April?  Time does fly!!  That means is also time for a new Scrapy Land Challenge.  The theme for this first Wednesday challenge is Anything Goes using any brand of die that Scrapy Land sells.

Exploding hexagon box card closed

The following dies were used to create this 3D card:

Die-Versions: Sweet Wordlets - Welcome

Die-Versions: Sweet Wordlets - Sweet

Die-Versions: Sweet Wordlets -  Baby

Die-Versions: Sweet Wordlets - It's A Boy Girl

Die-Versions: Lacey Dots

Die-Namites: Baby Clothesline
Cheery Lynn Designs: Victoria Picket Fence
Cheery Lynn Designs: Garden Gate

I saw this idea on a card making Facebook group that I belong to.  They found the tutorial for the Exploding Hexagon Carousel Box and the template here.

I made this card for a friend's baby shower and I have to say it was a big hit.  Although it may look complicated, it's actually very easy to make.  The hardest part for me was cutting my lines straight.  You could use a paper cutter or an electronic cutting devise, but I used plain old scissors.  The above photo is the card completely open.

I used Die-Versions Sweet Wordlets to go around the outside panels to spell out "Welcome Sweet Baby" and the Die-Namites Baby Clothesline for the inside panels.  These were cut out of white cardstock and colored with Spectrum Noir Sparkle markers.

I don't have a baby crib die, so I used the Cheery Lynn fence and gate dies to create my own crib.

The little decorations on the crib (the anchor and hearts) are some of the negative pieces from the Baby Clothesline die cut.

The outside of the box was decorated with another Sweet Wordlets die, a lacey border strip and some ribbon.  I also added a personal note on the bottom of the box.  You could also make one of the panels a pocket and add your note there as well.

This was really fun to create and I can see lots of themes that this exploding hexagon box could be used for, not just a baby card.

You have until April 17 to upload your creation to the Scrapy Land Challenge.  Be sure to visit the Scrapy Land blog to see what the rest of the very talented Design Team members have created for you.

Poppies

Poppies was one of the new stamp sets revealed in January by Sparkle N Sprinkle.  The image was stamped onto white cardstock and colored with Copic markers.

I framed the image with the Want 2 Scrap (Vintage Fancy Frames) chipboard that I covered with embossing powder.  In order to get the true color of your chosen embossing powder, it is better to cover the chipboard with White embossing powder first.  Then repeat the process with your favorite color.  For this frame I used Caribbean embossing powder.

I also added small dots of Black Ice glitter to the center of the poppy as well as outlining each of the squares.

Seam binding ribbon colored with Distress Stain (Tumbled Glass) adds the finishing touch.

Rainbows and Rain

Puddles, one of the new rubber stamp sets released by Sparkle N Sprinkle reminds me of playing out in the rain when I was a kid.

I used the digi version and printed the image out a couple times so that I could fussy cut out the following pieces: the umbrella, the raincoat, and the rubber boots.


For the umbrella, I cut out each section and then heat embossed each piece with a different embossing powder: Red Apple, Sapphire, Pumpkin, and Christmas Green.  The raincoat was heat embossed with Clear embossing powder and then covered with Galaxy Night glitter using the Glueless Glitter technique.  The Glueless Glitter technique was also used on the rain boots and they were finished with Daisy glitter.

In order to give a bit of color to the sentiment, I outlined each letter of the word "rainbow" with a Sakura glue pen and added the following glitters: Fire Engine Red, Orange Surprise, Daisy, Lator Gator, Ocean, Cobalt Glaze, and Purple Dust.  Ocean glitter was also added to each letter of the word "rain".

The rain drops in the background were created using Dimensional Glue and then covered with more Ocean glitter.  The multi-looped twill bow was stained like a rainbow with Distress Inks.  For the button in the center of the bow, I added some Dimensional Glue and covered it with more Ocean glitter.

Key to my Heart

This week's Scrapy Land Challenge was an easy one for me.  The theme is Use Your Favorite Color plus any brand of die that Scrapy Land sells.  Hope that it's obvious that my favorite color is RED.

The dies I used for this tag were all from Die-Versions:
Die-Versions: Vintage Heart Locket
Die-Versions: Vintage Keys
Die-Versions: Frank font
Die-Versions: Heart Doodles

Deco Foil is such a hot trend right now and I wanted to join in on the fun.  There are lots of You Tube videos out there showing you how to use a laminating machine, how to use embossing powder, how to use Thermo-Web's specifically designed adhesive, and the list goes on and on.   Well, I didn't feel like fooling with my laminating machine and I didn't have the special adhesive, but.....I thought "Why won't it work with my SNS Tear-ific Tape?  It's super sticky and holds just about anything."  So I gave it a go and am so happy with the results.

I used my 2 1/2" double sided Tear-ific Tape and adhered one side to cardstock and die cut out my Vintage Locket, Heart Doodles and my letters.  Next, I peeled off the protective liner from the die cuts and placed the Deco Foil (non colored side) against the adhesive.  I burnished the foil into the adhesive with my fingertip and peeled off the remaining piece of Deco Foil.  I didn't have any bare spots or gaps or wrinkles.  Worked like a charm!  (Of course, after I did this and created my project, I saw yet another blog where that person thought the same thing I did and used the adhesive she had on hand.  Great minds.... :-).)

If you frequent my blog, you'll know that one of my favorite ways to add dimension to a die cut is to use fun foam.  What if you don't have any fun foam handy?  What do you do then?  Well, die cut 3 or 4 pieces of the shape you want and glue them together.  That's what I did today for the key.  I then covered the top layer with Versamark, sprinkled a heavy amount of Silver Lightning embossing powder on it, and heat setting it (after replacing the excess embossing powder back into my container.

I did use fun foam to add dimension to my KEY letters and adhered them to the fun foam after applying the Deco Foil.


For the background on my manilla tag, I started out by adding Distress Ink (Spun Sugar) to the entire thing.  Then I used my Falling Snow stencil and added Tattered Rose and Victorian Velvet Distress Inks.  It left a soft background which made the red Deco Foil pop even more.   A couple layers of lace and ribbon finish off my vintage looking tag quite nicely.  The ribbon was white and I dyed it using the same colors of Distress Stains.

Now it's your turn to upload your project using your favorite colors to the Scrapy Land Challenge #20.  Be sure to include any brand of die that Scrapy Land sells.  You will have until June 28th and the winner will receive a $15 gift certificate to go shopping at Scrapy Land.

Steampunk Hat

I have to admit, Steampunk is a bit out of my comfort zone, but when someone described it as Victorian meets Industrial, it made more sense to me :-).  So today, I'm using the new Steampunk Hat from Die-Versions as the focal point of my card.

After die cutting it out of watercolor paper, I used several Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers to color the image and just a little bit of water.  To tone it down some, I added white Wink of Stella on top.  The gears on the hat were inked using a VersaMarker, covered with Silver Bells embossing powder from Sparkle N Sprinkle and heat set.  I also added a pearl string from Mon Ami Gabby.

The background was created using white cardstock and a Dreamweaver stencil (Gears) and embossing paste.  While the embossing paste was still wet, I sprinkled Blackened Bronze and Silver Detail embossing powders on it and then heat set it.  When you heat set embossing paste, it tends to make the paste bubble and that was exactly what I wanted.  It gave it a rough texture plus the Blackened Bronze gave it a rusted look to certain spots.  To add color to the white cardstock, several Distress Stains were applied.  I kept adding different colors until I was happy with the results.  And since most embossing pastes act as a resist, the Distress Stains didn't change the color of my gears.

Some floral paper, lace and a rosette (plus a couple more layers :-) ) add my finishing touches .

Beauty in Nature

All month long, the designers at Sparkle N Sprinkle have been working with Dreamweaver stencils and creating projects using various techniques.  For my card today, I used the Bare Trees Dreamweaver Stencil and Pearlescent Embossing Paste.

After following the normal steps of using embossing paste and a stencil, I let the design dry overnight.  As I've mentioned in other posts, most embossing pastes act as a resist, but Pearlescent embossing paste does not.  It takes on a soft hue of the color you applied to the entire design.  In this case, that was exactly what I was going for so I added Gathered Twig Distress Stain to the front, making sure to go over the tree trunks throughly.  After I was happy with the results, I did wipe off the excess ink from the embossing paste.  It left a soft pearlescent cream color for the backdrop to the trees.

The sentiment is part of the Nesting Birds stamp set and was stamped onto Velvet Sparkle embossing powder with Archival Ink (Coffee).  A Spellbinders tag (Labels Eight) was used to die cut the sentiment.  The Chevron strip behind the sentiment was die cut from Sticker Paper using a MFT die (Chevron stripe) and then covered with Bronze Splendor glitter.

The two panels behind the focal point were dry embossed using a Darice embossing folder (Fall Leaf) and Gathered Twigs Distress Ink was lightly dragged across the top of each using the direct to paper method.   A bit of jute adds the finishing touch.

Glittered Garden Silhouette

Yay!  I've been published (again).  I have to confess that I still get so excited when I see a card I made and my name printed in a magazine.  This card was published in a two page spread, including a tutorial on how it was made, in the Spring 2015 CardMaker magazine that was just released.

I started out by "painting with glitter" onto a piece of Sparkle N Sprinkle Super Adhesive Sheet die cut from the Ray of Sunshine cutting plate by Taylored Expressions.  The glitters used to create my sun were SNS's Cherry Lemonade, Lemonade,  Waterfall, and Rapture Blue.  The glitters were sprinkled onto the exposed adhesive and burnished into the adhesive starting with the lighter colors and progressing to the darker shades.

The Garden Silhouette rubber stamp was stamped onto a piece of SNS Embossable Clear Acetate with VersaMark and then heat set using Midnight Madness embossing powder.  I fussy cut around the image and adhered it in front of the rays of sun.  The edges of the mat behind the focal point were heat embossed with more Midnight Madness embossing powder for even more sparkle.


The ribbon is a strip of seam binding ribbon that I stained with Distress Stain (Squeezed Lemonade) and then I stamped my sentiment directly onto the ribbon with Staz-On ink.   I added a few flat backed pearls as a finishing touch.

Sweet Holiday

Sweet Holiday is one of the New Reveal stamp sets from Sparkle N Sprinkle this month.  I've combined several techniques as well as a couple different stamp sets on this particular card.

To start off, the background was created using the Emboss Resist technique.  Start by randomly stamping the three small stamps that come with the Sweet Holiday set onto white cardstock with VersaMark.  Cover with Clear embossing powder and heat set.

Next, take blend Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry) over the entire thing.  The embossed images stay white.  After that stamp the newly re-released Wonky Lines plaid background with VersaMark over the card panel.  Cover with Clear embossing powder and heat set.  This image will turn darker after it's heat set.

Stamp the gingerbread and the cottage twice and color with Copic markers.  Using the Paper Tole technique, cut up and layer the cottage.  Crystal Ice glitter was added to the snowflakes, one of the gingerbread mens' rickrack, the design around the door and bottom of the cottage, and the window sills.  Bridal glitter was added to the other gingerbread and Diamond Dust glitter was added to the chimney top.

The sentiment was stamped in VersaMark, heat set with Black Detail embossing powder, and die cut using the Lifestyle Crafts Nesting Sketchbooks die.  Leave the die in place and pounce some Picked Raspberry Distress Stain onto the sentiment.  Apply VersaMark over the entire die cut, cover with Clear embossing powder, and heat set.  This will give the sentiment die cut a really shiny appearance.

The Distress Embossing technique was added to the card base with Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry) and Clear embossing powder.  Some rick rack was also added.

This card looks pretty bright on my monitor, and I have to tell you, it's just as bright and festive in person.

Scrapy Land Challenge #1

Today's the day for the brand new and improved Scrapy Land Challenges to begin.  

The theme is Anything Goes using Dies and the challenge will run until 8pm Eastern time, Sunday Sept 14th.  This gives the Designers a couple of days to choose the Winner and the Top 3.  Speaking of winners, everyone gets a badge for being selected and the Winner will receive a $15 gift certificate to Scrapy Land.

For my project today, I combined Sue Wilson Designs dies (Spanish Collection - Granada; California Collection - Beverly Hills) with my Sweet Wordlets die (Miss You) from Die-Versions.   Although I couldn't capture the glitter on the sentiment, it is covered with Green Iris glitter from Sparkle N Sprinkle.  The pre-made roses were also covered with glue and Green Iris glitter for a bit more sparkle.

The seam binding ribbon was dyed using Distress Stains (Antique Linen, Seedless Preserves) and pearls were added to the corners.  This is a quick and easy card to create and send to someone to tell them you miss them.

You'll definitely want to head on over to the Scrapy Land Challenge Blog to see what all the Designers have created for you today.  There is a wide variety of styles and lots of inspiration.  Plus, we have a special Guest Designer visiting us for the debut of the new SL Challenge Blog.  Upload your creations using the InLinz button by Sept 14th for your chance to win the fabulous prize.

Pops Rocks

Today is the start of a new challenge over at Pattie's Creations.  Create either a Father's Day themed project or a Wedding theme - your choice.  You can find images at Pattie's ETSY store for either choice.

As you can tell, I decided to make an easel card for Father's Day using Pattie's Cowboy Dreams image, which is colored with Copic markers.  The background started out as white cardstock that I added embossing paste to using the Crafters Workshop mini chicken wire stencil.  Once the paste was dry, I began adding (lots) of Distress Stains until I was happy with the color.  (It took a while.)

I also tried a very popular technique of sprinkling embossing powder onto cardstock and heat setting it (most people use Frantage powders.)  I didn't have any of those, but have lots of Sparkle N Sprinkle embossing powders, so that's what I used.  I sprinkled both their new (coming soon) Copper Flame mixed media embossing powder and Magic Speckle embossing powder onto the side of the cardstock and heat set it from underneath.

Both sentiments were die cut from Die-Versions fonts - the larger one on the front of the easel card is Saloon Door and the message revealed when the card is open is the Little Lizzie font.  The music notes are also from Die-Versions (Harmony Wee Petites).  The bow tie is a Memory Box die (Family Ties).

You have two weeks to upload your Fathers'Day or Wedding project to Pattie's Creations Design Challenge.  We look forward to seeing what you come up with.  Be sure to check out what the rest of the team has created as well.

Church Sympathy

For the Sparkle N Sprinkle May Reveal, please click here (or scroll down)

Church Sympathy is a beautiful rubber stamp set from Sparkle N Sprinkle and one of the new May reveal stamp sets.  However, I think it can be used for many other occasions as well.

I started out by stamping the image in StazOn onto watercolor paper and then colored it with a waterbrush and Distress markers.  I used an oval die as a barrier so I could add color to the background with Distress Inks (Chipped Sapphire, Wild Honey, Gathered Twig, Stormy Sky), keeping a white area around the image itself.  After I was happy with the colors, I flicked water on the background.  (Tim Holtz calls this the Spritz and Flick technique because you spritz water onto your fingers and then flick the water onto the inks.)

Since my background is pretty dark, I wanted to bring brightness around the focal image.  I die cut a piece of textured cardstock with a Spellbinders Opulent Oval die and then covered it with VersaMark and heat set it with Gold embossing powder.  This particular gold gives it a nice rich tone.

The sentiment was heat embossed, using the same Gold embossing powder onto some white cardstock that was die cut using the Banners Stacklets 2 from Taylored Expressions.  However, I gave it a twist and die cut the same piece twice, so both ends would be rounded.  I didn't want this to be a stark white, so I mixed some Distress Stains (Picket Fence and Tumbled Glass) onto my craft sheet with my finger, spritzed some water on it and ran my sentiment through the color.  Then I dried it with my heat tool.

I used the Distressed Embossing technique around the sentiment, the focal piece, and the card base.  All were done with VersaMark and the Gold embossing powder.

As a finishing touch, I applied some more Distress Stains (Spun Sugar and Picked Raspberry) to my craft sheet and ran some seam binding ribbon through it to give it color.  Then I tied a double loop bow and adhered it to the top of the oval.

You Are my HERO

I hope you've enjoyed seeing the Die-Versions new releases this month.  As I mentioned in the Die-Versions/Operation Write Home Blog Hop (you can see that post here), these dies are a fundraising product to help OWH.

For my last project this month, I created a fun tag using a digi from Bugaboo Stamps (kidlet army) and a few Die-Versions dies.  These include the new Hero with Star Sweet Phrases die, the You Are Express Edge, and the A Little Mint font.


As you can see from the close-up of the digi, I printed him a couple of times so I could add dimensional dots behind his helmet, arm, and shoe.  He's colored with Copic markers (as usual for me).  One thing I did, but it doesn't show up very well in the photos, is that I used pop dots with different thichness to give it a more realistic look.  On his arm, I used a thicker pop dot near his hand and a thinner one by his elbow.  I also used thinner pop dots on the sides of the helmet and a thicker one in the middle.  This gives a great effect, so you might think about varying the heights of your pop dots in the future too.

 The tag background was created using a variety of Distress Stains.  I just kept adding colors until I was happy with the results (so I didn't write any of them down).

For the Hero with Star Sweet Phrases die, I die cut it in several colors and paper pieced the inside, so it still looks flush.  This photo shows the shiny mirrored cardstock the best.  Since you can't use glitter on any OWH project, this was one way I could still give it a lot of shine.

Altered Composition Book

For today's project, I've altered a composition notebook using some of the new release dies by Die-Versions.  If you haven't checked out the music themed release, you're definitely going to want to.

I had so much fun playing with embossing paste and embossing powder (you can see that Die-Versions card and info how I did it here) that I wanted to do it again.  This time, I used a plastic stencil from The Crafters Workshop (Aboriginal) and Martha Stewart embossing powders (which has lots of glitter in them).  After it was completely dry, I spritzed the entire thing with Dylusions Ink Spray (Squeezed Orange).  The embossing paste/embossing powder acted like a resist and I was able to remove all the ink from the raised areas.

The frame around the Elegant Piano is heat embossed with Ranger embossing powder (turquoise) and I added one of the notes from the Harmony Wee Petites to the frame.  The large Flourish Note was the perfect compliment to the piano.

I adhered this to music paper and added washi tape to the edges, some of which are colored with Distress Stains (Broken China).  The font used for the title is from last month's release and is the Gatsby font by Die-Versions.

Published: Rubber Stamp Madness

I'm so excited to have a card published in the Spring 2014 edition of Rubber Stamp Madness, the original stamping magazine.   It's located on pages 23 and 24 and is titled "Old School and Cool".

Here's how I made it.  The background is Tim Holtz's Marbled Stain technique and was created using Distress Stains (Picket Fence, Barn Door, Rusty Hinge, Mustard Seed) and Perfect Pearl Mist (Perfect Pearl).

I stamped the Hero Arts image twice, once directly onto the newly created background and once onto a vintage book page so I could fussy cut out the "typewriter paper".  I heat embossed the sentiment with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.  Then I cut a slit in the typewriter image where the paper would come through and slid the vintage book paper through.  The idea of using buttons and twine as spools of ribbon came to me during a creative burst :-).

I also embellished the inside a bit.  A page from a vintage book was used to frame the space for a message.  The message area was created using the Cherish punch from Martha Stewart.  A bit more twine carries the old fashioned theme from the front to the inside.

I have to add that I was just as excited seeing the label on the magazine.  It said "Artist-Anne Temple".  How cool is that!